Page:A protest against the extension of railways in the Lake District - Somervell (1876).djvu/59

Here have been nourished sons of Art whose song
Or storied canvas shall your fame prolong,
And swell your pride and pleasure.
Where Wordsworth roved let not the wheels of Trade,
Unresting as Ixion's, make fresh raid,
Till Fancy flees her loveliest, best-loved shade,
And needful leisure!

Grant in these crowded times men's needs are more
Than broad meres, mountains high, and forests hoar,
Birds' song, or rose, or lily;
For these, too, higher human yearnings crave:
Were it not well source of such joys to save,
Nor wholly yield old Pan a helpless slave
To Puffing Billy?

Though Commerce claim free course, and subtle Greed
In mask of Progress, her convenience plead
Should Wisdom not be chary
In casting Nature's dearest dowers away?
Leave Lakeland still to elf, and faun, and fay,
For Art and Thought and Toil self's place of play,
And sanctuary!