It is the St. Lawrence of several of these English lakes, through which
it flows, and carries off their superfluous waters. In its haste, and
with its rushing sound, it was pleasant both to see and hear; and it
sweeps by one side of the old churchyard where Wordsworth lies buried,---
the side where his grave is made. The church of Grasmere is a very plain
structure, with a low body, on one side of which is a small porch with a
pointed arch. The tower is square and looks ancient; but the whole is
overlaid with plaster of a buff or pale yellow hue. It was originally
built, I suppose, of rough shingly stones, as many of the houses
hereabouts are now, and, like many of them, the plaster is used to give a
finish. We found the gate of the churchyard wide open; and the grass was
lying on the graves, having probably been mowed yesterday. It is but a
small churchyard, and with few monuments of any pretension in it, most of
them being slate headstones, standing erect. From the gate at which we
entered, a distinct foot-track leads to the corner nearest the riverside,
and I turned into it by a sort of instinct, the more readily as I saw a
tourist-looking man approaching from that point, and a woman looking
among the gravestones. Both of these persons had gone by the time I came
up, so that J----- and I were left to find Wordsworth's grave all by
ourselves.
At this corner of the churchyard there is a hawthorn bush or tree, the
extremest branches of which stretch as far as where Wordsworth lies.
Pages:
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241