He went by sleep that drowsy route 1
To the surmising Inn－
At day break to begin his race
Or ever to remain－
To the surmising Inn－
At day break to begin his race
Or ever to remain－
(F.1711/J.1662)
[1] He:: Rip Van Winkle, the protagonist in Washington Irving's short story of the same name. drowsy route:: unconsciously, Rip wandered to a strange land.
[2] surmising Inn:: an imagined inn where Rip slept for one night, but it was twenty years in his home.
[3] his race:: his original life (a Dutch settler village), not the strange race (large head, broad face, and small piggish eyes) he met.
[4] Or, remain:: in the original story Rip did not have the choice to stay. It was Dickinson's wish to stay in a strange place not her race.
In a long ramble of the kind, on a fine autumnal day, Rip had unconsciously scrambled to one of the highest parts of the Kaatskill mountains. ─ Rip Van Winkle, The Complete Works of Washington Irving (1834)