How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,
And read their hist'ry in a nation's eyes,
Their lot forbade: (63-65)
The speaker points out that the villagers' situation (their "lot") kept them from making a big splash in the history books. After all, they were pretty busy just keeping food on the table!
Quote #5
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. (75-76)
The villagers had to live their lives in the seclusion of the village—outside of the national spotlight. They didn't make a lot of "noise," in that they didn't do anything that got recorded in the history books, but that doesn't mean that we should just forget about them.