With Some Uncertain Notice

or fragile the With some uncertain notice, as might seem
Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,
Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire
The Hermit sits alone.


This next section comes right after Wordsworth mentions wreaths of smoke that come up from amongst the trees.  So it it is the wreaths of smoke he is comparing to the "uncertain notice, as might seem vagrant dwellers" or "of hermit's.  But because of the older style of English I am unsure of whether the uncertain notice is that of the vagrant dweller and the hermit to the intruder who found them or to the person who has stumbled upon them.  Or maybe it is both?  What is interesting is that Wordsworth is not directly describing that meeting but using it to describe the wreaths of smoke. But such a specific description of the wreaths of smoke expands the description of the landscape and in a sideways way, populates the poem with secondary characters - the vagrants and the hermit. I find this interesting as a literary tool or trick.  That I'm might make a comparison to one thing that helps describe something specific but also further expands the meaning or resonances of the text. Is there a name for that trick?

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