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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth,
+Vol. II., by William Wordsworth
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Vol. II.
+
+Author: William Wordsworth
+
+Release Date: April 26, 2004 [EBook #12145]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORDSWORTH, VOL. II. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathon Ingram, Clytie Siddall and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team!
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE POETICAL WORKS
+
+ OF
+
+
+
+ WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
+
+
+
+
+
+ EDITED BY
+ WILLIAM KNIGHT
+
+
+ VOL. II
+
+
+ 1896
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+
+Peter Bell
+
+Lines, composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on revisiting the Banks
+of the Wye during a tour, July 13, 1798
+
+There was a Boy
+
+The Two Thieves; or, the Last Stage of Avarice
+
+Written with a Slate Pencil upon a Stone, the largest of a Heap lying
+near a Deserted Quarry, upon one of the Islands at Rydal
+
+
+1799
+
+ Influence of Natural Objects in calling forth and strengthening the
+ Imagination in Boyhood and Early Youth
+
+ The Simplon Pass
+
+ Nutting
+
+ Written in Germany, on one of the Coldest Days of the Century
+
+ A Poet's Epitaph
+
+ "Strange fits of passion have I known"
+
+ "She dwelt among the untrodden ways"
+
+ "I travelled among unknown men"
+
+ "Three years she grew in sun and shower"
+
+ "A slumber did my spirit seal"
+
+ Address to the Scholars of the Village School of----
+
+ Matthew
+
+ The Two April Mornings
+
+ The Fountain
+
+ To a Sexton
+
+ The Danish Boy
+
+ Lucy Gray; or, Solitude
+
+ Ruth
+
+
+1800
+
+ "On Nature's invitation do I come"
+
+ "Bleak season was it, turbulent and bleak"
+
+ Ellen Irwin; or, The Braes of Kirtle
+
+ Hart-Leap Well
+
+ The Idle Shepherd-Boys; or, Dungeon-Ghyll Force
+
+ The Pet-Lamb
+
+ The Farmer of Tilsbury Vale
+
+
+Poems on the Naming of Places:
+
+ "It was an April morning: fresh and clear"
+
+ To Joanna
+
+ "There is an Eminence,--of these our hills"
+
+ "A narrow girdle of rough stones and crags"
+
+ To M. H.
+
+ The Waterfall and the Eglantine
+
+ The Oak and the Broom
+
+ "'Tis said, that some have died for love"
+
+ The Childless Father
+
+ Song for the Wandering Jew
+
+ The Brothers
+
+ The Seven Sisters; or, The Solitude of Binnorie
+
+ Rural Architecture
+
+ A Character
+
+ Inscription for the spot where the Hermitage stood on St. Herbert's
+ Island, Derwent-Water
+
+ Written with a Pencil upon a Stone in the Wall of the House (an
+ Out-House), on the Island at Grasmere
+
+ Michael
+
+
+1801
+
+ The Sparrow's Nest
+
+ "Pelion and Ossa flourish side by side"
+
+ Selections from Chaucer Modernised:
+
+ The Prioress' Tale
+
+ The Cuckoo and the Nightingale
+
+ Troilus and Cresida
+
+1802
+
+ The Sailor's Mother
+
+ Alice Fell; or, Poverty
+
+ Beggars
+
+ Sequel to the Foregoing
+
+ To a Butterfly
+
+ The Emigrant Mother
+
+ To the Cuckoo
+
+ "My heart leaps up when I behold"
+
+ Written in March, while resting on the Bridge at the Foot of Brothers
+ Water
+
+ The Redbreast chasing the Butterfly
+
+ To a Butterfly
+
+ Foresight
+
+ To the Small Celandine
+
+ To the Same Flower
+
+ Stanzas written in my Pocket Copy of Thomson's "Castle of Indolence"
+
+ Resolution and Independence
+
+ "I grieved for Buonaparte"
+
+ A Farewell
+
+ "The sun has long been set"
+
+ Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
+
+ Composed by the Sea-side, near Calais, August, 1802
+
+ Calais, August, 1802
+
+ Composed near Calais, on the Road leading to Ardres, August 7, 1802
+
+ Calais, August 15, 1802
+
+ "It is a beauteous evening, calm and free"
+
+ On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic
+
+ The King of Sweden
+
+ To Toussaint L'Ouverture
+
+ Composed in the Valley near Dover, on the Day of Landing
+
+ September 1, 1802
+
+ September, 1802, near Dover
+
+ Written in London, September, 1802
+
+ London, 1802
+
+ "Great men have been among us; hands that penned"
+
+ "It is not to be thought of that the Flood"
+
+ "When I have borne in memory what has tamed"
+
+ Composed after a Journey across the Hambleton Hills, Yorkshire
+
+ To H. C.
+
+ To the Daisy
+
+ To the Same Flower
+
+ To the Daisy
+
+ Louisa
+
+ To a Young Lady, who had been Reproached for taking Long Walks in the
+ Country
+
+1803
+
+ The Green Linnet
+
+ Yew-Trees
+
+ "Who fancied what a pretty sight"
+
+ "It is no Spirit who from heaven hath flown"
+
+ Memorials of a Tour in Scotland:
+
+ Departure from the Vale of Grasmere. August, 1803
+
+ At the Grave of Burns, 1803. Seven Years after his Death
+
+ Thoughts suggested the Day following, on the Banks of Nith, near the
+ Poet's Residence
+
+ To the Sons of Burns, after Visiting the Grave of their Father
+
+ To a Highland Girl
+
+ Glen-Almain; or, The Narrow Glen
+
+ Stepping Westward
+
+ The Solitary Reaper
+
+ Address to Kilchurn Castle
+
+ Rob Roy's Grave
+
+ Sonnet composed at----Castle
+
+ Yarrow Unvisited
+
+ The Matron of Jedborough and her Husband
+
+ "Fly, some kind Harbinger, to Grasmere-dale"
+
+ The Blind Highland Boy
+
+October, 1803
+
+"There is a bondage worse, far worse, to bear"
+
+October, 1803
+
+"England! the time is come when thou should'st wean"
+
+October, 1803
+
+To the Men of Kent. October, 1803
+
+In the Pass of Killicranky
+
+Anticipation. October, 1803
+
+Lines on the Expected Invasion, 1803
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+ WORDSWORTH'S POETICAL WORKS
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+PETER BELL: A TALE [A]
+
+
+Composed 1798. [B]--Published 1819.
+
+
+ 'What's in a Name?' [C]
+
+ 'Brutus will start a Spirit as soon as Caesar!' [D]
+
+
+ To ROBERT SOUTHEY, ESQ., P.L., ETC., ETC.
+
+ MY DEAR FRIEND--The Tale of 'Peter Bell', which I now introduce to
+ your notice, and to that of the Public, has, in its Manuscript state,
+ nearly survived its _minority_:--for it first saw the light in the
+ summer of 1798. During this long interval, pains have been taken at
+ different times to make the production less unworthy of a favourable
+ reception; or, rather, to fit it for filling _permanently_ a station,
+ however humble, in the Literature of our Country. This has, indeed,
+ been the aim of all my endeavours in Poetry, which, you know, have
+ been sufficiently laborious to prove that I deem the Art not lightly
+ to be approached; and that the attainment of excellence in it, may
+ laudably be made the principal object of intellectual pursuit by any
+ man, who, with reasonable consideration of circumstances, has faith in
+ his own impulses.
+
+ The Poem of 'Peter Bell', as the Prologue will show, was composed
+ under a belief that the Imagination not only does not require for its
+ exercise the intervention of supernatural agency, but that, though
+ such agency be excluded, the faculty may be called forth as
+ imperiously and for kindred results of pleasure, by incidents, within
+ the compass of poetic probability, in the humblest departments of
+ daily life. Since that Prologue was written, _you_ have exhibited most
+ splendid effects of judicious daring, in the opposite and usual
+ course. Let this acknowledgment make my peace with the lovers of the
+ supernatural; and I am persuaded it will be admitted, that to you, as
+ a Master in that province of the art, the following Tale, whether from
+ contrast or congruity, is not an unappropriate offering. Accept it,
+ then, as a public testimony of affectionate admiration from one with
+ whose name yours has been often coupled (to use your own words) for
+ evil and for good; and believe me to be, with earnest wishes that life
+ and health may be granted you to complete the many important works in
+ which you are engaged, and with high respect, Most faithfully yours,
+
+ WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
+
+ RYDAL MOUNT, April 7, 1819.
+
+
+[Written at Alfoxden. Founded upon an anecdote which I read in a
+newspaper, of an ass being found hanging his head over a canal in a
+wretched posture. Upon examination a dead body was found in the water,
+and proved to be the body of its master. The countenance, gait, and
+figure of Peter were taken from a wild rover with whom I walked from
+Builth, on the river Wye, downwards, nearly as far as the town of Hay.
+He told me strange stories. It has always been a pleasure to me through
+life, to catch at every opportunity that has occurred in my rambles of
+becoming acquainted with this class of people. The number of Peter's
+wives was taken from the trespasses, in this way, of a lawless creature,
+who lived in the county of Durham, and used to be attended by many
+women, sometimes not less than half a dozen, as disorderly as himself,
+and a story went in the country that he had been heard to say, while
+they were quarrelling, "Why can't ye be quiet, there's none so many of
+you?" Benoni, or the child of sorrow, I knew when I was a schoolboy. His
+mother had been deserted by a gentleman in the neighbourhood, she
+herself being a gentlewoman by birth. The circumstances of her story
+were told me by my dear old dame, Ann Tyson, who was her confidante. The
+lady died broken-hearted. In the woods of Alfoxden I used to take great
+delight in noticing the habits, tricks, and physiognomy of asses; and I
+have no doubt that I was thus put upon writing the poem out of liking
+for the creature that is often so dreadfully abused. The crescent moon,
+which makes such a figure in the prologue, assumed this character one
+evening while I was watching its beauty in front of Alfoxden House. I
+intended this poem for the volume before spoken of, but it was not
+published for more than twenty years afterwards. The worship of the
+Methodists, or Ranters, is often heard during the stillness of the
+summer evening, in the country, with affecting accompaniments of rural
+beauty. In both the psalmody and voice of the preacher there is, not
+unfrequently, much solemnity likely to impress the feelings of the
+rudest characters under favourable circumstances.--I. F.]
+
+
+Classed by Wordsworth among his "Poems of the Imagination."--ED.
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+ There's something in a flying horse,
+ There's something [1] in a huge balloon;
+ But through the clouds I'll never float
+ Until I have a little Boat,
+ Shaped like [2] the crescent-moon. 5
+
+ And now I _have_ a little Boat,
+ In shape a very crescent-moon:
+ Fast through the clouds my boat can sail;
+ But if perchance your faith should fail,
+ Look up--and you shall see me soon! 10
+
+ The woods, my Friends, are round you roaring,
+ Rocking and roaring like a sea;
+ The noise of danger's in [3] your ears,
+ And ye have all a thousand fears
+ Both for my little Boat and me! 15
+
+ Meanwhile untroubled I admire [4]
+ The pointed horns of my canoe;
+ And, did not pity touch my breast,
+ To see how ye are all distrest,
+ Till my ribs ached, I'd laugh at you! 20
+
+ Away we go, my Boat and I--
+ Frail man ne'er sate in such another;
+ Whether among the winds we strive,
+ Or deep into the clouds [5] we dive,
+ Each is contented with the other. 25
+
+ Away we go--and what care we
+ For treasons, tumults, and for wars?
+ We are as calm in our delight
+ As is the crescent-moon so bright
+ Among the scattered stars. 30
+
+ Up goes my Boat among [6] the stars
+ Through many a breathless field of light,
+ Through many a long blue field of ether,
+ Leaving ten thousand stars beneath her:
+ Up goes my little Boat so bright! 35
+
+ The Crab, the Scorpion, and the Bull--
+ We pry among them all; have shot
+ High o'er the red-haired race of Mars,
+ Covered from top to toe with scars;
+ Such company I like it not! 40
+
+ The towns in Saturn are decayed,
+ And melancholy Spectres throng them;--[7]
+ The Pleiads, that appear to kiss
+ Each other in the vast abyss,
+ With joy I sail among [8] them, 45
+
+ Swift Mercury resounds with mirth,
+ Great Jove is full of stately bowers;
+ But these, and all that they contain,
+ What are they to that tiny grain,
+ That little Earth [9] of ours? 50
+
+ Then back to Earth, the dear green Earth:--
+ Whole ages if I here should roam,
+ The world for my remarks and me
+ Would not a whit the better be;
+ I've left my heart at home. 55
+
+ See! there she is, [10] the matchless Earth!
+ There spreads the famed Pacific Ocean!
+ Old Andes thrusts yon craggy spear
+ Through the grey clouds; the Alps are here,
+ Like waters in commotion! 60
+
+ Yon tawny slip is Libya's sands
+ That silver thread the river Dnieper;
+ And look, where clothed in brightest green
+ Is a sweet Isle, of isles the Queen;
+ Ye fairies, from all evil keep her! 65
+
+ And see the town where I was born!
+ Around those happy fields we span
+ In boyish gambols;--I was lost
+ Where I have been, but on this coast
+ I feel I am a man. 70
+
+ Never did fifty things at once
+ Appear so lovely, never, never;--
+ How tunefully the forests ring!
+ To hear the earth's soft murmuring
+ Thus could I hang for ever! 75
+
+ "Shame on you!" cried my little Boat,
+ "Was ever such a homesick [11] Loon,
+ Within a living Boat to sit,
+ And make no better use of it;
+ A Boat twin-sister of the crescent-moon! 80
+
+ [12]
+
+ "Ne'er in the breast of full-grown Poet
+ Fluttered so faint a heart before;--
+ Was it the music of the spheres
+ That overpowered your mortal ears?
+ --Such din shall trouble them no more. 85
+
+ "These nether precincts do not lack
+ Charms of their own;--then come with me;
+ I want a comrade, and for you
+ There's nothing that I would not do;
+ Nought is there that you shall not see. 90
+
+ "Haste! and above Siberian snows
+ We'll sport amid the boreal morning;
+ Will mingle with her lustres gliding
+ Among the stars, the stars now hiding,
+ And now the stars adorning. 95
+
+ "I know the secrets of a land
+ Where human foot did never stray;
+ Fair is that land [13] as evening skies,
+ And cool, though in the depth it lies
+ Of burning Africa. 100
+
+ "Or we'll into the realm of Faery,
+ Among the lovely shades of things;
+ The shadowy forms of mountains bare,
+ And streams, and bowers, and ladies fair,
+ The shades of palaces and kings! 105
+
+ "Or, if you thirst with hardy zeal
+ Less quiet regions to explore,
+ Prompt voyage shall to you reveal
+ How earth and heaven are taught to feel
+ The might of magic lore!" 110
+
+ "My little vagrant Form of light,
+ My gay and beautiful Canoe,
+ Well have you played your friendly part;
+ As kindly take what from my heart
+ Experience forces--then adieu! 115
+
+ "Temptation lurks among your words;
+ But, while these pleasures you're pursuing
+ Without impediment or let,
+ No wonder if you quite forget [14]
+ What on the earth is doing. 120
+
+ "There was a time when all mankind
+ Did listen with a faith sincere
+ To tuneful tongues in mystery versed;
+ _Then_ Poets fearlessly rehearsed
+ The wonders of a wild career. 125
+
+ "Go--(but the world's a sleepy world,
+ And 'tis, I fear, an age too late)
+ Take with you some ambitious Youth!
+ For, restless Wanderer! I, in truth, [15]
+ Am all unfit to be your mate. 130
+
+ "Long have I loved what I behold,
+ The night that calms, the day that cheers;
+ The common growth of mother-earth
+ Suffices me--her tears, her mirth,
+ Her humblest mirth and tears. 135
+
+ "The dragon's wing, the magic ring,
+ I shall not covet for my dower,
+ If I along that lowly way
+ With sympathetic heart may stray,
+ And with a soul of power. 140
+
+ "These given, what more need I desire
+ To stir, to soothe, or elevate?
+ What nobler marvels than the mind
+ May in life's daily prospect find,
+ May find or there create? 145
+
+ "A potent wand doth Sorrow wield;
+ What spell so strong as guilty Fear!
+ Repentance is a tender Sprite;
+ If aught on earth have heavenly might,
+ 'Tis lodged within her silent tear. 150
+
+ "But grant my wishes,--let us now
+ Descend from this ethereal height;
+ Then take thy way, adventurous Skiff,
+ More daring far than Hippogriff,
+ And be thy own delight! 155
+
+ "To the stone-table in my garden,
+ Loved haunt of many a summer hour, [E]
+ The Squire is come: his daughter Bess
+ Beside him in the cool recess
+ Sits blooming like a flower. 160
+
+ "With these are many more convened;
+ They know not I have been so far;--
+ I see them there, in number nine,
+ Beneath the spreading Weymouth-pine!
+ I see them--there they are! 165
+
+ "There sits the Vicar and his Dame;
+ And there my good friend, Stephen Otter;
+ And, ere the light of evening fail,
+ To them I must relate the Tale
+ Of Peter Bell the Potter." 170
+
+ Off flew the Boat--away she flees,
+ Spurning her freight with indignation! [16]
+ "And I, as well as I was able,
+ On two poor legs, toward my stone-table
+ Limped on with sore vexation. [17] 175
+
+ "O, here he is!" cried little Bess--
+ She saw me at the garden-door;
+ "We've waited anxiously and long,"
+ They cried, and all around me throng,
+ Full nine of them or more! 180
+
+ "Reproach me not--your fears be still--
+ Be thankful we again have met;--
+ Resume, my Friends! within the shade
+ Your seats, and quickly [18] shall be paid
+ The well-remembered debt." 185
+
+ I spake with faltering voice, like one
+ Not wholly rescued from the pale
+ Of a wild dream, or worse illusion;
+ But, straight, to cover my confusion,
+ Began the promised Tale. [19] 190
+
+
+
+PART FIRST
+
+ All by the moonlight river side
+ Groaned the poor Beast--alas! in vain;
+ The staff was raised to loftier height,
+ And the blows fell with heavier weight
+ As Peter struck--and struck again. [20] 195
+
+ [21]
+
+ "Hold!" cried the Squire, "against the rules
+ Of common sense you're surely sinning;
+ This leap is for us all too bold; [22]
+ Who Peter was, let that be told,
+ And start from the beginning." 200
+
+--"A Potter, [F] Sir, he was by trade,"
+ Said I, becoming quite collected;
+ "And wheresoever he appeared,
+ Full twenty times was Peter feared
+ For once that Peter was respected. 205
+
+ "He two-and-thirty years or more,
+ Had been a wild and woodland rover;
+ Had heard the Atlantic surges roar
+ On farthest Cornwall's rocky shore,
+ And trod the cliffs of Dover. 210
+
+ "And he had seen Caernarvon's towers,
+ And well he knew the spire of Sarum;
+ And he had been where Lincoln bell
+ Flings o'er the fen that ponderous knell--
+ A far-renowned alarum. [23] 215
+
+ "At Doncaster, at York, and Leeds,
+ And merry Carlisle had he been;
+ And all along the Lowlands fair,
+ All through the bonny shire of Ayr;
+ And far as Aberdeen. 220
+
+ "And he had been at Inverness;
+ And Peter, by the mountain-rills,
+ Had danced his round with Highland lasses;
+ And he had lain beside his asses
+ On lofty Cheviot Hills: 225
+
+ "And he had trudged through Yorkshire dales,
+ Among the rocks and winding _scars_;
+ Where deep and low the hamlets lie
+ Beneath their little patch of sky
+ And little lot of stars: 230
+
+ "And all along the indented coast,
+ Bespattered with the salt-sea foam;
+ Where'er a knot of houses lay
+ On headland, or in hollow bay;--
+ Sure never man like him did roam! 235
+
+ "As well might Peter, in the Fleet,
+ Have been fast bound, a begging debtor;--
+ He travelled here, he travelled there;--
+ But not the value of a hair
+ Was heart or head the better. 240
+
+ "He roved among the vales and streams,
+ In the green wood and hollow dell;
+ They were his dwellings night and day,--
+ But nature ne'er could find the way
+ Into the heart of Peter Bell. 245
+
+ "In vain, through every changeful year,
+ Did Nature lead him as before;
+ A primrose by a river's brim
+ A yellow primrose was to him,
+ And it was nothing more. 250
+
+ "Small change it made in Peter's heart
+ To see his gentle panniered train
+ With more than vernal pleasure feeding,
+ Where'er the tender grass was leading
+ Its earliest green along the lane. 255
+
+ "In vain, through water, earth, and air,
+ The soul of happy sound was spread,
+ When Peter on some April morn,
+ Beneath the broom or budding thorn,
+ Made the warm earth his lazy bed. 260
+
+ "At noon, when, by the forest's edge
+ He lay beneath the branches high,
+ The soft blue sky did never melt
+ Into his heart; he never felt
+ The witchery of the soft blue sky! 265
+
+ "On a fair prospect some have looked
+ And felt, as I have heard them say,
+ As if the moving time had been
+ A thing as steadfast as the scene
+ On which they gazed themselves away. 270
+
+ "Within the breast of Peter Bell
+ These silent raptures found no place; [24]
+ He was a Carl as wild and rude
+ As ever hue-and-cry pursued,
+ As ever ran a felon's race. 275
+
+ "Of all that lead a lawless life,
+ Of all that love their lawless lives,
+ In city or in village small,
+ He was the wildest far of all;--
+ He had a dozen wedded wives. 280
+
+ "Nay, start not!--wedded wives--and twelve!
+ But how one wife could e'er come near him,
+ In simple truth I cannot tell;
+ For, be it said of Peter Bell,
+ To see him was to fear him. 285
+
+ "Though Nature could not touch his heart
+ By lovely forms, and silent [25] weather,
+ And tender sounds, yet you might see
+ At once, that Peter Bell and she
+ Had often been together. 290
+
+ "A savage wildness round him hung
+ As of a dweller out of doors;
+ In his whole figure and his mien
+ A savage character was seen
+ Of mountains and of dreary moors. 295
+
+ "To all the unshaped half-human thoughts
+ Which solitary Nature feeds
+ 'Mid summer storms or winter's ice,
+ Had Peter joined whatever vice
+ The cruel city breeds. 300
+
+ "His face was keen as is the wind
+ That cuts along the hawthorn-fence;
+ Of courage you saw little there,
+ But, in its stead, a medley air
+ Of cunning and of impudence. 305
+
+ "He had a dark and sidelong walk,
+ And long and slouching was his gait;
+ Beneath his looks so bare and bold,
+ You might perceive, his spirit cold
+ Was playing with some inward bait. 310
+
+ "His forehead wrinkled was and furred;
+ A work, one half of which was done
+ By thinking of his '_whens_,' and '_hows_';
+ And half, by knitting of his brows
+ Beneath the glaring sun. 315
+
+ "There was a hardness in his cheek,
+ There was a hardness in his eye,
+ As if the man had fixed his face,
+ In many a solitary place,
+ Against the wind and open sky!" 320
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+ One night, (and now my little Bess!
+ We've reached at last the promised Tale;)
+ One beautiful November night,
+ When the full moon was shining bright
+ Upon the rapid river Swale, 325
+
+ Along the river's winding banks
+ Peter was travelling all alone;
+ Whether to buy or sell, or led
+ By pleasure running in his head,
+ To me was never known. 330
+
+ He trudged along through copse and brake,
+ He trudged along o'er hill and dale;
+ Nor for the moon cared he a tittle,
+ And for the stars he cared as little,
+ And for the murmuring river Swale. 335
+
+ But, chancing to espy a path
+ That promised to cut short the way;
+ As many a wiser man hath done,
+ He left a trusty guide for one
+ That might his steps betray. 340
+
+ To a thick wood he soon is brought
+ Where cheerily [26] his course he weaves,
+ And whistling loud may yet be heard,
+ Though often buried, like a bird
+ Darkling, among the boughs and leaves. 345
+
+ But quickly Peter's mood is changed,
+ And on he drives with cheeks that burn
+ In downright fury and in wrath;--
+ There's little sign the treacherous path
+ Will to the road return! 350
+
+ The path grows dim, and dimmer still;
+ Now up, now down, the Rover wends,
+ With all the sail that he can carry,
+ Till brought to a deserted quarry--[27]
+ And there the pathway ends. 355
+
+ [28]
+
+ He paused--for shadows of strange shape,
+ Massy and black, before him lay;
+ But through the dark, and through the cold, [29]
+ And through the yawning fissures old,
+ Did Peter boldly press his way 360
+
+ Right through the quarry;--and behold
+ A scene of soft and lovely hue!
+ Where blue and grey, and tender green,
+ Together make [30] as sweet a scene
+ As ever human eye did view. 365
+
+ Beneath the clear blue sky he saw
+ A little field of meadow ground;
+ But field or meadow name it not;
+ Call it of earth a small green plot,
+ With rocks encompassed round. 370
+
+ The Swale flowed under the grey rocks,
+ But he flowed quiet and unseen;--
+ You need a strong and stormy gale
+ To bring the noises of the Swale
+ To that green spot, so calm and green! 375
+
+ [31]
+
+ And is there no one dwelling here,
+ No hermit with his beads and glass?
+ And does no little cottage look
+ Upon this soft and fertile nook?
+ Does no one live near this green grass? 380
+
+ Across the [32] deep and quiet spot
+ Is Peter driving through the grass--
+ And now has reached the skirting trees; [33]
+ When, turning round his head, he sees
+ A solitary Ass. 385
+
+ [34]
+
+ "A prize!" cries Peter--but he first
+ Must spy about him far and near: [35]
+ There's not a single house in sight,
+ No woodman's hut, no cottage light--
+ Peter, you need not fear! 390
+
+ There's nothing to be seen but woods,
+ And rocks that spread a hoary gleam,
+ And this one Beast, that from the bed
+ Of the green meadow hangs his head
+ Over the silent stream. 395
+
+ His head is with a halter bound;
+ The halter seizing, Peter leapt
+ Upon the Creature's back, [36] and plied
+ With ready heels his shaggy side; [37]
+ But still the Ass his station kept. 400
+
+ [38]
+
+ Then Peter gave a sudden jerk,
+ A jerk that from a dungeon-floor
+ Would have pulled up an iron ring;
+ But still the heavy-headed Thing
+ Stood just as he had stood before! 405
+
+ Quoth Peter, leaping from his seat,
+ "There is some plot against me laid";
+ Once more the little meadow-ground
+ And all the hoary cliffs around
+ He cautiously surveyed. 410
+
+ All, all is silent--rocks and woods,
+ All still and silent--far and near!
+ Only the Ass, with motion dull,
+ Upon the pivot of his skull
+ Turns round his long left ear. 415
+
+ Thought Peter, What can mean all this?
+ Some ugly witchcraft must be here!
+--Once more the Ass, with motion dull,
+ Upon the pivot of his skull
+ Turned round his long left ear. 420
+
+ Suspicion ripened into dread;
+ Yet with deliberate action slow,
+ His staff high-raising, in the pride
+ Of skill, upon the sounding hide, [39]
+ He dealt a sturdy blow. 425
+
+ The poor Ass staggered with the shock;
+ And then, as if to take his ease, [40]
+ In quiet uncomplaining mood,
+ Upon the spot where he had stood,
+ Dropped gently down upon his knees; 430
+
+ As gently on [41] his side he fell;
+ And by the river's brink did lie;
+ And, while [42] he lay like one that mourned,
+ The patient Beast on Peter turned
+ His shining hazel eye. [43] 435
+
+ 'Twas but one mild, reproachful look,
+ A look more tender than severe;
+ And straight in sorrow, not in dread,
+ He turned the eye-ball in his head
+ Towards the smooth river [44] deep and clear. 440
+
+ Upon the Beast the sapling rings;
+ His lank sides heaved, [45] his limbs they stirred;
+ He gave a groan, and then another,
+ Of that which went before the brother,
+ And then he gave a third. 445
+
+ All by the moonlight river side
+ He gave three miserable groans;
+ And not till now hath Peter seen
+ How gaunt the Creature is,--how lean
+ And sharp his staring bones! [46] 450
+
+ With legs stretched out and stiff he lay:--
+ No word of kind commiseration
+ Fell at the sight from Peter's tongue;
+ With hard contempt his heart was wrung,
+ With hatred and vexation. 455
+
+ The meagre beast lay still as death;
+ And Peter's lips with fury quiver;
+ Quoth he, "You little mulish dog,
+ I'll fling your carcass like a log
+ Head-foremost down the river!" 460
+
+ An impious oath confirmed the threat--
+ Whereat from the earth on which he lay [47]
+ To all the echoes, south and north,
+ And east and west, the Ass sent forth
+ A long and clamorous bray! [48] 465
+
+ This outcry, on the heart of Peter,
+ Seems like a note of joy to strike,--
+ Joy at [49] the heart of Peter knocks;
+ But in the echo of the rocks
+ Was something Peter did not like. 470
+
+ Whether to cheer his coward breast,
+ Or that he could not break the chain,
+ In this serene and solemn hour,
+ Twined round him by demoniac power,
+ To the blind work he turned again. 475
+
+ Among the rocks and winding crags;
+ Among the mountains far away;
+ Once more the Ass did lengthen out
+ More ruefully a deep-drawn shout,
+ The hard dry see-saw of his horrible bray! [50] 480
+
+ What is there now in Peter's heart!
+ Or whence the might of this strange sound?
+ The moon uneasy looked and dimmer,
+ The broad blue heavens appeared to glimmer,
+ And the rocks staggered all around--485
+
+ From Peter's hand the sapling dropped!
+ Threat has he none to execute;
+ "If any one should come and see
+ That I am here, they'll think," quoth he,
+ "I'm helping this poor dying brute." 490
+
+ He scans the Ass from limb to limb,
+ And ventures now to uplift his eyes;
+ More steady looks the moon, and clear,
+ More like themselves the rocks appear
+ And touch more quiet skies. [51] 495
+
+ His scorn returns--his hate revives;
+ He stoops the Ass's neck to seize
+ With malice--that again takes flight;
+ For in the pool a startling sight
+ Meets him, among the inverted trees. [52] 500
+
+ Is it the moon's distorted face?
+ The ghost-like image of a cloud?
+ Is it a gallows [53] there portrayed?
+ Is Peter of himself afraid?
+ Is it a coffin,--or a shroud? 505
+
+ A grisly idol hewn in stone?
+ Or imp from witch's lap let fall?
+ Perhaps a ring of shining fairies?
+ Such as pursue their feared vagaries [54]
+ In sylvan bower, or haunted hall? 510
+
+ Is it a fiend that to a stake
+ Of fire his desperate self is tethering?
+ Or stubborn spirit doomed to yell
+ In solitary ward or cell,
+ Ten thousand miles from all his brethren? 515
+
+ [55]
+
+ Never did pulse so quickly throb,
+ And never heart so loudly panted; [56]
+ He looks, he cannot choose but look;
+ Like some one reading in a book--[57]
+ A book that is enchanted. 520
+
+ Ah, well-a-day for Peter Bell!
+ He will be turned to iron soon,
+ Meet Statue for the court of Fear!
+ His hat is up--and every hair
+ Bristles, and whitens in the moon! 525
+
+ He looks, he ponders, looks again;
+ He sees a motion--hears a groan;
+ His eyes will burst--his heart will break--
+ He gives a loud and frightful shriek,
+ And back he falls, [58] as if his life were flown! 530
+
+
+PART SECOND
+
+ We left our Hero in a trance,
+ Beneath the alders, near the river;
+ The Ass is by the river-side,
+ And, where the feeble breezes glide,
+ Upon the stream the moonbeams quiver. 535
+
+ A happy respite! but at length
+ He feels the glimmering of the moon;
+ Wakes with glazed eye, and feebly sighing--
+ To sink, perhaps, where he is lying,
+ Into a second swoon! [59] 540
+
+ He lifts his head, he sees his staff;
+ He touches--'tis to him a treasure!
+ Faint recollection seems to tell
+ That he is yet where mortals dwell--
+ A thought received with languid pleasure! 545
+
+ His head upon his elbow propped,
+ Becoming less and less perplexed,
+ Sky-ward he looks--to rock and wood--
+ And then--upon the glassy [60] flood
+ His wandering eye is fixed. 550
+
+ Thought he, that is the face of one
+ In his last sleep securely bound!
+ So toward the stream his head he bent,
+ And downward thrust his staff, intent
+ The river's depth to sound. [61] 555
+
+ _Now_--like a tempest-shattered bark,
+ That overwhelmed and prostrate lies,
+ And in a moment to the verge
+ Is lifted of a foaming surge--
+ Full suddenly the Ass doth rise! 560
+
+ His staring bones all shake with joy,
+ And close by Peter's side he stands:
+ While Peter o'er the river bends,
+ The little Ass his neck extends,
+ And fondly licks his hands. 565
+
+ Such life is in the Ass's eyes,
+ Such life is in his limbs and ears;
+ That Peter Bell, if he had been
+ The veriest coward ever seen,
+ Must now have thrown aside his fears. 570
+
+ The Ass looks on--and to his work
+ Is Peter quietly resigned;
+ He touches here--he touches there--
+ And now among the dead man's hair
+ His sapling Peter has entwined. 575
+
+ He pulls--and looks--and pulls again;
+ And he whom the poor Ass had lost,
+ The man who had been four days dead,
+ Head-foremost from the river's bed
+ Uprises like a ghost! [G] 580
+
+ And Peter draws him to dry land;
+ And through the brain of Peter pass
+ Some poignant twitches, fast and faster;
+ "No doubt," quoth he, "he is the Master
+ Of this poor miserable Ass!" 585
+
+ The meagre shadow that looks on--
+ What would he now? [62] what is he doing?
+ His sudden fit of joy is flown,--
+ He on his knees hath laid him down,
+ As if he were his grief renewing; 590
+
+ But no--that Peter on his back
+ Must mount, he shows well as he can: [63]
+ Thought Peter then, come weal or woe
+ I'll do what he would have me do,
+ In pity to this poor drowned man. 595
+
+ With that resolve he boldly mounts [64]
+ Upon the pleased and thankful Ass;
+ And then, without a moment's stay,
+ That [65] earnest Creature turned away,
+ Leaving the body on the grass. 600
+
+ Intent upon his faithful watch,
+ The Beast four days and nights had past;
+ A sweeter meadow ne'er was seen,
+ And there the Ass four days had been,
+ Nor ever once did break his fast: 605
+
+ Yet firm his step, and stout his heart;
+ The mead is crossed--the quarry's mouth
+ Is reached; but there the trusty guide
+ Into a thicket turns aside,
+ And deftly ambles [66] towards the south. 610
+
+ When hark a burst of doleful sound!
+ And Peter honestly might say,
+ The like came never to his ears,
+ Though he has been, full thirty years,
+ A rover--night and day! 615
+
+ 'Tis not a plover of the moors,
+ 'Tis not a bittern of the fen;
+ Nor can it be a barking fox,
+ Nor night-bird chambered in the rocks,
+ Nor wild-cat in a woody glen! 620
+
+ The Ass is startled--and stops short
+ Right in the middle of the thicket;
+ And Peter, wont to whistle loud
+ Whether alone or in a crowd,
+ Is silent as a silent cricket. 625
+
+ What ails you now, my little Bess?
+ Well may you tremble and look grave!
+ This cry--that rings along the wood,
+ This cry--that floats adown the flood,
+ Comes from the entrance of a cave: 630
+
+ I see a blooming Wood-boy there,
+ And if I had the power to say
+ How sorrowful the wanderer is,
+ Your heart would be as sad as his
+ Till you had kissed his tears away! 635
+
+ Grasping [67] a hawthorn branch in hand,
+ All bright with berries ripe and red,
+ Into the cavern's mouth he peeps;
+ Thence back into the moonlight creeps;
+ Whom seeks he--whom?--the silent dead: [68] 640
+
+ His father!--Him doth he require--
+ Him hath he sought [69] with fruitless pains,
+ Among the rocks, behind the trees;
+ Now creeping on his hands and knees,
+ Now running o'er the open plains. 645
+
+ And hither is he come at last,
+ When he through such a day has gone,
+ By this dark cave to be distrest
+ Like a poor bird--her plundered nest
+ Hovering around with dolorous moan! 650
+
+ Of that intense and piercing cry
+ The listening Ass conjectures well; [70]
+ Wild as it is, he there can read
+ Some intermingled notes that plead
+ With touches irresistible. 655
+
+ But Peter--when he saw the Ass
+ Not only stop but turn, and change
+ The cherished tenor of his pace
+ That lamentable cry [71] to chase--
+ It wrought in him conviction strange; 660
+
+ A faith that, for the dead man's sake
+ And this poor slave who loved him well,
+ Vengeance upon his head will fall,
+ Some visitation worse than all
+ Which ever till this night befel. 665
+
+ Meanwhile the Ass to reach his home, [72]
+ Is striving stoutly as he may;
+ But, while he climbs the woody hill,
+ The cry grows weak--and weaker still;
+ And now at last it dies away. 670
+
+ So with his freight the Creature turns
+ Into a gloomy grove of beech,
+ Along the shade with footsteps [73] true
+ Descending slowly, till the two
+ The open moonlight reach. 675
+
+ And there, along the [74] narrow dell,
+ A fair smooth pathway you discern,
+ A length of green and open road--
+ As if it from a fountain flowed--
+ Winding away between the fern. 680
+
+ The rocks that tower on either side
+ Build up a wild fantastic scene;
+ Temples like those among the Hindoos,
+ And mosques, and spires, and abbey-windows,
+ And castles all with ivy green! 685
+
+ And, while the Ass pursues his way,
+ Along this solitary dell,
+ As pensively his steps advance,
+ The mosques and spires change countenance,
+ And look at Peter Bell! 690
+
+ That unintelligible cry
+ Hath left him high in preparation,--
+ Convinced that he, or soon or late,
+ This very night will meet his fate--
+ And so he sits in expectation! 695
+
+ [75]
+
+ The strenuous Animal hath clomb
+ With the green path; and now he wends
+ Where, shining like the smoothest sea,
+ In undisturbed immensity
+ A [76] level plain extends. 700
+
+ But whence this faintly-rustling sound
+ By which the journeying pair are chased?
+--A withered leaf is close behind, [77]
+ Light plaything for the sportive wind
+ Upon that solitary waste. 705
+
+ When Peter spied the moving thing,
+ It only doubled his distress; [78]
+ "Where there is not a bush or tree,
+ The very leaves they follow me--
+ So huge hath been my wickedness!" 710
+
+ To a close lane they now are come,
+ Where, as before, the enduring Ass
+ Moves on without a moment's stop,
+ Nor once turns round his head to crop
+ A bramble-leaf or blade of grass. 715
+
+ Between the hedges as they go,
+ The white dust sleeps upon the lane;
+ And Peter, ever and anon
+ Back-looking, sees, upon a stone,
+ Or in the dust, a crimson stain. 720
+
+ A stain--as of a drop of blood
+ By moonlight made more faint and wan;
+ Ha! why these sinkings of despair? [79]
+ He knows not how the blood comes there--
+ And Peter is a wicked man. 725
+
+ At length he spies a bleeding wound,
+ Where he had struck the Ass's head; [80]
+ He sees the blood, knows what it is,--
+ A glimpse of sudden joy was his,
+ But then it quickly fled; 730
+
+ Of him whom sudden death had seized
+ He thought,--of thee, O faithful Ass!
+ And once again those ghastly pains,
+ Shoot to and fro through heart and reins,
+ And through his brain like lightning pass. [81] 735
+
+
+PART THIRD
+
+ I've heard of one, a gentle Soul,
+ Though given to sadness and to gloom,
+ And for the fact will vouch,--one night
+ It chanced that by a taper's light
+ This man was reading in his room; 740
+
+ Bending, as you or I might bend
+ At night o'er any pious book, [82]
+ When sudden blackness overspread
+ The snow white page on which he read,
+ And made the good man round him look. 745
+
+ The chamber walls were dark all round,--
+ And to his book he turned again;
+--The light had left the lonely taper, [83]
+ And formed itself upon the paper
+ Into large letters--bright and plain! 750
+
+ The godly book was in his hand--
+ And, on the page, more black than coal,
+ Appeared, set forth in strange array,
+ A _word_--which to his dying day
+ Perplexed the good man's gentle soul. 755
+
+ The ghostly word, thus plainly seen, [84]
+ Did never from his lips depart;
+ But he hath said, poor gentle wight!
+ It brought full many a sin to light
+ Out of the bottom of his heart. 760
+
+ Dread Spirits! to confound the meek [85]
+ Why wander from your course so far,
+ Disordering colour, form, and stature!
+--Let good men feel the soul of nature,
+ And see things as they are. 765
+
+ Yet, potent Spirits! well I know,
+ How ye, that play with soul and sense,
+ Are not unused to trouble friends
+ Of goodness, for most gracious ends--[86]
+ And this I speak in reverence! 770
+
+ But might I give advice to you,
+ Whom in my fear I love so well;
+ From men of pensive virtue go,
+ Dread Beings! and your empire show
+ On hearts like that of Peter Bell. 775
+
+ Your presence often have I [87] felt
+ In darkness and the stormy night;
+ And, with like force, [88] if need there be,
+ Ye can put forth your agency
+ When earth is calm, and heaven is bright. 780
+
+ Then, coming from the wayward world,
+ That powerful world in which ye dwell,
+ Come, Spirits of the Mind! and try,
+ To-night, beneath the moonlight sky,
+ What may be done with Peter Bell! 785
+
+--O, would that some more skilful voice
+ My further labour might prevent!
+ Kind Listeners, that around me sit,
+ I feel that I am all unfit
+ For such high argument. 790
+
+ I've played, I've danced, [89] with my narration;
+ I loitered long ere I began:
+ Ye waited then on my good pleasure;
+ Pour out indulgence still, in measure
+ As liberal as ye can! 795
+
+ Our Travellers, ye remember well,
+ Are thridding a sequestered lane;
+ And Peter many tricks is trying,
+ And many anodynes applying,
+ To ease his conscience of its pain. 800
+
+ By this his heart is lighter far;
+ And, finding that he can account
+ So snugly [90] for that crimson stain,
+ His evil spirit up again
+ Does like an empty bucket mount. 805
+
+ And Peter is a deep logician
+ Who hath no lack of wit mercurial;
+ "Blood drops--leaves rustle--yet," quoth he,
+ "This poor man never, but for me,
+ Could have had Christian burial. 810
+
+ "And, say the best you can, 'tis plain,
+ That here has [91] been some wicked dealing;
+ No doubt the devil in me wrought;
+ I'm not the man who could have thought
+ An Ass like this was worth the stealing!" 815
+
+ So from his pocket Peter takes
+ His shining horn tobacco-box;
+ And, in a light and careless way,
+ As men who with their purpose play,
+ Upon the lid he knocks. 820
+
+ Let them whose voice can stop the clouds,
+ Whose cunning eye can see the wind,
+ Tell to a curious world the cause
+ Why, making here a sudden pause,
+ The Ass turned round his head, and _grinned_. 825
+
+ Appalling process! I have marked
+ The like on heath, in lonely wood;
+ And, verily, have seldom met
+ A spectacle more hideous--yet
+ It suited Peter's present mood. 830
+
+ And, grinning in his turn, his teeth
+ He in jocose defiance showed--
+ When, to upset [92] his spiteful mirth,
+ A murmur, pent within the earth,
+ In the dead earth beneath the road, 835
+
+ Rolled audibly! it swept along,
+ A muffled noise--a rumbling sound!--
+ 'Twas by a troop of miners made,
+ Plying with gunpowder their trade,
+ Some twenty fathoms underground. 840
+
+ Small cause of dire effect! for, surely,
+ If ever mortal, King or Cotter,
+ Believed that earth was charged to quake
+ And yawn for his unworthy sake,
+ 'Twas Peter Bell the Potter. 845
+
+ But, as an oak in breathless air
+ Will stand though to the centre hewn;
+ Or as the weakest things, if frost
+ Have stiffened them, maintain their post;
+ So he, beneath the gazing moon!--850
+
+ The Beast bestriding thus, he reached
+ A spot where, in a sheltering cove, [93]
+ A little chapel stands alone,
+ With greenest ivy overgrown,
+ And tufted with an ivy grove; 855
+
+ Dying insensibly away
+ From human thoughts and purposes,
+ It seemed--wall, window, roof and tower [94]--
+ To bow to some transforming power,
+ And blend with the surrounding trees. 860
+
+ As ruinous a place it was,
+ Thought Peter, in the shire of Fife
+ That served my turn, when following still
+ From land to land a reckless will [95]
+ I married my sixth wife! 865
+
+ The unheeding Ass moves slowly on,
+ And now is passing by an inn
+ Brim-full of a carousing crew,
+ That make, [96] with curses not a few,
+ An uproar and a drunken din. 870
+
+ I cannot well express the thoughts
+ Which Peter in those noises found;--
+ A stifling power compressed his frame,
+ While-as a swimming darkness came [97]
+ Over that dull and dreary sound. 875
+
+ For well did Peter know the sound;
+ The language of those drunken joys
+ To him, a jovial soul, I ween,
+ But a few hours ago, had been
+ A gladsome and a welcome noise. 880
+
+ _Now_, [98] turned adrift into the past,
+ He finds no solace in his course;
+ Like planet-stricken men of yore,
+ He trembles, smitten to the core
+ By strong compunction and remorse. 885
+
+ But, more than all, his heart is stung
+ To think of one, almost a child;
+ A sweet and playful Highland girl,
+ As light and beauteous as a squirrel,
+ As beauteous and as wild! 890
+
+ Her dwelling was a lonely house, [99]
+ A cottage in a heathy dell;
+ And she put on her gown of green,
+ And left her mother at sixteen,
+ And followed Peter Bell. 895
+
+ But many good and pious thoughts
+ Had she; and, in the kirk to pray,
+ Two long Scotch miles, through rain or snow,
+ To kirk she had been used to go,
+ Twice every Sabbath-day. 900
+
+ And, when she followed Peter Bell,
+ It was to lead an honest life;
+ For he, with tongue not used to falter,
+ Had pledged his troth before the altar
+ To love her as his wedded wife. 905
+
+ A mother's hope is hers;--but soon
+ She drooped and pined like one forlorn;
+ From Scripture she a name [100] did borrow;
+ Benoni, or the child of sorrow,
+ She called her babe unborn. 910
+
+ For she had learned how Peter lived,
+ And took it in most grievous part;
+ She to the very bone was worn,
+ And, ere that little child was born,
+ Died of a broken heart. 915
+
+ And now the Spirits of the Mind
+ Are busy with poor Peter Bell;
+ Upon the rights of visual sense
+ Usurping, with a prevalence
+ More terrible than magic spell. [101] 920
+
+ Close by a brake of flowering furze
+ (Above it shivering aspens play)
+ He sees an unsubstantial creature,
+ His very self in form and feature,
+ Not four yards from the broad highway: 925
+
+ And stretched beneath the furze he sees
+ The Highland girl--it is no other;
+ And hears her crying as she cried,
+ The very moment that she died,
+ "My mother! oh my mother!" 930
+
+ The sweat pours down from Peter's face,
+ So grievous is his heart's contrition;
+ With agony his eye-balls ache
+ While he beholds by the furze-brake
+ This miserable vision! 935
+
+ Calm is the well-deserving brute,
+ _His_ peace hath no offence betrayed;
+ But now, while down that slope he wends,
+ A voice to Peter's ear [102] ascends,
+ Resounding from the woody glade: 940
+
+ The voice, though clamorous as a horn
+ Re-echoed by a naked rock,
+ Comes from that tabernacle--List! [103]
+ Within, a fervent [104] Methodist
+ Is preaching to no heedless flock! 945
+
+ "Repent! repent!" he cries aloud,
+ "While yet ye may find mercy;--strive
+ To love the Lord with all your might;
+ Turn to him, seek him day and night,
+ And save your souls alive! 950
+
+ "Repent! repent! though ye have gone,
+ Through paths of wickedness and woe,
+ After the Babylonian harlot;
+ And, though your sins be red as scarlet,
+ They shall be white as snow!" 955
+
+ Even as he passed the door, these words
+ Did plainly come to Peter's ears;
+ And they such joyful tidings were,
+ The joy was more than he could bear!--
+ He melted into tears. 960
+
+ Sweet tears of hope and tenderness!
+ And fast they fell, a plenteous shower!
+ His nerves, his sinews seemed to melt;
+ Through all his iron frame was felt
+ A gentle, a relaxing, power! 965
+
+ Each fibre of his frame was weak;
+ Weak all the animal within;
+ But, in its helplessness, grew mild
+ And gentle as an infant child,
+ An infant that has known no sin. 970
+
+ 'Tis said, meek Beast! that, through Heaven's grace,[105] [H]
+ He not unmoved did notice now
+ The cross [I] upon thy shoulder scored,
+ For lasting impress, by the Lord [106]
+ To whom all human-kind shall bow; 975
+
+ Memorial of his touch--that day [107]
+ When Jesus humbly deigned to ride,
+ Entering the proud Jerusalem,
+ By an immeasurable stream [J]
+ Of shouting people deified! 980
+
+ Meanwhile the persevering Ass,
+ Turned towards a gate that hung in view
+ Across a shady lane; [108] his chest
+ Against the yielding gate he pressed
+ And quietly passed through. 985
+
+ And up the stony lane he goes;
+ No ghost more softly ever trod;
+ Among the stones and pebbles, he
+ Sets down his hoofs inaudibly,
+ As if with felt his hoofs were shod. 990
+
+ Along the lane the trusty Ass
+ Went twice two hundred yards or more,
+ And no one could have guessed his aim,--
+ Till to a lonely house he came,
+ And stopped beside the door. [109] 995
+
+ Thought Peter, 'tis the poor man's home!
+ He listens--not a sound is heard
+ Save from the trickling household rill;
+ But, stepping o'er the cottage-sill,
+ Forthwith a little Girl appeared. 1000
+
+ She to the Meeting-house was bound
+ In hopes [110] some tidings there to gather:
+ No glimpse it is, no doubtful gleam;
+ She saw--and uttered with a scream,
+ "My father! here's my father!" 1005
+
+ The very word was plainly heard,
+ Heard plainly by the wretched Mother--
+ Her joy was like a deep affright:
+ And forth she rushed into the light,
+ And saw it was another! 1010
+
+ And, instantly, upon the earth,
+ Beneath the full moon shining bright,
+ Close to [111] the Ass's feet she fell;
+ At the same moment Peter Bell
+ Dismounts in most unhappy plight. 1015
+
+ As he beheld the Woman lie [112]
+ Breathless and motionless, the mind
+ Of Peter sadly was confused;
+ But, though to such demands unused,
+ And helpless almost as the blind, 1020
+
+ He raised her up; and, while he held
+ Her body propped against his knee,
+ The Woman waked--and when she spied
+ The poor Ass standing by her side,
+ She moaned most bitterly. 1025
+
+ "Oh! God be praised--my heart's at ease--
+ For he is dead--I know it well!"
+--At this she wept a bitter flood;
+ And, in the best way that he could,
+ His tale did Peter tell. 1030
+
+ He trembles--he is pale as death;
+ His voice is weak with perturbation;
+ He turns aside his head, he pauses;
+ Poor Peter from a thousand causes,
+ Is crippled sore in his narration. 1035
+
+ At length she learned how he espied
+ The Ass in that small meadow-ground;
+ And that her Husband now lay dead,
+ Beside that luckless river's bed
+ In which he had been drowned. 1040
+
+ A piercing look the Widow [113] cast
+ Upon the Beast that near her stands;
+ She sees 'tis he, that 'tis the same;
+ She calls the poor Ass by his name,
+ And wrings, and wrings her hands. 1045
+
+ "O wretched loss--untimely stroke!
+ If he had died upon his bed!
+ He knew not one forewarning pain;
+ He never will come home again--
+ Is dead, for ever dead!" 1050
+
+ Beside the Woman Peter stands;
+ His heart is opening more and more;
+ A holy sense pervades his mind;
+ He feels what he for human-kind
+ Had never felt before. 1055
+
+ At length, by Peter's arm sustained,
+ The Woman rises from the ground--
+ "Oh, mercy! something must be done,
+ My little Rachel, you must run,--
+ Some willing neighbour must be found. 1060
+
+ "Make haste--my little Rachel--do,
+ The first you meet with--bid him come,
+ Ask him to lend his horse to-night,
+ And this good Man, whom Heaven requite,
+ Will help to bring the body home." 1065
+
+ Away goes Rachel weeping loud;--
+ An Infant, waked by her distress,
+ Makes in the house a piteous cry;
+ And Peter hears the Mother sigh,
+ "Seven are they, and all fatherless!" 1070
+
+ And now is Peter taught to feel
+ That man's heart is a holy thing;
+ And Nature, through a world of death,
+ Breathes into him a second breath,
+ More searching than the breath of spring. 1075
+
+ Upon a stone the Woman sits
+ In agony of silent grief--
+ From his own thoughts did Peter start;
+ He longs to press her to his heart,
+ From love that cannot find relief. 1080
+
+ But roused, as if through every limb
+ Had past a sudden shock of dread,
+ The Mother o'er the threshold flies,
+ And up the cottage stairs [114] she hies,
+ And on the pillow lays [115] her burning head. 1085
+
+ And Peter turns his steps aside
+ Into a shade of darksome trees,
+ Where he sits down, he knows not how,
+ With his hands pressed against his brow,
+ His elbows on [116] his tremulous knees. 1090
+
+ There, self-involved, does Peter sit
+ Until no sign of life he makes,
+ As if his mind were sinking deep
+ Through years that have been long asleep!
+ The trance is passed away--he wakes; 1095
+
+ He lifts [117] his head--and sees the Ass
+ Yet standing in the clear moonshine;
+ "When shall I be as good as thou?
+ Oh! would, poor beast, that I had now
+ A heart but half as good as thine!" 1100
+
+ But _He_--who deviously hath sought
+ His Father through the lonesome woods,
+ Hath sought, proclaiming to the ear
+ Of night his grief and sorrowful fear--[118]
+ He comes, escaped from fields and floods;--1105
+
+ With weary pace is drawing nigh;
+ He sees the Ass--and nothing living
+ Had ever such a fit of joy
+ As hath [119] this little orphan Boy,
+ For he has no misgiving! 1110
+
+ Forth to [120] the gentle Ass he springs,
+ And up about his neck he climbs;
+ In loving words he talks to him,
+ He kisses, kisses face and limb,--
+ He kisses him a thousand times! 1115
+
+ This Peter sees, while in the shade
+ He stood beside the cottage-door;
+ And Peter Bell, the ruffian wild,
+ Sobs loud, he sobs even like a child,
+ "Oh! God, I can endure no more!" 1120
+
+--Here ends my Tale: for in a trice
+ Arrived a neighbour with his horse;
+ Peter went forth with him straightway;
+ And, with due care, ere break of day,
+ Together they brought back the Corse. 1125
+
+ And many years did this poor Ass,
+ Whom once it was my luck to see
+ Cropping the shrubs of Leming-Lane,
+ Help by his labour to maintain
+ The Widow and her family. 1130
+
+ And Peter Bell, who, till that night,
+ Had been the wildest of his clan,
+ Forsook his crimes, renounced [121] his folly,
+ And, after ten months' melancholy,
+ Became a good and honest man. [K] 1135
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1: 1827.
+
+ And something 1819.]
+
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1849.
+
+ Whose shape is like 1819.
+
+ For shape just like 1845.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1845.
+
+ The noise of danger fills 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ Meanwhile I from the helm admire 1819.
+
+ ... I soberly admire C.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ Or deep into the heavens 1819.
+ Or into massy clouds 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... between ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... are ill-built,
+ But proud let him be who has seen them; 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... between ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1827.
+
+ That darling speck ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1836.
+
+ And there it is, ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1827
+
+ ... heartless ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+In the editions of 1819 and 1820 only.
+
+ Out--out--and, like a brooding hen,
+ Beside your sooty hearth-stone cower;
+ Go, creep along the dirt, and pick
+ Your way with your good walking-stick,
+ Just three good miles an hour!]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... the land ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1845.
+
+ My radiant Pinnace, you forget 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 15:
+
+1827.
+
+ For I myself, in very truth, 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 16:
+
+1845.
+
+ Off flew my sparkling Boat in scorn,
+ Yea in a trance of indignation! 1819.
+
+ Spurning her freight with indignation! 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 17:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... to my stone-table
+ Limp'd on with some vexation. 1819.
+
+ ... tow'rd my stone-table 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 18:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... promptly ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 19:
+
+1827.
+
+ Breath fail'd me as I spake--but soon
+ With lips, no doubt, and visage pale,
+ And sore too from a slight contusion,
+ Did I, to cover my confusion,
+ Begin the _promised_ Tale. 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 20:
+
+1820.
+
+ All by the moonlight river side
+ It gave three miserable groans;
+ "'Tis come then to a pretty pass,"
+ Said Peter to the groaning Ass,
+ "But I will _bang_ your bones!" 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 21:
+
+In the two editions of 1819 only.
+
+ "Good Sir!"--the Vicar's voice exclaim'd,
+ "You rush at once into the middle;"
+ And little Bess, with accent sweeter,
+ Cried, "O dear Sir! but who is Peter?"
+ Said Stephen,--"'Tis a downright riddle!"]
+
+
+[Variant 22:
+
+1836.
+
+ The Squire said, "Sure as paradise
+ Was lost to man by Adam's sinning,
+ This leap is for us all too bold; 1819.
+
+ Like winds that lash the waves, or smite
+ The woods, the autumnal foliage thinning--
+ "Hold!" said the Squire, "I pray you, hold! 1820.
+
+ The woods, autumnal foliage thinning--1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 23:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... its ponderous knell,
+ Its far-renowned alarum! 1819.
+
+ ... his ponderous knell,
+ A far-renowned alarum! 1836.
+
+ ... that ponderous knell--
+ His far-renowned alarum! 1840.]
+
+
+[Variant 24:
+
+1820.
+
+ With Peter Bell, I need not tell
+ That this had never been the case;--1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 25:
+
+1819.
+
+ ... placid ... 1820.
+
+The text of 1827 returns to that of 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 26:
+
+1836.
+ ... cheerfully ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 27:
+
+1827.
+
+ Till he is brought to an old quarry, 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 28: In the two editions of 1819 only.
+
+ "What! would'st thou daunt me grisly den?
+ Back must I, having come so far?
+ Stretch as thou wilt thy gloomy jaws,
+ I'll on, nor would I give two straws
+ For lantern or for star!"]
+
+
+[Variant 29:
+
+1820.
+
+ And so, where on the huge rough stones
+ The black and massy shadows lay,
+ And through the dark, ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 30:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... made ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 31: In the two editions of 1819 only.
+
+ Now you'll suppose that Peter Bell
+ Felt small temptation here to tarry,
+ And so it was,--but I must add,
+ His heart was not a little glad
+ When he was out of the old quarry.]
+
+
+[Variant 32:
+
+1827.
+
+ Across that ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 33:
+
+1836.
+
+ And now he is among the trees; 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 34:
+
+ "No doubt I'm founder'd in these woods--
+ For once," quoth he, "I will be wise,
+ With better speed I'll back again--
+ And, lest the journey should prove vain,
+ Will take yon Ass, my lawful prize!"
+
+ Off Peter hied,--"A comely beast!
+ Though not so plump as he might be;
+ My honest friend, with such a platter,
+ You should have been a little fatter,
+ But come, Sir, come with me!" 1819.
+
+(The first of these stanzas was omitted in 1827 and afterwards;
+the second was withdrawn in 1820.)]
+
+
+[Variant 35:
+
+1836.
+
+ But first doth Peter deem it fit
+ To spy about him far and near; 1819.
+
+ "A prize," cried Peter, stepping back
+ To spy ... 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 36:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... Ass's back, ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 37:
+
+1836.
+
+ With ready heel the creature's side; 1819.
+
+ With ready heel his shaggy side; 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 38: In the editions of 1819 to 1832 only.
+
+ "What's this!" cried Peter, brandishing
+ A new-peel'd sapling white as cream;
+ The Ass knew well what Peter said,
+ But, as before, hung down his head
+ Over the silent stream. 1819.
+
+ A new-peeled sapling;--though, I deem,
+ The Ass knew well what Peter said,
+ He, as before, ... 1820.
+
+ ...--though I deem,
+ This threat was understood full well,
+ Firm, as before, the Sentinel
+ Stood by the silent stream. 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 39:
+
+1827.
+
+ "I'll cure you of these desperate tricks"--
+ And, with deliberate action slow,
+ His staff high-raising, in the pride
+ Of skill, upon the Ass's hide C. and 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 40:
+
+1836.
+
+What followed?--yielding to the shock
+The Ass, as if ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 41:
+
+1836.
+
+ And then upon ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 42:
+
+1840.
+
+ ... as ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 43:
+
+1819.
+
+ The Beast on his tormentor turned
+ A shining hazel eye. 1827.
+
+ His shining ... 1832.
+
+The edition of 1836 returns to the text of 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 44:
+
+1836.
+
+ Towards the river ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 45:
+
+1832.
+
+ Heav'd his lank sides, ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 46: 1836. In the two editions of 1819 this stanza formed two
+stanzas, thus:
+
+ All by the moonlight river side
+ He gave three miserable groans,
+ "'Tis come then to a pretty pass,"
+ Said Peter to the groaning ass,
+ "But I will _bang_ your bones!"
+
+ And Peter halts to gather breath,
+ And now full clearly was it shown
+ (What he before in part had seen)
+ How gaunt was the poor Ass and lean,
+ Yea wasted to a skeleton! 1819.
+
+In the editions of 1820-1832, only the second of these stanzas is
+retained, with the following change of text in 1827:
+
+ And, while he halts, was clearly shown
+ (What he before in part had seen)
+ How gaunt the Creature was, and lean, 1827.
+
+In the final text of 1836 the two stanzas of 1819 are compressed into
+one (ll. 446-50).]
+
+
+[Variant 47:
+
+1836.
+
+ But, while upon the ground he lay, 1819.
+
+ That instant, while outstretched he lay, 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 48:
+
+1836.
+
+ A loud and piteous bray! 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 49:
+
+1820.
+
+ Joy on ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 50:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... an endless shout,
+ The long dry see-saw ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 51:
+
+1836.
+
+ And Peter now uplifts his eyes;
+ Steady the moon doth look and clear,
+ And like themselves the rocks appear,
+ And tranquil are the skies, 1819.
+
+ And quiet are the skies. 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 52:
+
+1836.
+
+ Whereat, in resolute mood, once more
+ He stoops the Ass's neck to seize--
+ Foul purpose, quickly put to flight!
+ For in the pool a startling sight
+ Meets him, beneath the shadowy trees. 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 53:
+
+1819.
+
+ ... the gallows ... 1832.
+
+The text of 1836 returns to that of 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 54:
+
+1836.
+
+ Or a gay ring of shining fairies,
+ Such as pursue their brisk vagaries 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 55: In the two editions of 1819 only.
+
+ Is it a party in a parlour?
+ Cramm'd just as they on earth were cramm'd--
+ Some sipping punch, some sipping tea,
+ But, as you by their faces see,
+ All silent and all damn'd! [a]]
+
+
+[Variant 56:
+
+1827.
+
+ A throbbing pulse the Gazer hath--
+ Puzzled he was, and now is daunted; 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 57:
+
+1836.
+
+ Like one intent upon a book--1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 58:
+
+1836.
+
+ And drops, a senseless weight, ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 59:
+
+1827.
+
+ A happy respite!--but he wakes;--
+ And feels the glimmering of the moon--
+ And to stretch forth his hands is trying;--
+ Sure, when he knows where he is lying,
+ He'll sink into a second swoon. 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 60:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... placid ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 61:
+
+1827.
+
+ So, faltering not in _this_ intent,
+ He makes his staff an instrument
+ The river's depth to sound--1819.
+
+ So toward the stream his head he bent,
+ And downward thrust his staff, intent
+ To reach the Man who there lay drowned.--1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 62:
+
+1836.
+
+ The meagre Shadow all this while--
+ What aim is his? ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 63:
+
+1836.
+
+ That Peter on his back should mount
+ He shows a wish, well as he can,
+ "I'll go, I'll go, whate'er betide--
+ He to his home my way will guide,
+ The cottage of the drowned man." 1819.]
+
+ But no--his purpose and his wish
+ The Suppliant shews, well as he can;
+ Thought Peter whatsoe'er betide
+ I'll go, and he my way will guide
+ To the cottage of the drowned man. 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 64:
+
+1836.
+
+ This utter'd, Peter mounts forthwith 1819.
+
+ This hoping, 1820.
+
+ Encouraged by this hope, he mounts 1827.
+
+ This hoping, Peter boldly mounts 1832.]
+
+
+[Variant 65:
+
+1827.
+
+ The 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 66:
+
+1836.
+
+ And takes his way ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 67:
+
+1840.
+
+ Holding ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 68:
+
+1840 and c.
+
+ What seeks the boy?--the silent dead! 1819.
+
+ Seeking for whom?--... 1836.]
+
+
+[Variant 69:
+
+1836.
+
+ Whom he hath sought ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 70:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... doth rightly spell; 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 71:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... noise ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 72:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... to gain his end 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 73:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... footstep ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 74:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... along a ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 75: In the editions of 1819 and 1820 the following stanza
+occurs:
+
+ The verdant pathway, in and out,
+ Winds upwards like a straggling chain;
+ And, when two toilsome miles are past,
+ Up through the rocks it leads at last
+ Into a high and open plain.]
+
+
+[Variant 76:
+
+1827.
+
+ The ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 77:
+
+1836.
+
+ How blank!--but whence this rustling sound
+ Which, all too long, the pair hath chased!
+--A dancing leaf is close behind, 1819.
+
+ But whence that faintly-rustling sound 1820.
+
+ But whence this faintly rustling sound
+ By which the pair have long been chased? c.]
+
+
+[Variant 78:
+
+1836.
+
+ When Peter spies the withered leaf,
+ It yields no cure to his distress--1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 79:
+
+1836.
+
+ Ha! why this comfortless despair? 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 80:
+
+1819.
+
+ ... the Creature's head; 1827.
+
+The text of 1845 returns to that of 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 81:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... those darting pains,
+ As meteors shoot through heaven's wide plains,
+ Pass through his bosom--and repass! 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 82:
+
+1827.
+
+ Reading, as you or I might read
+ At night in any pious book, 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 83:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... the good man's taper, 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 84:
+
+1836.
+
+ The ghostly word, which thus was fram'd, 1819.
+
+ ... full plainly seen, 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 85:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... to torment the good 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 86:
+
+1836.
+
+ I know you, potent Spirits! well,
+ How with the feeling and the sense
+ Playing, ye govern foes or friends.
+ Yok'd to your will, for fearful ends--1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 87:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... I have often ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 88:
+
+1836.
+
+ And well I know ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 89:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... and danc'd ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 90:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... clearly ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 91:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... hath ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 92:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... to confound ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 93:
+
+1836.
+
+ But now the pair have reach'd a spot
+ Where, shelter'd by a rocky cove, 1819.
+
+ Meanwhile the pair 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 94:
+
+1836.
+
+ The building seems, wall, roof, and tower, 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 95:
+
+1836.
+
+ Deep sighing as he pass'd along,
+ Quoth Peter, "In the shire of Fife,
+ 'Mid such a ruin, following still
+ From land to land a lawless will, 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 96:
+
+1827.
+
+ Making, ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 97:
+
+1836.
+
+ As if confusing darkness came 1819.
+
+ And a confusing 1832.
+
+ While clouds of swimming darkness came
+ Over his eyesight with the sound. C.]
+
+
+[Variant 98: _Italics_ were first used in the edition of 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 99:
+
+1836.
+
+ A lonely house her dwelling was, 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 100:
+
+1819.
+
+ ... her name ... 1820.
+
+The edition of 1827 returns to the text of 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 101:
+
+1820.
+
+ Distraction reigns in soul and sense,
+ And reason drops in impotence
+ From her deserted pinnacle! 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 102:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... ears ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 103:
+
+1836.
+
+ Though clamorous as a hunter's horn
+ Re-echoed from a naked rock,
+ 'Tis from that tabernacle--List! 1819.
+
+ The voice, though clamorous as a horn
+ Re-echoed by a naked rock,
+ Is from .... 1832.]
+
+
+[Variant 104:
+
+1819.
+
+ ... pious ... c.]
+
+
+[Variant 105:
+
+1836.
+
+ 'Tis said, that through prevailing grace 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 106:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... shoulders scored
+ Meek beast! in memory of the Lord 1819.
+
+ Faithful memorial of the Lord c.]
+
+
+[Variant 107:
+
+1836.
+
+ In memory of that solemn day 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 108:
+
+1836.
+
+ Towards a gate in open view
+ Turns up a narrow lane; ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 109:
+
+1836.
+
+ Had gone two hundred yards, not more;
+ When to a lonely house he came;
+ He turn'd aside towards the same
+ And stopp'd before the door. 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 110:
+
+1836.
+
+ In hope ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 111:
+
+1827.
+
+ Close at ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 112:
+
+1832.
+
+ What could he do?--The Woman lay 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 113:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... the sufferer ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 114:
+
+1819.
+
+ ... stair ... 1820.
+
+The edition of 1827 returns to the text of 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 115:
+
+1836.
+
+ And to the pillow gives ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 116:
+
+1827.
+
+ And resting on ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 117:
+
+1827.
+
+ He turns ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 118:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... his inward grief and fear--1819.
+
+ ... his sorrow and his fear--C.]
+
+
+[Variant 119:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... had ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 120:
+
+1836.
+
+ Towards ... 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 121:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... repressed ... 1819.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The title in the two editions of 1819 was 'Peter Bell: A
+Tale in Verse.'--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: In Dorothy Wordsworth's Alfoxden Journal the following
+occurs, under date April 20, 1798: "The moon crescent. 'Peter Bell'
+begun."--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: 'Romeo and Juliet', act II. scene ii. l. 44. This motto
+first appeared on the half-title of 'Peter Bell', second edition, 1819,
+under the advertisement of 'Benjamin the Waggoner', its first line being
+"What's a Name?" When 'The Waggoner' appeared, a few days afterwards,
+the motto stood on its title-page. In the collective edition of the
+Poems (1820), it disappeared; but reappeared, in its final position, in
+the edition of 1827.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D: 'Julius Caesar', act I. scene ii. l. 147.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote E: Compare 'The Prelude', book iv. l. 47:
+
+ 'the sunny seat
+ Round the stone table under the dark pine.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote F: In the dialect of the North, a hawker of earthen-ware is
+thus designated.--W. W. 1819 (second edition).]
+
+
+[Footnote G: Compare 'The Prelude', book v. l. 448:
+
+ 'At last, the dead man, 'mid that beauteous scene
+ Of trees and hills and water, bolt upright
+ Rose, with his ghastly face, a spectre shape
+ Of terror.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote H: This and the next stanza were omitted from the edition of
+1827, but restored in 1832.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote I: The notion is very general, that the Cross on the back and
+shoulders of this Animal has the origin here alluded to.--W. W. 1819.]
+
+
+[Footnote J: I cannot suffer this line to pass, without noticing that it
+was suggested by Mr. Haydon's noble Picture of Christ's Entry into
+Jerusalem.--W. W. 1820. Into the same picture Haydon "introduced
+Wordsworth bowing in reverence and awe." See the essay on "The Portraits
+of Wordsworth" in a later volume, and the portrait itself, which will be
+reproduced in the volume containing the 'Life' of the poet.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote K: The first and second editions of 'Peter Bell' (1819)
+contained, as frontispiece, an engraving by J.C. Bromley, after a
+picture by Sir George Beaumont. In 1807, Wordsworth wrote to Sir George:
+
+ "I am quite delighted to hear of your picture for 'Peter Bell' ....
+ But remember that no poem of mine will ever be popular, and I am
+ afraid that the sale of 'Peter' would not carry the expense of
+ engraving .... The people would love the poem of 'Peter Bell', but the
+ _public_ (a very different thing) will never love it."
+
+Some days before Wordsworth's 'Peter Bell' was issued in 1819, another
+'Peter Bell' was published by Messrs. Taylor and Hessey. It was a parody
+written by J. Hamilton Reynolds, and issued as 'Peter Bell, a Lyrical
+Ballad', with the sentence on its title page, "I do affirm that I am the
+_real_ Simon Pure." The preface, which follows, is too paltry to quote;
+and the stanzas which make up the poem contain allusions to the more
+trivial of the early "Lyrical Ballads" (Betty Foy, Harry Gill, etc.).
+Wordsworth's 'Peter Bell' was published about a week later; and Shelley
+afterwards published his 'Peter Bell the Third'. Charles Lamb wrote to
+Wordsworth, in May 1819:
+
+ "Dear Wordsworth--I received a copy of 'Peter Bell' a week ago, and I
+ hope the author will not be offended if I say I do not much relish it.
+ The humour, if it is meant for humour, is forced; and then the
+ price!--sixpence would have been dear for it. Mind, I do not mean
+ _your_ 'Peter Bell', but _a Peter Bell_, which preceded it about a
+ week, and is in every bookseller's shop window in London, the type and
+ paper nothing differing from the true one, the preface signed W. W.,
+ and the supplementary preface quoting, as the author's words, an
+ extract from the supplementary preface to the 'Lyrical Ballads.' Is
+ there no law against these rascals? I would have this Lambert Simnel
+ whipt at the cart's tail." ('The Letters of Charles Lamb', edited by
+ A. Ainger, vol. ii. p. 20.)
+
+Barron Field wrote on the title-page of his copy of the edition of
+'Peter Bell', 1819,
+
+ "And his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it."
+
+ 1 Kings xiii. 24.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+
+[Sub-Footnote a: This stanza, which was deleted from every edition of
+'Peter Bell' after the two of 1819, was prefixed by Shelley to his poem
+of 'Peter Bell the Third', and many of his contemporaries thought that
+it was an invention of Shelley's. See the note which follows this poem,
+p. 50. Crabb Robinson wrote in his 'Diary', June 6, 1812:
+
+ "Mrs. Basil Montagu told me she had no doubt she had suggested this
+ image to Wordsworth by relating to him an anecdote. A person, walking
+ in a friend's garden, looking in at a window, saw a company of ladies
+ at a table near the window, with countenances _fixed_. In an instant
+ he was aware of their condition, and broke the window. He saved them
+ from incipient suffocation."
+
+Wordsworth subsequently said that he had omitted the stanza only in
+deference to the "unco guid." Crabb Robinson remonstrated with him
+against its exclusion.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+LINES,[A] COMPOSED A FEW MILES ABOVE TINTERN ABBEY, ON REVISITING THE
+BANKS OF THE WYE DURING A TOUR, JULY 13, 1798 [B]
+
+
+Composed July 1798.--Published 1798
+
+
+[July 1798. No poem of mine was composed under circumstances more
+pleasant for me to remember than this. I began it upon leaving Tintern,
+after crossing the Wye, and concluded it just as I was entering Bristol
+in the evening, after a ramble of four or five days, with my sister. Not
+a line of it was altered, and not any part of it written down till I
+reached Bristol. It was published almost immediately after in the little
+volume of which so much has been said in these Notes, the "Lyrical
+Ballads," as first published at Bristol by Cottle.--I.F.]
+
+
+Included among the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+ Five years have past; five summers, with the length
+ Of five long winters![C] and again I hear
+ These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
+ With a soft [1] inland murmur. [D]--Once again
+ Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, 5
+ That [2] on a wild secluded scene impress
+ Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
+ The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
+ The day is come when I again repose
+ Here, under this dark sycamore, and view 10
+ These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,
+ Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,
+ Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
+ 'Mid groves and copses. [3] Once again I see
+ These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines 15
+ Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,
+ Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke
+ Sent up, in silence, from among the trees! [E]
+ With some uncertain notice, as might seem
+ Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods, 20
+ Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire
+ The Hermit sits alone.
+ These beauteous forms,
+ Through a long absence, have not been to me [4]
+ As is a landscape to a blind man's eye: 25
+ But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din
+ Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
+ In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
+ Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
+ And passing even into my purer mind, [5] 30
+ With tranquil restoration:--feelings too
+ Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,
+ As have no slight or trivial influence [6]
+ On that best portion of a good man's life,
+ His little, nameless, unremembered, acts 35
+ Of kindness and of love. Nor less, I trust,
+ To them I may have owed another gift,
+ Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,
+ In which the burthen of the mystery,
+ In which the heavy and the weary weight 40
+ Of all this unintelligible world,
+ Is lightened:--that serene and blessed mood,
+ In which the affections gently lead us on,--
+ Until, the breath of this corporeal frame
+ And even the motion of our human blood 45
+ Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
+ In body, and become a living soul:
+ While with an eye made quiet by the power
+ Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
+ We see into the life of things. 50
+ If this
+ Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft--
+ In darkness and amid the many shapes
+ Of joyless daylight; when the fretful stir
+ Unprofitable, and the fever of the world, 55
+ Have hung upon the beatings of my heart--
+ How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,
+ O sylvan Wye! thou wanderer thro' the woods, [7]
+ How often has my spirit turned to thee!
+ And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought, 60
+ With many recognitions dim and faint,
+ And somewhat of a sad perplexity,
+ The picture of the mind revives again:
+ While here I stand, not only with the sense
+ Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts 65
+ That in this moment there is life and food
+ For future years. And so I dare to hope,
+ Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first
+ I came among these hills; when like a roe
+ I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides 70
+ Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,
+ Wherever nature led: more like a man
+ Flying from something that he dreads, than one
+ Who sought the thing he loved. For nature then
+ (The coarser pleasures of my boyish days, 75
+ And their glad animal movements all gone by)
+ To me was all in all.--I cannot paint
+ What then I was. The sounding cataract
+ Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,
+ The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood, 80
+ Their colours and their forms, were then to me
+ An appetite; a feeling and a love,
+ That had no need of a remoter charm,
+ By thought supplied, nor [8] any interest
+ Unborrowed from the eye.--That time is past, 85
+ And all its aching joys are now no more,
+ And all its dizzy raptures. [F] Not for this
+ Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur; other gifts
+ Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,
+ Abundant recompence. For I have learned 90
+ To look on nature, not as in the hour
+ Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
+ The still, sad music of humanity,
+ Nor [9] harsh nor grating, though of ample power
+ To chasten and subdue. And I have felt 95
+ A presence that disturbs me with the joy
+ Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
+ Of something far more deeply interfused,
+ Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
+ And the round ocean and the living air, 100
+ And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
+ A motion and a spirit, that impels
+ All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
+ And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still
+ A lover of the meadows and the woods, 105
+ And mountains; and of all that we behold
+ From this green earth; of all the mighty world
+ Of eye, and ear,--both what they half create, [G]
+ And what perceive; well pleased to recognise
+ In nature and the language of the sense, 110
+ The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
+ The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
+ Of all my moral being.
+ Nor perchance,
+ If I were not thus taught, should I the more 115
+ Suffer my genial spirits to decay:
+ For thou art with me here upon the banks
+ Of this fair river; thou my dearest Friend,
+ My dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch
+ The language of my former heart, and read 120
+ My former pleasures in the shooting lights
+ Of thy wild eyes, [H] Oh! yet a little while
+ May I behold in thee what I was once,
+ My dear, dear Sister! and this prayer I make,
+ Knowing that Nature never did betray 125
+ The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege,
+ Through all the years of this our life, to lead
+ From joy to joy: for she can so inform
+ The mind that is within us, so impress
+ With quietness and beauty, and so feed 130
+ With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
+ Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
+ Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all
+ The dreary intercourse of daily life,
+ Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb 135
+ Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
+ Is full of blessings. Therefore let the moon
+ Shine on thee in thy solitary walk;
+ And let the misty mountain-winds be free
+ To blow against thee: and, in after years, 140
+ When these wild ecstasies shall be matured
+ Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind
+ Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms,
+ Thy memory be as a dwelling-place
+ For all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then, 145
+ If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,
+ Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts
+ Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,
+ And these my exhortations! Nor, perchance--
+ If I should be where I no more can hear 150
+ Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams
+ Of past existence [B]--wilt thou then forget
+ That on the banks of this delightful stream
+ We stood together; and that I, so long
+ A worshipper of Nature, hither came 155
+ Unwearied in that service: rather say
+ With warmer love--oh! with far deeper zeal
+ Of holier love. Nor wilt thou then forget,
+ That after many wanderings, many years
+ Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs, 160
+ And this green pastoral landscape, were to me
+ More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... sweet ... 1798.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ Which ... 1798.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... with their unripe fruits,
+ Among the woods and copses lose themselves,
+ Nor, with their green and simple hue, disturb
+ The wild green landscape ... 1798.
+
+ Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
+ Among the woods and copses, nor disturb 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... Though absent long,
+ These forms of beauty have not been to me, 1798.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1798.
+
+ ... inmost mind, MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1820.
+
+ As may have had no trivial influence 1798.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1798.
+
+ ... wood, 1798 (some copies).]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... or ... 1798.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1800.
+
+ Not ... 1798.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: I have not ventured to call this Poem an Ode; but it was
+written with a hope that in the transitions, and the impassioned music
+of the versification would be found the principal requisites of that
+species of composition.--W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: The title in 1798 was 'Lines, written a few miles', etc. In
+1815 it assumed its final form.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: Compare the Fenwick note to the poem 'Guilt and Sorrow'
+(vol. i. p.78) This visit, five years before, was on his way from "Sarum
+plain," on foot and alone--after parting with his friend William
+Calvert--to visit another friend, Robert Jones, in Wales.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D: The river is not affected by the tides a few miles above
+Tintern.--W. W. 1798.]
+
+
+[Footnote E: In the edition of 1798, an additional line is here
+introduced, but it is deleted in the 'errata'. It is
+
+ 'And the low copses--coming from the trees.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote F: Compare 'The Prelude', book xi. l. 108:
+
+ 'Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,
+ But to be young was very Heaven.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote G: This line has a close resemblance to an admirable line of
+Young, the exact expression of which I cannot recollect.--W. W. 1798.
+
+It is the line:
+
+ 'And half-create the wondrous world they see.'
+
+'Night Thoughts', (Night vi. l. 427).--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote H: Compare, in _The Recluse_, canto "Home at Grasmere," l. 91:
+
+ Her voice was like a hidden Bird that sang,
+ The thought of her was like a flash of light,
+ Or an _unseen_ companionship.
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THERE WAS A BOY
+
+
+Composed 1798.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written in Germany, 1799. This is an extract from the Poem on my own
+poetical education. This practice of making an instrument of their own
+fingers is known to most boys, though some are more skilful at it than
+others. William Raincock of Rayrigg, a fine spirited lad, took the lead
+of all my schoolfellows in this art.--I. F.]
+
+This "extract" will be found in the fifth book of 'The Prelude', ll.
+364-397. It was included among the "Poems of the Imagination." In the
+editions of 1800 to 1832 it had no title, except in the table of
+contents. In 1836, the finally adopted title of the poem was given in
+the text, as well as in the table of contents.--Ed.
+
+
+
+ There was a Boy; ye knew him well, ye cliffs
+ And islands of Winander!--many a time,
+ At evening, when the earliest stars began [1]
+ To move along the edges of the hills,
+ Rising or setting, would he stand alone, 5
+ Beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake;
+ And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands
+ Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth
+ Uplifted, he, as through an instrument,
+ Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls, 10
+ That they might answer him.--And they would shout
+ Across the watery vale, and shout again,
+ Responsive to his call,--with quivering peals,
+ And long halloos, and screams, and echoes loud
+ Redoubled and redoubled; concourse wild 15
+ Of jocund din! [2] And, when there came a pause
+ Of silence such as baffled his best skill: [3]
+ Then, sometimes, in that silence, while he hung
+ Listening, a gentle shock of mild surprise
+ Has carried far into his heart the voice 20
+ Of mountain-torrents; or the visible scene
+ Would enter unawares into his mind
+ With all its solemn imagery, its rocks,
+ Its woods, and that uncertain heaven received
+ Into the bosom of the steady lake. 25
+
+ This boy was taken from his mates, and died [4]
+ In childhood, ere he was full twelve years old. [5]
+ Pre-eminent in beauty is the vale
+ Where he was born and bred: the church-yard hangs [6]
+ Upon a slope above the village-school; 30
+ And, through that church-yard when my way has led
+ On summer-evenings, I believe, that there [7]
+ A long half-hour together I have stood
+ Mute--looking at the grave in which he lies![A] [8]
+
+
+
+Wordsworth sent this fragment in MS. to Coleridge, who was then living
+at Ratzeburg, and Coleridge wrote in reply on the 10th Dec. 1798:
+
+ "The blank lines gave me as much direct pleasure as was possible in
+ the general bustle of pleasure with which I received and read your
+ letter. I observed, I remember, that the 'fingers woven,' etc., only
+ puzzled me; and though I liked the twelve or fourteen first lines very
+ well, yet I liked the remainder much better. Well, now I have read
+ them again, they are very beautiful, and leave an affecting
+ impression. That
+
+ 'uncertain heaven received
+ Into the bosom of the steady lake,'
+
+ I should have recognised anywhere; and had I met these lines, running
+ wild in the deserts of Arabia, I should have instantly screamed out
+ 'Wordsworth'!"
+
+The MS. copy of this poem sent to Coleridge probably lacked
+the explanatory line,
+
+ 'Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth,'
+
+as another MS., in the possession of the poet's grandson, lacks it; and
+the line was possibly added--as the late Mr. Dykes Campbell
+suggested--"in deference to S. T. C.'s expression of puzzlement."
+
+Fletcher Raincock--an elder brother of the William Raincock referred to
+in the Fenwick note to this poem, as Wordsworth's schoolfellow at
+Hawkshead--was with him also at Cambridge. He attended Pembroke College,
+and was second wrangler in 1790. [B] John Fleming of Rayrigg, his
+half-brother--the boy with whom Wordsworth used to walk round the lake
+of Esthwaite, in the morning before school-time, ("five miles of
+pleasant wandering")--was also at St. John's College, Cambridge, at this
+time, and had been fifth Wrangler in the preceding year, 1789. He is
+referred to both in the second and the fifth books of 'The Prelude'
+(see notes to that poem). It is perhaps not unworthy of note that
+Wrangham, whose French stanzas on "The Birth of Love" Wordsworth
+translated into English, was in the same year--1789--third Wrangler,
+second Smith's prizeman, and first Chancellor's medallist; while Robert
+Greenwood, "the Minstrel of the Troop," who "blew his flute, alone upon
+the rock" in Windermere,--also one of the characters referred to in the
+second book of 'The Prelude',--was sixteenth Wrangler in
+Wordsworth's year, viz. 1791. William Raincock was at St. John's
+College, Cambridge.--Ed.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... when the stars had just begun 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... a wild scene
+ Of mirth and jocund din! ... 1800.
+
+ ... concourse wild 1805.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... And, when it chanced
+ That pauses of deep silence mock'd his skill, 1800.
+
+ ... and, when a lengthened pause
+ Of silence came and baffled his best skill,
+ 'The Prelude', 1850.]
+
+
+[Variant 4: This and the following line were added in 1805.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... ere he was ten years old. 1805.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1845.
+
+ Fair are the woods, and beauteous is the spot,
+ The vale where he was born: the Church-yard hangs 1800.
+
+ Fair is the spot, most beautiful the Vale
+ Where he was born: the grassy Church-yard hangs 1827.
+
+The text of 1840 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1836.
+
+ And there along that bank when I have pass'd
+ At evening, I believe, that near his grave 1800.
+
+ ... I believe, that oftentimes 1805.
+
+ And through that Church-yard when my way has led 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1815.
+
+ A full half-hour together I have stood,
+ Mute--for he died when he was ten years old. 1800.
+
+ Mute--looking at the grave in which he lies. 1805.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: In 'The Prelude' the version of 1827 is adopted for the
+most part.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: See 'Graduati Cantabrigienses' (1850), by Joseph Romily,
+the Registrar to the University 1832-1862.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE TWO THIEVES; OR, THE LAST STAGE OF AVARICE
+
+
+Composed 1798.--Published 1800
+
+
+[This is described from the life, as I was in the habit of observing
+when a boy at Hawkshead School. Daniel was more than eighty years older
+than myself when he was daily, thus occupied, under my notice. No books
+have so early taught me to think of the changes to which human life is
+subject, and while looking at him I could not but say to myself--we may,
+one of us, I or the happiest of my playmates, live to become still more
+the object of pity, than this old man, this half-doating
+pilferer.--I.F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems referring to the Period of Old Age."--Ed.
+
+
+
+ O now that the genius of Bewick [A] were mine,
+ And the skill which he learned on the banks of the Tyne,
+ Then the Muses might deal with me just as they chose,
+ For I'd take my last leave both of verse and of prose. [1]
+
+ What feats would I work with my magical hand! 5
+ Book-learning and books should be banished the land: [2]
+ And, for hunger and thirst and such troublesome calls,
+ Every ale-house should then have a feast on its walls.
+
+ The traveller would hang his wet clothes on a chair;
+ Let them smoke, let them burn, not a straw. Would he care! 10
+ For the Prodigal Son, Joseph's Dream and his sheaves,
+ Oh, what would they be to my tale of two Thieves?
+
+ The One, yet unbreeched, is not three birthdays old,[3]
+ His Grandsire that age more than thirty times told;
+ There are ninety good seasons of fair and foul weather 15
+ Between them, and both go a-pilfering [4] together.
+
+ With chips is the carpenter strewing his floor?
+ Is a cart-load of turf [5] at an old woman's door?
+ Old Daniel his hand to the treasure will slide!
+ And his Grandson's as busy at work by his side. 20
+
+ Old Daniel begins; he stops short--and his eye,
+ Through the lost look of dotage, is cunning and sly:
+ 'Tis a look which at this time is hardly his own,
+ But tells a plain tale of the days that are flown.
+
+ He once [6] had a heart which was moved by the wires 25
+ Of manifold pleasures and many desires:
+ And what if he cherished his purse? 'Twas no more
+ Than treading a path trod by thousands before.
+
+ 'Twas a path trod by thousands; but Daniel is one
+ Who went something farther than others have gone, [7] 30
+ And now with old Daniel you see how it fares;
+ You see to what end he has brought his grey hairs.
+
+ The pair sally forth hand in hand: ere the sun
+ Has peered o'er the beeches, their work is begun:
+ And yet, into whatever sin they may fall, 35
+ This child but half knows it, and that not at all.
+
+ They hunt through the streets [8] with deliberate tread,
+ And each, in his turn, becomes leader or led; [9]
+ And, wherever they carry their plots and their wiles,
+ Every face in the village is dimpled with smiles. 40
+
+ Neither checked by the rich nor the needy they roam;
+ For the grey-headed Sire [10] has a daughter at home,
+ Who will gladly repair all the damage that's done;
+ And three, were it asked, would be rendered for one.
+
+ Old Man! whom so oft I with pity have eyed, 45
+ I love thee, and love the sweet Boy at thy side:
+ Long yet may'st thou live! for a teacher we see
+ That lifts up the veil of our nature in thee. [B]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1800.
+
+ Oh! now that the boxwood and graver were mine,
+ Of the Poet who lives on the banks of the Tyne,
+ Who has plied his rude tools with more fortunate toil
+ Than Reynolds e'er brought to his canvas and oil.
+ MS. 1798.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1800.
+
+ Then Books, and Book-learning, I'd ring out your knell,
+ The Vicar should scarce know an A from an L. MS. 1798.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1820.
+
+ Little Dan is unbreech'd, he is three birth-days old, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... a-stealing ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... of peats ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1820.
+
+ Dan once ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1800.
+
+ 'Twas a smooth pleasant pathway, a gentle descent,
+ And leisurely down it, and down it, he went. MS. 1798.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... street ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... is both leader and led; 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1837.
+
+ For grey-headed Dan ... 1800.
+
+ The grey-headed Sire ... 1820.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Thomas Bewick, the wood engraver, born at Cherryburn, near
+Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1753, died 1828. He revived the art of wood
+engraving in England. His illustrations--drawn for the 'General History
+of British Quadrupeds' (1790), and for his own 'History of British
+Birds' (1797 and 1804)--were unrivalled in their way.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Charles Lamb, writing to Wordsworth in 1815, spoke of
+
+ "that delicacy towards aberrations from the strict path, which is so
+ fine in the 'Old Thief and the Boy by his side,' which always brings
+ water into my eyes."
+
+(See 'Letters of Charles Lamb', edited by Alfred Ainger, vol. i. p.
+287.)--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+WRITTEN WITH A SLATE PENCIL UPON A STONE, THE LARGEST OF A HEAP LYING
+NEAR A DESERTED QUARRY, UPON ONE OF THE ISLANDS [A] AT RYDAL
+
+
+Composed 1798.--Published 1800
+
+
+Included among the "Inscriptions."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Stranger! this hillock of mis-shapen stones
+ Is not a Ruin spared or made by time, [1]
+ Nor, as perchance thou rashly deem'st, the Cairn
+ Of some old British Chief: 'tis nothing more
+ Than the rude embryo of a little Dome 5
+ Or Pleasure-house, once destined to be built [2]
+ Among the birch-trees of this rocky isle. [3]
+ But, as it chanced, Sir William having learned
+ That from the shore a full-grown man might wade,
+ And make himself a freeman of this spot 10
+ At any hour he chose, the prudent Knight [4]
+ Desisted, and the quarry and the mound
+ Are monuments of his unfinished task.
+ The block on which these lines are traced, perhaps,
+ Was once selected as the corner-stone 15
+ Of that [5] intended Pile, which would have been
+ Some quaint odd plaything of elaborate skill,
+ So that, I guess, the linnet and the thrush,
+ And other little builders who dwell here,
+ Had wondered at the work. But blame him not, 20
+ For old Sir William was a gentle Knight,
+ Bred in this vale, to which he appertained [6]
+ With all his ancestry. Then peace to him,
+ And for the outrage which he had devised
+ Entire forgiveness!--But if thou art one 25
+ On fire with thy impatience to become
+ An inmate of these mountains,--if, disturbed
+ By beautiful conceptions, thou hast hewn
+ Out of the quiet rock the elements
+ Of thy trim Mansion destined soon to blaze 30
+ In snow white splendour, [B] [7]--think again; and, taught
+ By old Sir William and his quarry, leave
+ Thy fragments to the bramble and the rose;
+ There let the vernal slow warm sun himself,
+ And let the redbreast hop from stone to stone. 35
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ Is not a ruin of the ancient time, 1800.
+
+ ... antique ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... which was to have been built 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1800.
+
+ Of some old British warrior: so, to speak
+ The honest truth, 'tis neither more nor less
+ Than the rude germ of what was to have been
+ A pleasure-house, and built upon this isle. MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... the Knight forthwith 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1837.
+
+ Of the ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1800.
+
+ Bred here, and to this valley appertained MS. 1798.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... glory, ... 1802.
+
+The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: In a MS. copy this is given as "the lesser Island."--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare Wordsworth's
+
+ "objections to white, as a colour, in large spots or masses in
+ landscape,"
+
+in his 'Guide through the district of the Lakes' (section third).--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+1799
+
+
+The poems belonging to the year 1799 were chiefly, if not wholly,
+composed at Goslar, in Germany; and all, with three exceptions, appeared
+in the second edition of "Lyrical Ballads" (1800). The exceptions were
+the following: The lyric beginning, "I travelled among unknown men,"
+which was first published in the "Poems" of 1807; and two fragments from
+'The Prelude', viz. 'The Influence of Natural Objects' (which appeared
+in 'The Friend' in 1809), and 'The Simplon Pass' (first published in the
+8vo edition of the Poems in 1845).
+
+Wordsworth reached Goslar on the 6th of October 1798, and left it on the
+10th of February 1799. It is impossible to determine the precise order
+in which the nineteen or twenty poems associated with that city were
+composed. But it is certain that the fragment on the immortal boy of
+Windermere--whom its cliffs and islands knew so well--was written in
+1798, and not in 1799 (as Wordsworth himself states); because Coleridge
+sent a letter to his friend, thanking him for a MS. copy of these lines,
+and commenting on them, of which the date is "Ratzeburg, Dec. 10, 1798."
+For obvious reasons, however, I place the fragments originally meant to
+be parts of 'The Recluse' together; and, since Wordsworth gave the date
+1799 to the others, it would be gratuitous to suppose that he erred in
+reference to them all, because we know that his memory failed him in
+reference to one of the series. Therefore, although he spent more than
+twice as many days in 1798 as in 1799 at Goslar, I set down this group
+of poems as belonging to 1799, rather than to the previous year. It will
+be seen that, after placing all the poems of this Goslar period in the
+year to which they belong, it is possible also to group them according
+to their subject matter, without violating chronological order. I
+therefore put the fragments, afterwards incorporated in 'The Prelude',
+together. These are naturally followed by 'Nutting'--a poem intended for
+'The Prelude', but afterwards excluded, as inappropriate. The five poems
+referring to "Lucy" are placed in sequence, and the same is done with
+the four "Matthew" poems. A small group of four poems follows
+appropriately, viz. 'To a Sexton', 'The Danish Boy', 'Lucy Gray', and
+'Ruth'; while the Fenwick note almost necessitates our placing the
+'Poet's Epitaph' immediately after the Lines 'Written in Germany'; and,
+with Wordsworth's life at Goslar, we naturally associate five
+things--the cold winter, 'The Prelude', the "Lucy" and the "Matthew"
+poems, and the 'Poet's Epitaph'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+INFLUENCE OF NATURAL OBJECTS IN CALLING FORTH AND STRENGTHENING THE
+IMAGINATION IN BOYHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH
+
+FROM AN UNPUBLISHED POEM
+
+[This extract is reprinted from "THE FRIEND."[A]]
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1809
+
+It was included by Wordsworth among the "Poems referring to the Period
+of Childhood."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Wisdom and Spirit of the universe!
+ Thou Soul, that art the Eternity of thought!
+ And giv'st [1] to forms and images a breath
+ And everlasting motion! not in vain,
+ By day or star-light, thus from my first dawn 5
+ Of childhood didst thou intertwine for me
+ The passions that build up our human soul;
+ Not [2] with the mean and vulgar works of Man:
+ But with high objects, with enduring things,
+ With life and nature: purifying thus 10
+ The elements of feeling and of thought,
+ And sanctifying by such discipline
+ Both pain and fear,--until we recognise
+ A grandeur in the beatings of the heart.
+
+ Nor was this fellowship vouchsafed to me 15
+ With stinted kindness. In November days,
+ When vapours rolling down the valleys [3] made
+ A lonely scene more lonesome; among woods
+ At noon; and 'mid the calm of summer nights,
+ When, by the margin of the trembling lake, 20
+ Beneath the gloomy hills, homeward I went [4]
+ In solitude, such intercourse was mine:
+ Mine was it in the fields [5] both day and night,
+ And by the waters, all the summer long.
+ And in the frosty season, when the sun 25
+ Was set, and, visible for many a mile,
+ The cottage-windows through the twilight blazed, [6]
+ I heeded not the summons: happy time
+ It was indeed for all of us; for me [7]
+ It was a time of rapture! Clear and loud 30
+ The village-clock tolled six--I wheeled about,
+ Proud and exulting like an untired horse
+ That cares not for his home. [8]--All shod with steel
+ We hissed along the polished ice, in games
+ Confederate, imitative of the chase 35
+ And woodland pleasures,--the resounding horn,
+ The pack loud-chiming, [9] and the hunted hare.
+ So through the darkness and the cold we flew,
+ And not a voice was idle: with the din
+ Smitten, [10] the precipices rang aloud; 40
+ The leafless trees and every icy crag
+ Tinkled like iron; while far-distant hills [11]
+ Into the tumult sent an alien sound
+ Of melancholy, not unnoticed while the stars,
+ Eastward, were sparkling clear, and in the west 45
+ The orange sky of evening died away.
+
+ Not seldom from the uproar I retired
+ Into a silent bay, or sportively
+ Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng,
+ To cut across the reflex [12] of a star; 50
+ Image, that, flying still before me, gleamed
+ Upon the glassy plain: and oftentimes, [13]
+ When we had given our bodies to the wind,
+ And all the shadowy banks on either side
+ Came sweeping through the darkness, spinning still 55
+ The rapid line of motion, then at once
+ Have I, reclining back upon my heels,
+ Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs
+ Wheeled by me--even as if the earth had rolled
+ With visible motion her diurnal round! 60
+ Behind me did they stretch in solemn train,
+ Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watched
+ Till all was tranquil as a summer sea. [14]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1809.
+
+ That givest ... 'The Prelude', 1850.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1815.
+
+ Nor ... 1809.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1809.
+
+ ... valley ... The Prelude', 1850.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... I homeward went 1809.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1845.
+
+ 'Twas mine among the fields ... 1809.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1809.
+
+ ... blazed through twilight gloom, 'The Prelude', 1850.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... to me 1809.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... car'd not for its home--... 1809.
+
+ ... cares not ... 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1840.
+
+ ... loud bellowing ... 1809.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1836.
+
+ Meanwhile ... 1809.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... while the distant hills 1809.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1827.
+
+ To cut across the image ... 1809.
+
+ To cross the bright reflection ... 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1820.
+
+ That gleam'd upon the ice; and oftentimes 1809.
+
+(This line occupied the place of lines 51-52 of the final text.)
+
+ That fled, and, flying still before me, gleamed
+ Upon the glassy plain; and oftentimes, 'The Prelude', 1850.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1809.
+
+ ... as a dreamless sleep. 'The Prelude', 1850.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The title of the fragment, as it appeared in 'The Friend',
+No. 19, (Dec. 28, 1809,) was 'Growth of Genius from the Influences of
+Natural Objects on the Imagination, in Boyhood and Early Youth'. It
+first appeared in Wordsworth's Poems in the edition of 1815. It was
+afterwards included in the first book of 'The Prelude', l. 401.
+
+The lake referred to with its "silent bays" and "shadowy banks" is that
+of Esthwaite; the village clock is that of Hawkshead (see the footnotes
+to 'The Prelude'). The only physical accomplishment in which Wordsworth
+thought he excelled was skating, an accomplishment in which his brother
+poet and acquaintance, Klopstock, also excelled.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SIMPLON PASS [A]
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1845
+
+
+Included among the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+--Brook and road
+ Were fellow-travellers in this gloomy Pass, [1]
+ And with them did we journey several hours
+ At a slow step. [2] The immeasurable height
+ Of woods decaying, never to be decayed, 5
+ The stationary blasts of waterfalls,
+ And in the narrow rent, at every turn,
+ Winds thwarting winds bewildered and forlorn,
+ The torrents shooting from the clear blue sky,
+ The rocks that muttered close upon our ears, 10
+ Black drizzling crags that spake by the wayside
+ As if a voice were in them, the sick sight
+ And giddy prospect of the raving stream,
+ The unfettered clouds and region of the heavens,
+ Tumult and peace, the darkness and the light--15
+ Were all like workings of one mind, the features
+ Of the same face, blossoms upon one tree,
+ Characters of the great Apocalypse,
+ The types and symbols of Eternity,
+ Of first, and last, and midst, and without end. 20
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... gloomy strait, 'The Prelude', 1850.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... pace ... 'The Prelude', 1850.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: This is an extract from the sixth book of 'The Prelude', l.
+621. It refers to Wordsworth's first experience of Switzerland, when he
+crossed the Alps by the Simplon route, in 1790, in company with his
+friend Robert Jones.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+NUTTING
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written in Germany; intended as part of a poem on my own life, but
+struck out as not being wanted there. Like most of my schoolfellows I
+was an impassioned Nutter. For this pleasure, the Vale of Esthwaite,
+abounding in coppice wood, furnished a very wide range. These verses
+arose out of the remembrance of feelings I had often had when a boy, and
+particularly in the extensive woods that still stretch from the side of
+Esthwaite Lake towards Graythwaite, the seat of the ancient family of
+Sandys.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+--It seems a day
+ (I speak of one from many singled out)
+ One of those heavenly days that [1] cannot die;
+ When, in the eagerness of boyish hope, [2]
+ I left our cottage-threshold, [A] sallying forth [3] 5
+ With a huge wallet o'er my shoulders slung, [4]
+ A nutting-crook in hand; and turned [5] my steps
+ Tow'rd some far-distant wood, [6] a Figure quaint,
+ Tricked out in proud disguise of cast-off weeds
+ Which for that service had been husbanded, 10
+ By exhortation of my frugal Dame--[7]
+ Motley accoutrement, of power to smile
+ At thorns, and brakes, and brambles,--and, in truth,
+ More ragged than need was! O'er pathless rocks,
+ Through beds of matted fern, and tangled thickets, 15
+ Forcing my way, I came to one dear nook [8]
+ Unvisited, where not a broken bough
+ Drooped with its withered leaves, ungracious sign
+ Of devastation; but the hazels rose
+ Tall and erect, with tempting clusters [9] hung, 20
+ A virgin scene!--A little while I stood,
+ Breathing with such suppression of the heart
+ As joy delights in; and, with wise restraint
+ Voluptuous, fearless of a rival, eyed
+ The banquet;--or beneath the trees I sate 25
+ Among the flowers, and with the flowers I played;
+ A temper known to those, who, after long
+ And weary expectation, have been blest
+ With sudden happiness beyond all hope.
+ Perhaps it was a bower beneath whose leaves 30
+ The violets of five seasons re-appear
+ And fade, unseen by any human eye;
+ Where fairy water-breaks do murmur on
+ For ever; and I saw the sparkling foam,
+ And--with my cheek on one of those green stones 35
+ That, fleeced with moss, under [10] the shady trees,
+ Lay round me, scattered like a flock of sheep--
+ I heard the murmur and the murmuring sound,
+ In that sweet mood when pleasure loves to pay
+ Tribute to ease; and, of its joy secure, 40
+ The heart luxuriates with indifferent things,
+ Wasting its kindliness on stocks and stones,
+ And on the vacant air. Then up I rose,
+ And dragged to earth both branch and bough, with crash
+ And merciless ravage: and the shady nook 45
+ Of hazels, and the green and mossy bower,
+ Deformed and sullied, patiently gave up
+ Their quiet being: and, unless I now
+ Confound my present feelings with the past;
+ Ere from the mutilated bower I turned [11] 50
+ Exulting, rich beyond the wealth of kings,
+ I felt a sense of pain when I beheld
+ The silent trees, and saw the intruding sky.--[12]
+ Then, dearest Maiden, move along these shades
+ In gentleness of heart; with gentle hand 55
+ Touch--for there is a spirit in the woods.
+
+
+
+The woods round Esthwaite Lake have undergone considerable change since
+Wordsworth's school-days at Hawkshead; but hazel coppice is still
+abundant to the south and west of the Lake.--Ed.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... which ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2: This line was added in the edition of 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ When forth I sallied from our cottage-door, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1832.
+
+ And with a wallet o'er my shoulder slung, 1800.
+
+ With a huge wallet o'er my shoulder slung, 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... I turn'd ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1836.
+
+ Towards the distant woods, ... 1800.
+
+ Toward ... 1832.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... of Beggar's weeds
+ Put on for the occasion, by advice
+ And exhortation ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... Among the woods,
+ And o'er the pathless rocks, I forc'd my way
+ Until, at length, I came ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... milk-white clusters ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... beneath ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1836.
+
+ Even then, when from the bower I turn'd away, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... and the intruding sky.--1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The house at which I was boarded during the time I was at
+School.--W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+WRITTEN IN GERMANY, ON ONE OF THE COLDEST DAYS OF THE CENTURY
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+I must apprize the Reader that the stoves in North Germany generally
+have the impression of a galloping Horse upon them, this being part of
+the Brunswick Arms.--W. W. 1800.
+
+[A bitter winter it was when these verses were composed by the side of
+my sister, in our lodgings at a draper's house, in the romantic imperial
+town of Goslar, on the edge of the Hartz Forest. In this town the German
+emperors of the Franconian Line were accustomed to keep their court, and
+it retains vestiges of ancient splendour. So severe was the cold of this
+winter, that when we passed out of the parlour warmed by the stove, our
+cheeks were struck by the air as by cold iron. I slept in a room over a
+passage that was not ceiled. The people of the house used to say rather
+unfeelingly, that they expected I should be frozen to death some night;
+but with the protection of a pelisse lined with fur, and a dog's skin
+bonnet, such as was worn by the peasants, I walked daily on the
+ramparts, or on a sort of public ground or garden, in which was a pond.
+Here I had no companion but a kingfisher, a beautiful creature that used
+to glance by me. I consequently became much attached to it. During these
+walks I composed the poem that follows, _A Poet's Epitaph_.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection." Wordsworth originally
+gave to this poem the title "The Fly," but erased it before
+publication.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ A plague on [1] your languages, German and Norse!
+ Let me have the song of the kettle;
+ And the tongs and the poker, instead of that horse
+ That gallops away with such fury and force
+ On this [2] dreary dull plate of black metal. 5
+ [3]
+ See that Fly, [4]--a disconsolate creature! perhaps
+ A child of the field or the grove;
+ And, sorrow for him! the [5] dull treacherous heat
+ Has seduced the poor fool from his winter retreat,
+ And he creeps to the edge of my stove. 10
+
+ Alas! how he fumbles about the domains
+ Which this comfortless oven environ!
+ He cannot find out in what track he must crawl,
+ Now back to the tiles, then in search of the wall, [6]
+ And now on the brink of the iron. 15
+
+ Stock-still there he stands like a traveller bemazed:
+ The best of his skill he has tried;
+ His feelers, methinks, I can see him put forth
+ To the east and the west, to [7] the south and the north
+ But he finds neither guide-post nor guide. 20
+
+ His spindles [8] sink under him, foot, leg, and thigh!
+ His eyesight and hearing are lost;
+ Between life and death his blood freezes and thaws;
+ And his two pretty pinions of blue dusky gauze
+ Are glued to his sides by the frost. 25
+
+ No brother, no mate [9] has he near him--while I
+ Can draw warmth from the cheek of my Love;
+ As blest and as glad, in this desolate gloom,
+ As if green summer grass were the floor of my room,
+ And woodbines were hanging above. 30
+
+ Yet, God is my witness, thou small helpless Thing!
+ Thy life I would gladly sustain
+ Till summer come [10] up from the south, and with crowds
+ Of thy brethren a march thou should'st sound through the clouds.
+ And back to the forests again! 35
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1820.
+
+ A fig for ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1800.
+
+ On his ... 1827.
+
+The text of 1837 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+ Our earth is no doubt made of excellent stuff,
+ But her pulses beat slower and slower,
+ The weather in Forty was cutting and rough,
+ And then, as Heaven knows, the glass stood low enough,
+ And _now_ it is four degrees lower.
+
+This stanza occurs only in the editions of 1800 to 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1820.
+
+ Here's a Fly, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... this ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... and not back to the wall, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... and the South ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1845.
+
+ See! his spindles ... 1800.
+
+ How his spindles ... 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... no Friend ... 1800.
+
+ No brother has he, no companion, while I MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... comes ... 1800.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+A POET'S EPITAPH
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Art thou a Statist [1] in the van
+ Of public conflicts [2] trained and bred?
+--First learn to love one living man;
+ _Then_ may'st thou think upon the dead.
+
+ A Lawyer art thou?--draw not nigh! 5
+ Go, carry to some fitter place
+ The keenness of that practised eye,
+ The hardness of that sallow face. [3]
+
+ Art thou a Man of purple cheer?
+ A rosy Man, right plump to see? 10
+ Approach; yet, Doctor, [A] not too near,
+ This grave no cushion is for thee.
+
+ Or art thou one of gallant pride, [4]
+ A Soldier and no man of chaff?
+ Welcome!--but lay thy sword aside, 15
+ And lean upon a peasant's staff.
+
+ Physician art thou?--one, all eyes,
+ Philosopher!--a fingering slave,
+ One that would peep and botanize
+ Upon his mother's grave? 20
+
+ Wrapt closely in thy sensual fleece,
+ O turn aside,--and take, I pray,
+ That he below may rest in peace,
+ Thy ever-dwindling soul, away! [5]
+
+ A Moralist perchance appears; 25
+ Led, Heaven knows how! to this poor sod:
+ And he has neither eyes nor ears;
+ Himself his world, and his own God;
+
+ One to whose smooth-rubbed soul can cling
+ Nor form, nor feeling, great or [6] small; 30
+ A reasoning, self-sufficing [7] thing,
+ An intellectual All-in-all!
+
+ Shut close the door; press down the latch;
+ Sleep in thy intellectual crust;
+ Nor lose ten tickings of thy watch 35
+ Near this unprofitable dust.
+
+ But who is He, with modest looks,
+ And clad in homely russet brown? [B]
+ He murmurs near the running brooks
+ A music sweeter than their own. 40
+
+ He is retired as noontide dew,
+ Or fountain in a noon-day grove;
+ And you must love him, ere to you
+ He will seem worthy of your love.
+
+ The outward shows of sky and earth, 45
+ Of hill and valley, he has viewed;
+ And impulses of deeper birth
+ Have come to him in solitude.
+
+ In common things that round us lie
+ Some random truths he can impart,--50
+ The harvest of a quiet eye
+ That broods and sleeps on his own heart.
+
+ But he is weak; both Man and Boy,
+ Hath been an idler in the land;
+ Contented if he might enjoy 55
+ The things which others understand.
+
+--Come hither in thy hour of strength;
+ Come, weak as is a breaking wave!
+ Here stretch thy body at full length;
+ Or build thy house upon this grave. 60
+
+
+
+
+See the Fenwick note to the poem, 'Written in Germany, on one of the
+coldest Days of the Century' (p. 73).
+
+ "The 'Poet's Epitaph' is disfigured to my taste by the common satire
+ upon parsons and lawyers in the beginning, and the coarse epithet of
+ 'pin-point', in the sixth stanza. All the rest is eminently good, and
+ your own."
+
+(Charles Lamb to William Wordsworth, January 1801.)--Ed.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... Statesman, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ Of public business ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... to some other place
+ The hardness of thy coward eye,
+ The falsehood of thy sallow face. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1820.
+
+ Art thou a man of gallant pride, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1837.
+
+ Thy pin-point of a soul away! 1800.
+
+ That abject thing, thy soul, away! 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... nor ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... self-sufficient ... 1802.
+
+The edition of 1815 returns to the text of 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: D. D., not M. D. The physician is referred to in the fifth
+stanza.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare Thomson's description of the Bard, in his 'Castle
+of Indolence' (canto ii., stanza xxxiii.):
+
+ He came, the bard, a little Druid wight,
+ Of withered aspect; but his eye was keen,
+ With sweetness mixed. In russet brown bedight,
+ He crept along, etc.
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"STRANGE FITS OF PASSION HAVE I KNOWN"
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written in Germany, 1799.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems founded on the Affections." In MS. Wordsworth gave, as
+the title, "A Reverie," but erased it.--Ed.
+
+
+
+ Strange fits of passion have I known: [1]
+ And I will dare to tell,
+ But in the Lover's ear alone,
+ What once to me befel.
+
+ When she I loved looked every day 5
+ Fresh as a rose in June, [2]
+ I to her cottage bent my way,
+ Beneath an [3] evening moon.
+
+ Upon the moon I fixed my eye,
+ All over the wide lea; 10
+ With quickening pace my horse drew nigh [4]
+ Those paths so dear to me.
+
+ And now we reached the orchard-plot;
+ And, as we climbed the hill,
+ The sinking moon to Lucy's cot 15
+ Came near, and nearer still. [5]
+
+ In one of those sweet dreams I slept,
+ Kind Nature's gentlest boon!
+ And all the while my eyes I kept
+ On the descending moon. 20
+
+ My horse moved on; hoof after hoof
+ He raised, and never stopped:
+ When down behind the cottage roof,
+ At once, the bright moon dropped. [6]
+
+ What fond and wayward thoughts will slide 25
+ Into a Lover's head!
+ "O mercy!" to myself I cried,
+ "If Lucy should be dead!"
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... I have known, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ When she I lov'd, was strong and gay
+ And like a rose in June, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... the ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ My horse trudg'd on, and we drew nigh 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1836.
+
+ Towards the roof of Lucy's cot
+ The moon descended still. [a] 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... the planet dropp'd. 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Footnote a: Compare the lines in Arthur Hugh Clough's poem, 'The
+Stream of Life':
+
+ And houses stand on either hand
+ And thou descendest still.
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"SHE DWELT AMONG THE UNTRODDEN WAYS"
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+One of the "Poems founded on the Affections." In the edition of 1800 it
+is entitled 'Song'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ She dwelt among the untrodden ways
+ Beside the springs of Dove,
+ A Maid whom there were none to praise
+ And very few to love: [1]
+
+ A violet by a mossy stone 5
+ Half hidden from the eye!
+--Fair as a star, when only one
+ Is shining in the sky.
+
+ She lived [2] unknown, and few could know
+ When Lucy ceased to be; 10
+ But she is in her grave, and, oh,
+ The difference to me!
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1800.
+
+ A very few ... 1802.
+
+The text of the edition of 1805 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2: The word "lived" was italicised in the edition of 1800
+only.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"I TRAVELLED AMONG UNKNOWN MEN"
+
+
+Composed 1799.-Published 1807
+
+
+One of the "Poems founded on the Affections."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I travelled among unknown men,
+ In lands beyond the sea;
+ Nor, England! did I know till then
+ What love I bore to thee.
+
+ 'Tis past, that melancholy dream! 5
+ Nor will I quit thy shore
+ A second time; for still I seem
+ To love thee more and more.
+
+ Among thy mountains did I feel
+ The joy of my desire; [1] 10
+ And she I cherished turned her wheel
+ Beside an English fire.
+
+ Thy mornings showed, thy nights concealed
+ The bowers where Lucy played;
+ And thine too is the last green field 15
+ That Lucy's eyes surveyed. [2] [A]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+ The gladness of desire; MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ And thine is, too, the last green field
+ Which ... 1807.
+
+ That ... 1815.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare Sara Coleridge's comment on this poem in the
+'Biographia Literaria' (1847), vol. ii. chap. ix. p. 173. Also Mrs.
+Oliphant's remarks in her 'Literary History of the Nineteenth Century',
+vol. i. pp. 306-9.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"THREE YEARS SHE GREW IN SUN AND SHOWER"
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+[1799. Composed in the Hartz Forest.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Imagination." It has no title in any edition,
+but from 1820 to 1836 the second page occupied by the poem is headed
+"Lucy." In the editions of 1836 to 1843 it is called "Lucy" in the list
+of contents.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Three years she grew in sun and shower,
+ Then Nature said, "A lovelier flower
+ On earth was never sown;
+ This Child I to myself will take;
+ She shall be mine, and I will make 5
+ A Lady of my own.
+
+ "Myself will to my darling be
+ Both law and impulse: [1] and with me
+ The Girl, in rock and plain,
+ In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, 10
+ Shall feel an overseeing power
+ To kindle or restrain.
+
+ "She shall be sportive as the fawn
+ That wild with glee across the lawn
+ Or up the mountain springs; 15
+ And her's shall be the breathing balm,
+ And her's the silence and the calm
+ Of mute insensate things.
+
+ "The floating clouds their state shall lend
+ To her; for her the willow bend; 20
+ Nor shall she fail to see
+ Even in the motions of the Storm
+ Grace that shall mould the Maiden's form [2]
+ By silent sympathy.
+
+ "The stars of midnight shall be dear 25
+ To her; and she shall lean her ear
+ In many a secret place
+ Where rivulets dance their wayward round,
+ And beauty born of murmuring sound [A]
+ Shall pass into her face. 30
+
+ "And vital feelings of delight
+ Shall rear her form to stately height,
+ Her virgin bosom swell;
+ Such thoughts to Lucy I will give
+ While she and I together live 35
+ Here in this happy dell."
+
+ Thus Nature spake--The work was done--
+ How soon my Lucy's race was run!
+ She died, and left to me
+ This heath, this calm, and quiet scene; 40
+ The memory of what has been,
+ And never more will be. [B]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1800.
+
+ Her Teacher I myself will be,
+ She is my darling;--...
+
+MS. 1801, and the edition of 1802.
+The edition of 1805 returns to the text of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1800.
+
+A reading--printed in the edition of 1800, but replaced in its list of
+'errata' by that given in the text--may be quoted here,
+
+ A beauty that shall mould her form ... 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare Dryden's 'Indian Emperor', iv. 3.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: On Oct 9, 1800, S. T. Coleridge, in writing to Sir Humphry
+Davy of his own 'Christabel', said,
+
+ "I would rather have written 'Ruth', and 'Nature's Lady,' than a
+ million such poems."
+
+This poem was printed in 'The Morning Post', March 2nd, 1801.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"A SLUMBER DID MY SPIRIT SEAL"
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written in Germany.--I.F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems of the Imagination." [A]--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ A slumber did my spirit seal;
+ I had no human fears:
+ She seemed a thing that could not feel
+ The touch of earthly years.
+
+ No motion has she now, no force; 5
+ She neither hears nor sees;
+ Rolled round in earth's diurnal course,
+ With rocks, and stones, and trees. [B]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: It was one of the "Lucy" Poems. In his instructions to the
+printer in 1807, Wordsworth told him to insert "I travelled among
+unknown men" after "A slumber did my spirit seal."--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare Suckling's 'Fragmenta Aurea' (The Tragedy of
+Brennoralt), p. 170, edition 1658.
+
+ Heavens! shall this fresh ornament of the world,
+ These precious love-lines, pass with other common things,
+ Amongst the wastes of time? What pity 'twere.
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+ADDRESS TO THE SCHOLARS OF THE VILLAGE SCHOOL OF--
+
+
+Composed 1798 or 1799.--Published 1842
+
+
+[Composed at Goslar, in Germany.--I.F.]
+
+First published in "Poems, chiefly of Early and Late Years," and
+included, in 1845, among the "Epitaphs and Elegiac Pieces."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I come, ye little noisy Crew,
+ Not long your pastime to prevent;
+ I heard the blessing which to you
+ Our common Friend and Father sent.
+ I kissed his cheek before he died; 5
+ And when his breath was fled,
+ I raised, while kneeling by his side,
+ His hand:--it dropped like lead.
+ Your hands, dear Little-ones, do all
+ That can be done, will never fall 10
+ Like his till they are dead.
+ By night or day blow foul or fair,
+ Ne'er will the best of all your train
+ Play with the locks of his white hair,
+ Or stand between his knees again. 15
+
+ Here did he sit confined for hours;
+ But he could see the woods and plains,
+ Could hear the wind and mark the showers
+ Come streaming down the streaming panes.
+ Now stretched beneath his grass-green mound 20
+ He rests a prisoner of the ground.
+ He loved the breathing air,
+ He loved the sun, but if it rise
+ Or set, to him where now he lies,
+ Brings not a moment's care. 25
+
+ Alas! what idle words; but take
+ The Dirge which for our Master's sake
+ And yours, love prompted me to make.
+ The rhymes so homely in attire
+ With learned ears may ill agree, 30
+ But chanted by your Orphan Quire
+ Will make a touching melody.
+
+
+ DIRGE
+
+ Mourn, Shepherd, near thy old grey stone;
+ Thou Angler, by the silent flood;
+ And mourn when thou art all alone, 35
+ Thou Woodman, in the distant wood!
+
+ Thou one blind Sailor, rich in joy
+ Though blind, thy tunes in sadness hum;
+ And mourn, thou poor half-witted Boy!
+ Born deaf, and living deaf and dumb. 40
+
+ Thou drooping sick Man, bless the Guide
+ Who checked or turned thy headstrong youth,
+ As he before had sanctified
+ Thy infancy with heavenly truth.
+
+ Ye Striplings, light of heart and gay, 45
+ Bold settlers on some foreign shore,
+ Give, when your thoughts are turned this way,
+ A sigh to him whom we deplore.
+
+ For us who here in funeral strain
+ With one accord our voices raise, 50
+ Let sorrow overcharged with pain
+ Be lost in thankfulness and praise.
+
+ And when our hearts shall feel a sting
+ From ill we meet or good we miss,
+ May touches of his memory bring 55
+ Fond healing, like a mother's kiss.
+
+
+ BY THE SIDE OF THE GRAVE SOME YEARS AFTER
+
+ Long time his pulse hath ceased to beat;
+ But benefits, his gift, we trace--
+ Expressed in every eye we meet
+ Round this dear Vale, his native place. 60
+
+ To stately Hall and Cottage rude
+ Flowed from his life what still they hold,
+ Light pleasures, every day, renewed;
+ And blessings half a century old.
+
+ Oh true of heart, of spirit gay, 65
+ Thy faults, where not already gone
+ From memory, prolong their stay
+ For charity's sweet sake alone.
+
+ Such solace find we for our loss;
+ And what beyond this thought we crave 70
+ Comes in the promise from the Cross,
+ Shining upon thy happy grave.
+
+
+
+To this poem, when first published in the "Poems of Early and Late
+Years" (1842), Wordsworth appended the note, "See, upon the subject of
+the three foregoing pieces, 'The Fountain' [p. 91], etc. etc. in the
+fifth volume of the Author's Poems." He thus connects it with the poems
+referring to Matthew in such a way that it may be said to belong to that
+series; and, while he assigned it to the year 1798, both in the edition
+of 1845, and in that of 1849-50, it is quite possible that it was
+written in 1799. "The village school" was the Grammar School of
+Hawkshead, where Wordsworth spent his boyhood; and the schoolmaster was
+the Rev. William Taylor, M. A., Emmanuel College, Cambridge, who was the
+third of the four masters who taught in it during Wordsworth's residence
+there. He was master from 1782 to 1786. Just before his death he sent
+for the upper boys of the school (amongst whom was Wordsworth), and
+calling them into his room, took leave of them with a solemn blessing.
+This farewell doubtless suggested the lines:
+
+ 'the blessing which to you
+ Our common Friend and Father sent.'
+
+Mr. Taylor was buried in Cartmell Churchyard. In 'The Prelude',
+Wordsworth writes of him as "an honoured teacher of my youth;" and there
+describes, with some minuteness, a visit to his grave. (See book x. l.
+532.) It will be seen, however, from the Fenwick note to 'Matthew', that
+the Hawkshead Schoolmaster, like the Wanderer in 'The Excursion', was
+"made up of several both of his class and men of other occupations;" but
+of the four masters who taught Wordsworth at Hawkshead--Peake,
+Christian, Taylor, and Bowman--Taylor was far the ablest, the most
+interesting, and the most beloved by the boys, and it was doubtless the
+memory of this man that gave rise to the above poem, and the four which
+follow it. He was but thirty-two years old when he died, 12th June,
+1786. This fact, taken in connection with line 14 of the 'Address', may
+illustrate the composite character of 'Matthew'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+MATTHEW
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+In the School of--is a tablet on which are inscribed, in gilt letters,
+the names of the several persons who have been Schoolmasters there since
+the foundation of the School, with the time at which they entered upon
+and quitted their office. Opposite one of those names the Author wrote
+the following lines.--W. W. 1800.
+
+[Such a tablet as is here spoken of continued to be preserved in
+Hawkshead School, though the inscriptions were not brought down to our
+time. This, and other poems connected with Matthew, would not gain by a
+literal detail of facts. Like the Wanderer in 'The Excursion' this
+Schoolmaster was made up of several, both of his class and men of other
+occupations. I do not ask pardon for what there is of untruth in such
+verses, considered strictly as matters of fact. It is enough, if, being
+true and consistent in spirit, they move and teach in a manner not
+unworthy of a Poet's calling.--I.F.] [A]
+
+In the editions of 1800 to 1820 this poem had no title except the note
+prefixed to it above, although in the Table of Contents it was called
+'Lines written on a Tablet in a School'. From 1820-32 "Matthew" is the
+page heading, though there is no title. In the editions of 1827 and 1832
+it was named, in the Table of Contents, by its first line, "If Nature,
+for a favourite child." In 1837 it was entitled 'Matthew'. It was
+included among the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection." The Tablet, with
+the names of the Masters inscribed on it, still exists in Hawkshead
+School.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ If Nature, for a favourite child,
+ In thee hath tempered so her clay,
+ That every hour thy heart runs wild,
+ Yet never once doth go astray,
+
+ Read o'er these lines; and then review 5
+ This tablet, that thus humbly rears
+ In such diversity of hue
+ Its history of two hundred years.
+
+--When through this little wreck of fame,
+ Cipher and syllable! thine eye 10
+ Has travelled down to Matthew's name,
+ Pause with no common sympathy.
+
+ And; if a sleeping tear should wake,
+ Then be it neither checked nor stayed:
+ For Matthew a request I make 15
+ Which for himself he had not made.
+
+ Poor Matthew, all his frolics o'er,
+ Is silent as a standing pool;
+ Far from the chimney's merry roar,
+ And murmur of the village school. 20
+
+ The sighs which Matthew heaved were sighs
+ Of one tired out with fun and madness;
+ The tears which came to Matthew's eyes
+ Were tears of light, the dew [1] of gladness.
+
+ Yet, sometimes, when the secret cup 25
+ Of still and serious thought went round,
+ It seemed as if he drank it up--
+ He felt with spirit so profound.
+
+--Thou soul of God's best earthly mould!
+ Thou happy Soul! and can it be 30
+ That these two words of glittering gold
+ Are all that must remain of thee? [2]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... the oil ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... to thee? 1805, and MS.
+
+The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: On the 27th March 1843, Wordsworth wrote to Professor Henry
+Reed of Philadelphia:
+
+ "The character of the schoolmaster, had like the Wanderer in 'The
+ Excursion' a solid foundation in fact and reality, but like him it was
+ also in some degree a composition: I will not, and need not, call it
+ an invention--it was no such thing."
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE TWO APRIL MORNINGS
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ We walked along, while bright and red
+ Uprose the morning sun;
+ And Matthew stopped, he looked, and said,
+ "The will of God be done!"
+
+ A village schoolmaster was he, 5
+ With hair of glittering grey;
+ As blithe a man as you could see
+ On a spring holiday.
+
+ And on that morning, through the grass,
+ And by the steaming rills, 10
+ We travelled merrily, to pass
+ A day among the hills.
+
+ "Our work," said I, "was well begun,
+ Then, from thy breast what thought,
+ Beneath so beautiful a sun, 15
+ So sad a sigh has brought?"
+
+ A second time did Matthew stop;
+ And fixing still his eye
+ Upon the eastern mountain-top,
+ To me he made reply: 20
+
+ "Yon cloud with that long purple cleft
+ Brings fresh into my mind
+ A day like this which I have left
+ Full thirty years behind.
+
+ "And just above yon slope of corn 25
+ Such colours, and no other,
+ Were in the sky, that April morn,
+ Of this the very brother. [1]
+
+ "With rod and line I sued the sport
+ Which that sweet season gave, [2] 30
+ And, to the church-yard come, [3] stopped short
+ Beside my daughter's grave.
+
+ "Nine summers had she scarcely seen,
+ The pride of all the vale;
+ And then she sang [4];--she would have been 35
+ A very nightingale.
+
+ "Six feet in earth my Emma lay;
+ And yet I loved her more,
+ For so it seemed, than till that day
+ I e'er had loved before. 40
+
+ "And, turning from her grave, I met,
+ Beside the church-yard yew,
+ A blooming Girl, whose hair was wet
+ With points of morning dew.
+
+ "A basket on her head she bare; 45
+ Her brow was smooth and white:
+ To see a child so very fair,
+ It was a pure delight!
+
+ "No fountain from its rocky cave
+ E'er tripped with foot so free; 50
+ She seemed as happy as a wave
+ That dances on the sea. [A]
+
+ "There came from me a sigh of pain
+ Which I could ill confine;
+ I looked at her, and looked again: 55
+ And did not wish her mine!"
+
+ Matthew is in his grave, yet now,
+ Methinks, I see him stand,
+ As at that moment, with a bough [5]
+ Of wilding in his hand. 60
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1802.
+
+ And on that slope of springing corn
+ The self-same crimson hue
+ Fell from the sky that April morn,
+ The same which now I view! 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1815.
+
+ With rod and line my silent sport
+ I plied by Derwent's wave, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1837.
+
+ And, coming to the church, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... sung;--... 1802.
+
+The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... his bough 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare the 'Winters Tale', act IV. scene iii. ll. 140-2:
+
+ 'when you do dance, I wish you
+ A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do
+ Nothing but that, etc.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FOUNTAIN
+
+A CONVERSATION
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ We talked with open heart, and tongue
+ Affectionate and true,
+ A pair of friends, though I was young,
+ And Matthew seventy-two.
+
+ We lay beneath a spreading oak, 5
+ Beside a mossy seat;
+ And from the turf a fountain broke,
+ And gurgled at our feet.
+
+ "Now, Matthew!" said I, "let us match [1]
+ This water's pleasant tune 10
+ With some old border-song, or catch
+ That suits a summer's noon;
+
+ "Or of the church-clock and the chimes
+ Sing here beneath the shade,
+ That half-mad thing of witty rhymes 15
+ Which you last April made!"
+
+ In silence Matthew lay, and eyed
+ The spring beneath the tree;
+ And thus the dear old Man replied,
+ The grey-haired man of glee: 20
+
+ "No check, no stay, this Streamlet fears; [2]
+ How merrily it goes!
+ 'Twill murmur on a thousand years,
+ And flow as now it flows.
+
+ "And here, on this delightful day, 25
+ I cannot choose but think
+ How oft, a vigorous man, I lay
+ Beside this fountain's brink.
+
+ "My eyes are dim with childish tears,
+ My heart is idly stirred, 30
+ For the same sound is in my ears
+ Which in those days I heard.
+
+ "Thus fares it still in our decay:
+ And yet the wiser mind
+ Mourns less for what age takes away 35
+ Than what it leaves behind. [A]
+
+ "The blackbird amid leafy trees,
+ The lark above the hill, [3]
+ Let loose their carols when they please,
+ Are quiet when they will. 40
+
+ "With Nature never do _they_ wage
+ A foolish strife; they see
+ A happy youth, and their old age
+ Is beautiful and free:
+
+ "But we are pressed by heavy laws; 45
+ And often, glad no more,
+ We wear a face of joy, because
+ We have been glad of yore.
+
+ "If there be [4] one who need bemoan
+ His kindred laid in earth, 50
+ The household hearts that were his own;
+ It is the man of mirth.
+
+ "My days, my Friend, are almost gone,
+ My life has been approved,
+ And many love me; but by none 55
+ Am I enough beloved."
+
+ "Now both himself and me he wrongs,
+ The man who thus complains!
+ I live and sing my idle songs
+ Upon these happy plains; 60
+
+ "And, Matthew, for thy children dead
+ I'll be a son to thee!"
+ At this he grasped my hand, [5] and said,
+ "Alas! that cannot be."
+
+ We rose up from the fountain-side; 65
+ And down the smooth descent
+ Of the green sheep-track did we glide;
+ And through the wood we went;
+
+ And, ere we came to Leonard's rock,
+ He sang those witty rhymes 70
+ About the crazy old church-clock,
+ And the bewildered chimes.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1820.
+
+ Now, Matthew, let us try to match 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ Down to the vale this water steers, 1800.
+
+ Down to the vale with eager speed
+ Behold this streamlet run,
+ From subterranean bondage freed,
+ And glittering in the sun. C.
+
+ From subterranean darkness freed,
+ A pleasant course to run. C.
+
+ Down to the vale this streamlet hies,
+ Look, how it seems to run,
+ As if 't were pleased with summer skies,
+ And glad to meet the sun. C.
+
+ And glad to greet the sun. MS.
+
+ No guide it needs, no check it fears,
+ How merrily it goes!
+ 'Twill murmur on a thousand years,
+ And flow as now it flows. C.
+
+ Down towards the vale with eager speed,
+ Behold this streamlet run
+ As if 'twere pleased with summer skies
+ And glad to meet the sun. C.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1837.
+
+ The blackbird in the summer trees,
+ The lark upon the hill, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... is .... 1800 and MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... his hands, ... 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A:
+
+ "Pour me plaindre a moy, regarde noti tant ce qu'on moste, que ce qui
+ me reste de sauvre, et dedans et dehors."
+
+Montaigne, 'Essais', iii. 12.
+
+Compare also:
+
+ "Themistocles quidem, cum ei Simonides, an quis alius artem memoriae
+ polliceretur, _Oblivionis_, inquit, _mallem_; _nam memini etiam quae
+ nolo, oblivisci non possum quae volo_."
+
+Cicero, 'De Finibus', II. 32.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO A SEXTON
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written in Germany, 1799.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Let thy wheel-barrow alone--
+ Wherefore, Sexton, piling still
+ In thy bone-house bone on bone?
+ 'Tis already like a hill
+ In a field of battle made, 5
+ Where three thousand skulls are laid;
+ These died in peace each with the other,--
+ Father, sister, friend, and brother.
+
+ Mark the spot to which I point!
+ From this platform, eight feet square, 10
+ Take not even a finger-joint:
+ Andrew's whole fire-side is there.
+ Here, alone, before thine eyes,
+ Simon's sickly daughter lies,
+ From weakness now, and pain defended, 15
+ Whom he twenty winters tended.
+
+ Look but at the gardener's pride--
+ How he glories, when he sees
+ Roses, lilies, side by side,
+ Violets in families! 20
+ By the heart of Man, his tears,
+ By his hopes and by his fears,
+ Thou, too heedless, [1] art the Warden
+ Of a far superior garden.
+
+ Thus then, each to other dear, 25
+ Let them all in quiet lie,
+ Andrew there, and Susan here,
+ Neighbours in mortality.
+ And, should I live through sun and rain
+ Seven widowed years without my Jane, 30
+ O Sexton, do not then remove her,
+ Let one grave hold the Loved and Lover!
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ Thou, old Grey-beard! ... 1800.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE DANISH BOY
+
+A FRAGMENT
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written in Germany, 1799. It was entirely a fancy; but intended as a
+prelude to a ballad-poem never written.--I.F.]
+
+In the editions of 1800-1832 this poem was called 'A Fragment'. From
+1836 onwards it was named 'The Danish Boy. A Fragment'. It was one of
+the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I Between two sister moorland rills
+ There is a spot that seems to lie
+ Sacred to flowerets of the hills,
+ And sacred to the sky.
+ And in this smooth and open dell 5
+ There is a tempest-stricken tree;
+ A corner-stone by lightning cut,
+ The last stone of a lonely hut; [1]
+ And in this dell you see
+ A thing no storm can e'er destroy, 10
+ The shadow of a Danish Boy. [A]
+
+
+ II In clouds above, the lark is heard,
+ But drops not here to earth for rest; [2]
+ Within [3] this lonesome nook the bird
+ Did never build her [4] nest. 15
+ No beast, no bird hath here his home;
+ Bees, wafted on [5] the breezy air,
+ Pass high above those fragrant bells
+ To other flowers:--to other dells
+ Their burthens do they bear; [6] 20
+ The Danish Boy walks here alone:
+ The lovely dell is all his own.
+
+ III A Spirit of noon-day is he;
+ Yet seems [7] a form of flesh and blood;
+ Nor piping shepherd shall he be, 25
+ Nor herd-boy of the wood. [8]
+ A regal vest of fur he wears,
+ In colour like a raven's wing;
+ It fears not [9] rain, nor wind, nor dew;
+ But in the storm 'tis fresh and blue 30
+ As budding pines in spring;
+ His helmet has a vernal grace,
+ Fresh as the bloom upon his face.
+
+ IV A harp is from his shoulder slung;
+ Resting the harp upon his knee; 35
+ To words of a forgotten tongue,
+ He suits its melody. [10]
+ Of flocks upon the neighbouring hill [11]
+ He is the darling and the joy;
+ And often, when no cause appears, 40
+ The mountain-ponies prick their ears,
+--They hear the Danish Boy,
+ While in the dell he sings [12] alone
+ Beside the tree and corner-stone.
+ [13]
+
+ V There sits he; in his face you spy 45
+ No trace of a ferocious air,
+ Nor ever was a cloudless sky
+ So steady or so fair.
+ The lovely Danish Boy is blest
+ And happy in his flowery cove: 50
+ From bloody deeds his thoughts are far;
+ And yet he warbles songs of war,
+ That seem [14] like songs of love,
+ For calm and gentle is his mien;
+ Like a dead Boy he is serene. 55
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... a cottage hut; 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ He sings his blithest and his best; 1800.
+
+ She sings, regardless of her rest, 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ But in ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... his ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ The bees borne on ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ Nor ever linger there. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1836.
+
+ He seems ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1802.
+
+ A piping Shepherd he might be,
+ A Herd-boy of the wood. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... nor ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1836.
+
+ He rests the harp upon his knee,
+ And there in a forgotten tongue
+ He warbles melody. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1827.
+
+ Of flocks and herds both far and near 1800.
+
+ Of flocks upon the neighbouring hills 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... sits ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+ When near this blasted tree you pass,
+ Two sods are plainly to be seen
+ Close at its root, and each with grass
+ Is cover'd fresh and green.
+ Like turf upon a new-made grave
+ These two green sods together lie,
+ Nor heat, nor cold, nor rain, nor wind
+ Can these two sods together bind,
+ Nor sun, nor earth, nor sky,
+ But side by side the two are laid,
+ As if just sever'd by the spade.
+
+This stanza occurs only in the edition of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1815.
+
+ They seem ... 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: These Stanzas were designed to introduce a Ballad upon the
+Story of a Danish Prince who had fled from Battle, and, for the sake of
+the valuables about him, was murdered by the Inhabitant of a Cottage in
+which he had taken refuge. The House fell under a curse, and the Spirit
+of the Youth, it was believed, haunted the Valley where the crime had
+been committed.--W. W. 1827.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+LUCY GRAY; OR, SOLITUDE
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written at Goslar, in Germany, in 1799. It was founded on a
+circumstance told me by my sister, of a little girl, who, not far from
+Halifax in Yorkshire, was bewildered in a snow storm. Her footsteps were
+tracked by her parents to the middle of a lock of a canal, and no other
+vestige of her, backward or forward, could be traced. The body, however,
+was found in the canal. The way in which the incident was treated, and
+the spiritualizing of the character, might furnish hints for contrasting
+the imaginative influences, which I have endeavoured to throw over
+common life, with Crabbe's matter-of-fact style of handling subjects of
+the same kind. This is not spoken to his disparagement, far from it; but
+to direct the attention of thoughtful readers into whose hands these
+notes may fall, to a comparison that may enlarge the circle of their
+sensibilities, and tend to produce in them a catholic judgment.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Oft I had heard [1] of Lucy Gray:
+ And, when I crossed the wild,
+ I chanced to see at break of day
+ The solitary child.
+
+ No mate, no comrade Lucy knew; 5
+ She dwelt on a wide moor, [2]
+--The sweetest thing that ever grew
+ Beside a human door!
+
+ You yet may spy the fawn at play,
+ The hare upon the green; 10
+ But the sweet [3] face of Lucy Gray
+ Will never more be seen.
+
+ "To-night will be a stormy night--
+ You to the town must go;
+ And take a lantern, Child, to light 15
+ Your mother through the snow."
+
+ "That, Father! will I gladly do:
+ 'Tis scarcely afternoon--
+ The minster-clock has just struck two,
+ And yonder is the moon!" 20
+
+ At this the Father raised his hook,
+ And snapped [4] a faggot-band;
+ He plied his work;--and Lucy took
+ The lantern in her hand.
+
+ Not blither is the mountain roe: 25
+ With many a wanton stroke
+ Her feet disperse the powdery snow,
+ That rises up like smoke.
+
+ The storm came on before its time:
+ She wandered up and down; 30
+ And many a hill did Lucy climb
+ But never reached the town.
+
+ The wretched parents all that night
+ Went shouting far and wide;
+ But there was neither sound nor sight 35
+ To serve them for a guide.
+
+ At day-break on a hill they stood
+ That overlooked the moor;
+ And thence they saw the bridge of wood,
+ A furlong from their door. 40
+
+ They wept--and, turning homeward, cried, [5]
+ "In heaven we all shall meet;"
+--When in the snow the mother spied [6]
+ The print of Lucy's feet.
+
+ Then downwards [7] from the steep hill's edge 45
+ They tracked the footmarks small;
+ And through the broken hawthorn hedge,
+ And by the long stone-wall;
+
+ And then an open field they crossed:
+ The marks were still the same; 50
+ They tracked them on, nor ever lost;
+ And [8] to the bridge they came.
+
+ They followed from the snowy bank
+ Those [9] footmarks, one by one,
+ Into the middle of the plank; 55
+ And further there were [10] none!
+
+--Yet some maintain that to this day
+ She is a living child;
+ That you may see sweet Lucy Gray
+ Upon the lonesome wild. 60
+
+ O'er rough and smooth she trips along,
+ And never looks behind;
+ And sings a solitary song
+ That whistles in the wind. [A]
+
+
+
+
+This poem was illustrated by Sir George Beaumont, in a picture of some
+merit, which was engraved by J. C. Bromley, and published in the
+collected editions of 1815 and 1820. Henry Crabb Robinson wrote in his
+'Diary', September 11, 1816 (referring to Wordsworth):
+
+ "He mentioned the origin of some poems. 'Lucy Gray', that tender and
+ pathetic narrative of a child lost on a common, was occasioned by the
+ death of a child who fell into the lock of a canal. His object was to
+ exhibit poetically entire 'solitude', and he represents the child as
+ observing the day-moon, which no town or village girl would ever
+ notice."
+
+A contributor to 'Notes and Queries', May 12, 1883, whose signature is
+F., writes:
+
+ "THE SCENE OF 'LUCY GRAY'.--In one of the editions of Wordsworth's
+ works the scene of this ballad is said to have been near Halifax, in
+ Yorkshire. I do not think the poet was acquainted with the locality
+ beyond a sight of the country in travelling through on some journey. I
+ know of no spot where all the little incidents mentioned in the poem
+ would exactly fit in, and a few of the local allusions are evidently
+ by a stranger. There is no 'minster'; the church at Halifax from time
+ immemorial has always been known as the 'parish church,' and sometimes
+ as the 'old church,' but has never been styled 'the minster.' The
+ 'mountain roe,' which of course may be brought in as poetically
+ illustrative, has not been seen on these hills for generations, and I
+ scarcely think even the 'fawn at play' for more than a hundred years.
+ These misapplications, it is almost unnecessary to say, do not detract
+ from the beauty of the poetry. Some of the touches are graphically
+ true to the neighbourhood, as, for instance, 'the wide moor,' the
+ 'many a hill,' the 'steep hill's edge,' the 'long stone wall,' and the
+ hint of the general loneliness of the region where Lucy 'no mate, no
+ comrade, knew.' I think I can point out the exact spot--no longer a
+ 'plank,' but a broad, safe bridge--where Lucy fell into the water.
+ Taking a common-sense view, that she would not be sent many miles at
+ two o'clock on a winter afternoon to the town (Halifax, of course),
+ over so lonely a mountain moor--bearing in mind also that this moor
+ overlooked the river, and that the river was deep and strong enough to
+ carry the child down the current--I know only one place where such an
+ accident could have occurred. The clue is in this verse:
+
+ 'At day-break on a hill they stood
+ That overlooked the moor;
+ And thence they saw the bridge of wood,
+ A furlong from their door.'
+
+ The hill I take to be the high ridge of Greetland and Norland Moor,
+ and the plank she had to cross Sterne Mill Bridge, which there spans
+ the Calder, broad and rapid enough at any season to drown either a
+ young girl or a grown-up person. The mountain burns, romantic and wild
+ though they be, are not dangerous to cross, especially for a child old
+ enough to go and seek her mother. To sum up the matter, the hill
+ overlooking the moor, the path to and distance from the town, the
+ bridge, the current, all indicate one point, and one point only, where
+ this accident could have happened, and that is the bridge near Sterne
+ Mill. This bridge is so designated from the Sterne family, a branch of
+ whom in the last century resided close by. The author of 'Tristram
+ Shandy' spent his boyhood here; and Lucy Gray, had she safely crossed
+ the plank, would immediately have passed Wood Hall, where the boy
+ Laurence had lived, and, pursuing her way to Halifax, would have gone
+ through the meadows in which stood Heath School, where young Sterne
+ had been educated. The mill-weir at Sterne Mill Bridge was, I believe,
+ the scene of Lucy Gray's death."
+
+Sterne Mill Bridge, however, crosses the river Calder, while Wordsworth
+tells us that the girl lost her life by falling "into the lock of a
+canal." The Calder runs parallel with the canal near Sterne Mill Bridge.
+See J.R. Tutin's 'Wordsworth in Yorkshire'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1800.
+
+ Oft had I heard ...
+
+Only in the second issue of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1800 (2nd issue).
+
+ She dwelt on a wild Moor 1800.
+
+ She lived on a wide Moor MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... bright ... C.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1800.
+
+ He snapped ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ And now they homeward turn'd, and cry'd 1800.
+
+ And, turning homeward, now they cried 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1800.
+
+ The Mother turning homeward cried,
+ "We never more shall meet,"
+ When in the driven snow she spied MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1840.
+
+ Then downward ... 1800.
+
+ Half breathless ... 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... and never lost
+ Till ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1827.
+
+ The ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... was ... 1802.
+
+The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare Gray's ode, 'On a Distant Prospect of Eton
+College', II. 38-9:
+
+ 'Still as they run they look behind,
+ They hear a voice in every wind.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+RUTH
+
+
+Composed 1799.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written in Germany, 1799. Suggested by an account I had of a wanderer
+in Somersetshire.--I.F.]
+
+Classed among the "Poems founded on the Affections" in the editions of
+1815 and 1820. In 1827 it was transferred to the "Poems of the
+Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ When Ruth was left half desolate,
+ Her Father took another Mate;
+ And Ruth, not seven years old,
+ A slighted child, at her own will [1]
+ Went wandering over dale and hill, 5
+ In thoughtless freedom, bold.
+
+ And she had made a pipe of straw,
+ And music from that pipe could draw
+ Like sounds of winds and floods; [2]
+ Had built a bower upon the green, 10
+ As if she from her birth had been
+ An infant of the woods.
+
+ Beneath her father's roof, alone [3]
+ She seemed to live; her thoughts her own;
+ Herself her own delight; 15
+ Pleased with herself, nor sad, nor gay;
+ And, passing thus the live-long day,
+ She grew to woman's height. [4]
+
+ There came a Youth from Georgia's shore--
+ A military casque he wore, 20
+ With splendid feathers drest; [A]
+ He brought them from the Cherokees;
+ The feathers nodded in the breeze,
+ And made a gallant crest.
+
+ From Indian blood you deem him sprung: 25
+ But no! [5] he spake the English tongue,
+ And bore [6] a soldier's name;
+ And, when America was free
+ From battle and from jeopardy,
+ He 'cross the ocean came. 30
+
+ With hues of genius on his cheek
+ In finest tones the Youth could speak:
+--While he was yet a boy,
+ The moon, the glory of the sun,
+ And streams that murmur as they run, 35
+ Had been his dearest joy.
+
+ He was a lovely Youth! I guess
+ The panther in the wilderness
+ Was not so fair as he;
+ And, when he chose to sport and play, 40
+ No dolphin ever was so gay
+ Upon the tropic sea.
+
+ Among the Indians he had fought,
+ And with him many tales he brought
+ Of pleasure and of fear; 45
+ Such tales as told to any maid
+ By such a Youth, in the green shade,
+ Were perilous to hear.
+
+ He told of girls--a happy rout!
+ Who quit their fold with dance and shout, 50
+ Their pleasant Indian town,
+ To gather strawberries all day long;
+ Returning with a choral song
+ When daylight is gone down.
+
+ He spake of plants that hourly change 55
+ Their blossoms, through a boundless range
+ Of intermingling hues; [7] [B]
+ With budding, fading, faded flowers
+ They stand the wonder of the bowers
+ From morn to evening dews, [C] 60
+ [8]
+ He told of the magnolia, [D] spread
+ High as a cloud, high over head!
+ The cypress and her spire; [E]
+--Of flowers [F] that with one scarlet gleam
+ Cover a hundred leagues, and seem 65
+ To set the hills on fire. [G]
+
+ The Youth of green savannahs spake,
+ And many an endless, endless lake,
+ With all its fairy crowds
+ Of islands, that together lie 70
+ As quietly as spots of sky
+ Among the evening clouds. [H]
+
+ "How pleasant," then he said, "it were [9]
+ A fisher or a hunter there,
+ In sunshine or in shade 75
+ To wander with an easy mind;
+ And build a household fire, and find [10]
+ A home in every glade!
+
+ "What days and what bright [11] years! Ah me!
+ Our life were life indeed, with thee 80
+ So passed in quiet bliss,
+ And all the while," said he, "to know
+ That we were in a world of woe,
+ On such an earth as this!"
+
+ And then he sometimes interwove 85
+ Fond [12] thoughts about a father's love:
+ "For there," said he, "are spun
+ Around the heart such tender ties,
+ That our own children to our eyes
+ Are dearer than the sun. 90
+
+ "Sweet Ruth! and could you go with me
+ My helpmate in the woods to be,
+ Our shed at night to rear;
+ Or run, my own adopted bride,
+ A sylvan huntress at my side, 95
+ And drive the flying deer!
+
+ "Beloved Ruth!"--No more he said.
+ The wakeful Ruth at midnight shed [13]
+ A solitary tear:
+ She thought again--and did agree 100
+ With him to sail across the sea,
+ And drive the flying deer.
+
+ "And now, as fitting is and right,
+ We in the church our faith will plight,
+ A husband and a wife." 105
+ Even so they did; and I may say
+ That to sweet Ruth that happy day
+ Was more than human life.
+
+ Through dream and vision did she sink,
+ Delighted all the while to think 110
+ That on those lonesome floods,
+ And green savannahs, she should share
+ His board with lawful joy, and bear
+ His name in the wild woods.
+
+ But, as you have before been told, 115
+ This Stripling, sportive, gay, and bold,
+ And, with his dancing crest,
+ So beautiful, through savage lands
+ Had roamed about, with vagrant bands
+ Of Indians in the West. 120
+
+ The wind, the tempest roaring high,
+ The tumult of a tropic sky,
+ Might well be dangerous food
+ For him, a Youth to whom was given
+ So much of earth--so much of heaven, 125
+ And such impetuous blood.
+
+ Whatever in those climes he found
+ Irregular in sight or sound
+ Did to his mind impart
+ A kindred impulse, seemed allied 130
+ To his own powers, and justified
+ The workings of his heart.
+
+ Nor less, to feed voluptuous [14] thought,
+ The beauteous forms of nature wrought,
+ Fair trees and gorgeous [15] flowers; 135
+ The breezes their own languor lent;
+ The stars had feelings, which they sent
+ Into those favored [16] bowers.
+
+ Yet, in his worst pursuits, I ween
+ That sometimes [17] there did intervene 140
+ Pure hopes of high intent:
+ For passions linked to forms so fair
+ And stately, needs must have their share [18]
+ Of noble sentiment.
+
+ But ill he lived, [19] much evil saw, 145
+ With men to whom no better law
+ Nor better life was known;
+ Deliberately, and undeceived,
+ Those wild men's vices he received,
+ And gave them back his own. 150
+
+ His genius and his moral frame
+ Were thus impaired, and he became
+ The slave of low desires:
+ A Man who without self-control
+ Would seek what the degraded soul 155
+ Unworthily admires.
+
+ And yet he with no feigned delight
+ Had wooed the Maiden, day and night
+ Had loved her, night and morn:
+ What could he less than love a Maid 160
+ Whose heart with so much nature played
+ So kind and so forlorn!
+
+ Sometimes, most earnestly, he said,
+ "O Ruth! I have been worse than dead;
+ False thoughts, thoughts bold and vain, 165
+ Encompassed me on every side
+ When I, in confidence and pride,
+ Had crossed the Atlantic main. [20]
+
+ "Before me shone a glorious world--
+ Fresh as a banner bright, unfurled 170
+ To music suddenly: [21]
+ I looked upon those hills and plains,
+ And seemed as if let loose from chains,
+ To live at liberty.
+ [22]
+ "No more of this; for now, by thee, 175
+ Dear Ruth! more happily set free
+ With nobler zeal I burn; [23]
+ My soul from darkness is released,
+ Like the whole sky when to the east [24]
+ The morning doth return." 180
+ [25]
+ Full soon that better mind was gone; [26]
+ No hope, no wish remained, not one,--
+ They stirred him now no more;
+ New objects did new pleasure give,
+ And once again he wished to live 185
+ As lawless as before.
+
+ Meanwhile, as thus with him it fared,
+ They for the voyage were prepared,
+ And went to the sea-shore,
+ But, when they thither came, the Youth 190
+ Deserted his poor Bride, and Ruth
+ Could never find him more.
+
+ God help thee, Ruth!-Such pains she had,
+ That she in half a year was mad,
+ And in a prison housed; 195
+ And there, with many a doleful song
+ Made of wild words, her cup of wrong
+ She fearfully caroused. [27]
+
+ Yet sometimes milder hours she knew,
+ Nor wanted sun, nor rain, nor dew, 200
+ Nor pastimes of the May;
+--They all were with her in her cell;
+ And a clear brook [28] with cheerful knell
+ Did o'er the pebbles play.
+
+ When Ruth three seasons thus had lain, 205
+ There came a respite to her pain;
+ She from her prison fled;
+ But of the Vagrant none took thought;
+ And where it liked her best she sought
+ Her shelter and her bread. 210
+
+ Among the fields she breathed again:
+ The master-current of her brain
+ Ran permanent and free;
+ And, coming to the Banks of Tone, [I]
+ There did she rest; and dwell alone [29] 215
+ Under the greenwood tree.
+
+ The engines of her pain, [30] the tools
+ That shaped her sorrow, rocks and pools,
+ And airs that gently stir
+ The vernal leaves--she loved them still; 220
+ Nor ever taxed them with the ill
+ Which had been done to her.
+
+ A Barn her _winter_ bed supplies;
+ But, till the warmth of summer skies
+ And summer days is gone, 225
+ (And all do in this tale agree) [31]
+ She sleeps beneath the greenwood tree,
+ And other home hath none.
+
+ An innocent life, yet far astray!
+ And Ruth will, long before her day, [32] 230
+ Be broken down and old:
+ Sore aches she needs must have! but less
+ Of mind, than body's wretchedness,
+ From damp, and rain, and cold. [33]
+
+ If she is prest by want of food, 235
+ She from her dwelling in the wood
+ Repairs to a road-side;
+ And there she begs at one steep place
+ Where up and down with easy pace
+ The horsemen-travellers ride. 240
+
+ That oaten pipe of hers is mute,
+ Or thrown away; but with a flute
+ Her loneliness she cheers:
+ This flute, made of a hemlock stalk,
+ At evening in his homeward walk 245
+ The Quantock woodman hears.
+
+ I, too, have passed her on the hills
+ Setting her little water-mills
+ By spouts and fountains wild--
+ Such small machinery as she turned 250
+ Ere she had wept, ere she had mourned,
+ A young and happy Child!
+
+ Farewell! and when thy days are told,
+ Ill-fated Ruth, in hallowed mould
+ Thy corpse shall buried be, 255
+ For thee a funeral bell shall ring,
+ And all the congregation sing
+ A Christian psalm for thee.
+
+
+
+
+The following extract from Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal gives the date
+of the stanzas added to 'Ruth' in subsequent editions:
+
+ "Sunday, March 8th, 1802.--I stitched up 'The Pedlar,' wrote out
+ 'Ruth', read it with the alterations.... William brought two new
+ stanzas of 'Ruth'."
+
+The transpositions of stanzas, and their omission from certain editions
+and their subsequent re-introduction, in altered form, in later ones,
+make it extremely difficult to give the textual history of 'Ruth' in
+footnotes. They are even more bewildering than the changes introduced
+into 'Simon Lee'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1802.
+
+ And so, not seven years old,
+ The slighted Child ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ And from that oaten pipe could draw
+ All sounds ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3: This stanza was added in the edition of 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ She pass'd her time; and in this way
+ Grew up to Woman's height. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1836.
+
+ Ah no! ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1805.
+
+ ... bare ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1836.
+
+ He spake of plants divine and strange
+ That ev'ry day their blossoms change,
+ Ten thousand lovely hues! 1800.
+
+ ... every hour ... 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+ Of march and ambush, siege and fight,
+ Then did he tell; and with delight
+ The heart of Ruth would ache;
+ Wild histories they were, and dear:
+ But 'twas a thing of heaven to hear
+ When of himself he spake!
+
+Only in the editions of 1802 and 1805.
+
+The following is the order of the stanzas in the edition of 1802.
+The first, fifth, and last had not appeared before.
+
+ Sometimes most earnestly he said;
+ "O Ruth! I have been worse than dead:
+ False thoughts, thoughts bold and vain
+ Encompass'd me on every side
+ When I, in thoughtlessness and pride,
+ Had cross'd the Atlantic Main.
+
+ Whatever in those Climes I found
+ Irregular in sight or sound
+ Did to my mind impart
+ A kindred impulse, seem'd allied
+ To my own powers, and justified
+ The workings of my heart.
+
+ Nor less to feed unhallow'd thought
+ The beauteous forms of nature wrought,
+ Fair trees and lovely flowers;
+ The breezes their own languor lent;
+ The stars had feelings which they sent
+ Into those magic bowers.
+
+ Yet, in my worst pursuits, I ween,
+ That often there did intervene
+ Pure hopes of high intent;
+ My passions, amid forms so fair
+ And stately, wanted not their share
+ Of noble sentiment.
+
+ So was it then, and so is now:
+ For, Ruth! with thee I know not how
+ I feel my spirit burn
+ Even as the east when day comes forth;
+ And to the west, and south, and north,
+ The morning doth return.
+
+ It is a purer better mind:
+ O Maiden innocent and kind
+ What sights I might have seen!
+ Even now upon my eyes they break!"
+--And he again began to speak
+ Of Lands where he had been.
+
+The last stanza is only in the editions of 1802-1805. [a]]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1836.
+
+ And then he said "How sweet it were 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1845.
+
+ A gardener in the shade,
+ Still wandering with an easy mind
+ To build ... 1800.
+
+ In sunshine or through shade
+ To wander with an easy mind;
+ And build ... 1836.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... sweet ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1832.
+
+ Dear ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1820.
+
+ Sweet Ruth alone at midnight shed 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... unhallow'd ... 1802 and MS.
+
+The edition of 1805 returns to the reading of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 15:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... lovely ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 16:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... magic ... 1800.
+
+ ... gorgeous ... 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 17:
+
+1800.
+
+ That often ... 1802.
+
+The text of 1805 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 18:
+
+1800.
+
+ For passions, amid forms so fair
+ And stately, wanted not their share 1802.
+
+The text of 1805 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 19:
+
+1800.
+
+ Ill did he live ... 1802.
+
+The text of 1805 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 20:
+
+1805.
+
+ When I, in thoughtlessness and pride,
+ Had crossed ... 1802.
+
+ When first, in confidence and pride,
+ I crossed ... 1820.
+
+C., and the edition of 1840, revert to the reading of 1805.]
+
+
+[Variant 21:
+
+1840 and C.
+
+ "It was a fresh and glorious world,
+ A banner bright that was unfurled
+ Before me suddenly: 1805.
+
+ A banner bright that shone unfurled 1836.]
+
+
+[Variant 22: Lines 163-168, and 175-180, were added in 1802. Lines
+169-174 were added in 1805. All these were omitted in 1815, but were
+restored in 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 23:
+
+1845
+
+ So was it then, and so is now:
+ For, Ruth! with thee I know not how
+ I feel my spirit burn 1802.
+
+ "But wherefore speak of this? for now,
+ Sweet Ruth! with thee, ... 1805.
+
+ Dear Ruth! with thee ... 1836.]
+
+
+[Variant 24:
+
+1836.
+
+ Even as the east when day comes forth;
+ And to the west, and south, and north, 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 25:
+
+ It is my purer better mind
+ O maiden innocently kind
+ What sights I might have seen!
+ Even now upon my eyes they break!
+ And then the youth began to speak
+ Of lands where he had been. MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 26:
+
+1845.
+
+ But now the pleasant dream was gone, 1800.
+
+ Full soon that purer mind ... 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 27:
+
+1836.
+
+ And there, exulting in her wrongs,
+ Among the music of her songs
+ She fearfully carouz'd. [b] 1800.
+
+ And there she sang tumultuous songs,
+ By recollection of her wrongs,
+ To fearful passion rouzed. 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 28:
+
+1836.
+
+ wild brook ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 29:
+
+1802.
+
+ And to the pleasant Banks of Tone
+ She took her way, to dwell alone 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 30:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... grief, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 31:
+
+1805.
+
+ (And in this tale we all agree) 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 32:
+
+1805.
+
+ The neighbours grieve for her, and say
+ That she will ... 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 33: This stanza first appeared in the edition of 1802.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Taken from the portrait of the chief in Bartram's
+frontispiece.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B:
+
+ "The tall aspiring Gordonia lacianthus ... gradually changing colour,
+ from green to golden yellow, from that to a scarlet, from scarlet to
+ crimson, and lastly to a brownish purple, ... so that it may be said
+ to change and renew its garments every morning throughout the year."
+
+See 'Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East Florida,
+the Cherokee Country', etc., by William Bartram (1791), pp. 159,
+160.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C:
+
+ "Its thick foliage of a dark green colour is flowered over with large
+ milk-white, fragrant blossoms, ... renewed every morning, and that in
+ such incredible profusion that the tree appears silvered over with
+ them, and the ground beneath covered with the fallen flowers. It, at
+ the same time, continually pushes forth new twigs, with young buds on
+ them."
+
+(Bartram's 'Travels', etc., p. 159.)--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D: Magnolia grandiflora.--W. W. 1800; and Bartram's 'Travels',
+p. 8.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote E:
+
+ "The Cypressus distichia stands in the first order of North American
+ trees. Its majestic stature, lifting its cumbrous top towards the
+ skies, and casting a wide shade upon the ground, as a dark intervening
+ cloud," etc.
+
+(Bartram's 'Travels', p. 88).--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote F: The splendid appearance of these scarlet flowers, which are
+scattered with such profusion over the Hills in the Southern parts of
+North America is frequently mentioned by Bartram in his 'Travels'.--W.
+W. 1800.]
+
+
+[Footnote G: Mr. Ernest Coleridge tells me he
+
+ "has traced, to a note-book of Coleridge's in the British Museum, the
+ source from which Wordsworth derived his description of Georgian
+ scenery in 'Ruth'. He does, I know, refer to Bartram, but the whole
+ passage is a poetical rendering, and a pretty close one, of Bartram's
+ poetical narrative. I have a portrait--the frontispiece of Bartram's
+ 'Travels'--of Mico Chlucco, king of the Seminoles, whose feathers nod
+ in the breeze just as did the military casque of the 'youth from
+ Georgia's shore.'"
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote H:
+
+ "North and south almost endless green plains and meadows, embellished
+ with islets and projecting promontories of high dark forests, where
+ the pyramidal Magnolia grandiflora ... conspicuously towers."
+
+(Bartram's 'Travels', p. 145).--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote I: The Tone is a River of Somersetshire, at no great distance
+from the Quantock Hills. These Hills, which are alluded to a few stanzas
+below, are extremely beautiful, and in most places richly covered with
+Coppice woods. W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Footnote a: The edition of 1805 substitutes the stanzas beginning,
+
+ 'It was a fresh and glorious world'
+
+for stanzas 2, 3, and 4 of the above six in this note, but it inserts
+these omitted stanzas later on as Nos. 27, 28, 29.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Sub-Footnote b: Wordsworth wrote to Barren Field in 1828 that this stanza
+
+ "was altered, Lamb having observed that it was not English. I like it
+ better myself;'
+
+(i.e. the version of 1800)
+
+ "but certainly to carouse cups--that is to empty them--is the genuine
+ English."
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+1800
+
+
+Towards the close of December 1799, Wordsworth came to live at Dove
+Cottage, Town-end, Grasmere. The poems written during the following year
+(1800), are more particularly associated with that district of the
+Lakes. Two of them were fragments of a canto of 'The Recluse', entitled
+"Home at Grasmere," referring to his settlement at Dove Cottage. Others,
+such as 'Michael', and 'The Brothers'--classed by him afterwards among
+the "Poems founded on the Affections,"--deal with incidents in the rural
+life of the dalesmen of Westmoreland and Cumberland. Most of the "Poems
+on the Naming of Places" were written during this year; and the "Places"
+are all in the neighbourhood of Grasmere. To these were added several
+"Pastoral Poems"--such as 'The Idle Shepherd Boys; or, Dungeon-Ghyll
+Force'--sundry "Poems of the Fancy," and one or two "Inscriptions." In
+all, twenty-five poems were written in the year 1800; and, with the
+exception of the two fragments of 'The Recluse', they were published
+during the same year in the second volume of the second edition of
+"Lyrical Ballads." It is impossible to fix the precise date of the
+composition of the fragments of 'The Recluse'; but, as they refer to the
+settlement at Dove Cottage--where Wordsworth went to reside with his
+sister, on the 21st of December 1799--they may fitly introduce the poems
+belonging to the year 1800. They were first published in 1851 in the
+'Memoirs of Wordsworth' (vol. i. pp. 157 and 155 respectively), by the
+poet's nephew, the late Bishop of Lincoln. The entire canto of 'The
+Recluse', entitled "Home at Grasmere," will be included in this edition.
+
+The first two poems which follow, as belonging to the year 1800, are
+parts of 'The Recluse', viz. "On Nature's invitation do I come," (which
+is ll. 71-97, and 110-125), and "Bleak season was it, turbulent and
+bleak," (which is ll. 152-167). They are not reprinted from the
+'Memoirs' of 1851, because the text there given was, in several
+instances, inaccurately reproduced from the original MS., which has been
+re-examined. They were printed here, in 'The Recluse '(1888), and in my
+'Life of Wordsworth' (vol. i. 1889).--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"ON NATURE'S INVITATION DO I COME"
+
+
+Composed (probably) in 1800.--Published 1851
+
+
+
+
+ On Nature's invitation do I come,
+ By Reason sanctioned. Can the choice mislead,
+ That made the calmest, fairest spot of earth,
+ With all its unappropriated good,
+ My own, and not mine only, for with me 5
+ Entrenched--say rather peacefully embowered--
+ Under yon orchard, in yon humble cot,
+ A younger orphan of a home extinct,
+ The only daughter of my parents dwells:
+ Aye, think on that, my heart, and cease to stir; 10
+ Pause upon that, and let the breathing frame
+ No longer breathe, but all be satisfied.
+ Oh, if such silence be not thanks to God
+ For what hath been bestowed, then where, where then
+ Shall gratitude find rest? Mine eyes did ne'er 15
+ Fix on a lovely object, nor my mind
+ Take pleasure in the midst of happy thoughts,
+ But either she, whom now I have, who now
+ Divides with me this loved abode, was there,
+ Or not far off. Where'er my footsteps turned, 20
+ Her voice was like a hidden bird that sang;
+ The thought of her was like a flash of light
+ Or an unseen companionship, a breath
+ Or fragrance independent of the wind.
+ In all my goings, in the new and old 25
+ Of all my meditations, and in this
+ Favourite of all, in this the most of all....
+ Embrace me then, ye hills, and close me in.
+ Now in the clear and open day I feel
+ Your guardianship: I take it to my heart; 30
+ 'Tis like the solemn shelter of the night.
+ But I would call thee beautiful; for mild,
+ And soft, and gay, and beautiful thou art,
+ Dear valley, having in thy face a smile,
+ Though peaceful, full of gladness. Thou art pleased, 35
+ Pleased with thy crags, and woody steeps, thy lake,
+ Its one green island, and its winding shores,
+ The multitude of little rocky hills,
+ Thy church, and cottages of mountain-stone
+ Clustered like stars some few, but single most, 40
+ And lurking dimly in their shy retreats,
+ Or glancing at each other cheerful looks,
+ Like separated stars with clouds between.
+
+
+
+
+This Grasmere cottage is identified, much more than Rydal Mount, with
+Wordsworth's "poetic prime." It had once been a public-house, bearing
+the sign of the Dove and Olive Bough--and as such is referred to in 'The
+Waggoner'--from which circumstance it was for a long time, and is now
+usually, called "Dove Cottage." A small two storied house, it is
+described somewhat minutely--as it was in Wordsworth's time--by De
+Quincey, in his 'Recollections of the Lakes', and by the late Bishop of
+Lincoln, in the 'Memoirs' of his uncle.
+
+ "The front of it faces the lake; behind is a small plot of orchard and
+ garden ground, in which there is a spring and rocks; the enclosure
+ shelves upwards towards the woody sides of the mountains above it."
+ [A]
+
+The following is De Quincey's description of it, as he saw it in the
+summer of 1807.
+
+ "A white cottage, with two yew trees breaking the glare of its white
+ walls" (these yews still stand on the eastern side of the cottage). "A
+ little semi-vestibule between two doors prefaced the entrance into
+ what might be considered the principal room of the cottage. It was an
+ oblong square, not above eight and a half feet high, sixteen feet
+ long, and twelve broad; wainscoted from floor to ceiling with dark
+ polished oak, slightly embellished with carving. One window there
+ was--a perfect and unpretending cottage window, with little diamond
+ panes, embowered at almost every season of the year with roses; and,
+ in the summer and autumn, with a profusion of jasmine, and other
+ fragrant shrubs.... I was ushered up a little flight of stairs,
+ fourteen in all, to a little drawing-room, or whatever the reader
+ chooses to call it. Wordsworth himself has described the fireplace of
+ this room as his
+
+ 'Half-kitchen and half-parlour fire.'
+
+ It was not fully seven feet six inches high, and in other respects
+ pretty nearly of the same dimensions as the rustic hall below. There
+ was, however, in a small recess, a library of perhaps three hundred
+ volumes, which seemed to consecrate the room as the poet's study and
+ composing room, and such occasionally it was. But far oftener he both
+ studied, as I found, and composed on the high road." [B]
+
+Other poems of later years refer, much more fully than the above, to
+this cottage, and its orchard ground, where so many of Wordsworth's
+lyrics were composed.
+
+The "orchard ground," which was for the most part in grass, sloped
+upwards; but a considerable portion of the natural rock was exposed; and
+on its face, some rough stone steps were cut by Wordsworth, helped by a
+near neighbour of his--John Fisher--so as more conveniently to reach the
+upper terrace, where the poet built for himself a small arbour. All this
+garden and orchard ground is not much altered since 1800. The short
+terrace walk is curved, with a sloping bank of grass above, shaded by
+apple trees, hazel, holly, laburnum, laurel, and mountain ash. Below the
+terrace is the well, which supplied the cottage in Wordsworth's time;
+and there large leaved primroses still grow, doubtless the successors of
+those planted by his own and his sister's hands. Above, and amongst the
+rocks, are the daffodils, which they also brought to their
+"garden-ground;" the Christmas roses, which they planted near the well,
+were removed to the eastern side of the garden, where they flourished
+luxuriantly in 1882; but have now, alas! disappeared. The box-wood
+planted by the poet grows close to the cottage. The arbour is now gone;
+but, in the place where it stood, a seat is erected. The hidden brook
+still sings its under-song, as it used to do, "its quiet soul on all
+bestowing," and the green linnet may doubtless be seen now, as it used
+to be in 1803. The allusions to the garden ground at Dove Cottage, in
+the poems which follow, will be noted as they occur.--Ed.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote A: See the 'Memoirs of Wordsworth', vol. i. p. 156.--Ed.]
+
+[Footnote B: See 'Recollections of the Lakes', etc., pp. 130-137, Works,
+vol. ii., edition of 1862.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"BLEAK SEASON WAS IT, TURBULENT AND BLEAK" [A]
+
+
+Composed (probably) in 1800.--Published 1851
+
+
+
+
+ Bleak season was it, turbulent and bleak,
+ When hitherward we journeyed, side by side,
+ Through burst of sunshine and through flying showers,
+ Paced the long vales, how long they were, and yet
+ How fast that length of way was left behind, 5
+ Wensley's rich vale and Sedbergh's naked heights.
+ The frosty wind, as if to make amends
+ For its keen breath, was aiding to our steps,
+ And drove us onward like two ships at sea;
+ Or, like two birds, companions in mid-air, 10
+ Parted and reunited by the blast.
+ Stern was the face of nature; we rejoiced
+ In that stern countenance; for our souls thence drew
+ A feeling of their strength. The naked trees,
+ The icy brooks, as on we passed, appeared 15
+ To question us, "Whence come ye? To what end?"
+
+
+
+
+This poem refers to a winter journey on foot, which Wordsworth and his
+sister took from Sockburn to Grasmere, by Wensleydale and Askrigg; and,
+since he has left us an account of this journey, in a letter to
+Coleridge, written a few days after their arrival at Grasmere--a letter
+in which his characterisation of Nature is almost as happy as it is in
+his best poems--some extracts from it may here be appended.
+
+ "We left Sockburn last Tuesday morning. We crossed the Tees by
+ moonlight in the Sockburn fields, and after ten good miles riding came
+ in sight of the Swale. It is there a beautiful river, with its green
+ banks and flat holms scattered over with trees. Four miles further
+ brought us to Richmond, with its huge ivied castle, its friarage
+ steeple, its castle tower resembling a huge steeple.... We were now in
+ Wensleydale, and D. and I set off side by side to foot it as far as
+ Kendal.... We reached Askrigg, twelve miles, before six in the
+ evening, having been obliged to walk the last two miles over hard
+ frozen roads.... Next morning the earth was thinly covered with snow,
+ enough to make the road soft and prevent its being slippery. On
+ leaving Askrigg we turned aside to see another waterfall. It was a
+ beautiful morning, with driving snow showers, which disappeared by
+ fits, and unveiled the east, which was all one delicious pale orange
+ colour. After walking through two small fields we came to a mill,
+ which we passed, and in a moment a sweet little valley opened before
+ us, with an area of grassy ground, and a stream dashing over various
+ laminae of black rocks close under a bank covered with firs; the bank
+ and stream on our left, another woody bank on our right, and the flat
+ meadow in front, from which, as at Buttermere, the stream had retired,
+ as it were, to hide itself under the shade. As we walked up this
+ delightful valley we were tempted to look back perpetually on the
+ stream, which reflected the orange lights of the morning among the
+ gloomy rocks, with a brightness varying with the agitation of the
+ current. The steeple of Askrigg was between us and the east, at the
+ bottom of the valley; it was not a quarter of a mile distant.... The
+ two banks seemed to join before us with a facing of rock common to
+ them both. When we reached this bottom the valley opened out again;
+ two rocky banks on each side, which, hung with ivy and moss, and
+ fringed luxuriantly with brushwood, ran directly parallel to each
+ other, and then approaching with a gentle curve at their point of
+ union, presented a lofty waterfall, the termination of the valley. It
+ was a keen frosty morning, showers of snow threatening us, but the sun
+ bright and active. We had a task of twenty-one miles to perform in a
+ short winter's day.... On a nearer approach the waters seemed to fall
+ down a tall arch or niche that had shaped itself by insensible
+ moulderings in the wall of an old castle. We left this spot with
+ reluctance, but highly exhilarated.... It was bitter cold, the wind
+ driving the snow behind us in the best style of a mountain storm. We
+ soon reached an inn at a place called Hardrane, and descending from
+ our vehicles, after warming ourselves by the cottage fire, we walked
+ up the brook-side to take a view of a third waterfall. We had not
+ walked above a few hundred yards between two winding rocky banks
+ before we came full upon the waterfall, which seemed to throw itself
+ in a narrow line from a lofty wall of rock, the water, which shot
+ manifestly to some distance from the rock, seeming to be dispersed
+ into a thin shower scarcely visible before it reached the bason. We
+ were disappointed in the cascade itself, though the introductory and
+ accompanying banks were an exquisite mixture of grandeur and
+ beauty.... After cautiously sounding our way over stones of all
+ colours and sizes, encased in the clearest water formed by the spray
+ of the fall, we found the rock, which before had appeared like a wall,
+ extending itself over our heads, like the ceiling of a huge cave, from
+ the summit of which the waters shot directly over our heads into a
+ bason, and among fragments wrinkled over with masses of ice as white
+ as snow, or rather, as Dorothy says, like congealed froth. The water
+ fell at least ten yards from us, and we stood directly behind it, the
+ excavation not so deep in the rock as to impress any feeling of
+ darkness, but lofty and magnificent; but in connection with the
+ adjoining banks excluding as much of the sky as could well be spared
+ from a scene so exquisitely beautiful. The spot where we stood was as
+ dry as the chamber in which I am now sitting, and the incumbent rock,
+ of which the groundwork was limestone, veined and dappled with colours
+ which melted into each other with every possible variety of colour. On
+ the summit of the cave were three festoons, or rather wrinkles, in the
+ rock, run up parallel like the folds of a curtain when it is drawn up.
+ Each of these was hung with icicles of various length, and nearly in
+ the middle of the festoon, in the deepest valley of the waves that ran
+ parallel to each other, the stream shot from the rows of icicles in
+ irregular fits of strength, and with a body of water that varied every
+ moment. Sometimes the stream shot into the bason in one continued
+ current; sometimes it was interrupted almost in the midst of its fall,
+ and was blown towards part of the waterfall at no great distance from
+ our feet like the heaviest thunder shower. In such a situation you
+ have at every moment a feeling of the presence of the sky. Large
+ fleecy clouds drove over our heads above the rush of the water, and
+ the sky appeared of a blue more than usually brilliant. The rocks on
+ each side, which, joining with the side of this cave, formed the vista
+ of the brook, were chequered with three diminutive waterfalls, or
+ rather courses of water. Each of these was a miniature of all that
+ summer and winter can produce of delicate beauty. The rock in the
+ centre of the falls, where the water was most abundant, a deep black,
+ the adjoining parts yellow, white, purple, and dove colour, covered
+ with water--plants of the most vivid green, and hung with streaming
+ icicles, that in some places seem to conceal the verdure of the plants
+ and the violet and yellow variegation of the rocks; and in some places
+ render the colours more brilliant. I cannot express to you the
+ enchanting effect produced by this Arabian scene of colour as the wind
+ blew aside the great waterfall behind which we stood, and alternately
+ hid and revealed each of these fairy cataracts in irregular
+ succession, or displayed them with various gradations of distinctness
+ as the intervening spray was thickened or dispersed. What a scene too
+ in summer! In the luxury of our imagination we could not help feeding
+ upon the pleasure which this cave, in the heat of a July noon, would
+ spread through a frame exquisitely sensible. That huge rock on the
+ right, the bank winding round on the left with all its living foliage,
+ and the breeze stealing up the valley, and bedewing the cavern with
+ the freshest imaginable spray. And then the murmur of the water, the
+ quiet, the seclusion, and a long summer day."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT:
+
+[Footnote A: This is a fragment of 'The Recluse', ll. 152-167; but it
+was originally published in the 'Memoirs of Wordsworth' by his nephew
+(1851).--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+ELLEN IRWIN; OR, THE BRAES OF KIRTLE [A]
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[It may be worth while to observe that as there are Scotch Poems on this
+subject in simple ballad strain, I thought it would be both presumptuous
+and superfluous to attempt treating it in the same way; and,
+accordingly, I chose a construction of stanza quite new in our language;
+in fact, the same as that of Buerger's 'Leonora', except that the first
+and third lines do not, in my stanzas, rhyme. At the outset I threw out
+a classical image to prepare the reader for the style in which I meant
+to treat the story, and so to preclude all comparison.--I.F.]
+
+In the editions of 1815 and 1820 this was included among the "Poems
+founded on the Affections." In 1827 it was placed in the "Memorials of a
+Tour in Scotland, 1803."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Fair Ellen Irwin, when she sate
+ Upon the braes of Kirtle,
+ Was lovely as a Grecian maid
+ Adorned with wreaths of myrtle;
+ Young Adam Bruce beside her lay, 5
+ And there did they beguile the day
+ With love and gentle speeches,
+ Beneath the budding beeches.
+
+ From many knights and many squires
+ The Bruce had been selected; 10
+ And Gordon, fairest of them all,
+ By Ellen was rejected.
+ Sad tidings to that noble Youth!
+ For it may be proclaimed with truth,
+ If Bruce hath loved sincerely, 15
+ That Gordon [1] loves as dearly.
+
+ But what are Gordon's form and face,
+ His shattered hopes and crosses,
+ To them, 'mid Kirtle's pleasant braes,
+ Reclined on flowers and mosses? [2] 20
+ Alas that ever he was born!
+ The Gordon, couched behind a thorn,
+ Sees them and their caressing;
+ Beholds them blest and blessing.
+
+ Proud Gordon, maddened by the thoughts [3] 25
+ That through his brain are travelling,
+ Rushed forth, and at the heart of Bruce [4]
+ He launched a deadly javelin!
+ Fair Ellen saw it as it came,
+ And, starting up to meet the same, [5] 30
+ Did with her body cover
+ The Youth, her chosen lover.
+
+ And, falling into Bruce's arms,
+ Thus died the beauteous Ellen,
+ Thus, from the heart of her True-love, 35
+ The mortal spear repelling.
+ And Bruce, as soon as he had slain
+ The Gordon, sailed away to Spain;
+ And fought with rage incessant
+ Against the Moorish crescent. 40
+
+ But many days, and many months,
+ And many years ensuing,
+ This wretched Knight did vainly seek
+ The death that he was wooing.
+ So, coming his last help to crave, 45
+ Heart-broken, upon Ellen's grave [6]
+ His body he extended,
+ And there his sorrow ended.
+
+ Now ye, who willingly have heard
+ The tale I have been telling, 50
+ May in Kirkonnel churchyard view
+ The grave of lovely Ellen:
+ By Ellen's side the Bruce is laid;
+ And, for the stone upon his head,
+ May no rude hand deface it, 55
+ And its forlorn Hic jacet.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1815.
+
+ The Gordon ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ But what is Gordon's beauteous face?
+ And what are Gordon's crosses
+ To them who sit by Kirtle's Braes
+ Upon the verdant mosses? 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1837.
+
+ Proud Gordon cannot bear the thoughts 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1837.
+
+ And, starting up, to Bruce's heart 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1837.
+
+ Fair Ellen saw it when it came,
+ And, stepping forth ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ So coming back across the wave,
+ Without a groan on Ellen's grave 1800.
+
+ And coming back ... 1802.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[Footnote A: The Kirtle is a River in the Southern part of Scotland, on
+whose banks the events here related took place.--W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+
+No Scottish ballad is superior in pathos to 'Helen of Kirkconnell'. It
+is based on a traditionary tale--the date of the event being lost--but
+the locality, in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Fleming in Dumfriesshire, is
+known; and there the graves of "Burd Helen" and her lover are still
+pointed out.
+
+The following is Sir Walter Scott's account of the story:
+
+ "A lady of the name of Helen Irving, or Bell (for this is disputed by
+ the two clans), daughter of the laird of Kirkconnell in Dumfriesshire,
+ and celebrated for her beauty, was beloved by two gentlemen in the
+ neighbourhood. The name of the favoured suitor was Adam Fleming of
+ Kirkpatrick: that of the other has escaped tradition, although it has
+ been alleged he was a Bell of Blackel-house. The addresses of the
+ latter were, however, favoured by the friends of the lady, and the
+ lovers were therefore obliged to meet in secret, and by night, in the
+ Churchyard of Kirkconnell, a romantic spot, surrounded by the river
+ Kirtle. During one of their private interviews, the jealous and
+ despised lover suddenly appeared on the opposite bank of the stream,
+ and levelled his carbine at the breast of his rival. Helen threw
+ herself before her lover, received in her bosom the bullet, and died
+ in his arms. A desperate and mortal combat ensued between Fleming and
+ the murderer, in which the latter was cut to pieces."
+
+See 'Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border', vol. ii. p. 317.
+
+The original ballad--well known though it is--may be quoted as an
+admirable illustration of the different types of poetic genius in
+dealing with the same, or a kindred, theme.
+
+
+ I wish I were where Helen lies!
+ Night and day on me she cries;
+ O that I were where Helen lies,
+ On fair Kirkconnell lee!
+
+ Cursed be the heart that thought the thought,
+ And curst the hand that fired the shot,
+ When in my arms burd Helen dropt,
+ And died to succour me!
+
+ Oh think ye na my heart was sair,
+ When my love dropt down and spake nae mair!
+ There did she swoon wi' meikle care,
+ On fair Kirkconnell lee.
+
+ As I went down the water side,
+ None but my foe to be my guide,
+ None but my foe to be my guide,
+ On fair Kirkconnell lee--
+
+ I lighted down, my sword did draw,
+ I hacked him in pieces sma',
+ I hacked him in pieces sma',
+ For her sake that died for me.
+
+ Oh, Helen fair, beyond compare!
+ I'll weave a garland of thy hair
+ Shall bind my heart for evermair,
+ Until the day I dee!
+
+ Oh that I were where Helen lies!
+ Day and night on me she cries;
+ Out of my bed she bids me rise,
+ Says, "Haste, and come to me!"
+
+ O Helen fair! O Helen chaste!
+ Were I with thee I would be blest,
+ Where thou lies low and takes thy rest,
+ On fair Kirkconnell lee.
+
+ I wish my grave were growing green,
+ A winding sheet drawn o'er my e'en,
+ And I in Helen's arms lying
+ On fair Kirkconnell lee.
+
+ I wish I were where Helen lies!
+ Night and day on me she cries,
+ And I am weary of the skies,
+ For her sake that died for me!
+
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+HART-LEAP WELL
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+Hart-Leap Well is a small spring of water, about five miles from
+Richmond in Yorkshire, and near the side of the road which leads from
+Richmond to Askrigg. Its name is derived from a remarkable chace, the
+memory of which is preserved by the monuments spoken of in the second
+Part of the following Poem, which monuments do now exist as I have there
+described them.--W. W. 1800.
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. The first eight stanzas were composed
+extempore one winter evening in the cottage, when, after having tired
+myself with labouring at an awkward passage in 'The Brothers', I started
+with a sudden impulse to this to get rid of the other, and finished it
+in a day or two. My sister and I had passed the place a few weeks before
+in our wild winter journey from Sockburn on the banks of the Tees to
+Grasmere. A peasant whom we met near the spot told us the story so far
+as concerned the name of the Well, and the Hart, and pointed out the
+Stones. Both the stones and the well are objects that may easily be
+missed. The tradition by this time may be extinct in the neighbourhood.
+The man who related it to us was very old.--I. F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems of the Imagination,"--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ The Knight had ridden down from Wensley Moor
+ With the slow motion of a summer's cloud
+ And now, as he approached a vassal's door,
+ "Bring forth another horse!" he cried aloud. [1]
+
+ "Another horse!"--That shout the vassal heard 5
+ And saddled his best Steed, a comely grey;
+ Sir Walter mounted him; he was the third
+ Which he had mounted on that glorious day.
+
+ Joy sparkled in the prancing courser's eyes;
+ The horse and horseman are a happy pair; 10
+ But, though Sir Walter like a falcon flies,
+ There is a doleful silence in the air.
+
+ A rout this morning left Sir Walter's Hall,
+ That as they galloped made the echoes roar;
+ But horse and man are vanished, one and all; 15
+ Such race, I think, was never seen before.
+
+ Sir Walter, restless as a veering wind,
+ Calls to the few tired dogs that yet remain:
+ Blanch, [2] Swift, and Music, noblest of their kind,
+ Follow, and up the weary mountain strain. 20
+
+ The Knight hallooed, he cheered and chid them on [3]
+ With suppliant gestures [4] and upbraidings stern;
+ But breath and eyesight fail; and, one by one,
+ The dogs are stretched among the mountain fern.
+
+ Where is the throng, the tumult of the race? [5] 25
+ The bugles that so joyfully were blown?
+--This chase it looks not like an earthly chase; [6]
+ Sir Walter and the Hart are left alone.
+
+ The poor Hart toils along the mountain-side;
+ I will not stop to tell how far he fled, 30
+ Nor will I mention by what death he died;
+ But now the Knight beholds him lying dead.
+
+ Dismounting, then, he leaned against a thorn;
+ He had no follower, dog, nor man, nor boy:
+ He neither cracked [7] his whip, nor blew his horn, 35
+ But gazed upon the spoil with silent joy.
+
+ Close to the thorn on which Sir Walter leaned,
+ Stood his dumb partner in this glorious feat; [8]
+ Weak as a lamb the hour that it is yeaned;
+ And white with foam as if with cleaving sleet. [9] 40
+
+ Upon his side the Hart was lying stretched:
+ His nostril touched [10] a spring beneath a hill,
+ And with the last deep groan his breath had fetched
+ The waters of the spring were trembling still.
+
+ And now, too happy for repose or rest, 45
+ (Never had living man such joyful lot!) [11]
+ Sir Walter walked all round, north, south, and west,
+ And gazed and gazed upon that darling spot. [12]
+
+ And climbing [13] up the hill--(it was at least
+ Four [14] roods of sheer ascent) Sir Walter found 50
+ Three several hoof-marks which the hunted Beast [15]
+ Had left imprinted on the grassy [16] ground.
+
+ Sir Walter wiped his face, and cried, "Till now
+ Such sight was never seen by human [17] eyes:
+ Three leaps have borne him from this lofty brow, 55
+ Down to the very fountain where he lies.
+
+ "I'll build a pleasure-house upon this spot,
+ And a small arbour, made for rural joy;
+ 'Twill be the traveller's shed, the pilgrim's cot,
+ A place of love for damsels that are coy. 60
+
+ "A cunning artist will I have to frame
+ A basin for that fountain in the dell!
+ And they who do make mention of the same,
+ From this day forth, shall call it HART-LEAP WELL.
+
+ "And, gallant Stag! [18] to make thy praises known, 65
+ Another monument shall here be raised;
+ Three several pillars, each a rough-hewn stone,
+ And planted where thy hoofs the turf have grazed.
+
+ "And, in the summer-time when days are long,
+ I will come hither with my Paramour; 70
+ And with the dancers and the minstrel's song
+ We will make merry in that pleasant bower.
+
+ "Till the foundations of the mountains fail
+ My mansion with its arbour shall endure;--
+ The joy of them who till the fields of Swale, 75
+ And them who dwell among the woods of Ure!"
+
+ Then home he went, and left the Hart, stone-dead,
+ With breathless nostrils stretched above the spring.
+--Soon did the Knight perform what he had said;
+ And far and wide the fame thereof did ring. [19] 80
+
+ Ere thrice the Moon into her port had steered,
+ A cup of stone received the living well;
+ Three pillars of rude stone Sir Walter reared,
+ And built a house of pleasure in the dell.
+
+ And near the fountain, flowers of stature tall 85
+ With trailing plants and trees were intertwined,--
+ Which soon composed a little sylvan hall,
+ A leafy shelter from the sun and wind.
+
+ And thither, when the summer days were long
+ Sir Walter led his wondering Paramour; [20] 90
+ And with the dancers and the minstrel's song
+ Made merriment within that pleasant bower.
+
+ The Knight, Sir Walter, died in course of time,
+ And his bones lie in his paternal vale.--
+ But there is matter for a second rhyme, 95
+ And I to this would add another tale.
+
+
+PART SECOND
+
+ The moving accident [A] is not my trade;
+ To freeze the blood I have no ready arts:
+ 'Tis my delight, alone in summer shade,
+ To pipe a simple song for [21] thinking hearts. 100
+
+ As I from Hawes to Richmond did repair,
+ It chanced that I saw standing in a dell
+ Three aspens at three corners of a square;
+ And one, not four yards distant, near a well.
+
+ What this imported I could ill divine: 105
+ And, pulling now the rein my horse to stop,
+ I saw three pillars standing in a line,--
+ The last stone-pillar on a dark hill-top.
+
+ The trees were grey, with neither arms nor head:
+ Half wasted the square mound of tawny green; 110
+ So that you just might say, as then I said,
+ "Here in old time the hand of man hath [22] been."
+
+ I looked upon the hill [23] both far and near,
+ More doleful place did never eye survey;
+ It seemed as if the spring-time came not here, 115
+ And Nature here were willing to decay.
+
+ I stood in various thoughts and fancies lost, [B]
+ When one, who was in shepherd's garb attired,
+ Came up the hollow:--him did I accost,
+ And what this place might be I then inquired. 120
+
+ The Shepherd stopped, and that same story told
+ Which in my former rhyme I have rehearsed.
+ "A jolly place," said he, "in times of old!
+ But something ails it now: the spot is curst.
+
+ "You see these lifeless stumps of aspen wood--125
+ Some say that they are beeches, others elms--
+ These were the bower; and here a mansion stood,
+ The finest palace of a hundred realms!
+
+ "The arbour does its own condition tell;
+ You see the stones, the fountain, and the stream; 130
+ But as to the great Lodge! you might as well
+ Hunt half a day for a forgotten dream.
+
+ "There's neither dog nor heifer, horse nor sheep,
+ Will wet his lips within that cup of stone;
+ And oftentimes, when all are fast asleep, 135
+ This water doth send forth a dolorous groan.
+
+ "Some say that here a murder has been done,
+ And blood cries out for blood: but, for my part,
+ I've guessed, when I've been sitting in the sun,
+ That it was all for that unhappy Hart. 140
+
+ "What thoughts must through the creature's brain have past!
+ Even from the topmost stone, upon the steep, [24]
+ Are but three bounds--and look, Sir, at this last--
+ O Master! it has been a cruel leap.
+
+ "For thirteen hours he ran a desperate race; 145
+ And in my simple mind we cannot tell
+ What cause the Hart might have to love this place,
+ And come and make his death-bed near the well.
+
+ "Here on the grass perhaps asleep he sank,
+ Lulled by the [25] fountain in the summer tide; 150
+ This water was perhaps the first he drank
+ When he had wandered from his mother's side.
+
+ "In April here beneath the flowering [26] thorn
+ He heard the birds their morning carols sing;
+ And he, perhaps, for aught we know, was born 155
+ Not half a furlong from that self-same spring.
+
+ "Now, here is [27] neither grass nor pleasant shade;
+ The sun on drearier hollow never shone;
+ So will it be, as I have often said,
+ Till trees, and stones, and fountain, all are gone." 160
+
+ "Grey-headed Shepherd, thou hast spoken well;
+ Small difference lies between thy creed and mine:
+ This Beast not unobserved by Nature fell;
+ His death was mourned by sympathy divine.
+
+ "The Being, that is in the clouds and air, 165
+ That is in the green leaves among the groves,
+ Maintains a deep and reverential care
+ For the unoffending creatures [28] whom he loves.
+
+ "The pleasure-house is dust:--behind, before,
+ This is no common waste, no common gloom; 170
+ But Nature, in due course of time, once more
+ Shall here put on her beauty and her bloom.
+
+ "She leaves these objects to a slow decay,
+ That what we are, and have been, may be known;
+ But at the coming of the milder day, 175
+ These monuments shall all be overgrown.
+
+ "One lesson, Shepherd, let us two divide,
+ Taught both by what she shows, and what conceals; [C]
+ Never to blend our pleasure or our pride
+ With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels." 180
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ He turn'd aside towards a Vassal's door,
+ And, "Bring another Horse!" he cried aloud. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ Brach, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... he chid and cheer'd them on 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1800.
+
+ With fawning kindness ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... of the chace? 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1802.
+
+ This race it looks not like an earthly race; 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... smack'd ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... act; 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1820.
+
+ And foaming like a mountain cataract. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1820.
+
+ His nose half-touch'd ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1820.
+
+ Was never man in such a joyful case, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1820.
+
+ .... place. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... turning ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1845.
+
+ Nine ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 15:
+
+1802.
+
+ Three several marks which with his hoofs the beast 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 16:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... verdant ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 17:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... living ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 18:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... gallant brute! ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 19:
+
+1815.
+
+ And soon the Knight perform'd what he had said,
+ The fame whereof through many a land did ring. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 20:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... journey'd with his paramour; 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 21:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... to ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 22:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... has ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 23:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... hills ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 24:
+
+1815.
+
+ From the stone on the summit of the steep 1800.
+
+ ... upon ... 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 25:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... this ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 26:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... scented ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 27:
+
+1827.
+
+ But now here's ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 28:
+
+1815.
+
+ For them the quiet creatures ... 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare 'Othello', act I. scene iii. l. 135:
+
+ 'Of moving accidents by flood and field.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare the sonnet (vol. iv.) beginning:
+
+ "Beloved Vale!" I said. "when I shall con ...
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: Compare Tennyson, 'In Memoriam', v. II. 3, 4.
+
+ 'For words, like Nature, half reveal
+ And half conceal the Soul within.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+This poem was suggested to Wordsworth in December 1799 during the
+journey with his sister from Sockburn in Yorkshire to Grasmere. I owe
+the following local note on 'Hart-Leap Well' to Mr. John R. Tutin of
+Hull.
+
+ "June 20, 1881. Visited 'Hart-Leap Well,' the subject of Wordsworth's
+ poem. It is situated on the road side leading from Richmond to
+ Askrigg, at a distance of not more than three and a-half miles from
+ Richmond, and not five miles as stated in the prefatory note to the
+ poem. The 'three aspens at three corners of a square' are things of
+ the past; also the 'three stone pillars standing in a line, on the
+ hill above. In a straight line with the spring of water, and where the
+ pillars would have been, a wall has been built; so that it is very
+ probable the stone pillars were removed at the time of the building of
+ this wall. The scenery around answers exactly to the description
+
+ More doleful place did never eye survey;
+ It seemed as if the spring time came not here,
+ And Nature here were willing to decay.
+ ...
+ Now, here is neither grass nor pleasant shade.
+
+ "It is barren moor for miles around. The water still falls into the
+ 'cup of stone,' which appeared to be of very long standing. Within ten
+ yards of the well is a small tree, at the same side of the road as the
+ well, on the right hand coming from Richmond."
+
+The Rev. Thomas Hutchinson of Kimbolton wrote to me on June 18, 1883:
+
+ "The tree is not a Thorn, but a Lime. It is evidently an old one, but
+ is now in full and beautiful leaf. It stands on the western side of
+ the road, and a few yards distant from it. The well is somewhat nearer
+ the road. This side of the road is open to the fell. On the other side
+ the road is bounded by a stone wall: another wall meeting this one at
+ right angles, exactly opposite the well. I ascended the hill on the
+ north side of this wall for some distance, but could find no trace of
+ any rough-hewn stone. Descending on the other side, I found in the
+ wall one, and only one, such stone. I should say the base was in the
+ wall. The stone itself leans outwards; so that, at the top, three of
+ its square faces can be seen; and two, if not three, of these faces
+ bear marks of being hammer-dressed. The distance from the stone to the
+ well is about 40 yards, and the height of the stone out of the ground
+ about 3 or 4 feet.
+
+ "The ascent from the well is a gentle one, not 'sheer'; nor does there
+ appear to be any hollow by which the shepherd could ascend. On the
+ western side of the road there is a wide plain, with a slight fall in
+ that direction."
+
+
+ "'Hart-Leap Well' is the tale for me; in matter as good as this
+ ('Peter Bell'); in manner infinitely before it, in my poor judgment."
+
+Charles Lamb to Wordsworth, May 1819. (See 'The Letters of Charles
+Lamb', edited by Alfred Ainger, vol. ii. p. 20.)--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE IDLE SHEPHERD-BOYS; OR, DUNGEON-GHYLL FORCE [A]
+
+A PASTORAL
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. I will only add a little monitory
+anecdote concerning this subject. When Coleridge and Southey were
+walking together upon the Fells, Southey observed that, if I wished to
+be considered a faithful painter of rural manners, I ought not to have
+said that my shepherd-boys trimmed their rustic hats as described in the
+poem. Just as the words had passed his lips two boys appeared with the
+very plant entwined round their hats. I have often wondered that
+Southey, who rambled so much about the mountains, should have fallen
+into this mistake, and I record it as a warning for others who, with far
+less opportunity than my dear friend had of knowing what things are, and
+far less sagacity, give way to presumptuous criticism, from which he was
+free, though in this matter mistaken. In describing a tarn under
+Helvellyn I say:
+
+ "There sometimes doth a leaping fish
+ Send through the tarn a lonely cheer."
+
+This was branded by a critic of these days, in a review ascribed to Mrs.
+Barbauld, as unnatural and absurd. I admire the genius of Mrs. Barbauld
+and am certain that, had her education been favourable to imaginative
+influences, no female of her day would have been more likely to
+sympathise with that image, and to acknowledge the truth of the
+sentiment.--I. F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ The valley rings with mirth and joy;
+ Among the hills the echoes play
+ A never never ending song,
+ To welcome in the May. [1]
+ The magpie chatters with delight; 5
+ The mountain raven's youngling brood
+ Have left the mother and the nest;
+ And they go rambling east and west
+ In search of their own food;
+ Or through the glittering vapours dart 10
+ In very wantonness of heart.
+
+ Beneath a rock, upon the grass,
+ Two boys are sitting in the sun;
+ Their work, if any work they have,
+ Is out of mind--or done. [2] 15
+ On pipes of sycamore they play
+ The fragments of a Christmas hymn;
+ Or with that plant which in our dale
+ We call stag-horn, or fox's tail,
+ Their rusty hats they trim: 20
+ And thus, as happy as the day,
+ Those Shepherds wear the time away.
+
+ Along the river's stony marge
+ The sand-lark chants a joyous song;
+ The thrush is busy in the wood, 25
+ And carols loud and strong.
+ A thousand lambs are on the rocks,
+ All newly born! both earth and sky
+ Keep jubilee, [B] and more than all,
+ Those boys with their green coronal; 30
+ They never hear the cry,
+ That plaintive cry! which up the hill
+ Comes from the depth of Dungeon-Ghyll.
+
+ Said Walter, leaping from the ground,
+ "Down to the stump of yon old yew 35
+ We'll for our whistles run a race." [3]
+--Away the shepherds flew;
+ They leapt--they ran--and when they came
+ Right opposite to Dungeon-Ghyll,
+ Seeing that he should lose the prize, 40
+ "Stop!" to his comrade Walter cries--
+ James stopped with no good will:
+ Said Walter then, exulting; "Here
+ You'll find a task for half a year. [4]
+
+ "Cross, if you dare, where I shall cross--45
+ Come on, and tread where I shall tread." [5]
+ The other took him at his word,
+ And followed as he led. [6]
+ It was a spot which you may see
+ If ever you to Langdale go; 50
+ Into a chasm a mighty block
+ Hath fallen, and made a bridge of rock:
+ The gulf is deep below;
+ And, in a basin black and small,
+ Receives a lofty waterfall. 55
+
+ With staff in hand across the cleft
+ The challenger pursued [7] his march;
+ And now, all eyes and feet, hath gained
+ The middle of the arch.
+ When list! he hears a piteous moan--60
+ Again!--his heart within him dies--
+ His pulse is stopped, his breath is lost,
+ He totters, pallid as a ghost, [8]
+ And, looking down, espies [9]
+ A lamb, that in the pool is pent 65
+ Within that black and frightful rent.
+
+ The lamb had slipped into the stream,
+ And safe without a bruise or wound
+ The cataract had borne him down
+ Into the gulf profound. 70
+ His dam had seen him when he fell,
+ She saw him down the torrent borne;
+ And, while with all a mother's love
+ She from the lofty rocks above
+ Sent forth a cry forlorn, 75
+ The lamb, still swimming round and round,
+ Made answer to that plaintive sound.
+
+ When he had learnt what thing it was,
+ That sent this rueful cry; I ween
+ The Boy recovered heart, and told 80
+ The sight which he had seen.
+ Both gladly now deferred their task;
+ Nor was there wanting other aid--
+ A Poet, one who loves the brooks
+ Far better than the sages' books, 85
+ By chance had thither strayed;
+ And there the helpless lamb he found
+ By those huge rocks encompassed round.
+
+ He drew it from the troubled pool, [10]
+ And brought it forth into the light: 90
+ The Shepherds met him with his charge,
+ An unexpected sight!
+ Into their arms the lamb they took,
+ Whose life and limbs the flood had spared; [11]
+ Then up the steep ascent they hied, 95
+ And placed him at his mother's side;
+ And gently did the Bard
+ Those idle Shepherd-boys upbraid,
+ And bade them better mind their trade.
+
+
+
+
+The "bridge of rock" across Dungeon-Ghyll "chasm," and the "lofty
+waterfall," with all its accessories of place as described in the poem,
+remain as they were in 1800.--Ed.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1800.
+
+ The valley rings with mirth and joy;
+ And, pleased to welcome in the May,
+ From hill to hill the echoes fling
+ Their liveliest roundelay. 1836.
+
+The text of 1845 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ It seems they have no work to do
+ Or that their work is done. 1800.
+
+ Boys that have had no work to do,
+ Or work that now is done. 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1805.
+
+ I'll run with you a race."--No more--1800.
+
+ We'll for this Whistle run a race." ... 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ Said Walter then, "Your task is here,
+ 'Twill keep you working half a year. 1800.
+
+ 'Twill baffle you for half a year. 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1836.
+
+ Till you have cross'd where I shall cross,
+ Say that you'll neither sleep nor eat." 1800.
+
+ "Now cross where I shall cross,--come on
+ And follow me where I shall lead--" 1802.
+
+ "Cross, if you dare, where I shall cross--
+ Come on, and in my footsteps tread!" 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ James proudly took him at his word,
+ But did not like the feat. 1800.
+
+ ... the deed. 1802.
+
+ The other took him at his word, 1805.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... began ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... pale as any ghost, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... he spies 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1836.
+
+ He drew it gently from the pool, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1836.
+
+ Said they, "He's neither maim'd nor scarr'd"--1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: 'Ghyll', in the dialect of Cumberland and Westmoreland is a
+short and for the most part a steep narrow valley, with a stream running
+through it. 'Force' is the word universally employed in these dialects
+for Waterfall.--W. W. 1800.
+
+"Ghyll" was spelt "Gill" in the editions of 1800 to 1805.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare the 'Ode, Intimations of Immortality', iv. l. 3
+(vol. viii.)--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PET-LAMB
+
+A PASTORAL
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. Barbara Lewthwaite, now living at
+Ambleside (1843), though much changed as to beauty, was one of two most
+lovely sisters. Almost the first words my poor brother John said, when
+he visited us for the first time at Grasmere, were, "Were those two
+Angels that I have just seen?" and from his description, I have no doubt
+they were those two sisters. The mother died in childbed; and one of our
+neighbours at Grasmere told me that the loveliest sight she had ever
+seen was that mother as she lay in her coffin with her babe in her arm.
+I mention this to notice what I cannot but think a salutary custom once
+universal in these vales. Every attendant on a funeral made it a duty to
+look at the corpse in the coffin before the lid was closed, which was
+never done (nor I believe is now) till a minute or two before the corpse
+was removed. Barbara Lewthwaite was not in fact the child whom I had
+seen and overheard as described in the poem. I chose the name for
+reasons implied in the above; and here will add a caution against the
+use of names of living persons. Within a few months after the
+publication of this poem, I was much surprised, and more hurt, to find
+it in a child's school book, which, having been compiled by Lindley
+Murray, had come into use at Grasmere School where Barbara was a pupil;
+and, alas! I had the mortification of hearing that she was very vain of
+being thus distinguished; and, in after life she used to say that she
+remembered the incident, and what I said to her upon the occasion.--I.
+F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink;
+ I heard a voice; it said, "Drink, pretty creature, drink!"
+ And, looking o'er the hedge, before me I espied
+ A snow white mountain-lamb with a Maiden at its side.
+
+ Nor sheep nor kine [1] were near; the lamb was all alone, 5
+ And by a slender cord was tethered to a stone;
+ With one knee on the grass did the little Maiden kneel,
+ While to that mountain-lamb she gave its evening meal.
+
+ The lamb, while from her hand he thus his supper took,
+ Seemed to feast with head and ears; and his tail with pleasure shook.
+ "Drink, pretty creature, drink," she said in such a tone
+ That I almost received her heart into my own.
+
+ 'Twas little Barbara Lewthwaite, a child of beauty rare!
+ I watched them with delight, they were a lovely pair.
+ Now with her empty can the Maiden turned away: 15
+ But ere ten yards were gone her footsteps did she stay.
+
+ Right towards the lamb she looked; and from a shady place [2]
+ I unobserved could see the workings of her face:
+ If Nature to her tongue could measured numbers bring,
+ Thus, thought I, to her lamb that little Maid might sing: 20
+
+ "What ails thee, young One? what? Why pull so at thy cord?
+ Is it not well with thee? well both for bed and board?
+ Thy plot of grass is soft, and green as grass can be;
+ Rest, little young One, rest; what is't that aileth thee?
+
+ "What is it thou wouldst seek? What is wanting to thy heart? 25
+ Thy limbs are they not strong? And beautiful thou art:
+ This grass is tender grass; these flowers they have no peers;
+ And that green corn all day is rustling in thy ears!
+
+ "If the sun be [3] shining hot, do but stretch thy woollen chain,
+ This beech is standing by, its covert thou canst gain; 30
+ For rain and mountain-storms! the like thou need'st not fear,
+ The rain and storm are things that [4] scarcely can come here.
+
+ "Rest, little young One, rest; thou hast forgot the day
+ When my father found thee first in places far away;
+ Many flocks were [5] on the hills, but thou wert owned by none, 35
+ And thy mother from thy side for evermore was gone.
+
+ "He took thee in his arms, and in pity brought thee home:
+ A blessed day for thee! then whither wouldst thou roam?
+ A faithful nurse thou hast; the dam that did thee yean
+ Upon the mountain tops no kinder could have been. 40
+
+ "Thou know'st that twice a day I have brought thee in this can
+ Fresh water from the brook, as clear as ever ran;
+ And twice in the day, when the ground is wet with dew
+ I bring thee draughts of milk, warm milk it is and new.
+
+ "Thy limbs will shortly be twice as stout as they are now, 45
+ Then I'll yoke thee to my cart like a pony in the plough;
+ My playmate thou shalt be; and when the wind is cold
+ Our hearth shall be thy bed, our house shall be thy fold.
+
+ "It will not, will not rest!--Poor creature, can it be
+ That 'tis thy mother's heart which is working so in thee? [6] 50
+ Things that I know not of belike to thee are dear,
+ And dreams of things which thou canst neither see nor hear.
+
+ "Alas, the mountain-tops that look so green and fair!
+ I've heard of fearful winds and darkness that come there;
+ The little brooks that seem all pastime and all play, 55
+ When they are angry, roar like lions for their prey.
+
+ "Here thou need'st not dread the raven in the sky;
+ Night and day thou art safe,--our cottage is hard by.
+ Why bleat so after me? Why pull so at thy chain?
+ Sleep--and at break of day I will come to thee again!" [7] 60
+
+--As homeward through the lane I went with lazy feet,
+ This song to myself did I oftentimes repeat;
+ And it seemed, as I retraced the ballad line by line,
+ That but half of it was hers, and one half of it was _mine_. [8]
+
+ Again, and once again, did I repeat the song; 65
+ "Nay," said I, "more than half to the damsel [9] must belong,
+ For she looked with such a look, and she spake with such a tone,
+ That I almost received her heart into my own."
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ No other sheep ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ Towards the Lamb she look'd, and from that shady place 1800]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... is ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... which ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... are ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... Poor creature, it must be
+ That thou hast lost thy mother, and 'tis that which troubles thee.
+MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... the raven in the sky,
+ He will not come to thee, our Cottage is hard by,
+ Night and day thou art safe as living thing can be,
+ Be happy then and rest, what is't that aileth thee?" 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8: _Italics_ first used in 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 9: This word was _italicised_ from 1813 to 1832.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FARMER OF TILSBURY VALE
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1815 [A]
+
+
+[The character of this man was described to me, and the incident upon
+which the verses turn was told me, by Mr. Poole of Nether Stowey, with
+whom I became acquainted through our common friend, S. T. Coleridge.
+During my residence at Alfoxden, I used to see much of him, and had
+frequent occasions to admire the course of his daily life, especially
+his conduct to his labourers and poor neighbours; their virtues he
+carefully encouraged, and weighed their faults in the scales of charity.
+If I seem in these verses to have treated the weaknesses of the farmer
+and his transgressions too tenderly, it may in part be ascribed to my
+having received the story from one so averse to all harsh judgment.
+After his death was found in his escritoir, a lock of grey hair
+carefully preserved, with a notice that it had been cut from the head of
+his faithful shepherd, who had served him for a length of years. I need
+scarcely add that he felt for all men as his brothers. He was much
+beloved by distinguished persons--Mr. Coleridge, Mr. Southey, Sir H.
+Davy, and many others; and in his own neighbourhood was highly valued as
+a magistrate, a man of business, and in every other social relation. The
+latter part of the poem perhaps requires some apology, as being too much
+of an echo to 'The Reverie of Poor Susan'.--I.F.]
+
+Included in the "Poems referring to the Period of Old Age."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ 'Tis not for the unfeeling, the falsely refined,
+ The squeamish in taste, and the narrow of mind,
+ And the small critic wielding his delicate pen,
+ That I sing of old Adam, the pride of old men.
+
+ He dwells in the centre of London's wide Town; 5
+ His staff is a sceptre--his grey hairs a crown;
+ And his bright eyes look brighter, set off by the streak
+ Of the unfaded rose that still blooms on his cheek. [1]
+
+ 'Mid the dews, in the sunshine of morn,--'mid the joy
+ Of the fields, he collected that bloom, when a boy; 10
+ That countenance there fashioned, which, spite of a stain [2]
+ That his life hath received, to the last will remain. [3]
+
+ A Farmer he was; and his house [4] far and near
+ Was the boast of the country [5] for excellent cheer:
+ How oft have I heard in sweet Tilsbury Vale 15
+ Of the silver-rimmed horn whence he dealt his mild ale! [6]
+
+ Yet Adam was far as the farthest from ruin,
+ His fields seemed to know what their Master was doing;
+ And turnips, and corn-land, [7] and meadow, and lea,
+ All caught the infection--as generous as he. 20
+
+ Yet Adam prized little the feast and the bowl, [8]--
+ The fields better suited the ease of his soul:
+ He strayed through the fields like an indolent wight,
+ The quiet of nature was Adam's delight.
+
+ For Adam was simple in thought; and the poor, 25
+ Familiar with him, made an inn of his door:
+ He gave them the best that he had; or, to say
+ What less may mislead you, they took it away.
+ [9]
+ Thus thirty smooth years did he thrive on his farm:
+ The Genius of plenty preserved him from harm: 30
+ At length, what to most is a season of sorrow,
+ His means are [10] run out,--he must beg, or must borrow.
+
+ To the neighbours he went,--all were free with their money;
+ For his hive had so long been replenished with honey,
+ That they dreamt not of dearth;--He continued his rounds, [11] 35
+ Knocked here-and knocked there, pounds still adding to pounds.
+
+ He paid what he could with his [12] ill-gotten pelf,
+ And something, it might be, reserved for himself: [13]
+ Then (what is too true) without hinting a word,
+ Turned his back on the country--and off like a bird. 40
+
+ You lift up your eyes!--but I guess that you frame
+ A judgment too harsh of the sin and the shame; [14]
+ In him it was scarcely [15] a business of art,
+ For this he did all in the _ease_ [16] of his heart.
+
+ To London--a sad emigration I ween--45
+ With his grey hairs he went from the brook [17] and the green;
+ And there, with small wealth but his legs and his hands,
+ As lonely he stood as [18] a crow on the sands.
+
+ All trades, as need [19] was, did old Adam assume,--
+ Served as stable-boy, errand-boy, porter, and groom; 50
+ But nature is gracious, necessity kind,
+ And, in spite of the shame that may lurk in his mind, [20]
+ [21]
+ He seems ten birthdays younger, is green and is stout; [22]
+ Twice as fast as before does his blood run about;
+ You would [23] say that each hair of his beard was alive, 55
+ And his fingers are busy as bees in a hive.
+
+ For he's not like an Old Man that leisurely goes
+ About work that he knows, [24] in a track that he knows;
+ But often his mind is compelled to demur,
+ And you guess that the more then his body must stir. 60
+
+ In the throng of the town like a stranger is he,
+ Like one whose own country's far over the sea;
+ And Nature, while through the great city he hies,
+ Full ten times a day takes his heart by surprise.
+
+ This gives him the fancy of one that is young, 65
+ More of soul in his face than of words on [25] his tongue;
+ Like a maiden of twenty he trembles and sighs,
+ And tears of fifteen will come [26] into his eyes.
+
+ What's a tempest to him, or the dry parching heats?
+ Yet he watches the clouds that pass over the streets; 70
+ With a look of such earnestness often will stand, [27]
+ You might think he'd twelve reapers at work in the Strand.
+
+ Where proud Covent-garden, in desolate hours
+ Of snow and hoar-frost, spreads her fruits and her flowers,
+ Old Adam will smile at the pains that have made 75
+ Poor winter look fine in such strange masquerade. [28]
+ [29]
+ 'Mid coaches and chariots, a waggon of straw,
+ Like a magnet, the heart of old Adam can draw;
+ With a thousand soft pictures his memory will teem,
+ And his hearing is touched with the sounds of a dream. 80
+
+ Up the Haymarket hill he oft whistles his way,
+ Thrusts his hands in a waggon, and smells at the hay; [30]
+ He thinks of the fields he so often hath mown,
+ And is happy as if the rich freight were his own. [31]
+
+ But chiefly to Smithfield he loves to repair,--85
+ If you pass by at morning, you'll meet with him there.
+ The breath of the cows you may see him inhale,
+ And his heart all the while is in Tilsbury Vale.
+
+ Now farewell, old Adam! when low [32] thou art laid,
+ May one blade of grass spring over [33] thy head; 90
+ And I hope that thy grave, wheresoever it be,
+ Will hear the wind sigh through the leaves of a tree.
+
+
+
+
+With this picture, which was taken from real life, compare the
+imaginative one of 'The Reverie of Poor Susan' [vol. i. p. 226]; and see
+(to make up the deficiencies of this class) 'The Excursion, passim'.--W.
+W. 1837.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ Erect as a sunflower he stands, and the streak
+ Of the unfaded rose is expressed on his cheek. 1815.
+
+ ... still enlivens his cheek. 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1840.
+
+ There fashion'd that countenance, which, in spite of a stain 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+ There's an old man in London, the prime of old men,
+ You may hunt for his match through ten thousand and ten,
+ Of prop or of staff, does he walk, does he run,
+ No more need has he than a flow'r of the sun. 1800.
+
+This stanza appeared only in 1800, occupying the place of the three
+first stanzas in the final text.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... name ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1815.
+
+ Was the Top of the Country, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ Not less than the skill of an Exchequer Teller
+ Could count the shoes worn on the steps of his cellar. 1800.
+
+ How oft have I heard in sweet Tilsbury Vale
+ Of the silver-rimmed horn whence he dealt his good ale. 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... plough'd land, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... the noise of the bowl, 1800]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+
+ On the works of the world, on the bustle and sound,
+ Seated still in his boat, he look'd leisurely round;
+ And if now and then he his hands did employ,
+ 'Twas with vanity, wonder, and infantine joy.
+
+Only in the text of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... were ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1815.
+
+ For they all still imagin'd his hive full of honey;
+ Like a Church-warden, Adam continu'd his rounds, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... this ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... he kept to himself; 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1820.
+
+ You lift up your eyes, "O the merciless Jew!"
+ But in truth he was never more cruel than you; 1800.
+
+ ...--and I guess that you frame
+ A judgment too harsh of the sin and the shame; 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 15:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... scarce e'en ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 16: _Italics_ first used in 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 17:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... lawn ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 18:
+
+1815.
+
+ He stood all alone like ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 19:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... needs ... 1815.
+
+The edition of 1827 returns to the text of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 20:
+
+1815.
+
+ Both stable-boy, errand-boy, porter and groom;
+ You'd think it the life of a Devil in H--l,
+ But nature was kind, and with Adam 'twas well. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 21:
+
+ He's ten birth-days younger, he's green, and he's stout,
+ Twice as fast as before does his blood run about,
+ You'd think it the life of a Devil in H--l,
+ But Nature is kind, and with Adam 'twas well.
+
+This stanza appeared only in 1800. It was followed by that which now
+forms lines 53-56 of the final text.]
+
+
+[Variant 22:
+
+1815.
+
+ He's ten birth-days younger, he's green, and he's stout, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 23:
+
+1815.
+
+ You'd ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 24:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... does ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 25:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... in ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 26:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... have come ... 1815.
+
+The text of 1820 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 27:
+
+1815.
+
+ ...he'll stand 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 28:
+
+1837.
+
+ Where proud Covent-Garden, in frost and in snow,
+ Spreads her fruits and her flow'rs, built up row after row;
+ Old Adam will point with his finger and say,
+ To them that stand by, "I've seen better than they." 1800.
+
+ ... her fruit ... 1815.
+
+(The text of 1815 is otherwise identical with that of 1837.)]
+
+
+[Variant 29:
+
+ Where the apples are heap'd on the barrows in piles,
+ You see him stop short, he looks long, and he smiles;
+ He looks, and he smiles, and a Poet might spy
+ The image of fifty green fields in his eye.
+
+Only in the text of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 30:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... in the waggons, and smells to the hay; 1800.
+
+ ... in the Waggon, and smells at ... 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 31:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... has mown,
+ And sometimes he dreams that the hay is his own. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 32:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... where'er ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 33:
+
+1850.
+
+ ... spring up o'er ... 1800.
+
+ ... over ... 1815.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: i. e. first published in the 1815 edition of the Poems:
+but, although dated by Wordsworth 1803, it had appeared in 'The Morning
+Post' of July 21, 1800, under the title, 'The Farmer of Tilsbury Vale. A
+Character'. It was then unsigned.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+POEMS ON THE NAMING OF PLACES
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT
+
+By Persons resident in the country and attached to rural objects, many
+places will be found unnamed or of unknown names, where little Incidents
+will have occurred, or feelings been experienced, which will have given
+to such places a private and peculiar interest. From a wish to give some
+sort of record to such Incidents or renew the gratification of such
+Feelings, Names have been given to Places by the Author and some of his
+Friends, and the following Poems written in consequence. [A]--W. W. 1800.
+
+
+[Footnote A: It should be explained that owing to the chronological plan
+adopted in this edition (see the preface to vol. i.), two of the poems
+which were placed by Wordsworth in his series of "Poems on the Naming of
+Places," but which belong to later years, are printed in subsequent
+volumes.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"IT WAS AN APRIL MORNING: FRESH AND CLEAR"
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written at Grasmere. This poem was suggested on the banks of the brook
+that runs through Easdale, which is, in some parts of its course, as
+wild and beautiful as brook can be. I have composed thousands of verses
+by the side of it.--I. F.]
+
+
+
+
+ It was an April morning: fresh and clear
+ The Rivulet, delighting in its strength,
+ Ran with a young man's speed; and yet the voice
+ Of waters which the winter had supplied
+ Was softened down into a vernal tone. 5
+ The spirit of enjoyment and desire,
+ And hopes and wishes, from all living things
+ Went circling, like a multitude of sounds.
+ The budding groves seemed eager to urge on
+ The steps of June; as if their various hues 10
+ Were only hindrances that stood between
+ Them and their object: but, meanwhile, prevailed
+ Such an entire contentment in the air [1]
+ That every naked ash, and tardy tree
+ Yet leafless, showed as if [2] the countenance 15
+ With which it looked on this delightful day
+ Were native to the summer.--Up the brook
+ I roamed in the confusion of my heart,
+ Alive to all things and forgetting all.
+ At length I to a sudden turning came 20
+ In this continuous glen, where down a rock
+ The Stream, so ardent in its course before,
+ Sent forth such sallies of glad sound, that all
+ Which I till then had heard, appeared the voice
+ Of common pleasure: beast and bird, the lamb, 25
+ The shepherd's dog, the linnet and the thrush
+ Vied with this waterfall, and made a song,
+ Which, while I listened, seemed like the wild growth
+ Or like some natural produce of the air,
+ That could not cease to be. Green leaves were here; 30
+ But 'twas the foliage of the rocks--the birch,
+ The yew, the holly, and the bright green thorn,
+ With hanging islands of resplendent furze:
+ And, on a summit, distant a short space,
+ By any who should look beyond the dell, 35
+ A single mountain-cottage might be seen.
+ I gazed and gazed, and to myself I said,
+ "Our thoughts at least are ours; and this wild nook,
+ My EMMA, I will dedicate to thee."
+--Soon did the spot become my other home, 40
+ My dwelling, and my out-of-doors abode.
+ And, of the Shepherds who have seen me there,
+ To whom I sometimes in our idle talk
+ Have told this fancy, two or three, perhaps,
+ Years after we are gone and in our graves, 45
+ When they have cause to speak of this wild place,
+ May call it by the name of EMMA'S DELL.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ The budding groves appear'd as if in haste
+ To spur the steps of June; as if their shades
+ Of _various_ green were hindrances that stood
+ Between them and their object: yet, meanwhile,
+ There was such deep contentment in the air 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... seem'd as though ... 1800.]
+
+
+
+The text of the "Poems on the Naming of Places" underwent comparatively
+little alteration in successive editions. Both the changes in the first
+poem were made in 1845. From the Fenwick note, it is evident that "the
+Rivulet" was Easdale beck. But where was "Emma's Dell"? In the autumn of
+1877, Dr. Cradock, the Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, took me
+to a place, of which he afterwards wrote,
+
+ "I have a fancy for a spot just beyond Goody Bridge to the left, where
+ the brook makes a curve, and returns to the road two hundred yards
+ farther on. But I have not discovered a trace of authority in favour
+ of the idea farther than that the wooded bend of the brook with the
+ stepping stones across it, connected with a field-path recently
+ stopped, was a very favourite haunt of Wordsworth's. At the upper part
+ of this bend, near to the place where the brook returns to the road,
+ is a deep pool at the foot of a rush of water. In this pool, a man
+ named Wilson was drowned many years ago. He lived at a house on the
+ hill called Score Crag, which, if my conjecture as to Emma's Dell is
+ right, is the 'single mountain cottage' on a 'summit, distant a short
+ space.' Wordsworth, happening to be walking at no great distance,
+ heard a loud shriek. It was that of Mr. Wilson, the father, who had
+ just discovered his son's body in the beck."
+
+In the "Reminiscences" of the poet, by the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge,
+which were contributed to the 'Memoirs of Wordsworth', written by his
+nephew (vol. ii. pp. 300-315), there is a record of a walk they took up
+Easdale to this place, entering the field just at the spot which Dr.
+Cradock supposes to be "Emma's Dell."
+
+ "He turned aside at a little farm-house, and took us into a swelling
+ field to look down on the tumbling stream which bounded it, and which
+ we saw precipitated at a distance, in a broad white sheet, from the
+ mountain." (This refers to Easdale Force.) "Then, as he mused for an
+ instant, he said,
+
+ 'I have often thought what a solemn thing it would be could we have
+ brought to our mind at once all the scenes of distress and misery
+ which any spot, however beautiful and calm before us, has been
+ witness to since the beginning. That water break, with the glassy
+ quiet pool beneath it, that looks so lovely, and presents no images
+ to the mind but of peace--there, I remember, the only son of his
+ father, a poor man who lived yonder, was drowned.'"
+
+This walk and conversation took place in October 1836. If any one is
+surprised that Wordsworth, supposing him to have been then looking into
+the very dell on which he wrote the above poem in 1800, did not name it
+to Mr. Coleridge, he must remember that he was not in the habit of
+speaking of the places he had memorialised in verse, and that in 1836
+his "Sister Emmeline" had for a year been a confirmed invalid at Rydal.
+I have repeatedly followed Easdale beck all the way up from its junction
+with the Rothay to the Tarn, and found no spot corresponding so closely
+to the realistic detail of this poem as the one suggested by Dr.
+Cradock. There are two places further up the dale where the "sallies of
+glad sound" such as are referred to in the poem, are even more
+distinctly audible; but they are not at "a sudden turning," as is the
+spot above Goody Bridge. If one leaves the Easdale road at this bridge,
+and keeps to the side of the beck for a few hundred yards, till he
+reaches the turning,--especially if it be a bright April morning, such
+as that described in the poem,--and remembers that this path by the
+brook was a favourite resort of Wordsworth and his sister, the
+probability of Dr. Cradock's suggestion will be apparent. Lady
+Richardson, who knew the place, and appreciated the poem as thoroughly
+as any of Wordsworth's friends, told me that she concurred in this
+identification of the "dell."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO JOANNA
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written at Grasmere. The effect of her laugh is an extravagance, though
+the effect of the reverberation of voices in some parts of the mountains
+is very striking. There is, in 'The Excursion', an allusion to the bleat
+of a lamb thus re-echoed, and described without any exaggeration, as I
+heard it, on the side of Stickle Tarn, from the precipice that stretches
+on to Langdale Pikes.--I.F.]
+
+
+
+
+ Amid the smoke of cities did you pass
+ The time [1] of early youth; and there you learned,
+ From years of quiet industry, to love
+ The living Beings by your own fire-side,
+ With such a strong devotion, that your heart 5
+ Is slow to meet [2] the sympathies of them
+ Who look upon the hills with tenderness,
+ And make dear friendships with the streams and groves.
+ Yet we, who are transgressors in this kind,
+ Dwelling retired in our simplicity 10
+ Among the woods and fields, we love you well,
+ Joanna! and I guess, since you have been
+ So distant from us now for two long years,
+ That you will gladly listen to discourse,
+ However trivial, if you thence be taught [3] 15
+ That they, with whom you once were happy, talk
+ Familiarly of you and of old times.
+
+ While I was seated, now some ten days past,
+ Beneath those lofty firs, that overtop
+ Their ancient neighbour, the old steeple-tower, 20
+ The Vicar from his gloomy house hard by [A]
+ Came forth to greet me; and when he had asked,
+ "How fares Joanna, that wild-hearted Maid!
+ And when will she return to us?" he paused;
+ And, after short exchange of village news, 25
+ He with grave looks demanded, for what cause,
+ Reviving obsolete idolatry,
+ I, like a Runic Priest, in characters
+ Of formidable size had chiselled out
+ Some uncouth name upon the native rock, 30
+ Above the Rotha, by the forest-side.
+--Now, by those dear immunities of heart
+ Engendered between [4] malice and true love,
+ I was not loth to be so catechised,
+ And this was my reply:--"As it befel, 35
+ One summer morning we had walked abroad
+ At break of day, Joanna and myself.
+--'Twas that delightful season when the broom,
+ Full-flowered, and visible on every steep,
+ Along the copses runs in veins of gold. 40
+ Our pathway led us on to Rotha's banks;
+ And when we came in front of that tall rock
+ That eastward looks, I there stopped short--and stood [5]
+ Tracing [6] the lofty barrier with my eye
+ From base to summit; such delight I found 45
+ To note in shrub and tree, in stone and flower
+ That intermixture of delicious hues,
+ Along so vast a surface, all at once,
+ In one impression, by connecting force
+ Of their own beauty, imaged in the heart. 50
+--When I had gazed perhaps two minutes' space,
+ Joanna, looking in my eyes, beheld
+ That ravishment of mine, and laughed aloud.
+ The Rock, like something starting from a sleep,
+ Took up the Lady's voice, and laughed again; 55
+ That ancient Woman seated on Helm-crag
+ Was ready with her cavern; Hammar-scar,
+ And the tall Steep of Silver-how, sent forth
+ A noise of laughter; southern Loughrigg heard,
+ And Fairfield answered with a mountain tone; 60
+ Helvellyn far into the clear blue sky
+ Carried the Lady's voice,--old Skiddaw blew
+ His speaking-trumpet;--back out of the clouds
+ Of Glaramara southward came the voice;
+ And Kirkstone tossed it from his misty head. 65
+--Now whether (said I to our cordial Friend,
+ Who in the hey-day of astonishment
+ Smiled in my face) this were in simple truth
+ A work accomplished by the brotherhood
+ Of ancient mountains, or my ear was touched 70
+ With dreams and visionary impulses
+ To me alone imparted, sure I am [7]
+ That there was a loud uproar in the hills.
+ And, while we both were listening, to my side
+ The fair Joanna drew, as if she wished 75
+ To shelter from some object of her fear.
+--And hence, long afterwards, when eighteen moons
+ Were wasted, as I chanced to walk alone
+ Beneath this rock, at sunrise, on a calm
+ And silent morning, I sat down, and there, 80
+ In memory of affections old and true,
+ I chiselled out in those rude characters
+ Joanna's name deep in the living stone:--[8]
+ And I, and all who dwell by my fireside,
+ Have called the lovely rock, JOANNA'S ROCK." 85
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ Your time ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ Is slow towards... 1800.
+
+ ... toward.... 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+ ... are taught... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... betwixt ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1836.
+
+ Which looks towards the East, I there stopp'd short, 1800.
+
+ ... toward ... 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1836.
+
+ And trac'd ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1827.
+
+ Is not for me to tell; but sure I am 1800]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1845.
+
+ Joanna's name upon the living stone. 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The Rectory at Grasmere, where Wordsworth lived from 1811
+to 1813, and where two of his children died.--Ed.]
+
+
+In Cumberland and Westmoreland are several Inscriptions upon the native
+rock which from the wasting of Time and the rudeness of the Workmanship
+had been mistaken for Runic. They are without doubt Roman.
+
+The Rotha, mentioned in this poem, is the River which flowing through
+the Lakes of Grasmere and Rydale falls into Wyndermere. On Helm-Crag,
+that impressive single Mountain at the head of the Vale of Grasmere, is
+a Rock which from most points of view bears a striking resemblance to an
+Old Woman cowering. Close by this rock is one of those Fissures or
+Caverns, which in the language of the Country are called Dungeons. The
+other Mountains either immediately surround the Vale of Grasmere, or
+belong to the same Cluster.--W. W. 1800.
+
+Most of the Mountains here mentioned immediately surround the vale of
+Grasmere; of the others, some are at a considerable distance, but they
+belong to the same cluster.--W. W. 1802.
+
+The majority of the changes introduced into the text of this poem were
+made in the year 1836.
+
+The place where the echo of the bleat of the lamb was heard--referred
+to in the Fenwick note--may be easily found. The "precipice" is Pavy
+Ark. "The 'lofty firs, that overtop their ancient neighbour, the old
+steeple-tower,' stood by the roadside, scarcely twenty yards north-west
+from the steeple of Grasmere church. Their site is now included in the
+road, which has been widened at that point. They were Scotch firs of
+unusual size, and might justly be said to 'overtop their neighbour' the
+tower. Mr. Fleming Green, who well remembers the trees, gave me this
+information, which is confirmed by other inhabitants.
+
+ "When the road was enlarged, not many years ago, the roots of the
+ trees were found by the workmen."
+
+(Dr. Cradock to the editor.) The
+
+ 'tall rock
+ That eastward looks'
+
+by the banks of the Rotha, presenting a "lofty barrier" "from base to
+summit," is manifestly a portion of Helmcrag. It is impossible to know
+whether Wordsworth carved Joanna Hutchinson's name anywhere on Helmcrag,
+and it is useless to enquire. If he did so, the discovery of the place
+would not help any one to understand or appreciate the poem. It is
+obvious that he did not intend to be literally exact in details, as the
+poem was written in 1800, and addressed to Joanna Hutchinson,--who is
+spoken of as having been absent from Grasmere "for two long years;" and
+Wordsworth says that he carved the Runic characters 'in memoriam'
+eighteen months after that summer morning when he heard the echo of her
+laugh. But the family took up residence at Grasmere only in December
+1799, and the "Poems on the Naming of Places" were published before the
+close of 1800. The effect of these lines to Joanna, however, is
+certainly not impaired--it may even be enhanced--by our inability to
+localise them. Only one in the list of places referred to can occasion
+any perplexity, viz., Hammar-scar, since it is a name now disused in the
+district. It used to be applied to some rocks on the flank of
+Silver-how, to the wood around them, and also to the gorge between
+Silver-how and Loughrigg. Hammar, from the old Norse 'hamar', signifies
+a steep broken rock.
+
+The imaginative description of the echo of the lady's laugh suggests a
+parallel passage from Michael Drayton's 'Polyolbion', which Wordsworth
+must doubtless have read. (See his sister's reference to Drayton in her
+'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland', in 1803: in the note to the
+poem, 'At the grave of Burns', p. 382 of this volume.)
+
+
+ 'Which _Copland_ scarce had spoke, but quickly every Hill
+ Upon her verge that stands, the neighbouring valleys fill;
+ _Helvillon_ from his height, it through the mountains threw,
+ From whence as soon again, the sound _Dunbalrase_ drew,
+ From whose stone-trophed head, it on the _Wendrosse_ went,
+ Which tow'rds the sea again, resounded it to _Dent_,
+ That _Brodwater_ therewith within her banks astound,
+ In sailing to the sea, told it to _Egremound_,
+ Whose buildings, walks, and streets, with echoes loud and long,
+ Did mightily commend old _Copland_ for her song.'
+
+'Polyolbion', The Thirtieth Song, ll. 155-164.
+
+
+Any one who compares this passage with Wordsworth's 'Joanna' will see
+the difference between the elaborate fancy of a topographical narrator,
+and the vivid imagination of a poetical idealist. A somewhat similar
+instance of indebtedness--in which the debt is repaid by additional
+insight--is seen when we compare a passage from Sir John Davies's
+'Orchestra, or a poem on Dancing' (stanza 49), with one from 'The
+Ancient Mariner', Part VI. stanzas 2 and 3--although there was more of
+the true imaginative light in Davies than in Drayton.
+
+
+ 'For lo, the sea that fleets about the land,
+ And like a girdle clips her solid waist,
+ Music and measure both doth understand;
+ For his great crystal eye is always cast
+ Up to the moon, and on her fixed fast:
+ And as she danceth in her palid sphere
+ So danceth he about his centre here.'
+
+DAVIES
+
+
+ 'Still as a slave before his lord,
+ The ocean hath no blast;
+ His great bright eye most silently
+ Up to the moon is cast--
+
+ If he may know which way to go;
+ For she guides him smooth or grim.
+ See, brother, see! how graciously
+ She looketh down on him.'
+
+COLERIDGE.
+
+
+These extracts show how both Wordsworth and Coleridge assimilated past
+literary products, and how they glorified them by reproduction. There
+was little, however, in the poetic imagery of previous centuries that
+Wordsworth reproduced. His imagination worked in a sphere of its own,
+free from the trammels of precedent; and he was more original than any
+other nineteenth century poet in his use of symbol and metaphor. The
+poem 'To Joanna' was probably composed on August 22, 1800, as the
+following occurs in Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal under that date:
+
+ "William was composing all the morning ... W. read us the poem of
+ Joanna, beside the Rothay, by the roadside."
+
+Charles Lamb wrote to Wordsworth in January 1801, of
+
+ "these continuous echoes in the story of 'Joanna's laugh,' when the
+ mountains and all the scenery seem absolutely alive."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"THERE IS AN EMINENCE,--OF THESE OUR HILLS"
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[It is not accurate that the Eminence here alluded to could be seen from
+our orchard-seat. It rises above the road by the side of Grasmere Lake
+towards Keswick, and its name is Stone-Arthur.--I.F.]
+
+
+
+
+ There is an Eminence,--of these our hills
+ The last that parleys with the setting sun;
+ We can behold it from our orchard-seat;
+ And, when at evening we pursue our walk
+ Along the public way, this Peak, [1] so high 5
+ Above us, and so distant in its height,
+ Is visible; and often seems to send
+ Its own deep quiet to restore our hearts.
+ The meteors make of it a favourite haunt:
+ The star of Jove, so beautiful and large 10
+ In the mid heavens, is never half so fair
+ As when he shines above it. 'Tis in truth
+ The loneliest place we have among the clouds.
+ And She who dwells with me, whom I have loved
+ With such communion, that no place on earth 15
+ Can ever be a solitude to me,
+ Hath to this lonely Summit given my Name. [2]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1840.
+
+ ... this Cliff, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1815.
+
+ Hath said, this lonesome Peak shall bear my Name. 1800.]
+
+
+
+Stone-Arthur is the name of the hill, on the east side of the Vale of
+Grasmere, opposite Helm Crag, and between Green Head Ghyll and Tongue
+Ghyll.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"A NARROW GIRDLE OF ROUGH STONES AND CRAGS"
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[The character of the eastern shore of Grasmere Lake is quite changed
+since these verses were written, by the public road being carried along
+its side. The friends spoken of were Coleridge and my Sister, and the
+facts occurred strictly as recorded.--I.F.]
+
+
+
+
+ A narrow girdle of rough stones and crags,
+ A rude and natural causeway, interposed
+ Between the water and a winding slope
+ Of copse and thicket, leaves the eastern shore
+ Of Grasmere safe in its own privacy: [A] 5
+ And there myself and two beloved Friends,
+ One calm September morning, ere the mist
+ Had altogether yielded to the sun,
+ Sauntered on this retired and difficult way.
+--Ill suits the road with one in haste; but we 10
+ Played with our time; and, as we strolled along,
+ It was our occupation to observe
+ Such objects as the waves had tossed ashore--
+ Feather, or leaf, or weed, or withered bough,
+ Each on the other heaped, along the line 15
+ Of the dry wreck. And, in our vacant mood,
+ Not seldom did we stop to watch some tuft
+ Of dandelion seed or thistle's beard,
+ That skimmed the surface of the dead calm lake,
+ Suddenly halting now--a lifeless stand! 20
+ And starting off again with freak as sudden; [1]
+ In all its sportive wanderings, all the while,
+ Making report of an invisible breeze
+ That was its wings, its chariot, and its horse,
+ Its playmate, rather say, its moving soul. [2] 25
+ --And often, trifling with a privilege
+ Alike indulged to all, we paused, one now,
+ And now the other, to point out, perchance
+ To pluck, some flower or water-weed, too fair
+ Either to be divided from the place 30
+ On which it grew, or to be left alone
+ To its own beauty. Many such there are,
+ Fair ferns and flowers, and chiefly that tall fern, [3]
+ So stately, of the queen Osmunda named;
+ Plant lovelier, in its own retired abode 35
+ On Grasmere's beach, than Naiad by the side
+ Of Grecian brook, or Lady of the Mere,
+ Sole-sitting by the shores of old romance.
+--So fared we that bright [4] morning: from the fields,
+ Meanwhile, a noise was heard, the busy mirth 40
+ Of reapers, men and women, boys and girls.
+ Delighted much to listen [5] to those sounds,
+ And feeding thus our fancies, we advanced [6]
+ Along the indented shore; when suddenly,
+ Through a thin veil of glittering haze was seen [7] 45
+ Before us, on a point of jutting land,
+ The tall and upright figure of a Man
+ Attired in peasant's garb, who stood alone,
+ Angling beside the margin of the lake. [8]
+ "Improvident and reckless," we exclaimed, 50
+ "The Man must be, who thus can lose a day [9]
+ Of the mid harvest, when the labourer's hire
+ Is ample, and some little might be stored
+ Wherewith to cheer him in the winter time."
+ Thus talking of that Peasant, we approached 55
+ Close to the spot where with his rod and line
+ He stood alone; whereat he turned his head
+ To greet us--and we saw a Man worn down
+ By sickness, gaunt and lean, with sunken cheeks
+ And wasted limbs, his legs so long and lean 60
+ That for my single self I looked at them,
+ Forgetful of the body they sustained.--
+ Too weak to labour in the harvest field,
+ The Man was using his best skill to gain
+ A pittance from the dead unfeeling lake 65
+ That knew not of his wants. I will not say
+ What thoughts immediately were ours, nor how
+ The happy idleness of that sweet morn,
+ With all its lovely images, was changed
+ To serious musing and to self-reproach. 70
+ Nor did we fail to see within ourselves
+ What need there is to be reserved in speech,
+ And temper all our thoughts with charity.
+--Therefore, unwilling to forget that day,
+ My Friend, Myself, and She who then received 75
+ The same admonishment, have called the place
+ By a memorial name, uncouth indeed
+ As e'er by mariner was given to bay
+ Or foreland, on a new-discovered coast;
+ And POINT RASH-JUDGMENT is the name it bears. 80
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1815. (Compressing five lines into three.)
+
+ ... thistle's beard,
+ Which, seeming lifeless half, and half impell'd
+ By some internal feeling, skimm'd along
+ Close to the surface of the lake that lay
+ Asleep in a dead calm, ran closely on
+ Along the dead calm lake, now here, now there, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1820.
+
+ Its very playmate, and its moving soul. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... tall plant ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... sweet ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... with listening ... C.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1820.
+
+ And in the fashion which I have describ'd,
+ Feeding unthinking fancies, we advanc'd 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... we saw 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... a lake. 1802.
+
+The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... the margin of the lake.
+ That way we turn'd our steps; nor was it long,
+ Ere making ready comments on the sight
+ Which then we saw, with one and the same voice
+ We all cried out, that he must be indeed
+ An idle man, who thus could lose a day 1800.
+
+ Did all cry out, that he must be indeed
+ An Idler, he who thus ... 1815.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: A new road has destroyed this retirement. (MS. footnote in
+Lord Coleridge's copy of the edition of 1836.)--Ed.]
+
+
+The text of this poem reached its final state in the edition of 1827.
+The same is true of the poem which follows, 'To M. H.', with the
+exception of a single change.
+
+In Wordsworth's early days at Grasmere, a wild woodland path of quiet
+beauty led from Dove Cottage along the margin of the lake to the "Point"
+referred to in this poem, leaving the eastern shore truly "safe in its
+own privacy"--a "retired and difficult way"; the high-way road for
+carriages being at that time over White Moss Common. The late Dr.
+Arnold, of Rugby and Foxhowe, used to name the three roads from Rydal to
+Grasmere thus: the highest, "Old Corruption"; the intermediate, "Bit by
+bit Reform"; the lowest and most level, "Radical Reform." Wordsworth was
+never quite reconciled to the radical reform effected on a road that
+used to be so delightfully wild and picturesque. The spot which the
+three friends rather infelicitously named "Point Rash-Judgment" is
+easily identified; although, as Wordsworth remarks, the character of the
+shore is changed by the public road being carried along its side. The
+friends were quite aware that the "memorial name" they gave it was
+"uncouth." In spite of its awkwardness, however, it will probably
+survive; if not for Browning's reason
+
+ 'The better the uncouther;
+ Do roses stick like burrs?'
+
+at least because of the incident which gave rise to the poem.
+The date of composition is fixed by Dorothy Wordsworth's
+Journal,
+
+ "10th Oct. 1800, Wm. sat up after me, writing 'Point
+ Rash-Judgment.'"
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO M. H.
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[To Mary Hutchinson, two years before our marriage. The pool alluded to
+is in Rydal Upper Park.--I.F.]
+
+
+
+
+ Our walk was far among the ancient trees:
+ There was no road, nor any woodman's path;
+ But a [1] thick umbrage--checking the wild growth
+ Of weed and sapling, along soft green turf [2]
+ Beneath the branches--of itself had made 5
+ A track, that [3] brought us to a slip of lawn,
+ And a small bed of water in the woods.
+ All round this pool both flocks and herds might drink
+ On its firm margin, even as from a well,
+ Or some stone-basin which the herdsman's hand 10
+ Had shaped for their refreshment; nor did sun,
+ Or wind from any quarter, ever come,
+ But as a blessing to this calm recess,
+ This glade of water and this one green field.
+ The spot was made by Nature for herself; 15
+ The travellers know it not, and 'twill remain
+ Unknown to them; but it is beautiful;
+ And if a man should plant his cottage near,
+ Should sleep beneath the shelter of its trees,
+ And blend its waters with his daily meal, 20
+ He would so love it, that in his death-hour
+ Its image would survive among his thoughts:
+ And therefore, my sweet MARY, this still Nook,
+ With all its beeches, we have named from You! [4]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ But the ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... on the soft green turf 1800.
+
+ ... smooth dry ground MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... which ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... for You. 1802.
+
+The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+To find the pool referred to in the Fenwick note, I have carefully
+examined the course of Rydal beck, all the way up to the foot of the
+Fell. There is a pool beyond the enclosures of the Hall property, about
+five hundred feet above Rydal Mount, which partly corresponds to the
+description in the poem, but there is no wood around it now; and the
+trees which skirt its margin are birch, ash, oak, and hazel, but there
+are no beeches. It is a short way below some fine specimens of ice-worn
+rocks, which are to the right of the stream as you ascend it, and above
+these rocks is a well-marked moraine. It is a deep crystal pool, and has
+a "firm margin" of (artificially placed) stones. This may be the spot
+described in the poem; or another, within the grounds of the Hall, may
+be the place referred to. It is a sequestered nook, beside the third
+waterfall as you ascend the beck--this third cascade being itself a
+treble fall. Seen two or three days after rain, when the stream is full
+enough to break over the whole face of the rock in showers of snowy
+brightness, yet low enough to shew the rock behind its transparent veil,
+it is specially beautiful. Trees change so much in eighty years that the
+absence of "beeches" now would not make this site impossible. In a MS.
+copy of the poem (of date Dec. 28, 1800), the last line is
+
+ 'With all its poplars, we have named from you.'
+
+Of the circular pool beneath this fall it may be said, as Wordsworth
+describes it, that
+
+ '... both flocks and herds might drink
+ On its firm margin, even as from a well;'
+
+and a "small slip of lawn" might easily have existed there in his time.
+We cannot, however, be confident as to the locality, and I add the
+opinion of several, whose judgment may be deferred to. Dr. Cradock
+writes:
+
+ "As to Mary Hutchinson's pool, I think that it was not on the beck
+ anywhere, but some detached little pool, far up the hill, to the
+ eastwards of the Hall, in 'the woods.' The description does not well
+ suit any part of Rydal beck; and no spot thereon could long 'remain
+ unknown,' as the brook was until lately much haunted by anglers."
+
+My difficulty as to a site "far up the hill" is, that it must have been
+a pool of some size, if "both flocks and herds might drink" all round
+it; and there is no stream, scarce even a rill that joins Rydal beck on
+the right, all the way up from its junction with the Rothay. The late
+Mr. Hull of Rydal Cottage, wrote:
+
+ "Although closely acquainted with every nook about Rydal Park, I have
+ never been able to discover any spot corresponding to that described
+ in Wordsworth's lines to M. H. It is possible, however, that the
+ 'small bed of water' may have been a temporary rain pool, such as
+ sometimes lodges in the hollows on the mountain-slope after heavy
+ rain."
+
+Mr. F. M. Jones, the agent of the Rydal property, writes:
+
+ "I do not know of any pool of water in the Upper Rydal Park. There are
+ some pools up the river, 'Mirror Pool' among them; but I hardly think
+ there can ever have been 'beech-trees' growing near them."
+
+There are many difficulties, and the place cannot now be identified.
+Wordsworth's own wish will doubtless be realised,
+
+ 'The travellers know it not, and 'twill remain
+ Unknown to them.'
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE WATERFALL AND THE EGLANTINE
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Suggested nearer to Grasmere, in the same mountain track as that
+referred to in the following note. The Eglantine remained many years
+afterwards, but is now gone.--I.F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I "Begone, thou fond presumptuous Elf,"
+ Exclaimed an angry Voice, [1]
+ "Nor dare to thrust thy foolish self
+ Between me and my choice!"
+ A small Cascade fresh swoln with snows 5
+ Thus threatened a poor Briar-rose, [2]
+ That, all bespattered with his foam,
+ And dancing high and dancing low,
+ Was living, as a child might know,
+ In an unhappy home. 10
+
+ II "Dost thou presume my course to block?
+ Off, off! or, puny Thing!
+ I'll hurl thee headlong with the rock
+ To which thy fibres cling."
+ The Flood was tyrannous and strong; [A] 15
+ The patient Briar suffered long,
+ Nor did he utter groan or sigh,
+ Hoping the danger would be past;
+ But, seeing no relief, at last,
+ He ventured to reply. 20
+
+ III "Ah!" said the Briar, "blame me not;
+ Why should we dwell in strife?
+ We who in this sequestered spot [3]
+ Once lived a happy life!
+ You stirred me on my rocky bed--25
+ What pleasure through my veins you spread
+ The summer long, from day to day,
+ My leaves you freshened and bedewed;
+ Nor was it common gratitude
+ That did your cares repay. 30
+
+ IV "When spring came on with bud and bell, [B]
+ Among these rocks did I
+ Before you hang my wreaths [4] to tell
+ That gentle days were nigh!
+ And in the sultry summer hours, 35
+ I sheltered you with leaves and flowers;
+ And in my leaves--now shed and gone,
+ The linnet lodged, and for us two
+ Chanted his pretty songs, when you
+ Had little voice or none. 40
+
+ V "But now proud thoughts are in your breast--
+ What grief is mine you see,
+ Ah! would you think, even yet how blest
+ Together we might be!
+ Though of both leaf and flower bereft, 45
+ Some ornaments to me are left--
+ Rich store of scarlet hips is mine,
+ With which I, in my humble way,
+ Would deck you many a winter day, [5]
+ A happy Eglantine!" 50
+
+ VI What more he said I cannot tell,
+ The Torrent down the rocky dell
+ Came thundering loud and fast; [6]
+ I listened, nor aught else could hear;
+ The Briar quaked--and much I fear 55
+ Those accents were his last.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... a thundering Voice, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1820.
+
+ A falling Water swoln with snows
+ Thus spake to a poor Briar-rose, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... in this, our natal spot, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... wreath ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... Winter's day, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1840.
+
+ The stream came thundering down the dell
+ And gallop'd loud and fast; 1800.
+
+ The Torrent thundered down the dell
+ With unabating haste; 1815.
+
+ With aggravated haste; 1827.
+
+ The Stream came thundering down the dell 1836.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare 'The Ancient Mariner' (part I. stanza II.):
+
+ And now the Storm-blast came, and he
+ Was tyrannous and strong.
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare 'A Farewell', p. 325, l. 17.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+The spot referred to in this poem can be identified with perfect
+accuracy. The Eglantine grew on the little brook that runs past two
+cottages (close to the path under Nab Scar), which have been built since
+the poet's time, and are marked Brockstone on the Ordnance Map.
+
+ "The plant itself of course has long disappeared: but in following up
+ the rill through the copse, above the cottages, I found an unusually
+ large Eglantine, growing by the side of the stream."
+
+(Dr Cradock to the editor, in 1877.) It still grows luxuriantly there.
+
+The following extract from Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal illustrates both
+this and the next poem:
+
+ "Friday, 23rd April 1802.--It being a beautiful morning, we set off at
+ eleven o'clock, intending to stay out of doors all the morning. We
+ went towards Rydal, under Nab Scar. The sun shone and we were lazy.
+ Coleridge pitched upon several places to sit down upon; but we could
+ not be all of one mind respecting sun and shade, so we pushed on to
+ the foot of the Scar. It was very grand when we looked up, very stony;
+ here and there a budding tree. William observed that the umbrella
+ Yew-tree that breasts the wind had lost its character as a tree, and
+ had become like solid wood. Coleridge and I pushed on before. We left
+ William sitting on the stones, feasting with silence, and I sat down
+ upon a rocky seat, a couch it might be, under the Bower of William's
+ 'Eglantine,' 'Andrew's Broom.' He was below us, and we could see him.
+ He came to us, and repeated his Poems, while we sat beside him. We
+ lingered long, looking into the vales; Ambleside Vale, with the
+ copses, the village under the hill, and the green fields; Rydale, with
+ a lake all alive and glittering, yet but little stirred by breezes;
+ and our own dear Grasmere, making a little round lake of Nature's own,
+ with never a house, never a green field, but the copses and the bare
+ hills enclosing it, and the river flowing out of it. Above rose the
+ Coniston Fells, in their own shape and colour, ... the sky, and the
+ clouds, and a few wild creatures. Coleridge went to search for
+ something new. We saw him climbing up towards a rock. He called us,
+ and we found him in a bower,--the sweetest that was ever seen. The
+ rock on one side is very high, and all covered with ivy, which hung
+ loosely about, and bore bunches of brown berries. On the other side,
+ it was higher than my head. We looked down on the Ambleside vale, that
+ seemed to wind away from us, the village lying under the hill. The fir
+ tree island was reflected beautifully.... About this bower there is
+ mountain-ash, common ash, yew tree, ivy, holly, hawthorn, roses,
+ flowers, and a carpet of moss. Above at the top of the rock there is
+ another spot. It is scarce a bower, a little parlour, not enclosed by
+ walls, but shaped out for a resting-place by the rocks, and the ground
+ rising about it. It had a sweet moss carpet. We resolved to go and
+ plant flowers, in both these places to-morrow."
+
+This extract is taken from the "Journal" as originally transcribed by me
+in 1889. When it appears in this edition it will be greatly
+enlarged.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE OAK AND THE BROOM
+
+
+A PASTORAL
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+[Suggested upon the mountain pathway that leads from Upper Rydal to
+Grasmere. The ponderous block of stone, which is mentioned in the poem,
+remains, I believe, to this day, a good way up Nab-Scar. Broom grows
+under it, and in many places on the side of the precipice.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I His simple truths did Andrew glean
+ Beside the babbling rills;
+ A careful student he had been
+ Among the woods and hills.
+ One winter's night, when through the trees 5
+ The wind was roaring, [1] on his knees
+ His youngest born did Andrew hold:
+ And while the rest, a ruddy quire,
+ Were seated round their blazing fire,
+ This Tale the Shepherd told. 10
+
+ II "I saw a crag, a lofty stone
+ As ever tempest beat!
+ Out of its head an Oak had grown,
+ A Broom out of its feet.
+ The time was March, a cheerful noon--15
+ The thaw wind, with the breath of June,
+ Breathed gently from the warm south-west:
+ When, in a voice sedate with age,
+ This Oak, a giant and a sage, [2]
+ His neighbour thus addressed:--20
+
+ III "'Eight weary weeks, through rock and clay,
+ Along this mountain's edge,
+ The Frost hath wrought both night and day,
+ Wedge driving after wedge.
+ Look up! and think, above your head 25
+ What trouble, surely, will be bred;
+ Last night I heard a crash--'tis true,
+ The splinters took another road--
+ I see them yonder--what a load
+ For such a Thing as you! 30
+
+ IV "'You are preparing as before
+ To deck your slender shape;
+ And yet, just three years back--no more--
+ You had a strange escape:
+ Down from yon cliff a fragment broke; 35
+ It thundered down, with fire and smoke,
+ And hitherward pursued its way; [3]
+ This ponderous block was caught by me,
+ And o'er your head, as you may see,
+ 'Tis hanging to this day! 40
+
+ V "'If breeze or bird to this rough steep
+ Your kind's first seed did bear;
+ The breeze had better been asleep,
+ The bird caught in a snare: [4]
+ For you and your green twigs decoy 45
+ The little witless shepherd-boy
+ To come and slumber in your bower;
+ And, trust me, on some sultry noon,
+ Both you and he, Heaven knows how soon!
+ Will perish in one hour. 50
+
+ VI "'From me this friendly warning take'--
+ The Broom began to doze,
+ And thus, to keep herself awake,
+ Did gently interpose:
+ 'My thanks for your discourse are due; 55
+ That more than what you say is true, [5]
+ I know, and I have known it long;
+ Frail is the bond by which we hold
+ Our being, whether young or old, [6]
+ Wise, foolish, weak, or strong. 60
+
+ VII "'Disasters, do the best we can,
+ Will reach both great and small;
+ And he is oft the wisest man,
+ Who is not wise at all.
+ For me, why should I wish to roam? 65
+ This spot is my paternal home,
+ It is my pleasant heritage;
+ My father many a happy year,
+ Spread here [7] his careless blossoms, here
+ Attained a good old age. 70
+
+ VIII "'Even such as his may be my lot.
+ What cause have I to haunt
+ My heart with terrors? Am I not
+ In truth a favoured plant!
+ On me such bounty Summer pours, 75
+ That I am covered o'er with flowers; [8]
+ And, when the Frost is in the sky,
+ My branches are so fresh and gay
+ That you might look at me [9] and say,
+ This Plant can never die. 80
+
+ IX "'The butterfly, all green and gold,
+ To me hath often flown,
+ Here in my blossoms to behold
+ Wings lovely as his own.
+ When grass is chill with rain or dew, 85
+ Beneath my shade, the mother-ewe
+ Lies with her infant lamb; I see
+ The love they to each other make,
+ And the sweet joy which they partake,
+ It is a joy to me.' 90
+
+ X "Her voice was blithe, her heart was light;
+ The Broom might have pursued
+ Her speech, until the stars of night
+ Their journey had renewed;
+ But in the branches of the oak 95
+ Two ravens now began to croak
+ Their nuptial song, a gladsome air;
+ And to her own green bower the breeze
+ That instant brought two stripling bees
+ To rest, or [10] murmur there. 100
+
+
+ XI "One night, my Children! from the north
+ There came a furious blast; [11]
+ At break of day I ventured forth,
+ And near the cliff I passed.
+ The storm had fallen upon the Oak, 105
+ And struck him with a mighty stroke,
+ And whirled, and whirled him far away;
+ And, in one hospitable cleft,
+ The little careless Broom was left
+ To live for many a day." 110
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... thundering, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... half giant and half sage, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1820.
+
+ It came, you know, with fire and smoke
+ And hither did it bend its way. 1800.
+
+ And hitherward it bent its way. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ The Thing had better been asleep,
+ Whatever thing it were,
+ Or Breeze, or Bird, or fleece of Sheep,
+ That first did plant you there. 1800.
+
+ Or Breeze, or Bird, or Dog, or Sheep, 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1820.
+
+ That it is true, and more than true, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... be we young or old, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1836.
+
+ Here spread ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1815.
+
+ The Spring for me a garland weaves
+ Of yellow flowers and verdant leaves, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... on me ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1827.
+
+ To feed and ... 1800.
+
+ To rest and ... 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1815.
+
+ One night the Wind came from the North
+ And blew a furious blast, 1800.]
+
+
+
+The spot is fixed within narrow limits by the Fenwick note. It is,
+beyond doubt, on the wooded part of Nab-Scar, through which the upper
+path from Grasmere to Rydal passes. There is one huge block of stone
+high above the path, which answers well to the description in the second
+stanza. Crabb Robinson wrote in his 'Diary' (Sept. 11, 1816):
+
+ "The poem of 'The Oak and the Broom' proceeded from his" (Wordsworth)
+ "beholding a tree in just such a situation as he described the broom
+ to be in."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"'TIS SAID, THAT SOME HAVE DIED FOR LOVE"
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+One of the "Poems founded on the Affections."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ 'Tis said, that some have died for love:
+ And here and there a church-yard grave is found
+ In the cold north's unhallowed ground,
+ Because the wretched man himself had slain,
+ His love was such a grievous pain. 5
+ And there is one whom I five years have known;
+ He dwells alone
+ Upon Helvellyn's side:
+ He loved--the pretty Barbara died;
+ And thus he makes his moan: 10
+ Three years had Barbara in her grave been laid
+ When thus his moan he made:
+
+ "Oh, move, thou Cottage, from behind that oak!
+ Or let the aged tree uprooted lie,
+ That in some other way yon smoke 15
+ May mount into the sky!
+ The clouds pass on; they from the heavens depart:
+ I look--the sky is empty space;
+ I know not what I trace;
+ But when I cease to look, my hand is on my heart. 20
+
+ "O! what a weight is in these shades! Ye leaves,
+ That murmur once so dear, when will it cease?
+ Your sound my heart of rest bereaves,
+ It robs my heart of peace. [1]
+ Thou Thrush, that singest loud--and loud and free, 25
+ Into yon row of willows flit,
+ Upon that alder sit;
+ Or sing another song, or choose another tree.
+
+ "Roll back, sweet Rill! back to thy mountain-bounds,
+ And there for ever be thy waters chained! 30
+ For thou dost haunt the air with sounds
+ That cannot be sustained;
+ If still beneath that [2] pine-tree's ragged bough
+ Headlong yon waterfall must come,
+ Oh let it then be dumb! 35
+ Be anything, sweet Rill, but that which thou art now.
+
+ "Thou Eglantine, so bright with sunny showers,
+ Proud as a rainbow spanning half the vale, [3]
+ Thou one fair shrub, oh! shed thy flowers,
+ And stir not in the gale. 40
+ For thus to see thee nodding in the air,
+ To see thy arch thus stretch and bend,
+ Thus rise and thus descend,--
+ Disturbs me till the sight is more than I can bear."
+
+ The Man who makes this feverish complaint 45
+ Is one of giant stature, who could dance
+ Equipped from head to foot in iron mail.
+ Ah gentle Love! if ever thought was thine
+ To store up kindred hours for me, thy face
+ Turn from me, gentle Love! nor let me walk 50
+ Within the sound of Emma's voice, nor [4] know
+ Such happiness as I have known to-day.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... Ye leaves,
+ When will that dying murmur be suppress'd?
+ Your sound my heart of peace bereaves,
+ It robs my heart of rest. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... yon ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+
+ Thou Eglantine whose arch so proudly towers
+ (Even like a rainbow ... 1800.
+
+ ... the rainbow ... 1802.
+
+The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... or ... 1800.]
+
+
+
+If the second, third, and fourth stanzas of this poem had been published
+without the first, the fifth, and the last, it would have been deemed an
+exquisite fragment by those who object to the explanatory preamble, and
+to the moralising sequel. The intermediate stanzas suggest Burns's
+
+ 'Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,
+ How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair!
+ How can ye chant, ye little birds,
+ An' I sae weary, fu' o' care!'
+
+and Browning's 'May and Death':
+
+ 'I wish that when you died last May,
+ Charles, there had died along with you
+ Three parts of spring's delightful things;
+ Ay, and, for me, the fourth part too.'
+
+This mood of mind Wordsworth appreciated as fully as the opposite, or
+complementary one, which finds expression in the great 'Ode, Intimations
+of Immortality' (vol. viii.), l. 26.
+
+ 'No more shall grief of mine the season wrong,'
+
+and which Browning expresses in other verses of his lyric, and
+repeatedly elsewhere. The allusion in the last stanza of this poem is to
+Wordsworth's sister Dorothy.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CHILDLESS FATHER
+
+
+Composed 1800.-Published 1800 [A]
+
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. When I was a child at Cockermouth, no
+funeral took place without a basin filled with sprigs of boxwood being
+placed upon a table covered with a white cloth in front of the house.
+The huntings on foot, in which the old man is supposed to join as here
+described, were of common, almost habitual, occurrence in our vales when
+I was a boy, and the people took much delight in them. They are now less
+frequent.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems founded on the Affections."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ "Up, Timothy, up with your staff and away!
+ Not a soul in the village this morning will stay;
+ The hare has just started from Hamilton's grounds,
+ And Skiddaw is glad with the cry of the hounds."
+
+--Of coats and of jackets grey, scarlet, and green, 5
+ On the slopes of the pastures all colours were seen;
+ With their comely blue aprons, and caps white as snow,
+ The girls on the hills made a holiday show.
+
+ Fresh sprigs of green box-wood, not six months before,
+ Filled the funeral basin [B] at Timothy's door; [1] 10
+ A coffin through Timothy's threshold had past;
+ One Child [C] did it bear, and that Child was his last.
+
+ Now fast up the dell came the noise and the fray,
+ The horse and the horn, and the hark! hark away!
+ Old Timothy took up his staff, and he shut 15
+ With a leisurely motion the door of his hut.
+
+ Perhaps to himself at that moment he said;
+ "The key I must take, for my Ellen is dead."
+ But of this in my ears not a word did he speak;
+ And he went to the chase with a tear on his cheek. 20
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ The basin of box-wood, just six months before,
+ Had stood on the table at Timothy's door, 1800.
+
+ The basin had offered, just six months before,
+ Fresh sprigs of green box-wood at Timothy's door; 1820.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Also in 'The Morning Post', Jan. 30, 1801.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: In several parts of the North of England, when a funeral
+takes place, a basin full of Sprigs of Box-wood is placed at the door of
+the house from which the Coffin is taken up, and each person who attends
+the funeral ordinarily takes a Sprig of this Box-wood, and throws it
+into the grave of the deceased.--W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: In the list of _errata_, in the edition of 1820 "one child"
+is corrected, and made "a child"; but the text remained "one child" in
+all subsequent editions.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+SONG FOR THE WANDERING JEW
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+Included among the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Though the torrents from their fountains
+ Roar down many a craggy steep,
+ Yet they find among the mountains
+ Resting-places calm and deep.
+
+ Clouds that love through air to hasten, 5
+ Ere the storm its fury stills,
+ Helmet-like themselves will fasten
+ On the heads of towering hills. [1]
+
+ What, if through the frozen centre
+ Of the Alps the Chamois bound, 10
+ Yet he has a home to enter
+ In some nook of chosen ground: [2]
+
+ And the Sea-horse, though the ocean
+ Yield him no domestic cave,
+ Slumbers without sense of motion, 15
+ Couched upon the rocking wave. [3]
+
+ If on windy days the Raven
+ Gambol like a dancing skiff,
+ Not the less she loves her haven [4]
+ In [5] the bosom of the cliff. [A] 20
+
+ The fleet Ostrich, till day closes,
+ Vagrant over desert sands,
+ Brooding on her eggs reposes
+ When chill night that care demands. [6]
+
+ Day and night my toils redouble, 25
+ Never nearer to the goal;
+ Night and day, I feel the trouble
+ Of the Wanderer in my soul. [7]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1: This stanza was added in the edition of 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ Though almost with eagle pinion
+ O'er the rocks the Chamois roam,
+ Yet he has some small dominion
+ Which no doubt he calls his home. 1800.
+
+ Though, as if with eagle pinion
+ O'er the rocks the Chamois roam,
+ Yet he has some small dominion
+ Where he feels himself at home. 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+
+ Though the Sea-horse in the ocean
+ Own no dear domestic cave;
+ Yet he slumbers without motion
+ On the calm and silent wave. 1800.
+
+ Yet he slumbers--by the motion
+ Rocked of many a gentle wave. 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... he loves his haven 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1815.
+
+ On ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6: This stanza was added in 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1800.
+
+ Never--never does the trouble
+ Of the Wanderer leave my soul. 1815.
+
+The text of 1827 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: In the editions of 1800 to 1832 stanzas 4 and 5 were
+transposed. Their present order was adjusted in the edition of
+1836.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BROTHERS [A]
+
+
+Composed 1800. [B]--Published 1800
+
+
+[This poem was composed in a grove at the north-eastern end of Grasmere
+lake, which grove was in a great measure destroyed by turning the high
+road along the side of the water. The few trees that are left were
+spared at my intercession. The poem arose out of the fact, mentioned to
+me at Ennerdale, that a shepherd had fallen asleep upon the top of the
+rock called the Pillar, and perished as here described, his staff being
+left midway on the rock.--I. F.]
+
+One of the "Poems founded on the Affections."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ These Tourists, heaven preserve us! needs must live
+ A profitable life: some glance along,
+ Rapid and gay, as if the earth were air,
+ And they were butterflies to wheel about
+ Long as the [1] summer lasted: some, as wise, 5
+ Perched on the forehead of a jutting crag,
+ Pencil in hand and book upon the knee,
+ Will look and scribble, scribble on and look, [2]
+ Until a man might travel twelve stout miles,
+ Or reap an acre of his neighbour's corn. 10
+ But, for that moping Son of Idleness,
+ Why can he tarry _yonder_?--In our church-yard
+ Is neither epitaph nor monument,
+ Tombstone nor name--only the turf we tread
+ And a few natural graves." 15
+
+ To Jane, his wife,
+ Thus spake the homely Priest of Ennerdale.
+ It was a July evening; and he sate
+ Upon the long stone-seat beneath the eaves
+ Of his old cottage,--as it chanced, that day, 20
+ Employed in winter's work. Upon the stone
+ His wife sate near him, teasing matted wool,
+ While, from the twin cards toothed with glittering wire,
+ He fed the spindle of his youngest child,
+ Who, in the open air, with due accord 25
+ Of busy hands and back-and-forward steps,
+ Her large round wheel was turning. [3] Towards the field
+ In which the Parish Chapel stood alone,
+ Girt round with a bare ring of mossy wall,
+ While half an hour went by, the Priest had sent 30
+ Many a long look of wonder: and at last,
+ Risen from his seat, beside the snow white ridge
+ Of carded wool which the old man had piled
+ He laid his implements with gentle care,
+ Each in the other locked; and, down the path 35
+ That [4] from his cottage to the church-yard led,
+ He took his way, impatient to accost
+ The Stranger, whom he saw still lingering there.
+
+ 'Twas one well known to him in former days,
+ A Shepherd-lad; who ere his sixteenth year 40
+ Had left that calling, tempted to entrust
+ His expectations to the fickle winds
+ And perilous waters; with the mariners [5]
+ A fellow-mariner;--and so had fared
+ Through twenty seasons; but he had been reared 45
+ Among the mountains, and he in his heart
+ Was half a shepherd on the stormy seas.
+ Oft in the piping shrouds had Leonard heard
+ The tones of waterfalls, and inland sounds
+ Of caves and trees:--and, when the regular wind 50
+ Between the tropics filled the steady sail,
+ And blew with the same breath through days and weeks,
+ Lengthening invisibly its weary line
+ Along the cloudless Main, he, in those hours
+ Of tiresome indolence, would often hang 55
+ Over the vessel's side, and gaze and gaze;
+ And, while the broad blue [6] wave and sparkling foam
+ Flashed round him images and hues that wrought
+ In union with the employment of his heart,
+ He, thus by feverish passion overcome, 60
+ Even with the organs of his bodily eye,
+ Below him, in the bosom of the deep,
+ Saw mountains; saw the forms of sheep that grazed
+ On verdant hills--with dwellings among trees,
+ And shepherds clad in the same country grey 65
+ Which he himself had worn. [C]
+
+ And now, at last, [7]
+ From perils manifold, with some small wealth
+ Acquired by traffic 'mid [8] the Indian Isles,
+ To his paternal home he is returned, 70
+ With a determined purpose to resume
+ The life he had lived there; [9] both for the sake
+ Of many darling pleasures, and the love
+ Which to an only brother he has borne
+ In all his hardships, since that happy time 75
+ When, whether it blew foul or fair, they two
+ Were brother-shepherds on their native hills.
+--They were the last of all their race: and now,
+ When Leonard had approached his home, his heart
+ Failed in him; and, not venturing to enquire 80
+ Tidings of one so long and dearly loved, [10]
+ He to the solitary church-yard turned; [11]
+ That, as he knew in what particular spot
+ His family were laid, he thence might learn
+ If still his Brother lived, or to the file 85
+ Another grave was added.--He had found
+ Another grave,--near which a full half-hour
+ He had remained; but, as he gazed, there grew
+ Such a confusion in his memory,
+ That he began to doubt; and even to hope [12] 90
+ That he had seen this heap of turf before,--
+ That it was not another grave; but one
+ He had forgotten. He had lost his path,
+ As up the vale, that afternoon, he walked [13]
+ Through fields which once had been well known to him: 95
+ And oh what joy this [14] recollection now
+ Sent to his heart! he lifted up his eyes,
+ And, looking round, imagined that he saw [15]
+ Strange alteration wrought on every side
+ Among the woods and fields, and that the rocks, 100
+ And everlasting hills [16] themselves were changed.
+
+ By this the Priest, who down the field had come,
+ Unseen by Leonard, at the church-yard gate
+ Stopped short,--and thence, at leisure, limb by limb
+ Perused him [17] with a gay complacency. 105
+ Ay, thought the Vicar, smiling to himself,
+ 'Tis one of those who needs must leave the path
+ Of the world's business to go wild alone:
+ His arms have a perpetual holiday;
+ The happy man will creep about the fields, 110
+ Following his fancies by the hour, to bring
+ Tears down his cheek, [18] or solitary smiles
+ Into his face, until the setting sun
+ Write fool upon his forehead.--Planted thus
+ Beneath a shed that over-arched the gate 120
+ Of this rude church-yard, till the stars appeared
+ The good Man might have communed with himself,
+ But that the Stranger, who had left the grave,
+ Approached; he recognised the Priest at once,
+ And, after greetings interchanged, and given 120
+ By Leonard to the Vicar as to one
+ Unknown to him, this dialogue ensued.
+
+ _Leonard_. You live, Sir, in these dales, a quiet life:
+ Your years make up one peaceful family;
+ And who would grieve and fret, if, welcome come 125
+ And welcome gone, they are so like each other,
+ They cannot be remembered? Scarce a funeral
+ Comes to this church-yard once in eighteen months;
+ And yet, some changes must take place among you:
+ And you, who dwell here, even among these rocks, 130
+ Can trace the finger of mortality,
+ And see, that with our threescore years and ten
+ We are not all that perish.--I remember,
+ (For many years ago I passed this road)
+ There was a foot-way all along the fields 135
+ By the brook-side--'tis gone--and that dark cleft!
+ To me it does not seem to wear the face
+ Which then it had!
+
+ _Priest_. Nay, Sir, [19] for aught I know,
+ That chasm is much the same--140
+
+ _Leonard_. But, surely, yonder--
+
+ _Priest_. Ay, there, indeed, your memory is a friend
+ That does not play you false.--On that tall pike
+ (It is the loneliest place of all these hills)
+ There were two springs which bubbled side by side, [D] 145
+ As if they had been made that they might be
+ Companions for each other: the huge crag
+ Was rent with lightning--one hath disappeared; [20]
+ The other, left behind, is flowing still,
+ For accidents and changes such as these, 150
+ We want not store of them; [21]--a water-spout
+ Will bring down half a mountain; what a feast
+ For folks that wander up and down like you,
+ To see an acre's breadth of that wide cliff
+ One roaring cataract! a sharp May-storm 155
+ Will come with loads of January snow,
+ And in one night send twenty score of sheep
+ To feed the ravens; or a shepherd dies
+ By some untoward death among the rocks:
+ The ice breaks up and sweeps away a bridge; 160
+ A wood is felled:--and then for our own homes!
+ A child is born or christened, a field ploughed,
+ A daughter sent to service, a web spun,
+ The old house-clock is decked with a new face;
+ And hence, so far from wanting facts or dates 165
+ To chronicle the time, we all have here
+ A pair of diaries,--one serving, Sir,
+ For the whole dale, and one for each fire-side--
+ Yours was a stranger's judgment: for historians,
+ Commend me to these valleys! 170
+
+ _Leonard_. Yet your Church-yard
+ Seems, if such freedom may be used with you,
+ To say that you are heedless of the past:
+ An orphan could not find his mother's grave:
+ Here's neither head nor foot-stone, plate of brass, 175
+ Cross-bones nor skull,--type of our earthly state
+ Nor emblem of our hopes: [22] the dead man's home
+ Is but a fellow to that pasture-field.
+
+ _Priest_. Why, there, Sir, is a thought that's new to me!
+ The stone-cutters, 'tis true, might beg their bread 180
+ If every English church-yard were like ours;
+ Yet your conclusion wanders from the truth:
+ We have no need of names and epitaphs;
+ We talk about the dead by our fire-sides.
+ And then, for our immortal part! _we_ want 185
+ No symbols, Sir, to tell us that plain tale:
+ The thought of death sits easy on the man
+ Who has been born and dies among the mountains. [E]
+
+ _Leonard_. Your Dalesmen, then, do in each other's thoughts
+ Possess a kind of second life: no doubt 190
+ You, Sir, could help me to the history
+ Of half these graves?
+
+ _Priest_. For eight-score winters past,
+ With what I've witnessed, and with what I've heard,
+ Perhaps I might; and, on a winter-evening, [23] 195
+ If you were seated at my chimney's nook,
+ By turning o'er these hillocks one by one,
+ We two could travel, Sir, through a strange round;
+ Yet all in the broad highway of the world.
+ Now there's a grave--your foot is half upon it,--200
+ It looks just like the rest; and yet that man
+ Died broken-hearted.
+
+ _Leonard_. 'Tis a common case.
+ We'll take another: who is he that lies
+ Beneath yon ridge, the last of those three graves? 205
+ It touches on that piece of native rock
+ Left in the church-yard wall.
+
+ _Priest_. That's Walter Ewbank. [F]
+ He had as white a head and fresh a cheek
+ As ever were produced by youth and age 210
+ Engendering in the blood of hale fourscore.
+ Through five [24] long generations had the heart
+ Of Walter's forefathers o'erflowed the bounds
+ Of their inheritance, that single cottage--
+ You see it yonder! and those few green fields. 215
+ They toiled and wrought, and still, from sire to son,
+ Each struggled, and each yielded as before
+ A little--yet a little,--and old Walter,
+ They left to him the family heart, and land
+ With other burthens than the crop it bore. 220
+ Year after year the old man still kept up [25]
+ A cheerful mind,--and buffeted with bond,
+ Interest, and mortgages; at last he sank,
+ And went into his grave before his time.
+ Poor Walter! whether it was care that spurred him 225
+ God only knows, but to the very last
+ He had the lightest foot in Ennerdale:
+ His pace was never that of an old man:
+ I almost see him tripping down the path
+ With his two grandsons after him:--but you, 230
+ Unless our Landlord be your host to-night,
+ Have far to travel,--and on [26] these rough paths
+ Even in the longest day of midsummer--
+
+ _Leonard_. But those [27] two Orphans!
+
+ _Priest_. Orphans!--Such they were--235
+ Yet not while Walter lived:--for, though their parents
+ Lay buried side by side as now they lie,
+ The old man was a father to the boys,
+ Two fathers in one father: and if tears,
+ Shed when he talked of them where they were not, 240
+ And hauntings from the infirmity of love,
+ Are aught of what makes up a mother's heart,
+ This old Man, in the day of his old age,
+ Was half a mother to them.--If you weep, Sir,
+ To hear a stranger talking about strangers, 245
+ Heaven bless you when you are among your kindred!
+ Ay--you may turn that way--it is a grave
+ Which will bear looking at.
+
+ _Leonard_. These boys--I hope
+ They loved this good old Man?--250
+
+ _Priest_. They did--and truly:
+ But that was what we almost overlooked,
+ They were such darlings of each other. Yes,
+ Though from the cradle they had lived with Walter,
+ The only kinsman near them, and though he 255
+ Inclined to both by reason of his age,
+ With a more fond, familiar, tenderness;
+ They, notwithstanding, had much love to spare, [28]
+ And it all went into each other's hearts.
+ Leonard, the elder by just eighteen months, 260
+ Was two years taller: 'twas a joy to see,
+ To hear, to meet them!--From their house the school
+ Is [29] distant three short miles, and in the time
+ Of storm and thaw, when every water-course
+ And unbridged stream, such as you may have noticed 265
+ Crossing our roads at every hundred steps,
+ Was swoln into a noisy rivulet
+ Would Leonard then, when elder boys remained
+ At home, go staggering through the slippery fords, [30]
+ Bearing his brother on his back. I have [31] seen him, 270
+ On windy days, in one of those stray brooks,
+ Ay, more than once I have [31] seen him, mid-leg deep,
+ Their two books lying both on a dry stone,
+ Upon the hither side: and once I said,
+ As I remember, looking round these rocks 275
+ And hills on which we all of us were born,
+ That God who made the great book of the world
+ Would bless such piety--
+
+ _Leonard_. It may be then--
+
+ _Priest_. Never did worthier lads break English bread; 280
+ The very brightest Sunday Autumn saw [32]
+ With all its mealy clusters of ripe nuts,
+ Could never keep those [33] boys away from church,
+ Or tempt them to an hour of sabbath breach.
+ Leonard and James! I warrant, every corner 285
+ Among these rocks, and every hollow place
+ That venturous foot could reach, to one or both [34]
+ Was known as well as to the flowers that grow there.
+ Like roe-bucks they went bounding o'er the hills;
+ They played like two young ravens on the crags: 290
+ Then they could write, ay and speak too, as well
+ As many of their betters--and for Leonard!
+ The very night before he went away,
+ In my own house I put into his hand
+ A bible, and I'd wager house and field 295
+ That, if he be alive, he has it yet. [35]
+
+ _Leonard_. It seems, these Brothers have not lived to be
+ A comfort to each other--
+
+ _Priest_. That they might
+ Live to such end [36] is what both old and young 300
+ In this our valley all of us have wished,
+ And what, for my part, I have often prayed:
+ But Leonard--
+
+ _Leonard_. Then James still is left among you!
+
+ _Priest_. 'Tis of the elder brother I am speaking: 305
+ They had an uncle;--he was at that time
+ A thriving man, and trafficked on the seas:
+ And, but for that [37] same uncle, to this hour
+ Leonard had never handled rope or shroud:
+ For the boy loved the life which we lead here; 310
+ And though of unripe years, a stripling only, [38]
+ His soul was knit to this his native soil.
+ But, as I said, old Walter was too weak
+ To strive with such a torrent; when he died,
+ The estate and house were sold; and all their sheep, 315
+ A pretty flock, and which, for aught I know,
+ Had clothed the Ewbanks for a thousand years:--
+ Well--all was gone, and they were destitute,
+ And Leonard, chiefly for his Brother's sake,
+ Resolved to try his fortune on the seas. 320
+ Twelve years are past [39] since we had tidings from him.
+ If there were [40] one among us who had heard
+ That Leonard Ewbank was come home again,
+ From the Great Gavel, [G] down by Leeza's banks,
+ And down the Enna, far as Egremont. 325
+ The day would be a joyous festival; [41]
+ And those two bells of ours, which there you see--
+ Hanging in the open air--but, O good Sir!
+ This is sad talk--they'll never sound for him--
+ Living or dead.--When last we heard of him, 330
+ He was in slavery among the Moors
+ Upon the Barbary coast.--'Twas not a little
+ That would bring down his spirit; and no doubt,
+ Before it ended in his death, the Youth [42]
+ Was sadly crossed.--Poor Leonard! when we parted, 335
+ He took me by the hand, and said to me,
+ If e'er he should grow rich, he would return,
+ To live in peace upon his father's land,
+ And lay his bones among us. [43]
+
+ _Leonard_. If that day 340
+ Should come, 'twould needs be a glad day for him;
+ He would himself, no doubt, be happy then
+ As any that should meet him--
+
+ _Priest_. Happy! Sir--
+
+ _Leonard_. You said his kindred all were in their graves, 345
+ And that he had one Brother--
+
+ _Priest_. That is but
+ A fellow-tale of sorrow. From his youth
+ James, though not sickly, yet was delicate;
+ And Leonard being always by his side 350
+ Had done so many offices about him,
+ That, though he was not of a timid nature,
+ Yet still the spirit of a mountain-boy
+ In him was somewhat checked; and, when his Brother
+ Was gone to sea, and he was left alone, 355
+ The little colour that he had was soon
+ Stolen from his cheek; he drooped, and pined, and pined--
+
+ _Leonard_. But these are all the graves of full-grown men!
+
+ _Priest_. Ay, Sir, that passed away: we took him to us;
+ He was the child of all the dale--he lived 360
+ Three months with one, and six months with another;
+ And wanted neither food, nor clothes, nor love:
+ And many, many happy days were his.
+ But, whether blithe or sad, 'tis my belief
+ His absent Brother still was at his heart. 365
+ And, when he dwelt [44] beneath our roof, we found
+ (A practice till this time unknown to him)
+ That often, rising from his bed at night,
+ He in his sleep would walk about, and sleeping
+ He sought his brother Leonard.--You are moved! 370
+ Forgive me, Sir: before I spoke to you,
+ I judged you most unkindly.
+
+ _Leonard_. But this Youth,
+ How did he die at last?
+
+ _Priest_. One sweet May-morning, 375
+ (It will be twelve years since when Spring returns)
+ He had gone forth among the new-dropped lambs,
+ With two or three companions, whom their course
+ Of occupation led from height to height
+ Under a cloudless sun--till he, at length, 380
+ Through weariness, or, haply, to indulge
+ The humour of the moment, lagged behind. [45]
+ You see yon precipice;--it wears the shape
+ Of a vast building made of many crags; [46]
+ And in the midst is one particular rock 385
+ That rises like a column from the vale,
+ Whence by our shepherds it is called, THE PILLAR.
+ Upon its aery summit crowned with heath,
+ The loiterer, not unnoticed by his comrades,
+ Lay stretched at ease; but, passing by the place 390
+ On their return, they found that he was gone.
+ No ill was feared; till one of them by chance
+ Entering, when evening was far spent, the house
+ Which at that time was James's home, there learned [47]
+ That nobody had seen him all that day: [H] 395
+ The morning came, and still he was unheard of:
+ The neighbours were alarmed, and to the brook
+ Some hastened; some ran to the lake: [48] ere noon
+ They found him at the foot of that same rock
+ Dead, and with mangled limbs. The third day after 400
+ I buried him, poor Youth, [49] and there he lies!
+
+ _Leonard_. And that then _is_ his grave!--Before his death
+ You say [50] that he saw many happy years?
+
+ _Priest_. Ay, that he did--
+
+ _Leonard_. And all went well with him?--405
+
+ _Priest_. If he had one, the Youth [51] had twenty homes.
+
+ _Leonard_. And you believe, then, that his mind was easy?--
+
+ _Priest_. Yes, long before he died, he found that time
+ Is a true friend to sorrow; and unless
+ His thoughts were turned on Leonard's luckless fortune, 410
+ He talked about him with a cheerful love.
+
+ _Leonard_. He could not come to an unhallowed end!
+
+ _Priest_. Nay, God forbid!--You recollect I mentioned
+ A habit which disquietude and grief
+ Had brought upon him; and we all conjectured 415
+ That, as the day was warm, he had lain down
+ On the soft heath, [52] and, waiting for his comrades,
+ He there had fallen asleep; that in his sleep
+ He to the margin of the precipice
+ Had walked, and from the summit had fallen headlong: 420
+ And so no doubt he perished. When the Youth
+ Fell, in his hand he must have grasp'd, we think, [53]
+ His shepherd's staff; for on that Pillar of rock
+ It had been caught mid way; and there for years [54]
+ It hung;--and mouldered there. 425
+
+ The Priest here ended--
+ The Stranger would have thanked him, but he felt
+ A gushing from his heart, that took away
+ The power of speech. Both left the spot in silence; [55]
+ And Leonard, when they reached the church-yard gate, 430
+ As the Priest lifted up the latch, turned round,--
+ And, looking at the grave, he said, "My Brother!"
+ The Vicar did not hear the words: and now,
+ He pointed towards his dwelling-place, entreating [56]
+ That Leonard would partake his homely fare: 435
+ The other thanked him with an earnest [57] voice;
+ But added, that, the evening being calm,
+ He would pursue his journey. So they parted.
+
+ It was not long ere Leonard reached a grove
+ That overhung the road: he there stopped short, 440
+ And, sitting down beneath the trees, reviewed
+ All that the Priest had said: his early years
+ Were with him:--his long absence, cherished hopes, [58]
+ And thoughts which had been his an hour before,
+ All pressed on him with such a weight, that now, 445
+ This vale, where he had been so happy, seemed
+ A place in which he could not bear to live:
+ So he relinquished all his purposes.
+ He travelled back [59] to Egremont: and thence,
+ That night, he wrote a letter to the Priest, [60] 450
+ Reminding him of what had passed between them;
+ And adding, with a hope to be forgiven,
+ That it was from the weakness of his heart
+ He had not dared to tell him who he was.
+ This done, he went on shipboard, and is now 455
+ A Seaman, a grey-headed Mariner.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... their ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ Upon the forehead of a jutting crag
+ Sit perch'd with book and pencil on their knee,
+ And look and scribble, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... youngest child,
+ Who turn'd her large round wheel in the open air
+ With back and forward steps.... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ Which ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... who ere his thirteenth year
+ Had chang'd his calling, with the mariners 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1840.
+
+ ... green ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... at length, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... traffic in ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... which he liv'd there, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... of one whom he so dearly lov'd, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1836.
+
+ Towards the church-yard he had turn'd aside, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... and he had hopes 1800.
+
+ ... and hope was his 1832.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1815.
+
+ As up the vale he came that afternoon, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... the ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 15:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... he thought that he perceiv'd 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 16:
+
+1827.
+
+ And the eternal hills, ... 1800.
+
+ And the everlasting hills, ... 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 17:
+
+1815.
+
+ He scann'd him ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 18:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... cheeks, ... 1802.
+
+The text of 1827 returns to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 19:
+
+1815.
+
+ Why, Sir, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 20:
+
+1827.
+
+ Companions for each other: ten years back,
+ Close to those brother fountains, the huge crag
+ Was rent with lightning--one is dead and gone, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 21:
+
+1815.
+
+ Why we have store of them! ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 22:
+
+1815.
+
+ Cross-bones or skull, type of our earthly state
+ Or emblem of our hopes: ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 23:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... winter's evening, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 24:
+
+1815.
+
+ For five ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 25:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... still preserv'd 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 26:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... in ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 27:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... these ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 28:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... For
+ Though from their cradles they had liv'd with Walter,
+ The only kinsman near them in the house,
+ Yet he being old, they had much love to spare, 1800.
+
+ The only Kinsman near them, and though he
+ Inclined to them, by reason of his age,
+ With a more fond, familiar tenderness,
+ They, notwithstanding, had much love to spare, 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 29:
+
+1820.
+
+ Was ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 30:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... when elder boys perhaps
+ Remain'd at home, go staggering through the fords 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 31:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... I've ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 32:
+
+1836.
+
+ The finest Sunday that the Autumn saw, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 33:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... these .... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 34:
+
+1836.
+
+ Where foot could come, to one or both of them 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 35:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... and I'd wager twenty pounds,
+ That, if he is alive, ... 1800.
+
+ ... and I'd wager house and field 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 36:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... that end, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 37:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... this ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 38:
+
+1815.
+
+ And, though a very Stripling, twelve years old; 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 39:
+
+1827.
+
+ 'Tis now twelve years ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 40:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... was ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 41:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... a very festival, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 42:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... the Lad 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 43.
+
+1832.
+
+ If ever the day came when he was rich,
+ He would return, and on his Father's Land
+ He would grow old among us. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 44:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... liv'd ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 45:
+
+1820.
+
+ With two or three companions whom it chanc'd
+ Some further business summon'd to a house
+ Which stands at the Dale-head. James, tir'd perhaps,
+ Or from some other cause remain'd behind. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 46:
+
+ ... it almost looks
+ Like some vast building ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 47:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... it is called, _The Pillar_.
+ James pointed to its summit, over which
+ They all had purpos'd to return together,
+ And told them that he there would wait for them:
+ They parted, and his comrades pass'd that way
+ Some two hours after, but they did not find him
+ At the appointed place, a circumstance
+ Of which they took no heed: but one of them,
+ Going by chance, at night, into the house
+ Which at this time was James's home, ... 1800.
+
+ ... but they did not find him
+ Upon the Pillar--at the appointed place.
+ Of this they took no heed: ... 1802.
+
+ Which at that time ... 1802.
+
+ Upon the Summit--at the appointed place. 1815.
+
+ ... they found that he was gone.
+ From this no ill was feared; but one of them,
+ Entering by chance, at even-tide, the house 1820.
+
+In all else the edition of 1820 is identical with the final text of
+1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 48:
+
+1836.
+
+ Some went, and some towards the Lake; ... 1800.
+
+ Some hastened, some towards the Lake: ... 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 49:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... Lad ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 50:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... said ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 51:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... Lad ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 52:
+
+1836.
+
+ Upon the grass, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 53:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... he perish'd: at the time,
+ We guess, that in his hands he must have had 1800.
+
+ must have held 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 54:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... for midway in the cliff
+ It had been caught, and there for many years 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 55:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... but he felt
+ Tears rushing in; both left the spot in silence, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 56:
+
+1836.
+
+ Pointing towards the Cottage, he entreated 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 57:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... fervent 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 58:
+
+1836.
+
+ Were with him in his heart: his cherish'd hopes, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 59:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... travell'd on ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 60:
+
+1802.
+
+ That night, address'd a letter to the Priest 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: This Poem was intended to be the concluding poem of a
+series of pastorals, the scene of which was laid among the mountains of
+Cumberland and Westmoreland. I mention this to apologise for the
+abruptness with which the poem begins.--W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: In Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal the following
+entry occurs:
+
+ "Friday, 6th August (1800).--In the morning I copied 'The Brothers'."
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: This description of the Calenture is sketched from an
+imperfect recollection of an admirable one in prose, by Mr. Gilbert,
+Author of 'The Hurricane'.--W. W. 1800.
+
+Compare another reference to 'The Hurricane; a Theosophical and Western
+Eclogue' etc., by William Gilbert, in one of the notes to 'The
+Excursion', book iii. l. 931.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D: The impressive circumstance here described, actually took
+place some years ago in this country, upon an eminence called Kidstow
+Pike, one of the highest of the mountains that surround Hawes-water. The
+summit of the pike was stricken by lightning; and every trace of one of
+the fountains disappeared, while the other continued to flow as
+before.--W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+[Footnote E: There is not any thing more worthy of remark in the manners
+of the inhabitants of these mountains, than the tranquillity, I might
+say indifference, with which they think and talk upon the subject of
+death. Some of the country church-yards, as here described, do not
+contain a single tomb-stone, and most of them have a very small
+number.--W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+[Footnote F: The name in the original MS. was "Wilfred Evans."--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote G: The great Gavel, so called I imagine, from its resemblance
+to the Gable end of a house, is one of the highest of the Cumberland
+mountains. It stands at the head of the several vales of Ennerdale,
+Wastdale, and Borrowdale.
+
+The Leeza is a River which flows into the Lake of Ennerdale: on issuing
+from the Lake, it changes its name, and is called the End, Eyne, or
+Enna. It falls into the sea a little below Egremont--W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+[Footnote H: See Coleridge's criticism of these lines in a note to
+chapter xviii. of 'Biographia Literaria' (vol. ii. p. 83 of the edition
+of 1817).--Ed.]
+
+
+
+This poem illustrates the way in which Wordsworth's imagination worked
+upon a minimum of fact, idealizing a simple story, and adding
+
+ 'the gleam,
+ The light that never was, on sea or land,
+ The consecration, and the Poet's dream.'
+
+It is the only poem of his referring to Ennerdale; but perhaps the chief
+association with that dale, to those who visit it after becoming
+acquainted with this poem, will be the fact that the brothers Ewbank
+were supposed to have spent their youth under the shadow of the Pillar,
+and Leonard to have had this conversation, on his return from sea, with
+the venerable priest of Ennerdale. The district is described with all
+that local accuracy which Wordsworth invariably showed in idealization.
+The height whence James Ewbank is supposed to have fallen is not the
+Pillar-Rock--a crag somewhat difficult to ascend, except by practised
+climbers, and which has only been accessible since mountaineering became
+an art and a passion to Englishmen. But, if we suppose the conversation
+with the priest of Ennerdale to have taken place at the Bridge, below
+the Lake--as that is the only place where there is both a hamlet and "a
+churchyard"--the "precipice" will refer to the Pillar "Mountain." Both
+are alluded to in the poem. The lines,
+
+ 'You see yon precipice;--it wears the shape
+ Of a vast building made of many crags;
+ And in the midst is one particular rock
+ That rises like a column from the vale,
+ Whence by our shepherds it is called, _The Pillar_,'
+
+are definite enough. The great mass of the Pillar Mountain is first
+referred to, and then the Rock which is a characteristic spur, halfway
+up the mountain on its northern side. The "aery summit crowned with
+heath," however, on which "the loiterer" "lay stretched at ease," could
+neither be the top of this "rock" nor the summit of the "mountain": not
+the former, because there is no heath on it, and it would be impossible
+for a weary man, loitering behind his companions, to ascend it to rest;
+not the latter, because no one resting on the summit of the mountain
+could be "not unnoticed by his comrades," and they would not pass that
+way over the top of the mountain "on their return" to Ennerdale. This is
+an instance, therefore, in which precise localization is impossible.
+Probably Wordsworth did not know either that the pillar "rock" was bare
+on the summit, or that it had never been ascended in 1800; and he
+idealised it to suit his imaginative purpose. In connection with this
+poem, a remark he made to the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge may be
+recalled.
+
+ "He said there was some foundation in fact, however slight, for every
+ poem he had written of a narrative kind; ... 'The Brothers' was
+ founded on a young shepherd, in his sleep, having fallen down a crag,
+ his staff remaining suspended mid-way."
+
+(See the 'Memoirs of Wordsworth', by the late Bishop of Lincoln, vol.
+ii. p. 305.) It should be added that the character of Leonard Ewbank was
+drawn in large part from that of the poet's brother John--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SEVEN SISTERS; OR, THE SOLITUDE OF BINNORIE [A]
+
+
+Composed 1800. [B]--Published 1807
+
+
+The Story of this Poem is from the German of Frederica Brun. [C]--W. W.
+1807.
+
+One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I Seven Daughters had Lord Archibald,
+ All children of one mother:
+ You could [1] not say in one short day
+ What love they bore each other.
+ A garland, of seven lilies, wrought! 5
+ Seven Sisters that together dwell;
+ But he, bold Knight as ever fought,
+ Their Father, took of them no thought,
+ He loved the wars so well.
+ Sing, mournfully, oh! mournfully, 10
+ The solitude of Binnorie!
+
+ II Fresh blows the wind, a western wind,
+ And from the shores of Erin,
+ Across the wave, a Rover brave
+ To Binnorie is steering: 15
+ Right onward to the Scottish strand
+ The gallant ship is borne;
+ The warriors leap upon the land,
+ And hark! the Leader of the band
+ Hath blown his bugle horn. 20
+ Sing, mournfully, oh! mournfully,
+ The solitude of Binnorie.
+
+ III Beside a grotto of their own,
+ With boughs above them closing,
+ The Seven are laid, and in the shade 25
+ They lie like fawns reposing.
+ But now, upstarting with affright
+ At noise of man and steed,
+ Away they fly to left, to right--
+ Of your fair household, Father-knight, 30
+ Methinks you take small heed!
+ Sing, mournfully, oh! mournfully,
+ The solitude of Binnorie.
+
+ IV Away the seven fair Campbells fly,
+ And, over hill and hollow, 35
+ With menace proud, and insult loud,
+ The youthful Rovers [2] follow.
+ Cried they, "Your Father loves to roam:
+ Enough for him to find
+ The empty house when he comes home; 40
+ For us your yellow ringlets comb,
+ For us be fair and kind!"
+ Sing, mournfully, oh! mournfully,
+ The solitude of Binnorie.
+
+ V Some close behind, some side by side, 45
+ Like clouds in stormy weather;
+ They run, and cry, "Nay, let us die,
+ And let us die together."
+ A lake was near; the shore was steep;
+ There never foot had been; 50
+ They ran, and with a desperate leap
+ Together plunged into the deep, [3]
+ Nor ever more were seen.
+ Sing, mournfully, oh! mournfully,
+ The solitude of Binnorie. 55
+
+ VI The stream that flows out of the lake,
+ As through the glen it rambles,
+ Repeats a moan o'er moss and stone,
+ For those seven lovely Campbells.
+ Seven little Islands, green and bare, 60
+ Have risen from out the deep:
+ The fishers say, those sisters fair,
+ By faeries all are buried there,
+ And there together sleep.
+ Sing, mournfully, oh! mournfully, 65
+ The solitude of Binnorie.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ I could ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1807.
+
+ The Irish Rovers ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1807.
+
+ The sisters ran like mountain sheep MS.
+
+ And in together did they leap MS.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: It is a well-known Scottish Ballad. In Jamieson's 'Popular
+Ballads', vol. i. p. 50 (1806), its title is "The Twa Sisters." In
+Walter Scott's 'Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border', vol. iii. p. 287, it
+is called "The Cruel Sisters." In 'The Ballads of Scotland', collected
+by W. Edmonstone Aytoun (1858), vol. i. p. 194, it is printed
+"Binnorie." In 1807 Wordsworth printed the sub-title 'The Solitude of
+Binnorie'.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: In Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal there is an entry,
+under date August 16, 1800,
+
+ "William read us 'The Seven Sisters'."
+
+It is uncertain whether this refers to his own poem or not, but I
+incline to think it does.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: In a MS. copy this note runs thus:
+
+ "This poem, in the groundwork of the story, is from the German of
+ Frederica Brun."
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+RURAL ARCHITECTURE
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. These structures, as every one knows,
+are common amongst our hills, being built by shepherds, as conspicuous
+marks, and occasionally by boys in sport.--I. F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ There's George Fisher, Charles Fleming, and Reginald Shore, [1]
+ Three rosy-cheeked school-boys, the highest not more
+ Than the height of a counsellor's bag;
+ To the top of GREAT HOW [A] did it please them to climb: [2]
+ And there they built up, without mortar or lime, 5
+ A Man on the peak of the crag.
+
+ They built him of stones gathered up as they lay:
+ They built him and christened him all in one day,
+ An urchin both vigorous and hale;
+ And so without scruple they called him Ralph Jones. 10
+ Now Ralph is renowned for the length of his bones;
+ The Magog of Legberthwaite dale.
+
+ Just half a week after, the wind sallied forth,
+ And, in anger or merriment, out of the north,
+ Coming on with a terrible pother, 15
+ From the peak of the crag blew the giant away.
+ And what did these school-boys?--The very next day
+ They went and they built up another.
+
+--Some little I've seen of blind boisterous works
+ By Christian disturbers more savage than Turks, [3] 20
+ Spirits busy to do and undo:
+ At remembrance whereof my blood sometimes will flag;
+ Then, light-hearted Boys, to the top of the crag;
+ And I'll build up a giant with you. [4]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1800.
+
+ From the meadows of ARMATH, on THIRLMERE'S wild shore, 1827.
+
+The text of 1832 reverts to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1800.
+
+ ... were once tempted to climb; 1827
+
+The text of 1832 reverts to that of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1820.
+
+ In Paris and London, 'mong Christians or Turks, 1800]
+
+
+[Variant 4: This last stanza was omitted from the editions of 1805 and
+1815. It was restored in 1820.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Great How is a single and conspicuous hill, which rises
+towards the foot of Thirl-mere, on the western side of the beautiful
+dale of Legberthwaite, along the high road between Keswick and
+Ambleside.--W. W. 1800.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The editions of 1836, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1845, and the Fenwick
+note, assign this poem to the year 1801. It must, however, have been
+composed during the previous year, because it was published in the
+"Lyrical Ballads" of 1800. The locality referred to--which is also
+associated with 'The Waggoner'--is easily identified.
+
+In a letter to Wordsworth, written in the year 1815, Charles Lamb said:
+"How I can be brought in, _felo de omittendo_, for that ending to the
+Boy-builders is a mystery. I can't say positively now, I only know that
+no line oftener or readier occurs than that 'Light-hearted boys, I will
+build up a Giant with you.' It comes naturally, with a warm holiday, and
+the freshness of the blood. It is a perfect summer amulet, that I tie
+round my legs to quicken their motion when I go out a maying." (See
+_Letters of Charles Lamb_, edited by Alfred Ainger, vol. i. p.
+287.)--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+A CHARACTER
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[The principal features are taken from my friend Robert Jones.--I. F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I marvel how Nature could ever find space
+ For so many strange contrasts in one human face: [1]
+ There's thought and no thought, and there's paleness and bloom
+ And bustle and sluggishness, pleasure and gloom.
+
+ There's weakness, and strength both redundant and vain; 5
+ Such strength as, if ever affliction and pain
+ Could pierce through a temper that's soft to disease,
+ Would be rational peace--a philosopher's ease.
+
+ There's indifference, alike when he fails or [2] succeeds,
+ And attention full ten times as much as there needs; 10
+ Pride where there's no envy, there's so much of joy;
+ And mildness, and spirit both forward and coy.
+
+ There's freedom, and sometimes a diffident stare
+ Of shame scarcely seeming to know that she's there,
+ There's virtue, the title it surely may claim, 15
+ Yet wants heaven knows what to be worthy the name.
+
+ This picture from nature may seem to depart, [3]
+ Yet the Man would at once run away with your heart;
+ And I for five centuries right gladly would be
+ Such an odd such a kind happy creature as he. 20
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ For the weight and the levity seen in his face: 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... and ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1837.
+
+ What a picture! 'tis drawn without nature or art, 1800.]
+
+
+The full title of this poem, in "Lyrical Ballads," 1800, is 'A
+Character, in the antithetical Manner'. It was omitted from all
+subsequent editions till 1837. With this early friend, Robert Jones--a
+fellow collegian at St. John's College, Cambridge--Wordsworth visited
+the Continent (France and Switzerland), during the long vacation of
+1790; and to him he dedicated the first edition of 'Descriptive
+Sketches', in 1793. With him he also made a pedestrian tour in Wales in
+1791. Jones afterwards became the incumbent of Soulderne, near
+Deddington, in Oxfordshire; and Wordsworth described his parsonage there
+in the sonnet, beginning "Where holy ground begins, unhallowed ends."
+(See Wordsworth's note to the sonnet 'Composed near Calais', p.
+333.)--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+INSCRIPTION FOR THE SPOT WHERE THE HERMITAGE STOOD ON ST. HERBERT'S
+ISLAND, DERWENT-WATER
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+Included in 1815 among the "Poems referring to the Period of Old Age,"
+and in all subsequent editions among the "Inscriptions."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ If thou in the dear love of some one Friend
+ Hast been so happy that thou know'st what thoughts
+ Will sometimes in the happiness of love
+ Make the heart sink, [A] then wilt thou reverence
+ This quiet spot; and, Stranger! not unmoved 5
+ Wilt thou behold this shapeless heap of stones,
+ The desolate ruins of St. Herbert's Cell.
+ Here stood his threshold; here was spread the roof
+ That sheltered him, a self-secluded Man,
+ After long exercise in social cares 10
+ And offices humane, intent to adore
+ The Deity, with undistracted mind,
+ And meditate on everlasting things,
+ In utter solitude.--But he had left
+ A Fellow-labourer, whom the good Man loved 15
+ As his own soul. And, when with eye upraised
+ To heaven he knelt before the crucifix,
+ While o'er the lake the cataract of Lodore
+ Pealed to his orisons, and when he paced
+ Along the beach of this small isle and thought 20
+ Of his Companion, he would pray that both
+ (Now that their earthly duties were fulfilled)
+ Might die in the same moment. Nor in vain
+ So prayed he:--as our chronicles report,
+ Though here the Hermit numbered his last day 25
+ Far from St. Cuthbert his beloved Friend,
+ Those holy Men both died in the same hour. [1]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1832.
+
+The text of this poem underwent so many changes, which are not easily
+shown by the plan adopted throughout this edition--portions of the
+earliest version of 1800 being abandoned and again adopted, and the
+whole arrangement of the passages being altered--that it seems desirable
+to append the entire text of 1800, and extensive parts of that of
+subsequent years. The final text of 1832 is printed above.
+
+
+ If thou in the dear love of some one friend
+ Hast been so happy, that thou know'st what thoughts
+ Will, sometimes, in the happiness of love
+ Make the heart sink, then wilt thou reverence
+ This quiet spot.--St. Herbert hither came
+ And here, for many seasons, from the world
+ Remov'd, and the affections of the world
+ He dwelt in solitude. He living here,
+ This island's sole inhabitant! had left
+ A Fellow-labourer, whom the good Man lov'd
+ As his own soul; and when within his cave
+ Alone he knelt before the crucifix
+ While o'er the lake the cataract of Lodore
+ Peal'd to his orisons, and when he pac'd
+ Along the beach of this small isle and thought
+ Of his Companion, he had pray'd that both
+ Might die in the same moment. Nor in vain
+ So pray'd he:--as our Chronicles report,
+ Though here the Hermit number'd his last days,
+ Far from St. Cuthbert his beloved friend,
+ Those holy men both died in the same hour. 1800.
+
+The text of the editions of 1802 and 1805 (which are identical), omits
+one line of the text of 1800. The passage reads:
+
+ He dwelt in solitude.--But he had left
+ A Fellow-labourer, whom ...
+
+And the following variants occur in 1802 and 1805:
+
+ Make the heart sick, ....
+
+ ... he would pray that both
+
+The text of 1815, which is continued in 1820, begins thus:
+
+ This Island, guarded from profane approach
+ By mountains high and waters widely spread,
+ Is that recess to which St. Herbert came
+ In life's decline; a self-secluded Man,
+ After long exercise in social cares
+ And offices humane, intent to adore
+ The Deity, with undistracted mind,
+ And meditate on everlasting things.
+--Stranger! this shapeless heap of stones and earth
+ (Long be its mossy covering undisturbed!)
+ Is reverenced as a vestige of the Abode
+ In which, through many seasons, from the world
+ Removed, and the affections of the world,
+ He dwelt in solitude.--But he had left
+ A Fellow-labourer, ... 1815 and 1820.
+
+In 1827 the poem began thus:
+
+ Stranger! this shapeless heap of stones and earth
+ Is the last relic of St. Herbert's Cell.
+ Here stood his threshold; here was spread the roof
+ That sheltered him, a self-secluded Man, 1827.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare the last stanza of "Strange fits of passion have I
+known," p. 79 of this volume.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+The "shapeless heap of stones" in St. Herbert's Island, which were
+"desolate ruins" in 1800, are even more "shapeless" and "desolate" now,
+but they can easily be identified. The island is near the centre of the
+lake, and is in area about four acres. The legend of St. Herbert dates
+from the middle of the seventh century. The rector of Clifton,
+Westmoreland, Dr. Robinson, writing in 1819, says:
+
+ "The remains of his hermitage are still visible, being built of stone
+ and mortar, and formed into two apartments, one of which, about twenty
+ feet long and sixteen feet wide, seems to have been his chapel; the
+ other, of less dimensions, his cell. Near these ruins the late Sir
+ Wilfred Lawson (to whose representative the island at present belongs)
+ erected some years ago a small octagonal cottage, which, being built
+ of unhewn stone, and artificially mossed over, has a venerable
+ appearance."
+
+(See _Guide to the Lakes_, by John Robinson, D.D., 1819). This cottage
+has now disappeared. The following version of this "Inscription" occurs
+in a letter from Wordsworth to Lady Beaumont, dated 26th November 1811:
+
+ This Island, guarded from profane approach
+ By mountains high and waters widely spread,
+ Gave to St. Herbert a benign retreat.
+ Upon a staff supported, and his Brow
+ White with the peaceful diadem of age.
+ Hither he came--a self-secluded Man,
+ ...
+ Behold that shapeless Heap of stones and earth!
+ "Tis reverenced as a Vestige of the Abode
+ ...
+ ...--And when within his Cell
+ Alone he knelt before the crucifix,
+
+In a previous letter to Sir George Beaumont, dated 16th November 1811:
+
+ By mountains high and waters widely spread,
+ Is that Seclusion which St. Herbert chose;
+ ...
+ Hither he came in life's austere decline:
+ And, Stranger! this blank Heap of stones and earth
+ Is reverenced ...
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+WRITTEN WITH A PENCIL UPON A STONE IN THE WALL OF THE HOUSE (AN
+OUT-HOUSE), ON THE ISLAND AT GRASMERE [A]
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+Included among the "Inscriptions."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Rude is this Edifice, and Thou hast seen
+ Buildings, albeit rude, that have maintained
+ Proportions more harmonious, and approached
+ To closer fellowship with ideal grace.
+ But take it in good part:--alas! the poor [1] 5
+ Vitruvius of our village had no help
+ From the great City; never, upon leaves [2]
+ Of red Morocco folio saw displayed,
+ In long succession, pre-existing ghosts [3]
+ Of Beauties yet unborn--the rustic Lodge 10
+ Antique, and Cottage with verandah graced,
+ Nor lacking, for fit company, alcove,
+ Green-house, shell-grot, and moss-lined hermitage. [4]
+ Thou see'st a homely Pile, [5] yet to these walls
+ The heifer comes in the snow-storm, and here 15
+ The new-dropped lamb finds shelter from the wind.
+ And hither does one Poet sometimes row
+ His pinnace, a small vagrant barge, up-piled
+ With plenteous store of heath and withered fern,
+ (A lading which he with his sickle cuts, 20
+ Among the mountains) and beneath this roof
+ He makes his summer couch, and here at noon
+ Spreads out his limbs, while, yet unshorn, the Sheep,
+ Panting beneath the burthen of their wool,
+ Lie round him, even as if they were a part 25
+ Of his own Household: nor, while from his bed
+ He looks, through the open door-place, [6] toward the lake
+ And to the stirring breezes, does he want
+ Creations lovely as the work of sleep--
+ Fair sights, and visions of romantic joy! 30
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... and approach'd
+ To somewhat of a closer fellowship
+ With the ideal grace. Yet as it is
+ Do take it in good part; for he, the poor 1800.
+
+ ... alas! the poor 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... on the leaves 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1837.
+
+ The skeletons and pre-existing ghosts 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... yet unborn, the rustic Box,
+ Snug Cot, with Coach-house, Shed and Hermitage. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1815.
+
+ It is a homely pile, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1837.
+
+ He through that door-place looks ... 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+
+
+[Footnote A: The title of this poem in the edition of 1800 was simply
+'Inscription for the House (an Out-house) on the Island at
+Grasmere'.--Ed.]
+
+
+This "homely pile" on the island of Grasmere--very homely--still
+remains.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+MICHAEL
+
+A PASTORAL POEM [A]
+
+
+Composed 1800.--Published 1800
+
+
+[Written at the Town-end, Grasmere, about the same time as 'The
+Brothers'. The sheepfold, on which so much of the poem turns, remains,
+or rather the ruins of it. The character and circumstances of Luke were
+taken from a family to whom had belonged, many years before, the house
+we lived in at Town-end, along with some fields and woodlands on the
+eastern shore of Grasmere. The name of the Evening Star was not in fact
+given to this house, but to another on the same side of the valley, more
+to the north.--I.F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems founded on the Affections."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ If from the public way you turn your steps
+ Up the tumultuous brook of Green-head Ghyll,
+ You will suppose that with an upright path
+ Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent
+ The pastoral mountains front you, face to face. 5
+ But, courage! for around [1] that boisterous brook
+ The mountains have all opened out themselves,
+ And made a hidden valley of their own.
+ No habitation can be seen; but they
+ Who journey thither find themselves alone [2] 10
+ With a few sheep, with rocks and stones, and kites
+ That overhead are sailing in the sky.
+ It is in truth an utter solitude;
+ Nor should I have made mention of this Dell
+ But for one object which you might pass by, 15
+ Might see and notice not. Beside the brook
+ Appears [3] a straggling heap of unhewn stones!
+ And to that simple object appertains
+ A story--unenriched with strange events,
+ Yet not unfit, I deem, for the fireside, [4] 20
+ Or for the summer shade. It was the first
+ Of those domestic tales that spake to me [5]
+ Of Shepherds, dwellers in the valleys, men
+ Whom I already loved;--not verily
+ For their own sakes, but for the fields and hills 25
+ Where was their occupation and abode.
+ And hence this Tale, while I was yet a Boy
+ Careless of books, yet having felt the power
+ Of Nature, by the gentle agency
+ Of natural objects, led me on to feel 30
+ For passions that were not my own, and think
+ (At random and imperfectly indeed)
+ On man, the heart of man, and human life.
+ Therefore, although it be a history
+ Homely and rude, I will relate the same 35
+ For the delight of a few natural hearts;
+ And, with yet fonder feeling, for the sake
+ Of youthful Poets, who among these hills
+ Will be my second self when I am gone.
+
+ Upon the forest-side in Grasmere Vale 40
+ There dwelt a Shepherd, Michael was his name;
+ An old man, stout of heart, and strong of limb.
+ His bodily frame had been from youth to age
+ Of an unusual strength: his mind was keen,
+ Intense, and frugal, apt for all affairs, 45
+ And in his shepherd's calling he was prompt
+ And watchful more than ordinary men.
+ Hence had he learned [6] the meaning of all winds,
+ Of blasts of every tone; and, oftentimes,
+ When others heeded not, He heard the South 50
+ Make subterraneous music, like the noise
+ Of bagpipers on distant Highland hills.
+ The Shepherd, at such warning, of his flock
+ Bethought him, and he to himself would say,
+ "The winds are now devising work for me!" 55
+ And, truly, at all times, the storm, that drives
+ The traveller to a shelter, summoned him
+ Up to the mountains: he had been alone
+ Amid the heart of many thousand mists,
+ That came to him, and left him, on the heights. 60
+ So lived he till his eightieth year was past.
+ And grossly that man errs, who should suppose
+ That the green valleys, and the streams and rocks,
+ Were things indifferent to the Shepherd's thoughts.
+ Fields, where with cheerful spirits he had breathed 65
+ The common air; hills, which with vigorous step
+ He had so often climbed; [7] which had impressed
+ So many incidents upon his mind
+ Of hardship, skill or courage, joy or fear;
+ Which, like a book, preserved the memory 70
+ Of the dumb animals, whom he had saved,
+ Had fed or sheltered, linking to such acts
+ The certainty of honourable gain;
+ Those fields, those hills--what could they less? had laid [8]
+ Strong hold on his affections, were to him 75
+ A pleasurable feeling of blind love,
+ The pleasure which there is in life itself.
+
+ His days had not been passed in singleness.
+ His Helpmate was a comely matron, old--[9]
+ Though younger than himself full twenty years. 80
+ She was a woman of a stirring life,
+ Whose heart was in her house: two wheels she had
+ Of antique form; this large, for spinning wool;
+ That small, for flax; and if one wheel had rest,
+ It was because the other was at work. 85
+ The Pair had but one inmate in their house,
+ An only Child, who had been born to them
+ When Michael, telling o'er his years, began
+ To deem that he was old,--in shepherd's phrase,
+ With one foot in the grave. This only Son, 90
+ With two brave sheep-dogs tried in many a storm,
+ The one of an inestimable worth,
+ Made all their household. I may truly say,
+ That they were as a proverb in the vale
+ For endless industry. When day was gone, 95
+ And from their occupations out of doors
+ The Son and Father were come home, even then,
+ Their labour did not cease; unless when all
+ Turned to the [10] cleanly supper-board, and there,
+ Each with a mess of pottage and skimmed milk, 100
+ Sat round the [11] basket piled with oaten cakes,
+ And their plain home-made cheese. Yet when the [12] meal
+ Was ended, Luke (for so the Son was named)
+ And his old Father both betook themselves
+ To such convenient work as might employ 105
+ Their hands by the fire-side; perhaps to card
+ Wool for the Housewife's spindle, or repair
+ Some injury done to sickle, flail, or scythe,
+ Or other implement of house or field.
+
+ Down from the ceiling, by the chimney's edge, 110
+ That [13] in our ancient uncouth country style
+ With huge and black projection overbrowed [14]
+ Large space beneath, as duly as the light
+ Of day grew dim the Housewife hung a lamp;
+ An aged utensil, which had performed 115
+ Service beyond all others of its kind.
+ Early at evening did it burn--and late,
+ Surviving comrade of uncounted hours,
+ Which, going by from year to year, had found,
+ And left the couple neither gay perhaps 120
+ Nor cheerful, yet with objects and with hopes,
+ Living a life of eager industry.
+ And now, when Luke had reached his [15] eighteenth year,
+ There by the light of this old lamp they sate,
+ Father and Son, while far [16] into the night 125
+ The Housewife plied her own peculiar work,
+ Making the cottage through the silent hours
+ Murmur as with the sound of summer flies. [B]
+ [17] This [18] light was famous in its neighbourhood,
+ And was a public symbol of the life 130
+ That [19] thrifty Pair had lived. For, as it chanced,
+ Their cottage on a plot of rising ground
+ Stood single, with large prospect, north and south,
+ High into Easedale, up to Dunmail-Raise,
+ And westward to the village near the lake; 135
+ And from this constant light, so regular
+ And so far seen, the House itself, by all
+ Who dwelt within the limits of the vale,
+ Both old and young, was named THE EVENING STAR.
+
+ Thus living on through such a length of years, 140
+ The Shepherd, if he loved himself, must needs
+ Have loved his Helpmate; but to Michael's heart
+ This son of his old age was yet more dear--
+ Less from instinctive tenderness, [20] the same
+ Fond spirit that blindly works in the blood of all--[21] 145
+ Than [22] that a child, more than all other gifts
+ That earth can offer to declining man, [23]
+ Brings hope with it, and forward-looking thoughts,
+ And stirrings of inquietude, when they
+ By tendency of nature needs must fail. 150
+ [24] Exceeding was the love he bare to him,
+ His heart and his heart's joy! For oftentimes
+ Old Michael, while he was a babe in arms,
+ Had done him female service, not alone
+ For pastime [25] and delight, as is the use 155
+ Of fathers, but with patient mind enforced
+ To acts of tenderness; and he had rocked
+ His cradle, as with a woman's gentle hand. [26]
+ And, in a later time, ere yet the Boy
+ Had put on boy's attire, did Michael love, 160
+ Albeit of a stern unbending mind,
+ To have the Young-one in his sight, when he
+ Wrought in the field, or on his shepherd's stool
+ Sate with a fettered sheep before him stretched
+ Under the large old oak, that near his door 165
+ Stood single, and, from matchless depth of shade, [27]
+ Chosen for the Shearer's covert from the sun,
+ Thence in our rustic dialect was called
+ The CLIPPING TREE, [C] a name which yet it bears.
+ There, while they two were sitting in the shade, 170
+ With others round them, earnest all and blithe,
+ Would Michael exercise his heart with looks
+ Of fond correction and reproof bestowed
+ Upon the Child, if he disturbed the sheep
+ By catching at their legs, or with his shouts 175
+ Scared them, while they lay still beneath the shears.
+
+ And when by Heaven's good grace the boy grew up
+ A healthy Lad, and carried in his cheek
+ Two steady roses that were five years old;
+ Then Michael from a winter coppice cut 180
+ With his own hand a sapling, which he hooped
+ With iron, making it throughout in all
+ Due requisites a perfect shepherd's staff,
+ And gave it to the Boy; wherewith equipt
+ He as a watchman oftentimes was placed 185
+ At gate or gap, to stem or turn the flock;
+ And, to his office prematurely called,
+ There stood the urchin, as you will divine,
+ Something between a hindrance and a help;
+ And for this cause not always, I believe, 190
+ Receiving from his Father hire of praise;
+ Though nought was left undone which staff, or voice,
+ Or looks, or threatening gestures, could perform.
+
+ But soon as Luke, full ten years old, could stand
+ Against the mountain blasts; and to the heights, 200
+ Not fearing toil, nor length of weary ways,
+ He with his Father daily went, and they
+ Were as companions, why should I relate
+ That objects which the Shepherd loved before
+ Were dearer now? that from the Boy there came 205
+ Feelings and emanations--things which were
+ Light to the sun and music to the wind;
+ And that the old Man's heart seemed born again?
+
+ Thus in his Father's sight the Boy grew up:
+ And now, when he had reached his eighteenth year, 210
+ He was his comfort and his daily hope. [D]
+
+ While in this sort the simple household lived [28]
+ From day to day, to Michael's ear there came
+ Distressful tidings. Long before the time
+ Of which I speak, the Shepherd had been bound 215
+ In surety for his brother's son, a man
+ Of an industrious life, and ample means;
+ But unforeseen misfortunes suddenly
+ Had prest upon him; and old Michael now
+ Was summoned to discharge the forfeiture, 220
+ A grievous penalty, but little less
+ Than half his substance. This unlooked-for claim,
+ At the first hearing, for a moment took
+ More hope out of his life than he supposed
+ That any old man ever could have lost. 225
+ As soon as he had armed himself with strength
+ To look his trouble in the face, it seemed
+ The Shepherd's sole resource to sell at once [29]
+ A portion of his patrimonial fields.
+ Such was his first resolve; he thought again, 230
+ And his heart failed him. "Isabel," said he,
+ Two evenings after he had heard the news,
+ "I have been toiling more than seventy years,
+ And in the open sunshine of God's love
+ Have we all lived; yet if these fields of ours 235
+ Should pass into a stranger's hand, I think
+ That I could not lie quiet in my grave.
+ Our lot is a hard lot; the sun himself [30]
+ Has scarcely been more diligent than I;
+ And I have lived to be a fool at last 240
+ To my own family. An evil man
+ That was, and made an evil choice, if he
+ Were false to us; and if he were not false,
+ There are ten thousand to whom loss like this
+ Had been no sorrow. I forgive him;--but 245
+ 'Twere better to be dumb than to talk thus.
+
+ "When I began, my purpose was to speak
+ Of remedies and of a cheerful hope.
+ Our Luke shall leave us, Isabel; the land
+ Shall not go from us, and it shall be free; 250
+ He shall possess it, free as is the wind
+ That passes over it. We have, thou know'st,
+ Another kinsman--he will be our friend
+ In this distress. He is a prosperous man,
+ Thriving in trade--and Luke to him shall go, 255
+ And with his kinsman's help and his own thrift
+ He quickly will repair this loss, and then
+ He may return to us. [31] If here he stay,
+ What can be done? Where every one is poor,
+ What can be gained?" 260
+ At this the old Man paused,
+ And Isabel sat silent, for her mind
+ Was busy, looking back into past times.
+ There's Richard Bateman, thought she to herself, [E]
+ He was a parish-boy--at the church-door 265
+ They made a gathering for him, shillings, pence
+ And halfpennies, wherewith the neighbours bought
+ A basket, which they filled with pedlar's wares;
+ And, with this basket on his arm, the lad
+ Went up to London, found a master there, 270
+ Who, out of many, chose the trusty boy
+ To go and overlook his merchandise
+ Beyond the seas; where he grew wondrous rich,
+ And left estates and monies to the poor,
+ And, at his birth-place, built a chapel floored 275
+ With marble, which he sent from foreign lands.
+ These thoughts, and many others of like sort,
+ Passed quickly through the mind of Isabel,
+ And her face brightened. The old Man was glad,
+ And thus resumed:--"Well, Isabel! this scheme 280
+ These two days, has been meat and drink to me.
+ Far more than we have lost is left us yet.
+--We have enough--I wish indeed that I
+ Were younger;--but this hope is a good hope.
+ Make ready Luke's best garments, of the best 285
+ Buy for him more, and let us send him forth
+ To-morrow, or the next day, or to-night:
+--If he _could_ [32] go, the Boy should go to-night."
+
+ Here Michael ceased, and to the fields went forth
+ With a light heart. [F] The Housewife for five days 290
+ Was restless morn and night, and all day long
+ Wrought on with her best fingers to prepare
+ Things needful for the journey of her son.
+ But Isabel was glad when Sunday came
+ To stop her in her work: for, when she lay 295
+ By Michael's side, she through the last two nights [33]
+ Heard him, how he was troubled in his sleep:
+ And when they rose at morning she could see
+ That all his hopes were gone. That day at noon
+ She said to Luke, while they two by themselves 300
+ Were sitting at the door, "Thou must not go:
+ We have no other Child but thee to lose,
+ None to remember--do not go away,
+ For if thou leave thy Father he will die."
+ The Youth [34] made answer with a jocund voice; 305
+ And Isabel, when she had told her fears,
+ Recovered heart. That evening her best fare
+ Did she bring forth, and all together sat
+ Like happy people round a Christmas fire.
+
+ With daylight [35] Isabel resumed her work; 310
+ And all the ensuing week the house appeared
+ As cheerful as a grove in Spring: at length
+ The expected letter from their kinsman came,
+ With kind assurances that he would do
+ His utmost for the welfare of the Boy; 315
+ To which, requests were added, that forthwith
+ He might be sent to him. Ten times or more
+ The letter was read over; Isabel
+ Went forth to show it to the neighbours round;
+ Nor was there at that time on English land 320
+ A prouder heart than Luke's. When Isabel
+ Had to her house returned, the old Man said,
+ "He shall depart to-morrow." To this word
+ The Housewife answered, talking much of things
+ Which, if at such short notice he should go, 325
+ Would surely be forgotten. But at length
+ She gave consent, and Michael was at ease.
+
+ Near the tumultuous brook of Green-head Ghyll,
+ In that deep valley, Michael had designed
+ To build a Sheep-fold; [G] and, before he heard 330
+ The tidings of his melancholy loss,
+ For this same purpose he had gathered up
+ A heap of stones, which by the streamlet's edge [36]
+ Lay thrown together, ready for the work.
+ With Luke that evening thitherward he walked: 335
+ And soon as they had reached the place he stopped,
+ And thus the old Man spake to him:--"My Son,
+ To-morrow thou wilt leave me: with full heart
+ I look upon thee, for thou art the same
+ That wert a promise to me ere thy birth, 340
+ And all thy life hast been my daily joy.
+ I will relate to thee some little part
+ Of our two histories; 'twill do thee good
+ When thou art from me, even if I should touch
+ On things [37] thou canst not know of.--After thou 345
+ First cam'st into the world--as oft befals [38]
+ To new-born infants--thou didst sleep away
+ Two days, and blessings from thy Father's tongue
+ Then fell upon thee. Day by day passed on,
+ And still I loved thee with increasing love. 350
+ Never to living ear came sweeter sounds
+ Than when I heard thee by our own fire-side
+ First uttering, without words, a natural tune;
+ While [39] thou, a feeding babe, didst in thy joy
+ Sing at thy Mother's breast. Month followed month, 355
+ And in the open fields my life was passed
+ And on [40] the mountains; else I think that thou
+ Hadst been brought up upon thy Father's knees.
+ But we were playmates, Luke: among these hills,
+ As well thou knowest, in us the old and young 360
+ Have played together, nor with me didst thou
+ Lack any pleasure which a boy can know."
+ Luke had a manly heart; but at these words
+ He sobbed aloud. The old Man grasped his hand,
+ And said, "Nay, do not take it so--I see 365
+ That these are things of which I need not speak.
+--Even to the utmost I have been to thee
+ A kind and a good Father: and herein
+ I but repay a gift which I myself
+ Received at others' hands; for, though now old 370
+ Beyond the common life of man, I still
+ Remember them who loved me in my youth.
+ Both of them sleep together: here they lived,
+ As all their Forefathers had done; and when
+ At length their time was come, they were not loth 375
+ To give their bodies to the family mould.
+ I wished that thou should'st live the life they lived:
+ But, 'tis a long time to look back, my Son,
+ And see so little gain from threescore years. [41]
+ These fields were burthened when they came to me; 380
+ Till I was forty years of age, not more
+ Than half of my inheritance was mine.
+ I toiled and toiled; God blessed me in my work,
+ And till these three weeks past the land was free.
+--It looks as if it never could endure 385
+ Another Master. Heaven forgive me, Luke,
+ If I judge ill for thee, but it seems good
+ That thou should'st go,"
+
+ At this the old Man paused;
+ Then, pointing to the stones near which they stood, 390
+ Thus, after a short silence, he resumed:
+ "This was a work for us; and now, my Son,
+ It is a work for me. But, lay one stone--
+ Here, lay it for me, Luke, with thine own hands.
+ [42] Nay, Boy, be of good hope;--we both may live 395
+ To see a better day. At eighty-four
+ I still am strong and hale [43];--do thou thy part;
+ I will do mine.--I will begin again
+ With many tasks that were resigned to thee:
+ Up to the heights, and in among the storms, 400
+ Will I without thee go again, and do
+ All works which I was wont to do alone,
+ Before I knew thy face.--Heaven bless thee, Boy!
+ Thy heart these two weeks has been beating fast
+ With many hopes; it should be so--yes--yes--405
+ I knew that thou could'st never have a wish
+ To leave me, Luke: thou hast been bound to me
+ Only by links of love: when thou art gone,
+ What will be left to us!--But, I forget
+ My purposes. Lay now the corner-stone, 410
+ As I requested; and hereafter, Luke,
+ When thou art gone away, should evil men
+ Be thy companions, think of me, my Son,
+ And of this moment; hither turn thy thoughts,
+ And God will strengthen thee: amid all fear 415
+ And all temptation, Luke, I pray that thou
+ May'st bear in mind the life thy Fathers lived, [44]
+ Who, being innocent, did for that cause
+ Bestir them in good deeds. Now, fare thee well--
+ When thou return'st, thou in this place wilt see 420
+ A work which is not here: a covenant
+ 'Twill be between us; but, whatever fate
+ Befal thee, I shall love thee to the last,
+ And bear thy memory with me to the grave."
+
+ The Shepherd ended here; and Luke stooped down, 425
+ And, as his Father had requested, laid
+ The first stone of the Sheep-fold. At the sight
+ The old Man's grief broke from him; to his heart
+ He pressed his Son, he kissed him and wept;
+ And to the house together they returned. 430
+--Hushed was that House in peace, or seeming peace, [45]
+ Ere the night fell:--with morrow's dawn the Boy [46]
+ Began his journey, and when he had reached
+ The public way, he put on a bold face;
+ And all the neighbours, as he passed their doors, 435
+ Came forth with wishes and with farewell prayers,
+ That followed him till he was out of sight.
+
+ A good report did from their Kinsman come,
+ Of Luke and his well doing: and the Boy
+ Wrote loving letters, full of wondrous news, 440
+ Which, as the Housewife phrased it, were throughout
+ "The prettiest letters that were ever seen."
+ Both parents read them with rejoicing hearts.
+ So, many months passed on: and once again
+ The Shepherd went about his daily work 445
+ With confident and cheerful thoughts; and now
+ Sometimes when he could find a leisure hour
+ He to that valley took his way, and there
+ Wrought at the Sheep-fold. Meantime Luke began
+ To slacken in his duty; and, at length, 450
+ He in the dissolute city gave himself
+ To evil courses: ignominy and shame
+ Fell on him, so that he was driven at last
+ To seek a hiding-place beyond the seas.
+
+ There is a comfort in the strength of love; 455
+ 'Twill make a thing endurable, which else
+ Would overset the brain, or break the heart: [47]
+ I have conversed with more than one who well
+ Remember the old Man, and what he was
+ Years after he had heard this heavy news. 460
+ His bodily frame had been from youth to age
+ Of an unusual strength. Among the rocks
+ He went, and still looked up to sun and cloud, [48]
+ And listened to the wind; and, as before,
+ Performed all kinds of labour for his sheep, 465
+ And for the land, his small inheritance.
+ And to that hollow dell from time to time
+ Did he repair, to build the Fold of which
+ His flock had need. 'Tis not forgotten yet
+ The pity which was then in every heart 470
+ For the old Man--and 'tis believed by all
+ That many and many a day he thither went,
+ And never lifted up a single stone.
+
+ There, by the Sheep-fold, sometimes was he seen
+ Sitting alone, or with his faithful Dog, [49] 475
+ Then old, beside him, lying at his feet.
+ The length of full seven years, from time to time,
+ He at the building of this Sheep-fold wrought,
+ And left the work unfinished when he died.
+ Three years, or little more, did Isabel 480
+ Survive her Husband: at her death the estate
+ Was sold, and went into a stranger's hand.
+ The Cottage which was named the EVENING STAR
+ Is gone--the ploughshare has been through the ground
+ On which it stood; great changes have been wrought 485
+ In all the neighbourhood:--yet the oak is left
+ That grew beside their door; and the remains
+ Of the unfinished Sheep-fold may be seen
+ Beside the boisterous brook of Green-head Ghyll.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... beside ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ No habitation there is seen; but such
+ As journey thither ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ There is ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ And to that place a story appertains,
+ Which, though it be ungarnish'd with events,
+ Is not unfit, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... It was the first,
+ The earliest of those tales ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... he had learn'd ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... the hills, which he so oft
+ Had climb'd with vigorous steps; ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... linking to such acts,
+ So grateful in themselves, the certainty
+ Of honourable gains; these fields, these hills
+ Which were his living Being, even more
+ Than his own Blood--what could they less? had laid 1800.
+
+ ... gain ... 1805.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1815.
+
+ He had not passed his days in singleness.
+ He had a Wife, a comely Matron, old 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... their ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... their ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... their ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1827.
+
+ Which ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1836.
+
+ Did with a huge projection overbrow 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 15:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... was in his ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 16:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... while late ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 17:
+
+ Not with a waste of words, but for the sake
+ Of pleasure, which I know that I shall give
+ To many living now, I of this Lamp
+ Speak thus minutely: for there are no few
+ Whose memories will bear witness to my tale.
+
+These lines appeared only in the editions of 1800 and 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 18:
+
+1815.
+
+ The ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 19:
+
+1832.
+
+ The ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 20:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... yet more dear--
+ Effect which might perhaps have been produc'd
+ By that instinctive tenderness, ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 21:
+
+1836.
+
+ Blind Spirit, which is in the blood of all, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 22:
+
+1827.
+
+ Or ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 23: This line was first printed in the edition of 1836.]
+
+
+[Variant 24:
+
+ From such, and other causes, to the thoughts
+ Of the old Man his only Son was now
+ The dearest object that he knew on earth.
+
+Only in the editions of 1800 to 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 25:
+
+1827.
+
+ For dalliance ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 26:
+
+1836.
+
+ His cradle with a woman's gentle hand. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 27:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... when he
+ Had work by his own door, or when he sate
+ With sheep before him on his Shepherd's stool,
+ Beneath that large old Oak, which near their door
+ Stood, and from its enormous breadth of shade 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 28:
+
+1815.
+
+ While this good household thus were living on 1800.
+
+ While in the fashion which I have described
+ This simple Household thus were living on 1800 (2nd issue).]
+
+
+[Variant 29:
+
+1836.
+
+ As soon as he had gather'd so much strength
+ That he could look his trouble in the face,
+ It seem'd that his sole refuge was to sell 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 30:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... itself 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 31:
+
+1836.
+
+ May come again to us ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 32: Italics were first used in 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 33:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... for the two last nights 1800.
+
+ ... through the 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 34:
+
+1815.
+
+ The Lad ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 35:
+
+1820.
+
+ Next morning ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 36:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... which close to the brook side 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 37:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... should speak
+ Of things ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 38:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... as it befalls 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 39:
+
+1836.
+
+ When ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 40:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... in ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 41:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... from sixty years. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 42:
+
+ I for the purpose brought thee to this place.
+
+This line appears only in the edition of 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 43:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... stout; ... 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 44:
+
+1802.
+
+ ... should evil men
+ Be thy companions, let this Sheep-fold be
+ Thy anchor and thy shield; amid all fear
+ And all temptation, let it be to thee
+ An emblem of the life thy Fathers liv'd, 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 45: This line was added in the edition of 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 46:
+
+1815.
+
+ Next morning, as had been resolv'd, the Boy 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 47:
+
+1820.
+
+ Would break the heart:--Old Michael found it so. 1800.]
+
+
+[Variant 48:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... look'd up upon the sun, 1800.
+
+ ... towards the sun, 1832.]
+
+
+[Variant 49:
+
+1836.
+
+ Sitting alone, with that his faithful Dog, 1800.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The Rev. Thomas Hutchinson, Kimbolton, tells me that in his
+copy of the edition of "Lyrical Ballads" of 1800 there is
+
+ "on the blank page facing the announcement, written in Wordsworth's
+ handwriting, the following lines:
+
+ 'Though it be in th' humblest rank of life,
+ And in the lowest region of our speech,
+ Yet is it in that kind as best accords
+ With rural passion.'"
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: The following lines were written before April 1801, and
+were at one time meant to be inserted after "summer flies," and before
+"Not with a waste of words." They are quoted in a letter of Wordsworth's
+to Thomas Poole of Nether Stowey, dated April 9th, 1801.
+
+ 'Though in their occupations they would pass
+ Whole hours with but small interchange of speech,
+ Yet were there times in which they did not want
+ Discourse both wise and prudent, shrewd remarks
+ Of daily providence, clothed in images
+ Lively and beautiful, in rural forms
+ That made their conversation fresh and fair
+ As is a landscape;--And the shepherd oft
+ Would draw out of his heart the obscurities
+ And admirations that were there, of God
+ And of His works, or, yielding to the bent
+ Of his peculiar humour, would let loose
+ The tongue and give it the wind's freedom,--then
+ Discoursing on remote imaginations, story,
+ Conceits, devices, day-dreams, thoughts and schemes,
+ The fancies of a solitary man.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: Clipping is the word used in the North of England for
+shearing.--W. W. 1800]
+
+
+[Footnote D: The lines from "Though nought was left," to "daily hope"
+(192-206) were, by a printer's blunder, omitted from the first issue of
+1800. In the second issue of that year they are given in full.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote E: The story alluded to here is well known in the country. The
+chapel is called Ings Chapel; and is on the right hand side of the road
+leading from Kendal to Ambleside.--W. W. 1800.
+
+Ings chapel is in the parish of Kendal, about two miles east of
+Windermere. The following extract from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary
+further explains the allusion in the poem:
+
+ "_Hugil_, a chapelry six and a quarter miles from Kendal. The chapel,
+ rebuilt in 1743 by Robert Bateman, stands in the village of Ings,
+ which is in this chapelry. The free school was endowed with land in
+ 1650 by Roland Wilson, producing at present L12 per annum. The average
+ number of boys is twenty-five. This endowment was augmented by L8 per
+ annum by Robert Bateman, who gave L1000 for purchasing an estate, and
+ erected eight alms-houses for as many poor families, besides a
+ donation of L12 per annum to the curate. This worthy benefactor was
+ born here, and from a state of indigence succeeded in amassing
+ considerable wealth by mercantile pursuits. He is stated to have been
+ poisoned, in the straits of Gibraltar, on his voyage from Leghorn,
+ with a valuable cargo, by the captain of the vessel,"
+
+(See 'The Topographical Dictionary of England', by Samuel Lewis, vol.
+ii. p. 1831.)--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote F: There is a slight inconsistency here. The conversation is
+represented as taking place in the evening (see l. 227).--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote G: It may be proper to inform some readers, that a sheep-fold
+in these mountains is an unroofed building of stone walls, with
+different divisions. It is generally placed by the side of a brook, for
+the convenience of washing the sheep; but it is also useful as a shelter
+for them, and as a place to drive them into, to enable the shepherds
+conveniently to single out one or more for any particular purpose.--W.
+W. 1800.]
+
+
+
+From the Fenwick note it will be seen that Michael's sheep-fold, in
+Green-head Ghyll, existed--at least the remains of it--in 1843. Its
+site, however, is now very difficult to identify. There is a sheep-fold
+above Boon Beck, which one passes immediately on entering the common,
+going up Green-head Ghyll. It is now "finished," and used when required.
+There are remains of walling, much higher up the ghyll; but these are
+probably the work of miners, formerly engaged there. Michael's cottage
+had been destroyed when the poem was written, in 1800. It stood where
+the coach-house and stables of "the Hollins" now stand. But one who
+visits Green-head Ghyll, and wishes to realize Michael in his old
+age--as described in this poem--should ascend the ghyll till it almost
+reaches the top of Fairfield; where the old man, during eighty years,
+
+ 'had learned the meaning of all winds,
+ Of blasts of every tone,'
+
+and where he
+
+ 'had been alone,
+ Amid the heart of many thousand mists,
+ That came to him, and left him, on the heights.'
+
+By so doing he will be better able to realize the spirit of the poem,
+than by trying to identify the site either of the "unfinished
+sheep-fold," or of the house named the "Evening Star." What Wordsworth
+said to the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge in reference to 'The Brothers'
+has been quoted in the note to that poem, p. 203. On the same occasion
+he remarked, in reference to 'Michael':
+
+ "'Michael' was founded on the son of an old couple having become
+ dissolute, and run away from his parents; and on an old shepherd
+ having been seven years in building up a sheep-fold in a solitary
+ valley."
+
+('Memoirs of Wordsworth', by the late Bishop of Lincoln, vol. ii. p.
+305.)
+
+The following extracts from Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal, show
+the carefulness with which the poem 'Michael' was composed, and the
+frequent revisions which it underwent:
+
+ 'Oct. 11 [1800.] "We walked up Green-head ghyll in search of a
+ sheepfold.... The sheepfold is falling away. It is built nearly in the
+ form of a heart unequally divided."
+
+ 13. "William composing in the evening."
+
+ 15. "W. composed a little." ... "W. again composed at the sheepfold
+ after dinner."
+
+ 18. "W. worked all the morning at the sheepfold, but in vain. He lay
+ down till 7 o'clock, but did not sleep."
+
+ 19. "William got to work."
+
+ 20. "W. worked in the morning at the sheepfold."
+
+ 21. "W. had been unsuccessful in the morning at the sheepfold."
+
+ 22. "W. composed, without much success, at the sheepfold."
+
+ 23. "W. was not successful in composition in the evening."
+
+ 24. "W. was only partly successful in composition."
+
+ 26. "W. composed a good deal all the morning."
+
+ 28. "W. could not compose much; fatigued himself with altering."
+
+ 30. "W. worked at his poem all the morning."
+
+ Nov. 10. "W. at the sheepfold."
+
+ 12. "W. has been working at the sheepfold."
+
+ Dec. 9. "W. finished his poem to-day."'
+
+It is impossible to say with certainty that the entry under Dec. 9
+refers to 'Michael', but if it does, it is evident that Wordsworth
+wrought continuously at this poem for nearly two months.
+
+On April 9, 1801, Wordsworth wrote to Thomas Poole:
+
+ "In writing it" ('Michael'), "I had your character often before my
+ eyes; and sometimes thought that I was delineating such a man as you
+ yourself would have been, under the same circumstances."
+
+The following is part of a letter written by Wordsworth to Charles James
+Fox in 1802, and sent with a copy of "Lyrical Ballads":
+
+ "In the two poems, 'The Brothers' and 'Michael', I have attempted to
+ draw a picture of the domestic affections, as I know they exist
+ amongst a class of men who are now almost confined to the north of
+ England. They are small independent 'proprietors' of land, here called
+ 'statesmen,' men of respectable education, who daily labour on their
+ own little properties. The domestic affections will always be strong
+ amongst men who live in a country not crowded with population; if
+ these men are placed above poverty. But, if they are proprietors of
+ small estates which have descended to them from their ancestors, the
+ power which these affections will acquire amongst such men, is
+ inconceivable by those who have only had an opportunity of observing
+ hired labourers, farmers, and the manufacturing poor. Their little
+ tract of land serves as a kind of permanent rallying point for their
+ domestic feelings, as a tablet on which they are written, which makes
+ them objects of memory in a thousand instances, when they would
+ otherwise be forgotten. It is a fountain fitted to the nature of
+ social man, from which supplies of affection as pure as his heart was
+ intended for, are daily drawn. This class of men is rapidly
+ disappearing.... The two poems that I have mentioned were written with
+ a view to show that men who do not wear fine clothes can feel deeply.
+ 'Pectus enim est quod disertos facit, et vis mentis. Ideoque imperitis
+ quoque, si modo sint aliquo affectu concitati, verba non desunt.' The
+ poems are faithful copies from nature; and I hope whatever effect they
+ may have upon you, you will at least be able to perceive that they may
+ excite profitable sympathies in many kind and good hearts; and may in
+ some small degree enlarge our feelings of reverence for our species,
+ and our knowledge of human nature, by showing that our best qualities
+ are possessed by men whom we are too apt to consider, not with
+ reference to the points in which they resemble us, but to those in
+ which they manifestly differ from us." (See 'Correspondence of Sir
+ Thomas Hanmer', by Sir Henry Burnbury, p. 436.)
+
+A number of fragments, originally meant to be parts of 'Michael',--or at
+least written with such a possibility in view,--will be found in the
+Appendix to the eighth volume of this edition.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+1801
+
+
+'The Sparrow's Nest', and the sonnet on Skiddaw, along with some
+translations from Chaucer, belong to the year 1801. During this year,
+however, 'The Excursion' was in progress. In its earlier stages, and
+before the plan of 'The Recluse' was matured, the introductory part was
+familiarly known, and talked of in the Wordsworth household, by the name
+of "The Pedlar." The following extracts from Dorothy Wordsworth's
+Journal of 1801 will show the progress that was being made with it:
+
+ "Dec. 21.--Wm. sate beside me, and wrote 'The Pedlar.' 22nd.--W.
+ composed a few lines of 'The Pedlar.' 23rd.--William worked at 'The
+ Ruined Cottage'" (this was the name of the first part of 'The
+ Excursion', in which 'The Pedlar' was included), "and made himself
+ very ill," etc.
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SPARROW'S NEST
+
+
+Composed 1801.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere. At the end of the garden of
+my father's house at Cockermouth was a high terrace that commanded a
+fine view of the river Derwent and Cockermouth Castle. This was our
+favourite play-ground. The terrace wall, a low one, was covered with
+closely-clipt privet and roses, which gave an almost impervious shelter
+to birds who built their nests there. The latter of these stanzas [A]
+alludes to one of those nests.--I.F.]
+
+This poem was first published in the series entitled "Moods of my own
+Mind," in 1807. In 1815 it was included among the "Poems founded on the
+Affections," and in 1845 was transferred to the "Poems referring to the
+Period of Childhood."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Behold, within the leafy shade,
+ Those bright blue eggs together laid!
+ On me the chance-discovered sight
+ Gleamed like a vision of delight. [1]
+ I started--seeming to espy 5
+ The home and sheltered bed,
+ The Sparrow's dwelling, which, hard by
+ My Father's house, in wet or dry
+ My sister Emmeline and I
+ Together visited. 10
+
+ She looked at it and seemed to fear it;
+ Dreading, tho' wishing, to be near it: [2]
+ Such heart was in her, being then
+ A little Prattler among men.
+ The Blessing of my later years 15
+ Was with me when a boy:
+ She gave me eyes, she gave me ears;
+ And humble cares, and delicate fears;
+ A heart, the fountain of sweet tears;
+ And love, and thought, and joy. 20
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1815.
+
+ Look, five blue eggs are gleaming there!
+ Few visions have I seen more fair,
+ Nor many prospects of delight
+ More pleasing than that simple sight! 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ She look'd at it as if she fear'd it;
+ Still wishing, dreading to be near it: 1807.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE
+
+[Footnote A: So it stands in the Fenwick note; but it should evidently
+read, "The following stanzas allude."--Ed.]
+
+
+Wordsworth's "sister Emmeline" was his only sister, Dorothy; and in the
+MS. sent originally to the printer the line was "My sister Dorothy and
+I." This poem is referred to in a subsequent one, 'A Farewell', l. 56.
+See page 326 of this volume.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"PELION AND OSSA FLOURISH SIDE BY SIDE"
+
+
+Composed 1801.--Published 1815
+
+
+One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets." From 1836 onwards it bore the title
+'1801'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Pelion and Ossa flourish side by side,
+ Together in immortal [1] books enrolled:
+ His ancient dower Olympus hath not sold;
+ And that inspiring Hill, which "did divide
+ Into two ample horns his forehead wide," [A] 5
+ Shines with poetic radiance as of old;
+ While not an English Mountain we behold
+ By the celestial Muses glorified.
+ Yet round our sea-girt shore they rise in crowds:
+ What was the great Parnassus' self to Thee, 10
+ Mount Skiddaw? In his natural sovereignty
+ Our British Hill is nobler [2] far; he shrouds
+ His double front among Atlantic clouds, [3]
+ And pours forth streams more sweet than Castaly.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1815.
+
+ illustrious ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ fairer ... 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ His double-fronted head in higher clouds, 1815.
+
+ ... among Atlantic clouds, MS.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: See Spenser's translation of 'Virgil's Gnat', ll. 21-2:
+
+ 'Or where on Mount Parnasse, the Muses brood.
+ Doth his broad forehead like two horns divide,
+ And the sweet waves of sounding Castaly
+ With liquid foot doth glide down easily.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+SELECTIONS FROM CHAUCER
+
+MODERNISED
+
+
+Wordsworth's modernisations of Chaucer were all written in 1801. Two of
+them were from the Canterbury Tales, but his version of one of
+these--'The Manciple's Tale'--has never been printed. Of the three poems
+which were published, the first--'The Prioress' Tale'--was included in
+the edition of 1820. The 'Troilus and Cressida' and 'The Cuckoo and the
+Nightingale' were included in the "Poems of Early and Late Years"
+(1842); but they had been published the year before, in a small volume
+entitled 'The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer Modernised' (London, 1841), a
+volume to which Elizabeth Barrett, Leigh Hunt, R. H. Home, Thomas
+Powell, and others contributed. Wordsworth wrote thus of the project to
+Mr. Powell, in an unpublished and undated letter, written probably in
+1840:
+
+ "I am glad that you enter so warmly into the Chaucerian project, and
+ that Mr. L. Hunt is disposed to give his valuable aid to it. For
+ myself, I cannot do more than I offered, to place at your disposal
+ 'The Prioress' Tale' already published, 'The Cuckoo and the
+ Nightingale', 'The Manciple's Tale', and I rather think (but I cannot
+ just now find it) a small portion of the 'Troilus and Cressida'. You
+ ask my opinion about that poem. Speaking from a recollection only, of
+ many years past, I should say it would be found too long and probably
+ tedious. 'The Knight's Tale' is also very long; but, though Dryden has
+ executed it, in his own way observe, with great spirit and harmony, he
+ has suffered so much of the simplicity, and with that of the beauty
+ and occasional pathos of the original to escape, that I should be
+ pleased to hear that a new version was to be attempted upon my
+ principle by some competent person. It would delight me to read every
+ part of Chaucer over again--for I reverence and admire him above
+ measure--with a view to your work; but my eyes will not permit me to
+ do so. Who will undertake the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales? For
+ your publication that is indispensable, and I fear it will prove very
+ difficult. It is written, as you know, in the couplet measure; and
+ therefore I have nothing to say upon its metre, but in respect to the
+ poems in stanza, neither in 'The Prioress' Tale' nor in 'The Cuckoo
+ and Nightingale' have I kept to the rule of the original as to the
+ form, and number, and position of the rhymes; thinking it enough if I
+ kept the same number of lines in each stanza; and this is, I think,
+ all that is necessary, and all that can be done without sacrificing
+ the substance of sense too often to the mere form of sound."
+
+In a subsequent letter to Professor Henry Reed of Philadelphia, dated
+"Rydal Mount, January 13th, 1841," Wordsworth said:
+
+ "So great is my admiration of Chaucer's genius, and so profound my
+ reverence for him as an instrument in the hands of Providence, for
+ spreading the light of literature through his native land, that
+ notwithstanding the defects and faults in this publication"
+ (referring, I presume, to the volume, 'The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer
+ Modernised'), "I am glad of it, as a means of making many acquainted
+ with the original, who would otherwise be ignorant of everything about
+ him but his name."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PRIORESS' TALE
+
+
+Translated 1801. [A]--Published 1820
+
+
+ "Call up him who left half told
+ The story of Cambuscan bold." [B]
+
+In the following Piece I have allowed myself no farther deviations from
+the original than were necessary for the fluent reading, and instant
+understanding, of the Author: so much however is the language altered
+since Chaucer's time, especially in pronunciation, that much was to be
+removed, and its place supplied with as little incongruity as possible.
+The ancient accent has been retained in a few conjunctions, such as
+_also_ and _alway_, from a conviction that such sprinklings of antiquity
+would be admitted, by persons of taste, to have a graceful accordance
+with the subject.--W. W. (1820).
+
+The fierce bigotry of the Prioress forms a fine back ground for her
+tender-hearted sympathies with the Mother and Child; and the mode in
+which the story is told amply atones for the extravagance of the
+miracle.--W. W. (added in 1827).
+
+In the editions of 1820 and 1827 'The Prioress' Tale' followed 'The
+White Doe of Rylstone'. In 1832 it followed the "Inscriptions"; and in
+1836 it was included among the "Poems founded on the Affections." In
+1845 it found its appropriate place in the "Selections from Chaucer
+modernised."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I "O Lord, our Lord! how wondrously," (quoth she)
+ "Thy name in this large world is spread abroad!
+ For not alone by men of dignity
+ Thy worship is performed and precious laud;
+ But by the mouths of children, gracious God! 5
+ Thy goodness is set forth; they when they lie
+ Upon the breast thy name do glorify.
+
+ II "Wherefore in praise, the worthiest that I may,
+ Jesu! of thee, and the white Lily-flower
+ Which did thee bear, and is a Maid for aye, 10
+ To tell a story I will use my power;
+ Not that I may increase her honour's dower,
+ For she herself is honour, and the root
+ Of goodness, next her Son, our soul's best boot.
+
+ III "O Mother Maid! O Maid and Mother free! 15
+ O bush unburnt! burning in Moses' sight!
+ That down didst ravish from the Deity,
+ Through humbleness, the spirit that did alight
+ Upon thy heart, whence, through that glory's might,
+ Conceived was the Father's sapience, 20
+ Help me to tell it in thy reverence!
+
+ IV "Lady! thy goodness, thy magnificence,
+ Thy virtue, and thy great humility,
+ Surpass all science and all utterance;
+ For sometimes, Lady! ere men pray to thee 25
+ Thou goest before in thy benignity,
+ The light to us vouchsafing of thy prayer,
+ To be our guide unto thy Son so dear.
+
+ V "My knowledge is so weak, O blissful Queen!
+ To tell abroad thy mighty worthiness, 30
+ That I the weight of it may not sustain;
+ But as a child of twelvemonths old or less,
+ That laboureth his language to express,
+ Even so fare I; and therefore, I thee pray,
+ Guide thou my song which I of thee shall say. 35
+
+ VI "There was in Asia, in a mighty town,
+ 'Mong Christian folk, a street where Jews might be,
+ Assigned to them and given them for their own
+ By a great Lord, for gain and usury,
+ Hateful to Christ and to his company; 40
+ And through this street who list might ride and wend;
+ Free was it, and unbarred at either end.
+
+ VII "A little school of Christian people stood
+ Down at the farther end, in which there were
+ A nest of children come of Christian blood, 45
+ That learned in that school from year to year
+ Such sort of doctrine as men used there,
+ That is to say, to sing and read also,
+ As little children in their childhood do.
+
+ VIII "Among these children was a Widow's son, 50
+ A little scholar, scarcely seven years old, [C]
+ Who day by day unto this school hath gone,
+ And eke, when he the image did behold
+ Of Jesu's Mother, as he had been told,
+ This Child was wont to kneel adown and say 55
+ _Ave Marie_, as he goeth by the way.
+
+ IX "This Widow thus her little Son hath taught
+ Our blissful Lady, Jesu's Mother dear,
+ To worship aye, and he forgat it not;
+ For simple infant hath a ready ear. 60
+ Sweet is the holiness of youth: and hence,
+ Calling to mind this matter when I may,
+ Saint Nicholas in my presence standeth aye,
+ For he so young to Christ did reverence. [D]
+
+ X "This little Child, while in the school he sate 65
+ His Primer conning with an earnest cheer, [E]
+ The whilst the rest their anthem-book repeat
+ The _Alma Redemptoris_ did he hear;
+ And as he durst he drew him near and near,
+ And hearkened to the words and to the note, 70
+ Till the first verse he learned it all by rote.
+
+ XI "This Latin knew he nothing what it said,
+ For he too tender was of age to know;
+ But to his comrade he repaired, and prayed
+ That he the meaning of this song would show, 75
+ And unto him declare why men sing so;
+ This oftentimes, that he might be at ease,
+ This child did him beseech on his bare knees.
+
+ XII "His Schoolfellow, who elder was than he,
+ Answered him thus:--'This song, I have heard say, 80
+ Was fashioned for our blissful Lady free;
+ Her to salute, and also her to pray
+ To be our help upon our dying day:
+ If there is more in this, I know it not:
+ Song do I learn,--small grammar I have got.' 85
+
+ XIII "'And is this song fashioned in reverence
+ Of Jesu's Mother?' said this Innocent;
+ 'Now, certes, I will use my diligence
+ To con it all ere Christmas-tide be spent;
+ Although I for my Primer shall be shent, 90
+ And shall be beaten three times in an hour,
+ Our Lady I will praise with all my power.'
+
+ XIV "His Schoolfellow, whom he had so besought,
+ As they went homeward taught him privily
+ And then he sang it well and fearlessly, 95
+ From word to word according to the note:
+ Twice in a day it passed through his throat;
+ Homeward and schoolward whensoe'er he went,
+ On Jesu's Mother fixed was his intent.
+
+ XV "Through all the Jewry (this before said I) 100
+ This little Child, as he came to and fro,
+ Full merrily then would he sing and cry,
+ O _Alma Redemptoris!_ high and low:
+ The sweetness of Christ's Mother pierced so
+ His heart, that her to praise, to her to pray, 105
+ He cannot stop his singing by the way.
+
+ XVI "The Serpent, Satan, our first foe, that hath
+ His wasp's nest in Jew's heart, upswelled--'O woe,
+ O Hebrew people!' said he in his wrath,
+ 'Is it an honest thing? Shall this be so? 110
+ That such a Boy where'er he lists [1] shall go
+ In your despite, and sing his hymns and saws,
+ Which is against the reverence of our laws!'
+
+ XVII "From that day forward have the Jews conspired
+ Out of the world this Innocent to chase; 115
+ And to this end a Homicide they hired,
+ That in an alley had a privy place,
+ And, as the Child 'gan to the school to pace,
+ This cruel Jew him seized, and held him fast
+ And cut his throat, and in a pit him cast. 120
+
+ XVIII "I say that him into a pit they threw,
+ A loathsome pit, whence noisome scents exhale;
+ O cursed folk! away, ye Herods new!
+ What may your ill intentions you avail?
+ Murder will out; certes it will not fail; 125
+ Know, that the honour of high God may spread,
+ The blood cries out on your accursed deed.
+
+ XIX "O Martyr 'stablished in virginity!
+ Now may'st thou sing for aye before the throne,
+ Following the Lamb celestial," quoth she, 130
+ "Of which the great Evangelist, Saint John,
+ In Patmos wrote, who saith of them that go
+ Before the Lamb singing continually,
+ That never fleshly woman they did know.
+
+ XX "Now this poor widow waiteth all that night 135
+ After her little Child, and he came not;
+ For which, by earliest glimpse of morning light,
+ With face all pale with dread and busy thought,
+ She at the School and elsewhere him hath sought,
+ Until thus far she learned, that he had been 140
+ In the Jews' street, and there he last was seen.
+
+ XXI "With Mother's pity in her breast enclosed
+ She goeth, as she were half out of her mind,
+ To every place wherein she hath supposed
+ By likelihood her little Son to find; 145
+ And ever on Christ's Mother meek and kind
+ She cried, till to the Jewry she was brought,
+ And him among the accursed Jews she sought.
+
+ XXII "She asketh, and she piteously doth pray
+ To every Jew that dwelleth in that place 150
+ To tell her if her child had passed that way;
+ They all said--Nay; but Jesu of his grace
+ Gave to her thought, that in a little space
+ She for her Son in that same spot did cry
+ Where he was cast into a pit hard by. 155
+
+ XXIII "O thou great God that dost perform thy laud
+ By mouths of Innocents, lo! here thy might;
+ This gem of chastity, this emerald,
+ And eke of martyrdom this ruby bright,
+ There, where with mangled throat he lay upright, 160
+ The _Alma Redemptoris_ 'gan to sing
+ So loud, that with his voice the place did ring.
+
+ XXIV "The Christian folk that through the Jewry went
+ Come to the spot in wonder at the thing;
+ And hastily they for the Provost sent; 165
+ Immediately he came, not tarrying,
+ And praiseth Christ that is our heavenly King,
+ And eke his Mother, honour of Mankind:
+ Which done, he bade that they the Jews should bind.
+
+ XXV "This Child with piteous lamentation then 170
+ Was taken up, singing his song alway;
+ And with procession great and pomp of men
+ To the next Abbey him they bare away;
+ His Mother swooning by the body [2] lay:
+ And scarcely could the people that were near 175
+ Remove this second Rachel from the bier.
+
+ XXVI "Torment and shameful death to every one
+ This Provost doth for those bad Jews prepare
+ That of this murder wist, and that anon:
+ Such wickedness his judgments cannot spare; 180
+ Who will do evil, evil shall he bear;
+ Them therefore with wild horses did he draw,
+ And after that he hung them by the law.
+
+ XXVII "Upon his bier this Innocent doth lie
+ Before the altar while the Mass doth last: 185
+ The Abbot with his convent's company
+ Then sped themselves to bury him full fast;
+ And, when they holy water on him cast,
+ Yet spake this Child when sprinkled was the water;
+ And sang, O _Alma Redemptoris Mater!_ 190
+
+ XXVIII "This Abbot, for he was a holy man,
+ As all Monks are, or surely ought to be, [3]
+ In supplication to the Child began
+ Thus saying, 'O dear Child! I summon thee
+ In virtue of the holy Trinity 195
+ Tell me the cause why thou dost sing this hymn,
+ Since that thy throat is cut, as it doth seem.'
+
+ XXIX "'My throat is cut unto the bone, I trow,'
+ Said this young Child, 'and by the law of kind
+ I should have died, yea many hours ago; 200
+ But Jesus Christ, as in the books ye find,
+ Will that his glory last, and be in mind;
+ And, for the worship of his Mother dear,
+ Yet may I sing, _O Alma!_ loud and clear.
+
+ XXX "'This well of mercy, Jesu's Mother sweet, 205
+ After my knowledge I have loved alway;
+ And in the hour when I my death did meet
+ To me she came, and thus to me did say,
+ "Thou in thy dying sing this holy lay,"
+ As ye have heard; and soon as I had sung 210
+ Methought she laid a grain upon my tongue.
+
+ XXXI "'Wherefore I sing, nor can from song refrain,
+ In honour of that blissful Maiden free,
+ Till from my tongue off-taken is the grain;
+ And after that thus said she unto me; 215
+ "My little Child, then will I come for thee
+ Soon as the grain from off thy tongue they take:
+ Be not dismayed, I will not thee forsake!"'
+
+ XXXII "This holy Monk, this Abbot--him mean I,
+ Touched then his tongue, and took away the grain; 220
+ And he gave up the ghost full peacefully;
+ And, when the Abbot had this wonder seen,
+ His salt tears trickled down like showers of rain;
+ And on his face he dropped upon the ground,
+ And still he lay as if he had been bound. 225
+
+ XXXIII "Eke the whole Convent on the pavement lay,
+ Weeping and praising Jesu's Mother dear;
+ And after that they rose, and took their way,
+ And lifted up this Martyr from the bier,
+ And in a tomb of precious marble clear 230
+ Enclosed his uncorrupted body sweet.--[F]
+ Where'er he be, God grant us him to meet!
+
+ XXXIV "Young Hew of Lincoln! in like sort laid low
+ By cursed Jews--thing well and widely known,
+ For it was done a little while ago--[4] 235
+ Pray also thou for us, while here we tarry
+ Weak sinful folk, that God, with pitying eye,
+ In mercy would his mercy multiply
+ On us, for reverence of his Mother Mary!"
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... list ... 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... by the Bier ... 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ This Abbot who had been a holy man
+ And was, as all Monks are, or ought to be, [a] 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ For not long since was dealt the cruel blow, 1820.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A:
+
+ "Friday, 4th December 1801.... William translating 'The Prioress'
+ Tale'."
+
+ "Saturday, 5th. William finished 'The Prioress' Tale', and after tea,
+ Mary and he wrote it out"
+
+(Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal).--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: See 'Il Penseroso', l. 110.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: Chaucer's phrase is "a litel clergeon," Wordsworth's, "a
+little scholar;" but "clergeon" is a chorister, not a scholar.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D:
+
+ "Chaucer's text is:
+
+ 'Thus hath this widow her litel child i-taught
+ Our blissful lady, Criste's moder deere,
+ To worschip ay, and he forgat it nought;
+ For sely child wil alway soone leere.'
+
+ 'For sely child wil alway soone leere,' i.e. for a happy child will
+ always learn soon. Wordsworth renders:
+
+ 'For simple infant hath a ready ear,'
+
+ and adds:
+
+ 'Sweet is the holiness of youth,'
+
+ extending the stanza to receive this addition from seven to eight
+ lines, with an altered rhyme-system."
+
+(Professor Edward Dowden, in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth
+Society', No. III.)--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote E: Chaucer's text is:
+
+ 'This litel child his litel book lernynge
+ As he sat in the schole in his primere.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote F: Chaucer's text is:
+
+ 'And in a tombe of marble stoones clere
+ Enclosed they this litel body swete.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Footnote a: This was erased in the 'Errata' of 1820, but it
+may be reproduced here.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CUCKOO AND THE NIGHTINGALE
+
+
+Translated 1801. [A]--Published 1841 [B]
+
+
+
+
+ I The God of Love--_ah, benedicite!_
+ How mighty and how great a Lord is he!
+ For he of low hearts can make high, of high
+ He can make low, and unto death bring nigh;
+ And hard hearts he can make them kind and free. [1] 5
+
+ II Within a little time, as hath been found,
+ He can make sick folk whole and fresh and sound:
+ Them who are whole in body and in mind,
+ He can make sick,--bind can he and unbind
+ All that he will have bound, or have unbound. 10
+
+ III To tell his might my wit may not suffice;
+ Foolish men he can make them out of wise;--
+ For he may do all that he will devise;
+ Loose livers he can make abate their vice,
+ And proud hearts can make tremble in a trice. 15
+
+ IV In brief, the whole of what he will, he may;
+ Against him dare not any wight say nay;
+ To humble or afflict whome'er he will,
+ To gladden or to grieve, he hath like skill;
+ But most his might he sheds on the eve of May. 20
+
+ V For every true heart, gentle heart and free,
+ That with him is, or thinketh so to be,
+ Now against May shall have some stirring--whether
+ To joy, or be it to some mourning; never
+ At other time, methinks, in like degree. 25
+
+ VI For now when they may hear the small birds' song,
+ And see the budding leaves the branches throng,
+ This unto their remembrance doth bring
+ All kinds of pleasure mix'd with sorrowing;
+ And longing of sweet thoughts that ever long. 30
+
+ VII And of that longing heaviness doth come,
+ Whence oft great sickness grows of heart and home;
+ Sick are they all for lack of their desire;
+ And thus in May their hearts are set on fire,
+ So that they burn forth in great martyrdom. 35
+
+ VIII In sooth, I speak from feeling, what though now
+ Old am I, and to genial pleasure slow;
+ Yet have I felt of sickness through the May,
+ Both hot and cold, and heart-aches every day,--
+ How hard, alas! to bear, I only know. 40
+
+ IX Such shaking doth the fever in me keep
+ Through all this May that I have little sleep;
+ And also 'tis not likely unto me,
+ That any living heart should sleepy be
+ In which Love's dart its fiery point doth steep. 45
+
+ X But tossing lately on a sleepless bed,
+ I of a token thought which Lovers heed;
+ How among them it was a common tale,
+ That it was good to hear the Nightingale,
+ Ere the vile Cuckoo's note be uttered. 50
+
+ XI And then I thought anon as it was day,
+ I gladly would go somewhere to essay
+ If I perchance a Nightingale might hear,
+ For yet had I heard none, of all that year,
+ And it was then the third night of the May. 55
+
+ XII And soon as I a glimpse of day espied,
+ No longer would I in my bed abide,
+ But straightway to a wood that was hard by,
+ Forth did I go, alone and fearlessly,
+ And held the pathway down by a brook-side; 60
+
+ XIII Till to a lawn I came all white and green,
+ I in so fair a one had never been.
+ The ground was green, with daisy powdered over;
+ Tall were the flowers, the grove a lofty cover,
+ All green and white; and nothing else was seen. [C] 65
+
+ XIV There sate I down among the fair fresh flowers,
+ And saw the birds come tripping from their bowers,
+ Where they had rested them all night; and they,
+ Who were so joyful at the light of day,
+ Began to honour May with all their powers. 70
+
+ XV Well did they know that service all by rote,
+ And there was many and many a lovely note,
+ Some, singing loud, as if they had complained;
+ Some with their notes another manner feigned;
+ And some did sing all out with the full throat. 75
+
+ XVI They pruned themselves, and made themselves right gay,
+ Dancing and leaping light upon the spray;
+ And ever two and two together were,
+ The same as they had chosen for the year,
+ Upon Saint Valentine's returning day. 80
+
+ XVII Meanwhile the stream, whose bank I sate upon,
+ Was making such a noise as it ran on
+ Accordant to the sweet Birds' harmony;
+ Methought that it was the best melody
+ Which ever to man's ear a passage won. 85
+
+ XVIII And for delight, but how I never wot,
+ I in a slumber and a swoon was caught,
+ Not all asleep and yet not waking wholly;
+ And as I lay, the Cuckoo, bird unholy,
+ Broke silence, or I heard him in my thought. 90
+
+ XIX And that was right upon a tree fast by,
+ And who was then ill satisfied but I?
+ Now, God, quoth I, that died upon the rood,
+ From thee and thy base throat, keep all that's good,
+ Full little joy have I now of thy cry. 95
+
+ XX And, as I with the Cuckoo thus 'gan chide,
+ In the next bush that was me fast beside,
+ I heard the lusty Nightingale so sing,
+ That her clear voice made a loud rioting,
+ Echoing through all the green wood wide. [D] 100
+
+ XXI Ah! good sweet Nightingale! for my heart's cheer,
+ Hence hast thou stayed a little while too long;
+ For we have had [2] the sorry Cuckoo here,
+ And she hath been before thee with her song;
+ Evil light on her! she hath done me wrong. 105
+
+ XXII But hear you now a wondrous thing, I pray;
+ As long as in that swooning-fit I lay,
+ Methought I wist right well what these birds meant,
+ And had good knowing both of their intent,
+ And of their speech, and all that they would say. 110
+
+ XXIII The Nightingale thus in my hearing spake:--
+ Good Cuckoo, seek some other bush or brake,
+ And, prithee, let us that can sing dwell here;
+ For every wight eschews thy song to hear,
+ Such uncouth singing verily dost thou make. 115
+
+ XXIV What! quoth she then, what is't that ails thee now?
+ It seems to me I sing as well as thou;
+ For mine's a song that is both true and plain,--
+ Although I cannot quaver so in vain
+ As thou dost in thy throat, I wot not how. 120
+
+ XXV All men may understanding have of me,
+ But, Nightingale, so may they not of thee;
+ For thou hast many a foolish and quaint cry:--
+ Thou say'st, OSEE, OSEE, then how may I
+ Have knowledge, I thee pray, what this may be? 125
+
+ XXVI Ah, fool! quoth she, wist thou not what it is?
+ Oft as I say OSEE, OSEE, I wis,
+ Then mean I, that I should be wondrous fain
+ That shamefully they one and all were slain,
+ Whoever against Love mean aught amiss. 130
+
+ XXVII And also would I that they all were dead,
+ Who do not think in love their life to lead;
+ For who is both the God of Love to obey,
+ Is only fit to die, I dare well say,
+ And for that cause OSEE I cry; take heed! 135
+
+ XXVIII Ay, quoth the Cuckoo, that is a quaint law,
+ That all must love or die; but I withdraw,
+ And take my leave of all such company,
+ For mine intent it neither is to die,
+ Nor ever while I live Love's yoke to draw. 140
+
+ XXIX For lovers of all folk that be alive,
+ The most disquiet have and least do thrive;
+ Most feeling have of sorrow [3] woe and care,
+ And the least welfare cometh to their share;
+ What need is there against the truth to strive? 145
+
+ XXX What! quoth she, thou art all out of thy mind,
+ That in thy churlishness a cause canst find
+ To speak of Love's true Servants in this mood;
+ For in this world no service is so good
+ To every wight that gentle is of kind. 150
+
+ XXXI For thereof comes all goodness and all worth;
+ All gentiless [4] and honour thence come forth;
+ Thence worship comes, content and true heart's pleasure,
+ And full-assured trust, joy without measure,
+ And jollity, fresh cheerfulness, and mirth; 155
+
+ XXXII And bounty, lowliness, and courtesy,
+ And seemliness, and faithful company,
+ And dread of shame that will not do amiss;
+ For he that faithfully Love's servant is,
+ Rather than be disgraced, would chuse to die. 160
+
+ XXXIII And that the very truth it is which I
+ Now say--in such belief I'll live and die;
+ And Cuckoo, do thou so, by my advice.
+ Then, quoth she, let me never hope for bliss,
+ If with that counsel I do e'er comply. 165
+
+ XXXIV Good Nightingale! thou speakest wondrous fair,
+ Yet for all that, the truth is found elsewhere;
+ For Love in young folk is but rage, I wis;
+ And Love in old folk a great dotage is;
+ Who most it useth, him 'twill most impair. 170
+
+ XXXV For thereof come all contraries to gladness;
+ Thence sickness comes, and overwhelming sadness,
+ Mistrust and jealousy, despite, debate,
+ Dishonour, shame, envy importunate,
+ Pride, anger, mischief, poverty, and madness. 175
+
+ XXXVI Loving is aye an office of despair,
+ And one thing is therein which is not fair;
+ For whoso gets of love a little bliss,
+ Unless it alway stay with him, I wis
+ He may full soon go with an old man's hair. 180
+
+ XXXVII And, therefore, Nightingale! do thou keep nigh,
+ For trust me well, in spite of thy quaint cry,
+ If long time from thy mate thou be, or far,
+ Thou'lt be as others that forsaken are;
+ Then shall thou raise a clamour as do I. 185
+
+ XXXVIII Fie, quoth she, on thy name, Bird ill beseen!
+ The God of Love afflict thee with all teen,
+ For thou art worse than mad a thousand fold;
+ For many a one hath virtues manifold,
+ Who had been nought, if Love had never been. 190
+
+ XXXIX For evermore his servants Love amendeth,
+ And he from every blemish them defendeth;
+ And maketh them to burn, as in a fire,
+ In loyalty, and worshipful desire,
+ And, when it likes him, joy enough them sendeth. 195
+
+ XL Thou Nightingale! the Cuckoo said, be still,
+ For Love no reason hath but his own will;--
+ For to th' untrue he oft gives ease and joy;
+ True lovers doth so bitterly annoy,
+ He lets them perish through that grievous ill. 200
+
+ XLI With such a master would I never be; [E]
+ For he, in sooth, is blind, and may not see,
+ And knows not when he hurts and when he heals;
+ Within this court full seldom Truth avails,
+ So diverse in his wilfulness is he. 205
+
+ XLII Then of the Nightingale did I take note,
+ How from her inmost heart a sigh she brought,
+ And said, Alas! that ever I was born,
+ Not one word have I now, I am so forlorn,--
+ And with that word, she into tears burst out. 210
+
+ XLIII Alas, alas! my very heart will break,
+ Quoth she, to hear this churlish bird thus speak
+ Of Love, and of his holy services;
+ Now, God of Love! thou help me in some wise,
+ That vengeance on this Cuckoo I may wreak. 215
+
+ XLIV And so methought I started up anon,
+ And to the brook I ran and got a stone,
+ Which at the Cuckoo hardily I cast,
+ And he for dread did fly away full fast;
+ And glad, in sooth, was I when he was gone. 220
+
+ XLV And as he flew, the Cuckoo, ever and aye,
+ Kept crying, "Farewell!--farewell, Popinjay!"
+ As if in scornful mockery of me;
+ And on I hunted him from tree to tree,
+ Till he was far, all out of sight, away. 225
+
+ XLVI Then straightway came the Nightingale to me,
+ And said, Forsooth, my friend, do I thank thee,
+ That thou wert near to rescue me; and now
+ Unto the God of Love I make a vow,
+ That all this May I will thy songstress be. 230
+
+ XLVII Well satisfied, I thanked her, and she said,
+ By this mishap no longer be dismayed,
+ Though thou the Cuckoo heard, ere thou heard'st me;
+ Yet if I live it shall amended be,
+ When next May comes, if I am not afraid. 235
+
+ XLVIII And one thing will I counsel thee also,
+ The Cuckoo trust not thou, nor his Love's saw;
+ All that she said is an outrageous lie.
+ Nay, nothing shall me bring thereto, quoth I,
+ For Love, and it hath done me mighty woe. 240
+
+ XLIX Yea, hath it? use, quoth she, this medicine;
+ This May-time, every day before thou dine,
+ Go look on the fresh daisy; then say I,
+ Although for pain thou may'st be like to die,
+ Thou wilt be eased, and less wilt droop and pine. 245
+
+ L And mind always that thou be good and true,
+ And I will sing one song, of many new,
+ For love of thee, as loud as I may cry;
+ And then did she begin this song full high,
+ "Beshrew all them that are in love untrue." 250
+
+ LI And soon as she had sung it to the end,
+ Now farewell, quoth she, for I hence must wend;
+ And, God of Love, that can right well and may,
+ Send unto thee as mickle joy this day,
+ As ever he to Lover yet did send. 255
+
+ LII Thus takes the Nightingale her leave of me;
+ I pray to God with her always to be,
+ And joy of love to send her evermore;
+ And shield us from the Cuckoo and her lore,
+ For there is not so false a bird as she. 260
+
+ LIII Forth then she flew, the gentle Nightingale,
+ To all the Birds that lodged within that dale,
+ And gathered each and all into one place;
+ And them besought to hear her doleful case,
+ And thus it was that she began her tale. 265
+
+ LIV The Cuckoo--'tis not well that I should hide
+ How she and I did each the other chide,
+ And without ceasing, since it was daylight;
+ And now I pray you all to do me right
+ Of that false Bird whom Love can not abide. 270
+
+ LV Then spake one Bird, and full assent all gave;
+ This matter asketh counsel good as grave,
+ For birds we are--all here together brought;
+ And, in good sooth, the Cuckoo here is not;
+ And therefore we a Parliament will have. 275
+
+ LVI And thereat shall the Eagle be our Lord,
+ And other Peers whose names are on record;
+ A summons to the Cuckoo shall be sent,
+ And judgment there be given; or that intent
+ Failing, we finally shall make accord. 280
+
+ LVII And all this shall be done, without a nay,
+ The morrow after Saint Valentine's day,
+ Under a maple that is well beseen,
+ Before the chamber-window of the Queen,
+ At Woodstock, on the meadow green and gay. 285
+
+ LVIII She thanked them; and then her leave she took,
+ And flew into a hawthorn by that brook;
+ And there she sate and sung--upon that tree--
+ "For term of life Love shall have hold of me"--
+ So loudly, that I with that song awoke. 290
+
+ Unlearned Book and rude, as well I know,
+ For beauty thou hast none, nor eloquence,
+ Who did on thee the hardiness bestow
+ To appear before my Lady? but a sense
+ Thou surely hast of her benevolence, 295
+ Whereof her hourly bearing proof doth give;
+ For of all good she is the best alive.
+
+ Alas, poor Book! for thy unworthiness,
+ To show to her some pleasant meanings writ
+ In winning words, since through her gentiless, [5] 300
+ Thee she accepts as for her service fit!
+ Oh! it repents me I have neither wit
+ Nor leisure unto thee more worth to give;
+ For of all good she is the best alive.
+
+ Beseech her meekly with all lowliness, 305
+ Though I be far from her I reverence,
+ To think upon my truth and stedfastness,
+ And to abridge my sorrow's violence,
+ Caused by the wish, as knows your sapience,
+ She of her liking proof to me would give; 310
+ For of all good she is the best alive.
+
+L'ENVOY Pleasure's Aurora, Day of gladsomeness!
+ Luna by night, with heavenly influence
+ Illumined! root of beauty and goodnesse,
+ Write, and allay, by your beneficence, 315
+ My sighs breathed forth in silence,--comfort give!
+ Since of all good, you are the best alive.
+
+ EXPLICIT
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1: In 1819 Wordsworth wrote the opening stanza of his version
+of 'The Cuckoo and the Nightingale', in the album of Mrs. Calvert at
+Keswick, thus:
+
+ 'The God of Love--ah, benedicite!'
+ How mighty and how great a Lord is He!
+ High can he make the heart that's low and poor,
+ And high hearts low--through pains that they endure,
+ And hard hearts, He can make them kind and free.
+
+ W. W., Nov. 27, 1819.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... have heard ... 1841.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1842
+
+ ... sorrow's ... 1841.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... gentleness ... 1841.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... gentleness, ... 1841.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The following extracts from Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal
+show the date of the composition of this poem.
+
+ "Sunday, 6th December 1801. A very fine beautiful sun-shiny morning.
+ William worked a while at Chaucer; then he set forward to walk into
+ Easdale.... In the afternoon I read Chaucer aloud."
+
+ "Monday, 7th.... William at work with Chaucer, 'The God of Love'...."
+
+ "8th November ... William worked at 'The Cuckoo and the Nightingale'
+ till he was tired."
+
+ "Wednesday, December 9th. I read 'Palemon and Arcite', William writing
+ out his alterations of Chaucer's 'Cuckoo and Nightingale'."
+
+The question as to whether 'The Cuckoo and the Nightingale' was written
+by Chaucer or not, may be solved either way without affecting the
+literary value of Wordsworth's "modernisation" of it.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: In 'The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer Modernised'.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C:
+
+ "In 'The Cuckoo and Nightingale', a poem of the third of May--a date
+ corresponding to the mid-May, the very heart of May according to our
+ modern reckoning--the poet after a wakeful night rises, and goes forth
+ at dawn, and comes to a 'laund' or plain 'of white and green.'
+
+ 'So feire oon had I nevere in bene,
+ The grounde was grene, y poudred with dayse,
+ The floures and the gras ilike al hie,
+ Al grene and white, was nothing elles sene.'
+
+ Nothing seen but the short green grass and the white daisies,--grass
+ and daisies being of equal height. Unfortunately in Tyrwhitt's text
+ the description is nonsensical,
+
+ 'The flowres and the greves like hie.'
+
+ The daisy flowers are as high as the _groves_! Wordsworth retained the
+ groves, but refused to make daisies of equal height with them.
+
+ 'Tall were the flowers, the grove a lofty cover,
+ All green and white; and nothing else was seen.'"
+
+(Professor Dowden, in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth Society'. No.
+III.)--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D:
+
+ "In Chaucer's poem, after 'the cuckoo, bird unholy,' has said his evil
+ say, the Nightingale breaks forth 'so lustily,'
+
+ 'That with her clere voys she made rynge
+ Thro out alle the grene wode wide,'
+
+ Wordsworth has taken a poet's licence with these lines:
+
+ 'I heard the lusty Nightingale so sing,
+ That her clear voice made 'a loud rioting',
+ Echoing through all the green wood wide.'
+
+ This 'loud rioting' is Wordsworth's, not Chaucer's; and it belongs, as
+ it were, to that other passage of his:
+
+ 'O Nightingale, thou surely art
+ A creature of a fiery heart,
+ These notes of thine--they pierce and pierce;
+ Tumultuous harmony and fierce!
+ Thou sing'st as if the God of wine
+ Had helped thee to a Valentine.'"
+
+(Professor Dowden, in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth Society', No.
+III.)--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote E: From a manuscript in the Bodleian, as are also stanzas 44
+and 45--W. W.
+
+(1841), which are necessary to complete the sense--W. W. (added in
+1842).]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TROILUS AND CRESIDA
+
+
+Translated 1801.--Published 1841 [A]
+
+
+
+
+ Next morning Troilus began to clear
+ His eyes from sleep, at the first break of day,
+ And unto Pandarus, his own Brother dear,
+ For love of God, full piteously did say,
+ We must the Palace see of Cresida; 5
+ For since we yet may have no other feast,
+ Let us behold her Palace at the least!
+
+ And therewithal to cover his intent
+ A cause he found into the Town to go, [B]
+ And they right forth to Cresid's Palace went; 10
+ But, Lord, this simple Troilus was woe,
+ Him thought his sorrowful heart would break [1] in two;
+ For when he saw her doors fast bolted all,
+ Well nigh for sorrow down he 'gan to fall.
+
+ Therewith when this true Lover 'gan behold, 15
+ How shut was every window of the place,
+ Like frost he thought his heart was icy cold;
+ For which, with changed, pale, and deadly face,
+ Without word uttered, forth he 'gan to pace;
+ And on his purpose bent so fast to ride, 20
+ That no wight his continuance espied. [C]
+
+ Then said he thus,--O Palace desolate!
+ O house of houses, once so richly dight!
+ O Palace empty and disconsolate!
+ Thou lamp of which extinguished is the light; 25
+ O Palace whilom day that now art night,
+ Thou ought'st to fall and I to die; since she
+ Is gone who held us both in sovereignty.
+
+ O, of all houses once the crowned boast!
+ Palace illumined with the sun of bliss; 30
+ O ring of which the ruby now is lost,
+ O cause of woe, that cause has [2] been of bliss:
+ Yet, since I may no better, would I kiss
+ Thy cold doors; but I dare not for this rout;
+ Farewell, thou shrine of which the Saint is out! 35
+
+ Therewith he cast on Pandarus an eye, [3]
+ With changed face, and piteous to behold;
+ And when he might his time aright espy,
+ Aye as he rode, to Pandarus he told
+ Both his new sorrow and his joys of old, 40
+ So piteously, and with so dead a hue,
+ That every wight might on his sorrow rue.
+
+ Forth from the spot he rideth up and down,
+ And everything to his rememberance
+ Came as he rode by places of the town 45
+ Where he had felt such perfect pleasure once.
+ Lo, yonder saw I mine own Lady dance,
+ And in that Temple she with her bright eyes,
+ My Lady dear, first bound me captive-wise.
+
+ And yonder with joy-smitten heart have I 50
+ Heard my own Cresid's laugh; and once at play
+ I yonder saw her eke full blissfully;
+ And yonder once she unto me 'gan say--
+ Now, my sweet Troilus, love me well, I pray!
+ And there so graciously did me behold, 55
+ That hers unto the death my heart I hold.
+
+ And at the corner of that self-same house
+ Heard I my most beloved Lady dear,
+ So womanly, with voice melodious
+ Singing so well, so goodly, and so clear, 60
+ That in my soul methinks I yet do hear
+ The blissful sound; and in that very place
+ My Lady first me took unto her grace.
+
+ O blissful God of Love! then thus he cried,
+ When I the process have in memory, 65
+ How thou hast wearied [D] me on every side,
+ Men thence a book might make, a history;
+ What need to seek a conquest over me,
+ Since I am wholly at thy will? what joy
+ Hast thou thy own liege subjects to destroy? 70
+
+ Dread Lord! so fearful when provoked, thine ire
+ Well hast thou wreaked on me by pain and grief;
+ Now mercy, Lord! thou know'st well I desire
+ Thy grace above all pleasures first and chief;
+ And live and die I will in thy belief; 75
+ For which I ask for guerdon but one boon,
+ That Cresida again thou send me soon.
+
+ Constrain her heart as quickly to return,
+ As thou dost mine with longing her to see,
+ Then know I well that she would not sojourn. 80
+ Now, blissful Lord, so cruel do not be
+ Unto the blood of Troy, I pray of thee,
+ As Juno was unto the Theban blood,
+ From whence to Thebes came griefs in multitude.
+
+ And after this he to the gate did go 85
+ Whence Cresid rode, as if in haste she was;
+ And up and down there went, and to and fro,
+ And to himself full oft he said, alas!
+ From hence my hope, and solace forth did pass.
+ O would the blissful God now for his joy, 90
+ I might her see again coming to Troy!
+
+ And up to yonder hill was I her guide;
+ Alas, and there I took of her my leave;
+ Yonder I saw her to her Father ride,
+ For very grief of which my heart shall cleave;--95
+ And hither home I came when it was eve;
+ And here I dwell an outcast from all joy,
+ And shall, unless I see her soon in Troy.
+
+ And of himself did he imagine oft,
+ That he was blighted, pale, and waxen less 100
+ Than he was wont; and that in whispers soft
+ Men said, what may it be, can no one guess
+ Why Troilus hath all this heaviness?
+ All which he of himself conceited wholly
+ Out of his weakness and his melancholy. 105
+
+ Another time he took into his head,
+ That every wight, who in the way passed by,
+ Had of him ruth, and fancied that they said,
+ I am right sorry Troilus will die:
+ And thus a day or two drove wearily; 110
+ As ye have heard; such life 'gan he to lead
+ As one that standeth betwixt hope and dread.
+
+ For which it pleased him in his songs to show
+ The occasion of his woe, as best he might;
+ And made a fitting song, of words [4] but few, 115
+ Somewhat his woeful heart to make more light;
+ And when he was removed from all men's sight,
+ With a soft night voice, [5] he of his Lady dear,
+ That absent was, 'gan sing as ye may hear.
+
+ O star, of which I lost have all the light, 120
+ With a sore heart well ought I to bewail,
+ That ever dark in torment, night by night,
+ Toward my death with wind I steer and sail; [E]
+ For which upon the tenth night if thou fail
+ With thy bright beams to guide me but one hour, 125
+ My ship and me Charybdis will devour.
+
+ As soon as he this song had thus sung through,
+ He fell again into his sorrows old;
+ And every night, as was his wont to do,
+ Troilus stood the bright moon to behold; 130
+ And all his trouble to the moon he told,
+ And said; I wis, when thou art horn'd anew,
+ I shall be glad if all the world be true.
+
+ Thy horns were old as now upon that morrow,
+ When hence did journey my bright Lady dear, 135
+ That cause is of my torment and my sorrow;
+ For which, oh, gentle Luna, bright and clear,
+ For love of God, run fast above [F] thy sphere;
+ For when thy horns begin once more to spring,
+ Then shall she come, that with her bliss may bring. 140
+
+ The day is more, and longer every night
+ Than they were wont to be--for he thought so;
+ And that the sun did take his course not right,
+ By longer way than he was wont to go;
+ And said, I am in constant dread I trow, 145
+ That Phaeeton his son is yet alive,
+ His too fond father's car amiss to drive.
+
+ Upon the walls fast also would he walk,
+ To the end that he the Grecian host might see;
+ And ever thus he to himself would talk:--150
+ Lo! yonder is my [6] own bright Lady free;
+ Or yonder is it that the tents must be;
+ And thence does come this air which is so sweet,
+ That in my soul I feel the joy of it.
+
+ And certainly this wind, that more and more 155
+ By moments thus increaseth in my face,
+ Is of my Lady's sighs heavy and sore;
+ I prove it thus; for in no other space
+ Of all this town, save only in this place,
+ Feel I a wind, that soundeth so like pain; 160
+ It saith, Alas, why severed are we twain?
+
+ A weary while in pain he tosseth thus,
+ Till fully past and gone was the ninth night;
+ And ever [7] at his side stood Pandarus,
+ Who busily made use of all his might 165
+ To comfort him, and make his heart more light; [8]
+ Giving him always hope, that she the morrow
+ Of the tenth day will come, and end his sorrow.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... burst 1841.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... hast ... 1841.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... his eye, 1841.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... whose words ... 1841.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1842.
+
+ With a soft voice, ... 1841.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... mine ... 1841.]
+
+
+[Variant 7: The "even" of 1841 is evidently a misprint.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... too light; 1841.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: In 'The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer Modernised'. It is an
+extract from 'Troilus and Cressida', book v. ll. 518-686.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B:
+
+ "Chaucer's text is:
+
+ 'And therwithalle his meynye for to blende
+ A cause he fonde in toune for to go.'
+
+ 'His meynye for to blende,' i. e. to keep his household or his
+ domestics in the dark. But Wordsworth writes:
+
+ 'And therewithal to cover his _intent_,'
+
+ possibly mistaking 'meynye' for 'meaning'."
+
+(Professor Dowden, in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth Society', No.
+III.)--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C:
+
+ "When Troilus sees the shut windows and desolate aspect of his lady's
+ house, his face grows blanched, and he rides past in haste, so fast,
+ says Wordsworth,
+
+ 'That no wight his continuance espied.'
+
+ But in Chaucer he rides fast that his white face may not be noticed:
+
+ 'And as God wolde he gan so faste ride
+ That no wight of his countenance espied.'"
+
+(Professor Dowden, in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth Society', No.
+III.)--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D: In Chaucer "werreyed" = warred on = fought against.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote E:
+
+ "'Toward my death with wind I steer and sail.'
+
+ This is Urry's version, but Chaucer's text is,
+
+ 'Toward my death, with wind _in stern_ I sail,'
+
+ Troilus' bark careering towards death, with all sails set, before a
+ fierce stern-wind."
+
+(Professor Dowden, in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth Society', No.
+III.)--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote F: In Chaucer "aboute" = around.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+1802
+
+
+The Lyrical Ballads and Sonnets which follow were written
+in 1802; but during that year Wordsworth continued mainly to
+work at 'The Excursion', as the following extracts from his sister's
+Journal indicate:
+
+ "Feb. 1, 1802.--William worked hard at 'The Pedlar,' and tired
+ himself.
+
+ 2nd Feb.--Wm. worked at 'The Pedlar.' I read aloud the 11th book of
+ 'Paradise Lost'.
+
+ Thursday, 4th.--William thought a little about 'The Pedlar.'
+
+ 5th.--Wm. sate up late at 'The Pedlar.'
+
+ 7th.--W. was working at his poem. Wm. read 'The Pedlar,' thinking it
+ was done. But lo! ... it was uninteresting, and must be altered."
+
+Similar records occur each day in the Journal from the 10th to the 14th
+Feb. 1802.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SAILOR'S MOTHER
+
+
+Composed March 11th and 12th, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written in Town-end, Grasmere. I met this woman near the Wishing-gate,
+on the high road that then led from Grasmere to Ambleside. Her
+appearance was exactly as here described, and such was her account,
+nearly to the letter.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems founded on the Affections."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ One morning (raw it was and wet--
+ A foggy day in winter time)
+ A Woman on [1] the road I met,
+ Not old, though something past her prime:
+ Majestic in her person, tall and straight; 5
+ And like a Roman matron's was her mien and gait.
+
+ The ancient spirit is not dead;
+ Old times, thought I, are breathing there;
+ Proud was I that my country bred
+ Such strength, a dignity so fair: 10
+ She begged an alms, like one in poor estate;
+ I looked at her again, nor did my pride abate.
+
+ When from these lofty thoughts I woke,
+ "What is it," said I, "that you bear,
+ Beneath the covert of your Cloak, 15
+ Protected from this cold damp air?" [2]
+ She answered, soon as she the question heard,
+ "A simple burthen, Sir, a little Singing-bird."
+
+ And, thus continuing, she said,
+ "I had a Son, who many a day 20
+ Sailed on the seas, but he is dead; [3]
+ In Denmark he was cast away:
+ And I have travelled weary miles to see
+ If aught which he had owned might still remain for me. [4]
+
+ "The bird and cage they both were his: 25
+ 'Twas my Son's bird; and neat and trim
+ He kept it: many voyages
+ The singing-bird had gone [5] with him;
+ When last he sailed, he left the bird behind;
+ From bodings, as might be, that hung upon his mind. [6] 30
+
+ "He to a fellow-lodger's care
+ Had left it, to be watched and fed,
+ And pipe its song in safety;--there [7]
+ I found it when my Son was dead;
+ And now, God help me for my little wit! 35
+ I bear [8] it with me, Sir;--he took so much delight in it."
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... in ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... I woke,
+ With the first word I had to spare
+ I said to her, "Beneath your Cloak
+ What's that which on your arm you bear?" 1807.
+
+ "What treasure," said I,"do you bear,
+ Beneath the covert of your Cloak
+ Protected from the cold damp air?" 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1807.
+
+ "I had a Son,--the waves might roar,
+ He feared them not, a Sailor gay!
+ But he will cross the waves no more: 1820.
+
+ ... cross the deep ... 1827.
+
+The text of 1832 returns to that of 1807. [a]]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ And I have been as far as Hull, to see
+ What clothes he might have left, or other property. 1807.
+
+ And I have travelled far as Hull, to see 1815.
+
+ And I have travelled many miles to see
+ If aught which he had owned might still remain for me. 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1845.
+
+ This Singing-bird hath gone ... 1807.
+
+ ... had gone ... 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ As it might be, perhaps, from bodings of his mind. 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1827.
+
+ Till he came back again; and there 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1827.
+
+ I trail ... 1807.]
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Footnote a: This return, in 1832, to the original text of the poem
+was due to Barren Field's criticism, the justice of which Wordsworth
+admitted.--Ed.]
+
+
+In the Wordsworth household this poem went by the name
+of "The Singing Bird" as well as 'The Sailor's Mother'.
+
+ "Thursday (March 11th).--A fine morning. William worked at the poem of
+ 'The Singing Bird.' ..."
+
+ "Friday (March 12th).--William finished his poem of 'The Singing
+ Bird.'"
+
+
+(Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal.)--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+ALICE FELL; OR, POVERTY [A]
+
+
+Composed March 12th and 13th, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written to gratify Mr. Graham of Glasgow, brother of the author of 'The
+Sabbath'. He was a zealous coadjutor of Mr. Clarkson, and a man of
+ardent humanity. The incident had happened to himself, and he urged me
+to put it into verse, for humanity's sake. The humbleness, meanness if
+you like, of the subject, together with the homely mode of treating it,
+brought upon me a world of ridicule by the small critics, so that in
+policy I excluded it from many editions of my poems, till it was
+restored at the request of some of my friends, in particular my
+son-in-law, Edward Quillinan.--I.F.]
+
+It was only excluded from the editions of 1820, 1827, and 1832. In the
+edition of 1807 it was placed amongst a group of "Poems composed during
+a Tour, chiefly on foot." In 1815, in 1836, and afterwards, it was
+included in the group "referring to the Period of Childhood."
+
+In Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal, the following reference to
+this poem occurs:
+
+ "Feb. 16, 1802.--Mr. Graham said he wished William had been with him
+ the other day. He was riding in a post-chaise, and he heard a strange
+ cry that he could not understand. The sound continued, and he called
+ to the chaise-driver to stop. It was a little girl that was crying as
+ if her heart would burst. She had got up behind the chaise, and her
+ cloak had been caught by the wheel, and was jammed in, and it hung
+ there. She was crying after it, poor thing. Mr. Graham took her into
+ the chaise, and her cloak was released from the wheel, but the child's
+ misery did not cease, for her cloak was torn to rags. It had been a
+ miserable cloak before; but she had no other, and it was the greatest
+ sorrow that could befall her. Her name was Alice Fell. She had no
+ parents, and belonged to the next town. At the next town Mr. G. left
+ money to buy her a new cloak."
+
+ "Friday (March 12).--In the evening after tea William wrote 'Alice
+ Fell'."
+
+ "Saturday Morning (13th March).--William finished 'Alice Fell'...."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ The post-boy drove with fierce career,
+ For threatening clouds the moon had drowned;
+ When, as we hurried on, my ear
+ Was smitten with a startling sound. [1]
+
+ As if the wind blew many ways, 5
+ I heard the sound,--and more and more;
+ It seemed to follow with the chaise,
+ And still I heard it as before.
+
+ At length I to the boy called out;
+ He stopped his horses at the word, 10
+ But neither cry, nor voice, nor shout,
+ Nor aught else like it, could be heard.
+
+ The boy then smacked his whip, and fast
+ The horses scampered through the rain;
+ But, hearing soon upon the blast 15
+ The cry, I bade him halt again. [2]
+
+ Forthwith alighting on the ground,
+ "Whence comes," said I, "this piteous moan?" [3]
+ And there a little Girl I found,
+ Sitting behind the chaise, alone. 20
+
+ "My cloak!" no other word she spake,
+ But loud and bitterly she wept,
+ As if her innocent heart would break; [4]
+ And down from off her seat [5] she leapt.
+
+ "What ails you, child?"--she sobbed "Look here!" 25
+ I saw it in the wheel entangled,
+ A weather-beaten rag as e'er
+ From any garden scare-crow dangled.
+
+ There, twisted between nave and spoke,
+ It hung, nor could at once be freed; 30
+ But our joint pains unloosed the cloak, [6]
+ A miserable rag indeed! [7]
+
+ "And whither are you going, child,
+ To-night along these lonesome ways?"
+ "To Durham," answered she, half wild--35
+ "Then come with me into the chaise."
+
+ Insensible to all relief
+ Sat the poor girl, and forth did send
+ Sob after sob, as if her grief [8]
+ Could never, never have an end. 40
+
+ "My child, in Durham do you dwell?"
+ She checked herself in her distress,
+ And said, "My name is Alice Fell;
+ I'm fatherless and motherless.
+
+ "And I to Durham, Sir, belong." 45
+ Again, [9] as if the thought would choke
+ Her very heart, her grief grew strong;
+ And all was for her tattered cloak!
+
+ The chaise drove on; our journey's end
+ Was nigh; and, sitting by my side, 50
+ As if she had lost [10] her only friend
+ She wept, nor would be pacified.
+
+ Up to the tavern-door we post;
+ Of Alice and her grief I told;
+ And I gave money to the host, 55
+ To buy a new cloak for the old.
+
+ "And let it be of duffil grey,
+ As warm a cloak as man can sell!"
+ Proud creature was she the next day,
+ The little orphan, Alice Fell! 60
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ When suddenly I seem'd to hear
+ A moan, a lamentable sound. 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ And soon I heard upon the blast
+ The voice, and bade .... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1845.
+
+ Said I, alighting on the ground,
+ "What can it be, this piteous moan?" 1807.
+
+ Forthwith alighted on the ground
+ To learn what voice the piteous moan
+ Had made, a little girl I found, C.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ "My Cloak!" the word was last and first,
+ And loud and bitterly she wept,
+ As if her very heart would burst; 1807.
+
+ "My cloak, my cloak" she cried, and spake
+ No other word, but loudly wept, C.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... off the Chaise ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1845.
+
+ 'Twas twisted betwixt nave and spoke;
+ Her help she lent, and with good heed
+ Together we released the Cloak; 1807.
+
+ ... between ... 1840.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1836.
+
+ A wretched, wretched rag indeed! 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1845.
+
+ She sate like one past all relief;
+ Sob after sob she forth did send
+ In wretchedness, as if her grief 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1836.
+
+ And then, ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... she'd lost ... 1807.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: There was no sub-title in the edition of 1807.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+Charles Lamb wrote to Wordsworth in 1815, referring to
+the revisions of this and other poems:
+
+ "I am glad that you have not sacrificed a verse to those scoundrels. I
+ would not have had you offer up the poorest rag that lingered upon the
+ stript shoulders of little Alice Fell, to have atoned all their
+ malice; I would not have given 'em a red cloak to save their souls."
+
+See 'Letters of Charles Lamb' (Ainger), vol. i. p. 283.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+BEGGARS
+
+
+Composed March 13th and 14th, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. Met, and described to me by my sister,
+near the quarry at the head of Rydal Lake, [A] a place still a chosen
+resort of vagrants travelling with their families.--I.F.]
+
+The following are Dorothy Wordsworth's references to this poem in her
+Grasmere Journal. They justify the remark of the late Bishop of Lincoln,
+
+ "his poems are sometimes little more than poetical versions of her
+ descriptions of the objects which she had seen, _and he treated them
+ as seen by himself_."
+
+(See
+'Memoirs of Wordsworth', vol. i. pp. 180-1.)
+
+ "Saturday (March 13, 1802).--William wrote the poem of the Beggar
+ Woman, taken from a woman whom I had seen in May (now nearly two years
+ ago), when John and he were at Gallow Hill. I sat with him at
+ intervals all the morning, and took down his stanzas. After tea I read
+ W. the account I had written of the little boy belonging to the tall
+ woman: and an unlucky thing it was, for he could not escape from those
+ very words, and so he could not write the poem. He left it unfinished,
+ and went tired to bed. In our walk from Rydal he had got warmed with
+ the subject, and had half cast the poem."
+
+ "Sunday Morning (March 14).--William had slept badly. He got up at 9
+ o'clock, but before he rose he had finished the Beggar Boy."
+
+The following is the "account" written in her Journal on Tuesday, May
+23, 1800:
+
+ "A very tall woman, tall much beyond the measure of tall women, called
+ at the door. She had on a very long brown cloak, and a very white cap,
+ without bonnet. Her face was brown, but it had plainly once been fair.
+ She led a little barefooted child about two years old by the hand, and
+ said her husband, who was a tinker, was gone before with the other
+ children. I gave her a piece of bread. Afterwards, on my road to
+ Ambleside, beside the bridge at Rydal, I saw her husband sitting at
+ the roadside, his two asses standing beside him, and the two young
+ children at play upon the grass. The man did not beg. I passed on, and
+ about a quarter of a mile farther I saw two boys before me, one about
+ ten, the other about eight years old, at play, chasing a butterfly.
+ They were wild figures, not very ragged, but without shoes and
+ stockings. The hat of the elder was wreathed round with yellow
+ flowers; the younger, whose hat was only a rimless crown, had stuck it
+ round with laurel leaves. They continued at play till I drew very
+ near, and then they addressed me with the begging cant and the whining
+ voice of sorrow. I said, 'I served your mother this morning' (the boys
+ were so like the woman who had called at our door that I could not be
+ mistaken). 'O,' says the elder, 'you could not serve my mother, for
+ she's dead, and my father's in at the next town; he's a potter.' I
+ persisted in my assertion, and that I would give them nothing. Says
+ the elder, 'Come, let's away,' and away they flew like lightning. They
+ had, however, sauntered so long in their road that they did not reach
+ Ambleside before me, and I saw them go up to Mathew Harrison's house
+ with their wallet upon the elder's shoulder, and creeping with a
+ beggar's complaining foot. On my return through Ambleside I met, in
+ the street, the mother driving her asses, in the two panniers of one
+ of which were the two little children, whom she was chiding and
+ threatening with a wand with which she used to drive on her asses,
+ while the little things hung in wantonness over the pannier's edge.
+ The woman had told me in the morning that she was of Scotland, which
+ her accent fully proved, and that she had lived (I think at Wigtown);
+ that they could not keep a house, and so they travelled."
+
+This was one of the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ She had a tall man's height or more;
+ Her face from summer's noontide heat
+ No bonnet shaded, but she wore
+ A mantle, to her very feet
+ Descending with a graceful flow, 5
+ And on her head a cap as white as new-fallen snow. [1]
+
+ Her skin was of Egyptian brown:
+ Haughty, as if her eye had seen
+ Its own light to a distance thrown,
+ She towered, fit person for a Queen [2] 10
+ To lead [3] those ancient Amazonian files;
+ Or ruling Bandit's wife among the Grecian isles.
+
+ Advancing, forth she stretched her hand
+ And begged an alms with doleful plea
+ That ceased not; on our English land 15
+ Such woes, I knew, could never be; [4]
+ And yet a boon I gave her, for the creature
+ Was beautiful to see--a weed of glorious feature. [B]
+
+ I left her, and pursued my way;
+ And soon before me did espy 20
+ A pair of little Boys at play,
+ Chasing a crimson butterfly;
+ The taller followed with his hat in hand,
+ Wreathed round with yellow flowers the gayest of the land. [5]
+
+ The other wore a rimless crown 25
+ With leaves of laurel stuck about;
+ And, while both [6] followed up and down,
+ Each whooping with a merry shout,
+ In their fraternal features I could trace
+ Unquestionable lines of that wild Suppliant's face. [7] 30
+
+ Yet _they_, so blithe of heart, seemed fit [8]
+ For finest tasks of earth or air:
+ Wings let them have, and they might flit
+ Precursors to [9] Aurora's car,
+ Scattering fresh flowers; though happier far, I ween, 35
+ To hunt their fluttering game o'er rock and level green.
+
+ They dart across my path--but lo, [10]
+ Each ready with a plaintive whine!
+ Said I, "not half an hour ago
+ Your Mother has had alms of mine." 40
+ "That cannot be," one answered--"she is dead:"--
+ I looked reproof--they saw--but neither hung his head. [11]
+
+ "She has been dead, Sir, many a day."--
+ "Hush, boys! you're telling me a lie; [12]
+ It was your Mother, as I say!" 45
+ And, in the twinkling of an eye,
+ "Come! come!" cried one, and without more ado,
+ Off to some other play the joyous Vagrants flew! [13] [C]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ She had a tall Man's height, or more;
+ No bonnet screen'd her from the heat;
+ A long drab-colour'd Cloak she wore,
+ A Mantle reaching to her feet:
+ What other dress she had I could not know;
+ Only she wore a Cap that was as white as snow. 1807.
+
+ Before me as the Wanderer stood,
+ No bonnet screened her from the heat;
+ Nor claimed she service from the hood
+ Of a blue mantle, to her feet
+ Depending with a graceful flow;
+ Only she wore a cap pure as unsullied snow. 1827.
+
+ Before my eyes a Wanderer stood;
+ Her face from summer's noon-day heat
+ Nor bonnet shaded, nor the hood
+ Of that blue cloak which to her feet
+ Depended with a graceful flow;
+ Only she wore a cap as white as new-fallen snow. 1832.
+
+ No bonnet shaded, nor the hood
+ Of the blue cloak ... 1836.
+
+ She had a tall man's height or more;
+ And while, 'mid April's noontide heat,
+ A long blue cloak the vagrant wore,
+ A mantle reaching to her feet,
+ No bonnet screened her lofty brow,
+ Only she wore a cap as white as new-fallen snow. C.
+
+ She had a tall man's height or more;
+ A garment for her stature meet,
+ And for a vagrant life, she wore
+ A mantle reaching to her feet.
+ Nor hood, nor bonnet screened her lofty brow, C.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ In all my walks, through field or town,
+ Such Figure had I never seen:
+ Her face was of Egyptian brown:
+ Fit person was she for a Queen, 1807.
+
+ Such figure had I never seen
+ In all my walks through field or town,
+ Fit person seemed she for a Queen, C.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+
+ To head ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1845.
+
+ Before me begging did she stand,
+ Pouring out sorrows like a sea;
+ Grief after grief:--on English Land
+ Such woes I knew could never be; 1807.
+
+ Her suit no faltering scruples checked;
+ Forth did she pour, in current free,
+ Tales that could challenge no respect
+ But from a blind credulity; 1827.
+
+ She begged an alms; no scruple checked
+ The current of her ready plea,
+ Words that could challenge ... 1832.
+
+ Before me begging did she stand
+ And boldly urged a doleful plea,
+ Grief after grief, on English land
+ Such woes I knew could never be. C.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1807.
+
+ With yellow flowers around, as with a golden band. C.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ And they both ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1820.
+
+ Two Brothers seem'd they, eight and ten years old;
+ And like that Woman's face as gold is like to gold. 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 8: This stanza was added in the edition of 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1836.
+
+ Precursors of ... 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1827.
+
+ They bolted on me thus, and lo! 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1827.
+
+ "Nay but I gave her pence, and she will buy you bread." 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1845.
+
+ "Sweet Boys, you're telling me a lie; 1807.
+
+ ... Heaven hears that rash reply; 1827.
+
+The text of 1807 was resumed in 1836.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... they both together flew. 1807.
+
+ ... the thoughtless vagrants flew. C.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The spot is easily identified, as the quarry still
+exists.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: In the MS. of this poem (1807) the words, "a weed of
+glorious feature," are placed within inverted commas. The quotation is
+from Spenser's 'Muiopotmos' ('The Fate of the Butterflie'), stanza 27;
+and is important, as it affects the meaning of the phrase. It is curious
+that Wordsworth dropped the commas in his subsequent editions.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: In Wordsworth's letter to Barron Field, of 24th October
+1828 (see the volumes containing his correspondence), a detailed account
+is given of the reasons which had led him to alter the text of this
+poem.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+SEQUEL TO THE FOREGOING,
+
+COMPOSED MANY YEARS AFTER
+
+
+Composed 1817.--Published 1827
+
+
+In the edition of 1840 the year assigned to this Sequel is 1817. It does
+not occur in the edition of 1820, but was first published in 1827. It
+was one of the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Where are they now, those wanton Boys?
+ For whose free range the daedal earth
+ Was filled with animated toys,
+ And implements of frolic mirth;
+ With tools for ready wit to guide; 5
+ And ornaments of seemlier pride,
+ More fresh, more bright, than princes wear;
+ For what one moment flung aside,
+ Another could repair;
+ What good or evil have they seen 10
+ Since I their pastime witnessed here,
+ Their daring wiles, their sportive cheer?
+ I ask--but all is dark between!
+ [1]
+
+ They met me in a genial hour,
+ When universal nature breathed 15
+ As with the breath of one sweet flower,--
+ A time to overrule the power
+ Of discontent, and check the birth
+ Of thoughts with better thoughts at strife,
+ The most familiar bane of life 20
+ Since parting Innocence bequeathed
+ Mortality to Earth!
+ Soft clouds, the whitest of the year,
+ Sailed through the sky--the brooks ran clear;
+ The lambs from rock to rock were bounding; 25
+ With songs the budded groves resounding;
+ And to my heart are still endeared
+ The thoughts with which it then was cheered; [2]
+ The faith which saw that gladsome pair
+ Walk through the fire with unsinged hair. 30
+ Or, if such faith [3] must needs deceive--
+ Then, Spirits of beauty and of grace, [A]
+ Associates in that eager chase;
+ Ye, who within the blameless mind
+ Your favourite seat of empire find--35
+ Kind Spirits! may we not believe
+ That they, so happy and so fair
+ Through your sweet influence, and the care
+ Of pitying Heaven, at least were free
+ From touch of _deadly_ injury? 40
+ Destined, whate'er their earthly doom,
+ For mercy and immortal bloom?
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+ Spirits of beauty and of grace!
+ Associates in that eager chase;
+ Ye, by a course to nature true,
+ The sterner judgment can subdue;
+ And waken a relenting smile
+ When she encounters fraud or guile;
+ And sometimes ye can charm away
+ The inward mischief, or allay,
+ Ye, who within the blameless mind
+ Your favourite seat of empire find!
+
+The above is a separate stanza in the editions of 1827 and 1832. Only
+the first two and the last two lines of this stanza were retained in the
+edition of 1836, and were then transferred to the place they occupy in
+the final text.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ And to my heart is still endeared
+ The faith with which ... 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... such thoughts ... 1827.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: This and the three following lines were placed here in the
+edition of 1836. See note to the previous page.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO A BUTTERFLY (#1)
+
+
+Composed March 14, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written in the Orchard, Town-end, Grasmere. My sister and I were parted
+immediately after the death of our mother, who died in 1778, both being
+very young.--I. F.]
+
+One of the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Stay near me--do not take thy flight!
+ A little longer stay in sight!
+ Much converse do I find in thee,
+ Historian of my infancy!
+ Float near me; do not yet depart! 5
+ Dead times revive in thee:
+ Thou bring'st, gay creature as thou art!
+ A solemn image to my heart,
+ My father's family!
+
+ Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days, 10
+ The time, when, in our childish plays,
+ My sister Emmeline [A] and I
+ Together chased the butterfly!
+ A very hunter did I rush
+ Upon the prey:--with leaps and springs 15
+ I followed on from brake to bush;
+ But she, God love her! feared to brush
+ The dust from off its wings.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: In the MS. for the edition of 1807 the transcriber (not W.
+W.) wrote "Dorothy." This, Wordsworth erased, putting in
+"Emmeline."--Ed.]
+
+
+The text of this poem was never changed. It refers to days of childhood
+spent at Cockermouth before 1778. "My sister Emmeline" is Dorothy
+Wordsworth. In her Grasmere Journal, of Sunday, March 14, 1802, the
+following occurs:
+
+ "While we were at breakfast he" (William) "wrote the poem 'To a
+ Butterfly'. He ate not a morsel, but sate with his shirt neck
+ unbuttoned, and his waistcoat open when he did it. The thought first
+ came upon him as we were talking about the pleasure we both always
+ felt at the sight of a butterfly. I told him that I used to chase them
+ a little, but that I was afraid of brushing the dust off their wings,
+ and did not catch them. He told me how he used to kill all the white
+ ones when he went to school, because they were Frenchmen. Mr. Simpson
+ came in just as he was finishing the poem. After he was gone, I wrote
+ it down, and the other poems, and I read them all over to him....
+ William began to try to alter 'The Butterfly', and tired himself."
+
+Compare the later poem 'To a Butterfly' (#2) (April 20), p. 297.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE EMIGRANT MOTHER
+
+
+Composed March 16th and 17th, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Suggested by what I have noticed in more than one French fugitive
+during the time of the French Revolution. If I am not mistaken the lines
+were composed at Sockburn when I was on a visit to Mary and her
+brothers.--I. F.]
+
+In the editions of 1807 and 1815, this poem had no distinctive title;
+but in the Wordsworth circle, it was known from the year 1802 as 'The
+Emigrant Mother', and at least one copy was transcribed with this title
+in 1802. It was first published under that name in 1820. It was revised
+and altered in 1820, 1827, 1832, 1836, and more especially in 1845.
+
+In Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal the following entries occur:
+
+ "Tuesday (March 16).--William went up into the orchard, and wrote a
+ part of 'The Emigrant Mother'."
+
+ "Wednesday.--William went up into the orchard, and finished the
+ poem.... I went and sate with W., and walked backwards and forwards in
+ the orchard till dinner-time. He read me his poem."
+
+This poem was included among those "founded on the Affections."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Once in a lonely hamlet I sojourned
+ In which a Lady driven from France did dwell;
+ The big and lesser griefs with which she mourned,
+ In friendship she to me would often tell.
+
+ This Lady, [1] dwelling upon British [2] ground, 5
+ Where she was childless, daily would [3] repair
+ To a poor neighbouring cottage; as I found,
+ For sake of a young Child whose home was there.
+
+ Once having seen her clasp with fond embrace
+ This Child, I chanted to myself a lay, 10
+ Endeavouring, in our English tongue, to trace
+ Such things as she unto the Babe might say: [4]
+ And thus, from what I heard and knew, or guessed, [5]
+ My song the workings of her heart expressed.
+
+ I "Dear Babe, thou daughter of another, 15
+ One moment let me be thy mother!
+ An infant's face and looks are thine
+ And sure a mother's heart is mine:
+ Thy own dear mother's far away,
+ At labour in the harvest field: 20
+ Thy little sister is at play;--
+ What warmth, what comfort would it yield
+ To my poor heart, if thou wouldst be
+ One little hour a child to me!
+
+ II "Across the waters I am come, 25
+ And I have left a babe at home:
+ A long, long way of land and sea!
+ Come to me--I'm no enemy:
+ I am the same who at thy side
+ Sate yesterday, and made a nest 30
+ For thee, sweet Baby!--thou hast tried,
+ Thou know'st the pillow of my breast;
+ Good, good art thou:--alas! to me
+ Far more than I can be to thee.
+
+ III "Here, little Darling, dost thou lie; 35
+ An infant thou, a mother I!
+ Mine wilt thou be, thou hast no fears;
+ Mine art thou--spite of these my tears.
+ Alas! before I left the spot,
+ My baby and its dwelling-place; 40
+ The nurse said to me, 'Tears should not
+ Be shed upon an infant's face,
+ It was unlucky'--no, no, no;
+ No truth is in them who say so!
+
+ IV "My own dear Little-one will sigh, 45
+ Sweet Babe! and they will let him die.
+ 'He pines,' they'll say, 'it is his doom,
+ And you may see his hour is come.'
+ Oh! had he but thy cheerful smiles,
+ Limbs stout as thine, and lips as gay, 50
+ Thy looks, thy cunning, and thy wiles,
+ And countenance like a summer's day,
+ They would have hopes of him;--and then
+ I should behold his face again!
+
+ V "'Tis gone--like dreams that we forget; 55
+ There was a smile or two--yet--yet [6]
+ I can remember them, I see
+ The smiles, worth all the world to me.
+ Dear Baby! I must lay thee down;
+ Thou troublest me with strange alarms; 60
+ Smiles hast thou, bright [7] ones of thy own;
+ I cannot keep thee in my arms;
+ For they confound me;--where--where is
+ That last, that sweetest smile of his? [8]
+
+ VI "Oh! how I love thee!--we will stay 65
+ Together here this one half day.
+ My sister's child, who bears my name,
+ From France to sheltering England came; [9]
+ She with her mother crossed the sea;
+ The babe and mother near me dwell: 70
+ Yet does my yearning heart to thee
+ Turn rather, though I love her well: [10]
+ Rest, little Stranger, rest thee here!
+ Never was any child more dear!
+
+ VII "--I cannot help it; ill intent 75
+ I've none, my pretty Innocent!
+ I weep--I know they do thee wrong,
+ These tears--and my poor idle tongue.
+ Oh, what a kiss was that! my cheek
+ How cold it is! but thou art good; So 80
+ Thine eyes are on me--they would speak,
+ I think, to help me if they could. [11]
+ Blessings upon that soft, warm face, [12]
+ My heart again is in its place!
+
+VIII
+
+ "While thou art mine, my little Love, 85
+ This cannot be a sorrowful grove;
+ Contentment, hope, and mother's glee, [13]
+ I seem to find them all in thee: [14]
+ Here's grass to play with, here are flowers;
+ I'll call thee by my darling's name; 90
+ Thou hast, I think, a look of ours,
+ Thy features seem to me the same;
+ His little sister thou shalt be;
+ And, when once more my home I see,
+ I'll tell him many tales of Thee." 95
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ This Mother ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... English ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... did ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1845.
+
+ Once did I see her clasp the Child about,
+ And take it to herself; and I, next day,
+ Wish'd in my native tongue to fashion out
+ Such things as she unto this Child might say: 1807.
+
+ Once did I see her take with fond embrace
+ This Infant to herself; and I, next day,
+ Endeavoured in my native tongue to trace
+ Such things as she unto the Child might say: 1820.
+
+ Once, having seen her take with fond embrace
+ This Infant to herself, I framed a lay,
+ Endeavouring, in my native tongue, to trace 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1845.
+
+ And thus, from what I knew, had heard, and guess'd, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1820.
+
+ 'Tis gone--forgotten--let me do
+ My best--there was a smile or two, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... sweet ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1836.
+
+ For they confound me: as it is,
+ I have forgot those smiles of his. 1807.
+
+ For they bewilder me--even now
+ _His_ smiles are lost,--I know not how! 1820.
+
+ By those bewildering glances crost
+ In which the light of his is lost. [a] 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1827.
+
+ From France across the Ocean came; 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1845.
+
+ My Darling, she is not to me
+ What thou art! though I love her well: 1807.
+
+ But to my heart she cannot be 1836.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1807.
+
+ And I grow happy while I speak,
+ Kiss, kiss me, Baby, thou art good. MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... that quiet face, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1807.
+
+ A Joy, a Comforter thou art;
+ Sunshine and pleasure to my heart;
+ And love and hope and mother's glee, MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1807.
+
+ My yearnings are allayed by thee,
+ My heaviness is turned to glee. MS.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Footnote a: In a letter to Barron Field (24th Oct. 1828),
+Wordsworth says that his substitution of the text of 1827 for that of
+1807, was due to the objections of Coleridge.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO THE CUCKOO
+
+
+Composed 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Composed in the Orchard at Town-end, 1804.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ O blithe New-comer! I have heard,
+ I hear thee and rejoice.
+ O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird,
+ Or but a wandering Voice? [A]
+
+ While I am lying on the grass 5
+ Thy twofold shout I hear,
+ From hill to hill it seems to pass,
+ At once far off, and near. [1]
+
+ Though babbling only to the Vale,
+ Of sunshine and of flowers, 10
+ Thou bringest unto me a tale [2]
+ Of visionary hours.
+
+ Thrice welcome, darling of the Spring!
+ Even yet thou art to me
+ No bird, but an invisible thing, [3] 15
+ A voice, a mystery;
+
+ The same whom in my school-boy days
+ I listened to; that Cry
+ Which made me look a thousand ways
+ In bush, and tree, and sky. 20
+
+ To seek thee did I often rove
+ Through woods and on the green;
+ And thou wert still a hope, a love;
+ Still longed for, never seen.
+
+ And I can listen to thee yet; 25
+ Can lie upon the plain
+ And listen, till I do beget
+ That golden time again.
+
+ O blessed Bird! the earth we pace
+ Again appears to be 30
+ An unsubstantial, faery place;
+ That is fit home for Thee!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ While I am lying on the grass,
+ I hear thy restless shout:
+ From hill to hill it seems to pass,
+ About, and all about! 1807.
+
+ Thy loud note smites my ear!--
+ From hill to hill it seems to pass,
+ At once far off and near! 1815.
+
+ Thy loud note smites my ear!
+ It seems to fill the whole air's space,
+ At once far off and near! 1820.
+
+ Thy twofold shout I hear,
+ That seems to fill the whole air's space,
+ As loud far off as near. [a] 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ To me, no Babbler with a tale
+ Of sunshine and of flowers,
+ Thou tellest, Cuckoo! in the vale 1807.
+
+ I hear thee babbling to the Vale
+ Of sunshine and of flowers;
+ And unto me thou bring'st a tale 1815.
+
+ But unto me .... 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+
+ No Bird; but an invisible Thing, 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A:
+
+ "_Vox et praterea nihil_. See Lipsius 'of the Nightingale.'"
+
+Barron Field.--Ed.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Footnote a: Barron Field remonstrated with Wordsworth about this
+reading, and he agreed to restore that of 1820; saying, at the same
+time, that he had "made the change to record a fact observed by
+himself."--Ed.]
+
+
+In the chronological lists of his poems, published in 1815 and 1820,
+Wordsworth left a blank opposite this one, in the column containing the
+year of composition. From 1836 to 1849, the date assigned by him was
+1804. But in Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal the following occurs under
+date Tuesday, 22nd March 1802:
+
+ "A mild morning. William worked at the Cuckoo poem.... At the closing
+ in of day, went to sit in the orchard. William came to me, and walked
+ backwards and forwards. W. repeated the poem to me. I left him there;
+ and in 20 minutes he came in, rather tired with attempting to write."
+
+ "Friday (March 25).--A beautiful morning. William worked at 'The
+ Cuckoo'."
+
+It is therefore evident that it belongs to the year 1802; although it
+may have been altered and readjusted in 1804. The connection of the
+seventh stanza of this poem with the first of that which follows it, "My
+heart leaps up," etc., and of both with the 'Ode, Intimations of
+Immortality' (vol. viii.), is obvious.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"MY HEART LEAPS UP WHEN I BEHOLD"
+
+
+Composed March 26, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood." In 1807 it was
+No. 4 of the series called "Moods of my own Mind."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ My heart leaps up when I behold
+ A rainbow in the sky:
+ So was it when my life began;
+ So is it now I am a man;
+ So be it when I shall grow old, 5
+ Or let me die!
+ The Child is father of the Man; [A]
+ And I could wish my days to be
+ Bound each to each by natural piety.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare Milton's phrase in 'Paradise Regained' (book iv. l.
+220):
+
+ 'The childhood shews the man,
+ As morning shews the day.'
+
+Dryden's 'All for Love', act IV. scene I:
+
+ 'Men are but children of a larger growth.'
+
+And Pope's 'Essay on Man', Ep. iv. l. 175:
+
+ 'The boy and man an individual makes.'
+
+Also Chatterton's 'Fragment' (Aldine edition, vol. 1. p. 132):
+
+ 'Nature in the infant marked the man.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+ "March 26, 1802.--While I was getting into bed he" (W.) "wrote 'The
+ Rainbow.'"
+
+ "May 14th.--... William very nervous. After he was in bed, haunted
+ with altering 'The Rainbow.'"
+
+(Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal.) This poem was known familiarly
+in the household as "The Rainbow," although not printed under that
+title. The text was never changed.
+
+In 'The Friend', vol. i. p. 58 (ed. 1818), Coleridge writes:
+
+ "Men laugh at the falsehoods imposed on them during their childhood,
+ because they are not good and wise enough to contemplate the past in
+ the present, and so to produce that continuity in their
+ self-consciousness, which Nature has made the law of their animal
+ life. Men are ungrateful to others, only when they have ceased to look
+ back on their former selves with joy and tenderness. They exist in
+ fragments."
+
+He then quotes the above poem, and adds:
+
+ "I am informed that these lines have been cited as a specimen of
+ despicable puerility. So much the worse for the citer; not willingly
+ in _his_ presence would I behold the sun setting behind our
+ mountains.... But let the dead bury their dead! The poet sang for the
+ living.... I was always pleased with the motto placed under the figure
+ of the rosemary in old herbals:
+
+ 'Sus, apage! Haud tibi spiro.'"
+
+Compare the passage in 'The Excursion' (book ix. l. 36) beginning:
+
+ '... Ah! why in age
+ Do we revert so fondly, etc.'
+
+also that in 'The Prelude' (book v. l. 507) beginning:
+
+ 'Our childhood sits.'
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+WRITTEN IN MARCH, WHILE RESTING ON THE BRIDGE AT THE FOOT OF BROTHERS
+WATER
+
+
+Composed April 16, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Extempore. This little poem was a favourite with Joanna Baillie.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ The Cock is crowing,
+ The stream is flowing,
+ The small birds twitter,
+ The lake doth glitter,
+ The green field sleeps in the sun; 5
+ The oldest and youngest
+ Are at work with the strongest;
+ The cattle are grazing,
+ Their heads never raising;
+ There are forty feeding like one! 10
+
+ Like an army defeated
+ The snow hath retreated,
+ And now doth fare ill
+ On the top of the bare hill;
+ The Ploughboy is whooping--anon--anon: [A] 15
+ There's joy in the mountains;
+ There's life in the fountains;
+ Small clouds are sailing,
+ Blue sky prevailing;
+ The rain is over and gone! 20
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: This line was an afterthought.--Ed.]
+
+
+The text of this poem was never altered. It was not "written in March"
+(as the title states), but on the 16th of April (Good Friday) 1802. The
+bridge referred to crosses Goldrill Beck, a little below Hartsop in
+Patterdale. The following, from Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal, records
+the walk from Ullswater, over Kirkstone Pass, to Ambleside:
+
+ "Friday, 16th April (Good Friday).--... When we came to the foot of
+ Brothers Water, I left William sitting on the bridge, and went along
+ the path on the right side of the lake through the wood. I was
+ delighted with what I saw: the water under the boughs of the bare old
+ trees, the simplicity of the mountains, and the exquisite beauty of
+ the path. There was one grey cottage. I repeated 'The Glowworm' as I
+ walked along. I hung over the gate, and thought I could have stayed
+ for ever. When I returned, I found William writing a poem descriptive
+ of the sights and sounds we saw and heard. There was the gentle
+ flowing of the stream, the glittering lively lake, green fields,
+ without a living creature to be seen on them; behind us, a flat
+ pasture with forty-two cattle feeding; to our left, the road leading
+ to the hamlet. No smoke there, the sun shone on the bare roofs. The
+ people were at work, ploughing, harrowing, and sowing; lasses working;
+ a dog barking now and then; cocks crowing, birds twittering; the snow
+ in patches at the top of the highest hills; yellow palms, purple and
+ green twigs on the birches, ashes with their glittering stems quite
+ bare. The hawthorn a bright green, with black stems under the oak. The
+ moss of the oaks glossy.... As we went up the vale of Brothers Water,
+ more and more cattle feeding, a hundred of them. William finished his
+ poem before we got to the foot of Kirkstone. There were hundreds of
+ cattle in the vale.... The walk up Kirkstone was very interesting. The
+ becks among the rocks were all alive. William shewed me the little
+ mossy streamlet which he had before loved, when he saw its bright
+ green track in the snow. The view above Ambleside very beautiful.
+ There we sate, and looked down on the green vale. We watched the crows
+ at a little distance from us become white as silver, as they flew in
+ the sunshine; and, when they went still farther, they looked like
+ shapes of water passing over the green fields."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE REDBREAST CHASING THE BUTTERFLY [A]
+
+
+Composed April 18, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Observed, as described, in the then beautiful orchard, Town-end,
+Grasmere.--I.F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems of the Fancy."
+
+In some editions this poem is assigned to the year 1806; but, in Dorothy
+Wordsworth's Journal the following occurs, under date "Sunday, 18th"
+(April 1802):
+
+ "A mild grey morning with rising vapours. We sate in the orchard.
+ William wrote the poem on the Robin and the Butterfly.... W. met me at
+ Rydal with the conclusion of the poem to the Robin. I read it to him
+ in bed. We left out some lines."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Art thou the bird whom Man loves best,
+ The pious bird [B] with the scarlet breast,
+ Our little English Robin;
+ The bird that comes about our doors
+ When Autumn-winds are sobbing? 5
+ Art thou the Peter of Norway Boors?
+ Their Thomas in Finland,
+ And Russia far inland?
+ The bird, that [1] by some name or other
+ All men who know thee call their brother, 10
+ The darling of children and men?
+ Could Father Adam [C] open his eyes
+ And see this sight beneath the skies,
+ He'd wish to close them again.
+--If the Butterfly knew but his friend, 15
+ Hither his flight he would bend;
+ And find his way to me,
+ Under the branches of the tree:
+ In and out, he darts about;
+ Can this be the bird, to man so good, 20
+ That, after their bewildering, [2]
+ Covered [3] with leaves the little children,
+ So painfully in the wood?
+
+ What ailed thee, Robin, that thou could'st pursue
+ A beautiful creature, 25
+ That is gentle by nature?
+ Beneath the summer sky
+ From flower to flower let him fly;
+ 'Tis all that he wishes to do.
+ The cheerer Thou of our in-door sadness, 30
+ He is the friend of our summer gladness:
+ What hinders, then, that ye should be
+ Playmates in the sunny weather,
+ And fly about in the air together!
+ His beautiful wings in crimson are drest, 35
+ A crimson as bright as thine own: [4]
+ Would'st thou be [5] happy in thy nest,
+ O pious Bird! whom man loves best,
+ Love him, or leave him alone!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1849.
+
+ ... whom ... 1807.
+
+ ... who ... 1827.]
+
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1815.
+
+ In and out, he darts about;
+ His little heart is throbbing:
+ Can this be the Bird, to man so good,
+ Our consecrated Robin!
+ That, after ... 1807.
+
+ ... Robin! Robin!
+ His little heart is throbbing;
+ Can this ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1832.
+
+ Did cover ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... Like thine own breast
+ His beautiful wings in crimson are drest,
+ As if he were bone of thy bone. MS.
+
+ Like the hues of thy breast
+ His beautiful wings in crimson are drest,
+ A brother he seems of thine own: 1807.
+
+ ... in the air together!
+ His beautiful bosom is drest,
+ In crimson as bright as thine own: 1832.
+
+The edition of 1836 resumes the text of 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1836.
+
+ If thou would'st be ... 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The title, in the editions 1807 to 1820, was 'The Redbreast
+and the Butterfly'. In the editions 1827 to 1843 it was 'The Redbreast
+and Butterfly'. The final title was given in 1845.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare Cowley:
+
+ 'And Robin Redbreasts whom men praise,
+ For pious birds.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: See 'Paradise Lost', book XI., where Adam points out to Eve
+the ominous sign of the Eagle chasing "two Birds of gayest plume," and
+the gentle Hart and Hind pursued by their enemy.--W. W. 1815.
+
+The passage in book XI. of 'Paradise Lost' includes lines 185-90.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO A BUTTERFLY (#2)
+
+
+Composed April 20, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written at the same time and place. The Orchard, Grasmere Town-end,
+1801.--I.F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems founded on the Affections."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I've watch'd you now a full [1] half-hour,
+ Self-poised upon that yellow flower;
+ And, little Butterfly! indeed
+ I know not if you sleep or feed.
+ How motionless!--not frozen seas 5
+ More motionless! and then
+ What joy awaits you, when the breeze
+ Hath found you out among the trees,
+ And calls you forth again!
+
+ This plot of orchard-ground is ours; 10
+ My trees they are, my Sister's flowers;
+ Here rest your wings when they are weary;
+ Here lodge as in a sanctuary! [2]
+ Come often to us, fear no wrong;
+ Sit near us on the bough! 15
+ We'll talk of sunshine and of song,
+ And summer days, when we were young;
+ Sweet childish days, that were as long
+ As twenty days are now.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... short ... 1836.
+
+The text of 1845 reverts to the reading of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1815.
+
+ Stop here whenever you are weary,
+ And rest as in a sanctuary! 1807.
+
+ And feed ... MS.]
+
+
+
+Wordsworth's date, as given to Miss Fenwick, is incorrect. In her
+Journal, April 20, 1802, Dorothy Wordsworth writes:
+
+ "William wrote a conclusion to the poem of 'The Butterfly', 'I've
+ watch'd you now a full half-hour.'"
+
+This, and the structure of the two poems, makes it probable that the
+latter was originally meant to be a sort of conclusion to the former (p.
+283); but they were always printed as separate poems.
+
+Many of the "flowers" in the orchard at Dove Cottage were planted by
+Dorothy Wordsworth, and some of the "trees" by William. The "summer
+days" of childhood are referred to in the previous poem, 'To a
+Butterfly', written on the 14th of March 1802.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+FORESIGHT
+
+
+Composed April 28, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Also composed in the Orchard, Town-end, Grasmere.--I.F.]
+
+Included among the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ That is work of waste and ruin--[1]
+ Do as Charles and I are doing!
+ Strawberry-blossoms, one and all,
+ We must spare them--here are many:
+ Look at it--the flower is small, 5
+ Small and low, though fair as any:
+ Do not touch it! summers two
+ I am older, Anne, than you.
+ Pull the primrose, sister Anne!
+ Pull as many as you can. 10
+ --Here are daisies, take your fill;
+ Pansies, and the cuckoo-flower:
+ Of the lofty daffodil
+ Make your bed, or [2] make your bower;
+ Fill your lap, and fill your bosom; 15
+ Only spare the strawberry-blossom!
+
+ Primroses, the Spring may love them--
+ Summer knows but little of them:
+ Violets, a barren kind,
+ Withered on the ground must lie; 20
+ Daisies leave no fruit behind
+ When the pretty flowerets die;
+ Pluck them, and another year
+ As many will be blowing here. [3]
+
+ God has given a kindlier power [4] 25
+ To the favoured strawberry-flower.
+ Hither soon as spring is fled
+ You and Charles and I will walk; [5]
+ Lurking berries, ripe and red,
+ Then will hang on every stalk, 30
+ Each within its leafy bower;
+ And for that promise spare the flower!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1815.
+
+ That is work which I am rueing--1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... and ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1815.
+
+ Violets, do what they will,
+ Wither'd on the ground must lie;
+ Daisies will be daisies still;
+ Daisies they must live and die:
+ Fill your lap, and fill your bosom,
+ Only spare the Strawberry-blossom! 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4: This last stanza was added in the edition of 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1836.
+
+ When the months of spring are fled
+ Hither let us bend our walk; 1815.]
+
+
+The full title of this poem, in the editions of 1807 to 1832, was
+'Foresight, or the Charge of a Child to his younger Companion', but it
+was originally known in the household as "Children gathering Flowers."
+The shortened title was adopted in 1836. The following is from Dorothy
+Wordsworth's Journal:
+
+ "Wednesday, 28th April (1802).--Copied the 'Prioress's Tale'. William
+ was in the orchard. I went to him; he worked away at his poem, though
+ he was ill, and tired. I happened to say that when I was a child I
+ would not have pulled a strawberry blossom; I left him, and wrote out
+ the 'Manciple's Tale'. At dinner time he came in with the poem of
+ 'Children gathering Flowers,' but it was not quite finished, and it
+ kept him long from his dinner. It is now done. He is working at 'The
+ Tinker.'"
+
+At an earlier date in the same year,--Jan. 31st, 1802,--the following
+occurs:
+
+ "I found a strawberry blossom in a rock. The little slender flower had
+ more courage than the green leaves, for _they_ were but half expanded
+ and half grown, but the blossom was spread full out. I uprooted it
+ rashly, and I felt as if I had been committing an outrage; so I
+ planted it again. It will have but a stormy life of it, but let it
+ live if it can."
+
+With this poem compare a parallel passage in Marvel's 'The Picture of T.
+C. in a Prospect of Flowers':
+
+ 'But oh, young beauty of the woods,
+ Whom nature courts with fruits and flowers,
+ Gather the flowers, but spare the buds;
+ Lest Flora, angry at thy crime
+ To kill her infants in their prime,
+ Should quickly make the example yours;
+ And, ere we see,
+ Nip in the blossom all our hopes in thee.'
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO THE SMALL CELANDINE [A]
+
+
+Composed April 30, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. It is remarkable that this flower,
+coming out so early in the spring as it does, and so bright and
+beautiful, and in such profusion, should not have been noticed earlier
+in English verse. What adds much to the interest that attends it is its
+habit of shutting itself up and opening out according to the degree of
+light and temperature of the air.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Fancy." In the original MS. this poem is called
+'To the lesser Celandine', but in the proof "small" was substituted for
+"lesser."
+
+In Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal the following occurs, under date April
+30, 1802:
+
+ "We came into the orchard directly after breakfast, and sat there. The
+ lake was calm, the sky cloudy. William began to write the poem of 'The
+ Celandine'.... I walked backwards and forwards with William. He
+ repeated his poem to me, then he got to work again, and would not give
+ over."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Pansies, lilies, kingcups, daisies,
+ Let them live upon their praises;
+ Long as there's a sun that sets,
+ Primroses will have their glory;
+ Long as there are violets, 5
+ They will have a place in story:
+ There's a flower that shall be mine,
+ 'Tis the little Celandine.
+
+ Eyes of some men travel far
+ For the finding of a star; 10
+ Up and down the heavens they go,
+ Men that keep a mighty rout!
+ I'm as great as they, I trow,
+ Since the day I found thee out,
+ Little Flower!--I'll make a stir, 15
+ Like a sage [1] astronomer.
+
+ Modest, yet withal an Elf
+ Bold, and lavish of thyself;
+ Since we needs must first have met
+ I have seen thee, high and low, 20
+ Thirty years or more, and yet
+ 'Twas a face I did not know;
+ Thou hast now, go where I may,
+ Fifty greetings in a day.
+
+ Ere a leaf is on a bush, 25
+ In the time before the thrush
+ Has a thought about her [2] nest,
+ Thou wilt come with half a call,
+ Spreading out thy glossy breast
+ Like a careless Prodigal; 30
+ Telling tales about the sun,
+ When we've little warmth, or none.
+
+ Poets, vain men in their mood!
+ Travel with the multitude:
+ Never heed them; I aver 35
+ That they all are wanton wooers;
+ But the thrifty cottager,
+ Who stirs little out of doors,
+ Joys to spy thee near her home;
+ Spring is coming, Thou art come! 40
+
+ [B]
+
+ Comfort have thou of thy merit,
+ Kindly, unassuming Spirit!
+ Careless of thy neighbourhood,
+ Thou dost show thy pleasant face
+ On the moor, and in the wood, 45
+ In the lane;--there's not a place,
+ Howsoever mean it be,
+ But 'tis good enough for thee.
+
+ Ill befal the yellow flowers,
+ Children of the flaring hours! 50
+ Buttercups, that will be seen,
+ Whether we will see or no;
+ Others, too, of lofty mien;
+ They have done as worldlings do,
+ Taken praise that should be thine, 55
+ Little, humble Celandine!
+
+ Prophet of delight and mirth,
+ Ill-requited [3] upon earth;
+ Herald of a mighty band,
+ Of a joyous train ensuing, 60
+ Serving at my heart's command,
+ Tasks that are no tasks renewing, [4]
+ I will sing, as doth behove,
+ Hymns in praise of what I love!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... great ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... it's ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1836.
+
+ Scorn'd and slighted ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ Singing at my heart's command,
+ In the lanes my thoughts pursuing, 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Common Pilewort.--W. W. 1807.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: The following stanza was inserted in the editions of
+1836-1843:
+
+ 'Drawn by what peculiar spell,
+ By what charm for sight or smell,
+ Do those winged dim-eyed creatures,
+ Labourers sent from waxen cells,
+ Settle on thy brilliant features,
+ In neglect of buds and bells
+ Opening daily at thy side,
+ By the season multiplied?'
+
+In 1845 it was transferred to the following poem, where it will be
+found, with a change of text.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO THE SAME FLOWER
+
+
+Composed May 1, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Pleasures newly found are sweet
+ When they lie about our feet:
+ February last, my heart
+ First at sight of thee was glad;
+ All unheard of as thou art, 5
+ Thou must needs, I think, have had,
+ Celandine! and long ago,
+ Praise of which I nothing know.
+
+ I have not a doubt but he,
+ Whosoe'er the man might be, 10
+ Who the first with pointed rays
+ (Workman worthy to be sainted)
+ Set the sign-board in a blaze,
+ When the rising [1] sun he painted,
+ Took the fancy from a glance 15
+ At thy glittering countenance.
+
+ Soon as gentle breezes bring
+ News of winter's vanishing,
+ And the children build their bowers,
+ Sticking 'kerchief-plots of mould 20
+ All about with full-blown flowers,
+ Thick as sheep in shepherd's fold!
+ With the proudest thou art there,
+ Mantling in the tiny square.
+
+ Often have I sighed to measure 25
+ By myself a lonely pleasure,
+ Sighed to think, I read a book
+ Only read, perhaps, by me;
+ Yet I long could overlook
+ Thy bright coronet and Thee, 30
+ And thy arch and wily ways,
+ And thy store of other praise.
+
+ Blithe of heart, from week to week
+ Thou dost play at hide-and-seek;
+ While the patient primrose sits 35
+ Like a beggar in the cold,
+ Thou, a flower of wiser wits,
+ Slip'st into thy sheltering [2] hold;
+ Liveliest of the vernal train [3]
+ When ye all are out again. 40
+
+ Drawn by what peculiar spell,
+ By what charm of sight or smell,
+ Does the dim-eyed curious Bee,
+ Labouring for her waxen cells,
+ Fondly settle upon Thee 45
+ Prized above all buds and bells
+ Opening daily at thy side,
+ By the season multiplied? [4]
+
+ Thou art not beyond the moon,
+ But a thing "beneath our shoon:" [A] 50
+ Let the bold Discoverer thrid
+ In his bark the polar sea;
+ Rear who will a pyramid; [5]
+ Praise it is enough for me,
+ If there be but three or four 55
+ Who will love my little Flower.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... risen ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... shelter'd ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1845.
+
+ Bright as any of the train 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4: This stanza was added in 1845. (See note [Footnote B, To the
+Small Celandine], p. 302.)]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1845.
+
+ Let, as old Magellen did,
+ Others roam about the sea;
+ Build who will a pyramid; [a] 1807.
+
+ Let, with bold advent'rous skill,
+ Others thrid the polar sea;
+ Rear a pyramid who will; 1820.
+
+ Let the bold Adventurer thrid
+ In his bark the polar sea;
+ Rear who will a pyramid; 1827.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: This may be an imperfect reminiscence of 'Comus', ll.
+634-5.--Ed.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Footnote a: Barron Field asked Wordsworth to restore these lines of
+1807, and Wordsworth promised to do so, but never did it.--Ed.]
+
+
+The following is an extract from Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal.
+Saturday, May 1.
+
+ "A heavenly morning. We went into the garden, and sowed the scarlet
+ beans about the house. It was a clear sky. I sowed the flowers,
+ William helped me. We then went and sat in the orchard till dinner
+ time. It was very hot. William wrote 'The Celandine' (second part). We
+ planned a shed, for the sun was too much for us."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+STANZAS WRITTEN IN MY POCKET COPY OF THOMSON'S "CASTLE OF INDOLENCE"
+
+
+Begun 9th May, finished 11th May, 1802.--Published 1815
+
+
+[Composed in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere, Coleridge living with us
+much at this time: his son Hartley has said, that his father's character
+and habits are here preserved in a livelier way than in anything that
+has been written about him. I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems founded on the Affections."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Within our happy Castle there dwelt One
+ Whom without blame I may not overlook;
+ For never sun on living creature shone
+ Who more devout enjoyment with us took:
+ Here on his hours he hung as on a book, 5
+ On his own time here would he float away,
+ As doth a fly upon a summer brook;
+ But go to-morrow, or belike to-day,
+ Seek for him,--he is fled; and whither none can say.
+
+ Thus often would he leave our peaceful home, 10
+ And find elsewhere his business or delight;
+ Out of our Valley's limits did he roam:
+ Full many a time, upon a stormy night, [A]
+ His voice came to us from the neighbouring height:
+ Oft could [1] we see him driving full in view 15
+ At midday when the sun was shining bright;
+ What ill was on him, what he had to do,
+ A mighty wonder bred among our quiet crew.
+
+ Ah! piteous sight it was to see this Man
+ When he came back to us, a withered flower,--20
+ Or like a sinful creature, pale and wan.
+ Down would he sit; and without strength or power
+ Look at the common grass from hour to hour:
+ And oftentimes, how long I fear to say,
+ Where apple-trees in blossom made a bower, 25
+ Retired in that sunshiny shade he lay; [B]
+ And, like a naked Indian, slept himself away.
+
+ Great wonder to our gentle tribe it was
+ Whenever from our Valley he withdrew;
+ For happier soul no living creature has 30
+ Than he had, being here the long day through.
+ Some thought he was a lover, and did woo:
+ Some thought far worse of him, and judged him wrong;
+ But verse was what he had been wedded to;
+ And his own mind did like a tempest strong 35
+ Come to him thus, and drove the weary Wight along.[C]
+
+ With him there often walked in friendly guise,
+ Or lay upon the moss by brook or tree,
+ A noticeable Man with large grey eyes,
+ And a pale face that seemed undoubtedly 40
+ As if a blooming face it ought to be;
+ Heavy his low-hung lip did oft appear,
+ Deprest by weight of musing Phantasy;
+ Profound his forehead was, though not severe;
+ Yet some did think that he had little business here: 45
+
+ Sweet heaven forefend! his was a lawful right;
+ Noisy he was, and gamesome as a boy;
+ His limbs would toss about him with delight
+ Like branches when strong winds the trees annoy.
+ Nor lacked his calmer hours device or toy 50
+ To banish listlessness and irksome care;
+ He would have taught you how you might employ
+ Yourself; and many did to him repair,--
+ And certes not in vain; he had inventions rare.
+
+ Expedients, too, of simplest sort he tried: 55
+ Long blades of grass, plucked round him as he lay,
+ Made, to his ear attentively applied,
+ A pipe on which the wind would deftly play;
+ Glasses he had, that little things display,
+ The beetle panoplied in gems and gold, [2] 60
+ A mailed angel on a battle-day;
+ The mysteries that cups of flowers enfold, [3]
+ And all the gorgeous sights which fairies do behold.
+
+ He would entice that other Man to hear
+ His music, and to view his imagery: 65
+ And, sooth, these two were each to the other dear:
+ No livelier love in such a place could be: [4]
+ There did they dwell-from earthly labour free,
+ As happy spirits as were ever seen;
+ If but a bird, to keep them company, 70
+ Or butterfly sate down, they were, I ween,
+ As pleased as if the same had been a Maiden-queen.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... did ... 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ The beetle with his radiance manifold, 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ And cups of flowers, and herbage green and gold; 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ And, sooth, these two did love each other dear,
+ As far as love in such a place could be; 1815.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare
+
+ 'And oft he traced the uplands to survey,
+ When o'er the sky advanced the kindling dawn,
+ The crimson cloud.'
+
+Beattie's 'Minstrel', book I, st. 20.
+
+ 'And oft the craggy cliff he loved to climb
+ When all in mist the world below was lost.'
+
+Book I. st. 21.
+
+ 'And of each gentle, and each dreadful scene
+ In darkness, and in storm, he found delight.'
+
+Book I. st. 22. Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare the stanza in 'A Poet's Epitaph' (p. 77), beginning
+
+ 'He is retired as noontide dew.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: Many years ago Canon Ainger pointed out to me a parallel
+between Beattie's description of 'The Minstrel' and Wordsworth's account
+of himself in this poem. It is somewhat curious that Dorothy Wordsworth,
+writing to Miss Pollard from Forncett in 1793, quotes the line from 'The
+Minstrel', book I. stanza 22,
+
+ "In truth he was a strange and wayward wight,"
+
+and adds
+
+ "That verse of Beattie's 'Minstrel' always reminds me of him, and
+ indeed the whole character of Edwin resembles much what William was
+ when I first knew him after leaving Halifax."
+
+Mr. T. Hutchinson called the attention of Professor Dowden to the same
+resemblance between the two pictures. With lines 35, 36, compare in
+Shelley's 'Adonais', stanza xxxi.:
+
+ 'And his own thoughts, along that rugged way,
+ Pursued, like raging hounds, their father and their prey.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+There can now be no doubt that, in the first four of these 'Stanzas',
+Wordsworth refers to himself; and that, in the last four, he refers to
+Coleridge. For a time it was uncertain whether in the earlier stanzas he
+had Coleridge, or himself, in view; and whether, in the later ones, some
+one else was, or was not, described. De Quincey, quoting (as he often
+did) in random fashion, mixes up extracts from each set of the stanzas,
+and applies them both to Coleridge; and Dorothy Wordsworth, in her
+Journal, gives apparent (though only apparent) sanction to a reverse
+order of allusion, by writing of "the stanzas about C. and himself" (her
+brother). The following are her references to the poem in that Journal:
+
+ "9th May (1802).-After tea he (W.) wrote two stanzas in the manner of
+ Thomson's 'Castle of Indolence', and was tired out.
+
+ "10th May.--William still at work, though it is past ten o'clock ...
+ William did not sleep till three o'clock."
+
+ "11th May.--William finished the stanzas about C. and himself. He did
+ not go out to-day. ... He completely finished his poem. He went to bed
+ at twelve o'clock."
+
+From these extracts two things are evident,
+
+ (1) who the persons are described in the stanzas, and
+
+ (2) the immense labour bestowed upon the poem.
+
+In the 'Memoirs of Wordsworth', by the late Bishop of Lincoln, there is
+a passage (vol. ii. chap. li. p. 309) amongst the "Personal
+Reminiscences, 1836," in which the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge virtually
+decides the question of the identity of the two persons referred to, in
+his record of a conversation with the poet. It is as follows:
+
+ "October 10th.--I have passed a great many hours to-day with
+ Wordsworth in his home. I stumbled on him with proof sheets before
+ him. He read me nearly all the sweet stanzas written in his copy of
+ the 'Castle of Indolence', describing himself and my uncle; and he and
+ Mrs. W. both assured me the description of the latter at that time was
+ perfectly accurate; and he was almost as a great boy in feelings, and
+ had all the tricks and fancies there described. Mrs. W. seemed to look
+ back on him, and those times, with the fondest affection."
+
+I think "the neighbouring height" referred to is the height of White
+Moss Common, behind the Fir-Grove, where Wordsworth was often heard
+murmuring out his verses," booing" as the country folks said: and the
+
+ 'driving full in view
+ At midday when the sun was shining bright,'
+
+aptly describes his habits as recorded in his sister's Journal, and
+elsewhere. The "withered flower," the "creature pale and wan," are
+significant of those terrible reactions of spirit, which followed his
+joyous hours of insight and inspiration. Stanzas IV. to VII. of
+'Resolution and Independence' (p. 314), in which Wordsworth undoubtedly
+described himself, may be compared with stanza III. of this poem. The
+lines
+
+ 'Down would he sit; and without strength or power
+ Look at the common grass from hour to hour,'
+
+are aptly illustrated by such passages in his sister's Journal, as the
+following, of 29th April 1802:
+
+ "We went to John's Grove, sate a while at first; afterwards William
+ lay, and I lay in the trench, under the fence--he with his eyes
+ closed, and listening to the waterfalls and the birds. There was no
+ one waterfall above another--it was a kind of water in the air--the
+ voice of the air. We were unseen by one another."
+
+Again, April 23rd,
+
+ "Coleridge and I pushed on before. We left William sitting on the
+ stones, feasting with silence."
+
+And this recalls the first verse of 'Expostulation and Reply', written
+at Alfoxden in 1798;
+
+ 'Why, William, on that old grey stone,
+ Thus for the length of half a day,
+ Why, William, sit you thus alone,
+ And dream your time away?'
+
+The retreat where "apple-trees in blossom made a bower," and where he so
+often "slept himself away," was evidently the same as that described in
+the poem 'The Green Linnet':
+
+ 'Beneath these fruit-tree boughs that shed
+ Their snow white blossoms on my head.'
+
+On the other hand, the "low-hung lip" and "profound" forehead of the
+other, the "noticeable Man with large grey eyes," mark him out as S. T.
+C.; "the rapt One, of the god-like forehead," described in the
+'Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg'. The description
+"Noisy he was, and gamesome as a boy," is verified by what the poet and
+his wife said to Mr. Justice Coleridge in 1836. In addition, Mr.
+Hutchinson of Kimbolton tells me he "often heard his father say that
+Coleridge was uproarious in his mirth."
+
+Matthew Arnold wrote me an interesting letter some years ago about these
+stanzas, from which I make the following extract:
+
+ "When one looks uneasily at a poem it is easy to fidget oneself
+ further, and neither the Wordsworth nor the Coleridge of our common
+ notions seem to be exactly hit off in the 'Stanzas'; still, I believe
+ that the first described is Wordsworth and that the second described
+ is Coleridge. I have myself heard Wordsworth speak of his prolonged
+ exhausting wanderings among the hills. Then Miss Fenwick's notes show
+ that Coleridge is certainly one of the two personages of the poem, and
+ there are points in the description of the second man which suit him
+ very well. The 'profound forehead' is a touch akin to the 'god-like
+ forehead' in the mention of Coleridge in a later poem.
+
+ "I have a sort of recollection of having heard something about the
+ 'inventions rare,' and Coleridge is certain to have dabbled, at one
+ time or other, in natural philosophy."
+
+In 1796 Coleridge wrote to his friend Cottle from Nether Stowey:
+
+ " ... I should not think of devoting less than 20 years to an Epic
+ Poem: ten to collect materials and warm my mind with universal
+ science. I would be a tolerable Mathematician, I would thoroughly know
+ Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Optics, and Astronomy, Botany, Metallurgy,
+ Fossilism, Chemistry, Geology, Anatomy, Medicine--then the 'mind of
+ man'--then the 'minds of men'--in all Travels, Voyages, and Histories.
+ So I would spend ten years--the next five to the composition of the
+ poem--and the last five to the correction of it. So would I write,
+ haply not unhearing of the divine and rightly whispering Voice," etc.
+
+Mr. T. Hutchinson (Dublin) writes in 'The Athenaeum', Dec. 15, 1894:
+
+ "I take it for granted these lines were written, not only on the
+ fly-leaf of Wordsworth's copy of the 'Castle of Indolence', but also
+ by way of Supplement to that poem; i. e. as an 'addendum' to the
+ descriptive list of the denizens of the Castle given in stanzas
+ LVII-LXIX of Canto I.; that, in short, they are meant to be read as
+ though they were an after-thought of James Thomson's. Their author,
+ therefore, has rightly imparted to them the curiously blended flavour
+ of 'romantic melancholy and slippered mirth,' of dreamlike vagueness
+ and smiling hyperbole, which forms the distinctive mark of Thomson's
+ poem; and thus the Poet and the Philosopher-Friend of Wordsworth's
+ stanzas, like Thomson's companion sketches of the splenetic Solitary,
+ the 'bard more fat than bard beseems,' and the 'little, round, fat,
+ oily Man of God,' are neither more nor less than gentle caricatures."
+
+It has been suggested by Coleridge's grandson that Wordsworth was
+describing S. T. C. in all the stanzas of this poem; that he drew two
+separate pictures of him; in the first four stanzas a realistic
+"character portrait," and in the last four a "companion picture,
+figuring the outward semblance of Coleridge, but embodying
+characteristics drawn from a third person"; so that we have a "fancy
+sketch" mixed up with a real one. I cannot agree with this. The
+evidence against it is
+
+ (1) Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal;
+ (2) the poet's and his wife's remarks to Mr. Justice Coleridge;
+ (3) the fact that Wordsworth was not in the habit of "passing from
+ realism into artistic composition," except where he distinctly
+ indicated it, as in the case of the Hawkshead Schoolmaster, in the
+ "Matthew" poems. Such composite or conglomerate work was quite
+ foreign to Wordsworth's genius.
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+RESOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE
+
+
+Begun May 3, finished July 4, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. This old man I met a few hundred yards
+from my cottage; and the account of him is taken from his own mouth. I
+was in the state of feeling described in the beginning of the poem,
+while crossing over Barton Fell from Mr. Clarkson's, at the foot of
+Ullswater, towards Askham. The image of the hare I then observed on the
+ridge of the Fell.--I.F.]
+
+This poem was known in the Wordsworth household as "The Leech-Gatherer,"
+although it never received that name in print. An entry in Dorothy
+Wordsworth's Journal of Friday, 3rd October 1800, may preface what she
+wrote in 1802 about the composition of the poem.
+
+ "When William and I returned from accompanying Jones, we met an old
+ man almost double. He had on a coat thrown over his shoulders above
+ his waistcoat and coat. Under this he carried a bundle, and had an
+ apron on, and a night-cap. His face was interesting. He had dark eyes,
+ and a long nose. John, who afterwards met him at Wytheburn, took him
+ for a Jew. He was of Scotch parents, but had been born in the army. He
+ had had a wife, 'and a good woman, and it pleased God to bless him
+ with ten children.' All these were dead but one, of whom he had not
+ heard for many years, a sailor. His trade was to gather leeches; but
+ now leeches were scarce, and he had not strength for it. He lived by
+ begging, and was making his way to Carlisle where he would buy a few
+ books to sell. He said leeches were very scarce, partly owing to this
+ dry season; but many years they had been scarce. He supposed it was
+ owing to their being much sought after; that they did not breed fast;
+ and were of slow growth. Leeches were formerly 2s. 6d. the 100; now
+ they were 30s. He had been hurt in driving a cart, his leg broken, his
+ body driven over, his skull fractured. He felt no pain till he
+ recovered from his first insensibility. It was late in the evening,
+ when the light was just going away."
+
+It is most likely that this walk of William and Dorothy Wordsworth
+"accompanying Jones," was on the day of Jones's departure from Dove
+Cottage, viz. 26th September.
+
+The Journal continues:
+
+ "Tuesday, 4th May, 1802.--Though William went to bed nervous and jaded
+ in the extreme, he rose refreshed. I wrote out 'The Leech-Gatherer'
+ for him, which he had begun the night before, and of which he wrote
+ several stanzas in bed this morning...."
+
+ (They started to walk up the Raise to Wytheburn.)
+
+ "It was very hot; we rested several times by the way, read, and
+ repeated 'The Leech-Gatherer.'"
+
+ "Friday, 7th May.--William had slept uncommonly well, so, feeling
+ himself strong, he fell to work at 'The Leech-Gatherer'; he wrote hard
+ at it till dinner time, then he gave over, tired to death--he had
+ finished the poem."
+
+ "Sunday morning, 9th May.--William worked at 'The Leech-Gatherer'
+ almost incessantly from morning till tea-time. I copied 'The
+ Leech-Gatherer' and other poems for Coleridge. I was oppressed and
+ sick at heart, for he wearied himself to death."
+
+ "Sunday, 4th July.--... William finished 'The Leech-Gatherer' to-day."
+
+ "Monday, 5th July.--I copied out 'The Leech-Gatherer' for Coleridge,
+ and for us."
+
+From these extracts it is clear that Dorothy Wordsworth considered the
+poem as "finished" on the 7th of May, and on the 9th she sent a copy to
+Coleridge; but that it was not till the 4th of July that it was really
+finished, and then a second copy was forwarded to Coleridge. It is
+impossible to say from which of the two MSS. sent to him Coleridge
+transcribed the copy which he forwarded to Sir George Beaumont. From
+that copy of a copy (which is now amongst the Beaumont MSS. at
+Coleorton) the various readings given, on Coleridge's authority, in the
+notes to the poem, were obtained some years ago.
+
+The Fenwick note to the poem illustrates Wordsworth's habit of blending
+in one description details which were originally separate, both as to
+time and place. The scenery and the incidents of the poem are alike
+composite. As he tells us that he met the leech-gatherer a few hundred
+yards from Dove Cottage, the "lonely place" with its "pool, bare to the
+eye of heaven," at once suggests White Moss Common and its small tarn;
+but he adds that, in the opening stanzas of the poem, he is describing a
+state of feeling he was in, when crossing the fells at the foot of
+Ullswater to Askam, and that the image of the hare "running races in her
+mirth," with the glittering mist accompanying her, was observed by him,
+not on White Moss Common, but in one of the ridges of Moor Divock. To H.
+C. Robinson he said of the "Leech-Gatherer" (Sept. 10, 1816), that "he
+gave to his poetic character powers of mind which his original did not
+possess." (Robinson's 'Diary', etc., vol. ii. p. 24.)
+
+One of the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I There was a roaring in the wind all night;
+ The rain came heavily and fell in floods;
+ But now the sun is rising calm and bright;
+ The birds are singing in the distant woods;
+ Over his own sweet voice the Stock-dove broods; 5
+ The Jay makes answer as the Magpie chatters;
+ And all the air is filled with pleasant noise of waters.
+
+ II All things that love the sun are out of doors;
+ The sky rejoices in the morning's birth;
+ The grass is bright with rain-drops;--on the moors 10
+ The hare is running races in her mirth;
+ And with her feet she from the plashy earth
+ Raises a mist; that, [1] glittering in the sun,
+ Runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run.
+
+ III I was a Traveller then upon the moor; 15
+ I saw the hare that raced about with joy;
+ I heard the woods and distant waters roar;
+ Or heard them not, as happy as a boy:
+ The pleasant season did my heart employ:
+ My old remembrances went from me wholly; 20
+ And all the ways of men, so vain and melancholy.
+
+ IV But, as it sometimes chanceth, from the might
+ Of joy in minds that can no further go,
+ As high as we have mounted in delight
+ In our dejection do we sink as low; 25
+ To me that morning did it happen so;
+ And fears and fancies thick upon me came;
+ Dim sadness--and blind thoughts, I knew not, nor could name.
+
+ V I heard the sky-lark warbling [2] in the sky;
+ And I bethought me of the playful hare: 30
+ Even such a happy Child of earth am I;
+ Even as these blissful [3] creatures do I fare;
+ Far from the world I walk, and from all care;
+ But there may come another day to me--
+ Solitude, pain of heart, distress, and poverty. 35
+
+ VI My whole life I have lived in pleasant thought,
+ As if life's business were a summer mood;
+ As if all needful things would come unsought
+ To genial faith, still rich in genial good; [4]
+ But how can He expect that others should 40
+ Build for him, sow for him, and at his call
+ Love him, who for himself will take no heed at all? [A]
+
+ VII I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous Boy,
+ The sleepless Soul that perished in his pride; [5]
+ Of Him who walked in glory and in joy 45
+ Following his plough, along the mountain-side: [6]
+ By our own spirits are we deified:
+ We Poets in our youth begin in gladness;
+ But thereof come [7] in the end despondency and madness.
+
+ VIII Now, whether it were [8] by peculiar grace, 50
+ A leading from above, a something given,
+ Yet it befel, that, in this [9] lonely place,
+ When I with these untoward thoughts had striven,
+ Beside a pool bare to the eye of heaven [10]
+ I saw [11] a Man before me unawares: 55
+ The oldest man he seemed that ever wore grey hairs.
+ [12]
+
+ IX As a huge stone is sometimes seen to lie
+ Couched on the bald top of an eminence;
+ Wonder to all who [13] do the same espy,
+ By what means it could thither come, and whence; 60
+ So that it seems a thing endued with sense:
+ Like a sea-beast crawled forth, that [14] on a shelf
+ Of rock or sand reposeth, there to sun itself;
+
+ X Such seemed this Man, not all alive nor dead,
+ Nor all asleep--in his extreme old age: 65
+ His body was bent double, feet and head
+ Coming together in life's pilgrimage; [15]
+ As if some dire constraint of pain, or rage
+ Of sickness felt by him in times long past,
+ A more than human weight upon his frame [16] had cast. 70
+
+ XI Himself he propped, limbs, body, and pale face, [17]
+ Upon a long grey staff of shaven wood:
+ And, still as I drew near with gentle pace,
+ Upon the margin of that moorish flood [18]
+ Motionless as a cloud the old Man stood, 75
+ That heareth not the loud winds when they call;
+ And moveth all together, if it move [19] at all.
+ [20]
+
+
+ XII At length, himself unsettling, he the pond
+ Stirred with his staff, and fixedly did look
+ Upon the muddy water, which he conned, 80
+ As if he had been reading in a book:
+ And now a stranger's privilege I took; [21]
+ And, drawing to his side, to him did say,
+ "This morning gives us promise of a glorious day."
+
+ XIII A gentle answer did the old Man make, 85
+ In courteous speech which forth he slowly drew:
+ And him with further words I thus bespake,
+ "What occupation do you there pursue? [22
+ This is a lonesome place for one like [23] you."
+ Ere he replied, a flash of mild surprise 90
+ Broke from the sable orbs of his yet-vivid eyes. [24] [B]
+
+ XIV His words came feebly, from a feeble chest,
+ But [25] each in solemn order followed each,
+ With something of a lofty [26] utterance drest--
+ Choice word [27] and measured phrase, above [27] the reach 95
+ Of ordinary men; a stately speech;
+ Such as grave Livers do in Scotland use,
+ Religious men, who give to God and man their dues.
+
+ XV He told, that to these waters he had come [28]
+ To gather leeches, being old and poor: 100
+ Employment hazardous and wearisome!
+ And he had many hardships to endure: [29]
+ From pond to pond he roamed, from moor to moor;
+ Housing, with God's good help, by choice or chance;
+ And in this way he gained an honest maintenance. 105
+
+ XVI The old Man still stood talking by my side;
+ But now [30] his voice to me was like a stream
+ Scarce heard; nor word from word could I divide;
+ And the whole body of the Man did seem
+ Like one whom I had met with in a dream; 110
+ Or like a man from some far region sent,
+ To give me human strength, by apt admonishment. [31]
+
+ XVII My former thoughts returned: the fear that kills;
+ And [32] hope that is unwilling to be fed;
+ Cold, pain, and labour, and all fleshly ills; 115
+ And mighty Poets in their misery dead.
+--Perplexed, and longing to be comforted, [33]
+ My question eagerly did I renew,
+ "How is it that you live, and what is it you do?" [34]
+
+ XVIII He with a smile did then his words repeat; 120
+ And said, that, gathering leeches, far and wide
+ He travelled; stirring thus about his feet
+ The waters of the pools where they abide. [35]
+ "Once I could meet with them on every side;
+ But they have dwindled long by slow decay; 125
+ Yet still I persevere, and find them where I may." [36]
+
+ XIX While he was talking thus, the lonely place,
+ The old Man's shape, and speech--all troubled me:
+ In my mind's eye I seemed to see him pace
+ About the weary moors continually, 130
+ Wandering about alone and silently.
+ While I these thoughts within myself pursued,
+ He, having made a pause, the same discourse renewed.
+
+ XX And soon [37] with this he other matter blended,
+ Cheerfully uttered, with demeanour kind, 135
+ But stately in the main; and when he ended, [38]
+ I could have laughed myself to scorn to find
+ In that decrepit Man so firm a mind.
+ "God," said I, "be my help and stay secure;
+ I'll think of the Leech-gatherer on the lonely moor!" 140
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... which, ... 1807.
+
+And in MS. letter from Coleridge to Sir George Beaumont, 1802.[i]]
+
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... singing ... 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... happy ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1807.
+
+ And they who lived in genial faith found nought
+ that grew more willingly than genial good; MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... who perished in his pride; MS. 1802.
+
+ ... that perished in its pride; 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1820.
+
+ Behind his plough, upon the mountain-side: 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... comes ... 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... was ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... that ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1820.
+
+ When up and down my fancy thus was driven,
+ And I with these untoward thoughts had striven, 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1807.
+
+ I spied ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+ My course I stopped as soon as I espied
+ The Old Man in that naked wilderness:
+ Close by a Pond, upon the further side, [i]
+ He stood alone: a minute's space I guess
+ I watch'd him, he continuing motionless:
+ To the Pool's further margin then I drew;
+ He being all the while before me full in view. [ii] 1807.
+
+This stanza, which appeared in the editions of 1807 and 1815, was, on
+Coleridge's advice, omitted from subsequent ones.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... that ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... which ... 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 15:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... in their pilgrimage 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 16:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... his age ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 17:
+
+1836.
+
+ Himself he propp'd, both body, limbs, and face, MS. 1802.
+
+ ... his body, ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 18:
+
+1820.
+
+ Beside the little pond or moorish flood 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 19.
+
+1807.
+
+
+ ... moves . . MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 20.
+
+ He wore a Cloak the same as women wear
+ As one whose blood did needful comfort lack;
+ His face look'd pale as if it had grown fair;
+ And, furthermore he had upon his back,
+ Beneath his cloak, a round and bulky Pack;
+ A load of wool or raiment as might seem.
+ That on his shoulders lay as if it clave to him.
+
+This stanza appeared only in MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 21.
+
+1820.
+
+ And now such freedom as I could I took; 1807.
+
+And Ms. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 22.
+
+1820.
+
+ "What kind of work is that which you pursue? 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 23.
+
+1807.
+
+ ... for such as ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 24.
+
+1836.
+
+ He answer'd me with pleasure and surprize;
+ And there was, while he spake, a fire about his eyes. 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.
+
+ He answered, while a flash of mild surprise
+ Broke from the sable orbs of his yet-vivid eyes. 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 25.
+
+1820.
+
+ Yet ... 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 26.
+
+1807.
+
+ ... pompous ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 27.
+
+1807.
+
+ ...words ... MS.
+
+ ...beyond ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 28.
+
+1827.
+
+ He told me that he to the pond had come ... MS. 1802.
+
+ ....this pond ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 29.
+
+1807.
+
+ This was his calling, better far than some,
+ Though he had ...... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+
+[Variant 30:
+
+1807.
+
+ But soon ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 31:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... and strong admonishment. 1807.
+
+ ... by strong admonishment. 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 32:
+
+1815.
+
+ The ... 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 33:
+
+1820.
+
+ And now, not knowing what the Old Man had said, 1807.
+
+And MS. 1802.
+
+ But now, perplex'd by what the Old Man had said, 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 34.
+
+1807.
+
+ ... live? what is it that you do?" MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 35:
+
+1827.
+
+ And said, that wheresoe'er they might be spied
+ He gather'd Leeches, stirring at his feet
+ The waters in the Ponds ... MS. 1802.
+
+ And said, that, gathering Leeches, far and wide
+ He travelled; stirring thus about his feet
+ The waters of the Ponds ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 36:
+
+1807.
+
+ Once he could meet with them on every side;
+ But fewer they became from day to day,
+ And so his means of life before him died away. MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 37:
+
+1807.
+
+ And now ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 38:
+
+1807.
+
+ Which he delivered with demeanour kind,
+ Yet stately ... MS. 1802.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+SUB-VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Variant i:
+
+ ... hither side, MS. 1802.]
+
+
+[Sub-Variant ii:
+
+ He all the while before me being full in view. MS. 1802.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Some have thought that Wordsworth had S.T.C. in his mind,
+in writing this stanza. I cannot agree with this. The value and interest
+of the poem would be lessened by our imagining that Wordsworth's heart
+never failed him; and that, when he appears to moralise at his own
+expense, he was doing so at Coleridge's. Besides, the date of this poem,
+taken in connection with entries in the Grasmere Journal of Dorothy
+Wordsworth, makes it all but certain that Coleridge was not referred
+to.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare in 'The Matron of Jedborough and her Husband', p.
+417, ll. 66-69:
+
+ 'Some inward trouble suddenly
+ Broke from the Matron's strong black eye--
+ A remnant of uneasy light,
+ A flash of something over-bright!'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Footnote i: Additional variants obtained from this source are
+inserted as "MS. 1802."--Ed.]
+
+
+The late Bishop of Lincoln, in the 'Memoirs' of his uncle (vol. i. pp.
+172, 173), quotes from a letter, written by Wordsworth "to some friends,
+which has much interest as bearing on this poem. [C] The following are
+extracts from it:
+
+ "It is not a matter of indifference whether you are pleased with his
+ figure and employment, it may be comparatively whether you are pleased
+ with _this Poem_; but it is of the utmost importance that you should
+ have had pleasure in contemplating the fortitude, independence,
+ persevering spirit, and the general moral dignity of this old man's
+ character." Again, "I will explain to you, in prose, my feelings in
+ writing _that_ poem.... I describe myself as having been exalted to
+ the highest pitch of delight by the joyousness and beauty of nature;
+ and then as depressed, even in the midst of those beautiful objects,
+ to the lowest dejection and despair. A young poet in the midst of the
+ happiness of nature is described as overwhelmed by the thoughts of the
+ miserable reverses which have befallen the happiest of all men, viz.
+ poets. I think of this till I am so deeply impressed with it, that I
+ consider the manner in which I was rescued from my dejection and
+ despair almost as an interposition of Providence. A person reading the
+ poem with feelings like mine will have been awed and controlled,
+ expecting something spiritual or supernatural. What is brought
+ forward? A lonely place, 'a pond, by which an old man _was_, far from
+ all house or home:' not _stood_, nor _sat_, but _was_--the figure
+ presented in the most naked simplicity possible. This feeling of
+ spirituality or supernaturalness is again referred to as being strong
+ in my mind in this passage. How came he here? thought I, or what can
+ he be doing? I then describe him, whether ill or well is not for me to
+ judge with perfect confidence; but this I _can_ confidently affirm,
+ that though I believe God has given me a strong imagination, I cannot
+ conceive a figure more impressive than that of an old man like this,
+ the survivor of a wife and ten children, travelling alone among the
+ mountains and all lonely places, carrying with him his own fortitude
+ and the necessities which an unjust state of society has laid upon
+ him. You speak of his speech as tedious. Every thing is tedious when
+ one does not read with the feelings of the author. 'The Thorn' is
+ tedious to hundreds; and so is 'The Idiot Boy' to hundreds. It is in
+ the character of the old man to tell his story, which an impatient
+ reader must feel tedious. But, good heavens! such a figure, in such a
+ place; a pious, self-respecting, miserably infirm and pleased old man
+ telling such a tale!"
+
+Ed.
+
+
+[Footnote A: It is unfortunate that in this, as in many other similar
+occasions in these delightful volumes by the poet's nephew, the
+reticence as to names--warrantable perhaps in 1851, so soon after the
+poet's death--has now deprived the world of every means of knowing to
+whom many of Wordsworth's letters were addressed. Professor Dowden asks
+about it--and very naturally:
+
+ "Was it the letter to Mary and Sara" (Hutchinson) "about 'The
+ Leech-Gatherer,' mentioned in Dorothy's Journal of 14th June
+ 1802?"
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"I GRIEVED FOR BUONAPARTE"
+
+
+Composed May 21, 1802.--Published 1807 [A]
+
+
+[In the cottage of Town-end, one afternoon in 1801, my sister read to me
+the sonnets of Milton. I had long been well acquainted with them, but I
+was particularly struck on that occasion with the dignified simplicity
+and majestic harmony that runs through most of them--in character so
+totally different from the Italian, and still more so from Shakespeare's
+fine sonnets. I took fire, if I may be allowed to say so, and produced
+three sonnets the same afternoon, the first I ever wrote, except an
+irregular one at school. Of these three the only one I distinctly
+remember is 'I grieved for Buonaparte, etc.'; one of the others was
+never written down; the third, which was I believe preserved, I cannot
+particularise.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty," afterwards called "Poems
+dedicated to National Independence and Liberty." From the edition of
+1815 onwards, it bore the title '1801'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I grieved for Buonaparte, with a vain
+ And an unthinking grief! The tenderest mood [1]
+ Of that Man's mind--what can it be? what food
+ Fed his first hopes? what knowledge could _he_ gain?
+ 'Tis not in battles that from youth we train 5
+ The Governor who must be wise and good,
+ And temper with the sternness of the brain
+ Thoughts motherly, and meek as womanhood.
+ Wisdom doth live with children round her knees:
+ Books, leisure, perfect freedom, and the talk 10
+ Man holds with week-day man in the hourly walk
+ Of the mind's business: these are the degrees
+ By which true Sway doth mount; this is the stalk
+ True Power doth grow on; and her rights are these.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... grief! the vital blood
+ Of that man's mind, what can it be? What food
+ Fed his first hopes? what knowledge could he gain? 1802.
+
+ ... grief! for, who aspires
+ To genuine greatness but from just desires,
+ And knowledge such as _He_ could never gain? 1815.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: It had twice seen the light previously in 'The Morning
+Post', first on September 16, 1802, unsigned, and again on January 29,
+1803, when it was signed W. L. D.--Ed.]
+
+
+Wordsworth's date 1801, in the Fenwick note, should have been 1802. His
+sister writes, in her Journal of 1802:
+
+ "May 21.--W. wrote two sonnets on Buonaparte, after I had read
+ Milton's sonnets to him."
+
+The "irregular" sonnet, written "at school," to which Wordsworth refers,
+is probably the one published in the 'European Magazine' in 1787, vol.
+xi. p. 202, and signed Axiologus.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+A FAREWELL
+
+
+Composed May 29, 1802.--Published 1815
+
+
+[Composed just before my Sister and I went to fetch Mrs. Wordsworth from
+Gallow-hill, near Scarborough.--I.F.]
+
+This was one of the "Poems founded on the Affections." It was published
+in 1815 and in 1820 without a title, but with the sub-title 'Composed in
+the Year 1802'. In 1827 and 1832 it was called 'A Farewell', to which
+the sub-title was added. The sub-title was omitted in 1836, and
+afterwards.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Farewell, thou little Nook of mountain-ground,
+ Thou rocky corner in the lowest stair
+ Of that magnificent temple which doth bound
+ One side of our whole vale with grandeur rare;
+ Sweet garden-orchard, eminently fair, 5
+ The loveliest spot that man hath ever found,
+ Farewell!--we leave thee to Heaven's peaceful care,
+ Thee, and the Cottage which thou dost surround.
+
+ Our boat is safely anchored by the shore,
+ And there will safely ride [1] when we are gone; 10
+ The flowering shrubs that deck our humble door [2]
+ Will prosper, though untended and alone:
+ Fields, goods, and far-off chattels we have none:
+ These narrow bounds contain our private store
+ Of things earth makes, and sun doth shine upon; 15
+ Here are they in our sight--we have no more.
+
+ Sunshine and shower be with you, bud and bell!
+ For two months now in vain we shall be sought;
+ We leave you here in solitude to dwell
+ With these our latest gifts of tender thought; 20
+ Thou, like the morning, in thy saffron coat,
+ Bright gowan, and marsh-marigold, farewell!
+ Whom from the borders of the Lake we brought,
+ And placed together near our rocky Well.
+
+ We go for One to whom ye will be dear; 25
+ And she will prize this Bower, this Indian shed,
+ Our own contrivance, Building without peer!
+--A gentle Maid, whose heart is lowly bred,
+ Whose pleasures are in wild fields gathered,
+ With joyousness, and with a thoughtful cheer, 30
+ Will come [3] to you; to you herself will wed;
+ And love the blessed life that [4] we lead here.
+
+ Dear Spot! which we have watched with tender heed,
+ Bringing thee chosen plants and blossoms blown
+ Among the distant mountains, flower and weed, 35
+ Which thou hast taken to thee as thy own.
+ Making all kindness registered and known;
+ Thou for our sakes, though Nature's child indeed,
+ Fair in thyself and beautiful alone,
+ Hast taken gifts which thou dost little need. 40
+
+ And O most constant, yet most fickle Place,
+ That hast thy wayward moods, as thou dost show
+ To them who look not daily on [5] thy face;
+ Who, being loved, in love no bounds dost know,
+ And say'st, when we forsake thee, "Let them go!" 45
+ Thou easy-hearted Thing, with thy wild race
+ Of weeds and flowers, till we return be slow,
+ And travel with the year at a soft pace.
+
+ Help us to tell Her tales of years gone by,
+ And this sweet spring, the best beloved and best; 50
+ Joy will be flown in its mortality;
+ Something must stay to tell us of the rest.
+ Here, thronged with primroses, the steep rock's breast
+ Glittered at evening like a starry sky;
+ And in this bush our sparrow built her nest, 55
+ Of which I sang [6] one song that will not die. [A]
+
+ O happy Garden! whose seclusion deep
+ Hath been so friendly to industrious hours;
+ And to soft slumbers, that did gently steep
+ Our spirits, carrying with them dreams of flowers, 60
+ And wild notes warbled among leafy bowers;
+ Two burning months let summer overleap,
+ And, coming back with Her who will be ours,
+ Into thy bosom we again shall creep.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ And safely she will ride ... 1815.
+
+ ... will she ... 1832.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... that decorate our door 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1820.
+
+ She'll come ... 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... which ... 1815]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... in ... 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... sung ... 1815.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: See 'The Sparrow's Nest', p. 236.--Ed.]
+
+
+ "May 29.--William finished his poem on going for Mary. I wrote it out.
+ A sweet day. We nailed up the honeysuckle and hoed the scarlet beans."
+
+She added on the 31st,
+
+ "I wrote out the poem on our departure, which he seemed to have
+ finished;"
+
+and on June 13th,
+
+ "William has been altering the poem to Mary this morning."
+
+The "little Nook of mountain-ground" is in much the same condition now,
+as it was in 1802. The "flowering shrubs" and the "rocky well" still
+exist, and "the steep rock's breast" is "thronged with primroses" in
+spring. The "bower" is gone; but, where it used to be, a seat is now
+erected.
+
+The Dove Cottage orchard is excellently characterised in Mr. Stopford
+Brooke's pamphlet describing it (1890). See also 'The Green Linnet', p.
+367, with the note appended to it, and Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere
+Journal, _passim_.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"THE SUN HAS LONG BEEN SET"
+
+
+Composed June 8, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[This _Impromptu_ appeared, many years ago, among the Author's poems,
+from which, in subsequent editions, it was excluded. [A] It is
+reprinted, at the request of the Friend in whose presence the lines were
+thrown off.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Evening Voluntaries."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ The sun has long been set,
+ The stars are out by twos and threes,
+ The little birds are piping yet
+ Among the bushes and trees; [1]
+ There's a cuckoo, and one or two thrushes, 5
+ And a far-off wind that rushes,
+ And a sound of water that gushes, [2]
+ And the cuckoo's sovereign cry
+ Fills all the hollow of the sky.
+
+ Who would go "parading" 10
+ In London, "and masquerading," [B]
+ On such a night of June
+ With that beautiful soft half-moon,
+ And all these innocent blisses?
+ On such a night as this is! 15
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... and the trees; 1836.
+
+The edition of 1837 returns to the text of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1835.
+
+ And a noise of wind that rushes,
+ With a noise of water that gushes; 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: It appeared in 1807 as No. II. of "Moods of my own Mind,"
+and not again till the publication of "Yarrow Revisited" in 1835.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare:
+
+ 'At operas and plays parading,
+ Mortgaging, gambling, masquerading.'
+
+Burns, 'The Two Dogs, a Tale', II. 124-5.--Ed.]
+
+
+ "June 8th (1802).--After tea William came out and walked, and wrote
+ that poem, 'The sun has long been set,' etc. He walked on our own
+ path, and wrote the lines; he called me into the orchard and there
+ repeated them to me."
+
+(Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal.) The "Friend in whose presence the lines
+were thrown off," was his sister.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, SEPTEMBER 3, 1802
+
+
+Composed July 31, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written on the roof of a coach, on my way to France.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--Ed.
+
+
+
+ Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
+ Dull would he be of soul [1] who could pass by
+ A sight so touching in its majesty:
+ This City now doth, like a garment, wear
+ The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, 5
+ Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
+ Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
+ All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
+ Never did sun more beautifully steep
+ In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill; 10
+ Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
+ The river glideth at his own sweet will:
+ Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
+ And all that mighty heart is lying still!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... heart ... MS.]
+
+
+
+The date which Wordsworth gave to this sonnet on its first publication
+in 1807, viz. September 3, 1803,--and which he retained in all
+subsequent editions of his works till 1836,--is inaccurate. He left
+London for Dover, on his way to Calais, on the 31st of July 1802. The
+sonnet was written that morning as he travelled towards Dover. The
+following record of the journey is preserved in his sister's Journal:
+
+ "July 30. [A]--Left London between five and six o'clock of the morning
+ outside the Dover coach. A beautiful morning. The city, St. Paul's,
+ with the river--a multitude of little boats, made a beautiful sight as
+ we crossed _Westminster Bridge_; the houses not overhung by their
+ clouds of smoke, and were hung out endlessly; yet the sun shone so
+ brightly, with such a pure light, that there was something like the
+ purity of one of Nature's own grand spectacles."
+
+This sonnet underwent no change in successive editions.
+
+In illustration of it, an anecdote of the late Bishop of St. David's may
+be given, as reported by Lord Coleridge.
+
+ "In the great debate on the abolition of the Irish Establishment in
+ 1869, the Bishop of St. David's, Dr. Thirlwall, had made a very
+ remarkable speech, and had been kept till past daybreak in the House
+ of Lords, before the division was over, and he was able to walk home.
+ He was then an old man, and in failing health. Some time after, he was
+ asked whether he had not run some risk to his health, and whether he
+ did not feel much exhausted. 'Yes,' he said, 'perhaps so; but I was
+ more than repaid by walking out upon Westminster Bridge after the
+ division, seeing London in the morning light as Wordsworth saw it, and
+ repeating to myself his noble sonnet as I walked home.'"
+
+This anecdote was told to the Wordsworth Society, at its meeting on the
+3rd of May 1882, after a letter had been read by the Secretary, from Mr.
+Robert Spence Watson, recording the following similar experience:
+
+ "... As confirming the perfect truth of Wordsworth's description of
+ the external aspects of a scene, and the way in which he reached its
+ inmost soul, I may tell you what happened to me, and may have happened
+ to many others. Many years ago, I think it was in 1859, I chanced to
+ be passing (in a pained and depressed state of mind, occasioned by the
+ death of a friend) over Waterloo Bridge at half-past three on a lovely
+ June morning. It was broad daylight, and I was alone. Never when alone
+ in the remotest recesses of the Alps, with nothing around me but the
+ mountains, or upon the plains of Africa, alone with the wonderful
+ glory of the southern night, have I seen anything to approach the
+ solemnity--the soothing solemnity--of the city, sleeping under the
+ early sun:
+
+ 'Earth has not any thing to show more fair.'
+
+ "How simply, yet how perfectly, Wordsworth has interpreted it! It was
+ a happy thing for us that the Dover coach left at so untimely an hour.
+ It was this sonnet, I think, that first opened my eyes to Wordsworth's
+ greatness as a poet. Perhaps nothing that he has written shows more
+ strikingly the vast sympathy which is his peculiar dower."
+
+Ed.
+
+[Footnote A: This is an error of date. Saturday, the day of their
+departure from London, was the 31st of July.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+COMPOSED BY THE SEA-SIDE, NEAR CALAIS, AUGUST, 1802
+
+
+Composed August, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; re-named in 1845, "Poems
+dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Fair Star of evening, Splendour of the west,
+ Star of my Country!--on the horizon's brink
+ Thou hangest, stooping, as might seem, to sink
+ On England's bosom; yet well pleased to rest,
+ Meanwhile, and be to her a glorious crest 5
+ Conspicuous to the Nations. Thou, I think,
+ Should'st be my Country's emblem; and should'st wink,
+ Bright Star! with laughter on her banners, drest
+ In thy fresh beauty. There! that dusky spot
+ Beneath thee, that is England; there she lies. [1] 10
+ Blessings be on you both! one hope, one lot,
+ One life, one glory!--I, with many a fear
+ For my dear Country, many heartfelt sighs,
+ Among men who do not love her, linger here.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... it is England; there it lies. 1807.]
+
+
+This sonnet, and the seven that follow it, were written during
+Wordsworth's residence at Calais, in the month of August, 1802. The
+following extract from his sister's Journal illustrates it:
+
+ "We arrived at _Calais_ at four o'clock on Sunday morning the 31st of
+ July. We had delightful walks after the heat of the day was
+ passed--seeing far off in the west the coast of England, like a cloud,
+ crested with Dover Castle, the evening Star, and the glory of the sky;
+ the reflections in the water were more beautiful than the sky itself;
+ purple waves brighter than precious stones, for ever melting away upon
+ the sands."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+CALAIS, AUGUST, 1802
+
+
+Composed August 7, 1802--Published 1807 [A]
+
+
+One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; re-named in 1845, "Poems
+dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Is it a reed that's shaken by the wind,
+ Or what is it that ye go forth to see?
+ Lords, lawyers, statesmen, squires of low degree,
+ Men known, and men unknown, sick, lame, and blind,
+ Post forward all, like creatures of one kind, 5
+ With first-fruit offerings crowd to bend the knee
+ In France, before the new-born Majesty.
+ 'Tis ever thus. Ye men of prostrate mind, [1]
+ A seemly reverence may be paid to power;
+ But that's a loyal virtue, never sown 10
+ In haste, nor springing with a transient shower:
+ When truth, when sense, when liberty were flown,
+ What hardship had it been to wait an hour?
+ Shame on you, feeble Heads, to slavery prone!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ Thus fares it ever. Men of prostrate mind! 1803.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: This sonnet was first published in 'The Morning Post', Jan.
+29, 1803, under the signature W. L. D., along with the one beginning, "I
+grieved for Buonaparte, with a vain," and was afterwards printed in the
+1807 edition of the Poems. Mr. T. Hutchinson (Dublin) suggests that the
+W. L. D. stood either for _Wordsworthius Libertatis Defensor_, or (more
+likely) _Wordsworthii Libertati Dedicatunt_ (carmen).--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+COMPOSED NEAR CALAIS, ON THE ROAD LEADING TO ARDRES, AUGUST 7, 1802 [A]
+
+
+Composed August, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; re-named in 1845, "Poems
+dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Jones! as [1] from Calais southward you and I
+ Went pacing side by side, this public Way
+ Streamed with the pomp of a too-credulous day, [B]
+ When faith was pledged to new-born Liberty: [2]
+ A homeless sound of joy was in the sky: 5
+ From hour to hour the antiquated Earth, [3]
+ Beat like the heart of Man: songs, garlands, mirth, [4]
+ Banners, and happy faces, far and nigh!
+ And now, sole register that these things were,
+ Two solitary greetings have I heard, 10
+ "_Good morrow, Citizen!_" a hollow word,
+ As if a dead man spake it! Yet despair
+ Touches me not, though pensive as a bird
+ Whose vernal coverts winter hath laid bare. [5]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... when ... 1807.
+
+ ... while ... 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ Travell'd on foot together; then this Way,
+ Which I am pacing now, was like the May
+ With festivals of new-born Liberty: 1807.
+
+ Where I am walking now ... MS.
+
+ Urged our accordant steps, this public Way
+ Streamed with the pomp of a too-credulous day,
+ When faith was pledged to new-born Liberty: 1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1845.
+
+ The antiquated Earth, as one might say, 1807.
+
+ The antiquated Earth, hopeful and gay, 1837.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... garlands, play, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ I feel not: happy am I as a Bird:
+ Fair seasons yet will come, and hopes as fair. 1807.
+
+ I feel not: jocund as a warbling Bird; 1820.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: In the editions of 1807 to 1837 this is a sub-title, the
+chief title being 'To a Friend'. In the editions of 1840-1843, the chief
+title is retained in the Table of Contents, but is erased in the
+text.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: 14th July 1790.--W. W. 1820.]
+
+
+This sonnet, originally entitled 'To a Friend, composed near Calais, on
+the Road leading to Ardres, August 7th, 1802', was addressed to Robert
+Jones, of Plas-yn-llan, near Ruthin, Denbighshire, a brother collegian
+at Cambridge, and afterwards a fellow of St. John's College, and
+incumbent of Soulderne, near Deddington, in Oxfordshire. It was to him
+that Wordsworth dedicated his 'Descriptive Sketches', which record their
+wanderings together in Switzerland; and it is to the pedestrian tour,
+undertaken by the two friends in the long vacation of 1790, that he
+refers in the above sonnet. The character of Jones is sketched in the
+poem written in 1800, beginning:
+
+ 'I marvel how Nature could ever find space,' [A]
+
+and his parsonage in Oxfordshire is described in the sonnet--
+
+ 'Where holy ground begins, unhallowed ends,
+ Is marked by no distinguishable line.'
+
+The following note on Jones was appended to the edition of
+1837:
+
+ "This excellent Person, one of my earliest and dearest friends, died
+ in the year 1835. We were under-graduates together of the same year,
+ at the same college; and companions in many a delightful ramble
+ through his own romantic Country of North Wales. Much of the latter
+ part of his life he passed in comparative solitude; which I know was
+ often cheered by remembrance of our youthful adventures, and of the
+ beautiful regions which, at home and abroad, we had visited together.
+ Our long friendship was never subject to a moment's
+ interruption,--and, while revising these volumes for the last time, I
+ have been so often reminded of my loss, with a not unpleasing sadness,
+ that I trust the Reader will excuse this passing mention of a Man who
+ well deserves from me something more than so brief a notice. Let me
+ only add, that during the middle part of his life he resided many
+ years (as Incumbent of the Living) at a Parsonage in Oxfordshire,
+ which is the subject of one of the 'Miscellaneous Sonnets.'"
+
+Ed.
+
+
+[Footnote A: See p. 208 ['A Character'].--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+CALAIS, AUGUST 15, 1802
+
+
+Composed August 15, 1802.--Published 1807 [A]
+
+
+One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; re-named in 1845, "Poems
+dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+ Festivals have I seen that were not names:
+ This is young Buonaparte's natal day,
+ And his is henceforth an established sway--
+ Consul for life. With worship France proclaims
+ Her approbation, and with pomps and games. 5
+ Heaven grant that other Cities may be gay!
+ Calais is not: and I have bent my way
+ To the [1] sea-coast, noting that each man frames
+ His business as he likes. Far other show
+ My youth here witnessed, in a prouder time; [2] 10
+ The senselessness of joy was then sublime!
+ Happy is he, who, caring not for Pope,
+ Consul, or King, can sound himself to know
+ The destiny of Man, and live in hope.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... this ... 1803.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... Another time
+ That was, when I was here twelve years ago. 1803.
+
+ ... long years ago: 1807.
+
+ ... Far different time
+ That was, which here I witnessed, long ago; 1820.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: It had appeared in 'The Morning Post', February 26, 1803,
+under the initials W. L. D.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"IT IS A BEAUTEOUS EVENING, CALM AND FREE"
+
+
+Composed August, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[This was composed on the beach near Calais, in the autumn of 1802.--I.
+F.]
+
+One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets." In 1807 it was No. 19 of that
+series.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ It is a beauteous evening, calm and free, [1]
+ The holy time is quiet as a Nun
+ Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
+ Is sinking down in its tranquillity;
+ The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea: [2] 5
+ Listen! [3] the mighty Being is awake,
+ And doth with his eternal motion make
+ A sound like thunder--everlastingly.
+ Dear Child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here, [A]
+ If thou appear untouched by solemn thought, [4] 10
+ Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
+ Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year;
+ And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine,
+ God being with thee when we know it not. [B]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ Air sleeps,--from strife or stir the clouds are free; 1837.
+
+ A fairer face of evening cannot be; 1840.
+
+The text of 1845 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... is on the Sea: 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1807.
+
+ But list! ... 1837.
+
+The text of 1840 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1845.
+
+ Dear Child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here,
+ If thou appear'st untouch'd by solemn thought, 1807.
+
+ Dear Child! dear happy Girl! if thou appear
+ Heedless--untouched with awe or serious thought, 1837.
+
+ Heedless-unawed, untouched with serious thought, 1838.
+
+The text of 1840 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: I thought, for some time, that the "girl" referred to was
+Dorothy Wordsworth. Her brother used to speak, and to write, of her
+under many names, "Emily," "Louisa," etc.; and to call her a "child" in
+1802--a "child of Nature" she was to the end of her days--or a "girl,"
+seemed quite natural. However, a more probable suggestion was made by
+Mr. T. Hutchinson to Professor Dowden, that it refers to the girl
+Caroline mentioned in Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal.
+
+ "We arrived at Calais at four o'clock on Sunday morning, the 3rd of
+ July.... We found out Annette and C., chez Madame Avril dans la rue de
+ la Tete d'or. The weather was very hot. We walked by the shore almost
+ every evening with Annette and Caroline, or William and I alone.... It
+ was beautiful on the calm hot night to see the little boats row out of
+ harbour with wings of fire, and the sail-boats with the fiery track
+ which they cut as they went along, and which closed up after them with
+ a hundred thousand sparkles and streams of glowworm light. Caroline
+ was delighted."
+
+I have been unable to discover who Annette and Caroline were. Dorothy
+Wordsworth frequently records in her Grasmere Journal that either
+William, or she, "wrote to Annette," but who she was is unknown to
+either the Wordsworth or the Hutchinson family.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare:
+
+ 'The Child is father of the Man, etc.'
+
+p. 292.
+
+Also S. T. C. in 'The Friend', iii. p. 46:
+
+ 'The sacred light of childhood,'
+
+and 'The Prelude', book v. l. 507. Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+ON THE EXTINCTION OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC
+
+
+Composed August, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+This and the following ten sonnets were included among the "Sonnets
+dedicated to Liberty"; re-named in 1845, "Poems dedicated to National
+Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee;
+ And was the safeguard of the west: the worth
+ Of Venice did not fall below her birth,
+ Venice, the eldest Child of Liberty.
+ She was a maiden City, bright and free; 5
+ No guile seduced, no force could violate;
+ And, when she took unto herself a Mate,
+ She must espouse the everlasting Sea. [A]
+ And what if she had seen those glories fade,
+ Those titles vanish, and that strength decay; 10
+ Yet shall some tribute of regret be paid
+ When her long life hath reached its final day:
+ Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade
+ Of that which once was great, is passed away.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' (canto iv. II):
+
+ 'The spouseless Adriatic mourns her lord.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+ "Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee."
+
+The special glory of Venice dates from the conquest of Constantinople by
+the Latins in 1202. The fourth Crusade--in which the French and
+Venetians alone took part--started from Venice, in October 1202, under
+the command of the Doge, Henry Dandolo. Its aim, however, was not the
+recovery of Palestine, but the conquest of Constantinople. At the close
+of the crusade, Venice received the Morea, part of Thessaly, the
+Cyclades, many of the Byzantine cities, and the coasts of the
+Hellespont, with three-eighths of the city of Constantinople itself, the
+Doge taking the curious title of Duke of three-eighths of the Roman
+Empire.
+
+ "And was the safeguard of the west."
+
+This may refer to the prominent part which Venice took in the Crusades,
+or to the development of her naval power, which made her mistress of the
+Mediterranean for many years, and an effective bulwark against invasions
+from the East.
+
+ "The eldest Child of Liberty."
+
+The origin of the Venetian State was the flight of many of
+the inhabitants of the mainland--on the invasion of Italy by
+Attila--to the chain of islands that lie at the head of the
+Adriatic.
+
+ "In the midst of the waters, free, indigent, laborious, and
+ inaccessible, they gradually coalesced into a republic: the first
+ foundations of Venice were laid in the island of Rialto.... On the
+ verge of the two empires the Venetians exult in the belief of
+ primitive and perpetual independence."
+
+Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire', chap. lx.
+
+ "And, when she took unto herself a Mate,
+ She must espouse the everlasting Sea."
+
+In 1177, Pope Alexander III. appealed to the Venetian Republic for
+protection against the German Emperor. The Venetians were successful in
+a naval battle at Saboro, against Otho, the son of Frederick Barbarossa.
+In return, the Pope presented the Doge Liani with a ring, with which he
+told him to wed the Adriatic, that posterity might know that the sea was
+subject to Venice, "as a bride is to her husband."
+
+In September 1796, nearly six years before this sonnet was written, the
+fate of the old Venetian Republic was sealed by the treaty of Campo
+Formio. The French army under Napoleon had subdued Italy, and, having
+crossed the Alps, threatened Vienna. To avert impending disaster, the
+Emperor Francis arranged a treaty which extinguished the Venetian
+Republic. He divided its territory between himself and Napoleon, Austria
+retaining Istria, Dalmatia, and the left bank of the Adige in the
+Venetian State, with the "maiden city" itself; France receiving the rest
+of the territory and the Ionian Islands. Since the date of that treaty
+the city has twice been annexed to Italy.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE KING OF SWEDEN
+
+
+Composed August, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+
+ The Voice of song from distant lands shall call
+ To that great [1] King; shall hail the crowned Youth
+ Who, taking counsel of unbending Truth,
+ By one example hath set forth to all
+ How they with dignity may stand; or fall, 5
+ If fall they must. Now, whither doth it tend?
+ And what to him and his shall be the end?
+ That thought is one which neither can appal
+ Nor cheer him; for the illustrious Swede hath done
+ The thing which ought to be; is raised _above_ [2] 10
+ All consequences: work he hath begun
+ Of fortitude, and piety, and love,
+ Which all his glorious ancestors approve:
+ The heroes bless him, him their rightful son.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... bold ... In 1838 only.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... He stands _above_ 1807.]
+
+
+The following is Wordsworth's note to this sonnet, added in 1837:
+
+ "In this and a succeeding Sonnet on the same subject, let me be
+ understood as a Poet availing himself of the situation which the King
+ of Sweden occupied, and of the principles AVOWED IN HIS MANIFESTOS; as
+ laying hold of these advantages for the purpose of embodying moral
+ truths. This remark might, perhaps, as well have been suppressed; for
+ to those who may be in sympathy with the course of these Poems, it
+ will be superfluous; and will, I fear, be thrown away upon that other
+ class, whose besotted admiration of the intoxicated despot hereafter
+ placed [A] in contrast with him, is the most melancholy evidence of
+ degradation in British feeling and intellect which the times have
+ furnished."
+
+The king referred to is Gustavus IV., who was born in 1778, proclaimed
+king in 1792, and died in 1837. His first public act after his accession
+was to join in the coalition against Napoleon, and dislike of Napoleon
+was the main-spring of his policy. It is to this that Wordsworth refers
+in the sonnet:
+
+ '... the illustrious Swede hath done
+ The thing which ought to be ...'
+
+It made him unpopular, however, and gave rise to a conspiracy against
+him, and to his consequent abdication in 1809. He "died forgotten and in
+poverty."--Ed.
+
+
+[Footnote A: See the sonnet beginning "Call not the royal Swede
+unfortunate," vol. iv. p. 224.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE
+
+
+Composed August, 1802.--Published 1807 [A]
+
+
+
+
+ Toussaint, the most unhappy man of men! [B]
+ Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough
+ Within thy hearing, or thy head be now
+ Pillowed in some deep dungeon's earless den;--[1]
+ O miserable Chieftain! where and when 5
+ Wilt thou find patience? Yet die not; do thou
+ Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow:
+ Though fallen thyself, never to rise again,
+ Live, and take comfort. [2] Thou hast left behind
+ Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies; 10
+ There's not a breathing of the common wind
+ That will forget thee; thou hast great allies;
+ Thy friends are exultations, agonies,
+ And love, and man's unconquerable mind. [C]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ Whether the rural milk-maid by her cow
+ Sing in thy hearing, or thou liest now
+ Alone in some deep dungeon's earless den, 1803.
+
+ Whether the all-cheering sun be free to shed
+ His beams around thee, or thou rest thy head
+ Pillowed in some dark dungeon's noisome den, 1815.
+
+ Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough
+ Within thy hearing, or Thou liest now
+ Buried in some deep dungeon's earless den;--1820.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... Yet die not; be thou
+ Life to thyself in death; with chearful brow
+ Live, loving death, nor let one thought in ten
+ Be painful to thee ... 1803.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: But previously printed in 'The Morning Post' of February 2,
+1803, under the signature W. L. D.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare Massinger, 'The Bondman', act I. scene iii. l. 8:
+
+ 'Her man of men, Timoleon.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare Rowe's 'Tamerlane', iii. 2:
+
+ 'But to subdue the unconquerable mind.'
+
+Also Gray's poem 'The Progress of Poesy', ii. 2, l. 10:
+
+ 'Th' unconquerable Mind, and Freedom's holy flame.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+Francois Dominique Toussaint (who was surnamed L'Ouverture), the child
+of African slaves, was born at St. Domingo in 1743. He was a Royalist in
+political sympathy till 1794, when the decree of the French convention,
+giving liberty to the slaves, brought him over to the side of the
+Republic. He was made a general of division by Laveux, and succeeded in
+taking the whole of the north of the island from the English. In 1796 he
+was made chief of the French army of St. Domingo, and first the British
+commander, and next the Spanish, surrendered everything to him. He
+became governor of the island, which prospered under his rule. Napoleon,
+however, in 1801, issued an edict re-establishing slavery in St.
+Domingo. Toussaint professed obedience, but showed that he meant to
+resist the edict. A fleet of fifty-four vessels was sent from France to
+enforce it. Toussaint was proclaimed an outlaw. He surrendered, and was
+received with military honours, but was treacherously arrested and sent
+to Paris in June 1802, where he died, in April 1803, after ten months'
+hardship in prison. He had been two months in prison when Wordsworth
+addressed this sonnet to him.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+COMPOSED IN THE VALLEY NEAR DOVER, ON THE DAY OF LANDING
+
+
+Composed August 30, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+
+
+ Here, on our native soil, we breathe once more. [1]
+ The cock that crows, the smoke that curls, that sound
+ Of bells;--those boys who [2] in yon meadow-ground
+ In white-sleeved shirts are playing; [A] and the roar
+ Of the waves breaking on the chalky shore;--[3] 5
+ All, all are English. Oft have I looked round
+ With joy in Kent's green vales; but never found
+ Myself so satisfied in heart before.
+ Europe is yet in bonds; but let that pass,
+ Thought for another moment. Thou art free, 10
+ My Country! and 'tis joy enough and pride
+ For one hour's perfect bliss, to tread the grass
+ Of England once again, and hear and see,
+ With such a dear Companion at my side.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ Dear fellow Traveller! here we are once more. 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... that ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1815.
+
+ In white sleev'd shirts are playing by the score,
+ And even this little River's gentle roar, 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: At the beginning of Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Journal of a Tour
+on the Continent' in 1820, she writes (July 10, 1820):
+
+ "When within a mile of Dover saw crowds of people at a cricket match,
+ the numerous combatants dressed in 'white-sleeved shirts;' and it was
+ in the very same field, where, when we 'trod the grass of England once
+ again,' twenty years ago, we had seen an assemblage of youths, engaged
+ in the same sport, so very like the present that all might have been
+ the same. (See my brother's sonnet.)"
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+Dorothy Wordsworth writes in her Journal,
+
+ "On Sunday, the 29th of August, we left Calais, at twelve o'clock in
+ the morning, and landed at Dover at one on Monday the 30th. It was
+ very pleasant to me, when we were in the harbour at Dover, to breathe
+ the fresh air, and to look up and see the stars among the ropes of the
+ vessel. The next day was very hot, we bathed, and sat upon the Dover
+ Cliffs, and looked upon France with many a melancholy and tender
+ thought. We could see the shores almost as plain as if it were but an
+ English lake. We mounted the coach, and arrived in London at six, the
+ 30th August."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER 1, 1802
+
+
+Composed September 1, 1802.--Published 1807 [A]
+
+
+Among the capricious acts of Tyranny that disgraced these times, was the
+chasing of all Negroes from France by decree of the Government: we had a
+Fellow-passenger who was one of the expelled.--W. W. 1827.
+
+
+
+
+ We had a female Passenger who came [1]
+ From Calais with us, spotless [2] in array,
+ A white-robed Negro, [3] like a lady gay,
+ Yet downcast [4] as a woman fearing blame;
+ Meek, destitute, as seemed, of hope or aim [5] 5
+ She sate, from notice turning not away,
+ But on all proffered intercourse did lay [6]
+ A weight of languid speech, or to the same
+ No sign of answer made by word or face:
+ Yet still her eyes retained their tropic fire, 10
+ That, burning independent of the mind,
+ Joined with the lustre of her rich attire
+ To mock the Outcast--O ye Heavens, be kind!
+ And feel, thou Earth, for this afflicted Race![7]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ We had a fellow-passenger that came 1803.
+
+ ... who ... 1807.
+
+ Driven from the soil of France, a Female came 1827.
+
+The edition of 1838 returns to the text of 1807, but the edition of 1840
+reverts to that of 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... gaudy ... 1803.
+
+ ... brilliant ... 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1845.
+
+ A negro woman, ... 1803.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ Yet silent ... 1803.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ Dejected, downcast, meek, and more than tame: 1803.
+
+ Dejected, meek, yea pitiably tame, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ But on our proffer'd kindness still did lay 1803.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... or at the same
+ Was silent, motionless in eyes and face.
+ She was a negro woman, out of France,
+ Rejected, like all others of that race:
+ Not one of whom may now find footing there.
+ What is the meaning of this ordinance?
+ Dishonour'd Despots, tell us if ye dare. 1803.
+
+ ... driv'n from France,
+ Rejected like all others of that race,
+ Not one of whom may now find footing there;
+ This the poor Out-cast did to us declare,
+ Nor murmur'd at the unfeeling Ordinance. 1807.
+
+ Meanwhile those eyes retained their tropic fire,
+ Which, burning independent of the mind,
+ Joined with the lustre of her rich attire
+ To mock the outcast--O ye Heavens, be kind!
+ And feel, thou Earth, for this afflicted Race! 1827.
+
+ Yet still those eyes retained their tropic fire, 1837.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+
+[Footnote A: First printed in 'The Morning Post', February 11, 1803,
+under the title of 'The Banished Negroes', and signed W. L. D.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+It was a natural arrangement which led Wordsworth to place this sonnet,
+in his edition of 1807, immediately after the one addressed 'To
+Toussaint L'Ouverture'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER, 1802, NEAR DOVER [A]
+
+
+Composed September, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+
+
+ Inland, within a hollow vale, I stood;
+ And saw, while sea was calm and air was clear,
+ The coast of France--the coast of France how near!
+ Drawn almost into frightful neighbourhood.
+ I shrunk; for verily the barrier flood 5
+ Was like a lake, or river bright and fair,
+ A span of waters; yet what power is there!
+ What mightiness for evil and for good! [B]
+ Even so doth God protect us if we be
+ Virtuous and wise. Winds blow, and waters roll, 10
+ Strength to the brave, and Power, and Deity;
+ Yet in themselves are nothing! One decree
+ Spake laws to _them_, and said that by the soul
+ Only, the Nations shall be great and free.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: From 1807 to 1843 the title was 'September, 1802'; "near
+Dover" appeared in the "Sonnets" of 1838, but did not become a permanent
+part of the title until 1845.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare in S. T. 'Coleridge's Ode to the Departing Year',
+stanza vii.:
+
+ 'And Ocean 'mid his uproar wild
+ Speaks safety to his island-child.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+In 'The Friend' (ed. 1818, vol. i. p. 107), Coleridge writes:
+
+ "The narrow seas that form our boundaries, what were they in times of
+ old? The convenient highway for Danish and Norman pirates. What are
+ they now? Still, but a 'Span of Waters.' Yet they roll at the base of
+ the Ararat, on which the Ark of the Hope of Europe and of Civilization
+ rested!"
+
+He then quotes this sonnet from the line "Even so doth God protect us if
+we be."
+
+The note appended to the sonnet, 'Composed in the Valley near Dover, on
+the day of Landing' (p. 341), shows that this one refers to the same
+occasion; and that while "Inland, within a hollow vale," Wordsworth was,
+at the same time, on the Dover Cliffs; the "vale" being one of the
+hollow clefts in the headland, which front the Dover coast-line. The
+sonnet may, however, have been finished afterwards in London.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+WRITTEN IN LONDON, SEPTEMBER, 1802
+
+
+Composed September, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[This was written immediately after my return from France to London,
+when I could not but be struck, as here described, with the vanity and
+parade of our own country, especially in great towns and cities, as
+contrasted with the quiet, and I may say the desolation, that the
+Revolution had produced in France. This must be borne in mind, or else
+the reader may think that in this and the succeeding Sonnets I have
+exaggerated the mischief engendered and fostered among us by undisturbed
+wealth. It would not be easy to conceive with what a depth of feeling I
+entered into the struggle carried on by the Spaniards for their
+deliverance from the usurped power of the French. Many times have I gone
+from Allan Bank in Grasmere Vale, where we were then residing, to the
+top of Raise-gap, as it is called, so late as two o'clock in the
+morning, to meet the carrier bringing the newspapers from Keswick.
+Imperfect traces of the state of mind in which I then was may be found
+in my tract on the Convention of Cintra, as well as in these
+Sonnets.--I. F.]
+
+
+
+
+ O FRIEND! [A] I know not which way I must look [1]
+ For comfort, being, as I am, opprest,
+ To think that now our life is only drest
+ For show; mean handy-work of craftsman, cook,
+ Or groom!--We must run glittering like a brook 5
+ In the open sunshine, or we are unblest:
+ The wealthiest man among us is the best:
+ No grandeur now in nature or in book
+ Delights us. Rapine, avarice, expense,
+ This is idolatry; and these we adore: 10
+ Plain living and high thinking are no more:
+ The homely beauty of the good old cause
+ Is gone; our peace, our fearful innocence,
+ And pure religion breathing household laws. [B]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ O thou proud City! which way shall I look 1838.
+
+The text of 1840 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The "Friend" was Coleridge. In the original MS. it stands
+"Coleridge! I know not," etc. Wordsworth changed it in the proof
+stage.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare--in Hartley Coleridge's 'Lives of Distinguished
+Northerners'--what is said of this sonnet, in his life of Anne Clifford,
+where the passing cynicism of Wordsworth's poem is pointed out.--Ed.]
+
+
+Wordsworth stayed in London from August 30th to September 22nd 1802.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+LONDON, 1802
+
+
+Composed September, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+
+
+ Milton! thou should'st be living at this hour:
+ England hath need of thee: she is a fen
+ Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
+ Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
+ Have forfeited their ancient English dower 5
+ Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
+ Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
+ And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
+ Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:
+ Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: 10
+ Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
+ So didst thou travel on life's common way,
+ In cheerful godliness; and yet [A] thy heart
+ The lowliest duties on herself [1] did lay.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1820.
+
+ ... itself ... 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: In old English "yet" means "continuously" or "always"; and
+it is still used in Cumberland with this signification.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"GREAT MEN HAVE BEEN AMONG US; HANDS THAT PENNED"
+
+
+Composed September, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+
+
+ Great men have been among us; hands that penned
+ And tongues that uttered wisdom--better none:
+ The later Sidney, Marvel, Harrington,
+ Young Vane, [A] and others who called Milton friend.
+ These moralists could act and comprehend: 5
+ They knew how genuine glory was put on;
+ Taught us how rightfully a nation shone
+ In splendour: what strength was, that would not bend
+ But in [1] magnanimous meekness. France, 'tis strange,
+ Hath brought forth no such souls as we had then. 10
+ Perpetual emptiness! unceasing change!
+ No single volume paramount, no code,
+ No master spirit, no determined road;
+ But equally a want of books and men!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ But to ... MS.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: See Clarendon's 'History of the Rebellion', book iii.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"IT IS NOT TO BE THOUGHT OF THAT THE FLOOD"
+
+
+Composed September, 1802.--Published 1807 [A]
+
+
+
+
+ It is not to be thought of that the Flood
+ Of British freedom, which, to the open sea
+ Of the world's praise, from dark antiquity
+ Hath flowed, "with pomp of waters, unwithstood,"[B]
+ Roused though it be full often to a mood 5
+ Which spurns the check of salutary bands, [1]
+ That this most famous Stream in bogs and sands
+ Should perish; and to evil and to good
+ Be lost for ever. In our halls is hung
+ Armoury of the invincible Knights of old: 10
+ We must be [2] free or die, who speak the tongue
+ That Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold
+ Which Milton held.--In every thing we are sprung
+ Of Earth's first blood, have titles manifold.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... unwithstood,
+ Road by which all might come and go that would,
+ And bear out freights of worth to foreign lands; 1803.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... must live ... 1803.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: It was first printed in 'The Morning Post', April 16. 1803,
+and signed W. L. D.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare Daniel's 'Civil War', book ii. stanza 7.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"WHEN I HAVE BORNE IN MEMORY WHAT HAS TAMED"
+
+
+Composed September, 1802.--Published 1807 [A]
+
+
+
+
+ When I have borne in memory what has tamed
+ Great Nations, how ennobling thoughts depart
+ When men change swords for ledgers, and desert
+ The student's bower for gold, some fears unnamed
+ I had, my Country!--am I to be blamed? 5
+ Now, [1] when I think of thee, and what thou art,
+ Verily, in the bottom of my heart,
+ Of those unfilial fears I am ashamed. [2]
+ For dearly must we prize thee; we who find
+ In thee a bulwark for the cause of men; [3] 10
+ And I by my affection was beguiled:
+ What wonder if a Poet now and then,
+ Among the many movements of his mind,
+ Felt for thee as a lover or a child!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1.
+
+1845.
+
+ But,... 1803.]
+
+
+[Variant 2.
+
+1807.
+
+ I of those fears of mine am much ashamed. 1803.]
+
+
+[Variant 3.
+
+1845.
+
+ But dearly do I prize thee for I find
+ In thee a bulwark of the cause of men; 1803.
+
+ But dearly must we prize thee; we who find 1807.
+
+ ... for the cause of men; 1827.
+
+ Most dearly 1838.
+
+The text of 1840 returns to that of 1827.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: But printed previously in 'The Morning Post', September 17,
+1803, under the title 'England', and signed W. L. D. Also, see
+Coleridge's 'Poems on Political Events', 1828-9.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+COMPOSED AFTER A JOURNEY ACROSS THE HAMBLETON HILLS, [A] YORKSHIRE
+
+
+Composed October 4, 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Composed October 4th, 1802, after a journey over the Hambleton Hills,
+on a day memorable to me--the day of my marriage. The horizon commanded
+by those hills is most magnificent. The next day, while we were
+travelling in a post-chaise up Wensleydale, we were stopped by one of
+the horses proving restive, and were obliged to wait two hours in a
+severe storm before the post-boy could fetch from the inn another to
+supply its place. The spot was in front of Bolton Hall, where Mary Queen
+of Scots was kept prisoner, soon after her unfortunate landing at
+Workington. The place then belonged to the Scroops, and memorials of her
+are yet preserved there. To beguile the time I composed a Sonnet. The
+subject was our own confinement contrasted with hers; but it was not
+thought worthy of being preserved.--I. F.]
+
+One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Dark and more dark the shades of evening fell;
+ The wished-for point was reached--but at an hour
+ When little could be gained from that rich dower [1]
+ Of prospect, whereof many thousands tell.
+ Yet did the glowing west with marvellous power 5
+ Salute us; there stood Indian citadel,
+ Temple of Greece, and minster with its tower
+ Substantially expressed--a place for bell
+ Or clock to toll from! Many a tempting isle,
+ With groves that never were imagined, lay 10
+ 'Mid seas how steadfast! objects all for the eye
+ Of silent rapture; but we felt the while [2]
+ We should forget them; they are of the sky,
+ And from our earthly memory fade away.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ Ere we had reach'd the wish'd-for place, night fell:
+ We were too late at least by one dark hour,
+ And nothing could we see of all that power
+ Of prospect, ... 1807.
+
+ Dark, and more dark, the shades of Evening fell;
+ The wish'd-for point was reach'd--but late the hour;
+ And little could we see of all that power 1815.
+
+ And little could be gained from all that dower 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ The western sky did recompence us well
+ With Grecian Temple, Minaret, and Bower;
+ And, in one part, a Minster with its Tower
+ Substantially distinct, a place for Bell
+ Or Clock to toll from. Many a glorious pile
+ Did we behold, sights that might well repay
+ All disappointment! and, as such, the eye
+ Delighted in them; but we felt, the while, 1807.
+
+ Substantially expressed--... 1815.
+
+ Did we behold, fair sights that might repay 1815.
+
+ Yet did the glowing west in all its power 1827.
+
+The text of 1827 is otherwise identical with that of 1837.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Called by Wordsworth, "The Hamilton Hills" in the editions
+from 1807 to 1827.--Ed.]
+
+
+The following extract from Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal indicates, as
+fully as any other passage in it, the use which her brother occasionally
+made of it. We have the "Grecian Temple," and the "Minster with its
+Tower":
+
+ "Before we had crossed the Hambleton Hill and reached the point
+ overlooking Yorkshire it was quite dark. We had not wanted, however,
+ fair prospects before us, as we drove along the flat plain of the high
+ hill; far, far off from us, in the western sky, we saw shapes of
+ castles, ruins among groves--a great, spreading wood, rocks, and
+ single trees--a Minster with its Tower unusually distinct, Minarets in
+ another quarter, and a round Grecian Temple also; the colours of the
+ sky of a bright grey, and the forms of a sober grey, with a dome. As
+ we descended the hill there was no distinct view, but of a great
+ space, only near us, we saw the wild (and as the people say)
+ bottomless Tarn in the hollow at the side of the hill. It seemed to be
+ made visible to us only by its own light, for all the hill about us
+ was dark."
+
+Wordsworth and his sister crossed over the Hambleton (or Hamilton)
+Hills, on their way from Westmoreland to Gallow Hill, Yorkshire, to
+visit the Hutchinsons, before they went south to London and Calais,
+where they spent the month of August, 1802. But after his marriage to
+Mary Hutchinson, on the 4th of October, Wordsworth, his wife, and
+sister, recrossed these Hambleton Hills on their way to Grasmere, which
+they reached on the evening of the 6th October. The above sonnet was
+composed on the evening of the 4th October, as the Fenwick note
+indicates.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO H. C.
+
+SIX YEARS OLD
+
+
+Composed 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+One of the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ O thou! whose fancies from afar are brought;
+ Who of thy words dost make a mock apparel,
+ And fittest to unutterable thought
+ The breeze-like motion and the self-born carol;
+ Thou faery voyager! that dost float 5
+ In such clear water, that thy boat
+ May rather seem
+ To brood on air [A] than on an earthly stream;
+ Suspended in a stream as clear as sky,
+ Where earth and heaven do make one imagery; 10
+ O blessed vision! happy child!
+ Thou [1] art so exquisitely wild,
+ I think of thee with many fears
+ For what may be thy lot in future years.
+
+ I thought of times when Pain might be thy guest, 15
+ Lord of thy house and hospitality;
+ And Grief, uneasy lover! never rest
+ But when she sate within the touch of thee.
+ O too industrious folly!
+ O vain and causeless melancholy! 20
+ Nature will either end thee quite;
+ Or, lengthening out thy season of delight,
+ Preserve for thee, by individual right,
+ A young lamb's heart among the full-grown flocks.
+ What hast thou to do with sorrow, 25
+ Or the injuries of to-morrow?
+ Thou art a dew-drop, which the morn brings forth,
+ Ill fitted to sustain [2] unkindly shocks,
+ Or to be trailed along the soiling earth;
+ A gem that glitters while it lives, 30
+ And no forewarning gives;
+ But, at the touch of wrong, without a strife
+ Slips in a moment out of life.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ That ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ Not doom'd to jostle with ... 1807.
+
+ Not framed to undergo ... 1815.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: See Carver's Description of his Situation upon one of the
+Lakes of America.--W. W. 1807.]
+
+
+These stanzas were addressed to Hartley Coleridge. The lines,
+
+ 'I think of thee with many fears
+ For what may be thy lot in future years,'
+
+taken in connection with his subsequent career, suggest the similarly
+sad "presentiment" with which the 'Lines composed above Tintern Abbey'
+conclude. The following is the postscript to a letter by his father, S.
+T. C., addressed to Sir Humphry Davy, Keswick, July 25, 1800:
+
+ "Hartley is a spirit that dances on an aspen leaf; the air that yonder
+ sallow-faced and yawning tourist is breathing, is to my babe a
+ perpetual nitrous oxide. Never was more joyous creature born. Pain
+ with him is so wholly trans-substantiated by the joys that had rolled
+ on before, and rushed on after, that oftentimes five minutes after his
+ mother has whipt him he has gone up and asked her to whip him again."
+
+('Fragmentary Remains, Literary and Scientific', of Sir Humphry Davy,
+Bart., pp. 78, 79.)--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO THE DAISY
+
+
+Composed 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+
+
+ "Her [A] divine skill taught me this,
+ That from every thing I saw
+ I could some instruction draw,
+ And raise pleasure to the height
+ Through the meanest object's sight.
+ By the murmur of a spring,
+ Or the least bough's rustelling;
+ By a Daisy whose leaves spread
+ Shut when Titan goes to bed;
+ Or a shady bush or tree;
+ She could more infuse in me
+ Than all Nature's beauties can
+ In some other wiser man."
+
+G. WITHER. [1]
+
+
+[Composed in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere.--I. F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ In youth from rock to rock I went,
+ From hill to hill in discontent
+ Of pleasure high and turbulent,
+ Most pleased when most uneasy;
+ But now my own delights I make,--5
+ My thirst at every rill can slake, [2]
+ And gladly Nature's love partake,
+ Of Thee, sweet Daisy! [3]
+
+ Thee Winter in the garland wears
+ That thinly decks his few grey hairs; 10
+ Spring parts the clouds with softest airs,
+ That she may sun thee; [4]
+ Whole Summer-fields are thine by right;
+ And Autumn, melancholy Wight!
+ Doth in thy crimson head delight 15
+ When rains are on thee.
+
+ In shoals and bands, a morrice train,
+ Thou greet'st the traveller in the lane;
+ Pleased at his greeting thee again;
+ Yet nothing daunted, 20
+ Nor grieved if thou be set at nought: [5]
+ And oft alone in nooks remote
+ We meet thee, like a pleasant thought,
+ When such are wanted.
+
+ Be violets in their secret mews 25
+ The flowers the wanton Zephyrs choose;
+ Proud be the rose, with rains and dews
+ Her head impearling,
+ Thou liv'st with less ambitious aim,
+ Yet hast not gone without thy fame; 30
+ Thou art indeed by many a claim
+ The Poet's darling.
+
+ If to a rock from rains he fly,
+ Or, some bright day of April sky,
+ Imprisoned by hot sunshine lie 35
+ Near the green holly,
+ And wearily at length should fare;
+ He needs [6] but look about, and there
+ Thou art!--a friend at hand, to scare
+ His melancholy. 40
+
+ A hundred times, by rock or bower,
+ Ere thus I have lain couched an hour,
+ Have I derived from thy sweet power
+ Some apprehension;
+ Some steady love; some brief delight; [7] 45
+ Some memory that had taken flight;
+ Some chime [8] of fancy wrong or right;
+ Or stray invention.
+
+ If stately passions in me burn,
+ And one [9] chance look to Thee should turn, 50
+ I drink out of an humbler urn
+ A lowlier pleasure;
+ The homely sympathy that heeds
+ The common life, our nature breeds;
+ A wisdom fitted to the needs 55
+ Of hearts at leisure.
+
+ Fresh-smitten by the morning ray,
+ When thou art up, alert and gay,
+ Then, cheerful Flower! my spirits play
+ With kindred gladness: [10] 60
+ And when, at dusk, by dews opprest
+ Thou sink'st, the image of thy rest
+ Hath often eased my pensive breast
+ Of careful sadness. [11]
+
+ And all day long I number yet, 65
+ All seasons through, another debt,
+ Which I, wherever thou art met,
+ To thee am owing; [12]
+ An instinct call it, a blind sense;
+ A happy, genial influence, 70
+ Coming one knows not how, nor whence,
+ Nor whither going.
+
+ Child of the Year! that round dost run
+ Thy pleasant course,--when day's begun
+ As ready to salute the sun 75
+ As lark or leveret,
+ Thy long-lost praise thou shalt regain; [B]
+ Nor be less dear to future men
+ Than in old time;--thou not in vain [13]
+ Art Nature's favourite. [C] 80
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1: The extract from Wither was first prefixed to this poem in
+the edition of 1815. The late Mr. Dykes Campbell was of opinion that
+Charles Lamb had suggested this motto to Wordsworth, as 'The Shepherd's
+Hunting' was Lamb's "prime favourite" amongst Wither's poems. It may be
+as well to note that his quotation was erroneous in two places. His
+"instruction" should be "invention" (l. 3), and his "the" (in l. 4)
+should be "her."--Ed.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1807.
+
+ To gentle sympathies awake, MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1807.
+
+ And Nature's love of Thee partake,
+ Her much-loved Daisy! 1836.
+
+The text of 1840 returns to the reading of 1807.
+
+ Of her sweet Daisy. C.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ When soothed a while by milder airs,
+ Thee Winter in the garland wears
+ That thinly shades his few grey hairs;
+ Spring cannot shun thee; 1807.
+
+ When Winter decks his few grey hairs
+ Thee in the scanty wreath he wears;
+ Spring parts the clouds with softest airs,
+ That she may sun thee; 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... in the lane;
+ If welcome once thou count'st it gain;
+ Thou art not daunted,
+ Nor car'st if thou be set at naught; 1807.
+
+ If welcom'd ... 1815.
+
+The text of 1827 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1820
+
+ He need..... 1807]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1807
+
+ ....some chance delight; MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1807
+
+ Some charm..... C.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1807
+
+ And some..... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1836.
+
+ When, smitten by the morning ray,
+ I see thee rise alert and gay,
+ Then, chearful Flower! my spirits play
+ With kindred motion: 1807.
+
+ With kindred gladness: 1815.
+
+ Then Daisy! do my spirits play,
+ With cheerful motion. MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1815.
+
+ At dusk, I've seldom mark'd thee press
+ The ground, as if in thankfulness
+ Without some feeling, more or less,
+ Of true devotion. 1807.
+
+ The ground in modest thankfulness MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1807.
+
+ But more than all I number yet
+ O bounteous Flower! another debt
+ Which I to thee wherever met
+ Am daily owing; MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1836.
+
+ Child of the Year! that round dost run
+ Thy course, bold lover of the sun,
+ And chearful when the day's begun
+ As morning Leveret,
+ Thou long the Poet's praise shalt gain;
+ Thou wilt be more belov'd by men
+ In times to come; thou not in vain 1807.
+
+ Thy long-lost praise thou shalt regain;
+ Dear shalt thou be to future men
+ As in old time;--1815.
+
+ Dear thou shalt be 1820.
+
+The text of 1827 returns to that of 1815.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: His Muse.--W. W. 1815.
+
+The extract is from 'The Shepherds Hunting', eclogue fourth, ll.
+368-80.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: See, in Chaucer and the elder Poets, the honours formerly
+paid to this flower.--W. W. 1815.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: This Poem, and two others to the same Flower, which the
+Reader will find in the second Volume, were written in the year 1802;
+which is mentioned, because in some of the ideas, though not in the
+manner in which those ideas are connected, and likewise even in some of
+the expressions, they bear a striking resemblance to a Poem (lately
+published) of Mr. Montgomery, entitled, 'A Field Flower'. This being
+said, Mr. Montgomery will not think any apology due to him; I cannot
+however help addressing him in the words of the Father of English Poets:
+
+ 'Though it happe me to rehersin--
+ That ye han in your freshe songis saied,
+ Forberith me, and beth not ill apaied,
+ Sith that ye se I doe it in the honour
+ Of Love, and eke in service of the Flour.'
+
+W. W. 1807.
+
+In the edition of 1836, the following variation of the text of this note
+occurs: "There is a resemblance to passages in a Poem."--Ed.]
+
+
+
+For illustration of the last stanza, see Chaucer's Prologue to 'The
+Legend of Good Women'.
+
+ 'As I seyde erst, whanne comen is the May,
+ That in my bed ther daweth me no day,
+ That I nam uppe and walkyng in the mede,
+ To seen this floure agein the sonne sprede,
+ Whan it up rysith erly by the morwe;
+ That blisful sight softneth al my sorwe,
+ So glad am I, whan that I have presence
+ Of it, to doon it alle reverence,
+ As she that is of alle floures flour.'
+ ...
+ To seen this flour so yong, so fresshe of hewe,
+ Constreynde me with so gredy desire,
+ That in myn herte I feele yet the fire,
+ That made me to ryse er yt wer day,
+ And this was now the firste morwe of May,
+ With dredful hert, and glad devocioun
+ For to ben at the resurreccion
+ Of this flour, whan that yt shulde unclose
+ Agayne the sonne, that roos as rede as rose
+ ...
+ And doune on knes anoon ryght I me sette,
+ And as I koude, this fresshe flour I grette,
+ Knelying alwey, til it unclosed was,
+ Upon the smale, softe, swote gras.
+
+Again, in The 'Cuckoo and the Nightingale', after a wakeful night, the
+Poet rises at dawn, and wandering forth, reaches a "laund of white and
+green."
+
+ 'So feire oon had I nevere in bene,
+ The grounde was grene, y poudred with dayse,
+ The floures and the gras ilike al hie,
+ Al grene and white, was nothing elles sene.'
+
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO THE SAME FLOWER [A]
+
+
+Composed 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Composed in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere.-I. F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ With little here to do or see
+ Of things that in the great world be,
+ Daisy! again I talk to thee, [1]
+ For thou art worthy,
+ Thou unassuming Common-place 5
+ Of Nature, with that homely face,
+ And yet with something of a grace,
+ Which Love makes for thee!
+
+ Oft on the dappled turf at ease
+ I sit, and play with similes, [2] 10
+ Loose types of things through all degrees,
+ Thoughts of thy raising:
+ And many a fond and idle name
+ I give to thee, for praise or blame,
+ As is the humour of the game, 15
+ While I am gazing.
+
+ A nun demure of lowly port;
+ Or sprightly maiden, of Love's court,
+ In thy simplicity the sport
+ Of all temptations; 20
+ A queen in crown of rubies drest;
+ A starveling in a scanty vest;
+ Are all, as seems [3] to suit thee best,
+ Thy appellations.
+
+ A little cyclops, with one eye 25
+ Staring to threaten and defy,
+ That thought comes next--and instantly
+ The freak is over,
+ The shape will vanish--and behold
+ A silver shield with boss of gold, 30
+ That spreads itself, some faery bold
+ In fight to cover!
+
+ I see thee glittering from afar--
+ And then thou art a pretty star;
+ Not quite so fair as many are 35
+ In heaven above thee!
+ Yet like a star, with glittering crest,
+ Self-poised in air thou seem'st to rest;--
+ May peace come never to his nest,
+ Who shall reprove thee! 40
+
+ Bright _Flower!_ [4] for by that name at last,
+ When all my reveries are past,
+ I call thee, and to that cleave fast,
+ Sweet silent creature!
+ That breath'st with me in sun and air, 45
+ Do thou, as thou art wont, repair
+ My heart with gladness, and a share
+ Of thy meek nature!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ Sweet Daisy! oft I talk to thee, 1807.
+
+ Yet once again I talk . . 1836.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1820.
+
+ Oft do I sit by thee at ease,
+ And weave a web of similies, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... seem ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1836.
+
+ Sweet Flower!.... 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The two following Poems were overflowings of the mind in
+composing the one which stands first in the first Volume (i.e. the
+previous Poem),--W. W. 1807.]
+
+
+
+In his editions 1836-1849 Wordsworth gave 1805 as the year in which this
+poem was composed, but the Fenwick note prefixed to it renders this
+impossible. It evidently belongs to the same time, and "mood," as the
+previous poem.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO THE DAISY (#2)
+
+
+Composed 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[This and the other Poems addressed to the same flower were composed at
+Town-end, Grasmere, during the earlier part of my residence there. I
+have been censured for the last line but one--"thy function
+apostolical"--as being little less than profane. How could it be thought
+so? The word is adopted with reference to its derivation, implying
+something sent on a mission; and assuredly this little flower,
+especially when the subject of verse, may be regarded, in its humble
+degree, as administering both to moral and to spiritual purposes.--I.F.]
+
+This was included among the "Poems of the Fancy" from 1815 to 1832. In
+1837 it was transferred to the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Bright Flower! whose home is everywhere,
+ Bold in maternal Nature's care,
+ And all the long year through the heir [1]
+ Of joy and [2] sorrow.
+ Methinks that there abides in thee 5
+ Some concord [3] with humanity,
+ Given to no other flower I see
+ The forest thorough!
+
+ Is it that Man is soon deprest? [4]
+ A thoughtless Thing! who, once unblest, 10
+ Does little on his memory rest,
+ Or on his reason,
+ And [5] Thou would'st teach him how to find
+ A shelter under every wind,
+ A hope for times that are unkind 15
+ And every season?
+
+ Thou wander'st the wide world about,
+ Uncheck'd by pride or scrupulous doubt,
+ With friends to greet thee, or without,
+ Yet pleased and willing; 20
+ Meek, yielding to the occasion's call,
+ And all things suffering from all,
+ Thy function apostolical
+ In peace fulfilling. [6]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1840.
+
+ Bright Flower, whose home is every where!
+ A Pilgrim bold in Nature's care,
+ And all the long year through the heir 1807.
+
+ Bright flower, whose home is every where!
+ A Pilgrim bold in Nature's care,
+ And oft, the long year through, the heir 1827.
+
+ Confiding Flower, by Nature's care
+ Made bold,--who, lodging here or there,
+ Art all the long year through the heir 1837.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1850.
+
+ ... or ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1807.
+
+ Communion ... 1837.
+
+The text of 1840 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1807.
+
+ And wherefore? Man is soon deprest; 1827.
+
+The text of 1837 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1807.
+
+ But ... 1827.
+
+The text of 1837 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1807.
+
+This stanza was omitted in the editions of 1827 and 1832, but replaced
+in 1837.]
+
+
+The three preceding poems 'To the Daisy' evidently belong to the same
+time, and are, as Wordsworth expressly says, "overflowings of the mind
+in composing the one which stands first." Nevertheless, in the revised
+edition of 1836-7, he gave the date 1802 to the first, 1803 to the
+third, and 1805 to the second of them. In the earlier editions 1815 to
+1832, they are all classed among the "Poems of the Fancy," but in the
+edition of 1837, and afterwards, the last, "Bright Flower! whose home is
+everywhere," is ranked among the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."
+They should manifestly be placed together. Wordsworth's fourth poem 'To
+the Daisy', which is an elegy on his brother John, and belongs to a
+subsequent year--having no connection with the three preceding poems,
+will be found in its chronological place.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+LOUISA
+
+AFTER ACCOMPANYING HER ON A MOUNTAIN EXCURSION
+
+
+Composed 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Town-end 1805.--I. F.]
+
+One of the "Poems founded on the Affections." From 1807 to 1832 the
+title was simply 'Louisa'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ I met Louisa in the shade,
+ And, having seen that lovely Maid,
+ Why should I fear to say [1]
+ That, nymph-like, she is fleet and strong, [2]
+ And down the rocks can leap along 5
+ Like rivulets in May?
+ [3]
+ She loves her fire, her cottage-home;
+ Yet o'er the moorland will she roam
+ In weather rough and bleak;
+ And, when against the wind she strains, 10
+ Oh! might I kiss the mountain rains
+ That sparkle on her cheek.
+
+ Take all that's mine "beneath the moon," [A]
+ If I with her but half a noon
+ May sit beneath the walls 15
+ Of some old cave, or mossy nook,
+ When up she winds along the brook [4]
+ To hunt the waterfalls.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ Though, by a sickly taste betrayed,
+ Some will dispraise the lovely Maid,
+ With fearless pride I say 1836.
+
+The text of 1845 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ That she is ruddy, fleet, and strong; 1807.
+
+ That she is healthful, ... 1836.]
+
+
+[Variant 3: In the editions of 1807 to 1843 occurs the following verse,
+which was omitted from subsequent editions:
+
+ And she hath smiles to earth unknown;
+ Smiles, that with motion of their own
+ Do spread, and sink, and rise;
+ That come and go with endless play,
+ And ever, as they pass away,
+ Are hidden in her eyes.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1807.
+
+ When she goes barefoot up the brook MS.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare Young's 'Night Thoughts', where the phrase occurs
+three times. See also 'Lear', act IV. scene vi. l. 26:
+
+ 'For all beneath the moon.'
+
+Haywood, 'The English Traveller', v. 1:
+
+ 'All things that dwell beneath the moon.'
+
+It was also used by William Drummond, in one of his sonnets,
+
+ 'I know that all beneath the moon decays.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+Wordsworth gave as the date of the composition of this poem the year
+1805; but he said of the following one, 'To a Young Lady, who had been
+Reproached for taking Long Walks in the Country'--"composed at the same
+time" and "designed to make one piece"--that it was written in 1803.
+
+But it is certain that these following lines appeared in 'The Morning
+Post', on Feb. 12, 1802, where they are headed 'To a beautiful Young
+Lady, who had been harshly spoken of on account of her fondness for
+taking long walks in the Country'. There is difficulty, both in
+ascertaining the exact date of composition, and in knowing who "Louisa"
+or the "Young Lady" was. Mrs. Millicent G. Fawcett wrote to me several
+years ago, suggesting, with some plausibility, a much earlier date, if
+Dorothy Wordsworth was the lady referred to. She referred me to
+Dorothy's letter to her aunt, Mrs. Crackenthorpe, written from
+Windybrow, Keswick, in 1794, when staying there with her brother; and
+says
+
+ "What inclined me to think that the poem was written earlier than 1805
+ was that it anticipates Dorothy's marriage, and this would more
+ naturally be present as a probable event in W. W.'s mind in 1794 or
+ thereabouts than in 1805, after Dorothy had dedicated her life to her
+ brother, to the exclusion of all wish to make a home of her own by
+ marriage. The expression 'Healthy as a shepherd boy' is also more
+ applicable to a girl of twenty-two than to a woman of thirty-three. Do
+ you think it possible that the poem may have been written in 1794, and
+ not published till later, when its application would be less evident
+ to the family circle?"
+
+Dorothy Wordsworth's letter will be quoted in full in a later volume,
+but the following extract from it may be given now:
+
+ "I cannot pass unnoticed that part of your letter in which you speak
+ of my 'rambling about the country on foot.' So far from considering
+ this as a matter for condemnation I rather thought it would have given
+ my friends pleasure that I had courage to make use of the strength
+ with which Nature has endowed me, when it not only procured me
+ infinitely more pleasure than I should have received from sitting in a
+ post-chaise, but was also the means of saving me at least thirty
+ shillings."
+
+I do not think the date of composition can be so early as 1794. What may
+be called internal, or structural, evidence is against it. Wordsworth
+never could have written these two poems till after his settlement at
+Dove Cottage. Besides, in 1794, he could have no knowledge of a possible
+"nest in a green dale, a harbour and a hold"; while at that time his
+sister had certainly no "cottage home." I believe they were written
+after he took up his residence at Town-end (the date being uncertain);
+and that they refer to his sister, and not to his wife. It has been
+suggested by Mr. Ernest Coleridge (see 'The Athenaeum', Oct. 21, 1893)
+that they refer to Mary Hutchinson: but there is no evidence of
+Wordsworth taking long country walks with her before their marriage, or
+that she was "nymph-like," "fleet and strong," that she loved to "roam
+the moorland," "in weather rough and bleak," or that she "hunted
+waterfalls." The reference to his sister is confirmed by the omission of
+the delightful second stanza of the poem in the last edition revised by
+the poet, that of 1849, when she was a confirmed invalid at Rydal Mount.
+Those "smiles to earth unknown," had then ceased for ever. The reason
+why Wordsworth erased so delightful and wonderful a stanza, is to me
+only explicable on the supposition, that it was his sister he referred
+to, she who had accompanied him in former days, in so many of his "long
+walks in the country." His wife never did this; she had not the physical
+strength to do it; and, if she had been the person referred to,
+Wordsworth would hardly, in 1845, have erased such a description of her,
+as occurs in the stanza written in 1802, when she was still so vigorous.
+Besides, Mary Wordsworth was in no sense "a Child of Nature," as Dorothy
+was: while the testimony of the Wordsworth household is explicit, that
+it was to his sister, and not to his wife, that the poet referred. I
+find no difficulty in the allusion made in the second poem to Dorothy
+being yet possibly a "Wife and Friend"; nor to the fact that it was
+originally addressed "To a beautiful Young Lady." Neither Dorothy nor
+Mary Wordsworth were physically "beautiful," according to our highest
+standards; although the poet addressed the latter as "a Phantom of
+delight," and as "a lovely apparition." It is quite true that it was
+Mary Wordsworth's old age that was "serene and bright," while Dorothy's
+was the very reverse; but the poet's anticipation of the future was
+written when his sister was young, and was by far the stronger of the
+two.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO A YOUNG LADY, WHO HAD BEEN REPROACHED FOR TAKING LONG WALKS IN THE
+COUNTRY [A]
+
+
+Composed 1802.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Composed at the same time and on the same view as "I met Louisa in the
+shade:" indeed they were designed to make one piece.--I.F.]
+
+From 1815 to 1832 this was classed among the "Poems proceeding from
+Sentiment and Reflection." In 1836 it was transferred to the group of
+"Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Dear Child of Nature, let them rail!
+--There is a nest in a green dale,
+ A harbour and a hold;
+ Where thou, a Wife and Friend, shalt see
+ Thy own heart-stirring days, [1] and be 5
+ A light to young and old.
+
+ There, healthy as a shepherd boy,
+ And treading among flowers of joy
+ Which at no season fade, [2]
+ Thou, while thy babes around thee cling, 10
+ Shalt show us how divine a thing
+ A Woman may be made.
+
+ Thy thoughts and feelings shall not die,
+ Nor leave thee, when grey hairs are nigh
+ A melancholy slave; 15
+ But an old age serene [3] and bright,
+ And lovely as a Lapland night,
+ Shall lead thee to thy grave.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ Thy own delightful days, ... 1802.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1836.
+
+ As if thy heritage were joy,
+ And pleasure were thy trade. 1802.
+
+ And treading among flowers of joy,
+ That at no season fade, 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... alive ... 1802.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: For the original title of this poem,--as published in 'The
+Morning Post and Gazetteer',--see the note to the previous poem. When
+first published it was unsigned.--Ed.]
+
+
+See the editorial note to the preceding poem.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+1803
+
+
+The poems associated with the year 1803 consist mainly of the "Memorials
+of a Tour in Scotland," which Wordsworth and his sister took--along with
+Coleridge--in the autumn of that year, although many of these were not
+written till some time after the Tour was finished. 'The Green Linnet'
+and 'Yew-trees' were written in 1803, and some sonnets were composed in
+the month of October; but, on the whole, 1803 was not a fruitful year in
+Wordsworth's life, as regards his lyrics and smaller poems. Doubtless
+both 'The Prelude' and 'The Excursion' were revised in 1803.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GREEN LINNET
+
+
+Composed 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Composed in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere, where the bird was often
+seen as here described.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Fancy."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Beneath these fruit-tree boughs that shed
+ Their snow white blossoms on my head,
+ With brightest sunshine round me spread
+ Of spring's unclouded weather,
+ In this sequestered nook how sweet 5
+ To sit upon my orchard-seat!
+ And birds and flowers once more to greet,
+ My last year's friends together. [1]
+
+ One have I marked, the happiest guest
+ In all this covert of the blest: 10
+ Hail to Thee, far above the rest
+ In joy of voice and pinion!
+ Thou, Linnet! in thy green array,
+ Presiding Spirit here to-day,
+ Dost lead the revels of the May; 15
+ And this is thy dominion.
+
+ While birds, and butterflies, and flowers,
+ Make all one band of paramours,
+ Thou, ranging up and down the bowers,
+ Art sole in thy employment: 20
+ A Life, a Presence like the Air,
+ Scattering thy gladness without care,
+ Too blest with any one to pair;
+ Thyself thy own enjoyment.
+
+ Amid [2] yon tuft of hazel trees, 25
+ That twinkle to the gusty breeze,
+ Behold him perched in ecstacies,
+ Yet seeming still to hover;
+ There! where the flutter of his wings
+ Upon his back and body flings 30
+ Shadows and sunny glimmerings,
+ That cover him all over.
+
+ My dazzled sight he oft deceives,
+ A Brother of the dancing leaves;
+ Then flits, and from the cottage-eaves 35
+ Pours forth his song in gushes; [3]
+ As if by that exulting strain
+ He mocked and treated with disdain
+ The voiceless Form he chose to feign,
+ While fluttering in the bushes. [4] 40
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ The May is come again:--how sweet
+ To sit upon my Orchard-seat!
+ And Birds and Flowers once more to greet,
+ My last year's Friends together:
+ My thoughts they all by turns employ;
+ A whispering Leaf is now my joy,
+ And then a Bird will be the toy
+ That doth my fancy tether. 1807.
+
+ And Flowers and Birds once more to greet, 1815.
+
+The text of 1815 is otherwise identical with that of 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ Upon ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1845.
+
+ While thus before my eyes he gleams,
+ A Brother of the Leaves he seems;
+ When in a moment forth he teems
+ His little song in gushes: 1807.
+
+ My sight he dazzles, half deceives,
+ A Bird so like the dancing Leaves;
+ Then flits, and from the Cottage eaves
+ Pours forth his song in gushes; 1827.
+
+ My dazzled sight the Bird deceives,
+ A Brother of the dancing Leaves; 1832.
+
+ The Bird my dazzled sight deceives, 1840.
+
+ The Bird my dazzling sight deceives C.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ As if it pleas'd him to disdain
+ And mock the Form which he did feign,
+ While he was dancing with the train
+ Of Leaves among the bushes. 1807.
+
+ The voiceless Form he chose to feign, 1820.]
+
+
+Of all Wordsworth's poems this is the one most distinctively associated
+with the Orchard, at Town-end, Grasmere. Dorothy Wordsworth writes in
+her Journal under date May 28th, 1802:
+
+ "We sat in the orchard. The young bull-finches in their pretty
+ coloured raiment, bustle about among the blossoms, and poise
+ themselves like wire-dancers or tumblers, shaking the twigs and
+ dashing off the blossoms."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+YEW-TREES
+
+
+Composed 1803.--Published 1815
+
+
+[Written at Grasmere. These Yew-trees are still standing, but the spread
+of that at Lorton is much diminished by mutilation. I will here mention
+that a little way up the hill, on the road leading from Rosthwaite to
+Stonethwaite (in Borrowdale) lay the trunk of a Yew-tree, which appeared
+as you approached, so vast was its diameter, like the entrance of a
+cave, and not a small one. Calculating upon what I have observed of the
+slow growth of this tree in rocky situations, and of its durability, I
+have often thought that the one I am describing must have been as old as
+the Christian era. The Tree lay in the line of a fence. Great masses of
+its ruins were strewn about, and some had been rolled down the hillside
+and lay near the road at the bottom. As you approached the tree, you
+were struck with the number of shrubs and young plants, ashes, etc.,
+which had found a bed upon the decayed trunk and grew to no
+inconsiderable height, forming, as it were, a part of the hedgerow. In
+no part of England, or of Europe, have I ever seen a yew-tree at all
+approaching this in magnitude, as it must have stood. By the bye,
+Hutton, the old guide, of Keswick, had been so impressed with the
+remains of this tree, that he used gravely to tell strangers that there
+could be no doubt of its having been in existence before the
+flood.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ There is a Yew-tree, pride of Lorton Vale,
+ Which to this day stands single, in the midst
+ Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore:
+ Not loth to furnish weapons for the bands
+ Of Umfraville or Percy ere they marched 5
+ To Scotland's heaths; or those that crossed the sea
+ And drew their sounding bows at Azincour,
+ Perhaps at earlier Crecy, or Poictiers.
+ Of vast circumference and gloom profound
+ This solitary Tree! a living thing 10
+ Produced too slowly ever to decay;
+ Of form and aspect too magnificent
+ To be destroyed. But worthier still of note
+ Are those fraternal Four of Borrowdale,
+ Joined in one solemn and capacious grove; 15
+ Huge trunks! and each particular trunk a growth
+ Of intertwisted fibres serpentine
+ Up-coiling, and inveterately convolved;
+ Nor uninformed with Phantasy, and looks
+ That threaten the profane;--a pillared shade, 20
+ Upon whose grassless floor of red-brown hue,
+ By sheddings from the pining umbrage tinged
+ Perennially--beneath whose sable roof
+ Of boughs, as if for festal purpose, decked
+ With unrejoicing berries--ghostly Shapes 25
+ May meet at noontide; Fear and trembling Hope,
+ Silence and Foresight; Death the Skeleton
+ And Time the Shadow;--there to celebrate,
+ As in a natural temple scattered o'er
+ With altars undisturbed of mossy stone, 30
+ United worship; or in mute repose
+ To lie, and listen to the mountain flood
+ Murmuring from Glaramara's inmost caves.
+
+
+
+The text of this poem was never altered. The Lorton Yew-tree--which, in
+1803, was "of vast circumference," the "pride of Lorton Vale," and
+described as:
+
+ 'a living thing
+ Produced too slowly ever to decay;
+ Of form and aspect too magnificent
+ To be destroyed--'
+
+does not now verify its poet's prediction of the future. Mr. Wilson
+Robinson of Whinfell Hall, Cockermouth, wrote to me of it in May 1880:
+
+ "The tree in outline expanded towards the root considerably: then, at
+ about two feet from the ground, the trunk began to separate into huge
+ limbs, spreading in all directions. I once measured this trunk at its
+ least circumference, and found it 23 feet 10 inches. For the last 50
+ or 60 years the branches have been gradually dying on the S. E. side,
+ and about 25 years ago a strong S. E. gale, coming with accumulated
+ force down Hope Gill, and--owing to the tree being so open on that
+ side--taking it laterally at a disadvantage, wrenched off one of the
+ great side branches down to the ground, carrying away nearly a third
+ of the tree. This event led to farther peril; for, the second portion
+ having been sold to a cabinetmaker at Whitehaven for L15, this gave
+ the impression that the wood was very valuable (owing to the celebrity
+ of the tree); and a local woodmonger bought the remainder. Two men
+ worked half a day to grub it up; but a Cockermouth medical gentleman,
+ hearing what was going on, made representations to the owner, and it
+ ended in the woodmen sparing the remainder of the tree, which was not
+ much the worse for what had been done. Many large dead branches have
+ also been cut off, and now we have to regret that the 'pride of Lorton
+ Vale,' shorn of its ancient dignity, is but a ruin, much more
+ venerable than picturesque."
+
+The "fraternal Four of Borrowdale" are certainly "worthier still of
+note." The "trunk" described in the Fenwick note, as on the road between
+Rosthwaite and Stonethwaite, has disappeared long ago; but the "solemn
+and capacious grove" existed till 1883 in its integrity. The description
+in the poem is realistic throughout, while the visible scene suggests
+
+ "an ideal grove, in which the ghostly masters of mankind meet, and
+ sleep, and offer worship to the Destiny that abides above them, while
+ the mountain flood, as if from another world, makes music to which
+ they dimly listen."
+
+(Stopford A. Brooke, in 'Theology in the English Poets', p. 259.) With
+the first part of the poem Wordsworth's 'Sonnet composed at----Castle'
+during the Scotch Tour of 1803 may be compared (p. 410). For a critical
+estimate of the poem see 'Modern Painters', part III. sec. II, chap. iv.
+Ruskin alludes to "the real and high action of the imagination in
+Wordsworth's 'Yew-trees' (perhaps the most vigorous and solemn bit of
+forest landscape ever painted). It is too long to quote, but the reader
+should refer to it: let him note especially, if painter, that pure touch
+of colour, 'by sheddings from the pining umbrage tinged.'" See also
+Coleridge's criticism in 'Biographia Literaria', vol. ii. p. 177,
+edition 1847, and his daughter Sara's comment on her father's note.
+There can be little doubt that, as Professor Dowden has suggested, the
+lines 23 to 28 were suggested to Wordsworth by Virgil's lines in the
+Sixth Book of the 'AEneid', 273-284--
+
+ 'Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci
+ Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;
+ Pallentesque habitant Morbi, tristisque Senectus,
+ Et Metus, et malesuada Fames, ac turpis Egestas,
+ Terribiles visu formae, Letumque, Labosque;
+ Tum consanguineus Leti Sopor, et mala mentis
+ Gaudia, mortiferumque adverso in limine Bellum,
+ Ferreique Eumenidum thalami, et Discordia demens,
+ Vipereum crinem vittis innexa cruentis.
+ In medio ramos annosaque bracchia pandit
+ Ulmus opaca, ingens, quam sedem Somnia volgo
+ Vana tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus haerent.'
+
+
+ "The 'Four Yew Trees,' and the mysterious company which you have
+ assembled there, 'Death the Skeleton and Time the Shadow.' It is a
+ sight not for every youthful poet to dream of; it is one of the last
+ results he must have gone thinking for years for."
+
+(Charles Lamb to Wordsworth, 1815.)
+
+In Crabb Robinson's 'Diary', a reference to the Yew-trees of Lorton and
+Borrowdale will be found under date Sept. 16 and 20, 1816.
+
+ "The pride of Lorton Vale" is now a ruin, and has lost all its ancient
+ majesty: but, until the close of 1883, the "fraternal four" of
+ Borrowdale were still to be seen "in grand assemblage." Every one who
+ has felt the power of Wordsworth's poetry,--and especially those who
+ had visited the Seathwaite valley, and read the 'Yew-Trees' under the
+ shade of that once "solemn and capacious grove" before 1884,--must
+ have felt as if they had lost a personal friend, when they heard that
+ the "grove" was gone. The great gale of December 11, 1883, smote it
+ fiercely, uprooting one of the trees, and blowing the others to
+ ribbands. The following is Mr. Rawnsley's account of the disaster:
+
+ 'Last week the gale that ravaged England did the Lake country much
+ harm. We could spare many of the larch plantations, and could hear
+ (with a sigh) of the fall of the giant Scotch firs opposite the
+ little Scafell Inn at Rosthwaite, and that Watendlath had lost its
+ pines; but who could spare those ancient Yews, the great
+
+ "... fraternal Four of Borrowdale,
+ Joined in one solemn and capacious grove;
+ Huge trunks! and each particular trunk a growth
+ Of intertwisted fibres serpentine
+ Up-coiling, and inveterately convolved."
+
+ 'For beneath their pillared shade since Wordsworth wrote his poem,
+ that Yew-tree grove has suggested to many a wanderer up Borrowdale,
+ and visitant to the Natural Temple,
+
+ "an ideal grove in which the ghostly masters of mankind meet, and
+ sleep, and offer worship to the Destiny that abides above them,
+ while the mountain flood, as if from another world, makes music to
+ which they dimly listen."
+
+ 'These Yew-trees, seemingly
+
+ "Produced too slowly ever to decay;
+ Of form and aspect too magnificent
+ To be destroyed,"
+
+ 'have been ruthlessly overthrown. One has been uprooted bodily; all
+ the leaders and branches of the others have been wrenched from the
+ main trunk; and the three still standing are bare poles and broken
+ wreckage. Until one visits the spot one can have no conception of
+ the wholesale destruction that the hurricane has wrought; until he
+ looks on the huge rosy-hearted branches he cannot guess the
+ tremendous force with which the tornado had fallen upon that "sable
+ roof of boughs."
+
+ 'For tornado or whirlwind it must needs have been. The Yews grew
+ under the eastern flank of the hill called Base Brown. The gale
+ raged from the westward. One could hardly believe it possible that
+ the trees could have been touched by it; for the barrier hill on
+ which they grew,--and under whose shelter they have seen centuries
+ of storm,--goes straight upwards, betwixt them and the west. It was
+ only realizable when, standing amid the wreckage, and looking across
+ the valley, it was seen that a larch plantation had been entirely
+ levelled, and evidently by a wind that was coming from the east, and
+ directly toward the Yew-trees. On enquiring at Seathwaite Farm, one
+ found that all the slates blown from the roof of that building on
+ the west side, had been whirled up clean over the roof: and we can
+ only surmise that the winds rushing from the west and north-west,
+ and meeting the bastions of Glaramara and the Sty-head slopes, were
+ whirled round in the 'cul-de-sac' of the valley, and moved with
+ churning motion back from east to west over the Seathwaite Farm, and
+ so in straight line across the beck, and up the slope to the
+ Yew-tree cluster. With what a wrenching, and with what violence,
+ these trees were in a moment shattered, only those can guess who now
+ witness the ruins of the pillared shade, upon the "grassless floor
+ of red-brown hue."'"
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"WHO FANCIED WHAT A PRETTY SIGHT"
+
+
+Composed 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+In the edition of 1807 this poem was No. VIII. of the series entitled
+"Moods of my own Mind." It was afterwards included among the "Poems of
+the Fancy," and in a MS. copy it was named "The Coronet of
+Snowdrops."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Who fancied what a pretty sight
+ This Rock would be if edged around
+ With living snow-drops? circlet bright!
+ How glorious to this orchard-ground!
+ Who loved the little Rock, and set 5
+ Upon its head this coronet?
+
+ Was it the humour of a child?
+ Or rather of some gentle [1] maid,
+ Whose brows, the day that she was styled
+ The shepherd-queen, were thus arrayed? 10
+ Of man mature, or matron sage?
+ Or old man toying with his age?
+
+ I asked--'twas whispered; The device
+ To each and [2] all might well belong:
+ It is the Spirit of Paradise 15
+ That prompts such work, a Spirit strong,
+ That gives to all the self-same bent
+ Where life is wise and innocent.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1836.
+
+ ... love-sick ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... or ... 1807.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"IT IS NO SPIRIT WHO FROM HEAVEN HATH FLOWN"
+
+
+Composed 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. I remember the instant my sister S. H.,
+called me to the window of our Cottage, saying, "Look how beautiful is
+yon star! It has the sky all to itself." I composed the verses
+immediately.--I.F.]
+
+This was No. XIII. of "Moods of my own Mind," in the edition of 1807. It
+was afterwards included among the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ It is no Spirit who from heaven hath flown,
+ And is descending on his embassy;
+ Nor Traveller gone from earth the heavens to espy!
+ 'Tis Hesperus--there he stands with glittering crown,
+ First admonition that the sun is down! 5
+ For yet it is broad day-light: clouds pass by;
+ A few are near him still--and now the sky,
+ He hath it to himself--'tis all his own.
+ O most ambitious Star! an inquest wrought
+ Within me when I recognised thy light; 10
+ A moment I was startled at the sight:
+ And, while I gazed, there came to me a thought
+ That I might step beyond my natural race
+ As thou seem'st now to do; might one day trace [1]
+ Some ground not mine; and, strong her strength above, 15
+ My Soul, an Apparition in the place,
+ Tread there with steps that no one shall reprove! [A]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1: 1807.
+
+ O most ambitious Star! an inquest wrought
+ Within me when I recognised thy light;
+ A moment I was startled at the sight:
+ And, while I gazed, there came to me a thought
+ That even I beyond my natural race
+ Might step as thou dost now: might one day trace 1815.
+
+ O most ambitious Star! thy Presence brought
+ A startling recollection to my mind
+ Of the distinguished few among mankind,
+ Who dare to step beyond their natural race,
+ As thou seem'st now to do:--nor was a thought
+ Denied--that even I might one day trace 1820.
+
+The text of 1836 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Professor Dowden directs attention to the relation between
+these lines and the poem beginning "If thou indeed derive thy light from
+Heaven."--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+MEMORIALS OF A TOUR IN SCOTLAND
+
+1803
+
+These poems were first collected, under the above title, in the edition
+of 1827. In 1807, nine of them--viz. 'Rob Roy's Grave', 'The Solitary
+Reaper', 'Stepping Westward', 'Glen Almain, or, The Narrow Glen', 'The
+Matron of Jedborough and her Husband', 'To a Highland Girl', 'Sonnet',
+'To the Sons of Burns after visiting the Grave of their Father', 'Yarrow
+Unvisited',--were printed under the title, "Poems written during a Tour
+in Scotland." This group begins the second volume of the edition of that
+year. But in 1815 and 1820--when Wordsworth began to arrange his poems
+in groups--they were distributed with the rest of the series in the
+several artificial sections. Although some were composed after the Tour
+was finished--and the order in which Wordsworth placed them is not the
+order of the Scotch Tour itself--it is advisable to keep to his own
+method of arrangement in dealing with this particular group, for the
+same reason that we retain it in such a series as the Duddon
+Sonnets.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+DEPARTURE FROM THE VALE OF GRASMERE. AUGUST, 1803 [A]
+
+
+Composed 1811.--Published 1827
+
+
+[Mr. Coleridge, my sister, and myself started together from Town-end to
+make a tour in Scotland. Poor Coleridge was at that time in bad spirits,
+and somewhat too much in love with his own dejection; and he departed
+from us, as is recorded in my Sister's Journal, soon after we left Loch
+Lomond. The verses that stand foremost among these Memorials were not
+actually written for the occasion, but transplanted from my 'Epistle to
+Sir George Beaumont'.--I. F.]
+
+
+
+
+ The gentlest Shade that walked Elysian plains
+ Might sometimes covet dissoluble chains;
+ Even for the tenants of the zone that lies
+ Beyond the stars, celestial Paradise,
+ Methinks 'twould heighten joy, to overleap 5
+ At will the crystal battlements, and peep
+ Into some other region, though less fair,
+ To see how things are made and managed there.
+ Change for the worse might please, incursion bold
+ Into the tracts of darkness and of cold; 10
+ O'er Limbo lake with aery flight to steer,
+ And on the verge of Chaos hang in fear.
+ Such animation often do I find,
+ Power in my breast, wings growing in my mind,
+ Then, when some rock or hill is overpast, 15
+ Perchance without one look behind me cast,
+ Some barrier with which Nature, from the birth
+ Of things, has fenced this fairest spot on earth.
+ O pleasant transit, Grasmere! to resign
+ Such happy fields, abodes so calm as thine; 20
+ Not like an outcast with himself at strife;
+ The slave of business, time, or care for life,
+ But moved by choice; or, if constrained in part,
+ Yet still with Nature's freedom at the heart;--
+ To cull contentment upon wildest shores, 25
+ And luxuries extract from bleakest moors;
+ With prompt embrace all beauty to enfold,
+ And having rights in all that we behold.
+--Then why these lingering steps?--A bright adieu,
+ For a brief absence, proves that love is true; 30
+ Ne'er can the way be irksome or forlorn
+ That winds into itself for sweet return.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: This first poem referring to the Scottish Tour of 1803, was
+not actually written till 1811. It originally formed the opening
+paragraph of the 'Epistle to Sir George Beaumont'. Wordsworth himself
+dated it 1804. It is every way desirable that it should introduce the
+series of poems referring to the Tour of 1803.--Ed.]
+
+
+The following is from Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections of a Tour made
+in Scotland':
+
+ "William and I parted from Mary on Sunday afternoon, August 14th,
+ 1803; and William, Coleridge, and I left Keswick on Monday morning,
+ the 15th."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+AT THE GRAVE OF BURNS, 1803. SEVEN YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH
+
+
+Composed 1803. [A]--Published 1842
+
+
+[For illustration, see my Sister's Journal. It may be proper to add that
+the second of these pieces, though _felt_ at the time, was not composed
+till many years after.--I. F.]
+
+
+
+
+ I shiver, Spirit fierce and bold,
+ At thought of what I now behold:
+ As vapours breathed from dungeons cold
+ Strike pleasure dead,
+ So sadness comes from out [1] the mould 5
+ Where Burns is laid.
+
+ And have I then thy bones so near,
+ And thou forbidden to appear?
+ As if it were thyself that's here
+ I shrink with pain; 10
+ And both my wishes and my fear
+ Alike are vain.
+ [2]
+ Off weight--nor press on weight!--away
+ Dark thoughts!--they came, but not to stay;
+ With chastened feelings would I pay 15
+ The tribute due
+ To him, and aught that hides his clay
+ From mortal view.
+
+ Fresh as the flower, whose modest worth
+ He sang, his genius "glinted" forth, [B] 20
+ Rose like a star that touching earth,
+ For so it seems,
+ Doth glorify its humble birth
+ With matchless beams.
+
+ The piercing eye, the thoughtful brow, 25
+ The struggling heart, where be they now?--
+ Full soon the Aspirant of the plough,
+ The prompt, the brave,
+ Slept, with the obscurest, in the low
+ And silent grave. 30
+
+ I mourned with thousands, but as one
+ More deeply grieved, for He was gone
+ Whose light I hailed when first it shone,
+ And showed my youth [3]
+ How Verse may build a princely throne 35
+ On humble truth.
+
+ Alas! where'er the current tends,
+ Regret pursues and with it blends,--
+ Huge Criffel's hoary top ascends
+ By Skiddaw seen,--40
+ Neighbours we were, and loving friends
+ We might have been;
+
+ True friends though diversely inclined;
+ But heart with heart and mind with mind,
+ Where the main fibres are entwined, 45
+ Through Nature's skill,
+ May even by contraries be joined
+ More closely still.
+
+ The tear will start, and let it flow;
+ Thou "poor Inhabitant below," [C] 50
+ At this dread moment--even so--
+ Might we together
+ Have sate and talked where gowans blow,
+ Or on wild heather.
+
+ What treasures would have then been placed 55
+ Within my reach; of knowledge graced
+ By fancy what a rich repast!
+ But why go on?--
+ Oh! spare to sweep, thou mournful blast,
+ His grave grass-grown. 60
+
+ There, too, a Son, his joy and pride,
+ (Not three weeks past the Stripling died,)
+ Lies gathered to his Father's side,
+ Soul-moving sight!
+ Yet one to which is not denied 65
+ Some sad delight.
+
+ For _he_ is safe, a quiet bed
+ Hath early found among the dead,
+ Harboured where none can be misled,
+ Wronged, or distrest; 70
+ And surely here it may be said
+ That such are blest.
+
+ And oh for Thee, by pitying grace
+ Checked oft-times in a devious race,
+ May He who halloweth the place 75
+ Where Man is laid
+ Receive thy Spirit in the embrace
+ For which it prayed!
+
+ Sighing I turned away; but ere
+ Night fell I heard, or seemed to hear, 80
+ Music that sorrow comes not near,
+ A ritual hymn,
+ Chanted in love that casts out fear
+ By Seraphim. [D]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1842.
+
+ ... out of ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+ But wherefore tremble? 'tis no place
+ Of pain and sorrow, but of grace,
+ Of shelter, and of silent peace,
+ And "friendly aid";
+ Grasped is he now in that embrace
+ For which he prayed. [a] MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1845.
+
+ Well might I mourn that He was gone
+ Whose light I hailed when first it shone,
+ When, breaking forth as nature's own,
+ It showed my youth 1842.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: It is dated thus by Wordsworth himself on three occasions,
+and the year of its composition is also indicated in the title of the
+poem.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare Burns's poem 'To a Mountain Daisy', l. 15.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: See Burns's 'A Bard's Epitaph', l. 19.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D: Compare 'The Tomb of Burns', by William Watson, 1895.--Ed.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+SUB-FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Sub-Footnote a: See in his poem the 'Ode to Ruin'.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+The following is an extract from Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal of the
+Tour in Scotland:
+
+ "Thursday, August 18th.--Went to the churchyard where Burns is
+ buried. A bookseller accompanied us. He showed us the outside of
+ Burns's house, where he had lived the last three years of his life,
+ and where he died. It has a mean appearance, and is in a bye
+ situation, whitewashed.... Went on to visit his grave. He lies at a
+ corner of the churchyard, and his second son, Francis Wallace, beside
+ him. There is no stone to mark the spot; but a hundred guineas have
+ been collected, to be expended on some sort of monument.
+
+ 'There,' said the bookseller, pointing to a pompous monument, 'there
+ lies Mr. Such-a-one. I have forgotten his name. A remarkably clever
+ man; he was an attorney, and hardly ever lost a cause he undertook.
+ Burns made many a lampoon upon him, and there they rest, as you
+ see.'
+
+ We looked at the grave with melancholy and painful reflections,
+ repeating to each other his own verses.
+
+ 'Is there a man whose judgment clear,
+ Can others teach the way to steer,
+ Yet runs himself life's mad career,
+ Wild as the wave?
+ Here let him pause, and through a tear
+ Survey this grave.
+
+ The poor Inhabitant below
+ Was quick to learn, and wise to know,
+ And keenly felt the friendly glow,
+ And softer flame;
+ But thoughtless follies laid him low
+ And stained his name.'
+
+ "I cannot take leave of the country which we passed through to-day
+ without mentioning that we saw the Cumberland Mountains, within
+ half-a-mile of Ellisland, Burns's house, the last view we had of them.
+ Drayton has prettily described the connection which this neighbourhood
+ has with ours when he makes Skiddaw say:
+
+ 'Seurfell [E] from the sky,
+ That Anadale [F] doth crown, with a most amorous eye,
+ Salutes me every day, or at my pride looks grim,
+ Oft threatening me with clouds, as I oft threatening him!'
+
+ "These lines recurred to William's memory, and we talked of Burns, and
+ of the prospect he must have had, perhaps from his own door, of
+ Skiddaw and his companions, including ourselves in the fancy, that we
+ _might_ have been personally known to each other, and he have looked
+ upon those objects with more pleasure for our sakes."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+[Footnote E: Criffel.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote F: Annandale.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THOUGHTS SUGGESTED THE DAY FOLLOWING, ON THE BANKS OF NITH, NEAR THE
+POET'S RESIDENCE
+
+
+Composed 1803. [A]--Published 1842
+
+
+
+
+ Too frail to keep the lofty vow
+ That must have followed when his brow
+ Was wreathed--"The Vision" [B] tells us how--
+ With holly spray,
+ He faultered, drifted to and fro, 5
+ And passed away.
+
+ Well might such thoughts, dear Sister, throng
+ Our minds when, lingering all too long,
+ Over the grave of Burns we hung
+ In social grief--10
+ Indulged as if it were a wrong
+ To seek relief.
+
+ But, leaving each unquiet theme
+ Where gentlest judgments may misdeem,
+ And prompt to welcome every gleam 15
+ Of good and fair,
+ Let us beside this limpid Stream
+ Breathe hopeful air.
+
+ Enough of sorrow, wreck, and blight;
+ Think rather of those moments bright 20
+ When to the consciousness of right
+ His course was true,
+ When Wisdom prospered in his sight
+ And virtue grew.
+
+ Yes, freely let our hearts expand, 25
+ Freely as in youth's season bland,
+ When side by side, his Book in hand,
+ We wont to stray,
+ Our pleasure varying at command
+ Of each sweet Lay. 30
+
+ How oft inspired must he have trod
+ These pathways, yon far-stretching road!
+ There lurks his home; in that Abode,
+ With mirth elate,
+ Or in his nobly-pensive mood, 35
+ The Rustic sate.
+
+ Proud thoughts that Image overawes,
+ Before it humbly let us pause,
+ And ask of Nature, from what cause
+ And by what rules 40
+ She trained her Burns to win applause
+ That shames the Schools.
+
+ Through busiest street and loneliest glen
+ Are felt the flashes of his pen;
+ He rules mid winter snows, and when 45
+ Bees fill their hives;
+ Deep in the general heart of men
+ His power survives.
+
+ What need of fields in some far clime
+ Where Heroes, Sages, Bards sublime, 50
+ And all that fetched the flowing rhyme
+ From genuine springs,
+ Shall dwell together till old Time
+ Folds up his wings?
+
+ Sweet Mercy! to the gates of Heaven 55
+ This Minstrel lead, his sins forgiven;
+ The rueful conflict, the heart riven
+ With vain endeavour,
+ And memory of Earth's bitter leaven,
+ Effaced for ever. 60
+
+ But why to Him confine the prayer,
+ When kindred thoughts and yearnings bear
+ On the frail heart the purest share
+ With all that live?--
+ The best of what we do and are, 65
+ Just God, forgive!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Though "suggested" on "the day following," these stanzas
+were not written then; but "many years after." They must, however, find
+a place in the "Memorials" of this 1803 Tour in Scotland.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Burns's poem, thus named.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+See the note to the previous poem. The line
+
+ 'These pathways, yon far-stretching road!'
+
+refers probably to the road to Brownhill, past Ellisland farmhouse
+where Burns lived. "The day following" would be Aug. 19th,
+1803. The extract which follows from the Journal is a further
+illustration of the poem. August 8th.
+
+ "... Travelled through the vale of Nith, here little like a vale, it
+ is so broad, with irregular hills rising up on each side, in outline
+ resembling the old-fashioned valances of a bed. There is a great deal
+ of arable land; the corn ripe; trees here and there--plantations,
+ clumps, coppices, a newness in everything. So much of the gorse and
+ broom rooted out that you wonder why it is not all gone, and yet there
+ seems to be almost as much gorse and broom as corn; and they grow one
+ among another you know not how. Crossed the Nith; the vale becomes
+ narrow, and very pleasant; cornfields, green hills, clay cottages; the
+ river's bed rocky, with woody banks. Left the Nith about a mile and a
+ half, and reached Brownhill, a lonely inn, where we slept. The view
+ from the windows was pleasing, though some travellers might have been
+ disposed to quarrel with it for its general nakedness; yet there was
+ abundance of corn. It is an open country--open, yet all over hills. At
+ a little distance were many cottages among trees, that looked very
+ pretty. Brownhill is about seven or eight miles from Ellisland. I
+ fancied to myself, while I was sitting in the parlour, that Burns
+ might have caroused there, for most likely his rounds extended so far,
+ and this thought gave a melancholy interest to the smoky walls...."
+
+On Dec. 23, 1839, Wordsworth wrote to Professor Henry Reed,
+Philadelphia:
+
+ "The other day I chanced to be looking over a MS. poem belonging to
+ the year 1803, though not actually composed till many years
+ afterwards. It was suggested by visiting the neighbourhood of
+ Dumfries, in which Burns had resided, and where he died: it concluded
+ thus:
+
+ 'Sweet Mercy! to the gates of Heaven, etc.'
+
+ I instantly added, the other day,
+
+ 'But why to Him confine the prayer, etc.'
+
+ The more I reflect upon this, the more I feel justified in attaching
+ comparatively small importance to any literary monument that I may be
+ enabled to leave behind. It is well however, I am convinced, that men
+ think otherwise in the earlier part of their lives...."
+
+It may be mentioned that in his note to the "Poems, chiefly
+of Early and Late Years," (1842), Wordsworth does not quote
+from the text of his sister's Journal,--which was first published
+in 1875,--but from some other copy of it.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO THE SONS OF BURNS, AFTER VISITING THE GRAVE OF THEIR FATHER [A]
+
+
+Composed before 1807 [B]--Published 1807
+
+
+The Poet's grave is in a corner of the church-yard. We looked at it with
+melancholy and painful reflections, repeating to each other his own
+verses:
+
+ 'Is there a man whose judgment clear, etc.'
+
+'Extract from the Journal of my Fellow-Traveller.'--W. W. 1827. [C]
+
+One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection" in the 1815 and 1820
+editions.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ 'Mid crowded obelisks and urns
+ I sought the untimely grave of Burns;
+ Sons of the Bard, my heart still mourns
+ With sorrow true;
+ And more would grieve, but that it turns 5
+ Trembling to you!
+
+ Through twilight shades of good and ill
+ Ye now are panting up life's hill, [1]
+ And more than common strength and skill
+ Must ye display; 10
+ If ye would give the better will
+ Its lawful sway.
+
+ Hath Nature strung your nerves to bear
+ Intemperance with less harm, beware!
+ But if the Poet's wit ye share, 15
+ Like him can speed
+ The social hour--of tenfold care [2]
+ There will be need;
+
+ For honest men delight will take
+ To spare your failings for his sake, 20
+ Will flatter you,--and fool and rake [3]
+ Your steps pursue;
+ And of your Father's name will make
+ A snare for you.
+
+ Far from their noisy haunts retire, 25
+ And add your voices to the quire
+ That sanctify the cottage fire
+ With service meet;
+ There seek the genius of your Sire,
+ His spirit greet; 30
+
+ Or where,'mid "lonely heights and hows," [D]
+ He paid to Nature tuneful vows;
+ Or wiped his honourable brows
+ Bedewed with toil,
+ While reapers strove, or busy ploughs 35
+ Upturned the soil;
+
+ His judgment with benignant ray
+ Shall guide, his fancy cheer, your way;
+ But ne'er to a seductive lay
+ Let faith be given; 40
+ Nor deem that "light which leads astray,
+ Is light from Heaven." [E]
+
+ Let no mean hope your souls enslave;
+ Be independent, generous, brave;
+ Your Father such example gave, 45
+ And such revere;
+ But be admonished by his grave,
+ And think, and fear! [F]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ Ye now are panting up life's hill!
+ 'Tis twilight time of good and ill, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1840.
+
+ Strong bodied if ye be to bear
+ Intemperance with less harm, beware!
+ But if your Father's wit ye share,
+ Then, then indeed,
+ Ye Sons of Burns! for watchful care 1807.
+
+ ... for tenfold care 1827.
+
+The text of 1827 is otherwise identical with that of 1840.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1840.
+
+ For honest men delight will take
+ To shew you favor for his sake,
+ Will flatter you; and Fool and Rake 1807.
+
+ For their beloved Poet's sake,
+ Even honest men delight will take
+ To flatter you; ... 1820.
+
+ Even honest Men delight will take
+ To spare your failings for his sake,
+ Will flatter you,--... 1827.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: In the edition of 1807, this poem has the title 'Address to
+the Sons of Burns after visiting their Father's Grave (August 14th,
+1803)'. Slight changes were made in the title afterwards.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Dorothy Wordsworth wrote, in her 'Recollections' of this
+tour, under date August 18th, 1803,
+
+ "William wrote long afterwards the following Address to the sons of
+ the ill-fated poet."
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: This explanatory note appears in every edition of the Poems
+from 1827 to 1850. It is taken (but not literally) from the
+'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland' as published in 1875.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D: From Burns's 'Epistle to James Smith', l. 53.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote E: From Burns's poem, 'The Vision', Duan Second.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote F: In the edition of 1807, the poem began with what is now the
+second stanza, and consisted of four stanzas only, viz. Nos. ii., iii.,
+iv., and viii. Stanzas i., v., vi., and vii. were added in 1827. Stanza
+iii. was omitted in 1820, but restored in 1827.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+In Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections' of this Tour we find, under date
+August 18, 1803:
+
+ "The grave of Burns's Son, which we had just seen by the side of his
+ Father, and some stories heard at Dumfries respecting the dangers his
+ surviving children were exposed to, filled us with melancholy
+ concern, which had a kind of connection with ourselves."
+
+
+ "The body of Burns was not allowed to remain long in this place. To
+ suit the plan of a rather showy mausoleum his remains were removed
+ into a more commodious spot of the same kirkyard on the 5th July
+ 1815."--(Allan Cunningham.)
+
+'Ellen Irwin; or, the Braes of Kirtle', comes next in this series of
+"Memorials of a Tour in Scotland, 1803." It has already been printed,
+however, (p. 124), in its proper chronological place, among the poems
+belonging to the year 1800.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO A HIGHLAND GIRL
+
+(AT INVERSNEYDE, UPON LOCH LOMOND)
+
+
+Composed 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+Classed in 1815 and 1820 as one of the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+[This delightful creature and her demeanour are particularly described
+in my Sister's Journal. The sort of prophecy with which the verses
+conclude has, through God's goodness, been realized; and now,
+approaching the close of my 73rd year, I have a most vivid remembrance
+of her and the beautiful objects with which she was surrounded. She is
+alluded to in the poem of 'The Three Cottage Girls' among my Continental
+Memorials. In illustration of this class of poems I have scarcely
+anything to say beyond what is anticipated in my Sister's faithful and
+admirable Journal.--I. F.]
+
+
+
+
+ Sweet Highland Girl, a very shower
+ Of beauty is thy earthly dower!
+ Twice seven consenting years have shed
+ Their utmost bounty on thy head:
+ And these grey rocks; that [1] household lawn; 5
+ Those trees, [A] a veil just half withdrawn;
+ This fall of water that doth make
+ A murmur near the silent lake;
+ This little bay; a quiet road
+ That holds in shelter thy Abode--10
+ In truth together do ye seem [2]
+ Like something fashioned in a dream;
+ Such Forms as from their covert peep
+ When earthly cares are laid asleep!
+ But, O fair Creature! in the light 15
+ Of common day, so heavenly bright, [3]
+ I bless Thee, Vision [4] as thou art,
+ I bless thee with a human heart;
+ God shield thee to thy latest years!
+ Thee, neither know I, [5] nor thy peers; 20
+ And yet my eyes are filled with tears.
+
+ With earnest feeling I shall pray
+ For thee when I am far away:
+ For never saw I mien, or face,
+ In which more plainly I could trace 25
+ Benignity and home-bred sense
+ Ripening in perfect innocence.
+ Here scattered, like a random seed,
+ Remote from men, Thou dost not need
+ The embarrassed look of shy distress, 30
+ And maidenly shamefacedness:
+ Thou wear'st upon thy forehead clear
+ The freedom of a Mountaineer:
+ A face with gladness overspread!
+ Soft smiles, [6] by human kindness bred! 35
+ And seemliness complete, that sways
+ Thy courtesies, about thee plays;
+ With no restraint, but such as springs
+ From quick and eager visitings
+ Of thoughts that lie beyond the reach 40
+ Of thy few words of English speech:
+ A bondage sweetly brooked, a strife
+ That gives thy gestures grace and life!
+ So have I, not unmoved in mind,
+ Seen birds of tempest-loving kind--45
+ Thus beating up against the wind.
+
+ What hand but would a garland cull
+ For thee who art so beautiful?
+ O happy pleasure! here to dwell
+ Beside thee in some heathy dell; 50
+ Adopt your homely ways and dress,
+ A Shepherd, thou a Shepherdess!
+ But I could frame a wish for thee
+ More like a grave reality:
+ Thou art to me but as a wave 55
+ Of the wild sea; and I would have
+ Some claim upon thee, if I could,
+ Though but of common neighbourhood.
+ What joy to hear thee, and to see!
+ Thy elder Brother I would be, 60
+ Thy Father--anything to thee! [B]
+
+ Now thanks to Heaven! that of its grace
+ Hath led me to this lonely place.
+ Joy have I had; and going hence
+ I bear away my recompence. 65
+ In spots like these it is we prize
+ Our Memory, feel that she hath eyes:
+ Then, why should I be loth to stir?
+ I feel this place was made for her;
+ To give new pleasure like the past, 70
+ Continued long as life shall last.
+ Nor am I loth, though pleased at heart,
+ Sweet Highland Girl! from thee to part;
+ For I, methinks, till I grow old,
+ As fair before me shall behold, 75
+ As I do now, the cabin small,
+ The lake, the bay, the waterfall;
+ And Thee, the Spirit of them all!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... this ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ In truth together ye do seem 1807.
+
+ In truth, unfolding thus, ye seem 1837.
+
+The text of 1845 returns to that of 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 3: The two preceding lines were added in 1845.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1845.
+
+ Yet, dream and vision ... 1807.
+
+ ... or vision ... 1837.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1845.
+
+ I neither know thee ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ Sweet looks, ... 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A:
+
+ "The distribution of 'these,' 'that,' and 'those' in these two lines,
+ was attained in 1845, after various changes. "
+
+(Edward Dowden.)]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare Virgil's 'Eclogues', x. 35:
+
+ 'Atque utinam ex vobis unus, etc.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+In her 'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland', 1803, Dorothy
+Wordsworth writes:
+
+ "Sunday, August 28th.--... After long waiting, the girls, who had been
+ on the look-out, informed us that the boat was coming. I went to the
+ waterside, and saw a cluster of people on the opposite shore; but,
+ being yet at a distance, they looked more like soldiers surrounding a
+ carriage than a group of men and women; red and green were the
+ distinguishable colours. We hastened to get ourselves ready as soon as
+ we saw the party approach, but had longer to wait than we expected,
+ the lake being wider than it appears to be. As they drew near we could
+ distinguish men in tartan plaids, women in scarlet cloaks, and green
+ umbrellas by the half-dozen. The landing was as pretty a sight as ever
+ I saw. The bay, which had been so quiet two days before, was all in
+ motion with small waves, while the swollen waterfall roared in our
+ ears. The boat came steadily up, being pressed almost to the water's
+ edge by the weight of its cargo; perhaps twenty people landed, one
+ after another. It did not rain much, but the women held up their
+ umbrellas; they were dressed in all the colours of the rainbow, and
+ with their scarlet cardinals, the tartan plaids of the men, and Scotch
+ bonnets, made a gay appearance. There was a joyous bustle surrounding
+ the boat, which even imparted something of the same character to the
+ waterfall in its tumult, and the restless grey waves; the young men
+ laughed and shouted, the lasses laughed, and the elder folks seemed to
+ be in a bustle to be away. I remember well with what haste the
+ mistress of the house where we were ran up to seek after her child,
+ and seeing us, how anxiously and kindly she inquired how we had fared,
+ if we had had a good fire, had been well waited upon, etc. All this in
+ three minutes--for the boatman had another party to bring from the
+ other side, and hurried us off.
+
+ "The hospitality we had met with at the two cottages and Mr.
+ Macfarlane's gave us very favourable impressions on this our first
+ entrance into the Highlands, and at this day the innocent merriment of
+ the girls, with their kindness to us, and the beautiful face and
+ figure of the elder, come to my mind whenever I think of the
+ ferry-house and waterfall of Loch Lomond, and I never think of the two
+ girls but the whole image of that romantic spot is before me, a living
+ image as it will be to my dying day. The following poem was written by
+ William not long after our return from Scotland."
+
+Compare the poem called 'The Three Cottage Girls', in the "Memorials of
+a Tour on the Continent, 1820," published in 1822.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+GLEN-ALMAIN; OR, THE NARROW GLEN
+
+
+Composed (possibly) in 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+Classed in 1815 and 1820 with the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ In this still place, remote from men,
+ Sleeps Ossian, in the NARROW GLEN;
+ In this still place, where murmurs on
+ But one meek streamlet, only one:
+ He sang of battles, and the breath 5
+ Of stormy war, and violent death;
+ And should, methinks, when all was past,
+ Have rightfully been laid at last
+ Where rocks were rudely heaped, and rent
+ As by a spirit turbulent; 10
+ Where sights were rough, and sounds were wild,
+ And everything unreconciled;
+ In some complaining, dim retreat,
+ For fear and melancholy meet;
+ But this is calm; there cannot be 15
+ A more entire tranquillity.
+
+ Does then the Bard sleep here indeed?
+ Or is it but a groundless creed?
+ What matters it?--I blame them not
+ Whose Fancy in this lonely Spot 20
+ Was moved; and in such [1] way expressed
+ Their notion of its perfect rest.
+ A convent, even a hermit's cell,
+ Would break the silence of this Dell: [A]
+ It is not quiet, is not ease; 25
+ But something deeper far than these:
+ The separation that is here
+ Is of the grave; and of austere
+ Yet [2] happy feelings of the dead:
+ And, therefore, was it rightly said 30
+ That Ossian, last of all his race!
+ Lies buried in this lonely place.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... in this ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ And ... 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare the poem 'To the Lady Fleming', stanza iii. ll.
+28-9.--Ed.]
+
+
+The glen is Glenalmond, in Perthshire, between Crieff and Amulree, known
+locally as "the Sma' Glen." I am not aware that it was ever called "Glen
+Almain," till Wordsworth gave it that singularly un-Scottish name. [B]
+It must have been a warm August day, after a tract of dry weather, when
+he went through it, or the Almond would scarcely have been called a
+"small streamlet." In many seasons of the year the distinctive features
+of the Glen would be more appropriately indicated by the words, which
+the poet uses by way of contrast with his own experience of it, viz. a
+place
+
+ 'Where sights are rough, and sounds are wild,
+ And everything unreconciled.'
+
+But his characterization of the place--a glen, the charm of which is
+little known--in the stillness of an autumn afternoon, is as true to
+nature as any of his interpretations of the spirit of the hills and
+vales of Westmoreland. As yet there is no farm-house, scarcely even a
+sheiling, to "break the silence of this Dell."
+
+The following is Dorothy Wordsworth's account of their walk through it
+on Friday, September 9th, 1803:
+
+ "Entered the glen at a small hamlet at some distance from the head,
+ and, turning aside a few steps, ascended a hillock which commanded a
+ view to the top of it--a very sweet scene, a green valley, not very
+ narrow, with a few scattered trees and huts, almost invisible in a
+ misty green of afternoon light. At this hamlet we crossed a bridge,
+ and the road led us down the glen, which had become exceedingly
+ narrow, and so continued to the end: the hills on both sides heathy
+ and rocky, very steep, but continuous; the rock not single or
+ overhanging, not scooped into caverns, or sounding with torrents;
+ there are no trees, no houses, no traces of cultivation, not one
+ outstanding object. It is truly a solitude, the road even making it
+ appear still more so; the bottom of the valley is mostly smooth and
+ level, the brook not noisy: everything is simple and undisturbed, and
+ while we passed through it the whole place was shady, cool, clear, and
+ solemn. At the end of the long valley we ascended a hill to a great
+ height, and reached the top, when the sun, on the point of setting,
+ shed a soft yellow light upon every eminence. The prospect was very
+ extensive; over hollows and plains, no towns, and few houses
+ visible--a prospect, extensive as it was, in harmony with the secluded
+ dell, and fixing its own peculiar character of removedness from the
+ world, and the secure possession of the quiet of nature more deeply in
+ our minds. The following poem was written by William on hearing of a
+ tradition relating to it, which we did not know when we were there."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+[Footnote B: In the Statistical Account of Scotland, however--drawn up
+by the parish ministers of the county, and edited by Sir John
+Sinclair--both the river and the glen are spelt Almon, by the Rev. Mr.
+Erskine, who wrote the account of Monzie Parish in Perthshire. This was
+in 1795. A recent authority states:
+
+ "'Glenamon,' in Ayrshire, and 'Glenalmond,' in Perthshire, are both
+ from the corrupted spelling of the word 'Avon,' which derives from its
+ being very nearly the pronunciation of the Gaelic word for 'a river.'
+ These names are from 'Gleann-abhuinn,' that is,'the valley of the
+ river.'"
+
+(See the 'Gaelic Topography of Scotland', by James A. Robertson,
+Edinburgh, 1859.)--Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+STEPPING WESTWARD
+
+
+Composed between 1803 and 1805.--Published 1807
+
+
+While my Fellow-traveller and I were walking by the side of Loch
+Ketterine, one fine evening after sun-set, in our road to a Hut where in
+the course of our Tour we had been hospitably entertained some weeks
+before, we met, in one of the loneliest parts of that solitary region,
+two well dressed Women, one of whom said to us, by way of greeting,
+"What, you are stepping westward?"--W. W. 1807.
+
+Classed in 1815 and 1820 among the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ "_What, you are stepping westward?"--" Yea_."
+ 'Twould be a _wildish_ [A] destiny,
+ If we, who thus together roam
+ In a strange Land, and far from home,
+ Were in this place the guests of Chance: 5
+ Yet who would stop, or fear to advance,
+ Though home or shelter he had none,
+ With such a sky to lead him on?
+
+ The dewy ground was dark and cold;
+ Behind, all gloomy to behold; 10
+ And stepping westward seemed to be
+ A kind of _heavenly_ destiny:
+ I liked the greeting; 'twas a sound
+ Of something without place or bound;
+ And seemed to give me spiritual right 15
+ To travel through that region bright.
+
+ The voice was soft, and she who spake
+ Was walking by her native lake:
+ The salutation had to me [1]
+ The very sound of courtesy: 20
+ Its power was felt; and while my eye
+ Was fixed upon the glowing Sky,
+ The echo of the voice enwrought
+ A human sweetness with the thought
+ Of travelling through the world that lay 25
+ Before me in my endless way.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... seemed to me
+
+In MS. letter to Sir G. Beaumont. N. D.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Italics were first used in 1855.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+The following is from the 'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland':
+
+ "Sunday, Sept. 11th.--We have never had a more delightful walk than
+ this evening. Ben Lomond and the three pointed-topped mountains of
+ Loch Lomond, which we had seen from the garrison, were very majestic
+ under the clear sky, the lake perfectly calm, the air sweet and mild.
+ I felt that it was much more interesting to visit a place where we
+ have been before than it can possibly be the first time, except under
+ peculiar circumstances. The sun had been set for some time, when,
+ being within a quarter of a mile of the ferry man's hut, our path
+ having led us close to the shore of the calm lake, we met two
+ neatly-dressed women, without hats, who had probably been taking their
+ Sunday evening's walk. One of them said to us in a friendly, soft tone
+ of voice, 'What, you are stepping westward?' I cannot describe how
+ affecting this simple expression was in that remote place, with the
+ western sky in front, yet glowing with the departed sun. William wrote
+ the following poem long after, in remembrance of his feelings and
+ mine."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SOLITARY REAPER
+
+
+Composed between 1803 and 1805.--Published 1807
+
+
+One of the "Poems of the Imagination" in 1815 and 1820.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Behold her, single [1] in the field,
+ Yon solitary Highland Lass!
+ Reaping and singing by herself;
+ Stop here, or gently pass!
+ Alone she cuts and binds the grain, 5
+ And sings a melancholy strain;
+ O listen! for the Vale profound
+ Is overflowing with the sound.
+
+ No Nightingale did ever chaunt
+ More welcome notes to weary bands [2] 10
+ Of travellers in some shady haunt,
+ Among Arabian sands:
+ A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard [3]
+ In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
+ Breaking the silence of the seas [A] 15
+ Among the farthest Hebrides.
+
+ Will no one tell me what she sings?--
+ Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
+ For old, unhappy, far-off things,
+ And battles long ago: 20
+ Or is it some more humble lay,
+ Familiar matter of to-day?
+ Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
+ That has been, and may be again?
+
+ Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang [4] 25
+ As if her song could have no ending;
+ I saw her singing at her work,
+ And o'er the sickle bending;--
+ I listened, motionless and still; [5]
+ And, as [6] I mounted up the hill, 30
+ The music in my heart I bore,
+ Long after it was heard no more.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... singing ...
+
+MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ So sweetly to reposing bands 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1837.
+
+ No sweeter voice was ever heard 1807.
+
+ ... sound ... MS.
+
+ Such thrilling voice was never heard 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... sung 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1820.
+
+ I listen'd till I had my fill: 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1807.
+
+ And when ... 1827.
+
+The text of 1837 returns to that of 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare 'The Ancient Mariner'(part ii. stanza 6):
+
+ 'And we did speak only to break
+ The silence of the sea.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+The following is from Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections' of the Tour:
+13th Sept. 1803.
+
+ "As we descended, the scene became more fertile, our way being
+ pleasantly varied--through coppices or open fields, and passing
+ farm-houses, though always with an intermixture of cultivated ground.
+ It was harvest-time, and the fields were quietly--might I be allowed
+ to say pensively?--enlivened by small companies of reapers. It is not
+ uncommon in the more lonely parts of the Highlands to see a single
+ person so employed. The following poem was suggested to William by a
+ beautiful sentence in Thomas Wilkinson's 'Tour in Scotland.'"
+
+In a note appended to the editions 1807 to 1820, Wordsworth wrote:
+
+ "This Poem was suggested by a beautiful sentence in a MS. 'Tour in
+ Scotland,' written by a Friend, the last line being taken from it
+ _verbatim_."
+
+The first part of Wilkinson's 'Tours to the British Mountains', which
+was published in 1824, narrates his journey in Scotland (it took place
+in 1787); and the following sentence occurs in the record of his travels
+near Loch Lomond (p. 12),
+
+ "Passed a female who was reaping alone: she sung in Erse, as she
+ bended over her sickle; the sweetest human voice I ever heard: her
+ strains were tenderly melancholy, and felt delicious, long after they
+ were heard no more."
+
+There can be no doubt that this is the sentence referred to both by
+Dorothy and William Wordsworth. Thomas Wilkinson was the friend, in
+whose memory Wordsworth wrote the poem 'To the Spade of a Friend,
+composed while we were labouring together in his pleasure-ground'. They
+were comparatively near neighbours, as Wilkinson lived near Yanwath on
+the Emont; and he had given his MS. to the Wordsworth family to read. I
+have received some additional information about this MS., and
+Wordsworth's knowledge of it, from Mr. Wilson Robinson, who writes,
+
+ "From all the evidence, I conclude that Wilkinson's 'Tour to the
+ Highlands' was shown in manuscript to his friends soon after his
+ return;--that he was not only willing to show it, but even to allow it
+ to be copied, though reluctant to publish it;--that there was
+ sufficient intimacy between him and the Wordsworths to account for his
+ showing or lending the manuscript to them, especially as they had
+ travelled over much of the same ground, and would therefore be more
+ interested in it; and that in fact it was never published till 1824."
+
+When Wordsworth was living at Coleorton during the late autumn of 1806
+he wrote to Wilkinson:
+
+ "... What shall I say in apology for your Journal, which is now locked
+ up with my manuscripts at Grasmere. As I could not go over to your
+ part of the country myself, my intention was to have taken it with me
+ to Kendal ... to be carefully transmitted to you; unluckily, most
+ unluckily, in the hurry of departure, I forgot it, together with two
+ of my own manuscripts which were along with it; and I am afraid you
+ will be standing in great need of it.... If you do not want it, it is
+ in a place where it can take no injury, and I may have the pleasure of
+ delivering it to you myself in the spring...."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+ADDRESS TO KILCHURN CASTLE
+
+UPON LOCH AWE
+
+
+Begun 1803.--Published 1827
+
+
+ "From the top of the hill a most impressive scene opened upon our
+ view,--a ruined Castle on an Island (for an Island the flood had made
+ it) [A] at some distance from the shore, backed by a Cove of the
+ Mountain Cruachan, down which came a foaming stream. The Castle
+ occupied every foot of the Island that was visible to us, appearing to
+ rise out of the Water,--mists rested upon the mountain side, with
+ spots of sunshine; there was a mild desolation in the low-grounds, a
+ solemn grandeur in the mountains, and the Castle was wild, yet
+ stately--not dismantled of Turrets--nor the walls broken down, though
+ obviously a ruin."
+
+'Extract from the Journal of my Companion.'--W. W. 1827.
+
+[The first three lines were thrown off at the moment I first caught
+sight of the Ruin, from a small eminence by the wayside; the rest was
+added many years after.--I.F.]
+
+
+
+
+ Child of loud-throated War! the mountain Stream
+ Roars in thy hearing; but thy hour of rest
+ Is come, and thou art silent in thy age;
+ Save when the wind sweeps by and sounds are caught
+ Ambiguous, neither wholly thine nor theirs. 5
+ Oh! there is life that breathes not; Powers there are
+ That touch each other to the quick in modes
+ Which the gross world no sense hath to perceive,
+ No soul to dream of. What art Thou, from care
+ Cast off--abandoned by thy rugged Sire, 10
+ Nor by soft Peace adopted; though, in place
+ And in dimension, such that thou might'st seem
+ But a mere footstool to yon sovereign Lord,
+ Huge Cruachan, (a thing that meaner hills
+ Might crush, nor know that it had suffered harm;) 15
+ Yet he, not loth, in favour of thy claims
+ To reverence, suspends his own; submitting
+ All that the God of Nature hath conferred,
+ All that he holds [1] in common with the stars,
+ To the memorial majesty of Time 20
+ Impersonated in thy calm decay!
+
+ Take, then, thy seat, Vicegerent unreproved!
+ Now, while a farewell gleam of evening light
+ Is fondly lingering on thy shattered front,
+ Do thou, in turn, be paramount; and rule 25
+ Over the pomp and beauty of a scene
+ Whose mountains, torrents, lake, and woods, unite
+ To pay thee homage; and with these are joined,
+ In willing admiration and respect,
+ Two Hearts, which in thy presence might be called 30
+ Youthful as Spring.--Shade of departed Power,
+ Skeleton of unfleshed humanity,
+ The chronicle were welcome that should call
+ Into the compass of distinct regard
+ The toils and struggles of thy infant years! [2] 35
+ Yon foaming flood seems motionless as ice;
+ Its dizzy turbulence eludes the eye,
+ Frozen by distance; so, majestic Pile,
+ To the perception of this Age, appear
+ Thy fierce beginnings, softened and subdued 40
+ And quieted in character--the strife,
+ The pride, the fury uncontrollable,
+ Lost on the aerial heights of the Crusades!" [B]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... has ... 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... of thy infancy! 1827.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The clause within brackets was added in 1837.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: The Tradition is, that the Castle was built by a Lady
+during the absence of her Lord in Palestine.--W. W. 1827.]
+
+
+
+From the following passage in Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections' of
+their Tour, it will be seen that the poet altered the text considerably
+in making his quotation in 1827: August 31, 1803.
+
+ "When we had ascended half-way up the hill, directed by the man, I
+ took a nearer foot-path, and at the top came in view of a most
+ impressive scene, a ruined castle on an island almost in the middle of
+ the last compartment of the lake, backed by a mountain cove, down
+ which came a roaring stream. The castle occupied every foot of the
+ island that was visible to us, appearing to rise out of the water;
+ mists rested upon the mountain side, with spots of sunshine between;
+ there was a mild desolation in the low grounds, a solemn grandeur in
+ the mountains, and the castle was wild, yet stately, not dismantled of
+ its turrets, nor the walls broken down, though completely in ruin.
+ After having stood some minutes I joined William on the highroad, and
+ both wishing to stay longer near this place, we requested the man to
+ drive his little boy on to Dalmally, about two miles further, and
+ leave the car at the inn. He told us the ruin was called Kilchurn
+ Castle, that it belonged to Lord Breadalbane, and had been built by
+ one of the ladies of that family for her defence, during her lord's
+ absence at the Crusades; for which purpose she levied a tax of seven
+ years' rent upon her tenants; he said that from that side of the lake
+ it did not appear, in very dry weather, to stand upon an island, but
+ that it was possible to go over to it without being wet-shod. We were
+ very lucky in seeing it after a great flood; for its enchanting effect
+ was chiefly owing to its situation in the lake, a decayed palace
+ rising out of the plain of waters! I have called it a palace, for such
+ feeling it gave me, though having been built as a place of defence, a
+ castle or fortress. We turned again and reascended the hill, and sate
+ a long time in the middle of it looking on the castle, and the huge
+ mountain cove opposite, and William, addressing himself to the ruin,
+ poured out these verses."
+
+Compare Wordsworth's description of this ruin in his 'Guide through the
+District of the Lakes'.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+ROB ROY'S GRAVE
+
+
+Composed between 1803 and 1805.--Published 1807
+
+
+The History of Rob Roy is sufficiently known; his Grave is near the head
+of Loch Ketterine, in one of those small Pin-fold-like Burial-grounds,
+of neglected and desolate appearance, which the Traveller meets with in
+the Highlands of Scotland.--W. W. 1807.
+
+[I have since been told that I was misinformed as to the burial-place of
+Rob Roy. If so, I may plead in excuse that I wrote on apparently good
+authority, namely, that of a well educated Lady who lived at the head of
+the Lake, within a mile or less of the point indicated as containing the
+remains of One so famous in the neighbourhood.--I. F.]
+
+In the copy of 'Rob Roy's Grave', transcribed in Dorothy Wordsworth's
+'Recollections' of the Tour in Scotland of 1803, there are several
+important variations of text, which occur in none of the printed
+editions of the poem. These are indicated (to distinguish them from
+other readings) by the initials D. W.--Ed.
+
+One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection" in 1815 and 1820.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ A famous man is Robin Hood,
+ The English ballad-singer's joy!
+ And Scotland has a thief as good,
+ An outlaw of as daring mood;
+
+ She has her brave ROB ROY! [1] 5
+ Then clear the weeds from off his Grave,
+ And let us chant a passing stave,
+ In honour of that Hero [2] brave!
+
+ Heaven gave Rob Roy a dauntless [3] heart
+ And wondrous length and strength of arm: [A] 10
+ Nor craved he more to quell his foes,
+ Or keep his friends from harm.
+
+ Yet was Rob Roy as _wise_ as brave;
+ Forgive me if the phrase be strong;--
+ A Poet worthy of Rob Roy 15
+ Must scorn a timid song.
+
+ Say, then, that he was wise as brave;
+ As wise in thought as bold in deed:
+ For in the principles of things
+ _He_ sought his moral creed. [4] 20
+
+ Said generous Rob, "What need of books?
+ Burn all the statutes and their shelves:
+ They stir us up against our kind;
+ And worse, against ourselves.
+
+ "We have a passion--make a law, 25
+ Too false to guide us or control!
+ And for the law itself we fight
+ In bitterness of soul.
+
+ "And, puzzled, blinded thus, we lose
+ Distinctions that are plain and few: 30
+ These find I graven on my heart:
+ _That_ tells me what to do.
+
+ "The creatures see of flood and field,
+ And those that travel on the wind!
+ With them no strife can last; they live 35
+ In peace, and peace of mind.
+
+ "For why?--because the good old rule
+ Sufficeth them, the simple plan,
+ That they should take, who have the power,
+ And they should keep who can. 40
+
+ "A lesson that [5] is quickly learned,
+ A signal this which all can see!
+ Thus nothing here provokes the strong
+ To wanton [6] cruelty.
+
+ "All freakishness [7] of mind is checked; 45
+ He tamed, who foolishly aspires;
+ While to the measure of his might [8]
+ Each fashions his desires. [9]
+
+ "All kinds, and creatures, stand and fall
+ By strength of prowess or of wit: 50
+ 'Tis God's appointment who must sway,
+ And who is to submit.
+
+ "Since, then, the rule of right is plain, [10]
+ And longest life is but a day;
+ To have my ends, maintain my rights, 55
+ I'll take the shortest way."
+
+ And thus among these rocks he lived,
+ Through summer heat and winter snow: [11]
+ The Eagle, he was lord above,
+ And Rob was lord below. 60
+
+ So was it--_would_, at least, have been
+ But through untowardness of fate;
+ For Polity was then too strong--
+ He came an age too late;
+
+ Or shall we say an age too soon? 65
+ For, were the bold Man living _now_,
+ How might he flourish in his pride,
+ With buds on every bough!
+
+ Then rents and factors, rights of chase,
+ Sheriffs, and lairds and their domains, [12] 70
+ Would all have seemed but paltry things,
+ Not worth a moment's pains.
+
+ Rob Roy had never lingered here,
+ To these few meagre Vales confined;
+ But thought how wide the world, the times 75
+ How fairly to his mind!
+
+ And to his Sword he would have said,
+ "Do Thou my sovereign will enact
+ From land to land through half the earth!
+ Judge thou of law and fact! 80
+
+ "'Tis fit that we should do our part,
+ Becoming, that mankind should learn
+ That we are not to be surpassed
+ In fatherly concern.
+
+ "Of old things all are over old, 85
+ Of good things none are good enough:--
+ We'll show that we can help to frame
+ A world of other stuff.
+
+ "I, too, will have my kings that take
+ From me the sign of life and death: 90
+ Kingdoms shall shift about, like clouds,
+ Obedient to my breath."
+
+ And, if the word had been fulfilled,
+ As _might_ have been, then, thought of joy!
+ France would have had her present Boast, 95
+ And we our own [13] Rob Roy!
+
+ Oh! say not so; compare them not;
+ I would not wrong thee, Champion brave!
+ Would wrong thee nowhere; least of all
+ Here standing by thy grave. 100
+
+ For Thou, although with some wild thoughts
+ Wild Chieftain of a savage Clan!
+ Hadst this to boast of; thou didst love
+ The _liberty_ of man.
+
+ And, had it been thy lot to live 105
+ With us who now behold the light,
+ Thou would'st have nobly stirred thyself,
+ And battled for the Right.
+
+ For thou wert still [14] the poor man's stay,
+ The poor man's heart, the poor man's hand; 110
+ And all the oppressed, who wanted strength,
+ Had thine at their command. [15]
+
+ Bear witness many a pensive sigh
+ Of thoughtful Herdsman when he strays
+ Alone upon Loch Veol's heights, 115
+ And by Loch Lomond's braes!
+
+ And, far and near, through vale and hill,
+ Are faces that attest the same;
+ The proud heart flashing through the eyes, [16]
+ At sound of ROB ROY'S name. 120
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ And Scotland boasts of one as good,
+ She has her own Rob Roy. 1803. D.W.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... Outlaw ... 1803. D.W.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... daring ... 1803. D.W.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1807.
+
+Stanzas 3 and 4 are thus combined by D.W., and also in a printed (not
+published) version, given in a copy of the 1807 edition.
+
+ Yet Robin was as wise as brave,
+ As wise in thought as bold in deed,
+ For in the principles of things
+ He sought his moral creed.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... which ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... tyrannous ... 1803. D. W.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1807.
+
+ And freakishness ... 1803. D. W.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... their ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1807.
+
+ All fashion their desires. 1803. D. W.]
+
+
+[Variant 10:
+
+1815.
+
+ "Since then," said Robin, "right is plain, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1827.
+
+ Through summer's heat and winter's snow: 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1807.
+
+ The Rents and Land-marks, Rights of Chase,
+ Sheriffs and Factors, Lairds and Thanes, 1803. D. W.
+
+ Sheriffs and Factors, rights of chase,
+ Their Lairds, and their domains, MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... our brave ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1815.
+
+ For Robin was ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 15:
+
+1815.
+
+ Had Robin's to command. 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 16:
+
+1827.
+
+ Kindling with instantaneous joy 1803. D.W.
+
+ And kindle, like a fire new stirr'd, 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The people of the neighbourhood of Loch Ketterine, in order
+to prove the extraordinary length of their Hero's arm, tell you that "he
+could garter his Tartan Stockings below the knee when standing upright."
+According to their account he was a tremendous Swordsman; after having
+sought all occasions of proving his prowess, he was never conquered but
+once, and this not till he was an Old Man.--W. W. 1807.]
+
+
+In Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections' of the Scotch Tour the following
+occurs:
+
+ "August 27, 1803.--We mentioned Rob Roy, and the eyes of all
+ glistened; even the lady of the house, who was very diffident, and no
+ great talker, exclaimed, 'He was a good man, Rob Roy! he had been dead
+ only about eighty years, had lived in the next farm, which belonged to
+ him, and there his bones were laid.' He was a famous swordsman. Having
+ an arm much longer than other men, he had a greater command with his
+ sword. As a proof of the length of his arm, they told us that he could
+ garter his tartan stockings below the knee without stooping, and added
+ a dozen different stories of single combats, which he had fought, all
+ in perfect good humour, merely to prove his prowess. I daresay they
+ had stories of this kind which would hardly have been exhausted in the
+ long evenings of a whole December week, Rob Roy being as famous here
+ as even Robin Hood was in the forest of Sherwood; _he_ also robbed
+ from the rich, giving to the poor, and defending them from oppression.
+ They tell of his confining the factor of the Duke of Montrose in one
+ of the islands of Loch Ketterine, after having taken his money from
+ him--the Duke's rents--in open day, while they were sitting at table.
+ He was a formidable enemy of the Duke, but being a small laird against
+ a greater, was overcome at last, and forced to resign all his lands on
+ the Braes of Loch Lomond, including the caves which we visited, on
+ account of the money he had taken from the Duke and could not repay."
+
+September 12:
+
+ "Descended into Glengyle, above Loch Ketterine, and passed through Mr.
+ Macfarlane's grounds, that is, through the whole of the glen, where
+ there was now no house left but his. We stopped at his door to inquire
+ after the family, though with little hope of finding them at home,
+ having seen a large company at work in a hay-field, whom we
+ conjectured to be his whole household, as it proved, except a
+ servant-maid who answered our enquiries. We had sent the ferryman
+ forward from the head of the glen to bring the boat round from the
+ place where he left it to the other side of the lake. Passed the same
+ farm-house we had such good reason to remember, and went up to the
+ burying-ground that stood so sweetly near the water-side. The ferryman
+ had told us that Rob Roy's grave was there, so we could not pass on
+ without going up to the spot. There were several tombstones, but the
+ inscriptions were either worn-out or unintelligible to us, and the
+ place choked up with nettles and brambles. You will remember the
+ description I have given of the spot. I have nothing here to add,
+ except the following poem which it suggested to William."
+
+Rob Roy was buried at the Kirkton of Balquhidder, near the outlet of
+Loch Voil in Perthshire. There are three sculptured stones in the rude
+burial-place of the Macgregors, at the eastern end of the old church.
+The one with the long claymore marks the resting-place of Rob Roy's
+wife; the one opposite on the other side is the tomb of his eldest son;
+and the central stone, more elaborately carved, marks the grave of the
+hero himself.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+SONNET COMPOSED AT----CASTLE
+
+
+Composed September 18, 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+[The castle here mentioned was Nidpath near Peebles. The person alluded
+to was the then Duke of Queensbury. The fact was told to me by Walter
+Scott.--I. F.]
+
+In 1815 and 1820 this was one of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Degenerate Douglas! oh, the unworthy Lord!
+ Whom mere despite of heart could so far please, [1]
+ And love of havoc, (for with such disease
+ Fame taxes him,) that he could send forth word
+ To level with the dust a noble horde, 5
+ A brotherhood of venerable Trees,
+ Leaving an ancient dome, and towers like these,
+ Beggared and outraged!--Many hearts deplored
+ The fate of those old Trees; and oft with pain
+ The traveller, at this day, will stop and gaze 10
+ On wrongs, which Nature scarcely seems to heed:
+ For sheltered places, bosoms, nooks, and bays,
+ And the pure mountains, and the gentle Tweed,
+ And the green silent pastures, yet remain.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ Now as I live, I pity that great Lord,
+ Whom pure despite ...
+
+ MS. letter to Sir Walter Scott. Oct. 1803.
+
+ Ill wishes shall attend the unworthy Lord MS.]
+
+
+
+ "Sunday, September 18th.--After breakfast walked up the river to
+ Neidpath Castle, about a mile and a half from the town. The castle
+ stands upon a green hill, over-looking the Tweed, a strong
+ square-towered edifice, neglected and desolate, though not in ruin,
+ the garden overgrown with grass, and the high walls that fenced it
+ broken down. The Tweed winds between green steeps, upon which, and
+ close to the river side, large flocks of sheep pasturing; higher still
+ are the grey mountains; but I need not describe the scene, for William
+ has done it better than I could do in a sonnet which he wrote the same
+ day; the five last lines, at least, of his poem will impart to you
+ more of the feeling of the place than it would be possible for me to
+ do."
+
+(Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland'.)
+Writing to Sir Walter Scott (October 16, 1803), Wordsworth enclosed a
+copy of this sonnet, with the variation of text which has been quoted.
+Lockhart tells us
+
+ "in that original shape Scott always recited it, and few lines in the
+ language were more frequently in his mouth."
+
+Compare Burns' 'Verses on the destruction of the Woods near Drumlanrig',
+which refer to the same subject.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+YARROW UNVISITED
+
+
+Composed 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+See the various Poems the scene of which is laid upon the Banks of the
+Yarrow; in particular, the exquisite Ballad of Hamilton, beginning:
+
+ "Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny Bride,
+ Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome Marrow!"
+
+W. W. 1807.
+
+
+One of the "Poems of the Imagination" in 1815 and 1820.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ From Stirling castle we had seen
+ The mazy Forth unravelled;
+ Had trod the banks of Clyde, and Tay,
+ And with the Tweed had travelled;
+ And when we came to Clovenford, 5
+ Then said my "_winsome Marrow_,"
+ "Whate'er betide, we'll turn aside,
+ And see the Braes of Yarrow."
+
+ "Let Yarrow folk, _frae_ Selkirk town,
+ Who have been buying, selling, 10
+ Go back to Yarrow, 'tis their own;
+ Each maiden to her dwelling!
+ On Yarrow's banks let herons feed,
+ Hares couch, and rabbits burrow!
+ But we will downward [1] with the Tweed, 15
+ Nor turn aside to Yarrow.
+
+ "There's Galla Water, Leader Haughs,
+ Both lying right before us;
+ And Dryborough, where with chiming Tweed
+ The lintwhites sing in chorus; 20
+ There's pleasant Tiviot-dale, a land
+ Made blithe with plough and harrow:
+ Why throw away a needful day
+ To go in search of Yarrow?
+
+ "What's Yarrow but a river bare, 25
+ That glides the dark hills under?
+ There are a thousand such elsewhere
+ As worthy of your wonder."
+--Strange words they seemed of slight and scorn;
+ My True-love sighed for sorrow; 30
+ And looked me in the face, to think
+ I thus could speak of Yarrow!
+
+ "Oh! green," said I, "are Yarrow's holms,
+ And sweet is Yarrow flowing!
+ Fair hangs the apple frae the rock, [A] 35
+ But we will leave it growing.
+ O'er hilly path, and open Strath,
+ We'll wander Scotland thorough;
+ But, though so near, we will not turn
+ Into the dale of Yarrow. 40
+
+ "Let beeves and home-bred kine partake
+ The sweets of Burn-mill meadow;
+ The swan on still St. Mary's Lake
+ Float double, swan and shadow! [B]
+ We will not see them; will not go, 45
+ To-day, nor yet to-morrow;
+ Enough if in our hearts we know
+ There's such a place as Yarrow.
+
+ "Be Yarrow stream unseen, unknown!
+ It must, or we shall rue it: 50
+ We have a vision of our own;
+ Ah! why should we undo it?
+ The treasured dreams of times long past,
+ We'll keep them, winsome Marrow!
+ For when we're there, although 'tis fair, 55
+ 'Twill be another Yarrow.
+
+ "If Care with freezing years should come,
+ And wandering seem but folly,--
+ Should we be loth to stir from home,
+ And yet be melancholy; 60
+ Should life be dull, and spirits low,
+ 'Twill soothe us in our sorrow,
+ That earth has something yet to show,
+ The bonny holms of Yarrow!"
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1832.
+
+ ... downwards ... 1807.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: See Hamilton's Ballad as above.--W. W. 1807.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: In his "Recollections of Wordsworth," Aubrey de Vere
+reports a conversation, in which the poet said to him,
+
+ "Scott misquoted in one of his novels my lines on 'Yarrow', He makes
+ me write,
+
+ 'The swans on sweet St. Mary's Lake
+ Float double, swans and shadow;'
+
+ but I wrote,
+
+ 'The _swan_ on _still_ St. Mary's Lake.'
+
+ Never could I have written 'swans' in the plural. The scene when I saw
+ it, with its still and dim lake, under the dusky hills, was one of
+ utter loneliness: there was _one_ swan, and one only, stemming the
+ water, and the pathetic loneliness of the region gave importance to
+ the one companion of that swan, its own white image in the water. It
+ was for that reason that I recorded the Swan and the Shadow. Had there
+ been many swans and many shadows, they would have implied nothing as
+ regards the character of the place; and I should have said nothing
+ about them."
+
+See his 'Essays, chiefly on Poetry', vol. ii. p. 277.
+
+Wordsworth wrote to his friend, Walter Scott, to thank him for a copy of
+'The Lay of the Last Minstrel', and in return sent a copy of these
+stanzas, 'Yarrow Unvisited'. Scott replied gratefully on the 16th March
+1805, and said,
+
+ "... I by no means admit your apology, however ingeniously and
+ artfully stated, for not visiting the bonny holms of Yarrow, and
+ certainly will not rest till I have prevailed upon you to compare the
+ ideal with the real stream."
+
+Wordsworth had asked him if he could suggest any name more true to the
+place than Burnmill, in the line, "The sweets of Burn-mill meadow."
+Scott replied:
+
+ "We have Broad-meadow upon Yarrow, which with the addition of green or
+ fair or any other epithet of one syllable, will give truth to the
+ locality, and supply the place of Burnmill meadow, which we have not.
+ ... I like your swan upon St. Mary's Lake. How came you to know that
+ it is actually frequented by that superb bird?"
+
+(See 'Familiar Letters of Sir Walter Scott', vol. i. pp. 28, 29.)--Ed.]
+
+
+
+ "September 18, 1803.--We left the Tweed when we were within about a
+ mile and a half or two miles of Clovenford, where we were to lodge.
+ Turned up the side of a hill, and went along sheep-grounds till we
+ reached the spot--a single stone house, without a tree near it or to
+ be seen from it. On our mentioning Mr. Scott's name, the woman of the
+ house showed us all possible civility, but her slowness was really
+ amusing. I should suppose it a house little frequented, for there is
+ no appearance of an inn. Mr. Scott, who she told me was a very clever
+ gentleman, 'goes there in the fishing season;' but indeed Mr. Scott is
+ respected everywhere; I believe that by favour of his name one might
+ be hospitably entertained throughout all the borders of Scotland. We
+ dined and drank tea--did not walk out, for there was no temptation; a
+ confined barren prospect from the window.
+
+ "At Clovenford, being so near to the Yarrow, we could not but think of
+ the possibility of going thither, but came to the conclusion of
+ reserving the pleasure for some future time, in consequence of which,
+ after our return, William wrote the poem which I shall here
+ transcribe."
+
+(From Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland',
+1803.)--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MATRON OF JEDBOROUGH AND HER HUSBAND
+
+
+Composed between 1803 and 1805.--Published 1807
+
+
+At Jedborough we went into private Lodgings for a few days; and the
+following Verses were called forth by the character, and domestic
+situation, of our Hostess.--W. W. 1807.
+
+One of the "Poems referring to the Period of Old Age" in 1815 and
+1820.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Age! twine thy brows with fresh spring flowers,
+ And call a train of laughing Hours;
+ And bid them dance, and bid them sing;
+ And thou, too, mingle in the ring!
+ Take to thy heart a new delight; 5
+ If not, make merry in despite
+ That [1] there is One who scorns thy power:--
+ But dance! for under Jedborough Tower,
+ A Matron dwells who, though she bears
+ The weight of more than seventy years, 10
+ Lives in the light of youthful glee, [2]
+ And she will dance and sing with thee.
+
+ Nay! start not at that Figure--there!
+ Him who is rooted to his chair!
+ Look at him--look again! for he 15
+ Hath long been of thy family.
+ With legs that move not, if they can,
+ And useless arms, a trunk of man,
+ He sits, and with a vacant eye;
+ A sight to make a stranger sigh! 20
+ Deaf, drooping, that is now his doom:
+ His world is in this single room:
+ Is this a place for mirthful cheer? [3]
+ Can merry-making enter here? [A]
+
+ The joyous Woman is the Mate 25
+ Of him in that forlorn estate!
+ He breathes a subterraneous damp;
+ But bright as Vesper shines her lamp:
+ He is as mute as Jedborough Tower:
+ She jocund as it was of yore, 30
+ With all its bravery on; in times
+ When all alive with merry chimes,
+ Upon a sun-bright morn of May,
+ It roused the Vale to holiday.
+
+ I praise thee, Matron! and thy due 35
+ Is praise, heroic praise, and true!
+ With admiration I behold
+ Thy gladness unsubdued and bold:
+ Thy looks, thy gestures, all present
+ The picture of a life well spent: 40
+ This do I see; and something more;
+ A strength unthought of heretofore!
+ Delighted am I for thy sake;
+ And yet a higher joy partake:
+ Our Human-nature throws away 45
+ Its second twilight, and looks gay;
+ A land of promise and of pride
+ Unfolding, wide as life is wide.
+
+ Ah! see her helpless Charge! enclosed
+ Within himself as seems, composed; 50
+ To fear of loss, and hope of gain,
+ The strife of happiness and pain,
+ Utterly dead! yet in the guise
+ Of little infants, when their eyes
+ Begin to follow to and fro 55
+ The persons that before them go,
+ He tracks her motions, quick or slow.
+ Her buoyant spirit can prevail
+ Where common cheerfulness would fail;
+ She strikes upon him with the heat 60
+ Of July suns; he feels it sweet;
+ An animal delight though dim!
+ 'Tis all that now remains for him!
+
+ The more I looked, I wondered more--
+ And, while I scanned them o'er and o'er, [4] 65
+ Some inward trouble suddenly
+ Broke from the Matron's strong black eye--[5]
+ A remnant of uneasy light,
+ A flash of something over-bright![B]
+ Nor long this mystery did detain 70
+ My thoughts;--she told in pensive strain [6]
+ That she had borne a heavy yoke,
+ Been stricken by a twofold stroke;
+ Ill health of body; and had pined
+ Beneath worse ailments of the mind. 75
+
+ So be it!--but let praise ascend
+ To Him who is our lord and friend!
+ Who from disease and suffering
+ [7] Hath called for thee a second spring;
+ Repaid thee for that sore distress 80
+ By no untimely joyousness;
+ Which makes of thine a blissful state;
+ And cheers thy melancholy Mate!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ For ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... under Jedborough Tower
+ There liveth in the prime of glee,
+ A Woman, whose years are seventy-three,
+ And She ... 1807.
+
+ There lives a woman of seventy-three,
+ And she will dance and sing with thee, MS.
+
+ A Matron dwells, who though she bears
+ Our mortal complement of years,
+ Lives in the light of youthful glee, 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... for mirth and cheer? 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1827.
+
+ I look'd, I scann'd her o'er and o'er;
+ The more I look'd I wonder'd more: 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1837.
+
+ When suddenly I seem'd to espy
+ A trouble in her strong black eye; 1807.
+
+ A moment gave me to espy
+ A trouble . . . 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ And soon she made this matter plain;
+ And told me, in a thoughtful strain, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+ As bad almost as Life can bring, Added in MS.]
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare Tennyson's 'Deserted House', stanza iv.:
+
+ 'Come away: no more of mirth
+ Is here, or merry-making sound.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: Compare stanza xiii. of 'Resolution and Independence', p.
+318.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+Sept. 20, 1803.
+
+ "We were received with hearty welcome by a good woman, who, though
+ above seventy years old, moved about as briskly as if she was only
+ seventeen. Those parts of the house which we were to occupy were neat
+ and clean; she showed me every corner, and, before I had been ten
+ minutes in the house, opened her very drawers that I might see what a
+ stock of linen she had; then asked how long we should stay, and said
+ she wished we were come for three months. She was a most remarkable
+ person; the alacrity with which she ran up-stairs when we rung the
+ bell, and guessed at, and strove to prevent, our wants was surprising;
+ she had a quick eye, and keen strong features, and a joyousness in her
+ motions, like what used to be in old Molly when she was particularly
+ elated. I found afterwards that she had been subject to fits of
+ dejection and ill-health: we then conjectured that her overflowing
+ gaiety and strength might in part be attributed to the same cause as
+ her former dejection. Her husband was deaf and infirm, and sate in a
+ chair with scarcely the power to move a limb--an affecting contrast!
+ The old woman said they had been a very hard-working pair; they had
+ wrought like slaves at their trade--her husband had been a currier;
+ and she told me how they had portioned off their daughters with money,
+ and each a feather bed, and that in their old age they had laid out
+ the little they could spare in building and furnishing that house, and
+ she added with pride that she had lived in her youth in the family of
+ Lady Egerton, who was no high lady, and now was in the habit of coming
+ to her house whenever she was at Jedburgh, and a hundred other things;
+ for when she once began with Lady Egerton, she did not know how to
+ stop, nor did I wish it, for she was very entertaining. Mr. Scott sat
+ with us an hour or two, and repeated a part of the 'Lay of the Last
+ Minstrel'. When he was gone our hostess came to see if we wanted
+ anything, and to wish us good-night. On all occasions her manners were
+ governed by the same spirit: there was no withdrawing one's attention
+ from her. We were so much interested that William, long afterwards,
+ thought it worth while to express in verse the sensations which she
+ had excited, and which then remained as vividly in his mind as at the
+ moment when we lost sight of Jedburgh."
+
+(From Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland',
+1803.)--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"FLY, SOME KIND HARBINGER, TO GRASMERE-DALE" [A]
+
+
+Composed September 25, 1803.--Published 1815
+
+
+[This was actually composed the last day of our tour between Dalston and
+Grasmere.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets" in 1815 and 1820.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Fly, some kind Harbinger, to Grasmere-dale! [1]
+ Say that we come, and come by this day's light;
+ Fly upon swiftest wing round field and height, [2]
+ But chiefly let one Cottage hear the tale;
+ There let a mystery of joy prevail, 5
+ The kitten frolic, like a gamesome sprite, [3]
+ And Rover whine, as at a second sight
+ Of near-approaching good that shall not fail:
+ And from that Infant's face let joy appear;
+ Yea, let our Mary's one companion child--10
+ That hath her six weeks' solitude beguiled
+ With intimations manifold and dear,
+ While we have wandered over wood and wild--
+ Smile on his Mother now with bolder cheer.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ Fly, some kind Spirit, fly to Grasmere Vale! 1815.
+
+ ... dale, 1827.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ Glad tidings!--spread them over field and height; 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1837.
+
+ The Kitten frolic with unruly might, 1815.
+
+ The happy Kitten bound with frolic might, 1827.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: In the editions of 1815 and 1820, this poem bore the title,
+'On approaching Home, after a Tour in Scotland, 1803',--Ed.]
+
+
+
+ "Sunday, September 25, 1803.--A beautiful autumnal day. Breakfasted at
+ a public-house by the road-side; dined at Threlkeld; arrived at home
+ between eight and nine o'clock, where we found Mary in perfect health,
+ Joanna Hutchinson with her, and little John asleep in the
+ clothes-basket by the fire."
+
+(From Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland',
+1803.)--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BLIND HIGHLAND BOY
+
+A TALE TOLD BY THE FIRE-SIDE, AFTER RETURNING TO THE VALE OF GRASMERE[A]
+
+
+Date of composition uncertain.--Published 1807
+
+
+[The story was told me by George Mackereth, for many years parish-clerk
+of Grasmere. He had been an eye-witness of the occurrence. The vessel in
+reality was a washing-tub, which the little fellow had met with on the
+shores of the Loch.--I.F.]
+
+One of the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood" in 1815 and
+1820.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Now we are tired of boisterous joy,
+ Have [1] romped enough, my little Boy!
+ Jane hangs her head upon my breast,
+ And you shall bring your stool and rest;
+ This corner is your own. 5
+
+ There! take your seat, and let me see
+ That [2] you can listen quietly:
+ And, as I promised, I will tell [3]
+ That strange adventure which befel
+ A poor blind Highland Boy. 10
+
+ A _Highland_ Boy!--why call him so?
+ Because, my Darlings, ye must know
+ That, under hills which rise like towers, [4]
+ Far higher hills than these of ours!
+ He from his birth had lived. 15
+
+ He ne'er had seen one earthly sight
+ The sun, the day; the stars, the night;
+ Or tree, or butterfly, or flower,
+ Or fish in stream, or bird in bower,
+ Or woman, man, or child. 20
+
+ And yet he neither drooped nor pined,
+ Nor had a melancholy mind;
+ For God took pity on the Boy,
+ And was his friend; and gave him joy
+ Of which we nothing know. 25
+
+ His Mother, too, no doubt, above
+ Her other children him did love:
+ For, was she here, or was she there,
+ She thought of him with constant care,
+ And more than mother's love. 30
+
+ And proud she was of heart, when clad
+ In crimson stockings, tartan plaid,
+ And bonnet with a feather gay,
+ To Kirk he on the sabbath day
+ Went hand in hand with her. 35
+
+ A dog too, had he; not for need,
+ But one to play with and to feed;
+ Which would [5] have led him, if bereft
+ Of company or friends, and left
+ Without a better guide. 40
+
+ And then the bagpipes he could blow--
+ And thus from house to house would go;
+ And all were pleased to hear and see,
+ For none made sweeter melody
+ Than did the poor blind Boy. 45
+
+ Yet he had many a restless dream;
+ Both when he heard the eagles scream,
+ And when he heard the torrents roar,
+ And heard the water beat the shore
+ Near which their cottage stood. 50
+
+ Beside a lake their cottage stood,
+ Not small like ours, a peaceful flood;
+ But one of mighty size, and strange;
+ That, rough or smooth, is full of change,
+ And stirring in its bed. 55
+
+ For to this lake, by night and day,
+ The great Sea-water finds its way
+ Through long, long windings of the hills
+ And drinks up all the pretty [B] rills
+ And rivers large and strong: [C] 60
+
+ Then hurries back the road it came--
+ Returns, on errand still the same;
+ This did it when the earth was new;
+ And this for evermore will do,
+ As long as earth shall last. 65
+
+ And, with the coming of the tide,
+ Come boats and ships that safely [6] ride
+ Between the woods and lofty rocks;
+ And to the shepherds with their flocks
+ Bring tales of distant lands. 70
+
+ And of those tales, whate'er they were,
+ The blind Boy always had his share;
+ Whether of mighty towns, or vales
+ With warmer suns and softer gales,
+ Or wonders of the Deep. 75
+
+ Yet more it pleased him, more it stirred,
+ When from the water-side he heard
+ The shouting, and the jolly cheers;
+ The bustle of the mariners
+ In stillness or in storm. 80
+
+ But what do his desires avail?
+ For He must never handle sail;
+ Nor mount the mast, nor row, nor float
+ In sailor's ship, or fisher's boat,
+ Upon the rocking waves. 85
+
+ His Mother often thought, and said,
+ What sin would be upon her head
+ If she should suffer this: "My Son,
+ Whate'er you do, leave this undone;
+ The danger is so great." 90
+
+ Thus lived he by Loch-Leven's side
+ Still sounding with the sounding tide,
+ And heard the billows leap and dance,
+ Without a shadow of mischance,
+ Till he was ten years old. 95
+
+ When one day (and now mark me well,
+ Ye [7] soon shall know how this befell)
+ He in a vessel of his own,
+ On the swift flood is hurrying down,
+ Down to the mighty Sea. [8] 100
+
+ In such a vessel never more
+ May human creature leave the Shore! [9]
+ If this or that way he should stir,
+ Woe to the poor blind Mariner!
+ For death will be his doom. 105
+ [10]
+ But say what bears him?--Ye have seen
+ The Indian's bow, his arrows keen,
+ Rare beasts, and birds with plumage bright;
+ Gifts which, for wonder or delight,
+ Are brought in ships from far. [11] 110
+
+ [D] Such gifts had those seafaring men
+ Spread round that haven in the glen;
+ Each hut, perchance, might have its own;
+ And to the Boy they all were known--
+ He knew and prized them all. 115
+
+ The rarest was a Turtle-shell
+ Which he, poor Child, had studied well;
+ A shell of ample size, and light
+ As the pearly car of Amphitrite,
+ That sportive dolphins drew. [12] 120
+
+ And, as a Coracle that braves
+ On Vaga's breast the fretful waves,
+ This shell upon the deep would swim,
+ And gaily lift its fearless brim
+ Above the tossing surge. [13] 125
+
+ And this the little blind Boy knew:
+ And he a story strange yet true
+ Had heard, how in a shell like this
+ An English Boy, O thought of bliss!
+ Had stoutly launched from shore; 130
+
+ Launched from the margin of a bay
+ Among the Indian isles, where lay
+ His father's ship, and had sailed far--
+ To join that gallant ship of war,
+ In his delightful shell. 135
+
+ Our Highland Boy oft visited
+ 'The house that [14] held this prize; and, led
+ By choice or chance, did thither come
+ One day when no one was at home,
+ And found the door unbarred. 140
+
+ While there he sate, alone and blind,
+ That story flashed upon his mind;--
+ A bold thought roused him, and he took
+ The shell from out its secret nook,
+ And bore it on his head. [15] 145
+
+ He launched his vessel,--and in pride
+ Of spirit, from Loch-Leven's side,
+ Stepped into it--his thoughts all free
+ As the light breezes that with glee
+ Sang through the adventurer's hair. [16] 150
+
+ A while he stood upon his feet;
+ He felt the motion--took his seat;
+ Still better pleased as more and more
+ The tide retreated from the shore,
+ And sucked, and sucked him in. [17] 155
+
+ And there he is in face of Heaven.
+ How rapidly the Child is driven!
+ The fourth part of a mile, I ween,
+ He thus had gone, ere he was seen
+ By any human eye. 160
+
+ But when he was first seen, oh me
+ What shrieking and what misery!
+ For many saw; among the rest
+ His Mother, she who loved him best,
+ She saw her poor blind Boy. 165
+
+ But for the child, the sightless Boy,
+ It is the triumph of his joy!
+ The bravest traveller in balloon,
+ Mounting as if to reach the moon,
+ Was never half so blessed. 170
+
+ And let him, let him go his way,
+ Alone, and innocent, and gay!
+ For, if good Angels love to wait
+ On the forlorn unfortunate,
+ This Child will take no harm. 175
+
+ But now the passionate lament,
+ Which from the crowd on shore was sent,
+ The cries which broke from old and young
+ In Gaelic, or the English tongue,
+ Are stifled--all is still. 180
+
+ And quickly with a silent crew
+ A boat is ready to pursue;
+ And from the shore their course they take,
+ And swiftly down the running lake
+ They follow the blind Boy. 185
+
+ But soon they move with softer pace;
+ So have ye seen the fowler chase
+ On Grasmere's clear unruffled breast
+ A youngling of the wild-duck's nest
+ With deftly-lifted oar; 190
+
+ Or as the wily sailors crept
+ To seize (while on the Deep it slept)
+ The hapless creature which did dwell
+ Erewhile within the dancing shell,
+ They steal upon their prey. [18] 195
+
+ With sound the least that can be made,
+ They follow, more and more afraid,
+ More cautious as they draw more near;
+ But in his darkness he can hear,
+ And guesses their intent. 200
+
+ "_Lei-gha--Lei-gha_"--he then cried out,
+ "_Lei-gha--Lei-gha_"--with eager shout; [19]
+ Thus did he cry, and thus did pray,
+ And what he meant was, "Keep away,
+ And leave me to myself!" [E] 205
+
+ Alas! and when he felt their hands--
+ You've often heard [20] of magic wands,
+ That with a motion overthrow
+ A palace of the proudest show,
+ Or melt it into air: 210
+
+ So all his dreams--that inward light
+ With which his soul had shone so bright--
+ All vanished;--'twas a heartfelt cross
+ To him, a heavy, bitter loss,
+ As he had ever known. 215
+
+ But hark! a gratulating voice,
+ With which the very hills rejoice:
+ 'Tis from the crowd, who tremblingly
+ Have [21] watched the event, and now can see
+ That he is safe at last. 220
+
+ And then, when he was brought to land,
+ Full sure they were a happy band,
+ Which, gathering round, did on the banks
+ Of that great Water give God thanks,
+ And welcomed the poor Child. 225
+
+ And in the general joy of heart
+ The blind Boy's little dog took part;
+ He leapt about, and oft did kiss
+ His master's hands in sign of bliss,
+ With sound like lamentation. 230
+
+ But most of all, his Mother dear,
+ She who had fainted with her fear,
+ Rejoiced when waking she espies
+ The Child; when she can trust her eyes,
+ And touches the blind Boy. 235
+
+ She led him home, and wept amain,
+ When he was in the house again:
+ Tears flowed in torrents from her eyes;
+ She kissed him--how could she chastise? [22]
+ She was too happy far. 240
+
+ Thus, after he had fondly braved
+ The perilous Deep, the Boy was saved;
+ And, though his fancies had been wild,
+ Yet he was pleased and reconciled
+ To live in peace on shore. 245
+
+ And in the lonely Highland dell
+ Still do they keep the Turtle-shell;
+ And long the story will repeat
+ Of the blind Boy's adventurous feat,
+ And how he was preserved. [23] 250
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ We've ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1807.
+
+ How ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1807.
+
+ Aye, willingly, and what is more
+ One which you never heard before,
+ True story this which I shall tell MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 4:
+
+1837.
+
+ In land where many a mountain towers, 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 5:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... could ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 6:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... sweetly ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 7:
+
+1815.
+
+ You ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 8:
+
+1837.
+
+ He's in a vessel of his own,
+ On the swift water hurrying down
+ Towards the mighty Sea. 1807.
+
+ He in a vessel of his own,
+ On the swift flood is hurrying down 1827.
+
+ Towards the great, great Sea. MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 9:
+
+1815.
+
+ ... ne'er before
+ Did human Creature ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 10: The following stanza was only in the edition of 1807:
+
+ Strong is the current; but be mild,
+ Ye waves, and spare the helpless Child!
+ If ye in anger fret or chafe,
+ A Bee-hive would be ship as safe
+ As that in which he sails.]
+
+
+[Variant 11:
+
+1815.
+
+ But say, what was it? Thought of fear!
+ Well may ye tremble when ye hear!
+--A Household Tub, like one of those,
+ Which women use to wash their clothes,
+ This carried the blind Boy. 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 12:
+
+1820.
+
+ And one, the rarest, was a Shell
+ Which he, poor Child, had studied well;
+ The Shell of a green Turtle, thin
+ And hollow;--you might sit therein.
+ It was so wide and deep. 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 13:
+
+1820.
+
+ 'Twas even the largest of its kind,
+ Large, thin, and light as birch-tree rind;
+ So light a Shell that it would swim,
+ And gaily lift its fearless brim
+ Above the tossing waves. 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 14:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... which ... 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 15:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... in his arms. 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 16:
+
+1827.
+
+ Close to the water he had found
+ This Vessel, push'd it from dry ground,
+ Went into it; and, without dread,
+ Following the fancies in his head,
+ He paddled up and down. 1807.
+
+ And with the happy burthen hied,
+ And pushed it from Loch Levin's side,--
+ Stepped into it; and, without dread, 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 17:
+
+1827.
+
+ And dallied thus, till from the shore
+ The tide retreating more and more
+ Had suck'd, and suck'd him in. 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 18: The two previous stanzas were added in the edition of 1815.]
+
+
+[Variant 19:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... then did he cry
+ ... most eagerly; 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 20:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... read ... MS.]
+
+
+[Variant 21:
+
+1837.
+
+ Had ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 22:
+
+1832.
+
+ She could not blame him, or chastise; 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 23: This stanza was added in the edition of 1815.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: The title in the editions of 1807 to 1820 was 'The Blind
+Highland Boy. (A Tale told by the Fireside.)'
+
+This poem gave its title to a separate division in the second volume of
+the edition of 1807, viz. "The Blind Highland Boy; with other
+Poems."--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote B: This reading occurs in all the editions. But Wordsworth,
+whose MS. was not specially clear, may have written, or meant to write
+"petty," (a much better word), and not perceived the mistake when
+revising the sheets. If he really wrote "petty," he may have meant
+either small rills (rillets), or used the word as Shakespeare used it,
+for "pelting" rills.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote C: Compare Tennyson's 'In Memoriam', stanza xix.:
+
+ 'There twice a day the Severn fills;
+ The salt sea-water passes by,
+ And hushes half the babbling Wye,
+ And makes a silence in the hills, etc.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote D: This and the following six stanzas were added in 1815.--Ed.]
+
+
+[Footnote E: Writing to Walter Scott, from Coleorton, on Jan. 20, 1807,
+Wordsworth sent him this stanza of the poem, and asked
+
+ "Could you furnish me, by application to any of your Gaelic friends, a
+ phrase in that language which could take its place in the following
+ verse of eight syllables, and have the following meaning."
+
+He adds,
+
+ "The above is part of a little poem which I have written on a Highland
+ story told me by an eye-witness ..."
+
+This is the nearest clue we have to the date of the composition of the
+poem.--Ed.]
+
+
+
+It is recorded in Dampier's Voyages that a Boy, the Son of a Captain of
+a Man of War, seated himself in a Turtle-shell and floated in it from
+the shore to his Father's Ship, which lay at anchor at the distance of
+half a mile. Upon the suggestion of a Friend, I have substituted such a
+Shell for that less elegant vessel in which my blind voyager did
+actually intrust himself to the dangerous current of Loch Levin, as was
+related to me by an Eye-witness.--W. W. 1815.
+
+This note varies slightly in later editions.
+
+The Loch Leven referred to is a sea-loch in Argyllshire, into which the
+tidal water flows with some force from Loch Linnhe at Ballachulish.
+
+ 'By night and day
+ The great Sea-water finds its way
+ Through long, long windings of the hills.'
+
+The friend referred to in the note of 1815, who urged Wordsworth to give
+his blind voyager a Shell, instead of a washing-tub to sail in, was
+Coleridge. The original tale of the tub was not more unfortunate than
+the lines in praise of Wilkinson's spade, and several of Wordsworth's
+friends, notably Charles Lamb and Barren Field, objected to the change.
+Lamb wrote to Wordsworth in 1815,
+
+ "I am afraid lest that substitution of a shell (a flat falsification
+ of the history) for the household implement, as it stood at first, was
+ a kind of tub thrown out to the beast" [_i. e._ the reviewer!] "or
+ rather thrown out for him. The tub was a good honest tub in its place,
+ and nothing could fairly be said against it. You say you made the
+ alteration for the 'friendly reader,' but the 'malicious' will take it
+ to himself."
+
+('The Letters of Charles Lamb', edited by Alfred Ainger, vol. i. p.
+283.) Wordsworth could not be induced to "undo his work," and go back to
+his own original; although he evidently agreed with what Lamb had said
+(as is seen in a letter to Barren Field, Oct. 24, 1828).--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER, 1803
+
+
+Composed October 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+Included among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; renamed in 1845,
+"Poems dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ One might believe that natural miseries
+ Had blasted France, and made of it a land
+ Unfit for men; and that in one great band
+ Her sons were bursting forth, to dwell at ease.
+ But 'tis a chosen soil, where sun and breeze 5
+ Shed gentle favours: rural works are there,
+ And ordinary business without care;
+ Spot rich in all things that can soothe and please!
+ How piteous then that there should be such dearth
+ Of knowledge; that whole myriads should unite 10
+ To work against themselves such fell despite:
+ Should come in phrensy and in drunken mirth,
+ Impatient to put out the only light
+ Of Liberty that yet remains on earth!
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"THERE IS A BONDAGE WORSE, FAR WORSE, TO BEAR"
+
+
+Composed possibly in 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+Included among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; renamed in 1845,
+"Poems dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ There is a bondage worse, far worse, to bear [1]
+ Than his who breathes, by roof, and floor, and wall,
+ Pent in, a Tyrant's solitary Thrall:
+ 'Tis his who walks about in the open air,
+ One of a Nation who, henceforth, must wear 5
+ Their fetters in their souls. For who could be,
+ Who, even the best, in such condition, free
+ From self-reproach, reproach that [2] he must share
+ With Human-nature? Never be it ours
+ To see the sun how brightly it will shine, 10
+ And know that noble feelings, manly powers,
+ Instead of gathering strength, must droop and pine;
+ And earth with all her pleasant fruits and flowers
+ Fade, and participate in man's decline.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... which is worse to bear 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... which ... 1807.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER, 1803 (#2)
+
+
+Composed October 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+This was one of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; afterwards called,
+"Poems dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ These times strike [1] monied worldlings with dismay:
+ Even rich men, brave by nature, taint the air
+ With words of apprehension and despair:
+ While tens of thousands, thinking on the affray,
+ Men unto whom sufficient for the day 5
+ And minds not stinted or unfilled are given,
+ Sound, healthy, children of the God of heaven,
+ Are cheerful as the rising sun in May.
+ What do we gather hence but firmer faith
+ That every gift of noble origin 10
+ Is breathed upon by Hope's perpetual breath;
+ That virtue and the faculties within
+ Are vital,--and that riches are akin
+ To fear, to change, to cowardice, and death?
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1837.
+
+ ... touch ... 1807.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+"ENGLAND! THE TIME IS COME WHEN THOU SHOULD'ST WEAN"
+
+
+Composed possibly in 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+This was one of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; afterwards called,
+"Poems dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ England! the time is come when thou should'st wean
+ Thy heart from its emasculating food;
+ The truth should now be better understood;
+ Old things have been unsettled; we have seen
+ Fair seed-time, better harvest might have been 5
+ But for thy trespasses; and, at this day,
+ If for Greece, Egypt, India, Africa,
+ Aught good were destined, thou would'st step between.
+ England! all nations in this charge agree:
+ But worse, more ignorant in love and hate, 10
+ Far--far more abject, is thine Enemy:
+ Therefore the wise pray for thee, though the freight
+ Of thy offences be a heavy weight:
+ Oh grief that Earth's best hopes rest all with Thee!
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER, 1803 (#3)
+
+
+Composed October 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+Included among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; afterwards called,
+"Poems dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ When, looking on the present face of things,
+ I see one man, of men the meanest too!
+ Raised up to sway the world, to do, undo,
+ With mighty Nations for his underlings,
+ The great events with which old story rings 5
+ Seem vain and hollow; I find nothing great:
+ Nothing is left which I can venerate;
+ So that a doubt almost [1] within me springs
+ Of Providence, such emptiness at length
+ Seems at the heart of all things. But, great God! 10
+ I measure back the steps which I have trod;
+ And tremble, seeing whence proceeds the strength [2]
+ Of such poor Instruments, with thoughts sublime
+ I tremble at the sorrow of the time.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1845.
+
+ ... almost a doubt ... 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1827.
+
+ ... seeing, as I do, the strength 1807.]
+
+
+
+The reference is, of course, to Napoleon.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+TO THE MEN OF KENT. OCTOBER, 1803
+
+
+Composed October 1803.--Published 1807
+
+
+One of the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; re-named in 1845, "Poems
+dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Vanguard of Liberty, ye men of Kent, [A]
+ Ye children of a Soil that doth advance
+ Her [1] haughty brow against the coast of France,
+ Now is the time to prove your hardiment!
+ To France be words of invitation sent! 5
+ They from their fields can see the countenance
+ Of your fierce war, may ken the glittering lance
+ And hear you shouting forth your brave intent.
+ Left single, in bold parley, ye, of yore,
+ Did from the Norman win a gallant wreath; 10
+ Confirmed the charters that were yours before;--
+ No parleying now! In Britain is one breath;
+ We all are with you now from shore to shore:--
+ Ye men of Kent, 'tis victory or death!
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANT ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1827.
+
+ It's ... 1807.
+
+ It's haughty forehead 'gainst ... MS.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: Compare Michael Drayton's 'Barons' Wars', book i.:
+
+ 'Then those of Kent, unconquered of the rest,
+ That to this day maintain their ancient right.'
+
+Ed.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+IN THE PASS OF KILLICRANKY,
+
+An invasion being expected, October 1803
+
+
+Composed October 1803.--Published 1807
+
+From 1807 to 1820 this sonnet was one of those "dedicated to Liberty."
+In 1827 it was included among the "Memorials of a Tour in Scotland,
+1803." From 1807 to 1820 the title was simply October, 1803.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Six thousand veterans practised in war's game,
+ Tried men, at Killicranky were arrayed
+ Against an equal host that wore the plaid,
+ Shepherds and herdsmen.--Like a whirlwind came
+ The Highlanders, the slaughter spread like flame; 5
+ And Garry, thundering down his mountain-road,
+ Was stopped, and could not breathe beneath the load
+ Of the dead bodies.--'Twas a day of shame
+ For them whom precept and the pedantry
+ Of cold mechanic battle do enslave. 10
+ O for a single hour of that Dundee, [A]
+ Who on that day the word of onset gave!
+ Like conquest would the Men of England see;
+ And her Foes find a like inglorious grave.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: See an anecdote related in Mr. Scott's Border Minstrelsy.
+--W. W. 1807.
+
+"Oh for an hour of Dundee" was an exclamation of Gordon of Glenbucket at
+Sheriffmuir.--Ed.]
+
+
+The following is from Dorothy Wordsworth's 'Recollections of a Tour made
+in Scotland', 1803:
+
+ "Thursday, September 8th.--Before breakfast we walked to the Pass of
+ Killicrankie. A very fine scene; the river Garry forcing its way down
+ a deep chasm between rocks, at the foot of high rugged hills covered
+ with wood, to a great height. The pass did not, however, impress us
+ with awe, or a sensation of difficulty or danger, according to our
+ expectations; but, the road being at a considerable height on the side
+ of the hill, we at first only looked into the dell or chasm. It is
+ much grander seen from below, near the river's bed. Everybody knows
+ that this Pass is famous in military history. When we were travelling
+ in Scotland, an invasion was hourly looked for, and one could not but
+ think with some regret of the times when, from the now depopulated
+ Highlands forty or fifty thousand men might have been poured down for
+ the defence of the country, under such leaders as the Marquis of
+ Montrose or the brave man who had so distinguished himself upon the
+ ground where we were standing. I will transcribe a sonnet suggested to
+ William by this place, and written in Oct. 1803."
+
+Ed.
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+ANTICIPATION. OCTOBER, 1803
+
+
+Composed October 1803.--Published 1807 [A]
+
+
+Included among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; re-named in 1845,
+"Poems dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Shout, for a mighty Victory is won!
+ On British ground the Invaders are laid low;
+ The breath of Heaven has drifted them like snow,
+ And left them lying in the silent sun,
+ Never to rise again!--the work is done. 5
+ Come forth, ye old men, now in peaceful show
+ And greet your sons! drums beat and trumpets blow!
+ Make merry, wives! ye little children, stun
+ Your grandame's ears with pleasure of your noise! [1]
+ Clap, infants, clap your hands! Divine must be 10
+ That triumph, when the very worst, the pain,
+ And even the prospect of our brethren slain, [2]
+ Hath something in it which the heart enjoys:--
+ In glory will they sleep and endless sanctity. [3]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
+
+[Variant 1:
+
+1807.
+
+ ... with transports of your own. C.
+
+ ... with transport of your noise! 1838.
+
+The edition of 1840 returns to the text of 1807.]
+
+
+[Variant 2:
+
+1807.
+
+ The loss and e'en the prospect of the slain, MS. 1803.
+
+And in 'The Poetical Register', 1803.
+
+ And prospect of our Brethren to be slain, MS. 1803.]
+
+
+[Variant 3:
+
+1807.
+
+ True glory, everlasting sanctity. MS. 1803.
+
+And in 'The Poetical Register', 1803.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
+
+[Footnote A: _i. e._ in the edition of 1807, but this sonnet was
+previously printed in 1803 in 'The Poetical Register', vol. iii. p. 340,
+in the 'Anti-Gallican' (1804), and in the 'Poetical Repository'
+(1805).--Ed.]
+
+
+This sonnet, as the title indicates, does not refer to an actual
+victory; because, since the Norman conquest, no "Invaders" have ever set
+foot "on British ground." It was written--like the two preceding
+sonnets, and the one that follows it--"in anticipation" of Napoleon's
+project for the invasion of England being actually carried out; a
+project never realised. The assembling of the immense French army
+destined for this purpose--one of the finest brought together since the
+days of the Roman legions--between the mouths of the Seine and the
+Texel, roused the spirit of English patriotism as it had never been
+roused before. Three hundred thousand volunteers were enlisted in Great
+Britain by the 10th of August 1803;
+
+ "all the male population of the kingdom from seventeen years of age to
+ fifty-five were divided into classes to be successively armed and
+ exercised" (Dyer).
+
+The story of the failure of Napoleon's scheme is too well known to be
+repeated in this note. Wordsworth seems to have written his sonnet in
+anticipation of what he believed would have been the inevitable issue of
+events, had the French army actually landed on British soil.--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+
+
+LINES ON THE EXPECTED INVASION
+
+1803
+
+
+Composed 1803.--Published 1842
+
+
+Included among the "Poems dedicated to National Independence and
+Liberty."--Ed.
+
+
+
+
+ Come ye--who, if (which Heaven avert!) the Land
+ Were with herself at strife, would take your stand,
+ Like gallant Falkland, by the Monarch's side,
+ And, like Montrose, make Loyalty your pride--
+ Come ye--who, not less zealous, might display 5
+ Banners at enmity with regal sway,
+ And, like the Pyms and Miltons of that day,
+ Think that a State would live in sounder health
+ If Kingship bowed its head to Commonwealth--
+ Ye too--whom no discreditable fear 10
+ Would keep, perhaps with many a fruitless tear,
+ Uncertain what to choose and how to steer--
+ And ye--who might mistake for sober sense
+ And wise reserve the plea of indolence--
+ Come ye--whate'er your creed--O waken all, 15
+ Whate'er your temper, at your Country's call;
+ Resolving (this a free-born Nation can)
+ To have one Soul, and perish to a man,
+ Or save this honoured Land from every Lord
+ But British reason and the British sword. 20
+
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+
+ END OF VOLUME II (OF EIGHT)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Poetical Works of William
+Wordsworth, Vol. II., by William Wordsworth
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