Written at Rydal Mount. Prompted by the undue importance attached to personal beauty by some dear friends of mine.--I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 1824; first published 1827. Addressed probably to Wordsworth's daughter Dora. Compare a stanza of "The Longest Day" which is addressed to her: "Think, if thou on beauty leanest, L. 9 (1836); previously "Whose frail existence is but of a day." "The while" (1. 21) replaced "the whilst " (1827-32).-ED. The Forsaken (page 249). This was an overflow from the "Affliction of Margaret -," and was excluded as superfluous there, but preserved in the faint hope that it may turn to account by restoring a shy lover to some forsaken damsel. My poetry has been complained of as deficient in interests of this sort, a charge arge which the piece beginning, Lyre! though such power do in thy magic magic live," liv will scarcely tend to obviate. The natural imagery of these verses was supplied by frequent, I might say intense, observation of the Rydal torrent. What an animating contrast is the ever-changing aspect of that, and indeed of every one of our mountain brooks, to the monotonous tone and unmitigated fury of such streams among the Alps as are fed all the summer long by glaciers and melting snows. A traveller observing the exquisite purity of the great rivers, such as the Rhine at Geneva, and the Reuss at Lucerne, when they issue out of their respective lakes, might fancy for a moment that some power in nature produced this beautiful change, with a view to make amends for those Alpine sullyings which the waters exhibit near their fountain heads; but, alas! how soon does that purity depart before the influx of tributary waters that have flowed through cultivated plains and the crowded abodes of men.-I. F. Written 1804, being described by Wordsworth as an overflow from "The Affliction of Margaret," which he assigned to that year; first printed in "Poems chiefly of Early and Late Years," 1842. Text unaltered.-ED. "'Tis said, &c." (page 250). Dated by Wordsworth 1800; first published 1800. The stanza, "O! what a weight, &c." from 1800 to 1832 opened thus : "O! what a weight is in these shades! Ye leaves, The stanza "Thou Eglantine, &c." opened thus : "Thou Eglantine whose arch so proudly towers The present text dates from 1836.-ED. A Complaint (page 252). Written at Town-end, Grasmere. Suggested by a change in the manner of a friend.-I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 1806; first published 1807. The only change of text was "that" (1836) instead of "this" in 1.9. Was the friend S. T. Coleridge? - ED. To (page 253). Written at Rydal Mount. On Mrs. Wordsworth. I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 18243; first published 1827. The following stanza, which came second in edd. 1827-43, was omitted 1845: "Such if thou wert in all men's view, What would my fancy have to do? L. 5 (1836); in 1827 "The world denies that Thou art fair." ED. “Yes! thou art fair" (page 253). Conjecturally dated 1845; first published 1845. Text unaltered.-ED. "How rich that forehead's calm expanse" (page 25+). Written at Rydal Mount. Mrs. Wordsworth's im. pression is that the Poem was written at Coleorton: it was certainly suggested by a Print at Coleorton Hall.-. I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 1824; first published 1827. Text unaltered.-ED. "What heavenly smiles, &c." (page 254). Conjecturally dated 1845; first published 1845. Text unaltered.-ED. To (page 255). Written at Rydal Mount. To Mrs. W.-I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 18243; first published 1827. The third stanza was slightly different 1827-32 : 1.9, "If a faint sigh; " 1. 10, "Tell;" 1. 11. "Cherish me stillelse; " 1. 12, "uphold me to the end."-ED. Lament of Mary Queen of Scots (page 256). This arose out of a flash of moonlight that struck the ground when I was approaching the steps that lead from the garden at Rydal Mount to the front of the house. "From her sunk eye a stagnant tear stole forth" is taken, with some loss, from a discarded poem, "The Convict," in which occurred, when he was discovered lying in the cell, these lines : "But now he upraises the deep-sunken eye, Dated by Wordsworth 1817; first published 1820 (in "The River Duddon" volume). Text almost unaltered. L. 57 (1827); in 1820 "Farewell for ever human aid."ED. The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman (page 258). Written at Alfoxden, where I read Hearne's Journey with deep interest. It was composed for the volume of Lyrical Ballads. I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 1798; first published 1798. L. 4 is a return, 1836, to the earliest text: an inferior reading, "The stars were mingled with my dreams," appeared 1815-1832. Ll. 5, 6 in 1798-1815 ran : "In sleep did I behold the skies, Noticing that "crackling" implied the sense of hearing, Wordsworth substituted in 1820: "In rustling conflict through the skies "I heard, I saw," dates from 1827. Ll. 23, 24 (1815); previously: "Too soon despair o'er me prevailed, L. 10, "Dear friends" (1845); previously "My friends" L. 36 (1815); previously " A most strange something did I see." L. 40 in 1798-1805 "a little child." The last stanza was omitted in edd. 1815 to 1832; restored 1836. L. 61, 1798-1805 stood "My journey will be shortly run." L. 68, "thought" (1836); "thoughts" (1798-1805). Ll. 69, 70 (1836); previously : "I feel my body die away, I shall not see another day."-ED. The Last of the Flock (page 261). Produced at the same time and for the same purpose. The incident occurred in the village of Holford, close by Alfoxden.-I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 1798; first published 1798. Originally the farmer (1.41) had "ten" children; in 1800 "ten" was changed to "six." Until 1827 stanzas 7, 8, in the final couplet repeated the rhyme of stanza 6 (compare a similar change made in "Anecdote for Fathers"); stanza vii. ending thus : "They dwindled one by one away; and stanza viii. : "Oft-times I thought to run away; The lines substituted for these last date from 1836, when the 1827 reading, "Bent oftentimes to flee, &c.," was altered. In 1836 the word "fine" was substituted for "sweet" in 1. 34; at this time it seemed to Wordsworth that he had used "sweet" too often in his poems, and it disappears in many places. The most interesting change was effected in 1836, when Wordsworth placed the scene, as it actually was, in the Quantock country; 1. 35 previously was, "Upon the mountain did they feed." In accordance with this change, 1. 46 was also in 1836 changed to the present reading from the earlier "My sheep upon the mountain fed."-ED. Repentance (page 265). Written at Town-end, Grasmere. Suggested by the conversation of our next neighbour, Margaret Ashburner. -I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 1804; first published 1820. Of two or three slight verbal emendations the only one worth noting is "but" (1827) for "and" (1820) in l. 16.-ED. The Affliction of Margaret (page 267). Written at Town-end, Grasmere. This was taken from the case of a poor widow who lived in the town of Penrith. Her sorrow was well known to Mrs. Wordsworth, to my Sister, and, I believe, to the whole town. She kept a shop, and when she saw a stranger passing by, she was in the habit of going out into the street to enquire of him after her son.-I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 1804; first published 1807, with of ' ود In the title "The Affliction of Margaret 1820 "The Affliction of Margaret; " present title 1845. Ll. 10, 11 (1836); previously: "To have despair'd, and have believ'd, L. 24 (1827); previously: "What power hath even his wildest scream."-ED. |