And hermits are contented with their cells;
And students with their pensive citadels;
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom,
Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom, 5
High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells,
Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells:
In truth the prison, unto which we doom
Ourselves, no prison is:[A] and hence for me,[1]
In sundry moods,'twas pastime to be bound 10
Within the Sonnet's scanty plot of ground;
Pleased if some Souls (for such there needs must be)
Who have felt the weight of too much liberty,[B]
Should find brief[2] solace there, as I have found.
In Wordsworth's time "Furness-fells" was a generic phrase for all the
hills east of the Duddon, south of the Brathay, and west of Windermere;
including the Coniston group, Wetherlam, with the Yewdale and
Tilberthwaite fells. The district of Furness, like that of Craven in
Yorkshire, being originally ecclesiastical, had a wide area, of which
the abbey of Furness was the centre.
In the Fenwick note prefixed to this sonnet, Wordsworth refers to his
earliest attempt at sonnet writing. He says he wrote an irregular one at
school, and the next were three sonnets written one afternoon in Dove
Cottage in the year 1801, after his sister had read the sonnets of
Milton. This note is not, however, to be trusted. It was not in 1801,
but on the 21st of May 1802, that his sister read to him these sonnets
of Milton; and he afterwards wrote not one but two sonnets on
Buonaparte. What the irregular sonnet written at school was it is
impossible to say, unless he refers to the one entitled, in 1807 and
subsequent editions, _Written in Very Early Youth_; and beginning--
Calm is all nature as a resting wheel.
But on a copy of _An Evening Walk_ (1793 edition) Wordsworth
wrote:--"This is the first of my published poems, with the exception of
a sonnet, written when I was a schoolboy, and published in the _European
Magazine_ in June or July 1786, and signed Axiologus." Even as to this
date his memory was at fault. It was published in 1787, when he was
seventeen years of age. Its full title may be given; although, for
reasons already stated, it would be unjustifiable to republish the
sonnet, except in an appendix to the poems, and mainly for its
biographical interest. It was entitled, _Sonnet, on seeing Miss Maria
Williams weep at a Tale of Distress_. But, fully ten years before the
date mentioned by Dorothy Wordsworth in her Grasmere Journal--as the day
on which she read Milton's sonnets to her brother, and on which he wrote
the two on Buonaparte--he had written others, the existence of which he
had evidently forgotten. On the 6th of May 1792, his sister wrote thus
from Forncett Rectory in Norfolk to her friend, Miss Jane Pollard:--"I
promised to transcribe some of William's compositions. As I made the
promise, I will give you a little sonnet.... I take the first that
offers. It is very valuable to me, because the cause which gave birth to
it was the favourite evening walk of William and me.... I have not
chosen this sonnet from any particular beauty it has. _It was the first
I laid my hands upon._" From the clause I have italicised, it would
almost seem that other sonnets belong to that period, viz. before 1793,
when _An Evening Walk_ appeared. She would hardly have spoken of it as
she did, if this was the only sonnet her brother had then written.
Though very inferior to his later work, this sonnet may be preserved as
a specimen of Wordsworth's earlier manner, before he had broken away,
by the force of his own imagination, from the trammels of the
conventional style, which he inherited. It is printed in the Appendix to
volume viii.
It will be seen that Wordsworth's memory cannot be always relied upon,
in reference to dates, and similar details, in the Fenwick
memoranda.--ED.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1849.
... to me, 1807.
[2] 1827.
... short ... 1807.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Compare in Lovelace's poem, _To Althea from Prison_--
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for a hermitage. ED.
[B] Compare the line in the _Ode to Duty_ vol. iii. p. 40--
Me this unchartered freedom tires. ED.
PERSONAL TALK
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. The last line but two stood, at first,
better and more characteristically, thus:--
"By my half-kitchen and half-parlour fire."
My sister and I were in the habit of having the tea-kettle in our little
sitting room; and we toasted the bread ourselves, which reminds me of a
little circumstance not unworthy to be set down among these minutiae.
Happening both of us to be engaged a few minutes one morning when we had
a young prig of a Scotch lawyer to breakfast with us, my dear Sister,
with her usual simplicity, put the toasting fork with a slice of bread
into the hands of this Edinburgh genius. Our little book-case stood on
one side of the fire. To prevent loss of time, he took down a book, and
fell to reading, to the neglect of the toast, which was burnt to a
cinder. Many a time have we laughed at this circumstance, and other
cottage simplicities of that day. By the bye, I have a spite at one of
this series of Sonnets (I will leave the reader to discover which) as
having been the means of nearly putting off for ever our acquaintance
with dear Miss Fenwick, who has always stigmatized one line of it as
vulgar, and worthy only of having been composed by a country squire.--I.
F.]
In 1815, this was classed among the "Poems proceeding from Sentiment and
Reflection." From 1820 to 1843, it found a place among the
"Miscellaneous Sonnets," and in 1845 was restored to its earlier one
among the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."--ED.
I
I am not One who much or oft delight
To season my fireside with personal talk,--
Of[1] friends, who live within an easy walk,
Or neighbours, daily, weekly, in my sight:
And, for my chance-acquaintance, ladies bright, 5
Sons, mothers, maidens withering on the stalk,[A]
These all wear out of me, like Forms, with chalk
Painted on rich men's floors, for one feast-night.
Better than such discourse doth silence long,
Long, barren silence, square with my desire; 10
To sit without emotion, hope, or aim,
In the loved presence of my cottage-fire,[2]
And listen to the flapping of the flame,
Or kettle whispering its faint undersong.
II
"Yet life," you say, "is life; we have seen and see, 15
And with a living pleasure we describe;
And fits of sprightly malice do but bribe
The languid mind into activity.
Sound sense, and love itself, and mirth and glee
Are fostered by the comment and the gibe." 20
Even be it so: yet still among your tribe,
Our daily world's true Worldlings, rank not me!
Children are blest, and powerful; their world lies
More justly balanced; partly at their feet,
And part far from them:--sweetest melodies 25
Are those that are by distance made more sweet;[B]
Whose mind is but the mind of his own eyes,
He is a Slave; the meanest we can meet![C]
III
Wings have we,--and as far as we can go
We may find pleasure: wilderness and wood, 30
Blank ocean and mere sky, support that mood
Which with the lofty sanctifies the low.
Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,
Are a substantial world, both pure and good:
Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,
Our pastime and our happiness will grow. 36
There find I personal themes, a plenteous store,
Matter wherein right voluble I am,
To which I listen with a ready ear;
Two shall be named, pre-eminently dear,--[3] 40
The gentle Lady married to the Moor;[D]
And heavenly Una with her milk-white Lamb.
IV
Nor can I not believe but that hereby
Great gains are mine; for thus I live remote
From evil-speaking; rancour, never sought, 45
Comes to me not; malignant truth, or lie.
Hence have I genial seasons, hence have I
Smooth passions, smooth discourse, and joyous thought:
And thus from day to day my little boat
Rocks in its harbour, lodging peaceably. 50
Blessings be with them--and eternal praise,
Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares--
The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs
Of truth and pure delight by heavenly lays!
Oh! might my name be numbered among theirs, 55
Then gladly would I end my mortal days.
The text of the poem was little altered, and was fixed in 1827. It had
no title in 1807 and 1815.
The reading of 1807,
my half-kitchen my half-parlour fire,
was a reminiscence of Dove Cottage, which we regret to lose in the later
editions.
In the Baptistery of Westminster Abbey, there is a statue of Wordsworth
by Frederick Thrupp of great merit, placed there by the late Dean
Stanley, beside busts of Keble, Maurice, and Kingsley. Underneath the
statue of Wordsworth are the four lines from _Personal Talk_--
Blessings be with them--and eternal praise,
Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares--
The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs
Of truth and pure delight by heavenly lays!
Dean Stanley found it difficult to select from Wordsworth's poems the
lines most appropriate for inscription, and adopted these at the
suggestion of his friend, Principal Shairp.--ED.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1815.
About ... 1807.
[2] 1815.
By my half-kitchen my half-parlour fire, 1807.
[3] 1827.
There do I find a never-failing store
Of personal themes, and such as I love best;
Matter wherein right voluble I am:
Two will I mention, dearer than the rest; 1807.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] This is the line referred to by Wordsworth in the Fenwick note.
Compare _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act I. scene i. ll. 75-78.--ED.
[B] Compare Collins, _The Passions_, l. 60, and _An Evening Walk_, l.
237 and note (vol. i. p. 22).--ED.
[C] Compare _The Prelude_, book xii. l. 151 (vol. iii. p. 349)--
I knew a maid,
A young enthusiast, who escaped these bonds;
Her eye was not the mistress of her heart. ED.
[D] Wordsworth said on one occasion, as Professor Dowden has reminded
us, that he thought _Othello_, the close of the _Phaedo_, and Walton's
_Life of George Herbert_, the three "most pathetic" writings in the
world.--ED.
ADMONITION
Intended more particularly for the perusal of those who may have happened
to be enamoured of some beautiful place of Retreat, in the Country of
the Lakes.
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
Classed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
Well may'st thou halt--and gaze with brightening eye![1]
The lovely Cottage in the guardian nook
Hath stirred thee deeply; with its own dear brook,
Its own small pasture, almost its own sky![A]
But covet not the Abode;--forbear to sigh,[2] 5
As many do, repining while they look;
Intruders--who would tear[3] from Nature's book
This precious leaf, with harsh impiety.[4]
Think what the Home must[5] be if it were thine,
Even thine, though few thy wants!--Roof, window, door, 10
The very flowers are sacred to the Poor,
The roses to the porch which they entwine:
Yea, all, that now enchants thee, from the day
On which it should be touched, would melt away.[6]
The cottage at Town-end, Grasmere--where this sonnet was composed--may
have suggested it. Some of the details, however, are scarcely applicable
to Dove Cottage; the "brook" (referred to elsewhere) is outside the
orchard ground, and there is scarcely anything in the garden to warrant
the phrase, "its own small pasture." It is unnecessary to localise the
allusions.--ED.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1837.
Yes, there is holy pleasure in thine eye! 1807.
[2] 1827.
... oh! do not sigh, 1807.
[3] 1827.
Sighing a wish to tear ... 1807.
[4] 1827.
This blissful leaf, with worst impiety. 1807.
... with harsh impiety. 1815.
[5] 1827.
... would ... 1807.
[6] 1838.
... would melt, and melt away! 1807.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Compare the lines in _Peter Bell_, vol. ii. p. 13--
Where deep and low the hamlets lie
Beneath their little patch of sky
And little lot of stars. ED.
"'BELOVED VALE!' I SAID, 'WHEN I SHALL CON'"
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
"Beloved Vale!" I said, "when I shall con
Those many records of my childish years,
Remembrance of myself and of my peers
Will press me down: to think of what is gone
Will be an awful thought, if life have one." 5
But, when into the Vale I came, no fears
Distressed me; from mine eyes escaped no tears;[1]
Deep thought, or dread remembrance, had I none.[2]
By doubts and thousand petty fancies crost[3]
I stood, of simple shame the blushing Thrall;[A] 10
So narrow seemed the brooks, the fields so small![4]
A Juggler's balls old Time about him tossed;
I looked, I stared, I smiled, I laughed; and all
The weight of sadness was in wonder lost.
Doubtless the "Vale" referred to is that of Hawkshead; the "brooks" may
refer to the one that feeds Esthwaite lake, or to Sawrey beck, or (more
likely) to the streamlet, "the famous brook within our garden boxed,"
described in _The Prelude_, books i. and ii. (vol. iii.) See also _The
Fountain_, vol. ii. p. 92.--ED.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1827.
Distress'd me; I look'd round, I shed no tears; 1807.
[2] 1837.
... or awful vision, I had none. 1807.
... had I none. 1827.
[3] 1827.
By thousand petty fancies I was cross'd, 1807.
[4] 1827.
To see the Trees, which I had thought so tall,
Mere dwarfs; the Brooks so narrow, Fields so small.
1807.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Compare _Hart-Leap Well_, l. 117 (vol. ii. p. 134).--ED.
"HOW SWEET IT IS, WHEN MOTHER FANCY ROCKS"
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
Placed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
How sweet it is, when mother Fancy rocks
The wayward brain, to saunter through a wood!
An old place, full of many a lovely brood,
Tall trees, green arbours, and ground-flowers in flocks;
And wild rose tip-toe upon hawthorn stocks, 5
Like a bold Girl, who plays her agile pranks[1]
At Wakes and Fairs with wandering Mountebanks,--
When she stands cresting the Clown's head, and mocks
The crowd beneath her. Verily I think,
Such place to me is sometimes like a dream 10
Or map of the whole world: thoughts, link by link,
Enter through ears and eyesight, with such gleam
Of all things, that at last in fear I shrink,
And leap at once from the delicious stream.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1827.
Like to a bonny Lass, who plays her pranks 1807.
"THOSE WORDS WERE UTTERED AS IN PENSIVE MOOD"
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
----"they are of the sky,
And from our earthly memory fade away."[A]
Placed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
Those[1] words were uttered as in pensive mood[2]
We turned, departing from[3] that solemn sight:
A contrast and reproach to[4] gross delight,
And life's unspiritual pleasures daily wooed!
But now upon this thought I cannot brood; 5
It is unstable as a dream of night;[5]
Nor will I praise a cloud, however bright,
Disparaging Man's gifts, and proper food.
Grove, isle, with every shape of sky-built dome,[6]
Though clad in colours beautiful and pure, 10
Find in the heart of man no natural home:
The immortal Mind craves objects that endure:
These cleave to it; from these it cannot roam,
Nor they from it: their fellowship is secure.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1838.
These ... 1807.
[2] 1827.
... utter'd in a pensive mood. 1807.
[3] 1827.
Even while mine eyes were on ... 1807.
Mine eyes yet lingering on ... 1815.
[4] 1807.
A silent counter part of ... MS.
[5] 1827.
It is unstable, and deserts me quite; 1807.
[6] 1827.
The Grove, the sky-built Temple, and the Dome, 1807.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] See the sonnet _Composed after a Journey across the Hambleton Hills,
Yorkshire_, vol. ii. p. 349.--ED.
"WITH HOW SAD STEPS, O MOON, THOU CLIMB'ST THE SKY"
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
In the edition of 1815, this was placed among the "Poems of the Fancy."
In 1820 it became one of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb'st the sky,
"How silently, and with how wan a face!"[A]
Where art thou? Thou so often seen on high[1]
Running among the clouds a Wood-nymph's race!
Unhappy Nuns, whose common breath's a sigh 5
Which they would stifle, move at such a pace!
The northern Wind, to call thee to the chase,
Must blow to-night his bugle horn. Had I
The power of Merlin, Goddess! this should be:
And all the stars, fast as the clouds were riven,[2] 10
Should sally forth, to keep thee company,[3]
Hurrying and sparkling through the clear blue heaven;[4]
But, Cynthia! should to thee the palm be given,
Queen both for beauty and for majesty.
The sonnet of Sir Philip Sidney's, from which the two first lines are
taken, is No. XXXI. in _Astrophel and Stella_. In the edition of 1807
these lines were printed, not as a sonnet, but as No. III. in the series
of "Poems composed during a Tour, chiefly on foot;" and in 1807 and 1815
the first two lines were placed within quotation marks.--ED.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1837.
... Thou whom I have seen on high 1807.
[2] 1837.
And all the Stars, now shrouded up in heaven, 1807.
And the keen Stars, fast as the clouds were riven,
1820.
[3] 1807.
Should sally forth, an emulous Company, 1820.
The text of 1837 returns to that of 1807.
[4] 1840.
What strife would then be yours, fair Creatures, driv'n
Now up, now down, and sparkling in your glee! 1807.
Sparkling, and hurrying through the clear blue heaven;
1820.
All hurrying with thee through the clear blue heaven;
1832.
In that keen sport along the plain, of heaven; 1837.
... in emulous company
Sparkling, and hurrying through the clear blue heaven;
1838 and C.
Hurrying and sparkling through the clear blue Heaven. C.
With emulous brightness through the clear blue Heaven.
C.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] From a sonnet of Sir Philip Sydney.--W. W. 1807.
"THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US; LATE AND SOON"
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This[1] Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; 5
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for every thing, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; 10
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,[A]
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising[2] from the sea;[B]
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.[C]
The "pleasant lea" referred to in this sonnet is unknown. It may have
been on the Cumbrian coast, or in the Isle of Man.
I am indebted to the Rev. Canon Ainger for suggesting an (unconscious)
reminiscence of Spenser in the last line of the sonnet. Compare Dr.
Arnold's commentary (_Miscellaneous Works of Thomas Arnold_, p. 311),
and that of Sir Henry Taylor in his _Notes from Books_.--ED.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1807.
The ... MS.
[2] 1827.
... coming ... 1807.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] See Spenser's _Colin Clout's come Home againe_, l. 283--
"A goodly pleasant lea." ED.
[B] Compare _Paradise Lost_, book iii. l. 603.
[C] See _Colin Clout's come Home againe_, ll. 244-5--
Of them the shepheard which hath charge in chief,
Is Triton, blowing loud his wreathed horne. ED.
"WITH SHIPS THE SEA WAS SPRINKLED FAR AND NIGH"
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
Placed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
With Ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh,[A]
Like stars in heaven, and joyously it showed;
Some lying fast at anchor in the road,
Some veering up and down, one knew not why.
A goodly Vessel did I then espy 5
Come like a giant from a haven broad;
And lustily along the bay she strode,
Her tackling rich, and of apparel high.[B]
This Ship was nought to me, nor I to her,
Yet I pursued her with a Lover's look; 10
This Ship to all the rest did I prefer:
When will she turn, and whither? She will brook
No tarrying; where She comes the winds must stir:
On went She, and due north her journey took.[C]
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Compare _The Excursion_, book iv. l. 1197--
... sea with ships
Sprinkled ... ED.
[B] In the editions of 1815 to 1832 (but not in 1807) this line was
printed within inverted commas. The quotation marks were dropped,
however, in subsequent editions (as in the quotation from Spenser, in
the poem _Beggars_). In a note at the end of the volumes of 1807,
Wordsworth says, "From a passage in Skelton, which I cannot here insert,
not having the Book at hand."
The passage is as follows--
Her takelynge ryche, and of hye apparayle.
Skelton's _Bowge of Courte_, stanza vi.--ED.
[C] See Professor H. Reed's note to the American edition of _Memoirs of
Wordsworth_, vol. i. p. 335; and Wordsworth's comment on Mrs. Fermor's
criticism of this sonnet in his letter to Lady Beaumont, May 21,
1807.--ED.
"WHERE LIES THE LAND TO WHICH YON SHIP MUST GO?"
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
Classed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
Where lies the Land to which yon Ship must go?
Fresh as a lark mounting at break of day,
Festively she puts forth in trim array;[1]
Is she for tropic suns, or polar snow?
What boots the inquiry?--Neither friend nor foe 5
She cares for; let her travel where she may,
She finds familiar names, a beaten way
Ever before her, and a wind to blow.
Yet still I ask, what haven is her mark?
And, almost as it was when ships were rare, 10
(From time to time, like Pilgrims, here and there
Crossing the waters) doubt, and something dark,
Of the old Sea some reverential fear,
Is with me at thy farewell, joyous Bark!
VARIANTS:
[1] 1837.
Festively she puts forth in trim array;
As vigorous as a Lark at break of day: 1807.
TO SLEEP
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
Placed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
O gentle sleep! do they belong to thee,
These twinklings of oblivion? Thou dost love
To sit in meekness, like the brooding Dove,
A captive never wishing to be free.
This tiresome night, O Sleep! thou art to me 5
A Fly, that up and down himself doth shove
Upon a fretful rivulet, now above
Now on the water vexed with mockery.
I have no pain that calls for patience, no;[A]
Hence am I[1] cross and peevish as a child: 10
Am[2] pleased by fits to have thee for my foe,
Yet ever willing to be reconciled:
O gentle Creature! do not use me so,
But once and deeply let me be beguiled.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1807.
... I am ... 1815.
The text of 1827 returns to that of 1807.
[2] 1807.
And ... 1815.
The text of 1827 returns to that of 1807.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Compare--"Et c'est encore ce qui me fache, de n'etre pas meme en
droit de ... facher."--Rousseau, _La Nouvelle Heloise_.
"Vixque tenet lacrymas; quia nil lacrymabile cernit."
Ovid, _Metamorphoses_, lib. ii. l. 796.--ED.
TO SLEEP
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
Fond words have oft been spoken to thee, Sleep!
And thou hast had thy store of tenderest names;
The very sweetest, Fancy culls or frames,[1]
When thankfulness of heart is strong and deep!
Dear Bosom-child we call thee, that dost steep 5
In rich reward all suffering; Balm that tames
All anguish; Saint that evil thoughts and aims
Takest away, and into souls dost creep,
Like to a breeze from heaven. Shall I alone,
I surely not a man ungently made, 10
Call thee worst Tyrant by which Flesh is crost?
Perverse, self-willed to own and to disown,
Mere slave of them who never for thee prayed,
Still last to come where thou art wanted most!
VARIANTS:
[1] 1837.
The very sweetest words that fancy frames 1807.
TO SLEEP
Composed 1806.--Published 1807
Classed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by,
One after one; the sound of rain, and bees
Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas,
Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky;
I have thought of all by turns, and yet do lie[1] 5
Sleepless[A]! and soon the small birds' melodies
Must hear, first uttered from my orchard trees;
And the first cuckoo's melancholy cry.
Even thus last night, and two nights more, I lay,
And could not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth: 10
So do not let me wear to-night away:
Without Thee what is all the morning's wealth?
Come, blessed barrier between[2] day and day,
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!
Compare Ovid, _Metamorphoses_, book xi. l. 623; _Macbeth_, act II. scene
ii. l. 39; _King Henry IV._, Part II., act III. scene i. l. 5;
_Midsummer Night's Dream_, act III. scene ii. l. 435.--ED.
VARIANTS:
[1] 1845.
I've thought of all by turns; and still I lie 1807.
By turns have all been thought of; yet I lie 1827.
I thought of all by turns, and yet I lie 1837.
I have thought ... 1838.
[2] 1832.
... betwixt ... 1807.
... between night and day, MS.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Compare _The Faerie Queene_, book I. canto i. stanza 41--