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 memoriæ
polliceretur, _Oblivionis_, inquit, _mallem_; _nam memini etiam quæ
nolo, oblivisci non possum quæ 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.