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 £12 per annum. The average
number of boys is twenty-five. This endowment was augmented by £8 per
annum by Robert Bateman, who gave £1000 for purchasing an estate, and
erected eight alms-houses for as many poor families, besides a
donation of £12 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.