in the Poem, MS.
]
[Footnote 14: 1837.
To barren heath, and quaking fen, 1820.
To {swampy} heath, and quaking fen, MS.
{sandy }
]
[Footnote 15: 1820.
Dark moor and ... MS.
]
[Footnote 16: Italics were first used in 1827.]
[Footnote 17: 1820.
When on ... MS.
]
[Footnote 18: 1820.
Distempered Power ... MS.
]
[Footnote 19: 1820.
Last of an else extinguished Highland clan,
Last glimmering spark, was this rude man;
Sole remnant of a haughty race, MS.
]
[Footnote 20: 1820.
With their perennial hills; but Time
Brought low a power that could not climb,
Though, from its well-defended Home,
When, sword in hand, it chose to roam,
Its warfare's bourne, its travel's belt,
Was devastation widely dealt. MS.
With their perennial hills; but Crime,
That hastens the decrees of time,
Brought low a Power, which, when it chose
To spurn confinement and repose,
Made devastation widely dealt,
Its warfare's bourne, its travel's belt. MS.
]
[Footnote 21: 1820.
... lone ... MS.
]
[Footnote 22: 1820.
For he renounc'd ... MS.
For less than exiled, ... MS.
]
[Footnote 23: 1820.
Here lodged and fed MS.
In Being's scale MS.
]
[Footnote 24: 1820.
descent;
Till he--half dreaded, half disdained,
The title of a BROWNIE gained:
{He who} to no malicious taint
{But he}
Was subject--like the Patmos Saint;
His ruling case, his chief delight,
To pen by day MS.
]
[Footnote 25: 1820.
Nor wanton MS.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote F: Compare Wordsworth's _Letter to a Friend of Burns_
(_passim_).--ED.]
[Footnote G: Diodorus mentions this tradition (see his History, book
iii. chap. 4), that the infant Bacchus was carried by Ammon, the Libyan
Jupiter, to a cave on an island near Mount Nysa, from fear of Rhea, and
that he was handed over to the care and the tuition of Nysa, the
daughter of Aristæus. From this mountain the young Bacchus was supposed
to have derived his name, Dionysus.--ED.]
II
COMPOSED AT CORA LINN,
IN SIGHT OF WALLACE'S TOWER
--How Wallace fought for Scotland, left the name
Of Wallace to be found, like a wild flower,
All over his dear Country; left the deeds
Of Wallace, like a family of ghosts,
To people the steep rocks and river banks,
Her natural sanctuaries, with a local soul
Of independence and stern liberty. _MS._[H]
Composed 1814.--Published 1820
[I had seen this celebrated Waterfall twice before; but the feelings to
which it had given birth were not expressed till they recurred in
presence of the object on this occasion.--I.F.]
Lord of the vale! astounding Flood;
The dullest leaf in this thick wood
Quakes--conscious of thy power;
The caves reply with hollow moan;
And vibrates, to its central stone, 5
Yon time-cemented Tower![I]
And yet how fair the rural scene!
For thou, O Clyde, hast ever been
Beneficent as strong;
Pleased in refreshing dews to steep 10
The little trembling flowers that peep
Thy shelving rocks among.
Hence all who love their country, love
To look on thee--delight to rove
Where they thy voice can hear; 15
And, to the patriot-warrior's Shade,
Lord of the vale! to Heroes laid
In dust, that voice is dear!
Along thy banks, at dead of night
Sweeps visibly the Wallace Wight; 20
Or stands, in warlike vest,
Aloft, beneath the moon's pale beam,
A Champion worthy of the stream,
Yon grey tower's living crest!
But clouds and envious darkness hide 25
A Form not doubtfully descried:--
Their transient mission o'er,
O say to what blind region flee
These Shapes of awful phantasy?
To what untrodden shore? 30
Less than divine command they spurn;
But this we from the mountains learn,
And this the valleys show;
That never will they deign to hold
Communion where the heart is cold 35
To human weal and woe.
The man of abject soul in vain
Shall walk the Marathonian plain;
Or thrid the shadowy gloom,
That still invests the guardian Pass, 40
Where stood, sublime, Leonidas
Devoted to the tomb.[J]
And let no Slave his head incline,
Or kneel, before the votive shrine
By Uri's lake, where Tell 45
Leapt, from his storm-vext boat, to land,[K]
Heaven's Instrument, for by his hand
That day the Tyrant fell.[26]
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 26: 1845.
Nor deem that it can aught avail
For such to glide with oar or sail
Beneath the piny wood,
Where Tell once drew, by Uri's lake,
His vengeful shafts--prepared to slake
Their thirst in Tyrants' blood! 1820.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote H: Compare _The Prelude_ (vol. iii. p. 139), to which may be
added the following Wallace Memorials:--"The barrel, or cave, in
Bothwell parish; caves in Lasswade, Torphichen, and Lesmahagow parishes;
chair at Bonniton, near Lanark; cradle on hill, two miles south by west
of Linlithgow; house at Elderslie, in Renfrewshire; larder at Ardrossan;
leap in Roseneath parish; monument on Abbey Craig, near Stirling; oaks
at Elderslie and at Torwood; seats in Biggar, Kilbarchan, and Dumbarton
parishes; statues at Lanark, and adjacent to the Tweed, near Dryburgh;
stone in Polmont parish; towers in Ayr town, Roxburgh parish,
Auchterhouse parish, and Kirkmichael parish, Dumfriesshire; trench in
Kincardine-in-Monteith parish; and well in Biggar parish."--Wilson's
_Gazetteer of Scotland_, 1882 (article, "Wallace Memorials").--ED.]
[Footnote I: The "time-cemented Tower" of the old castle of Cora still
overlooks the waterfall. Compare the _Address to Kilchurn Castle_ in the
"Memorials of a Tour in Scotland," 1803 (vol. ii. p. 400); and, with
The dullest leaf in this thick wood
Quakes--conscious of thy power,
compare the _Lines written in Early Spring_ (vol. i. p. 268).--ED.]
[Footnote J: Leonidas, king of Sparta, killed in the heroic defence of
the pass of Thermopylæ, B.C. 480.--ED.]
[Footnote K: On the western side of the bay of Uri, in the lake of
Lucerne, is Tell's Platte, where on a ledge of rock stands the
chapel--rebuilt in 1880, but said to have been originally built in
1388--on the spot where the Swiss Patriot leapt out of Gessler's boat,
and shot the tyrant.--ED.]
III
EFFUSION,
IN THE PLEASURE-GROUND ON THE BANKS OF THE BRAN, NEAR DUNKELD
Composed 1814.--Published 1827
[I am not aware that this condemnatory effusion was ever seen by the
owner of the place. He might be disposed to pay little attention to it;
but were it to prove otherwise I should be glad, for the whole
exhibition is distressingly puerile.--I.F.]
"The waterfall, by a loud roaring, warned us when we must expect it. We
were first, however, conducted into a small apartment, where the
Gardener desired us to look at a picture of Ossian, which, while he was
telling the history of the young Artist who executed the work,
disappeared, parting in the middle--flying asunder as by the touch of
magic--and lo! we are at the entrance of a splendid apartment, which was
almost dizzy and alive with waterfalls, that tumbled in all directions;
the great cascade, opposite the window, which faced us, being reflected
in innumerable mirrors upon the ceiling and against the
walls."--_Extract from the Journal of my Fellow-Traveller._[L]
What He--who, mid the kindred throng
Of Heroes that inspired his song,
Doth yet frequent the hill of storms,
The stars dim-twinkling through their forms!
What! Ossian here--a painted Thrall, 5
Mute fixture on a stuccoed wall;
To serve--an unsuspected screen
For show that must not yet be seen;
And, when the moment comes, to part
And vanish by mysterious art; 10
Head, harp, and body, split asunder,
For ingress to a world of wonder;
A gay saloon, with waters dancing
Upon the sight wherever glancing;
One loud cascade in front, and lo! 15
A thousand like it, white as snow--
Streams on the walls, and torrent-foam
As active round the hollow dome,
Illusive cataracts! of their terrors
Not stripped, nor voiceless in the mirrors, 20
That catch the pageant from the flood
Thundering adown a rocky wood.
What pains to dazzle and confound!
What strife of colour, shape and sound
In this quaint medley, that might seem 25
Devised out of a sick man's dream![27]
Strange scene, fantastic and uneasy
As ever made a maniac dizzy,
When disenchanted from the mood
That loves on sullen thoughts to brood! 30
O Nature--in thy changeful visions,
Through all thy most abrupt transitions[28]
Smooth, graceful, tender, or sublime--
Ever averse to pantomime,
Thee neither do they know nor us 35
Thy servants, who can trifle thus;
Else verily[29] the sober powers
Of rock that frowns, and stream that roars,
Exalted by congenial sway
Of Spirits, and the undying Lay, 40
And Names that moulder not away,
Had wakened[30] some redeeming thought
More worthy of this favoured Spot;
Recalled some feeling--to set free
The Bard from such indignity! 45
[M]The Effigies of a valiant Wight
I once beheld, a Templar Knight;
Not prostrate, not like those that rest
On tombs, with palms together prest,
But sculptured out of living stone, 50
And standing upright and alone,
Both hands with rival energy
Employed in setting his sword free
From its dull sheath--stern sentinel
Intent to guard St. Robert's cell;[N] 55
As if with memory of the affray
Far distant, when, as legends say,
The Monks of Fountain's[O] thronged to force
From its dear home the Hermit's corse,
That in their keeping it might lie, 60
To crown their abbey's sanctity.
So had they rushed into the grot
Of sense despised, a world forgot,
And torn him from his loved retreat,
Where altar-stone and rock-hewn seat 65
Still hint that quiet best is found,
Even by the _Living_, under ground;
But a bold Knight, the selfish aim
Defeating, put the Monks to shame,
There where you see his Image stand 70
Bare to the sky, with threatening bran
Which lingering NID is proud to show
Reflected in the pool below.
Thus, like the men of earliest days,
Our sires set forth their grateful praise: 75
Uncouth the workmanship, and rude!
But, nursed in mountain solitude,
Might some aspiring artist dare
To seize whate'er, through misty air,
A ghost, by glimpses, may present 80
Of imitable lineament,
And give the phantom an array
That less[31] should scorn the abandoned clay;
Then let him hew with patient stroke
An Ossian out of mural rock, 85
And leave the figurative Man--
Upon thy margin, roaring Bran!--
Fixed, like the Templar of the steep,
An everlasting watch to keep;
With local sanctities in trust, 90
More precious than a hermit's dust;
And virtues through the mass infused,
Which old idolatry abused.
What though the Granite would deny
All fervour to the sightless eye; 95
And touch from rising suns in vain
Solicit a Memnonian strain;[P]
Yet, in some fit of anger sharp,
The wind might force the deep-grooved harp
To utter melancholy moans 100
Not unconnected with the tones
Of soul-sick flesh and weary bones;
While grove and river notes would lend,
Less deeply sad, with these to blend!
Vain pleasures of luxurious life, 105
For ever with yourselves at strife;
Through town and country both deranged
By affectations interchanged,
And all the perishable gauds
That heaven-deserted man applauds; 110
When will your hapless patrons learn
To watch and ponder--to discern
The freshness, the everlasting youth,[32]
Of admiration sprung from truth;
From beauty infinitely growing 115
Upon a mind with love o'erflowing--
To sound the depths of every Art
That seeks its wisdom through the heart?
Thus (where the intrusive Pile, ill-graced
With baubles of theatric taste, 120
O'erlooks the torrent breathing showers
On motley bands of alien flowers
In stiff confusion set or sown,
Till Nature cannot find her own,
Or keep a remnant of the sod 125
Which Caledonian Heroes trod)
I mused; and, thirsting for redress,
Recoiled into the wilderness.
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 27: The preceding four lines were added in the edition of
1837.]
[Footnote 28: 1827.
Through all thy numberless transitions C.
Throughout thy infinite transitions C.
]
[Footnote 29: 1832.
Else surely had ... 1827.
]
[Footnote 30: 1832.
Awakened ... 1827.
]
[Footnote 31: 1837.
... such array
As less ... 1827.
And so inspired in shape display
That less ... C.
]
[Footnote 32: 1837.
... the eternal youth, 1827.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote L: See the _Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland_, 1803,
by Dorothy Wordsworth, p. 210.--ED.]
[Footnote M: On the banks of the River Nid, near Knaresborough.--W. W.
1827.]
[Footnote N: "The cliffs overhanging the Nid have been hollowed out into
numerous cavities, some of which serve as dwellings, walled in front,
and some having chimneys carried out at the tops; sometimes with windows
and doors let into the rock itself. The most remarkable of these is _St.
Robert's Chapel_, scooped out, and inhabited (it is said) by the same
St. Robert, whose cave is farther down the river. An altar has been cut
out of the rock, and one or two rude figures carved within this
so-called chapel. The figure of an armed man with his sword in his hand
is sculptured outside, as if guarding the entrance."--Murray's
_Yorkshire_, p. 240 (edition 1867).--ED.]
[Footnote O: Fountains Abbey, near Studley Royal, in Yorkshire.--ED.]
[Footnote P: The statue of Amenophis in the vicinity of Thebes--called
by the Greeks the statue of Memnon--was fabled to give forth a musical
strain, when touched by the first ray of sunrise.--ED.]
"FROM THE DARK CHAMBERS OF DEJECTION FREED"
Composed 1814.--Published 1815
[Composed in Edinburgh, during my Scotch tour with Mrs. Wordsworth and
my sister, Miss Hutchinson, in the year 1814. Poor Gillies never rose
above that course of extravagance in which he was at that time living,
and which soon reduced him to poverty and all its degrading shifts,
mendicity being far from the worst. I grieve whenever I think of him,
for he was far from being without genius, and had a generous heart, not
always to be found in men given up to profusion. He was nephew of Lord
Gillies, the Scotch judge, and also of the historian of Greece. He was
cousin to Miss Margaret Gillies, who painted so many portraits with
success in our house.--I.F.]
Classed among the "Miscellaneous Sonnets." In 1815 the sonnet was headed
_To_ ----.--ED.
From the dark chambers of dejection freed,
Spurning the unprofitable yoke of care,
Rise, GILLIES, rise:[33] the gales of youth shall bear
Thy genius forward like a wingèd steed.
Though bold Bellerophon (so Jove decreed 5
In wrath) fell headlong from the fields of air,
Yet a rich[34] guerdon waits on minds that dare,
If aught be in them of immortal seed,
And reason govern that audacious flight
Which heaven-ward they direct.--Then droop not thou,
Erroneously renewing a sad vow 11
In the low dell 'mid Roslin's faded grove:[35]
A cheerful life is what the Muses love,
A soaring spirit is their prime delight.
I am indebted to Miss Margaret Gillies--the artist referred to in the
Fenwick note--for information in reference to her cousin, the subject of
this sonnet. Robert Pearce Gillies was a man of unquestionable talent,
but eccentric and extravagant. He inherited a considerable fortune, some
£1500 a year, from his father, which he lost. He was editor of the
_Foreign Quarterly Review_, was very intimate with De Quincey, and knew
Sir Walter Scott, Wordsworth, and Quillinan well. He translated several
German poems and novels, of which Scott thought highly. He was the
author of _Memoirs of a Literary Veteran_ (1851), in which (vol. ii. pp.
137-173) there is a sketch of Wordsworth, and several letters from him.
He was also an accomplished musician, playing the violin admirably. He
lived near Hawthornden.
The expression "faded" or "fading grove," which Wordsworth applies to
Roslin, may refer merely to the season of the year, viz. September.--ED.
A sonnet written by Gillies, and addressed to Wordsworth, may be quoted
in this note. It was transcribed by Mrs. Wordsworth into a copy of the
4to edition of _The Excursion_ (1814), which was presented by the Poet
to his grandson.
TO THE AUTHOR OF _THE EXCURSION_
Though feebly in my harassed mind the light
Of fancy burn, yet thy inspiring strain
WORDSWORTH! has power to lull the sense of pain,
And bring long lost illusions to my sight.
Methinks the autumnal fields,--the mist-wreaths white,--
The woods,--the distant waters of the main
Their wonted hues of wild enchantment gain,
And, for a space, my cares are put to flight.
Then, how much more shall this immortal Lay
For the "_free Soul_" celestial sweets disclose!--
But, thine it is, oh Bard! with magic sway
To charm each meaner passion to repose;--
To guide the faltering pilgrim on his way,
And energise the weak, and soothe the mourner's woes.
R. P. GILLIES.
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 33: 1820.
Rise, *** rise: ... 1815.
]
[Footnote 34: 1827.
... high ... 1815.
]
[Footnote 35: 1827.
... fading grove: 1815.
]
IV
YARROW VISITED
SEPTEMBER, 1814
Composed 1814.--Published 1815
[As mentioned in my verses on the death of the Ettrick Shepherd, my
first visit to Yarrow was in his company. We had lodged the night before
at Traquair, where Hogg had joined us, and also Dr. Anderson, the Editor
of the _British Poets_, who was on a visit at the Manse. Dr. A. walked
with us till we came in view of the Vale of Yarrow, and, being advanced
in life, he then turned back. The old man was passionately fond of
poetry, though with not much of a discriminating judgment, as the
Volumes he edited sufficiently shew. But I was much pleased to meet with
him, and to acknowledge my obligation to his collection, which had been
my brother John's companion in more than one voyage to India, and which
he gave me before his departure from Grasmere, never to return. Through
these Volumes I became first familiar with Chaucer, and so little money
had I then to spare for books, that, in all probability, but for this
same work, I should have known little of Drayton, Daniel, and other
distinguished poets of the Elizabethan age, and their immediate
successors, till a much later period of my life. I am glad to record
this, not from any importance of its own, but, as a tribute of gratitude
to this simple-hearted old man, whom I never again had the pleasure of
meeting. I seldom read or think of this poem without regretting that my
dear Sister was not of the party, as she would have had so much delight
in recalling the time, when, travelling together in Scotland, we
declined going in search of this celebrated stream, not altogether, I
will frankly confess, for the reasons assigned in the poem on the
occasion.--I.F.]
In 1815 and 1820 this was one of the "Poems of the Imagination." In 1827
it became one of the "Memorials of a Tour in Scotland" of 1814.
The MS. readings to this poem are taken from a copy in a letter by
Dorothy Wordsworth to Mrs. Clarkson, dated November 11, 1814.--ED.
And is this--Yarrow?--_This_ the Stream
Of which my fancy cherished,
So faithfully, a waking dream?[36]
An image that hath perished!
O that some Minstrel's harp were near, 5
To utter notes[37] of gladness,
And chase this silence from the air,
That fills my heart with sadness!
Yet why?--a silvery current flows
With uncontrolled meanderings; 10
Nor have these eyes by greener hills
Been soothed, in all my wanderings.
And, through her depths,[38] Saint Mary's Lake
Is visibly delighted;
For not a feature of those hills 15
Is in the mirror slighted.
A blue sky bends o'er Yarrow vale,
Save where that pearly whiteness
Is round the rising sun diffused,
A tender hazy brightness; 20
Mild dawn of promise! that excludes
All profitless dejection;
Though not unwilling here to admit
A pensive recollection.
Where was it that the famous Flower 25
Of Yarrow Vale lay bleeding?
His bed perchance was yon smooth mound
On which the herd is feeding:
And haply from this crystal pool,
Now peaceful as the morning, 30
The Water-wraith ascended thrice--
And gave his doleful warning.
Delicious is the Lay that sings
The haunts of happy Lovers,
The path that leads them to the grove, 35
The leafy grove that covers:
And Pity sanctifies the Verse
That paints, by strength of sorrow,
The unconquerable strength of love;
Bear witness, rueful Yarrow! 40
But thou, that didst appear so fair
To fond imagination,
Dost rival in the light of day
Her delicate creation:
Meek loveliness is round thee spread, 45
A softness still and holy;
The grace of forest charms decayed,
And pastoral melancholy.
That region left, the vale unfolds
Rich groves of lofty stature, 50
With Yarrow winding through the pomp
Of cultivated nature;
And, rising from those lofty groves,
Behold a Ruin hoary!
The shattered front of Newark's Towers, 55
Renowned in Border story.[Q]
Fair scenes for childhood's opening bloom,
For sportive youth to stray in;
For manhood to enjoy his strength;
And age to wear away in! 60
Yon cottage seems a bower of bliss,
A covert for protection
Of tender thoughts, that nestle there--
The brood of chaste affection.[38a]
How sweet, on this autumnal day, 65
The wild-wood[39] fruits to gather,
And on my True-love's forehead plant
A crest of blooming heather!
And what if I enwreathed my own!
'Twere no offence to reason; 70
The sober Hills thus deck their brows
To meet the wintry season.
I see--but not by sight alone,
Loved Yarrow, have I won thee;
A ray of fancy still survives-- 75
Her sunshine plays upon thee!
Thy ever-youthful waters keep
A course of lively pleasure;
And gladsome notes my lips can breathe,
Accordant to the measure. 80
The vapours linger round the Heights,
They melt, and soon must vanish;
One hour is theirs, nor more is mine--
Sad thought, which I would banish,
But that I know, where'er I go, 85
Thy genuine image, Yarrow!
Will dwell with me--to heighten joy,
And cheer my mind in sorrow.
Compare _Yarrow Unvisited_, vol. ii. p. 411; also _Yarrow Revisited_,
composed in 1831; and Principal Shairp's Essay entitled "The Three
Yarrows," in his _Aspects of Poetry_. "I meant to mention _Yarrow
Visited_, with that stanza, 'But thou, that didst appear so fair'; than
which I think no lovelier stanza can be found in the wide world of
poetry;--yet the poem, on the whole, seems condemned to leave behind it
a melancholy of imperfect satisfaction, as if you had wronged the
feeling with which, in what preceded it, you had resolved never to visit
it, and as if the Muse had determined, in the most delicate manner, to
make you, and _scarce make you_, feel it. Else, it is far superior to
the other,[R] which has but one exquisite verse in it, the last but one,
or the last two: this is all fine, except perhaps that _that_ of
'studious ease, and generous cares,' has a little tinge of the _less
romantic_ about it." Charles Lamb to Wordsworth, in 1815. (See _The
Letters of Charles Lamb_, edited by Alfred Ainger, vol. i. p. 286.)--ED.
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 36: 1815.
Of which so long I cherished,
A Fancy dear to waking thought. MS. 1814.
]
[Footnote 37: 1815.
... words ... MS. 1814.
]
[Footnote 38: 1815.
With her own depths ... MS. 1814.
]
[Footnote 38a: 1827.
It promises protection
To studious ease, and generous cares,
And every chaste affection. 1815.
To all the nestling brood of thoughts
Sustained by chaste affection! 1820.
]
[Footnote 39: 1827.
The wild wood's ... 1815.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote Q: Newark Castle, a "large, square, roofless, ancient castle,
scene of Sir Walter Scott's _Lay of the Last Minstrel_, four miles west
by north of Selkirk." (Wilson's _Gazetteer of Scotland_.)--ED.]
[Footnote R: _i.e. Yarrow Unvisited._--ED.]
LINES
WRITTEN[40] ON A BLANK LEAF IN A COPY OF THE AUTHOR'S POEM "THE
EXCURSION," UPON HEARING OF THE DEATH OF THE LATE VICAR OF KENDAL.
Composed 1814.--Published 1815
One of the "Epitaphs and Elegiac Pieces."--ED.
To public notice, with reluctance strong,
Did I deliver this unfinished Song;
Yet for one happy issue;--and I look
With self-congratulation on the Book
Which pious, learned, MURFITT saw and read;-- 5
Upon my thoughts his saintly Spirit fed;
He conned the new-born Lay with grateful heart--
Foreboding not how soon he must depart;
Unweeting that to him the joy was given
Which good men take with them from earth to heaven. 10
_The Annals of Kendal_--an octavo volume containing information on all
subjects of historical or antiquarian interest connected with the
town--contains no reference to Mr. Murfitt, except a copy of the
inscription on his monument. He was instituted vicar of Kendal in 1806,
and died on the 7th November 1814. The following is a copy of the
inscription.