Sonnet XV. Standing at Newfield Farm and looking north to the Pen, where
it rises beyond the ruined mill, there certainly is upon its southern
face just such a niche, but the green ivy has displaced the 'gloom.'"
(H. D. Rawnsley.)]
[Footnote FP: See Humboldt's Personal Narrative.--W. W. 1820.
"I cannot quit this first link (the finding of a piece of gold) of the
mountains of Encaramada without recalling to mind a fact that was not
unknown to Father Gili, and which was often mentioned to me during our
abode in the Missions of the Orinoco. The natives of those countries
have retained the belief that, 'at the time of the great waters, when
their fathers were forced to have recourse to boats to escape the
general inundation, the waves of the sea beat against the rocks of
Encaramada.' This belief is not confined to one nation singly, the
Tamanacs; it makes part of a system of historical tradition, of which we
find scattered notions among the Maypures of the great cataracts, among
the Indians of the Rio Erevato, which runs into the Caura, and among
almost all the tribes of the Upper Orinoco. When the Tamanacs are asked
how the human race survived this great Deluge, the 'age of water' of the
Mexicans, they say, 'a man and a woman saved themselves on a high
mountain, called Tamanacu, situated on the banks of the Asiveru, and
casting behind them, over their heads, the fruits of the Mauritia
palm-tree, they saw the seeds contained in those fruits produce men and
women, who re-peopled the earth.' Thus we find in all its simplicity,
among nations now in a savage state, a tradition which the Greeks
embellished with all the charms of imagination! A few leagues from
Encaramada, a rock, called _Tepu-mereme_, or 'the painted rock,' rises
in the midst of the Savannah. Upon it are traced representations of
animals, and symbolic figures resembling those we saw in going down the
Orinoco, at a small distance below Encaramada, near the town Caycara.
Similar rocks in Africa are called by travellers _fetish-stones_. I
shall not make use of this term, because fetishism does not prevail
among the natives of the Orinoco; and the figures of stars, of the sun,
of tigers, and of crocodiles, which we found traced upon the rocks in
spots now uninhabited, appeared to me in no way to denote the objects of
worship of those nations. Between the banks of the Cassiquiare and the
Orinoco, between Encaramada, the Capuchino, and Caycara, these
hieroglyphic figures are often seen at great heights, on rocky cliffs
which could be accessible only by constructing very lofty scaffolds.
When the natives are asked how those figures could have been sculptured,
they answer with a smile, as if relating a fact of which only a white
man could be ignorant, that 'at the period of the great waters, their
fathers went to that height in boats.'" Extract from _Humboldt's
Travels_, vol. ii. chap. iv. pp. 182-3 (Bohn's Edition.)--ED.
"The weathering of the volcanic ash of the Pen and the cliff of
Wallabarrow opposite would naturally have suggested this sonnet.
Evidence of ice-marking and glacier-action are not wanting in the
neighbourhood." (H. D. Rawnsley.)]
XVII
RETURN
A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted yew,
Perched on whose top the Danish Raven croaks;
Aloft, the imperial Bird[445] of Rome invokes
Departed ages, shedding where he flew[446]
Loose fragments of wild wailing, that bestrew 5
The clouds and thrill the chambers of the rocks;
And into silence hush the timorous flocks,
That, calmly couching[447] while the nightly dew
Moistened each fleece, beneath the twinkling stars
Slept amid[448] that lone Camp on Hardknot's height, 10
Whose Guardians bent the knee to Jove and Mars:
Or, near[449] that mystic Round of Druid frame
Tardily sinking by its proper weight
Deep into patient Earth, from whose smooth breast it came!
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 445: 1820.
Wheeling aloft the Bird ... 1838.
The text of 1840 returns to that of 1820.
]
[Footnote 446: 1820.
... and still sheds anew 1838.
The text of 1840 returns to that of 1820.
]
[Footnote 447: 1827.
That slept so calmly ... 1820.
]
[Footnote 448: 1827.
These couch'd mid ... 1820.
]
[Footnote 449: 1827.
These near ... 1820.
]
XVIII
SEATHWAITE CHAPEL[FQ]
Sacred Religion! "mother of form and fear,"[FR]
Dread arbitress of mutable respect,
New rites ordaining when the old are wrecked,
Or cease to please the fickle worshipper,
Mother of Love! (that name best suits thee here)[450] 5
Mother of Love! for this deep vale, protect
Truth's holy lamp, pure source of bright effect,
Gifted to purge the vapoury atmosphere
That seeks to stifle it;--as in those days
When this low Pile a Gospel Teacher knew, 10
Whose good works formed an endless retinue:
A Pastor such as Chaucer's verse portrays;[451][FS]
Such as the heaven-taught skill of Herbert drew;[FT]
And tender Goldsmith crowned with deathless praise![FU]
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 450: 1837.
... the fickle worshipper;
If one strong wish may be embosomed here, 1820.
]
[Footnote 451: 1845.
Such Priest as Chaucer sang in fervent lays; 1820.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote FQ: "Seathwaite Chapel has been rebuilt. It may be worth
mentioning that there is a woodcut of the original structure at p. 23 of
Thorne's _Rambles by Rivers_ (12mo, London, 1844), and a good engraving
in the Rev. Canon Parkinson's _Old Church Clock_ (5th edition, 1880, p.
99). The Parsonage, too, has been enlarged. It was formerly a mere
cottage, with a peat-house at one end and an out-house of some kind at
the other. These have been removed, and additions made to the dwelling
at both ends. The brass in the church to the memory of 'Wonderful
Walker' was taken from the tombstone. The stone has been turned over,
and a new inscription cut." (Herbert Rix.)]
[Footnote FR: See Daniel's _Musophilus_, l. 47.--ED.]
[Footnote FS: The allusion is to the description of the "poure persoun
of a toun" in the _Prologue_ to the _Canterbury Tales_, ll.
477-528.--ED.]
[Footnote FT: See George Herbert's _Priest to the Temple_.--ED.]
[Footnote FU: The reference is to the lines in _The Deserted Village_--
A man he was to all the country dear,
And passing rich on forty pounds a year.
ED.
]
XIX
TRIBUTARY STREAM[FV]
My frame hath often trembled with delight
When hope presented some far-distant good,
That seemed from heaven descending, like the flood
Of yon pure waters, from their aëry height
Hurrying, with lordly Duddon to unite; 5
Who, 'mid a world of images imprest
On the calm depth of his transparent breast,
Appears to cherish most that Torrent white,
The fairest, softest, liveliest of them all!
And seldom hath ear listened to a tune 10
More lulling than the busy hum of Noon,
Sworn by that voice--whose murmur musical
Announces to the thirsty fields a boon
Dewy and fresh, till showers again shall fall.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote FV: "The 'tributary stream,' which forms the subject of this
sonnet, is the Tarn Beck, which rises in Seathwaite Tarn, and joins the
Duddon just opposite Newfield. Seathwaite Chapel itself is not on the
Duddon, but on the Tarn Beck. The sonnet gives a perfect description of
its leading characteristics.
Mr. Chattock has given an etching of the Tarn." (Herbert Rix.)
"If one stands upon the Pen and looks up the Duddon Vale, the
Field or two of brighter green, or plot
Of tillage-ground, that seemeth like a spot
Of stationary sunshine:
will be seen, exactly described, upon the shoulder of the Fell that
drops down from Heath Fell to the north-west. Is it possible that
Wordsworth, as he gazed, was moved by
the flood
Of yon pure waters, from their aëry height
... that Torrent white,
just beneath the little upland farm with its emerald plot of tillage,
shining like jewels in the July sun,
Hurrying, with lordly Duddon to unite,
--is it possible, I suggest, that Wordsworth was moved by this scene to
write Sonnet XIX.?" (H. D. Rawnsley.)]
XX
THE PLAIN OF DONNERDALE[FW]
The old inventive Poets, had they seen,
Or rather felt, the entrancement that detains
Thy waters, Duddon! 'mid these flowery plains;
The still repose, the liquid lapse serene,
Transferred to bowers imperishably green, 5
Had beautified Elysium! But these chains
Will soon be broken;--a rough course remains,[452]
Rough as the past; where Thou, of placid mien,
Innocuous as a firstling of the flock,
And countenanced like a soft cerulean sky, 10
Shalt change thy temper; and, with many a shock
Given and received in mutual jeopardy,
Dance, like a Bacchanal, from rock to rock,
Tossing her frantic thyrsus wide and high!
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote FW: "The term _Donnerdale_ (now usually spelt _Dunnerdale_) is
strictly applied to the district on the east bank of the Duddon from
Broughton up to Ulpha Bridge, and extending thence parallel to
Seathwaite, from which it is divided by fells. Guide-books sometimes
apply the term to the whole valley of the Duddon, but this is entirely
wrong; the term is never applied by the inhabitants to the upper or
confined part of the valley, and is correctly used by Wordsworth to
indicate the open plain of the lower stream.
_Hall Dunnerdale_, sometimes shortened into _Dunnerdale_, is a hamlet on
the high-road between Seathwaite and Ulpha. From a bridge just below
this hamlet the characteristics of the stream at this part of its course
as described in Sonnet XX. may best be noted. The banks are thickly
wooded with oak, ash, beech, alder, sycamore, and larch; the hills are
lower and greener than the fells farther up the valley, and for the
moment we might almost think we had been transported to the banks of the
Wey, and were looking upon a Surrey landscape. The water above and below
the bridge is comparatively still. But this, as the sonnet says, is not
to last long,--'a rough course remains, rough as the past.' Before we
reach Ulpha Bridge 'suspended animation is again succeeded by the
clamorous war of stones and waters, which assail the ear of the
traveller all the way to Duddon Bridge.'"[453] (Herbert Rix.)]
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 452: 1820.
... and a course remains MS.
... For a course remains, MS.
]
[Footnote 453: Green's _Comprehensive Guide to the Lakes_, quoted in
Whellan's _History and Topography_, p. 59.
[Concerning the limits of Dunnerdale, the Rev. S. R. M. Walker, Vicar of
Seathwaite, in answer to a question on the subject, wrote to Mr. Rix as
follows:--
"SEATHWAITE VICARAGE, _June 21, 1883._
DEAR SIR--I am not surprised at our topographical divisions giving a
stranger difficulty. They belong to the cross kind. Thus, Dunnerdale (as
it is now here usually spelled) forms an integral part of the civil
division, or township, of Dunnerdale and Seathwaite, whilst
ecclesiastically it is attached, not to Seathwaite, but to the
ecclesiastical parish or district of Broughton-in-Furness; Seathwaite,
Broughton-in-Furness, and Woodland (now all separate benefices), being
so many outlying parts of the ancient ecclesiastical and civil parish of
Kirkby-Ireleth. Dunnerdale itself is the name given to the district
which lies on the east or Lancashire bank of the Duddon, from a point a
few yards south of Ulpha bridge till it meets the boundary of Broughton
proper, or the right bank of the Lickle, a small tributary of the
Duddon, the main portion of it being enclosed in a little valley
parallel to that of the Duddon. The fells bounding it do, on the more
northern part, form a line of division from Seathwaite....
S. R. M. WALKER."]
]
XXI
"WHENCE THAT LOW VOICE?--A WHISPER FROM THE HEART"
Whence that low voice?--A whisper from the heart,
That told of days long past, when here I roved
With friends and kindred tenderly beloved;[FX]
Some who had early mandates to depart,
Yet are allowed to steal my path athwart 5
By Duddon's side; once more do we unite,
Once more beneath the kind Earth's tranquil light;
And smothered joys into new being start.
From her unworthy seat, the cloudy stall
Of Time, breaks forth triumphant Memory; 10
Her glistening tresses bound, yet light and free
As golden locks of birch, that rise and fall
On gales that breathe too gently to recal
Aught of the fading year's inclemency![FY]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote FX: See the Fenwick note prefixed to the Duddon Sonnets.--ED.]
[Footnote FY: "If, in Sonnet VI., Wordsworth was describing the Duddon
in April, the lines
Golden locks of birch, that rise and fall
On gales that breathe too gently to recal
Aught of the fading year's inclemency,
tell us that he was a wanderer here in October also." (H. D.
Rawnsley.)]
XXII
TRADITION[FZ]
A love-lorn Maid, at some far-distant time,
Came to this hidden pool, whose depths surpass
In crystal clearness Dian's looking-glass;
And, gazing, saw that Rose, which from the prime
Derives its name, reflected as the chime 5
Of echo doth reverberate some sweet sound:
The starry treasure from the blue profound
She longed to ravish;--shall she plunge, or climb
The humid precipice, and seize the guest
Of April, smiling high in upper air? 10
Desperate alternative! what fiend could dare
To prompt the thought?--Upon the steep rock's breast
The lonely Primrose yet renews its bloom,
Untouched memento of her hapless doom!
XXIII
SHEEP-WASHING[GA]
Sad thoughts, avaunt!--partake we their blithe cheer
Who gathered in betimes the unshorn flock
To wash the fleece, where haply bands of rock,
Checking the stream, make a pool smooth and clear
As this we look on. Distant Mountains hear,[454] 5
Hear and repeat, the turmoil that unites
Clamour of boys with innocent despites
Of barking dogs, and bleatings from strange fear.
And what if Duddon's spotless flood receive[455]
Unwelcome mixtures as the uncouth noise 10
Thickens, the pastoral River will forgive
Such wrong; nor need _we_ blame the licensed joys,
Though false to Nature's quiet equipoise:
Frank are the sports, the stains are fugitive.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote FZ: "This tradition appears to have completely died out. I
asked many old inhabitants of the place if they had ever heard such a
story, but it was quite new to them.
The scene of the tragedy is not, however, very difficult to identify.
There are very few 'hidden pools' in this part of the stream; it is
mostly a shallow, brawling brook. I have carefully tracked the stream
from Donnerdale Bridge to Ulpha Bridge, and can only find two places
which at all answer to the description given in the sonnet. One of these
is opposite the 'Traveller's Rest' inn, the other, is a little higher
up. This latter is a deep and placid pool, situated half way down a
curious corridor, known as 'Long Dub,' where the stream flows for some
distance in a straight line between walls of rough mountain slate, the
strata having been tilted almost at right angles to their natural
position. Here a little rill tumbles into the Duddon by a miniature
cascade, and the pool is sheltered and darkened by oak and beech--a not
unlikely spot to have inspired the sonnet." (Herbert Rix.)]
[Footnote GA: "The pool under Ulpha Bridge has for many generations been
used for sheep-washing. The sheep from Birks Farm are now (1894) washed
there every year. If we suppose the poet, in one of his frequent
journeys down the valley, to have paused upon the bridge to witness this
pastoral sight, the local order of the Sonnets is maintained." (Herbert
Rix.)]
XXIV
THE RESTING-PLACE
Mid-noon is past;--upon the sultry mead
No zephyr breathes, no cloud its shadow throws:
If we advance unstrengthened by repose,
Farewell the solace of the vagrant reed!
This Nook[GB]--with woodbine hung and straggling weed, 5
Tempting recess as ever pilgrim chose,
Half grot, half arbour--proffers to enclose
Body and mind, from molestation freed,
In narrow compass--narrow as itself:
Or if the Fancy, too industrious Elf, 10
Be loth that we should breathe awhile exempt
From new incitements friendly to our task,
Here[456] wants not stealthy prospect, that may tempt
Loose Idless to forego her wily mask.
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 454: 1845.
Sad thoughts, avaunt!--the fervour of the year,
Poured on the fleece-encumbered flock, invites
To laving currents, for prelusive rites
Duly performed before the Dales-men shear
Their panting charge. The distant Mountains hear, 1820.
]
[Footnote 455: 1845.
Meanwhile, if Duddon's spotless breast receive 1820.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote GB: See note to Sonnet xxvii.--ED.]
XXV
"METHINKS 'TWERE NO UNPRECEDENTED FEAT"
Methinks 'twere no unprecedented feat
Should some benignant Minister of air
Lift, and encircle with a cloudy chair,
The One for whom my heart shall ever beat
With tenderest love;--or, if a safer seat 5
Atween his downy wings be furnished, there
Would lodge her, and the cherished burden bear
O'er hill and valley to this dim retreat!
Rough ways my steps have trod; too rough and long
For her companionship; here dwells soft ease: 10
With sweets that[457] she partakes not some distaste
Mingles, and lurking consciousness of wrong;
Languish the flowers; the waters seem to waste
Their vocal charm; their sparklings cease to please.
XXVI
"RETURN, CONTENT! FOR FONDLY I PURSUED"
Return, Content! for fondly I pursued,
Even when a child, the Streams[GC]--unheard, unseen;
Through tangled woods, impending rocks between;
Or, free as air, with flying inquest viewed
The sullen reservoirs whence their bold brood-- 5
Pure as the morning, fretful, boisterous, keen,
Green as the[458] salt-sea billows, white and green--
Poured down the hills, a choral multitude!
Nor have I tracked their course for scanty gains;
They taught me random cares and truant joys, 10
That shield from mischief and preserve from stains
Vague minds, while men are growing out of boys;
Maturer Fancy owes to their rough noise
Impetuous thoughts that brook not servile reins.
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 456: 1837.
There ... 1820.
]
[Footnote 457: 1837.
... which ... 1820.
]
[Footnote 458: 1820.
Sparkling like ... C.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote GC: See note to Sonnet XXVII.--ED.]
XXVII
"FALLEN, AND DIFFUSED INTO A SHAPELESS HEAP"
Fallen, and diffused into a shapeless heap,
Or quietly self-buried in earth's mould,
Is that embattled House, whose massy Keep
Flung from yon cliff[459] a shadow large and cold.
There dwelt the gay, the bountiful, the bold; 5
Till nightly lamentations, like the sweep
Of winds--though[460] winds were silent--struck a deep
And lasting terror through that ancient Hold.
Its line of Warriors fled;--they shrunk when tried[461]
By ghostly power:--but Time's unsparing hand 10
Hath plucked such foes, like weeds, from out the land;
And now, if men with men in peace abide,
All other strength the weakest may withstand,
All worse assaults may safely be defied.[GD]
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 459: 1819.
... height ... MS.
]
[Footnote 460: 1827.
... when ... MS. and 1819.
]
[Footnote 461: 1819.
There dwelt the rash, the bountiful, the bold,
The fair, the gay; undaunted, unabased;
Till supernatural visitation chased
That line of warriors from their ancient hold.
--Stranger they fled--their courage shrunk when tried MS.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote GD: Sonnet No. XXVII. having been first published in _The
Waggoner_ and other poems (1819), was not reprinted in either of the
editions of 1820. It was "taken from a tradition belonging to Rydal
Hall," as is explained in the Fenwick note, p. 226.--ED.
"Sonnets XXIV. to XXVII. appear to have been written in one spot,--some
'Nook--with woodbine hung and straggling weed.' If the poet has strictly
retained in the sonnets the order in which the places lie upon the
river-bank, this nook must be within a stone's throw of the pool
mentioned in the preceding note, for the scenes of Sonnets XXIX. and
XXXI. are close at hand. But, though there are plenty of such 'grottos'
or 'arbours' here, some difficulty arises from the fact that the Old
Hall and ruined keep cannot be seen from this part of the stream, nor,
indeed, can they be seen from Ulpha itself, nor from any part of the
high road. The height upon which the ruin stands is certainly a
prominent feature in the landscape, but the ruin itself is completely
hidden by a shoulder of the hill, neither can the hill by any stretch of
the imagination be called a 'cliff.'
The only point of view from which the castle appears to stand upon a
'cliff' is reached by a footpath near some copper works, about half way
up Holehouse Ghyll. Here you see the ruin at the end (or rather _bend_)
of the Ghyll high above your head, the sides of the ravine rising
steeply to its walls. Holehouse Ghyll is thickly wooded, so that this
may very possibly be the poet's 'dim retreat,' the chief objection being
that the Ghyll lies below Ulpha Kirk, and that the order of the sonnets
would thus be broken.
But wherever the poet's 'nook' may have been, there can be little doubt
that the fragment of masonry near the farmhouse called 'The Old Hall,'
represents the 'embattled house' of Sonnet XXVII., for Broughton Tower,
the only other fortified house in the valley, is still some miles away,
and the rising ground upon which it stands is no cliff, but a mere
undulation in the centre of the nether valley. Of the Castle at the head
of Holehouse Ghyll there is little enough remaining--less, even, than in
Wordsworth's day, for a woman living in a cottage close by it assured me
that she could remember when there was much more of it standing than at
the present time. The cause to which she assigned its rapid
disappearance was not, however, the same as that assigned in the first
two lines of the sonnet. According to her, natural decay had less to do
with it than the destructive hands of the dalesmen, who pulled the
stones down to mend the fell-walls with. A native of Ulpha added that a
new barn was built for the adjoining farmhouse some little time since,
and that a great part of the materials doubtless came from the old ruin.
A ragged piece of wall three to four feet in thickness, with three small
square windows splayed inwards, and a fireplace about 6 feet long by 12
feet high, with a wide chimney, is all that now remains _in situ_, of
this seat of the Lords of Ulpha.
As to the ghostly tradition embodied in Sonnet XXVII. Wordsworth himself
has explained (see the Fenwick note) that it was borrowed from Rydal
Hall. But the 'Old Hall' has a weird tradition of its own, for in the
bottom of the Ghyll beneath the Castle walls, there is a pool, called
'The Lady's Dub,' where in old times a lady was killed by one of the
numerous wolves which formerly infested the region. This is, in fact,
the origin, according to some of the inhabitants, of the name 'Ulpha'
('Wolfa'). But a more likely derivation seems to be from Ulf, the father
of Ketell, the father of Bennett, the father of Allan. Ketell lived in
Henry III.'s reign, and Bennett in King John's, and to their ancestor
Ulf the lordship of 'Ulphay' was granted.[462]
Mr. Chattock has given an excellent etching of the ruin.
If the 'Nook' of Sonnet XXIV. be in Holehouse Ghyll, and the 'embattled
House' of Sonnet XXVII. be The Old Hall seen from that spot, then Sonnet
XXVI. should specially refer to the stream which rushes down that Ghyll.
'Through tangled woods' well suits this stream; and even the 'sullen
reservoirs' are not wanting if the two 'dubs' at the upper end of the
Ghyll are taken into account." (Herbert Rix.)]
XXVIII
JOURNEY RENEWED
I rose while yet the cattle, heat-opprest,
Crowded together under rustling trees
Brushed by the current of the water-breeze;
And for _their_ sakes, and love of all that rest,
On Duddon's margin, in the sheltering nest; 5
For all the startled scaly tribes that slink
Into his coverts, and each fearless link
Of dancing insects forged upon his breast;
For these, and hopes and recollections worn
Close to the vital seat of human clay; 10
Glad meetings, tender partings, that upstay
The drooping mind of absence, by vows sworn
In his pure presence near the trysting thorn--
I thanked the Leader of my onward way.
XXIX
"NO RECORD TELLS OF LANCE OPPOSED TO LANCE"