Gemmi sonnet:--"Cynthia is here (1) the moon, who "sleeps with
Endymion," (2) the huntress Artemis (or Diana), roaming the forest
glades in pursuit of game. In imagining her as giving motion to the
stars, it is _possible_ that the poet may have had in his mind a false
echo of Ovid's lines addressed to Aurora, _Amores_, i. l. 27--
Optavi quoties, ne nox tibi cedere vellet,
Neu fugerent vultus _sidera mota_ tuos."
ED.
]
[Footnote IR: Compare the _Ode to Duty_, stanza 6 (vol. iii. p.
40).--ED.]
XXXI
PROCESSIONS
SUGGESTED ON A SABBATH MORNING IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNY
To appease the Gods; or public thanks to yield;
Or to solicit knowledge of events,
Which in her breast Futurity concealed;
And that the past might have its true intents
Feelingly told by living monuments-- 5
Mankind of yore were prompted to devise
Rites such as yet Persepolis presents
Graven on her cankered walls, solemnities
That moved in long array before admiring eyes.[IS]
The Hebrews thus, carrying in joyful state 10
Thick boughs of palm, and willows from the brook,[IT]
Marched round the altar--to commemorate
How, when their course they through the desert took,
Guided by signs which ne'er the sky forsook,
They lodged in leafy tents and cabins low; 15
Green boughs were borne, while, for the blast that shook
Down to the earth the walls of Jericho,
Shouts rise, and storms of sound from lifted trumpets blow![549]
And thus, in order, 'mid the sacred grove
Fed in the Libyan waste by gushing wells, 20
The priests and damsels of Ammonian Jove
Provoked responses with shrill canticles;[IU]
While, in a ship begirt with silver bells,
They round his altar bore the hornèd God,
Old Cham, the solar Deity,[IV] who dwells 25
Aloft, yet in a tilting vessel rode,[IW]
When universal sea the mountains overflowed.
Why speak of Roman Pomps?[IX] the haughty claims
Of Chiefs triumphant after ruthless wars;
The feast of Neptune[IY]--and the Cereal Games,[IZ] 30
With images, and crowns, and empty cars;
The dancing Salii--on the shields of Mars
Smiting with fury;[JA] and a[551] deeper dread
Scattered on all sides[JB] by the hideous jars
Of Corybantian cymbals, while the head 35
Of Cybelè was seen, sublimely turreted![JC]
At length a Spirit more subdued and soft
Appeared--to govern Christian pageantries:
The Cross, in calm procession, borne aloft
Moved to the chant of sober litanies. 40
Even such, this day, came wafted on the breeze
From a long train--in hooded vestments fair
Enwrapt--and winding, between Alpine trees
Spiry and dark, around their House of prayer,
Below the icy bed of bright ARGENTIERE. 45
Still in the vivid freshness of a dream,
The pageant haunts me as it met our eyes!
Still, with those white-robed Shapes--a living Stream,
The glacier Pillars join in solemn guise[552]
For the same service, by mysterious ties; 50
Numbers exceeding credible account
Of number, pure and silent Votaries
Issuing or issued[553] from a wintry fount;
The impenetrable heart of that exalted Mount!
They, too, who send[554] so far a holy gleam 55
While they the Church engird[555] with motion slow,
A product of that awful Mountain seem,[556]
Poured from his vaults of everlasting snow;
Not virgin lilies marshalled in bright row,
Not swans descending with the stealthy tide, 60
A livelier sisterly resemblance show
Than the fair Forms, that in long order glide,
Bear to the glacier band--those[557] Shapes aloft descried.
Trembling, I look upon the secret springs
Of that licentious craving in the mind 65
To act the God among external things,
To bind, on apt suggestion, or unbind;[558]
And marvel not that antique Faith inclined
To crowd the world with metamorphosis,
Vouchsafed in pity or in wrath assigned; 70
Such insolent temptations wouldst thou miss,
Avoid these sights; nor brood o'er Fable's dark abyss!
_Still, with those white-robed Shapes--a living Stream,
The glacier Pillars join in solemn guise._
This Procession is a part of the sacramental service performed once a
month. In the valley of Engelberg we had the good fortune to be present
at the _Grand Festival_ of the Virgin--but the Procession on that day,
though consisting of upwards of 1000 persons, assembled from all
branches of the sequestered valley, was much less striking
(notwithstanding the sublimity of the surrounding scenery): it wanted
both the simplicity of the other and the accompaniment of the
Glacier-columns, whose sisterly resemblance to the _moving_ Figures gave
it a most beautiful and solemn peculiarity.--W. W. 1837.
* * * * *
"Sunday, Sept. 17. Chamouny.--... As we passed one of the little
clustering villages in the Vale of Chamouny, standing at the foot
of one of the five glaciers (the Argentière I believe), its pretty
white Church at that moment was encircled by a most interesting
procession--bare-headed men first carried the symbols or banners, who
were followed by a train of females: two and two winding round the
building; white garments thrown over their heads and covering their
shoulders, like so many nuns; but in that romantic place, the situation
of the Church, and the costume so peculiar, it was quite impossible
not to connect the moving belt of white pyramids with the snowy ones
immediately above them. We were afterwards told by a young priest, as
we passed along the green meadows of Orsina, whither he was going to do
duty, and with whom D. fell into conversation, that it was sacrament
day, and that the ceremony we had seen occurs once a month in all the
valleys, and that those pure vestments do not belong to the Church, but
to the Individuals who wear them. Our genial companion told D. that he
lived upon the Trient, in a village high above its banks, and where,
had he been at home, he would have been glad to have received us as his
guests...." (Mrs. Wordsworth's Journal.)
* * * * *
"Sunday, 16th September. Chamouny.--There is no carriage-road further
than to Argentière. When, having parted with our car and Guide, we were
slowly pursuing our way to the footpath, between the mountains, which
was to lead us to the VALORSINE, and thence, by the Tête-Noire, to
Trientz, we heard from the churchyard of Argentière, on the opposite
side of the river, a sound of voices chanting a hymn, or prayer, and
turning round, saw in the green enclosure a lengthening Procession,--the
priest in his robes, the host, and banners uplifted, and men following
two and two--and, last of all, a great number of females, in like order;
the head and body of each covered with a white garment. The stream
continued to flow on for a long time, till all had paced slowly round
the church, the men gathering close together, to leave unencumbered
space for the women, the chanting continuing, while the voice of the
Arve joined in accordant solemnity. The procession was grave and simple,
agreeing with the simple decorations of a village church:--the banners
made no glittering show; the Females composed a moving girdle round the
Church; their figures, from head to foot, covered with one piece of
white cloth, resembled the small pyramids of the Glacier, which were
before our eyes, and it was impossible to look at one and the other
without fancifully connecting them together. Imagine the _moving_
figures, like a stream of pyramids, the white Church, the half-concealed
Village, and the Glacier close behind among pine-trees, a pure sun
shining over all! and remember that these objects were seen at the base
of those enormous mountains, and you may have some faint notion of the
effect produced on us by that beautiful spectacle. It was a farewell to
the Vale of Chamouny that can scarcely be less vividly remembered twenty
years hence than when (that wondrous Vale[JD] being just out of sight)
after ascending a little way between the mountains, through a grassy
hollow, we came to a small hamlet under shade of trees in summer
foliage. A very narrow clear rivulet, beside the cottages, was hastening
with its tribute to the Arve. This simple scene transported us instantly
to our valleys of Westmoreland. A few quiet children were near the
doors, and we discovered a young woman in the darkest coolest nook of
shade between two of the houses, seated on the ground, intent upon her
prayer-book. The rest of the inhabitants were gone to join in the
devotions at Argentière. The top of the ascent (not a long one) being
gained, we had a second cheering companion in our downward way, another
Westmoreland brook of larger size, as clear as crystal, open to the sun,
and (bustling but not angry) it coursed by our side through a tract of
craggy pastoral ground. I do not speak of the needles of Montanvert,
behind; nor of other pikes up-rising before us. Such sights belong not
to Westmoreland, and I could fancy that I then paid them little regard,
it being for the sake of Westmoreland alone that I like to dwell on this
short passage of our journey, which brought us in view of one of the
most interesting of the valleys of the Alps. We descended with our
little stream, and saw its brief life in a moment cut off, when it
reached the _Berard_, the river of Black Water, which is seen falling,
not in _black_ but _grey_ cataracts within the cove of a mountain that
well deserves the former epithet, though a bed of _snow_ and glacier ice
is seen among its piky and jagged ridges. Below those bare summits, pine
forests and crags are piled together, with lawns and cottages between.
"We enter at the side of the valley, crossing a wooden bridge; then,
turning our backs on the scene just described, we bend our course
downward with the River, that is hurrying away, fresh from its glacier
fountains; how different a fellow-traveller from that little rivulet we
had just parted from, which we had seen, still bright as silver, drop
into the grey stream! The descending Vale before us beautiful, the high
enclosing hills interspersed with woods, green pasturage, and cottages.
The delight we had in journeying through the Valorsine is not to be
imagined, sunshine and shade were alike cheering; while the very
numerousness of the brown wood cottages (descried among trees, or
outspread on the steep lawns), and the people enjoying their Sabbath
leisure out of doors, seemed to make a quiet spot more quiet." (From
Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal, vol. ii.)
* * * * *
The following account of the festival of the Virgin, which occurred
during the Wordsworths' visit to Engelberg, may further illustrate this
poem:--"Knots of peasants going to and returning from church, all in
holiday trim. We had learned the day to be a grand Festival--the Feast
of the Virgin. After breakfast, the procession streamed out of church, a
beautiful spectacle, as they begirt that and the monastery. Men, women,
and children, Abbot, Monks, Priests, and Choristers, a thousand persons
or upwards; the women as gay as glitter and colours could make them.
Flat white hats, with ribbons and flowers, embroidered stomachers, red
girdles, and their short black petticoats, embroidered with red ribbon,
large shining pins in their hair, and lockets suspended from their
necks. The men too, mostly, had some ornament upon their hats: the young
generally a coloured ribbon, the elders black ones, tied with a bow: all
well and _curiously_ dressed; it was a festive scene, and the most
important fête in the year. Seventeen monks belong to the convent of
Engelberg, and the whole valley contains about 1700 inhabitants," etc.
(Mrs. Wordsworth's Journal.)--ED.
VARIANTS:
[Footnote 549: 1837.
They uttered loud hosannas,--let the trumpets blow! 1822.
These shout hosannas,--these the startling trumpets blow! 1827.
... those ... 1832.
]
[Footnote 551: 1837.
Striking with fury; and the ... 1822.
Smiting with fury; and the ... 1827.
]
[Footnote 552: 1827.
But O the fairest pageant of a dream
Did never equal that which met our eyes!
The glacier Pillars with the living Stream
Of white-robed Shapes, seemed linked in solemn guise, 1822.
]
[Footnote 553: 1827.
Of number, stood like spotless Votaries
Prepared to issue ... 1822.
]
[Footnote 554: 1827.
... sent ... 1822.
]
[Footnote 555: 1827.
... engirt ... 1822.
]
[Footnote 556: 1827.
... Mount did seem, 1822.
]
[Footnote 557: 1827.
... that on the turf did glide,
To that unmoving band--the ... 1822.
]
[Footnote 558: 1827.
... and unbind; 1822.
]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote IS: Persepolis, the capital city of Persia, "the glory of the
East," was destroyed by Alexander the Great (see Quintus Curtius, book
v. chaps. 6, 7), and is now, for the most part, a mass of ruins. In the
staircase leading up to the Great Hall of Xerxes, the mural decorations
include "colossal warriors, combats with wild beasts, processions, and
the like." Compare Fergusson's _Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis
restored_.--ED.]
[Footnote IT: Compare Leviticus xxiii. 34, 40-43; also Nehemiah viii.
14, 15.--ED.]
[Footnote IU: The Temple of Jupiter Ammon (or Hammon)--the ruins of
which still exist--was, in the centre of an oasis of the Libyan Desert,
twelve days' journey from Memphis, according to Pliny. In Diodorus
Siculus (book xvii. c. 5), in Strabo (book xvii. cc. 37 and 43), and in
Herodotus (book iv. 181), the Temple is described; but a fuller
account--and the one which probably suggested to Wordsworth some part of
his description in the text--will be found in Quintus Curtius, which
records the visit of Alexander the Great to consult the oracle:--"Tandem
ad sedem consecratam deo ventum est. Incredibile dictu, inter vastas
solitudines sita, undique ambientibus ramis, vix in densam umbram
cadente sole, contecta est, multique fontes, dulcibus aquis passim
manantibus, alunt silvas. Coelique quoque mira temperies, verno tepori
maxime similis, omnes anni partes pari salubritate percurrit....
"Est et aliud Hammonis nemus: in medio habet fontem (Solis aquam
vocant): sub lucis ortum tepida manat, medio die, cujus vehementissimus
est calor, frigida eadem fluit, inclinato in vesperam calescit, media
nocte fervida exaestuat, quoque nox propius vergit ad lucem, multum ex
nocturno calore decrescit, donec sub ipsum diei ortum assueto tepore
languescat.... _Hunc, cum responsum petitur, navigio aurato gestant
sacerdotes, multis argenteis pateris ab utroque navigii latere
pendentibus: sequuntur matronae virginesque, patrio more inconditum
quoddam carmen canentes, quo propitiari Jovem credunt, ut certum edat
oraculum._"[550]--Q. Curtius Rufus, _De Gestis Alex._, iv. 31 (ed.
Zumpt). The sentence italicised and translated makes it clear that
Wordsworth was dealing in this instance with the text of Quintus
Curtius, as he dealt with that of Herodotus, for example, in _The
Excursion_, when he described the
Tower eight times planted on the top of tower,
That Belus, nightly to his splendid couch
Descending, there might rest.
(Book iv. ll. 685-687.)
For discussions on the oases and Temple of Jupiter Ammon, see _Travels
in Africa, Egypt_, etc., by W. G. Browne (1792 to 1798), _The Journal of
Frederick Horneman's Travels from Cairo to Mourzouk_ (1797-8),
_Narrative of Operations and Discoveries in Egypt_, etc., by G. Balzoni,
and note M in Pratt's _Quintus Curtius_, vol. i.--ED.]
[Footnote IV: "Old Cham, the solar Deity," was the same as "the Ammonian
Jove." The statue of the god in the Temple was ram-headed and horned,
hence the Egyptian veneration for the ram.--ED.]
[Footnote IW: Compare _Paradise Lost_, book xi. ll. 745-747.--ED.]
[Footnote IX: "This refers to the triumphal processions along the Via
Sacra, in which the fortunate general was decorated with all the
insignia of Jupiter. (See Livy, book x. c. 7.) The captive princes, who
were conducted in the procession, were put to death in the prison at the
ascent of the Capitoline, before the triumphal offerings were made to
the gods." (W. A. Heard.)]
[Footnote IY: "This refers to the Ludi Circenses (Livy, book i. 9), when
the gods were conducted to the circus in a magnificent procession, their
images carried on a kind of frame, or placed in sacred chariots called
'tensae,' which are alluded to in the next line." (W. A. Heard.)]
[Footnote IZ: "Ludi Cerealia (Livy, book xxx. 39; Ovid, _Fasti_, iv.
391)--
Circus erit pompa celeber numeroque deorum,
Primaque ventosis palma petetur equis.
Hinc Cereris ludi."
(W. A. Heard.)
]
[Footnote JA: "The salii, or priests of Mars, on his festival, marched
through the streets, stamping in a kind of dance and striking the sacred
shields (ancilia.)
A saltu nomina dicta.
Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 387." (W. A. Heard.)
]
[Footnote JB: "This is an allusion to 'Megalesia,' a festival of Cybele
the Great Mother. In this festival there was a solemn commemoration,
with processions and games, of the first entry of the goddess into Rome.
The Corybantes were her Phrygian priests. See, for the whole worship,
Ovid, _Fasti_, iv. 181." (W. A. Heard.)]
[Footnote JC: "Compare Virgil, _Æneid_ vi. 785--
Qualis Berecyntia mater
Invehitur curru Phrygias turrita per urbes.
The Great Mother is represented in works of art as wearing a crown of
towers. An explanation is given in Ovid's _Fasti_ (iv. 219), a work
which Wordsworth seems to have had in his thoughts throughout this
stanza.
At cur turrifera caput est onerata corona?
An primis turres urbibus illa dedit?"
(W. A. Heard.)
]
[Footnote JD: Compare _The Prelude_, book vi. 1. 528--
The wondrous Vale
Of Chamouny stretched far below.
ED.
]
[Footnote 550: "When a response was sought, it was the custom for the
priests to carry the image of the god in a golden ship with many silver
paterae hanging from both its sides; while matrons and virgins followed,
singing, according to the custom of their country, a certain uncouth
hymn, by which they believed they could propitiate the god, and induce
him to return an unambiguous answer."]
XXXII
ELEGIAC STANZAS
The lamented Youth whose untimely death gave occasion to these elegiac
verses, was Frederick William Goddard, from Boston in North America. He
was in his twentieth year, and had resided for some time with a
clergyman in the neighbourhood of Geneva for the completion of his
education. Accompanied by a fellow-pupil, a native of Scotland, he had
just set out on a Swiss tour when it was his misfortune to fall in with
a friend of mine who was hastening to join our party. The travellers,
after spending a day together on the road from Berne and at Soleure,
took leave of each other at night, the young men having intended to
proceed directly to Zurich. But early in the morning my friend found his
new acquaintances, who were informed of the object of his journey, and
the friends he was in pursuit of, equipped to accompany him. We met at
Lucerne the succeeding evening, and Mr. G. and his fellow-student became
in consequence our travelling companions for a couple of days. We
ascended the Righi together; and, after contemplating the sunrise from
that noble mountain, we separated at an hour and on a spot well suited
to the parting of those who were to meet no more. Our party descended
through the valley of our Lady of the Snow, and our late companions, to
Arth. We had hoped to meet in a few weeks at Geneva; but on the third
succeeding day (on the 21st of August) Mr. Goddard perished, being
overset in a boat while crossing the lake of Zurich. His companion
saved himself by swimming, and was hospitably received in the mansion of
a Swiss gentleman (M. Keller) situated on the eastern coast of the lake.
The corpse of poor Goddard was cast ashore on the estate of the same
gentleman, who generously performed all the rites of hospitality which
could be rendered to the dead as well as to the living. He caused a
handsome mural monument to be erected in the church of Küsnacht, which
records the premature fate of the young American, and on the shores too
of the lake the traveller may read an inscription pointing out the spot
where the body was deposited by the waves.[559]
LULLED by the sound of pastoral bells,
Rude Nature's Pilgrims did we go,
From the dread summit of the Queen[JE]
Of mountains, through a deep ravine,
Where, in her holy chapel, dwells 5
"Our Lady of the Snow."
The sky was blue, the air was mild;
Free were the streams and green the bowers;
As if, to rough assaults unknown,
The genial spot had _ever_ shown 10
A countenance that as sweetly smiled--[560]
The face of summer-hours.
And we were gay, our hearts at ease;
With pleasure dancing through the frame
We journeyed; all we knew of care--[561] 15
Our path that straggled here and there;
Of trouble--but the fluttering breeze;
Of Winter--but a name.
If foresight could have rent the veil
Of three short days--but hush--no more! 20
Calm is the grave, and calmer none
Than that to which thy cares are gone,
Thou Victim of the stormy gale;
Asleep on ZURICH'S shore!
Oh GODDARD! what art thou?--a name-- 25
A sunbeam followed by a shade!
Nor more, for aught that time supplies,
The great, the experienced, and the wise:
Too much from this frail earth we claim,
And therefore are betrayed. 30
We met, while festive mirth ran wild,
Where, from a deep lake's mighty urn,
Forth slips, like an enfranchised slave,
A sea-green river, proud to lave,
With current swift and undefiled, 35
The towers of old LUCERNE.
We parted upon solemn ground
Far-lifted towards the unfading sky;
But all our thoughts were _then_ of Earth,
That gives to common pleasures birth; 40
And nothing in our hearts we found
That prompted even a sigh.
Fetch, sympathising Powers of air,
Fetch, ye that post o'er seas and lands,
Herbs moistened by Virginian dew, 45
A most untimely grave to strew,
Whose turf may never know the care[562]
Of _kindred_ human hands!
Beloved by every gentle Muse
He left his Transatlantic home: 50
Europe, a realised romance,
Had opened on his eager glance;
What present bliss!--what golden views!
What stores for years to come!
Though lodged within no vigorous frame, 55
His soul her daily tasks renewed,
Blithe as the lark on sun-gilt wings
High poised--or as the wren that sings
In shady places, to proclaim
Her modest gratitude. 60
Not vain is sadly-uttered praise;
The words of truth's memorial vow
Are sweet as morning fragrance shed
From flowers 'mid GOLDAU'S ruins bred;
As evening's fondly-lingering rays,[563] 65
On RIGHI'S silent brow.
Lamented youth! to thy cold clay
Fit obsequies the Stranger paid;
And piety shall guard the Stone[564]
Which hath not left the spot unknown 70
Where the wild waves resigned their prey--
And _that_ which marks thy bed.[565]
And, when thy Mother weeps for Thee,
Lost Youth! a solitary Mother;
This tribute from a casual Friend 75
A not unwelcome aid may lend,
To feed the tender luxury,
The rising pang to smother.
The persuasion here expressed was not groundless. The first human
consolation that the afflicted Mother felt, was derived from this
tribute to her son's memory, a fact which the author learned, at his own
residence, from her Daughter, who visited Europe some years
afterwards.--Goldau is one of the villages desolated by the fall of part
of the Mountain Rossberg.--W. W. 1837.