Volume 2 — The Two Thieves; or, the Last Stage of Avarice

Composed 1798.—Published 1800

The Poem

[This is described from the life, as I was in the habit of observing when a boy at Hawkshead School. Daniel was more than eighty years older than myself when he was daily, thus occupied, under my notice. No books have so early taught me to think of the changes to which human life is subject, and while looking at him I could not but say to myself—we may, one of us, I or the happiest of my playmates, live to become still more the object of pity, than this old man, this half-doating pilferer.—I. F.]

Included among the "Poems referring to the Period of Old Age."—Ed.

The Poem

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O now that the genius of Bewick were mine, And the skill which he learned on the banks of the Tyne, Then the Muses might deal with me just as they chose, For I'd take my last leave both of verse and of prose. What feats would I work with my magical hand! Book-learning and books should be banished the land: And, for hunger and thirst and such troublesome calls, Every ale-house should then have a feast on its walls. The traveller would hang his wet clothes on a chair; Let them smoke, let them burn, not a straw would he care! For the Prodigal Son, Joseph's Dream and his sheaves, Oh, what would they be to my tale of two Thieves? The One, yet unbreeched, is not three birthdays old, His Grandsire that age more than thirty times told; There are ninety good seasons of fair and foul weather Between them, and both go a-pilfering together. With chips is the carpenter strewing his floor? Is a cart-load of turf at an old woman's door? Old Daniel his hand to the treasure will slide! And his Grandson's as busy at work by his side. Old Daniel begins; he stops short—and his eye, Through the lost look of dotage, is cunning and sly: 'Tis a look which at this time is hardly his own, But tells a plain tale of the days that are flown. He once had a heart which was moved by the wires Of manifold pleasures and many desires: And what if he cherished his purse? 'Twas no more Than treading a path trod by thousands before. 'Twas a path trod by thousands; but Daniel is one Who went something farther than others have gone, And now with old Daniel you see how it fares; You see to what end he has brought his grey hairs. The pair sally forth hand in hand: ere the sun Has peered o'er the beeches, their work is begun: And yet, into whatever sin they may fall, This child but half knows it, and that not at all. They hunt through the streets with deliberate tread, And each, in his turn, becomes leader or led; And, wherever they carry their plots and their wiles, Every face in the village is dimpled with smiles. Neither checked by the rich nor the needy they roam; For the grey-headed Sire has a daughter at home, Who will gladly repair all the damage that's done; And three, were it asked, would be rendered for one. Old Man! whom so oft I with pity have eyed, I love thee, and love the sweet Boy at thy side: Long yet may'st thou live! for a teacher we see That lifts up the veil of our nature in thee. Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A B 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Variant 1:

1800

Oh! now that the boxwood and graver were mine, Of the Poet who lives on the banks of the Tyne, Who has plied his rude tools with more fortunate toil Than Reynolds e'er brought to his canvas and oil. MS. 1798

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Variant 2:

1800

Then Books, and Book-learning, I'd ring out your knell, The Vicar should scarce know an A from an L. MS. 1798.

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Variant 3:

1820

Little Dan is unbreech'd, he is three birth-days old, 1800

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Variant 4:

1837

... a-stealing ... 1800

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Variant 5:

1827

... of peats ... 1800

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Variant 6:

1820

Dan once ... 1800

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Variant 7:

1800

'Twas a smooth pleasant pathway, a gentle descent, And leisurely down it, and down it, he went. MS. 1798.

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Variant 8:

1802

... street ... 1800

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Variant 9:

1837

... is both leader and led; 1800

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Variant 10:

1837

For grey-headed Dan ... 1800

The grey-headed Sire ... 1820

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Footnote A:

Thomas Bewick, the wood engraver, born at Cherryburn, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1753, died 1828. He revived the art of wood engraving in England. His illustrations—drawn for the General History of British Quadrupeds (1790), and for his own History of British Birds (1797 and l804)—were unrivalled in their way.—Ed.

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Footnote B:

Charles Lamb, writing to Wordsworth in 1815, spoke of

"that delicacy towards aberrations from the strict path, which is so fine in the 'Old Thief and the Boy by his side,' which always brings water into my eyes."

(See Letters of Charles Lamb, edited by Alfred Ainger, vol. i. p. 287.)—Ed.

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