Volume 2 — To a Butterfly (2)
Reading edition
Composed April 20, 1802.—Published 1807
The Poem
[Written at the same time and place. The Orchard, Grasmere Town-end, 1801.—I. F.]
Included among the "Poems founded on the Affections."—Ed.
The Poem
text variant footnote line number
I've watch'd you now a full half-hour, Self-poised upon that yellow flower; And, little Butterfly! indeed I know not if you sleep or feed. How motionless!—not frozen seas More motionless! and then What joy awaits you, when the breeze Hath found you out among the trees, And calls you forth again! This plot of orchard-ground is ours; My trees they are, my Sister's flowers; Here rest your wings when they are weary; Here lodge as in a sanctuary! Come often to us, fear no wrong; Sit near us on the bough! We'll talk of sunshine and of song, And summer days, when we were young; Sweet childish days, that were as long As twenty days are now. Note Contents 1802 Main Contents 1 2 5 10 15
Variant 1:
1807
... short ... 1836
The text of 1845 reverts to the reading of 1807.
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Variant 2:
1815
Stop here whenever you are weary, And rest as in a sanctuary! 1807
And feed ... MS.
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Note:
Wordsworth's date, as given to Miss Fenwick, is incorrect. In her Journal, April 20, 1802, Dorothy Wordsworth writes:
"William wrote a conclusion to the poem of The Butterfly, 'I've watch'd you now a full half-hour.'"
This, and the structure of the two poems, makes it probable that the latter was originally meant to be a sort of conclusion to the former (p. 283); but they were always printed as separate poems. Many of the "flowers" in the orchard at Dove Cottage were planted by Dorothy Wordsworth, and some of the "trees" by William. The "summer days" of childhood are referred to in the previous poem, To a Butterfly, written on the 14th of March 1802.—Ed.
Contents 1802 Main Contents