Part 3 — 1831
Reading edition
The Poems of 1831 included The Primrose of the Rock, a few Sonnets, and Yarrow Revisited, and other Poems, composed during a tour in Scotland, and on the English Border, in the Autumn of 1831.—Ed.
THE PRIMROSE OF THE ROCK
Composed 1831.—Published 1835
[Written at Rydal Mount. The Rock stands on the right hand a little way leading up the middle road from Rydal to Grasmere. We have been in the habit of calling it the glow-worm rock from the number of glow-worms we have often seen hanging on it as described. The tuft of primrose has, I fear, been washed away by the heavy rains.—I.F.]
One of the "Poems of the Imagination."—Ed.
A rock there is whose homely front[686] The passing traveller slights; Yet there the glow-worms hang their lamps, Like stars, at various heights; And one coy Primrose to that Rock 5 The vernal breeze invites. What hideous warfare hath been waged, What kingdoms overthrown, Since first I spied that Primrose-tuft And marked it for my own;[687] 10 A lasting link in Nature's chain From highest heaven let down! The flowers, still faithful to the stems, Their fellowship renew; The stems are faithful to the root, 15 That worketh out of view; And to the rock the root adheres In every fibre true. Close clings to earth the living rock, Though threatening still to fall; 20 The earth is constant to her sphere; And God upholds them all: So blooms this lonely Plant, nor dreads Her annual funeral. * * * * * Here closed the meditative strain; 25 But air breathed soft that day, The hoary mountain-heights were cheered, The sunny vale looked gay; And to the Primrose of the Rock I gave this after-lay. 30 I sang—Let myriads of bright flowers, Like Thee, in field and grove Revive unenvied;—mightier far, Than tremblings that reprove Our vernal tendencies to hope, 35 Is[688] God's redeeming love; That love which changed—for wan disease, For sorrow that had bent O'er hopeless dust, for withered age— Their moral element, 40 And turned the thistles of a curse To types beneficent. Sin-blighted though we are, we too, The reasoning Sons of Men, From one oblivious winter called 45 Shall rise, and breathe again; And in eternal summer lose Our threescore years and ten. To humbleness of heart descends This prescience from on high, 50 The faith that elevates the just, Before and when they die; And makes each soul a separate heaven, A court for Deity.
FOOTNOTES:
TO B. R. HAYDON, ON SEEING HIS PICTURE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ON THE ISLAND OF ST. HELENA
Composed 1831.—Published 1832
[This Sonnet, though said to be written on seeing the Portrait of Napoleon, was, in fact, composed some time after, extempore, in the wood at Rydal Mount.—I.F.]
Haydon! let worthier judges praise the skill Here by thy pencil shown in truth of lines And charm of colours; I applaud those signs Of thought, that give the true poetic thrill; That unencumbered whole of blank and still, 5 Sky without cloud—ocean without a wave; And the one Man that laboured to enslave The World, sole-standing high on the bare hill— Back turned, arms folded, the unapparent face Tinged, we may fancy, in this dreary place 10 With light reflected from the invisible sun Set, like his fortunes; but not set for aye Like them. The unguilty Power pursues his way, And before him doth dawn perpetual run.[689]
FOOTNOTES:
YARROW REVISITED, AND OTHER POEMS
COMPOSED (TWO EXCEPTED) DURING A TOUR IN SCOTLAND, AND ON THE ENGLISH BORDER, IN THE AUTUMN OF 1831.
Composed 1831.—Published 1835
[In the autumn of 1831, my daughter and I set off from Rydal to visit Sir Walter Scott before his departure for Italy. This journey had been delayed by an inflammation in my eyes till we found that the time appointed for his leaving home would be too near for him to receive us without considerable inconvenience. Nevertheless we proceeded and reached Abbotsford on Monday. I was then scarcely able to lift up my eyes to the light. How sadly changed did I find him from the man I had seen so healthy, gay, and hopeful, a few years before, when he said at the inn at Paterdale, in my presence, his daughter Anne also being there, with Mr. Lockhart, my own wife and daughter, and Mr. Quillinan,—"I mean to live till I am eighty, and I shall write as long as I live." But to return to Abbotsford: the inmates and guests we found there were Sir Walter, Major Scott, Anne Scott, and Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart, Mr. Liddell, his Lady and Brother, and Mr. Allan the painter, and Mr. Laidlaw, a very old friend of Sir Walter's. One of Burns's sons, an officer in the Indian service, had left the house a day or two before, and had kindly expressed his regret that he could not wait my arrival, a regret that I may truly say was mutual. In the evening, Mr. and Mrs. Liddell sang, and Mrs. Lockhart chanted old ballads to her harp; and Mr. Allan, hanging over the back of a chair, told and acted old stories in a humorous way. With this exhibition and his daughter's singing, Sir Walter was much amused, as indeed were we all as far as circumstances would allow. But what is most worthy of mention is the admirable demeanour of Major Scott during the following evening when the Liddells were gone and only ourselves and Mr. Allan were present. He had much to suffer from the sight of his father's infirmities and from the great change that was about to take place at the residence he had built, and where he had long lived in so much prosperity and happiness. But what struck me most was the patient kindness with which he supported himself under the many fretful expressions that his sister Anne addressed to him or uttered in his hearing. She, poor thing, as mistress of that house, had been subject, after her mother's death, to a heavier load of care and responsibility and greater sacrifices of time than one of such a constitution of body and mind was able to bear. Of this, Dora and I were made so sensible, that, as soon as we had crossed the Tweed on our departure, we gave vent at the same moment to our apprehensions that her brain would fail and she would go out of her mind, or that she would sink under the trials she had passed and those which awaited her. On Tuesday morning Sir Walter Scott accompanied us and most of the party to Newark Castle on the Yarrow. When we alighted from the carriages he walked pretty stoutly, and had great pleasure in revisiting those his favourite haunts. Of that excursion the verses Yarrow Revisited are a memorial. Notwithstanding the romance that pervades Sir Walter's works and attaches to many of his habits, there is too much pressure of fact for these verses to harmonise as much as I could wish with other poems. On our return in the afternoon we had to cross the Tweed directly opposite Abbotsford. The wheels of our carriage grated upon the pebbles in the bed of the stream that there flows somewhat rapidly: a rich but sad light of rather a purple than a golden hue was spread over the Eildon Hills at that moment; and, thinking it probable that it might be the last time Sir Walter would cross the stream, I was not a little moved, and expressed some of my feelings in the Sonnet beginning—"A trouble, not of clouds, or weeping rain." At noon on Thursday we left Abbotsford, and in the morning of that day Sir Walter and I had a serious conversation tête-à-tête, when he spoke with gratitude of the happy life which upon the whole he had led. He had written in my daughter's Album, before he came into the breakfast-room that morning, a few stanzas addressed to her, and, while putting the book into her hand, in his own study, standing by his desk, he said to her in my presence—"I should not have done anything of this kind but for your father's sake: they are probably the last verses I shall ever write." They show how much his mind was impaired, not by the strain of thought but by the execution, some of the lines being imperfect, and one stanza wanting corresponding rhymes: one letter, the initial S, had been omitted in the spelling of his own name. In this interview also it was that, upon my expressing a hope of his health being benefited by the climate of the country to which he was going, and by the interest he would take in the classic remembrances of Italy, he made use of the quotation from Yarrow Unvisited as recorded by me in the Musings of Aquapendente six years afterwards. Mr. Lockhart has mentioned in his life of him what I heard from several quarters while abroad, both at Rome and elsewhere, that little seemed to interest him but what he could collect or hear of the fugitive Stuarts and their adherents who had followed them into exile. Both the Yarrow Revisited and the "Sonnet" were sent him before his departure from England. Some further particulars of the conversations which occurred during this visit I should have set down had they not been already accurately recorded by Mr. Lockhart. I first became acquainted with this great and amiable man—Sir Walter Scott—in the year 1803, when my sister and I, making a tour in Scotland, were hospitably received by him in Lasswade upon the banks of the Esk, where he was then living. We saw a good deal of him in the course of the following week; the particulars are given in my sister's Journal of that tour.—I.F.]
TO
SAMUEL ROGERS, Esq.
AS A TESTIMONY OF FRIENDSHIP, AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF INTELLECTUAL OBLIGATIONS, THESE MEMORIALS ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.
Rydal Mount, Dec. 11, 1834.
I "THE GALLANT YOUTH, WHO MAY HAVE GAINED"
[The following Stanzas are a memorial of a day passed with Sir Walter Scott, and other Friends visiting the Banks of the Yarrow under his guidance, immediately before his departure from Abbotsford, for Naples.
The title Yarrow Revisited will stand in no need of explanation, for Readers acquainted with the Author's previous poems, suggested by that celebrated Stream.—I.F.]
The gallant Youth, who may have gained, Or seeks, a "winsome Marrow," Was but an Infant in the lap When first I looked on Yarrow; Once more, by Newark's Castle-gate 5 Long left without a warder, I stood, looked, listened, and with Thee, Great Minstrel of the Border![690] Grave thoughts ruled wide on that sweet day, Their dignity installing 10 In gentle bosoms, while sere leaves Were on the bough, or falling; But breezes played, and sunshine gleamed— The forest to embolden; Reddened the fiery hues, and shot 15 Transparence through the golden. For busy thoughts the Stream flowed on In foamy agitation; And slept in many a crystal pool For quiet contemplation:[691] 20 No public and no private care The freeborn mind enthralling, We made a day of happy hours, Our happy days recalling. Brisk Youth appeared, the Morn of youth, 25 With freaks of graceful folly,— Life's temperate Noon, her sober Eve, Her Night not melancholy; Past, present, future, all appeared In harmony united, 30 Like guests that meet, and some from far, By cordial love invited. And if, as Yarrow, through the woods And down the meadow ranging, Did meet us with unaltered face, 35 Though we were changed and changing; If, then, some natural shadows spread Our inward prospect over, The soul's deep valley was not slow Its brightness to recover. 40 Eternal blessings on the Muse, And her divine employment! The blameless Muse, who trains her Sons For hope and calm enjoyment; Albeit sickness, lingering yet, 45 Has o'er their pillow brooded; And Care waylays[692] their steps—a Sprite Not easily eluded. For thee, O Scott! compelled to change Green Eildon-hill and Cheviot 50 For warm Vesuvio's vine-clad slopes; And leave thy Tweed and Tiviot For mild Sorento's breezy waves; May classic Fancy, linking With native Fancy her fresh aid, 55 Preserve thy heart from sinking! O! while they minister to thee, Each vying with the other, May Health return to mellow Age, With Strength, her venturous brother; 60 And Tiber, and each brook and rill Renowned in song and story, With unimagined beauty shine, Nor lose one ray of glory! For Thou, upon a hundred streams, 65 By tales of love and sorrow, Of faithful love, undaunted truth, Hast shed the power of Yarrow; And streams unknown, hills yet unseen, Wherever they[693] invite Thee, 70 At parent Nature's grateful call, With gladness must requite Thee. A gracious welcome shall be thine, Such looks of love and honour As thy own Yarrow gave to me 75 When first I gazed upon her; Beheld what I had feared to see, Unwilling to surrender Dreams treasured up from early days, The holy and the tender. 80 And what, for this frail world, were all That mortals do or suffer, Did no responsive harp, no pen, Memorial tribute offer? Yea, what were mighty Nature's self? 85 Her features, could they win us, Unhelped by the poetic voice That hourly speaks within us? Nor deem that localised Romance Plays false with our affections; 90 Unsanctifies our tears—made sport For fanciful dejections: Ah, no! the visions of the past Sustain the heart in feeling Life as she is—our changeful Life, 95 With friends and kindred dealing. Bear witness, Ye, whose thoughts that day In Yarrow's groves were centred; Who through the silent portal arch Of mouldering Newark enter'd; 100 And clomb the winding stair that once Too timidly was mounted By the "last Minstrel," (not the last!) Ere he his Tale recounted. Flow on for ever, Yarrow Stream! 105 Fulfil thy pensive duty, Well pleased that future Bards should chant For simple hearts thy beauty; To dream-light dear while yet unseen, Dear to the common sunshine, 110 And dearer still, as now I feel, To memory's shadowy moonshine!
FOOTNOTES:
II ON THE DEPARTURE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT FROM ABBOTSFORD, FOR NAPLES
A trouble, not of clouds, or weeping rain, Nor of the setting sun's pathetic light Engendered, hangs o'er Eildon's triple height: Spirits of Power, assembled there, complain For kindred Power departing from their sight; 5 While Tweed, best pleased in chanting a blithe strain, Saddens his voice again, and yet again. Lift up your hearts, ye Mourners! for the might Of the whole world's good wishes with him goes; Blessings and prayers in nobler retinue 10 Than sceptred king or laurelled conqueror knows, Follow this wondrous Potentate. Be true, Ye winds of ocean, and the midland sea, Wafting your Charge to soft Parthenope!
With the closing lines of this sonnet addressed to the "winds of ocean," and Sir Walter's departure for Naples, compare Horace's ode to the Ship carrying Virgil to Athens (Odes, I. 3).
On the 19th October 1833, Henry Crabb Robinson wrote thus to his friend Masquerier—"It is, I think, the most perfect sonnet in the language. Every word is a gem, from the 'pathetic light' in the second to the 'soft Parthenope' in the last line. It is composed with that deep feeling and perfection of style united that bespeak the master." (Diary, Reminiscences, etc., vol. iii. p. 32.)
The sonnet was sent to Alaric Watts for his Souvenir in 1832. Wordsworth wrote, "I enclose a sonnet for your next volume if you choose to insert it. It would have appeared with more advantage in this year's, but was not written in time. It is proper that I should mention it has been sent to Sir Walter Scott, and one or two of my other friends." (See Alaric Watts, a Narrative of his Life, vol. ii. p. 190.)—Ed.
III A PLACE OF BURIAL IN THE SOUTH OF SCOTLAND
[Similar places for burial are not unfrequent in Scotland. The one that suggested this sonnet lies on the banks of a small stream called the Wauchope that flows into the Esk near Langholme. Mickle, who, as it appears from his poem on Sir Martin, was not without genuine poetic feelings, was born and passed his boyhood in this neighbourhood, under his father who was a minister of the Scotch Kirk. The Esk, both above and below Langholme, flows through a beautiful country, and the two streams of the Wauchope and the Ewes, which join it near that place, are such as a pastoral poet would delight in.—I.F.]
Part fenced by man, part by a rugged steep That curbs a foaming brook, a Grave-yard lies; The hare's best couching-place for fearless sleep; Which moonlit elves, far seen by credulous eyes, Enter in dance. Of church, or sabbath ties, 5 No vestige now remains; yet thither creep Bereft Ones, and in lowly anguish weep Their prayers out to the wind and naked skies. Proud tomb is none; but rudely-sculptured knights, By humble choice of plain old times, are seen 10 Level with earth, among the hillocks green: Union not sad, when sunny daybreak smites The spangled turf, and neighbouring thickets ring With jubilate from the choirs of spring!
IV ON THE SIGHT OF A MANSE IN THE SOUTH OF SCOTLAND
[The Manses in Scotland and the gardens and grounds about them have seldom that attractive appearance which is common about our English parsonages, even when the clergyman's income falls below the average of the Scotch minister's. This is not merely owing to the one country being poor in comparison with the other, but arises rather out of the equality of their benefices, so that no one has enough to spare for decorations that might serve as an example for others; whereas, with us, the taste of the richer incumbent extends its influence more or less to the poorest. After all, in these observations the surface only of the matter is touched. I once heard a conversation in which the Roman Catholic Religion was decried on account of its abuses. "You cannot deny, however," said a lady of the party, repeating an expression used by Charles II., "that it is the religion of a gentleman." It may be left to the Scotch themselves to determine how far this observation applies to their Kirk, while it cannot be denied, if it is wanting in that characteristic quality, the aspect of common life, so far as concerns its beauty, must suffer. Sincere christian piety may be thought not to stand in need of refinement or studied ornament; but assuredly it is ever ready to adopt them, when they fall within its notice, as means allow; and this observation applies not only to manners, but to everything a christian (truly so in spirit) cultivates and gathers round him, however humble his social condition.—I.F.]
Say, ye far-travelled clouds, far-seeing hills— Among the happiest-looking homes of men Scatter'd all Britain over, through deep glen, On airy upland, and by forest rills, And o'er wide plains cheered by the lark that trills 5 His sky-born warblings[694]—does aught meet your ken More fit to animate the Poet's pen, Aught that more surely by its aspect fills Pure minds with sinless envy, than the Abode Of the good Priest: who, faithful through all hours 10 To his high charge, and truly serving God, Has yet a heart and hand for trees and flowers, Enjoys the walks his predecessors trod, Nor covets lineal rights in lands and towers.
FOOTNOTES:
V COMPOSED IN ROSLIN CHAPEL, DURING A STORM
[We were detained by incessant rain and storm at the small inn near Roslin Chapel, and I passed a great part of the day pacing to and fro in this beautiful structure, which, though not used for public service, is not allowed to go to ruin. Here, this sonnet was composed. If it has at all done justice to the feeling which the place and the storm raging without inspired, I was as a prisoner. A painter delineating the interior of the chapel and its minute features under such circumstances would have, no doubt, found his time agreeably shortened. But the movements of the mind must be more free while dealing with words than with lines and colours; such at least was then and has been on many other occasions my belief, and, as it is allotted to few to follow both arts with success, I am grateful to my own calling for this and a thousand other recommendations which are denied to that of the painter.—I. F.]
The wind is now thy organist;—a clank (We know not whence) ministers for a bell To mark some change of service. As the swell Of music reached its height, and even when sank The notes, in prelude, Roslin! to a blank 5 Of silence, how it thrilled thy sumptuous roof, Pillars, and arches,—not in vain time-proof, Though Christian rites be wanting! From what bank Came those live herbs? by what hand were they sown Where dew falls not, where rain-drops seem unknown? 10 Yet in the Temple they a friendly niche Share with their sculptured fellows, that, green-grown, Copy their beauty more and more, and preach, Though mute, of all things blending into one.[695]
FOOTNOTES:
VI THE TROSACHS
[As recorded in my sister's Journal, I had first seen the Trosachs in her and Coleridge's company. The sentiment that runs through this Sonnet was natural to the season in which I again saw this beautiful spot; but this and some other Sonnets that follow were coloured by the remembrance of my recent visit to Sir Walter Scott, and the melancholy errand on which he was going.—I. F.]
There's not a nook within this solemn Pass, But were an apt confessional for One Taught by his summer spent, his autumn gone, That Life is but a tale of morning grass Withered at eve.[696] From scenes of art which chase[697] That thought away, turn, and with watchful eyes 6 Feed it 'mid Nature's old felicities, Rocks, rivers, and smooth lakes more clear than glass Untouched, unbreathed upon. Thrice happy quest,[698] If from a golden perch of aspen spray 10 (October's workmanship to rival May) The pensive warbler of the ruddy breast That[699] moral sweeten by a heaven-taught lay, Lulling the year, with all its cares, to rest!
FOOTNOTES:
VII "THE PIBROCH'S NOTE, DISCOUNTENANCED OR MUTE"
The pibroch's note, discountenanced or mute; The Roman kilt, degraded to a toy Of quaint apparel for a half-spoilt boy; The target mouldering like ungathered fruit; The smoking steam-boat eager in pursuit, 5 As eagerly pursued; the umbrella spread To weather-fend the Celtic herdsman's head— All speak of manners withering to the root, And of[700] old honours, too, and passions high: Then may we ask, though pleased that thought should range 10 Among the conquests of civility, Survives imagination—to the change Superior? Help to virtue does she give?[701] If not, O Mortals, better cease to live!
FOOTNOTES:
VIII COMPOSED AFTER READING A NEWSPAPER OF THE DAY[702]
"People! your chains are severing link by link; Soon shall the Rich be levelled down—the Poor Meet them half-way." Vain boast! for These, the more They thus would rise, must low and lower sink Till, by repentance stung, they fear to think; 5 While all lie prostrate, save the tyrant few Bent in quick turns each other to undo, And mix the poison they themselves must drink. Mistrust thyself, vain Country! cease to cry, "Knowledge will save me from the threatened woe." For, if than other rash ones more thou know, 11 Yet on presumptuous wing as far would fly Above thy knowledge as they dared to go, Thou wilt provoke a heavier penalty.
FOOTNOTES:
IX COMPOSED IN THE GLEN OF LOCH ETIVE
["That make the Patriot spirit." It was mortifying to have frequent occasions to observe the bitter hatred of the lower orders of the Highlanders to their superiors; love of country seemed to have passed into its opposite. Emigration was the only relief looked to with hope.[703]—I. F.]
"This Land of Rainbows spanning glens whose walls, Rock-built, are hung with rainbow-coloured mists— Of far-stretched Meres whose salt flood never rests— Of tuneful Caves and playful Waterfalls— Of Mountains varying momently their crests— 5 Proud be this Land! whose poorest huts are halls Where Fancy entertains becoming guests; While native song the heroic Past recals." Thus, in the net of her own wishes caught, The Muse exclaimed; but Story now must hide 10 Her trophies, Fancy crouch; the course of pride Has been diverted, other lessons taught, That make the Patriot-spirit bow her head Where the all-conquering Roman feared to tread.
FOOTNOTES:
X EAGLES
COMPOSED AT DUNOLLIE CASTLE IN THE BAY OF OBAN
["The last I saw was on the wing," off the promontory of Fairhead, county of Antrim. I mention this because, though my tour in Ireland with Mr. Marshall and his son was made many years ago, this allusion to the eagle is the only image supplied by it to the poetry I have since written. We travelled through that country in October, and to the shortness of the days and the speed with which we travelled (in a carriage and four) may be ascribed this want of notices, in my verse, of a country so interesting. The deficiency I am somewhat ashamed of, and it is the more remarkable as contrasted with my Scotch and Continental tours, of which are to be found in these volumes so many memorials.—I. F.]
Dishonoured Rock and Ruin! that, by law Tyrannic, keep the Bird of Jove embarred Like a lone criminal whose life is spared. Vexed is he, and screams loud. The last I saw Was on the wing; stooping, he struck with awe 5 Man, bird, and beast; then, with a consort paired,[704] From a bold headland, their loved aery's guard, Flew high[705] above Atlantic waves, to draw Light from the fountain of the setting sun. Such was this Prisoner once; and, when his plumes The sea-blast ruffles as the storm comes on, 11 Then, for a moment, he, in spirit, resumes[706] His rank 'mong freeborn creatures that live free, His power, his beauty, and his majesty.
FOOTNOTES:
XI IN THE SOUND OF MULL
[Touring late in the season in Scotland is an uncertain speculation. We were detained a week by rain at Bunaw on Loch Etive in a vain hope that the weather would clear up and allow me to show my daughter the beauties at Glencoe. Two days we were at the Isle of Mull, on a visit to Major Campbell; but it rained incessantly, and we were obliged to give up our intention of going to Staffa. The rain pursued us to Tyndrum, where the Twelfth Sonnet was composed in a storm.—I. F.]
Tradition, be thou mute! Oblivion, throw Thy veil in mercy o'er the records, hung Round strath and mountain, stamped by the ancient tongue On rock and ruin darkening as we go,— Spots where a word, ghost-like, survives to show 5 What crimes from hate, or desperate love, have sprung; From honour misconceived, or fancied wrong, What feuds, not quenched but fed by mutual woe. Yet, though a wild vindictive Race, untamed By civil arts and labours of the pen, 10 Could gentleness be scorned by those[707] fierce Men, Who, to spread wide the reverence they claimed[708] For patriarchal occupations, named Yon towering Peaks, "Shepherds of Etive Glen?"[709]
FOOTNOTES:
XII SUGGESTED AT TYNDRUM IN A STORM[710]
Enough of garlands, of the Arcadian crook, And all that Greece and Italy have sung Of Swains reposing myrtle groves among! Ours couch on naked rocks,—will cross a brook Swoln with chill rains, nor ever cast a look 5 This way or that, or give it even a thought More than by smoothest pathway may be brought Into a vacant mind. Can written book Teach what they learn? Up, hardy Mountaineer! And guide the Bard, ambitious to be One 10 Of Nature's privy council, as thou art, On cloud-sequestered heights, that see and hear To what dread Powers[711] He delegates his part On earth, who works in the heaven of heavens, alone.
FOOTNOTES:
XIII THE EARL OF BREADALBANE'S RUINED MANSION, AND FAMILY BURIAL-PLACE, NEAR KILLIN
Well sang the Bard who called the grave, in strains Thoughtful and sad, the "narrow house."[712] No style Of fond sepulchral flattery can beguile Grief of her sting; nor cheat, where he detains The sleeping dust, stern Death. How reconcile 5 With truth, or with each other, decked remains Of a once warm Abode, and that new Pile, For the departed, built with curious pains And mausolean pomp?[713] Yet here they stand Together,—'mid trim walks and artful bowers, 10 To be looked down upon by ancient hills, That, for the living and the dead, demand And prompt a harmony of genuine powers; Concord that elevates the mind, and stills.
FOOTNOTES:
XIV "REST AND BE THANKFUL!"
AT THE HEAD OF GLENCROE
Doubling and doubling with laborious walk, Who, that has gained at length the wished-for Height, This brief this simple way-side Call can slight, And rests not thankful? Whether cheered by talk With some loved friend, or by the unseen hawk 5 Whistling to clouds and sky-born streams, that shine At the sun's outbreak, as with light divine, Ere they descend to nourish root and stalk Of valley flowers. Nor, while the limbs repose, Will we forget that, as the fowl can keep 10 Absolute stillness, poised aloft in air, And fishes front, unmoved, the torrent's sweep,— So may the Soul, through powers that Faith bestows, Win rest, and ease, and peace, with bliss that Angels share.
XV HIGHLAND HUT
See what gay wild flowers deck this earth-built Cot, Whose smoke, forth-issuing whence and how it may, Shines in the greeting of the sun's first ray Like wreaths of vapour without stain or blot. The limpid mountain rill avoids it not; 5 And why shouldst thou?—If rightly trained and bred, Humanity is humble, finds no spot Which her Heaven-guided feet refuse to tread. The walls are cracked, sunk is the flowery roof, Undressed the pathway leading to the door; 10 But love, as Nature loves, the lonely Poor; Search, for their worth, some gentle heart wrong-proof, Meek, patient, kind, and, were its trials fewer, Belike less happy.—Stand no more aloof![714]
FOOTNOTES:
XVI THE BROWNIE
Upon a small island not far from the head of Loch Lomond, are some remains of an ancient building, which was for several years the abode of a solitary Individual, one of the last survivors of the clan of Macfarlane, once powerful in that neighbourhood. Passing along the shore opposite this island in the year 1814, the Author learned these particulars, and that this person then living there had acquired the appellation of "The Brownie." See The Brownie's Cell (vol. vi. p. 16), to which the following[718] is a sequel.—W. W.
"How disappeared he?" Ask the newt and toad; Ask of his fellow men, and they will tell How he was found, cold as an icicle, Under an arch of that forlorn abode; Where he, unpropp'd, and by the gathering flood 5 Of years hemm'd round, had dwelt, prepared to try Privation's worst extremities, and die With no one near save the omnipresent God. Verily so to live was an awful choice— A choice that wears the aspect of a doom; 10 But in the mould of mercy all is cast For Souls familiar with the eternal Voice; And this forgotten Taper to the last Drove from itself, we trust, all frightful gloom.
FOOTNOTES:
XVII TO THE PLANET VENUS, AN EVENING STAR
COMPOSED AT LOCH LOMOND
Though joy attend Thee orient at the birth Of dawn, it cheers the lofty spirit most To watch thy course when Day-light, fled from earth, In the grey sky hath left his lingering Ghost, Perplexed as if between a splendour lost 5 And splendour slowly mustering. Since the Sun, The absolute, the world-absorbing One, Relinquished half his empire to the host Emboldened by thy guidance, holy Star, Holy as princely, who that looks on thee 10 Touching, as now, in thy humility The mountain borders of this seat of care, Can question that thy countenance is bright, Celestial Power, as much with love as light?
XVIII BOTHWELL CASTLE
(PASSED UNSEEN, ON ACCOUNT OF STORMY WEATHER)
[In my Sister's Journal is an account of Bothwell Castle as it appeared to us at that time.—I.F.]
Immured in Bothwell's Towers, at times the Brave (So beautiful is Clyde) forgot to mourn The liberty they lost at Bannockburn. Once on those steeps I roamed[719] at large, and have In mind the landscape, as if still in sight; 5 The river glides, the woods before me wave; Then why repine that now in vain I crave[720] Needless renewal of an old delight? Better to thank a dear and long-past day For joy its sunny hours were free to give 10 Than blame the present, that our wish hath crost. Memory, like sleep, hath powers which dreams obey, Dreams, vivid dreams, that are not fugitive: How little that she cherishes is lost!
FOOTNOTES:
XIX PICTURE OF DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN, AT HAMILTON PALACE
Amid a fertile region green with wood And fresh with rivers, well did[721] it become The ducal Owner, in his palace-home To naturalise this tawny Lion brood; Children of Art, that claim strange brotherhood 5 (Couched in their den) with those that roam at large Over the burning wilderness, and charge The wind with terror while they roar for food. Satiate are these; and stilled to eye and ear; Hence, while we gaze,[722] a more enduring fear! 10 Yet is the Prophet calm, nor would the cave Daunt him—if his Companions, now be-drowsed Outstretched[723] and listless, were by hunger roused: Man placed him here, and God, he knows, can save.
Henry Crabb Robinson gives an account of this picture in his Diary, etc. (vol. ii. pp. 214, 215):—
"On September the 29th, from Lanark I visited the Duke of Hamilton's palace, and had unusual pleasure in the paintings to be seen there. I venture to copy my remarks on the famous Rubens' 'Daniel in the Lions' Den:'—'The variety of character in the lions is admirable. Here is indignation at the unintelligible power which restrains them; there reverence towards the being whom they dare not touch. One of them is consoled by the contemplation of the last skull he has been picking; one is anticipating his next meal; two are debating the subject together. But the Prophet, with a face resembling Curran's (foreshortened so as to lose its best expression), has all the muscles of his countenance strained from extreme terror. He is without joy or hope; and though his doom is postponed, he has no faith in the miracle which is to reward his integrity. It is a painting rather to astonish than delight.'"
In a footnote Robinson adds, "Daniel's head is thrown back, and he looks upwards with an earnest expression and clasped hands, as if vehemently supplicating. The picture formerly belonged to King Charles I. It was at that time entered as follows in the Catalogue of the Royal Pictures:—'A piece of Daniel in the Lions' Den with lions about him, given by the deceased Lord Dorchester to the king, being so big as the life. Done by Sir Peter Paul Rubens.' Dr. Waagen very justly observes that, upon the whole, the figure of Daniel is only an accessory employed by the great master to introduce, in the most perfect form, nine figures of lions and lionesses the size of life. Rubens, in a letter to Sir Dudley Carleton (who presented the picture to the king), dated April 28th, 1618, expressly states that it was wholly his own workmanship. The price was six hundred florins. Engraved in mezzotint by W. Ward, 1789."
This famous picture, after having been in the possession of the Duke of Hamilton, was sold—in 1882—to Mr. Denison, Yorkshire. The following is from the catalogue of the Hamilton Palace sale:—
Rubens—Daniel in the Den of Lions.—The prophet is represented sitting naked in the middle of the den, his hands clasped, and his countenance directed upward with an expression of earnest prayer. Nine lions are prowling around him. Engraved by Blooteling, Van der Leuw, and Lamb, and in mezzotint by J. Ward. There is also an etching of it by Street, extremely rare. This is one of the few great pictures by Rubens which we know with certainty to have been entirely executed by his own hand. Rubens says this explicitly in an Italian letter to Sir Dudley Carleton, which Mr. Carpenter has printed in his Pictorial Notices, p. 140. This picture was presented by Sir Dudley Carleton to Charles I., and is inserted in the printed catalogue of his collection at page 87.
"No. 14.
Done by Sir Peter Paul Rubens. Item.—A piece of Daniel in the lions' den, with lions about him. Given by the deceased Lord Dorchester to the king, so big as the life, in a black gilded frame."
It was sold to Mr. Denison for £5145.—Ed.
FOOTNOTES:
XX THE AVON
(A FEEDER OF THE ANNAN)
["Yet is it one that other rivulets bear." There is the Shakespeare Avon, the Bristol Avon; the one that flows by Salisbury, and a small river in Wales, I believe, bear the name; Avon being in the ancient tongue the general name for river.—I. F.]
Avon—a precious, an immortal name! Yet is it one that other rivulets bear Like this unheard-of, and their channels wear Like this contented, though unknown to Fame: For great and sacred is the modest claim 5 Of Streams to Nature's love, where'er they flow; And ne'er did Genius slight them, as they go, Tree, flower, and green herb, feeding without blame. But Praise can waste her voice on work of tears, Anguish, and death: full oft where innocent blood 10 Has mixed its current with the limpid flood, Her heaven-offending trophies Glory rears: Never for like distinction may the good Shrink from thy name, pure Rill, with unpleased ears.
XXI SUGGESTED BY A VIEW FROM AN EMINENCE IN INGLEWOOD FOREST
[The extensive forest of Inglewood has been enclosed within my memory. I was well acquainted with it in its ancient state. The Hart's-horn tree mentioned in the next Sonnet was one of its remarkable objects, as well as another tree that grew upon an eminence not far from Penrith: it was single and conspicuous; and being of a round shape, though it was universally known to be a Sycamore, it was always called the "Round Thorn," so difficult is it to chain fancy down to fact.—I.F.]
The forest huge of ancient Caledon Is but a name, no[724] more is Inglewood, That swept from hill to hill, from flood to flood: On her last thorn the nightly moon has shone; Yet still, though unappropriate Wild be none, 5 Fair parks spread wide where Adam Bell might deign With Clym o' the Clough, were they alive again, To kill for merry feast their venison. Nor wants the holy Abbot's gliding Shade His church with monumental wreck bestrown; 10 The feudal Warrior-chief, a Ghost unlaid, Hath still his castle, though a skeleton, That he may watch by night, and lessons con Of power that perishes, and rights that fade.
FOOTNOTES:
XXII HART'S-HORN TREE, NEAR PENRITH[725]
Here stood an Oak, that long had borne affixed To his huge trunk, or, with more subtle art, Among its withering topmost branches mixed, The palmy antlers of a hunted Hart, Whom the Dog Hercules pursued—his part 5 Each desperately sustaining, till at last Both sank and died, the life-veins of the chased And chaser bursting here with one dire smart. Mutual the victory, mutual the defeat! High was the trophy hung with pitiless pride; 10 Say, rather, with that generous sympathy That wants not, even in rudest breasts, a seat; And, for this feeling's sake, let no one chide Verse that would guard thy memory, Hart's-horn Tree![726]
FOOTNOTES:
XXIII FANCY AND TRADITION
The Lovers took within this ancient grove Their last embrace; beside those crystal springs[730] The Hermit saw the Angel spread his wings For instant flight; the Sage in yon alcove[731] Sate musing; on that hill the Bard would rove, 5 Not mute, where now the linnet only sings: Thus every where to truth Tradition clings,[732] Or Fancy localises Powers we love. Were only History[733] licensed to take note Of things gone by, her meagre monuments 10 Would ill suffice for persons and events: There is an ampler page for man to quote, A readier book of manifold contents, Studied alike in palace and in cot.
FOOTNOTES:
XXIV COUNTESS' PILLAR[734]
On the roadside between Penrith and Appleby, there stands a pillar with the following inscription:—
"This Pillar was erected, anno 1656, By ye Rt honoble Anne Countess Dowager of Pembrock etc., Daughter and sole heire of ye Rt honoble George Earl of Cumberland, etc., for a memorial of her last parting in this place with her good and pious mother, ye Rt honoble Margaret, Countess Dowagr of Cumberland ye 2d of April 1616. In memory whereof she also left an annuity of four pounds to be distributed to ye poor within this parish of Brougham every 2d day of April for ever, upon ye stone table here hard by. Laus Deo!"—W. W.
[Suggested by the recollection of Julian's Bower and other traditions connected with this ancient forest.—I.F.]
While the Poor gather round, till the end of time May this bright flower of Charity display Its bloom, unfolding at the appointed day; Flower than the loveliest of the vernal prime Lovelier—transplanted from heaven's purest clime! 5 "Charity never faileth:" on that creed, More than on written testament or deed, The pious Lady built with hope sublime. Alms on this stone to be dealt out, for ever! "Laus Deo." Many a Stranger passing by 10 Has with that Parting mixed a filial sigh, Blest its humane Memorial's fond endeavour; And, fastening on those lines an eye tear-glazed, Has ended, though no Clerk, with "God be praised!"
FOOTNOTES:
XXV ROMAN ANTIQUITIES
[FROM THE ROMAN STATION AT OLD PENRITH]
How profitless the relics that we cull, Troubling the last holds of ambitious Rome, Unless they chasten fancies that presume Too high, or idle agitations lull! Of the world's flatteries if the brain be full, 5 To have no seat for thought were better doom, Like this old helmet, or the eyeless skull Of him who gloried in its nodding plume. Heaven out of view, our wishes what are they? Our fond regrets tenacious[735] in their grasp? 10 The Sage's theory? the Poet's lay?— Mere Fibulae without a robe to clasp; Obsolete lamps, whose light no time recals; Urns without ashes, tearless lacrymals!
I am indebted to Dr. Taylor of Penrith for the following note in reference to these "Roman Antiquities" at Old Penrith:—"I have great pleasure in giving you what information I can, concerning the Roman Station of Old Penrith. It is called 'Petriana' by Camden, but most archaeologists now allocate it in the '2nd Iter,' as the Station 'Voreda'—on the road between York and Carlisle. This road passes over Stanemoor, by Bowes, Brough, Kirkbythore, Brougham, and Plumpton Wall (or Voreda), to Lugovallum or Carlisle. The Roman Camps are visible at all these places, and the old Roman road is recognisable in many parts. This Old Penrith, Plumpton Wall, or Voreda, is a camp of the third class. At a time, probably about the period which Wordsworth alludes to, several Roman stones and altars were dug up at Voreda, and are now deposited in Lowther Castle. Wordsworth had relations living in Penrith, whom he used to visit occasionally, and it is probable that after a visit to Voreda, which is about six miles from here, he wrote the Sonnet alluded to. The 'Hart-horn Tree' referred to in the 'Legend of the Hunt of the Stag' stood in the park of Whinfell, in the parish of Brougham, but has disappeared for many years."—Ed.
FOOTNOTES:
XXVI APOLOGY[736] FOR THE FOREGOING POEMS
No more: the end is sudden and abrupt, Abrupt—as without preconceived design Was the beginning; yet the several Lays Have moved in order, to each other bound By a continuous and acknowledged tie 5 Though unapparent—like those Shapes distinct That yet survive ensculptured on the walls Of palaces, or temples,[737] 'mid the wreck Of famed Persepolis;[738] each following each, As might beseem a stately embassy, In set array; these bearing in their hands Ensign of civil power, weapon of war, Or gift to be presented at the throne Of the Great King; and others, as they go In priestly vest, with holy offerings charged, 15 Or leading victims drest for sacrifice. Nor will the Power we serve, that sacred Power, The Spirit of humanity, disdain A[739] ministration humble but sincere, That from a threshold loved by every Muse 20 Its impulse took—that sorrow-stricken door, Whence, as a current from its fountain-head, Our thoughts have issued, and our feelings flowed, Receiving, willingly or not, fresh strength From kindred sources; while around us sighed 25 (Life's three first seasons having passed away) Leaf-scattering winds; and hoar-frost sprinklings fell (Foretaste of winter) on the moorland heights; And every day brought with it tidings new Of rash change, ominous for the public weal. 30 Hence, if dejection has[740] too oft encroached Upon that sweet and tender melancholy Which may itself be cherished and caressed More than enough; a fault so natural (Even with the young, the hopeful, or the gay) 35 For prompt forgiveness will not sue in vain.
FOOTNOTES:
XXVII THE HIGHLAND BROACH
The exact resemblance which the old Broach (still in use, though rarely met with, among the Highlanders) bears to the Roman Fibula must strike every one, and concurs, with the plaid and kilt, to recall to mind the communication which the ancient Romans had with this remote country.—W. W. 1835.
[On ascending a hill that leads from Loch Awe towards Inverary, I fell into conversation with a woman of the humbler class who wore one of those Highland Broaches. I talked with her about it; and upon parting with her, when I said with a kindness I truly felt—"May that Broach continue in your family through many generations to come, as you have already possessed it"—she thanked me most becomingly and seemed not a little moved.—I.F.]
If to Tradition faith be due And echoes from old verse speak true Ere the meek Saint, Columba, bore Glad tidings to Iona's shore, No common light of nature blessed 5 The mountain region of the west, A land where gentle manners ruled O'er men in dauntless virtues schooled, That raised, for centuries, a bar Impervious to the tide of war: 10 Yet peaceful Arts did entrance gain Where haughty Force had striven in vain; And, 'mid the works of skilful hands, By wanderers brought from foreign lands And various climes, was not unknown 15 The clasp that fixed the Roman Gown; The Fibula, whose shape, I ween, Still in the Highland Broach is seen, The silver Broach of massy frame, Worn at the breast of some grave Dame 20 On road or path, or at the door Of fern-thatched hut on heathy moor: But delicate of yore its mould, And the material finest gold; As might beseem the fairest Fair, 25 Whether she graced a royal chair, Or shed, within a vaulted hall, No fancied lustre on the wall Where shields of mighty heroes hung, While Fingal heard what Ossian sung. 30 The heroic Age expired—it slept Deep in its tomb:—the bramble crept O'er Fingal's hearth; the grassy sod Grew on the floors his sons had trod: Malvina! where art thou? Their state 35 The noblest-born must abdicate; The fairest, while with fire and sword Come Spoilers—horde impelling horde, Must walk the sorrowing mountains, drest By ruder hands in homelier vest. 40 Yet still the female bosom lent, And loved to borrow, ornament; Still was its inner world a place Reached by the dews of heavenly grace; Still pity to this last retreat 45 Clove fondly; to his favourite seat Love wound his way by soft approach, Beneath a massier Highland Broach. When alternations came of rage Yet fiercer, in a darker age; 50 And feuds, where, clan encountering clan, The weaker perished to a man; For maid and mother, when despair Might else have triumphed, baffling prayer, One small possession lacked not power, 55 Provided in a calmer hour, To meet such need as might befal— Roof, raiment, bread, or burial: For woman, even of tears bereft, The hidden silver Broach was left. 60 As generations come and go Their arts, their customs, ebb and flow; Fate, fortune, sweep strong powers away, And feeble, of themselves, decay; What poor abodes the heir-loom hide, 65 In which the castle once took pride! Tokens, once kept as boasted wealth, If saved at all, are saved by stealth. Lo! ships, from seas by nature barred, Mount along ways by man prepared; 70 And in far-stretching vales, whose streams Seek other seas, their canvas gleams. Lo! busy towns spring up, on coasts Thronged yesterday by airy ghosts; Soon, like a lingering star forlorn 75 Among the novelties of morn, While young delights on old encroach, Will vanish the last Highland Broach. But when, from out their viewless bed, Like vapours, years have rolled and spread; 80 And this poor verse, and worthier lays, Shall yield no light of love or praise; Then, by the spade, or cleaving plough, Or torrent from the mountain's brow, Or whirlwind, reckless what his might 85 Entombs, or forces into light; Blind Chance, a volunteer ally, That oft befriends Antiquity, And clears Oblivion from reproach, May render back the Highland Broach.[741] 90