The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8)

The Poem

This and the following ten sonnets were included among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; re-named in 1845, "Poems dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."—Ed.

The Poem

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Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee; And was the safeguard of the west: the worth Of Venice did not fall below her birth, Venice, the eldest Child of Liberty. She was a maiden City, bright and free; No guile seduced, no force could violate; And, when she took unto herself a Mate, She must espouse the everlasting Sea. And what if she had seen those glories fade, Those titles vanish, and that strength decay; Yet shall some tribute of regret be paid When her long life hath reached its final day: Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade Of that which once was great, is passed away. Note Contents 1802 Main Contents		A	5 10

Footnote A:

Compare Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (canto iv. II):

'The spouseless Adriatic mourns her lord.'

Ed.

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Note:

"Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee."

The special glory of Venice dates from the conquest of Constantinople by the Latins in 1202. The fourth Crusade—in which the French and Venetians alone took part—started from Venice, in October 1202, under the command of the Doge, Henry Dandolo. Its aim, however, was not the recovery of Palestine, but the conquest of Constantinople. At the close of the crusade, Venice received the Morea, part of Thessaly, the Cyclades, many of the Byzantine cities, and the coasts of the Hellespont, with three-eighths of the city of Constantinople itself, the Doge taking the curious title of Duke of three-eighths of the Roman Empire.

"And was the safeguard of the west."

This may refer to the prominent part which Venice took in the Crusades, or to the development of her naval power, which made her mistress of the Mediterranean for many years, and an effective bulwark against invasions from the East.

"The eldest Child of Liberty."

The origin of the Venetian State was the flight of many of the inhabitants of the mainland—on the invasion of Italy by Attila—to the chain of islands that lie at the head of the Adriatic.

"In the midst of the waters, free, indigent, laborious, and inaccessible, they gradually coalesced into a republic: the first foundations of Venice were laid in the island of Rialto.... On the verge of the two empires the Venetians exult in the belief of primitive and perpetual independence."

Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. lx.

"And, when she took unto herself a Mate,
She must espouse the everlasting Sea."

In 1177, Pope Alexander III. appealed to the Venetian Republic for protection against the German Emperor. The Venetians were successful in a naval battle at Saboro, against Otho, the son of Frederick Barbarossa. In return, the Pope presented the Doge Liani with a ring, with which he told him to wed the Adriatic, that posterity might know that the sea was subject to Venice, "as a bride is to her husband."

In September 1796, nearly six years before this sonnet was written, the fate of the old Venetian Republic was sealed by the treaty of Campo Formio. The French army under Napoleon had subdued Italy, and, having crossed the Alps, threatened Vienna. To avert impending disaster, the Emperor Francis arranged a treaty which extinguished the Venetian Republic. He divided its territory between himself and Napoleon, Austria retaining Istria, Dalmatia, and the left bank of the Adige in the Venetian State, with the "maiden city" itself; France receiving the rest of the territory and the Ionian Islands. Since the date of that treaty the city has twice been annexed to Italy.—Ed.

Contents 1802
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The King of Sweden

Composed August, 1802.—Published 1807

The Poem

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The Voice of song from distant lands shall call To that great King; shall hail the crownèd Youth Who, taking counsel of unbending Truth, By one example hath set forth to all How they with dignity may stand; or fall, If fall they must. Now, whither doth it tend? And what to him and his shall be the end? That thought is one which neither can appal Nor cheer him; for the illustrious Swede hath done The thing which ought to be; is raised above [2] All consequences: work he hath begun Of fortitude, and piety, and love, Which all his glorious ancestors approve: The heroes bless him, him their rightful son. Note Contents 1802 Main Contents	1 2		5 10

Variant 1:

1807
... bold ...	In 1838 only.

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Variant 2:

1845
... He stands above	1807

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Footnote A:

See the sonnet beginning "Call not the royal Swede unfortunate," vol. iv. p. 224.—Ed.

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Note:

The following is Wordsworth's note to this sonnet, added in 1837:

"In this and a succeeding Sonnet on the same subject, let me be understood as a Poet availing himself of the situation which the King of Sweden occupied, and of the principles Avowed in His Manifestos; as laying hold of these advantages for the purpose of embodying moral truths. This remark might, perhaps, as well have been suppressed; for to those who may be in sympathy with the course of these Poems, it will be superfluous; and will, I fear, be thrown away upon that other class, whose besotted admiration of the intoxicated despot hereafter placed^A in contrast with him, is the most melancholy evidence of degradation in British feeling and intellect which the times have furnished."

The king referred to is Gustavus IV., who was born in 1778, proclaimed king in 1792, and died in 1837. His first public act after his accession was to join in the coalition against Napoleon, and dislike of Napoleon was the main-spring of his policy. It is to this that Wordsworth refers in the sonnet:

'... the illustrious Swede hath done
The thing which ought to be ...'

It made him unpopular, however, and gave rise to a conspiracy against him, and to his consequent abdication in 1809. He "died forgotten and in poverty."—Ed.

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To Toussaint L'Ouverture

Composed August, 1802.—Published 1807 ^A

The Poem

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Toussaint, the most unhappy man of men! Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough Within thy hearing, or thy head be now Pillowed in some deep dungeon's earless den;— O miserable Chieftain! where and when Wilt thou find patience? Yet die not; do thou Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow: Though fallen thyself, never to rise again, Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind Powers that will work for thee; air, earth, and skies; There's not a breathing of the common wind That will forget thee; thou hast great allies; Thy friends are exultations, agonies, And love, and man's unconquerable mind. Note Contents 1802 Main Contents	1 2	B C	5 10

Variant 1:

1827
Whether the rural milk-maid by her cow Sing in thy hearing, or thou liest now Alone in some deep dungeon's earless den,	1803
Whether the all-cheering sun be free to shed His beams around thee, or thou rest thy head Pillowed in some dark dungeon's noisome den,	1815
Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough Within thy hearing, or Thou liest now Buried in some deep dungeon's earless den;—	1820

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Variant 2:

1807
... Yet die not; be thou Life to thyself in death; with chearful brow Live, loving death, nor let one thought in ten Be painful to thee ...	1803

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Footnote A:

But previously printed in The Morning Post of February 2, 1803, under the signature W. L. D.—Ed.

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Footnote B:

Compare Massinger, The Bondman, act I. scene iii. l. 8:

'Her man of men, Timoleon.'

Ed.

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Footnote C:

Compare Rowe's Tamerlane, iii. 2:

'But to subdue the unconquerable mind.'

Also Gray's poem The Progress of Poesy, ii. 2, l. 10:

'Th' unconquerable Mind, and Freedom's holy flame.'

Ed.

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Note:

François Dominique Toussaint (who was surnamed L'Ouverture), the child of African slaves, was born at St. Domingo in 1743. He was a Royalist in political sympathy till 1794, when the decree of the French convention, giving liberty to the slaves, brought him over to the side of the Republic. He was made a general of division by Laveux, and succeeded in taking the whole of the north of the island from the English. In 1796 he was made chief of the French army of St. Domingo, and first the British commander, and next the Spanish, surrendered everything to him. He became governor of the island, which prospered under his rule. Napoleon, however, in 1801, issued an edict re-establishing slavery in St. Domingo. Toussaint professed obedience, but showed that he meant to resist the edict. A fleet of fifty-four vessels was sent from France to enforce it. Toussaint was proclaimed an outlaw. He surrendered, and was received with military honours, but was treacherously arrested and sent to Paris in June 1802, where he died, in April 1803, after ten months' hardship in prison. He had been two months in prison when Wordsworth addressed this sonnet to him.—Ed.

Contents 1802
Main Contents

Composed in the Valley near Dover, on the Day of Landing

Composed August 30, 1802.—Published 1807

The Poem

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Here, on our native soil, we breathe once more. The cock that crows, the smoke that curls, that sound Of bells;—those boys who in yon meadow-ground In white-sleeved shirts are playing; and the roar Of the waves breaking on the chalky shore;— All, all are English. Oft have I looked round With joy in Kent's green vales; but never found Myself so satisfied in heart before. Europe is yet in bonds; but let that pass, Thought for another moment. Thou art free, My Country! and 'tis joy enough and pride For one hour's perfect bliss, to tread the grass Of England once again, and hear and see, With such a dear Companion at my side. Note Contents 1802 Main Contents	1 2 3	A	5 10

Variant 1:

1827
Dear fellow Traveller! here we are once more.	1807

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Variant 2:

1820
... that ...	1807

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Variant 3:

1815
In white sleev'd shirts are playing by the score, And even this little River's gentle roar,	1807

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Footnote A:

At the beginning of Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal of a Tour on the Continent in 1820, she writes (July 10, 1820):

"When within a mile of Dover saw crowds of people at a cricket match, the numerous combatants dressed in 'white-sleeved shirts;' and it was in the very same field, where, when we 'trod the grass of England once again,' twenty years ago, we had seen an assemblage of youths, engaged in the same sport, so very like the present that all might have been the same. (See my brother's sonnet.)"

Ed.

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Note:

Dorothy Wordsworth writes in her Journal,

"On Sunday, the 29th of August, we left Calais, at twelve o'clock in the morning, and landed at Dover at one on Monday the 30th. It was very pleasant to me, when we were in the harbour at Dover, to breathe the fresh air, and to look up and see the stars among the ropes of the vessel. The next day was very hot, we bathed, and sat upon the Dover Cliffs, and looked upon France with many a melancholy and tender thought. We could see the shores almost as plain as if it were but an English lake. We mounted the coach, and arrived in London at six, the 30th August."

Ed.

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We had a female Passenger who came From Calais with us, spotless in array, A white-robed Negro, like a lady gay, Yet downcast as a woman fearing blame; Meek, destitute, as seemed, of hope or aim She sate, from notice turning not away, But on all proffered intercourse did lay A weight of languid speech, or to the same No sign of answer made by word or face: Yet still her eyes retained their tropic fire, That, burning independent of the mind, Joined with the lustre of her rich attire To mock the Outcast—O ye Heavens, be kind! And feel, thou Earth, for this afflicted Race! Note Contents 1802 Main Contents	1 2 3 4 5 6 7		5 10

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1845
We had a fellow-passenger that came	1803
... who ...	1807
Driven from the soil of France, a Female came	1807

The edition of 1838 returns to the text of 1807, but the edition of 1840 reverts to that of 1827.

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Variant 2:

1845
... gaudy ...	1803
... brilliant ...	1827

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Variant 3:

1845
A negro woman, ...	1803

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Variant 4:

1827
Yet silent ...	1803

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Variant 5:

1827
Dejected, downcast, meek, and more than tame:	1803
Dejected, meek, yea pitiably tame,	1807

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Variant 6:

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8)

About This Book

The Poem

The King of Sweden

Composed August, 1802.—Published 1807

The Poem

To Toussaint L'Ouverture

Composed August, 1802.—Published 1807 ^A

The Poem

Composed in the Valley near Dover, on the Day of Landing

Composed August 30, 1802.—Published 1807

The Poem

September 1, 1802

Composed September 1, 1802.—Published 1807 ^A

The Poem