A detail, perhaps not too trivial to mention, is that, in this
edition—at the suggestion of several friends —I have followed the
example of Professor Dowden in his Aldine edition, and numbered the
lines of almost all the poems—even the sonnets.
I have not done
so, the reason will be obvious; viz. either the structure, or the
brevity, of the poem.
In giving the date of each poem, I have used the word "composed," rather
than "written," very much because Wordsworth himself,—and his sister,
in her Journals—almost invariably use the word "composed"; although he
criticised the term as applied to the creation of a poem, as if it were
a manufactured article. In
Chronological Table, Mr. Dowden adopts
the word "composed"; but, in his edition of the Poems, he has made use
of the term" written."
No notice (or almost none) of misprints in Wordsworth's own text is
taken, in the notes to this edition. Sometimes an error occurred, and
was carried on through more than one edition, and corrected in the next:
e.g., in 'The Childless Father', the editions of 1827, 1832, and 1836
have the line:
Fresh springs of green boxwood, not six months before.
In the 'errata' of the edition of 1836 this is corrected to "fresh
sprigs." There are other 'errata', which remained in the edition of
1849-50, e.g., in 'Rob Roy's Grave', "Vools" for "Veols," and mistakes
in quotations from other poets, such as "invention" for "instruction,"
in Wither's poem on the Daisy. These are corrected without mention.
I should perhaps add that, while I have included, amongst the
illustrative notes, extracts from Henry Crabb Robinson's 'Diary', etc.,
many of them are now published for the first time. These voluminous MSS.
of Robinson's have been re-examined with care; and the reader who
compares the three volumes of the 'Diary', etc.—edited by Dr.
Sadler—with the extracts now printed from the original MS., will see
where sentences omitted by the original editor have been included.
As this edition proceeds, my debt to many—who have been so kind as to
put their Wordsworth MSS. and memoranda at my disposal—will be
apparent.
It is difficult to acknowledge duly my obligation to collectors of
autograph Letters—Mr. Morrison, the late Mr. Locker Lampson, the late
Mr. Mackay, of the Grange, Trowbridge, and a score of others— but, I
may say in general, that the kindness of those who possess Wordsworth
MSS. in allowing me to examine them, has been a very genuine evidence of
their interest in the Poet, and his work.
My special thanks are due to Mr. Gordon Wordsworth, who has, in the
kindest manner and for many years, placed everything at my disposal,
which could further my labour on his grandfather's Works.
Finally, I wish to express the great debt I owe to the late Mr. J. Dykes
Campbell, for many suggestions, and for his unwearied interest in this
work,— which I think was second only to his interest in Coleridge—and
also to Mr. W. B. Kinghorn for his valuable assistance in the revision
of proof sheets.
If there are any desiderata, in reference to Wordsworth —in addition to
a new Life, a critical Essay, and such a Bibliography of Criticism as
will be adequate for posterity—a 'Concordance' to his works is one of
them. A correspondent once offered to prepare this for me, if I found a
publisher: and another has undertaken to compile a volume of 'parallel
passages' from the earlier poets of England, and of the world. A
Concordance might very well form part of a volume of 'Wordsworthiana',
and be a real service to future students of the poet.
William Knight.
In addition to my own detection of errors in the text and
notes to the editions 1882-9, I acknowledge special obligation to the
late Vice-Chancellor of the Victoria University, Principal Greenwood,
who went over every volume with laborious care, and sent me the result.
To the late Mr. J. Dykes Campbell, to Mr. J. R. Tutin, to the Rev.
Thomas Hutchinson of Kimbolton, and to many others, I am similarly
indebted.
See
Memoirs of William Wordsworth
, ii. pp. 113,
114.
It is however different with the fragments which were
published in all the editions issued in the poet's lifetime, and
afterwards in
The Prelude
, such as the lines on "the immortal
boy" of Windermere. These are printed in their chronological place, and
also in the posthumous poem.
Poems of Wordsworth selected and arranged by Matthew
Arnold
. London: Macmillan and Co.
See the
Life of Sir W. Rowan Hamilton
, vol. ii. pp,
132, 135.
See the Preface to the American edition of 1837.
It need hardly be explained that, in the case of a modern
poet, these various readings are not like the conjectural guesses of
critics and commentators as to what the original text was (as in the
case of the Greek Poets, or of Dante, or even of Shakespeare). They are
the actual alterations, introduced deliberately as improvements, by the
hand of the poet himself.
The collection in the British Museum, and those in all the
University Libraries of the country, are incomplete.
The publication of this edition was superintended by Mr.
Carter, who acted as Wordsworth's secretary for thirty-seven years, and
was appointed one of his literary executors.
Let the indiscriminate admirer of "first editions" turn to
this quarto, and perhaps even he may wonder why it has been rescued from
oblivion. I am only aware of the existence of five copies of the edition
of 1793; and although it has a certain autobiographic value, I do not
think that many who read it once will return to it again, except as a
literary curiosity. Here—and not in "Lyrical Ballads" or
The
Excursion
—was the quarry where Jeffrey or Gifford might have found
abundant material for criticism.
It is unfortunate that the
Memoirs
do not tell us
to what poem the remark applies, or to whom the letter containing it was
addressed.
It is important to note that the printed text in several
of the editions is occasionally cancelled in the list of
errata
,
at the beginning or the end of the volume: also that many copies of the
early editions (notably those of 1800), were bound up without the full
errata
list. In this edition there were two such lists, one of
them very brief. But the cancelled words in these
errata
lists,
must be taken into account, in determining the text of each edition.
I. F. note. See vol. i. p. 5.
I. F. note. See vol. i. p. 32.
Advertisement. See vol. i. p. 78.
How much of this poem was Wordsworth's own has not been
definitely ascertained. I am of opinion that very little, if any of it,
was his. It has been said that his nephew, the late Bishop of Lincoln,
wrote most of it; but more recent evidence tends to show that it was the
work of his son-in-law, Edward Quillinan.
In a letter to the writer in 1882.
The Poetry of Byron, chosen and arranged by Matthew
Arnold
. London: Macmillan and Co.
It may not be too trivial a fact to mention that
Wordsworth numbered the lines of his earliest publication, 'An Evening
Walk, in l793.—Ed.
Another fact, not too trivial to mention, is that in the
original MS. of the 'Lines composed at Grasmere', etc., Wordsworth sent
it to the printer "Lines written," but changed it in proof to "Lines
composed."—Ed.
Contents
Composed 1786.—Published 1815
This poem was placed by Wordsworth among his "Juvenile Pieces." The
following note was prefixed to that Series, from 1820 to 1832:
"Of the Poems in this class, "The Evening Walk" and "Descriptive
Sketches" were first published in 1793. They are reprinted with some
unimportant alterations that were chiefly made very soon after their
publication. It would have been easy to amend them, in many passages,
both as to sentiment and expression, and I have not been altogether
able to resist the temptation: but attempts of this kind are made at
the risk of injuring those characteristic features, which, after all,
will be regarded as the principal recommendation of juvenile poems."
In 1836 "unimportant" was erased before "alterations"; and after
"temptation" the following was added, "as will be obvious to the
attentive reader, in some instances: these are few, for I am aware that
attempts of this kind," etc.
"The above, which was written some time ago, scarcely applies to the
Poem, 'Descriptive Sketches', as it now stands. The corrections,
though numerous, are not, however, such as to prevent its retaining
with propriety a place in the class of 'Juvenile Pieces.'"
In the editions of 1845 and 1849, Wordsworth called his "Juvenile
Pieces," "Poems written in Youth."—Ed.
"Dear native regions," etc., 1786, Hawkshead. The beautiful image
with which this poem concludes suggested itself to me while I was
resting in a boat along with my companions under the shade of a
magnificent row of sycamores, which then extended their branches from
the shore of the promontory upon which stands the ancient, and at that
time the more picturesque, Hall of Coniston, the Seat of the Le
Flemings from very early times. The Poem of which it was the
conclusion, was of many hundred lines, and contained thoughts and
images, most of which have been dispersed through my other
writings.—I. F.
In the editions 1815 to 1832, the title given to this poem was 'Extract
from the conclusion of a Poem, composed upon leaving School'. The row of
sycamores at Hawkshead, referred to in the Fenwick note, no longer
exists.
In the "Autobiographical Memoranda," dictated by Wordsworth at Rydal
Mount in November 1847, he says, " .... I wrote, while yet a schoolboy,
a long poem running upon my own adventures, and the scenery of the
county in which I was brought up. The only part of that poem which has
been preserved is the conclusion of it, which stands at the beginning of
my collected Poems."
A
In the eighth book of 'The Prelude', (lines 468-475), this fragment is
introduced, and there Wordsworth tells us that once, when boating on
Coniston Lake (Thurston-mere) in his boyhood, he entered under a grove
of trees on its "western marge," and glided "along the line of
low-roofed water," "as in a cloister." He adds,
while, in that shade
Loitering, I watched the golden beams of light
Flung from the setting sun, as they reposed
In silent beauty on the naked ridge
Of a high eastern hill—thus flowed my thoughts
In a pure stream of words fresh from the heart:
Ed.
The Poem
| text |
variant |
footnote |
line number |
Dear native regions, I foretell,
From what I feel at this farewell,
That, wheresoe'er my steps may tend,
And whensoe'er my course shall end,
If in that hour a single tie
Survive of local sympathy,
My soul will cast the backward view,
The longing look alone on you.
Thus, while the Sun sinks down to rest
Far in the regions of the west,
Though to the vale no parting beam
Be given, not one memorial gleam,
A lingering light he fondly throws
On the dear hills where first he rose. |
1
2
3
4
5 |
B
|
5
10
|
See the
Memoirs of William Wordsworth
, by Christopher
Wordsworth (1851), vol. i. pp. 10-31.—Ed.
Compare the
Ode, composed in January 1816
, stanza
v.—Ed.
| 1815 |
|
That, when the close of life draws near,
And I must quit this earthly sphere,
If in that hour a tender tie
|
MS. |
| 1845. |
|
Thus, when the Sun, prepared for rest,
Hath gained the precincts of the West,
Though his departing radiance fail
To illuminate the hollow Vale,
|
1815. |
Thus, from the precincts of the West,
The Sun, when sinking down to rest,
|
1832. |
... while sinking ...
|
1836. |
Hath reached the precincts ...
|
MS. |
| 1815 |
|
A lingering lustre fondly throws
|
1832 |
The edition of 1845 reverts to the reading of 1815.
| 1815 |
|
On the dear mountain-tops ...
|
1820 |
The edition of 1845 returns to the text of 1815.
Contents
Composed 1786A.—Published 1807B
From 1807 to 1843 this was placed by Wordsworth in his group of
"Miscellaneous Sonnets." In 1845, it was transferred to the class of
"Poems written in Youth." It is doubtful if it was really written in
"'very' early youth." Its final form, at any rate, may belong to a later
period.—Ed.
The Poem
| text |
variant |
footnote |
line number |
Calm is all nature as a resting wheel.
The kine are couched upon the dewy grass;
The horse alone, seen dimly as I pass,
Is cropping audibly his later meal:
Dark is the ground; a slumber seems to steal
O'er vale, and mountain, and the starless sky.
Now, in this blank of things, a harmony,
Home-felt, and home-created, comes to heal
That grief for which the senses still supply
Fresh food; for only then, when memory
Is hushed, am I at rest. My Friends! restrain
Those busy cares that would allay my pain;
Oh! leave me to myself, nor let me feel
The officious touch that makes me droop again. |
1
2
|
C
|
5
10
|
The date of the composition of this fragment is quite
unknown.—Ed.
But previously, in
The Morning Post
, Feb. 13, 1802.—Ed.
Canon Ainger calls attention to the fact that there is here
a parallel, possibly a reminiscence, from the 'Nocturnal Reverie' of
the Countess of Winchelsea.
Whose stealing pace and lengthened shade we fear,
Till torn-up forage in his teeth we hear.
Ed.
| 1827 |
|
Is up, and cropping yet ...
|
1807 |