| 1837 |
|
Erect as a sunflower he stands, and the streak
Of the unfaded rose is expressed on his cheek.
|
1815 |
... still enlivens his cheek.
|
1827 |
| 1840 |
|
There fashion'd that countenance, which, in spite of a stain
|
1815 |
| date |
|
There's an old man in London, the prime of old men,
You may hunt for his match through ten thousand and ten,
Of prop or of staff, does he walk, does he run,
No more need has he than a flow'r of the sun.
|
1800 |
This stanza appeared only in 1800, occupying the place of the three
first stanzas in the final text.
| 1815 |
|
Was the Top of the Country, ...
|
1800 |
| 1827 |
|
Not less than the skill of an Exchequer Teller
Could count the shoes worn on the steps of his cellar.
|
1800 |
How oft have I heard in sweet Tilsbury Vale
Of the silver-rimmed horn whence he dealt his good ale.
|
1815 |
| 1815 |
|
... plough'd land, ...
|
1800 |
| 1815 |
|
... the noise of the bowl,
|
1800 |
On the works of the world, on the bustle and sound,
Seated still in his boat, he look'd leisurely round;
And if now and then he his hands did employ,
'Twas with vanity, wonder, and infantine joy.
|
Only in the text of 1800. |
| 1815 |
|
For they all still imagin'd his hive full of honey;
Like a Church-warden, Adam continu'd his rounds,
|
1800 |
| 1815 |
|
... he kept to himself;
|
1800 |
| 1820 |
|
You lift up your eyes, "O the merciless Jew!"
But in truth he was never more cruel than you;
|
1800 |
... —and I guess that you frame
A judgment too harsh of the sin and the shame;
|
1815 |
| 1815 |
|
... scarce e'en ...
|
1800 |
| Italics first used in 1815. |
|
| 1815 |
|
He stood all alone like ...
|
1800 |
The edition of 1827 returns to the text of 1800.
| 1815 |
|
Both stable-boy, errand-boy, porter and groom;
You'd think it the life of a Devil in H—l,
But nature was kind, and with Adam 'twas well.
|
1800 |
He's ten birth-days younger, he's green, and he's stout,
Twice as fast as before does his blood run about,
You'd think it the life of a Devil in H—l,
But Nature is kind, and with Adam 'twas well.
|
|
This stanza appeared only in 1800. It was followed by that which now
forms lines 53-56 of the final text.
| 1815 |
|
He's ten birth-days younger, he's green, and he's stout,
|
1800 |
| 1800 |
|
... have come ...
|
1815 |
The text of 1820 returns to that of 1800.
| 1837 |
|
Where proud Covent-Garden, in frost and in snow,
Spreads her fruits and her flow'rs, built up row after row;
Old Adam will point with his finger and say,
To them that stand by, "I've seen better than they."
|
1800 |
... her fruit ...
|
1815 |
(The text of 1815 is otherwise identical with that of 1837.)
Where the apples are heap'd on the barrows in piles,
You see him stop short, he looks long, and he smiles;
He looks, and he smiles, and a Poet might spy
The image of fifty green fields in his eye.
|
Only in the text of 1800. |
| 1837 |
|
... in the waggons, and smells to the hay;
|
1800 |
... in the Waggon, and smells at ...
|
1815 |
| 1815 |
|
... has mown,
And sometimes he dreams that the hay is his own.
|
1800 |
| 1815 |
|
... where'er ...
|
1800 |
| 1850 |
|
... spring up o'er ...
|
1800 |
... over ...
|
1815 |
i. e. first published in the 1815 edition of the
Poems: but, although dated by Wordsworth 1803, it had appeared in The
Morning Post of July 21, 1800, under the title, The Farmer of
Tilsbury Vale. A Character. It was then unsigned.—Ed.
Note:
With this picture, which was taken from real life, compare the
imaginative one of
The Reverie of Poor Susan
[vol. i. p. 226]; and see
(to make up the deficiencies of this class)
The Excursion, passim
.—W.
W. 1837.
Contents 1800
Main Contents
Wordsworth's Poetical Works, Volume 2: Poems on the Naming of Places
Edited by William Knight
1896
Table of Contents
Poems on the Naming of Places
Advertisement:
By Persons resident in the country and attached to rural objects, many
places will be found unnamed or of unknown names, where little Incidents
will have occurred, or feelings been experienced, which will have given
to such places a private and peculiar interest. From a wish to give some
sort of record to such Incidents or renew the gratification of such
Feelings, Names have been given to Places by the Author and some of his
Friends, and the following Poems written in consequence
.—W. W. 1800.
It should be explained that owing to the chronological plan
adopted in this edition (see the preface to vol. i.), two of the poems
which were placed by Wordsworth in his series of "Poems on the Naming of
Places," but which belong to later years, are printed in subsequent
volumes.—Ed.
Contents: Poems on the Naming of Places
Main Contents
"It was an April morning: fresh and clear"
Composed 1800.—Published 1800
[Written at Grasmere. This poem was suggested on the banks of the brook
that runs through Easdale, which is, in some parts of its course, as
wild and beautiful as brook can be. I have composed thousands of verses
by the side of it.—I. F.]
The Poem
| text |
variant |
footnote |
line number |
It was an April morning: fresh and clear
The Rivulet, delighting in its strength,
Ran with a young man's speed; and yet the voice
Of waters which the winter had supplied
Was softened down into a vernal tone.
The spirit of enjoyment and desire,
And hopes and wishes, from all living things
Went circling, like a multitude of sounds.
The budding groves seemed eager to urge on
The steps of June; as if their various hues
Were only hindrances that stood between
Them and their object: but, meanwhile, prevailed
Such an entire contentment in the air
That every naked ash, and tardy tree
Yet leafless, showed as if the countenance
With which it looked on this delightful day
Were native to the summer.—Up the brook
I roamed in the confusion of my heart,
Alive to all things and forgetting all.
At length I to a sudden turning came
In this continuous glen, where down a rock
The Stream, so ardent in its course before,
Sent forth such sallies of glad sound, that all
Which I till then had heard, appeared the voice
Of common pleasure: beast and bird, the lamb,
The shepherd's dog, the linnet and the thrush
Vied with this waterfall, and made a song,
Which, while I listened, seemed like the wild growth
Or like some natural produce of the air,
That could not cease to be. Green leaves were here;
But 'twas the foliage of the rocks—the birch,
The yew, the holly, and the bright green thorn,
With hanging islands of resplendent furze:
And, on a summit, distant a short space,
By any who should look beyond the dell,
A single mountain-cottage might be seen.
I gazed and gazed, and to myself I said,
"Our thoughts at least are ours; and this wild nook,
My Emma, I will dedicate to thee."
—Soon did the spot become my other home,
My dwelling, and my out-of-doors abode.
And, of the Shepherds who have seen me there,
To whom I sometimes in our idle talk
Have told this fancy, two or three, perhaps,
Years after we are gone and in our graves,
When they have cause to speak of this wild place,
May call it by the name of Emma's Dell.
Note
Contents
|
1
2
|
|
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
|