COMPOSED ON A MAY MORNING, 1838[182]
Composed 1838.—Published 1838[183]
This was one of the “Miscellaneous Sonnets.”—Ed.
Life with yon Lambs, like day, is just begun,
Yet Nature seems to them a heavenly guide.
[184]Does joy approach? they meet the coming tide;
And sullenness avoid, as now they shun
[185]Pale twilight’s lingering glooms,—and in the sun 5
Couch near their dams, with quiet satisfied;
[186]Or gambol—each with his shadow at his side,
[187]Varying its shape wherever he may run.
As they from turf yet hoar with sleepy dew
All turn, and court the shining and the green, 10
Where herbs look up, and opening flowers are seen;
Why to God’s goodness cannot We be true,
And so, His
[188] gifts and promises between,
Feed to the last on pleasures ever new?
A PLEA FOR AUTHORS, MAY 1838
Failing impartial measure to dispense
To every suitor, Equity is lame;
And social Justice, stript of reverence
For natural rights, a mockery and a shame;
Law but a servile dupe of false pretence, 5
If, guarding grossest things from common claim
Now and for ever, She, to works that came
[189]From mind and spirit, grudge a short-lived fence.
“What! lengthened privilege, a lineal tie,
For Books!” Yes, heartless Ones, or be it proved 10
That ’tis a fault in Us to have lived and loved
Like others, with like temporal hopes to die;
No public harm that Genius from her course
Be turned; and streams of truth dried up, even at their source!
[190]
“BLEST STATESMAN HE, WHOSE MIND’S
UNSELFISH WILL”
Composed 1838.—Published 1838
One of the “Sonnets dedicated to Liberty and Order.”—Ed.
Blest Statesman He, whose Mind’s unselfish will
Leaves him
[191] at ease among grand thoughts: whose eye
Sees that, apart from magnanimity,
Wisdom exists not; nor the humbler skill
Of Prudence, disentangling good and ill 5
With patient care. What tho’
[192] assaults run high,
They daunt not him who holds his ministry,
Resolute, at all hazards, to fulfil
Its
[193] duties;—prompt to move, but firm to wait,—
Knowing, things rashly sought are rarely found; 10
That, for
[194] the functions of an ancient State—
Strong by her charters, free because imbound,
Servant of Providence, not slave of Fate—
Perilous is sweeping change, all chance unsound.
[195]
VALEDICTORY SONNET[196]
Composed 1838.—Published 1838
One of the “Miscellaneous Sonnets.”—Ed.
Serving no haughty Muse, my hands have here
Disposed some cultured Flowerets (drawn from spots
Where they bloomed singly, or in scattered knots),
Each kind in several beds of one parterre;
Both to allure the casual Loiterer, 5
And that, so placed, my Nurslings may requite
Studious regard with opportune delight,
Nor be unthanked, unless I fondly err.
But metaphor dismissed, and thanks apart,
Reader, farewell! My last words let them be— 10
If in this book Fancy and Truth agree;
If simple Nature trained by careful Art
Through It have won a passage to thy heart;
Grant me thy love, I crave no other fee!
1839
The fourteen “Sonnets upon the Punishment of Death”
were originally published in the Quarterly Review (in December
1841), in an article on the “Sonnets of William Wordsworth”
by the late Sir Henry Taylor, author of Philip van Artevelde,
and other poems. Towards the close of this article (of 1841),
after reviewing the volume of Sonnets published in 1838, Sir
Henry adds, “There is a short series written two years ago,
which we have been favoured with permission to present to the
public for the first time. It was suggested by the recent discussions
in Parliament, and elsewhere, on the subject of the
‘Punishment of Death.’”
When republishing this and other critical Essays on Poetry,
in the collected edition of his works in 1878, Sir Henry omitted
the paragraphs relating to these particular sonnets. Wordsworth
published the sonnets in his volume of “Poems chiefly
of Early and Late Years,” in 1842.—Ed.
SONNETS UPON THE PUNISHMENT OF
DEATH
IN SERIES
Composed 1839.—Published 1841
“In the session of 1836, a report by the Commissioners on
Criminal Law—of which the second part was on this subject (the Punishment
of Death)—was laid before Parliament. In the ensuing session this
was followed by papers presented to Parliament by her Majesty’s command,
and consisting of a correspondence between the Commissioners, Lord John
Russell, and Lord Denman. Upon the foundation afforded by these documents,
the bills of the 17th July 1837—(7th Gul. IV. and 1st Vict. cap. 84
to 89 and 91)—were brought in and passed. These acts removed the punishment
of death from about 200 offences, and left it applicable to high
treason,—murder and attempts at murder—rape—arson with danger to life—and
to piracies, burglaries, and robberies, when aggravated by cruelty and
violence.” (Sir Henry Taylor, Quarterly Review, Dec. 1841, p. 39.) Some
members of the House of Commons—Mr. Fitzroy Kelly, Mr. Ewart, and
others—desired a further limitation of the punishment of death to the crimes
of murder and treason only: and the question of the entire abolition of
capital punishment being virtually before the country, Wordsworth dealt
with it in the following series of sonnets.—Ed.
I
SUGGESTED BY THE VIEW OF LANCASTER
CASTLE (ON THE ROAD FROM THE SOUTH)
This Spot—at once unfolding sight so fair
Of sea and land, with yon grey towers that still
Rise up as if to lord it over air—
Might soothe in human breasts the sense of ill,
Or charm it out of memory; yea, might fill 5
The heart with joy and gratitude to God
For all his bounties upon man bestowed:
Why bears it then the name of “Weeping Hill”?
[197]Thousands, as toward yon old Lancastrian Towers,
A prison’s crown, along this way they past 10
For lingering durance or quick death with shame,
From this bare eminence thereon have cast
Their first look—blinded as tears fell in showers
Shed on their chains; and hence that doleful name.
II[198]
“TENDERLY DO WE FEEL BY NATURE’S LAW”
Tenderly do we feel by Nature’s law
For worst offenders: though the heart will heave
With indignation, deeply moved we grieve,
In after thought, for Him who stood in awe
Neither of God nor man, and only saw, 5
Lost wretch, a horrible device enthroned
On proud temptations, till the victim groaned
Under the steel his hand had dared to draw.
But O, restrain compassion, if its course,
As oft befalls, prevent or turn aside 10
Judgments and aims and acts whose higher source
Is sympathy with the unforewarned, who died
[199]Blameless—with them that shuddered o’er his grave,
And all who from the law firm safety crave.
III[200]
“THE ROMAN CONSUL DOOMED HIS SONS
TO DIE”
The Roman Consul doomed his sons to die
Who had betrayed their country.
[201] The stern word
Afforded (may it through all time afford)
A theme for praise and admiration high.
Upon the surface of humanity 5
He rested not; its depths his mind explored;
He felt; but his parental bosom’s lord
Was Duty,—Duty calmed his agony.
And some, we know, when they by wilful act
A single human life have wrongly taken, 10
Pass sentence on themselves, confess the fact,
And, to atone for it, with soul unshaken
Kneel at the feet of Justice, and, for faith
Broken with all mankind, solicit death.
IV
“IS DEATH, WHEN EVIL AGAINST GOOD
HAS FOUGHT”
Is Death, when evil against good has fought
With such fell mastery that a man may dare
By deeds the blackest purpose to lay bare?
Is Death, for one to that condition brought,
For him, or any one, the thing that ought 5
To be most dreaded? Lawgivers, beware,
Lest, capital pains remitting till ye spare
The murderer, ye, by sanction to that thought
Seemingly given, debase the general mind;
Tempt the vague will tried standards to disown, 10
Nor only palpable restraints unbind,
But upon Honour’s head disturb the crown,
Whose absolute rule permits not to withstand
In the weak love of life his least command.
V
“NOT TO THE OBJECT SPECIALLY
DESIGNED”
Not to the object specially designed,
Howe’er momentous in itself it be,
Good to promote or curb depravity,
Is the wise Legislator’s view confined.
His Spirit, when most severe, is oft most kind; 5
As all Authority in earth depends
On Love and Fear, their several powers he blends,
Copying with awe the one Paternal mind.
Uncaught by processes in show humane,
He feels how far the act would derogate 10
From even the humblest functions of the State;
If she, self-shorn of Majesty, ordain
That never more shall hang upon her breath
The last alternative of Life or Death.
VI[202]
“YE BROOD OF CONSCIENCE—SPECTRES!
THAT FREQUENT”
Ye brood of conscience—Spectres! that frequent
The bad man’s restless walk, and haunt his bed—
Fiends in your aspect, yet beneficent
In act, as hovering Angels when they spread
Their wings to guard the unconscious Innocent— 5
Slow be the Statutes of the land to share
A laxity that could not but impair
Your power to punish crime, and so prevent.
And ye, Beliefs! coiled serpent-like about
The adage on all tongues, “Murder will out,”
[203] 10How shall your ancient warnings work for good
In the full might they hitherto have shown,
If for deliberate shedder of man’s blood
Survive not Judgment that requires his own?
VII
“BEFORE THE WORLD HAD PAST HER
TIME OF YOUTH”
Before the world had past her time of youth
While polity and discipline were weak,
The precept eye for eye, and tooth for tooth,
Came forth—a light, though but as of day-break,
Strong as could then be borne. A Master meek 5
Proscribed the spirit fostered by that rule,
Patience his law, long-suffering his school,
And love the end, which all through peace must seek.
But lamentably do they err who strain
His mandates, given rash impulse to controul 10
And keep vindictive thirstings from the soul,
So far that, if consistent in their scheme,
They must forbid the State to inflict a pain,
Making of social order a mere dream.
VIII[204]
“FIT RETRIBUTION, BY THE MORAL CODE”
Fit retribution, by the moral code
Determined, lies beyond the State’s embrace,
Yet, as she may, for each peculiar case
She plants well-measured terrors in the road
Of wrongful acts. Downward it is and broad, 5
And, the main fear once doomed to banishment,
Far oftener then, bad ushering worse event,
Blood would be spilt that in his dark abode
Crime might lie better hid. And, should the change
Take from the horror due to a foul deed, 10
Pursuit and evidence so far must fail,
And, guilt escaping, passion then might plead
In angry spirits for her old free range,
And the “wild justice of revenge”
[205] prevail.
IX
“THOUGH TO GIVE TIMELY WARNING
AND DETER”
Though to give timely warning and deter
Is one great aim of penalty, extend
Thy mental vision further and ascend
Far higher, else full surely shalt thou err.
[206]What is a State? The wise behold in her 5
A creature born of time, that keeps one eye
Fixed on the statutes of Eternity,
To which her judgments reverently defer.
Speaking through Law’s dispassionate voice the State
Endues her conscience with external life 10
And being, to preclude or quell the strife
Of individual will, to elevate
The grovelling mind, the erring to recal,
And fortify the moral sense of all.
X
“OUR BODILY LIFE, SOME PLEAD, THAT
LIFE THE SHRINE”
Our bodily life, some plead, that life the shrine
Of an immortal spirit, is a gift
So sacred, so informed with light divine,
That no tribunal, though most wise to sift
Deed and intent, should turn the Being adrift 5
Into that world where penitential tear
May not avail, nor prayer have for God’s ear
A voice—that world whose veil no hand can lift
For earthly sight. “Eternity and Time”
They urge, “have interwoven claims and rights 10
Not to be jeopardised through foulest crime:
The sentence rule by mercy’s heaven-born lights.”
Even so; but measuring not by finite sense
Infinite Power, perfect Intelligence.
XI[207]
“AH, THINK HOW ONE COMPELLED FOR
LIFE TO ABIDE”
Ah, think how one compelled for life to abide
Locked in a dungeon needs must eat the heart
Out of his own humanity, and part
With every hope that mutual cares provide;
And, should a less unnatural doom confide 5
In life-long exile on a savage coast,
Soon the relapsing penitent may boast
Of yet more heinous guilt, with fiercer pride.
Hence thoughtful Mercy, Mercy sage and pure,
Sanctions the forfeiture that Law demands, 10
Leaving the final issue in His hands
Whose goodness knows no change, whose love is sure,
Who sees, foresees; who cannot judge amiss,
And wafts at will the contrite soul to bliss.
XII
“SEE THE CONDEMNED ALONE WITHIN
HIS CELL”
See the Condemned alone within his cell
And prostrate at some moment when remorse
Stings to the quick, and, with resistless force,
Assaults the pride she strove in vain to quell.
Then mark him, him who could so long rebel, 5
The crime confessed, a kneeling Penitent
Before the Altar, where the Sacrament
Softens his heart, till from his eyes outwell
Tears of salvation. Welcome death! while Heaven
Does in this change exceedingly rejoice; 10
While yet the solemn heed the State hath given
Helps him to meet the last Tribunal’s voice
In faith, which fresh offences, were he cast
On old temptations, might for ever blast.
XIII[208]
CONCLUSION
Yes, though He well may tremble at the sound
Of his own voice, who from the judgment-seat
Sends the pale Convict to his last retreat
In death; though Listeners shudder all around,
They know the dread requital’s source profound; 5
Nor is, they feel, its wisdom obsolete—
(Would that it were!) the sacrifice unmeet
For Christian Faith. But hopeful signs abound;
The social rights of man breathe purer air;
Religion deepens her preventive care; 10
Then, moved by needless fear of past abuse,
Strike not from Law’s firm hand that awful rod,
But leave it thence to drop for lack of use:
Oh, speed the blessed hour, Almighty God!