book ix
. ll. 490, 491.--Ed.]
[Footnote F: Mary Hutchinson. Compare the lines, p. 2, beginning:
'She was a Phantom of delight.'
Ed.]
[Footnote G: Compare the preface to 'The Excursion'. "Several years ago, when the author retired to his native mountains, with the hope of being enabled to construct a literary work that might live," etc.--Ed.]
[Footnote H: After leaving London, he went to the Isle of Wight and to Salisbury Plain with Calvert; then to Bristol, the Valley of the Wye, and Tintern Abbey, alone on foot; thence to Jones' residence in North Wales at Plas-yn-llan in Denbighshire; with him to other places in North Wales, thence to Halifax; and with his sister to Kendal, Grasmere, Keswick, Whitehaven, and Penrith.--Ed.]
[Footnote I: Raisley Calvert.-Ed.]
[Footnote K: His friend, dying in January 1795, bequeathed to Wordsworth a legacy of £900. Compare the sonnet, in vol. iv., beginning
'Calvert! it must not be unheard by them,'
and the 'Life of Wordsworth' in this edition.--Ed.]
[Footnote L: The Wordsworths went to Alfoxden in the end of July, 1797. It was in the autumn of that year that, with Coleridge,
'Upon smooth Quantock's airy ridge they roved Unchecked, or loitered 'mid her sylvan combs;'
when the latter chaunted his 'Ancient Mariner' and 'Christabel', and Wordsworth composed 'The Idiot Boy' and 'The Thorn'. The plan of a joint publication was sketched out in November 1797. (See the Fenwick note to 'We are Seven', vol. i. p. 228.)--Ed.]
[Footnote M: The death of his brother John. Compare the 'Elegiac Verses' in memory of him, p. 58.--Ed.]
* * * * *
FROM THE ITALIAN OF MICHAEL ANGELO
Translated 1805?--Published 1807
[Translations from Michael Angelo, done at the request of Mr. Duppa, whose acquaintance I made through Mr. Southey. Mr. Duppa was engaged in writing the life of Michael Angelo, and applied to Mr. Southey and myself to furnish some specimens of his poetic genius.--I. F.]
Compare the two sonnets entitled 'At Florence--from Michael Angelo', in the "Memorials of a Tour in Italy" in 1837.
The following extract from a letter of Wordsworth's to Sir George Beaumont, dated October 17, 1805, will cast light on the next three sonnets.
"I mentioned Michael Angelo's poetry some time ago; it is the most difficult to construe I ever met with, but just what you would expect from such a man, shewing abundantly how conversant his soul was with great things. There is a mistake in the world concerning the Italian language; the poetry of Dante and Michael Angelo proves, that if there be little majesty and strength in Italian verse, the fault is in the authors, and not in the tongue. I can translate, and have translated two books of Ariosto, at the rate, nearly, of one hundred lines a day; but so much meaning has been put by Michael Angelo into so little room, and that meaning sometimes so excellent in itself, that I found the difficulty of translating him insurmountable. I attempted, at least, fifteen of the sonnets, but could not anywhere succeed. I have sent you the only one I was able to finish; it is far from being the best, or most characteristic, but the others were too much for me."
The last of the three sonnets probably belongs to the year 1804, as it is quoted in a letter to Sir George Beaumont, dated Grasmere, August 6. The year is not given, but I think it must have been 1804, as he says that "within the last month," he had written, "700 additional lines" of 'The Prelude'; and that poem was finished in May 1805.
The titles given to them make it necessary to place these Sonnets in the order which follows.
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--Ed.
I
Yes! hope may with my strong desire keep pace, And I be undeluded, unbetrayed; For if of our affections none finds [1] grace In sight of Heaven, then, wherefore hath God made The world which we inhabit? Better plea 5 Love cannot have, than that in loving thee Glory to that eternal Peace is paid, Who such divinity to thee imparts As hallows and makes pure all gentle hearts. His hope is treacherous only whose love dies 10 With beauty, which is varying every hour; But, in chaste hearts uninfluenced by the power Of outward change, there blooms a deathless flower, That breathes on earth the air of paradise.
* * * * *
VARIANT ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1849.
... find ... 1807.]
* * * * *
FROM THE SAME
Translated 1805?--Published 1807
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--Ed.
II
No mortal object did these eyes behold When first they met the placid light of thine, And my Soul felt her destiny divine, [1] And hope of endless peace in me grew bold: Heaven-born, the Soul a heaven-ward course must hold; 5 Beyond the visible world she soars to seek (For what delights the sense is false and weak) Ideal Form, the universal mould. The wise man, I affirm, can find no rest In that which perishes: nor will he lend 10 His heart to aught which doth on time depend. 'Tis sense, unbridled will, and not true love, That [2] kills the soul: love betters what is best, Even here below, but more in heaven above.
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1807.
When first saluted by the light of thine, When my soul ...
MS. letter to Sir George Beaumont.]
[Variant 2:
1827.
Which ... 1807.]
* * * * *
FROM THE SAME. TO THE SUPREME BEING
Translated 1804?--Published 1807
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--Ed.
III
The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed If Thou the spirit give by which I pray: My unassisted heart is barren clay, That [1] of its native self can nothing feed: Of good and pious works thou art the seed, 5 That [2] quickens only where thou say'st it may. Unless Thou shew to us thine own true way No man can find it: Father! Thou must lead. Do Thou, then, breathe those thoughts into my mind By which such virtue may in me be bred 10 That in thy holy footsteps I may tread; The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind, That I may have the power to sing of thee, And sound thy praises everlastingly.
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1827.
Which ... 1807.]
[Variant 2:
1827.
Which ... 1807.]
The sonnet from which the above is translated, is not wholly by Michael Angelo, the sculptor and painter, but is taken from patched-up versions of his poem by his nephew of the same name. Michael Angelo only wrote the first eight lines, and these have been garbled in his nephew's edition. The original lines are thus given by Guasti in his edition of Michael Angelo's Poems (1863) restored to their true reading, from the autograph MSS. in Rome and Florence.
Imperfect Sonnet transcribed from "Le Rime di Michelangelo Buonarroti Cavate dagli Autografi da Cesare Guasti. Firenze. 1863."
SONNET LXXXIX. [Vatican].
Ben sarien dolce le preghiere mie, Se virtù mi prestassi da pregarte: Nel mio fragil terren non è già parte Da frutto buon, che da sè nato sie.
Tu sol se' seme d' opre caste e pie, Che là germoglian dove ne fa' parte: Nessun proprio valor può seguitarte, Se no gli mostri le tue sante vie.
The lines are thus paraphrased in prose by the Editor:
Le mie preghiere sarebbero grate, se tu mi prestassi quella virtù che rende efficace il pregare: ma io sono un terreno sterile, in cui non nasce spontaneamente frutto che sia buono. Tu solamente sei seme di opere caste e pie, le quali germogliano là dove tu ti spargi: e nessuna virtù vi ha che da per se possa venirti dietro, se tu stesso non le mostri le vie che conducono al bene, e che sono le tue....
The Sonnet as published by the Nephew is as follows:
Ben sarian dolci le preghiere mie, Se virtù mi prestassi da pregarte: Nel mio terreno infertil non è parte Da produr frutto di virtu natie.
Tu il seme se' dell' opre giuste e pie, Che là germoglian dove ne fai parte: Nessun proprio valor puo seguitarte, Se non gli mostri le tue belle vie.
Tu nella mente mia pensieri infondi, Che producano in me si vivi effetti, Signor, ch' io segua i tuoi vestigi santi.
E dalla lingua mia chiari, e facondi Sciogli della tua gloria ardenti detti, Perche sempre io ti lodi, esalti, e canti.
('Le Rime di Michelangelo Buonarroti, Pittore, Scultor e Architetto cavate degli autografi, e pubblicate da Cesare Guasti'. Firenze, 1863.)-Ed.
* * * * *
APPENDIX.
NOTE I
"POEMS ON THE NAMING OF PLACES"
'When, to the attractions of the busy world', p. 66
The following variants occur in a MS. Book containing 'Yew Trees', 'Artegal' and 'Elidure', 'Laodamia', 'Black Comb,' etc.--Ed.
When from the restlessness of crowded life Back to my native vales I turned, and fixed My habitation in this peaceful spot, Sharp season was it of continuous storm In deepest winter; and, from week to week, Pathway, and lane, and public way were clogged With frequent showers of snow ...
When first attracted by this happy Vale Hither I came, among old Shepherd Swains To fix my habitation,'t was a time Of deepest winter, and from week to week Pathway, and lane, and public way were clogged
When to the { cares and pleasures of the world { attractions of the busy world
Preferring {ease and liberty } I chose {peace and liberty } I chose {studious leisure I had chosen A habitation in this peaceful vale Sharp season {was it of } continuous storm {followed by } continuous storm
* * * * *
NOTE II.--THE HAWKSHEAD BECK
(See pp. 188-89, 'The Prelude',