book ii
. l. 285.--ED.
RECOLLECTION OF THE PORTRAIT OF KING HENRY EIGHTH, TRINITY LODGE, CAMBRIDGE[472]
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
The imperial Stature, the colossal stride, Are yet before me; yet do I behold The broad full visage, chest of amplest mould, The vestments 'broidered with barbaric pride: And lo! a poniard, at the Monarch's side, 5 Hangs ready to be grasped in sympathy With the keen threatenings of that fulgent eye, Below the white-rimmed bonnet, far-descried. Who trembles now at thy capricious mood? 'Mid those surrounding Worthies, haughty King, 10 We rather think, with grateful mind sedate, How Providence educeth, from the spring Of lawless will, unlooked-for streams of good, Which neither force shall check nor time abate!
FOOTNOTES:
[472] Trinity College, Cambridge, was founded by King Henry VIII. in 1546, on the site of King's Hall, founded by Edward III. in 1337. Two of the gateways of the latter remain, as parts of the great court of Trinity. Over one of these--the King's or entrance gate way--the statue of Henry VIII. is erected. The portrait, described in the sonnet, is in the Hall of the College.--ED.
"WHEN PHILOCTETES IN THE LEMNIAN ISLE"
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
When Philoctetes in the Lemnian isle[473] Like a Form sculptured on a monument Lay couched; on him or his dread bow unbent[474] Some wild Bird oft might settle and beguile The rigid features of a transient smile, 5 Disperse the tear, or to the sigh give vent, Slackening the pains of ruthless banishment From his lov'd home, and from heroic toil. And trust[475] that spiritual Creatures round us move, Griefs to allay which[476] Reason cannot heal; 10 Yea, veriest[477] reptiles have sufficed to prove To fettered wretchedness, that no Bastile[478] Is deep enough to exclude the light of love, Though man for brother man has ceased to feel.
FOOTNOTES:
[473] The original title of this sonnet in MS. was _Suggested by the same Incident_ (referring to the previous sonnet); and its original form, with one line awanting, was as follows:--
When Philoctetes, in the Lemnian Isle Reclined with shaggy forehead earthward bent, Lay silent like a weed-grown Monument, Such Friend, for such brief moment as a smile Asks to be born and die in, might beguile The wounded Chief of pining discontent From home affections, and heroic toil. Seen, or unseen, beneath us, or above, Are Powers that soften anguish, if not heal; And toads and spiders have sufficed to prove To fettered wretchedness that no Bastile Is deep enough to exclude the light of Love, Though man for Brother man have ceased to feel.
Philoctetes, one of the Argonauts, received from the dying Hercules his arrows. Called by Menelaus to go with the Greeks to the Trojan war, he was sent to the island of Lemnos, owing to a wound in his foot. There he remained for ten years, till the oracle informed the Greeks that Troy could not be taken without the arrows of Hercules. The sonnet refers to the legend of his life in Lemnos.--ED.
[474] 1837.
... isle Lay couched; upon that breathless Monument, On him, or on his fearful bow unbent, 1827.
[475] 1837.
From home affections, and heroic toil. Nor doubt ... 1827.
[476] 1837.
... that ... 1827.
[477] 1837.
And very ... 1827.
[478] Compare the sonnet _To Toussaint l'Ouverture_ (vol. ii. p. 339).--ED.
"WHILE ANNA'S PEERS AND EARLY PLAYMATES TREAD"
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
[This is taken from the account given by Miss Jewsbury of the pleasure she derived, when long confined to her bed by sickness, from the inanimate object on which this sonnet turns.--I.F.]
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
While Anna's peers[479] and early playmates tread, In freedom, mountain-turf and river's marge;[480] Or float with music in the festal barge; Rein the proud steed, or through the dance are led; Her doom it is[481] to press a weary bed-- 5 Till oft her guardian Angel, to some charge More urgent called, will stretch his wings at large, And friends too rarely prop the languid head. Yet, helped by Genius--untired comforter,[482] The presence even of a stuffed Owl for her 10 Can cheat the time; sending her fancy out To ivied castles and to moonlight skies, Though he can neither stir a plume, nor shout; Nor veil, with restless film, his staring eyes.
FOOTNOTES:
[479] Anna Jewsbury, afterwards Mrs. William Fletcher. Compare _Liberty_, in this volume, stanza 1, and the note (p. 222).--ED.
[480] 1837.
While they, her Playmates once, light-hearted tread The mountain turf and river's flowery marge; 1827.
While they, who once were Anna's Playmates, tread The mountain turf and river's flowery marge; 1832.
[481] 1832.
Is Anna doomed ... 1827.
[482] 1837.
Yet Genius is no feeble comforter: 1827.
TO THE CUCKOO
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
Not the whole warbling grove in concert heard When sunshine follows shower, the breast can thrill Like the first summons, Cuckoo! of thy bill, With its twin notes inseparably paired.[483] The captive 'mid damp vaults unsunned, unaired, 5 Measuring the periods of his lonely doom, That cry can reach; and to the sick man's room Sends gladness, by no languid smile declared. The lordly eagle-race through hostile search May perish; time may come when never more 10 The wilderness shall hear the lion roar; But, long as cock shall crow from household perch To rouse the dawn, soft gales shall speed thy wing, And thy erratic voice[484] be faithful to the Spring!
FOOTNOTES:
[483] Compare _To the Cuckoo_--1802 (vol. ii. p. 290)--
Thy twofold shout I hear.
Also Robert Browning's _A Lovers' Quarrel_, stanza 18--
... that minor third There is none but the cuckoo knows.--ED.
[484] Compare (vol. ii. p. 289)--
O Cuckoo! shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice?--ED.
THE INFANT M---- M----
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
[The infant was Mary Monkhouse,[485] the only daughter of my friend and cousin, Thomas Monkhouse.--I. F.]
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
Unquiet Childhood here by special grace Forgets her nature, opening like a flower That neither feeds nor wastes its vital power In painful struggles. Months each other chase, And nought untunes that Infant's voice; no trace[486] 5 Of fretful temper sullies her pure cheek;[487] Prompt, lively, self-sufficing, yet so meek That one enrapt with gazing on her face (Which even the placid innocence of death Could scarcely make more placid, heaven more bright) Might learn to picture, for the eye of faith, 11 The Virgin, as she shone with kindred light; A nursling couched upon her mother's knee, Beneath some shady palm of Galilee.
FOOTNOTES:
[485] Afterwards Mrs. Henry Dew of Whitney Rectory, Herefordshire.--ED.
[486] 1837.
... a trace 1827.
[487] 1837.
... sullies not her cheek; 1827.
TO ROTHA Q----
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
[Rotha, the daughter of my son-in-law, Mr. Quillinan.--I. F.]
Rotha, my Spiritual Child! this head was grey When at the sacred font for thee I stood; Pledged till thou reach the verge of womanhood, And shalt become thy own sufficient stay: Too late, I feel, sweet Orphan, was the day 5 For stedfast hope the contract to fulfil; Yet shall my blessing hover o'er thee still, Embodied in the music of this Lay, Breathed forth beside the peaceful mountain Stream[488] Whose murmur soothed thy languid Mother's ear 10 After her throes, this Stream of name more dear Since thou dost bear it,--a memorial theme[489] For others; for thy future self, a spell To summon fancies out of Time's dark cell.[490]
FOOTNOTES:
[488] The river Rotha, which flows into Windermere from the lakes of Grasmere and Rydal.--ED.
[489] 1827.
... whose name is thine to bear Hanging around thee a memorial theme MS.
[490] Compare the poem on the Borrowdale _Yew Trees_.--ED.
TO ----, IN HER SEVENTIETH YEAR[491]
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
[Lady Fitzgerald, as described to me by Lady Beaumont.--I.F.]
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
Such age how beautiful! O Lady bright, Whose mortal lineaments seem all refined By favouring Nature and a saintly Mind To something purer and more exquisite Than flesh and blood; whene'er thou meet'st my sight, When I behold thy blanched unwithered cheek, 6 Thy temples fringed with locks of gleaming white, And head that droops because the soul is meek, Thee with the welcome Snowdrop I compare; That child of winter, prompting thoughts that climb 10 From desolation toward[492] the genial prime; Or with the Moon conquering earth's misty air, And filling more and more with crystal light As pensive Evening deepens into night.[493]
FOOTNOTES:
[491] 1832.
To ----, 1827.
[492] 1832.
... tow'rds ... 1827.
[493] Another version of this sonnet is given in a letter from Mrs. Wordsworth to Lady Beaumont:--
Lady, what delicate graces may unite In age--so often comfortless and bleak! Though from thy unenfeebled eye-balls break Those saintly emanations of delight, A snow-drop let me name thee; pure, chaste, white, Too pure for flesh and blood; with smooth, blanch'd cheek, And head that droops because the soul is meek, And not that Time presses with weary weight. Hope, Love, and Joy are with thee fresh as fair; A Child of Winter prompting thoughts that climb From desolation towards the genial prime: Or, like the moon, conquering the misty air And filling more and more with chrystal light, As pensive evening deepens into night.--ED.
"IN MY MIND'S EYE A TEMPLE, LIKE A CLOUD"
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
In my mind's eye a Temple, like a cloud Slowly surmounting some invidious hill, Rose out of darkness: the bright Work stood still; And might of its own beauty have been proud, But it was fashioned and to God was vowed 5 By Virtues that diffused, in every part, Spirit divine through forms of human art: Faith had her arch--her arch, when winds blow loud, Into the consciousness of safety thrilled; And Love her towers of dread foundation laid 10 Under the grave of things; Hope had her spire Star-high, and pointing still to something higher; Trembling I gazed, but heard a voice--it said, "Hell-gates are powerless Phantoms when _we_ build."
"GO BACK TO ANTIQUE AGES, IF THINE EYES"
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
One of the "Poems dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."--ED.
Go back to antique ages, if thine eyes The genuine mien and character would trace Of the rash Spirit that still holds her place, Prompting the world's audacious vanities! Go back, and see[494] the Tower of Babel rise; 5 The pyramid extend its monstrous base, For some Aspirant of our short-lived race, Anxious an aery name to immortalize. There, too, ere wiles and politic dispute Gave specious colouring to aim and act, 10 See the first mighty Hunter leave the brute-- To chase mankind, with men in armies packed For his field-pastime high and absolute, While, to dislodge his game, cities are sacked!
FOOTNOTES:
[494] 1837.
See, at her call, ... 1827.
"IF THOU INDEED DERIVE THY LIGHT FROM HEAVEN"
Published 1827
[These verses were written some time after we had become residents at Rydal Mount, and I will take occasion from them to observe upon the beauty of that situation, as being backed and flanked by lofty fells, which bring the heavenly bodies to touch, as it were, the earth upon the mountain-tops, while the prospect in front lies open to a length of level valley, the extended lake, and a terminating ridge of low hills; so that it gives an opportunity to the inhabitants of the place of noticing the stars in both the positions here alluded to, namely, on the tops of the mountains, and as winter-lamps at a distance among the leafless trees.--I. F.]
If thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven, Then, to the measure of that heaven-born light, Shine, Poet![495] in thy place, and be content:-- The stars pre-eminent in magnitude, And they that from the zenith dart their beams,[496] 5 (Visible though they[497] be to half the earth, Though half a sphere be conscious of their brightness) Are[498] yet of no diviner origin, No purer essence, than the one that burns, Like an untended watch-fire, on the ridge 10 Of some dark mountain; or than those which seem Humbly to hang, like twinkling winter lamps, Among the branches of the leafless trees; All are the undying offspring of one Sire: Then, to the measure of the light vouchsafed, 15 Shine, Poet! in thy place, and be content.[499]
These lines, first published in 1827, found a place in the edition of that year, amongst the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection." In the edition of 1845 they appeared as a Preface to the entire volume of Poems.--ED.
FOOTNOTES:
[495] 1837.
... from Heaven, Shine, Poet, ... 1827.
[496] 1837.
The Star that from the zenith darts its beams, 1827.
[497] 1837.
... it ... 1827.
[498] 1837.
... its brightness, Is ... 1827.
[499] The last three lines were added in 1837.--ED.
IN THE WOODS OF RYDAL[500]
Composed 1827.--Published 1827
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--ED.
Wild Redbreast![501] hadst them at Jemima's lip[502] Pecked, as at mine, thus boldly, Love might say[503] A half-blown rose had tempted thee to sip Its glistening dews: but hallowed is the clay Which the Muse warms; and I, whose head is grey,[504] 5 Am not unworthy of thy fellowship; Nor could I let one thought--one motion--slip That might thy sylvan confidence betray. For are we not all His without whose care Vouchsafed no sparrow falleth to the ground?[505] 10 Who gives his Angels wings to speed through air, And rolls the planets through the blue profound; Then peck or perch, fond Flutterer! nor forbear To trust a Poet in still musings bound.[506]
FOOTNOTES:
[500] The original title (in MS.) was "To a Redbreast." _In the Woods of Rydal_ was added in 1836.--ED.
[501] This Sonnet, as Poetry, explains itself, yet the scene of the incident having been a wild wood, it may be doubted, as a point of natural history, whether the bird was aware that his attentions were bestowed upon a human, or even a living creature. But a Redbreast will perch upon the foot of a gardener at work, and alight on the handle of the spade when his hand is half upon it,--this I have seen. And under my own roof I have witnessed affecting instances of the creature's friendly visits to the chambers of sick persons, as described in the verses to the Redbreast. One of these welcome intruders used frequently to roost upon a nail in the wall, from which a picture had hung, and was ready, as morning came, to pipe his song in the hearing of the Invalid, who had been long confined to her room. These attachments to a particular person, when marked and continued, used to be reckoned ominous; but the superstition is passing away.--W. W. 1827.
[502] Jemima Quillinan.--ED.
[503] 1837.
Strange visitation! at _Jemima's_ lip Thus hadst thou pecked, wild Redbreast! Love might say, 1827.
[504] 1827.
That the Muse warms; and I, though old and grey, MS.
[505] Compare _The Ancient Mariner_,