Part III

. XLVII., p. 108).--ED.

[12] 1837.

Where, ... 1822.

[13] It may not be unworthy of note that in the first edition of this sonnet Wordsworth made the stream of the Duddon masculine, that of Liberty feminine, and that of the Church neuter.--ED.

II

CONJECTURES

If there be prophets on whose spirits rest Past things, revealed like future, they can tell What Powers, presiding o'er the sacred well Of Christian Faith, this savage Island blessed With its first bounty. Wandering through the west, Did holy Paul[14] a while in Britain dwell, 6 And call the Fountain forth by miracle, And with dread signs the nascent Stream invest? Or He, whose bonds dropped off, whose prison doors Flew open, by an Angel's voice unbarred?[15] 10 Or some of humbler name, to these wild shores Storm-driven; who, having seen the cup of woe Pass from their Master, sojourned here to guard The precious Current they had taught to flow?

FOOTNOTES:

[14] Stillingfleet adduces many arguments in support of this opinion, but they are unconvincing. The latter part of this Sonnet refers to a favourite notion of Roman Catholic writers, that Joseph of Arimathea and his companions brought Christianity into Britain, and built a rude church at Glastonbury; alluded to hereafter, in a passage upon the dissolution of monasteries.--W. W. 1822.

[15] St. Peter.--ED.

III

TREPIDATION OF THE DRUIDS

Screams round the Arch-druid's brow the seamew[16]--white As Menai's foam; and toward the mystic ring Where Augurs stand, the Future questioning, Slowly the cormorant aims her heavy flight, Portending ruin to each baleful rite, 5 That, in the lapse, of ages,[17] hath crept o'er Diluvian truths, and patriarchal lore. Haughty the Bard: can these meek doctrines blight His transports? wither his heroic strains? But all shall be fulfilled;--the Julian spear 10 A way first opened;[18] and, with Roman chains, The tidings come of Jesus crucified; They come--they spread--the weak, the suffering, hear; Receive the faith, and in the hope abide.

FOOTNOTES:

[16] This water-fowl was, among the Druids, an emblem of those traditions connected with the deluge that made an important part of their mysteries. The Cormorant was a bird of bad omen.--W. W. 1822.

[17] 1827.

... seasons ... 1822.

[18] The reference is to the conquest of Britain by Julius Cæsar.--ED.

IV

DRUIDICAL EXCOMMUNICATION

Mercy and Love have met thee on thy road, Thou wretched Outcast, from the gift of fire And food cut off by sacerdotal ire, From every sympathy that Man bestowed! Yet shall it claim our reverence, that to God, 5 Ancient of days! that to the eternal Sire, These jealous Ministers of law aspire, As to the one sole fount whence wisdom flowed, Justice, and order. Tremblingly escaped, As if with prescience of the coming storm, 10 _That_ intimation when the stars were shaped; And still, 'mid yon thick woods, the primal truth Glimmers through many a superstitious form[19] That fills the Soul with unavailing ruth.

FOOTNOTES:

[19] 1827.

And yon thick woods maintain the primal truth, Debased by many a superstitious form, 1822.

V

UNCERTAINTY

Darkness surrounds us: seeking, we are lost On Snowdon's wilds, amid Brigantian coves,[20] Or where the solitary shepherd roves Along the plain of Sarum, by the ghost Of Time and shadows of Tradition, crost;[21] 5

And where the boatman of the Western Isles Slackens his course--to mark those holy piles Which yet survive on bleak Iona's coast.[22] Nor these, nor monuments of eldest name,[23] Nor Taliesin's unforgotten lays,[24] 10 Nor characters of Greek or Roman fame, To an unquestionable Source have led; Enough--if eyes, that sought the fountain-head In vain, upon the growing Rill may gaze.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] The reference is to Yorkshire. The Brigantes inhabited England from sea to sea, from Cumberland to Durham, but more especially Yorkshire. See Tacitus, _Annals_,