book iv
. ode viii. l. 28.--ED.
[848] Baron Menno van Cohorn (or Coehoorn) was a Dutch military engineer of genius (1641-1704). His fame rests on discoveries connected with the effect of projectiles on fortifications. His practical successes against the French, under Vauban, were great; and the fortifications he designed and constructed, of which that of Bergen-op-Zoom was the chief, give him a place in the history of military science, greater than that derived from his writings. He devised a kind of small mortar or howitzer, for use in siege operations, which is named after him a Cohorn.--ED.
[849] 1845.
A Tower of refuge to the else forlorn. 1835.
A Tower of refuge built for the forlorn. C.
[850] The TOWER OF REFUGE, an ornament to Douglas Bay, was erected chiefly through the humanity and zeal of Sir William Hillary; and he also was the founder of the lifeboat establishment, at that place; by which, under his superintendence, and often by his exertions at the imminent hazard of his own life, many seamen and passengers have been saved.--W. W. 1835.
In Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal of a visit to the Isle of Man in 1826, the following occurs:--"Monday, 3rd July.--Sir William Hillary saved a boy's life to-day in harbour. He raised a regiment for government, and chose his own reward, viz., a Baronetcy! and now lives here on £300 per annum, etc. etc."--ED.
XVI
BY THE SEA-SHORE, ISLE OF MAN
Why stand we gazing on the sparkling Brine, With wonder smit by its transparency, And all-enraptured with its purity?-- Because the unstained, the clear, the crystalline, Have ever in them something of benign; 5 Whether in gem, in water, or in sky, A sleeping infant's brow, or wakeful eye Of a young maiden, only not divine. Scarcely the hand forbears to dip its palm For beverage drawn as from a mountain-well. 10 Temptation centres in the liquid Calm; Our daily raiment seems no obstacle To instantaneous plunging in, deep Sea! And revelling[851] in long embrace with thee.[852]
FOOTNOTES:
[851] 1835.
And wantoning ...
MS.
[852] The sea-water on the coast of the Isle of Man is singularly pure and beautiful.--W. W. 1837.
XVII
ISLE OF MAN
[My son William[853] is here the person alluded to as saving the life of the youth, and the circumstances were as mentioned in the Sonnet.--I. F.]
A youth too certain of his power to wade On the smooth bottom of this clear bright sea,[854] To sight so shallow, with a bather's glee, Leapt from this rock, and but for timely aid He, by the alluring element betrayed, 5 Had perished. Then might Sea-nymphs (and with sighs Of self-reproach) have chanted elegies[855] Bewailing his sad fate, when he was laid[856] In peaceful earth: for, doubtless, he was frank, Utterly in himself devoid of guile; 10 Knew not the double-dealing of a smile; Nor aught that makes men's promises a blank, Or deadly snare: and He survives to bless The Power that saved him in his strange distress.
FOOTNOTES:
[853] But it was his son John, and not William, who accompanied the poet in this Tour. See the first Fenwick note (p. 342).--ED.
[854] 1835.
... that his feet could wade At will the flow of this pellucid sea,
MS.
On the smooth bottom of this clear blue sea,
MS.
[855] Compare Ariel's Song in _The Tempest_, act I. scene ii.--
Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell.--ED.
[856] 1837.
Leapt from this rock, and surely, had not aid Been near, must soon have breathed out life, betrayed By fondly trusting to an element Fair, and to others more than innocent; Then had sea-nymphs sung dirges for him laid 1835.
Here ...
MS.
XVIII
ISLE OF MAN[857]
Did[858] pangs of grief for lenient time too keen, Grief that devouring waves had caused--or guilt[859] Which they had witnessed, sway[860] the man who built This Homestead, placed where nothing could be seen, Nought heard, of ocean troubled or serene? 5 A tired Ship-soldier[861] on paternal land, That o'er the channel holds august command, The dwelling raised,--a veteran Marine![862] He, in disgust, turned from the neighbouring sea[863] To shun the memory of a listless life 10 That hung between two callings. May no strife More hurtful here beset him, doomed though free, Self-doomed, to worse inaction, till his eye Shrink from the daily sight of earth and sky!
FOOTNOTES:
[857] 1837.
The Retired Marine Officer, Isle of Man. 1835.
[858] 1837.
Not ... 1835.
[859] 1837.
... nor guilt 1835.
[860] 1837.
... swayed ... 1835.
[861] 1835.
No--a Ship-soldier ... 1837.
[862] Henry Hutchinson. See the Fenwick note to the next sonnet.--ED.
[863] 1835.
The dwelling raised. Fantastic slave of spleen He sought by shunning thus the neighbouring sea, Refuge from memory of a listless life C.
The habitation raised, a slave of spleen, C.
The weary man turned from the neighbouring sea
MS.
XIX
BY A RETIRED MARINER[864]
(A FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR)
[Mrs. Wordsworth's Brother, Henry.[865]--I. F.]
From early youth I ploughed the restless Main, My mind as restless and as apt to change; Through every clime and ocean did I range, In hope at length a competence to gain; For poor to Sea I went, and poor I still remain. 5 Year after year I strove, but strove in vain, And hardships manifold did I endure, For Fortune on me never deign'd to smile; Yet I at last a resting-place have found, With just enough life's comforts to procure, 10 In a snug Cove on this our favoured Isle, A peaceful spot where Nature's gifts abound; Then sure I have no reason to complain, Though poor to Sea I went, and poor I still remain.
FOOTNOTES:
[864] This unpretending Sonnet is by a gentleman nearly connected with me, and I hope, as it falls so easily into its place, that both the writer and the reader will excuse its appearance here.--W. W. 1835.
[865] Mr. Henry Hutchinson, Mrs. Wordsworth's brother, was--the Bishop of Lincoln tells us--"a person of great originality and vigour of mind, a very enterprising sailor, and a writer of verses distinguished by no ordinary merit."--See the _Memoirs of Wordsworth_, vol. ii. p. 246.--ED.
XX
AT BALA-SALA, ISLE OF MAN
(SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY A FRIEND)
[Supposed to be written by a friend (Mr. Cookson), who died there a few years after.[866]--I. F.]
Broken in fortune, but in mind entire And sound in principle, I seek repose Where ancient trees this convent-pile enclose,[867] In ruin beautiful. When vain desire Intrudes on peace, I pray the eternal Sire 5 To cast a soul-subduing shade on me, A grey-haired, pensive, thankful Refugee; A shade--but with some sparks of heavenly fire Once to these cells vouchsafed.[868] And when I note The old Tower's brow yellowed as with the beams 10 Of sunset ever there,[869] albeit streams[870] Of stormy weather-stains that semblance wrought, I thank the silent Monitor, and say "Shine so, my aged brow, at all hours of the day!"
FOOTNOTES:
[866] Henry Crabb Robinson--the Wordsworths' companion in the tour, wrote in his Journal, 14th July: "At Ballasalla called on Mr. and Mrs. Cookson, esteemed friends of the W.'s, whom adversity had driven to this asylum."--ED.
[867] Rushen Abbey.--W. W. 1835.
[868] 1835.
... with such sparks of holy fire As once were cherished here....
MS.
[869] The "old Tower" is that of Rushen Abbey, close to Bala-Sala, the latest dissolved monastery in the British Isles. Little of it survives; only the tower, refectory, and dormitory. The tower is still yellowed with lichen stains. The following occurs in one of Mr. H. C. Robinson's letters on the Italian Tour of 1837:--"This reminds me that I was once privy to the conception of a Sonnet with a distinctness which did not once occur on the longer Italian journey. This was when I accompanied him into the Isle of Man. We had been drinking tea with Mr. and Mrs. Cookson, and left them when the weather was dull. Very soon after leaving them we passed the Church Tower of Bala-Sala. The upper part of the tower had a sort of frieze of yellow lichens. Mr. W. Pointed it out to me, and said, 'It's a Perpetual sunshine.' I thought no more of it till I had read the beautiful sonnet,
'Broken in fortune, but in mind entire.'"--ED.
[870] 1835.
.... and know that streams
MS.
XXI
TYNWALD HILL
[Mr. Robinson and I walked the greater part of the way from Castle-town to Piel, and stopped some time at Tynwald Hill. One of my companions was an elderly man who, in a muddy way (for he was tipsy), explained and answered, as far as he could, my enquiries about this place and the ceremonies held here. I found more agreeable company in some little children; one of them, upon my request, recited the Lord's Prayer to me, and I helped her to a clearer understanding of it as well as I could; but I was not at all satisfied with my own part; hers was much better done, and I am persuaded that, like other children, she knew more about it than she was able to express, especially to a stranger.--I. F.]
Once on the top of Tynwald's formal mound (Still marked with green turf circles narrowing[871] Stage above stage)[872] would sit this Island's King, The laws to promulgate, enrobed and crowned; While, compassing the little mount around,[873] 5 Degrees and Orders stood, each under each: Now, like to things within fate's easiest reach,[874] The power is merged, the pomp a grave has found. Off with yon cloud,[875] old Snafell![876] that thine eye Over three Realms may take its widest range; 10 And let, for them, thy fountains utter strange Voices, thy winds break forth in prophecy, If the whole State must suffer mortal change, Like Mona's miniature of sovereignty.
FOOTNOTES:
[871] The ground at Tynwald Hill (as it is called) remains unchanged. Here, on a small plot of ground, the whole Manx people meet annually on Midsummer Day, July 5th, to appoint officers and enact new laws. The first historical notice of these meetings is in 1417. The name Tynwald is derived from the Scandinavian _thing_, "court of justice," and _wald_, "fenced." The mound is only 12 feet high, rising by four circular platforms, each 3 feet higher than the one below it. The circumference at the base is 240 feet, and at the top 18 feet. It used once to be walled round, and had two gates. The approach now is by twenty-one steps cut in the turf.
In his _Diary_, _etc._, Robinson wrote of Tynwald--"It brought to my mind a similar monument of simple manners at Sarnen in Switzerland."--ED.
[872] 1835.
Once on the top of Tynwald Hill (a Mound
MS.
Time was when on the top of yon small mound (Still marked with circles duly narrowing Each above each) ...
MS.
[873] 1835.
Would sit by solemn usage robed and crowned, While compassing the grassy mount around,
MS.
Sate 'mid the assembled people robed and crowned,
MS.
[874] 1835.
Now like a thing within Fate's easiest reach,
MS.
[875] 1835.
Off with those clouds, ...
MS.
[876] The summit of this mountain is well chosen by Cowley as the scene of the "Vision," in which the spectral angel discourses with him concerning the government of Oliver Cromwell. "I found myself," says he, "on the top of that famous hill in the Island Mona, which has the prospect of three great, and not long since most happy, kingdoms. As soon as ever I looked upon them, they called forth the sad representation of all the sins and all the miseries that had overwhelmed them these twenty years." It is not to be denied that the changes now in progress, and the passions, and the way in which they work, strikingly resemble those which led to the disasters the philosophic writer so feelingly bewails. God grant that the resemblance may not become still more striking as months and years advance!--W. W. 1835.
The top of Snaefell (which Wordsworth names "Snafell"), the highest mountain in the Isle of Man, whence England, Scotland, and Ireland are to be seen, as mentioned in the Sonnet, is not visible from Tynwald Hill.--ED.
XXII
"DESPOND WHO WILL--_I_ HEARD A VOICE EXCLAIM"
Despond who will--_I_ heard a voice exclaim, "Though fierce the assault, and shatter'd the defence,[877] It cannot be that Britain's social frame, The glorious work of time and providence, Before a flying season's rash pretence,[878] 5 Should fall; that She, whose virtue put to shame, When Europe prostrate lay, the Conqueror's aim, Should perish, self-subverted. Black and dense The cloud is; but brings _that_ a day of doom To Liberty? Her sun is up the while,[879] 10 That orb whose beams round Saxon Alfred shone: Then laugh, ye innocent Vales! ye Streams, sweep on, Nor let one billow of our heaven-blest Isle[880] Toss in the fanning wind a humbler plume."
FOOTNOTES:
[877] 1835.
Clear voices from pure worlds of hope exclaim "Tho' fierce the assault, and shattered the defence,"
MS.
[878] 1835.
Before a season's calculating sense,
MS.
[879] 1835.
... The sun is up ...
MS.
[880] 1835.
... of this heaven-blest Isle
MS.
XXIII
IN THE FRITH OF CLYDE, AILSA CRAG[881]
DURING AN ECLIPSE OF THE SUN, JULY 17
[The morning of the eclipse was exquisitely beautiful while we passed the Crag as described in the Sonnet. On the deck of the steam-boat were several persons of the poor and labouring class, and I could not but be struck by their cheerful talk with each other, while not one of them seemed to notice the magnificent objects with which we were surrounded; and even the phenomenon of the eclipse attracted but little of their attention. Was it right not to regret this? They appeared to me, however, so much alive in their own minds to their own concerns that I could not look upon it as a misfortune that they had little perception for such pleasures as cannot be cultivated without ease and leisure. Yet, if one surveys life in all its duties and relations, such ease and leisure will not be found so enviable a privilege as it may at first appear. Natural Philosophy, Painting, and Poetry, and refined taste are no doubt great acquisitions to society; but among those who dedicate themselves to such pursuits, it is to be feared that few are as happy, and as consistent in the management of their lives, as the class of persons who at that time led me into this course of reflection. I do not mean by this to be understood to derogate from intellectual pursuits, for that would be monstrous: I say it in deep gratitude for this compensation to those whose cares are limited to the necessities of daily life. Among them, self-tormentors, so numerous in the higher classes of society, are rare.--I. F.]
Since risen from ocean, ocean to defy, Appeared the Crag of Ailsa, ne'er did morn With gleaming lights more gracefully adorn His sides, or wreathe with mist his forehead high: Now, faintly darkening with the sun's eclipse,[882] 5 Still is he seen, in lone sublimity, Towering above the sea and little ships; For dwarfs the tallest seem while sailing by, Each for her haven; with her freight of Care, Pleasure, or Grief, and Toil that seldom looks 10 Into the secret of to-morrow's fare; Though poor, yet rich, without the wealth of books, Or aught that watchful Love to Nature owes For her mute Powers, fix'd Forms, or[883] transient Shows.
FOOTNOTES:
[881] 1845.
IN THE FRITH OF CLYDE, AILSA CRAG. (July 17, 1833) 1835.
IN THE FRITH OF CLYDE, AILSA CRAG. (July 17) 1837.
[882] Compare _The Eclipse of the Sun_, 1820, in the "Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820" (vol. vi. p. 345).--ED.
[883] 1837.
... and ... 1835.
XXIV
ON THE FRITH OF CLYDE
(IN A STEAM-BOAT)
[The mountain outline on the north of this island, as seen from the Frith of Clyde,[884] is much the finest I have ever noticed in Scotland or elsewhere--I.F.]
Arran! a single-crested Teneriffe, A St. Helena next--in shape and hue, Varying her crowded peaks and ridges blue; Who but must covet a cloud-seat, or skiff Built for the air, or winged Hippogriff? 5 That he might fly, where no one could pursue, From this dull Monster and her sooty crew; And, as[885] a God, light on thy topmost cliff. Impotent wish! which reason would despise If the mind knew no union of extremes, 10 No natural bond between the boldest schemes Ambition frames, and heart-humilities.[886] Beneath stern mountains many a soft vale lies, And lofty springs give birth to lowly streams.
FOOTNOTES:
[884] He doubtless refers to the view of Goatfell and Kaim-na-Calliach, with Loch Ranza in front.--ED.
[885] 1837.
And, like ... 1835.
[886] Compare _The Triad_, II. 145-148--
High is her aim as heaven above, And wide as ether her good-will; And, like the lowly reed, her love Can drink its nurture from the scantiest rill.--ED.
XXV
ON REVISITING DUNOLLY CASTLE
(See former series, "Yarrow Revisited," etc., p. 278.)
The captive Bird was gone;--to cliff or moor Perchance had flown, delivered by the storm; Or he had pined, and sunk to feed the worm: Him found we not: but, climbing a tall tower, There saw, impaved with rude fidelity 5 Of art mosaic, in a roofless floor,[887] An Eagle with stretched wings, but beamless eye-- An Eagle that could neither wail nor soar. Effigy[888] of the Vanished[889]--(shall I dare To call thee so?) or symbol of fierce deeds 10 And of the towering courage which past times Rejoiced in--take, whate'er thou be, a share,[890] Not undeserved, of the memorial rhymes That animate my way where'er it leads!
Lieutenant-Colonel M'Dougal of Dunollie wrote to me (October 1883) that "the mosaic picture of an eagle--if it may be called so--still exists, though it is rather a rude work of art. I believe it was executed by a gardener, who was here about the time of Wordsworth's visit. It was made of small stones, and is now a good deal overgrown with weeds, moss, etc., as the second story of the old ruin is open to the weather. An eagle was for many years kept in a cage, made against a wall of the ruin, and this no doubt was the cause of the rude picture being made."--ED.
FOOTNOTES:
[887] 1835.
Espied an old mosaic effigy Set in a roofless chamber's pavement floor,
MS.
[888] 1837.
Shade of the poor Departed ... MS.
Effigies of the Vanished ... 1835.
[889] This ingenious piece of workmanship, as I afterwards learned, had been executed for their own amusement by some labourers employed about the place.--W. W. 1835.
[890] 1837.
... or symbol of past times, That towering courage, and the savage deeds Those times were proud of, take Thou too a share, 1835.
Their towering courage, and the savage deeds Which they were proud of, ...
MS.
XXVI
THE DUNOLLY EAGLE
Not to the clouds, not to the cliff, he flew; But when a storm, on sea or mountain bred, Came and delivered him, alone he sped Into the castle-dungeon's darkest mew. Now, near his master's house in open view 5 He dwells, and hears indignant tempests howl, Kennelled and chained. Ye tame domestic fowl,[891] Beware of him! Thou, saucy cockatoo, Look to thy plumage and thy life!--The roe, Fleet as the west wind, is for _him_ no quarry; 10 Balanced in ether he will never tarry, Eyeing the sea's blue depths. Poor Bird! even so Doth man of brother man a creature make That clings to slavery for its own sad sake.
FOOTNOTES:
[891] 1835.
... villatic Fowl,
MS.
XXVII
WRITTEN IN A BLANK LEAF OF MACPHERSON'S OSSIAN[892]
Composed 1824.--Published 1827
[The verses,
or strayed From hope and promise, self-betrayed,
were, I am sorry to say, suggested from apprehensions of the fate of my friend, H.C.,[893] the subject of the verses addressed to _H.C. when six years old_. The piece to "Memory" arose out of similar feelings.[894]--I. F.]
Oft have I caught, upon a fitful breeze,[895] Fragments of far-off melodies, With ear not coveting the whole, A part so charmed the pensive soul: While a dark storm before my sight 5 Was yielding, on a mountain height Loose vapours have I watched, that won Prismatic colours from the sun; Nor felt a wish that heaven would show The image of its perfect bow. 10 What need, then, of these finished Strains? Away with counterfeit Remains! An abbey in its lone recess, A temple of the wilderness, Wrecks though they be, announce with feeling 15 The majesty of honest dealing. Spirit of Ossian! if imbound In language thou may'st yet be found, If aught (intrusted to the pen Or floating on the tongues of men, 20 Albeit shattered and impaired) Subsist thy dignity to guard, In concert with memorial claim Of old grey stone, and high-born name That cleaves to rock or pillared cave 25 Where moans the blast, or beats the wave, Let Truth, stern arbitress of all, Interpret that Original, And for presumptuous wrongs atone;-- Authentic words be given, or none! 30
Time is not blind;--yet He, who spares Pyramid pointing to the stars, Hath preyed with ruthless appetite On all that marked the primal flight Of the poetic ecstasy 35 Into the land of mystery. No tongue is able to rehearse One measure, Orpheus! of thy verse;[896] Musæus, stationed with his lyre Supreme among the Elysian quire, 40 Is, for the dwellers upon earth Mute as a lark ere morning's birth,[897] Why grieve for these, though past away The music, and extinct the lay? When thousands, by severer doom, 45 Full early to the silent tomb Have sunk, at Nature's call; or strayed From hope and promise, self-betrayed; The garland withering on their brows; Stung with remorse for broken vows; 50 Frantic--else how might they rejoice? And friendless, by their own sad choice!
Hail, Bards of mightier grasp! on you I chiefly call, the chosen Few, Who cast-not off the acknowledged guide, 55 Who faltered not, nor turned aside; Whose lofty genius could survive Privation, under sorrow thrive; In whom the fiery Muse revered The symbol of a snow-white beard, 60 Bedewed with meditative tears Dropped from the lenient cloud of years.
Brothers in soul! though distant times Produced you nursed in various climes, Ye, when the orb of life had waned, 65 A plenitude of love retained: Hence, while in you each sad regret By corresponding hope was met, Ye lingered among human kind, Sweet voices for the passing wind; 70 Departing sunbeams, loth to stop, Though smiling on the last hill top![898] Such to the tender-hearted maid Even ere her joys begin to fade; Such, haply, to the rugged chief 75 By fortune crushed, or tamed by grief; Appears, on Morven's lonely shore, Dim-gleaming through imperfect lore, The Son of Fingal; such was blind Mæonides of ampler mind;[899] 80 Such Milton, to the fountain head Of glory by Urania led!
FOOTNOTES:
[892] This poem was first published among the _Poems of Sentiment and_ _Reflection_ in the edition of 1827. In the edition of 1836 Wordsworth gave 1824 as the year of its composition. It is here printed in the series to which it was finally assigned, although slightly out of its chronological place.--ED.
[893] Hartley Coleridge.--ED.
[894] See p. 117.--ED.
[895] 1832.
... caught from fitful breeze 1827.
[896] The genuine Orphic Literature included some Hymns, a Theogony, Oracles, Songs, and Sacred Legends, #hieroi logoi#: but none have come down to modern times. The _Orphica_ which have survived are spurious.--ED.
[897] None of the fragments attributed to Musæus by the ancients--the #Chrêsmoi#, #Hypothêkai#, #Theogonia#, etc.--have survived.--ED.
[898] Compare vol. ii. p. 163--
There is an Eminence,--of these our hills The last that parleys with the setting sun.--ED.
[899] Homer; so called from the fact that Mæonia in Lydia was, by some, claimed as his birth-place.--ED.
XXVIII
CAVE OF STAFFA[900]
We saw, but surely, in the motley crowd, Not one of us has felt the far-famed sight; How _could_ we feel it? each the other's blight, Hurried and hurrying, volatile and loud. O for those motions only that invite 5 The Ghost of Fingal to his tuneful Cave By the breeze entered, and wave after wave Softly embosoming the timid light! And by _one_ Votary who at will might stand Gazing, and take into his mind and heart, 10 With undistracted reverence, the effect Of those proportions where the almighty hand That made the worlds, the sovereign Architect, Has deigned to work as if with human Art![901]
FOOTNOTES:
[900] The reader may be tempted to exclaim, "How came this and the two following sonnets to be written, after the dissatisfaction expressed in the preceding one?" In fact, at the risk of incurring the reasonable displeasure of the master of the steam-boat, I returned[902] to the cave, and explored it under circumstances more favourable to those imaginative impressions which it is so wonderfully fitted to make upon the mind.--W. W. 1835.
[901] Staffa, or the island of Staves, as some derive the name.--ED.
[902] 1845.
the Author returned 1835.
XXIX
CAVE OF STAFFA
(AFTER THE CROWD HAD DEPARTED)[903]
Thanks for the lessons of this Spot--fit school For the presumptuous thoughts that would assign Mechanic laws to agency divine; And, measuring heaven by earth, would overrule Infinite Power. The pillared vestibule, 5 Expanding yet precise, the roof embowed,[904] Might seem designed to humble man, when proud Of his best workmanship by plan and tool. Down-bearing with his whole Atlantic weight Of tide and tempest on the Structure's base, 10 And flashing to that Structure's topmost height,[905] Ocean has proved its strength, and of its grace In calms is conscious,[906] finding for his freight Of softest music some responsive place.
FOOTNOTES:
[903] 1845.
CAVE OF STAFFA. 1835.
[904] Note the topographical accuracy of this description.--ED.
[905] 1837.
And flashing upwards to its topmost height, 1835.
[906] Compare, _On a high part of the Coast of Cumberland_, p. 338--
No; 'tis the earth-voice of the mighty sea, Whispering how meek and gentle he _can_ be!--ED.
XXX
CAVE OF STAFFA
Ye shadowy Beings, that have rights and claims In every cell of Fingal's mystic Grot, Where are ye? Driven or venturing to the spot, Our fathers glimpses caught of your thin Frames, And, by your mien and bearing, knew your names; 5 And they could hear _his_ ghostly song who trod Earth, till the flesh lay on him like a load, While he struck his desolate harp without hopes or aims. Vanished ye are, but subject to recal; Why keep _we_ else the instincts whose dread law 10 Ruled here of yore, till what men felt they saw, Not by black arts but magic natural! If eyes be still sworn vassals of belief, Yon light shapes forth a Bard, that shade a Chief.
XXXI
FLOWERS ON THE TOP OF THE PILLARS AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE CAVE
Hope smiled when your nativity was cast, Children of Summer![907] Ye fresh Flowers that brave What Summer here escapes not, the fierce wave, And whole artillery of the western blast, Battering the Temple's front, its long-drawn nave 5 Smiting, as if each moment were their last. But ye, bright Flowers, on frieze and architrave Survive,[908] and once again the Pile stands fast; Calm as the Universe, from specular towers Of heaven contemplated by Spirits pure 10 With mute astonishment, it stands sustained Through every part in symmetry, to endure,[909] Unhurt, the assault of Time with all his hours, As the supreme Artificer ordained.[910]
FOOTNOTES:
[907] Upon the head of the columns which form the front of the cave, rests a body of decomposed basaltic matter, which was richly decorated with that large bright flower, the ox-eyed daisy. I had[911] noticed the same flower growing with profusion among the bold rocks on the western coast of the Isle of Man; making a brilliant contrast with their black and gloomy surfaces.--W. W. 1835.
[908] They still survive, and flourish above the pillars.--ED.
[909] 1840 and C.
Suns and their systems, diverse yet sustained In symmetry, and fashioned to endure, 1835.
[910] 1835.
As the Supreme Geometer ordained.
MS.
[911] 1845.
The author had 1835.
XXXII
IONA
On to Iona!--What can she afford To _us_ save matter for a thoughtful sigh, Heaved over ruin with stability In urgent contrast? To diffuse the WORD (Thy Paramount, mighty Nature! and Time's Lord) Her Temples rose,[912] 'mid pagan gloom; but why, 6 Even for a moment, has our verse deplored Their wrongs, since they fulfilled their destiny? And when, subjected to a common doom Of mutability, those far-famed Piles 10 Shall disappear from both the sister Isles, Iona's Saints, forgetting not past days, Garlands shall wear of amaranthine bloom, While heaven's vast sea of voices chants their praise.
FOOTNOTES:
[912] St. Columba took up his residence at Iona, in 563.--ED.
XXXIII
IONA
(UPON LANDING)
How sad a welcome! To each voyager[913] Some ragged child holds up for sale a store[914] Of wave-worn pebbles, pleading on the shore[915] Where once came monk and nun with gentle stir, Blessings to give, news ask, or suit prefer. 5 Yet is[916] yon neat trim church[917] a grateful speck Of novelty amid the sacred wreck Strewn far and wide. Think, proud Philosopher![918] Fallen though she be, this Glory of the west,[919] Still on her sons, the beams of mercy shine; 10 And "hopes, perhaps more heavenly bright than thine, A grace by thee unsought and unpossest, A faith more fixed, a rapture more divine, Shall gild their passage to eternal rest."[920]
FOOTNOTES:
[913] 1837.
With earnest look, to every voyager, 1835.
[914] 1837.
... his store 1835.
[915] 1835.
With outstretched hands, round every voyager Press ragged children, each to supplicate A price for wave-worn pebbles on his plate,
MS.
[916] 1837.
But see ... 1835.
[917] This refers to the modern parish Church on the Island, not to St. Oran's Chapel, or the Cathedral Church of St. Mary.--ED.
[918] 1837.
... this sacred wreck-- Nay spare thy scorn, haughty Philosopher! 1835.
[919] 1835.
Fallen as she is, this Glory of the West,
MS.
[920] The four last lines of this sonnet are adopted from a well-known sonnet of Russel, as conveying my feeling[921] better than any words of my own[922] could do.--W. W. 1835.
These "last four lines" are taken from sonnet No. x. of _Sonnets and_ _Miscellaneous Poems_, by the late Thomas Russel, Fellow of New College Oxford, printed for D. Price and J. Cooke, 1789. The Rev. Thomas Russell, author of these _Sonnets_, was born 1762, died 1788. He was a Wykehamist, and is referred to in a letter by Wordsworth to Dyce in 1833.--ED.
[921] 1845
the author's feeling 1835.
[922] 1845
his own 1835.
XXXIV
THE BLACK STONES OF IONA
[See Martin's Voyage among the Western Isles.[923]]
Here on their knees men swore; the stones were black,[924] Black in the people's minds and words,[925] yet they Were at that time, as now, in colour grey. But what is colour, if upon the rack Of conscience souls are placed by deeds that lack 5 Concord with oaths? What differ night and day Then, when before the Perjured on his way Hell opens, and the heavens in vengeance crack Above his head uplifted in vain prayer To Saint, or Fiend,[926] or to the Godhead whom 10 He had insulted--Peasant, King, or Thane? Fly where the culprit may, guilt meets a doom; And, from invisible worlds at need laid bare, Come links for social order's awful chain.
FOOTNOTES:
[923] _Description of the Western Islands of Scotland; including an account of the Manners, Customs, Religion, Language, Dress, etc., of the Inhabitants_, by M. Martin, 1703.--ED.
[924] In Johnson's _Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland_ the following occurs in the section on "Icolmkill:"--"The place is said to be known where the Black Stones lie concealed, on which the old Highland chiefs, when they made contracts and alliances, used to take the oath, which was considered more sacred than any other obligation, and which could not be violated without the blackest infamy. In these days of violence and rapine, it was of great importance to impose upon savage minds the sanctity of an oath, by some particular and extraordinary circumstances--they would not have recourse to the Black Stones upon small or common occasions; and when they had established their faith by this tremendous sanction, inconstancy and treachery were no longer feared."--ED.
[925] 1835.
Here on their knees, they swore, the stones were black, Black in men's minds and words, ...
MS.
[926] 1835.
To saints, to fiends, ...
MS.
XXXV
"HOMEWARD WE TURN. ISLE OF COLUMBA'S CELL"
Homeward we turn. Isle of Columba's Cell, Where Christian piety's soul-cheering spark (Kindled from Heaven between the light and dark Of time) shone like the morning-star, farewell!-- And fare thee well, to Fancy visible, 5 Remote St. Kilda, lone and loved sea-mark[927] For many a voyage made in her swift bark,[928] When with more hues than in the rainbow dwell Thou a mysterious intercourse dost hold, Extracting from clear skies and air serene, 10 And out of sun-bright waves, a lucid veil, That thickens, spreads, and, mingling fold with fold, Makes known, when thou no longer canst be seen, Thy whereabout, to warn the approaching sail.
FOOTNOTES:
[927] St. Kilda is sixty miles to the north-west of Harris, in the Outer Hebrides.--ED.
[928] 1837.
... farewell!-- Remote St. Kilda, art thou visible? No--but farewell to thee, beloved sea-mark From many a voyage made in Fancy's bark, 1835.
XXXVI
GREENOCK
Per me si va nella Città dolente.[929]
_We_ have not passed into a doleful City, We who were led to-day down a grim dell, By some too boldly named "the Jaws of Hell:"[930] Where be the wretched ones, the sights for pity? These crowded streets resound no plaintive ditty:-- 5 As from the hive where bees in summer dwell, Sorrow seems here excluded; and that knell, It neither damps the gay, nor checks the witty. Alas! too busy Rival of old Tyre,[931] Whose merchants Princes were, whose decks were thrones; Soon may the punctual sea in vain respire 11 To serve thy need, in union with that Clyde Whose nursling current brawls o'er mossy stones,[932] The poor, the lonely, herdsman's joy and pride.
FOOTNOTES:
[929] See Dante, _Inferno_, iii. I.--ED.
[930] They came down from Inveraray to Loch Goil by Hell's Glen.--ED.
[931] 1837.
Too busy Mart! thus fared it with old Tyre, 1835.
[932] Above Elvanfoot, near the watershed, at "Summit" on the Caledonian Railway line, where the Clyde rises.--ED.
XXXVII
"THERE!" SAID A STRIPLING, POINTING WITH MEET PRIDE
[Mosgiel was thus pointed out to me by a young man on the top of the coach on my way from Glasgow to Kilmarnock. It is remarkable that, though Burns lived some time here, and during much the most productive period of his poetical life, he nowhere adverts to the splendid prospects stretching towards the sea and bounded by the peaks of Arran on one part, which in clear weather he must have had daily before his eyes. In one of his poetical effusions he speaks of describing "fair Nature's face" as a privilege on which he sets a high value; nevertheless, natural appearances rarely take a lead in his poetry. It is as a human being, eminently sensitive and intelligent, and not as a poet, clad in his priestly robes and carrying the ensigns of sacerdotal office, that he interests and affects us. Whether he speaks of rivers, hills and woods, it is not so much on account of the properties with which they are absolutely endowed, as relatively to local patriotic remembrances and associations, or as they ministered to personal feelings, especially those of love, whether happy or otherwise;--yet it is not always so. Soon after we had passed Mosgiel Farm we crossed the Ayr, murmuring and winding through a narrow woody hollow. His line--"Auld hermit Ayr strays through his woods"--came at once to my mind with Irwin, Lugar, Ayr, and Doon,--Ayrshire streams over which he breathes a sigh as being unnamed in song; and surely his own attempts to make them known were as successful as his heart could desire.--I. F.]
"There!" said a Stripling, pointing with meet pride Towards a low roof with green trees half concealed, "Is Mosgiel Farm; and that's the very field Where Burns ploughed up the Daisy."[933] Far and wide A plain below stretched seaward, while, descried 5 Above sea-clouds, the Peaks of Arran rose; And, by that simple notice, the repose Of earth, sky, sea, and air, was vivified. Beneath "the random _bield_ of clod or stone" Myriads of daisies have shone forth in flower 10 Near the lark's nest, and in their natural hour Have passed away; less happy than the One That, by the unwilling ploughshare, died to prove The tender charm of poetry and love.
FOOTNOTES:
[933] See Burns's poem _To a Mountain Daisy_, or as it was originally called, _The Gowan_.--ED.
XXXVIII
THE RIVER EDEN, CUMBERLAND
["Nature gives thee flowers That have no rivals among British bowers."
This can scarcely be true to the letter; but, without stretching the point at all, I can say that the soil and air appear more congenial with many upon the banks of this river than I have observed in any other parts of Great Britain.--I. F.]
Eden! till now thy beauty had I viewed By glimpses only, and confess with shame That verse of mine, whate'er its varying mood, Repeats but once the sound of thy sweet name:[934] Yet fetched from Paradise[935] that honour came, 5 Rightfully borne; for Nature gives thee flowers That have no rivals among British bowers; And thy bold rocks are worthy of their fame.[936] Measuring thy course, fair Stream! at length I pay[937] To my life's neighbour dues of neighbourhood; 10 But I have traced thee on thy winding way[938] With pleasure sometimes by this thought restrained For things far off we toil, while many a good[939] Not sought, because too near, is never gained.[940]
FOOTNOTES:
[934] 1835.
Full long thy beauty, Eden, had I viewed, By glimpses only ...
MS.
Eden! the Muse has wronged thee, be the shame Frankly acknowledged, in no careless mood Of memory, my verse have I reviewed And met but once the sound of thy sweet name:
MS.
[935] It is to be feared that there is more of the poet than the sound etymologist in this derivation of the Eden. On the western coast of Cumberland is a rivulet which enters the sea at Moresby, known also in the neighbourhood by the name of Eden. May not the latter syllable come from the word Dean, _a valley_? Langdale, near Ambleside, is by the inhabitants called Langden. The former syllable occurs in the name Emont, a principal feeder of the Eden; and the stream which flows, when the tide is out, over Cartmel Sands, is called the Ea--French, eau--Latin, aqua.--W. W. 1835.
[936] Especially on the upper reaches of the river, as seen from the Midland Railway line beyond Appleby.--ED.
[937] 1835.
Bright are the hours that prompt me now to pay
MS.
[938] 1835.
Thee have I traced along thy winding way
MS.
[939] 1845.
... by the thought restrained That things far off are toiled for, while a good 1835.
That for things far off we toil, while many a good 1840.
[940] 1840.
... is seldom gained 1835 and
MS.
XXXIX
MONUMENT OF MRS. HOWARD
(by Nollekens)
IN WETHERAL CHURCH, NEAR COREY, ON THE BANKS OF THE EDEN
[Before this monument was put up in the Church at Wetheral, I saw it in the sculptor's studio. Nollekens, who, by-the-bye, was a strange and grotesque figure that interfered much with one's admiration of his works, showed me at the same time the various models in clay which he had made, one after another, of the Mother and her Infant: the improvement on each was surprising; and how so much grace, beauty, and tenderness had come out of such a head I was sadly puzzled to conceive. Upon a window-seat in his parlour lay two casts of faces, one of the Duchess of Devonshire, so noted in her day; and the other of Mr. Pitt, taken after his death, a ghastly resemblance, as these things always are, even when taken from the living subject, and more ghastly in this instance from the peculiarity of the features. The heedless and apparently neglectful manner in which the faces of these two persons were left--the one so distinguished in London society, and the other upon whose counsels and public conduct, during a most momentous period, depended the fate of this great Empire and perhaps of all Europe--afforded a lesson to which the dullest of casual visitors could scarcely be insensible. It touched me the more because I had so often seen Mr. Pitt upon his own ground at Cambridge and upon the floor of the House of Commons.--I. F.]
Stretched on the dying Mother's lap, lies dead Her new-born Babe; dire ending[941] of bright hope! But Sculpture here, with the divinest scope Of luminous faith, heavenward hath raised that head So patiently; and through one hand has spread 5 A touch so tender for the insensate Child-- (Earth's lingering love to parting reconciled, Brief parting, for the spirit is all but fled)-- That we, who contemplate the turns of life Through this still medium, are consoled and cheered; Feel with the Mother, think the severed Wife 11 Is less to be lamented than revered; And own that Art, triumphant over strife And pain, hath powers to Eternity endeared.
FOOTNOTES:
[941] 1845.
... issue ... 1835.
XL
SUGGESTED BY THE FOREGOING[942]
Tranquillity! the sovereign aim wert thou In heathen schools of philosophic lore;[943] Heart-stricken by stern destiny of yore The Tragic Muse thee served with thoughtful vow; And what of hope Elysium could allow 5 Was fondly seized by Sculpture, to restore Peace to the Mourner. But when He who wore[944] The crown of thorns around his bleeding brow Warmed our sad being with celestial light,[945] _Then_ Arts which still had drawn a softening grace 10 From shadowy fountains of the Infinite, Communed with that Idea face to face: And move around it now as planets run, Each in its orbit round the central Sun.
FOOTNOTES:
[942] In the edition of 1835 there is no title to this sonnet.
[943] #Ataraxia#, was the aim of Stoic, Epicurean, and Sceptic alike.--ED.
[944] 1840.
Peace to the Mourner's soul; but He who wore 1835.
[945] 1840.
... with his glorious light: 1835.
Round our sad being shed celestial light, C.
XLI
NUNNERY[946]
[I became acquainted with the walks of Nunnery when a boy: they are within easy reach of a day's pleasant excursion from the town of Penrith, where I used to pass my summer holidays under the roof of my maternal Grandfather. The place is well worth visiting; though, within these few years, its privacy, and therefore the pleasure which the
## scene is so well fitted to give, has been injuriously affected by walks
cut in the rocks on that side the stream which had been left in its natural state.--I. F.]
The floods are roused, and will not soon be weary; Down from the Pennine Alps[947] how fiercely sweeps Croglin, the stately Eden's tributary![948] He raves, or through some moody passage creeps Plotting new mischief--out again he leaps 5 Into broad light, and sends, through regions airy,[949] That voice which soothed the Nuns while on the steeps They knelt in prayer, or sang to blissful Mary.[950] That union ceased: then, cleaving easy walks Through crags, and smoothing paths beset with danger, Came studious Taste; and many a pensive stranger 11 Dreams on the banks, and to the river talks. What change shall happen next to Nunnery Dell?[951] Canal, and Viaduct, and Railway, tell![952]
FOOTNOTES:
[946] Nunnery; so named from the House for Benedictine Nuns established by William Rufus.--ED.
[947] The chain of Crossfell[953]--W. W. 1835.
[948] The two streams of the Croglin and the Eden unite in the grounds of Nunnery.--ED.
[949] 1835.
Seeking in vain broad light, and regions aery.
MS.
[950] 1835.
But with that voice which once high on his steeps Mingled with vespers, sung to blissful Mary--
MS.
[951] 1835.
... to Croglin Dell?
MS.
[952] At Corby, a few miles below Nunnery, the Eden is crossed by a magnificent viaduct; and another of these works is thrown over a deep glen or ravine at a very short distance from the main stream.--W. W. 1835.
[953] 1845.
which parts Cumberland and Westmoreland from Northumberland and Durham. 1835.
XLII
STEAMBOATS, VIADUCTS, AND RAILWAYS
Motions and Means, on land and sea[954] at war With old poetic feeling, not for this, Shall ye, by Poets even, be judged amiss! Nor shall your presence, howsoe'er it mar The loveliness of Nature, prove a bar 5 To the Mind's gaining that prophetic sense Of future change, that point of vision, whence May be discovered what in soul ye are. In spite of all that beauty may disown In your harsh features, Nature doth embrace 10 Her lawful offspring in Man's art; and Time, Pleased with your triumphs o'er his brother Space, Accepts from your bold hands the proffered crown Of hope, and smiles on you with cheer sublime.[955]
FOOTNOTES:
[954] 1835.
... on sea or land ...
Version in _The Morning Post_.
[955] Compare the Sonnet _On the Projected Kendal and Windermere Railway_, written in 1844.--ED.
XLIII
THE MONUMENT COMMONLY CALLED LONG MEG AND HER DAUGHTERS, NEAR THE RIVER EDEN[956]
Composed, _probably_, in 1821.--Published 1822
A weight of awe, not easy to be borne, Fell suddenly upon my Spirit--cast From the dread bosom of the unknown past, When first I saw that family forlorn.[957] Speak Thou, whose massy strength and stature scorn[958] The power of years--pre-eminent, and placed 6 Apart, to overlook the circle vast-- Speak, Giant-mother! tell it to the Morn While she dispels the cumbrous shades of Night; Let the Moon hear, emerging from a cloud; 10 At whose behest uprose on British ground That Sisterhood, in hieroglyphic round Forth-shadowing, some have deemed, the infinite The inviolable God, that tames the proud![959][960]
FOOTNOTES:
[956] It first appeared in _A Description of the Scenery of the Lakes in the North of England_, third edition, 1822.--ED.
[957] 1837.
....that Sisterhood forlorn. 1822.
[958] 1837.
And him, whose strength and stature seems to scorn 1822.
[959] The daughters of Long Meg, placed in a perfect circle eighty yards in diameter, are seventy-two in number above ground; a little way out of the circle stands Long Meg herself, a single stone, eighteen feet high. When I first saw this monument, as I came upon it by surprise, I might over-rate its importance as an object; but, though it will not bear a comparison with Stonehenge, I must say, I have not seen any other relique of those dark ages, which can pretend to rival it in singularity and dignity of appearance.--W. W. 1837.
The text of this note, in the edition of 1822, is slightly different.--ED.
In a letter to Sir George Beaumont, January 6, 1821, Wordsworth wrote, "My road brought me suddenly and unexpectedly upon that ancient monument, called by the country people Long Meg and her Daughters. Everybody has heard of it, and so had I from very early childhood; but had never seen it before. Next to Stonehenge it is beyond dispute the most noble relic of the kind that this or probably any other country contains. Long Meg is a single block of unhewn stone, eighteen feet high, at a small distance from a vast circle of other stones, some of them of huge size, though curtailed of their stature, by their own incessant pressure upon it." Compare a note in Wordsworth's _Guide to the Scenery of the Lakes_, section 2.--ED.
[960] 1837.
When, how, and wherefore, rose on British ground That wondrous Monument, whose mystic round Forth shadows, some have deemed, to mortal sight The inviolable God that tames the proud! 1822.
XLIV
LOWTHER[961]
["Cathedral pomp." It may be questioned whether this union was in the contemplation of the artist when he planned the edifice. However this might be, a poet may be excused for taking the view of the subject presented in this Sonnet.--I. F.]
Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen[962] Cathedral pomp and grace, in apt accord[963] With the baronial castle's sterner mien;[964] Union significant of God adored, And charters won and guarded by the sword 5 Of ancient honour; whence that goodly state Of polity which wise men venerate,[965] And will maintain, if God his help afford. Hourly the democratic torrent swells;[966] For airy promises and hopes suborned 10 The strength of backward-looking thoughts is scorned. Fall if ye must, ye Towers and Pinnacles, With what ye symbolise; authentic Story Will say, Ye disappeared with England's Glory!
FOOTNOTES:
[961] There was no title in the edition of 1835.
[962] 1835.
... in thy magnificence are seen
MS.
[963] 1835.
Shapes of cathedral pomp that well accord
MS.
[964] The present Castle was begun in 1808. It is in the style of the 13th and 14th century structures. The arched corridors surrounding the staircase--which is sixty feet square and ninety feet high--may justify the description in the sonnet. These stone corridors open on each side, through the centre of the castle. Compare the reference to Lowther in Barren's _Travels in China_, p. 134, in the course of his description of "Gehol's matchless gardens," referred to in _The Prelude_,