Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 2 (of 2)Howitt, William
General
Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Howitt, William
Literary landmarks -- Great Britain; Poets, English -- Homes and haunts
The immediate grounds in which his house stands are worthy of the
country and the man. It is, as its name implies, a mount. Before the
house opens a considerable platform, and around and beneath lie
various terraces and descend various walks, winding on amid a
profusion of trees and luxuriant evergreens. Beyond the house, you
ascend various terraces, planted with trees now completely
overshadowing them; and these terraces conduct you to a level above
the house-top, and extend your view of the enchanting scenery on all
sides. Above you tower the rocks and precipitous slopes of Nab-scar;
and below you, embosomed in its trees, lies the richly ornate villa of
Mr. William Ball, a Friend, whose family and the poet's are on such
social terms, that a little gate between their premises opens them
both to each family alike. This cottage and grounds were formerly the
property of Charles Lloyd, also a Friend, and one of the Bristol and
Stowey coterie. Both he and Lovell have long been dead; Lovell,
indeed, was drowned, on a voyage to Ireland, in the very heyday of the
dreams of Pantisocracy, in which he was an eager participant.
The poet's house, itself, is a proper poet's abode. It is at once
modest, plain, yet tasteful and elegant. An ordinary dining-room, a
breakfast-room in the center, and a library beyond, form the chief
apartments. There are a few pictures and bust, especially those of
Scott and himself, a good engraving of Burns, and the like, with a
good collection of books, few of them very modern. In the dining-room
there stands an old cabinet, which is a sort of genealogical piece of
furniture, bearing this inscription:--
Hoc op' fiebat Aº D ni MºCCCCCºXXVº ex suptu Will'mi Wordsworsh,
filii W. fil. Joh. fil. W. fil. Nich. viri Elizabeth filia et
hered W. P'ctor de Pengsto qoru aneabus p' picietur De'!
A great part of the labor of laying out the garden, raising the
terraces at Rydal, and planting the trees, has been that of the poet
himself. The property belongs to Lady Fleming, but Wordsworth has
bought a piece of land lying just below, with the fatherly intent,
that should his daughter at any time incline to live there, she may,
if she choose, erect a house for herself in the old and endeared
situation.
The trees display a prodigality of growth, that make what are meant
for walks almost a wilderness. On observing to the poet that he really
should have his laurels pruned a little, the old man smiled, paused,
and said, with a pardonable self-complacency,--"Ay, I will tell you an
anecdote about that. A certain general was going round the place,
attended by the gardener, when he suddenly remarked, as you do, the
flourishing growth of the trees, especially of the evergreens, and
said, 'Which of all your trees do you think flourishes most here?"
"'I don't know, sir,' said James; "but I think the laurel.'
"'Well, that is as it should be, you know,' added the general.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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