Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 1 (of 2)Wordsworth, Dorothy
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Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Wordsworth, Dorothy
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Diaries; Wordsworth, Dorothy, 1771-1855 -- Diaries; Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850 -- Family
On Sunday, the 29th of August, we left Calais at twelve o'clock in the
morning, and landed at Dover at one on Monday the 30th.... It was very
pleasant to me, when we were in the harbour at Dover, to breathe the
fresh air, and to look up, and see the stars among the ropes of the
vessel. The next day was very hot. We ... bathed, and sate upon the
Dover Cliffs, and looked upon France with many a melancholy and tender
thought. We could see the shores almost as plain as if it were but an
English lake. We mounted the coach, and arrived in London at six, the
30th August. It was misty, and we could see nothing. We stayed in London
till Wednesday the 22nd of September, and arrived at Gallow Hill on
Friday.
_September 24th._--Mary first met us in the avenue. She looked so fat
and well that we were made very happy by the sight of her; then came
Sara, and last of all Joanna. Tom was forking corn, standing upon the
corn cart. We dressed ourselves immediately and got tea. The garden
looked gay with asters and sweet peas. Jack and George came on Friday
evening, 1st October. On Saturday, 2nd, we rode to Hackness, William,
Jack, George, and Sara single. I behind Tom. On Sunday 3rd, Mary and
Sara were busy packing.
On Monday, 4th October 1802, my brother William was married to Mary
Hutchinson.[74] I slept a good deal of the night, and rose fresh and
well in the morning. At a little after eight o'clock, I saw them go down
the avenue towards the church. William had parted from me upstairs. When
they were absent, my dear little Sara prepared the breakfast. I kept
myself as quiet as I could, but when I saw the two men running up the
walk, coming to tell us it was over, I could stand it no longer, and
threw myself on the bed, where I lay in stillness, neither hearing nor
seeing anything till Sara came upstairs to me, and said, "They are
coming." This forced me from the bed where I lay, and I moved, I knew
not how, straight forward, faster than my strength could carry me, till
I met my beloved William, and fell upon his bosom. He and John
Hutchinson led me to the house, and there I stayed to welcome my dear
Mary. As soon as we had breakfasted, we departed. It rained when we set
off. Poor Mary was much agitated, when she parted from her brothers and
sisters, and her home. Nothing particular occurred till we reached
Kirby. We had sunshine and showers, pleasant talk, love and
cheerfulness. We were obliged to stay two hours at K. while the horses
were feeding. We wrote a few lines to Sara, and then walked out; the sun
shone, and we went to the churchyard after we had put a letter into the
post-office for the _York Herald_. We sauntered about, and read the
grave-stones. There was one to the memory of five children, who had all
died within five years, and the longest lived had only lived four
years....
[Footnote 74: It may not be a too trivial detail to note that
Coleridge's _Dejection, an Ode_, appeared in _The Morning Post_ on
Wordsworth's marriage day.--ED.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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