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
_Friday, April 30th._--We came into the orchard directly after
breakfast, and sate there. The lake was calm, the day cloudy.... Two
fishermen by the lake side. William began to write the poem of _The
Celandine_.[64] ... Walked backwards and forwards with William--he
repeated his poem to me, then he got to work again and would not give
over. He had not finished his dinner till 5 o'clock. After dinner we
took up the fur gown into the Hollins above. We found a sweet seat, and
thither we will often go. We spread the gown, put on each a cloak, and
there we lay. William fell asleep, he had a bad headache owing to his
having been disturbed the night before, with reading C.'s letter. I did
not sleep, but lay with half-shut eyes looking at the prospect as on a
vision almost, I was so resigned[65] to it. Loughrigg Fell was the most
distant hill, then came the lake, slipping in between the copses. Above
the copse, the round swelling field; nearer to me, a wild intermixture
of rocks, trees, and patches of grassy ground. When we turned the corner
of our little shelter, we saw the church and the whole vale. It is a
blessed place. The birds were about us on all sides. Skobbies, robins,
bull-finches, and crows, now and then flew over our heads, as we were
warned by the sound of the beating of the air above. We stayed till the
light of day was going, and the little birds had begun to settle their
singing. But there was a thrush not far off, that seemed to sing louder
and clearer than the thrushes had sung when it was quite day. We came in
at 8 o'clock, got tea, wrote to Coleridge, and I wrote to Mrs. Clarkson
part of a letter. We went to bed at 20 minutes past 11, with prayers
that William might sleep well.
[Footnote 64: See vol. ii. p. 300.--ED.]
[Footnote 65: "Resigned" is curiously used in the Lake District. A
woman there once told me that Mr. Ruskin was "very much resigned to
his own company."--ED.]
_Saturday, May 1st._--Rose not till half-past 8, a heavenly morning. As
soon as breakfast was over, we went into the garden, and sowed the
scarlet beans about the house. It was a clear sky.
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