The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 1 (of 8)

Name: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 1 (of 8)
Author: Wordsworth, William

Wordsworth, William

English poetry -- 18th century; English poetry -- 19th century

Nay rack your brain--'tis all in vain,
          I'll tell you every thing I know;
          But to the thorn, and to the pond
          Which is a little step beyond,
          I wish that you would go:
          Perhaps when you are at the place
          You something of her tale may trace.

 XI       I'll give you the best help I can:
          Before you up the mountain go,
          Up to the dreary mountain-top,
          I'll tell you all I know.]

[Variant 10:

1845.

    'Tis now some two and twenty years,          1798.

    'Tis known, that twenty years are passed     1820.]

[Variant 11:

1820.

    And she was happy, happy still
    Whene'er she thought of Stephen Hill.    1798.]

[Variant 12:

1815.

    ... on that woful day
    A cruel, cruel fire, they say,
    Into her bones was sent:
    It dried her body like a cinder,
    And almost turn'd her brain to tinder.    1798.]

[Variant 13:

1836.

    'Tis said, a child was in her womb,
    As now to any eye was plain;    1798.

    'Tis said, her lamentable state
    Even to a careless eye was plain;    1820.

    Alas! her lamentable state    1827.]

[Variant 14:

1836.

    ... she was...    1798.]

[Variant 15:

1820.

    Oh me! ten thousand times I'd rather
    That he had died, that cruel father!    1798.]

[Variant 16:

1820.

    Last Christmas when we talked of this,
    Old Farmer Simpson did maintain,
    That in her womb the infant wrought    1798.]

[Variant 17:

1827.

    No more I know, I wish I did,
    And I would tell it all to you;    1798.]

[Variant 18:

1827.

    There's none that ever knew:    1798.]

[Variant 19:

1827.

    And if a child was born or no,
    There's no one that could ever tell;    1798.]

[Variant 20:

1827.

    There's no one knows, as I have said,    1798.]

[Variant 21:

1827.

    ... I've described ...    1798.]

[Variant 22:

1845.

    ... in faith, ...    1798.]

[Variant 23:

1798.

    In truth, it was ...    1800.

The edition of 1815 returns to the text of 1798.]

[Variant 24:

1827.

    ... and what's the pond?
    And what's the hill of moss to her?
    And what's the ...    1798.]

[Variant 25:

1800.

    I've heard the scarlet moss is red    1798.]

[Variant 26:

1845.

    But then the beauteous hill of moss    1798.

    It might not be--the Hill of moss      1827.

    But then the beauteous Hill of moss    1832.
    (Returning to the text of 1798.)

    But then the speckled hill of moss     1836.]

[Variant 27:

1827.

    But ...    1798.]

[Variant 28:

1845.

    ... is buried ...    1798.]

       *       *       *       *       *

FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A:

  "March 19, 1798. William and Basil and I walked to the hill tops. A
  very cold bleak day. William wrote some lines describing a stunted
  Thorn" (Dorothy Wordsworth's Alfoxden Journal).--Ed.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 1 (of 8)Wordsworth, William

General

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 1 (of 8)

Wordsworth, William

English poetry -- 18th century; English poetry -- 19th century

Nay rack your brain--'tis all in vain,
          I'll tell you every thing I know;
          But to the thorn, and to the pond
          Which is a little step beyond,
          I wish that you would go:
          Perhaps when you are at the place
          You something of her tale may trace.

 XI       I'll give you the best help I can:
          Before you up the mountain go,
          Up to the dreary mountain-top,
          I'll tell you all I know.]

[Variant 10:

1845.

    'Tis now some two and twenty years,          1798.

    'Tis known, that twenty years are passed     1820.]

[Variant 11:

1820.

    And she was happy, happy still
    Whene'er she thought of Stephen Hill.    1798.]

[Variant 12:

1815.

    ... on that woful day
    A cruel, cruel fire, they say,
    Into her bones was sent:
    It dried her body like a cinder,
    And almost turn'd her brain to tinder.    1798.]

[Variant 13:

1836.

    'Tis said, a child was in her womb,
    As now to any eye was plain;    1798.

    'Tis said, her lamentable state
    Even to a careless eye was plain;    1820.

    Alas! her lamentable state    1827.]

[Variant 14:

1836.

    ... she was...    1798.]

[Variant 15:

1820.

    Oh me! ten thousand times I'd rather
    That he had died, that cruel father!    1798.]

[Variant 16:

1820.

    Last Christmas when we talked of this,
    Old Farmer Simpson did maintain,
    That in her womb the infant wrought    1798.]

[Variant 17:

1827.

    No more I know, I wish I did,
    And I would tell it all to you;    1798.]

[Variant 18:

1827.

    There's none that ever knew:    1798.]

[Variant 19:

1827.

    And if a child was born or no,
    There's no one that could ever tell;    1798.]

[Variant 20:

1827.

    There's no one knows, as I have said,    1798.]

[Variant 21:

1827.

    ... I've described ...    1798.]

[Variant 22:

1845.

    ... in faith, ...    1798.]

[Variant 23:

1798.

    In truth, it was ...    1800.

The edition of 1815 returns to the text of 1798.]

[Variant 24:

1827.

    ... and what's the pond?
    And what's the hill of moss to her?
    And what's the ...    1798.]

[Variant 25:

1800.

    I've heard the scarlet moss is red    1798.]

[Variant 26:

1845.

    But then the beauteous hill of moss    1798.

    It might not be--the Hill of moss      1827.

    But then the beauteous Hill of moss    1832.
    (Returning to the text of 1798.)

    But then the speckled hill of moss     1836.]

[Variant 27:

1827.

    But ...    1798.]

[Variant 28:

1845.

    ... is buried ...    1798.]

       *       *       *       *       *

FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A:

  "March 19, 1798. William and Basil and I walked to the hill tops. A
  very cold bleak day. William wrote some lines describing a stunted
  Thorn" (Dorothy Wordsworth's Alfoxden Journal).--Ed.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 1 (of 8) — John Shaqi

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 1 (of 8)

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 1 (of 8)

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