The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8)

Name: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8)
Author: Wordsworth, William

Wordsworth, William

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

Who would go "parading"                                    10
  In London, "and masquerading," [B]
  On such a night of June
  With that beautiful soft half-moon,
  And all these innocent blisses?
  On such a night as this is!                                15

       *       *       *       *       *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1807.

  ... and the trees;      1836.

The edition of 1837 returns to the text of 1807.]

[Variant 2:

1835.

  And a noise of wind that rushes,
  With a noise of water that gushes;      1807.]

       *       *       *       *       *

FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: It appeared in 1807 as No. II. of "Moods of my own Mind,"
and not again till the publication of "Yarrow Revisited" in 1835.--Ed.]

[Footnote B: Compare:

  'At operas and plays parading,
  Mortgaging, gambling, masquerading.'

Burns, 'The Two Dogs, a Tale', II. 124-5.--Ed.]

  "June 8th (1802).--After tea William came out and walked, and wrote
  that poem, 'The sun has long been set,' etc. He walked on our own
  path, and wrote the lines; he called me into the orchard and there
  repeated them to me."

(Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal.) The "Friend in whose presence the lines
were thrown off," was his sister.--Ed.

       *       *       *       *       *

COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, SEPTEMBER 3, 1802

Composed July 31, 1802.--Published 1807

[Written on the roof of a coach, on my way to France.--I.F.]

One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--Ed.

  Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
  Dull would he be of soul [1] who could pass by
  A sight so touching in its majesty:
  This City now doth, like a garment, wear
  The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,                         5
  Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
  Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
  All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
  Never did sun more beautifully steep
  In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;                  10
  Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
  The river glideth at his own sweet will:
  Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
  And all that mighty heart is lying still!

       *       *       *       *       *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1807.

  ... heart ...      MS.]

The date which Wordsworth gave to this sonnet on its first publication
in 1807, viz. September 3, 1803,--and which he retained in all
subsequent editions of his works till 1836,--is inaccurate. He left
London for Dover, on his way to Calais, on the 31st of July 1802. The
sonnet was written that morning as he travelled towards Dover. The
following record of the journey is preserved in his sister's Journal:

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

Opening the text

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8)Wordsworth, William

General

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8)

Wordsworth, William

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

Who would go "parading"                                    10
  In London, "and masquerading," [B]
  On such a night of June
  With that beautiful soft half-moon,
  And all these innocent blisses?
  On such a night as this is!                                15

       *       *       *       *       *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1807.

  ... and the trees;      1836.

The edition of 1837 returns to the text of 1807.]

[Variant 2:

1835.

  And a noise of wind that rushes,
  With a noise of water that gushes;      1807.]

       *       *       *       *       *

FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: It appeared in 1807 as No. II. of "Moods of my own Mind,"
and not again till the publication of "Yarrow Revisited" in 1835.--Ed.]

[Footnote B: Compare:

  'At operas and plays parading,
  Mortgaging, gambling, masquerading.'

Burns, 'The Two Dogs, a Tale', II. 124-5.--Ed.]

  "June 8th (1802).--After tea William came out and walked, and wrote
  that poem, 'The sun has long been set,' etc. He walked on our own
  path, and wrote the lines; he called me into the orchard and there
  repeated them to me."

(Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal.) The "Friend in whose presence the lines
were thrown off," was his sister.--Ed.

       *       *       *       *       *

COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, SEPTEMBER 3, 1802

Composed July 31, 1802.--Published 1807

[Written on the roof of a coach, on my way to France.--I.F.]

One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."--Ed.

  Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
  Dull would he be of soul [1] who could pass by
  A sight so touching in its majesty:
  This City now doth, like a garment, wear
  The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,                         5
  Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
  Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
  All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
  Never did sun more beautifully steep
  In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;                  10
  Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
  The river glideth at his own sweet will:
  Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
  And all that mighty heart is lying still!

       *       *       *       *       *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1807.

  ... heart ...      MS.]

The date which Wordsworth gave to this sonnet on its first publication
in 1807, viz. September 3, 1803,--and which he retained in all
subsequent editions of his works till 1836,--is inaccurate. He left
London for Dover, on his way to Calais, on the 31st of July 1802. The
sonnet was written that morning as he travelled towards Dover. The
following record of the journey is preserved in his sister's Journal:

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

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8)

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8)

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