Not seldom from the uproar I retired Into a silent bay, or sportively Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng, To cut across the reflex [12] of a star; 50 Image, that, flying still before me, gleamed Upon the glassy plain: and oftentimes, [13] When we had given our bodies to the wind, And all the shadowy banks on either side Came sweeping through the darkness, spinning still 55 The rapid line of motion, then at once Have I, reclining back upon my heels, Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs Wheeled by me--even as if the earth had rolled With visible motion her diurnal round! 60 Behind me did they stretch in solemn train, Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watched Till all was tranquil as a summer sea. [14] * * * * * VARIANTS ON THE TEXT [Variant 1: 1809. That givest ... 'The Prelude', 1850.] [Variant 2: 1815. Nor ... 1809.] [Variant 3: 1809. ... valley ... The Prelude', 1850.] [Variant 4: 1836. ... I homeward went 1809.] [Variant 5: 1845. 'Twas mine among the fields ... 1809.] [Variant 6: 1809. ... blazed through twilight gloom, 'The Prelude', 1850.] [Variant 7: 1815. ... to me 1809.] [Variant 8: 1827. ... car'd not for its home--... 1809. ... cares not ... 1815.] [Variant 9: 1840. ... loud bellowing ... 1809.] [Variant 10: 1836. Meanwhile ... 1809.] [Variant 11: 1845. ... while the distant hills 1809.] [Variant 12: 1827. To cut across the image ... 1809. To cross the bright reflection ... 1820.] [Variant 13: 1820. That gleam'd upon the ice; and oftentimes 1809. (This line occupied the place of lines 51-52 of the final text.) That fled, and, flying still before me, gleamed Upon the glassy plain; and oftentimes, 'The Prelude', 1850.] [Variant 14: 1809. ... as a dreamless sleep. 'The Prelude', 1850.] * * * * * FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT [Footnote A: The title of the fragment, as it appeared in 'The Friend', No. 19, (Dec. 28, 1809,) was 'Growth of Genius from the Influences of Natural Objects on the Imagination, in Boyhood and Early Youth'. It first appeared in Wordsworth's Poems in the edition of 1815. It was afterwards included in the first book of 'The Prelude', l. 401. The lake referred to with its "silent bays" and "shadowy banks" is that of Esthwaite; the village clock is that of Hawkshead (see the footnotes to 'The Prelude'). The only physical accomplishment in which Wordsworth thought he excelled was skating, an accomplishment in which his brother poet and acquaintance, Klopstock, also excelled.--Ed.] * * * * * THE SIMPLON PASS [A] Composed 1799.--Published 1845 Included among the "Poems of the Imagination."--Ed.