The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 4 (of 8)Wordsworth, William
General
The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 4 (of 8)
Wordsworth, William
English poetry -- 18th century; English poetry -- 19th century
There is a trickling water, neither rill,
Fountain inclosed, or rivulet, nor aught MS. 1806.
[2] 1820.
... It trickles down the hill,
So feebly, just for love of power and will,
Yet to my mind the nameless thing is brought MS.
... It totters down the hill,
So feebly, quite forlorn of power and will;
Yet nameless Thing it to my mind is brought MS.
[3] 1827.
Oftener than mightiest Floods, whose path is wrought
Through wastes of sand, and forests dark and chill.
1820.
[4] 1827.
Do thou, even thou, O faithful Anna! say
Why this small Streamlet is to me so dear;
Thou know'st, that while enjoyments disappear
And sweet remembrances like flowers decay, 1820.
[5] 1827.
Lingers upon its marge, ... 1820.
[6] 1820.
For on that day, now seven years gone, when first
Two glad foot-travellers, through sun and shower
My Love and I came hither, while thanks burst
Out of our hearts ...
We from that blessed water slaked our thirst. MS.
... seven years back, ...
... hearts to God for that good hour,
Eating a traveller's meal in shady bower,
We ... MS.
1807
In few instances is it more evident that the dates which Wordsworth
affixed to his poems, in the editions of 1815, 1820, 1836, and
1845,--and those assigned in the Fenwick notes--cannot be absolutely
relied upon, than in the case of the poems referring to Coleorton.
Trusting to these dates, in the absence of contrary evidence, one would
naturally assign the majority of the Coleorton poems to the year 1808.
But it is clear that, while the sonnet _To Lady Beaumont_ may have been
written in 1806, the "Inscription" _For a Seat in the Groves of
Coleorton_, beginning--
Beneath yon eastern ridge, the craggy bound,
was written, not in 1808 (as stated by Wordsworth himself), but in 1811;
and that the other "Inscription" designed for a Niche in the
Winter-garden at Coleorton, belongs (I think) to the same year; a year
in which he also wrote the sonnet on Sir George Beaumont's picture of
Bredon Hill and Cloud Hill, beginning--
Praised be the Art whose subtle power could stay.
When the dates are so difficult to determine, there is a natural fitness
in bringing all the poems referring to Coleorton together, so far as
this can be done without seriously interfering with chronological order.
The two "Inscriptions" intended for the Coleorton grounds, which were
written at Grasmere in 1811, are therefore printed along with the poems
of 1807; the precise date of each being given--so far as it can be
ascertained--underneath its title.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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