The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 5 (of 8)

Name: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 5 (of 8)
Author: Wordsworth, William

Wordsworth, William

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

We were tried Friends: I from my Childhood up
    Had known him.--In a little Town obscure,
    A market-village, seated in a tract
    Of mountains, where my school-day time was pass'd,
    One room he owned, the fifth part of a house,
    A place to which he drew, from time to time,                 1814.

      We were tried Friends: amid a pleasant vale,
    In the antique market village where were pass'd
    My school-days, an apartment he had own'd,
    To which at intervals the Wanderer drew,                     1827.
]

[Footnote 15: 1827.

    On holidays, we wandered through the woods,
    A pair of random travellers; we sate--
    We walked; he pleas'd me with his sweet discourse            1814.
]

[Footnote 16: 1827.

    ... he sang                                                  1814.
]

[Footnote 17: 1814.

    Old songs brought with him from his native hills;               C.
]

[Footnote 18: 1827.

    The doings, observations, which his mind                     1814.

    His habits, observations, and the thoughts
    He cherished-- ...                                             MS.
]

[Footnote 19: 1827.

    There, ...                                                   1814.
]

[Footnote 20: 1827

    His Father dwelt; and died in poverty;
    While He, whose lowly fortune I retrace,
    The youngest of three sons, was yet a babe,
    A little One--unconscious of their loss.
    But ere he had outgrown his infant days
    His widowed Mother, for a second Mate,
    Espoused the Teacher of the Village School;
    Who on her offspring zealously bestowed
    Needful instruction; not alone in arts
    Which to his humble duties appertained,
    But in the lore of right and wrong, the rule
    Of human kindness, in the peaceful ways
    Of honesty, and holiness severe.
    A virtuous Household ...                                     1814.
]

[Footnote 21: 1827.

    To his Step-father's School, that stood alone,               1814.
]

[Footnote 22: 1827.

    Far from the sight ...                                       1814.
]

[Footnote 23: 1836.

    He had ...                                                   1814.
]

[Footnote 24: 1845.

    ... had impressed
    Great objects on his mind, with portraiture
    And colour so distinct, that on his mind
    They lay like substances, and almost seemed
    To haunt the bodily sense. He had received                   1814.

    ... had impressed
    Upon his mind great objects so distinct
    In portraiture, in colouring so vivid,
    That on his mind they lay like substances,
    And almost indistinguishably mixed
    With things of bodily sense....                                 C.
]

[Footnote 25:

    (Vigorous in native genius as he was)

This line appeared only in 1814 and 1820.]

[Footnote 26: 1827.

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

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 5 (of 8)

No reviews yet