The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

Name: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)
Author: Wordsworth, William

Wordsworth, William

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

And if they wish for smooth escape, etc.                      MS.
]

[Footnote 337: 1820.

    Yon hazy ridges take the shape
    Of stars, a glorious scale
    {Climbing  }
    {That climb} suffused with sunny air
    To stop, no record hath told where,
    Tempting my fancy to ascend
    And with immortal spirits blend.                              MS.

    And if they wish for smooth escape
    From grief and this terrestrial vale,
    Yon rocks and clouds present the shape
    Of stairs, a gradual scale
    By which the fancy might ascend,
    And with those happy spirits blend,
    Whose motions ...
    By night the dreaming Patriarch saw.                          MS.

    And if those whom broken ties
    Afflict, or injuries assail,
    Yon hazy ridges to their eyes
    Present a {climbing} scale,
             {glorious}
    Suffused in misty sunny air.
    It climbs no records have told where.
    It {sailed} on ether's glowing waves,
      {stole }
    And occupied heaven's shining caves,
    Tempting the fancy to ascend
    And with immortal spirits blend.                              MS.
]

[Footnote 338: 1837.

    --Wings at my shoulder ...                                  1820.
]

[Footnote 339: 1820.

    ... upward raise                                              MS.
]

[Footnote 340: 1820.

    Come from your Doors, ye ...                                  MS.
]

[Footnote 341: 1820.

    ... couch repair                                              MS.
]

[Footnote 342: 1820.

    ... care                                                      MS.
]

[Footnote 343: 1837.

    ... my eye,                                                 1820.
]

[Footnote 344: 1820.

    Whence but from some celestial urn
                  {spread before}
    These colours--{wont to meet } my eye                         MS.
    Where'er I ...
]

[Footnote 345: 1820.

    ... in ...                                                    MS.
]

[Footnote 346: 1820.

    Dread Power! whom clouds and darkness serve,
    The thunder, or the still small voice,                        MS.
]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote DD: The title, in the first edition of 1820, was "Ode,
composed upon an evening of extraordinary splendor and beauty." In the
four-volume edition of that year it was "Evening Ode, composed upon an
evening of extraordinary Splendor and Beauty." In a MS. copy I have
found the following, "Composed during a sunset of transcendent Beauty,
in the summer of 1817."--ED.]

[Footnote DE: There used to be fallow deer in the park at Rydal Hall.
Compare _The Triad_ (where the local allusions all refer to the Rydal
district)--

    Pass onward (even the glancing deer
    Till we depart intrude not here;)

and _The Excursion_, book ix. l. 563 (vol. v. p. 373).--ED.]

[Footnote DF: Compare Gray's _Progress of Poesy_, ll. 119, 120--

    Such forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray,
     With orient hues, unborrow'd of the Sun.

    ED.
]

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

Opening the text

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)Wordsworth, William

General

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

Wordsworth, William

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

And if they wish for smooth escape, etc.                      MS.
]

[Footnote 337: 1820.

    Yon hazy ridges take the shape
    Of stars, a glorious scale
    {Climbing  }
    {That climb} suffused with sunny air
    To stop, no record hath told where,
    Tempting my fancy to ascend
    And with immortal spirits blend.                              MS.

    And if they wish for smooth escape
    From grief and this terrestrial vale,
    Yon rocks and clouds present the shape
    Of stairs, a gradual scale
    By which the fancy might ascend,
    And with those happy spirits blend,
    Whose motions ...
    By night the dreaming Patriarch saw.                          MS.

    And if those whom broken ties
    Afflict, or injuries assail,
    Yon hazy ridges to their eyes
    Present a {climbing} scale,
             {glorious}
    Suffused in misty sunny air.
    It climbs no records have told where.
    It {sailed} on ether's glowing waves,
      {stole }
    And occupied heaven's shining caves,
    Tempting the fancy to ascend
    And with immortal spirits blend.                              MS.
]

[Footnote 338: 1837.

    --Wings at my shoulder ...                                  1820.
]

[Footnote 339: 1820.

    ... upward raise                                              MS.
]

[Footnote 340: 1820.

    Come from your Doors, ye ...                                  MS.
]

[Footnote 341: 1820.

    ... couch repair                                              MS.
]

[Footnote 342: 1820.

    ... care                                                      MS.
]

[Footnote 343: 1837.

    ... my eye,                                                 1820.
]

[Footnote 344: 1820.

    Whence but from some celestial urn
                  {spread before}
    These colours--{wont to meet } my eye                         MS.
    Where'er I ...
]

[Footnote 345: 1820.

    ... in ...                                                    MS.
]

[Footnote 346: 1820.

    Dread Power! whom clouds and darkness serve,
    The thunder, or the still small voice,                        MS.
]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote DD: The title, in the first edition of 1820, was "Ode,
composed upon an evening of extraordinary splendor and beauty." In the
four-volume edition of that year it was "Evening Ode, composed upon an
evening of extraordinary Splendor and Beauty." In a MS. copy I have
found the following, "Composed during a sunset of transcendent Beauty,
in the summer of 1817."--ED.]

[Footnote DE: There used to be fallow deer in the park at Rydal Hall.
Compare _The Triad_ (where the local allusions all refer to the Rydal
district)--

    Pass onward (even the glancing deer
    Till we depart intrude not here;)

and _The Excursion_, book ix. l. 563 (vol. v. p. 373).--ED.]

[Footnote DF: Compare Gray's _Progress of Poesy_, ll. 119, 120--

    Such forms, as glitter in the Muse's ray,
     With orient hues, unborrow'd of the Sun.

    ED.
]

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

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 6 (of 8)

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