Brook, that hast been my solace days and weeks, And months, and let me add the long year through, I come to thee, thou dost my heart renew; O happy Thing! among thy flowery creeks, And happy, dancing down thy water-breaks: 5 If I some type of thee did wish to view, Thee, and not thee thyself, I would not do Like Grecian Poets, give thee human cheeks, Channels for tears! No Naiad should’st thou be; Have neither wings, feet, feathers, joints, nor hairs. 10 It seems the Eternal Soul is clothed in thee With purer robes than those of flesh and blood, And hath bestowed on thee a better good; The joy of fleshly life without its cares. TRANSLATION FROM MICHAEL ANGELO The date of this is unknown, and the original MS. is difficult to decipher. It is here and there illegible. It may belong to the year of the “Ecclesiastical Sonnets,” but I place it beside the other translation from Michael Angelo.--ED. Rid of a vexing and a heavy load, Eternal Lord! and from the world set free, Like a frail Bark, weary I turn to Thee,-- From frightful storms into a quiet road. On much repentance Grace will be bestow’d. 5 The nails, the thorns, and thy two hands, thy face Benign, meek, …, offers grace To sinners whom their sins oppress and goad. Let not thy justice view, O Light Divine, My fault, and keep it from thy sacred ear. 10 … Cleanse with thy blood my sins, to this incline More readily, the more my years require Prompt aid, forgiveness speedy and entire. 1808 GEORGE AND SARAH GREEN Composed 1808.--Published 1839 This poem was first printed in De Quincey’s “Recollections of Grasmere,” which appeared in _Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine_, September 1839, p. 573, and afterwards in his _Recollections of the Lakes_ (1853), p. 23. The text is printed as it is found in De Quincey’s article. Doubtless Wordsworth, or some member of the family, had supplied him with a copy of these verses. Wordsworth himself seemed to have thought them unworthy of publication. A copy of the poem was transcribed at Grasmere by Dorothy Wordsworth for Lady Beaumont on the 20th April 1808. In this copy there are numerous variations from the text as published by De Quincey, and these are indicated in the footnotes. In the letter to Lady Beaumont, Dorothy Wordsworth says, “I am going to transcribe a poem composed by my brother a few days after his return. It was begun in the churchyard when he was looking at the grave of the Husband and Wife, and is in fact supposed to be entirely composed there.” Wordsworth returned to his old home at Dove Cottage, Grasmere, after a short visit to London, on the 6th April 1808; and there he remained, till Allan Bank was ready for occupation. I therefore conclude that this poem was written in April 1808.