our acquaintance with dear Miss Fenwick, who has always stigmatized one line of it as vulgar, and worthy only of having been composed by a country squire.] I. I AM not One who much or oft delight II. "Yet life," you say, "is life; we have seen and see, And with a living pleasure we describe; And fits of sprightly malice do but bribe The languid mind into activity. Sound sense, and love itself, and mirth and glee Our daily world's true Worldlings, rank not me! 1 1815. By my half-kitchen my half-parlour fire. 1807. And part far from them :-sweetest melodies He is a Slave; the meanest we can meet ! III. Wings have we,-and as far as we can go Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know, Are a substantial world, both pure and good: Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, Our pastime and our happiness will grow. There find I personal themes, a plenteous store, To which I listen with a ready ear ;1 Two shall be named, pre-eminently dear, 2 The gentle Lady married to the Moor; IV. Nor can I not believe but that hereby 1827. Then do I find a never-failing store Of personal themes, and such as I love best; 1807. 2 1827. Two will I mention dearer than the rest, 1807 Smooth passions, smooth discourse, and joyous thought: The stanza referred to as disliked by Miss Fenwick is the first. The text of this poem was little altered, and was fixed in 1829. The half-kitchen and half-parlour fire of 1807, was a reminiscence of Dove Cottage, which we regret to lose in the later editions. In the Baptistery of Westminster Abbey, there is a statue of Wordsworth of great merit by Frederick Thrupp, placed there by the late Dean Stanley, beside busts of Keble, Maurice, and Charles Kingsley. Underneath the statue of Wordsworth are the four lines from Personal Talk Blessings be with them-and eternal praise, Dean Stanley found it difficult to select from Wordsworth's poems the lines most appropriate for inscription, and adopted this at the suggestion of his friend, Principal Shairp. With the 1 nes Whose mind is but the mind of his own eyes, compare The Prelude, Book XII. (Vol. III. p. 368)— I knew a maid, A young enthusiast who escaped these bonds; -ED. ADMONITION. Intended more particularly for the perusal of those who may have happened to be enamoured of some beautiful Place of Retreat, in the Country of the Lakes. WELL may'st thou halt-and gaze with brightening eye!1 The lovely Cottage in the guardian nook Hath stirred thee deeply; with its own dear brook, Its own small pasture, almost its own sky! But covet not the Abode:-forbear to sigh,2 Intruders who would tear from Nature's book 3 This precious leaf, with harsh impiety.* Think what the home must be if it were thine,5 Even thine, though few thy wants!-Roof, window, door, The very flowers are sacred to the Poor, The roses to the porch which they entwine: Yea, all, that now enchants thee, from the day On which it should be touched, would melt away. Think what the Home would be if it were thine, 1807. 6 1827. would melt and melt away. 1807. With the lines its own dear brook, Its own small pasture, almost its own sky! compare those in Peter Bell Where deep and low the hamlets lie And little lot of stars. The Cottage at Town-end, Grasmere-where this Sonnet was composed-may have suggested it. Some of the details, however, are scarcely applicable to Dove Cottage; the "brook" (referred to elsewhere) is outside the orchard ground, and there is scarcely anything in the garden to warrant the phrase, "its own small pasture." It is unnecessary to localise the allusions.-ED. "BELOVED Vale!" I said, "When I shall con Will press me down: to think of what is gone I stood, of simple shame the blushing Thrall; Distressed me; I looked round, I shed no tears; 1807. |