And happy were I, if the Czar To end life here like this poor deer, "Are you the Maid," the Stranger cried, But wonder, pity, soon were quelled; He loved, he hoped,—a holy flame "Such bounty is no gift of chance," Exclaimed he; "righteous Heaven, Preparing your deliverance, To me the charge hath given. But, when the Lady Catherine pleads, my Leave open to wish the course, From that humane and heavenly source, Good, only good, can flow." Faint sanction given, the Cavalier Though question followed question, dear Light was his step,-his hopes, more light, And the fifth morning gave him sight He sued:-heart-smitten by the wrong, The Emperor sent a pledge as strong O more than mighty change! If e'er And joy's excess produced a fear Of something void and vain ; 'Twas when the Parents, who had mourned So long the lost as dead, Beheld their only Child returned, The household floor to tread. Soon gratitude gave way to love In bridal garments drest; Meek Catherine had her own reward; The Czar bestowed a dower; And universal Moscow shared The triumph of that hour. Flowers strewed the ground; the nuptial feast Was held with costly state; And there, 'mid many a noble guest, The Foster-parents sate; Great was their bliss, the honour high 1830. NOTES. Page 1. 'Ecclesiastical Sonnets.' DURING the month of December, 1820, I accompanied a muchbeloved and honoured Friend in a walk through different parts of his estate, with a view to fix upon the site of a new Church which he intended to erect. It was one of the most beautiful mornings of a mild season, our feelings were in harmony with the cherishing influences of the scene; and such being our purpose, we were naturally led to look back upon past events with wonder and gratitude, and on the future with hope. Not long afterwards, some of the Sonnets which will be found towards the close of this series were produced as a private memorial of that morning's occupation. The Catholic Question, which was agitated in Parliament about that time, kept my thoughts in the same course; and it struck me that certain points in the Ecclesiastical History of our Country might advantageously be presented to view in verse. Accordingly, I took up the subject, and what I now offer to the reader was the result. When this work was far advanced, I was agreeably surprised to find that my friend, Mr. Southey, had been engaged with similar views in writing a concise History of the Church in England. If our Productions, thus unintentionally coinciding, shall be found to illustrate each other, it will prove a high gratification to me, which I am sure my friend will participate. RYDAL MOUNT, January 24, 1822. W. WORDSWORTH. For the convenience of passing from one point of the subject to another without shocks of abruptness, this work has taken the shape of a series of Sonnets: but the Reader, it is to be hoped, will find that the pictures are often so closely connected as to have jointly the effect of passages of a poem in a form of stanza to which there is no objection but one that bears upon the Poet only—its difficulty. Page 3. 'Did Holy Paul,' &c. Stillingfleet adduces many arguments in support of this opinion, but they are unconvincing. The latter part of this Sonnet refers to a favourite notion of Roman Catholic writers, that Joseph of Arimathea and his companions brought Christianity into Britain, and built a rude church at Glastonbury; alluded to hereafter, in a passage upon the dissolution of monasteries. Page 6. 'That Hill, whose flowery platform,' &c. This hill at St. Alban's must have been an object of great interest to the imagination of the venerable Bede, who thus describes it, with a delicate feeling, delightful to meet with in that rude age, traces of which are frequent in his works :-Variis herbarum floribus depictus imò usquequaque vestitus, in quo nihil repentè arduum, nihil præceps, nihil abruptum, quem lateribus longè latèque deductum in modum æquoris natura complanat, dignum videlicet eum pro insitâ sibi specie venustatis jam olim reddens, qui beati martyris cruore dicaretur.' Page 9. 'Nor wants the cause the panic-striking aid Alluding to the victory gained under Germanus.-See Bede. Page 9. C By men yet scarcely conscious of a care The last six lines of this Sonnet are chiefly from the prose of Daniel; and here I will state (though to the Readers whom this Poem will chiefly interest it is unnecessary) that my obligations to other prose writers are frequent,-obligations which, even if I had |