THE REDBREAST CHASING THE
BUTTERFLY *

Composed April 18, 1802.-Published 1807

[Observed, as described, in the then beautiful orchard, Town-end, Grasmere.-I. F.]

Included among the "Poems of the Fancy."

In some editions this poem is assigned to the year 1806; but, in Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal the following occurs, under date "Sunday, 18th" (April 1802): "A mild grey morning with rising vapours. We sate in the orchard. William wrote the poem on the Robin and the Butterfly. . . . W. met me at Rydal with the conclusion of the poem to the Robin. it to him in bed. We left out some lines."-ED.

ART thou the bird whom Man loves best,
The pious bird † with the scarlet breast,
Our little English Robin;

The bird that comes about our doors
When Autumn-winds are sobbing?
Art thou the Peter of Norway Boors?
Their Thomas in Finland,

And Russia far inland?

The bird, that 1 by some name or other
All men who know thee call their brother,
The darling of children and men?

Could Father Adam ‡ open his eyes

And see this sight beneath the skies,

I read

5

IO

1 1849.

whom .
who

1807. 1827.

* The title, in the editions 1807 to 1820, was The Redbreast and the Butterfly. In the editions 1827 to 1843 it was The Redbreast and Butterfly. The final title was given in 1845.-ED.

+ Compare Cowley

And Robin Redbreasts whom men praise,
For pious birds.

ED.

See Paradise Lost, book XI., where Adam points out to Eve the ominous sign of the Eagle chasing "two Birds of gayest plume," and the gentle Hart and Hind pursued by their enemy.-W. W. 1815.

The passage in book XI. of Paradise Lost includes lines 185-90.-ED.

He'd wish to close them again.

-If the Butterfly knew but his friend,
Hither his flight he would bend;

And find his way to me,

Under the branches of the tree:

In and out, he darts about;

Can this be the bird, to man so good,
That, after their bewildering,1

Covered 2 with leaves the little children,

So painfully in the wood?

What ailed thee, Robin, that thou could'st pursue

A beautiful creature,

That is gentle by nature?

Beneath the summer sky

15

20

25

From flower to flower let him fly;

'Tis all that he wishes to do.

The cheerer Thou of our in-door sadness,

30

He is the friend of our summer gladness:

What hinders, then, that ye should be
Playmates in the sunny weather,
And fly about in the air together!

Would'st thou be 1 happy in thy nest,
O pious Bird! whom man loves best,
Love him, or leave him alone!

TO A BUTTERFLY

Composed April 20, 1802.-Published 1807

[Written at the same time and place. The Orchard, Grasmere Town-end, 1801.-I. F.]

Included among the "Poems founded on the Affections." -ED.

I'VE watch'd you now a full2 half-hour,
Self-poised upon that yellow flower;
And, little Butterfly! indeed

I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless !-not frozen seas
More motionless! and then

What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

This plot of orchard-ground is ours;
My trees they are, my Sister's flowers;

Here rest your wings when they are weary;
Here lodge as in a sanctuary! 3

5

ΙΟ

The edition of 1836 resumes the text of 1815.

1 1836.

If thou would'st be

1807.

2 1807.

short

1836.

The text of 1845 reverts to the reading of 1807.

3 1815.

Stop here whenever you are weary,

And rest as in a anctuary!

1807.

MS.

And feed

Come often to us, fear no wrong;

Sit near us on the bough!

We'll talk of sunshine and of song,

And summer days, when we were young;
Sweet childish days, that were as long

As twenty days are now.

15

Wordsworth's date, as given to Miss Fenwick, is incorrect. In her Journal, April 20, 1802, Dorothy Wordsworth writes "William wrote a conclusion to the poem of The Butterfly, 'I've watch'd you now a full half-hour.'” This, and the structure of the two poems, makes it probable that the latter was originally meant to be a sort of conclusion to the former (p. 283); but they were always printed as separate poems.

Many of the "flowers" in the orchard at Dove Cottage were planted by Dorothy Wordsworth, and some of the "trees" by William. The "summer days" of childhood are referred to in the previous poem, To a Butterfly, written on the 14th of March 1802.-ED.

FORESIGHT

Composed April 28, 1802.-Published 1807

[Also composed in the Orchard, Town-end, Grasmere. I. F.]

Included among the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood."-ED.

THAT is work of waste and ruin-1

Do as Charles and I are doing!
Strawberry-blossoms, one and all,

We must spare them-here are many :
Look at it the flower is small,
Small and low, though fair as any:
Do not touch it! summers two

I am older, Anne, than you.

Pull the primrose, sister Anne !
Pull as many as you can.
-Here are daisies, take your fill;
Pansies, and the cuckoo-fower:

That is work which I am rueing

1807.

5

ΙΟ

Of the lofty daffodil

Make your bed, or1 make your bower
Fill your lap, and fill your bosom ;
Only spare the strawberry-blossom!

Primroses, the Spring may love them—
Summer knows but little of them:

Violets, a barren kind,

Withered on the ground must lie;
Daisies leave no fruit behind
When the pretty flowerets die;
Pluck them, and another year
As many will be blowing here.2

15

20

The full title of this poem, in the editions of 1807 to 1832, was Foresight, or the Charge of a Child to his younger Companion, but it was originally known in the household as "Children gathering Flowers." The shortened title was adopted in 1836. The following is from Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal :

66

Wednesday, 28th April (1802). —Copied the Prioress's

This last stanza was added in the edition of 1815.

+1836.

When the months of spring are fled

Hither let us bend our walk;

1815.