Tale. William was in the orchard. I went to him; he worked away at his poem, though he was ill, and tired. I happened to say that when I was a child I would not have pulled a strawberry blossom; I left him, and wrote out the Manciple's Tale. At dinner time he came in with the poem of 'Children gathering Flowers,' but it was not quite finished, and it kept him long from his dinner. It is now done. He is working at The Tinker.'" At an earlier date in the same year, -Jan. 31st, 1802,-the following occurs :-"I found a strawberry blossom in a rock. The little slender flower had more courage than the green leaves, for they were but half expanded and half grown, but the blossom was spread full out. I uprooted it rashly, and I felt as if I had been committing an outrage; so I planted it again. It will have but a stormy life

of it, but let it live if it can."

With this poem compare a parallel passage in Marvel's The Picture of T. C. in a Prospect of Flowers—

But oh, young beauty of the woods,

Whom nature courts with fruits and flowers,

Gather the flowers, but spare the buds;

Lest Flora, angry at thy crime

To kill her infants in their prime,

Should quickly make the example yours;

And, ere we see,

Nip in the blossom all our hopes in thee.

ED.

TO THE SMALL CELANDINE*

Composed April 30, 1802. -Published 1807

[Written at Town-end, Grasmere. It is remarkable that this flower, coming out so early in the spring as it does, and so bright and beautiful, and in such profusion, should not have been noticed earlier in English verse. What adds much to the interest that attends it is its habit of shutting itself up and opening out according to the degree of light and temperature of the air.-I. F.]

One of the "Poems of the Fancy." In the original MS. this poem is called To the lesser Celandine, but in the proof “small” was substituted for "lesser."

In Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal the following occurs,

* Common Pilewort.-W. W. 1807.

under date April 30, 1802 :— "We came into the orchard
directly after breakfast, and sat there. The lake was calm,
the sky cloudy. William began to write the poem of The
Celandine.
I walked backwards and forwards with
William. He repeated his poem to me, then he got to work
again, and would not give over."—ED.

PANSIES, lilies, kingcups, daisies,
Let them live upon their praises ;
Long as there's a sun that sets,
Primroses will have their glory;
Long as there are violets,

They will have a place in story:
There's a flower that shall be mine,
'Tis the little Celandine.

Eyes of some men travel far
For the finding of a star;

Up and down the heavens they go,
Men that keep a mighty rout!
I'm as great as they, I trow,
Since the day I found thee out,
Little Flower !—I'll make a stir,
Like a sage1 astronomer.

5

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35

* The following stanza was inserted in the editions of 1836-1843:

Drawn by what peculiar spell,

By what charm for sight or smell,
Do those wingèd dim-eyed creatures,
Labourers sent from waxen cells,
Settle on thy brilliant features,
In neglect of buds and bells
Opening daily at thy side,
By the season multiplied?

In 1845 it was transferred to the following poem, where it will be found,

with a change of text.-ED.

Prophet of delight and mirth,
Ill-requited 1 upon earth;
Herald of a mighty band,
Of a joyous train ensuing,
Serving at my heart's command,
Tasks that are no tasks renewing,2
I will sing, as doth behove,
Hymns in praise of what I love!

TO THE SAME FLOWER

Composed May 1, 1802.-Published 1807
One of the "Poems of the Fancy.”—ED.

PLEASURES newly found are sweet
When they lie about our feet :

February last, my heart

First at sight of thee was glad;

All unheard of as thou art,

Thou must needs, I think, have had,
Celandine! and long ago,
Praise of which I nothing know.

I have not a doubt but he,
Whosoe'er the man might be,
Who the first with pointed rays
(Workman worthy to be sainted)
Set the sign-board in a blaze,
When the rising 3 sun he painted,
Took the fancy from a glance

60

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15

Soon as gentle breezes bring
News of winter's vanishing,

And the children build their bowers,
Sticking 'kerchief-plots of mould
All about with full-blown flowers,
Thick as sheep in shepherd's fold !
With the proudest thou art there,
Mantling in the tiny square.
Often have I sighed to measure
By myself a lonely pleasure,
Sighed to think, I read a book
Only read, perhaps, by me;
Yet I long could overlook
Thy bright coronet and Thee,
And thy arch and wily ways,
And thy store of other praise.

Blithe of heart, from week to week
Thou dost play at hide-and-seek;
While the patient primrose sits

Like a beggar in the cold,

Thou, a flower of wiser wits,

Slip'st into thy sheltering hold;
Liveliest of the vernal train 2

When ye all are out again.

Drawn by what peculiar spell,
By what charm of sight or smell,
Does the dim-eyed curious Bee,
Labouring for her waxen cells,
Fondly settle upon Thee

Prized above all buds and bells

Opening daily at thy side,

By the season multiplied? 3

1

1832.

shelter'd

1807.

2 1845.

Bright as any of the train

1807.

3 This stanza was added in 1845. (See note, p. 302.)