Yet like a star, with glittering crest,
Self-poised in air thou seem'st to rest ;—
May peace come never to his nest,

Who shall reprove thee!

Bright Flower!1 for by that name at last,
When all my reveries are past,

I call thee, and to that cleave fast,
Sweet silent creature!

That breath'st with me in sun and air,
Do thou, as thou art wont, repair

My heart with gladness, and a share

Of thy meek nature !

40

45

In his editions 1836-1849 Wordsworth gave 1805 as the year in which this poem was composed, but the Fenwick note prefixed to it renders this impossible. It evidently belongs to the same time, and “mood,” as the previous poem.—ED.

TO THE DAISY

Composed 1802.-Published 1807

[This and the other Poems addressed to the same flower were composed at Town-end, Grasmere, during the earlier part of my residence there. I have been censured for the last line but one-thy function apostolical"—as being little less than profane. How could it be thought so? The word is adopted with reference to its derivation, implying something sent on a mission; and assuredly this little flower, especially when the subject of verse, may be regarded, in its humble degree, as administering both to moral and to spiritual purposes.— I. F.]

This was included among the "Poems of the Fancy" from 1815 to 1832. In 1837 it was transferred to the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection."-ED.

1 1836.

BRIGHT Flower! whose home is everywhere,
Bold in maternal Nature's care,

Sweet Flower!

1807.

And all the long year through the heir1

Of joy and sorrow.

Methinks that there abides in thee

Some concord 3 with humanity,

Given to no other flower I see
The forest thorough!

Is it that Man is soon deprest ? 4

A thoughtless Thing! who, once unblest,
Does little on his memory rest,

Or on his reason,

And 5 Thou would'st teach him how to find
A shelter under every wind,

A hope for times that are unkind

And every season?

Thou wander'st the wide world about,
Uncheck'd by pride or scrupulous doubt,
With friends to greet thee, or without,
Yet pleased and willing ;

Bright Flower, whose home is every where !
A Pilgrim bold in Nature's care,
And all the long year through the heir

1807.

And oft, the long year through, the heir
Confiding Flower, by Nature's care
Made bold,-who, lodging here or there,
Art all the long year through the heir

Bright flower, whose home is every where !
A Pilgrim bold in Nature's care,

1827.

1837.

5

ΙΟ

15

20

Meek, yielding to the occasion's call,
And all things suffering from all,
Thy function apostolical

In peace fulfilling.1

66

The three preceding poems To the Daisy evidently belong to the same time, and are, as Wordsworth expressly says, overflowings of the mind in composing the one which stands first." Nevertheless, in the revised edition of 1836-7, he gave the date 1802 to the first, 1803 to the third, and 1805 to the second of them. In the earlier editions 1815 to 1832, they are all classed among the "Poems of the Fancy," but in the edition of 1837, and afterwards, the last, 'Bright Flower! whose home is everywhere," is ranked among the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection." They should manifestly be placed together. Wordsworth's fourth poem To the Daisy, which is an elegy on his brother John, and belongs to a subsequent year— having no connection with the three preceding poems, will be found in its chronological place.—ED.

"

LOUISA

AFTER ACCOMPANYING HER ON A MOUNTAIN
EXCURSION

Composed 1802.-Published 1807

[Town-end 1805.-I. F.]

One of the "Poems founded on the Affections." 1807 to 1832 the title was simply Louisa.-ED,

1 1807.

I MET Louisa in the shade,

And, having seen that lovely Maid,
Why should I fear to say 2

From

This stanza was omitted in the editions of 1827 and 1832,

That, nymph-like, she is fleet and strong,1
And down the rocks can leap along
Like rivulets in May?

2

She loves her fire, her cottage-home;
Yet o'er the moorland will she roam
In weather rough and bleak;

And, when against the wind she strains,

Oh! might I kiss the mountain rains

That sparkle on her cheek.

Take all that's mine "beneath the moon,'

If I with her but half a noon

May sit beneath the walls

5

ΙΟ

15

Of some old cave, or mossy nook,

When up she winds along the brook 3
To hunt the waterfalls.

Wordsworth gave as the date of the composition of this poem the year 1805; but he said of the following one, To a Young Lady, who had been Reproached for taking Long Walks in the Country-"composed at the same time" and "designed to make one piece"-that it was written in 1803.

1 1845.

That she is ruddy, fleet, and strong;

That she is healthful,

1807. 1836.

2 In the editions of 1807 to 1843 occurs the following verse, which was omitted from subsequent editions :—

And she hath smiles to earth unknown;

Smiles, that with motion of their own

Do spread, and sink, and rise;

That come and go with endless play,

And ever, as they pass away,

Are hidden in her eyes.

3 1807.

When she goes barefoot up the brook

MS.

* Compare Young's Night Thoughts, where the phrase occurs three times. See also Lear, act IV. scene vi. 1. 26—

For all beneath the moon.

Haywood, The English Traveller, v. 1

All things that dwell beneath the moon.

It was also used by William Drummond, in one of his sonnets,
I know that all beneath the moon decays.

ED.

or the

But it is certain that these following lines appeared in The Morning Post, on Feb. 12, 1802, where they are headed To a beautiful Young Lady, who had been harshly spoken of on account of her fondness for taking long walks in the Country. There is difficulty, both in ascertaining the exact date of composition, and in knowing who "Louisa " "Young Lady" was. Mrs. Millicent G. Fawcett wrote to me several years ago, suggesting, with some plausibility, a much earlier date, if Dorothy Wordsworth was the lady referred to. She referred me to Dorothy's letter to her aunt, Mrs. Crackenthorpe, written from Windybrow, Keswick, in 1794, when staying there with her brother; and says "What inclined me to think that the poem was written earlier than 1805 was that it anticipates Dorothy's marriage, and this would more naturally be present as a probable event in W. W.'s mind in 1794 or thereabouts than in 1805, after Dorothy had dedicated her life to her brother, to the exclusion of all wish to make a home of her own by marriage. The expression Healthy as a shepherd boy' is also more applicable to a girl of twenty-two than to a woman of thirty-three. Do you think it possible that the poem may have been written in 1794, and not published till later, when its application would be less evident to the family circle?"

Dorothy Wordsworth's letter will be quoted in full in a later volume, but the following extract from it may be given now:"I cannot pass unnoticed that part of your letter in which you speak of my 'rambling about the country on foot.' So far from considering this as a matter for condemnation I rather thought it would have given my friends pleasure that I had courage to make use of the strength with which Nature has endowed me, when it not only procured me infinitely more pleasure than I should have received from sitting in a post-chaise, but was also the means of saving me at least thirty shillings."

I do not think the date of composition can be so early as 1794. What may be called internal, or structural, evidence is against it. Wordsworth never could have written these two poems till after his settlement at Dove Cottage. Besides, in 1794, he could have no knowledge of a possible "nest in a green dale, a harbour and a hold"; while at that time his sister had certainly no "cottage home." I believe they were written after he took up his residence at Town-end (the date being uncertain); and that they refer to his sister, and not to his wife. It has been suggested by Mr. Ernest Coleridge (see The Athenæum, Oct. 21, 1893) that they refer to Mary Hutchinson: