THE BLIND HIGHLAND BOY

A TALE TOLD BY THE FIRE-SIDE, AFTER RETURNING TO THE VALE OF GRASMERE *

Date of composition uncertain.-Published 1807

[The story was told me by George Mackereth, for many years parish-clerk of Grasmere. He had been an eye-witness

of the occurrence. The vessel in reality was a washing-tub, which the little fellow had met with on the shores of the Loch. -I. F.]

One of the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood" in 1815 and 1820.-ED.

1

Now we are tired of boisterous joy,
Have 1 romped enough, my little Boy!
Jane hangs her head upon my breast,
And you shall bring your stool and rest;
This corner is your own.

There! take your seat, and let me see
That 2 you can listen quietly:

And, as I promised, I will tell 3
That strange adventure which befel
A poor blind Highland Boy.

A Highland Boy!-why call him so?
Because, my Darlings, ye must know

1827.
We've

2 1807.
How

3 1807.

Aye, willingly, and what is more
One which you never heard before,
True story this which I shall tell

1807.

MS.

MS.

ΙΟ

*The title in the editions of 1807 to 1820 was The Blind Highland Boy. (A Tale told by the Fireside.)

This poem gave its title to a separate division in the second volume of the edition of 1807, viz. "The Blind Highland Boy; with other Poems."--ED.

That, under hills which rise like towers,1
Far higher hills than these of ours!

He from his birth had lived.

He ne'er had seen one earthly sight
The sun, the day; the stars, the night;
Or tree, or butterfly, or flower,

Or fish in stream, or bird in bower,

Or woman, man, or child.

And yet he neither drooped nor pined,
Nor had a melancholy mind;

For God took pity on the Boy,

And was his friend; and gave him joy
Of which we nothing know.

His Mother, too, no doubt, above
Her other children him did love :

For, was she here, or was she there,
She thought of him with constant care,
And more than mother's love.

And proud she was of heart, when clad
In crimson stockings, tartan plaid,
And bonnet with a feather gay,
To Kirk he on the sabbath day

Went hand in hand with her.

A dog too, had he; not for need,
But one to play with and to feed ;
Which would 2 have led him, if bereft
Of company or friends, and left

1 1837.

Without a better guide.

And then the bagpipes he could blow——
And thus from house to house would go;
And all were pleased to hear and see,
For none made sweeter melody
Than did the poor blind Boy.

In land where many a mountain towers,

2 1807.

could

1807.

MS.

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Yet he had many a restless dream;
Both when he heard the eagles scream,
And when he heard the torrents roar,
And heard the water beat the shore
Near which their cottage stood.

Beside a lake their cottage stood,
Not small like ours, a peaceful flood;
But one of mighty size, and strange ;
That, rough or smooth, is full of change,
And stirring in its bed.

For to this lake, by night and day,

The great Sea-water finds its way

Through long, long windings of the hills
And drinks up all the pretty * rills

And rivers large and strong: †

Then hurries back the road it came-
Returns, on errand still the same;
This did it when the earth was new;
And this for evermore will do,

As long as earth shall last.

And, with the coming of the tide,
Come boats and ships that safely1 ride
Between the woods and lofty rocks;
And to the shepherds with their flocks
Bring tales of distant lands.

1 1827.

sweetly

*This reading occurs in all the editions. But Wordsworth, whose MS. was not specially clear, may have written, or meant to write "petty," (a much better word), and not perceived the mistake when revising the sheets. If he really wrote "petty," he may have meant either small_rills (rillets), or used the word as Shakespeare used it, for "pelting" rills.-ED.

+ Compare Tennyson's In Memoriam, stanza xix.—

There twice a day the Severn fills;
The salt sea-water passes by,
And hushes half the babbling Wye,
And makes a silence in the hills, etc.

ED.

And of those tales, whate'er they were,
The blind Boy always had his share ;
Whether of mighty towns, or vales
With warmer suns and softer gales,
Or wonders of the Deep.

Yet more it pleased him, more it stirred,
When from the water-side he heard

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The shouting, and the jolly cheers ;
The bustle of the mariners

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In stillness or in storm.

But what do his desires avail ?

For He must never handle sail ;

Nor mount the mast, nor row, nor float
In sailor's ship, or fisher's boat,

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Upon the rocking waves.

His Mother often thought, and said,
What sin would be upon her head
If she should suffer this: "My Son,
Whate'er you do, leave this undone ;
The danger is so great."

Thus lived he by Loch-Leven's side
Still sounding with the sounding tide,
And heard the billows leap and dance,
Without a shadow of mischance,

Till he was ten years old.

When one day (and now mark me well,
Ye1 soon shall know how this befell)
He in a vessel of his own,

On the swift flood is hurrying down,
Down to the mighty Sea.2

0

105

In such a vessel never more

May human creature leave the shore ! 1
If this or that way he should stir,
Woe to the poor blind Mariner !

For death will be his doom.

2

But say what bears him ?--Ye have seen
The Indian's bow, his arrows keen,

Rare beasts, and birds with plumage bright ;
Gifts which, for wonder or delight,

Are brought in ships from far.3

* Such gifts had those seafaring men
Spread round that haven in the glen ;
Each hut, perchance, might have its own;
And to the Boy they all were known—

He knew and prized them all.

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115

The rarest was a Turtle-shell

Which he, poor Child, had studied well;

2 The following stanza was only in the edition of 1807 :—

Strong is the current; but be mild,

Ye waves, and spare the helpless Child!

If

ye in anger fret or chafe,

A Bee-hive would be ship as safe

3 1815.

As that in which he sails.

But say, what was it? Thought of fear!
Well may ye tremble when ye hear!

-A Household Tub, like one of those,
Which women use to wash their clothes,
This carried the blind Boy.

1807.

* This and the following six stanzas were added in 1815.-ED.