Illustrated Books and Newspapers (page 218).

Dated by Wordsworth 1846; first published 1850. Text necessarily, therefore, unchanged. The sonnet is evidently placed in its position here as connected by subject with the last two sonnets of " Personal Talk."-ED.

To the Spade of a Friend (page 219).

He

This person was Thomas Wilkinson, a quaker by religious profession; by natural constitution of mind, or shall I venture to say, by God's grace, he was something better. He had inherited a small estate, and built a house upon it near Yanwath, upon the banks of the Emont. I have heard him say that his heart used to beat, in his boyhood, when he heard the sound of a drum and fife. Nevertheless, the spirit of enterprise in him confined itself to tilling his ground, and conquering such obstacles as stood in the way of its fertility. Persons of his religious persuasion do now, in a far greater degree than formerly, attach themselves to trade and commerce. kept the old track. As represented in this poem, he employed his leisure hours in shaping pleasant walks by the side of his beloved river, where he also built something between a hermitage and a summer-house, attaching to it inscriptions after the manner of Shenstone at his Leasowes. He used to travel from time to time, partly from love of nature, and partly with religious friends in the service of humanity. His admiration of genius in every department did him much honour. Through his connection with the family in which Edmund Burke was educated, he became acquainted with that great man, who used to receive him with great kindness and consideration; and many times have I heard Wilkinson speak of those interesting interviews. He was honoured also by the friendship of Elizabeth Smith, and of Thomas Clarkson and his excellent wife, and was much esteemed by Lord and Lady Lonsdale, and every member of that family. Among his verses (he wrote many) are some worthy of preservation-one little poem in particular upon disturbing, by prying curiosity, a bird while hatching her young in his garden. The latter part of this innocent and good man's life was melancholy. He became blind, and also poor by becoming surety for some of his relations. He was a bachelor. He bore, as I have often witnessed, his calamities with unfailing resignation. I will only add that, while working in

one of his fields, he unearthed a stone of considerable size, then another, then two more, and, observing that they had been placed in order as if forming the segment of a circle, he proceeded carefully to uncover the soil, and brought into view a beautiful Druid's temple of perfect though small dimensions. In order to make his farm more compact, he exchanged this field for another; and, I am sorry to add, the new proprietor destroyed this interesting relic of remote ages for some vulgar purpose. -I. F.

Dated by Wordsworth 1804; first published 1807. I believe that Wordsworth's date not improbably refers to the time spoken of in the title, "While we were labouring together," with which occasion the author desired to connect the origin of the poem; but I have little doubt that it was in fact written in 1806. In a letter of Wordsworth's to Wilkinson, written at Coleorton in November, 1806 (and given in Knight's "Wordsworth's Poetical Works," vol. ii. pp. 349, 350) he writes: "On the other page you will find a copy of verses addressed to an implement of yours; they are supposed to have been composed that afternoon when you and I were labouring together in your pleasureground, an afternoon I often think of with pleasure." On Wilkinson see note on "The Solitary Reaper," vol. iii. p. 367. Further information about this interesting person will be found in Professor Knight's note on the present poem, and in Mary Carr's article in the "Friends' Quarterly Examiner," 1882. In 1. 29 a curious variation of text occurs I cannot doubt that "uselessness" is the true reading; but "usefulness" is that of 1807, and it recurs in 1832; all other edd. "uselessness." L. 8, "labouring (1837); previously "toiling." L. 9 (1827); previously Health, quiet, meekness, ardour, hope secure." L. 20 (1815); in 1807, "More noble than the noblest warrior's sword." Ll. 25, 26 (1837); previously :

"With Thee he will not dread a toilsome day,
His powerful Servant, his inspiring Mate!"

L. 28 (1837); previously, in a bolder poetic spirit, "Thee a surviving soul shall consecrate. L. 31 (1837); previously up, and will adorn."-ED.

66

A Night Thought (page 220).

These verses were thrown off extempore upon leaving Mrs. Luff's house at Fox-Ghyll, one evening. The good

woman is not disposed to look at the bright side of things, and there happened to be present certain ladies who had reached the point of life where youth is ended, and who seemed to contend with each other in expressing their dislike of the country and climate. One of them had been heard to say she could not endure a country where there was "neither sunshine nor cavaliers."-I. F.

Dated conjecturally 1837; first published in 1837, with the title, "Stanzas," in "The Tribute, a collection of Miscellaneous unpublished Poems by various Authors. Edited by Lord Northampton"; first included among Wordsworth's poems in "Poems chiefly of Early and Late Years," 1842. The text of 1842 is the final text. "The Tribute" gives the following variations. Ll. 1, 2:

"The moon that sails along the sky
Moves with a happy destiny,"

Stanza 1 was followed by a stanza omitted 1842-1850:

"Not flagging when the winds all sleep,

Not hurried onward, when they sweep

The bosom of th' ætherial deep,

Not turned aside,

She knows an even course to keep,

Whate'er betide."

L. 7, "Perverse are we-a froward race"; 1. 13, "should make."-ED.

Incident characteristic of a Favourite Dog (page 221).

This Dog I knew well. It belonged to Mrs. Wordsworth's brother, Mr. Thomas Hutchinson, who then lived at Sockburn on the Tees, a beautiful retired situation where I used to visit him and his sisters before my marriage. My Sister and I spent many months there after our return from Germany in 1799.-I. F.

Dated by Wordsworth 1805; first published 1807. L. 14 (1837); previously "Hath an instinct what to do "; 32,"fondly strives" (1815); "doth her best" (1807). Ll. 39, 40 (1837); previously:

"Makes efforts and complainings; nor gives o'er Until her Fellow sank ['sunk' 1807-15] and reappear'd no more."-ED.

Tribute, etc. (page 222).

Dated by Wordsworth 1805; first published 1807. The changes of text were made chiefly with a view to toning down any seeming extravagance in the feeling towards the dog, and in the ascription of almost human passions to her. Two opening lines of 1807-1820 were omitted in 1827:

:

"Lie here sequester'd :— be this little mound
For ever thine, and be it holy ground."

L. 2, a covering" (1827); previously "the covering." L. 11 (1837); in 1807-1815 Wordsworth prayed for Music: "I pray'd for thee, and that thy end were past"; in 1820 the present line, but with "I" instead of "We' (1837), was substituted. Ll. 27, 28 (1837) toning down the previous:

"For love, that comes to all; the holy sense,
Best gift of God, in thee was most intense;"

L. 33, "The soul of love" (1837); previously "A soul of love."-ED.

Fidelity (page 224).

The young man whose death gave occasion to this poem was named Charles Gough, and had come early in the spring to Patterdale for the sake of angling. While attempting to cross over Helvellyn to Grasmere he slipped from a steep part of the rock where the ice was not thawed, and perished. His body was discovered as is told in this poem. Walter Scott heard of the accident, and both he and I, without either of us knowing that the other had taken up the subject, each wrote a poem in admiration of the dog's fidelity. His contains a most beautiful stanza :"How long didst thou think that his silence was slumber, When the wind waved his garment how oft didst thou start."

I will add that the sentiment in the last four lines of the last stanza in my verses was uttered by a shepherd with such exactness, that a traveller, who afterwards reported his account in print, was induced to question the man whether he had read them, which he had not.-I. F.

Dated by Wordsworth 1805; first published 1807. C. Gough was lost early in April, 1805; the body was

found about July 20; the dog was a yellow terrier. Wordsworth told Crabb Robinson (Sept. 10, 1816) that "he purposely made the narrative as prosaic as possible, in order that no discredit might be thrown on the truth of the incident. In the description at the beginning, and in the moral at the end, he has alone indulged in a poetic vein; and these parts, he thinks, he has peculiarly succeeded in."

Ll. 7, 8 (1815, with "from" in place of " through," which word dates from 1820); in 1807:

"From which immediately leaps out
A Dog, and yelping runs about."

دو

L. 25, "doth" (1820); previously "does." L. 33, "holds" (1837); previously "binds (a barrier can hardly be said to bind). L. 34 (1815); in 1807, “Not knowing what to think, a while." L. 36 (1837);_previously "Towards the Dog, o'er rocks and stones." L. 40 (1815); in 1807, "Sad sight! the shepherd with a sigh." Ll. 50, 51 (1815); in 1807:

"But hear a wonder now, for sake

Of which this mournful Tale I tell!"

L. 59 (1827); previously "On which the Traveller thus had died."-ED.

Ode to Duty (page 226).

This ode is on the model of Gray's "Ode to Adversity," which is copied from Horace's "Ode to Fortune." Many and many a time have I been twitted by my wife and sister for having forgotten this dedication of myself to the stern lawgiver. Transgressor indeed I have been, from hour to hour, from day to day: I would fain hope, however, not more flagrantly or in a worse way than most of my tuneful brethren. But these last words are in a wrong strain. We should be rigorous to ourselves and forbearing, if not indulgent, to others, and, if we make comparisons at all, it ought to be with those who have morally excelled us.-I. F.

Dated by Wordsworth 1805; first published 1807; motto added in 1837. The most interesting fact about the text is the omission in 1815 and all later edd. of a stanza, which in 1807 came between the present fifth and sixth stanzas, and which dwelt on the need of a free and