Joanna! and I guess, since you have been So distant from us now for two long years, That you will gladly listen to discourse However trivial, if you thence are taught That they, with whom you once were happy, talk Familiarly of you and of old times.
While I was seated, now some ten days past, Beneath those lofty firs, that overtop Their ancient neighbour the old steeple tower, The vicar from his gloomy house hard by Came forth to greet me; and when he had asked, "How fares Joanna, that wild-hearted maid! And when will she return to us?" he paused; And, after short exchange of village news,
He with grave looks demanded, for what cause, Reviving obsolete idolatry,
I like a Runic priest, in characters
Of formidable size, had chiselled out Some uncouth name upon the native rock, Above the Rotha, by the forest side. -Now, by those dear immunities of heart Engendered betwixt malice and true love, I was not loth to be so catechized, And this was my reply :-" As it befell, One summer morning we had walked abroad At break of day, Joanna and myself.
'Twas that delightful season, when the broom, Full flowered, and visible on every steep, Along the copses runs in veins of gold. Our pathway led us on to Rotha's banks; And when we came in front of that tall rock
Which looks towards the east, I there stopped short, And traced the lofty barrier with my eye
From base to summit; such delight I found
To note in shrub and tree, in stone and flower, That intermixture of delicious hues,
Along so vast a surface, all at once,
In one impression, by connecting force
Of their own beauty, imaged in the heart. -When I had gazed perhaps two minutes' space, Joanna, looking in my eyes, beheld
That ravishment of mine, and laughed aloud. The rock, like something starting from a sleep, Took up the lady's voice, and laughed again: That ancient woman seated on Helm Crag Was ready with her cavern: Hammer Scar, And the tall steep of Silver How, sent forth A noise of laughter; southern Loughrigg heard, And Fairfield answered with a mountain tone: Helvellyn far into the clear blue sky Carried the lady's voice; old Skiddaw blew His speaking trumpet; back out of the clouds Of Glaramara southward came the voice; And Kirkstone tossed it from his misty head.
"Now whether," said I to our cordial friend, Who in the hey-day of astonishment
Smiled in my face, "this were in simple truth A work accomplished by the brotherhood Of ancient mountains, or my ear was touched With dreams and visionary impulses,
Is not for me to tell; but sure I am That there was a loud uproar in the hills: And, while we both were listening, to my side The fair Joanna drew, as if she wished To shelter from some object of her fear.
And hence, long afterwards, when eighteen moons Were wasted, as I chanced to walk alone Beneath this rock, at sunrise, on a calm And silent morning, I sat down, and there, In memory of affections old and true, I chiselled out in those rude characters Joanna's name upon the living stone.
And I, and all who dwell by my fire-side, Have called the lovely rock, Joanna's Rock.'
THERE is an eminence,—of these our hills The last that parleys with the setting sun. We can behold it from our orchard-seat; And, when at evening we pursue our walk Along the public way, this cliff, so high Above us, and so distant in its height, Is visible; and often seems to send Its own deep quiet to restore our hearts. The meteors make of it a favourite haunt: The star of Jove, so beautiful and large In the mid heavens, is never half so fair As when he shines above it. "Tis in truth The loneliest place we have among the clouds. And she who dwells with me, whom I have loved With such communion, that no place on earth
* In Cumberland and Westmoreland are several inscriptions, upon the native rock, which, from the wasting of time, and the rudeness of the workmanship, have been mistaken for Runic. They are without doubt Roman.
The Rotha mentioned in this poem, is the river which, flowing through the lakes of Grasmere and Rydale, falls into Wyndermere. On Helm Crag, that impressive single mountain at the head of the Vale of Grasmere, 18 a rock which from most points of view bears a striking resemblance to an old woman cowering. Close by this rock is one of those fissures or caverns, which, in the language of the country, are called dungeons. Most of the mountains here mentioned immediately surround the Vale of Grasmere of the others, some are at a considerable distance, but they belong to the same cluster.
Can ever be a solitude to me,
Hath to this lonely summit given my name.
A NARROW girdle of rough stones and crags, A rude and natural causeway, interposed Between the water and a winding slope Of copse and thicket, leaves the eastern shore Of Grasmere safe in its own privacy. And there, myself and two beloved friends, One calm September morning, ere the mist Had altogether yielded to the sun,
Sauntered on this retired and difficult way.
Ill suits the road with one in haste, but we Played with our time; and, as we strolled along, It was our occupation to observe
Such objects as the waves had tossed ashore, Feather, or leaf, or weed, or withered bough, Each on the other heaped, along the line Of the dry wreck. And, in our vacant mood, Not seldom did we stop to watch some tuft Of dandelion seed or thistle's beard,
That skimmed the surface of the dead calm lake, Suddenly halting now-a lifeless stand!
And starting off again with freak as sudden; In all its sportive wanderings, all the while, Making report of an invisible breeze
That was its wings, its chariot, and its horse, Its very playmate, and its moving soul.
And often, trifling with a privilege Alike indulged to all, we paused, one now And now the other, to point out, perchance To pluck, some flower or water weed, too fair Either to be divided from the place
On which it grew, or to be left alone
To its own beauty. Many such there are,
Fair ferns and flowers, and chiefly that tall fern So stately, of the Queen Osmunda named
Plant lovelier in its own retired abode
On Grasmere's beach, than Naiad by the side Of Grecian brook, or lady of the mere, Sole sitting by the shores of old romance.
So fared we that sweet morning from the fields, Meanwhile, a noise was heard, the busy mirth Of reapers, men and women, boys and girls. Delighted much to listen to those sounds,
As this was published in 1800, two years before he was married, the person alluded to must be his sister.
And, in the fashion which I have described, Feeding unthinking fancies, we advanced Along the indented shore; when suddenly, Through a thin veil of glittering haze, we saw Before us, on a point of jutting land, The tall and upright figure of a man Attired in peasant's garb, who stood alone, Angling beside the margin of the lake.
That way we turned our steps, nor was it long Ere, making ready comments on the sight Which then we saw, with one and the same voice Did all cry out that he must be indeed An idler, he who thus could lose a day Of the mid-harvest, when the labourer's hire Is ample, and some little might be stored Wherewith to cheer him in the winter time. Thus talking of that peasant, we approached Close to the spot where with his rod and line He stood alone; whereat he turned his head To greet us and we saw a man worn down By sickness, gaunt and lean, with sunken cheeks And wasted limbs, his legs so long and lean That for my single self I looked at them, Forgetful of the body they sustained. Too weak to labour in the harvest-field, The man was using his best skill to gain A pittance from the dead unfeeling lake That knew not of his wants. I will not say What thoughts immediately were ours, nor how The happy idleness of that sweet morn, With all its lovely images, was changed To serious musing and to self-reproach. Nor did we fail to see within ourselves What need there is to be reserved in speech, And temper all our thoughts with charity. Therefore, unwilling to forget that day, My friend, myself, and she who then received The same admonishment, have called the place By a memorial name, uncouth indeed
As e'er by mariner was given to bay
Or foreland, on a new-discovered coast;
And "Point Rash Judgment" is the name it bears.
OUR walk was far among the ancient trees; There was no road, nor any woodman's path; But the thick umbrage, checking the wild growth Of weed and sapling, on the soft green turf Beneath the branches, of itself had made
A track, which brought us to a slip of lawn, And a small bed of water in the woods.
All round this pool both flocks and herds might drink On its firm margin, even as from a well,
Or some stone basin which the herdsman's hand
Had shaped for their refreshment; nor did sun Or wind from any quarter ever come, But as a blessing, to this calm recess, This glade of water and this one green field. The spot was made by Nature for herself. The travellers know it not, and 'twill remain Unknown to them; but it is beautiful; And if a man should plant his cottage near, Should sleep beneath the shelter of its trees, And blend its waters with his daily meal, He would so love it, that in his death hour Its image would survive among his thoughts: And therefore, my sweet Mary, this still nook, With all its beeches, we have named from you
WHEN, to the attractions of the busy world, Preferring studious leisure, I had chosen A habitation in this peaceful vale,
Sharp season followed of continual storm In deepest winter; and, from week to week, Pathway, and lane, and public road were clogged With frequent showers of snow. Upon a hill At a short distance from my cottage, stands A stately fir-grove, whither I was wont To hasten, for I found, beneath the roof Of that perennial shade, a cloistral place Of refuge, with an unencumbered floor. Here, in safe covert, on the shallow snow, And, sometimes, on a speck of visible earth, The redbreast near me hopped; nor was I loth To sympathise with vulgar coppice birds That, for protection from the nipping blast, Hither repaired. A single beech-tree grew Within this grove of firs; and, on the fork Of that one beech, appeared a thrush's nest; A last year's nest, conspicuously built At such small elevation from the ground As gave sure sign that they, who in that house Of nature and of love had made their home Amid the fir-trees all the summer long
Dwelt in a tranquil spot. And oftentimes,
A few sheep, stragglers from some mountain flock, Would watch my motions with suspicious stare, From the remotest outskirts of the grove,- Some nook where they had made their final stand, Huddling together from two fears-the fear
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