WORDSWORTH'S POETICAL WORKS. 1804. The poems written in 1804 were not numerous; and with the exception of The Cuckoo, The Daffodils, The Small Celandine, and the stanzas beginning "She was a phantom of delight," they were less remarkable than those of the two preceding, and the three following years; but much of The Prelude was thought out, and dictated, on the terrace walks of Lancrigg during that year, and the Ode on Immortality was altered and added to, although it did not receive its final form till 1806. In the sixth book of The Prelude (see p. 231 of this volume) the lines occur Four years and thirty, told this very week, That part of the poem must therefore have been composed in April, 1804. (See note, p. 120-126).-Ed. 1 [Composed in the Orchard at Town-end, Grasmere, 1804.] 1845. O BLITHE New-comer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice. O Cuckoo shall I call thee Bird, Or but a wandering Voice? While I am lying on the grass Thy twofold shout I hear, From hill to hill it seems to pass, While I am lying on the grass, 1807. Though babbling only to the Vale, Of sunshine and of flowers, Thou bringest unto me a tale Of visionary hours.1 Thrice welcome, darling of the Spring! Even yet thou art to me No bird, but an invisible thing,2 A voice, a mystery; The same whom in my school-boy days Which made me look a thousand ways To seek thee did I often rove And I can listen to thee yet; Can lie upon the plain And listen, till I do beget That golden time again. O blessed Bird! the earth we pace Again appears to be An unsubstantial, faery place; That is fit home for Thee! At There is some uncertainty as to the date of this poem. In the chronological lists, published in 1815 and 1820, a blank was left opposite it, in the column containing the year of composition. From 1836 to 1849, the date assigned by Wordsworth was 1804; and I followed this in the absence of other evidence-in the preparation of the Chronological Table printed in Vol. I. But in Miss Wordsworth's Journal I find the following, under date Tuesday, 22nd March 1802 :— "A mild morning. William worked at the Cuckoo poem. the closing in of day, went to sit in the orchard. William came to me, and walked backwards and forwards. W. repeated the poem to me. I left him there; and in 20 minutes he came in, rather tired with attempting to write." "Friday (March 25). A beautiful morning. William worked at the Cuckoo." Had I seen Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal before constructing the Table of Dates, I should have assigned the Cuckoo to the year 1802; but it may have been altered and readjusted in 1804. The poem was placed amongst those of "The Imagination."-Ed. SHE WAS A PHANTOM OF DELIGHT, Comp. 1804. Pub. 1807. [Written at Town-end, Grasmere. The germ of this poem was four lines composed as a part of the verses on the Highland Girl. Though beginning in this way, it was written from my heart, as is sufficiently obvious.] SHE was a Phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; To be a moment's ornament; Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair; I saw her upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too ! Her household motions light and free, A countenance in which did meet And now I see with eye serene The very pulse of the machine; A Being breathing thoughtful breath, A traveller between life and death;2 From May-time's brightest, liveliest dawn; in 1836 only. A traveller betwixt life and death. 1807. |