finished, I came in and recited it to Mr Coleridge and my Sister, and said, "A prefatory stanza must be added, and I should sit down to our little tea-meal with greater pleasure if my task was finished." I mentioned in substance what I wished to be expressed, and Coleridge immediately threw off the stanza thus— "A little child, dear brother Jem,—” will I objected to the rhyme, "dear brother Jem," as being ludicrous: but we all enjoyed the joke of hitching in our friend James T-'s name, who was familiarly called Jem. He was the brother of the dramatist; and this reminds me of an anecdote which it may be worth while here to notice. The said Jem got a sight of the "Lyrical Ballads" as it was going through the press at Bristol, during which time I was residing in that city. One evening he came to me with a grave face, and said, “Wordsworth, I have seen the volume that Coleridge and you are about to publish. There is one poem in it which I earnestly entreat you cancel, for, if published, it will make you everlastingly ridiculous." I answered, that I felt much obliged by the interest he took in my good name as a writer, and begged to know what was the unfortunate piece he alluded to. He said, "It is called 'We are Seven.'" "Nay," said I, "that shall take its chance, however;" and he left me in despair. I have only to add, that in the spring of 1841, I visited Goodrich Castle, not having seen that part of the Wye since I met the little girl there in 1793. It would have given me greater pleasure to have found in the neighbouring hamlet traces of one who had interested me so much, but that was impossible, as unfortunately I did not even know her name. The ruin, from its position and features, is a most impressive object. I could not but deeply regret that its solemnity was impaired by a fantastic new Castle set up on a projection of the same ridge, as if to show how far modern art can go in surpassing all that could be done by antiquity and nature with their united graces, remembrances, and associations. I could have almost wished for power, so much the contrast vexed me, to blow away Sir Meyrick's impertinent structure and all the possessions it contains.] The "structure" referred to is Goodrich Court, built in 1828 by Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick-a collector of ancient armour, and a great authority on the subject-mainly to receive his extensive private collection. It is now removed from Goodrich to the South Kensington Museum.-ED. 1 1815. A simple Child,1 That lightly draws its breath, A simple child, dear brother Jim, 1798. I met a little cottage Girl: She was eight years old, she said; Her hair was thick with many a curl That clustered round her head. She had a rustic, woodland air, Her eyes were fair, and very fair; "Sisters and brothers, little Maid, How many may you be?" "How many? Seven in all," she said, And wondering looked at me. "And where are they? I pray you tell." She answered, "Seven are we; And two of us at Conway dwell, And two are gone to sea. Two of us in the church-yard lie, "You say that two at Conway dwell, Yet ye are seven-I pray you tell, Then did the little Maid reply, "You run about, my little Maid, If two are in the church-yard laid, Then ye are only five." "Their graves are green, they may be seen," The little Maid replied, "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door, And they are side by side. care. And when the ground was white with snow, And I could run and slide, My brother John was forced to go, And he lies by her side." "But they are dead; those two are dead! 'Twas throwing words away; for still And said, "Nay, we are seven !" "Retine vim istam, falsa enim dicam, si coges."-EUSEBIUS. [This was suggested in front of Alfoxden. The Boy was a son of my friend, Basil Montague, who had been two or three years under our The name of Kilve is from a village on the Bristol Channel, about a mile from Alfoxden; and the name of Liswyn Farm was taken from a beautiful spot on the Wye, where Mr Coleridge, my sister, and I had been visiting the famous John Thelwall, who had taken refuge from politics, after a trial for high treason, with a view to bring up his family by the profits of agriculture, which proved as unfortunate a speculation as that he had fled from. Coleridge and he had both been public lecturers; Coleridge mingling, with his politics, Theology, from which the other elocutionist abstained, unless it was for the sake of a sneer. This quondam community of public employment induced Thelwall to visit Coleridge at Nether Stowey, where he fell in my way. He really was a man of extraordinary talent, an affectionate husband, and a good father. Though brought up in the City, he was truly sensible of the beauty of natural objects. I remember once, when Coleridge, he, and I were seated together upon the turf on the brink of a stream in the most beautiful part of the most beautiful glen of Alfoxden, Coleridge exclaimed, "This is a place to reconcile one to all 1 1836. The little Maiden did reply. 1798. the jarrings and conflicts of the wide world." "Nay," said Thelwall, "to make one forget them altogether." The visit of this man to Coleridge was, as I believe Coleridge has related, the occasion of a spy being sent by government to watch our proceedings, which were, I can say with truth, such as the world at large would have thought ludicrously harmless.] 1 I HAVE a boy of five years old; His face is fair and fresh to see; His limbs are cast in beauty's mould, One morn we strolled on our dry walk, My thoughts on former pleasures ran; 1892. 2 1827. A day it was when I could bear 3 1827. The green earth echoed to the feet Of lambs that bounded through the glade, From sunshine back to shade.3 |