And new-born waters, deemed the happiest source 165 Of inspiration for the conscious lyre.

Lured by the crystal element in times

Stormy and fierce, the Maid of Arc withdrew
From human converse to frequent alone
The Fountain of the Fairies. What to her,
Smooth summer dreams, old favours of the place.
Pageant and revels of blithe elves-to her
Whose country groan'd under a foreign scourge ?
She pondered murmurs that attuned her ear
For the reception of far other sounds
Than their too happy minstrelsy,—a Voice
Reached her with supernatural mandate charged
More awful than the chambers of dark earth
Have virtue to send forth. Upon the marge
Of the benignant fountain, while she stood
Gazing intensely, the translucent lymph
Darkened beneath the shadow of her thoughts
As if swift clouds swept o'er it, or caught
War's tincture, 'mid the forest green and still,
Turned into blood before her heart-sick eye.
Erelong, forsaking all her natural haunts,
All her accustomed offices and cares
Relinquishing, but treasuring every law
And grace of feminine humanity,

The chosen Rustic urged a warlike steed
Toward the beleaguered city, in the might
Of prophecy, accoutred to fulfil,

At the sword's point, visions conceived in love.
The cloud of rooks descending thro' mid air
Softens its evening uproar towards a close1
Near and more near; for this protracted strain
A warning not unwelcome. Fare thee well!
Emblem of equanimity and truth,

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to a close

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175

From a MS. copied at Rydal by Professor Reed in 1854.

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185

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Farewell!—if thy composure be not ours,
Yet as thou still, when we are gone, wilt keep
Thy living chaplet of fresh flowers and fern,
Cherished in shade tho' peeped at 1 by the sun;
So shall our bosoms feel a covert growth
Of grateful recollections, tribute due
To thy obscure and modest attributes

To thee, dear Spring,2 and all-sustaining Heaven!

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205

"I, WHOSE PRETTY VOICE YOU HEAR"

These lines were written for Miss Fanny Barlow of Middlethorpe Hall, York. She was first married to the Rev. E. Trafford Leigh, and afterwards to Dr. Eason Wilkinson of Manchester.-ED.

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2

I, WHOSE pretty Voice you hear,
Lady (you will think it queer),
Have a Mother, once a Statue,
I, thus boldly looking at you,
Do the name of Paphus bear,
Fam'd Pygmalion's Son and Heir,
By that wondrous marble wife
That from Venus took her life.
Cupid's Nephew then am I,
Nor unskill'd his darts to ply;

But from Him I crav'd no warrant,
Coming thus to seek my Parent;
Not equipp'd with bow and quiver
Her by menace to deliver,

But resolv'd with filial care

Her captivity to share.

pecked at

From a MS. copied at Rydal by Professor Reed in 1854.

clear Spring

From a MS. copied at Rydal by Professor Reed in 1854.

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Hence, while on your toilet, She
Is doom'd a Pincushion to be,
By her side I'll take my place,
As a humble Needle-case;
Furnish'd too with dainty thread,
For a Sempstress thorough-bred.
Then let both be kindly treated,
Till the Term, for which She's fated
Durance to sustain, be over;

So will I ensure a Lover
Lady! to your heart's content;
But on harshness are you bent
Bitterly shall you repent,
When to Cyprus back I go

And take up my Uncle's bow.

Composed, and in part transcribed, for Fanny Barlow, by her affectionate Friend

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30

WM. WORDSWORTH.

RYDAL MOUNT,

Shortest Day, 1826.

1827

TO MY NIECE DORA

BY DOROTHY WORDSWORTH

The following lines were written in Dora Wordsworth's "Album," in which Sir Walter Scott also wrote verses.-ED.

CONFIDING hopes of youthful hearts,
And each bright visionary scheme,
Shall here remain in vivid hues

The hues of a celestial dream.

some

Yet still a lurking wish prevails

That when from life we all have passed
The friends who loved thy Father's name
On her's a thought may cast.

DOROTHY WORDSWORTH.

January 1827.

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1829

"MY LORD AND LADY DARLINGTON "

These lines were written by Wordsworth, after reading a sentence in the Stranger's Book at "The Station,”—not a railway station!—on the western side of Windermere lake, opposite Bowness. Their poetic merit is slight, but they illustrate the honesty and directness of the writer's mind. The Stranger's Book at "The Station" contained the following:

"Lord and Lady Darlington, Lady Vane, Miss Taylor, and Captain Stamp pronounce this Lake superior to Lac de Genève, Lago de Como, Lago Maggiore, L'Eau de Zurich, Loch Lomond, Loch Katerine, or the Lakes of Killarney.”—ED.

My Lord and Lady Darlington,

I would not speak in snarling-tone;
Nor, to you, good Lady Vane,
Would I give one moment's pain;
Nor Miss Taylor, Captain Stamp,
Would I your flights of memory cramp.
Yet, having spent a summer's day
On the green margin of Loch Tay,
And doubled (prospect ever bettering)
The mazy reaches of Loch Katerine,
And more than once been free at Luss,
Loch Lomond's beauties to discuss,
And wished, at least, to hear the blarney
Of the sly boatmen of Killarney,
And dipped my hand in dancing wave
Of Eau de Zurich, Lac Genève,

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And bowed to many a major domo

On stately terraces of Como,

And seen the Simplon's forehead hoary,
Reclined on Lago Maggiore

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