Though to the vale no parting beam 1 WRITTEN IN VERY EARLY YOUTH. Comp. 1786. (?) Pub. 1807. CALM is all nature as a resting wheel. The kine are couched upon the dewy grass; 2 1815. On the dear mountain-tops where first he rose. 1820. 1845 Is hushed, am I at rest. My Friends! restrain "An Evening The title of this poem, as first published in 1793, was Walk, An epistle in verse, addressed to a young lady from the lakes of the North of England, by W. Wordsworth, B.A., of St John's, Cambridge." Extracts from it were published in all the collective editions of the poems from 1815 onwards, under the general title of "Juvenile Pieces,” or "Poems written in Youth." The following prefatory note occurs in the editions 1820 to 1832. "The poems in this class are reprinted with unimportant alterations that were made very soon after their publication. It would have been easy to amend them in many passages, both as to sentiment and expression, and I have not been altogether able to resist the temptation; but attempts of this kind are made at the risk of injuring their characteristic features, which, after all, will be regarded as the principal recommendations of juvenile poems." To this, some Wordsworth added, in 1836, "The above, which was written sometime ago, scarcely applies to the poem, 'Descriptive Sketches,' as it now stands. The corrections, though numerous, are not however such as to prevent its retaining with propriety a place in the class of Juvenile The following is the note on this poem, dictated to Miss Fenwick.-ED. Pieces." [The young Lady to whom this was addressed was my Sister. It was composed at school, and during my first two College vacations. There image in it which I have not observed; and, now in my seventy-third year, I recollect the time and place, when most of them were noticed. I will confine myself to one instance: is not an "Waving his hat, the shepherd from the vale I was an The dog loud barking, 'mid the glittering rocks, Hunts, where his master points, the intercepted flocks." eye-witness of this for the first time while crossing the Pass of Dunmail Raise. Upon second thought, I will mention another image: 'And, fronting the bright west, yon oak entwines Its darkening boughs and leaves, in stronger lines." This is feebly and imperfectly expressed, but I recollect distinctly the very spot where this first struck me. It was on the way between Hawkshead and Ambleside, and gave me extreme pleasure. The moment was important in my poetical history; for I date from it my consciousness of the infinite variety of natural appearances which had been unnoticed by the poets of any age or country, so far as I was acquainted with them; and I made a resolution to supply in some degree the deficiency. I could not have been at that time above fourteen years of age. The description of the swans that follows was taken from the daily opportunities I had of observing their habits, not as confined to the gentleman's park, but in a state of nature. There were two pairs of them that divided the lake of Esthwaite, and its in-and-out flowing streams, between them, never trespassing a single yard upon each other's separate domain. They were of the old magnificent species, bearing in beauty and majesty about the same relation to the Thames swan which that does to the goose. It was from the remembrance of those noble creatures, I took, thirty years after, the picture of the swan which I have discarded from the poem of Dion. While I was a schoolboy, the late Mr Curwen introduced a little fleet of these birds, but of the inferior species, to the lake of Windermere. Their principal home was about his own island; but they sailed about into remote parts of the lake, and either from real or imagined injury done to the adjoining fields, they were got rid of at the request of the farmers and proprietors, but to the great regret of all who had become attached to them from noticing their beauty and quiet habits. I will conclude my notice of this poem by observing that the plan of it has not been confined to a particular walk, or an individual place,—a proof (of which I was unconscious at the time) of my unwillingness to submit the poetic spirit to the claims of fact and real circumstance. The country is idealised rather than described in any one of its local aspects.] General Sketch of the Lakes-Author's regret of his Youth which was passed amongst them-Short description of Noon-Cascade-Noontide Retreat— Precipice and sloping Lights-Face of Nature as the Sun declines— Mountain Farm and the Cock-Slate quarry-Sunset-Superstition of the Country connected with that moment — Swans-Female Beggar— Twilight sounds-Western Lights-Spirits-Night-Moonlight-Hope Night sounds-Conclusion. FAR from my dearest Friend, 'tis mine to rove Through bare grey dell, high wood, and pastoral cove; That stuns the tremulous cliffs of high Lodore;1 1 1836. His wizard's course where hoary Derwent takes, Where peace to Grasmere's lonely island leads, Fair scenes,2 erewhile, I taught, a happy child, In youth's keen eye the livelong day was bright, Alike, when first the bittern's hollow bill Was heard, or woodcocks† roamed the moonlight hill. Staying his silent waves to hear the roar 1793. 1827. 1 1836. Where bosomed deep, the shy Winander peeps 1793. 1827. Fair scenes, with other eyes than once, I gaze, *These lines are only applicable to the middle part of that lake. 1793. In the beginning of winter, these mountains are frequented by woodcocks, which in dark nights retire into the woods. 1793. In thoughtless gaiety I coursed the plain,1 Yet still, the sport of some malignant power, But why, ungrateful, dwell on idle pain? To show what pleasures yet to me remain,1 Say, will my Friend, with unreluctant ear,5 The history of a poet's evening hear? While, Memory at my side, I wander here, 1793. For then, even then, the little heart would beat 1820. And wild Impatience, panting upward, showed Say, will my friend, with soft affection's car, 1793. |