vol. ii. p. 98; and see (to make up the deficiencies of this class) "The Excursion," passim.-W. W.

me,

The character of this man was described to me, and the incident upon which the verses turn was told by Mr. Pool of Nether Stowey, with whom I became acquainted through our common friend, S. T. Coleridge. During my residence at Alfoxden I used to see much of him and had frequent occasions to admire the course of his daily life, especially his conduct to his labourers and poor neighbours: their virtues he carefully encouraged, and weighed their faults in the scales of charity. If I seem in these verses to have treated the weaknesses of the farmer, and his transgression, too tenderly, it may in part be ascribed to my having received the story from one so averse to all harsh judgment. After his death, was found in his escritoire a lock of grey hair carefully preserved, with a notice that it had been cut from the head of his faithful shepherd, who had served him for a length of years. I need scarcely add that he felt for all men as his brothers. He was much beloved by distinguished persons —Mr. Coleridge, Mr. Southey, Sir H. Davy, and many others; and in his own neighbourhood was highly valued as a magistrate, a man of business, and in every other social relation. The latter part of the poem, perhaps, requires some apology as being too much of an echo to the "Reverie of Poor Susan."—I. F.

دو

Dated by Wordsworth 1803. In a letter to Daniel Stuart, May 17, 1838, Wordsworth mentions that the poem first appeared in "The Morning Post or "The Courier," he had forgotten which; first included among Wordsworth's poems in 1815.

Ll. 7, 8 (1837); in 1815-1820:

"Erect as a sunflower he stands, and the streak

Of the unfaded rose is expressed on his cheek."

In 1827 1. 7 remained as before; 1. 8 became, "Of the unfaded rose still enlivens his cheek."

L. 11 (1843); previously" There fashioned that countenance, which in spite of a stain."

L. 16, "mild ale" (1827); previously "good ale." L. 37, "with his" (1837); previously "with this," but in text of 1815," of his," corrected in errata of that ed. L. 49, "need" (1827); previously "needs."

L. 74, "fruits" (1837); previously "fruit."

L. 82, "a waggon" (1837); previously "the waggon." -ED.

The Small Celandine (page 124).

Dated by Wordsworth 1804; first published 1807. Text unchanged except 1. 4, "himself" (1837); previously "itself." Professor Knight notes that in pencil Wordsworth added to the Fenwick note the query, Has not Chaucer noticed it ?"-ED.

The Two Thieves (page 125).

This is described from the life, as I was in the habit of observing when a boy at Hawkshead School. Daniel was more than eighty years older than myself when he was daily, thus occupied, under my notice. No book could have so early taught me to think of the changes to which human life is subject; and while looking at him I could not but say to myself-we may, one of us, I or the happiest of my playmates, live to become still more the object of pity than this old man, this half-doating pilferer!-I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 1800; first published 1800. In 1820, "little Dan" is younger than in earlier edd.; see note on 1. 13.

L. 3, "Then" (1802); in 1800,"When,"

L. 13 (1820); previously "Little Dan is unbreeched, he is three birth-days old,"

L. 15,

"There are" (1802); in 1800,"There's." L. 16, " a-pilfering" (1837); previously "a-stealing." L. 18," turf" (1827); previously "peats."

L. 22, ed. 1805 alone reads, "last look of dotage "probably a misprint for "lost look."

L. 25, "He" (1820); previously "Dan."

L. 37, 66 streets" (1802); in 1800,"street."

L. 38, "becomes leader and led" (1837); previously "is both leader and led."

L. 42, "For the grey-headed Sire" (1837); in 18001815,"For grey-) y-headed Dan"; in 1820-1832, "The grey-headed Sire."-ED.

Animal Tranquillity and Decay (page 128).

Dated by Wordsworth 1798; first published 1798._ The title in 1798 was "Old Man Travelling; Animal Tranquillity and Decay, A Sketch"; in 1802 the first three words were omitted; in 1845, "A Sketch" was omitted. The "hath" (1805) of 1. 10 was, 1798-1802, "has otherwise the lines stand as in 1798, but then they were followed by six lines omitted in 1815 and later edd. :

"-I asked him whither he was bound, and what The object of his journey; he replied

'Sir! I am going many miles to take A last leave of my son, a mariner,

Who from a sea-fight has been brought to Falmouth, And there is dying in an hospital.—

In 1800 (alone) the "dying" of the last line became "lying"; and then the old man's words were put into the third person: "That he was going many miles," "his son," "sea-fight had," "was dying." So also in 18021805, with "dying" in last line.-ED.

Epitaphs, 1810 (page 129).

Those from Chiabrera were chiefly translated when Mr. Coleridge was writing his " Friend," in which periodical my Essay on Epitaphs," written about that time, was first published. For further notice of Chiabrera, in connection with his Epitaphs, see Musings at Aquapendente" (vol. iii. p. 240).-I. F.

66

I. "Weep not, beloved Friends" (page 129). Date uncertain; first published 1837. Ll. 7, 8 (1850; perhaps, as stated by Knight, 1846, which ed., as explained in Preface, I do not consult); previously:

"Francesco Ceni after death enjoined

That thus his tomb should speak for him."-Ed.

II. "Perhaps some needful service," etc. (page 129). Written 1809 or early in 1810; first published in “The Friend," Feb. 22, 1810; first included among Wordsworth's poems in 1815. From 1815 onwards text unchanged, except in 1. 16, "hath brought" (1837); previously" conducts." In "The Friend" occur the following variations: 1. 11, "Nestrian "; ll. 12, 13:

"There did he live content; and all his thoughts
Were blithe as vernal flowers."-ED.

III. "O Thou who movest onward," etc. (page 130).

Same dates of composition and publication as the last (Epitaph II.). Text unchanged except in 1. 8, "Well " (1837); previously "Much."-ED.

IV." There never breathed a man," etc. (page 131).~

Written 1809; first published in "The Friend," Dec. 28, 1809; first included among Wordsworth's poems in 1815. The only changes in the text are that "fifty" in 1. 13 and "seventy" in 1. 30 were substituted in 1837 for the previous "forty" and "sixty," and that in l. 23" learned" in 1832 replaced the earlier" learn."-ED.

V. "True is it," etc. (page 132).

Date uncertain; first published 1837. Text unchanged. Coleridge was also interested in this Epitaph of Chiabrera, and rendered some lines of it in "A Tombless Epitaph,' where he makes an idealising study in verse of his own character.-ED.

VI." Destined to war," etc. (page 133).

Written 1809; first published in "The Friend," Dec. 28, 1809; first included among Wordsworth's poems in 1815. Text unchanged.-ED.

VII. "O Flower," etc. (page 133).

Date uncertain; first published 1837. Text unchanged. -ED.

VIII." Not without heavy grief of heart," etc. (page 134). Written 1809; first published in "The Friend," Jan. 4, 1810; first included among Wordsworth's poems in 1815. Text unchanged.-ED.

IX. "Pause, courteous Spirit!" (page 135).

Written 1809; dates of first publication and first inclusion in poems same as last (No. VIII.).

L. 14 (1837); previously" Twine on the top of Pindus." L. 16, 66 songs (1837); previously "song." L. 18 (1837); previously "And fixed his Pindus upon Lebanon." -ED.

By a blest husband guided, Mary came" (page 135). This lady was named Carleton; she, along with a sister, was brought up in the neighbourhood of Ambleside. The

epitaph, a part of it at least, is in the church at Bromsgrove, where she resided after her marriage.-I. F.

Date uncertain; first published 1835. Text unchanged, except that the name "Vernon" in l. 2 was first given in 1837, asterisks only appearing in 1835.-ED.

"Six months to six years added" (page 136).

Date uncertain; first published 1837. This epitaph was inscribed upon the tombstone of Thomas, the poet's son, who died Dec. 1, 1812. It may therefore have been written long before publication. Text unchanged.—ED.

Cenotaph (page 137).

See "Elegiac Stanzas. Addressed to Sir G. H. B. upon the death of his Sister-in-Law."-I. F.

Written 1824; first published 1842 (in "Poems chiefly of Early and Late Years"). Text unchanged. The "Elegiac Stanzas (addressed to Sir G. Beaumont upon the Death of his Sister-in-Law") p. 152, has the date 1824. Professor Knight quotes from a letter of Mary Wordsworth to Lady Beaumont with reference to these "Cenotaph" stanzas, which gives a manuscript version having the title " Inscription in the Church at Coleorton," and the word "cenotaph" in place of "tablet" in 1. 7. She writes, "To fit the lines, intended for an urn, for a Monument, William has altered the closing stanza, which (though they are not what he would have produced had he first cast them with a view to the Church) he hopes you will not disapprove."-ED.

Epitaph (page 137).

Owen Lloyd, the subject of this epitaph, was born at Old Brathay, near Ambleside, and was the son of Charles Lloyd and his wife Sophia (née Pemberton), both of Birmingham, who came to reside in this part of the country soon after their marriage. They had many children, both sons and daughters, of whom the most remarkable was the subject of this epitaph. He was educated under Mr. Dawes, at Ambleside, Dr. Butler, of Shrewsbury, and lastly at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he would have been greatly distinguished as a scholar but for inherited infirmities of bodily constitution, which, from early childhood, affected his mind. His love for the neighbourhood in which he was born, and his sympathy with the habits