Who are to judge of danger which they fear, Napoleon won the battle of Jena on the 14th October 1806, entered Potsdam on the 25th, and Berlin on the 28th; Prince Hohenlohe laid down his arms on the 6th November; Blücher surrendered at Lübeck on the 7th; Magdeburg was taken on the 8th; on the 14th the French occupied Hanover; and on the 21st Napoleon issued his Berlin decree for the blockade of England.-ED. ADDRESS TO A CHILD DURING A BOISTEROUS WINTER EVENING BY MY SISTER Composed 1806. -Published 1815 [Written at Town-end, Grasmere. I. F.] One of the "Poems referring to the Period of Childhood." -ED. WHAT way does the Wind come? What way does he go? He rides over the water, and over the snow, 5 As, if you look up, you plainly may see; But how he will come, and whither he goes, There's never a scholar in England knows. * Who are to judge of danger which they fear These two lines from Lord Brooke's Life of Sir Philip Sydney.-W. W. 1807. "Danger which they fear, and honour which they understand not." Words in Lord Brooke's Life of Sir P. Sidney.-W. W. 1837. He will suddenly stop in a cunning nook, 10 Sometimes he'll hide in the cave of a rock, 15 Nothing but silence and empty space; Save, in a corner, a heap of dry leaves, That he's left, for a bed, to 2 beggars or thieves! As soon as 'tis daylight to-morrow, with me 20 You shall go to the orchard, and then you will see 25 Hark! over the roof he makes a pause, Right in the slates, and with a huge rattle 30 Drive them down, like men in a battle : And burns with a clear and steady light; 35 Books have we to read, but that half-stifled knell, Alas! 'tis the sound of the eight o'clock bell. -Come now we'll to bed! and when we are there 40 Wordsworth dated this poem 1806, and said to Miss Fenwick that it was written at Grasmere. If it was written "during a boisterous winter evening" in 1806, it could not have been written at Grasmere; because the Wordsworths spent most of that winter at Coleorton. I am inclined to believe that the date which the poet gave is wrong, and that the Address really belongs to the year 1805; but, as it is just possible thatalthough referring to winter-it may have been written at Townend in the summer of 1806, it is placed among the poems belonging to the latter year. This Address was translated into French by Mme. Amable Tastu, and published in a popular school-book series of extracts, but Wordsworth's name is not given along with the translation. From 1815 to 1843 the authorship was veiled under the title, "by a female Friend of the Author." In 1845, it was disclosed, "by my Sister." In 1815 Charles Lamb wrote to Wordsworth, "We were glad to see the poems 'by a female friend.' The one of the Wind is masterly, but not new to us. Being only three, perhaps you might have clapt a D. at the corner, and let it have past as a printer's mark to the uninitiated, as a delightful hint to the better instructed. As it is, expect a formal criticism on the poems of your female friend, and she must expect it." (The Letters of Charles Lamb, edited by Alfred Ainger, vol. i. p. 285.)-ED. "BROOK! WHOSE SOCIETY THE POET SEEKS" Composed 1806?-Published 1815 One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets. "-ED. BROOK! whose society the Poet seeks, And whom the curious Painter doth pursue It seems the Eternal Soul is clothed in thee "THERE IS A LITTLE UNPRETENDING RILL" Composed 1806?-Published 1820 [This Rill trickles down the hill-side into Windermere, near Low-wood. My sister and I, on our first visit together to this part of the country, walked from Kendal, and we rested to refresh ourselves by the side of the lake where the streamlet falls into it. This sonnet was written some years after in recollection of that happy ramble, that most happy day and hour.-I. F.] One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."-ED. THERE is a little unpretending Rill Of limpid water, humbler far than aught 3 Nor spring enclosed in sculptured stone, nor aught MS. There is a trickling water, neither rill, Fountain inclosed, or rivulet, nor aught MS. 1806. That ever among Men or Naiads sought 5 Months perish with their moons; year treads on year; But, faithful Emma! thou with me canst say That, while ten thousand pleasures disappear, And flies their memory fast almost as they,3 The immortal Spirit of one happy day Lingers beside that Rill, in vision clear.5 1 1820. It trickles down the hill, 2 1827. So feebly, just for love of power and will, MS. MS. Oftener than mightiest Floods, whose path is wrought 3 1827. Do thou, even thou, O faithful Anna! say And sweet remembrances like flowers decay, 1820. 4 1827. Lingers upon its marge, 1820. 5 1820. For on that day, now seven years gone, when first |