NOTES. Figures Referring to Lines. "IF THOU INDEED." ALL we know as to the date of these lines is that Wordsworth said "they were written some time after we had become residents at Rydal Mount," 1813, and that they were printed in 1827. First placed among the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection," this poem in 1837 was prefixed to that group, and in 1845 Wordsworth decided to give it a more important place, as an inscription prefixed to his entire poetical works. "I mean it," he wrote, to serve as a sort of Preface." In the earliest form it consists of eleven lines; 1. 2, 1. 4, and the last three lines were added in 1837, when also some slight changes of text were made in the earlier lines. The poem may well be compared with that beginning "It is no Spirit who from heaven hath flown," in which Hesperus, the "ambitious Star," prompts the thought that the Poet may one day ascend to the heights and shine there unreproved. The added lines in the present poem are an exhortation of the Poet to himself to occupy no more and no less than his allotted place: to the measure of that heaven-born light, Shine, Poet! IO. An untended watch-fire. In the sonnet beginning "I watched, and long have watched," a star reaching the rocky parapet is described transmuted to a dusky fire." as LINES Left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree. Dated by Wordsworth, 1795, but written in part when he was at school at Hawkshead before October, 1787; published in 1798. The Yew-tree has disappeared; "it stood on the eastern shore of Esthwaitewater, about three-quarters of a mile from Hawkshead" (Knight). "This spot," said Wordsworth, was my favourite walk in the evenings during the latter part of my school-time." The person whose character is here given was a gentleman of the neighbourhood, a man of talent and learning, who had been educated at one of the Universities, and returned to pass his time in seclusion on his own estate." 4. Before 1832, with a less simple collocation of words: "What if these barren boughs the bee not loves?" II. This line in 1800 replaced the 1798 reading: Now wild, to bend its arms in circling shade," thus leaving the Yew-tree bower still intact. 13-24. In 1798 these lines stood thus: In youth, by genius nurs'd, And big with lofty views, he to the world At once, with rash disdain he turned away, And with the food of pride sustained his soul In 1800 the lines were almost as now, except that between "neglect " and "with indignation," the following (altered in 1802) was introduced : The world, for so it thought, Owed him no service: he was like a plant Fair to the sun, the darling of the winds, But hung with fruit which no one that passed by The image of the "plant," following the description of the Yew-tree, was somewhat confusing or distracting to the imagination. 27. This line returns (1820) to the first text; in 1815: The stone-chat, or the sand-lark, restless Bird, Piping along the margin of the lake; Lamb in 1815 complained of the loss of the 1798 line," a line quite alive." 30. Downcast in 1800 replaced the less correct "downward" of 1798. 38. This line was added in 1800; "added by Coleridge" (Knight). 43. Before 1836: "With mournful joy, to think that others felt." Wordsworth doubtless conceived that "mournful joy" disturbed the feeling of the lines with a paradox. The poem, when considered in connection with its early date, is remarkable as embodying much that is characteristic of the writer in its moral wisdom. Something, though with many differences, of the character of the Solitary in "The Excursion" is anticipated in these lines. For an interesting criticism of the poem, see Sir Henry Taylor's article on 'Wordsworth's Poetical Works." (Taylor's Works, vol. V, pp. 18-23, ed. 1878.) ९९ MARGARET; OR THE RUINED COTTAGE. This is a portion of The Excursion," Bk. i. After line 37 follow 400 lines here omitted—which give an account of the Old Man's boyhood, education, and manner of life. He is a pedlar, born in Scotland, well educated, and of lofty character, devout temper, and philosophic intellect. This portion of "The Excursion" was begun in 1795, and was substantially complete in 1798, though we find that Wordsworth was again engaged upon it in 1801. "The Excursion" was published in 1814. There is a certain sanction for presenting this fragment by itself, for originally Wordsworth seems to have designed "The Ruined Cottage" (such being his intended title) for a separate poem. The text of "The Excursion was revised for the edition of 1827, was retouched in 1832, again revised in 1837, and again in 1845. In 1827 Wordsworth, upon the whole, pruned and condensed; in 1845 he made a few interesting additions, some of these expressing more clearly his Christian faith. There is little or nothing in this poem that calls for explanation or comment, but a few of the many changes of text may be noted. 16, 17. Before 1827 the reading was : By that impending covert made more soft, |