The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth Volume Ii Part 59

In c.u.mberland and Westmoreland are several Inscriptions upon the native rock which from the wasting of Time and the rudeness of the Workmanship had been mistaken for Runic. They are without doubt Roman.

The Rotha, mentioned in this poem, is the River which flowing through the Lakes of Grasmere and Rydale falls into Wyndermere. On Helm-Crag, that impressive single Mountain at the head of the Vale of Grasmere, is a Rock which from most points of view bears a striking resemblance to an Old Woman cowering. Close by this rock is one of those Fissures or Caverns, which in the language of the Country are called Dungeons. The other Mountains either immediately surround the Vale of Grasmere, or belong to the same Cl.u.s.ter.--W. W. 1800.

Most of the Mountains here mentioned immediately surround the vale of Grasmere; of the others, some are at a considerable distance, but they belong to the same cl.u.s.ter.--W. W. 1802.

The majority of the changes introduced into the text of this poem were made in the year 1836.

The place where the echo of the bleat of the lamb was heard--referred to in the Fenwick note--may be easily found. The "precipice" is Pavy Ark. "The 'lofty firs, that overtop their ancient neighbour, the old steeple-tower,' stood by the roadside, scarcely twenty yards north-west from the steeple of Grasmere church. Their site is now included in the road, which has been widened at that point. They were Scotch firs of unusual size, and might justly be said to 'overtop their neighbour' the tower. Mr. Fleming Green, who well remembers the trees, gave me this information, which is confirmed by other inhabitants.

"When the road was enlarged, not many years ago, the roots of the trees were found by the workmen."

(Dr. Cradock to the editor.) The

'tall rock That eastward looks'

by the banks of the Rotha, presenting a "lofty barrier" "from base to summit," is manifestly a portion of Helmcrag. It is impossible to know whether Wordsworth carved Joanna Hutchinson's name anywhere on Helmcrag, and it is useless to enquire. If he did so, the discovery of the place would not help any one to understand or appreciate the poem. It is obvious that he did not intend to be literally exact in details, as the poem was written in 1800, and addressed to Joanna Hutchinson,--who is spoken of as having been absent from Grasmere "for two long years;" and Wordsworth says that he carved the Runic characters 'in memoriam'

eighteen months after that summer morning when he heard the echo of her laugh. But the family took up residence at Grasmere only in December 1799, and the "Poems on the Naming of Places" were published before the close of 1800. The effect of these lines to Joanna, however, is certainly not impaired--it may even be enhanced--by our inability to localise them. Only one in the list of places referred to can occasion any perplexity, viz., Hammar-scar, since it is a name now disused in the district. It used to be applied to some rocks on the flank of Silver-how, to the wood around them, and also to the gorge between Silver-how and Loughrigg. Hammar, from the old Norse 'hamar', signifies a steep broken rock.

The imaginative description of the echo of the lady's laugh suggests a parallel pa.s.sage from Michael Drayton's 'Polyolbion', which Wordsworth must doubtless have read. (See his sister's reference to Drayton in her 'Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland', in 1803: in the note to the poem, 'At the grave of Burns', p. 382 of this volume.)

'Which _Copland_ scarce had spoke, but quickly every Hill Upon her verge that stands, the neighbouring valleys fill; _Helvillon_ from his height, it through the mountains threw, From whence as soon again, the sound _Dunbalrase_ drew, From whose stone-trophed head, it on the _Wendrosse_ went, Which tow'rds the sea again, resounded it to _Dent_, That _Brodwater_ therewith within her banks astound, In sailing to the sea, told it to _Egremound_, Whose buildings, walks, and streets, with echoes loud and long, Did mightily commend old _Copland_ for her song.'

'Polyolbion', The Thirtieth Song, ll. 155-164.

Any one who compares this pa.s.sage with Wordsworth's 'Joanna' will see the difference between the elaborate fancy of a topographical narrator, and the vivid imagination of a poetical idealist. A somewhat similar instance of indebtedness--in which the debt is repaid by additional insight--is seen when we compare a pa.s.sage from Sir John Davies's 'Orchestra, or a poem on Dancing' (stanza 49), with one from 'The Ancient Mariner', Part VI. stanzas 2 and 3--although there was more of the true imaginative light in Davies than in Drayton.

'For lo, the sea that fleets about the land, And like a girdle clips her solid waist, Music and measure both doth understand; For his great crystal eye is always cast Up to the moon, and on her fixed fast: And as she danceth in her palid sphere So danceth he about his centre here.'

DAVIES

'Still as a slave before his lord, The ocean hath no blast; His great bright eye most silently Up to the moon is cast--

If he may know which way to go; For she guides him smooth or grim.

See, brother, see! how graciously She looketh down on him.'

COLERIDGE.

These extracts show how both Wordsworth and Coleridge a.s.similated past literary products, and how they glorified them by reproduction. There was little, however, in the poetic imagery of previous centuries that Wordsworth reproduced. His imagination worked in a sphere of its own, free from the trammels of precedent; and he was more original than any other nineteenth century poet in his use of symbol and metaphor. The poem 'To Joanna' was probably composed on August 22, 1800, as the following occurs in Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal under that date:

"William was composing all the morning ... W. read us the poem of Joanna, beside the Rothay, by the roadside."

Charles Lamb wrote to Wordsworth in January 1801, of

"these continuous echoes in the story of 'Joanna's laugh,' when the mountains and all the scenery seem absolutely alive."

Ed.

"THERE IS AN EMINENCE,--OF THESE OUR HILLS"

Composed 1800.--Published 1800

[It is not accurate that the Eminence here alluded to could be seen from our orchard-seat. It rises above the road by the side of Grasmere Lake towards Keswick, and its name is Stone-Arthur.--I.F.]

There is an Eminence,--of these our hills The last that parleys with the setting sun; We can behold it from our orchard-seat; And, when at evening we pursue our walk Along the public way, this Peak, [1] so high 5 Above us, and so distant in its height, Is visible; and often seems to send Its own deep quiet to restore our hearts.

The meteors make of it a favourite haunt: The star of Jove, so beautiful and large 10 In the mid heavens, is never half so fair As when he shines above it. 'Tis in truth The loneliest place we have among the clouds.

And She who dwells with me, whom I have loved With such communion, that no place on earth 15 Can ever be a solitude to me, Hath to this lonely Summit given my Name. [2]

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1840.

... this Cliff, ... 1800.]

[Variant 2:

1815.

Hath said, this lonesome Peak shall bear my Name. 1800.]