The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth Volume Ii Part 83

1815.

... in ... 1800.]

[Variant 41:

1827.

... from sixty years. 1800.]

[Variant 42:

I for the purpose brought thee to this place.

This line appears only in the edition of 1800.]

[Variant 43:

1827.

... stout; ... 1800.]

[Variant 44:

1802.

... should evil men Be thy companions, let this Sheep-fold be Thy anchor and thy shield; amid all fear And all temptation, let it be to thee An emblem of the life thy Fathers liv'd, 1800.]

[Variant 45: This line was added in the edition of 1815.]

[Variant 46:

1815.

Next morning, as had been resolv'd, the Boy 1800.]

[Variant 47:

1820.

Would break the heart:--Old Michael found it so. 1800.]

[Variant 48:

1836.

... look'd up upon the sun, 1800.

... towards the sun, 1832.]

[Variant 49:

1836.

Sitting alone, with that his faithful Dog, 1800.]

FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: The Rev. Thomas Hutchinson, Kimbolton, tells me that in his copy of the edition of "Lyrical Ballads" of 1800 there is

"on the blank page facing the announcement, written in Wordsworth's handwriting, the following lines:

'Though it be in th' humblest rank of life, And in the lowest region of our speech, Yet is it in that kind as best accords With rural pa.s.sion.'"

Ed.]

[Footnote B: The following lines were written before April 1801, and were at one time meant to be inserted after "summer flies," and before "Not with a waste of words." They are quoted in a letter of Wordsworth's to Thomas Poole of Nether Stowey, dated April 9th, 1801.

'Though in their occupations they would pa.s.s Whole hours with but small interchange of speech, Yet were there times in which they did not want Discourse both wise and prudent, shrewd remarks Of daily providence, clothed in images Lively and beautiful, in rural forms That made their conversation fresh and fair As is a landscape;--And the shepherd oft Would draw out of his heart the obscurities And admirations that were there, of G.o.d And of His works, or, yielding to the bent Of his peculiar humour, would let loose The tongue and give it the wind's freedom,--then Discoursing on remote imaginations, story, Conceits, devices, day-dreams, thoughts and schemes, The fancies of a solitary man.'

Ed.]

[Footnote C: Clipping is the word used in the North of England for shearing.--W. W. 1800]

[Footnote D: The lines from "Though nought was left," to "daily hope"

(192-206) were, by a printer's blunder, omitted from the first issue of 1800. In the second issue of that year they are given in full.--Ed.]

[Footnote E: The story alluded to here is well known in the country. The chapel is called Ings Chapel; and is on the right hand side of the road leading from Kendal to Ambleside.--W. W. 1800.

Ings chapel is in the parish of Kendal, about two miles east of Windermere. The following extract from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary further explains the allusion in the poem:

"_Hugil_, a chapelry six and a quarter miles from Kendal. The chapel, rebuilt in 1743 by Robert Bateman, stands in the village of Ings, which is in this chapelry. The free school was endowed with land in 1650 by Roland Wilson, producing at present 12 per annum. The average number of boys is twenty-five. This endowment was augmented by 8 per annum by Robert Bateman, who gave 1000 for purchasing an estate, and erected eight alms-houses for as many poor families, besides a donation of 12 per annum to the curate. This worthy benefactor was born here, and from a state of indigence succeeded in ama.s.sing considerable wealth by mercantile pursuits. He is stated to have been poisoned, in the straits of Gibraltar, on his voyage from Leghorn, with a valuable cargo, by the captain of the vessel,"