The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth Volume Ii Part 125

1827.

But on our proffer'd kindness still did lay 1803.]

[Variant 7:

1845.

... or at the same Was silent, motionless in eyes and face.

She was a negro woman, out of France, Rejected, like all others of that race: Not one of whom may now find footing there.

What is the meaning of this ordinance?

Dishonour'd Despots, tell us if ye dare. 1803.

... driv'n from France, Rejected like all others of that race, Not one of whom may now find footing there; This the poor Out-cast did to us declare, Nor murmur'd at the unfeeling Ordinance. 1807.

Meanwhile those eyes retained their tropic fire, Which, burning independent of the mind, Joined with the l.u.s.tre of her rich attire To mock the outcast--O ye Heavens, be kind!

And feel, thou Earth, for this afflicted Race! 1827.

Yet still those eyes retained their tropic fire, 1837.]

FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: First printed in 'The Morning Post', February 11, 1803, under the t.i.tle of 'The Banished Negroes', and signed W. L. D.--Ed.]

It was a natural arrangement which led Wordsworth to place this sonnet, in his edition of 1807, immediately after the one addressed 'To Toussaint L'Ouverture'.--Ed.

SEPTEMBER, 1802, NEAR DOVER [A]

Composed September, 1802.--Published 1807

Inland, within a hollow vale, I stood; And saw, while sea was calm and air was clear, The coast of France--the coast of France how near!

Drawn almost into frightful neighbourhood.

I shrunk; for verily the barrier flood 5 Was like a lake, or river bright and fair, A span of waters; yet what power is there!

What mightiness for evil and for good! [B]

Even so doth G.o.d protect us if we be Virtuous and wise. Winds blow, and waters roll, 10 Strength to the brave, and Power, and Deity; Yet in themselves are nothing! One decree Spake laws to _them_, and said that by the soul Only, the Nations shall be great and free.

FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: From 1807 to 1843 the t.i.tle was 'September, 1802'; "near Dover" appeared in the "Sonnets" of 1838, but did not become a permanent part of the t.i.tle until 1845.--Ed.]

[Footnote B: Compare in S. T. 'Coleridge's Ode to the Departing Year', stanza vii.:

'And Ocean 'mid his uproar wild Speaks safety to his island-child.'

Ed.]

In 'The Friend' (ed. 1818, vol. i. p. 107), Coleridge writes:

"The narrow seas that form our boundaries, what were they in times of old? The convenient highway for Danish and Norman pirates. What are they now? Still, but a 'Span of Waters.' Yet they roll at the base of the Ararat, on which the Ark of the Hope of Europe and of Civilization rested!"

He then quotes this sonnet from the line "Even so doth G.o.d protect us if we be."

The note appended to the sonnet, 'Composed in the Valley near Dover, on the day of Landing' (p. 341), shows that this one refers to the same occasion; and that while "Inland, within a hollow vale," Wordsworth was, at the same time, on the Dover Cliffs; the "vale" being one of the hollow clefts in the headland, which front the Dover coast-line. The sonnet may, however, have been finished afterwards in London.--Ed.

WRITTEN IN LONDON, SEPTEMBER, 1802

Composed September, 1802.--Published 1807

[This was written immediately after my return from France to London, when I could not but be struck, as here described, with the vanity and parade of our own country, especially in great towns and cities, as contrasted with the quiet, and I may say the desolation, that the Revolution had produced in France. This must be borne in mind, or else the reader may think that in this and the succeeding Sonnets I have exaggerated the mischief engendered and fostered among us by undisturbed wealth. It would not be easy to conceive with what a depth of feeling I entered into the struggle carried on by the Spaniards for their deliverance from the usurped power of the French. Many times have I gone from Allan Bank in Grasmere Vale, where we were then residing, to the top of Raise-gap, as it is called, so late as two o'clock in the morning, to meet the carrier bringing the newspapers from Keswick.

Imperfect traces of the state of mind in which I then was may be found in my tract on the Convention of Cintra, as well as in these Sonnets.--I. F.]