Yourself; and many did to him repair, And certes not in vain; he had inventions rare. Expedients, too, of simplest sort he tried: Long blades of grass, plucked round him as he lay, A pipe on which the wind would deftly play; The beetle panoplied in gems and gold, The mysteries that cups of flowers enfold, And all the gorgeous sights which fairies do behold. He would entice that other Man to hear His music, and to view his imagery: And, sooth, these two were each to the other dear: 1 If but a bird, to keep them company, Or butterfly sate down, they were, I ween, As pleased as if the same had been a Maiden-queen. These stanzas require some explanation. The Fenwick note makes it clear that Coleridge is one of the two characters described; but which of the two it is difficult to say. The description, in the fifth stanza, of the Noticeable man with large grey eyes, has usually been understood to refer to Coleridge. They are prefixed to Chapter IV. of the Biographical Supplement to the Biographia Literaria as if referring to him. If they do describe Coleridge, then the first four stanzas of the poem refer to Wordsworth. But there is certainly some incongruity in his thus beginning a poem referring to himself— Within our happy Castle there dwell One Whom without blame I may not overlook. Still more incongruous are the following lines, if applied by Wordsworth to himself Ah! piteous sight it was to see this Man, When he came back to us, a withered flower, Or like a sinful creature, pale and wan. And knowing the restless wandering life which Coleridge led, during the early years of the Wordsworth's settlement at Grasmere, the suddenness with which he would appear at Dove Cottage (crossing over without warning from Keswick), and the suddenness with which he would depart, much of the description of these first four stanzas-and notably the three last lines of the fourth stanza-seem specially relevant to him. Then, the description in the fifth stanza Heavy his low-hung lip did oft appear, Deprest by weight of musing Phantasy, is quite applicable to Wordsworth. The "expedients, too, of simple sort," To banish listlessness and irksome care, the pipes made of blades of grass, and the magnifying glasses through which he looked at the glories of the beetle, A mailed angel on a battle-day, all seem relevant enough to Wordsworth himself. But, on the other hand, and as confirming the ordinary opinion that Wordsworth is alluding to himself in the earlier, and to Coleridge in the later stanzas of the poem,-one may compare the lines Down would he sit; and without strength or power Look at the common grass from hour to hour, with the first verse of Expostulation and Reply, written at Alfoxden- Why William, on that old gray stone, Thus for the length of half a day, Why William, sit you thus alone, And dream your time away? And the description of his lying in the "sunshiny shade" of the orchard at Town-end Cottage, and "sleeping himself away" Where apple-trees in blossom made a bower, of his voice coming from the mountains on stormy nights, and his wandering beyond the limits of the valley, his restless restfulness, his moodiness, the irregularity of his movements, his enjoyment in Nature, and his devotion to Verse all apply significantly enough to Wordsworth; while, if Coleridge be the "noticeable man with large grey eyes," there is much in the second part of the poem very apposite to him. Noisy he was, and gamesome as a boy. Mr Hutchinson tells me he has "often heard his father say that Coleridge was uproarious in his mirth." On the whole, I think it most probable that the first four stanzas refer to Wordsworth, and that the fifth, sixth, and seventh describe Coleridge. The Bishop of Lincoln takes this for granted (see Memoirs, vol. i. p. 99): and Miss Wordsworth, writing of Coleridge in 1797, said, "His eye is large and grey. . . . He has a profound forehead."-ED. ... O THOU! whose fancies from afar are brought : The breeze-like motion and the self-born care; In such clear water, that thy boat May rather seem To brood on air that on an earthly stream; Suspended in a stream as clear as sky, Where earth and heaven do make one imagery; O blessed vision! happy child! Thou art so exquisitely wild, I think of thee with many fears For what may be thy lot in future years. I thought of times when Pain might be thy guest, Lord of thy house and hospitality; And Grief, uneasy lover! never rest But when she sate within the touch of thee. O too industrious folly! O vain and causeless melancholy! Nature will either end thee quite; Or, lengthening out thy season of delight, A young lamb's heart among the full-grown flocks. Or the injuries of to-morrow? Thou art a dew-drop, which the morn brings forth, Ill fitted to sustain unkindly shocks,1 Or to be trailed along the soiling earth; A gem that glitters while it lives, And no forewarning gives; But, at the touch of wrong, without a strife Slips in a moment out of life. These stanzas were addressed to Hartley Coleridge. The lines I think of thee with many fears For what may be thy lot in future years, taken in connection with his subsequent career suggests the similarly sad "presentiment" with which the lines on Tintern Abbey conclude. -Ed. By a Daisy whose leaves spread G. WITHER.1 [Composed in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere.] Of pleasure high and turbulent, Most pleased when most uneasy; Thee Winter in the garland wears Added in ed. 1815. And Nature's love of thee partake, Her much-loved Daisy ! 3 1 1807. Return to reading of 1807 in Of her sweet Daisy. 3 1836. When soothed awhile by milder airs, Spring cannot shun thee; When Winter decks his few gray hairs, 1836. 1843. C. 1807. 1827. |