The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8)

by William Wordsworth

Composed April 18, 1802.—Published 1807

[The Poem]

[Observed, as described, in the then beautiful orchard, Town-end, Grasmere.—I. F.]

Included among the "Poems of the Fancy."
In some editions this poem is assigned to the year 1806; but, in Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal the following occurs, under date "Sunday, 18th" (April 1802):

"A mild grey morning with rising vapours. We sate in the orchard. William wrote the poem on the Robin and the Butterfly.... W. met me at Rydal with the conclusion of the poem to the Robin. I read it to him in bed. We left out some lines."

Ed.

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