The Poem

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Strange fits of passion have I known:
And I will dare to tell,
But in the Lover's ear alone,
What once to me befel.
When she I loved looked every day
Fresh as a rose in June,
I to her cottage bent my way,
Beneath an evening moon.
Upon the moon I fixed my eye,
All over the wide lea;
With quickening pace my horse drew nigh
Those paths so dear to me.
And now we reached the orchard-plot;
And, as we climbed the hill,
The sinking moon to Lucy's cot
Came near, and nearer still.
In one of those sweet dreams I slept,
Kind Nature's gentlest boon!
And all the while my eyes I kept
On the descending moon.
My horse moved on; hoof after hoof
He raised, and never stopped:
When down behind the cottage roof,
At once, the bright moon dropped.
What fond and wayward thoughts will slide
Into a Lover's head!
"O mercy!" to myself I cried,
"If Lucy should be dead!"
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[Variant 1:]

1832
... I have known,1800

... I have known,

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[Variant 2:]

1836
When she I lov'd, was strong and gay
And like a rose in June,
1800

When she I lov'd, was strong and gay
And like a rose in June,

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[Variant 3:]

1836
... the ...1800

... the ...

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[Variant 4:]

1836
My horse trudg'd on, and we drew nigh1800

My horse trudg'd on, and we drew nigh

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[Variant 5:]

1836
Towards the roof of Lucy's cot
The moon descended still[a]. 		1800

Towards the roof of Lucy's cot
The moon descended still[a].

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[Variant 6:]

1815
... the planet dropp'd. 1800

... the planet dropp'd.

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[Sub-Footnote a:]

Compare the lines in Arthur Hugh Clough's poem, The Stream of Life:

'And houses stand on either hand
And thou descendest still.'

Ed.

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[1799 Contents]
[Main Contents]

"She dwelt among the untrodden ways"