CONTENTS

1821-2
PAGE
Ecclesiastical Sonnets. In Series—
Part I.—From the Introduction of Christianity into Britain, to the Consummation of the Papal Dominion—
I.Introduction[4]
II.Conjectures[5]
III.Trepidation of the Druids[6]
IV.Druidical Excommunication[7]
V.Uncertainty[7]
VI.Persecution[8]
VII.Recovery[9]
VIII.Temptations from Roman Refinements[10]
IX.Dissensions[10]
X.Struggle of the Britons against the Barbarians[11]
XI.Saxon Conquest[12]
XII.Monastery of Old Bangor[13]
XIII.Casual Incitement[14]
XIV.Glad Tidings[15]
XV.Paulinus[15]
XVI.Persuasion[16]
XVII.Conversion[17]
XVIII.Apology[18]
XIX.Primitive Saxon Clergy[19]
XX.Other Influences[19]
XXI.Seclusion[20]
XXII.Continued[21]
XXIII.Reproof[21]
XXIV. Saxon Monasteries, and Lights and Shades of the Religion[22]
XXV.Missions and Travels[23]
XXVI.Alfred[24]
XXVII.His Descendants[25]
XXVIII.Influence Abused[26]
XXIX.Danish Conquests[27]
XXX.Canute[27]
XXXI.The Norman Conquest[28]
XXXII."Coldly we spake. The Saxons, overpowered"[29]
XXXIII.The Council of Clermont[30]
XXXIV.Crusades[31]
XXXV.Richard I[31]
XXXVI.An Interdict[32]
XXXVII.Papal Abuses[33]
XXXVIII.Scene in Venice[34]
XXXIX.Papal Dominion[34]
Part II.—To the Close of the Troubles in the Reign of Charles I—
I."How soon—alas! did Man, created pure"[33]
II."From false assumption rose, and fondly hail'd"[36]
III.Cistertian Monastery[37]
IV."Deplorable his lot who tills the ground"[38]
V.Monks and Schoolmen[39]
VI.Other Benefits[40]
VII.Continued[40]
VIII.Crusaders[41]
IX."As faith thus sanctified the warrior's crest"[42]
X."Where long and deeply hath been fixed the root"[43]
XI.Transubstantiation[44]
XII.The Vaudois[44]
XIII."Praised be the Rivers, from their mountain springs"[45]
XIV.Waldenses[46]
XV.Archbishop Chichely to Henry V.[47]
XVI.Wars of York and Lancaster[48]
XVII.Wicliffe[49]
XVIII.Corruptions of the Higher Clergy[49]
XIX.Abuse of Monastic Power[50]
XX.Monastic Voluptuousness[51]
XXI.Dissolution of the Monasteries[52]
XXII.The Same Subject[52]
XXIII.Continued[53]
XXIV.Saints[54]
XXV.The Virgin[54]
XXVI.Apology[55]
XXVII.Imaginative Regrets[56]
XXVIII.Reflections[57]
XXIX.Translation of the Bible[58]
XXX.The Point at Issue[58]
XXXI.Edward VI[59]
XXXII.Edward signing the Warrant for the Execution of Joan of Kent[60]
XXXIII.Revival of Popery[61]
XXXIV.Latimer and Ridley[61]
XXXV.Cranmer[62]
XXXVI.General View of the Troubles of the Reformation[64]
XXXVII.English Reformers in Exile[64]
XXXVIII.Elizabeth[65]
XXXIX.Eminent Reformers[66]
XL.The Same[67]
XLI.Distractions[68]
XLII.Gunpowder Plot[69]
XLIII.Illustration. The Jung-frau and the Fall of the Rhine near Schaffhausen[70]
XLIV.Troubles of Charles the First[71]
XLV.Laud[71]
XLVI.Afflictions of England[72]
Part III.—From the Restoration to the Present Times—
I."I saw the figure of a lovely Maid"[74]
II.Patriotic Sympathies[74]
III.Charles the Second[75]
IV.Latitudinarianism[76]
V.Walton's Book of Lives[77]
VI.Clerical Integrity[78]
VII.Persecution of the Scottish Covenanters[79]
VIII.Acquittal of the Bishops[79]
IX.William the Third[80]
X.Obligations of Civil to Religious Liberty[81]
XI.Sacheverel[82]
XII."Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design"[83]
XIII.Aspects of Christianity in America.—1. The Pilgrim Fathers[84]
XIV.2. Continued[85]
XV.3. Concluded.—American Episcopacy[85]
XVI."Bishops and Priests, blessèd are ye, if deep"[86]
XVII.Places of Worship[87]
XVIII.Pastoral Character[87]
XIX.The Liturgy[88]
XX.Baptism[89]
XXI.Sponsors[90]
XXII.Catechising[91]
XXIII.Confirmation[92]
XXIV.Confirmation Continued[92]
XXV.Sacrament[93]
XXVI.The Marriage Ceremony[94]
XXVII.Thanksgiving after Childbirth[95]
XXVIII.Visitation of the Sick[96]
XXIX.The Commination Service[96]
XXX.Forms of Prayer at Sea[97]
XXXI.Funeral Service[97]
XXXII.Rural Ceremony[98]
XXXIII.Regrets[99]
XXXIV.Mutability[100]
XXXV.Old Abbeys[100]
XXXVI.Emigrant French Clergy[101]
XXXVII.Congratulation[102]
XXXVIII.New Churches[102]
XXIX.Church to be erected[103]
XL.Continued[104]
XLI.New Churchyard[104]
XLII.Cathedrals, etc.[105]
XLIII.Inside of King's College Chapel, Cambridge[106]
XLIV.The Same[106]
XLV.Continued[107]
XLVI.Ejaculation[107]
XLVII.Conclusion[108]
To the Lady Fleming, on seeing the Foundation preparing for the Erection of Rydal Chapel, Westmoreland[109]
On the Same Occasion[114]
1823
Memory[117]
"Not Love, not War, nor the tumultuous swell"[118]
"A volant Tribe of Bards on earth are found"[119]
1824
To ——[121]
To ——[122]
"How rich that forehead's calm expanse!"[123]
To ——[124]
A Flower Garden, at Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire[125]
To the Lady E. B. and the Hon. Miss P.[128]
To the Torrent at the Devil's Bridge, North Wales, 1824[129]
Composed among the Ruins of a Castle in North Wales[131]
Elegiac Stanzas[132]
Cenotaph[135]
1825
The Pillar of Trajan[137]
The Contrast: The Parrot and the Wren[141]
To a Skylark[143]
1826
"Ere with cold beads of midnight dew"[145]
Ode composed on May Morning[146]
To May[148]
"Once I could hail (howe'er serene the sky)"[152]
"The massy Ways, carried across these heights"[154]
Farewell Lines[155]
1827
On seeing a Needlecase in the Form of a Harp[157]
Miscellaneous Sonnets—
Dedication[159]
To ——[159]
"Her only pilot the soft breeze, the boat"[160]
"Why, Minstrel, these untuneful murmurings"[161]
To S. H.[162]
Decay of Piety[163]
"Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned"[163]
"Fair Prime of life! were it enough to gild"[164]
Retirement[165]
"There is a pleasure in poetic pains"[166]
Recollection of the Portrait of King Henry Eighth, Trinity Lodge, Cambridge[166]
"When Philoctetes in the Lemnian isle"[167]
"While Anna's peers and early playmates tread"[168]
To the Cuckoo[169]
The Infant M—— M——[170]
To Rotha Q——[171]
To ——, in her Seventieth Year[172]
"In my mind's eye a Temple, like a cloud"[173]
"Go back to antique ages, if thine eyes"[174]
"If thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven"[174]
In the Woods of Rydal[176]
Conclusion. To ——[177]
1828
A Morning Exercise[178]
The Triad[181]
The Wishing-Gate[189]
The Wishing-Gate Destroyed[192]
A Jewish Family[195]
Incident at Brugès[198]
A Grave-Stone upon the Floor in the Cloisters of Worcester Cathedral[201]
The Gleaner[202]
On the Power of Sound[203]
1829
Gold and Silver Fishes in a Vase[214]
Liberty. (Sequel to the above)[216]
Humanity[222]
"This Lawn, a carpet all alive"[227]
Thoughts on the Seasons[229]
A Tradition of Oker Hill in Darley Dale, Derbyshire[230]
Filial Piety[231]
1830
The Armenian Lady's Love[232]
The Russian Fugitive[239]
The Egyptian Maid; or, The Romance of the Water Lily[252]
The Poet and the Caged Turtledove[265]
Presentiments[266]
"In these fair vales hath many a Tree"[269]
Elegiac Musings[269]
"Chatsworth! thy stately mansion, and the pride"[272]
1831
The Primrose of the Rock[274]
To B. R. Haydon, on seeing his Picture of Napoleon Bonaparte on the Island of St. Helena[276]
Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems—
I."The gallant Youth, who may have gained"[280]
II.On the Departure of Sir Walter Scott from Abbotsford, for Naples[284]
III.A Place of Burial in the South of Scotland[285]
IV.On the Sight of a Manse in the South of Scotland[286]
V.Composed in Roslin Chapel, during a Storm[287]
VI.The Trosachs[288]
VII."The pibroch's note, discountenanced or mute"[290]
VIII.Composed after reading a Newspaper of the Day[290]
IX.Composed in the Glen of Loch Etive[291]
X.Eagles[292]
XI.In the Sound of Mull[293]
XII.Suggested at Tyndrum in a Storm[294]
XIII.The Earl of Breadalbane's Ruined Mansion, and Family Burial-Place, near Killin[295]
XIV."Rest and be Thankful!"[295]
XV.Highland Hut[296]
XVI.The Brownie[297]
XVII.To the Planet Venus, an Evening Star[299]
XVIII.Bothwell Castle[299]
XIX. Picture of Daniel in the Lions' Den, at Hamilton Palace[301]
XX.The Avon[303]
XXI. Suggested by a View from an Eminence in Inglewood Forest[304]
XXII.Hart's-Horn Tree, near Penrith[305]
XXIII.Fancy and Tradition[306]
XXIV.Countess' Pillar[307]
XXV.Roman Antiquities[308]
XXVI.Apology for the Foregoing Poems[309]
XXVII.The Highland Broach[310]
1832
Devotional Incitements[314]
"Calm is the fragrant air, and loth to lose"[317]
To the Author's Portrait[318]
Rural Illusions[319]
Loving and Liking[320]
Upon the late General Fast[323]
1833
A Wren's Nest[325]
To ——, upon the Birth of her First-born Child, March 1833[328]
The Warning. A Sequel to the Foregoing[330]
"If this great world of joy and pain"[336]
On a High Part of the Coast of Cumberland[337]
(By the Sea-Side)[338]
Composed by the Sea-Shore[340]
Poems, composed or suggested during a Tour in the Summer of 1833—
I."Adieu, Rydalian Laurels! that have grown"[342]
II. "Why should the Enthusiast, journeying through this Isle"[343]
III."They called Thee Merry England, in old time"[343]
IV.To the River Greta, near Keswick[344]
V.To the River Derwent[345]
VI.In Sight of the Town of Cockermouth[346]
VII.Address from the Spirit of Cockermouth Castle[347]
VIII.Nun's Well, Brigham[347]
IX.To a Friend[348]
X.Mary Queen of Scots[349]
XI.Stanzas suggested in a Steam-Boat off Saint Bees' Heads, on the Coast of Cumberland[351]
XII.In the Channel, between the Coast of Cumberland and the Isle of Man[358]
XIII.At Sea off the Isle of Man[359]
XIV."Desire we past illusions to recal?"[360]
XV.On entering Douglas Bay, Isle of Man[360]
XVI.By the Sea-Shore, Isle of Man[361]
XVII.Isle of Man[362]
XVIII.Isle of Man[363]
XIX.By a Retired Mariner[364]
XX.At Bala-Sala, Isle of Man[365]
XXI.Tynwald Hill[366]
XXII."Despond who will—I heard a Voice exclaim"[368]
XXIII.In the Frith of Clyde, Ailsa Crag, during an Eclipse of the Sun, July 17[369]
XXIV.On the Frith of Clyde[370]
XXV.On revisiting Dunolly Castle[371]
XXVI.The Dunolly Eagle[372]
XXVII.Written in a Blank Leaf of Macpherson's Ossian[373]
XXVIII.Cave of Staffa[376]
XXIX.Cave of Staffa. (After the Crowd had departed)[377]
XXX.Cave of Staffa[377]
XXXI.Flowers on the Top of the Pillars at the Entrance of the Cave[378]
XXXII.Iona[379]
XXXIII.Iona. (Upon Landing)[380]
XXXIV.The Black Stones of Iona[381]
XXXV."Homeward we turn. Isle of Columba's Cell"[382]
XXXVI.Greenock[383]
XXXVII."'There!' said a Stripling, pointing with meet pride"[383]
XXXVIII.The River Eden, Cumberland[385]
XXXIX.Monument of Mrs. Howard, in Wetheral Church, near Corby, on the Banks of the Eden[386]
XL.Suggested by the Foregoing[387]
XLI.Nunnery[388]
XLII.Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways[389]
XLIII.The Monument, commonly called Long Meg and her Daughters, near the River Eden[390]
XLIV.Lowther[391]
XLV.To the Earl of Lonsdale[392]
XLVI.The Somnambulist[393]
XLVII.To Cordelia M——[400]
XLVIII."Most sweet it is with unuplifted eyes"[401]
1834
"Not in the lucid intervals of life"[402]
By the Side of Rydal Mere[403]
"Soft as a cloud is yon blue Ridge—the Mere"[405]
"The leaves that rustled on this oak-crowned hill"[406]
The Labourer's Noon-Day Hymn[408]
The Redbreast[410]

Addenda[415]

WORDSWORTH'S POETICAL WORKS
1821-2

The only poems belonging to the years 1821-2 were the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," originally called "Ecclesiastical Sketches." These were written at intervals, from 1821 onwards, but the great majority belong to 1821. They were first published in 1822, in three parts; 102 Sonnets in all. Ten were added in the edition of 1827, several others in the years 1835 and 1836, and fourteen in 1845,—the final edition of 1850 containing 132.

After Wordsworth's return from the Continent in 1820, he visited the Beaumonts at Coleorton, and as Sir George was then about to build a new Church on his property, conversation turned frequently to ecclesiastical topics, and gave rise to the idea of embodying the History of the Church of England in a series of "Ecclesiastical Sketches" in verse. The Sonnets Nos. XXXIX., XL., and XLI., in the third series, entitled, Church to be erected, and New Churchyard, are probably those to which Wordsworth refers as written first, in memory of his morning walk with Sir George Beaumont to fix the site of the Church: but it was the discussions which were being carried on in the British Parliament and elsewhere, in 1821, on the subject of Catholic Disabilities, that led him to enlarge his idea, and project a series of Sonnets dealing with the whole course of the Ecclesiastical History of his country. His brother Christopher—while Dean and Rector of Bocking, and domestic chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury—had published, in 1809, six volumes of Ecclesiastical Biography; or, the Lives of Eminent Men connected with the History of Religion in England. Southey's Book of the Church,—to which Wordsworth refers in the Fenwick note prefixed to his Sonnets—was not published till 1823; and Wordsworth says, in a note to the edition of 1822, that his own work was far advanced before he was aware that Southey had taken up the subject. As several of the Sonnets, however, are well illustrated by passages in Southey's book, I have given a number of extracts from the latter work in the editorial notes.

Southey, writing to C. H. Townshend, on 6th May 1821, says: "Wordsworth was with me lately. His thoughts and mine have for some time unconsciously been travelling in the same direction; for while I have been sketching a brief history of the English Church, and the systems which it has subdued or struggled with, he has been pursuing precisely the same subject in a series of sonnets, to which my volume will serve for a commentary, as completely as if it had been written with that intent." (See Life and Correspondence of R. Southey, vol. v. p. 65.)

Wordsworth's own notes appended to the Sonnets, and others which are added, will show his indebtedness to such writers as Bede, Strype, Foxe, Walton, Whitaker, and Sharon Turner. The subjects of the sonnets on the "Aspects of Christianity in America" were suggested to him by Bishop Doane and Professor Henry Reed; and others in the series, dealing with offices of the English Liturgy, were also suggested by Mr. Reed.—Ed.

ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS[1]
IN SERIES

Composed 1821.—Published 1822

[My purpose in writing this Series was, as much as possible, to confine my view to the introduction, progress, and operation of the Church in England, both previous and subsequent to the Reformation. The Sonnets were written long before ecclesiastical history and points of doctrine had excited the interest with which they have been recently enquired into and discussed. The former particular is mentioned as an excuse for my having fallen into error in respect to an incident which had been selected as setting forth the height to which the power of the Popedom over temporal sovereignty had attained, and the arrogance with which it was displayed. I allude to the last Sonnet but one in the first series, where Pope Alexander the Third at Venice is described as setting his foot on the neck of the Emperor Barbarossa. Though this is related as a fact in history, I am told it is a mere legend of no authority. Substitute for it an undeniable truth not less fitted for my purpose, namely the penance inflicted by Gregory the Seventh upon the Emperor Henry the Fourth.

Before I conclude my notice of these Sonnets, let me observe that the opinion I pronounced in favour of Laud (long before the Oxford Tract Movement) and which had brought censure upon me from several quarters, is not in the least changed. Omitting here to examine into his conduct in respect to the persecuting spirit with which he has been charged, I am persuaded that most of his aims to restore ritual practices which had been abandoned were good and wise, whatever errors he might commit in the manner he sometimes attempted to enforce them. I further believe that, had not he, and others who shared his opinions and felt as he did, stood up in opposition to the reformers of that period, it is questionable whether the Church would ever have recovered its lost ground and become the blessing it now is, and will, I trust, become in a still greater degree, both to those of its communion and to those who unfortunately are separated from it.—I. F.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] During the month of December, 1820, I accompanied a much-beloved and honoured Friend[2] in a walk through different parts of his estate, with a view to fix upon the site of a new Church which he intended to erect. It was one of the most beautiful mornings of a mild season,—our feelings were in harmony with the cherishing[3] influences of the scene; and such being our purpose, we were naturally led to look back upon past events with wonder and gratitude, and on the future with hope. Not long afterwards, some of the Sonnets which will be found towards the close of this series were produced as a private memorial of that morning's occupation.

The Catholic Question, which was agitated in Parliament about that time, kept my thoughts in the same course; and it struck me that certain points in the Ecclesiastical History of our Country might advantageously be presented to view in verse. Accordingly, I took up the subject, and what I now offer to the reader was the result.

When this work was far advanced, I was agreeably surprised to find that my friend, Mr. Southey, had been engaged with similar views in writing a concise History of the Church in England. If our Productions, thus unintentionally coinciding, shall be found to illustrate each other, it will prove a high gratification to me, which I am sure my friend will participate.

W. Wordsworth.

Rydal Mount, January 24, 1822.

For the convenience of passing from one point of the subject to another without shocks of abruptness, this work has taken the shape of a series of Sonnets: but the Reader, it is to be hoped, will find that the pictures are often so closely connected as to have jointly the effect of passages of a poem in a form of stanza to which there is no objection but one that bears upon the Poet only—its difficulty.—W. W. 1822.

[2] Sir George Beaumont.—Ed.

[3] This occurs in all the editions. It maybe a misprint for "cheering."—Ed.

PART I
FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO BRITAIN, TO THE CONSUMMATION OF THE PAPAL DOMINION

A verse may catch a wandering Soul, that flies
Profounder Tracts, and by a blest surprise
Convert delight into a Sacrifice.[4]

FOOTNOTES:

[4] Compare, in George Herbert's "The Temple," The Church Porch, i. 1—

A verse may find him, who a Sermon flies,
And turn delight into a Sacrifice.—Ed.

I
INTRODUCTION

I, who accompanied with faithful pace[5]
Cerulean Duddon from its[6] cloud-fed spring,[7]
And loved with spirit ruled by his to sing
Of mountain-quiet and boon nature's grace;[8]
I, who essayed the nobler Stream to trace 5
Of Liberty,[9] and smote the plausive string
Till the checked torrent, proudly triumphing,
Won for herself a lasting resting-place;[10]
Now seek upon the heights of Time the source
Of a Holy River,[11]on whose banks are found 10
Sweet pastoral flowers, and laurels that have crowned
Full oft the unworthy brow of lawless force;
And,[12] for delight of him who tracks its course,[13]
Immortal amaranth and palms abound.

FOOTNOTES:

[5] 1827.

I, who descended with glad step to chase 1822.

[6] 1850.

... his ... 1822.

The text of 1857 (edited by Mr. Carter) returned to that of 1822.

[7] See "The River Duddon, a Series of Sonnets" (vol. vi. p. 225).—Ed.

[8] 1827.

And of my wild Companion dared to sing,
In verse that moved with strictly-measured pace; 1822.

[9] See the series of "Poems dedicated to National Independence and Liberty."—Ed.

[10] 1827.

... Torrent, fiercely combating,
In victory found her natural resting-place; 1822.

[11] Compare the last sonnet of this Series (Part III. XLVII., p. [108]).—Ed.

[12] 1837.

Where, ... 1822.

[13] It may not be unworthy of note that in the first edition of this sonnet Wordsworth made the stream of the Duddon masculine, that of Liberty feminine, and that of the Church neuter.—Ed.

II
CONJECTURES

If there be prophets on whose spirits rest
Past things, revealed like future, they can tell
What Powers, presiding o'er the sacred well
Of Christian Faith, this savage Island blessed
With its first bounty. Wandering through the west,
Did holy Paul[14] a while in Britain dwell, 6
And call the Fountain forth by miracle,
And with dread signs the nascent Stream invest?
Or He, whose bonds dropped off, whose prison doors
Flew open, by an Angel's voice unbarred?[15] 10
Or some of humbler name, to these wild shores
Storm-driven; who, having seen the cup of woe
Pass from their Master, sojourned here to guard
The precious Current they had taught to flow?

FOOTNOTES:

[14] Stillingfleet adduces many arguments in support of this opinion, but they are unconvincing. The latter part of this Sonnet refers to a favourite notion of Roman Catholic writers, that Joseph of Arimathea and his companions brought Christianity into Britain, and built a rude church at Glastonbury; alluded to hereafter, in a passage upon the dissolution of monasteries.—W. W. 1822.

[15] St. Peter.—Ed.

III
TREPIDATION OF THE DRUIDS

Screams round the Arch-druid's brow the seamew[16]—white
As Menai's foam; and toward the mystic ring
Where Augurs stand, the Future questioning,
Slowly the cormorant aims her heavy flight,
Portending ruin to each baleful rite, 5
That, in the lapse, of ages,[17] hath crept o'er
Diluvian truths, and patriarchal lore.
Haughty the Bard: can these meek doctrines blight
His transports? wither his heroic strains?
But all shall be fulfilled;—the Julian spear 10
A way first opened;[18] and, with Roman chains,
The tidings come of Jesus crucified;
They come—they spread—the weak, the suffering, hear;
Receive the faith, and in the hope abide.

FOOTNOTES:

[16] This water-fowl was, among the Druids, an emblem of those traditions connected with the deluge that made an important part of their mysteries. The Cormorant was a bird of bad omen.—W. W. 1822.

[17] 1827.

... seasons ... 1822.

[18] The reference is to the conquest of Britain by Julius Cæsar.—Ed.

IV
DRUIDICAL EXCOMMUNICATION

Mercy and Love have met thee on thy road,
Thou wretched Outcast, from the gift of fire
And food cut off by sacerdotal ire,
From every sympathy that Man bestowed!
Yet shall it claim our reverence, that to God, 5
Ancient of days! that to the eternal Sire,
These jealous Ministers of law aspire,
As to the one sole fount whence wisdom flowed,
Justice, and order. Tremblingly escaped,
As if with prescience of the coming storm, 10
That intimation when the stars were shaped;
And still, 'mid yon thick woods, the primal truth
Glimmers through many a superstitious form[19]
That fills the Soul with unavailing ruth.

FOOTNOTES:

[19] 1827.

And yon thick woods maintain the primal truth,
Debased by many a superstitious form, 1822.

V
UNCERTAINTY

Darkness surrounds us: seeking, we are lost
On Snowdon's wilds, amid Brigantian coves,[20]
Or where the solitary shepherd roves
Along the plain of Sarum, by the ghost
Of Time and shadows of Tradition, crost;[21] 5

And where the boatman of the Western Isles
Slackens his course—to mark those holy piles
Which yet survive on bleak Iona's coast.[22]
Nor these, nor monuments of eldest name,[23]
Nor Taliesin's unforgotten lays,[24] 10
Nor characters of Greek or Roman fame,
To an unquestionable Source have led;
Enough—if eyes, that sought the fountain-head
In vain, upon the growing Rill may gaze.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] The reference is to Yorkshire. The Brigantes inhabited England from sea to sea, from Cumberland to Durham, but more especially Yorkshire. See Tacitus, Annals, book xii. 32; Ptolemy, Geographia, 27, 1; Camden, Britannia, 556-648.—Ed.

[21] 1827.

Of silently departed ages crossed; 1822.

[22] Compare the four sonnets on Iona, in the "Poems composed or suggested during a Tour in the Summer of 1833."—Ed.

[23] 1841.

... fame, 1822.

[24] See note [40], p. [13].—Ed.

VI
PERSECUTION

Lament! for Diocletian's fiery sword
Works busy as the lightning; but instinct
With malice ne'er to deadliest weapon linked,
Which God's ethereal store-houses afford:
Against the Followers of the incarnate Lord 5
It rages;—some are smitten in the field—
Some pierced to the heart through the ineffectual shield[25]
Of sacred home;—with pomp are others gored
And dreadful respite. Thus was Alban tried,[26]

England's first Martyr, whom no threats could shake;
Self-offered victim, for his friend he died, 11
And for the faith; nor shall his name forsake
That Hill, whose flowery platform seems to rise
By Nature decked for holiest sacrifice.[27]

FOOTNOTES:

[25] 1840.

Some pierced beneath the unavailing shield 1822.
... ineffectual 1827.

[26] "The first man who laid down his life in Britain for the Christian faith was Saint Alban.... During the tenth, and most rigorous of the persecutions, a Christian priest, flying from his persecutors, came to the City of Verulamium, and took shelter in Alban's house: he, not being of the faith himself, concealed him for pure compassion; but when he observed the devotion of his guest, how fervent it was, and how firm, his heart was touched.... When the persecutors came to search the house, Alban, putting on the hair-cassock of his teacher, delivered himself into their hands, as if he had been the fugitive, and was carried before the heathen governor.... Because he refused to betray his guest or offer sacrifices to the Roman gods, he was scourged, and then led to execution upon the spot where the abbey now stands, which in after times was erected to his memory, and still bears his name. That spot was then a beautiful meadow upon a little rising ground, 'seeming,' says the venerable Bede, 'a fit theatre for the martyr's triumph.'" (Southey's Book of the Church, vol. i.—pp. 13-14.)—Ed.

[27] This hill at St. Albans must have been an object of great interest to the imagination of the venerable Bede, who thus describes it, with a delicate feeling, delightful to meet with in that rude age, traces of which are frequent in his works:—"Variis herbarum floribus depictus imo usquequaque vestitus, in quo nihil repente arduum, nihil præceps, nihil abruptum, quem lateribus longe lateque deductum in modum æquoris natura complanat, dignum videlicet eum pro insita sibi specie venustatis jam olim reddens, qui beati martyris cruore dicaretur."—W. W. 1822.

VII
RECOVERY

As, when a storm hath ceased, the birds regain
Their cheerfulness, and busily retrim
Their nests, or chant a gratulating hymn
To the blue ether and bespangled plain;
Even so, in many a re-constructed fane, 5
Have the survivors of this Storm renewed
Their holy rites with vocal gratitude:
And solemn ceremonials they ordain
To celebrate their great deliverance;
Most feelingly instructed 'mid their fear— 10
That persecution, blind with rage extreme,
May not the less, through Heaven's mild countenance,
Even in her own despite, both feed and cheer;
For all things are less dreadful than they seem.

VIII
TEMPTATIONS FROM ROMAN REFINEMENTS

Watch, and be firm! for, soul-subduing vice,
Heart-killing luxury, on your steps await.
Fair houses, baths, and banquets delicate,
And temples flashing, bright as polar ice,
Their radiance through the woods—may yet suffice 5
To sap your hardy virtue, and abate
Your love of Him upon whose forehead sate
The crown of thorns; whose life-blood flowed, the price
Of your redemption. Shun the insidious arts
That Rome provides, less dreading from her frown 10
Than from her wily praise, her peaceful gown,
Language, and letters;—these, though fondly viewed
As humanising graces, are but parts
And instruments of deadliest servitude!

IX
DISSENSIONS

That heresies should strike (if truth be scanned
Presumptuously) their roots both wide and deep,
Is natural as dreams to feverish sleep.
Lo! Discord at the altar dares to stand[28]
Uplifting toward[29] high Heaven her fiery brand, 5
A cherished Priestess of the new-baptized!
But chastisement shall follow peace despised.
The Pictish cloud darkens the enervate land
By Rome abandoned; vain are suppliant cries,
And prayers that would undo her forced farewell; 10
For she returns not.—Awed by her own knell,
She casts the Britons upon strange Allies,
Soon to become more dreaded enemies
Than heartless misery called them to repel.

FOOTNOTES:

[28] Arianism had spread into Britain, and British Bishops were summoned to councils held concerning it, at Sardica, A.D. 347, and at Ariminum, A.D. 360. See Fuller's Church History, p. 25; and Churton's Early English Church, p. 9.—Ed.

[29] 1827.

Lifting towards ... 1822.

X
STRUGGLE OF THE BRITONS AGAINST THE BARBARIANS

Rise!—they have risen: of brave Aneurin ask[30]
How they have scourged old foes, perfidious friends:
The Spirit of Caractacus descends
Upon the Patriots, animates their task;[31]
Amazement runs before the towering casque 5
Of Arthur, bearing through the stormy field
The Virgin sculptured on his Christian shield:—
Stretched in the sunny light of victory bask
The Host that followed Urien[32] as he strode
O'er heaps of slain;—from Cambrian wood and moss 10
Druids descend, auxiliars of the Cross;
Bards, nursed on blue Plinlimmon's still abode,[33]
Rush on the fight, to harps preferring swords,
And everlasting deeds to burning words!

FOOTNOTES:

[30] Aneurin was the bard who—in the poem named the Gododin—celebrated the struggle between the Cymri and the Teutons in the middle of the sixth century, which ended in the great battle of Catterick, or Cattreath, in Yorkshire. Aneurin was himself chieftain as well as bard.—Ed.

[31] 1837.

The spirit of Caractacus defends
The Patriots, animates their glorious task;— 1822.

[32] Urien was chief of the Cymri, and led them in the great conflict of the sixth century against the Angles.—Ed.

[33] Such as Aneurin, Taliesin, Llywarch Hen, and Merlin.—Ed.

XI
SAXON CONQUEST

Nor wants the cause the panic-striking aid
Of hallelujahs[34] tost from hill to hill—
For instant victory. But Heaven's high will
Permits a second and a darker shade
Of Pagan night. Afflicted and dismayed, 5
The Relics of the sword flee to the mountains:
O wretched Land! whose tears have flowed like fountains;
Whose arts and honours in the dust are laid
By men yet scarcely conscious of a care
For other monuments than those of Earth;[35] 10
Who, as the fields[36] and woods have given them birth,
Will[37] build their savage fortunes only there;
Content, if foss, and barrow, and the girth
Of long-drawn rampart, witness what they were.[38]

FOOTNOTES:

[34] Alluding to the victory gained under Germanus. See Bede.—W. W. 1822.

The Saxons and Picts threatening the Britons, the latter asked the assistance of Germanus. The following is Bede's account:—"Germanus bearing in his hands the standard, instructed his men all in a loud voice to repeat his words, and the enemy advancing securely, as thinking to take them by surprise, the priests three times cried Hallelujah. A universal shout of the same word followed, and the hills resounding the echo on all sides, the enemy was struck with dread.... They fled in disorder, casting away their arms." (Bede, Ecclesiastica Historia gentis Anglorum, book i. chap. xx.)—Ed.

[35] The last six lines of this Sonnet are chiefly from the prose of Daniel; and here I will state (though to the Readers whom this Poem will chiefly interest it is unnecessary) that my obligations to other prose writers are frequent,—obligations which, even if I had not a pleasure in courting, it would have been presumptuous to shun, in treating an historical subject. I must, however, particularise Fuller, to whom I am indebted in the Sonnet upon Wicliffe and in other instances. And upon the acquittal of the Seven Bishops I have done little more than versify a lively description of that event in the MS. Memoirs of the first Lord Lonsdale.—W. W. 1822.

[36] 1827.

Intent, as fields ... 1822.

[37] 1827.

To ... 1822.

[38] 1827.

Witness the foss, the barrow, and the girth
Of many a long-drawn rampart, green and bare! 1822.

XII
MONASTERY OF OLD BANGOR[39]

The oppression of the tumult—wrath and scorn—
The tribulation—and the gleaming blades—
Such is the impetuous spirit that pervades
The song of Taliesin;[40]—Ours shall mourn
The unarmed Host who by their prayers would turn 5
The sword from Bangor's walls, and guard the store
Of Aboriginal and Roman lore,
And Christian monuments, that now must burn
To senseless ashes. Mark! how all things swerve
From their known course, or vanish like a dream;[41] 10
Another language spreads from coast to coast;
Only perchance some melancholy Stream[42]
And some indignant Hills old names preserve,[43]
When laws, and creeds, and people all are lost!

FOOTNOTES:

[39] "Ethelforth reached the convent of Bangor, he perceived the Monks, twelve hundred in number, offering prayers for the success of their countrymen: 'If they are praying against us,' he exclaimed, 'they are fighting against us'; and he ordered them to be first attacked: they were destroyed; and, appalled by their fate, the courage of Brocmail wavered, and he fled from the field in dismay. Thus abandoned by their leader, his army soon gave way, and Ethelforth obtained a decisive conquest. Ancient Bangor itself soon fell into his hands, and was demolished; the noble monastery was levelled to the ground; its library, which is mentioned as a large one, the collection of ages, the repository of the most precious monuments of the ancient Britons, was consumed; half ruined walls, gates, and rubbish were all that remained of the magnificent edifice." (See Turner's valuable history of the Anglo-Saxons.)

The account Bede gives of this remarkable event, suggests a most striking warning against National and Religious prejudices.—W. W. 1822. Appendix note.

[40] Taliesin was present at the battle which preceded this desolation.—W. W. 1822.

Taliesin was chief bard and retainer in the Hall of Urien, the great North England Cymric chief. He sang of Urien's and his son Owain's victories, in the middle of the sixth century. See Pitseus, Relationes Historicae de rebus Anglicis, 1619, vol. i. p. 95, De Thelesino. See also Sharon Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons (vol. i. book iii. chap, iv.).—Ed.

[41] 1827.

... or pass away like steam; 1822.

[42] e.g. in the Lake District, the Greta, Derwent, etc.—Ed.

[43] e.g. in the Lake District, Stone Arthur, Blencathara, and Catbells.—Ed.

XIII
CASUAL INCITEMENT

A bright-haired company of youthful slaves,
Beautiful strangers, stand within the pale
Of a sad market, ranged for public sale,
Where Tiber's stream the immortal[44] City laves:
Angli by name; and not an Angel waves 5
His wing who could seem lovelier to man's eye[45]
Than they appear to holy Gregory;
Who, having learnt that name, salvation craves
For Them, and for their Land. The earnest Sire,
His questions urging, feels, in slender ties 10
Of chiming sound, commanding sympathies;
De-irians—he would save them from God's Ire;
Subjects of Saxon Ælla—they shall sing
Glad Halle-lujahs to the eternal King![46]

FOOTNOTES:

[44] 1827.

... glorious ... 1822.

[45] 1837.

His wing who seemeth lovelier in Heaven's eye 1822.

[46] The story is told of Gregory who was afterwards Pope, and is known as Gregory the Great, that "he was one day led into the market-place at Rome to look at a large importation from, abroad. Among other things there were some boys exposed for sale like cattle. He was struck by the appearance of the boys, their fine clear skins, their flaxen or golden hair, and their ingenuous countenances; so that he asked from what country they came; and when he was told from the island of Britain, ... and were Angles, he played upon the word and said, 'Well may they be so called, for they are like Angels.' ... Then demanding from what province they were brought, the answer was 'from Deira'; and in the same humour he observed that rightly might this also be said, for de Dei ira, from the wrath of God were they to be delivered. And when he was told that their King was Ælla, he replied that Hallelujahs ought to be sung in his dominions. This trifling sprung from serious thought. From that day the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons became a favourite object with Gregory." (Southey's Book of the Church, vol. i. pp. 22, 23.)—Ed.

XIV
GLAD TIDINGS

For ever hallowed be this morning fair,
Blest be the unconscious shore on which ye tread,
And blest the silver Cross, which ye, instead
Of martial banner, in procession bear;
The Cross preceding Him who floats in air, 5
The pictured Saviour!—By Augustin led,
They come—and onward travel without dread,
Chanting in barbarous ears a tuneful prayer—
Sung for themselves, and those whom they would free!
Rich conquest waits them:—the tempestuous sea 10
Of Ignorance, that ran so rough and high
And heeded not the voice of clashing swords,
These good men humble by a few bare words,
And calm with fear of God's divinity.[47]

FOOTNOTES:

[47] Augustin was prior of St. Gregory's Monastery, dedicated to St. Andrew in Rome, and was sent by Gregory in the year 597 with several other monks into Britain. Ethelbert was then king of Kent, and, as they landed on the Isle of Thanet, he ordered them to stay there. According to Bede, "Some days after, the king came into the island and ordered Augustin and his companions to be brought into his presence.... They came ... bearing a silver cross for their banner, and an image of our Lord and Saviour painted on a board; and singing the litany they offered up their prayers to the Lord for the eternal salvation both of themselves and of those to whom they were come." (Ecclesiastica Historia gentis Anglorum, book i. chap, xxv.)—Ed.

XV
PAULINUS

But, to remote Northumbria's royal Hall,
Where thoughtful Edwin, tutored in the school
Of sorrow, still maintains a heathen rule,
Who comes with functions apostolical?
Mark him,[48] of shoulders curved, and stature tall, 5
Black hair, and vivid eye, and meagre cheek,
His prominent feature like an eagle's beak;
A Man whose aspect doth at once appal
And strike with reverence. The Monarch leans
Toward the pure truths[49] this Delegate propounds, 10
Repeatedly his own deep mind he sounds
With careful hesitation,—then convenes
A synod of his Councillors:—give ear,
And what a pensive Sage doth utter, hear![50]

FOOTNOTES:

[48] The person of Paulinus is thus described by Bede, from the memory of an eye-witness:—"Longæ staturæ, paululum incurvus, nigro capillo, facie macilenta, naso adunco, pertenui, venerabilis simul et terribilis aspectu."—W. W. 1822.

[49] 1832.

Towards the Truths.... 1822.

[50] Paulinus won over Edwin, king of the Northumbrians, to the Christian faith, and baptized him "with his people," A.D. 627. (See The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.)—Ed.

XVI
PERSUASION

"Man's life is like a Sparrow,[51] mighty King!
"That—while at banquet with your Chiefs you sit
"Housed near a blazing fire—is seen to flit
"Safe from the wintry tempest. Fluttering,[52]
"Here did it enter; there, on hasty wing, 5
"Flies out, and passes on from cold to cold;
"But whence it came we know not, nor behold
"Whither it goes. Even such, that transient Thing,
"The human Soul; not utterly unknown
"While in the Body lodged, her warm abode; 10
"But from what world She came, what woe or weal
"On her departure waits, no tongue hath shown;
"This mystery if the Stranger can reveal,
"His be a welcome cordially bestowed!"

FOOTNOTES:

[51] See the original of this speech in Bede.—The Conversion of Edwin, as related by him, is highly interesting—and the breaking up of this Council accompanied with an event so striking and characteristic, that I am tempted to give it at length in a translation. "Who, exclaimed the King, when the Council was ended, shall first desecrate the altars and the temples? I, answered the Chief Priest: for who more fit than myself, through the wisdom which the true God hath given me, to destroy, for the good example of others, what in foolishness I worshipped? Immediately, casting away vain superstition, he besought the King to grant him what the laws did not allow to a priest, arms and a courser (equum emissarium); which mounting, and furnished with a sword and lance, he proceeded to destroy the Idols. The crowd, seeing this, thought him mad—he however, halted not, but, approaching, he profaned the temple, casting it against the lance which he had held in his hand, and, exulting in acknowledgement of the worship of the true God, he ordered his companions to pull down the temple, with all its enclosures. The place is shown where those idols formerly stood, not far from York, at the source of the river Derwent, and is at this day called Gormund Gaham [W. W. 1822], ubi pontifex ille, inspirante Deo vero, polluit ac destruxit eas, quas ipse sacraverat aras." The last expression is a pleasing proof that the venerable monk of Wearmouth was familiar with the poetry of Virgil.—W. W. 1832.

The following is Bede's account of the speech of "another of the king's chief men":—"The present life of man, O king, seems to me in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit, at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad. The sparrow, I say—flying in at one door, and immediately out at another—whilst he is within, is safe from the misty storm; but, after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, and of what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant. If therefore this new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed."—Ed.

[52] 1837.

"That, stealing in while by the fire you sit
"Housed with rejoicing Friends, is seen to flit
"Safe from the storm, in comfort tarrying." 1822.

XVII
CONVERSION[53]

Prompt transformation works the novel Lore;
The Council closed, the Priest in full career
Rides forth, an armèd man, and hurls a spear
To desecrate the Fane which heretofore
He served in folly. Woden falls, and Thor 5
Is overturned: the mace, in battle heaved
(So might they dream) till victory was achieved,
Drops, and the God himself is seen no more.
Temple and Altar sink, to hide their shame
Amid oblivious weeds, "O come to me, 10
Ye heavy laden!" such the inviting voice
Heard near fresh streams;[54] and thousands, who rejoice
In the new Rite—the pledge of sanctity,
Shall, by regenerate life, the promise claim.

FOOTNOTES:

[53] See Wordsworth's note to Sonnet XVI.—Ed.

[54] The early propagators of Christianity were accustomed to preach near rivers, for the convenience of baptism.—W. W. 1822.

XVIII
APOLOGY

Nor scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend
The Soul's eternal interests to promote:
Death, darkness, danger, are our natural lot;
And evil Spirits may our walk attend
For aught the wisest know or comprehend; 5
Then be good Spirits free[55] to breathe a note
Of elevation; let their odours float
Around these Converts; and their glories blend,
The midnight stars outshining,[56] or the blaze
Of the noon-day. Nor doubt that golden cords 10
Of good works, mingling with the visions, raise
The Soul to purer worlds: and who the line
Shall draw, the limits of the power define,
That even imperfect faith to man affords?

FOOTNOTES:

[55] 1827.

Then let the good be free ... 1822.

[56] 1837.

Outshining nightly tapers, ... 1822.

XIX
PRIMITIVE SAXON CLERGY[57]

How beautiful your presence, how benign,
Servants of God! who not a thought will share
With the vain world; who, outwardly as bare
As winter trees, yield no fallacious sign
That the firm soul is clothed with fruit divine! 5
Such Priest, when service worthy of his care
Has called him forth to breathe the common air,
Might seem a saintly Image from its shrine
Descended:—happy are the eyes that meet
The Apparition; evil thoughts are stayed 10
At his approach, and low-bowed necks entreat
A benediction from his voice or hand;
Whence grace, through which the heart can understand,
And vows, that bind the will, in silence made.

XX
OTHER INFLUENCES

Ah, when the Body,[58] round which in love we clung,
Is chilled by death, does mutual service fail?
Is tender pity then of no avail?
Are intercessions of the fervent tongue
A waste of hope?—From this sad source have sprung
Rites that console the Spirit, under grief 6
Which ill can brook more rational relief:
Hence, prayers are shaped amiss, and dirges sung
For Souls[59] whose doom is fixed! The way is smooth
For Power that travels with the human heart: 10
Confession ministers the pang to soothe
In him who at the ghost of guilt doth start.
Ye holy Men, so earnest in your care,
Of your own mighty instruments beware!

FOOTNOTES:

[57] Having spoken of the zeal, disinterestedness, and temperance of the clergy of those times, Bede thus proceeds:—"Unde et in magna erat veneratione tempore illo religionis habitus, ita ut ubicunque clericus aliquis aut monachus adveniret, gaudenter ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus exciperetur. Etiam si in itinere pergens inveniretur, accurrebant, et flexa cervice, vel manu signari, vel ore illius se benedici, gaudebant. Verbis quoque horum exhortatonis diligenter auditum praebebant" (Lib. iii. cap. 26.)—W. W. 1822.

[58] 1837.

... Frame,.... 1822

[59] 1832.

For those ... 1822.

XXI[60]
SECLUSION

Lance, shield, and sword relinquished—at his side
A bead-roll, in his hand a claspèd book,
Or staff more harmless than a shepherd's crook,
The war-worn Chieftain quits the world—to hide
His thin autumnal locks where Monks abide 5
In cloistered privacy. But not to dwell
In soft repose he comes. Within his cell,
Round the decaying trunk of human pride,
At morn, and eve, and midnight's silent hour,
Do penitential cogitations cling; 10
Like ivy, round some ancient elm, they twine
In grisly folds and strictures serpentine;[61]
Yet, while they strangle, a fair growth they bring,[62]
For recompense—their own perennial bower.

FOOTNOTES:

[60] This, and the two following sonnets, were published in Time's Telescope, July 2, 1823.—Ed.

[61] The "ancient elm," with ivy twisting round it "in grisly folds and strictures serpentine," which suggested these lines, grew in Rydal Park, near the path to the upper waterfall.—Ed.

[62] 1837.

... strangle without mercy, bring 1822.

XXII
CONTINUED

Methinks that to some vacant hermitage
My feet would rather turn—to some dry nook
Scooped out of living rock, and near a brook
Hurled down a mountain-cove from stage to stage,
Yet tempering, for my sight, its bustling rage 5
In the soft heaven of a translucent pool;
Thence creeping under sylvan[63] arches cool,
Fit haunt of shapes whose glorious equipage
Would elevate[64] my dreams.[65] A beechen bowl,
A maple dish, my furniture should be; 10
Crisp, yellow leaves my bed; the hooting owl
My night-watch: nor should e'er the crested fowl
From thorp or vill his matins sound for me,
Tired of the world and all its industry.

FOOTNOTES:

[63] 1837.

... forest ... 1822.

[64] 1827.

Perchance would throng ... 1822.

[65] There are several natural "hermitages," such as this, near the Rydal beck.—Ed.

XXIII
REPROOF

But what if One, through grove or flowery meed,
Indulging thus at will the creeping feet
Of a voluptuous indolence, should meet
Thy hovering Shade, O[66] venerable Bede!
The saint, the scholar, from a circle freed 5
Of toil stupendous, in a hallowed seat
Of learning, where thou heard'st[67] the billows beat
On a wild coast, rough monitors to feed
Perpetual industry.[68] Sublime Recluse!
The recreant soul, that dares to shun the debt 10
Imposed on human kind, must first forget
Thy diligence, thy unrelaxing use
Of a long life; and, in the hour of death,
The last dear service of thy passing breath![69]

FOOTNOTES:

[66] 1827.

The hovering Shade of ... 1822.

[67] 1827.

... he heard ... 1822.

[68] Bede spent the most of his life in the seclusion of the monastery of Jarrow, near the mouth of the Tyne; the wild coast referred to in the Sonnet being the coast of Northumberland.—Ed.

[69] He expired in the act of concluding a translation of St. John's Gospel.—W. W. 1822.

He expired dictating the last words of a translation of St. John's Gospel.—W. W. 1827.

XXIV
SAXON MONASTERIES, AND LIGHTS AND SHADES OF THE RELIGION

By such examples moved to unbought pains,
The people work like congregated bees;[70]
Eager to build the quiet Fortresses
Where Piety, as they believe, obtains
From Heaven a general blessing; timely rains 5
Or needful sunshine; prosperous enterprise,
Justice and peace:—bold faith! yet also rise
The sacred Structures for less doubtful gains.[71]
The Sensual think with reverence of the palms
Which the chaste Votaries seek, beyond the grave;
If penance be redeemable, thence alms 11
Flow to the poor, and freedom to the slave;
And if full oft the Sanctuary save
Lives black with guilt, ferocity it calms.

FOOTNOTES:

[70] See, in Turner's History, vol. iii. p. 528, the account of the erection of Ramsey Monastery. Penances were removable by the performance of acts of charity and benevolence.—W. W. 1822.

"Wherever monasteries were founded, marshes were drained, or woods cleared, and wastes brought into cultivation; the means of subsistence were increased by improved agriculture, and by improved horticulture new comforts were added to life. The humblest as well as the highest pursuits were followed in these great and most beneficial establishments. While part of the members were studying the most inscrutable points of theology, ... others were employed in teaching babes and children the rudiments of useful knowledge; others as copyists, limners, carvers, workers in wood, and in stone, and in metal, and in trades and manufactures of every kind which the community required." (Southey's Book of the Church, vol. i. chap. iv. pp. 61, 62.)—Ed.

[71] 1832.

And peace, and equity.—Bold faith! yet rise
The sacred Towers for universal gains. 1822.
And peace, and equity.—Bold faith! yet rise
The sacred Structures for less doubtful gains. 1827.

XXV
MISSIONS AND TRAVELS

Not sedentary all: there are who roam
To scatter seeds of life on barbarous shores;
Or quit with zealous step their knee-worn floors
To seek the general mart of Christendom;
Whence they, like richly-laden merchants, come 5
To their belovèd cells:—or shall we say
That, like the Red-cross Knight, they urge their way,
To lead in memorable triumph home
Truth, their immortal Una? Babylon,
Learned and wise, hath perished utterly, 10
Nor leaves her Speech one word to aid the sigh[72]
That would lament her;—Memphis, Tyre, are gone
With all their Arts,—but classic lore glides on
By these Religious saved for all posterity.

FOOTNOTES:

[72] 1827.

... speech wherewith to clothe a sigh 1822.

XXVI
ALFRED

Behold a pupil of the monkish gown,
The pious Alfred, King to Justice dear!
Lord of the harp and liberating spear;[73]
Mirror of Princes![74] Indigent Renown
Might range the starry ether for a crown 5
Equal to his deserts, who, like the year,
Pours forth his bounty, like the day doth cheer,
And awes like night with mercy-tempered frown.
Ease from this noble miser of his time
No moment steals; pain narrows not his cares.[75] 10
Though small his kingdom as a spark or gem,
Of Alfred boasts remote Jerusalem,[76]
And Christian India, through her wide-spread clime,
In sacred converse gifts with Alfred shares.[77][78]

FOOTNOTES:

[73] "The memory of the life and doings of the noblest of English rulers has come down to us living and distinct through the mist of exaggeration and legend that gathered round it.... He lived solely for the good of his people. He is the first instance in the history of Christendom of the Christian king, of a ruler who put aside every personal aim or ambition to devote himself to the welfare of those whom he ruled. So long as he lived he strove 'to live worthily'; but in his mouth a life of worthiness meant a life of justice, temperance, and self-sacrifice. Ardent warrior as he was, with a disorganised England before him, he set aside at thirty-one the dream of conquest to leave behind him the memory, not of victories, but of 'good works,' of daily toils by which he secured peace, good government, education for his people.... The spirit of adventure that made him in youth the first huntsman of his day took later and graver form in an activity that found time amidst the cares of state for the daily duties of religion, for converse with strangers, for study and translation, for learning poems by heart, for planning buildings and instructing craftsmen in gold work, for teaching even falconers and dog-keepers their business.... He himself superintended a school for the young nobles of the court." (Green's Short History of the English People, chap. i. sec. 5.)—Ed.

[74] Compare Voltaire, Essai sur les Mœurs, chap. xxvi.; and Herder's Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit. Werke (1820), vol. vi. p. 153.—Ed.

[75] Through the whole of his life, Alfred was subject to grievous maladies.—W. W. 1822.

"Although disease succeeded disease, and haunted him with tormenting agony, nothing could suppress his unwearied and inextinguishable genius." (Sharon Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. book iv. chap. v. p. 503.)—Ed.

[76] "His mind was far from being prisoned within his own island. He sent a Norwegian shipmaster to explore the White Sea.... Envoys bore his presents to the Christians of India and Jerusalem, and an annual mission carried Peter's-pence to Rome." (Green's Short History of the English People, i. 5.)—Ed.

[77] 1827.

And Christian India gifts with Alfred shares
By sacred converse link'd with India's clime. 1822

[78] "With Alfred" is in all the editions. The late Bishop of St. Andrews, Charles Wordsworth, suggested that "of Alfred" or "from Alfred" would be a better reading.—Ed.

XXVII
HIS DESCENDANTS

When thy great soul was freed from mortal chains,
Darling of England! many a bitter shower
Fell on thy tomb; but emulative power
Flowed in thy line through undegenerate veins.[79]
The Race of Alfred covet[80] glorious pains[81] 5
When dangers threaten, dangers ever new!
Black tempests bursting, blacker still in view!
But manly sovereignty its hold retains;
The root sincere, the branches bold to strive
With the fierce tempest, while,[82] within the round 10
Of their protection, gentle virtues thrive;
As oft, 'mid some green plot of open ground,
Wide as the oak extends its dewy gloom,
The fostered hyacinths spread their purple bloom.[83]

FOOTNOTES:

[79] 1837.

Can aught survive to linger in the veins
Of kindred bodies—an essential power
That may not vanish in one fatal hour,
And wholly cast away terrestrial chains? 1822.

[80] 1832.

... covets ... 1822.

[81] In Eadward the elder, his son; Eadmund I., his grandson; Eadward (the Martyr), grandson of Eadmund I.; and Eadward (the Confessor), nephew to the Martyr.—Ed.

[82] 1827.

... to thrive
With the fierce storm; meanwhile, ... 1822.

[83] As, pre-eminently, in the wood by the road, half-way from Rydal to Ambleside.—Ed.

XXVIII
INFLUENCE ABUSED

Urged by Ambition, who with subtlest skill
Changes her means, the Enthusiast as a dupe
Shall soar, and as a hypocrite can stoop,
And turn the instruments of good to ill,
Moulding the credulous people to his will. 5
Such Dunstan:—from its Benedictine coop
Issues the master Mind,[84] at whose fell swoop
The chaste affections tremble to fulfil
Their purposes. Behold, pre-signified,
The Might of spiritual sway! his thoughts, his dreams,
Do in the supernatural world abide: 11
So vaunt a throng of Followers, filled with pride
In what they see of virtues pushed to extremes,[85]
And sorceries of talent misapplied.

FOOTNOTES:

[84] Dunstan was made Abbot of Glastonbury by Eadmund, and there he introduced the Benedictine rule, being the first Benedictine Abbot in England. His aim was a remodelling of the Anglo-Saxon Church, "for which," says Southey, "he was qualified by his rank, his connections, his influence at court, his great and versatile talents, and more than all, it must be added, by his daring ambition, which scrupled at nothing for the furtherance of its purpose." (Book of the Church, i. 6.) "Dunstan stands first in the line of ecclesiastical statesmen, who counted among them Lanfranc and Wolsey, and ended in Laud." "Raised to the See of Canterbury, he wielded for sixteen years, as the minister of Eadgar, the secular and ecclesiastical powers of the realm." (Green, i. 6.) In the effort to retain the ascendency he had won, he lent himself, however, to superstition and to fraud, to craft and mean device. He was a type of the ecclesiastical sorcerer.—Ed.

[85] 1837.

In shows of virtue pushed to its extremes, 1822.

XXIX
DANISH CONQUESTS

Woe to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey![86]
Dissension, checking[87] arms that would restrain
The incessant Rovers of the northern main,[88]
Helps to restore and spread a Pagan sway:[89]
But Gospel-truth is potent to allay 5
Fierceness and rage; and soon the cruel Dane
Feels, through the influence of her gentle reign,
His native superstitions melt away.
Thus, often, when thick gloom the east o'ershrouds,
The full-orbed Moon, slow-climbing, doth appear 10
Silently to consume the heavy clouds;
How no one can resolve; but every eye
Around her sees, while air is hushed, a clear
And widening circuit of ethereal sky.

FOOTNOTES:

[86] The violent measures carried on under the influence of Dunstan, for strengthening the Benedictine Order, were a leading cause of the second series of Danish invasions. See Turner.—W. W. 1822.

[87] 1837.

Dissention checks the ... 1822.

[88] e.g. Anlaef, Haco, Svein. (See Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, book ii. chaps. iii., viii., ix.)—Ed.

[89] 1837.

And widely spreads once more a Pagan sway; 1822.

XXX
CANUTE

A pleasant music floats along the Mere,
From Monks in Ely chanting service high,
While-as Canùte the King is rowing by:
"My Oarsmen," quoth the mighty King, "draw near,
"That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!"[90]
He listens (all past conquests and all schemes 6
Of future vanishing like empty dreams)
Heart-touched, and haply not without a tear.
The Royal Minstrel, ere the choir is still,[91]
While his free Barge skims the smooth flood along,
Gives to that rapture an accordant Rhyme.[92][93] 11
O suffering Earth! be thankful; sternest clime
And rudest age are subject to the thrill
Of heaven-descended Piety and Song.

FOOTNOTES:

[90] A monk of Ely, who wrote a History of the Church (circa 1166), records a fragment of song, said to have been composed by Canute when on his way to a church festival. He told his rowers to proceed slowly, and near the shore, that he might hear the chanting of the Psalter by the monks, and he then composed a song himself.

Merie sangen the Muneches binnen Ely,
Tha Cnut ching reu therby:
Roweth cnites ner the land
And here ye thes Muneches sang.—Ed.

[91] 1827.

... was still, 1822.

[92] 1827.

... a memorial Rhyme. 1822.

[93] Which is still extant.—W. W. 1822. See last note.—Ed.

XXXI
THE NORMAN CONQUEST

The woman-hearted Confessor prepares[94]
The evanescence of the Saxon line.
Hark! 'tis the tolling Curfew!—the stars shine;[95]
But of the lights that cherish household cares
And festive gladness, burns not one that dares 5
To twinkle after that dull stroke of thine,
Emblem and instrument, from Thames to Tyne,
Of force that daunts, and cunning that ensnares!
Yet as the terrors of the lordly bell,
That quench, from hut to palace, lamps and fires,[96] 10
Touch not the tapers of the sacred quires;
Even so a thraldom, studious to expel
Old laws, and ancient customs to derange,
To Creed or Ritual brings no fatal change.[97]

FOOTNOTES:

[94] Edward the Confessor (1042-1066).—"There was something shadowlike in the thin form, the delicate complexion, the transparent womanly hands, that contrasted with the blue eyes and golden hair of his race; and it is almost as a shadow that he glides over the political stage. The work of government was done by sterner hands." (Green's Short History of the English People, chap. ii. sec. 2.)—Ed.

XXXII
"COLDLY WE SPAKE. THE SAXONS, OVERPOWERED"

Published 1837

Coldly we spake. The Saxons, overpowered
By wrong triumphant through its own excess,
From fields laid waste, from house and home devoured
By flames, look up to heaven and crave redress
From God's eternal justice. Pitiless 5
Though men be, there are angels that can feel
For wounds that death alone has power to heal,
For penitent guilt, and innocent distress.
And has a Champion risen in arms to try
His Country's virtue, fought, and breathes no more; 10
Him in their hearts the people canonize;
And far above the mine's most precious ore
The least small pittance of bare mould they prize
Scooped from the sacred earth where his dear relics lie.

FOOTNOTES:

[95] 1827.

Hark! 'tis the Curfew's knell! the stars may shine; 1822.

[96] The introduction of the curfew-bell (couvre-feu, cover fire) into England is ascribed to the Conqueror, but the custom was common in Europe long before his time.—Ed.

[97] 1837.

Brings to Religion no injurious change. 1822.

XXXIII
THE COUNCIL OF CLERMONT

"And shall," the Pontiff asks, "profaneness flow
From Nazareth—source of Christian piety,
From Bethlehem, from the Mounts of Agony
And glorified Ascension? Warriors, go,
With prayers and blessings we your path will sow; 5
Like Moses hold our hands erect, till ye
Have chased far off by righteous victory
These sons of Amalek, or laid them low!"—
"God willeth it," the whole assembly cry;
Shout which the enraptured multitude astounds![98] 10
The Council-roof and Clermont's towers reply;—
"God willeth it," from hill to hill rebounds,
And, in awe-stricken[99] Countries far and nigh,
Through "Nature's hollow arch"[100] that voice resounds.[101][102]

FOOTNOTES:

[98] 1827.

... astounded. 1822.

[99] 1827.

... rebounded;
Sacred resolve, in ... 1822.

[100] Compare Fuller's Holy War, I. 8.—Ed.

[101] 1837.

... that night, resounded! 1822.
... the voice resounds. 1827.

[102] The decision of this Council was believed to be instantly known in remote parts of Europe.—W. W. 1822.

There were several Councils of Clermont, the chief of them being that of 1095, at which the Crusade was definitely planned. Pope Urban II. addressed the Council in such a way that at the close the whole multitude exclaimed simultaneously Deus Vult; and this phrase became the war-cry of the Crusade.—Ed.

XXXIV
CRUSADES

The turbaned Race are poured in thickening swarms
Along the west; though driven from Aquitaine,
The Crescent glitters on the towers of Spain;
And soft Italia feels renewed alarms;
The scimitar, that yields not to the charms 5
Of ease, the narrow Bosphorus will disdain;
Nor long (that crossed) would Grecian hills detain
Their tents, and check the current of their arms.
Then blame not those who, by the mightiest lever
Known to the moral world, Imagination, 10
Upheave, so seems it, from her natural station
All Christendom:—they sweep along (was never
So huge a host!)[103]—to tear from the Unbeliever
The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation.

FOOTNOTES:

[103] Ten successive armies, amounting to nearly 950,000 men, took part in the first Crusade. "The most distant islands and savage countries," says William of Malmesbury, "were inspired with this ardent passion"—Ed.

XXXV
RICHARD I

Redoubted King, of courage leonine,
I mark thee, Richard! urgent to equip
Thy warlike person with the staff and scrip;
I watch thee sailing o'er the midland brine;
In conquered Cyprus see thy Bride decline 5
Her blushing cheek, love-vows[104] upon her lip,
And see love-emblems streaming from thy ship,
As thence she holds her way to Palestine.[105]
My Song, a fearless homager, would attend
Thy thundering battle-axe as it cleaves the press 10
Of war, but duty summons her away
To tell—how, finding in the rash distress
Of those Enthusiasts a subservient friend,
To[106] giddier heights hath clomb the Papal sway.

FOOTNOTES:

[104] 1827.

... Love's vow ... 1822.

[105] Richard I. (Cœur de Lion), one of the two leaders in the third Crusade, after conquering Cyprus—on his way to Palestine—while in that island married Berengaria, daughter of Sanchez, King of Navarre.—Ed.

[106] 1837.

Of those enthusiast powers a constant Friend,
Through ... 1822.

XXXVI
AN INTERDICT[107]

Realms quake by turns: proud Arbitress of grace,
The Church, by mandate shadowing forth the power
She arrogates o'er heaven's eternal door,
Closes the gates of every sacred place.
Straight from the sun and tainted air's embrace 5
All sacred things are covered: cheerful morn
Grows sad as night—no seemly garb is worn,
Nor is a face allowed to meet a face
With natural smiles[108] of greeting. Bells are dumb;
Ditches are graves—funereal rites denied; 10
And in the church-yard he must take his bride
Who dares be wedded! Fancies thickly come
Into the pensive heart ill fortified,
And comfortless despairs the soul benumb.

FOOTNOTES:

[107] At the command of Pope Innocent III., the Bishops of London, Ely, and Worcester were charged to lay England under an interdict. They did so, in defiance of King John, and left England. Southey's description of the result maybe compared with this sonnet. "All the rites of a Church whose policy it was to blend its institutions with the whole business of private life were suddenly suspended: no bell heard, no taper lighted, no service performed, no church open; only baptism was permitted, and confession and sacrament for the dying. The dead were either interred in unhallowed ground, without the presence of a priest, or any religious ceremony, ... or they were kept unburied.... Some little mitigation was allowed, lest human nature should have rebelled against so intolerable a tyranny. The people, therefore, were called to prayers and sermon on the Sunday, in the churchyards, and marriages were performed at the church door." (Southey's Book of the Church, vol. i. chap. ix. pp. 261, 262.)—Ed.

[108] 1845.

... smile ... 1822.

XXXVII
PAPAL ABUSES

As with the Stream our voyage we pursue,
The gross materials of this world present
A marvellous study of wild accident;[109]
Uncouth proximities of old and new;
And bold transfigurations, more untrue 5
(As might be deemed) to disciplined intent
Than aught the sky's fantastic element,
When most fantastic, offers to the view.
Saw we not Henry scourged at Becket's shrine?[110]
Lo! John self-stripped of his insignia:—crown, 10
Sceptre and mantle, sword and ring, laid down
At a proud Legate's feet![111] The spears that line
Baronial halls, the opprobrious insult feel;
And angry Ocean roars a vain appeal.

FOOTNOTES:

[109] Compare Aubrey de Vere's Thomas à Becket.—Ed.

[110] After Becket's murder and canonisation Henry II., from political motives, did penance publicly at his shrine. Clad in a coarse garment, he walked three miles barefoot to Canterbury, and at the shrine submitted to the discipline of the Church. Four bishops, abbots, and eighty clergy were present, each with a knotted cord, and inflicted 380 lashes. Bleeding he threw sackcloth over his shoulders, and continued till midnight kneeling at prayer, then visited all the altars, and returned fainting to Becket's shrine, where he remained till morning.—Ed.

[111] On the festival of the Ascension, John "laid his crown at Pandulph's feet, and signed an instrument by which, for the remission of his sins, and those of his family, he surrendered the kingdoms of England and Ireland to the Pope, to hold them thenceforth under him, and the Roman see." Pandulph "kept the crown five days before he restored it to John." (Southey, Book of the Church, vol. i. p. 218.)—Ed.

XXXVIII
SCENE IN VENICE

Black Demons hovering o'er his mitred head,
To Cæsar's Successor the Pontiff spake;[112]
"Ere I absolve thee, stoop! that on thy neck
Levelled with earth this foot of mine may tread."
Then he, who to the altar had been led, 5
He, whose strong arm the Orient could not check,
He, who had held the Soldan[113] at his beck,
Stooped, of all glory disinherited,
And even the common dignity of man!—
Amazement strikes the crowd: while many turn 10
Their eyes away in sorrow, others burn
With scorn, invoking a vindictive ban
From outraged Nature; but the sense of most
In abject sympathy with power is lost.

FOOTNOTES:

[112] The reference is to the legend of Pope Alexander III. and Frederick Barbarossa. See the Fenwick note prefixed to these sonnets.—Ed.

[113] Soldan, or Sultan, "Soldanus quasi solus dominus."—Ed.

XXXIX
PAPAL DOMINION

Unless to Peter's Chair the viewless wind[114]
Must come and ask permission when to blow,
What further empire would it have? for now
A ghostly Domination, unconfined
As that by dreaming Bards to Love assigned, 5
Sits there in sober truth—to raise the low,
Perplex the wise, the strong to overthrow;
Through earth and heaven to bind and to unbind!—
Resist—the thunder quails thee!—crouch—rebuff
Shall be thy recompense! from land to land 10
The ancient thrones of Christendom are stuff
For occupation of a magic wand,
And 'tis the Pope that wields it:—whether rough
Or smooth his front, our world is in his hand![115]

FOOTNOTES:

[114] Compare Measure for Measure, act III. scene i. l. 124.—Ed.

[115] According to the canons of the Church, the Pope was above all kings, "He was king of kings and lord of lords, although he subscribed himself the servant of servants." He might dethrone kings, and tax nations, or destroy empires, as he pleased. All power had been committed to him, and any secular law that was opposed to a papal decree was, ipso facto, null and void.—Ed.

PART II
TO THE CLOSE OF THE TROUBLES IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I.

I
"HOW SOON—ALAS! DID MAN, CREATED PURE"

Published 1845

How soon—alas! did Man, created pure—
By Angels guarded, deviate from the line
Prescribed to duty:—woeful forfeiture[116]
He made by wilful breach of law divine.
With like perverseness did the Church abjure 5
Obedience to her Lord, and haste to twine,[117]
'Mid Heaven-born flowers that shall for aye endure,
Weeds on whose front the world had fixed her sign.
O Man,—if with thy trials thus it fares,
If good can smooth the way to evil choice, 10
From all rash censure be the mind kept free;
He only judges right who weighs, compares,
And, in the sternest sentence which his voice
Pronounces, ne'er abandons Charity.[118]

FOOTNOTES:

[116] 1845.

Even when the state of man seems most secure
And tempted least to deviate from the line
Of simple duty, woeful forfeiture C.
How difficult for man to keep the line
Prescribed by duty! Happy once and pure C.

[117] 1845.

Though Angels watched lest man should from the line
Of duty sever, blest though he was, and pure
In thought and deed, a woeful forfeiture
He made by wilful breach of law divine,
The church of Christ how prompt was she to abjure
Allegiance to her Lord how prone to twine C.

[118] 1845.

{The visible church how prone was she to abjure}
{Allegiance to Christ's Kingdom and entwine}
With glorious flowers that shall for aye endure
Weeds on whose front the world had fixed her sign.
False man—if with thy trials thus it fared—
If good can smooth the way to evil choice,
From hasty answer be our minds kept free;
He only judges right who weighs, compares,
And, in the sternest sentence that his voice
May utter, ne'er abandons charity. C.

II
"FROM FALSE ASSUMPTION ROSE, AND FONDLY HAIL'D"

Published 1845

From false assumption rose, and fondly hail'd
By superstition, spread the Papal power;
Yet do not deem the Autocracy prevail'd
Thus only, even in error's darkest hour.
She daunts, forth-thundering from her spiritual tower
Brute rapine, or with gentle lure she tames. 6
Justice and Peace through Her uphold their claims;
And Chastity finds many a sheltering bower.
Realm there is none that if controul'd or sway'd
By her commands partakes not, in degree, 10
Of good, o'er manners arts and arms, diffused:
Yes, to thy domination, Roman See,
Tho' miserably, oft monstrously, abused
By blind ambition, be this tribute paid.[119]

FOOTNOTES:

[119] The following version of this sonnet is from a MS. copy of it in Wordsworth's own handwriting.—Ed.

On false assumption, though the Papal Power
Rests, and spreads wide, beduped, by ignorance hailed,
A darker empire must have else prevailed,
For deeds of mischief strengthening every hour.
Behold how thundering from her spiritual tower
She daunts brute rapine, cruelty she tames.
Justice and charity through her assert their claims,
And chastity finds many a sheltering bower.
Realm is there none that, if controlled or swayed
By her commands, partakes not in degree
Of good, on manners arts and arms diffused:
To mock thy exaltation, Roman See,
And to the Autocracy, howe'er abused
Through blind ambition, be this tribute paid.

III
CISTERTIAN MONASTERY[120]

"Here Man more purely lives, less oft doth fall,
More promptly rises, walks with stricter heed,[121]
More safely rests, dies happier, is freed
Earlier from cleansing fires, and gains withal
A brighter crown."[122]—On yon Cistertian wall 5
That confident assurance may be read;
And, to like shelter, from the world have fled
Increasing multitudes. The potent call
Doubtless shall cheat full oft the heart's desires:[123]
Yet, while the rugged Age on pliant knee 10
Vows to rapt Fancy humble fealty,
A gentler life spreads round the holy spires;
Where'er they rise, the sylvan waste retires,
And aëry harvests crown the fertile lea.

FOOTNOTES:

[120] The Cistertian order was named after the monastery of Citéaux or Cistercium, near Dijon, founded in 1098 by the Benedictine abbot, Robert of Molême.—Ed.

[121] 1837.

... with nicer heed, 1822.

[122] "Bonum est nos hic esse, quia homo vivit purius, cadit rarius, surgit velocius, incedit cautius, quiescit securius, moritur felicius, purgatur citius, praemiatur copiosius."—Bernard. "This sentence," says Dr. Whitaker, "is usually inscribed on some conspicuous part of the Cistertian houses."—W. W. 1822.

[123] 1827.

... desire; 1822.

IV[124]
"DEPLORABLE HIS LOT WHO TILLS THE GROUND"

Published 1835

Deplorable his lot who tills the ground,
His whole life long tills it, with heartless toil
Of villain-service, passing with the soil
To each new Master, like a steer or hound,
Or like a rooted tree, or stone earth-bound; 5
But mark how gladly, through their own domains,
The Monks relax or break these iron chains;
While Mercy, uttering, through their voice, a sound
Echoed in Heaven, cries out, "Ye Chiefs, abate
These legalized oppressions! Man—whose name 10
And nature God disdained not; Man—whose soul
Christ died for—cannot forfeit his high claim
To live and move exempt from all controul
Which fellow-feeling doth not mitigate!"

FOOTNOTES:

[124] The following note, referring to Sonnets IV., XII., and XIII., appears in the volume of 1835—entitled Yarrow Revisited, and other Poems—immediately after the poem St. Bees—

"The three following Sonnets are an intended addition to the 'Ecclesiastical Sketches,' the first to stand second; and the two that succeed, seventh and eighth, in the second part of the Series. (See the Author's Poems.) They are placed here as having some connection with the foregoing Poem."—Ed.

V
MONKS AND SCHOOLMEN

Record we too, with just and faithful pen,
That many hooded Cenobites[125] there are,
Who in their private cells have yet a care
Of public quiet; unambitious Men,
Counsellors for the world, of piercing ken; 5
Whose fervent exhortations from afar
Move Princes to their duty, peace or war;[126]
And oft-times in the most forbidding den
Of solitude, with love of science strong,
How patiently the yoke of thought they bear! 10
How subtly glide its finest threads along!
Spirits that crowd the intellectual sphere[127]
With mazy boundaries, as the astronomer
With orb and cycle girds the starry throng.

FOOTNOTES:

[125] Cenobites ([Greek: koinobioi]κοινόβιοι), monks who live in common, as distinguished from hermits or anchorites, who live alone.—Ed.

[126] "Counts, kings, bishops," says F.D. Maurice, "in the fulness of their wealth and barbaric splendour, may be bowing before a monk, who writes them letters from a cell in which he is living upon vegetables and water." (Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy (Edition 1873), vol. i., Mediæval Philosophy, chap. iv. p. 534.)—Ed.

[127] e.g. Anselm (1033-1109); Albertus Magnus (1193-1280); Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274); Duns Scotus (1265-1308).—Ed.

VI
OTHER BENEFITS

And, not in vain embodied to the sight,
Religion finds even in the stern retreat
Of feudal sway her own appropriate seat;[128]
From the collegiate pomps on Windsor's height
Down to the humbler[129] altar, which the Knight 5
And his Retainers of the embattled hall
Seek in domestic oratory small,
For prayer in stillness, or the chanted rite;
Then chiefly dear, when foes are planted round,
Who teach the intrepid guardians of the place— 10
Hourly exposed to death, with famine worn,
And suffering under many a perilous wound—[130]
How sad would be their durance, if forlorn
Of offices dispensing heavenly grace!

FOOTNOTES:

[128] St. George's Chapel, Windsor, begun by Henry III. and finished by Edward III., rebuilt by Henry VII., and enlarged by Cardinal Wolsey.—Ed.

[129] 1837.

... humble ... 1822.

[130] 1827.

... doubtful wound, 1822.

VII
CONTINUED

And what melodious sounds at times prevail!
And, ever and anon, how bright a gleam
Pours on the surface of the turbid Stream!
What heartfelt fragrance mingles with the gale
That swells the bosom of our passing sail! 5
For where, but on this River's margin, blow
Those flowers of chivalry, to bind the brow
Of hardihood with wreaths that shall not fail?—
Fair Court of Edward! wonder of the world![131]
I see a matchless blazonry unfurled 10
Of wisdom, magnanimity, and love;
And meekness tempering honourable pride;
The lamb is couching by the lion's side,
And near the flame-eyed eagle sits the dove.

FOOTNOTES:

[131] Edward the Third (1336-1360). See The Wonderful Deeds of Edward the Third, by Robert of Avesbury; and Longman's History of Edward the Third.—Ed.

VIII
CRUSADERS

Furl we the sails, and pass with tardy oars
Through these bright regions, casting many a glance
Upon the dream-like issues—the romance[132]
Of many-coloured life that[133] Fortune pours
Round the Crusaders, till on distant shores 5
Their labours end; or they return to lie,
The vow performed, in cross-legged effigy,
Devoutly stretched upon their chancel floors.
Am I deceived? Or is their requiem chanted
By voices never mute when Heaven unties 10
Her inmost, softest, tenderest harmonies;
Requiem which Earth takes up with voice undaunted,
When she would tell how Brave, and Good, and Wise,[134]
For their high guerdon not in vain have panted!

FOOTNOTES:

[132] 1845.

Nor can Imagination quit the shores
Of these bright scenes without a farewell glance
Given to those dream-like Issues—that Romance 1822.
Given to the dream-like Issues—that Romance 1837.

[133] 1837.

... which ... 1822.

[134] 1837.

... Good, and Brave, and Wise, 1822

IX
"AS FAITH THUS SANCTIFIED THE WARRIOR'S CREST"

Composed 1842.—Published 1845

As faith thus sanctified the warrior's crest
While from the Papal Unity there came,
What feebler means had fail'd to give, one aim
Diffused thro' all the regions of the West;
So does her Unity its power attest 5
By works of Art, that shed, on the outward frame
Of worship, glory and grace, which who shall blame
That ever looked to heaven for final rest?
Hail countless Temples! that so well befit
Your ministry; that, as ye rise and take 10
Form spirit and character from holy writ,
Give to devotion, wheresoe'er awake,
Pinions of high and higher sweep, and make
The unconverted soul with awe submit.[135]

FOOTNOTES:

[135] In a letter to Professor Henry Reed, Philadelphia, September 4, 1842, Wordsworth writes: "To the second part of the Series" (the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets") "I have also added two, in order to do more justice to the Papal Church for the services which she did actually render to Christianity and humanity in the Middle Ages."—Ed.

X
"WHERE LONG AND DEEPLY HATH BEEN FIXED THE ROOT"

Composed 1842.—Published 1845

Where long and deeply hath been fixed the root
In the blest soil of gospel truth, the Tree,
(Blighted or scathed tho' many branches be,
Put forth to wither, many a hopeful shoot)
Can never cease to bear celestial fruit. 5
Witness the Church that oft-times, with effect
Dear to the saints, strives earnestly to eject[136]
Her bane, her vital energies recruit.
Lamenting, do not hopelessly repine
When such good work is doomed to be undone,[137] 10
The conquests lost that were so hardly won:—
All promises vouchsafed by Heaven will shine[138]
In light confirmed while years their course shall run,
Confirmed alike in[139] progress and decline.

FOOTNOTES:

[136] 1845.

Blighted and scathed tho' many branches be,
Can never cease to bear and ripen fruit
Worthy of Heaven. This law is absolute.
Behold the Church that often with effect
Dear to the Saints doth labouring to eject C.

[137] 1845.

{The Church not seldom surely with effect}
{Dear to the Saints doth labour to eject}
Her bane, her vital energy recruit.
So Providence ordains and why repine
If this good work is doomed to be undone, C.

[138] 1845.

Trust that the promises vouchsafed will shine C.

[139] 1845.

... thro' ... C.

XI
TRANSUBSTANTIATION

Enough! for see, with dim association
The tapers burn; the odorous incense feeds
A greedy flame; the pompous mass proceeds;
The Priest bestows the appointed consecration;
And, while the Host is raised, its elevation 5
An awe and supernatural horror breeds;
And all the people bow their heads, like reeds
To a soft breeze, in lowly adoration.
This Valdo brooks[140] not.[141] On the banks of Rhone
He taught, till persecution chased him thence, 10
To adore the Invisible, and Him alone.
Nor are[142] his Followers loth to seek defence,
'Mid woods and wilds, on Nature's craggy throne,
From rites that trample upon soul and sense.

FOOTNOTES:

[140] 1837.

... brook'd ... 1822.

[141] Peter Waldo (or Valdo), a rich merchant of Lyons (1160 or 1170), becoming religious, dedicated himself to poverty and almsgiving. Disciples gathered round him; and they were called the poor men of Lyons—a modest, frugal, and industrious order. They were reformers before the Reformation. Peter Waldo exposed the corruption of the clergy, had the four gospels translated for the people, and maintained the rights of the laity to read them to the masses. He was condemned by the Lateran Council in 1179.—Ed.

[142] 1837.

... were ... 1822.

XII
THE VAUDOIS

Published 1835

But whence came they who for the Saviour Lord
Have long borne witness as the Scriptures teach?—
Ages ere Valdo raised his voice to preach
In Gallic ears the unadulterate Word,
Their fugitive Progenitors explored 5
Subalpine vales, in quest of safe retreats
Where that pure Church survives, though summer heats
Open a passage to the Romish sword,
Far as it dares to follow. Herbs self-sown,
And fruitage gathered from the chesnut wood, 10
Nourish the sufferers then; and mists, that brood
O'er chasms with new-fallen obstacles bestrown,
Protect them; and the eternal snow that daunts
Aliens, is God's good winter for their haunts.

XIII
"PRAISED BE THE RIVERS, FROM THEIR MOUNTAIN SPRINGS"

Published 1835

Praised be the Rivers, from their mountain springs
Shouting to Freedom, "Plant thy banners here!"[143]
To harassed Piety, "Dismiss thy fear,
"And in our caverns smooth thy ruffled wings!"
Nor be unthanked their final lingerings— 5
Silent, but not to high-souled Passion's ear—
'Mid reedy fens wide-spread and marshes drear,
Their own creation. Such glad welcomings
As Po was heard to give where Venice rose
Hailed from aloft those Heirs of truth divine[144] 10
Who near his fountains sought obscure repose,
Yet came[145] prepared as glorious lights to shine,
Should that be needed for their sacred Charge;
Blest Prisoners They, whose spirits were[146] at large!

FOOTNOTES:

[143] See the story of the rebuilding of Rome after its plunder by the Gauls.—Ed.

[144] 1837.

... their tardiest lingerings
'Mid reedy fens wide-spread and marshes drear,
Their own creation, till their long career
End in the sea engulphed. Such welcomings
As came from mighty Po when Venice rose,
Greeted those simple Heirs of truth divine 1835.

[145] 1837.

Yet were ... 1835.

[146] 1840.

... are ... 1835.

XIV
WALDENSES[147]

Those had given[148] earliest notice, as the lark
Springs from the ground the morn to gratulate;
Or[149] rather rose the day to antedate,
By striking out a solitary spark, 4
When all the world with midnight gloom was dark.—
Then followed the Waldensian bands, whom Hate[150]
In vain endeavours[151] to exterminate,
Whom[152] Obloquy pursues with hideous bark:[153]
But they desist not;—and the sacred fire,[154]
Rekindled thus, from dens and savage woods 10
Moves, handed on with never-ceasing care,
Through courts, through camps, o'er limitary floods;
Nor lacks this sea-girt Isle a timely share
Of the new Flame, not suffered to expire.

FOOTNOTES:

[147] The followers of Peter Waldo afterwards became a separate community, and multiplied in the valleys of Dauphiné and Piedmont. They suffered persecutions in 1332, 1400, and 1478, but these only drove them into fresh districts in Europe. Francis I. of France ordered them to be extirpated from Piedmont in 1541, and many were massacred. In 1560 the Duke of Savoy renewed the persecution at the instance of the Papal See. Charles Emmanuel II., in 1655, continued it.—Ed.

[148] 1845.

These who gave ... 1822.
These had given ... 1840.

[149] 1840.

Who ... 1822.

[150] 1845.

These Harbingers of good, whom bitter hate 1822.
At length come those Waldensian bands, whom Hate 1840.

[151] 1840.

... endeavoured ... 1822

[152] 1840.

Fell ... 1822

[153] The list of foul names bestowed upon those poor creatures is long and curious:—and, as is, alas! too natural, most of the opprobrious appellations are drawn from circumstances into which they were forced by their persecutors, who even consolidated their miseries into one reproachful term, calling them Patarenians, or Paturins, from pati, to suffer.

Dwellers with wolves, she names them, for the pine
And green oak are their covert; as the gloom
Of night oft foils their enemy's design,
She calls them Riders on the flying broom;
Sorcerers, whose frame and aspect have become
One and the same through practices malign.—W. W. 1822.

[154] 1827.

Meanwhile the unextinguishable fire, 1822

XV
ARCHBISHOP CHICHELY TO HENRY V.

"What beast in wilderness or cultured field
"The lively beauty of the leopard shows?
"What flower in meadow-ground or garden grows
"That to the towering lily doth not yield?
"Let both meet only on thy royal shield! 5
"Go forth, great King! claim what thy birth bestows;
"Conquer the Gallic lily which thy foes
"Dare to usurp;—thou hast a sword to wield,
"And Heaven will crown the right."—The mitred Sire
Thus spake—and lo! a Fleet, for Gaul addrest, 10
Ploughs her bold course across the wondering seas;[155]
For, sooth to say, ambition, in the breast
Of youthful heroes, is no sullen fire,
But one that leaps to meet the fanning breeze.

FOOTNOTES:

[155] Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1414, persuaded Henry V. to carry on war with France, and helped to raise money for the purpose. Henry crossed to Harfleur, Chichele accompanying him, with an army of 30,000, and won the battle of Agincourt.—Ed.

XVI
WARS OF YORK AND LANCASTER

Thus is the storm abated by the craft
Of a shrewd Counsellor, eager to protect
The Church, whose power hath recently been checked,
Whose monstrous riches threatened. So the shaft
Of victory mounts high, and blood is quaffed 5
In fields that rival Cressy and Poictiers—[156]
Pride to be washed away by bitter tears!
For deep as Hell itself, the avenging draught[157]
Of civil slaughter. Yet, while temporal power
Is by these shocks exhausted, spiritual truth 10
Maintains the else endangered gift of life;
Proceeds from infancy to lusty youth;
And, under cover of this[158] woeful strife,
Gathers unblighted strength from hour to hour.

FOOTNOTES:

[156] e.g. the battles of St. Albans, Wakefield, Mortimer's Cross, Towton, Barnet, Tewkesbury, Bosworth.—Ed.

[157] 1827.

But mark the dire effect in coming years!
Deep, deep as hell itself, the future draught 1822.

[158] 1827.

... that ... 1822.

XVII
WICLIFFE

Once more the Church is seized with sudden fear,
And at her call is Wicliffe disinhumed:
Yea, his dry bones to ashes are consumed
And flung into the brook that travels near; 4
Forthwith, that ancient Voice which Streams can hear
Thus speaks (that Voice which walks upon the wind,
Though seldom heard by busy human kind)—
"As thou these ashes, little Brook! wilt bear
"Into the Avon, Avon to the tide
"Of Severn, Severn to the narrow seas, 10
"Into main Ocean they, this deed accurst
"An emblem yields to friends and enemies
"How the bold Teacher's Doctrine, sanctified
"By truth, shall spread, throughout the world dispersed."[159]

FOOTNOTES:

[159] The Council of Constance condemned Wicliffe as a heretic, and issued an order that his remains should be exhumed, and burnt. "Accordingly, by order of the Bishop of Lincoln, as Diocesan of Lutterworth, his grave, which was in the chancel of the church, was opened, forty years after his death; the bones were taken out and burnt to ashes, and the ashes thrown into a neighbouring brook called the Swift." (Southey's Book of the Church, vol. i. p. 384.) "Thus this brook," says Fuller, "hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they into the main ocean; and thus the ashes of Wicliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over." (The Church History of Britain from the Birth of Christ until the year MDCXLVIII. endeavoured, book iv. p. 424.) In the note to the 11th Sonnet of Part I., Wordsworth acknowledges his obligations to Fuller in connection with this Sonnet on Wicliffe.

See Charles Lamb's comment on this passage of Fuller's, Prose Works (1876), vol. iv. p. 277.—Ed.

XVIII
CORRUPTIONS OF THE HIGHER CLERGY

"Woe to you, Prelates! rioting in ease
"And cumbrous wealth—the shame of your estate;
"You, on whose progress dazzling trains await
"Of pompous horses; whom vain titles please;
"Who will be served by others on their knees, 5
"Yet will yourselves to God no service pay;
"Pastors who neither take nor point the way
"To Heaven; for, either lost in vanities
"Ye have no skill to teach, or if ye know
"And speak the word ——" Alas! of fearful things
'Tis the most fearful when the people's eye 11
Abuse hath cleared from vain imaginings;
And taught the general voice to prophesy
Of Justice armed, and Pride to be laid low.

XIX
ABUSE OF MONASTIC POWER

And what is Penance with her knotted thong;
Mortification with the shirt of hair,
Wan cheek, and knees indúrated with prayer,
Vigils, and fastings rigorous as long;
If cloistered Avarice scruple not to wrong 5
The pious, humble, useful Secular,[160]
And rob[161] the people of his daily care,
Scorning that world whose blindness makes her strong?
Inversion strange! that, unto One who lives[162]
For self, and struggles with himself alone, 10
The amplest share of heavenly favour gives;
That to a Monk allots, both in the esteem
Of God and man, place higher than to him[163]
Who on the good of others builds his own!

FOOTNOTES:

[160] The secular clergy are the priests of the Roman church, who belong to no special religious order, but have the charge of parishes, and so live in the world (seculum). The regular clergy are the monks belonging to one or other of the monastic orders, and are subject to its rules (regulæ).—Ed.

[161] 1827.

And robs ... 1822.

[162] 1827.

Scorning their wants because her arm is strong?
Inversion strange! that to a Monk, who lives 1822.

[163] 1845.

And hath allotted, in the world's esteem,
To such a higher station than to him 1822.
That to a Monk allots, in the esteem
Of God and Man, place higher than to him 1827.

XX
MONASTIC VOLUPTUOUSNESS

Yet more,—round many a Convent's blazing fire
Unhallowed threads of revelry are spun;
There Venus sits disguisèd like a Nun,—
While Bacchus, clothed in semblance of a Friar,
Pours out his choicest beverage high and higher 5
Sparkling, until it cannot choose but run
Over the bowl, whose silver lip hath won
An instant kiss of masterful desire—
To stay the precious waste. Through every brain
The domination of the sprightly juice 10
Spreads high conceits to madding Fancy dear,[164]
Till the arched roof, with resolute abuse
Of its grave echoes, swells a choral strain,
Whose votive burthen is—"Our kingdom 's here!"[165]

FOOTNOTES:

[164] 1832.

In every brain
Spreads the dominion of the sprightly juice,
Through the wide world to madding Fancy dear, 1822.

[165] See Wordsworth's note to the next Sonnet.—Ed.

XXI
DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES

Threats come which no submission may assuage,
No sacrifice avert, no power dispute;
The tapers shall be quenched, the belfries mute,
And,'mid their choirs unroofed by selfish rage,
The warbling wren shall find a leafy cage; 5
The gadding bramble hang her purple fruit;
And the green lizard and the gilded newt
Lead unmolested lives, and die of age.[166]
The owl of evening and the woodland fox
For their abode the shrines of Waltham choose:[167] 10
Proud Glastonbury can no more refuse
To stoop her head before these desperate shocks—
She whose high pomp displaced, as story tells,
Arimathean Joseph's wattled cells.[168]

FOOTNOTES:

[166] These two lines are adopted from a MS., written about the year 1770, which accidentally fell into my possession. The close of the preceding Sonnet on monastic voluptuousness is taken from the same source, as is the verse, "Where Venus sits," etc. [W. W. 1822], and the line, "Once ye were holy, ye are holy still," in a subsequent Sonnet.—W. W. 1837.

[167] Waltham Abbey is in Essex, on the Lea.—Ed.

[168] Alluding to the Roman legend that Joseph of Arimathea brought Christianity into Britain, and built Glastonbury Church. See Part I. Sonnet II. (p. [5]) and note [14].—Ed.

XXII
THE SAME SUBJECT

The lovely Nun (submissive, but more meek
Through saintly habit than from effort due
To unrelenting mandates that pursue
With equal wrath the steps of strong and weak)
Goes forth—unveiling timidly a cheek[169] 5
Suffused with blushes of celestial hue,
While through the Convent's[170] gate to open view
Softly she glides, another home to seek.
Not Iris, issuing from her cloudy shrine,
An Apparition more divinely bright! 10
Not more attractive to the dazzled sight
Those watery glories, on the stormy brine
Poured forth, while summer suns at distance shine,
And the green vales lie hushed in sober light!

FOOTNOTES:

[169] 1837.

... her cheek 1822.

[170] 1837.

... Convent ... 1822.

XXIII
CONTINUED

Yet many a Novice of the cloistral shade,
And many chained by vows, with eager glee[171]
The warrant hail, exulting to be free;
Like ships before whose keels, full long embayed
In polar ice, propitious winds have made 5
Unlooked-for outlet to an open sea,
Their liquid world, for bold discovery,
In all her quarters temptingly displayed!
Hope guides the young; but when the old must pass
The threshold, whither shall they turn to find 10
The hospitality—the alms (alas!
Alms may be needed) which that House bestowed?
Can they, in faith and worship, train the mind
To keep this new and questionable road?

FOOTNOTES:

[171] 1840.

Yet some, Noviciates of the cloistral shade,
Or chained by vows, with undissembled glee 1822.

XXIV
SAINTS

Ye, too, must fly before a chasing hand,
Angels and Saints, in every hamlet mourned!
Ah! if the old idolatry be spurned,
Let not your radiant Shapes desert the Land:
Her adoration was not your demand, 5
The fond heart proffered it—the servile heart;
And therefore are ye summoned to depart,
Michael, and thou, St. George, whose flaming brand[172]
The Dragon quelled; and valiant Margaret[173]
Whose rival sword a like Opponent slew: 10
And rapt Cecilia, seraph-haunted Queen[174]
Of harmony; and weeping Magdalene,
Who in the penitential desert met
Gales sweet as those that over Eden blew!

FOOTNOTES:

[172] St. George, patron Saint of England, supposed to have suffered A.D. 284. The Greek Church honours him as "the great martyr."—Ed.

[173] St. Margaret, supposed to have suffered martyrdom at Antioch, A.D. 275.—Ed.

[174] St. Cecilia, patron Saint of Music, has been enrolled as a martyr by the Latin Church from the fifth century.—Ed.

XXV
THE VIRGIN[175]

Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost
With the least shade of thought to sin allied;
Woman! above all women glorified,
Our tainted nature's solitary boast;
Purer than foam on central ocean tost; 5
Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon
Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast;
Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween,
Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend, 10
As to a visible Power, in which did blend
All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee
Of mother's love with maiden purity,
Of high with low, celestial with terrene![176]

FOOTNOTES:

[175] Compare the Stanzas suggested in a Steam-boat off Saint Bees' Head, (l. 114); also the following sonnet by the late John Nichol, Professor of English Literature in the University of Glasgow. (See The Death of Themistocles, and other Poems, p. [189].)

AVE MARIA

Ave Maria! on a thousand thrones
Raised by the weary hearts that beat to thee,
As 'neath the softer light the throbbing sea,
Thy name a spell of peace, in lingering tones
Is whispered through the world: thy truth condones
The feebler faith of worshippers that flee,
Lost in the sovereign awe, to bend the knee
By pictured holiness or breathing stones.
Mother of Christ! whom ages old adorn,
And hundred climes, by gentle thought and deed,
Forgive the sacrilege, the brandished scorn
Of the grim guardians of a narrow creed,
Who fence their folds from Love's serener law,
And "grate on scrannel pipes of wretched straw."—Ed.

[176] This sonnet was published in Time's Telescope, July 2, 1823, p. 136.—Ed.

XXVI
APOLOGY

Not utterly unworthy to endure
Was the supremacy of crafty Rome;[177]
Age after age to the arch of Christendom
Aërial keystone haughtily secure;
Supremacy from Heaven transmitted pure, 5
As many hold; and, therefore, to the tomb
Pass, some through fire—and by the scaffold some—
Like saintly Fisher,[178] and unbending More.[179]
"Lightly for both the bosom's lord did sit
Upon his throne;"[180] unsoftened, undismayed 10
By aught that mingled with the tragic scene
Of pity or fear; and More's gay genius played
With the inoffensive sword of native wit,
Than the bare axe more luminous and keen.

FOOTNOTES:

[177] "To the second part of the same series" (the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets") "I have added two, in order to do more justice to the Papal Church for the services which she did actually render to Christianity and Humanity in the Middle Ages."—W. W. (in a letter to Professor Reed, Sept. 4, 1842).—Ed.

[178] John Fisher, born in 1469, became Bishop of Rochester in 1504, was one of the first in England to write against Luther, opposed the divorce of Henry VIII., was sent to the Tower in 1534, and his see declared void, was made a Cardinal by the Pope while in prison, and beheaded on Tower Hill, 1535.—Ed.

[179] Sir Thomas More, the author of Utopia, born in 1478, was Speaker of the House of Commons in 1523, and succeeded Wolsey as Lord Chancellor in 1529. Disapproving of the king's divorce, he resigned office, was committed to the Tower for refusing to take the oath of supremacy, found guilty of treason, and beheaded in 1535.—Ed.

[180] See Romeo and Juliet, act V. scene i. l. 3—

My bosom's lord sits lightly on his throne.—Ed.

XXVII
IMAGINATIVE REGRETS

Deep is the lamentation! Not alone
From Sages justly honoured by mankind;
But from the ghostly tenants of the wind,
Demons and Spirits, many a dolorous groan
Issues for that dominion overthrown: 5
Proud Tiber grieves, and far-off Ganges, blind
As his own worshippers: and Nile, reclined
Upon his monstrous urn, the farewell moan
Renews.[181] Through every forest, cave, and den,
Where frauds were hatched of old, hath sorrow past—
Hangs o'er the Arabian Prophet's native Waste,[182] 11
Where once his airy helpers[183] schemed and planned
'Mid spectral[184] lakes bemocking thirsty men,[185]
And stalking pillars built of fiery sand.[186]

FOOTNOTES:

[181] Compare the echo of the Lady's voice in the lines To Joanna, in the "Poems on the Naming of Places" (vol. ii. p. 157).—Ed.

[182] The desert around Mecca.—Ed.

[183] Mahomet affirmed that he had constant visits from angels; and that the angel Gabriel dictated to him the Koran.—Ed.

[184] 1837.

'Mid phantom ... 1822.

[185] The mirage.—Ed.

[186] Pillars of sand raised by whirlwinds in the desert, which correspond to waterspouts at sea.—Ed.

XXVIII
REFLECTIONS

Grant, that by this unsparing hurricane
Green leaves with yellow mixed are torn away,
And goodly fruitage with the mother spray;
'Twere madness—wished we, therefore, to detain,
With hands stretched forth in[187] mollified disdain, 5
The "trumpery" that ascends in bare display—
Bulls, pardons, relics, cowls black, white, and grey—[188]
Upwhirled, and flying o'er the ethereal plain
Fast bound for Limbo Lake.[189] And yet not choice
But habit rules the unreflecting herd, 10
And airy bonds are hardest to disown;
Hence, with the spiritual sovereignty transferred
Unto itself, the Crown assumes a voice
Of reckless mastery, hitherto unknown.

FOOTNOTES:

[187] 1827.

With farewell sighs of 1822.

[188] See Paradise Lost, book iii. ll. 474, 475—

Eremites and Friars,
White, black, and grey, with all their trumperie.—Ed.

[189] Hades.—Ed.

XXIX
TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE

But, to outweigh all harm, the sacred Book,
In dusty sequestration wrapt too long,
Assumes the accents of our native tongue;
And he who guides the plough, or wields the crook,
With understanding spirit now may look 5
Upon her records, listen to her song,
And sift her laws—much wondering that the wrong,
Which Faith has suffered, Heaven could calmly brook
Transcendent Boon! noblest that earthly King
Ever bestowed to equalize and bless 10
Under the weight of mortal wretchedness!
But passions spread like plagues, and thousands wild
With bigotry shall tread the Offering
Beneath their feet, detested and defiled.[190]

FOOTNOTES:

[190] As was the case during the French Revolution.—Ed.

XXX
THE POINT AT ISSUE

Published 1827

For what contend the wise?—for nothing less
Than that the Soul, freed from the bonds of Sense,
And to her God restored by evidence[191]
Of things not seen, drawn forth from their recess,
Root there, and not in forms, her holiness;— 5
For[192] Faith, which to the Patriarchs did dispense
Sure guidance, ere a ceremonial fence
Was needful round men thirsting to transgress;—
For[193] Faith, more perfect still, with which the Lord
Of all, himself a Spirit, in the youth 10
Of Christian aspiration, deigned to fill
The temples of their hearts who, with his word
Informed, were resolute to do his will,
And worship him in spirit and in truth.

FOOTNOTES:

[191] 1832.

Than that pure Faith dissolve the bonds of Sense;
The Soul restored to God by evidence 1827.

[192] 1832.

That ... 1827.

[193] 1832.

That ... 1827.

XXXI
EDWARD VI

"Sweet is the holiness of Youth"—so felt
Time-honoured Chaucer speaking through that Lay[194]
By which the Prioress beguiled the way,[195]
And many a Pilgrim's rugged heart did melt.
Hadst thou, loved Bard! whose spirit often dwelt 5
In the clear land of vision, but foreseen
King, child, and seraph,[196] blended in the mien
Of pious Edward kneeling as he knelt
In meek and simple infancy, what joy
For universal Christendom had thrilled 10
Thy heart! what hopes inspired thy genius, skilled
(O great Precursor, genuine morning Star)
The lucid shafts of reason to employ,
Piercing the Papal darkness from afar!

FOOTNOTES:

[194] 1845.

... Chaucer when he framed the lay 1822.
... Chaucer when he framed that Lay 1837.

[195] The quotation is not from The Prioress's Tale of Chaucer, but from Wordsworth's own Selections from Chaucer modernized, stanza ix. Wordsworth adds an idea, not found in the original, and to make room for it, he extends the stanza from seven to eight lines.—Ed.

[196] King Edward VI. ascended the throne in 1547, at the age of ten, and reigned for six years.—Ed.

XXXII
EDWARD SIGNING THE WARRANT FOR THE EXECUTION OF JOAN OF KENT

The tears of man in various measure gush
From various sources; gently overflow
From blissful transport some—from clefts of woe
Some with ungovernable impulse rush;
And some, coëval with the earliest blush 5
Of infant passion, scarcely dare to show
Their pearly lustre—coming but to go;
And some break forth when others' sorrows crush
The sympathising heart. Nor these, nor yet
The noblest drops to admiration known, 10
To gratitude, to injuries forgiven—
Claim Heaven's regard like waters that have wet
The innocent eyes of youthful Monarchs driven
To pen the mandates, nature doth disown.[197]

FOOTNOTES:

[197] Joan Bocher, of Kent, a woman of good birth, friend of Ann Askew at Court, was accused, and condemned to die for maintaining that Christ was human only in appearance. Cranmer, by order of the Council, obtained from Edward a warrant for her execution. Edward, who was then in his thirteenth year, signed it, telling Cranmer that he must be answerable for the deed.—Ed.

XXXIII
REVIVAL OF POPERY

Published 1827

The saintly Youth has ceased to rule, discrowned[198]
By unrelenting Death.[199] O People keen
For change, to whom the new looks always green!
Rejoicing did they cast upon the ground[200]
Their Gods of wood and stone; and, at the sound 5
Of counter-proclamation, now are seen,
(Proud triumph is it for a sullen Queen!)
Lifting them up, the worship to confound
Of the Most High. Again do they invoke
The Creature, to the Creature glory give; 10
Again with frankincense the altars smoke
Like those the Heathen served; and mass is sung;
And prayer, man's rational prerogative,
Runs through blind channels of an unknown tongue.[201]

FOOTNOTES:

[198] 1832.

Melts into silent shades the Youth, discrowned 1827.

[199] Edward died in 1553, aged sixteen.—Ed.

[200] 1832.

They cast, they cast with joy upon the ground 1827.

[201] On the death of Edward and the accession of Mary Tudor, the Roman Catholic worship was restored, all the statutes of Edward VI. with regard to religion being repealed by Parliament.—Ed.

XXXIV
LATIMER AND RIDLEY

Published 1827

How fast the Marian death-list is unrolled!
See Latimer and Ridley in the might
Of Faith stand coupled for a common flight![202]
One (like those prophets whom God sent of old)
Transfigured,[203] from this kindling hath foretold 5
A torch of inextinguishable light;
The Other gains a confidence as bold;
And thus they foil their enemy's despite.
The penal instruments, the shows of crime,
Are glorified while this once-mitred pair 10
Of saintly Friends the "murtherer's chain partake,
Corded, and burning at the social stake:"
Earth never witnessed object more sublime
In constancy, in fellowship more fair!

FOOTNOTES:

[202] Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, and Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of Winchester, were sent to the Tower, and subsequently burnt together at Oxford in the front of Balliol College, October 16, 1555.—Ed.

[203] M. Latimer suffered his keeper very quietly to pull off his hose, and his other array, which to looke unto was very simple: and being stripped into his shrowd, he seemed as comely a person to them that were present, as one should lightly see: and whereas in his clothes hee appeared a withered and crooked sillie (weak) olde man, he now stood bolt upright, as comely a father as one might lightly behold.... Then they brought a faggotte, kindled with fire, and laid the same downe at doctor Ridley's feete. To whome M. Latimer spake in this manner, "Bee of good comfort, master Ridley, and play the man: wee shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as I trust shall never bee put out." (Fox's Acts, etc.)

Similar alterations in the outward figure and deportment of persons brought to like trial were not uncommon. See note to the above passage in Dr. Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Biography, for an example in an humble Welsh fisherman.—W. W. 1827. (Ecclesiastical Biography, vol. iii. pp. 287, 288.)—Ed.

XXXV
CRANMER[204]

Outstretching flame-ward his upbraided hand[205]
(O God of mercy, may no earthly Seat
Of judgment such presumptuous doom repeat!)
Amid the shuddering throng doth Cranmer stand;
Firm as the stake to which with iron band 5
His frame is tied; firm from the naked feet
To the bare head. The victory is complete;[206]
The shrouded Body to the Soul's command
Answers[207] with more than Indian fortitude,
Through all her nerves with finer sense endued, 10
Till breath departs in blissful aspiration:
Then, 'mid the ghastly ruins of the fire,
Behold the unalterable heart entire,
Emblem of faith untouched, miraculous attestation![208][209]

FOOTNOTES:

[204] Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and leader in the ecclesiastical affairs of England during the latter part of Henry VIII. and Edward VI.'s reign, was, on the accession of Mary Tudor, committed to the Tower, tried on charges of heresy, and condemned. He recanted his opinions, but was nevertheless condemned to die. He then recanted his recantation. "They brought him to the spot where Latimer and Ridley had suffered. After a short prayer, he put off his clothes with a cheerful countenance and a willing mind. His feet were bare; his head appeared perfectly bald. Called to abide by his recantation, he stretched forth his right arm, and replied, 'This is the hand that wrote it, and therefore it shall suffer punishment first.' Firm to his purpose, as soon as the flame rose, he held his hand out to meet it, and retained it there steadfastly, so that all the people saw it sensibly burning before the fire reached any other part of his body; and after he repeated with a loud and firm voice, 'This hand hath offended, this unworthy right hand.' Never did martyr endure the fire with more invincible resolution; no cry was heard from him, save the exclamation of the protomartyr Stephen, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!' The fire did its work soon—and his heart was found unconsumed amid the ashes." (Southey's Book of the Church, vol. ii. pp. 240, 241.)—Ed.

[205] 1827.

... upbraiding ... 1822.

[206] 1837.

... head, the victory complete; 1822.

[207] 1837.

Answering ... 1822.

[208] 1827.

Now wrapt in flames—and now in smoke embowered—
'Till self-reproach and panting aspirations
Are, with the heart that held them, all devoured;
The Spirit set free, and crown'd with joyful acclamations! 1822.

[209] For the belief in this fact, see the contemporary Historians.—W. W. 1827.

XXXVI
GENERAL VIEW OF THE TROUBLES OF THE REFORMATION

Aid, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light,
Our mortal ken! Inspire a perfect trust
(While we look round) that Heaven's decrees are just:
Which few can hold committed to a fight
That shows, ev'n on its better side, the might 5
Of proud Self-will, Rapacity, and Lust,
'Mid clouds enveloped of polemic dust,
Which showers of blood seem rather to incite
Than to allay. Anathemas are hurled
From both sides; veteran thunders (the brute test 10
Of truth) are met by fulminations new—
Tartarean flags are caught at, and unfurled—
Friends strike at friends—the flying shall pursue—
And Victory sickens, ignorant where to rest!

XXXVII
ENGLISH REFORMERS IN EXILE[210]

Scattering, like birds escaped the fowler's net,
Some seek with timely flight a foreign strand;
Most happy, re-assembled in a land
By dauntless Luther freed, could they forget
Their Country's woes. But scarcely have they met, 5
Partners in faith, and brothers in distress,
Free to pour forth their common thankfulness,
Ere hope declines:—their union is beset
With speculative notions[211] rashly sown, 9
Whence thickly-sprouting growth of poisonous weeds;
Their forms are broken staves; their passions, steeds
That master them. How enviably blest
Is he who can, by help of grace, enthrone
The peace of God within his single breast!

FOOTNOTES:

[210] During Mary's reign, fully 800 of the English clergy and laity sought refuge on the Continent, and they were hospitably received in Switzerland, the Low Countries, and along the Rhine. Some of the best known were Coverdale, Sandys, Jewel, Knox, Whittingham, and Foxe. They lived in Basle, Zurich, Geneva, Strasburg, Worms, and Frankfort; and it was in the latter town that the dissensions prevailed, referred to in the sonnet. These were unfolded in a Tract entitled The Troubles of Frankfort. The chief point in dispute was the use of the English Book of Common Prayer. Knox and Whittingham, under the guidance of Calvin, wished a modification of this book. The dispute ended in the Frankfort magistrates requesting Knox to leave the city. He retired to Geneva. On the accession of Elizabeth, the Frankfort exiles returned to England.—Ed.

[211] 1827.

With prurient speculations ... 1822.

XXXVIII
ELIZABETH

Hail, Virgin Queen! o'er many an envious bar
Triumphant, snatched from many a treacherous wile!
All hail, sage Lady, whom a grateful Isle
Hath blest, respiring from that dismal war
Stilled by thy voice! But quickly from afar 5
Defiance breathes with more malignant aim;
And alien storms with home-bred ferments claim
Portentous fellowship.[212] Her silver car,
By sleepless prudence[213] ruled, glides slowly on;
Unhurt by violence, from menaced taint 10
Emerging pure, and seemingly more bright:
Ah! wherefore yields it to a foul constraint[214]
Black as the clouds its beams dispersed, while shone,
By men and angels blest, the glorious light?[215]

FOOTNOTES:

[212] Alluding doubtless to the foreign conspiracies against Elizabeth, the intrigues of Mary Queen of Scots, the Pope's excommunication, and conspiracies in the North of England, etc. See The White Doe of Rylstone.—Ed.

[213] 1827.

Meanwhile, by prudence ... 1822.

[214] An allusion probably to the Court of High Commission, and perhaps also to the execution of the Scottish Queen.—Ed.

[215] 1845.

For, wheresoe'er she moves, the clouds anon
Disperse; or—under a Divine constraint—
Reflect some portion of her glorious light! 1822.

XXXIX
EMINENT REFORMERS

Methinks that I could trip o'er heaviest soil,
Light as a buoyant bark from wave to wave,
Were mine the trusty staff that Jewel gave
To youthful Hooker, in familiar style
The gift exalting, and with playful smile:[216] 5
For thus equipped, and bearing on his head
The Donor's farewell blessing, can[217] he dread
Tempest, or length of way, or weight of toil?—
More sweet than odours caught by him who sails
Near spicy shores of Araby the blest, 10
A thousand times more exquisitely sweet,
The freight of holy feeling which we meet,
In thoughtful moments, wafted by the gales
From fields where good men walk, or bowers wherein they rest.

FOOTNOTES:

[216] "On foot they[218] went, and took Salisbury in their way, purposely to see the good Bishop, who made Mr. Hooker sit at his own table; which Mr. Hooker boasted of with much joy and gratitude when he saw his mother and friends; and at the Bishop's parting with him, the Bishop gave him good counsel and his benediction, but forgot to give him money; which when the Bishop had considered, he sent a servant in all haste to call Richard back to him, and at Richard's return, the Bishop said to him, 'Richard, I sent for you back to lend you a horse which hath carried me many a mile, and I thank God with much ease,' and presently delivered into his hand a walking-staff, with which he professed he had travelled through many parts of Germany; and he said, 'Richard, I do not give, but lend you my horse; be sure you be honest, and bring my horse back to me, at your return this way to Oxford. And I do now give you ten groats to bear your charges to Exeter; and here is ten groats more, which I charge you to deliver to your mother, and tell her I send her a Bishop's benediction with it, and beg the continuance of her prayers for me. And if you bring my horse back to me, I will give you ten groats more to carry you on foot to the college; and so God bless you, good Richard.'" (See Walton's Life of Richard Hooker.)—W. W. 1822.

[217] 1827.

... could ... 1822.

[218] i.e. Richard Hooker and a College companion.—Ed.

XL
THE SAME

Holy and heavenly Spirits as they are,
Spotless in life, and eloquent as wise,
With what entire affection do they prize[219]
Their Church reformed![220] labouring with earnest care
To baffle all that may[221] her strength impair; 5
That Church, the unperverted Gospel's seat;
In their afflictions a divine retreat;
Source of their liveliest hope, and tenderest prayer!—
The truth exploring with an equal mind,
In doctrine and communion they have sought[222] 10
Firmly between the two extremes to steer;
But theirs the wise man's ordinary lot,
To trace right courses for the stubborn blind,
And prophesy to ears that will not hear.

FOOTNOTES:

[219] The reading, "Their new-born Church," printed in all editions of the poems from 1822 till 1842, had been objected to by several correspondents; and out of deference to their suggestions it was altered to "Their Church reformed": but Wordsworth wrote to his nephew and biographer, November 12, 1846, "I don't like the term reformed; if taken in its literal sense as a transformation, it is very objectionable" (see Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 113), and in the "postscript" to Yarrow Revisited, etc., he says, "The great Religious Reformation of the sixteenth century did not profess to be a new construction, but a restoration of something fallen into decay, or put out of sight."—Ed.

[220] 1845.

... did they prize
Their new-born Church!... 1822.
... do they prize
Their new-born Church!... 1827.

[221] 1827.

... might ... 1822.

[222] 1827.

In polity and discipline they sought 1822.

XLI
DISTRACTIONS

Men, who have ceased to reverence, soon defy
Their forefathers; lo! sects are formed, and split
With morbid restlessness;[223]—the ecstatic fit
Spreads wide; though special mysteries multiply,
The Saints must govern is their common cry; 5
And so they labour, deeming Holy Writ
Disgraced by aught that seems content to sit
Beneath the roof of settled Modesty.
The Romanist exults; fresh hope he draws
From the confusion, craftily incites 10
The overweening, personates the mad—[224]
To heap disgust upon the worthier Cause:
Totters the Throne;[225] the new-born Church[226] is sad
For every wave against her peace unites.

FOOTNOTES:

[223] The first nonconforming sect in England originated in 1556. It broke off from the Church, on a question of vestments. The chief divisions of English Nonconformity in the latter half of the sixteenth century were (1) the Brunists, or Barronists. The disciples of Brun quarrelled and divided amongst themselves. (2) The Familists, an offshoot of the Dutch Anabaptists, a mystic sect which quarrelled with the Puritans. (3) The Anabaptists, who were not only religious sectaries, but who differed with the Church on sundry social and civil matters. "They denied the sanctity of an oath, the binding power of laws, the right of the magistrate to punish, and the rights of property." (Perry's History of the English Church, p. 315.) See also Hooker's Preface to his Ecclesiastical Polity, c. viii. 6-12; and the "Life of Sir Matthew Hale," Eccl. Biog. iv. 533, on the "indigested enthusiastical scheme called The Kingdom of Christ, or of his Saints."—Ed.

[224] A common device in religious and political conflicts. See Strype, in support of this instance.—W. W. 1822.

Probably the reference is to the case of Cussin, a Dominican Friar. He pretended to be a Puritan minister; and, in his devotions, assumed the airs of madness. See in Strype's The Life and Acts of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, vol. i. chaps, xiii. and xvi.—Ed.

[225] 1827.

The Throne is plagued; ... 1822.

[226] See the note to the previous sonnet, No. XL.—Ed.

XLII
GUNPOWDER PLOT[227]

Fear hath a hundred eyes that all agree
To plague her beating heart; and there is one
(Nor idlest that!) which holds communion
With things that were not, yet were meant to be.
Aghast within its gloomy cavity 5
That eye (which sees as if fulfilled and done
Crimes that might stop the motion of the sun)
Beholds the horrible catastrophe
Of an assembled Senate unredeemed
From subterraneous Treason's darkling power: 10
Merciless act of sorrow infinite!
Worse than the product of that dismal night,
When gushing, copious as a thunder-shower,
The blood of Huguenots through Paris streamed.[228]

FOOTNOTES:

[227] Originated by Robert Catesby, the intention being to destroy King, Lords, and Commons, by an explosion at Westminster, when James I. went in person to open Parliament on the 5th November 1605.—Ed.

[228] The massacre of St. Bartholomew, which occurred on August 24, 1572.—Ed.

XLIII
ILLUSTRATION

The Jung-frau and the Fall of the Rhine near Schaffhausen

The Virgin Mountain,[229] wearing like a Queen
A brilliant crown of everlasting snow,
Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below
Wonder that aught of aspect so serene
Can link with desolation. Smooth and green,
And seeming, at a little distance, slow,
The waters of the Rhine; but on they go
Fretting and whitening, keener and more keen;
Till madness seizes on the whole wide Flood,
Turned to a fearful Thing whose nostrils breathe 10
Blasts of tempestuous smoke—wherewith he tries
To hide himself, but only magnifies;
And doth in more conspicuous torment writhe,
Deafening the region in his ireful mood.[230]

FOOTNOTES:

[229] The Jung-frau.—W. W. 1822.

[230] This Sonnet was included among the "Memorials of a Tour on the Continent" (1822), and the following note was added:—"This Sonnet belongs to another publication, but from its fitness for this place is inserted here also, 'Voilà un énfer d'eau,' cried out a German Friend of Ramond, falling on his knees on the scaffold in front of this Waterfall. See Ramond's Translation of Coxe."—W. W.

The following extracts from Mrs. Wordsworth's Journal of the Continental Tour in 1820 illustrate it. "Aug. 9.—I am seated before Jung-frau, in the green vale of Interlaken, 'green to the very door,' with rich shade of walnut trees, the river behind the house.... Mountains and that majestic Virgin closing up all.... By looking across into a nook at the entrance of the Vale of Lauterbrunnen, Jung-frau presses forward and seems to preside over and give a character to the whole of the vale that belongs only to this one spot," ... "Aug. 10th.— ... Reached Grindelwald, by the pass close to Jung-frau (at least separated from it by a deep cleft only), which sent forth its avalanches,—one grand beyond all description. It was an awful and a solemn sound." ... "Aug. 1st.— ... Nothing could exceed my delight when, through an opening between buildings at the skirts of the town, we unexpectedly hailed our old and side-by-side companion, the Rhine, now roaring like a lion, along his rocky channel. Never beheld so soft, so lovely a green, as is here given to the waters of this lordly river; and then, how they glittered and heaved to meet the sunshine."—Ed.

XLIV
TROUBLES OF CHARLES THE FIRST

Even such the contrast that, where'er we move,[231]
To the mind's eye[232] Religion doth present;
Now with her own deep quietness content;
Then, like the mountain, thundering from above
Against the ancient pine-trees of the grove 5
And the Land's humblest comforts. Now her mood
Recals the transformation of the flood,
Whose rage the gentle skies in vain reprove,
Earth cannot check. O terrible excess
Of headstrong will! Can this be Piety? 10
No—some fierce Maniac hath usurped her name;
And scourges England struggling to be free:
Her peace destroyed! her hopes a wilderness!
Her blessings cursed—her glory turned to shame!

FOOTNOTES:

[231] 1832.

Such contrast, in whatever track we move, 1822.
Such is the contrast, which, where'er we move, 1827.

[232] Compare Hamlet, act I. scene i. l. 112.—Ed.

XLV
LAUD[233]

Prejudged by foes determined not to spare,[234]
An old weak Man for vengeance thrown aside,
Laud,[235] "in the painful art of dying" tried,
(Like a poor bird entangled in a snare
Whose heart still flutters, though his wings forbear 5
To stir in useless struggle) hath relied
On hope that conscious innocence supplied,[236]
And in his prison breathes[237] celestial air.
Why tarries then thy chariot?[238] Wherefore stay,
O Death! the ensanguined yet triumphant wheels, 10
Which thou prepar'st, full often, to convey
(What time a State with madding faction reels)
The Saint or Patriot to the world that heals
All wounds, all perturbations doth allay?

FOOTNOTES:

[233] See the Fenwick note preceding the Series.—Ed.

In this age a word cannot be said in praise of Laud, or even in compassion for his fate, without incurring a charge of bigotry; but fearless of such imputation, I concur with Hume, "that it is sufficient for his vindication to observe that his errors were the most excusable of all those which prevailed during that zealous period." A key to the right understanding of those parts of his conduct that brought the most odium upon him in his own time, may be found in the following passage of his speech before the bar of the House of Peers:—"Ever since I came in place, I have laboured nothing more than that the external publick worship of God, so much slighted in divers parts of this kingdom, might be preserved, and that with as much decency and uniformity as might be. For I evidently saw that the public neglect of God's service in the outward face of it, and the nasty lying of many places dedicated to that service, had almost cast a damp upon the true and inward worship of God, which while we live in the body, needs external helps, and all little enough to keep it in any vigour."—W. W. 1827.

[234] 1827.

Pursued by Hate, debarred from friendly care; 1822.

[235] 1827.

Long ... 1822.

[236] 1827.

... Laud relied
Upon the strength which Innocence supplied, 1822.

[237] 1827.

... breathed ... 1822.

[238] In his address, before his execution, Archbishop Laud said, "I am not in love with this passage through the Red Sea, and I have prayed ut transiret calix iste, but if not, God's will be done."—Ed.

XLVI
AFFLICTIONS OF ENGLAND

Harp! could'st thou venture, on thy boldest string,
The faintest note to echo which the blast
Caught from the hand of Moses as it pass'd
O'er Sinai's top, or from the Shepherd-king,
Early awake, by Siloa's brook, to sing 5
Of dread Jehovah; then, should wood and waste
Hear also of that name, and mercy cast
Off to the mountains, like a covering
Of which the Lord was weary. Weep, oh! weep,
Weep with the good,[239] beholding King and Priest 10
Despised by that stern God to whom they raise
Their suppliant hands; but holy is the feast
He keepeth; like the firmament his ways:
His statutes like the chambers of the deep.[240]

FOOTNOTES:

[239] 1827.

As good men wept, ... 1822.

[240] See Psalm xxxvi. 5, 6.—Ed.

PART III
FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE PRESENT TIMES

[When I came to this part of the series I had the dream described in this Sonnet.[241] The figure was that of my daughter, and the whole passed exactly as here represented. The Sonnet was composed on the middle road leading from Grasmere to Ambleside: it was begun as I left the last house of the vale, and finished, word for word as it now stands, before I came in view of Rydal. I wish I could say the same of the five or six hundred I have written: most of them were frequently retouched in the course of composition, and, not a few, laboriously.

I have only further to observe that the intended Church which prompted these Sonnets was erected on Coleorton Moor towards the centre of a very populous parish between three and four miles from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, on the road to Loughborough, and has proved, I believe, a great benefit to the neighbourhood.—I.F.]

FOOTNOTES:

[241] The first of Part III. p. [74].—Ed.

I
"I SAW THE FIGURE OF A LOVELY MAID"

I saw the figure of a lovely Maid
Seated alone beneath a darksome tree,
Whose fondly-overhanging canopy
Set off her brightness with a pleasing shade.
No Spirit was she; that[242] my heart betrayed, 5
For she was one I loved exceedingly;
But while I gazed in tender reverie
(Or was it sleep that with my Fancy played?)
The bright corporeal presence—form and face—
Remaining still distinct grew thin and rare, 10
Like sunny mist;—at length the golden hair,
Shape, limbs, and heavenly features, keeping pace
Each with the other in a lingering race
Of dissolution, melted into air.

FOOTNOTES:

[242] 1837.

Substance she seem'd (and that ... 1822.

II
PATRIOTIC SYMPATHIES

Last night, without a voice, that Vision spake
Fear to my Soul, and sadness which might seem[243]
Wholly[244] dissevered from our present theme;
Yet, my belovèd Country! I partake[245]
Of kindred agitations for thy sake; 5
Thou, too, dost visit oft[246] my midnight dream;
Thy[247] glory meets me with the earliest beam
Of light, which tells that Morning is awake.
If aught impair thy[248] beauty or destroy,
Or but forebode destruction, I deplore 10
With filial love the sad vicissitude;
If thou hast[249] fallen, and righteous Heaven restore
The prostrate, then my spring-time is renewed,
And sorrow bartered for exceeding joy.

FOOTNOTES:

[243] 1845.

... this Vision spake
Fear to my Spirit—passion that might seem 1822.
... this Vision spake
Fear to my Soul, and sadness that might seem 1837.

[244] 1827.

To lie ... 1822.

[245] 1832.

Yet do I love my Country—and partake 1822.

[246] 1832.

... for her sake;
She visits oftentimes ... 1822.

[247] 1832.

Her ... 1822.

[248] 1832.

... her ... 1822.

[249] 1832.

If she hath ... 1822.

III
CHARLES THE SECOND

Who comes—with rapture greeted, and caress'd
With frantic love—his kingdom to regain?[250]
Him Virtue's Nurse, Adversity, in vain
Received, and fostered in her iron breast:
For all she taught of hardiest and of best, 5
Or would have taught, by discipline of pain
And long privation, now dissolves amain,
Or is remembered only to give zest
To wantonness—Away, Circean revels![251]
But for what gain? if England soon must sink 10
Into a gulf which all distinction levels—
That bigotry may swallow the good name,[252][253]
And, with that draught, the life-blood: misery, shame,
By Poets loathed; from which Historians shrink!

FOOTNOTES:

[250] "No event ever marked a deeper or a more lasting change in the temper of the English people, than the entry of Charles the Second into Whitehall. With it modern England begins." (Green's Short History of the English People, chap. ix. sec. 1.)—Ed.

[251] "The Restoration brought Charles to Whitehall; and in an instant the whole face of England was changed. All that was noblest and best in Puritanism was whirled away." (Green, chap. ix. sec. I.) The excesses of every kind that came in with the Restoration were notorious.—Ed.

[252] 1837.

Already stands our Country on the brink
Of bigot rage, that all distinction levels
Of truth and falsehood, swallowing the good name, 1822.

[253] In 1672 the Duke of York was publicly received into the Church of Rome.—Ed.

IV
LATITUDINARIANISM

Yet Truth is keenly sought for, and the wind
Charged with rich words poured out in thought's defence;
Whether the Church inspire that eloquence,[254]
Or a Platonic Piety confined
To the sole temple of the inward mind;[255] 5
And One there is who builds immortal lays,
Though doomed to tread in solitary ways,[256]
Darkness before and danger's voice behind;
Yet not alone, nor helpless to repel
Sad thoughts; for from above the starry sphere 10
Come secrets, whispered nightly to his ear;
And the pure spirit of celestial light
Shines through his soul—"that he may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight."[257]

FOOTNOTES:

[254] As in the case of John Hales of Eton, William Chillingworth, who wrote The Religion of Protestants, and Jeremy Taylor, author of The Liberty of Prophesying.—Ed.

[255] The Cambridge Platonists, Ralph Cudworth, John Smith, and Henry More, are referred to.—Ed.

[256] Milton.—Ed.

[257] Compare Paradise Lost, book iii. ll. 54, 55.—Ed.

V
WALTON'S BOOK OF LIVES[258]

There are no colours in the fairest sky
So fair as these. The feather, whence the pen
Was shaped that traced the lives of these good men,
Dropped from an Angel's wing.[259] With moistened eye
We read of faith and purest charity 5
In Statesman, Priest, and humble Citizen:
O could we copy their mild virtues, then
What joy to live, what blessedness to die!
Methinks their very names shine still and bright;
Apart—like glow-worms on a summer night; 10
Or lonely tapers when from far they fling
A guiding ray;[260] or seen—like stars on high,
Satellites burning in a lucid ring
Around meek Walton's heavenly memory.

FOOTNOTES:

[258] Izaak Walton, author of The Complete Angler, wrote also The Lives of John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Richard Hooker, George Herbert, and Robert Sanderson.—Ed.

[259] With those lines of Wordsworth compare the following: a Sonnet addressed "to the King of Scots," in Henry Constable's Diana, published in 1594—

The pen wherewith thou dost so heavenly singe,
Made of a quill pluck't from an Angell's winge.

A sonnet by Dorothy Berry, prefixed to Diana Primrose's Chain of Pearl, a memorial of the peerless graces, etc., of Queen Elizabeth, London, 1639—

Whose noble praise
Deserves a quill pluck't from an angel's wing.

Also John Evelyn, in his Life of Mrs. Godolphin, "It would become the pen of an angel's wing to describe the life of a saint," etc.—Ed.

[260] 1827.

... glow-worms in the woods of spring,
Or lonely tapers shooting far a light
That guides and cheers,— ... 1822.

VI
CLERICAL INTEGRITY

Nor shall the eternal roll of praise reject
Those Unconforming; whom one rigorous day
Drives from their Cures, a voluntary prey
To poverty, and grief, and disrespect,[261]
And some to want—as if by tempests wrecked[262] 5
On a wild coast; how destitute! did They
Feel not that Conscience never can betray,
That peace of mind is Virtue's sure effect.
Their altars they forego, their homes they quit,
Fields which they love, and paths they daily trod, 10
And cast the future upon Providence;
As men the dictate of whose inward sense
Outweighs the world; whom self-deceiving wit
Lures not from what they deem the cause of God.

FOOTNOTES:

[261] By the Act of Uniformity (1662), nearly 2000 Presbyterian and Independent Ministers, who had been admitted to benefices in the Church of England during the Puritan Ascendency, were ejected from their livings.—Ed.

[262] 1827.

... tempest wreck'd 1822.

VII
PERSECUTION OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANTERS

Published 1827

When Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant cry,
The majesty of England interposed[263]
And the sword stopped; the bleeding wounds were closed;
And Faith preserved her ancient purity.
How little boots that precedent of good, 5
Scorned or forgotten, Thou canst testify,
For England's shame, O Sister Realm! from wood,
Mountain, and moor, and crowded street, where lie[264]
The headless martyrs of the Covenant,
Slain by Compatriot-protestants that draw 10
From councils senseless as intolerant
Their warrant. Bodies fall by wild sword-law;
But who would force the Soul, tilts with a straw
Against a Champion cased in adamant.

FOOTNOTES:

[263] See Milton's Sonnet XVIII., On the late Massacre in Piedmont, beginning—

Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, ...

This was in 1655. In the following year Cromwell, to whom the persecuted Vaudois subjects of the Duke of Savoy had appealed, interposed in their behalf. Nearly £40,000 were collected in England for their relief.—Ed.

[264] Compare The Excursion, book i. 11. 175, 176.—Ed.

VIII
ACQUITTAL OF THE BISHOPS[265]

A voice, from long-expecting[266] thousands sent,
Shatters the air, and troubles tower and spire;
For Justice hath absolved the innocent,
And Tyranny is balked of her desire:
Up, down, the busy Thames—rapid as fire 5
Coursing a train of gunpowder—it went,
And transport finds in every street a vent,
Till the whole City rings like one vast quire.
The Fathers urge the People to be still, 9
With outstretched hands and earnest speech[267]—in vain!
Yea, many, haply wont to entertain
Small reverence for the mitre's offices,
And to Religion's self no friendly will,
A Prelate's blessing ask on bended knees.

FOOTNOTES:

[265] The Bishops who protested against James II.'s Declaration of Indulgence and refused to read it. He ordered the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, to deprive them of their Sees, and the Bishops were sent to the Tower. "They passed to their prison amidst the shouts of a great multitude, the sentinels knelt for their blessing as they entered the gates, and the soldiers of the garrison drank their healths.... The Bishops appeared as criminals at the bar of the King's Bench. The jury had been packed, the judges were mere tools of the Crown, but judges and jury were alike overawed by the indignation of the people at large. No sooner had the foreman of the jury uttered the words 'Not guilty,' than a roar of applause burst from the crowd, and horsemen spurred along every road to carry over the country the news of the acquittal." (Green.) See Wordsworth's note to the eleventh sonnet in Part I. (p. [12].)—Ed.

[266] 1827.

... long-expectant ... 1822.

[267] 1827.

... voice ... 1822.

IX
WILLIAM THE THIRD

Calm as an under-current, strong to draw
Millions of waves into itself, and run,
From sea to sea, impervious to the sun
And ploughing storm, the spirit of Nassau[268]
(Swerves not, how blest if by religious awe[269] 5
Swayed, and thereby enabled to contend
With the wide world's commotions) from its end
Swerves not—diverted by a casual law.
Had mortal action e'er a nobler scope?
The Hero comes to liberate, not defy; 10
And, while he marches on with stedfast hope,[270]
Conqueror beloved! expected anxiously!
The vacillating Bondman of the Pope[271]
Shrinks from the verdict of his stedfast eye.

FOOTNOTES:

[268] William III. of Nassau, Prince of Orange, was invited over to England by the nobles and commons who were disaffected towards James II., and landed at Torbay in November 1688.—Ed.

[269] 1845.

(By constant impulse of religious awe 1822.

[270] 1845.

... righteous hope, 1822.

[271] King James II., who fled to France in December 1688.—Ed.

X
OBLIGATIONS OF CIVIL TO RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

Ungrateful Country, if thou e'er forget
The sons who for thy civil rights have bled!
How, like a Roman, Sidney bowed his head,[272]
And Russell's milder blood the scaffold wet;[273]
But these had fallen for profitless regret 5
Had not thy holy Church her champions bred,
And claims from other worlds inspirited
The star of Liberty to rise. Nor yet
(Grave this within thy heart!) if spiritual things
Be lost, through apathy, or scorn, or fear, 10
Shalt thou thy humbler franchises support,
However hardly won or justly dear:
What came from heaven to heaven by nature clings,
And, if dissevered thence, its course is short.

FOOTNOTES:

[272] Algernon Sidney, second son of the Earl of Leicester, equally opposed to the tyranny of Charles and of Cromwell, was implicated in the Rye House Plot, arraigned before the chief-justice Jeffries, condemned illegally, and executed at Tower Hill in December 1683.—Ed.

[273] Lord William Russell, third son of the Duke of Bedford, member of the House of Commons like Sidney, and like him implicated in the Rye House Plot, condemned at the Old Bailey, and beheaded at Lincoln's-Inn-Fields in July 1683.—Ed.

XI
SACHEVEREL[274]

Published 1827

A sudden conflict rises from the swell
Of a proud slavery met by tenets strained
In Liberty's behalf. Fears, true or feigned,
Spread through all ranks; and lo! the Sentinel
Who loudest rang his pulpit 'larum bell 5
Stands at the Bar, absolved by female eyes
Mingling their glances with grave flatteries[275]
Lavished on Him—that England may rebel
Against her ancient virtue. High and Low,
Watch-words of Party, on all tongues are rife; 10
As if a Church, though sprung from heaven, must owe
To opposites and fierce extremes her life,—
Not to the golden mean, and quiet flow
Of truths that soften hatred, temper strife.

FOOTNOTES:

[274] Henry Sacheverel, a high-church clergyman, preached two sermons in 1709, one at Derby, and the other in St. Paul's, London, in which he attacked the principles of the Revolution Settlement, taught the doctrine of non-resistance, and decried the Act of Toleration. He was impeached by the Commons, and tried before the House of Lords in 1710, was found guilty, and suspended from office for three years. This made him for the time the most popular man in England; and the general election which followed was fatal to the Government which condemned him. He was a weak and a vain man, who attained to notoriety without fame.—Ed.

[275] 1832.

... Light with graver flatteries, 1827.

XII[276]
"DOWN A SWIFT STREAM, THUS FAR, A BOLD DESIGN"

Published 1827

Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design
Have we pursued, with livelier stir of heart
Than his who sees, borne forward by the Rhine,
The living landscapes greet him, and depart;
Sees spires fast sinking—up again to start! 5
And strives the towers to number, that recline
O'er the dark steeps, or on the horizon line
Striding with shattered crests his[277] eye athwart.
So have we hurried on with troubled pleasure:
Henceforth, as on the bosom of a stream 10
That slackens, and spreads wide a watery gleam,
We, nothing loth a lingering course to measure,
May gather up our thoughts, and mark at leisure
How widely spread the interests of our theme.[278]

FOOTNOTES:

[276] Compare the extracts from Mary and Dorothy Wordsworth's Journals in the "Memorials of a Tour on the Continent" (vol. vi. p. 300).—Ed.

[277] 1845.

... the ... 1827.

[278] 1845.

Features that else had vanished like a dream. 1827.
... sound at leisure
The depths, and mark the compass of our theme. C.

XIII
ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA[279]
I. The Pilgrim Fathers[280]

Published 1845

Well worthy to be magnified are they
Who, with sad hearts, of friends and country took
A last farewell, their loved abodes forsook,
And hallowed ground in which their fathers lay;
Then to the new-found World explored their way, 5
That so a Church, unforced, uncalled to brook
Ritual restraints, within some sheltering nook
Her Lord might worship and his word obey
In freedom. Men they were who could not bend;
Blest Pilgrims, surely, as they took for guide 10
A will by sovereign Conscience sanctified;
Blest while their Spirits from the woods ascend
Along a Galaxy that knows no end,
But in His glory who for Sinners died.

FOOTNOTES:

[279] In a letter to Professor Henry Reed, dated March 1, 1842, Wordsworth wrote:—"I have sent you three sonnets upon certain 'Aspects of Christianity in America,' having, as you will see, a reference to the subject upon which you wished me to write. I wish they had been more worthy of the subject: I hope, however, you will not disapprove of the connection which I have thought myself warranted in tracing between the Puritan fugitives and Episcopacy."—Ed.

[280] American episcopacy, in union with the church in England, strictly belongs to the general subject; and I here make my acknowledgments to my American friends, Bishop Doane, and Mr. Henry Reed of Philadelphia, for having suggested to me the propriety of adverting to it, and pointed out the virtues and intellectual qualities of Bishop White, which so eminently fitted him for the great work he undertook. Bishop White was consecrated at Lambeth, Feb. 4, 1787, by Archbishop Moore; and before his long life was closed, twenty-six bishops had been consecrated in America, by himself. For his character and opinions, see his own numerous Works, and a "Sermon in commemoration of him, by George Washington Doane, Bishop of New Jersey."—W. W. 1845.

XIV
II. Continued

Published 1845

From Rite and Ordinance abused they fled
To Wilds where both were utterly unknown;
But not to them had Providence foreshown
What benefits are missed, what evils bred,
In worship neither raised nor limited 5
Save by Self-will. Lo! from that distant shore,
For Rite and Ordinance, Piety is led
Back to the Land those Pilgrims left of yore,
Led by her own free choice.[281] So Truth and Love
By Conscience governed do their steps retrace.— 10
Fathers! your Virtues, such the power of grace,
Their spirit, in your Children, thus approve.
Transcendent over time, unbound by place,
Concord and Charity in circles move.

FOOTNOTES:

[281] The Book of Common Prayer of the American Episcopal Church was avowedly derived from that of England, and substantially agrees with it.—Ed.

XV
III. Concluded.—American Episcopacy

Published 1845

Patriots informed with Apostolic light
Were they, who, when their Country had been freed,
Bowing with reverence to the ancient creed,
Fixed on the frame of England's Church their sight,[282]
And strove in filial love to reunite 5
What force had severed. Thence they fetched the seed
Of Christian unity, and won a meed
Of praise from Heaven. To Thee, O saintly White,[283]
Patriarch of a wide-spreading family,
Remotest lands and unborn times shall turn, 10
Whether they would restore or build—to Thee,
As one who rightly taught how zeal should burn,
As one who drew from out Faith's holiest urn
The purest stream of patient Energy.

FOOTNOTES:

[282] "I hope you will not disapprove of the connection which I have thought myself warranted in tracing between the Puritan fugitives and Episcopacy." (Wordsworth to Henry Reed, March 1, 1842.)—Ed.

[283] Dr. Seabury was consecrated Bishop of Connecticut by Scottish Bishops at Aberdeen, in November 1784. Dr. White was consecrated Bishop of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Provoost, Bishop of New York, at Lambeth, in February 1787. It was Wordsworth's intention, in 1841, to add a sonnet to his "Ecclesiastical Series" "On the union of the two Episcopal Churches of England and America."—Ed.

XVI
"BISHOPS AND PRIESTS, BLESSÈD ARE YE, IF DEEP"

Published 1845

Bishops and Priests, blessèd are ye, if deep
(As yours above all offices is high)
Deep in your hearts the sense of duty lie;
Charged as ye are by Christ to feed and keep
From wolves your portion of his chosen sheep:
Labouring as ever in your Master's sight,
Making your hardest task your best delight,
What perfect glory ye in Heaven shall reap!—
But, in the solemn Office which ye sought
And undertook premonished, if unsound 10
Your practice prove, faithless though but in thought,
Bishops and Priests, think what a gulf profound
Awaits you then, if they were rightly taught
Who framed the Ordinance by your lives disowned!

XVII
PLACES OF WORSHIP

As star that shines dependent upon star
Is to the sky while we look up in love;
As to the deep fair ships which though they move
Seem fixed, to eyes that watch them from afar;
As to the sandy desert fountains are, 5
With palm-groves shaded at wide intervals,
Whose fruit around the sun-burnt Native falls
Of roving tired or desultory war—
Such to this British Isle her christian Fanes,
Each linked to each for kindred services; 10
Her Spires, her Steeple-towers with glittering vanes[284]
Far-kenned, her Chapels lurking among trees,
Where a few villagers on bended knees
Find solace which a busy world disdains.

FOOTNOTES:

[284] Compare The Excursion, book vi. ll. 17-29 (vol. v. p. 236).—Ed.

XVIII
PASTORAL CHARACTER

A genial hearth, a hospitable board,
And a refined rusticity, belong[285]
To the neat mansion, where, his flock among,
The learned Pastor dwells, their watchful Lord.[286]
Though meek and patient as a sheathèd sword; 5
Though pride's least lurking thought appear a wrong
To human kind; though peace be on his tongue,
Gentleness in his heart—can earth afford
Such genuine state, pre-eminence so free,
As when, arrayed in Christ's authority, 10
He from the pulpit lifts his awful hand;
Conjures, implores, and labours all he can
For re-subjecting to divine command
The stubborn spirit of rebellious man?

FOOTNOTES:

[285] Among the benefits arising, as Mr. Coleridge has well observed, from a Church establishment of endowments corresponding with the wealth of the country to which it belongs, may be reckoned as eminently important, the examples of civility and refinement which the Clergy stationed at intervals, afford to the whole people. The established clergy in many parts of England have long been, as they continue to be, the principal bulwark against barbarism, and the link which unites the sequestered peasantry with the intellectual advancement of the age. Nor is it below the dignity of the subject to observe, that their taste, as acting upon rural residences and scenery, often furnishes models which country gentlemen, who are more at liberty to follow the caprices of fashion, might profit by. The precincts of an old residence must be treated by ecclesiastics with respect, both from prudence and necessity. I remember being much pleased, some years ago, at Rose Castle, the rural seat of the See of Carlisle, with a style of garden and architecture which, if the place had belonged to a wealthy layman, would no doubt have been swept away. A parsonage-house generally stands not far from the church; this proximity imposes favourable restraints, and sometimes suggests an affecting union of the accommodations and elegancies of life with the outward signs of piety and mortality. With pleasure I recall to mind a happy instance of this in the residence of an old and much-valued Friend in Oxfordshire. The house and church stand parallel to each other, at a small distance; a circular lawn or rather grass-plot, spreads between them; shrubs and trees curve from each side of the dwelling, veiling, but not hiding, the church. From the front of this dwelling, no part of the burial-ground is seen; but as you wind by the side of the shrubs towards the steeple-end of the church, the eye catches a single, small, low, monumental headstone, moss-grown, sinking into, and gently inclining towards the earth. Advance, and the churchyard, populous and gay with glittering tombstones, opens upon the view. This humble, and beautiful parsonage called forth a tribute which will not be out of its place here.—W. W. 1822.

He then quotes the seventh of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets," Part III. (see vol. vi. p. 217).—Ed.

[286] Compare the sonnet, On the sight of a Manse in the South of Scotland, belonging to the Tour in the year 1831.—Ed.

XIX
THE LITURGY

Yes, if the intensities of hope and fear
Attract us still, and passionate exercise
Of lofty thoughts, the way before us lies
Distinct with signs, through which in set career,[287]
As through a zodiac, moves the ritual year[288] 5
Of England's Church; stupendous mysteries!
Which whoso travels in her bosom eyes,
As he approaches them, with solemn cheer.
Upon that circle traced from sacred story
We only dare to cast a transient glance, 10
Trusting in hope that Others may advance
With mind intent upon the King of Glory,[289]
From his mild advent till his countenance
Shall dissipate the seas and mountains hoary.[290]

FOOTNOTES:

[287] 1837

... fixed career, 1822.

[288] Compare The Christian Year, by Keble, passim.—Ed.

[289] 1845.

Enough for us to cast a transient glance
The circle through; relinquishing its story
For those whom Heaven hath fitted to advance
And, harp in hand, rehearse the King of Glory— 1822.
Enough for us to cast no careless glance
Upon that circle, leaving Christian story
To those ... has ... C.

(Or)

Here let us cast a more than Transient glance,
And harp in hand endeavour to advance,
With mind intent ... C.

[290] See The Revelation of St. John, chapter xx. v. II.—Ed.

XX
BAPTISM

Published 1827

Dear[291] be the Church, that, watching o'er the needs
Of Infancy, provides a timely shower
Whose virtue changes to a Christian Flower
A Growth from sinful Nature's bed of weeds!—[292]
Fitliest beneath the sacred roof proceeds 5
The ministration; while parental Love
Looks on, and Grace descendeth from above
As the high service pledges now, now pleads.
There, should vain thoughts outspread their wings and fly
To meet the coming hours of festal mirth, 10
The tombs—which hear and answer that brief cry,
The Infant's notice of his second birth—
Recal the wandering Soul to sympathy
With what man hopes from Heaven, yet fears from Earth.

FOOTNOTES:

[291] 1845.

Blest ... 1827.

[292] 1832.

The sinful product of a bed of Weeds! 1827.

XXI
SPONSORS

Published 1832

Father! to God himself we cannot give
A holier name! then lightly do not bear
Both names conjoined, but of thy spiritual care
Be duly mindful: still more sensitive
Do Thou, in truth a second Mother, strive[293] 5
Against disheartening custom, that by Thee
Watched, and with love and pious industry[294]
Tended at need, the adopted Plant may thrive
For everlasting bloom. Benign and pure[295]
This Ordinance, whether loss it would supply, 10
Prevent omission, help deficiency,
Or seek to make assurance doubly sure.[296][297]
Shame if the consecrated Vow be found
An idle form, the Word an empty sound![298][299]

FOOTNOTES:

[293] 1832.

... yet more sensitive,
More faithful, thou, a second Mother, MS.

W. W., Dec. 7, 1827.

[294] 1832.

Watched at all seasons, and with industry MS.

W. W., Dec. 7, 1827.

[295] 1832.

... Benign must be. MS.

W. W., Dec. 7, 1827.

[296] Compare Macbeth, act IV. scene i. l. 83.—Ed.

[297] 1832.

... "Assurance doubly sure." MS.

W. W., Dec. 7, 1827.

[298] 1832.

... the Name an empty sound. MS.

W. W., Dec. 7, 1827.

[299] This Sonnet was sent by Wordsworth in holograph MS. to Orton Hall in the form indicated in the footnotes, dated Dec. 7, 1827.—Ed.

XXII
CATECHISING

From Little down to Least, in due degree,
Around the Pastor, each in new-wrought vest,
Each with a vernal posy at his breast,
We stood, a trembling, earnest Company!
With low soft murmur, like a distant bee, 5
Some spake, by thought-perplexing fears betrayed;
And some a bold unerring answer made:
How fluttered then thy anxious heart for me,
Belovèd Mother! Thou whose happy hand
Had bound the flowers I wore, with faithful tie:[300] 10
Sweet flowers! at whose inaudible command
Her countenance, phantom-like, doth re-appear:
O lost too early for the frequent tear,
And ill requited by this heartfelt sigh!

FOOTNOTES:

[300] See Wordsworth's reference to his Mother in his Autobiographical Memoranda.—Ed.

XXIII
CONFIRMATION

Published 1827

The Young-ones gathered in from hill and dale,
With holiday delight on every brow:
'Tis passed away; far other thoughts prevail;
For they are taking the baptismal Vow
Upon their conscious selves; their own lips speak 5
The solemn promise. Strongest sinews fail,
And many a blooming, many a lovely, cheek
Under the holy fear of God turns pale;
While on each head his lawn-robed servant lays
An apostolic hand, and with prayer seals 10
The Covenant. The Omnipotent will raise
Their feeble Souls; and bear with his regrets,
Who, looking round the fair assemblage, feels
That ere the Sun goes down their childhood sets.

XXIV
CONFIRMATION CONTINUED

I saw a Mother's eye intensely bent
Upon a Maiden trembling as she knelt;
In and for whom the pious Mother felt
Things that we judge of by a light too faint:
Tell, if ye may, some star-crowned Muse, or Saint! 5
Tell what rushed in, from what she was relieved—
Then, when her Child the hallowing touch received,
And such vibration through[301] the Mother went
That tears burst forth amain. Did gleams appear?
Opened a vision of that blissful place 10
Where dwells a Sister-child? And was power given
Part of her lost One's glory back to trace
Even to this Rite? For thus She knelt, and, ere
The summer-leaf had faded, passed to Heaven.[302]

FOOTNOTES:

[301] 1837.

... to ... 1827.

[302] Compare the tribute to a Daughter, who died within the year after her confirmation, in A Presbyterian Clergyman looking for the Church, by the Rev. Flavel S. Mines, p. 95.—Ed.

XXV
SACRAMENT

Published 1827

By chain yet stronger must the Soul be tied:
One duty more, last stage of[303] this ascent,
Brings to thy food, mysterious[304] Sacrament!
The Offspring, haply at the Parent's side;
But not till They, with all that do abide 5
In Heaven, have lifted up their hearts to laud
And magnify the glorious name of God,
Fountain of Grace, whose Son for sinners died.
Ye, who have duly weighed the summons, pause
No longer; ye,[305] whom to the saving rite 10
The Altar calls; come early under laws
That can secure for you a path of light
Through gloomiest shade; put on (nor dread its weight)
Armour divine, and conquer in your cause!

FOOTNOTES:

[303] 1827.

... to ... Coleorton MS.

[304] 1845.

... memorial ... 1827.

[305] 1845.

Here must my Song in timid reverence pause:
But shrink not ye ... 1827.

XXVI
THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY[306]

Composed 1842.—Published 1845

The Vested Priest before the Altar stands;
Approach, come gladly, ye prepared, in sight
Of God and chosen friends, your troth to plight
With the symbolic ring, and willing hands[307]
Solemnly joined. Now sanctify the bands, 5
O Father!—to the Espoused thy blessing give,
That mutually assisted they may live
Obedient, as here taught, to thy commands.
So prays the Church, to consecrate a Vow
"The which would endless matrimony make";[308] 10
Union that shadows forth and doth partake
A mystery potent human love to endow
With heavenly, each more prized for the other's sake;
Weep not, meek Bride! uplift thy timid brow.

FOOTNOTES:

[306] In a letter to Professor Henry Reed, dated "Rydal Mount, Sept. 4, 1842," Wordsworth says: "A few days ago, after a very long interval, I returned to poetical composition; and my first employment was to write a couple of Sonnets upon subjects recommended by you to take place in the Ecclesiastical Series. They are upon the Marriage Ceremony and the Funeral Service. I have, about the same time, added two others, both upon subjects taken from the Services of our Liturgy."—Ed.

[307] 1842.

Together they kneel down who come in sight
Of God and chosen friends their troth to plight.
This have they done, by words, and prayers, and hands c.

XXVII
THANKSGIVING AFTER CHILDBIRTH

Composed 1842.—Published 1845

Woman! the Power who left his throne on high,
And deigned to wear the robe of flesh we wear,
The Power that thro' the straits of Infancy
Did pass dependent on maternal care,
His own humanity with Thee will share, 5
Pleased with the thanks that in his People's eye
Thou offerest up for safe Delivery
From Childbirth's perilous throes. And should the Heir
Of thy fond hopes hereafter walk inclined
To courses fit to make a mother rue 10
That ever he was born, a glance of mind
Cast upon this observance may renew
A better will; and, in the imagined view
Of thee thus kneeling, safety he may find.

FOOTNOTES:

[308] Compare Spenser's Epithalamion, stanza xl. ll. 216, 217—

The sacred ceremonies these partake,
The which do endlesse matrimony make;

Also, Southey's All for Love, or a sinner well saved, Part IV. stanza 46—

While they the sacred rites partake
Which endless matrimony make.—Ed.

XXVIII
VISITATION OF THE SICK

Composed 1842.—Published 1845

The Sabbath bells renew the inviting peal;
Glad music! yet there be that, worn with pain
And sickness, listen where they long have lain,
In sadness listen. With maternal zeal
Inspired, the Church sends ministers to kneel 5
Beside the afflicted; to sustain with prayer,
And soothe the heart confession hath laid bare—
That pardon, from God's throne, may set its seal
On a true Penitent. When breath departs
From one disburthened so, so comforted, 10
His Spirit Angels greet; and ours be hope
That, if the Sufferer rise from his sick-bed,
Hence he will gain a firmer mind, to cope
With a bad world, and foil the Tempter's arts.

XXIX
THE COMMINATION SERVICE

Published 1845

Shun not this rite, neglected, yea abhorred,
By some of unreflecting mind, as calling
Man to curse man, (thought monstrous and appalling.)
Go thou and hear the threatenings of the Lord;[309]
Listening within his Temple see his sword 5
Unsheathed in wrath to strike the offender's head,
Thy own, if sorrow for thy sin be dead,
Guilt unrepented, pardon unimplored.
Two aspects bears Truth needful for salvation;
Who knows not that?—yet would this delicate age 10
Look only on the Gospel's brighter page:
Let light and dark duly our thoughts employ;
So shall the fearful words of Commination
Yield timely fruit of peace and love and joy.

FOOTNOTES:

[309] 1845.

... as dealing
With human curses, banish the false feeling.
Go thou ... terrors ... C.

XXX
FORMS OF PRAYER AT SEA

Published 1845

To kneeling Worshippers no earthly floor
Gives holier invitation than the deck
Of a storm-shattered Vessel saved from Wreck
(When all that Man could do avail'd no more)
By him who raised the Tempest and restrains: 5
Happy the crew who this have felt, and pour
Forth for his mercy, as the Church ordains,
Solemn thanksgiving. Nor will they implore
In vain who, for a rightful cause, give breath
To words the Church prescribes aiding the lip 10
For the heart's sake, ere ship with hostile ship
Encounters, armed for work of pain and death.
Suppliants! the God to whom your cause ye trust
Will listen, and ye know that He is just.

XXXI
FUNERAL SERVICE

Composed 1842.—Published 1845

From the Baptismal hour, thro' weal and woe,
The Church extends her care to thought and deed;
Nor quits the Body when the Soul is freed,
The mortal weight cast off to be laid low.
Blest Rite for him who hears in faith, "I know 5
That my Redeemer liveth,"—hears each word
That follows—striking on some kindred chord
Deep in the thankful heart;—yet tears will flow.
Man is as grass that springeth up at morn,
Grows green, and is cut down and withereth 10
Ere nightfall—truth that well may claim a sigh,
Its natural echo; but hope comes reborn
At JESU'S bidding. We rejoice: "O Death
Where is thy Sting?—O Grave where is thy Victory?"

XXXII
RURAL CEREMONY[310]

Closing the sacred Book[311] which long has fed
Our meditations,[312] give we to a day
Of annual[313] joy one tributary lay;
This[314] day, when, forth by rustic music led,
The village Children, while the sky is red 5
With evening lights, advance in long array
Through the still church-yard, each with garland gay,
That, carried sceptre-like, o'ertops the head
Of the proud Bearer. To the wide church-door,
Charged with these offerings which their fathers bore 10
For decoration in the Papal time,
The innocent Procession softly moves:—
The spirit of Laud is pleased in heaven's pure clime,
And Hooker's voice the spectacle approves!

FOOTNOTES:

[310] This is still continued in many churches in Westmoreland. It takes place in the month of July, when the floor of the stalls is strewn with fresh rushes; and hence it is called the "Rush-bearing."—W. W. 1822.

[311] 1822.

... precious Book ... C.

[312] 1845.

With smiles each happy face was overspread,
That trial ended ... 1822.
Content with calmer scenes around us spread
And humbler objects, ... 1827.

[313] 1827.

Of festal ... 1822.

[314] 1827.

That ... 1822.

XXXIII
REGRETS

Would that our scrupulous Sires had dared to leave
Less scanty measure of those graceful rites
And usages, whose due return invites
A stir of mind too natural to deceive;
Giving to[315] Memory help when she would weave 5
A crown for Hope!—I dread the boasted lights
That all too often are but fiery blights,
Killing the bud o'er which in vain we grieve.
Go, seek, when Christmas snows discomfort bring,
The counter Spirit found in some gay church 10
Green with fresh holly, every pew a perch
In which the linnet or the thrush might sing,
Merry and loud and safe from prying search,
Strains offered only to the genial Spring.

FOOTNOTES:

[315] 1845.

Giving the ... 1822.

XXXIV
MUTABILITY

From low to high doth dissolution climb,
And sink[316] from high to low, along a scale
Of awful notes, whose concord shall not fail;
A musical but melancholy chime,
Which they can hear who meddle not with crime, 5
Nor avarice, nor over-anxious care.
Truth fails not; but her outward forms that bear
The longest date do melt like frosty rime,
That in the morning whitened hill and plain
And is no more; drop like the tower sublime 10
Of yesterday, which royally did wear
His[317] crown of weeds, but could not even sustain
Some casual shout that broke the silent air,
Or the unimaginable touch of Time.

FOOTNOTES:

[316] 1840.

And sinks ... 1822.

[317] 1837.

Its ... 1822.

XXXV
OLD ABBEYS

Monastic Domes! following my downward way,
Untouched by due regret I marked your fall!
Now, ruin, beauty, ancient stillness, all
Dispose to judgments temperate as we lay
On our past selves in life's declining day: 5
For as, by discipline of Time made wise,
We learn to tolerate the infirmities
And faults of others—gently as he may,[318]
So with[319] our own the mild Instructor deals
Teaching us to forget them or forgive.[320] 10
Perversely curious, then, for hidden ill
Why should we break Time's charitable seals?
Once ye were holy, ye are holy still;
Your spirit freely let me drink, and live!

FOOTNOTES:

[318] 1822.

...—so, where'er he may 1837.

The edition of 1845 returns to the text of 1822.

[319] 1837.

Towards ... 1822.

[320] This is borrowed from an affecting passage in Mr. George Dyer's History of Cambridge.—W. W. 1822.

XXXVI
EMIGRANT FRENCH CLERGY

Published 1827

Even while I speak, the sacred roofs of France
Are shattered into dust; and self-exiled
From altars threatened, levelled, or defiled,
Wander the Ministers of God, as chance
Opens a way for life, or consonance 5
Of faith invites. More welcome to no land
The fugitives than to the British strand,
Where priest and layman with the vigilance
Of true compassion greet them. Creed and test
Vanish before the unreserved embrace 10
Of catholic humanity:—distrest
They came,—and, while the moral tempest roars
Throughout the Country they have left, our shores
Give to their Faith a fearless[321] resting-place.

FOOTNOTES:

[321] 1837.

... dreadless ... 1827.

XXXVII
CONGRATULATION

Thus all things lead to Charity, secured
By THEM who blessed the soft and happy gale
That landward urged the great Deliverer's sail,[322]
Till in the sunny bay his fleet was moored!
Propitious hour! had we, like them, endured 5
Sore stress of apprehension,[323] with a mind
Sickened by injuries, dreading worse designed,
From month to month trembling and unassured,
How had we then rejoiced! But we have felt,
As a loved substance, their futurity: 10
Good, which they dared not hope for, we have seen;
A State whose generous will through earth is dealt;
A State—which, balancing herself between
Licence and slavish order, dares be free.

FOOTNOTES:

[322] The Statesmen of the Revolution, who hailed the arrival of William of Orange from Holland.—Ed.

[323] See Burnet, who is unusually animated on this subject; the east wind, so anxiously expected and prayed for, was called the "Protestant wind."—W. W. 1822.

XXXVIII
NEW CHURCHES

But liberty, and triumphs on the Main,
And laurelled armies, not to be withstood—
What serve they? if, on transitory good
Intent, and sedulous of abject gain,
The State (ah, surely not preserved in vain!) 5
Forbear to shape due channels which the Flood
Of sacred truth may enter—till it brood
O'er the wide realm, as o'er the Egyptian plain
The all-sustaining Nile. No more—the time
Is conscious of her want; through England's bounds,
In rival haste, the wished-for Temples rise![324] 11
I hear their sabbath bells' harmonious chime
Float on the breeze—the heavenliest of all sounds
That vale or hill[325] prolongs or multiplies!

FOOTNOTES:

[324] In 1818, under the ministry of Lord Liverpool, £1,000,000 was voted by Parliament to build new churches in England.—Ed.

[325] 1837.

That hill or vale ... 1822.

XXXIX
CHURCH TO BE ERECTED[326]

Be this the chosen site; the virgin sod,
Moistened from age to age by dewy eve,
Shall disappear, and grateful earth receive
The corner-stone from hands that build to God.
Yon reverend hawthorns, hardened to the rod 5
Of winter storms, yet budding cheerfully;
Those forest oaks of Druid memory,
Shall long survive, to shelter the Abode
Of genuine Faith. Where, haply, 'mid this band
Of daisies, shepherds sate of yore and wove 10
May-garlands, there let[327] the holy altar stand
For kneeling adoration;—while—above,
Broods, visibly portrayed, the mystic Dove,
That shall protect from blasphemy the Land.

FOOTNOTES:

[326] This, and the two following sonnets, were probably the first composed of these "Ecclesiastical Sketches." The "church to be erected" was a new one built on Coleorton Moor by Sir George Beaumont. (See Prefatory note to the series, p. [1].)—Ed.

[327] 1840.

May-garlands, let ... 1822.

XL
CONTINUED

Mine ear has rung, my spirit[328] sunk subdued,
Sharing the strong emotion of the crowd,
When each pale brow to dread hosannas bowed
While clouds of incense mounting veiled the rood,
That glimmered like a pine-tree dimly viewed 5
Through Alpine vapours. Such appalling rite
Our Church prepares not, trusting to the might
Of simple truth with grace divine imbued;
Yet will we not conceal the precious Cross,
Like men ashamed:[329] the Sun with his first smile
Shall greet that symbol crowning the low Pile: 11
And the fresh air of incense-breathing morn[330]
Shall wooingly embrace it; and green moss
Creep round its arms through centuries unborn.

FOOTNOTES:

[328] 1827.

... spirits ... 1822.

[329] The Lutherans have retained the Cross within their churches: it is to be regretted that we have not done the same.—W. W. 1822.

It has always been retained without, and is now scarcely less common within the churches of England. Did the poet confound the Cross with the Crucifix?—Ed.

[330] Compare Gray's Elegy, stanza v.—

The breezy call of incense-breathing morn.—Ed.

XLI
NEW CHURCH-YARD

The encircling ground, in native turf arrayed,
Is now by solemn consecration given
To social interests, and to favouring Heaven,
And where the rugged colts their gambols played,
And wild deer bounded through the forest glade, 5
Unchecked as when by merry Outlaw driven,
Shall hymns of praise resound at morn and even;
And soon, full soon, the lonely Sexton's spade
Shall wound the tender sod. Encincture small,
But infinite its grasp of weal and woe![331] 10
Hopes, fears, in never-ending ebb and flow;—
The spousal trembling, and the "dust to dust,"
The prayers, the contrite struggle, and the trust
That to the Almighty Father looks through all.

FOOTNOTES:

[331] 1837.

... its grasp of joy and woe! 1822.
... in grasp of weal and woe! 1832.

XLII
CATHEDRALS, ETC.

Open your gates, ye everlasting Piles!
Types of the spiritual Church which God hath reared;
Not loth we quit the newly-hallowed sward
And humble altar, 'mid your sumptuous aisles
To kneel, or thrid your intricate defiles, 5
Or down the nave to pace in motion slow;
Watching, with upward eye,[332] the tall tower grow
And mount, at every step, with living wiles
Instinct—to rouse the heart and lead the will
By a bright ladder to the world above. 10
Open your gates, ye Monuments of love
Divine! thou Lincoln, on thy sovereign hill!
Thou, stately York! and Ye, whose splendours cheer
Isis and Cam, to patient Science dear![333]

FOOTNOTES:

[332] 1827.

... eyes, ... 1822.

[333] This Sonnet was published in Time's Telescope, September 1823, p. 260.—Ed.

XLIII
INSIDE OF KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGE

Tax not the royal Saint[334] with vain expense,
With ill-matched aims the Architect who planned—
Albeit labouring for a scanty band
Of white-robed Scholars only—this immense
And glorious Work of fine intelligence! 5
Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely-calculated less or more;
So deemed the man who fashioned for the sense
These lofty pillars, spread that branching roof
Self-poised, and scooped into ten thousand cells, 10
Where light and shade repose, where music dwells
Lingering—and wandering on as loth to die;
Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof
That they were born for immortality.

FOOTNOTES:

[334] King Henry VI., who founded King's College, Cambridge.—Ed.

XLIV
THE SAME

What awful pérspective! while from our sight
With gradual stealth the lateral windows hide
Their Portraitures, their stone-work glimmers, dyed
In[335] the soft chequerings of a sleepy light.
Martyr, or King, or sainted Eremite, 5
Whoe'er ye be, that thus, yourselves unseen,
Imbue your prison-bars with solemn sheen,
Shine on, until ye fade with coming Night!—
But, from the arms of silence—list! O list!
The music bursteth into second life; 5
The notes luxuriate, every stone is kissed
By sound, or ghost of sound, in mazy strife;
Heart-thrilling strains, that cast, before the eye
Of the devout, a veil of ecstasy!

FOOTNOTES:

[335] 1827.

Their portraiture the lateral windows hide,
Glimmers their corresponding stone-work, dyed
With ... 1822.

XLV
CONTINUED

They dreamt not of a perishable home
Who thus could build.[336] Be mine, in hours of fear
Or grovelling thought, to seek a refuge here;
Or through the aisles of Westminster to roam;
Where bubbles burst, and folly's dancing foam 5
Melts, if it cross the threshold; where the wreath
Of awe-struck wisdom droops: or let my path
Lead to that younger Pile, whose sky-like dome[337]
Hath typified by reach of daring art
Infinity's embrace; whose guardian crest, 10
The silent Cross, among the stars shall spread
As now, when She hath also seen her breast
Filled with mementos, satiate with its part
Of grateful England's overflowing Dead.

FOOTNOTES:

[336] Compare The Excursion, book v. l. 145—

Not raised in nice proportions was the pile;
But large and massy; for duration built.

[337] St. Paul's Cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren (1675-1710).—Ed.

XLVI
EJACULATION

Glory to God! and to the Power who came
In filial duty, clothed with love divine,
That made his human tabernacle shine
Like Ocean burning with purpureal flame;
Or like the Alpine Mount, that takes its name 5
From roseate hues,[338] far kenned at morn and even,
In hours of peace, or when the storm is driven
Along the nether region's rugged frame!
Earth prompts—Heaven urges; let us seek the light,
Studious of that pure intercourse begun 10
When first our infant brows their lustre won;
So, like the Mountain, may we grow more bright
From unimpeded commerce with the Sun,
At the approach of all-involving night.

FOOTNOTES:

[338] Some say that Monte Rosa takes its name from a belt of rock at its summit—a very unpoetical and scarcely a probable supposition.—W. W. 1822.

XLVII
CONCLUSION

Why sleeps the future, as a snake enrolled,
Coil within coil, at noon-tide? For the Word
Yields, if with unpresumptuous faith explored,
Power at whose touch the sluggard shall unfold
His drowsy rings. Look forth!—that Stream behold,
That Stream upon whose bosom we have passed 6
Floating at ease while nations have effaced
Nations, and Death has gathered to his fold
Long lines of mighty Kings—look forth, my Soul!
(Nor in this[339] vision be thou slow to trust) 10
The living Waters, less and less by guilt
Stained and polluted, brighten as they roll,
Till they have reached the eternal City—built
For the perfected Spirits of the just!

FOOTNOTES:

[339] 1827.

... that ... 1822.

TO THE LADY FLEMING,[340]
On seeing the Foundation preparing for the Erection of Rydal Chapel,[341] Westmoreland

Composed 1822.—Published 1827

[After thanking Lady Fleming in prose for the service she had done to her neighbourhood by erecting this Chapel, I have nothing to say beyond the expression of regret that the architect did not furnish an elevation better suited to the site in a narrow mountain-pass, and, what is of more consequence, better constructed in the interior for the purposes of worship. It has no chancel; the altar is unbecomingly confined; the pews are so narrow as to preclude the possibility of kneeling with comfort; there is no vestry; and what ought to have been first mentioned, the font, instead of standing at its proper place at the entrance, is thrust into the farther end of a pew. When these defects shall be pointed out to the munificent Patroness, they will, it is hoped, be corrected.—I. F.[342]]

One of the "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection," from the edition of 1827 to that of 1843; but transferred, in 1845, to the "Miscellaneous Poems." From 1827 to 1836 the title was "To the Lady ——, on seeing the foundation preparing for the erection of —— Chapel, Westmoreland."—Ed.

I

Blest is this Isle—our native Land;
Where battlement and moated gate
Are objects only for the hand
Of hoary Time to decorate;
Where shady hamlet, town that breathes 5
Its busy smoke in social wreaths,
No rampart's stern defence require,
Nought but the heaven-directed spire,
And[343] steeple tower (with pealing bells
Far-heard)—our only citadels. 10

II

O Lady! from a noble line
Of chieftains sprung,[344] who stoutly bore
The spear, yet gave to works divine
A bounteous help in days of yore,
(As records mouldering in the Dell 15
Of Nightshade[345] haply yet may tell;)
Thee kindred aspirations moved
To build, within a vale beloved,
For Him upon whose high behests
All peace depends, all safety rests. 20

III[346]

How fondly will the woods embrace
This daughter of thy pious care,
Lifting her[347] front with modest grace
To make a fair recess more fair;
And to exalt the passing hour; 25
Or soothe it with a healing power
Drawn from the Sacrifice fulfilled,
Before this rugged soil was tilled,
Or human habitation rose
To interrupt the deep repose![348] 30

IV

Well may the villagers rejoice!
Nor heat, nor cold, nor weary ways,
Will be[349] a hindrance to the voice
That would unite in prayer and praise;
More duly shall wild wandering Youth 35
Receive the curb of sacred truth,
Shall tottering Age, bent earthward, hear
The Promise, with uplifted ear;[350]
And all shall welcome the new ray
Imparted to their sabbath-day. 40

V

Nor deem the Poet's hope misplaced,
His fancy cheated—that can see
A shade upon the future cast,
Of time's pathetic sanctity;
Can hear the monitory clock 45
Sound o'er the lake with gentle shock[351]
At evening,[352] when the ground beneath
Is ruffled o'er with cells of death;
Where happy generations lie,
Here tutored for eternity. 50

VI

Lives there a man whose sole delights
Are trivial pomp and city noise,
Hardening a heart that loathes or slights
What every natural heart enjoys?
Who never caught a noon-tide dream 55
From murmur of a running stream;
Could strip, for aught the prospect yields
To him, their verdure from the fields;
And take the radiance from the clouds
In which the sun his setting shrouds.[353] 60

VII

A soul so pitiably forlorn,
If such do on this earth abide,
May season apathy with scorn,
May turn indifference to pride;
And still be not unblest—compared 65
With him who grovels, self-debarred[354]
From all that lies within the scope
Of holy faith and christian hope;
Or, shipwreck'd, kindles on the coast
False fires, that others may be lost.[355] 70

VIII

Alas! that such perverted zeal
Should spread on Britain's favoured ground![356]
That public order, private weal,
Should e'er have felt or feared a wound
From champions of the desperate law 75
Which from their own blind hearts they draw;[357]
Who tempt their reason to deny
God, whom their passions dare defy,[358]
And boast that they alone are free
Who reach this dire extremity! 80

IX

But turn we from these "bold bad" men;[359]
The way, mild Lady! that hath led
Down to their "dark opprobrious den,"[360]
Is all too rough for Thee to tread.
Softly as morning vapours glide 85
Down Rydal-cove from Fairfield's side,[361]
Should move the tenor of his song
Who means to charity no wrong;
Whose offering gladly would accord
With this day's work, in thought and word. 90

X

Heaven prosper it! may peace, and love,
And hope, and consolation, fall,
Through its meek influence, from above,
And penetrate the hearts of all;
All who, around the hallowed Fane, 95
Shall sojourn in this fair domain;
Grateful to Thee, while service pure,
And ancient ordinance, shall endure,
For opportunity bestowed
To kneel together, and adore their God![362] 100

FOOTNOTES:

[340] 1840.

To the Lady —— ... 1827.

[341] 1840.

Of —— Chapel ... 1827.

[342] Rydal Chapel remained in the state mentioned in the Fenwick note till the year 1884.—Ed.

[343] 1827.

Or ... MS. sent to Lady Beaumont.

[344] The Fleming family is descended from Sir Michael le Fleming, a relative of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, brother-in-law to William the Conqueror. This Sir Michael le Fleming, who came over with the Conqueror, was sent into Cumberland against the Scots, and was rewarded for his services by the gift of several manors in Copeland, Cumberland.—Ed.

[345] Bekangs Ghyll—or the dell of Nightshade—in which stands St. Mary's Abbey in Low Furness.—W. W. 1827.

[346] In the edition of 1827, stanzas iii. and iv. are numbered iv. and iii. respectively.—Ed.

[347] 1832.

Even Strangers, slackening here their pace,
Shall hail this work of pious care,
Lifting its ... 1827.

[348] Compare Glen-Almain (vol. ii. p. 394)—

A convent, even a hermit's cell,
Would break the silence of this Dell.—Ed.

[349] 1827.

Nor storms henceforth, nor weary ways,
Shall be ...

MS. sent to Lord Lonsdale.

[350] 1827.

The Aged shall be free to hear
The Promise, caught with steadfast ear.

MS. sent to Lord Lonsdale.

[351] 1832.

Not yet the corner stone is laid
With solemn rite; but Fancy sees
The tower time-stricken, and in shade
Embosomed of coeval trees;
Hears, o'er the lake, the warning clock
As it shall sound with gentle shock 1827.

[352] Compare the last stanza of The Wishing Gate.—Ed.

[353] Compare the Ode, Intimations of Immortality, stanza xi.—Ed.

[354] 1827.

With one who fosters disregard

MS. sent to Lady Beaumont.

[355] 1827.

Yea, strives for others to bedim
The glorious Light too pure for him. 1832.
The text of 1845 returns to that of 1827.

[356] 1827.

... happy ground.

MS. to Lady Beaumont.

[357] 1827.

From Scoffers leagued in desperate plot
To make their own the general lot;

MS. to Lady Beaumont.

[358] 1827.

... do defy,

MS. to Lady Beaumont.

[359] See The Faërie Queene, book I. canto i. stanza 37. Also Shakespeare's Henry VIII., act II. scene ii. l. 44.—Ed.

[360] See Paradise Lost, book ii. l. 58.—Ed.

[361] 1832.

Through Rydal Cove from Fairfield's side,

MS. to Lady Beaumont.

Through Mosedale-Cove from Carrock's side, 1827.

[362] Dorothy Wordsworth wrote to Henry Crabb Robinson (December 21, 1822), "William has just written a poem upon the Foundation of a Church, which Lady Fleming is about to erect at Rydal. It is about 80 lines. I like it much." This letter was obviously written before the poem reached its final form.—Ed.