1840
ON A PORTRAIT OF I.F., PAINTED BY MARGARET GILLIES[410]
Composed 1840.—Published 1850
We gaze—nor grieve to think that we must die,
But that the precious love this friend hath sown
Within our hearts, the love whose flower hath blown
Bright as if heaven were ever in its eye,
Will pass so soon from human memory; 5
And not by strangers to our blood alone,
But by our best descendants be unknown,
Unthought of—this may surely claim a sigh.
Yet, blessèd Art, we yield not to dejection:
Thou against Time so feelingly dost strive; 10
Where’er, preserved in this most true reflection,
An image of her soul is kept alive,
Some lingering fragrance of the pure affection,
Whose flower with us will vanish, must survive.
William Wordsworth.
Rydal Mount, New Year’s Day, 1840.
[410] See the note to the next sonnet.—Ed.
TO I.F.[411]
Composed 1840.—Published 1850
The star which comes at close of day to shine
More heavenly bright than when it leads the morn,
Is friendship’s emblem,[412] whether the forlorn
She visiteth, or, shedding light benign
Through shades that solemnize Life’s calm decline, 5
Doth make the happy happier. This have we
Learnt, Isabel, from thy society,
Which now we too unwillingly resign
Though for brief absence. But farewell! the page
Glimmers before my sight through thankful tears, 10
Such as start forth, not seldom, to approve
Our truth, when we, old yet unchill’d by age,
Call thee, though known but for a few fleet years,
The heart-affianced sister of our love!
William Wordsworth.
Rydal Mount, Feb. 1840.
[411] This and the preceding sonnet, beginning “We gaze—nor grieve to think that we must die,” were addressed to Miss Fenwick, to whom we owe the invaluable “Fenwick Notes.” Were it not that the date is very minutely given, I would believe that they belong to 1841, as Miss Gillies told me she resided at Rydal Mount in that year, when she painted Mrs. Wordsworth’s portrait.—Ed.
[412] 1850.
Bright is the star which comes at eve to shine
More heavenly bright than when it leads the morn,
And such is Friendship, whether the forlorn, etc. 1840.