In writing to his friends the Wranghams, November 4, 1802, Wordsworth, after thanking them for their good opinion of this poem, alludes to “Butler, Montague’s friend,” as having said of it (the poem,) “Aye, a fine morsel this for the reviewers,”—and adds, “When this was told me (for I was not present) I observed that there were two lines in that little poem, which, if thoroughly felt, would annihilate nine-tenths of the reviews of the kingdom, as they would find no readers. The lines I alluded to were these—
‘They flash upon that inward eye,
Which is the bliss of solitude.’”
And, now, I will make a few quotations from Miss Wordsworth’s journal:—
“1802. Wednesday, April 28.—Copied the ‘Prioress’ Tale.’ W. in the orchard tired. I happened to say, that when a child, I would not have pulled a strawberry blossom; left him, and wrote out the ‘Manciples’ Tale.’ At dinner he came in with the poem on children gathering flowers [the poem entitled ‘Foresight’].
“April 20.—We went into the orchard after breakfast, and sat there. The lake calm; sky cloudy. W. began poem on the “Celandine.”
“May 1.—Sowed flower seeds; W. helped me. We sat in the orchard. W. wrote the ‘Celandine.’ Planned an arbour,—the sun too hot for us.
“May 7.—W. wrote ‘The Leech Gatherer.’
“May 21.—W. wrote two sonnets, ‘On Buonaparte,’ after I had read Milton’s sonnets to him.
“May 29.—W. wrote his poem “On going to M. H.” I wrote it out.
“June 8.—W. wrote the poem ‘The sun has long been set.’