This was the home of Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy from December 1799 to May 1808. When Wordsworth left the cottage for two months in 1802 on the occasion of his honeymoon he wrote "A Farewell," which begins:—
"Farewell, thou little nook of mountain ground,
Thou rocky corner in the lowest stair
Of that magnificent temple which doth bound
One side of our whole vale with grandeur rare;
Sweet garden-orchard, eminently fair,
The lovliest spot that man hath ever found,
Farewell!—we leave thee to Heaven's peaceful care,
Thee, and the Cottage which thou dost surround.
De Quincey also lived at Dove Cottage from 1809-1816. He has described it as follows:—
Let the cottage be a real cottage, in fact (for I must abide by the actual scene), a white cottage, embowered with flowering shrubs, so chosen as to unfold a succession of flowers upon the walls, and clustering round the windows through all months of spring, summer, and autumn—beginning, in fact, with May roses, and ending with jasmine.
GRASMERE
There are many descriptions in Dorothy Wordsworth's journal of Grasmere and Rydal Waters of which the following extracts are typical:—
SATURDAY, 26th (December 1801)....