Wordsworth's date 1801, in the Fenwick note, should have been 1802. His sister writes, in her Journal of 1802:
"May 21.—W. wrote two sonnets on Buonaparte, after I had read Milton's sonnets to him."
The "irregular" sonnet, written "at school," to which Wordsworth refers, is probably the one published in the European Magazine. in 1787, vol. xi. p. 202, and signed Axiologus.—Ed.
[Contents 1802]
[Main Contents]
A Farewell
Composed May 29, 1802.—Published 1815
[Composed just before my Sister and I went to fetch Mrs. Wordsworth from Gallow-hill, near Scarborough.—I. F.]
This was one of the "Poems founded on the Affections." It was published in 1815 and in 1820 without a title, but with the sub-title 'Composed in the Year 1802'. In 1827 and 1832 it was called 'A Farewell', to which the sub-title was added. The sub-title was omitted in 1836, and afterwards.—Ed.