As Wordsworth read very little French poetry in his old age, I think he here alludes to a poem of his admirer De la Morvonnais, who very likely sent him that Thébaïde des Grèves (1838), in which Wordsworth was so highly praised. The passage alluded to is taken from “Solitude,” and reads thus—
Enfant, Il (Dieu) te promet le domaine de l’ange
Si tu gardes l’amour et la foi des aïeux,
Et sa mère, aujourd’hui loin de l’humaine fange,
Que tu n’as pas connue et qui t’attend aux cieux.
As a whole, De la Morvonnais, though he imitates Wordsworth, is very unlike him. Of course I do not mean to compare the two, but even in like subjects he differs from Wordsworth, owing to a sort of constitutional nervousness and brooding melancholy.[586]
[582] Voir Maurice de Guérin, Journal, Lettres et Poèmes, publiés par J. S. Trébutien avec Préface de Sainte-Beuve (1860).—E.L.
[583] In the above work—Séjour de M. de Guérin en Bretagne; Impressions et Souvenirs de M. François du Breil de Marzan, pp. 434-441.—E.L.
[584] H. de la Morvonnais.—E.L.
[585] A mistake: his admiration of Wordsworth began before 1832.—E.L.