On Nature’s invitation do I come,
and
Bleak season was it, turbulent and bleak.
Internal evidence (see the numerous allusions to Dorothy, and the reference to John Wordsworth) shows that this canto of The Recluse was written at Grasmere, not long after Wordsworth’s arrival there, and certainly before his marriage. The text, as now printed, has been carefully compared with the original MS. by Mr. Gordon Wordsworth. The MS. heading is—THE RECLUSE. BOOK FIRST, PART FIRST.
HOME AT GRASMERE
Once to the verge of yon steep barrier came
A roving school-boy; what the Adventurer’s age
Hath now escaped his memory—but the hour,
One of a golden summer holiday,
He well remembers, though the year be gone. 5