Cleanse with thy blood my sins, to this incline
More readily, the more my years require
Prompt aid, forgiveness speedy and entire.
1808
GEORGE AND SARAH GREEN
Composed 1808.—Published 1839
This poem was first printed in De Quincey’s “Recollections of Grasmere,” which appeared in Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine, September 1839, p. 573, and afterwards in his Recollections of the Lakes (1853), p. 23.
The text is printed as it is found in De Quincey’s article. Doubtless Wordsworth, or some member of the family, had supplied him with a copy of these verses. Wordsworth himself seemed to have thought them unworthy of publication. A copy of the poem was transcribed at Grasmere by Dorothy Wordsworth for Lady Beaumont on the 20th April 1808. In this copy there are numerous variations from the text as published by De Quincey, and these are indicated in the footnotes. In the letter to Lady Beaumont, Dorothy Wordsworth says, “I am going to transcribe a poem composed by my brother a few days after his return. It was begun in the churchyard when he was looking at the grave of the Husband and Wife, and is in fact supposed to be entirely composed there.”
Wordsworth returned to his old home at Dove Cottage, Grasmere, after a short visit to London, on the 6th April 1808; and there he remained, till Allan Bank was ready for occupation. I therefore conclude that this poem was written in April 1808.