The Cottager to her infant (by my sister) (page 270). Suggested to her while beside my sleeping children.

I. F.

Maternal Grief (page 270).

This was in part an overflow from the Solitary's description of his own and his wife's feelings upon the decease of their children. (See "Excursion," book iii.) -I. F.

Written probably about 1810; first published in "Poems, chiefly of Early and Late Years." 1842. Text unchanged.-ED.

The Sailor's Mother (page 273).

Written in Town-end, Grasmere. I met this woman near the Wishing-gate, on the high-road that then led from Grasmere to Ambleside. Her appearance was exactly as here described, and such was her account, nearly to the letter.-I. F.

Written March 11, 12, 1802; first published 1807. Dorothy Wordsworth writes in her Journal, March 11, 1802: "William worked at the poem of "The Singing Bird;" March 12: "William finished his poem of The Singing Bird." Doubtless under this title "The Sailor's Mother" is meant. In 1815 Wordsworth erroneously gave the date of publication as 1800, and in 1836 he assumed that this was the date of composition. The text shows some interesting variations. Stanza 1 and stanza 2 are unaltered (except "on" for "in," 1807, in 1. 3). Ll. 14-16 (1836); in 1807-15:

"With the first word I had to spare
I said to her, Beneath your Cloak

What's that which on your arm you bear?'"

In 1820:

'What treasure,' said I, 'do you bear,

Beneath the covert of your Cloak,
Protected from the cold damp air?'"

Ll. 19-21 (a return in 1832 to text of 1807); in edd. 1820 and 1827 as follows:

"I had a Son-the waves might roar,
He feared them not, a Sailor gay !
But he will cross the waves no more: "

This reading was objected to by Barron Field and Wordsworth admitted his error (Knight's "Life of Wordsworth," iii. 152).

Ll. 23, 24 in 1807-15 were

"And I have been as far as Hull, to see What clothes he might have left, or other property."

"Hull" disappeared in 1820; the present text dates from 1827. L. 33 (1827); previously :

"Till he came back again; and there"

Barron Field disliked the reading of 1827, but Wordsworth maintained that it was an improvement because "from the bodings of his mind " the sailor feared he should not come back again, and the new line "brings in a pretty image of the bird singing, when its master might be in peril, or no more" (Knight's "Life of Wordsworth," iii. 152).

In the last line of the poem "bear" was substituted in 1827 for the earlier "trail." Then also the bodings " that hung upon his mind" (1. 30) appeared in place of " As it might be, perhaps, from bodings of his mind." --ED.

The Childless Father (page 275).

Written at Town-end, Grasmere. When I was a child at Cockermouth, no funeral took place without a basin filled with sprigs of boxwood being placed upon a table covered with a white cloth in front of the house. The huntings on foot, in which the old man is supposed to join as here described, were of common, almost habitual, occurrence in our vales when I was a boy; and the people took much delight in them. They are now less frequent.-I. F.

Dated by Wordsworth 1800; first published 1800. The variation of text noted by Prof. Knight in st. 2, 1. 1, "both grey, red and green" was corrected in errata of 1800 to the present text. Stanza 3 in 1800-1815 opened thus:

"The bason of boxwood, just six months before,
Had stood on the table at Timothy's door."
In 1820:

"The bason had offered, just six months before,
Fresh sprigs of green boxwood at Timothy's door."

The present text dates from 1827.-ED.

The Emigrant Mother (page 276). Suggested by what I have noticed in more than one French fug fugitive during the time of the French Revolution. If I am not mistaken, the lines were composed at Sockburn, when I was on a visit to Mrs. Wordsworth and her brother.-I. F.

•

Written March 16-17, 1802; first published 1807. Dorothy Wordsworth writes in her Journal: "Tuesday [March 16] William went up into the orchard.. and wrote a part of The Emigrant Mother." "Wednesday. William went up into the orchard and finished the poem." The poem bore no name in edd. 1807, 1815. The text of certain stanzas is unaltered; certain passages were several times rehandled. In 1. 5, "British" (1845) was substituted for the earlier "English," perhaps because "English" again occurs in 1. 11. The stanza, "Once having seen her, &c." (1845) was recast from the earlier versions :

"Once did I see her clasp the Child about,
And take it to herself; and I, next day,
Wish'd in my native tongue to fashion out
Such things as she unto this Child did say:
And thus from what I knew, had heard, and guess'd,"

The last of these lines was unaltered until 1845. The first four became:

"Once did I see her take with fond embrace
This Infant to herself; and I, next day,
Endeavoured in my native tongue to trace
Such things as she unto the Child might say:" (1820.)

"Once having seen her take with fond embrace
This Infant to herself, I framed a lay,
Endeavouring, in my native tongue, to trace

Such things as she unto the Child might say:" (1827.)

Ll. 55, 56 (1820); previously :

"'Tis gone-forgotten let me do

My best-there was a smile or two,"

L. 61, "bright" (1827); previously "sweet." Ll. 63, Coleridge objected to these lines (Wordsworth to Barron Field, "Life," iii. p. 153. See also the objection on the ground of "disharmony in style," "Biographia Literaria," ii. 137, ed. 1847.) The following readings were substituted:

"For they bewilder me-even now

His smiles are lost, I know not how!" (1820.)

"By those bewildering glances crost
In which the light of his is lost." (1827.)

"Ocean" being a word hardly suitable for the seas of the narrow channel, 1. 68 was altered (1827) from the earlier "From France across the Ocean came."

Ll. 71, 72 (1845); previously:

"My darling, she is not to me

What thou art! though I love her well:" (1807.)

"But to my heart she cannot be

What thou art, though I love her well: " (1836.)

L. 83, " soft, warm face" (1820) replaced "quiet face."

-ED.

Vaudracour and Julia (page 279).

Written at Town-end, Grasmere. Faithfully narrated, though with the omission of many pathetic circumstances, from the mouth of a French lady, who had been an eyeand-ear-witness of all that was done and said. Many long years after, I was told that Dupligne was then a monk in the Convent of La Trappe.-I. F.

Dated by Wordsworth 1805; first published 1820. In 1805 Wordsworth was engaged on "The Prelude," which is doubtless the "work" referred to in the note prefixed to the poem. The changes of text are few and slight; the following may be noted: 11. 61, 62 were substituted (1827) for the earlier

"Was inwardly prepared to turn aside
From law and custom."

Wordsworth felt that the act must be at least gently condemned. Lines 124-126 (1827) replaced the following: "Stirred nowhere without arms. To their rural seat, Meanwhile his Parents artfully withdrew Upon some feigned occasion, and the son Remained with one attendant. At midnight When to his chamber, &c."

*

L. 147, "Unmatchable on earth is their disquiet" was inserted in 1836. Ll. 167-169 stood until 1845 as follows:

"For no thought

Uncharitable, no presumptuous rising
Of hasty censure, modelled in the eclipse."

In 1. 201 Vaudracour calls the child "our boy"; the reading 1820 to 1836 was "your boy." In 1. 274 "motherless Babe" was substituted in 1836 for "infant babe."-ED.

The Idiot Boy (page 289).

The last stanza-"The Cocks did crow to-whoo, towhoo, And the sun did shine so cold "was the foundation of the whole. The words were reported to me by my dear friend, Thomas Poole; but I have since heard the same repeated of other Idiots. Let me add that this long poem was composed in the groves of Alfoxden, almost extempore; not a word, I believe, being corrected, though one stanza was omitted. I mention this in gratitude to those happy moments, for, in truth, I never wrote any. thing with so much glee.-I. F.

Dated by Wordsworth 1798; first published 1798. The changes of text are comparatively few in a poem of such length, and are of little interest or importance. Two stanzas were omitted after 1820: the first of these occurred between the present second and third stanzas :

"Beneath the moon that shines so bright,
Till she is tired, let Betty Foy
With girt and stirrup fiddle-faddle;
But wherefore set upon a saddle

Him whom she loves, her idiot boy?"

The second omitted stanza occurred between the present third and fourth stanzas:

"The world will say 'tis very idle,
Bethink you of the time of night;
There's not a mother, no not one,
But when she hears what you have done,
Oh! Betty she'll be in a fright."

Some of the familiarities of manner in the earliest text are modified in the later readings, e.g. 11. 87, 88 until 1827 stood thus:

"And Betty's standing at the door,
And Betty's face with joy o'erflows,"