Yvetot, close to the church, and in the burial-ground of Allonville.

"The height of this Tree does not answer to its girth; the trunk, from the roots to the summit, forms a complete cone; and the inside of this cone is hollow throughout the whole of its height.

"Such is the oak of Allonville, in its state of nature. The hand of Man, however, has endeavoured to impress upon it a character still more interesting, by adding a religious feeling to the respect which its age naturally inspires.

"The lower part of its hollow trunk has been transformed into a Chapel of six or seven feet in diameter, carefully wainscotted and paved, and an open iron gate guards the humble Sanctuary.

Leading to it there is a staircase, which twists round the body of the Tree. At certain seasons of the year divine service is performed in this Chapel.

"The summit has been broken off many years, but there is a surface at the top of the trunk, of the diameter of a very large tree, and from it rises a pointed roof, covered with slates, in the form of a steeple, which is surmounted with an iron Cross, that rises in a picturesque manner from the middle of the leaves, like an ancient Hermitage above the surrounding Wood.

"Over the entrance to the Chapel an Inscription appears, which informs us it was erected by the Abbé du Détroit, Curate of Allonville in the year 1696; and over a door is another, dedicating it' To Our Lady of Peace." Vide No. 14, Saturday Magazine.-W. W.

The subject of this poem was sent to me by Mrs. Ogle, to whom I was personally unknown, with a hope on her part that I might be induced to relate the incident in verse; and I do not regret that I took the trouble; for not improbably the fact is illustrative of the boy's early piety, and may concur with my other little pieces on children to produce profitable reflection among my youthful readers. This is said, however, with an absolute conviction that children will derive most benefit from books which are not unworthy the perusal of persons of any age. I protest with my whole heart against those productions, so abundant in the present day, in which the doings of children are dwelt upon as if they were incapable of being interested in anything else. On this subject I have dwelt at length in the poem on the growth of my own mind.-I. F.

Not dated; first published in " Poems chiefly of Early and Late Years," 1842; probably written after 1836. "The Poet's Dream" is also undated, and was published at the same time. The last stanza but one of "The Poet's Dream" was added in 1845. The other changes of text are few and unimportant.-ED.

The Westmoreland Girl (page 210):

Dated by Wordsworth in a copy sent to Henry Reed, June 6, 1845 (See " Memoir," ii., 417, n.); first published 1845. No change of text.-ED.

The Brothers (page 214).

This poem was composed in a grove at the northeastern end of Grasmere lake, which grove was in a great measure destroyed by turning the high-road along the side of the water. The few trees that are left were spared at my intercession. The poem arose out of the fact, mentioned to me at Ennerdale, that a shepherd had fallen asleep upon the top of the rock called The Pillar, and perished as here described, his staff being left midway on the rock.-I. F.

Dated by Wordsworth 1800; first published 1800. In Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal we read: " Friday, 1st August [1800]. In the morning I copied "The Brothers." In 1800 the following note was given (omitted after 1832): "This Poem was intended to be the concluding poem of a series of pastorals, the scene of which was laid among the mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland. I mention this to apologise for the abruptness with which the poem begins.' The text was retouched in many places, but not very materially altered. In "Lyrical Ballads," 18001805, the brothers parted when Leonard was twelve or thirteen, James being eighteen months younger. In 1815, ere his thirteenth year" was altered to ere his sixteenth year," and 1. 297, "And, though a very stripling, twelve years old" became " And though of unripe years, a stripling only."

66

The ominous disappearance of one of the two mountain springs was made more ominous in the early texts (18001820):

"Ten years back,

Close to these brother fountains, the huge crag
Was rent with lightning-one is dead and gone,
The other, left behind, is flowing still.-"

A note was added: "The impressive circumstance here described, actually took place some years ago in this country, upon an eminence called Kidstow Pike, one of the highest of the mountains that surround Hawes-water. The summit of the Pike was stricken by lightning; and every trace of one of the fountains disappeared, while the other continued to flow as before" (1800-1805). The fine line (1. 169) describing the tombless churchyard:

"An orphan could not find his mother's grave,"

was added in 1802. Leonard's speechless inability to return thanks to the Priest (11. 406-408):

he felt

A gushing from his heart, that took away
The power of speech,"

was originally (1800-1805):

"he felt

Tears rushing in."

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The "soft heath" on the Pillar, where James fell asleep, was until 1836 “ grass." From 1800 to 1836 "the broad blue wave" (1. 56) of the "cloudless main was "broad green wave. From 1800 to 1805 the boy brothers have love to spare (1. 247) because they cannot give all to a man so old as their grandfather:

"Walter,

The only kinsman near them in the house,
Yet he being old, they had much love to spare."

The old man's tenderness, fond and familiar, and his inclination to the boys by reason of his age (11. 245-246), is an insertion of 1815. The walk of James' companions "from height to height under a cloudless sky" (ll. 360361) was at first (1800-1815) a walk on business to a house at the Dale-head:

"With two or three companions, whom it chanc'd
Some further business summon'd to a house
Which stands at the Dale-head. James, tir'd perhaps
Or from some other cause remain'd behind."

The lines which follow the description of "The Pillar' underwent several changes; they originally stood as follows:

"James, pointing to its summit, over which They all had purpos'd to return together,

Inform'd them that he there would wait for them:
They parted, and his comrades pass'd that way
Some two hours after, but they did not find him
At the appointed place, a circumstance

Of which they took no heed: but one of them
Going by chance, at night, into the house
Which at this time was James's house."

These lines were condemned by Coleridge ("Biog. Literaria") as being nothing else than a string of prosaisms in metre; they were recast by Wordsworth in 1820.

Professor Knight says that this is the only poem of Wordsworth's referring to Ennerdale; he maintains that precise localisation of the incidents is impossible. The Pillar Mountain, and its northern spur, the Pillar Rock, are both, he says, spoken of, but the description does not literally agree with either.

On the lines :

"The thought of death sits easy on the man

Who has been born and dies among the mountains,"

an interesting note appeared in "Lyrical Ballads" (18001805): "There is not anything more worthy of remark in the manners of the inhabitants of these mountains, than the tranquillity, I might say indifference, with which they think and talk upon the subject of death. Some of the country churchyards, as here described, do not contain a single tombstone, and most of them have a very small number." For a curious attempt to account for the indifference noticed by Wordsworth, see Hazlitt's Essay on "The Excursion."-ED.

Artegal and Elidure (page 230).

This was written at Rydal Mount, as a token of affectionate respect for the memory of Milton. "I have determined," says he, in his preface [first Book.—En.] to his History of England, "to bestow the telling over even of these reputed tales, be it for nothing else but in favour of our English Poets and Rhetoricians, who by their wit [art.-ED.] will know how to use them judiciously."-I. F.

Dated by Wordsworth 1815; first published 1820. Milton is followed closely. The text was little altered; the only change which affects the sense is 1. 55, substi

tuted (1836) for the earlier-"Which yet he wields in subterranean war."

In the Appendix to volume vi. of "Wordsworth's Poetical Works," Professor Knight gives tentative versions of many stanzas from MS.

To a Butterfly (page 239).

Written in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere.-I. F. Written April 20, 1802; first published 1807, in the group "Moods of my own Mind." Dorothy Wordsworth writes in her Journal (April 20, 1802): "William wrote a conclusion to the poem of the Butterfly,' 'I've watched you now a full half-hour.'

The poem, "The Redbreast chasing the Butterfly," written on the 18th, perhaps recalled to his mind "To a Butterfly" ("Stay near me-do not take thy flight"). The present poem, I take it, was meant as the conclusion of "Stay near me" (March 14, 1802); but it was decided to print the original poem and its continuation as two separate pieces. In line 1 the reading of 1836 was "I've watched you here a short half-hour," from which Wordsworth reverted to the earlier reading. Ll. 12, 13 (1815); in 1807 :

Composed just before my sister and I went to fetch Mrs. Wordsworth from Gallow-hill, near Scarborough.— I. F.

Finished May 29, 1802; first published 1815. Miss Wordsworth writes in her Diary: Saturday, 29th. William finished his poem on going for Mary. I wrote it out. A sweet day. We nailed up the honeysuckles, and hoed the scarlet beans." Sunday, June 13 [1802], William. has been altering the poem to Mary this morning." The touches of textual change are few and slight. Dorothy's Journal of May 28 gives a picture of the "little nook of mountain-ground" which illustrates the poem :-"We sate in the orchard. The sky cloudy, the air sweet and cool. The young bulfinches, in their partycoloured raiment, bustle about among the blossoms, and poise themselves like wire-dancers or tumblers, shaking the twigs and dashing off the blossoms. There is yet one