my request, recited the Lord's Prayer to me, and I helped her to a clearer understanding of it as well as I could; but I was not at all satisfied with my own part; hers was much better done, and I am persuaded that, like other children, she knew more about it than she was able to express, especially to a stranger.-I. F. "Off with yon cloud, old Snafell!" (page 174). The summit of this mountain is well chosen by Cowley as the scene of the " Vision," in which the spectral angel discourses with him concerning the government of Oliver Cromwell. "I found myself," says he, "on the top of that famous hill in the Island Mona, which has the prospect of three great, and not long since most happy, kingdoms. As soon as ever I looked upon them, they called forth the sad representation of all the sins and all the miseries that had overwhelmed them these twenty years." It is not to be denied that the changes now in progress, and the passions, and the way in which they work, strikingly resemble those which led to the disasters the philosophic writer so feelingly bewails. God grant that the resemblance may not become still more striking as months and years advance!--W. W. In the Frith of Clyde, Ailsa Crag (page 175). The morning of the eclipse was exquisitely beautiful while we passed the Crag as described in the sonnet. On the deck of the steamboat were several persons of the poor and labouring class, and I could not but be struck by their cheerful talk with each other, while not one of them seemed to notice the magnificent objects with which we were surrounded; and even the phenomenon of the eclipse attracted but little of their attention. Was it right not to regret this? They appeared to me, however, so much alive in their own minds to their own concerns that I could not look upon it as a misfortune that they had little perception for such pleasures as cannot be cultivated without ease and leisure. Yet if one surveys life in all its duties and relations, such ease and leisure will not be found so enviable a privilege as it may at first appear. Natural Philosophy, Painting, and Poetry, and refined taste, are no doubt great acquisitions to society; but among those who dedicate themselves to such pursuits it is to be feared that few are as happy, and as consistent in the management of their lives, as the class of persons who at that time led me into this course of reflection. I do not mean by this to be understood to derogate from intellectual pursuits, for that would be monstrous: I say it in deep gratitude for this compensation to those whose cares are limited to the necessities of daily life. Among them, self-tormentors so numerous in the higher classes of society, are rare.-I. F. 66 Text unchanged, except in 1. 14, " or " (1837); in 1835, "and."-ED. On the Frith of Clyde in a Steamboat (page 176). The mountain outline on the north of this island, as seen from the Frith of Clyde, is much the finest I have ever noticed in Scotland or elsewhere.-I. F. Text unchanged, except in 1. 8, "as (1837); in 1835, "like."-ED. On revisiting Dunolly Castle (page 176). This ingenious piece of workmanship, as I afterwards learned, had been executed for their own amusement by some labourers employed about the place.-W. W. L. 9, "Effigy" (1837); in 1835, " Effigies." Ll. 10-12 (1837); in 1835: 66 or symbol of past times, That towering courage, and the savage deeds Those times were proud of, take Thou too a share," Various readings from MS. are given by Knight.-ED. The Dunolly Eagle (page 177). Text unchanged.-ED. Written in a Blank Leaf of Macpherson's Ossian The verses "Or strayed From hope and promise, self-betrayed," were, I am sorry to say, suggested from apprehensions of the fate of my friend, H. C., the subject of the verses addressed to "H. C. when six years old." The piece to Memory" arose out of similar feelings.-I. F. Dated by Wordsworth 1824; first published 1827; placed among "Poems of Sentiment and Reflection" until 1845, when it found its present place. L. 1 (1832); in 1827, "Oft have I caught from fitful breeze."-ED. Sonnet XXIX: Cave of Staffa (page 180). The reader may be tempted to exclaim, "How came this and the two following sonnets to be written, after the dissatisfaction expressed in the preceding one?" In fact, at the risk of incurring the reasonable displeasure of the master of the steam-boat, I returned to the cave, and explored it under circumstances more favourable to those imaginative impressions which it is so wonderfully fitted to make upon the mind.-W. W. Text unchanged.—ED. Cave of Staffa (page 180). L. 11 (1837); in 1835, "And flashing upwards to its topmost height."-ED. Cave of Staffa (page 181). Text unchanged.-ED. "Hope smiled when your nativity was cast, Upon the head of the columns which form the front of the cave, rests a body of decomposed basaltic matter, which was richly decorated with that large bright flower, the ox-eyed daisy. I had noticed the same flower growing with profusion among the bold rocks on the western coast of the Isle of Man, making a brilliant contrast with their black and gloomy surfaces.-W. W. Ll. 11, 12 (1843); in 1835: "Suns and their systems, diverse yet sustained Iona (page 182). Text unchanged.-ED. Iona (upon Landing) (page 183). The four last lines of this sonnet are adopted from a well-known sonnet of Russel, as conveying my feeling better than any words of my own could do.-W. W. L. 1 (1837); in 1835, "With earnest look, to every voyager." L. 2, "his store" (1837); in 1835, "a store." L. 6, "Yet is " (1837); in 1835, "But see." L. 7, "the" (1837); in 1835, “this." L. 8 (1837); in 1835, "Nay spare thy scorn, haughty Philosopher." Various readings from MS. are given by Knight.-ED. The Black Stones of Iona (page 183). Text unchanged. Various readings from MS. are given by Knight.-ED. "Homeward we turn" (page 184). Ll. 5-7 (1837); in 1835: "Remote St. Kilda, art thou visible? No-but farewell to thee, beloved sea-mark Greenock (page 184). L. 9 (1837); in 1835, "Too busy Mart! thus fared it with old Tyre,".-ED. "There!' said a Stripling, pointing with meet pride" (page 185). Mosgiel was thus pointed out to me by a young man on the top of the coach on my way from Glasgow to Kilmarnock. It is remarkable that, though Burns lived some time here, and during much the most productive period of his poetical life, he nowhere adverts to the splendid prospects stretching towards the sea and bounded by the peaks of Arran on one part, which in clear weather he must have had daily before his eyes. In one of his poetical effusions he speaks of describing "fair Nature's face" as a privilege on which he sets a high value; nevertheless, natural appearances rarely take a lead in his poetry. It is as a human being, eminently sensitive and intelligent, and not as a poet, clad in his priestly robes and carrying the ensigns of sacerdotal office, that he interests and affects us. Whether he speaks of rivers, hills, and woods, it is not so much on account of the So. properties with which they are absolutely endowed, as relatively to local patriotic remembrances and associations, or as they ministered to personal feelings, especially those of love, whether happy or otherwise ;-yet it is not always Soon after we had passed Mosgiel Farm we crossed the Ayr, murmuring and winding through a narrow woody hollow. His line-" Auld hermit Ayr strays through his woods"-came at once to my mind with Irwin, Lugar, Ayr, and Doon,-Ayrshire streams over which he breathes a sigh as being unnamed in song; and surely his own attempts to make them known were as successful as his heart could desire.-I. F. Text unchanged.-ED. The River Eden (page 186). It is to be feared that there is more of the poet than the sound etymologist in this derivation of the name Eden. On the western coast of Cumberland is a rivulet which enters the sea at Moresby, known also in the neighbourhood by the name of Eden. May not the latter syllable come from the word Dean, a valley? Langdale, near Ambleside, is by the inhabitants called Langden. The former syllable occurs in the name Emont, a principal feeder of the Eden; and the stream which flows, when the tide is out, over Cartmel sands, is called the Ea-eau, French-aqua, Latin.-W. W. "Nature gives thee flowers that have no rivals among British bowers." This can scarcely be true to the letter; but, without stretching the point at all, I can say that the soil and air appear more congenial with many upon the banks of this river than I have observed in any other parts of Great Britain.-I. F. L. 12, "this" (1845); previously "the." L. 13 (1845); in 1835, "That things far off are toiled for, while a good"; in 1843, "That for things far off we toil, while many a good." L. 14,“ never gained” (1843); previously "seldom gained." Various readings from MS. are given by Knight.-Ed. Monument of Mrs. Howard (page 186). Before this monument was put up in the Church at Wetheral I saw it in the sculptor's studio. Nollekens, who, by the bye, was a strange and grotesque figure that interfered much with one's admiration of his works, showed me at the same time the various models in clay |