"'
It is impossible to say with certainty that the entry under Dec.
It is impossible to say with certainty that the entry under Dec.
William Wordsworth
through the 1815.
]
[Variant 34:
1815.
The Lad . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 35:
1820.
Next morning . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 36:
1815.
. . . which close to the brook side 1800. ]
[Variant 37:
1836.
. . . should speak
Of things . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 38:
1827.
. . . as it befalls 1800. ]
[Variant 39:
1836.
When . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 40:
1815.
. . . in . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 41:
1827.
. . . from sixty years. 1800. ]
[Variant 42:
I for the purpose brought thee to this place.
This line appears only in the edition of 1800. ]
[Variant 43:
1827.
. . . stout; . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 44:
1802.
. . . should evil men
Be thy companions, let this Sheep-fold be
Thy anchor and thy shield; amid all fear
And all temptation, let it be to thee
An emblem of the life thy Fathers liv'd, 1800. ]
[Variant 45: This line was added in the edition of 1815. ]
[Variant 46:
1815.
Next morning, as had been resolv'd, the Boy 1800. ]
[Variant 47:
1820.
Would break the heart:--Old Michael found it so. 1800. ]
[Variant 48:
1836.
. . . look'd up upon the sun, 1800.
. . . towards the sun, 1832. ]
[Variant 49:
1836.
Sitting alone, with that his faithful Dog, 1800. ]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
[Footnote A: The Rev. Thomas Hutchinson, Kimbolton, tells me that in his
copy of the edition of "Lyrical Ballads" of 1800 there is
"on the blank page facing the announcement, written in Wordsworth's
handwriting, the following lines:
'Though it be in th' humblest rank of life,
And in the lowest region of our speech,
Yet is it in that kind as best accords
With rural passion. '"
Ed. ]
[Footnote B: The following lines were written before April 1801, and
were at one time meant to be inserted after "summer flies," and before
"Not with a waste of words. " They are quoted in a letter of Wordsworth's
to Thomas Poole of Nether Stowey, dated April 9th, 1801.
'Though in their occupations they would pass
Whole hours with but small interchange of speech,
Yet were there times in which they did not want
Discourse both wise and prudent, shrewd remarks
Of daily providence, clothed in images
Lively and beautiful, in rural forms
That made their conversation fresh and fair
As is a landscape;--And the shepherd oft
Would draw out of his heart the obscurities
And admirations that were there, of God
And of His works, or, yielding to the bent
Of his peculiar humour, would let loose
The tongue and give it the wind's freedom,--then
Discoursing on remote imaginations, story,
Conceits, devices, day-dreams, thoughts and schemes,
The fancies of a solitary man. '
Ed. ]
[Footnote C: Clipping is the word used in the North of England for
shearing. --W. W. 1800]
[Footnote D: The lines from "Though nought was left," to "daily hope"
(192-206) were, by a printer's blunder, omitted from the first issue of
1800. In the second issue of that year they are given in full. --Ed. ]
[Footnote E: The story alluded to here is well known in the country. The
chapel is called Ings Chapel; and is on the right hand side of the road
leading from Kendal to Ambleside. --W. W. 1800.
Ings chapel is in the parish of Kendal, about two miles east of
Windermere. The following extract from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary
further explains the allusion in the poem:
"_Hugil_, a chapelry six and a quarter miles from Kendal. The chapel,
rebuilt in 1743 by Robert Bateman, stands in the village of Ings,
which is in this chapelry. The free school was endowed with land in
1650 by Roland Wilson, producing at present ? 12 per annum. The average
number of boys is twenty-five. This endowment was augmented by ? 8 per
annum by Robert Bateman, who gave ? 1000 for purchasing an estate, and
erected eight alms-houses for as many poor families, besides a
donation of ? 12 per annum to the curate. This worthy benefactor was
born here, and from a state of indigence succeeded in amassing
considerable wealth by mercantile pursuits. He is stated to have been
poisoned, in the straits of Gibraltar, on his voyage from Leghorn,
with a valuable cargo, by the captain of the vessel,"
(See 'The Topographical Dictionary of England', by Samuel Lewis, vol.
ii. p. 1831. )--Ed. ]
[Footnote F: There is a slight inconsistency here. The conversation is
represented as taking place in the evening (see l. 227). --Ed. ]
[Footnote G: It may be proper to inform some readers, that a sheep-fold
in these mountains is an unroofed building of stone walls, with
different divisions. It is generally placed by the side of a brook, for
the convenience of washing the sheep; but it is also useful as a shelter
for them, and as a place to drive them into, to enable the shepherds
conveniently to single out one or more for any particular purpose. --W.
W. 1800. ]
From the Fenwick note it will be seen that Michael's sheep-fold, in
Green-head Ghyll, existed--at least the remains of it--in 1843. Its
site, however, is now very difficult to identify. There is a sheep-fold
above Boon Beck, which one passes immediately on entering the common,
going up Green-head Ghyll. It is now "finished," and used when required.
There are remains of walling, much higher up the ghyll; but these are
probably the work of miners, formerly engaged there. Michael's cottage
had been destroyed when the poem was written, in 1800. It stood where
the coach-house and stables of "the Hollins" now stand. But one who
visits Green-head Ghyll, and wishes to realize Michael in his old
age--as described in this poem--should ascend the ghyll till it almost
reaches the top of Fairfield; where the old man, during eighty years,
'had learned the meaning of all winds,
Of blasts of every tone,'
and where he
'had been alone,
Amid the heart of many thousand mists,
That came to him, and left him, on the heights. '
By so doing he will be better able to realize the spirit of the poem,
than by trying to identify the site either of the "unfinished
sheep-fold," or of the house named the "Evening Star. " What Wordsworth
said to the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge in reference to 'The Brothers'
has been quoted in the note to that poem, p. 203. On the same occasion
he remarked, in reference to 'Michael':
"'Michael' was founded on the son of an old couple having become
dissolute, and run away from his parents; and on an old shepherd
having been seven years in building up a sheep-fold in a solitary
valley. "
('Memoirs of Wordsworth', by the late Bishop of Lincoln, vol. ii. p.
305. )
The following extracts from Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal, show
the carefulness with which the poem 'Michael' was composed, and the
frequent revisions which it underwent:
'Oct. 11 [1800. ] "We walked up Green-head ghyll in search of a
sheepfold. . . . The sheepfold is falling away. It is built nearly in the
form of a heart unequally divided. "
13. "William composing in the evening. "
15. "W. composed a little. " . . . "W. again composed at the sheepfold
after dinner. "
18. "W. worked all the morning at the sheepfold, but in vain. He lay
down till 7 o'clock, but did not sleep. "
19. "William got to work. "
20. "W. worked in the morning at the sheepfold. "
21. "W. had been unsuccessful in the morning at the sheepfold. "
22. "W. composed, without much success, at the sheepfold. "
23. "W. was not successful in composition in the evening. "
24. "W. was only partly successful in composition. "
26. "W. composed a good deal all the morning. "
28. "W. could not compose much; fatigued himself with altering. "
30. "W. worked at his poem all the morning. "
Nov. 10. "W. at the sheepfold. "
12. "W. has been working at the sheepfold. "
Dec. 9. "W. finished his poem to-day.
"'
It is impossible to say with certainty that the entry under Dec. 9
refers to 'Michael', but if it does, it is evident that Wordsworth
wrought continuously at this poem for nearly two months.
On April 9, 1801, Wordsworth wrote to Thomas Poole:
"In writing it" ('Michael'), "I had your character often before my
eyes; and sometimes thought that I was delineating such a man as you
yourself would have been, under the same circumstances. "
The following is part of a letter written by Wordsworth to Charles James
Fox in 1802, and sent with a copy of "Lyrical Ballads":
"In the two poems, 'The Brothers' and 'Michael', I have attempted to
draw a picture of the domestic affections, as I know they exist
amongst a class of men who are now almost confined to the north of
England. They are small independent 'proprietors' of land, here called
'statesmen,' men of respectable education, who daily labour on their
own little properties. The domestic affections will always be strong
amongst men who live in a country not crowded with population; if
these men are placed above poverty. But, if they are proprietors of
small estates which have descended to them from their ancestors, the
power which these affections will acquire amongst such men, is
inconceivable by those who have only had an opportunity of observing
hired labourers, farmers, and the manufacturing poor. Their little
tract of land serves as a kind of permanent rallying point for their
domestic feelings, as a tablet on which they are written, which makes
them objects of memory in a thousand instances, when they would
otherwise be forgotten. It is a fountain fitted to the nature of
social man, from which supplies of affection as pure as his heart was
intended for, are daily drawn. This class of men is rapidly
disappearing. . . . The two poems that I have mentioned were written with
a view to show that men who do not wear fine clothes can feel deeply.
'Pectus enim est quod disertos facit, et vis mentis. Ideoque imperitis
quoque, si modo sint aliquo affectu concitati, verba non desunt. ' The
poems are faithful copies from nature; and I hope whatever effect they
may have upon you, you will at least be able to perceive that they may
excite profitable sympathies in many kind and good hearts; and may in
some small degree enlarge our feelings of reverence for our species,
and our knowledge of human nature, by showing that our best qualities
are possessed by men whom we are too apt to consider, not with
reference to the points in which they resemble us, but to those in
which they manifestly differ from us. " (See 'Correspondence of Sir
Thomas Hanmer', by Sir Henry Burnbury, p. 436. )
A number of fragments, originally meant to be parts of 'Michael',--or at
least written with such a possibility in view,--will be found in the
Appendix to the eighth volume of this edition. --Ed.
* * * * *
1801
'The Sparrow's Nest', and the sonnet on Skiddaw, along with some
translations from Chaucer, belong to the year 1801. During this year,
however, 'The Excursion' was in progress. In its earlier stages, and
before the plan of 'The Recluse' was matured, the introductory part was
familiarly known, and talked of in the Wordsworth household, by the name
of "The Pedlar. " The following extracts from Dorothy Wordsworth's
Journal of 1801 will show the progress that was being made with it:
"Dec. 21. --Wm. sate beside me, and wrote 'The Pedlar. ' 22nd. --W.
composed a few lines of 'The Pedlar. ' 23rd. --William worked at 'The
Ruined Cottage'" (this was the name of the first part of 'The
Excursion', in which 'The Pedlar' was included), "and made himself
very ill," etc.
Ed.
* * * * *
THE SPARROW'S NEST
Composed 1801. --Published 1807
[Written in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere. At the end of the garden of
my father's house at Cockermouth was a high terrace that commanded a
fine view of the river Derwent and Cockermouth Castle. This was our
favourite play-ground. The terrace wall, a low one, was covered with
closely-clipt privet and roses, which gave an almost impervious shelter
to birds who built their nests there. The latter of these stanzas [A]
alludes to one of those nests. --I. F. ]
This poem was first published in the series entitled "Moods of my own
Mind," in 1807. In 1815 it was included among the "Poems founded on the
Affections," and in 1845 was transferred to the "Poems referring to the
Period of Childhood. "--Ed.
Behold, within the leafy shade,
Those bright blue eggs together laid!
On me the chance-discovered sight
Gleamed like a vision of delight. [1]
I started--seeming to espy 5
The home and sheltered bed,
The Sparrow's dwelling, which, hard by
My Father's house, in wet or dry
My sister Emmeline and I
Together visited. 10
She looked at it and seemed to fear it;
Dreading, tho' wishing, to be near it: [2]
Such heart was in her, being then
A little Prattler among men.
The Blessing of my later years 15
Was with me when a boy:
She gave me eyes, she gave me ears;
And humble cares, and delicate fears;
A heart, the fountain of sweet tears;
And love, and thought, and joy. 20
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1815.
Look, five blue eggs are gleaming there!
Few visions have I seen more fair,
Nor many prospects of delight
More pleasing than that simple sight! 1807. ]
[Variant 2:
1845.
She look'd at it as if she fear'd it;
Still wishing, dreading to be near it: 1807. ]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE
[Footnote A: So it stands in the Fenwick note; but it should evidently
read, "The following stanzas allude. "--Ed. ]
Wordsworth's "sister Emmeline" was his only sister, Dorothy; and in the
MS. sent originally to the printer the line was "My sister Dorothy and
I. " This poem is referred to in a subsequent one, 'A Farewell', l. 56.
See page 326 of this volume. --Ed.
* * * * *
"PELION AND OSSA FLOURISH SIDE BY SIDE"
Composed 1801. --Published 1815
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets. " From 1836 onwards it bore the title
'1801'. --Ed.
Pelion and Ossa flourish side by side,
Together in immortal [1] books enrolled:
His ancient dower Olympus hath not sold;
And that inspiring Hill, which "did divide
Into two ample horns his forehead wide," [A] 5
Shines with poetic radiance as of old;
While not an English Mountain we behold
By the celestial Muses glorified.
Yet round our sea-girt shore they rise in crowds:
What was the great Parnassus' self to Thee, 10
Mount Skiddaw? In his natural sovereignty
Our British Hill is nobler [2] far; he shrouds
His double front among Atlantic clouds, [3]
And pours forth streams more sweet than Castaly.
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1815.
illustrious . . . MS. ]
[Variant 2:
1837.
fairer . . . 1815. ]
[Variant 3:
1827.
His double-fronted head in higher clouds, 1815.
. . . among Atlantic clouds, MS. ]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
[Footnote A: See Spenser's translation of 'Virgil's Gnat', ll. 21-2:
'Or where on Mount Parnasse, the Muses brood.
Doth his broad forehead like two horns divide,
And the sweet waves of sounding Castaly
With liquid foot doth glide down easily. '
Ed. ]
* * * * *
SELECTIONS FROM CHAUCER
MODERNISED
Wordsworth's modernisations of Chaucer were all written in 1801. Two of
them were from the Canterbury Tales, but his version of one of
these--'The Manciple's Tale'--has never been printed. Of the three poems
which were published, the first--'The Prioress' Tale'--was included in
the edition of 1820. The 'Troilus and Cressida' and 'The Cuckoo and the
Nightingale' were included in the "Poems of Early and Late Years"
(1842); but they had been published the year before, in a small volume
entitled 'The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer Modernised' (London, 1841), a
volume to which Elizabeth Barrett, Leigh Hunt, R. H. Home, Thomas
Powell, and others contributed. Wordsworth wrote thus of the project to
Mr. Powell, in an unpublished and undated letter, written probably in
1840:
"I am glad that you enter so warmly into the Chaucerian project, and
that Mr. L. Hunt is disposed to give his valuable aid to it. For
myself, I cannot do more than I offered, to place at your disposal
'The Prioress' Tale' already published, 'The Cuckoo and the
Nightingale', 'The Manciple's Tale', and I rather think (but I cannot
just now find it) a small portion of the 'Troilus and Cressida'. You
ask my opinion about that poem. Speaking from a recollection only, of
many years past, I should say it would be found too long and probably
tedious. 'The Knight's Tale' is also very long; but, though Dryden has
executed it, in his own way observe, with great spirit and harmony, he
has suffered so much of the simplicity, and with that of the beauty
and occasional pathos of the original to escape, that I should be
pleased to hear that a new version was to be attempted upon my
principle by some competent person. It would delight me to read every
part of Chaucer over again--for I reverence and admire him above
measure--with a view to your work; but my eyes will not permit me to
do so. Who will undertake the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales? For
your publication that is indispensable, and I fear it will prove very
difficult. It is written, as you know, in the couplet measure; and
therefore I have nothing to say upon its metre, but in respect to the
poems in stanza, neither in 'The Prioress' Tale' nor in 'The Cuckoo
and Nightingale' have I kept to the rule of the original as to the
form, and number, and position of the rhymes; thinking it enough if I
kept the same number of lines in each stanza; and this is, I think,
all that is necessary, and all that can be done without sacrificing
the substance of sense too often to the mere form of sound. "
In a subsequent letter to Professor Henry Reed of Philadelphia, dated
"Rydal Mount, January 13th, 1841," Wordsworth said:
"So great is my admiration of Chaucer's genius, and so profound my
reverence for him as an instrument in the hands of Providence, for
spreading the light of literature through his native land, that
notwithstanding the defects and faults in this publication"
(referring, I presume, to the volume, 'The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer
Modernised'), "I am glad of it, as a means of making many acquainted
with the original, who would otherwise be ignorant of everything about
him but his name. "
Ed.
* * * * *
THE PRIORESS' TALE
Translated 1801. [A]--Published 1820
"Call up him who left half told
The story of Cambuscan bold. " [B]
In the following Piece I have allowed myself no farther deviations from
the original than were necessary for the fluent reading, and instant
understanding, of the Author: so much however is the language altered
since Chaucer's time, especially in pronunciation, that much was to be
removed, and its place supplied with as little incongruity as possible.
The ancient accent has been retained in a few conjunctions, such as
_also_ and _alway_, from a conviction that such sprinklings of antiquity
would be admitted, by persons of taste, to have a graceful accordance
with the subject. --W. W. (1820).
The fierce bigotry of the Prioress forms a fine back ground for her
tender-hearted sympathies with the Mother and Child; and the mode in
which the story is told amply atones for the extravagance of the
miracle. --W. W. (added in 1827).
In the editions of 1820 and 1827 'The Prioress' Tale' followed 'The
White Doe of Rylstone'. In 1832 it followed the "Inscriptions"; and in
1836 it was included among the "Poems founded on the Affections. " In
1845 it found its appropriate place in the "Selections from Chaucer
modernised. "--Ed.
I "O Lord, our Lord! how wondrously," (quoth she)
"Thy name in this large world is spread abroad!
For not alone by men of dignity
Thy worship is performed and precious laud;
But by the mouths of children, gracious God! 5
Thy goodness is set forth; they when they lie
Upon the breast thy name do glorify.
II "Wherefore in praise, the worthiest that I may,
Jesu! of thee, and the white Lily-flower
Which did thee bear, and is a Maid for aye, 10
To tell a story I will use my power;
Not that I may increase her honour's dower,
For she herself is honour, and the root
Of goodness, next her Son, our soul's best boot.
III "O Mother Maid! O Maid and Mother free! 15
O bush unburnt! burning in Moses' sight!
That down didst ravish from the Deity,
Through humbleness, the spirit that did alight
Upon thy heart, whence, through that glory's might,
Conceived was the Father's sapience, 20
Help me to tell it in thy reverence!
IV "Lady! thy goodness, thy magnificence,
Thy virtue, and thy great humility,
Surpass all science and all utterance;
For sometimes, Lady! ere men pray to thee 25
Thou goest before in thy benignity,
The light to us vouchsafing of thy prayer,
To be our guide unto thy Son so dear.
V "My knowledge is so weak, O blissful Queen!
To tell abroad thy mighty worthiness, 30
That I the weight of it may not sustain;
But as a child of twelvemonths old or less,
That laboureth his language to express,
Even so fare I; and therefore, I thee pray,
Guide thou my song which I of thee shall say. 35
VI "There was in Asia, in a mighty town,
'Mong Christian folk, a street where Jews might be,
Assigned to them and given them for their own
By a great Lord, for gain and usury,
Hateful to Christ and to his company; 40
And through this street who list might ride and wend;
Free was it, and unbarred at either end.
VII "A little school of Christian people stood
Down at the farther end, in which there were
A nest of children come of Christian blood, 45
That learned in that school from year to year
Such sort of doctrine as men used there,
That is to say, to sing and read also,
As little children in their childhood do.
VIII "Among these children was a Widow's son, 50
A little scholar, scarcely seven years old, [C]
Who day by day unto this school hath gone,
And eke, when he the image did behold
Of Jesu's Mother, as he had been told,
This Child was wont to kneel adown and say 55
_Ave Marie_, as he goeth by the way.
IX "This Widow thus her little Son hath taught
Our blissful Lady, Jesu's Mother dear,
To worship aye, and he forgat it not;
For simple infant hath a ready ear. 60
Sweet is the holiness of youth: and hence,
Calling to mind this matter when I may,
Saint Nicholas in my presence standeth aye,
For he so young to Christ did reverence. [D]
X "This little Child, while in the school he sate 65
His Primer conning with an earnest cheer, [E]
The whilst the rest their anthem-book repeat
The _Alma Redemptoris_ did he hear;
And as he durst he drew him near and near,
And hearkened to the words and to the note, 70
Till the first verse he learned it all by rote.
XI "This Latin knew he nothing what it said,
For he too tender was of age to know;
But to his comrade he repaired, and prayed
That he the meaning of this song would show, 75
And unto him declare why men sing so;
This oftentimes, that he might be at ease,
This child did him beseech on his bare knees.
XII "His Schoolfellow, who elder was than he,
Answered him thus:--'This song, I have heard say, 80
Was fashioned for our blissful Lady free;
Her to salute, and also her to pray
To be our help upon our dying day:
If there is more in this, I know it not:
Song do I learn,--small grammar I have got. ' 85
XIII "'And is this song fashioned in reverence
Of Jesu's Mother? ' said this Innocent;
'Now, certes, I will use my diligence
To con it all ere Christmas-tide be spent;
Although I for my Primer shall be shent, 90
And shall be beaten three times in an hour,
Our Lady I will praise with all my power. '
XIV "His Schoolfellow, whom he had so besought,
As they went homeward taught him privily
And then he sang it well and fearlessly, 95
From word to word according to the note:
Twice in a day it passed through his throat;
Homeward and schoolward whensoe'er he went,
On Jesu's Mother fixed was his intent.
XV "Through all the Jewry (this before said I) 100
This little Child, as he came to and fro,
Full merrily then would he sing and cry,
O _Alma Redemptoris! _ high and low:
The sweetness of Christ's Mother pierced so
His heart, that her to praise, to her to pray, 105
He cannot stop his singing by the way.
XVI "The Serpent, Satan, our first foe, that hath
His wasp's nest in Jew's heart, upswelled--'O woe,
O Hebrew people! ' said he in his wrath,
'Is it an honest thing? Shall this be so? 110
That such a Boy where'er he lists [1] shall go
In your despite, and sing his hymns and saws,
Which is against the reverence of our laws! '
XVII "From that day forward have the Jews conspired
Out of the world this Innocent to chase; 115
And to this end a Homicide they hired,
That in an alley had a privy place,
And, as the Child 'gan to the school to pace,
This cruel Jew him seized, and held him fast
And cut his throat, and in a pit him cast. 120
XVIII "I say that him into a pit they threw,
A loathsome pit, whence noisome scents exhale;
O cursed folk! away, ye Herods new!
What may your ill intentions you avail?
Murder will out; certes it will not fail; 125
Know, that the honour of high God may spread,
The blood cries out on your accursed deed.
XIX "O Martyr 'stablished in virginity!
Now may'st thou sing for aye before the throne,
Following the Lamb celestial," quoth she, 130
"Of which the great Evangelist, Saint John,
In Patmos wrote, who saith of them that go
Before the Lamb singing continually,
That never fleshly woman they did know.
XX "Now this poor widow waiteth all that night 135
After her little Child, and he came not;
For which, by earliest glimpse of morning light,
With face all pale with dread and busy thought,
She at the School and elsewhere him hath sought,
Until thus far she learned, that he had been 140
In the Jews' street, and there he last was seen.
XXI "With Mother's pity in her breast enclosed
She goeth, as she were half out of her mind,
To every place wherein she hath supposed
By likelihood her little Son to find; 145
And ever on Christ's Mother meek and kind
She cried, till to the Jewry she was brought,
And him among the accursed Jews she sought.
XXII "She asketh, and she piteously doth pray
To every Jew that dwelleth in that place 150
To tell her if her child had passed that way;
They all said--Nay; but Jesu of his grace
Gave to her thought, that in a little space
She for her Son in that same spot did cry
Where he was cast into a pit hard by. 155
XXIII "O thou great God that dost perform thy laud
By mouths of Innocents, lo! here thy might;
This gem of chastity, this emerald,
And eke of martyrdom this ruby bright,
There, where with mangled throat he lay upright, 160
The _Alma Redemptoris_ 'gan to sing
So loud, that with his voice the place did ring.
XXIV "The Christian folk that through the Jewry went
Come to the spot in wonder at the thing;
And hastily they for the Provost sent; 165
Immediately he came, not tarrying,
And praiseth Christ that is our heavenly King,
And eke his Mother, honour of Mankind:
Which done, he bade that they the Jews should bind.
XXV "This Child with piteous lamentation then 170
Was taken up, singing his song alway;
And with procession great and pomp of men
To the next Abbey him they bare away;
His Mother swooning by the body [2] lay:
And scarcely could the people that were near 175
Remove this second Rachel from the bier.
XXVI "Torment and shameful death to every one
This Provost doth for those bad Jews prepare
That of this murder wist, and that anon:
Such wickedness his judgments cannot spare; 180
Who will do evil, evil shall he bear;
Them therefore with wild horses did he draw,
And after that he hung them by the law.
XXVII "Upon his bier this Innocent doth lie
Before the altar while the Mass doth last: 185
The Abbot with his convent's company
Then sped themselves to bury him full fast;
And, when they holy water on him cast,
Yet spake this Child when sprinkled was the water;
And sang, O _Alma Redemptoris Mater! _ 190
XXVIII "This Abbot, for he was a holy man,
As all Monks are, or surely ought to be, [3]
In supplication to the Child began
Thus saying, 'O dear Child! I summon thee
In virtue of the holy Trinity 195
Tell me the cause why thou dost sing this hymn,
Since that thy throat is cut, as it doth seem. '
XXIX "'My throat is cut unto the bone, I trow,'
Said this young Child, 'and by the law of kind
I should have died, yea many hours ago; 200
But Jesus Christ, as in the books ye find,
Will that his glory last, and be in mind;
And, for the worship of his Mother dear,
Yet may I sing, _O Alma! _ loud and clear.
XXX "'This well of mercy, Jesu's Mother sweet, 205
After my knowledge I have loved alway;
And in the hour when I my death did meet
To me she came, and thus to me did say,
"Thou in thy dying sing this holy lay,"
As ye have heard; and soon as I had sung 210
Methought she laid a grain upon my tongue.
XXXI "'Wherefore I sing, nor can from song refrain,
In honour of that blissful Maiden free,
Till from my tongue off-taken is the grain;
And after that thus said she unto me; 215
"My little Child, then will I come for thee
Soon as the grain from off thy tongue they take:
Be not dismayed, I will not thee forsake! "'
XXXII "This holy Monk, this Abbot--him mean I,
Touched then his tongue, and took away the grain; 220
And he gave up the ghost full peacefully;
And, when the Abbot had this wonder seen,
His salt tears trickled down like showers of rain;
And on his face he dropped upon the ground,
And still he lay as if he had been bound. 225
XXXIII "Eke the whole Convent on the pavement lay,
Weeping and praising Jesu's Mother dear;
And after that they rose, and took their way,
And lifted up this Martyr from the bier,
And in a tomb of precious marble clear 230
Enclosed his uncorrupted body sweet. --[F]
Where'er he be, God grant us him to meet!
XXXIV "Young Hew of Lincoln! in like sort laid low
By cursed Jews--thing well and widely known,
For it was done a little while ago--[4] 235
Pray also thou for us, while here we tarry
Weak sinful folk, that God, with pitying eye,
In mercy would his mercy multiply
On us, for reverence of his Mother Mary! "
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1827.
. . . list . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 2:
1845.
. . . by the Bier . . .
[Variant 34:
1815.
The Lad . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 35:
1820.
Next morning . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 36:
1815.
. . . which close to the brook side 1800. ]
[Variant 37:
1836.
. . . should speak
Of things . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 38:
1827.
. . . as it befalls 1800. ]
[Variant 39:
1836.
When . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 40:
1815.
. . . in . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 41:
1827.
. . . from sixty years. 1800. ]
[Variant 42:
I for the purpose brought thee to this place.
This line appears only in the edition of 1800. ]
[Variant 43:
1827.
. . . stout; . . . 1800. ]
[Variant 44:
1802.
. . . should evil men
Be thy companions, let this Sheep-fold be
Thy anchor and thy shield; amid all fear
And all temptation, let it be to thee
An emblem of the life thy Fathers liv'd, 1800. ]
[Variant 45: This line was added in the edition of 1815. ]
[Variant 46:
1815.
Next morning, as had been resolv'd, the Boy 1800. ]
[Variant 47:
1820.
Would break the heart:--Old Michael found it so. 1800. ]
[Variant 48:
1836.
. . . look'd up upon the sun, 1800.
. . . towards the sun, 1832. ]
[Variant 49:
1836.
Sitting alone, with that his faithful Dog, 1800. ]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
[Footnote A: The Rev. Thomas Hutchinson, Kimbolton, tells me that in his
copy of the edition of "Lyrical Ballads" of 1800 there is
"on the blank page facing the announcement, written in Wordsworth's
handwriting, the following lines:
'Though it be in th' humblest rank of life,
And in the lowest region of our speech,
Yet is it in that kind as best accords
With rural passion. '"
Ed. ]
[Footnote B: The following lines were written before April 1801, and
were at one time meant to be inserted after "summer flies," and before
"Not with a waste of words. " They are quoted in a letter of Wordsworth's
to Thomas Poole of Nether Stowey, dated April 9th, 1801.
'Though in their occupations they would pass
Whole hours with but small interchange of speech,
Yet were there times in which they did not want
Discourse both wise and prudent, shrewd remarks
Of daily providence, clothed in images
Lively and beautiful, in rural forms
That made their conversation fresh and fair
As is a landscape;--And the shepherd oft
Would draw out of his heart the obscurities
And admirations that were there, of God
And of His works, or, yielding to the bent
Of his peculiar humour, would let loose
The tongue and give it the wind's freedom,--then
Discoursing on remote imaginations, story,
Conceits, devices, day-dreams, thoughts and schemes,
The fancies of a solitary man. '
Ed. ]
[Footnote C: Clipping is the word used in the North of England for
shearing. --W. W. 1800]
[Footnote D: The lines from "Though nought was left," to "daily hope"
(192-206) were, by a printer's blunder, omitted from the first issue of
1800. In the second issue of that year they are given in full. --Ed. ]
[Footnote E: The story alluded to here is well known in the country. The
chapel is called Ings Chapel; and is on the right hand side of the road
leading from Kendal to Ambleside. --W. W. 1800.
Ings chapel is in the parish of Kendal, about two miles east of
Windermere. The following extract from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary
further explains the allusion in the poem:
"_Hugil_, a chapelry six and a quarter miles from Kendal. The chapel,
rebuilt in 1743 by Robert Bateman, stands in the village of Ings,
which is in this chapelry. The free school was endowed with land in
1650 by Roland Wilson, producing at present ? 12 per annum. The average
number of boys is twenty-five. This endowment was augmented by ? 8 per
annum by Robert Bateman, who gave ? 1000 for purchasing an estate, and
erected eight alms-houses for as many poor families, besides a
donation of ? 12 per annum to the curate. This worthy benefactor was
born here, and from a state of indigence succeeded in amassing
considerable wealth by mercantile pursuits. He is stated to have been
poisoned, in the straits of Gibraltar, on his voyage from Leghorn,
with a valuable cargo, by the captain of the vessel,"
(See 'The Topographical Dictionary of England', by Samuel Lewis, vol.
ii. p. 1831. )--Ed. ]
[Footnote F: There is a slight inconsistency here. The conversation is
represented as taking place in the evening (see l. 227). --Ed. ]
[Footnote G: It may be proper to inform some readers, that a sheep-fold
in these mountains is an unroofed building of stone walls, with
different divisions. It is generally placed by the side of a brook, for
the convenience of washing the sheep; but it is also useful as a shelter
for them, and as a place to drive them into, to enable the shepherds
conveniently to single out one or more for any particular purpose. --W.
W. 1800. ]
From the Fenwick note it will be seen that Michael's sheep-fold, in
Green-head Ghyll, existed--at least the remains of it--in 1843. Its
site, however, is now very difficult to identify. There is a sheep-fold
above Boon Beck, which one passes immediately on entering the common,
going up Green-head Ghyll. It is now "finished," and used when required.
There are remains of walling, much higher up the ghyll; but these are
probably the work of miners, formerly engaged there. Michael's cottage
had been destroyed when the poem was written, in 1800. It stood where
the coach-house and stables of "the Hollins" now stand. But one who
visits Green-head Ghyll, and wishes to realize Michael in his old
age--as described in this poem--should ascend the ghyll till it almost
reaches the top of Fairfield; where the old man, during eighty years,
'had learned the meaning of all winds,
Of blasts of every tone,'
and where he
'had been alone,
Amid the heart of many thousand mists,
That came to him, and left him, on the heights. '
By so doing he will be better able to realize the spirit of the poem,
than by trying to identify the site either of the "unfinished
sheep-fold," or of the house named the "Evening Star. " What Wordsworth
said to the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge in reference to 'The Brothers'
has been quoted in the note to that poem, p. 203. On the same occasion
he remarked, in reference to 'Michael':
"'Michael' was founded on the son of an old couple having become
dissolute, and run away from his parents; and on an old shepherd
having been seven years in building up a sheep-fold in a solitary
valley. "
('Memoirs of Wordsworth', by the late Bishop of Lincoln, vol. ii. p.
305. )
The following extracts from Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal, show
the carefulness with which the poem 'Michael' was composed, and the
frequent revisions which it underwent:
'Oct. 11 [1800. ] "We walked up Green-head ghyll in search of a
sheepfold. . . . The sheepfold is falling away. It is built nearly in the
form of a heart unequally divided. "
13. "William composing in the evening. "
15. "W. composed a little. " . . . "W. again composed at the sheepfold
after dinner. "
18. "W. worked all the morning at the sheepfold, but in vain. He lay
down till 7 o'clock, but did not sleep. "
19. "William got to work. "
20. "W. worked in the morning at the sheepfold. "
21. "W. had been unsuccessful in the morning at the sheepfold. "
22. "W. composed, without much success, at the sheepfold. "
23. "W. was not successful in composition in the evening. "
24. "W. was only partly successful in composition. "
26. "W. composed a good deal all the morning. "
28. "W. could not compose much; fatigued himself with altering. "
30. "W. worked at his poem all the morning. "
Nov. 10. "W. at the sheepfold. "
12. "W. has been working at the sheepfold. "
Dec. 9. "W. finished his poem to-day.
"'
It is impossible to say with certainty that the entry under Dec. 9
refers to 'Michael', but if it does, it is evident that Wordsworth
wrought continuously at this poem for nearly two months.
On April 9, 1801, Wordsworth wrote to Thomas Poole:
"In writing it" ('Michael'), "I had your character often before my
eyes; and sometimes thought that I was delineating such a man as you
yourself would have been, under the same circumstances. "
The following is part of a letter written by Wordsworth to Charles James
Fox in 1802, and sent with a copy of "Lyrical Ballads":
"In the two poems, 'The Brothers' and 'Michael', I have attempted to
draw a picture of the domestic affections, as I know they exist
amongst a class of men who are now almost confined to the north of
England. They are small independent 'proprietors' of land, here called
'statesmen,' men of respectable education, who daily labour on their
own little properties. The domestic affections will always be strong
amongst men who live in a country not crowded with population; if
these men are placed above poverty. But, if they are proprietors of
small estates which have descended to them from their ancestors, the
power which these affections will acquire amongst such men, is
inconceivable by those who have only had an opportunity of observing
hired labourers, farmers, and the manufacturing poor. Their little
tract of land serves as a kind of permanent rallying point for their
domestic feelings, as a tablet on which they are written, which makes
them objects of memory in a thousand instances, when they would
otherwise be forgotten. It is a fountain fitted to the nature of
social man, from which supplies of affection as pure as his heart was
intended for, are daily drawn. This class of men is rapidly
disappearing. . . . The two poems that I have mentioned were written with
a view to show that men who do not wear fine clothes can feel deeply.
'Pectus enim est quod disertos facit, et vis mentis. Ideoque imperitis
quoque, si modo sint aliquo affectu concitati, verba non desunt. ' The
poems are faithful copies from nature; and I hope whatever effect they
may have upon you, you will at least be able to perceive that they may
excite profitable sympathies in many kind and good hearts; and may in
some small degree enlarge our feelings of reverence for our species,
and our knowledge of human nature, by showing that our best qualities
are possessed by men whom we are too apt to consider, not with
reference to the points in which they resemble us, but to those in
which they manifestly differ from us. " (See 'Correspondence of Sir
Thomas Hanmer', by Sir Henry Burnbury, p. 436. )
A number of fragments, originally meant to be parts of 'Michael',--or at
least written with such a possibility in view,--will be found in the
Appendix to the eighth volume of this edition. --Ed.
* * * * *
1801
'The Sparrow's Nest', and the sonnet on Skiddaw, along with some
translations from Chaucer, belong to the year 1801. During this year,
however, 'The Excursion' was in progress. In its earlier stages, and
before the plan of 'The Recluse' was matured, the introductory part was
familiarly known, and talked of in the Wordsworth household, by the name
of "The Pedlar. " The following extracts from Dorothy Wordsworth's
Journal of 1801 will show the progress that was being made with it:
"Dec. 21. --Wm. sate beside me, and wrote 'The Pedlar. ' 22nd. --W.
composed a few lines of 'The Pedlar. ' 23rd. --William worked at 'The
Ruined Cottage'" (this was the name of the first part of 'The
Excursion', in which 'The Pedlar' was included), "and made himself
very ill," etc.
Ed.
* * * * *
THE SPARROW'S NEST
Composed 1801. --Published 1807
[Written in the orchard, Town-end, Grasmere. At the end of the garden of
my father's house at Cockermouth was a high terrace that commanded a
fine view of the river Derwent and Cockermouth Castle. This was our
favourite play-ground. The terrace wall, a low one, was covered with
closely-clipt privet and roses, which gave an almost impervious shelter
to birds who built their nests there. The latter of these stanzas [A]
alludes to one of those nests. --I. F. ]
This poem was first published in the series entitled "Moods of my own
Mind," in 1807. In 1815 it was included among the "Poems founded on the
Affections," and in 1845 was transferred to the "Poems referring to the
Period of Childhood. "--Ed.
Behold, within the leafy shade,
Those bright blue eggs together laid!
On me the chance-discovered sight
Gleamed like a vision of delight. [1]
I started--seeming to espy 5
The home and sheltered bed,
The Sparrow's dwelling, which, hard by
My Father's house, in wet or dry
My sister Emmeline and I
Together visited. 10
She looked at it and seemed to fear it;
Dreading, tho' wishing, to be near it: [2]
Such heart was in her, being then
A little Prattler among men.
The Blessing of my later years 15
Was with me when a boy:
She gave me eyes, she gave me ears;
And humble cares, and delicate fears;
A heart, the fountain of sweet tears;
And love, and thought, and joy. 20
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1815.
Look, five blue eggs are gleaming there!
Few visions have I seen more fair,
Nor many prospects of delight
More pleasing than that simple sight! 1807. ]
[Variant 2:
1845.
She look'd at it as if she fear'd it;
Still wishing, dreading to be near it: 1807. ]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE
[Footnote A: So it stands in the Fenwick note; but it should evidently
read, "The following stanzas allude. "--Ed. ]
Wordsworth's "sister Emmeline" was his only sister, Dorothy; and in the
MS. sent originally to the printer the line was "My sister Dorothy and
I. " This poem is referred to in a subsequent one, 'A Farewell', l. 56.
See page 326 of this volume. --Ed.
* * * * *
"PELION AND OSSA FLOURISH SIDE BY SIDE"
Composed 1801. --Published 1815
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets. " From 1836 onwards it bore the title
'1801'. --Ed.
Pelion and Ossa flourish side by side,
Together in immortal [1] books enrolled:
His ancient dower Olympus hath not sold;
And that inspiring Hill, which "did divide
Into two ample horns his forehead wide," [A] 5
Shines with poetic radiance as of old;
While not an English Mountain we behold
By the celestial Muses glorified.
Yet round our sea-girt shore they rise in crowds:
What was the great Parnassus' self to Thee, 10
Mount Skiddaw? In his natural sovereignty
Our British Hill is nobler [2] far; he shrouds
His double front among Atlantic clouds, [3]
And pours forth streams more sweet than Castaly.
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1815.
illustrious . . . MS. ]
[Variant 2:
1837.
fairer . . . 1815. ]
[Variant 3:
1827.
His double-fronted head in higher clouds, 1815.
. . . among Atlantic clouds, MS. ]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
[Footnote A: See Spenser's translation of 'Virgil's Gnat', ll. 21-2:
'Or where on Mount Parnasse, the Muses brood.
Doth his broad forehead like two horns divide,
And the sweet waves of sounding Castaly
With liquid foot doth glide down easily. '
Ed. ]
* * * * *
SELECTIONS FROM CHAUCER
MODERNISED
Wordsworth's modernisations of Chaucer were all written in 1801. Two of
them were from the Canterbury Tales, but his version of one of
these--'The Manciple's Tale'--has never been printed. Of the three poems
which were published, the first--'The Prioress' Tale'--was included in
the edition of 1820. The 'Troilus and Cressida' and 'The Cuckoo and the
Nightingale' were included in the "Poems of Early and Late Years"
(1842); but they had been published the year before, in a small volume
entitled 'The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer Modernised' (London, 1841), a
volume to which Elizabeth Barrett, Leigh Hunt, R. H. Home, Thomas
Powell, and others contributed. Wordsworth wrote thus of the project to
Mr. Powell, in an unpublished and undated letter, written probably in
1840:
"I am glad that you enter so warmly into the Chaucerian project, and
that Mr. L. Hunt is disposed to give his valuable aid to it. For
myself, I cannot do more than I offered, to place at your disposal
'The Prioress' Tale' already published, 'The Cuckoo and the
Nightingale', 'The Manciple's Tale', and I rather think (but I cannot
just now find it) a small portion of the 'Troilus and Cressida'. You
ask my opinion about that poem. Speaking from a recollection only, of
many years past, I should say it would be found too long and probably
tedious. 'The Knight's Tale' is also very long; but, though Dryden has
executed it, in his own way observe, with great spirit and harmony, he
has suffered so much of the simplicity, and with that of the beauty
and occasional pathos of the original to escape, that I should be
pleased to hear that a new version was to be attempted upon my
principle by some competent person. It would delight me to read every
part of Chaucer over again--for I reverence and admire him above
measure--with a view to your work; but my eyes will not permit me to
do so. Who will undertake the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales? For
your publication that is indispensable, and I fear it will prove very
difficult. It is written, as you know, in the couplet measure; and
therefore I have nothing to say upon its metre, but in respect to the
poems in stanza, neither in 'The Prioress' Tale' nor in 'The Cuckoo
and Nightingale' have I kept to the rule of the original as to the
form, and number, and position of the rhymes; thinking it enough if I
kept the same number of lines in each stanza; and this is, I think,
all that is necessary, and all that can be done without sacrificing
the substance of sense too often to the mere form of sound. "
In a subsequent letter to Professor Henry Reed of Philadelphia, dated
"Rydal Mount, January 13th, 1841," Wordsworth said:
"So great is my admiration of Chaucer's genius, and so profound my
reverence for him as an instrument in the hands of Providence, for
spreading the light of literature through his native land, that
notwithstanding the defects and faults in this publication"
(referring, I presume, to the volume, 'The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer
Modernised'), "I am glad of it, as a means of making many acquainted
with the original, who would otherwise be ignorant of everything about
him but his name. "
Ed.
* * * * *
THE PRIORESS' TALE
Translated 1801. [A]--Published 1820
"Call up him who left half told
The story of Cambuscan bold. " [B]
In the following Piece I have allowed myself no farther deviations from
the original than were necessary for the fluent reading, and instant
understanding, of the Author: so much however is the language altered
since Chaucer's time, especially in pronunciation, that much was to be
removed, and its place supplied with as little incongruity as possible.
The ancient accent has been retained in a few conjunctions, such as
_also_ and _alway_, from a conviction that such sprinklings of antiquity
would be admitted, by persons of taste, to have a graceful accordance
with the subject. --W. W. (1820).
The fierce bigotry of the Prioress forms a fine back ground for her
tender-hearted sympathies with the Mother and Child; and the mode in
which the story is told amply atones for the extravagance of the
miracle. --W. W. (added in 1827).
In the editions of 1820 and 1827 'The Prioress' Tale' followed 'The
White Doe of Rylstone'. In 1832 it followed the "Inscriptions"; and in
1836 it was included among the "Poems founded on the Affections. " In
1845 it found its appropriate place in the "Selections from Chaucer
modernised. "--Ed.
I "O Lord, our Lord! how wondrously," (quoth she)
"Thy name in this large world is spread abroad!
For not alone by men of dignity
Thy worship is performed and precious laud;
But by the mouths of children, gracious God! 5
Thy goodness is set forth; they when they lie
Upon the breast thy name do glorify.
II "Wherefore in praise, the worthiest that I may,
Jesu! of thee, and the white Lily-flower
Which did thee bear, and is a Maid for aye, 10
To tell a story I will use my power;
Not that I may increase her honour's dower,
For she herself is honour, and the root
Of goodness, next her Son, our soul's best boot.
III "O Mother Maid! O Maid and Mother free! 15
O bush unburnt! burning in Moses' sight!
That down didst ravish from the Deity,
Through humbleness, the spirit that did alight
Upon thy heart, whence, through that glory's might,
Conceived was the Father's sapience, 20
Help me to tell it in thy reverence!
IV "Lady! thy goodness, thy magnificence,
Thy virtue, and thy great humility,
Surpass all science and all utterance;
For sometimes, Lady! ere men pray to thee 25
Thou goest before in thy benignity,
The light to us vouchsafing of thy prayer,
To be our guide unto thy Son so dear.
V "My knowledge is so weak, O blissful Queen!
To tell abroad thy mighty worthiness, 30
That I the weight of it may not sustain;
But as a child of twelvemonths old or less,
That laboureth his language to express,
Even so fare I; and therefore, I thee pray,
Guide thou my song which I of thee shall say. 35
VI "There was in Asia, in a mighty town,
'Mong Christian folk, a street where Jews might be,
Assigned to them and given them for their own
By a great Lord, for gain and usury,
Hateful to Christ and to his company; 40
And through this street who list might ride and wend;
Free was it, and unbarred at either end.
VII "A little school of Christian people stood
Down at the farther end, in which there were
A nest of children come of Christian blood, 45
That learned in that school from year to year
Such sort of doctrine as men used there,
That is to say, to sing and read also,
As little children in their childhood do.
VIII "Among these children was a Widow's son, 50
A little scholar, scarcely seven years old, [C]
Who day by day unto this school hath gone,
And eke, when he the image did behold
Of Jesu's Mother, as he had been told,
This Child was wont to kneel adown and say 55
_Ave Marie_, as he goeth by the way.
IX "This Widow thus her little Son hath taught
Our blissful Lady, Jesu's Mother dear,
To worship aye, and he forgat it not;
For simple infant hath a ready ear. 60
Sweet is the holiness of youth: and hence,
Calling to mind this matter when I may,
Saint Nicholas in my presence standeth aye,
For he so young to Christ did reverence. [D]
X "This little Child, while in the school he sate 65
His Primer conning with an earnest cheer, [E]
The whilst the rest their anthem-book repeat
The _Alma Redemptoris_ did he hear;
And as he durst he drew him near and near,
And hearkened to the words and to the note, 70
Till the first verse he learned it all by rote.
XI "This Latin knew he nothing what it said,
For he too tender was of age to know;
But to his comrade he repaired, and prayed
That he the meaning of this song would show, 75
And unto him declare why men sing so;
This oftentimes, that he might be at ease,
This child did him beseech on his bare knees.
XII "His Schoolfellow, who elder was than he,
Answered him thus:--'This song, I have heard say, 80
Was fashioned for our blissful Lady free;
Her to salute, and also her to pray
To be our help upon our dying day:
If there is more in this, I know it not:
Song do I learn,--small grammar I have got. ' 85
XIII "'And is this song fashioned in reverence
Of Jesu's Mother? ' said this Innocent;
'Now, certes, I will use my diligence
To con it all ere Christmas-tide be spent;
Although I for my Primer shall be shent, 90
And shall be beaten three times in an hour,
Our Lady I will praise with all my power. '
XIV "His Schoolfellow, whom he had so besought,
As they went homeward taught him privily
And then he sang it well and fearlessly, 95
From word to word according to the note:
Twice in a day it passed through his throat;
Homeward and schoolward whensoe'er he went,
On Jesu's Mother fixed was his intent.
XV "Through all the Jewry (this before said I) 100
This little Child, as he came to and fro,
Full merrily then would he sing and cry,
O _Alma Redemptoris! _ high and low:
The sweetness of Christ's Mother pierced so
His heart, that her to praise, to her to pray, 105
He cannot stop his singing by the way.
XVI "The Serpent, Satan, our first foe, that hath
His wasp's nest in Jew's heart, upswelled--'O woe,
O Hebrew people! ' said he in his wrath,
'Is it an honest thing? Shall this be so? 110
That such a Boy where'er he lists [1] shall go
In your despite, and sing his hymns and saws,
Which is against the reverence of our laws! '
XVII "From that day forward have the Jews conspired
Out of the world this Innocent to chase; 115
And to this end a Homicide they hired,
That in an alley had a privy place,
And, as the Child 'gan to the school to pace,
This cruel Jew him seized, and held him fast
And cut his throat, and in a pit him cast. 120
XVIII "I say that him into a pit they threw,
A loathsome pit, whence noisome scents exhale;
O cursed folk! away, ye Herods new!
What may your ill intentions you avail?
Murder will out; certes it will not fail; 125
Know, that the honour of high God may spread,
The blood cries out on your accursed deed.
XIX "O Martyr 'stablished in virginity!
Now may'st thou sing for aye before the throne,
Following the Lamb celestial," quoth she, 130
"Of which the great Evangelist, Saint John,
In Patmos wrote, who saith of them that go
Before the Lamb singing continually,
That never fleshly woman they did know.
XX "Now this poor widow waiteth all that night 135
After her little Child, and he came not;
For which, by earliest glimpse of morning light,
With face all pale with dread and busy thought,
She at the School and elsewhere him hath sought,
Until thus far she learned, that he had been 140
In the Jews' street, and there he last was seen.
XXI "With Mother's pity in her breast enclosed
She goeth, as she were half out of her mind,
To every place wherein she hath supposed
By likelihood her little Son to find; 145
And ever on Christ's Mother meek and kind
She cried, till to the Jewry she was brought,
And him among the accursed Jews she sought.
XXII "She asketh, and she piteously doth pray
To every Jew that dwelleth in that place 150
To tell her if her child had passed that way;
They all said--Nay; but Jesu of his grace
Gave to her thought, that in a little space
She for her Son in that same spot did cry
Where he was cast into a pit hard by. 155
XXIII "O thou great God that dost perform thy laud
By mouths of Innocents, lo! here thy might;
This gem of chastity, this emerald,
And eke of martyrdom this ruby bright,
There, where with mangled throat he lay upright, 160
The _Alma Redemptoris_ 'gan to sing
So loud, that with his voice the place did ring.
XXIV "The Christian folk that through the Jewry went
Come to the spot in wonder at the thing;
And hastily they for the Provost sent; 165
Immediately he came, not tarrying,
And praiseth Christ that is our heavenly King,
And eke his Mother, honour of Mankind:
Which done, he bade that they the Jews should bind.
XXV "This Child with piteous lamentation then 170
Was taken up, singing his song alway;
And with procession great and pomp of men
To the next Abbey him they bare away;
His Mother swooning by the body [2] lay:
And scarcely could the people that were near 175
Remove this second Rachel from the bier.
XXVI "Torment and shameful death to every one
This Provost doth for those bad Jews prepare
That of this murder wist, and that anon:
Such wickedness his judgments cannot spare; 180
Who will do evil, evil shall he bear;
Them therefore with wild horses did he draw,
And after that he hung them by the law.
XXVII "Upon his bier this Innocent doth lie
Before the altar while the Mass doth last: 185
The Abbot with his convent's company
Then sped themselves to bury him full fast;
And, when they holy water on him cast,
Yet spake this Child when sprinkled was the water;
And sang, O _Alma Redemptoris Mater! _ 190
XXVIII "This Abbot, for he was a holy man,
As all Monks are, or surely ought to be, [3]
In supplication to the Child began
Thus saying, 'O dear Child! I summon thee
In virtue of the holy Trinity 195
Tell me the cause why thou dost sing this hymn,
Since that thy throat is cut, as it doth seem. '
XXIX "'My throat is cut unto the bone, I trow,'
Said this young Child, 'and by the law of kind
I should have died, yea many hours ago; 200
But Jesus Christ, as in the books ye find,
Will that his glory last, and be in mind;
And, for the worship of his Mother dear,
Yet may I sing, _O Alma! _ loud and clear.
XXX "'This well of mercy, Jesu's Mother sweet, 205
After my knowledge I have loved alway;
And in the hour when I my death did meet
To me she came, and thus to me did say,
"Thou in thy dying sing this holy lay,"
As ye have heard; and soon as I had sung 210
Methought she laid a grain upon my tongue.
XXXI "'Wherefore I sing, nor can from song refrain,
In honour of that blissful Maiden free,
Till from my tongue off-taken is the grain;
And after that thus said she unto me; 215
"My little Child, then will I come for thee
Soon as the grain from off thy tongue they take:
Be not dismayed, I will not thee forsake! "'
XXXII "This holy Monk, this Abbot--him mean I,
Touched then his tongue, and took away the grain; 220
And he gave up the ghost full peacefully;
And, when the Abbot had this wonder seen,
His salt tears trickled down like showers of rain;
And on his face he dropped upon the ground,
And still he lay as if he had been bound. 225
XXXIII "Eke the whole Convent on the pavement lay,
Weeping and praising Jesu's Mother dear;
And after that they rose, and took their way,
And lifted up this Martyr from the bier,
And in a tomb of precious marble clear 230
Enclosed his uncorrupted body sweet. --[F]
Where'er he be, God grant us him to meet!
XXXIV "Young Hew of Lincoln! in like sort laid low
By cursed Jews--thing well and widely known,
For it was done a little while ago--[4] 235
Pray also thou for us, while here we tarry
Weak sinful folk, that God, with pitying eye,
In mercy would his mercy multiply
On us, for reverence of his Mother Mary! "
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1827.
. . . list . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 2:
1845.
. . . by the Bier . . .
