No More Learning

when the sleety showers her path assail, 270
And like a torrent roars the headstrong gale; [83]
No more her breath can thaw their fingers cold,
Their frozen arms her neck no more can fold;
[84] Weak roof a cowering form two babes to shield,
And faint the fire a dying heart can yield! 275
Press the sad kiss, fond mother! vainly fears
Thy flooded cheek to wet them with its tears;
[85] No tears can chill them, and no bosom warms,
Thy breast their death-bed, coffined in thine arms!

Sweet are the sounds that mingle from afar, 280
Heard by calm lakes, as peeps the folding star,
Where the duck dabbles 'mid the rustling sedge,
And feeding pike starts from the water's edge,
Or the swan stirs the reeds, his neck and bill
Wetting, that drip upon the water still; 285
And heron, as resounds the trodden shore,
Shoots upward, darting his long neck before.
[86]
Now, with religious awe, the farewell light
Blends with the solemn colouring of night; [87]
'Mid groves of clouds that crest the mountain's brow, 290
And round the west's proud lodge their shadows throw,
Like Una [T] shining on her gloomy way,
The half-seen form of Twilight roams astray;
Shedding, through paly loop-holes mild and small,
Gleams that upon the lake's still bosom fall; [88] 295
[89] Soft o'er the surface creep those lustres pale
Tracking the motions of the fitful gale. [90]
With restless interchange at once the bright
Wins on the shade, the shade upon the light.
No favoured eye was e'er allowed to gaze 300
On lovelier spectacle in faery days;
When gentle Spirits urged a sportive chase,
Brushing with lucid wands the water's face;
While music, stealing round the glimmering deeps,
Charmed the tall circle of the enchanted steeps. 305
--The lights are vanished from the watery plains:
No wreck of all the pageantry remains.
Unheeded night has overcome the vales:
On the dark earth the wearied vision fails;
The latest lingerer of the forest train, 310
The lone black fir, forsakes the faded plain;
Last evening sight, the cottage smoke, no more,
Lost in the thickened darkness, glimmers hoar;
And, towering from the sullen dark-brown mere,
Like a black wall, the mountain-steeps appear. [91] 315

--Now o'er the soothed accordant heart we feel
A sympathetic twilight slowly steal,
And ever, as we fondly muse, we find
The soft gloom deepening on the tranquil mind.
Stay! pensive, sadly-pleasing visions, stay! 320
Ah no! as fades the vale, they fade away:
Yet still the tender, vacant gloom remains;
Still the cold cheek its shuddering tear retains.

The bird, who ceased, with fading light, to thread
Silent the hedge or steamy rivulet's bed, [92] 325
From his grey re-appearing tower shall soon
Salute with gladsome note the rising moon,
While with a hoary light she frosts the ground,
And pours a deeper blue to Aether's bound;
Pleased, as she moves, her pomp of clouds to fold 330
In robes of azure, fleecy-white, and gold. [93]

Above yon eastern hill, [94] where darkness broods
O'er all its vanished dells, and lawns, and woods;
Where but a mass of shade the sight can trace,
Even now she shows, half-veiled, her lovely face: [95] 335
Across [96] the gloomy valley flings her light,
Far to the western slopes with hamlets white;
And gives, where woods the chequered upland strew,
To the green corn of summer, autumn's hue.

Thus Hope, first pouring from her blessed horn 340
Her dawn, far lovelier than the moon's own morn,
'Till higher mounted, strives in vain to cheer
The weary hills, impervious, blackening near;
Yet does she still, undaunted, throw the while
On darling spots remote her tempting smile. 345

Even now she decks for me a distant scene,
(For dark and broad the gulf of time between)
Gilding that cottage with her fondest ray,
(Sole bourn, sole wish, sole object of my way; 350
How fair its lawns and sheltering [97] woods appear!
How sweet its streamlet murmurs in mine ear! )
Where we, my Friend, to happy [98] days shall rise,
'Till our small share of hardly-paining sighs
(For sighs will ever trouble human breath) 355
Creep hushed into the tranquil breast of death.

But now the clear bright Moon her zenith gains,
And, rimy without speck, extend the plains:
The deepest cleft the mountain's front displays [99]
Scarce hides a shadow from her searching rays; 360
From the dark-blue faint silvery threads divide
The hills, while gleams below the azure tide;
Time softly treads; throughout the landscape breathes
A peace enlivened, not disturbed, by wreaths
Of charcoal-smoke, that o'er the fallen wood, 365
Steal down the hill, and spread along the flood. [100]

The song of mountain-streams, unheard by day,
Now hardly heard, beguiles my homeward way. [U]
Air listens, like the sleeping water, still,
To catch the spiritual music of the hill, [101] 370
Broke only by the slow clock tolling deep,
Or shout that wakes the ferry-man from sleep,
The echoed hoof nearing the distant shore,
The boat's first motion--made with dashing oar; [102]
Sound of closed gate, across the water borne, 375
Hurrying the timid [103] hare through rustling corn;
The sportive outcry of the mocking owl; [104]
And at long intervals the mill-dog's howl;
The distant forge's swinging thump profound;
Or yell, in the deep woods, of lonely hound. 380



* * * * *


VARIANTS ON THE ABOVE POEM:


[Variant 1:

1836.

His wizard course where hoary Derwent takes
Thro' craggs, and forest glooms, and opening lakes,
Staying his silent waves, to hear the roar
That stuns the tremulous cliffs of high Lodore:
Where silver rocks the savage prospect chear
Of giant yews that frown on Rydale's mere; 1793.

Where Derwent stops his course to hear the roar
That stuns the tremulous cliffs . . . 1827.

(Omitting two lines of the 1793 text quoted above. )]


[Variant 2:

1836.

Where, bosom'd deep, the shy Winander peeps 1793.

Where, deep embosom'd, shy Winander peeps 1827. ]


[Variant 3:

1836.

Fair scenes! with other eyes, than once, I gaze,
The ever-varying charm your round displays,
Than when, ere-while, I taught, "a happy child,"
The echoes of your rocks my carols wild:
Then did no ebb of chearfulness demand
Sad tides of joy from Melancholy's hand; 1793.

Upon the varying charm your round displays, 1820. ]


[Variant 4:

1820.

. . . wild . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 5:

1836.

. . . stars of night,
Alike, when first the vales the bittern fills,
Or the first woodcocks roam'd the moonlight hills. 1793.

Alike, when heard the bittern's hollow bill,
Or the first woodcocks roam'd the moonlight hill. 1820. ]


[Variant 6:

1820.

Return Delights! with whom my road begun,
When Life rear'd laughing up her morning sun;
When Transport kiss'd away my april tear,
"Rocking as in a dream the tedious year";
When link'd with thoughtless Mirth I cours'd the plain, 1793. ]


[Variant 7:

1836.

For then, ev'n then, the little heart would beat 1793. ]


[Variant 8:

1836.

And wild Impatience, panting upward, show'd
Where tipp'd with gold the mountain-summits glow'd. 1793. ]


[Variant 9:

1836.

With Hope Reflexion blends her social rays 1793. ]


[Variant 10:

1820.

While, Memory at my side, I wander here,
Starts at the simplest sight th' unbidden tear,
A form discover'd at the well-known seat,
A spot, that angles at the riv'let's feet,
The ray the cot of morning trav'ling nigh,
And sail that glides the well-known alders by.

Only in the edition of 1793. ]


[Variant 11:

1820.

To shew her yet some joys to me remain, 1793. ]


[Variant 12:

1820.

. . . with soft affection's ear, 1793. ]


[Variant 13:

1836.

. . . with lights between;
Gazing the tempting shades to them deny'd,
When stood the shorten'd herds amid' the tide,
Where, from the barren wall's unshelter'd end,
Long rails into the shallow lake extend; 1793.

When, at the barren wall's unsheltered end,
Where long rails far into the lake extend,
Crowded the shortened herds, and beat the tides
With their quick tails, and lash'd their speckled sides; 1820. ]


[Variant 14:

1836.

And round the humming elm, a glimmering scene!
In the brown park, in flocks, the troubl'd deer 1793.

. . . in herds, . . . 1820. ]


[Variant 15:

1820.

When horses in the wall-girt intake stood,
Unshaded, eying far below, the flood,
Crouded behind the swain, in mute distress,
With forward neck the closing gate to press;
And long, with wistful gaze, his walk survey'd,
'Till dipp'd his pathway in the river shade; 1793. ]


[Variant 16:

1845.

--Then Quiet led me up the huddling rill,
Bright'ning with water-breaks the sombrous gill; 1793.

--Then, while I wandered up the huddling rill
Brightening with water-breaks the sombrous ghyll, 1820.

Then, while I wandered where the huddling rill
Brightens with water-breaks the sombrous ghyll, 1836. ]


[Variant 17:

1820.

To where, while thick above the branches close,
In dark-brown bason its wild waves repose,
Inverted shrubs, and moss of darkest green,
Cling from the rocks, with pale wood-weeds between;
Save that, atop, the subtle sunbeams shine,
On wither'd briars that o'er the craggs recline;
Sole light admitted here, a small cascade,
Illumes with sparkling foam the twilight shade.
Beyond, along the visto of the brook,
Where antique roots its bustling path o'erlook,
The eye reposes on a secret bridge
Half grey, half shagg'd with ivy to its ridge.
--Sweet rill, farewel! . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 18:

1845.

But see aloft the subtle sunbeams shine,
On withered briars that o'er the crags recline;
Thus beautiful! as if the sight displayed,
By its own sparkling foam that small cascade;
Inverted shrubs, with moss of gloomy green
Cling from the rocks, with pale wood-weeds between. C.

Inverted shrubs with pale wood weeds between
Cling from the moss-grown rocks, a darksome green,
Save where aloft the subtle sunbeams shine
And its own twilight softens the whole scene.
And sparkling as it foams a small cascade
Illumines from within the impervious shade
Below, right in the vista of the brook,
Where antique roots, etc. MS. ]


[Variant 19:

1845.

Sole light admitted here, a small cascade,
Illumes with sparkling foam the impervious shade; 1820. ]


[Variant 20:

1827.

. . . path . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 21:

1845.

Whence hangs, in the cool shade, the listless swain
Lingering behind his disappearing wain. 1820. ]


[Variant 22:

1845.

--Sweet rill, . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 23:

1820.

. . . and . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 24:

1845.

And desert . . . 1793]


[Variant 25:

1820.

How pleasant, as the yellowing sun declines,
And with long rays and shades the landscape shines;
To mark the birches' stems all golden light,
That lit the dark slant woods with silvery white!
The willow's weeping trees, that twinkling hoar,
Glanc'd oft upturn'd along the breezy shore,
Low bending o'er the colour'd water, fold
Their moveless boughs and leaves like threads of gold;
The skiffs with naked masts at anchor laid,
Before the boat-house peeping thro' the shade;
Th' unwearied glance of woodman's echo'd stroke;
And curling from the trees the cottage smoke.
Their pannier'd train . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 26:

1845.

. . . zephyrs . . . 1820. ]


[Variant 27: This stanza was added in the edition of 1820. ]


[Variant 28:

1845.

This couplet was added in 1845. ]


[Variant 29:

1845.

And now the universal tides repose,
And, brightly blue, the burnished mirror glows, 1820. ]


[Variant 30:

1845.

The sails are dropped, the poplar's foliage sleeps,
And insects clothe, like dust, the glassy deeps.

This couplet followed l. 127 from 1820 to 1843. ]


[Variant 31:

1820

Shot, down the headlong pathway darts his sledge; 1793. ]


[Variant 32:

1820.

Beside their sheltering [i] cross of wall, the flock
Feeds on in light, nor thinks of winter's shock;

Only in the edition of 1793. ]


[Variant 33:

1820.

Dashed down . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 34:

1836.

. . . verdant . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 35:

1820.

Gazed by . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 36:

1836.

. . . his warrior head. 1793. ]


[Variant 37:

1836.

. . . haggard . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 38:

1836.
Whose state, like pine-trees, waving to and fro,
Droops, and o'er canopies his regal brow,

This couplet was inserted in the editions 1793 to 1832. ]


[Variant 39:

1820.

. . . blows . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 40: This couplet was first printed in the edition of 1820. ]


[Variant 41:

1836.

Bright'ning the cliffs between where sombrous pine,
And yew-trees . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 42:

1836.

How busy the enormous hive within, 1793. ]


[Variant 43:

1836.

. . . with the . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 44:

1836.

Some hardly heard their chissel's clinking sound, 1793. ]


[Variant 45:

1836.

. . . th' aereal . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 46:

1815.

. . . viewless . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 47:

1836.

Glad from their airy baskets hang and sing. 1793. ]


[Variant 48:

1836.

Hung o'er a cloud, above the steep that rears 1793. ]


[Variant 49:

1820.

It's . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 50:

1845.

And now it touches on the purple steep
That flings his shadow on the pictur'd deep. 1793.

That flings its image . . . 1832.

And now the sun has touched the purple steep
Whose softened image penetrates the deep. 1836. ]


[Variant 51:

1836.

The coves . . . 1793]


[Variant 52:

1836.

The gilded turn arrays in richer green
Each speck of lawn the broken rocks between; 1793.

. . . invests with richer green 1820. ]


[Variant 53:

1827.

. . . boles . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 54:

1827.

. . . in . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 55:

1836.

That, barking busy 'mid the glittering rocks,
Hunts, where he points, the intercepted flocks; 1793. ]


[Variant 56:

1845.

The Druid stones [ii] their lighted fane unfold, 1793.

. . . a burnished ring unfold; 1836. ]


[Variant 57:

1827.

. . . sinks . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 58:

1845.

In these lone vales, if aught of faith may claim,
Thin silver hairs, and ancient hamlet fame;
When up the hills, as now, retreats the light,
Strange apparitions mock the village sight. 1793.

In these secluded vales, if village fame,
Confirmed by silver hairs, belief may claim;
When up the hills, as now, retired the light,
Strange apparitions mocked the gazer's sight. 1820.

. . . shepherd's sight. 1836. ]


[Variant 59:

1836.

A desperate form appears, that spurs his steed,
Along the midway cliffs with violent speed; 1793. ]


[Variant 60:

1836.

Anon, in order mounts a gorgeous show
Of horsemen shadows winding to and fro; 1793. ]


[Variant 61: This line was added in 1820. ]


[Variant 62:

1820.

. . . is gilt with evening's beam, 1793. ]


[Variant 63:

1849.

. . . of the . . . 1836. ]


[Variant 64:

1836.

Lost gradual o'er the heights in pomp they go,
While silent stands th' admiring vale below;
Till, but the lonely beacon all is fled,
That tips with eve's last gleam his spiry head. 1793.

Till, save the lonely beacon, . . . 1820.

In the edition of 1836 the seven lines of the printed
text--205-211--replaced these four lines of the editions 1793-1832. ]


[Variant 65:

1836.

On red slow-waving pinions . . . 1793. ]


[Variant 66:

1820.

And, fronting the bright west in stronger lines,
The oak its dark'ning boughs and foliage twines, 1793.

The edition of 1815 omitted this couplet. It was restored in its final
form in the edition of 1820. ]


[Variant 67:

1836.

I love beside the glowing lake to stray, 1793.

How pleasant near the tranquil lake to stray, 1815. ]


[Variant 68:

1836.

. . . to stray,
Where winds the road along the secret bay;
By rills that tumble down the woody steeps,
And run in transport to the dimpling deeps;
Along the "wild meand'ring shore" to view,
Obsequious Grace the winding swan pursue. 1793.

. . . a secret bay; 1813.

. . . meandering shore" . . . 1815. ]


[Variant 69:

1836.

He swells his lifted chest, and backward flings
His bridling neck between his tow'ring wings;
Stately, and burning in his pride, divides
And glorying looks around, the silent tides:
On as he floats, the silver'd waters glow,
Proud of the varying arch and moveless form of snow. 1793.

. . . his towering wings;
In all the majesty of ease divides, 1815. ]


[Variant 70:

1845.

. . . her beauty's pride
Forgets, unweary'd watching every side,
She calls them near, and with affection sweet
Alternately relieves their weary feet; 1793. ]


[Variant 71:

1836.

Long may ye roam these hermit waves that sleep,
In birch-besprinkl'd cliffs embosom'd deep;
These fairy holms untrodden, still, and green,
Whose shades protect the hidden wave serene;
Whence fragrance scents the water's desart gale,
The violet, and the [iii] lily of the vale; 1793.

Long may ye float upon these floods serene;
Yours be these holms untrodden, still, and green,
Whose leafy shades fence off the blustering gale,
Where breathes in peace the lily of the vale. 1827. ]


[Variant 72:

1820.

Where, tho' her far-off twilight ditty steal,
They not the trip of harmless milkmaid feel. 1793. ]


[Variant 73:

1836.

Yon tuft conceals your home, your cottage bow'r.
Fresh water rushes strew the verdant floor; 1793.

Yon isle conceals . . . 1820. ]


[Variant 74:

1836.

Thence issuing oft, unwieldly as ye stalk,
Ye crush with broad black feet your flow'ry walk; 1793.

Thence issuing often with unwieldly stalk,
With broad black feet ye crush your flow'ry walk; 1820. ]


[Variant 75:

1820.

Safe from your door ye hear at breezy morn, 1793. ]


[Variant 76:

1836.