The Prose Works were
collected
by Dr.
Wordsworth - 1
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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth
Edited by William Knight
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Title: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth
Volume 1 of 8
Author: (Edited by William Knight)
Release Date: November 23, 2003 [EBook #10219]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POETRY OF WORDSWORTH ***
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THE POETICAL WORKS
OF
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
EDITED BY
WILLIAM KNIGHT
VOL. I
1896
CONTENTS
Extract from the Conclusion of a Poem, composed in Anticipation of
leaving School
Written in very Early Youth
An Evening Walk
Lines written while Sailing in a Boat at Evening
Remembrance of Collins
Descriptive Sketches taken during a Pedestrian Tour among the Alps
Guilt and Sorrow; or, Incidents upon Salisbury Plain
Lines left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree, which stands near the lake of
Esthwaite, on a desolate part of the shore, commanding a beautiful
prospect
The Borderers
The Reverie of Poor Susan
1798
A Night Piece
We are Seven
Anecdote for Fathers
"A whirl-blast from behind the hill"
The Thorn
Goody Blake and Harry Gill
Her Eyes are Wild
Simon Lee, the Old Huntsman
Lines written in Early Spring
To my Sister
Expostulation and Reply
The Tables Turned
The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman
The Last of the Flock
The Idiot Boy
The Old Cumberland Beggar
Animal Tranquillity and Decay
APPENDIX I.
APPENDIX II.
APPENDIX III.
APPENDIX IV.
APPENDIX V.
APPENDIX VI.
APPENDIX VII.
APPENDIX VIII.
PREFACE
During the decade between 1879 and 1889 I was engaged in a detailed
study of Wordsworth; and, amongst other things, edited a library edition
of his Poetical Works in eight volumes, including the "Prefaces" and
"Appendices" to his Poems, and a few others of his Prose Works, such as
his 'Description of the Scenery of the Lakes in the North of England'.
This edition was published by Mr. Paterson, Edinburgh, at intervals
between the years 1882 and 1886: and it was followed in 1889 by a 'Life
of Wordsworth', in three volumes, which was a continuation of the
previous eight.
The present edition is not a reproduction of those eleven volumes of
1882-9. It is true that to much of the editorial material included in
the latter--as well as in my 'Memorials of Coleorton', and in 'The
English Lake District as interpreted in the Poems of Wordsworth'--I can
add little that is new; but the whole of what was included in these
books has been revised, corrected, and readjusted in this one [1].
'Errata' in the previous volumes are corrected: several thousand new
notes have been added, many of the old ones are entirely recast: the
changes of text, introduced by Wordsworth into the successive editions
of his Poems, have all been revised; new readings--derived from many MS.
sources--have been added: while the chronological order of the Poems
has, in several instances, been changed, in the light of fresh evidence.
The distinctive features of my edition of 1882-6 were stated in the
Preface to its first volume. So far as these features remain in the
present edition, they may be repeated as follows:
FIRST, the Poems are arranged in chronological order of composition, not
of publication. In all the collective editions issued by Wordsworth
during his lifetime, the arrangement of his poems in artificial groups,
based on their leading characteristics--a plan first adopted in
1815--was adhered to; although he not unfrequently transferred a poem
from one group to another. Here they are printed, with one or two
exceptions to be afterwards explained, in the order in which they were
written.
SECOND, the changes of text made by Wordsworth in the successive
editions of his Poems, are given in footnotes, with the dates of the
changes.
THIRD, suggested changes, written by the Poet on a copy of the
stereotyped edition of 1836-7--long kept at Rydal Mount, and bought,
after Mrs. Wordsworth's death, at the sale of a portion of the Library
at the Mount--are given in footnotes.
FOURTH, the Notes dictated by Wordsworth to Miss Isabella Fenwick--a
dear friend of the Rydal Mount household, and a woman of remarkable
character and faculty--which tell the story of his Poems, and the
circumstances under which each was written, are printed in full.
FIFTH, Topographical Notes--explanatory of allusions made by Wordsworth
to localities in the Lake District of England, to places in Scotland,
Somersetshire, Yorkshire, the Isle of Man, and others on the Continent
of Europe--are given, either at the close of the Poem in which the
allusions occur, or as footnotes to the passages they illustrate.
SIXTH, several complete Poems, and other fragments of verse, not
included in any edition of his Works published during Wordsworth's
lifetime, or since, are printed as an appendix to Volume VIII.
SEVENTH, a new Bibliography of the Poems and Prose Works, and of the
several editions issued in England and America, from 1793 to 1850, is
added.
EIGHTH, a new Life of the Poet is given.
These features of the edition of 1882-6 are preserved in that of 1896,
and the following are added:
FIRST, The volumes are published, not in library 8vo size, but--as the
works of every poet should be issued--in one more convenient to handle,
and to carry. Eight volumes are devoted to the Poetical Works, and among
them are included those fragments by his sister Dorothy, and others,
which Wordsworth published in his lifetime among his own Poems. They are
printed in the chronological order of composition, so far as that is
known.
SECOND, In the case of each Poem, any Note written by Wordsworth
himself, as explanatory of it, comes first, and has the initials W. W. ,
with the date of its first insertion placed after it. Next follows the
Fenwick Note, within square brackets, thus [ ], and signed I. F. ; and,
afterwards, any editorial note required. When, however, Wordsworth's own
notes were placed at the end of the Poems, or at the foot of the page,
his plan is adopted, and the date appended. I should have been glad, had
it been possible--the editors of the twentieth century may note this--to
print Wordsworth's own notes, the Fenwick notes, and the Editor's in
different type, and in type of a decreasing size; but the idea occurred
to me too late, i. e. after the first volume had been passed for press.
THIRD, All the Prose Works of Wordsworth are given in full, and follow
the Poems, in two volumes. The Prose Works were collected by Dr.
Grosart, and published in 1876. Extracts from them have since been
edited by myself and others: but they will now be issued, like the
Poems, in chronological order, under their own titles, and with such
notes as seem desirable.
FOURTH, All the Journals written by Dorothy Wordsworth at Alfoxden, Dove
Cottage, and elsewhere, as well as her record of Tours with her brother
in Scotland, on the Continent, etc. , are published--some of them in
full, others only in part. An explanation of why any Journal is
curtailed will be found in the editorial note preceding it. Much new
material will be found in these Journals.
FIFTH, The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth--with a few from
Mary and Dora Wordsworth--are arranged chronologically, and published by
themselves. Hitherto, these letters have been scattered in many
quarters--in the late Bishop of Lincoln's 'Memoirs' of his uncle, in
'The Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson',
in the 'Memorials of Coleorton' and my own 'Life' of the Poet, in the
'Prose Works', in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth Society', in the
'Letters of Charles Lamb', in the 'Memorials of Thomas De Quincey', and
other volumes; but many more, both of Wordsworth's and his sister's,
have never before seen the light. More than a hundred and fifty letters
from Dorothy Wordsworth to Mrs. Clarkson, the wife of the great
"slave-liberator," were sent to me some time ago by Mrs. Arthur
Tennyson, a relative of Mrs. Clarkson; and I have recently seen and been
allowed to copy, Wordsworth's letters to his early friend Francis
Wrangham, through the kindness of their late owner, Mr. Mackay of The
Grange, Trowbridge. Many other letters of great interest have recently
reached me.
SIXTH, In addition to a new Bibliography, and a Chronological Table of
the Poems, and the Prose Works, a Bibliography of Wordsworth Criticism
is appended. It includes most of the articles on the Poet, and notices
of his Works, which have appeared in Great Britain, America, and the
Continent of Europe. Under this head I have specially to thank Mrs.
Henry A. St. John of Ithaca, N. Y. , a devoted Transatlantic
Wordsworthian, who has perhaps done more than any one--since Henry
Reed--to promote the study of her favourite poet in America. Mrs. St.
John's Wordsworth collection is unique, and her knowledge and enthusiasm
are as great as her industry has been. Professor E. Legouis of the
University of Lyons--who wrote an interesting book on Wordsworth's
friend, 'Le General Michel Beaupuy' (1891)--has sent me material from
France, which will be found in its proper place. Frau Professor Gothein
of Bonn, who has translated many of Wordsworth's poems into German, and
written his life, 'William Wordsworth: sein Leben, seine Werke, seine
Zeitgenossen', (1893), has similarly helped me in reference to German
criticism.
SEVENTH, As the Poet's Letters, and his sister's Journals, will appear
in earlier volumes, the new 'Life of Wordsworth' will be much shorter
than that which was published in 1889, in three volumes 8vo. It will not
exceed a single volume.
EIGHTH, In the edition of 1882-6, each volume contained an etching of a
locality associated with Wordsworth. The drawings were made by John
M'Whirter, R. A. , in water-colour; and they were afterwards etched by Mr.
C. O. Murray. One portrait by Haydon was prefixed to the first volume of
the 'Life'. In each volume of this edition--Poems, Prose Works,
Journals, Letters, and Life--there will be a new portrait, either of the
poet, or his wife, or sister, or daughter; and also a small vignette of
a place associated with, or memorialised by Wordsworth in some way. The
following will be the arrangement.
Vol. PORTRAITS / VIGNETTES
THE POEMS.
I. W. Wordsworth, by W. Shuter. Cockermouth.
II. " " by Robert Hancock. Dame Tyson's Cottage, Hawkshead.
III. " " by Edward Nash. Room in St. John's College, Cambridge.
IV. " " by Richard Carruthers. Racedown, Dorsetshire.
V. " " by William Boxall. Alfoxden, Somersetshire.
VI. " " by Henry William Pickersgill. Goslar.
VII. " " by Margaret Gillies. Dove Cottage.
VIII. " " by Benjamin R. Haydon. The Rock of Names, Thirlmere.
THE PROSE WORKS.
IX. " " by Henry Inman. Gallow Hill, Yorkshire.
X. " " by Margaret Gillies. Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire.
THE JOURNALS.
XI. Dorothy Wordsworth, (Artist unknown). Allan Bank, Grasmere.
XII. Mary Wordsworth, by Margaret Gillies. Rydal Mount.
CORRESPONDENCE.
XIII. Dora Wordsworth, by Margaret Gillies. Bolton Abbey.
XIV. W. Wordsworth, by Edward C. Wyon. Blea Tarn.
XV. " " by Thomas Woolner. Peele Castle.
THE LIFE.
XVI. " " by Frederick Thrupp. Grasmere Church and Churchyard.
" " by Samuel Laurence.
" " by Benjamin R. Haydon.
All the etchings will be prepared by H. Manesse. The portraits, with
many others, will be described in detail in a subsequent volume.
In all editorial notes the titles given by Wordsworth to his Poems are
invariably printed in italics, not with inverted commas before and
after, as Wordsworth himself so often printed them: and when he gave no
title to a poem, its first line will be invariably placed within
inverted commas. This plan of using Italics, and not Roman letters,
applies also to the title of any book referred to by Wordsworth, or by
his sister in her Journals. Whether they put the title in italics, or
within commas, it is always italicised in this edition.
A subsidiary matter such as this becomes important when one finds that
many editors of parts of the Works of Wordsworth, or of Selections from
them, have invented titles of their own; and have sent their volumes to
press without the slightest indication to their readers that the titles
were not Wordsworth's; mixing up their own notion of what best described
the contents of the Poem, or the Letter, with those of the writer. Some
have suppressed Wordsworth's, and put their own title in its place!
Others have contented themselves (more modestly) with inventing a title
when Wordsworth gave none. I do not object to these titles in
themselves. Several, such as those by Archbishop Trench, are suggestive
and valuable. What I object to is that any editor--no matter who--should
mingle his own titles with those of the Poet, and give no indication to
the reader as to which is which. Dr. Grosart has been so devoted a
student of Wordsworth, and we owe him so much, that one regrets to find
in "The Prose Works of Wordsworth" (1876) the following title given to
his letter to the Bishop of Llandaff, 'Apology for the French
Revolution'. It is interesting to know that Dr. Grosart thought this a
useful description of the letter: but a clear indication should have
been given that it was not Wordsworth's. It is true that, in the general
preface to his volumes, Dr. Grosart takes upon himself the
responsibility for this title; but it should not have been printed as
the title in chief, or as the headline to the text. Similarly, with the
titles of the second and third of the three 'Essays on Epitaphs'.
As students of Wordsworth know, he issued a volume in 1838 containing
all his sonnets then written; and, at the close of that edition, he
added, "The six Sonnets annexed were composed as this Volume was going
through the Press, but too late for insertion in the class of
miscellaneous ones to which they belong. " In 1884, Archbishop Trench
edited the sonnets, with an admirable introductory "Essay on the History
of the English Sonnet"; but, while Wordsworth gave no title to the 3rd
and the 4th of the six, "composed as the Volume was going through the
Press,"--either in his edition of 1838, 'or in any subsequent issue' of
his Poems--his editor did so. He gave what are really excellent titles,
but he does not tell us that they are his own! He calls them
respectively 'The Thrush at Twilight', and 'The Thrush at Dawn'.
Possibly Wordsworth would have approved of both of those titles: but,
that they are not his, should have been indicated.
I do not think it wise, from an editorial point of view, even to print
in a "Chronological Table"--as Professor Dowden has done, in his
admirable Aldine edition--titles which were not Wordsworth's, without
some indication to that effect. But, in the case of Selections from
Wordsworth--such as those of Mr. Hawes Turner, and Mr. A. J.
Symington,--every one must feel that the editor should have informed his
readers 'when' the title was Wordsworth's, and 'when' it was his own
coinage. In the case of a much greater man--and one of Wordsworth's most
illustrious successors in the great hierarchy of English poesy, Matthew
Arnold--it may be asked why should he have put 'Margaret, or the Ruined
Cottage', as the title of a poem written in 1795-7, when Wordsworth
never once published it under that name? It was an extract from the
first book of 'The Excursion'--written, it is true, in these early
years,--but only issued as part of the latter poem, first published in
1814.
The question of the number, the character, and the length of the Notes,
which a wise editor should append to the works of a great poet, (or to
any classic), is perhaps still 'sub judice'. My own opinion is that, in
all editorial work, the notes should be illustrative rather than
critical; and that they should only bring out those points, which the
ordinary reader of the text would not readily understand, if the poems
were not annotated. For this reason, topographical, historical, and
antiquarian notes are almost essential. The Notes which Wordsworth
himself wrote to his Poems, are of unequal length and merit. It was
perhaps necessary for him to write--at all events it is easy to
understand, and to sympathise with, his writing--the long note on the
revered parson of the Duddon Valley, the Rev. Robert Walker, who will be
remembered for many generations as the "Wonderful Walker. " The Poet's
editors have also been occasionally led to add digressive notes, to
clear up points which had been left by himself either dubious, or
obscure. I must plead guilty to the charge of doing so: e. g. the
identification of "The Muccawiss" (see 'The Excursion', book iii. l.
953) with the Whip-poor-Will involved a great deal of laborious
correspondence years ago. It was a question of real difficulty; and,
although the result reached could now be put into two or three lines, I
have thought it desirable that the opinions of those who wrote about it,
and helped toward the solution, should be recorded. What I print is only
a small part of the correspondence that took place.
On the other hand, it would be quite out of place, in a note to the
famous passage in the 4th book of 'The Excursion', beginning
. . .
The Prose Works were collected by Dr.
Grosart, and published in 1876. Extracts from them have since been
edited by myself and others: but they will now be issued, like the
Poems, in chronological order, under their own titles, and with such
notes as seem desirable.
FOURTH, All the Journals written by Dorothy Wordsworth at Alfoxden, Dove
Cottage, and elsewhere, as well as her record of Tours with her brother
in Scotland, on the Continent, etc. , are published--some of them in
full, others only in part. An explanation of why any Journal is
curtailed will be found in the editorial note preceding it. Much new
material will be found in these Journals.
FIFTH, The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth--with a few from
Mary and Dora Wordsworth--are arranged chronologically, and published by
themselves. Hitherto, these letters have been scattered in many
quarters--in the late Bishop of Lincoln's 'Memoirs' of his uncle, in
'The Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson',
in the 'Memorials of Coleorton' and my own 'Life' of the Poet, in the
'Prose Works', in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth Society', in the
'Letters of Charles Lamb', in the 'Memorials of Thomas De Quincey', and
other volumes; but many more, both of Wordsworth's and his sister's,
have never before seen the light. More than a hundred and fifty letters
from Dorothy Wordsworth to Mrs. Clarkson, the wife of the great
"slave-liberator," were sent to me some time ago by Mrs. Arthur
Tennyson, a relative of Mrs. Clarkson; and I have recently seen and been
allowed to copy, Wordsworth's letters to his early friend Francis
Wrangham, through the kindness of their late owner, Mr. Mackay of The
Grange, Trowbridge. Many other letters of great interest have recently
reached me.
SIXTH, In addition to a new Bibliography, and a Chronological Table of
the Poems, and the Prose Works, a Bibliography of Wordsworth Criticism
is appended. It includes most of the articles on the Poet, and notices
of his Works, which have appeared in Great Britain, America, and the
Continent of Europe. Under this head I have specially to thank Mrs.
Henry A. St. John of Ithaca, N. Y. , a devoted Transatlantic
Wordsworthian, who has perhaps done more than any one--since Henry
Reed--to promote the study of her favourite poet in America. Mrs. St.
John's Wordsworth collection is unique, and her knowledge and enthusiasm
are as great as her industry has been. Professor E. Legouis of the
University of Lyons--who wrote an interesting book on Wordsworth's
friend, 'Le General Michel Beaupuy' (1891)--has sent me material from
France, which will be found in its proper place. Frau Professor Gothein
of Bonn, who has translated many of Wordsworth's poems into German, and
written his life, 'William Wordsworth: sein Leben, seine Werke, seine
Zeitgenossen', (1893), has similarly helped me in reference to German
criticism.
SEVENTH, As the Poet's Letters, and his sister's Journals, will appear
in earlier volumes, the new 'Life of Wordsworth' will be much shorter
than that which was published in 1889, in three volumes 8vo. It will not
exceed a single volume.
EIGHTH, In the edition of 1882-6, each volume contained an etching of a
locality associated with Wordsworth. The drawings were made by John
M'Whirter, R. A. , in water-colour; and they were afterwards etched by Mr.
C. O. Murray. One portrait by Haydon was prefixed to the first volume of
the 'Life'. In each volume of this edition--Poems, Prose Works,
Journals, Letters, and Life--there will be a new portrait, either of the
poet, or his wife, or sister, or daughter; and also a small vignette of
a place associated with, or memorialised by Wordsworth in some way. The
following will be the arrangement.
Vol. PORTRAITS / VIGNETTES
THE POEMS.
I. W. Wordsworth, by W. Shuter. Cockermouth.
II. " " by Robert Hancock. Dame Tyson's Cottage, Hawkshead.
III. " " by Edward Nash. Room in St. John's College, Cambridge.
IV. " " by Richard Carruthers. Racedown, Dorsetshire.
V. " " by William Boxall. Alfoxden, Somersetshire.
VI. " " by Henry William Pickersgill. Goslar.
VII. " " by Margaret Gillies. Dove Cottage.
VIII. " " by Benjamin R. Haydon. The Rock of Names, Thirlmere.
THE PROSE WORKS.
IX. " " by Henry Inman. Gallow Hill, Yorkshire.
X. " " by Margaret Gillies. Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire.
THE JOURNALS.
XI. Dorothy Wordsworth, (Artist unknown). Allan Bank, Grasmere.
XII. Mary Wordsworth, by Margaret Gillies. Rydal Mount.
CORRESPONDENCE.
XIII. Dora Wordsworth, by Margaret Gillies. Bolton Abbey.
XIV. W. Wordsworth, by Edward C. Wyon. Blea Tarn.
XV. " " by Thomas Woolner. Peele Castle.
THE LIFE.
XVI. " " by Frederick Thrupp. Grasmere Church and Churchyard.
" " by Samuel Laurence.
" " by Benjamin R. Haydon.
All the etchings will be prepared by H. Manesse. The portraits, with
many others, will be described in detail in a subsequent volume.
In all editorial notes the titles given by Wordsworth to his Poems are
invariably printed in italics, not with inverted commas before and
after, as Wordsworth himself so often printed them: and when he gave no
title to a poem, its first line will be invariably placed within
inverted commas. This plan of using Italics, and not Roman letters,
applies also to the title of any book referred to by Wordsworth, or by
his sister in her Journals. Whether they put the title in italics, or
within commas, it is always italicised in this edition.
A subsidiary matter such as this becomes important when one finds that
many editors of parts of the Works of Wordsworth, or of Selections from
them, have invented titles of their own; and have sent their volumes to
press without the slightest indication to their readers that the titles
were not Wordsworth's; mixing up their own notion of what best described
the contents of the Poem, or the Letter, with those of the writer. Some
have suppressed Wordsworth's, and put their own title in its place!
Others have contented themselves (more modestly) with inventing a title
when Wordsworth gave none. I do not object to these titles in
themselves. Several, such as those by Archbishop Trench, are suggestive
and valuable. What I object to is that any editor--no matter who--should
mingle his own titles with those of the Poet, and give no indication to
the reader as to which is which. Dr. Grosart has been so devoted a
student of Wordsworth, and we owe him so much, that one regrets to find
in "The Prose Works of Wordsworth" (1876) the following title given to
his letter to the Bishop of Llandaff, 'Apology for the French
Revolution'. It is interesting to know that Dr. Grosart thought this a
useful description of the letter: but a clear indication should have
been given that it was not Wordsworth's. It is true that, in the general
preface to his volumes, Dr. Grosart takes upon himself the
responsibility for this title; but it should not have been printed as
the title in chief, or as the headline to the text. Similarly, with the
titles of the second and third of the three 'Essays on Epitaphs'.
As students of Wordsworth know, he issued a volume in 1838 containing
all his sonnets then written; and, at the close of that edition, he
added, "The six Sonnets annexed were composed as this Volume was going
through the Press, but too late for insertion in the class of
miscellaneous ones to which they belong. " In 1884, Archbishop Trench
edited the sonnets, with an admirable introductory "Essay on the History
of the English Sonnet"; but, while Wordsworth gave no title to the 3rd
and the 4th of the six, "composed as the Volume was going through the
Press,"--either in his edition of 1838, 'or in any subsequent issue' of
his Poems--his editor did so. He gave what are really excellent titles,
but he does not tell us that they are his own! He calls them
respectively 'The Thrush at Twilight', and 'The Thrush at Dawn'.
Possibly Wordsworth would have approved of both of those titles: but,
that they are not his, should have been indicated.
I do not think it wise, from an editorial point of view, even to print
in a "Chronological Table"--as Professor Dowden has done, in his
admirable Aldine edition--titles which were not Wordsworth's, without
some indication to that effect. But, in the case of Selections from
Wordsworth--such as those of Mr. Hawes Turner, and Mr. A. J.
Symington,--every one must feel that the editor should have informed his
readers 'when' the title was Wordsworth's, and 'when' it was his own
coinage. In the case of a much greater man--and one of Wordsworth's most
illustrious successors in the great hierarchy of English poesy, Matthew
Arnold--it may be asked why should he have put 'Margaret, or the Ruined
Cottage', as the title of a poem written in 1795-7, when Wordsworth
never once published it under that name? It was an extract from the
first book of 'The Excursion'--written, it is true, in these early
years,--but only issued as part of the latter poem, first published in
1814.
The question of the number, the character, and the length of the Notes,
which a wise editor should append to the works of a great poet, (or to
any classic), is perhaps still 'sub judice'. My own opinion is that, in
all editorial work, the notes should be illustrative rather than
critical; and that they should only bring out those points, which the
ordinary reader of the text would not readily understand, if the poems
were not annotated. For this reason, topographical, historical, and
antiquarian notes are almost essential. The Notes which Wordsworth
himself wrote to his Poems, are of unequal length and merit. It was
perhaps necessary for him to write--at all events it is easy to
understand, and to sympathise with, his writing--the long note on the
revered parson of the Duddon Valley, the Rev. Robert Walker, who will be
remembered for many generations as the "Wonderful Walker. " The Poet's
editors have also been occasionally led to add digressive notes, to
clear up points which had been left by himself either dubious, or
obscure. I must plead guilty to the charge of doing so: e. g. the
identification of "The Muccawiss" (see 'The Excursion', book iii. l.
953) with the Whip-poor-Will involved a great deal of laborious
correspondence years ago. It was a question of real difficulty; and,
although the result reached could now be put into two or three lines, I
have thought it desirable that the opinions of those who wrote about it,
and helped toward the solution, should be recorded. What I print is only
a small part of the correspondence that took place.
On the other hand, it would be quite out of place, in a note to the
famous passage in the 4th book of 'The Excursion', beginning
. . . I have seen
A curious child applying to his ear
to enter on a discussion as to the extent of Wordsworth's debt--if
any--to the author of 'Gebir'. It is quite sufficient to print the
relative passage from Landor's poem at the foot of the page.
All the Notes written by Wordsworth himself in his numerous editions
will be found in this one, with the date of their first appearance
added. Slight textual changes, however, or casual 'addenda', are not
indicated, unless they are sufficiently important. Changes in the text
of notes have not the same importance to posterity, as changes in the
text of poems. In the preface to the Prose Works, reference will be made
to Wordsworth's alterations of his text. At present I refer only to his
own notes to his Poems. When they were written as footnotes to the page,
they remain footnotes still. When they were placed by him as prefaces to
his Poems, they retain that place in this edition; but when they were
appendix notes--as e. g. in the early editions of "Lyrical Ballads"--they
are now made footnotes to the Poems they illustrate. In such a case,
however, as the elaborate note to 'The Excursion', containing a reprint
of the 'Essay upon Epitaphs'--originally contributed to "The Friend"--it
is transferred to the Prose Works, to which it belongs by priority of
date; and, as it would be inexpedient to print it twice over, it is
omitted from the notes to 'The Excursion'.
As to the place which Notes to a poet's works should occupy, there is no
doubt that numerous and lengthy ones--however valuable, or even
necessary, by way of illustration,--disfigure the printed page; and some
prefer that they should be thrown all together at the end of each
volume, or at the close of a series; such as--in Wordsworth's case--"The
River Duddon," "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," 'The Prelude', 'The White Doe
of Rylstone', etc. I do not think, however, that many care to turn
repeatedly to the close of a series of poems, or the end of a volume, to
find an explanatory note, helped only by an index number, and when
perhaps even that does not meet his eye at the foot of the page. I do
not find that even ardent Wordsworth students like to search for notes
in "appendices"; and perhaps the more ardent they are the less desirable
is it for them thus "to hunt the waterfalls. "
I have the greatest admiration for the work which Professor Dowden has
done in his edition of Wordsworth; but the 'plan' which he has followed,
in his Aldine edition, of giving not only the Fenwick Notes, but all the
changes of text introduced by Wordsworth into his successive editions,
in additional editorial notes at the end of each volume--to understand
which the reader must turn the pages repeatedly, from text to note and
note to text, forwards and backwards, at times distractingly--is for
practical purposes almost unworkable. The reader who examines Notes
'critically' is ever "one among a thousand," even if they are printed at
the foot of the page, and meet the eye readily. If they are consigned to
the realm of 'addenda' they will be read by very few, and studied by
fewer.
To those who object to Notes being "thrust into view" (as it must be
admitted that they are in this edition)--because it disturbs the
pleasure of the reader who cares for the poetry of Wordsworth, and for
the poetry alone--I may ask how many persons have read the Fenwick
Notes, given together in a series, and mixed up heterogeneously with
Wordsworth's own Notes to his poems, in comparison with those who have
read and enjoyed them in the editions of 1857 and 1863? Professor Dowden
justifies his plan of relegating the Fenwick and other notes to the end
of each volume of his edition, on the ground that students of the Poet
'must' take the trouble of hunting to and fro for such things. I greatly
doubt if many who have read and profited--for they could not but
profit--by a perusal of Professor Dowden's work, 'have' taken that
trouble, or that future readers of the Aldine edition will take it.
To refer, somewhat more in detail, to the features of this edition.
FIRST. As to the 'Chronological Order' of the Poems.
The chief advantage of a chronological arrangement of the Works of any
author--and especially of a poet who himself adopted a different
plan--is that it shows us, as nothing else can do, the growth of his own
mind, the progressive development of his genius and imaginative power.
By such a redistribution of what he wrote we can trace the rise, the
culmination, and also--it may be--the decline and fall of his genius.
Wordsworth's own arrangement--first adopted in the edition of 1815--was
designed by him, with the view of bringing together, in separate
classes, those Poems which referred to the same (or similar) subjects,
or which were supposed to be the product of the same (or a similar)
faculty, irrespective of the date of composition. Thus one group was
entitled "Poems of the Fancy," another "Poems of the Imagination," a
third "Poems proceeding from Sentiment and Reflection," a fourth
"Epitaphs and Elegiac Pieces," again "Poems on the Naming of Places,"
"Memorials of Tours," "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," "Miscellaneous Sonnets,"
etc. The principle which guided him in this was obvious enough. It was,
in some respects, a most natural arrangement; and, in now adopting a
chronological order, the groups, which he constructed with so much care,
are broken up. Probably every author would attach more importance to a
classification of his Works, which brought them together under
appropriate headings, irrespective of date, than to a method of
arrangement which exhibited the growth of his own mind; and it may be
taken for granted that posterity would not think highly of any author
who attached special value to this latter element. None the less
posterity may wish to trace the gradual development of genius, in the
imaginative writers of the past, by the help of such a subsequent
rearrangement of their Works.
There are difficulties, however, in the way of such a rearrangement,
some of which, in Wordsworth's case, cannot be entirely surmounted. In
the case of itinerary Sonnets, referring to the same subject, the
dismemberment of a series--carefully arranged by their author--seems to
be specially unnatural. But Wordsworth himself sanctioned the principle.
If there was a fitness in collecting all his sonnets in one volume in
the year 1838, out of deference to the wishes of his friends, in order
that these poems might be "brought under the eye at once"--thus removing
them from their original places, in his collected works--it seems
equally fitting now to rearrange them chronologically, as far as it is
possible to do so. It will be seen that it is not always possible.
Then, there is the case of two Poems following each other, in
Wordsworth's own arrangement, by natural affinity; such as the 'Epistle
to Sir George Beaumont', written in 1811, which in almost all existing
editions is followed by the Poem written in 1841, and entitled, 'Upon
perusing the foregoing Epistle thirty years after its composition'; or,
the dedication to 'The White Doe of Rylstone', written in April 1815,
while the Poem itself was written in 1807. To separate these Poems seems
unnatural; and, as it would be inadmissible to print the second of the
two twice over--once as a sequel to the first poem, and again in its
chronological place--adherence to the latter plan has its obvious
disadvantage in the case of these poems.
Mr. Aubrey de Vere is very desirous that I should arrange all the "Poems
dedicated to National Independence and Liberty" together in series, as
Wordsworth left them, "on the principle that, though the order of
publication should as a rule be the order of composition in poetry, all
rules require, as well as admit of, exceptions. " As I have the greatest
respect for the judgment of such an authority as Mr. de Vere, I may
explain that I only venture to differ from him because there are
seventy-four Poems--including the sonnets and odes--in this series, and
because they cover a period ranging from 1802 to 1815. I am glad,
however, that many of these sonnets can be printed together, especially
the earlier ones of 1802.
After carefully weighing every consideration, it has seemed to me
desirable to adopt the chronological arrangement in this particular
edition; in which an attempt is made to trace the growth of Wordsworth's
genius, as it is unfolded in his successive works. His own arrangement
of his Poems will always possess a special interest and value; and it is
not likely ever to be entirely superseded in subsequent issues of his
Works. The editors and publishers of the future may possibly prefer it
to the plan now adopted, and it will commend itself to many readers from
the mere fact that 'it was Wordsworth's own'; but in an edition such as
the present--which is meant to supply material for the study of the Poet
to those who may not possess, or have access to, the earlier and rarer
editions--no method of arrangement can be so good as the chronological
one. Its importance will be obvious after several volumes are published,
when the point referred to above--viz.
Edited by William Knight
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Title: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth
Volume 1 of 8
Author: (Edited by William Knight)
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THE POETICAL WORKS
OF
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
EDITED BY
WILLIAM KNIGHT
VOL. I
1896
CONTENTS
Extract from the Conclusion of a Poem, composed in Anticipation of
leaving School
Written in very Early Youth
An Evening Walk
Lines written while Sailing in a Boat at Evening
Remembrance of Collins
Descriptive Sketches taken during a Pedestrian Tour among the Alps
Guilt and Sorrow; or, Incidents upon Salisbury Plain
Lines left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree, which stands near the lake of
Esthwaite, on a desolate part of the shore, commanding a beautiful
prospect
The Borderers
The Reverie of Poor Susan
1798
A Night Piece
We are Seven
Anecdote for Fathers
"A whirl-blast from behind the hill"
The Thorn
Goody Blake and Harry Gill
Her Eyes are Wild
Simon Lee, the Old Huntsman
Lines written in Early Spring
To my Sister
Expostulation and Reply
The Tables Turned
The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman
The Last of the Flock
The Idiot Boy
The Old Cumberland Beggar
Animal Tranquillity and Decay
APPENDIX I.
APPENDIX II.
APPENDIX III.
APPENDIX IV.
APPENDIX V.
APPENDIX VI.
APPENDIX VII.
APPENDIX VIII.
PREFACE
During the decade between 1879 and 1889 I was engaged in a detailed
study of Wordsworth; and, amongst other things, edited a library edition
of his Poetical Works in eight volumes, including the "Prefaces" and
"Appendices" to his Poems, and a few others of his Prose Works, such as
his 'Description of the Scenery of the Lakes in the North of England'.
This edition was published by Mr. Paterson, Edinburgh, at intervals
between the years 1882 and 1886: and it was followed in 1889 by a 'Life
of Wordsworth', in three volumes, which was a continuation of the
previous eight.
The present edition is not a reproduction of those eleven volumes of
1882-9. It is true that to much of the editorial material included in
the latter--as well as in my 'Memorials of Coleorton', and in 'The
English Lake District as interpreted in the Poems of Wordsworth'--I can
add little that is new; but the whole of what was included in these
books has been revised, corrected, and readjusted in this one [1].
'Errata' in the previous volumes are corrected: several thousand new
notes have been added, many of the old ones are entirely recast: the
changes of text, introduced by Wordsworth into the successive editions
of his Poems, have all been revised; new readings--derived from many MS.
sources--have been added: while the chronological order of the Poems
has, in several instances, been changed, in the light of fresh evidence.
The distinctive features of my edition of 1882-6 were stated in the
Preface to its first volume. So far as these features remain in the
present edition, they may be repeated as follows:
FIRST, the Poems are arranged in chronological order of composition, not
of publication. In all the collective editions issued by Wordsworth
during his lifetime, the arrangement of his poems in artificial groups,
based on their leading characteristics--a plan first adopted in
1815--was adhered to; although he not unfrequently transferred a poem
from one group to another. Here they are printed, with one or two
exceptions to be afterwards explained, in the order in which they were
written.
SECOND, the changes of text made by Wordsworth in the successive
editions of his Poems, are given in footnotes, with the dates of the
changes.
THIRD, suggested changes, written by the Poet on a copy of the
stereotyped edition of 1836-7--long kept at Rydal Mount, and bought,
after Mrs. Wordsworth's death, at the sale of a portion of the Library
at the Mount--are given in footnotes.
FOURTH, the Notes dictated by Wordsworth to Miss Isabella Fenwick--a
dear friend of the Rydal Mount household, and a woman of remarkable
character and faculty--which tell the story of his Poems, and the
circumstances under which each was written, are printed in full.
FIFTH, Topographical Notes--explanatory of allusions made by Wordsworth
to localities in the Lake District of England, to places in Scotland,
Somersetshire, Yorkshire, the Isle of Man, and others on the Continent
of Europe--are given, either at the close of the Poem in which the
allusions occur, or as footnotes to the passages they illustrate.
SIXTH, several complete Poems, and other fragments of verse, not
included in any edition of his Works published during Wordsworth's
lifetime, or since, are printed as an appendix to Volume VIII.
SEVENTH, a new Bibliography of the Poems and Prose Works, and of the
several editions issued in England and America, from 1793 to 1850, is
added.
EIGHTH, a new Life of the Poet is given.
These features of the edition of 1882-6 are preserved in that of 1896,
and the following are added:
FIRST, The volumes are published, not in library 8vo size, but--as the
works of every poet should be issued--in one more convenient to handle,
and to carry. Eight volumes are devoted to the Poetical Works, and among
them are included those fragments by his sister Dorothy, and others,
which Wordsworth published in his lifetime among his own Poems. They are
printed in the chronological order of composition, so far as that is
known.
SECOND, In the case of each Poem, any Note written by Wordsworth
himself, as explanatory of it, comes first, and has the initials W. W. ,
with the date of its first insertion placed after it. Next follows the
Fenwick Note, within square brackets, thus [ ], and signed I. F. ; and,
afterwards, any editorial note required. When, however, Wordsworth's own
notes were placed at the end of the Poems, or at the foot of the page,
his plan is adopted, and the date appended. I should have been glad, had
it been possible--the editors of the twentieth century may note this--to
print Wordsworth's own notes, the Fenwick notes, and the Editor's in
different type, and in type of a decreasing size; but the idea occurred
to me too late, i. e. after the first volume had been passed for press.
THIRD, All the Prose Works of Wordsworth are given in full, and follow
the Poems, in two volumes. The Prose Works were collected by Dr.
Grosart, and published in 1876. Extracts from them have since been
edited by myself and others: but they will now be issued, like the
Poems, in chronological order, under their own titles, and with such
notes as seem desirable.
FOURTH, All the Journals written by Dorothy Wordsworth at Alfoxden, Dove
Cottage, and elsewhere, as well as her record of Tours with her brother
in Scotland, on the Continent, etc. , are published--some of them in
full, others only in part. An explanation of why any Journal is
curtailed will be found in the editorial note preceding it. Much new
material will be found in these Journals.
FIFTH, The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth--with a few from
Mary and Dora Wordsworth--are arranged chronologically, and published by
themselves. Hitherto, these letters have been scattered in many
quarters--in the late Bishop of Lincoln's 'Memoirs' of his uncle, in
'The Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson',
in the 'Memorials of Coleorton' and my own 'Life' of the Poet, in the
'Prose Works', in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth Society', in the
'Letters of Charles Lamb', in the 'Memorials of Thomas De Quincey', and
other volumes; but many more, both of Wordsworth's and his sister's,
have never before seen the light. More than a hundred and fifty letters
from Dorothy Wordsworth to Mrs. Clarkson, the wife of the great
"slave-liberator," were sent to me some time ago by Mrs. Arthur
Tennyson, a relative of Mrs. Clarkson; and I have recently seen and been
allowed to copy, Wordsworth's letters to his early friend Francis
Wrangham, through the kindness of their late owner, Mr. Mackay of The
Grange, Trowbridge. Many other letters of great interest have recently
reached me.
SIXTH, In addition to a new Bibliography, and a Chronological Table of
the Poems, and the Prose Works, a Bibliography of Wordsworth Criticism
is appended. It includes most of the articles on the Poet, and notices
of his Works, which have appeared in Great Britain, America, and the
Continent of Europe. Under this head I have specially to thank Mrs.
Henry A. St. John of Ithaca, N. Y. , a devoted Transatlantic
Wordsworthian, who has perhaps done more than any one--since Henry
Reed--to promote the study of her favourite poet in America. Mrs. St.
John's Wordsworth collection is unique, and her knowledge and enthusiasm
are as great as her industry has been. Professor E. Legouis of the
University of Lyons--who wrote an interesting book on Wordsworth's
friend, 'Le General Michel Beaupuy' (1891)--has sent me material from
France, which will be found in its proper place. Frau Professor Gothein
of Bonn, who has translated many of Wordsworth's poems into German, and
written his life, 'William Wordsworth: sein Leben, seine Werke, seine
Zeitgenossen', (1893), has similarly helped me in reference to German
criticism.
SEVENTH, As the Poet's Letters, and his sister's Journals, will appear
in earlier volumes, the new 'Life of Wordsworth' will be much shorter
than that which was published in 1889, in three volumes 8vo. It will not
exceed a single volume.
EIGHTH, In the edition of 1882-6, each volume contained an etching of a
locality associated with Wordsworth. The drawings were made by John
M'Whirter, R. A. , in water-colour; and they were afterwards etched by Mr.
C. O. Murray. One portrait by Haydon was prefixed to the first volume of
the 'Life'. In each volume of this edition--Poems, Prose Works,
Journals, Letters, and Life--there will be a new portrait, either of the
poet, or his wife, or sister, or daughter; and also a small vignette of
a place associated with, or memorialised by Wordsworth in some way. The
following will be the arrangement.
Vol. PORTRAITS / VIGNETTES
THE POEMS.
I. W. Wordsworth, by W. Shuter. Cockermouth.
II. " " by Robert Hancock. Dame Tyson's Cottage, Hawkshead.
III. " " by Edward Nash. Room in St. John's College, Cambridge.
IV. " " by Richard Carruthers. Racedown, Dorsetshire.
V. " " by William Boxall. Alfoxden, Somersetshire.
VI. " " by Henry William Pickersgill. Goslar.
VII. " " by Margaret Gillies. Dove Cottage.
VIII. " " by Benjamin R. Haydon. The Rock of Names, Thirlmere.
THE PROSE WORKS.
IX. " " by Henry Inman. Gallow Hill, Yorkshire.
X. " " by Margaret Gillies. Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire.
THE JOURNALS.
XI. Dorothy Wordsworth, (Artist unknown). Allan Bank, Grasmere.
XII. Mary Wordsworth, by Margaret Gillies. Rydal Mount.
CORRESPONDENCE.
XIII. Dora Wordsworth, by Margaret Gillies. Bolton Abbey.
XIV. W. Wordsworth, by Edward C. Wyon. Blea Tarn.
XV. " " by Thomas Woolner. Peele Castle.
THE LIFE.
XVI. " " by Frederick Thrupp. Grasmere Church and Churchyard.
" " by Samuel Laurence.
" " by Benjamin R. Haydon.
All the etchings will be prepared by H. Manesse. The portraits, with
many others, will be described in detail in a subsequent volume.
In all editorial notes the titles given by Wordsworth to his Poems are
invariably printed in italics, not with inverted commas before and
after, as Wordsworth himself so often printed them: and when he gave no
title to a poem, its first line will be invariably placed within
inverted commas. This plan of using Italics, and not Roman letters,
applies also to the title of any book referred to by Wordsworth, or by
his sister in her Journals. Whether they put the title in italics, or
within commas, it is always italicised in this edition.
A subsidiary matter such as this becomes important when one finds that
many editors of parts of the Works of Wordsworth, or of Selections from
them, have invented titles of their own; and have sent their volumes to
press without the slightest indication to their readers that the titles
were not Wordsworth's; mixing up their own notion of what best described
the contents of the Poem, or the Letter, with those of the writer. Some
have suppressed Wordsworth's, and put their own title in its place!
Others have contented themselves (more modestly) with inventing a title
when Wordsworth gave none. I do not object to these titles in
themselves. Several, such as those by Archbishop Trench, are suggestive
and valuable. What I object to is that any editor--no matter who--should
mingle his own titles with those of the Poet, and give no indication to
the reader as to which is which. Dr. Grosart has been so devoted a
student of Wordsworth, and we owe him so much, that one regrets to find
in "The Prose Works of Wordsworth" (1876) the following title given to
his letter to the Bishop of Llandaff, 'Apology for the French
Revolution'. It is interesting to know that Dr. Grosart thought this a
useful description of the letter: but a clear indication should have
been given that it was not Wordsworth's. It is true that, in the general
preface to his volumes, Dr. Grosart takes upon himself the
responsibility for this title; but it should not have been printed as
the title in chief, or as the headline to the text. Similarly, with the
titles of the second and third of the three 'Essays on Epitaphs'.
As students of Wordsworth know, he issued a volume in 1838 containing
all his sonnets then written; and, at the close of that edition, he
added, "The six Sonnets annexed were composed as this Volume was going
through the Press, but too late for insertion in the class of
miscellaneous ones to which they belong. " In 1884, Archbishop Trench
edited the sonnets, with an admirable introductory "Essay on the History
of the English Sonnet"; but, while Wordsworth gave no title to the 3rd
and the 4th of the six, "composed as the Volume was going through the
Press,"--either in his edition of 1838, 'or in any subsequent issue' of
his Poems--his editor did so. He gave what are really excellent titles,
but he does not tell us that they are his own! He calls them
respectively 'The Thrush at Twilight', and 'The Thrush at Dawn'.
Possibly Wordsworth would have approved of both of those titles: but,
that they are not his, should have been indicated.
I do not think it wise, from an editorial point of view, even to print
in a "Chronological Table"--as Professor Dowden has done, in his
admirable Aldine edition--titles which were not Wordsworth's, without
some indication to that effect. But, in the case of Selections from
Wordsworth--such as those of Mr. Hawes Turner, and Mr. A. J.
Symington,--every one must feel that the editor should have informed his
readers 'when' the title was Wordsworth's, and 'when' it was his own
coinage. In the case of a much greater man--and one of Wordsworth's most
illustrious successors in the great hierarchy of English poesy, Matthew
Arnold--it may be asked why should he have put 'Margaret, or the Ruined
Cottage', as the title of a poem written in 1795-7, when Wordsworth
never once published it under that name? It was an extract from the
first book of 'The Excursion'--written, it is true, in these early
years,--but only issued as part of the latter poem, first published in
1814.
The question of the number, the character, and the length of the Notes,
which a wise editor should append to the works of a great poet, (or to
any classic), is perhaps still 'sub judice'. My own opinion is that, in
all editorial work, the notes should be illustrative rather than
critical; and that they should only bring out those points, which the
ordinary reader of the text would not readily understand, if the poems
were not annotated. For this reason, topographical, historical, and
antiquarian notes are almost essential. The Notes which Wordsworth
himself wrote to his Poems, are of unequal length and merit. It was
perhaps necessary for him to write--at all events it is easy to
understand, and to sympathise with, his writing--the long note on the
revered parson of the Duddon Valley, the Rev. Robert Walker, who will be
remembered for many generations as the "Wonderful Walker. " The Poet's
editors have also been occasionally led to add digressive notes, to
clear up points which had been left by himself either dubious, or
obscure. I must plead guilty to the charge of doing so: e. g. the
identification of "The Muccawiss" (see 'The Excursion', book iii. l.
953) with the Whip-poor-Will involved a great deal of laborious
correspondence years ago. It was a question of real difficulty; and,
although the result reached could now be put into two or three lines, I
have thought it desirable that the opinions of those who wrote about it,
and helped toward the solution, should be recorded. What I print is only
a small part of the correspondence that took place.
On the other hand, it would be quite out of place, in a note to the
famous passage in the 4th book of 'The Excursion', beginning
. . .
The Prose Works were collected by Dr.
Grosart, and published in 1876. Extracts from them have since been
edited by myself and others: but they will now be issued, like the
Poems, in chronological order, under their own titles, and with such
notes as seem desirable.
FOURTH, All the Journals written by Dorothy Wordsworth at Alfoxden, Dove
Cottage, and elsewhere, as well as her record of Tours with her brother
in Scotland, on the Continent, etc. , are published--some of them in
full, others only in part. An explanation of why any Journal is
curtailed will be found in the editorial note preceding it. Much new
material will be found in these Journals.
FIFTH, The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth--with a few from
Mary and Dora Wordsworth--are arranged chronologically, and published by
themselves. Hitherto, these letters have been scattered in many
quarters--in the late Bishop of Lincoln's 'Memoirs' of his uncle, in
'The Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson',
in the 'Memorials of Coleorton' and my own 'Life' of the Poet, in the
'Prose Works', in the 'Transactions of the Wordsworth Society', in the
'Letters of Charles Lamb', in the 'Memorials of Thomas De Quincey', and
other volumes; but many more, both of Wordsworth's and his sister's,
have never before seen the light. More than a hundred and fifty letters
from Dorothy Wordsworth to Mrs. Clarkson, the wife of the great
"slave-liberator," were sent to me some time ago by Mrs. Arthur
Tennyson, a relative of Mrs. Clarkson; and I have recently seen and been
allowed to copy, Wordsworth's letters to his early friend Francis
Wrangham, through the kindness of their late owner, Mr. Mackay of The
Grange, Trowbridge. Many other letters of great interest have recently
reached me.
SIXTH, In addition to a new Bibliography, and a Chronological Table of
the Poems, and the Prose Works, a Bibliography of Wordsworth Criticism
is appended. It includes most of the articles on the Poet, and notices
of his Works, which have appeared in Great Britain, America, and the
Continent of Europe. Under this head I have specially to thank Mrs.
Henry A. St. John of Ithaca, N. Y. , a devoted Transatlantic
Wordsworthian, who has perhaps done more than any one--since Henry
Reed--to promote the study of her favourite poet in America. Mrs. St.
John's Wordsworth collection is unique, and her knowledge and enthusiasm
are as great as her industry has been. Professor E. Legouis of the
University of Lyons--who wrote an interesting book on Wordsworth's
friend, 'Le General Michel Beaupuy' (1891)--has sent me material from
France, which will be found in its proper place. Frau Professor Gothein
of Bonn, who has translated many of Wordsworth's poems into German, and
written his life, 'William Wordsworth: sein Leben, seine Werke, seine
Zeitgenossen', (1893), has similarly helped me in reference to German
criticism.
SEVENTH, As the Poet's Letters, and his sister's Journals, will appear
in earlier volumes, the new 'Life of Wordsworth' will be much shorter
than that which was published in 1889, in three volumes 8vo. It will not
exceed a single volume.
EIGHTH, In the edition of 1882-6, each volume contained an etching of a
locality associated with Wordsworth. The drawings were made by John
M'Whirter, R. A. , in water-colour; and they were afterwards etched by Mr.
C. O. Murray. One portrait by Haydon was prefixed to the first volume of
the 'Life'. In each volume of this edition--Poems, Prose Works,
Journals, Letters, and Life--there will be a new portrait, either of the
poet, or his wife, or sister, or daughter; and also a small vignette of
a place associated with, or memorialised by Wordsworth in some way. The
following will be the arrangement.
Vol. PORTRAITS / VIGNETTES
THE POEMS.
I. W. Wordsworth, by W. Shuter. Cockermouth.
II. " " by Robert Hancock. Dame Tyson's Cottage, Hawkshead.
III. " " by Edward Nash. Room in St. John's College, Cambridge.
IV. " " by Richard Carruthers. Racedown, Dorsetshire.
V. " " by William Boxall. Alfoxden, Somersetshire.
VI. " " by Henry William Pickersgill. Goslar.
VII. " " by Margaret Gillies. Dove Cottage.
VIII. " " by Benjamin R. Haydon. The Rock of Names, Thirlmere.
THE PROSE WORKS.
IX. " " by Henry Inman. Gallow Hill, Yorkshire.
X. " " by Margaret Gillies. Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire.
THE JOURNALS.
XI. Dorothy Wordsworth, (Artist unknown). Allan Bank, Grasmere.
XII. Mary Wordsworth, by Margaret Gillies. Rydal Mount.
CORRESPONDENCE.
XIII. Dora Wordsworth, by Margaret Gillies. Bolton Abbey.
XIV. W. Wordsworth, by Edward C. Wyon. Blea Tarn.
XV. " " by Thomas Woolner. Peele Castle.
THE LIFE.
XVI. " " by Frederick Thrupp. Grasmere Church and Churchyard.
" " by Samuel Laurence.
" " by Benjamin R. Haydon.
All the etchings will be prepared by H. Manesse. The portraits, with
many others, will be described in detail in a subsequent volume.
In all editorial notes the titles given by Wordsworth to his Poems are
invariably printed in italics, not with inverted commas before and
after, as Wordsworth himself so often printed them: and when he gave no
title to a poem, its first line will be invariably placed within
inverted commas. This plan of using Italics, and not Roman letters,
applies also to the title of any book referred to by Wordsworth, or by
his sister in her Journals. Whether they put the title in italics, or
within commas, it is always italicised in this edition.
A subsidiary matter such as this becomes important when one finds that
many editors of parts of the Works of Wordsworth, or of Selections from
them, have invented titles of their own; and have sent their volumes to
press without the slightest indication to their readers that the titles
were not Wordsworth's; mixing up their own notion of what best described
the contents of the Poem, or the Letter, with those of the writer. Some
have suppressed Wordsworth's, and put their own title in its place!
Others have contented themselves (more modestly) with inventing a title
when Wordsworth gave none. I do not object to these titles in
themselves. Several, such as those by Archbishop Trench, are suggestive
and valuable. What I object to is that any editor--no matter who--should
mingle his own titles with those of the Poet, and give no indication to
the reader as to which is which. Dr. Grosart has been so devoted a
student of Wordsworth, and we owe him so much, that one regrets to find
in "The Prose Works of Wordsworth" (1876) the following title given to
his letter to the Bishop of Llandaff, 'Apology for the French
Revolution'. It is interesting to know that Dr. Grosart thought this a
useful description of the letter: but a clear indication should have
been given that it was not Wordsworth's. It is true that, in the general
preface to his volumes, Dr. Grosart takes upon himself the
responsibility for this title; but it should not have been printed as
the title in chief, or as the headline to the text. Similarly, with the
titles of the second and third of the three 'Essays on Epitaphs'.
As students of Wordsworth know, he issued a volume in 1838 containing
all his sonnets then written; and, at the close of that edition, he
added, "The six Sonnets annexed were composed as this Volume was going
through the Press, but too late for insertion in the class of
miscellaneous ones to which they belong. " In 1884, Archbishop Trench
edited the sonnets, with an admirable introductory "Essay on the History
of the English Sonnet"; but, while Wordsworth gave no title to the 3rd
and the 4th of the six, "composed as the Volume was going through the
Press,"--either in his edition of 1838, 'or in any subsequent issue' of
his Poems--his editor did so. He gave what are really excellent titles,
but he does not tell us that they are his own! He calls them
respectively 'The Thrush at Twilight', and 'The Thrush at Dawn'.
Possibly Wordsworth would have approved of both of those titles: but,
that they are not his, should have been indicated.
I do not think it wise, from an editorial point of view, even to print
in a "Chronological Table"--as Professor Dowden has done, in his
admirable Aldine edition--titles which were not Wordsworth's, without
some indication to that effect. But, in the case of Selections from
Wordsworth--such as those of Mr. Hawes Turner, and Mr. A. J.
Symington,--every one must feel that the editor should have informed his
readers 'when' the title was Wordsworth's, and 'when' it was his own
coinage. In the case of a much greater man--and one of Wordsworth's most
illustrious successors in the great hierarchy of English poesy, Matthew
Arnold--it may be asked why should he have put 'Margaret, or the Ruined
Cottage', as the title of a poem written in 1795-7, when Wordsworth
never once published it under that name? It was an extract from the
first book of 'The Excursion'--written, it is true, in these early
years,--but only issued as part of the latter poem, first published in
1814.
The question of the number, the character, and the length of the Notes,
which a wise editor should append to the works of a great poet, (or to
any classic), is perhaps still 'sub judice'. My own opinion is that, in
all editorial work, the notes should be illustrative rather than
critical; and that they should only bring out those points, which the
ordinary reader of the text would not readily understand, if the poems
were not annotated. For this reason, topographical, historical, and
antiquarian notes are almost essential. The Notes which Wordsworth
himself wrote to his Poems, are of unequal length and merit. It was
perhaps necessary for him to write--at all events it is easy to
understand, and to sympathise with, his writing--the long note on the
revered parson of the Duddon Valley, the Rev. Robert Walker, who will be
remembered for many generations as the "Wonderful Walker. " The Poet's
editors have also been occasionally led to add digressive notes, to
clear up points which had been left by himself either dubious, or
obscure. I must plead guilty to the charge of doing so: e. g. the
identification of "The Muccawiss" (see 'The Excursion', book iii. l.
953) with the Whip-poor-Will involved a great deal of laborious
correspondence years ago. It was a question of real difficulty; and,
although the result reached could now be put into two or three lines, I
have thought it desirable that the opinions of those who wrote about it,
and helped toward the solution, should be recorded. What I print is only
a small part of the correspondence that took place.
On the other hand, it would be quite out of place, in a note to the
famous passage in the 4th book of 'The Excursion', beginning
. . . I have seen
A curious child applying to his ear
to enter on a discussion as to the extent of Wordsworth's debt--if
any--to the author of 'Gebir'. It is quite sufficient to print the
relative passage from Landor's poem at the foot of the page.
All the Notes written by Wordsworth himself in his numerous editions
will be found in this one, with the date of their first appearance
added. Slight textual changes, however, or casual 'addenda', are not
indicated, unless they are sufficiently important. Changes in the text
of notes have not the same importance to posterity, as changes in the
text of poems. In the preface to the Prose Works, reference will be made
to Wordsworth's alterations of his text. At present I refer only to his
own notes to his Poems. When they were written as footnotes to the page,
they remain footnotes still. When they were placed by him as prefaces to
his Poems, they retain that place in this edition; but when they were
appendix notes--as e. g. in the early editions of "Lyrical Ballads"--they
are now made footnotes to the Poems they illustrate. In such a case,
however, as the elaborate note to 'The Excursion', containing a reprint
of the 'Essay upon Epitaphs'--originally contributed to "The Friend"--it
is transferred to the Prose Works, to which it belongs by priority of
date; and, as it would be inexpedient to print it twice over, it is
omitted from the notes to 'The Excursion'.
As to the place which Notes to a poet's works should occupy, there is no
doubt that numerous and lengthy ones--however valuable, or even
necessary, by way of illustration,--disfigure the printed page; and some
prefer that they should be thrown all together at the end of each
volume, or at the close of a series; such as--in Wordsworth's case--"The
River Duddon," "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," 'The Prelude', 'The White Doe
of Rylstone', etc. I do not think, however, that many care to turn
repeatedly to the close of a series of poems, or the end of a volume, to
find an explanatory note, helped only by an index number, and when
perhaps even that does not meet his eye at the foot of the page. I do
not find that even ardent Wordsworth students like to search for notes
in "appendices"; and perhaps the more ardent they are the less desirable
is it for them thus "to hunt the waterfalls. "
I have the greatest admiration for the work which Professor Dowden has
done in his edition of Wordsworth; but the 'plan' which he has followed,
in his Aldine edition, of giving not only the Fenwick Notes, but all the
changes of text introduced by Wordsworth into his successive editions,
in additional editorial notes at the end of each volume--to understand
which the reader must turn the pages repeatedly, from text to note and
note to text, forwards and backwards, at times distractingly--is for
practical purposes almost unworkable. The reader who examines Notes
'critically' is ever "one among a thousand," even if they are printed at
the foot of the page, and meet the eye readily. If they are consigned to
the realm of 'addenda' they will be read by very few, and studied by
fewer.
To those who object to Notes being "thrust into view" (as it must be
admitted that they are in this edition)--because it disturbs the
pleasure of the reader who cares for the poetry of Wordsworth, and for
the poetry alone--I may ask how many persons have read the Fenwick
Notes, given together in a series, and mixed up heterogeneously with
Wordsworth's own Notes to his poems, in comparison with those who have
read and enjoyed them in the editions of 1857 and 1863? Professor Dowden
justifies his plan of relegating the Fenwick and other notes to the end
of each volume of his edition, on the ground that students of the Poet
'must' take the trouble of hunting to and fro for such things. I greatly
doubt if many who have read and profited--for they could not but
profit--by a perusal of Professor Dowden's work, 'have' taken that
trouble, or that future readers of the Aldine edition will take it.
To refer, somewhat more in detail, to the features of this edition.
FIRST. As to the 'Chronological Order' of the Poems.
The chief advantage of a chronological arrangement of the Works of any
author--and especially of a poet who himself adopted a different
plan--is that it shows us, as nothing else can do, the growth of his own
mind, the progressive development of his genius and imaginative power.
By such a redistribution of what he wrote we can trace the rise, the
culmination, and also--it may be--the decline and fall of his genius.
Wordsworth's own arrangement--first adopted in the edition of 1815--was
designed by him, with the view of bringing together, in separate
classes, those Poems which referred to the same (or similar) subjects,
or which were supposed to be the product of the same (or a similar)
faculty, irrespective of the date of composition. Thus one group was
entitled "Poems of the Fancy," another "Poems of the Imagination," a
third "Poems proceeding from Sentiment and Reflection," a fourth
"Epitaphs and Elegiac Pieces," again "Poems on the Naming of Places,"
"Memorials of Tours," "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," "Miscellaneous Sonnets,"
etc. The principle which guided him in this was obvious enough. It was,
in some respects, a most natural arrangement; and, in now adopting a
chronological order, the groups, which he constructed with so much care,
are broken up. Probably every author would attach more importance to a
classification of his Works, which brought them together under
appropriate headings, irrespective of date, than to a method of
arrangement which exhibited the growth of his own mind; and it may be
taken for granted that posterity would not think highly of any author
who attached special value to this latter element. None the less
posterity may wish to trace the gradual development of genius, in the
imaginative writers of the past, by the help of such a subsequent
rearrangement of their Works.
There are difficulties, however, in the way of such a rearrangement,
some of which, in Wordsworth's case, cannot be entirely surmounted. In
the case of itinerary Sonnets, referring to the same subject, the
dismemberment of a series--carefully arranged by their author--seems to
be specially unnatural. But Wordsworth himself sanctioned the principle.
If there was a fitness in collecting all his sonnets in one volume in
the year 1838, out of deference to the wishes of his friends, in order
that these poems might be "brought under the eye at once"--thus removing
them from their original places, in his collected works--it seems
equally fitting now to rearrange them chronologically, as far as it is
possible to do so. It will be seen that it is not always possible.
Then, there is the case of two Poems following each other, in
Wordsworth's own arrangement, by natural affinity; such as the 'Epistle
to Sir George Beaumont', written in 1811, which in almost all existing
editions is followed by the Poem written in 1841, and entitled, 'Upon
perusing the foregoing Epistle thirty years after its composition'; or,
the dedication to 'The White Doe of Rylstone', written in April 1815,
while the Poem itself was written in 1807. To separate these Poems seems
unnatural; and, as it would be inadmissible to print the second of the
two twice over--once as a sequel to the first poem, and again in its
chronological place--adherence to the latter plan has its obvious
disadvantage in the case of these poems.
Mr. Aubrey de Vere is very desirous that I should arrange all the "Poems
dedicated to National Independence and Liberty" together in series, as
Wordsworth left them, "on the principle that, though the order of
publication should as a rule be the order of composition in poetry, all
rules require, as well as admit of, exceptions. " As I have the greatest
respect for the judgment of such an authority as Mr. de Vere, I may
explain that I only venture to differ from him because there are
seventy-four Poems--including the sonnets and odes--in this series, and
because they cover a period ranging from 1802 to 1815. I am glad,
however, that many of these sonnets can be printed together, especially
the earlier ones of 1802.
After carefully weighing every consideration, it has seemed to me
desirable to adopt the chronological arrangement in this particular
edition; in which an attempt is made to trace the growth of Wordsworth's
genius, as it is unfolded in his successive works. His own arrangement
of his Poems will always possess a special interest and value; and it is
not likely ever to be entirely superseded in subsequent issues of his
Works. The editors and publishers of the future may possibly prefer it
to the plan now adopted, and it will commend itself to many readers from
the mere fact that 'it was Wordsworth's own'; but in an edition such as
the present--which is meant to supply material for the study of the Poet
to those who may not possess, or have access to, the earlier and rarer
editions--no method of arrangement can be so good as the chronological
one. Its importance will be obvious after several volumes are published,
when the point referred to above--viz.
