They took their final
position
in the edition of 1836.
William Wordsworth
More high, to where creation seems to end,
Shade above shade the desert pines ascend. 1815.
. . . the aerial pines . . . 1820.
Shade above shade, the aerial pines ascend,
Nor stop but where creation seems to end. 1836. ]
[Variant 63:
1845.
(Compressing eight lines into four. )
Yet, with his infants, man undaunted creeps
And hangs his small wood-hut upon the steeps,
Where'er, below, amid the savage scene
Peeps out a little speck of smiling green.
A garden-plot the mountain air perfumes,
Mid the dark pines a little orchard blooms;
A zig-zag path from the domestic skiff,
Threading the painful crag, surmounts the cliff. 1815.
. . . wood-cabin on the steeps. 1820.
. . . the desert air perfumes, 1820.
Thridding the painful crag, . . . 1832.
Yet, wheresoe'er amid the savage scene
Peeps out a little spot of smiling green,
Man with his babes undaunted thither creeps,
And hangs his small wood-hut upon the steeps.
A garden-plot . . . 1836. ]
[Variant 64:
1845.
--Before those hermit doors, that never know 1815.
--Before those lonesome doors, . . . 1836. ]
[Variant 65:
1845.
The grassy seat beneath their casement shade
The pilgrim's wistful eye hath never stayed. 1815.
The shady porch ne'er offered a cool seat
To pilgrims overpowered by summer's heat. 1836. ]
[Variants 66 and 67: See Appendix III. --Ed. ]
[Variant 68:
1845.
Lines 246 to 253 were previously:
--There, did the iron Genius not disdain
The gentle Power that haunts the myrtle plain,
There might the love-sick Maiden sit, and chide
Th' insuperable rocks and severing tide,
There watch at eve her Lover's sun-gilt sail
Approaching, and upbraid the tardy gale,
There list at midnight, till is heard no more,
Below, the echo of his parting oar,
There hang in fear, when growls the frozen stream, [v]
To guide his dangerous tread, the taper's gleam. 1815.
There might the maiden chide, in love-sick mood,
The insuperable rocks and severing flood; 1836.
At midnight listen till his parting oar,
And its last echo, can be heard no more. 1836.
Yet tender thoughts dwell there, no solitude
Hath power youth's natural feelings to exclude;
There doth the maiden watch her lover's sail
Approaching, and upbraid the tardy gale. C. ]
[Variant 69:
1845.
Mid stormy vapours ever driving by,
Where ospreys, cormorants, and herons cry; 1815.
Where ospreys, cormorants, and herons cry,
'Mid stormy vapours ever driving by, 1836. ]
[Variant 70:
1836.
Where hardly given the hopeless waste to cheer,
Denied the bread of life the foodful ear, 1815.
Hovering o'er rugged wastes too bleak to rear
That common growth of earth, the foodful ear; 1820. ]
[Variant 71:
1820.
Dwindles the pear on autumn's latest spray,
And apple sickens pale in summer's ray; 1815. ]
[Variant 72:
1845.
Ev'n here Content has fixed her smiling reign 1815. ]
[Variant 73:
1845.
And often grasps her sword, and often eyes:
Her crest a bough of Winter's bleakest pine,
Strange "weeds" and alpine plants her helm entwine,
And wildly-pausing oft she hangs aghast,
While thrills the "Spartan fife" between the blast. 1815.
Flowers of the loftiest Alps her helm entwine;
And, wildly pausing, oft she hangs aghast,
As thrills . . . 1836.
And oft at Fancy's call she stands aghast,
As if some old Swiss air had checked her haste,
Or thrill of Spartan fife were caught between the blast. C. ]
[Variant 74:
1845.
'Tis storm; and, hid in mist from hour to hour, 1815. ]
[Variant 75:
1845.
Glances the fire-clad eagle's wheeling form; 1815.
. . . glorious form; 1836. ]
[Variant 76:
1845.
Wide o'er the Alps a hundred streams unfold, 1815.
Those eastern cliffs . . . 1836. ]
[Variant 77:
1845.
. . . strives to shun
The west . . . 1815.
. . . tries to shun
The _west_, . . . 1836. ]
[Variant 78:
1845.
Where in a mighty crucible expire
The mountains, glowing hot, like coals of fire. 1815. ]
[Variant 79:
1836.
While burn in his full eyes the glorious tears. 1820. ]
[Variant 80:
1836.
Exalt, and agitate . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 81:
1836.
On Zutphen's plain; or where, with soften'd gaze,
The old grey stones the plaided chief surveys;
Can guess the high resolve, the cherished pain
Of him whom passion rivets to the plain, 1820. ]
[Variant 82:
1836.
And watch, from pike to pike, amid the sky
Small as a bird the chamois-chaser fly, 1820. ]
[Variant 83:
1836.
Thro' worlds where Life, and Sound, and Motion sleep;
Where Silence still her death-like reign extends,
Save when the startling cliff unfrequent rends:
In the deep snow the mighty ruin drowned,
Mocks the dull ear . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 84:
1836.
While the near moon, that coasts the vast profound,
Wheels pale and silent her diminished round, 1820. ]
[Variant 85:
1827.
Flying more fleet than vision can pursue! 1820. ]
[Variant 86:
1836.
Then with Despair's whole weight his spirits sink,
No bread to feed him, and the snow his drink,
While, ere his eyes . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 87:
1836.
Hence shall we turn where, heard with fear afar, 1820. ]
[Variant 88:
1836.
. . . from . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 89:
1836.
Nought but the herds that pasturing upward creep,
Hung dim-discover'd from the dangerous steep,
Or summer hamlet, flat and bare, on high
Suspended, mid the quiet of the sky. 1815. ]
[Variant 90:
1836.
Broke only by the melancholy sound 1815. ]
[Variant 91: The two previous lines were added in 1836. ]
[Variant 92:
1832.
Save that, the stranger seen below, . . . 1815. ]
[Variant 93:
1836.
When warm from myrtle bays and tranquil seas,
Comes on, to whisper hope, the vernal breeze,
When hums the mountain bee in May's glad ear,
And emerald isles to spot the heights appear, 1815. ]
[Variant 94:
When fragrant scents beneath th' enchanted tread
Spring up, his choicest wealth around him spread,
Inserted in the editions 1815 to 1832. ]
[Variant 95:
1836.
The pastoral Swiss begins the cliffs to scale,
To silence leaving the deserted vale, 1815]
[Variant 96:
1836.
Mounts, where the verdure leads, from stage to stage,
And pastures on, as in the Patriarch's age: 1815. ]
[Variant 97:
1836.
O'er lofty heights serene and still they go, 1815. ]
[Variant 98:
1836.
(Omitting the first of the two following couplets. )
They cross the chasmy torrent's foam-lit bed,
Rocked on the dizzy larch's narrow tread;
Or steal beneath loose mountains, half deterr'd,
That sigh and shudder to the lowing herd. 1815. ]
[Variant 99: This couplet was added in the edition of 1836. ]
[Variant 100:
1836.
Lines 380-385 were previously:
--I see him, up the midway cliff he creeps
To where a scanty knot of verdure peeps,
Thence down the steep a pile of grass he throws,
The fodder of his herds in winter snows. 1815. ]
[Variant 101:
1836.
. . . to what tradition hoar
Transmits of days more blest . . . 1815. ]
[Variant 102:
1845.
Then Summer lengthened out his season bland,
And with rock-honey flowed the happy land. 1815.
Then Summer lingered long; and honey flowed
Out of the rocks, the wild bees' safe abode. 1836. ]
[Variant 103:
1836.
Continual fountains . . . 1815. ]
[Variant 104:
1836.
Nor Hunger forced the herds from pastures bare
For scanty food the treacherous cliffs to dare. 1815. ]
[Variant 105:
1836.
Then the milk-thistle bade those herds demand
Three times a day the pail and welcome hand. 1815. ]
[Variant 106:
1836.
Thus does the father to his sons relate,
On the lone mountain top, their changed estate. 1815. ]
[Variant 107:
1836.
But human vices have provoked the rod 1815.
In the editions 1815-1832 this and the following line preceded lines
399-400.
They took their final position in the edition of 1836. ]
[Variant 108:
1836.
. . . whose vales and mountains round 1820. ]
[Variant 109:
1836.
(Compressing eight lines into six. )
. . . to awful silence bound.
A gulf of gloomy blue, that opens wide
And bottomless, divides the midway tide.
Like leaning masts of stranded ships appear
The pines that near the coast their summits rear;
Of cabins, woods, and lawns a pleasant shore
Bounds calm and clear the chaps still and hoar;
Loud thro' that midway gulf ascending, sound
Unnumber'd streams with hollow roar profound: 1820. ]
[Variant 110:
1836.
Mount thro' the nearer mist the chaunt of birds,
And talking voices, and the low of herds,
The bark of dogs, the drowsy tinkling bell,
And wild-wood mountain lutes of saddest swell. 1820. ]
[Variant 111:
1836.
Think not, suspended from the cliff on high,
He looks below with undelighted eye. 1820. ]
[Variant 112: This couplet was added in the edition of 1836. ]
[Variant 113:
1836.
--No vulgar joy is his, at even tide
Stretch'd on the scented mountain's purple side. 1820. ]
[Variant 114:
1836.
While Hope, that ceaseless leans on Pleasure's urn, 1820. ]
[Variant 115:
1836.
. . . by vestal . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 116:
1836.
. . . native . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 117:
1832.
He marches with his flute, his book, and sword; 1820. ]
[Variant 118:
1845.
. . . wonderous . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 119:
1840.
. . . glorious . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 120:
1836.
Uncertain thro' his fierce uncultured soul
Like lighted tempests troubled transports roll;
To viewless realms his Spirit towers amain, 1820. ]
[Variant 121:
1836.
And oft, when pass'd that solemn vision by, 1820. ]
[Variant 122:
1836.
Where the dread peal . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 123:
1836.
--When the Sun bids the gorgeous scene farewell,
Alps overlooking Alps their state up-swell;
Huge Pikes of Darkness named, of Fear and Storms,
Lift, all serene, their still, illumined forms, 1820. ]
[Variant 124:
1845.
--Great joy, by horror tam'd, dilates his heart,
And the near heavens their own delights impart. 1820.
In the editions 1820-1832 this couplet preceded the four lines above
quoted.
Fear in his breast with holy love unites,
And the near heavens impart their own delights. 1836. ]
[Variant 125:
1836.
That hut which from the hills his eyes employs
So oft, the central point of all his joys, 1815.
. . . his eye . . . 1832. ]
[Variant 126:
1836
And as a swift, by tender cares opprest,
Peeps often ere she dart into her nest,
So to the untrodden floor, where round him looks
His father, helpless as the babe he rocks,
Oft he descends to nurse the brother pair, 1820. ]
[Variant 127:
1820.
Where, . . . 1815. ]
[Variant 128:
1836.
Rush down the living rocks with whirlwind sound. 1815. ]
[Variant 129:
1820.
Content . . . 1815. ]
[Variant 130:
1836.
. . . consecrate . . . 1815. ]
[Variant 131: The following lines were erased in 1836, and in all
subsequent editions:
"Here," cried a swain, whose venerable head
Bloom'd with the snow-drops of Man's narrow bed,
Last night, while by his dying fire, as clos'd
The day, in luxury my limbs repos'd,
Here Penury oft from misery's mount will guide
Ev'n to the summer door his icy tide,
And here the avalanche of Death destroy
The little cottage of domestic Joy. 1793. ]
. . . a Swain, upon whose hoary head
The "blossoms of the grave" were thinly spread, 1820.
. . . a thoughtful Swain, upon whose head 1827. ]
[Variant 132:
1836.
But, ah! the unwilling mind . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 133:
1836.
The churlish gales, that unremitting blow
Cold from necessity's continual snow, 1820. ]
[Variant 134:
1836.
To us . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 135:
1836.
. . . a never-ceasing . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 136:
1836.
The father, as his sons of strength become
To pay the filial debt, for food to roam, 1820. ]
[Variant 137:
1836.
From his bare nest . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 138:
1836.
His last dread pleasure! watches . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 139:
1836.
When the poor heart has all its joys resigned,
Why does their sad remembrance cleave behind? 1820. ]
[Variant 140:
1836.
Soft o'er the waters mournful measures swell,
Unlocking tender thought's "memorial cell";
Past pleasures are transformed to mortal pains
And poison spreads along the listener's veins. 1820.
While poison . . . 1827. ]
[Variant 141:
1836.
Fair smiling lights the purpled hills illume! 1815. ]
[Variant 142:
1836.
Soft . . . 1815. ]
[Variant 143:
1836.
Soon flies the little joy to man allowed,
And grief before him travels like a cloud: 1815. ]
[Variant 144:
1836. (Expanding four lines into six. )
For come Diseases on, and Penury's rage,
Labour, and Care, and Pain, and dismal Age,
Till, Hope-deserted, long in vain his breath
Implores the dreadful untried sleep of Death. 1815. ]
[Variant 145:
1836.
A Temple stands; which holds an awful shrine, 1815. ]
[Variant 146:
1836.
Pale, dreadful faces round the Shrine appear, 1815. ]
[Variant 147:
1836. After this line the editions of 1815-1832 have the following
couplet:
While strives a secret Power to hush the crowd,
Pain's wild rebellious burst proclaims her rights aloud,
and this is followed by lines 545-6 of the final text. ]
[Variant 148:
1836.
From 1815 to 1832, the following two couplets followed line 546. The
first of these was withdrawn in 1836.
Mid muttering prayers all sounds of torment meet,
Dire clap of hands, distracted chafe of feet;
While loud and dull ascends the weeping cry,
Surely in other thoughts contempt may die. 1815. ]
[Variant 149:
1836.
--The tall Sun, tiptoe . . . 1820. ]
[Variant 150:
1836.
At such an hour there are who love to stray,
And meet the advancing Pilgrims ere the day 1820.
Now let us meet the Pilgrims ere the day
Close on the remnant of their weary way; 1827. ]
[Variant 151:
1836.
For ye are drawing tow'rd that sacred floor,
Where the charmed worm of pain shall gnaw no more. 1820.
While they are drawing toward the sacred floor 1827. ]
[Variant 152:
1827.
.
