Part 14
“Her brow hath opened on me--see it there, Brightening the umbrage of her hair; So gleams the crescent moon, that loves To be descried thro’ shady groves. Tenderest bloom is on her cheek; Wish not for a richer streak; Nor _dread the depth of meditative eye_; But let thy love, upon that azure field Of thoughtfulness and beauty, yield Its homage offered up in purity. What would’st thou more? In sunny glade, Or under leaves of thickest shade, Was such a stillness e’er diffused Since earth grew calm while angels mused? Softly she treads, as if her foot were loth To crush the mountain dew-drop--soon to melt, On the flower’s breast; as if she felt That flowers themselves, whate’er their hue, With all their fragrance, all their glistening, Call to the heart for inward listening-- And tho’ for bridal wreaths and tokens true Welcomed wisely; tho’ a growth Which the careless shepherd sleeps on, As fitly spring from turf the mourner weeps on-- And without wrong are cropped the marble tomb to strew.
And now the charm is over;
----“the mute phantom’s gone, Nor will return--but droop not, favoured youth, The apparition that before thee shone Obeyed a summons covetous of truth. From these wild rocks thy footsteps I will guide To bowers in which thy fortunes may be tried, And one of the bright three become thy happy bride.”
A fairer subject than this, for the imagination of the true painter, does scarcely exist in poetry. The gorgeous magnificence of Miss Southey--the wild, bird-like nature of Dora, the mystic, spiritual, meditative beauty of Miss Coleridge. Here is material enough for the highest effort of art.
A number of poems followed this exquisite “Triad”--viz., “The Wishing Gate,” in 1828--“The Lawn,” “Presentiments,” “The Primrose on the Rock,” “Devotional Incitements;” these last were written between 1828 and ’32. A number of gold and silver fishes presented to the poet by Miss H. J. Jewsbury, who subsequently died of the cholera in India,--and afterwards removed to the pond already alluded to, under the oak in “Dora’s field,” suggested the verses “Gold and Silver Fishes in a Vase,” and likewise “Liberty,” and “Humanity;” “The Poet and the caged Turtle Dove” was likewise suggested by real circumstances. Miss Jewsbury had given Dora a pair of these beautiful birds; one of them was killed by an _un_-necessary cat, and not a “harmless one;” the other survived many years, and had a habit of cooing the moment Wordsworth began “booing” his poems, as the country people called it.
Wordsworth gives an amusing account of a visit which he paid about this time to “Chatsworth.” He had undertaken to ride his daughter’s pony from Westmoreland to Cambridge, that she might have the use of it during a visit she was about to make to her uncle at Trinity; and on his way from Bakewell to Matlock, he turned off to see the splendid mansion of the great Duke of Devonshire. By-and-bye a tremendous storm came on, and the poet was drenched through to the very skin, whilst the pony, to make his rider’s seat the more easy, went “slantwise” all the way to Derby. Notwithstanding this, however, and the pelting of the pitiless storm, Wordsworth managed to hold sweet and sad converse with his muse, and composed his “Lines to the Memory of Sir George Beaumont,” who died 7th February, 1827. It is a picture which we cannot readily forget, and shows how completely the poet was master of himself. Sir George Beaumont and his lady were friends and benefactors of Wordsworth--he loved them both intensely. Walking through the grounds and gardens of Coleorton with Sir George--the successor in the Baronetcy to his friend--and after the death of Lady Beaumont, which took place in 1822, he comes suddenly to her ladyship’s grotto, near the fountain, and is overwhelmed with his feelings, and the recollection of the dead, and the happy memories which rush over his mind in connection with this place, so that he cannot speak for tears. On his return home he wrote the elegiac musings, already mentioned in these memoirs, which are full of love, and the sanctity of a sweet sorrow. In the same year (1831) were composed “The Armenian Lady’s Love,” “The Egyptian Maid,” and “The Russian Fugitive,” poems in which all the beauties of language are pressed, along with the simplicity which marks the old English ballads. Lines on his portrait, painted by Pickersgill, and preserved with sacred veneration in St. John’s College, Cambridge, were likewise written in this year, as well as the inscription already quoted, for the stone at Rydal.
Besides these poetical compositions, however, Wordsworth interested himself in public affairs; and having fixed principles of political and social economy in his own mind, regarded all public measures at variance with them, as fatal errors, and subversive in their consequences of the highest human concerns. In 1806, he wrote a letter to a friend, who had consulted him respecting the education of his daughter--in which he gives some sound and excellent advice respecting the training and development of youthful minds. For Wordsworth had at an early period devoted his attention to the subject of education, and had his own views respecting it--views which were marked by the spiritual peculiarity of his mind. When he wrote “The Excursion,” he seems to have had the highest hopes for man, when education should become universal; and insisted that the State should teach those to obey, from whom she exacted allegiance:--
“O for the coming of that glorious time, When, prizing knowledge, as her noblest work And best protection, this imperial realm While she exacts allegiance, shall admit An obligation on her part to _teach_ Them who are born to serve her and obey; Binding herself, by statute, to secure For all the children whom her soil maintains The rudiments of letters, and inform The mind with moral and religious truth, Both understood, and practised.”
_Excursion_, Book ix.
He was an avowed enemy, however, at a later period--for his views respecting the _modus operandi_ of teaching, had undergone some change since “The Excursion” was written--to all Infant Schools, Madras Systems, and Bell Systems. The former he regarded as usurping the functions of motherly duty; the latter, as dead mechanism. Speaking of the education of girls, he says:--“I will back Shenstone’s ‘School Mistress,’ by her winter fire, and in her summer garden seat, against all Dr. Bell’s sour-looking teachers in petticoats. What is the use of pushing on the education of girls so fast, and moving by the stimulus of Emulation, who, to say nothing worse of her, is cousin-german to Envy? What are you to do with these girls? What demand is there for the ability that they may have prematurely acquired? Will they not be indisposed to bend to any kind of hard labour or drudgery? And yet many of them must submit to it, or go wrong. The mechanism of the Bell System is not required in small places; praying after the _fugleman_, is not like praying at a mother’s knee. The Bellites overlook the difference: they talk about moral discipline; but wherein does it encourage the imaginative feelings? in short, what she practically understands is of little amount, and too apt to become the slave of the bad passions. I dislike _display_ in everything; above all, in education.... The old dame (Shenstone’s) did not affect to make theologians and logicians; but she taught to read; and she practised the memory, often no doubt by rote, but still the faculty was improved; something, perhaps, she explained, but trusted the _rest_ to parents and masters, and to the pastor of the parish. I am sure as good daughters, as good servants, as good mothers and wives, were brought up at that time as now, when the world is so much less humble-minded. A hand full of employment, and a head not above it, with such principles and habits as may be acquired _without_ the Madras machine, are the best security for the chastity of wives of the lower rank.”
The above extract is from a letter dated 1828, and addressed to the Rev. Hugh Jones Rose, formerly principal of King’s College, London. It exemplifies, in a very striking manner, the change which had come over Wordsworth’s mind upon the subject of education, and does not strike me as being particularly creditable to him.
On the 13th of April, 1836, Wordsworth took part in the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of certain new schools, about to be erected at Bowness, Windermere, and made a speech upon the occasion; in which he advocates a very humble kind of instruction for the working classes; forgetting that man is to be educated because he _is a man_, and not neglected because he happens to be one of the “lower orders.” I have no sympathy with this foolish cant about educating people according to their station, and am sorry that Wordsworth’s sanction can be quoted in its favour. I must reserve what I have to say upon this subject, however, for my analysis of the mind and writings of the poet.
In 1835, Wordsworth published his “Yarrow Revisited, and other Poems.” Speaking of “Yarrow Re-visited,” he says: “In the autumn of 1831, my daughter and I set off from Rydal, to visit Sir Walter Scott, before his departure for Italy. This journey had been delayed by an inflammation in my eyes, till we found that the time appointed for his leaving home would be too near for him to receive us without considerable inconvenience. Nevertheless we proceeded, and reached Abbotsford on Monday. I was then scarcely able to lift up my eyes to the light. How sadly changed did I find him from the man I had seen so healthy, gay, and hopeful, a few years before, when he said, at the inn at Patterdale, in my presence, his daughter, Ann, also being there, with Mr. Lockhart, my own wife and daughter, and Mr. Quillinan: ‘I mean to live till I am eighty, and shall write as long as I live.’ Though we had none of us the least thought of the cloud of misfortune which was then going to break upon his head, I was startled, and almost shocked, at that bold saying, which could scarcely be uttered by such a man, without a momentary forgetfulness of the instability of human life. But to return to Abbotsford. The inmates and guests we found there, were Sir Walter, Major Scott, Anne Scott, and Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart; Mr. Laidlaw, a very old friend of Sir Walter’s; one of Burns’s sons, an officer of the Indian service, had left the house the day before, and had kindly expressed his regret that he could not wait my arrival, a regret that I may truly say was mutual. In the evening, Mr. and Mrs. Liddell sang, and Mrs. Lockhart chaunted old ballads to her harp; and Mr. Allan, hanging over the back of a chair, told, and acted, odd stories in a humourous way. With this exhibition, and his daughters’ singing, Sir Walter was much amused, and, indeed, so were we all, as far as circumstances would allow.”
On the following morning (Tuesday) Sir Walter accompanied Wordsworth, and most of his friends, to Newark Castle, on the Yarrow, and it was upon this occasion that the lines, “Yarrow Revisited,” were written. On the morning of Thursday following, when the poet left Abbotsford, he had a serious conversation with Sir Walter, who spoke with gratitude of the happy life he had led. Sir Walter wrote also a few lines in Dora’s album, addressed to her; and when he presented her with the book, in his study, he said: “I should not have done a thing of this kind, but for your father’s sake; they are probably the last verses I shall ever write.” “They shew,” says, Wordsworth, “how much his mind was impaired; not by the strain of thought, but by the execution--some of the lines being imperfect, and one stanza wanting corresponding rhymes.” Poor Sir Walter!--what a spectacle it was to see that colossal intellect tumbling into ruins.
Several poems were the result of this short tour, beside the “Yarrow Revisited,”--such as “The Place of Burial,” “On the Sight of a Manse in the South of Scotland,” &c., &c.--Wordsworth’s health, too, was much improved by this tour, and a violent inflammation of the eyes--a complaint to which he was much subject,--left him whilst walking through the Highlands, by the side of his “open carriage,” driven by Dora!
Amongst the poems contained in the volume entitled, “Yarrow Revisited,” were many of a political character, for they were written between the years 1830 and 1834, when the Revolution of France, and the Reform party in England, were agitating society to its centre. Wordsworth now hated revolution, and reform also; was opposed to a large and enlightened system of education; and to the admission of Dissenters to the Universities. His plea was the old constitution of things, which could not, he thought, be mended without being broken up and destroyed. “Since the introduction of the Reform Bill, I have been persuaded,” he says, “that the Constitution of England cannot be preserved. It is a question, however, of time.” The poem entitled, “The Warning,” will give the best idea of Wordsworth’s strong political opinions and feelings at this time. As a contrast, however, to these narrow yet patriotic views, we turn to the “Evening Voluntaries,” a collection of sweet poems, which were published in the same volume as the “Yarrow.” They were written on a high part of the coast of Cumberland, on April 7th (Easter Sunday), the author’s 63rd birth-day, between Moresby and Whitehaven, whilst he was on a visit to his son, who was then rector of Moresby.--Very beautiful, indeed, are these poems, which read like twilight vespers in some old abbey’s chancel. Wordsworth says of them--“With the exception of the eighth and ninth, this succession of voluntaries originated in the concluding lines of the last paragraph of this poem, [i.e. of the poem, written on the author’s birth-day, and marked No. 2, in the “Voluntaries,” commencing, “The sun that seemed so mildly to retire.”] With this coast I have been familiar from my earliest childhood, and remember being struck, for the first time, by the town and port of Whitehaven, and the white waves breaking against its quays and piers, as the whole came into my view from the top of the high ground, down which the road, that has since been altered, descended abruptly. My sister, when she first heard the voice of the sea from this point, and beheld the scene spread before her, burst into tears. Our family then lived at Cockermouth, and this fact was often mentioned amongst us, indicating the sensibility for which she was remarkable.”
As a specimen of the “Evening Voluntaries,” take the following:--
“Calm is the air, and loth to lose Day’s grateful warmth, tho’ moist with falling dews. Look for the stars, you’ll say that there are none; Look up a second time, and one by one, You mark them twinkling out with silvery light, And wonder how they could elude the sight! The birds, of late so noisy in their bowers, Warbled awhile with faint and fainter powers, But now are silent as the dim-seen flowers. Nor does the village church clock’s iron tone The time’s and season’s influence disown; Nine beats distinctly to each other bound In drowsy sequence--how unlike the sound That in rough winter, oft inflicts a fear On fireside listeners, doubting what they hear! The shepherd, bent on rising with the sun, Had closed his door before the day was done, And now with thankful heart to bed doth creep, And joins the little children in their sleep. The bat, lured forth where trees the lane o’ershade, Flits and reflits along the dark arcade; The busy dor-hawk chases the white moth With burring note, which industry and sloth Might both be pleased with, for it suits them both. A stream is heard--I see it not but know By its soft music where the waters flow: Wheels and the tread of hoofs are heard no more; One boat there was, but it will touch the shore With the next dipping of its slackened oar; Faint sound that for the gayest of the gay, Might give to serious thought a moment’s sway, As a last token of man’s toilsome day.”
Wordsworth does not seem, during any period of his life, to have been on intimate terms with any of his contemporaries. He preferred the flower of the literateurs, Coleridge, Scott, Southey; and these, with the exception perhaps of Rogers, were his chief friends. We have letters of his, however, to much smaller fry; to Mrs. Hemans, and Miss Jewsbury, for example--and to sundry editors of other men’s wares; but there is little or no recognition of Byron, Shelly, Keats, Tennyson, Baily, Campbell, Moore, nor yet of Dickens or Bulwer. His letters represent his character even better than his poetry; they are Wordsworth in undress, without the “garland and singing robe,” and are worthy to be studied. I like much what he says to the Rev. Robert Montgomery, author of “The Devil and Father Luther,” and pious Robert would do well even at this late day to think on it. Montgomery had sent Wordsworth a copy of his poems, and in reply, the poet answers: “I cannot conclude without one word of literary advice which I hope you will deem my advanced age entitles me to give. Do not, my dear sir, be anxious about any individual’s opinion concerning your writings, however highly you may think of his genius, or rate his judgment. Be a severe critic to yourself; and depend upon it no person’s decision upon the merit of your works will bear comparison in point of value with your own. You must be conscious from what feeling they have flowed, and how far they may or may not be allowed to claim on that account, permanent respect; and above all I would remind you, with a view to tranquillise and steady your mind, that no man takes the trouble of surveying and pondering another’s writings with a hundredth part of the care which an author of sense and genius will have bestowed upon his own. Add to this reflection another, which I press upon you, as it has supported me through life--viz.: That posterity will settle all accounts justly, and that works which deserve to last will last; and if undeserving this fate, the sooner they perish the better.”
In the year 1836 the sister of the poet’s wife--Miss Sarah Hutchinson, who had resided with the family at Rydal, died, and was buried in Grasmere church, “near the graves of two young children removed from a family to which through life she was devoted.”
In the following year, 1837, Wordsworth, accompanied by his friend H. C. Robinson, Esq., set off from London for Rome, returning in August. The “Itinerary” of the travellers is contained in the “Memoirs,” along with some memoranda by the poet; but they are not of much interest. Many fine pieces, however, sprung as usual from the journey, as well as a goodly number of sonnets. They originally appeared in a volume entitled “Poems, chiefly of Early and Late Years,” in 1842. In 1839, Wordsworth received the degree of D.C.L., from the University of Oxford, which was conferred on him in the Sheldonian Theatre, amidst shouts of rejoicing such as had never before been heard in that city, except upon the occasion of an unexpected visit of the Duke of Wellington. In 1838, Wordsworth prepared a new edition of his poems, to be published by Moxon, and continued to live at Rydal, in his quiet and musical manner, writing poems, taking rambles, and conducting his correspondence until 1843, when he was appointed Poet Laureate of England, Southey having died on the 21st of March of that year, and the appointment having been offered to Wordsworth on the 31st of the same month. One occurrence only broke the even tenor of the poet’s life in the interim alluded to, and this was an accident by which he was upset from his gig, and thrown violently into a plantation. The accident was owing to the carelessness and want of skill in the driver of a coach, which they met on the road. No serious consequences followed, however, and inquiries and congratulations flowed in on all sides, from the peasant up to Queen Adelaide.
From the time of Wordsworth’s appointment as Laureate,--which it ought to be said he at first refused, and only accepted with the understanding that it should be an honorary office,--he wrote very little poetry. His work, indeed, was done, his mission accomplished; and his old days were spent in rambling over the hills, and in the quiet enjoyment of his family, friends, fame, and fortune. Honours of a high order were subsequently heaped upon him. In the year 1838, the University of Durham took the initiative in conferring an academic degree on the poet; then the grand old Mother, Oxford, followed,--and in 1846 he was put in nomination, without his knowledge, for the office of Lord Rector of the University of Oxford, and gained a majority of twenty-one votes, in opposition to the premier, Lord John Russell. “The forms of election, however,” says Wordsworth, in a letter to Sir W. Gomm, of Port Louis, Mauritius, dated November 23, 1846, “allowed Lord John Russell to be returned through the single vote of the sub-rector voting for his superior. To say the truth, I am glad of this result, being too advanced in life to undertake with comfort any considerable public duty, and it might have seemed ungracious to have declined the office.”
On the 20th of January, 1847, Mr. William Wordsworth, the younger son of the poet, was married at Brighton, to Fanny Eliza Graham, youngest daughter of Reginald Graham, Esq., of Brighton, who was a native of Cumberland; and whilst the joy of this event was still fresh in the hearts of the Rydal household, a dread calamity awaited them in the death of Mrs. Quillinan--the sweet Dora so often spoken of in these pages, the beloved daughter of the poet. As previously stated, she had accompanied her husband to Portugal for the benefit of her health,--and although the change seemed at first to have operated favourably upon her, it was soon evident, on her return home, that she was doomed for the silent bourne of all travellers in this world. She died on the 9th day of July, 1847, and was buried in Grasmere church-yard. Her death was a terrible blow to the venerable poet, now in his eightieth year,--but he bore up patiently, with the heart and hope of a Christian.
Three years after this sad loss, Wordsworth himself was summoned away. On Sunday, the 10th of March, 1850, he attended at Rydal chapel for the last time, visiting, during the day, a poor old woman, who had once been his servant, and another person who was sick, and as the poet said, “never complained.”
“On the afternoon of the following day, he went towards Grasmere, to meet his two nieces, who were coming from Town End. He called at the cottage near the White Moss Quarry, and the occupant being within, _he sat down on the stone seat of the porch, to watch the setting sun_. It was a cold, bright day. His friend and neighbour, Mr. Roughsedge, came to drink tea at Rydal, but Mr. Wordsworth not being well, went early to bed.”
From this time he gradually grew worse; and in order to convey to him the impressions of his physicians, Mrs. Wordsworth whispered in a soft voice, full of deep devotion, “Dear William, you are going to Dora.” How delicate, how affectionate, how poetical! But the poet did not hear, or did not seem to hear; and yet, twenty-four hours after, when one of his nieces came into the room, and gently drew aside the curtains of his bed, he caught a glimpse of her figure, and asked, “Is that Dora?”
On the 23rd of April--the birth-day, and death-day of Shakspeare, the great-hearted Wordsworth went back again to God.
He was buried on the 27th, in Grasmere church-yard.