Part III.--From the Restoration to the Present Times--

I. "I saw the figure of a lovely Maid" 74

II. Patriotic Sympathies 74

III. Charles the Second 75

IV. Latitudinarianism 76

V. Walton's Book of Lives 77

VI. Clerical Integrity 78

VII. Persecution of the Scottish Covenanters 79

VIII. Acquittal of the Bishops 79

IX. William the Third 80

X. Obligations of Civil to Religious Liberty 81

XI. Sacheverel 82

XII. "Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design" 83

XIII. Aspects of Christianity in America.--1. The Pilgrim Fathers 84

XIV. 2. Continued 85

XV. 3. Concluded.--American Episcopacy 85

XVI. "Bishops and Priests, blessèd are ye, if deep" 86

XVII. Places of Worship 87

XVIII. Pastoral Character 87

XIX. The Liturgy 88

XX. Baptism 89

XXI. Sponsors 90

XXII. Catechising 91

XXIII. Confirmation 92

XXIV. Confirmation Continued 92

XXV. Sacrament 93

XXVI. The Marriage Ceremony 94

XXVII. Thanksgiving after Childbirth 95

XXVIII. Visitation of the Sick 96

XXIX. The Commination Service 96

XXX. Forms of Prayer at Sea 97

XXXI. Funeral Service 97

XXXII. Rural Ceremony 98

XXXIII. Regrets 99

XXXIV. Mutability 100

XXXV. Old Abbeys 100

XXXVI. Emigrant French Clergy 101

XXXVII. Congratulation 102

XXXVIII. New Churches 102

XXIX. Church to be erected 103

XL. Continued 104

XLI. New Churchyard 104

XLII. Cathedrals, etc. 105

XLIII. Inside of King's College Chapel, Cambridge 106

XLIV. The Same 106

XLV. Continued 107

XLVI. Ejaculation 107

XLVII. Conclusion 108

To the Lady Fleming, on seeing the Foundation preparing for the Erection of Rydal Chapel, Westmoreland 109

On the Same Occasion 114

1823

Memory 117

"Not Love, not War, nor the tumultuous swell" 118

"A volant Tribe of Bards on earth are found" 119

1824

To ---- 121

To ---- 122

"How rich that forehead's calm expanse!" 123

To ---- 124

A Flower Garden, at Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire 125

To the Lady E. B. and the Hon. Miss P. 128

To the Torrent at the Devil's Bridge, North Wales, 1824 129

Composed among the Ruins of a Castle in North Wales 131

Elegiac Stanzas 132

Cenotaph 135

1825

The Pillar of Trajan 137

The Contrast: The Parrot and the Wren 141

To a Skylark 143

1826

"Ere with cold beads of midnight dew" 145

Ode composed on May Morning 146

To May 148

"Once I could hail (howe'er serene the sky)" 152

"The massy Ways, carried across these heights" 154

Farewell Lines 155

1827

On seeing a Needlecase in the Form of a Harp 157

Miscellaneous Sonnets--

Dedication 159

To ---- 159

"Her only pilot the soft breeze, the boat" 160

"Why, Minstrel, these untuneful murmurings" 161

To S. H. 162

Decay of Piety 163

"Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned" 163

"Fair Prime of life! were it enough to gild" 164

Retirement 165

"There is a pleasure in poetic pains" 166

Recollection of the Portrait of King Henry Eighth, Trinity Lodge, Cambridge 166

"When Philoctetes in the Lemnian isle" 167

"While Anna's peers and early playmates tread" 168

To the Cuckoo 169

The Infant M---- M---- 170

To Rotha Q---- 171

To ----, in her Seventieth Year 172

"In my mind's eye a Temple, like a cloud" 173

"Go back to antique ages, if thine eyes" 174

"If thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven" 174

In the Woods of Rydal 176

Conclusion. To ---- 177

1828

A Morning Exercise 178

The Triad 181

The Wishing-Gate 189

The Wishing-Gate Destroyed 192

A Jewish Family 195

Incident at Brugès 198

A Grave-Stone upon the Floor in the Cloisters of Worcester Cathedral 201

The Gleaner 202

On the Power of Sound 203

1829

Gold and Silver Fishes in a Vase 214

Liberty. (Sequel to the above) 216

Humanity 222

"This Lawn, a carpet all alive" 227

Thoughts on the Seasons 229

A Tradition of Oker Hill in Darley Dale, Derbyshire 230

Filial Piety 231

1830

The Armenian Lady's Love 232

The Russian Fugitive 239

The Egyptian Maid; or, The Romance of the Water Lily 252

The Poet and the Caged Turtledove 265

Presentiments 266

"In these fair vales hath many a Tree" 269

Elegiac Musings 269

"Chatsworth! thy stately mansion, and the pride" 272

1831

The Primrose of the Rock 274

To B. R. Haydon, on seeing his Picture of Napoleon Bonaparte on the Island of St. Helena 276

Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems--

I. "The gallant Youth, who may have gained" 280

II. On the Departure of Sir Walter Scott from Abbotsford, for Naples 284

III. A Place of Burial in the South of Scotland 285

IV. On the Sight of a Manse in the South of Scotland 286

V. Composed in Roslin Chapel, during a Storm 287

VI. The Trosachs 288

VII. "The pibroch's note, discountenanced or mute" 290

VIII. Composed after reading a Newspaper of the Day 290

IX. Composed in the Glen of Loch Etive 291

X. Eagles 292

XI. In the Sound of Mull 293

XII. Suggested at Tyndrum in a Storm 294

XIII. The Earl of Breadalbane's Ruined Mansion, and Family Burial-Place, near Killin 295

XIV. "Rest and be Thankful!" 295

XV. Highland Hut 296

XVI. The Brownie 297

XVII. To the Planet Venus, an Evening Star 299

XVIII. Bothwell Castle 299

XIX. Picture of Daniel in the Lions' Den, at Hamilton Palace 301

XX. The Avon 303

XXI. Suggested by a View from an Eminence in Inglewood Forest 304

XXII. Hart's-Horn Tree, near Penrith 305

XXIII. Fancy and Tradition 306

XXIV. Countess' Pillar 307

XXV. Roman Antiquities 308

XXVI. Apology for the Foregoing Poems 309

XXVII. The Highland Broach 310

1832

Devotional Incitements 314

"Calm is the fragrant air, and loth to lose" 317

To the Author's Portrait 318

Rural Illusions 319

Loving and Liking 320

Upon the late General Fast 323

1833

A Wren's Nest 325

To ----, upon the Birth of her First-born Child, March 1833 328

The Warning. A Sequel to the Foregoing 330

"If this great world of joy and pain" 336

On a High Part of the Coast of Cumberland 337

(By the Sea-Side) 338

Composed by the Sea-Shore 340

Poems, composed or suggested during a Tour in the Summer of 1833--

I. "Adieu, Rydalian Laurels! that have grown" 342

II. "Why should the Enthusiast, journeying through this Isle" 343

III. "They called Thee Merry England, in old time" 343

IV. To the River Greta, near Keswick 344

V. To the River Derwent 345

VI. In Sight of the Town of Cockermouth 346

VII. Address from the Spirit of Cockermouth Castle 347

VIII. Nun's Well, Brigham 347

IX. To a Friend 348

X. Mary Queen of Scots 349

XI. Stanzas suggested in a Steam-Boat off Saint Bees' Heads, on the Coast of Cumberland 351

XII. In the Channel, between the Coast of Cumberland and the Isle of Man 358

XIII. At Sea off the Isle of Man 359

XIV. "Desire we past illusions to recal?" 360

XV. On entering Douglas Bay, Isle of Man 360

XVI. By the Sea-Shore, Isle of Man 361

XVII. Isle of Man 362

XVIII. Isle of Man 363

XIX. By a Retired Mariner 364

XX. At Bala-Sala, Isle of Man 365

XXI. Tynwald Hill 366

XXII. "Despond who will--_I_ heard a Voice exclaim" 368

XXIII. In the Frith of Clyde, Ailsa Crag, during an Eclipse of the Sun, July 17 369

XXIV. On the Frith of Clyde 370

XXV. On revisiting Dunolly Castle 371

XXVI. The Dunolly Eagle 372

XXVII. Written in a Blank Leaf of Macpherson's Ossian 373

XXVIII. Cave of Staffa 376

XXIX. Cave of Staffa. (After the Crowd had departed) 377

XXX. Cave of Staffa 377

XXXI. Flowers on the Top of the Pillars at the Entrance of the Cave 378

XXXII. Iona 379

XXXIII. Iona. (Upon Landing) 380

XXXIV. The Black Stones of Iona 381

XXXV. "Homeward we turn. Isle of Columba's Cell" 382

XXXVI. Greenock 383

XXXVII. "'There!' said a Stripling, pointing with meet pride" 383

XXXVIII. The River Eden, Cumberland 385

XXXIX. Monument of Mrs. Howard, in Wetheral Church, near Corby, on the Banks of the Eden 386

XL. Suggested by the Foregoing 387

XLI. Nunnery 388

XLII. Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways 389

XLIII. The Monument, commonly called Long Meg and her Daughters, near the River Eden 390

XLIV. Lowther 391

XLV. To the Earl of Lonsdale 392

XLVI. The Somnambulist 393

XLVII. To Cordelia M---- 400

XLVIII. "Most sweet it is with unuplifted eyes" 401

1834

"Not in the lucid intervals of life" 402

By the Side of Rydal Mere 403

"Soft as a cloud is yon blue Ridge--the Mere" 405

"The leaves that rustled on this oak-crowned hill" 406

The Labourer's Noon-Day Hymn 408

The Redbreast 410

ADDENDA 415

WORDSWORTH'S POETICAL WORKS

1821-2

The only poems belonging to the years 1821-2 were the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," originally called "Ecclesiastical Sketches." These were written at intervals, from 1821 onwards, but the great majority belong to 1821. They were first published in 1822, in three parts; 102 Sonnets in all. Ten were added in the edition of 1827, several others in the years 1835 and 1836, and fourteen in 1845,--the final edition of 1850 containing 132.

After Wordsworth's return from the Continent in 1820, he visited the Beaumonts at Coleorton, and as Sir George was then about to build a new Church on his property, conversation turned frequently to ecclesiastical topics, and gave rise to the idea of embodying the History of the Church of England in a series of "Ecclesiastical Sketches" in verse. The Sonnets Nos. XXXIX., XL., and XLI., in the third series, entitled, _Church to be erected_, and _New Churchyard_, are probably those to which Wordsworth refers as written first, in memory of his morning walk with Sir George Beaumont to fix the site of the Church: but it was the discussions which were being carried on in the British Parliament and elsewhere, in 1821, on the subject of Catholic Disabilities, that led him to enlarge his idea, and project a series of Sonnets dealing with the whole course of the Ecclesiastical History of his country. His brother Christopher--while Dean and Rector of Bocking, and domestic chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury--had published, in 1809, six volumes of _Ecclesiastical Biography; or, the Lives of Eminent Men connected with the History of Religion in England_. Southey's _Book of the Church_,--to which Wordsworth refers in the Fenwick note prefixed to his _Sonnets_--was not published till 1823; and Wordsworth says, in a note to the edition of 1822, that his own work was far advanced before he was aware that Southey had taken up the subject. As several of the Sonnets, however, are well illustrated by passages in Southey's book, I have given a number of extracts from the latter work in the editorial notes.

Southey, writing to C. H. Townshend, on 6th May 1821, says: "Wordsworth was with me lately. His thoughts and mine have for some time unconsciously been travelling in the same direction; for while I have been sketching a brief history of the English Church, and the systems which it has subdued or struggled with, he has been pursuing precisely the same subject in a series of sonnets, to which my volume will serve for a commentary, as completely as if it had been written with that intent." (See _Life and Correspondence of R. Southey_, vol. v. p. 65.)

Wordsworth's own notes appended to the Sonnets, and others which are added, will show his indebtedness to such writers as Bede, Strype, Foxe, Walton, Whitaker, and Sharon Turner. The subjects of the sonnets on the "Aspects of Christianity in America" were suggested to him by Bishop Doane and Professor Henry Reed; and others in the series, dealing with offices of the English Liturgy, were also suggested by Mr. Reed.--ED.

ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS[1]

IN SERIES

Composed 1821.--Published 1822

[My purpose in writing this Series was, as much as possible, to confine my view to the introduction, progress, and operation of the Church in England, both previous and subsequent to the Reformation. The Sonnets were written long before ecclesiastical history and points of doctrine had excited the interest with which they have been recently enquired into and discussed. The former particular is mentioned as an excuse for my having fallen into error in respect to an incident which had been selected as setting forth the height to which the power of the Popedom over temporal sovereignty had attained, and the arrogance with which it was displayed. I allude to the last Sonnet but one in the first series, where Pope Alexander the Third at Venice is described as setting his foot on the neck of the Emperor Barbarossa. Though this is related as a fact in history, I am told it is a mere legend of no authority. Substitute for it an undeniable truth not less fitted for my purpose, namely the penance inflicted by Gregory the Seventh upon the Emperor Henry the Fourth.

Before I conclude my notice of these Sonnets, let me observe that the opinion I pronounced in favour of Laud (long before the Oxford Tract Movement) and which had brought censure upon me from several quarters, is not in the least changed. Omitting here to examine into his conduct in respect to the persecuting spirit with which he has been charged, I am persuaded that most of his aims to restore ritual practices which had been abandoned were good and wise, whatever errors he might commit in the manner he sometimes attempted to enforce them. I further believe that, had not he, and others who shared his opinions and felt as he did, stood up in opposition to the reformers of that period, it is questionable whether the Church would ever have recovered its lost ground and become the blessing it now is, and will, I trust, become in a still greater degree, both to those of its communion and to those who unfortunately are separated from it.--I. F.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] During the month of December, 1820, I accompanied a much-beloved and honoured Friend[2] in a walk through different parts of his estate, with a view to fix upon the site of a new Church which he intended to erect. It was one of the most beautiful mornings of a mild season,--our feelings were in harmony with the cherishing[3] influences of the scene; and such being our purpose, we were naturally led to look back upon past events with wonder and gratitude, and on the future with hope. Not long afterwards, some of the Sonnets which will be found towards the close of this series were produced as a private memorial of that morning's occupation.

The Catholic Question, which was agitated in Parliament about that time, kept my thoughts in the same course; and it struck me that certain points in the Ecclesiastical History of our Country might advantageously be presented to view in verse. Accordingly, I took up the subject, and what I now offer to the reader was the result.

When this work was far advanced, I was agreeably surprised to find that my friend, Mr. Southey, had been engaged with similar views in writing a concise History of the Church _in_ England. If our Productions, thus unintentionally coinciding, shall be found to illustrate each other, it will prove a high gratification to me, which I am sure my friend will participate.

W. WORDSWORTH.

RYDAL MOUNT, _January 24, 1822_.

For the convenience of passing from one point of the subject to another without shocks of abruptness, this work has taken the shape of a series of Sonnets: but the Reader, it is to be hoped, will find that the pictures are often so closely connected as to have jointly the effect of passages of a poem in a form of stanza to which there is no objection but one that bears upon the Poet only--its difficulty.--W. W. 1822.

[2] Sir George Beaumont.--ED.

[3] This occurs in all the editions. It maybe a misprint for "cheering."--ED.