sure of again seeing, with dear friends1, this unimpaired beauty forty-one years after." grove in The Complaint of a forsaken Indian Woman.2— "Written at Alfoxden in 1798, where I read Hearne's Journey with great interest. It was composed for the volume of Lyrical Ballads."" The Last of the Flock. "Composed at the same time, and for the same purpose. The incident occurred in the village of Holford, close by Alfoxden." The Idiot Boy.-Alfoxden, 1798. "The last stanza, 'The cocks did crow, and the moon did shine so cold,' was the foundation of the whole. The words were reported to me by my dear friend Thomas Poole; but I have since heard the same reported of other idiots. Let me add, that this long poem was composed in the groves of Alfoxden almost extempore; not a word, I believe, being corrected, though one stanza was omitted. I mention this in gratitude to those happy moments, for, in truth, I never wrote anything with so much glee." 1 Namely, Mrs. Wordsworth, Miss Fenwick, Mr. and Mrs. Quillinan, and Mr. Wm. Wordsworth, May 13. 1841. 2 Vol. i. p. 226. 3 Vol. i. p. 228. 4 Vol. i. p. 253. 113 CHAPTER XII. THE TRAGEDY. IN November, 1797, "The Borderers" was completed, and was about to try its fate upon the stage. "William's play," says Miss Wordsworth, 20th November, 1797, "is finished, and sent to the managers of the Covent Garden Theatre. We have not the faintest expectation that it will be accepted." On the 21st December she writes from Bristol, "We have been in London: our business was the play; and the play is rejected. It was sent to one of the principal actors at Covent Garden, who expressed great approbation, and advised William strongly to go to London to make certain alterations." So to London they went together, brother and sister, outside the coach. They stayed three weeks in London. "Coleridge's play," she adds, "is also rejected;" and for this she expresses great sorrow and disappointment. However, this play of Mr. Coleridge survived to see better days. About twenty years afterwards, it was again presented, under a new title, to the Theatre; and the same drama which was condemned as "Osorio" in 1797, was acted in 1813 to crowded houses, as "The Reinorse."1 Wordsworth returned to Alfoxden in December, 1797, not dismayed by the rejection of the play. He 1 See Preface to "The Remorse," 2d edit. Lond. 1813. "The resumed his poetical labours with animation. Ruined Cottage" (which now stands as part of the first book of "The Excursion") was then finished, and the return of spring gave fresh vigour to his powers. "It is the first mild day of March,1 Each minute sweeter than before; The red-breast sings from the tall larch A joyous invitation to his sister to taste the delights of the season was now composed, and also the "Lines written in Early Spring." "I heard a thousand blended notes, While in a grove I sat reclined, In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts Speaking of these two poems the author gave the following reminiscences. 3 Lines written in Early Spring, 1798.-"Actually composed while I was sitting by the side of the brook that runs down the Comb, in which stands the village of Alford, through the grounds of Alfoxden. It was a chosen resort of mine. The brook fell down a sloping rock, so as to make a waterfall, considerable for that country; and across the pool below had fallen a tree, an ash, if I rightly remember, from which rose, perpendicularly, boughs in search of the light intercepted by the deep shade above. The boughs bore leaves of green, that for want of sunshine had faded into almost lily-white; and from the underside of this natural sylvan bridge depended long and beautiful tresses of ivy, which waved gently in the breeze, that might, 1 Vol. iv. p. 184. 2 Vol. iv. p. 182. 3 MSS. I. F. poetically speaking, be called the breath of the waterfall. This motion varied, of course, in proportion to the power of water in the brook. When, with dear friends, I revisited this spot, after an interval of more than forty years, this interesting feature of the scene was gone. To the owner of the place I could not but regret that the beauty of that retired part of the grounds had not tempted him to make it more accessible, by a path, not broad or obtrusive, but sufficient for persons who love such scenes to creep along without difficulty." A Character." The principal features are taken from that of my friend, Robert Jones." To my House. Sister.1" Composed in front of Alfoxden "My little boy-messenger on this occasion was the son of Basil Montagu. The larch mentioned in the first stanza was standing when I revisited the place in May, 1841, more than forty years after. I was disappointed that it had not improved in appearance, as to size, nor had it acquired anything of the majesty of age, which, even though less perhaps than any other tree, the larch sometimes does. A few score yards from this tree grew, when we inhabited Alfoxden, one of the most remarkable beech trees ever seen. The ground sloped both towards and from it. It was of immense size, and threw out arms that struck into the soil like those of the banyan tree, and rose again from it. Two of the branches thus inserted themselves twice, which gave to each the appearance of a serpent moving along by gathering itself up in folds. One of the large boughs of this tree had been torn off by the wind before we left 1 Vol. iv. p. 184. Alfoxden, but five remained. In 1841, we could barely find the spot where the tree had stood. So remarkable a production of nature could not have been wilfully destroyed."1 In January, 1798, Coleridge had been liberated from a ministerial engagement with a Socinian congregation at Shrewsbury, whither he had gone to succeed Mr. Rowe, by the munificence of the Wedgwoods, who settled on him an annuity of 1507. "You know," says Coleridge to Wordsworth2, "that I have accepted the magnificent liberality of Josiah and Thomas Wedgwood. I accepted it on the presumption that I had talents, honesty, and propensities to persevering effort. ... Of the pleasant ideas which accompanied this unexpected event, it was not the least pleasant, that I should be able to trace the spring and early summer of Alfoxden with you, and that wherever your after residence may be, it is probable that you will be within the reach of my tether, lengthened as it now is." On April 12. 1798, Wordsworth writes from Alfoxden to his friend Cottle, "You will be pleased to hear that I have gone on very rapidly adding to my stock of poetry. Do come and let me read it to you under the old trees in the park. We have little more than two months to stay in this place." In the following summer Wordsworth and his sister made a short tour on the banks of the Wye. "We left Alfoxden on Monday morning, the 26th of June, stayed with Coleridge till the Monday following, then set forth on foot towards Bristol. We were at Cottle's for a week, and thence we went toward the banks 1 MSS. I. F. 2 Shrewsbury, Jan. 1798. |