The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth Volume Ii Part 114

[Variant 31:

1827.

... and strong admonishment. 1807.

... by strong admonishment. 1820.]

[Variant 32:

1815.

The ... 1807.

And MS. 1802.]

[Variant 33:

1820.

And now, not knowing what the Old Man had said, 1807.

And MS. 1802.

But now, perplex'd by what the Old Man had said, 1815.]

[Variant 34.

1807.

... live? what is it that you do?" MS. 1802.]

[Variant 35:

1827.

And said, that wheresoe'er they might be spied He gather'd Leeches, stirring at his feet The waters in the Ponds ... MS. 1802.

And said, that, gathering Leeches, far and wide He travelled; stirring thus about his feet The waters of the Ponds ... 1807.]

[Variant 36:

1807.

Once he could meet with them on every side; But fewer they became from day to day, And so his means of life before him died away. MS. 1802.]

[Variant 37:

1807.

And now ... MS. 1802.]

[Variant 38:

1807.

Which he delivered with demeanour kind, Yet stately ... MS. 1802.]

SUB-VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Sub-Variant i:

... hither side, MS. 1802.]

[Sub-Variant ii:

He all the while before me being full in view. MS. 1802.]

FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: Some have thought that Wordsworth had S.T.C. in his mind, in writing this stanza. I cannot agree with this. The value and interest of the poem would be lessened by our imagining that Wordsworth's heart never failed him; and that, when he appears to moralise at his own expense, he was doing so at Coleridge's. Besides, the date of this poem, taken in connection with entries in the Grasmere Journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, makes it all but certain that Coleridge was not referred to.--Ed.]

[Footnote B: Compare in 'The Matron of Jedborough and her Husband', p.

417, ll. 66-69:

'Some inward trouble suddenly Broke from the Matron's strong black eye-- A remnant of uneasy light, A flash of something over-bright!'

Ed.]

SUB-FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT