The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth Volume Ii Part 139

What treasures would have then been placed 55 Within my reach; of knowledge graced By fancy what a rich repast!

But why go on?-- Oh! spare to sweep, thou mournful blast, His grave gra.s.s-grown. 60

There, too, a Son, his joy and pride, (Not three weeks past the Stripling died,) Lies gathered to his Father's side, Soul-moving sight!

Yet one to which is not denied 65 Some sad delight.

For _he_ is safe, a quiet bed Hath early found among the dead, Harboured where none can be misled, Wronged, or distrest; 70 And surely here it may be said That such are blest.

And oh for Thee, by pitying grace Checked oft-times in a devious race, May He who halloweth the place 75 Where Man is laid Receive thy Spirit in the embrace For which it prayed!

Sighing I turned away; but ere Night fell I heard, or seemed to hear, 80 Music that sorrow comes not near, A ritual hymn, Chanted in love that casts out fear By Seraphim. [D]

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1842.

... out of ... MS.]

[Variant 2:

But wherefore tremble? 'tis no place Of pain and sorrow, but of grace, Of shelter, and of silent peace, And "friendly aid"; Grasped is he now in that embrace For which he prayed. [a] MS.]

[Variant 3:

1845.

Well might I mourn that He was gone Whose light I hailed when first it shone, When, breaking forth as nature's own, It showed my youth 1842.]

FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: It is dated thus by Wordsworth himself on three occasions, and the year of its composition is also indicated in the t.i.tle of the poem.--Ed.]

[Footnote B: Compare Burns's poem 'To a Mountain Daisy', l. 15.--Ed.]

[Footnote C: See Burns's 'A Bard's Epitaph', l. 19.--Ed.]

[Footnote D: Compare 'The Tomb of Burns', by William Watson, 1895.--Ed.]

SUB-FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT

[Sub-Footnote a: See in his poem the 'Ode to Ruin'.--Ed.]

The following is an extract from Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal of the Tour in Scotland:

"Thursday, August 18th.--Went to the churchyard where Burns is buried. A bookseller accompanied us. He showed us the outside of Burns's house, where he had lived the last three years of his life, and where he died. It has a mean appearance, and is in a bye situation, whitewashed.... Went on to visit his grave. He lies at a corner of the churchyard, and his second son, Francis Wallace, beside him. There is no stone to mark the spot; but a hundred guineas have been collected, to be expended on some sort of monument.

'There,' said the bookseller, pointing to a pompous monument, 'there lies Mr. Such-a-one. I have forgotten his name. A remarkably clever man; he was an attorney, and hardly ever lost a cause he undertook.

Burns made many a lampoon upon him, and there they rest, as you see.'

We looked at the grave with melancholy and painful reflections, repeating to each other his own verses.

'Is there a man whose judgment clear, Can others teach the way to steer, Yet runs himself life's mad career, Wild as the wave?

Here let him pause, and through a tear Survey this grave.

The poor Inhabitant below Was quick to learn, and wise to know, And keenly felt the friendly glow, And softer flame; But thoughtless follies laid him low And stained his name.'

"I cannot take leave of the country which we pa.s.sed through to-day without mentioning that we saw the c.u.mberland Mountains, within half-a-mile of Ellisland, Burns's house, the last view we had of them.

Drayton has prettily described the connection which this neighbourhood has with ours when he makes Skiddaw say:

'Seurfell [E] from the sky, That Anadale [F] doth crown, with a most amorous eye, Salutes me every day, or at my pride looks grim, Oft threatening me with clouds, as I oft threatening him!'

"These lines recurred to William's memory, and we talked of Burns, and of the prospect he must have had, perhaps from his own door, of Skiddaw and his companions, including ourselves in the fancy, that we _might_ have been personally known to each other, and he have looked upon those objects with more pleasure for our sakes."

Ed.

[Footnote E: Criffel.--Ed.]

[Footnote F: Annandale.--Ed.]