'The Brothers' was
founded on a young shepherd, in his sleep, having fallen down a crag,
his staff remaining suspended mid-way.
founded on a young shepherd, in his sleep, having fallen down a crag,
his staff remaining suspended mid-way.
William Wordsworth
The district is described with all
that local accuracy which Wordsworth invariably showed in idealization.
The height whence James Ewbank is supposed to have fallen is not the
Pillar-Rock--a crag somewhat difficult to ascend, except by practised
climbers, and which has only been accessible since mountaineering became
an art and a passion to Englishmen. But, if we suppose the conversation
with the priest of Ennerdale to have taken place at the Bridge, below
the Lake--as that is the only place where there is both a hamlet and "a
churchyard"--the "precipice" will refer to the Pillar "Mountain. " Both
are alluded to in the poem. The lines,
'You see yon precipice;--it wears the shape
Of a vast building made of many crags;
And in the midst is one particular rock
That rises like a column from the vale,
Whence by our shepherds it is called, _The Pillar_,'
are definite enough. The great mass of the Pillar Mountain is first
referred to, and then the Rock which is a characteristic spur, halfway
up the mountain on its northern side. The "aery summit crowned with
heath," however, on which "the loiterer" "lay stretched at ease," could
neither be the top of this "rock" nor the summit of the "mountain": not
the former, because there is no heath on it, and it would be impossible
for a weary man, loitering behind his companions, to ascend it to rest;
not the latter, because no one resting on the summit of the mountain
could be "not unnoticed by his comrades," and they would not pass that
way over the top of the mountain "on their return" to Ennerdale. This is
an instance, therefore, in which precise localization is impossible.
Probably Wordsworth did not know either that the pillar "rock" was bare
on the summit, or that it had never been ascended in 1800; and he
idealised it to suit his imaginative purpose. In connection with this
poem, a remark he made to the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge may be
recalled.
"He said there was some foundation in fact, however slight, for every
poem he had written of a narrative kind; . . .
'The Brothers' was
founded on a young shepherd, in his sleep, having fallen down a crag,
his staff remaining suspended mid-way. "
(See the 'Memoirs of Wordsworth', by the late Bishop of Lincoln, vol.
ii. p. 305. ) It should be added that the character of Leonard Ewbank was
drawn in large part from that of the poet's brother John--Ed.
* * * * *
THE SEVEN SISTERS; OR, THE SOLITUDE OF BINNORIE [A]
Composed 1800. [B]--Published 1807
The Story of this Poem is from the German of Frederica Brun. [C]--W. W.
1807.
One of the "Poems of the Fancy. "--Ed.
I Seven Daughters had Lord Archibald,
All children of one mother:
You could [1] not say in one short day
What love they bore each other.
A garland, of seven lilies, wrought! 5
Seven Sisters that together dwell;
But he, bold Knight as ever fought,
Their Father, took of them no thought,
He loved the wars so well.
that local accuracy which Wordsworth invariably showed in idealization.
The height whence James Ewbank is supposed to have fallen is not the
Pillar-Rock--a crag somewhat difficult to ascend, except by practised
climbers, and which has only been accessible since mountaineering became
an art and a passion to Englishmen. But, if we suppose the conversation
with the priest of Ennerdale to have taken place at the Bridge, below
the Lake--as that is the only place where there is both a hamlet and "a
churchyard"--the "precipice" will refer to the Pillar "Mountain. " Both
are alluded to in the poem. The lines,
'You see yon precipice;--it wears the shape
Of a vast building made of many crags;
And in the midst is one particular rock
That rises like a column from the vale,
Whence by our shepherds it is called, _The Pillar_,'
are definite enough. The great mass of the Pillar Mountain is first
referred to, and then the Rock which is a characteristic spur, halfway
up the mountain on its northern side. The "aery summit crowned with
heath," however, on which "the loiterer" "lay stretched at ease," could
neither be the top of this "rock" nor the summit of the "mountain": not
the former, because there is no heath on it, and it would be impossible
for a weary man, loitering behind his companions, to ascend it to rest;
not the latter, because no one resting on the summit of the mountain
could be "not unnoticed by his comrades," and they would not pass that
way over the top of the mountain "on their return" to Ennerdale. This is
an instance, therefore, in which precise localization is impossible.
Probably Wordsworth did not know either that the pillar "rock" was bare
on the summit, or that it had never been ascended in 1800; and he
idealised it to suit his imaginative purpose. In connection with this
poem, a remark he made to the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge may be
recalled.
"He said there was some foundation in fact, however slight, for every
poem he had written of a narrative kind; . . .
'The Brothers' was
founded on a young shepherd, in his sleep, having fallen down a crag,
his staff remaining suspended mid-way. "
(See the 'Memoirs of Wordsworth', by the late Bishop of Lincoln, vol.
ii. p. 305. ) It should be added that the character of Leonard Ewbank was
drawn in large part from that of the poet's brother John--Ed.
* * * * *
THE SEVEN SISTERS; OR, THE SOLITUDE OF BINNORIE [A]
Composed 1800. [B]--Published 1807
The Story of this Poem is from the German of Frederica Brun. [C]--W. W.
1807.
One of the "Poems of the Fancy. "--Ed.
I Seven Daughters had Lord Archibald,
All children of one mother:
You could [1] not say in one short day
What love they bore each other.
A garland, of seven lilies, wrought! 5
Seven Sisters that together dwell;
But he, bold Knight as ever fought,
Their Father, took of them no thought,
He loved the wars so well.
