Whose stealing pace and
lengthened
shade we fear,
Till torn-up forage in his teeth we hear.
Till torn-up forage in his teeth we hear.
William Wordsworth
" It is doubtful if it was really written in
"'very' early youth. " Its final form, at any rate, may belong to a later
period. --Ed.
* * * * *
Calm is all nature as a resting wheel.
The kine are couched upon the dewy grass;
The horse alone, seen dimly as I pass,
Is cropping audibly [1] his later meal: [C]
Dark is the ground; a slumber seems to steal 5
O'er vale, and mountain, and the starless sky.
Now, in this blank of things, a harmony,
Home-felt, and home-created, comes [2] to heal
That grief for which the senses still supply
Fresh food; for only then, when memory 10
Is hushed, am I at rest. My Friends! restrain
Those busy cares that would allay my pain;
Oh! leave me to myself, nor let me feel
The officious touch that makes me droop again.
* * * * *
[Footnote A: The date of the composition of this fragment is quite
unknown. --Ed. ]
[Footnote B: But previously, in 'The Morning Post', Feb. 13, 1802. --Ed. ]
[Footnote C: Canon Ainger calls attention to the fact that there is here
a parallel, possibly a reminiscence, from the 'Nocturnal Reverie' of
the Countess of Winchelsea.
Whose stealing pace and lengthened shade we fear,
Till torn-up forage in his teeth we hear.
Ed. ]
* * * * *
[Variant 1:
1827.
Is up, and cropping yet . . . 1807. ]
[Variant 2:
1838.
. . . seems . . . 1807. ]
* * * * *
AN EVENING WALK
ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG LADY
Composed 1787-9.
"'very' early youth. " Its final form, at any rate, may belong to a later
period. --Ed.
* * * * *
Calm is all nature as a resting wheel.
The kine are couched upon the dewy grass;
The horse alone, seen dimly as I pass,
Is cropping audibly [1] his later meal: [C]
Dark is the ground; a slumber seems to steal 5
O'er vale, and mountain, and the starless sky.
Now, in this blank of things, a harmony,
Home-felt, and home-created, comes [2] to heal
That grief for which the senses still supply
Fresh food; for only then, when memory 10
Is hushed, am I at rest. My Friends! restrain
Those busy cares that would allay my pain;
Oh! leave me to myself, nor let me feel
The officious touch that makes me droop again.
* * * * *
[Footnote A: The date of the composition of this fragment is quite
unknown. --Ed. ]
[Footnote B: But previously, in 'The Morning Post', Feb. 13, 1802. --Ed. ]
[Footnote C: Canon Ainger calls attention to the fact that there is here
a parallel, possibly a reminiscence, from the 'Nocturnal Reverie' of
the Countess of Winchelsea.
Whose stealing pace and lengthened shade we fear,
Till torn-up forage in his teeth we hear.
Ed. ]
* * * * *
[Variant 1:
1827.
Is up, and cropping yet . . . 1807. ]
[Variant 2:
1838.
. . . seems . . . 1807. ]
* * * * *
AN EVENING WALK
ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG LADY
Composed 1787-9.
