'O William, we
_receive_
but what we _give_:
And in our life alone does Nature live.
And in our life alone does Nature live.
William Wordsworth
--S.
T.
C.
]
[Footnote C: Different reading on same MS. , "'my'. "--Ed. ]
[Footnote D: Different reading on same MS. , "'and'. "--Ed. ]
In a MS. copy of 'Dejection, An Ode', transcribed for Sir George
Beaumont on the 4th of April 1802--and sent to him, when living with
Lord Lowther at Lowther Hall--there is evidence that the poem was
originally addressed to Wordsworth.
The following lines in this copy can be compared with those finally
adopted:
'O dearest William! in this heartless mood,
To other thoughts by yonder throstle woo'd
All this long eve so balmy and serene
Have I been gazing on the western sky,'
. . .
'O William, we _receive_ but what we _give_:
And in our life alone does Nature live. '
. . .
'Yes, dearest William! Yes!
There was a time when though my Path was rough
This Joy within me dallied with distress. '
The MS. copy is described by Coleridge as "imperfect"; and it breaks off
abruptly at the lines:
'Suspends what Nature gave me at my birth
My shaping spirit of Imagination. '
And he continues:
'I am so weary of this doleful poem, that I must leave off. . . . '
Another MS. copy of this poem, amongst the Coleorton papers, is signed
"S. T.
[Footnote C: Different reading on same MS. , "'my'. "--Ed. ]
[Footnote D: Different reading on same MS. , "'and'. "--Ed. ]
In a MS. copy of 'Dejection, An Ode', transcribed for Sir George
Beaumont on the 4th of April 1802--and sent to him, when living with
Lord Lowther at Lowther Hall--there is evidence that the poem was
originally addressed to Wordsworth.
The following lines in this copy can be compared with those finally
adopted:
'O dearest William! in this heartless mood,
To other thoughts by yonder throstle woo'd
All this long eve so balmy and serene
Have I been gazing on the western sky,'
. . .
'O William, we _receive_ but what we _give_:
And in our life alone does Nature live. '
. . .
'Yes, dearest William! Yes!
There was a time when though my Path was rough
This Joy within me dallied with distress. '
The MS. copy is described by Coleridge as "imperfect"; and it breaks off
abruptly at the lines:
'Suspends what Nature gave me at my birth
My shaping spirit of Imagination. '
And he continues:
'I am so weary of this doleful poem, that I must leave off. . . . '
Another MS. copy of this poem, amongst the Coleorton papers, is signed
"S. T.
