No More Learning

Besides, Mary Wordsworth was in no sense "a Child of Nature," as Dorothy
was: while the testimony of the Wordsworth household is explicit, that
it was to his sister, and not to his wife, that the poet referred. I
find no difficulty in the allusion made in the second poem to Dorothy
being yet possibly a "Wife and Friend"; nor to the fact that it was
originally addressed "To a beautiful Young Lady. " Neither Dorothy nor
Mary Wordsworth were physically "beautiful," according to our highest
standards; although the poet addressed the latter as "a Phantom of
delight," and as "a lovely apparition. " It is quite true that it was
Mary Wordsworth's old age that was "serene and bright," while Dorothy's
was the very reverse; but the poet's anticipation of the future was
written when his sister was young, and was by far the stronger of the
two. --Ed.





* * * * *





TO A YOUNG LADY, WHO HAD BEEN REPROACHED FOR TAKING LONG WALKS IN THE
COUNTRY [A]


Composed 1802. --Published 1807


[Composed at the same time and on the same view as "I met Louisa in the
shade:" indeed they were designed to make one piece. --I. F. ]

From 1815 to 1832 this was classed among the "Poems proceeding from
Sentiment and Reflection. " In 1836 it was transferred to the group of
"Poems of the Imagination. "--Ed.




Dear Child of Nature, let them rail!
--There is a nest in a green dale,
A harbour and a hold;
Where thou, a Wife and Friend, shalt see
Thy own heart-stirring days, [1] and be 5
A light to young and old.

There, healthy as a shepherd boy,
And treading among flowers of joy
Which at no season fade, [2]
Thou, while thy babes around thee cling, 10
Shalt show us how divine a thing
A Woman may be made.
Thy thoughts and feelings shall not die,
Nor leave thee, when grey hairs are nigh
A melancholy slave; 15
But an old age serene [3] and bright,
And lovely as a Lapland night,
Shall lead thee to thy grave.


* * * * *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1836.

Thy own delightful days, . . . 1802. ]


[Variant 2:

1836.

As if thy heritage were joy,
And pleasure were thy trade. 1802.

And treading among flowers of joy,
That at no season fade, 1827. ]


[Variant 3:

1815.

. . . alive . .