It must have been very different in Wordsworth's time,
and is constantly referred to in his sister's Journal as a favourite
retreat, resorted to
'when cloudless suns
Shone hot, or wind blew troublesome and strong.
and is constantly referred to in his sister's Journal as a favourite
retreat, resorted to
'when cloudless suns
Shone hot, or wind blew troublesome and strong.
William Wordsworth
" and on the date assigned by Wordsworth
himself to the poem. There is a certain fitness, however, in this poem
being placed--as it now is--in sequence to the 'Elegiac Verses' in
memory of John Wordsworth, beginning, "The Sheep-boy whistled loud," and
near the fourth poem 'To the Daisy', beginning, "Sweet Flower! belike
one day to have. "
The "Fir-grove" still exists. It is between Wishing Gate and White Moss
Common, and almost exactly opposite the former. Standing at the gate and
looking eastwards, the grove is to the left, not forty yards distant.
Some of the firs (Scotch ones) still survive, and several beech trees,
not "a single beech-tree," as in the poem. From this, one might infer
that the present colony had sprung up since the beginning of the
century, and that the special tree, in which was the thrush's nest, had
perished; but Dr. Cradock wrote to me that "Wordsworth pointed out the
tree to Miss Cookson a few days before Dora Wordsworth's death. The tree
is near the upper wall and tells its own tale. " The Fir-grove--"John's
Grove"--can easily be entered by a gate about a hundred yards beyond
the Wishing-gate, as one goes toward Rydal. The view from it, the
"visionary scene,"
'the spectacle
Of clouded splendour, . . . this dream-like sight
Of solemn loveliness,'
is now much interfered with by the new larch plantations immediately
below the firs.
It must have been very different in Wordsworth's time,
and is constantly referred to in his sister's Journal as a favourite
retreat, resorted to
'when cloudless suns
Shone hot, or wind blew troublesome and strong. '
In the absence of contrary testimony, it might be supposed that "the
track" which the brother had "worn,"
'By pacing here, unwearied and alone,'
faced Silver-How and the Grasmere Island, and that the single beech tree
was nearer the lower than the upper wall. But Miss Cookson's testimony
is explicit. Only a few fir trees survive at this part of the grove,
which is now open and desolate, not as it was in those earlier days,
when
'the trees
Had been so thickly planted, and had thriven
With such perplexed and intricate array,
That vainly did I seek, beneath their stems
A length of open space . . . '
Dr. Cradock remarks,
"As to there being more than one beech, Wordsworth would not have
hesitated to sacrifice servile exactness to poetical effect. " He had a
fancy for "one"--
'Fair as a star when only one
Is shining in the sky;'
"'One' abode, no more;" Grasmere's "one green island;" "one green
field. "
Since the above note was printed, new light has been cast on the
"Inscription of the Pathway," for which see volume viii. of this
edition. --Ed.
* * * * *
THE COTTAGER TO HER INFANT
BY MY SISTER
Composed 1805. --Published 1815
[Suggested to her, while beside my sleeping children. --I. F.
himself to the poem. There is a certain fitness, however, in this poem
being placed--as it now is--in sequence to the 'Elegiac Verses' in
memory of John Wordsworth, beginning, "The Sheep-boy whistled loud," and
near the fourth poem 'To the Daisy', beginning, "Sweet Flower! belike
one day to have. "
The "Fir-grove" still exists. It is between Wishing Gate and White Moss
Common, and almost exactly opposite the former. Standing at the gate and
looking eastwards, the grove is to the left, not forty yards distant.
Some of the firs (Scotch ones) still survive, and several beech trees,
not "a single beech-tree," as in the poem. From this, one might infer
that the present colony had sprung up since the beginning of the
century, and that the special tree, in which was the thrush's nest, had
perished; but Dr. Cradock wrote to me that "Wordsworth pointed out the
tree to Miss Cookson a few days before Dora Wordsworth's death. The tree
is near the upper wall and tells its own tale. " The Fir-grove--"John's
Grove"--can easily be entered by a gate about a hundred yards beyond
the Wishing-gate, as one goes toward Rydal. The view from it, the
"visionary scene,"
'the spectacle
Of clouded splendour, . . . this dream-like sight
Of solemn loveliness,'
is now much interfered with by the new larch plantations immediately
below the firs.
It must have been very different in Wordsworth's time,
and is constantly referred to in his sister's Journal as a favourite
retreat, resorted to
'when cloudless suns
Shone hot, or wind blew troublesome and strong. '
In the absence of contrary testimony, it might be supposed that "the
track" which the brother had "worn,"
'By pacing here, unwearied and alone,'
faced Silver-How and the Grasmere Island, and that the single beech tree
was nearer the lower than the upper wall. But Miss Cookson's testimony
is explicit. Only a few fir trees survive at this part of the grove,
which is now open and desolate, not as it was in those earlier days,
when
'the trees
Had been so thickly planted, and had thriven
With such perplexed and intricate array,
That vainly did I seek, beneath their stems
A length of open space . . . '
Dr. Cradock remarks,
"As to there being more than one beech, Wordsworth would not have
hesitated to sacrifice servile exactness to poetical effect. " He had a
fancy for "one"--
'Fair as a star when only one
Is shining in the sky;'
"'One' abode, no more;" Grasmere's "one green island;" "one green
field. "
Since the above note was printed, new light has been cast on the
"Inscription of the Pathway," for which see volume viii. of this
edition. --Ed.
* * * * *
THE COTTAGER TO HER INFANT
BY MY SISTER
Composed 1805. --Published 1815
[Suggested to her, while beside my sleeping children. --I. F.
