No More Learning

Upon the mountain did they feed; 1798. ]


[Variant 6:

1800.

Ten . . . 1798. ]


[Variant 7:

1836.

. . . upon the mountain . . . 1798. ]


[Variant 8:

1827.
They dwindled one by one away;
For me it was a woeful day. 1798. ]


[Variant 9:

1836.

Oft-times I thought to run away;
For me it was a woeful day. 1798.

Bent oftentimes to flee from home,
And hide my head where wild beasts roam. 1827. ]





* * * * *





THE IDIOT BOY


Composed 1798. --Published 1798.


[Alfoxden, 1798. The last stanza, 'The cocks did crow to-whoo,
to-whoo, and the sun did shine so cold,' was the foundation of the
whole. The words were reported to me by my dear friend Thomas Poole;
but I have since heard the same repeated of other idiots. Let me add,
that this long poem was composed in the groves of Alfoxden, almost
extempore; not a word, I believe, being corrected, though one stanza
was omitted. I mention this in gratitude to those happy moments, for,
in truth, I never wrote anything with so much glee. --I. F.