'"
This walk and conversation took place in October 1836.
This walk and conversation took place in October 1836.
William Wordsworth
He lived at a house on the
hill called Score Crag, which, if my conjecture as to Emma's Dell is
right, is the 'single mountain cottage' on a 'summit, distant a short
space. ' Wordsworth, happening to be walking at no great distance,
heard a loud shriek. It was that of Mr. Wilson, the father, who had
just discovered his son's body in the beck. "
In the "Reminiscences" of the poet, by the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge,
which were contributed to the 'Memoirs of Wordsworth', written by his
nephew (vol. ii. pp. 300-315), there is a record of a walk they took up
Easdale to this place, entering the field just at the spot which Dr.
Cradock supposes to be "Emma's Dell. "
"He turned aside at a little farm-house, and took us into a swelling
field to look down on the tumbling stream which bounded it, and which
we saw precipitated at a distance, in a broad white sheet, from the
mountain. " (This refers to Easdale Force. ) "Then, as he mused for an
instant, he said,
'I have often thought what a solemn thing it would be could we have
brought to our mind at once all the scenes of distress and misery
which any spot, however beautiful and calm before us, has been
witness to since the beginning. That water break, with the glassy
quiet pool beneath it, that looks so lovely, and presents no images
to the mind but of peace--there, I remember, the only son of his
father, a poor man who lived yonder, was drowned.
'"
This walk and conversation took place in October 1836. If any one is
surprised that Wordsworth, supposing him to have been then looking into
the very dell on which he wrote the above poem in 1800, did not name it
to Mr. Coleridge, he must remember that he was not in the habit of
speaking of the places he had memorialised in verse, and that in 1836
his "Sister Emmeline" had for a year been a confirmed invalid at Rydal.
I have repeatedly followed Easdale beck all the way up from its junction
with the Rothay to the Tarn, and found no spot corresponding so closely
to the realistic detail of this poem as the one suggested by Dr.
Cradock. There are two places further up the dale where the "sallies of
glad sound" such as are referred to in the poem, are even more
distinctly audible; but they are not at "a sudden turning," as is the
spot above Goody Bridge. If one leaves the Easdale road at this bridge,
and keeps to the side of the beck for a few hundred yards, till he
reaches the turning,--especially if it be a bright April morning, such
as that described in the poem,--and remembers that this path by the
brook was a favourite resort of Wordsworth and his sister, the
probability of Dr. Cradock's suggestion will be apparent. Lady
Richardson, who knew the place, and appreciated the poem as thoroughly
as any of Wordsworth's friends, told me that she concurred in this
identification of the "dell. "--Ed.
* * * * *
TO JOANNA
Composed 1800. --Published 1800
[Written at Grasmere. The effect of her laugh is an extravagance, though
the effect of the reverberation of voices in some parts of the mountains
is very striking. There is, in 'The Excursion', an allusion to the bleat
of a lamb thus re-echoed, and described without any exaggeration, as I
heard it, on the side of Stickle Tarn, from the precipice that stretches
on to Langdale Pikes. --I. F.
hill called Score Crag, which, if my conjecture as to Emma's Dell is
right, is the 'single mountain cottage' on a 'summit, distant a short
space. ' Wordsworth, happening to be walking at no great distance,
heard a loud shriek. It was that of Mr. Wilson, the father, who had
just discovered his son's body in the beck. "
In the "Reminiscences" of the poet, by the Hon. Mr. Justice Coleridge,
which were contributed to the 'Memoirs of Wordsworth', written by his
nephew (vol. ii. pp. 300-315), there is a record of a walk they took up
Easdale to this place, entering the field just at the spot which Dr.
Cradock supposes to be "Emma's Dell. "
"He turned aside at a little farm-house, and took us into a swelling
field to look down on the tumbling stream which bounded it, and which
we saw precipitated at a distance, in a broad white sheet, from the
mountain. " (This refers to Easdale Force. ) "Then, as he mused for an
instant, he said,
'I have often thought what a solemn thing it would be could we have
brought to our mind at once all the scenes of distress and misery
which any spot, however beautiful and calm before us, has been
witness to since the beginning. That water break, with the glassy
quiet pool beneath it, that looks so lovely, and presents no images
to the mind but of peace--there, I remember, the only son of his
father, a poor man who lived yonder, was drowned.
'"
This walk and conversation took place in October 1836. If any one is
surprised that Wordsworth, supposing him to have been then looking into
the very dell on which he wrote the above poem in 1800, did not name it
to Mr. Coleridge, he must remember that he was not in the habit of
speaking of the places he had memorialised in verse, and that in 1836
his "Sister Emmeline" had for a year been a confirmed invalid at Rydal.
I have repeatedly followed Easdale beck all the way up from its junction
with the Rothay to the Tarn, and found no spot corresponding so closely
to the realistic detail of this poem as the one suggested by Dr.
Cradock. There are two places further up the dale where the "sallies of
glad sound" such as are referred to in the poem, are even more
distinctly audible; but they are not at "a sudden turning," as is the
spot above Goody Bridge. If one leaves the Easdale road at this bridge,
and keeps to the side of the beck for a few hundred yards, till he
reaches the turning,--especially if it be a bright April morning, such
as that described in the poem,--and remembers that this path by the
brook was a favourite resort of Wordsworth and his sister, the
probability of Dr. Cradock's suggestion will be apparent. Lady
Richardson, who knew the place, and appreciated the poem as thoroughly
as any of Wordsworth's friends, told me that she concurred in this
identification of the "dell. "--Ed.
* * * * *
TO JOANNA
Composed 1800. --Published 1800
[Written at Grasmere. The effect of her laugh is an extravagance, though
the effect of the reverberation of voices in some parts of the mountains
is very striking. There is, in 'The Excursion', an allusion to the bleat
of a lamb thus re-echoed, and described without any exaggeration, as I
heard it, on the side of Stickle Tarn, from the precipice that stretches
on to Langdale Pikes. --I. F.
