No More Learning

And oft suspend the dashing oar
To bid his gentle spirit rest.

As Mr. Dowden suggests, the _him_ was probably italicised by Wordsworth,
"because the oar is suspended not for Thomson but for Collins. " The
italics were first used in the edition of 1802. --Ed. ]





* * * * *





DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES TAKEN DURING A PEDESTRIAN TOUR AMONG THE ALPS


Composed 1791-2. [A]--Published 1793


TO THE REV. ROBERT JONES, FELLOW OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

DEAR SIR, [B]--However desirous I might have been of giving you proofs
of the high place you hold in my esteem, I should have been cautious
of wounding your delicacy by thus publicly addressing you, had not the
circumstance of our having been companions among the Alps, seemed to
give this dedication a propriety sufficient to do away any scruples
which your modesty might otherwise have suggested. [C]

In inscribing this little work to you, I consult my heart. You know
well how great is the difference between two companions lolling in a
post-chaise, and two travellers plodding slowly along the road, side
by side, each with his little knapsack of necessaries upon his
shoulders. How much more of heart between the two latter!

I am happy in being conscious that I shall have one reader who will
approach the conclusion of these few pages with regret. You they must
certainly interest, in reminding you of moments to which you can
hardly look back without a pleasure not the less dear from a shade of
melancholy. You will meet with few images without recollecting the
spot where we observed them together; consequently, whatever is feeble
in my design, or spiritless in my colouring, will be amply supplied by
your own memory.
With still greater propriety I might have inscribed to you a
description of some of the features of your native mountains, through
which we have wandered together, in the same manner, with so much
pleasure. But the sea-sunsets, which give such splendour to the vale
of Clwyd, Snowdon, the chair of Idris, the quiet village of
Bethgelert, Menai and her Druids, the Alpine steeps of the Conway, and
the still more interesting windings of the wizard stream of the Dee,
remain yet untouched. Apprehensive that my pencil may never be
exercised on these subjects, I cannot let slip this opportunity of
thus publicly assuring you with how much affection and esteem

I am, dear Sir,
Most sincerely yours,
W. WORDSWORTH.

LONDON, 1793.


[Much the greatest part of this poem was composed during my walks upon
the banks of the Loire, in the years 1791, 1792. I will only notice
that the description of the valley filled with mist, beginning--'In
solemn shapes'--was taken from that beautiful region of which the
principal features are Lungarn and Sarnen. Nothing that I ever saw in
Nature left a more delightful impression on my mind than that which I
have attempted, alas, how feebly! to convey to others in these lines.
Those two lakes have always interested me especially, from bearing in
their size and other features, a resemblance to those of the North of
England. It is much to be deplored that a district so beautiful should
be so unhealthy as it is. --I. F. ]

As the original text of the 'Descriptive Sketches' is printed in
Appendix I. (p. 309) to this volume--with all the notes to that edition
of 1793--it is not quoted in the footnotes to the final text in the
pages which follow, except in cases which will justify themselves.