From
that copy of a copy (which is now amongst the Beaumont MSS.
that copy of a copy (which is now amongst the Beaumont MSS.
William Wordsworth
--William had slept uncommonly well, so, feeling
himself strong, he fell to work at 'The Leech-Gatherer'; he wrote hard
at it till dinner time, then he gave over, tired to death--he had
finished the poem. "
"Sunday morning, 9th May. --William worked at 'The Leech-Gatherer'
almost incessantly from morning till tea-time. I copied 'The
Leech-Gatherer' and other poems for Coleridge. I was oppressed and
sick at heart, for he wearied himself to death. "
"Sunday, 4th July. --. . . William finished 'The Leech-Gatherer' to-day. "
"Monday, 5th July. --I copied out 'The Leech-Gatherer' for Coleridge,
and for us. "
From these extracts it is clear that Dorothy Wordsworth considered the
poem as "finished" on the 7th of May, and on the 9th she sent a copy to
Coleridge; but that it was not till the 4th of July that it was really
finished, and then a second copy was forwarded to Coleridge. It is
impossible to say from which of the two MSS. sent to him Coleridge
transcribed the copy which he forwarded to Sir George Beaumont.
From
that copy of a copy (which is now amongst the Beaumont MSS. at
Coleorton) the various readings given, on Coleridge's authority, in the
notes to the poem, were obtained some years ago.
The Fenwick note to the poem illustrates Wordsworth's habit of blending
in one description details which were originally separate, both as to
time and place. The scenery and the incidents of the poem are alike
composite. As he tells us that he met the leech-gatherer a few hundred
yards from Dove Cottage, the "lonely place" with its "pool, bare to the
eye of heaven," at once suggests White Moss Common and its small tarn;
but he adds that, in the opening stanzas of the poem, he is describing a
state of feeling he was in, when crossing the fells at the foot of
Ullswater to Askam, and that the image of the hare "running races in her
mirth," with the glittering mist accompanying her, was observed by him,
not on White Moss Common, but in one of the ridges of Moor Divock. To H.
C. Robinson he said of the "Leech-Gatherer" (Sept. 10, 1816), that "he
gave to his poetic character powers of mind which his original did not
possess. " (Robinson's 'Diary', etc. , vol. ii. p. 24. )
One of the "Poems of the Imagination. "--Ed.
himself strong, he fell to work at 'The Leech-Gatherer'; he wrote hard
at it till dinner time, then he gave over, tired to death--he had
finished the poem. "
"Sunday morning, 9th May. --William worked at 'The Leech-Gatherer'
almost incessantly from morning till tea-time. I copied 'The
Leech-Gatherer' and other poems for Coleridge. I was oppressed and
sick at heart, for he wearied himself to death. "
"Sunday, 4th July. --. . . William finished 'The Leech-Gatherer' to-day. "
"Monday, 5th July. --I copied out 'The Leech-Gatherer' for Coleridge,
and for us. "
From these extracts it is clear that Dorothy Wordsworth considered the
poem as "finished" on the 7th of May, and on the 9th she sent a copy to
Coleridge; but that it was not till the 4th of July that it was really
finished, and then a second copy was forwarded to Coleridge. It is
impossible to say from which of the two MSS. sent to him Coleridge
transcribed the copy which he forwarded to Sir George Beaumont.
From
that copy of a copy (which is now amongst the Beaumont MSS. at
Coleorton) the various readings given, on Coleridge's authority, in the
notes to the poem, were obtained some years ago.
The Fenwick note to the poem illustrates Wordsworth's habit of blending
in one description details which were originally separate, both as to
time and place. The scenery and the incidents of the poem are alike
composite. As he tells us that he met the leech-gatherer a few hundred
yards from Dove Cottage, the "lonely place" with its "pool, bare to the
eye of heaven," at once suggests White Moss Common and its small tarn;
but he adds that, in the opening stanzas of the poem, he is describing a
state of feeling he was in, when crossing the fells at the foot of
Ullswater to Askam, and that the image of the hare "running races in her
mirth," with the glittering mist accompanying her, was observed by him,
not on White Moss Common, but in one of the ridges of Moor Divock. To H.
C. Robinson he said of the "Leech-Gatherer" (Sept. 10, 1816), that "he
gave to his poetic character powers of mind which his original did not
possess. " (Robinson's 'Diary', etc. , vol. ii. p. 24. )
One of the "Poems of the Imagination. "--Ed.
