The text of 1815, which is continued in 1820, begins thus:
This Island, guarded from profane approach
By
mountains
high and waters widely spread,
Is that recess to which St.
William Wordsworth
Nor in vain
So pray'd he:--as our Chronicles report,
Though here the Hermit number'd his last days,
Far from St. Cuthbert his beloved friend,
Those holy men both died in the same hour. 1800.
The text of the editions of 1802 and 1805 (which are identical), omits
one line of the text of 1800. The passage reads:
He dwelt in solitude.--But he had left
A Fellow-labourer, whom ...
And the following variants occur in 1802 and 1805:
Make the heart sick, ....
...
he would pray that both
The text of 1815, which is continued in 1820, begins thus:
This Island, guarded from profane approach
By
mountains
high and waters widely spread,
Is that recess to which St.
Herbert came
In life's decline; a self-secluded Man,
After long exercise in social cares
And offices humane, intent to adore
The Deity, with undistracted mind,
And meditate on everlasting things.
--Stranger! this shapeless heap of stones and earth
(Long be its mossy covering undisturbed!)
Is reverenced as a vestige of the Abode
In which, through many seasons, from the world
Removed, and the affections of the world,
He dwelt in solitude.--But he had left
A Fellow-labourer, ... 1815 and 1820.
In 1827 the poem began thus:
Stranger! this shapeless heap of stones and earth
Is the last relic of St. Herbert's Cell.
Here stood his threshold; here was spread the roof
That sheltered him, a self-secluded Man, 1827.]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT
[Footnote A: Compare the last stanza of "Strange fits of passion have I
known," p. 79 of this volume.--Ed.
