Composed 1798.--Published 1800
Included among the "Inscriptions."--Ed.
Stranger! this hillock of mis-shapen stones
Is not a Ruin spared or made by time, [1]
Nor, as perchance thou rashly deem'st, the
Cairn Of some old British Chief: 'tis nothing more
Than the rude embryo of a little Dome
Or Pleasure-house, once destined to be built [2]
Among the birch-trees of this rocky isle. [3]
But, as it chanced, Sir William having learned
That from the shore a full-grown man might wade,
And make himself a freeman of this spot
At any hour he chose, the prudent Knight [4]
Desisted, and the quarry and the mound
Are monuments of his unfinished task.
The block on which these lines are traced, perhaps,
Was once selected as the corner-stone
Of that [5] intended Pile, which would have been
Some quaint odd plaything of elaborate skill,
So that, I guess, the linnet and the thrush,
And other little builders who dwell here,
Had wondered at the work. But blame him not,
For old Sir William was a gentle Knight,
Bred in this vale, to which he appertained [6]
With all his ancestry. Then peace to him,
And for the outrage which he had devised
Entire forgiveness!--But if thou art one
On fire with thy impatience to become
An inmate of these mountains,--if, disturbed
By beautiful conceptions, thou hast hewn
Out of the quiet rock the elements
Of thy trim Mansion destined soon to blaze
In snow white splendour, [B] [7]--think again; and, taught
By old Sir William and his quarry, leave
Thy fragments to the bramble and the rose;
There let the vernal slow warm sun himself,
And let the redbreast hop from stone to stone.
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:1837.
Is not a ruin of the ancient time, 1800.
... antique ... MS.]
[Variant 2:1802.
... which was to have been built 1800.]
[Variant 3:1800.
Of some old British warrior: so, to speak
The honest truth, 'tis neither more nor less
Than the rude germ of what was to have been
A pleasure-house, and built upon this isle. MS.]
[Variant 4:1837.
... the Knight forthwith 1800.]
[Variant 5:1837.
Of the ... 1800.]
[Variant 6:1800.
Bred here, and to this valley appertained MS. 1798.]
[Variant 7:1800.
... glory, ... 1802.
The text of 1815 returns to that of 1800.]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
[Footnote A: In a MS. copy this is given as "the lesser Island."--Ed.]
[Footnote B: Compare Wordsworth's
"objections to white, as a colour, in large spots or masses in landscape,"
in his 'Guide through the district of the Lakes' (section third).--Ed.]
* * * * *
YOU ARE READING
THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH - VOL. 2 (Completed)
ClassicsThe poetical works of William Wordsworth, edited by William Knight.
