Composed September, 1802.--Published 1807
[This was written immediately after my return from France to London, when I could not but be struck, as here described, with the vanity and parade of our own country, especially in great towns and cities, as contrasted with the quiet, and I may say the desolation, that the Revolution had produced in France. This must be borne in mind, or else the reader may think that in this and the succeeding Sonnets I have exaggerated the mischief engendered and fostered among us by undisturbed wealth. It would not be easy to conceive with what a depth of feeling I entered into the struggle carried on by the Spaniards for their deliverance from the usurped power of the French. Many times have I gone from Allan Bank in Grasmere Vale, where we were then residing, to the top of Raise-gap, as it is called, so late as two o'clock in the morning, to meet the carrier bringing the newspapers from Keswick.Imperfect traces of the state of mind in which I then was may be found in my tract on the Convention of Cintra, as well as in these Sonnets.--I. F.]
O FRIEND! [A] I know not which way I must look [1]
For comfort, being, as I am, opprest,
To think that now our life is only drest
For show; mean handy-work of craftsman, cook,
Or groom!--We must run glittering like a brook
In the open sunshine, or we are unblest:
The wealthiest man among us is the best:
No grandeur now in nature or in book
Delights us. Rapine, avarice, expense,
This is idolatry; and these we adore:
Plain living and high thinking are no more:
The homely beauty of the good old cause
Is gone; our peace, our fearful innocence,
And pure religion breathing household laws. [B]
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VARIANT ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:1807.
O thou proud City! which way shall I look 1838.
The text of 1840 returns to that of 1807.]
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FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT
[Footnote A: The "Friend" was Coleridge. In the original MS. it stands"Coleridge! I know not," etc. Wordsworth changed it in the proof stage.--Ed.]
[Footnote B: Compare--in Hartley Coleridge's 'Lives of Distinguished Northerners'--what is said of this sonnet, in his life of Anne Clifford,where the passing cynicism of Wordsworth's poem is pointed out.--Ed.]
Wordsworth stayed in London from August 30th to September 22nd 1802.--Ed.
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THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH - VOL. 2 (Completed)
ClassicsThe poetical works of William Wordsworth, edited by William Knight.
