The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth Volume Ii Part 18

There was a Boy; ye knew him well, ye cliffs And islands of Winander!--many a time, At evening, when the earliest stars began [1]

To move along the edges of the hills, Rising or setting, would he stand alone, 5 Beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake; And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth Uplifted, he, as through an instrument, Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls, 10 That they might answer him.--And they would shout Across the watery vale, and shout again, Responsive to his call,--with quivering peals, And long halloos, and screams, and echoes loud Redoubled and redoubled; concourse wild 15 Of jocund din! [2] And, when there came a pause Of silence such as baffled his best skill: [3]

Then, sometimes, in that silence, while he hung Listening, a gentle shock of mild surprise Has carried far into his heart the voice 20 Of mountain-torrents; or the visible scene Would enter unawares into his mind With all its solemn imagery, its rocks, Its woods, and that uncertain heaven received Into the bosom of the steady lake. 25

This boy was taken from his mates, and died [4]

In childhood, ere he was full twelve years old. [5]

Pre-eminent in beauty is the vale Where he was born and bred: the church-yard hangs [6]

Upon a slope above the village-school; 30 And, through that church-yard when my way has led On summer-evenings, I believe, that there [7]

A long half-hour together I have stood Mute--looking at the grave in which he lies![A] [8]

Wordsworth sent this fragment in MS. to Coleridge, who was then living at Ratzeburg, and Coleridge wrote in reply on the 10th Dec. 1798:

"The blank lines gave me as much direct pleasure as was possible in the general bustle of pleasure with which I received and read your letter. I observed, I remember, that the 'fingers woven,' etc., only puzzled me; and though I liked the twelve or fourteen first lines very well, yet I liked the remainder much better. Well, now I have read them again, they are very beautiful, and leave an affecting impression. That

'uncertain heaven received Into the bosom of the steady lake,'

I should have recognised anywhere; and had I met these lines, running wild in the deserts of Arabia, I should have instantly screamed out 'Wordsworth'!"

The MS. copy of this poem sent to Coleridge probably lacked the explanatory line,

'Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth,'

as another MS., in the possession of the poet's grandson, lacks it; and the line was possibly added--as the late Mr. d.y.k.es Campbell suggested--"in deference to S. T. C.'s expression of puzzlement."

Fletcher Rainc.o.c.k--an elder brother of the William Rainc.o.c.k referred to in the Fenwick note to this poem, as Wordsworth's schoolfellow at Hawkshead--was with him also at Cambridge. He attended Pembroke College, and was second wrangler in 1790. [B] John Fleming of Rayrigg, his half-brother--the boy with whom Wordsworth used to walk round the lake of Esthwaite, in the morning before school-time, ("five miles of pleasant wandering")--was also at St. John's College, Cambridge, at this time, and had been fifth Wrangler in the preceding year, 1789. He is referred to both in the second and the fifth books of 'The Prelude'

(see notes to that poem). It is perhaps not unworthy of note that Wrangham, whose French stanzas on "The Birth of Love" Wordsworth translated into English, was in the same year--1789--third Wrangler, second Smith's prizeman, and first Chancellor's medallist; while Robert Greenwood, "the Minstrel of the Troop," who "blew his flute, alone upon the rock" in Windermere,--also one of the characters referred to in the second book of 'The Prelude',--was sixteenth Wrangler in Wordsworth's year, viz. 1791. William Rainc.o.c.k was at St. John's College, Cambridge.--Ed.

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1815.

... when the stars had just begun 1800.]

[Variant 2:

1836.

... a wild scene Of mirth and jocund din! ... 1800.

... concourse wild 1805.]

[Variant 3:

1836.

... And, when it chanced That pauses of deep silence mock'd his skill, 1800.

... and, when a lengthened pause Of silence came and baffled his best skill, 'The Prelude', 1850.]

[Variant 4: This and the following line were added in 1805.]

[Variant 5:

1815.

... ere he was ten years old. 1805.]

[Variant 6:

1845.

Fair are the woods, and beauteous is the spot, The vale where he was born: the Church-yard hangs 1800.

Fair is the spot, most beautiful the Vale Where he was born: the gra.s.sy Church-yard hangs 1827.

The text of 1840 returns to that of 1800.]

[Variant 7:

1836.

And there along that bank when I have pa.s.s'd At evening, I believe, that near his grave 1800.

... I believe, that oftentimes 1805.

And through that Church-yard when my way has led 1827.]

[Variant 8:

1815.

A full half-hour together I have stood, Mute--for he died when he was ten years old. 1800.

Mute--looking at the grave in which he lies. 1805.]