meekness; for no thought Uncharitable crossed his mind, no sense Of hasty anger rising in the eclipse [11] 170 Of true domestic loyalty, did e'er Find place within his bosom.--Once again The persevering wedge of tyranny Achieved their separation: and once more Were they united,--to be yet again 175 Disparted, pitiable lot! But here A portion of the tale may well be left In silence, though my memory could add Much how the Youth, in scanty space of time, Was traversed from without; much, too, of thoughts 180 That occupied his days in solitude Under privation and restraint; and what, 59 Through dark and shapeless fear of things to come, And what, through strong compunction for the past, He suffered--breaking down in heart and mind! 185 Doomed to a third and last captivity, His freedom he recovered on the eve Of Julia's travail. When the babe was born, Its presence tempted him to cherish schemes Of future happiness. "You shall return, 190 Julia," said he, "and to your father's house Go with the child.--You have been wretched; yet The silver shower, whose reckless burthen weighs Too heavily upon the lily's head, Oft leaves a saving moisture at its root. 195 Malice, beholding you, will melt away. Go!--'tis a town where both of us were born; None will reproach you, for our truth is known; And if, amid those once-bright bowers, our fate Remain unpitied, pity is not in man. 200 With ornaments--the prettiest, nature yields Or art can fashion, shall you deck our [12] boy, And feed his countenance with your own sweet looks Till no one can resist him.--Now, even now, I see him sporting on the sunny lawn; 205 My father from the window sees him too; Startled, as if some new-created thing Enriched the earth, or Faery of the woods Bounded before him;--but the unweeting Child Shall by his beauty win his grandsire's heart 210 60 So that it shall be softened, and our loves End happily, as they began!" These gleams Appeared but seldom; oftener was he seen Propping a pale and melancholy face 215 Upon the Mother's bosom; resting thus His head upon one breast, while from the other The Babe was drawing in its quiet food. --That pillow is no longer to be thine, Fond Youth! that mournful solace now must pass 220 Into the list of things that cannot be! Unwedded Julia, terror-smitten, hears The sentence, by her mother's lip pronounced, That dooms her to a convent.--Who shall tell, Who dares report, the tidings to the lord 225 Of her affections? so they blindly asked Who knew not to what quiet depths a weight Of agony had pressed the Sufferer down: The word, by others dreaded, he can hear Composed and silent, without visible sign 230 Of even the least emotion. Noting this, When the impatient object of his love Upbraided him with slackness, he returned No answer, only took the mother's hand And kissed it; seemingly devoid of pain, 235 Or care, that what so tenderly he pressed Was a dependant on [13] the obdurate heart Of one who came to disunite their lives 61 For ever--sad alternative! preferred, By the unbending Parents of the Maid, 240 To secret 'spousals meanly disavowed. --So be it! In the city he remained A season after Julia had withdrawn To those religious walls. He, too, departs--245 Who with him?--even the senseless Little-one. With that sole charge he passed the city-gates, For the last time, attendant by the side Of a close chair, a litter, or sedan, In which the Babe was carried. To a hill, 250 That rose a brief league distant from the town, The dwellers in that house where he had lodged Accompanied his steps, by anxious love Impelled;--they parted from him there, and stood Watching below till he had disappeared 255 On the hill top. His eyes he scarcely took, Throughout that journey, from the vehicle (Slow-moving ark of all his hopes!) that veiled The tender infant: and at every inn, And under every hospitable tree 260 At which the bearers halted or reposed, Laid him with timid care upon his knees, And looked, as mothers ne'er were known to look, Upon the nursling which his arms embraced. This was the manner in which Vaudracour 265 62 Departed with his infant; and thus reached His father's house, where to the innocent child Admittance was denied. The young man spake No word [14] of indignation or reproof, But of his father begged, a last request, 270 That a retreat might be assigned to him Where in forgotten quiet he might dwell, With such allowance as his wants required; For wishes he had none. To a lodge that stood Deep in a forest, with leave given, at the age 275 Of four-and-twenty summers he withdrew; And thither took with him his motherless Babe, [15] And one domestic for their common needs, An aged woman. It consoled him here To attend upon the orphan, and perform 280 Obsequious service to the precious child, Which, after a short time, by some mistake Or indiscretion of the Father, died.-- The Tale I follow to its last recess Of suffering or of peace, I know not which: 285 Theirs be the blame who caused the woe, not mine! From this time forth he never shared a smile With mortal creature. An Inhabitant Of that same town, in which the pair had left So lively a remembrance of their griefs, 290 By chance of business, coming within reach Of his retirement, to the forest lodge Repaired, but only found the matron there, [16] 63 Who told him that his pains were thrown away, For that her Master never uttered word 295 To living thing--not even to her.--Behold! While they were speaking, Vaudracour approached; But, seeing some one near, as on the latch Of the garden-gate his hand was laid, he shrunk--[17] And, like a shadow, glided out of view. 300 Shocked at his savage aspect, from the place The visitor retired. Thus lived the Youth Cut off from all intelligence with man, And shunning even the light of common day; 305 Nor could the voice of Freedom, which through France Full speedily resounded, public hope, Or personal memory of his own deep wrongs, Rouse him: but in those solitary shades His days he wasted, an imbecile mind! 310 * VARIANTS ON THE TEXT [Variant 1: 1836. 64 And strangers to content if long apart, Or more divided ... 1820.] [Variant 2: 1827. Was inwardly prepared to turn aside From law and custom, ... 1820.] [Variant 3: 1836. The sequel may be easily divined,--1820.] [Variant 4: 1827. ... From this time the Youth 1820.] [Variant 5: 65 1827. Stirred no where without arms. To their rural seat, Meanwhile, his Parents artfully withdrew, Upon some feigned occasion, and the Son Remained with one attendant. At midnight 1820.] [Variant 6: 1836. One, did the Youth's ungovernable hand Assault and slay;--and to a second gave 1820.] [Variant 7: 1836. ... beheld ... 1820.] [Variant 8: 1836. The perturbation of each mind;--... 1820.] 66 [Variant 9: This line was added in 1836.] [Variant 10: 1836. But ... 1820.] [Variant 11: 1845. ... for no thought Uncharitable, no presumptuous rising Of hasty censure, modelled in the eclipse 1820. ... for no thought Undutifully harsh dwelt in his mind, No proud resentment cherished in the eclipse C.] [Variant 12: 1840. ... your ... 1820.] 67 [Variant 13: 1827. ... upon ... 1820.] [Variant 14: 1836. No words ... 1820.] [Variant 15: 1836. ... infant Babe, 1820.] [Variant 16: 1827. ... to the spot repaired With an intent to visit him. He reached 68 The house, and only found the Matron there, 1820] [Variant 17: 1836. But, seeing some one near, even as his hand Was stretched towards the garden gate, he shrunk--1820] * FOOTNOTES ON THE TEXT [Footnote A: The work was 'The Prelude'. See book ix., p. 310 of this volume.--Ed.] [Footnote B: Compare 'The Prelude', book ix. l. 548, p. 310, where Wordsworth says it was told him "by my Patriot friend."--Ed.] In the preface to his volume, "'Poems of Wordsworth' chosen and edited by Matthew Arnold," that distinguished poet and critic has said (p. xxv.), "I can read with pleasure and edification ... everything of 69 Wordsworth, I think, except 'Vaudracour and Julia'."--Ed. * 1805 During 1805, the autobiographical poem, which was afterwards named by Mrs. Wordsworth 'The Prelude', was finished. In that year also Wordsworth wrote the 'Ode to Duty', 'To a SkyLark', 'Fidelity', the fourth poem 'To the Daisy', the 'Elegiac Stanzas suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm', the 'Elegiac Verses' in memory of his brother John, 'The Waggoner', and a few other poems.--Ed. * 70 FRENCH REVOLUTION, AS IT APPEARED TO ENTHUSIASTS AT ITS COMMENCEMENT REPRINTED FROM 'THE FRIEND' Composed 1805.--Published 1809 [An extract from the long poem on my own poetical education. It was first published by Coleridge in his 'Friend', which is the reason of its having had a place in every edition of my poems since.--I. F.] These lines appeared first in 'The Friend', No. 11, October 26, 1809, p. 163. They afterwards found a place amongst the "Poems of the Imagination," in all the collective editions from 1815 onwards. They are part of the eleventh book of 'The Prelude', entitled "France-- (concluded)," ll. 105-144. Wordsworth gives the date 1805, but these lines possibly belong to the year 1804.--Ed. Oh! pleasant exercise of hope and joy! For mighty were [1] the auxiliars which then stood 71 Upon our side, we [2] who were strong in love! Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!--Oh! times, 5 In which the meagre, stale, forbidding ways Of custom, law, and statute, took at once The attraction of a country in romance! When Reason seemed the most to assert her rights, When most intent on making of herself 10 A prime Enchantress [3]--to assist the work, Which then was going forward in her name! Not favoured spots alone, but the whole earth, The beauty wore of promise, that which sets (As at some moment might not be unfelt [4] 15 Among the bowers of
