now thou art,
That in thy waters may be seen 10
The image of a poet's heart,
How bright, how solemn, how serene!
Such as did once the Poet bless, [1]
Who murmuring here a later [C] ditty, [2]
Could find no refuge from distress 15
But in the milder grief of pity.
Now let us, as we float along, [3]
For _him_ [4] suspend the dashing oar; [D]
And pray that never child of song
May know that Poet's sorrows more. [5] 20
How calm! how still! the only sound,
The dripping of the oar suspended!
--The evening darkness gathers round
By virtue's holiest Powers attended.
* * * * *
VARIANTS ON THE TEXT
[Variant 1:
1800.
Such heart did once the poet bless, 1798.]
[Variant 2:
1815.
Who, pouring here a _later_ [i] ditty, 1798.]
[Variant 3:
1802.
Remembrance, as we glide along, 1798.
... float ... 1800.]
[Variant 4:
1802.
For him ... 1798.]
[Variant 5:
1802.
May know his freezing sorrows more. 1798.]
[Sub-Footnote i: The italics only occur in the editions of 1798 and
1800.--Ed.]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES TO THE TEXT
[Footnote A: The title in the editions 1802-1815 was 'Remembrance of
Collins, written upon the Thames near Richmond'.--Ed.]
[Footnote B: Compare the 'After-thought' to "The River Duddon. A Series
of Sonnets":
Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide.
Ed.]
[Footnote C: Collins's 'Ode on the Death of Thomson', the last written,
I believe, of the poems which were published during his life-time. This
Ode is also alluded to in the next stanza.--W. W. 1798.]
[Footnote D: Compare Collins's 'Ode on the Death of Thomson', 'The Scene
on the Thames near Richmond':
Remembrance oft shall haunt the shore
When Thames in summer wreaths is drest.
And oft suspend the dashing oar
To bid his gentle spirit rest.
As Mr. Dowden suggests, the _him_ was probably italicised by Wordsworth,
"because the oar is suspended not for Thomson but for Collins." The
italics were first used in the edition of 1802.--Ed.]
* * * * *
DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES TAKEN DURING A PEDESTRIAN TOUR AMONG THE ALPS
Composed 1791-2. [A]--Published 1793
TO THE REV.
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