Friday April joth. We came into the orchard directly after Breakfast, & sate there. The lake was calm — the sky cloudy. We saw two fishermen by the lake side. William began to write the poem of the Celandine. I wrote to Mary H — sitting on the fur gown. Walked backwards & forwards with William — he repeated his poem to me — then he got to work again & would not give over — he had not finished his dinner till 5 o clock. After dinner we took up the fur gowns into The Hollins above. We found a sweet seat & thither we will often go. We spread the gown put on each a cloak & there we lay — William fell asleep — he had a bad head ache owing to his having been disturbed the night before with reading C’s letter which Fletcher had brought to the door — I did not sleep but I lay with half shut eyes, looking at the prospect as in a vision almost I was so resigned to it — Loughrigg Fell was the most distant hill, then came the Lake slipping in between the copses & above the copse the round swelling field, nearer to me a wild intermixture of rocks trees, & slacks of grassy ground. — When we turned the corner of our little shelter we saw the Church & the whole vale. It is a blessed place. The Birds were about us on all sides — Skobbys Robins Bullfinches. Crows now & then flew over our heads as we were warned by the sound of the beating of the air above. We stayed till the light of day was going & the little Birds had begun to settle their singing — But there was a thrush not far off that seemed to sing louder & clearer than the thrushes had sung when it was quite day. We came in at 8 o’ clock, got tea. Wrote to Colerdge & I wrote toMrs Clarkson part of a letter. We went to bed at 20 minutes past 11 with prayers that Wm might sleep well.
Saturday May 1st. Rose not till ½ past 8 — a heavenly morning — as soon as Breakfast was over we went into the garden & sowed the scarlet beans about the house. It was a clear sky a heavenly morning. I sowed the flowers William helped me. We then went and sate in the Orchard till dinnertime, it was very hot. William wrote the Celandine. We planned a shed for the sun was too much for us. After dinner we went again to our old resting place in the Hollins under the Rock. We first lay under a holly where we saw nothing but the holly tree & a budding elm mossed with & the sky above our heads. But that holly tree had a beauty about it more than its own, knowing as we did where we were. When the sun had got low enough we went to the Rock shade — Oh the overwhelming beauty of the vale below — greener than green. Two Ravens flew high high in the sky & the sun shone upon their bellys & their wings long after there was none of his light to be seen but a little space on the top of Loughrigg Fell. We went down to tea at 8 o’ clock — had lost the poem & returned after tea. The Landscape was fading, sheep & lambs quiet among the Rocks. We walked towards Kings & backwards & forwards. The sky was perfectly Cloudless N.B. is it often so? 3 solitary stars in the middle of the blue vault one or two on the points of the high hills. Wm wrote the Celandine 2nd part tonight. Heard the cuckow today this first of May.
Sunday 2nd May. Again a heavenly morning — Letter from Coleridge.
PART IV. 4 MAY 1802 - 16 JANUARY, 1803
Tuesday May 4th. William had slept pretty well & though he went to bed nervous & jaded in the extreme he rose refreshed. I wrote the Leech Gatherer for him which he had begun the night before & of which he wrote several stanzas in bed this Monday morning. It was very hot, we called at Mr Simpson’s door as we passed but did not go in. We rested several times by the way, read & repeated the Leech gatherer. We were almost melted before we were at the top of the hill. We saw Coleridge on the Wytheburn Side of the water, he crossed the Beck to us. Mr Simpson was fishing there. William & I ate a Luncheon, then went on towards the Waterfall. It is a glorious wild solitude under that lofty purple crag. It stood upright by itself. Its own self & its shadow below, one mass — all else was sunshine. We went on further. A Bird at the top of the crags was flying round & round & looked in thinness & transparency, shape & motion, like a moth. We climbed the hill but looked in vain for a shade except at the foot of the great waterfall, & there we did not like to stay on account of the loose stones above our heads. We came down & rested upon a moss covered Rock, rising out of the bed of the River. There we lay ate our dinner & stayed there till about 4 o clock or later — Wm & C repeated & read verses. I drank a little Brandy & water & was in Heaven. The Stags horn is very beautiful & fresh springing upon the fells. Mountain ashes, green. We drank tea at a farm house. The woman had not a pleasant countenance, but was civil enough. She had a pretty Boy a year old whom she suckled. We parted from Coleridge at Sara’s Crag after having looked at the Letters which C carved in the morning. I kissed them all. Wm deepened the T with C’s penknife. We sate afterwards on the wall, seeing the sun go down & the reflections in the still water. C looked well & parted from us chearfully, hopping up upon the Side stones. On the Rays we met a woman with 2 little girls one in her arms the other about 4 years old walking by her side, a pretty little thing, but half starved. She had on a pair of slippers that had belonged to some gentlemans child, down at the heels, but it was not easy to keep them on — but, poor thing! young as she was, she walked carefully with them. Alas too young for such cares & such travels — The Mother when we accosted her told us that her Husband had left her & gone off with another woman & how she ‘pursued’ them. Then her fury kindled & her eyes rolled about. She changed again to tears. She was a Cockermouth woman — 30 years of age a child at Cockermouth when I was — I was moved & gave her a shilling, I believe 6d more than I ought to have given. We had theCrescent moon with the ‘auld moon in her arms’ — We rested often: — always upon the Bridges. Reached home at about 10 o clock. The Lloyds had been here in our absence. We went soon to bed. I repeated verses to William while he was in bed — he was soothed & I left him. ‘This is the Spot’ over & over again.
Wednesday 5th May 1802. A very fine morning rather cooler than yesterday. We planted ¾ths of the Bower. I made bread — we sate in the Orchard. The Thrush sang all day as he always sings. I wrote to the Hutchinsons & to Coleridge, packed off Thalaba. William had kept off work till near Bedtime when we returned from our walk — then he began again & went to bed very nervous — we walked in the twilight & walked till night came on — the moon had the old moon in her arms but not so plain to be seen as the night before. When we went to bed it was a Boat without the Circle. I read The Lover’s Complaint to Wm in bed & left him composed.
6th May Thursday 1802. A sweet morning we have put the finishing stroke to our Bower & here we are sitting in the orchard. It is one o clock. We are sitting upon a seat under the wall which I found my Brother Building up when I came to him with his apple — he had intended that it should have been done before I came. It is a nice cool shady spot. The small Birds are singing — Lambs bleating, Cuckow calling — The Thrush sings by Fits, Thomas Ashburner’s axe is going quietly (without passion) in the orchard — Hens are cackling, Flies humming, the women talking together at their doors — Plumb & pear trees are in Blossom, apple trees greenish — the opposite woods green, the crows are cawing. We have heard Ravens. The Ash Trees are in blossom, Birds flying all about us. The stitchwort is coming out, there is one budding Lychnis. The primroses are passing their prime. Celandine violets & wood sorrel for ever more — little geranium & pansies on the wall. We walked in the evening to Tail End to enquire about hurdles for the orchard shed & about Mr Luff’s flower — The flower dead — no hurdles. I went to look at the falling wood — Wm also, when he had been at Benson’s went with me. They have left a good many small oak trees but we dare not hope that they are all to remain. The Ladies are come to Mr Gell’s cottage we saw them as we went & their light when we returned. When we came in we found a Magazine & Review & a letter from Coleridge with verses to Hartley & Sara H. We read the Review &c. The Moon was a perfect Boat a silver Boat when we were out in the Evening. The Birch Tree is all over green in small leaf. More light & elegant than when it is full out. It bent to the breezes as if for the love of its own delightful motions. Sloe thorns & Hawthorns in the hedges.
Friday 7th May. William had slept
uncommonly well so, feeling himself strong, he fell to work at the Leech gatherer — he wrote hard at it till dinner time, then he gave over tired to death — he had finished the poem. I was making Derwents frocks. After dinner we sate in the orchard. It was a thick hazy dull air. The Thrush sang almost continually — the little Birds were more than usually busy with their voices. The sparrows are now full fledged. The nest is so full that they lie upon one another, they sit quietly in their nest with closed mouths. I walked to Rydale after tea which we drank by the kitchen Fire. The Evening very dull — a terrible kind of threatening brightness at sunset above Easedale. The Sloe thorn beautiful in the hedges, & in the wild spots higher up among the hawthorns. No letters. William met me — he had been digging in my absence & cleaning the well. We walked up beyond Lewthwaites a very dull sky, coolish crescent moon now & then. I had a letter brought me from Mrs Clarkson. While we were walking in the orchard I observed the Sorrel leaves opening at about 9 o clock — William went to bed tired with thinking about a poem.
Saturday Morning May 8th 1802. We sowed the Scarlet Beans in the orchard I read Henry 5th there — William lay on his back on the seat’. Wept, For names, sounds paths delights & duties lost’ — Taken from a poem upon Cowley’s wish to retire to the Plantations, read in the Review. I finished Derwent’s frocks — after dinner William added a step to the orchard steps.
Sunday Morning May 9th 1802. The air considerably colder today but the sun shone all day — William worked at the Leech gatherer almost incessantly from morning till tea-time. I copied the Leech-gatherer & other poems for Coleridge — I was oppressed & sick at heart for he wearied himself to death. After tea he wrote 2 stanzas in the manner of Thomsons Castle of Indolence — & was tired out. Bad news of Coleridge.
Monday May 10th. A fine clear morning but coldish — William is still at work though it is past 10 o clock — he will be tired out I am sure — My heart fails in me — he worked a little at odd things, but after dinner he gave over — an affecting letter from Mary H. We sate in the Orchard before dinner. Old Joyce spent the day. I wrote to Mary H. Mrs Jameson & Miss Simpson called just when William was going to bed at 8 o’clock. I wrote to Coleridge sent off Reviews & poems, went to bed at 12 o’clock William did not sleep till 3 o’clock.
Tuesday May 11th. A cool air. William finished the stanzas about C & himself — he did not go out today. Miss Simpson came in to tea which was lucky enough for it interrupted his labours. I walked with her to Rydale — the evening cool — the moon only now & then to be seen — the Lake purple as we went — primroses still in abundance. William did not meet me he completely finished his poems I finished Derwent’s frocks. We went to bed at 12 o clock Wm pretty well he looked very well, he complains that he gets cold in his chest.
Wednesday 12th. A sunshiny but coldish morning — we walked into Easedale & returned by George Rownson’s & the lane. We brought home heckberry blossom, crab blossom — the anemone nemorosa — Marsh Marygold — Speedwell, that beautiful blue one the colour of the blue-stone or glass used in jewellery, with its beautiful pearl-like chives — anemones are in abundance & still the dear dear primroses violets in beds, pansies in abundance, & the little celandine. I pulled a branch of the taller celandine. Butterflies of all colours — I often see some small ones of a pale purple lilac or Emperor’s eye colour something of the colour of that large geranium which grows by the lake side. Wm observed the beauty of Geordy Green’s house. We see it from our orchard. Wm pulled ivy with beautiful berries — I put it over the chimney piece — sate in the orchard the hour before dinner, coldish. We have now dined. My head aches — William is sleeping in the window. In the Evening we were sitting at the table, writing, when we were rouzed by Coleridge’s voice below — he had walked, looked palish but was not much tired. We sate up till one o clock all together then William went to bed & I sate with C in the sitting room (where he slept) till ¼ past 2 o clock. Wrote to MH.
13th May Thursday 1802. The day was very cold, with snow showers. Coleridge had intended going in the morning to Keswick but the cold & showers hindered him. We went with him after tea as far as the plantations by the Roadside descending to Wytheburn — he did not look very well when we parted from him. — We sate an hour at Mr Simpsons.
Friday May 14th 1802. A very cold morning — hail & snow showers all day. We went to Brothers wood, intending to get plants & to go along the shore of the lake to the foot. We did go a part of the way, but there was no pleasure in stepping along that difficult sauntering Road in this ungenial weather. We turned again & walked backwards & forwards in Brothers’ wood. William teased himself with seeking an epithet for the Cuckow. I sate a while upon my last summers seat the mossy stone — William’s unemployed beside me, & the space between where Coleridge has so often lain. The oak trees are just putting forth yellow knots of leaves. The ashes with their flowers passing away & leaves coming out. The blue Hyacinth is not quite full blown — Gowans are coming out — marsh marygolds in full glory — the little star plant a star without a flower. We took home a great load of Gowans & planted them in the cold about the orchard. After dinner I worked bread then came & mended stockings beside William he fell asleep. After tea I walked to Rydale for Letters. It was a strange night. The hills were covered over with a slight covering of hail or snow, just so as to give them a hoary winter look with the black Rocks — The woods looked miserable, the coppices green as grass which looked quite unnatural & they seemed half shrivelled up as if they shrunk from the air. O thought I! what a beautiful thing God has made winter to be by stripping the trees & letting us see their shapes & forms. What a freedom does it seem to give to the storms! There were several new flowers out but I had no pleasure in looking at them — I walked as fast as I could back again with my letter from S. H. which I skimmed over at Tommy Fleming’s. Met Wm at the top of White Moss we walked a little beyond Olliffs — near 10 when we came in. Wm & Molly had dug the ground & planted potatoes in my absence. We wrote to Coleridge — sent off a letter to Annette, bread & frocks to the C’s — Went to bed at V-2 past 11, William very nervous — after he was in bed haunted with altering the Rainbow.
Saturday Morning (15th). It is now ¼ past 10 & he is not up. Miss Simpson called when I was in bed — I have been in the garden. It looks fresh & neat in spite of the frost. Molly tells me they had thick ice on a jug at their door last night.
Saturday 15th. A very cold & cheerless morning. I sate mending stockings all the morning. I read in Shakespeare. William lay very late because he slept ill last night. It snowed this morning just like Christmas. We had a melancholy letter from Coleridge just at Bed-time — . It distressed me very much & I resolved upon going to Keswick the next day.
Sunday 16th. William was at work all the morning I did not go to Keswick. A sunny cold frosty day a snow-shower at night. We were a good while in the orchard in the morning.
Monday 17th May. William was not well — he went with me to Wytheburn water. He left me in a post chaise. Hail showers snow & cold attacked me. The people were graving peats under Nadel Fell. — A lark & thrush singing near Coleridge’s house — Barcrofts there a letter from MH.
Tuesday 18th May. Terribly cold. Coleridge not well. Froude called, Wilkinsons called, I not well. C & I walked in the evening in the Garden warmer in the evening wrote to M & S.
Wednesday igth May 1802. A grey morning — not quite so cold. C & I set off at ½ past 9 o clock met William, near the 6 mile Stone. We sate down by the Road Side, & then went to Wytheburn water, longed to be at the Island sate in the sun, Coleridge’s Bowels bad, mine also. We drank tea at John Stanley’s — the evening cold & clear a glorious light on Skiddaw. I was tired — brought a cloak down from Mr Simpsons. Packed up Books for Coleridge then got supper & went to bed.
Thursday 20th May. A frosty clear morning. I lay in bed late — William got to work. I was somewhat tired. We sate in the Orchard sheltered all the morning. In the evening there was a fine rain. We received a letter from Coleridge, telling
us that he wished us not to go to Keswick.
Friday 21st May. A very warm gentle morning — a little rain. Wm wrote two sonnets on Buonaparte after I had read Milton’s sonnets to him. In the evening he went with Mr Simpson with Borwicks Boat to gather Ling in Bainriggs. I planted about the well — was much heated & I think I caught cold.
Saturday 22nd May. A very hot morning, a hot wind as if coming from a sand desert. We met Coleridge, he was sitting under Sara’s Rock when we reached him — he turned with us — we sate a long time under the Wall of a sheep-fold, had some interesting melancholy talk about his private affairs. We drank tea at a farm house. The woman was very kind. There was a woman with 3 children travelling from Workington to Manchester. The woman served them liberally. Afterwards she said that she never suffered any to go away without a trifle ‘sec as we have’. The woman at whose house we drank tea the last time was rich & senseless — she said ‘she never served any but their own poor’ — C came home with us. We sate some time in the orchard. Then they came in to supper — mutton chops & potatoes. Letters from S & MH.
Delphi Complete Works of William Wordsworth Page 482