“But what,” saith he, “avails the land,
Which I can till no longer? 1827.

But what avails it now, the land
Which he can till no longer? 1832.

’Tis his, but what avails the land
Which he can till no longer? 1837.

  The time, alas! is come when he
  Can till the land no longer. 1840.

  The time is also come when he
  Can till the land no longer.  C.

From this it will be seen that the text adopted in the first edition of “Lyrical Ballads” in 1798 was retained in the editions of 1800, 1802, 1805, 1815, and 1820; that it was altered in each of the editions of 1827, 1832, 1837, 1840, as also in the Ms. readings in Lord Coleridge’s copy of the works, and in the edition of 1845; and that the version of 1845 was retained in the edition of 1849-50.  It should be added that when a verse, or stanza, or line—­occurring in one or other of the earlier editions—­was omitted from that of 1849, the footnote simply contains the extract along with the date of the year or years in which it occurs; and that, in such cases, the date does not follow the reference number of the footnote, but is placed for obvious reasons at the end of the extract.

The same thing is true of ‘Descriptive Sketches’.  In the year 1827, there were scarcely any alterations made on the text of the poem, as printed in 1820; still fewer were added in 1832; but for the edition of 1836 the whole was virtually rewritten, and in that state it was finally left, although a few significant changes were made in 1845.

Slight changes of spelling which occur in the successive editions, are not mentioned.  When, however, the change is one of transposition, although the text remains unaltered,—­as is largely the case in ’Simon Lee’, for example—­it is always indicated.

It will be further observed that, at the beginning of every poem, two dates are given; the first, on the left-hand side, is the date of composition; the second, on the right-hand side, is the date of the first publication.  In what class the poem first appeared, and the changes (if any) which subsequently occurred in its title, are mentioned in the note appended.

Third.  In the present edition several suggested changes of text, which were written by Wordsworth on the margin of a copy of his edition of 1836-7, which he kept beside him at Rydal Mount, are published.  These Ms. notes seem to have been written by himself, or dictated to others, at intervals between the years 1836 and 1850, and they are thus a record of passing thoughts, or “moods of his own mind,” during these years.  Some of these were afterwards introduced into the editions of 1842, 1846, and 1849; others were not made use of.  The latter have now a value of their own, as indicating certain new phases of thought and feeling, in Wordsworth’s later years.  I owe my knowledge of them, and the permission to use them, to the kindness of the late Chief Justice of England, Lord Coleridge.  The following is an extract from a letter from him: