The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 3 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 519 pages of information about The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 3.

[Footnote X:  A “cottage latch”—­probably the same as that in use in Dame Tyson’s time—­is still on the door of the house where she lived at Hawkshead.—­Ed.]

[Footnote Y:  Probably on the western side of the Vale, above the village.  There is but one “‘jutting’ eminence” on this side of the valley.  It is an old moraine, now grass-covered; and, from this point, the view both of the village and of the vale is noteworthy.  The jutting eminence, however, may have been a crag, amongst the Colthouse heights, to the north-east of Hawkshead.—­Ed.]

[Footnote Z:  Compare in the ‘Ode, Intimations of Immortality’: 

’... those obstinate questionings
Of sense and outward things,
Fallings from us, vanishings,’ etc.

Ed.]

[Footnote a:  Coleridge’s school days were spent at Christ’s Hospital in London.  With the above line compare S. T. C.’s ‘Frost at Midnight’: 

                          ’I was reared
  In the great city, pent ‘mid cloisters dim.’

Ed.]

[Footnote b:  Compare ’Stanzas written in my Pocket Copy of Thomsons “Castle of Indolence,"’ vol. ii. p. 305.—­Ed.]

* * * * *

BOOK THIRD

RESIDENCE AT CAMBRIDGE

  It was a dreary morning when the wheels
  Rolled over a wide plain o’erhung with clouds,
  And nothing cheered our way till first we saw
  The long-roofed chapel of King’s College lift
  Turrets and pinnacles in answering files, 5
  Extended high above a dusky grove, [A]

    Advancing, we espied upon the road
  A student clothed in gown and tasselled cap,
  Striding along as if o’ertasked by Time,
  Or covetous of exercise and air; 10
  He passed—­nor was I master of my eyes
  Till he was left an arrow’s flight behind. 
  As near and nearer to the spot we drew,
  It seemed to suck us in with an eddy’s force. 
  Onward we drove beneath the Castle; caught, 15
  While crossing Magdalene Bridge, a glimpse of Cam;
  And at the ‘Hoop’ alighted, famous Inn. [B]

    My spirit was up, my thoughts were full of hope;
  Some friends I had, acquaintances who there
  Seemed friends, poor simple school-boys, now hung round 20
  With honour and importance:  in a world
  Of welcome faces up and down I roved;
  Questions, directions, warnings and advice,
  Flowed in upon me, from all sides; fresh day
  Of pride and pleasure! to myself I seemed 25
  A man of business and expense, and went
  From shop to shop about my own affairs,
  To Tutor or to Tailor, as befel,
  From street to street with loose and careless mind.

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The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 3 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.