“A proposition, made by one of its members to the Wordsworth Society when it met in Grasmere in 1881, to mark the spot in the Grisedale Pass of Wordsworth’s parting from his brother John—­and to carry out a wish the poet seems to have hinted at in the last of his elegiac verses in memory of that parting—­is now being put into effect.  It has been determined, after correspondence with Lord Coleridge, Dr. Cradock, Professor Knight, and Mr. Hills, to have inscribed—­(on the native rock, if possible)—­the first four lines of Stanzas iii. and vii. of these verses: 

’Here did we stop; and here looked round While each into himself descends, For that last thought of parting Friends That is not to be found. ...  Brother and friend, if verse of mine Have power to make thy virtues known, Here let a monumental Stone Stand—­sacred as a Shrine.’

The rock selected is a fine mass, facing the east, on the left of the track as one descends from Grisedale Tarn towards Patterdale, and is about 100 yards from the tarn.  No more suitable one can be found, and we have the testimony of Mr. David Richardson of Newcastle, who has practical knowledge of engineering, that it is the fittest, both from shape and from slight incline of plane.

It has been proposed to sink a panel in the face of the rock, that so the inscription may be slightly protected, and to engrave the letters upon the face of the panel thus obtained.  But it is not quite certain yet that the grain of the rock—­volcanic ash—­will admit of the lettering.  If this cannot be carried out, it has been determined to have the letters engraved upon a slab of Langdale slate, and imbed it in the Grisedale Rock.

  It is believed that the simplicity of the design, the lonely isolation
  of this mountain memorial, will appeal at once

    ’ ... to the few who pass this way,
    Traveller or Shepherd.’

And we in our turn appeal to English tourists who may chance to see it, to forego the wish of adding to it, or taking anything from it, by engraving their own names; and to let the Monumental Stone stand, as the poet wished it might

    ’ ... stand, sacred as a Shrine.’

We owe great thanks to Mrs. Sturge for first surveying the place, to ascertain the possibility of finding a mountain rock sufficiently striking in position; to Mr. Richardson, jun., for his etching of the rock, upon which the inscription is to be made; to his father for the kind trouble he took in the measurement of the said rock; and particularly to the seconder of the original proposal, and my coadjutor in the task of final selection and superintending the work, Mr. W. H. Hills.

  H. D. Rawnsley.