‘Canal, and Viaduct, and Railway tell!’

At Corby, a few miles below Nunnery, the Eden is crossed by a magnificent viaduct; and another of these works is thrown over a deep glen or ravine at a very short distance from the main stream.

417. *_Druidical Monument_. [XLIII.]

    ‘A weight of awe not easy to be borne.’

The daughters of Long Meg, placed in a perfect circle eighty yards in diameter, are seventy-two in number above ground; a little way out of the circle stands Long Meg herself, a single stone, eighteen feet high.  When I first saw this monument, as I came upon it by surprise, I might over-rate its importance as an object; but, though it will not bear a comparison with Stonehenge, I must say, I have not seen any other relique of those dark ages, which can pretend to rival it in singularity and dignity of appearance.

418. *_Lowther_. [XLIV.]

    ‘Cathedral pomp.’

It may be questioned whether this union was in the contemplation of the Artist when he planned the edifice.  However this might be, a Poet may be excused for taking the view of the subject presented in this Sonnet.

419. To the Earl of Lonsdale. [XLV.]

This sonnet was written immediately after certain trials, which took place at the Cumberland Assizes, when the Earl of Lonsdale, in consequence of repeated and long-continued attacks upon his character, through the local press, had thought it right to prosecute the conductors and proprietors of three several journals.  A verdict of libel was given in one case; and, in the others, the prosecutions were withdrawn, upon the individuals retracting and disavowing the charges, expressing regret that they had been made, and promising to abstain from the like in future.

420. *_The Somnambulist_. [XLVI.]

This poem might be dedicated to my friend Sir G. Beaumont and Mr. Rogers jointly.  While we were making an excursion together in this part of the Lake District, we heard that Mr. Glover the artist, while lodging at Lyulph’s Tower, had been disturbed by a loud shriek, and upon rising he learnt that it had come from a young woman in the house who was in the habit of walking in her sleep.  In that state she had gone down stairs, and while attempting to open the outer door, either from some difficulty, or the effect of the cold stone upon her feet, had uttered the cry which alarmed him.  It seemed to us all that this might serve as a hint for a poem, and the story here told was constructed, and soon after put into verse by me as it now stands.

[Note.—­’Lyulph’s Tower’—­A pleasure-house built by the late Duke of Norfolk upon the banks of Ullswater.  Force is the word used in the Lake District for Waterfall.]

XVIII.  POEMS OF SENTIMENT AND REFLECTION.

421. Expostulation and Reply. [I.]

This poem is a favourite among the Quakers, as I have learnt on many occasions.  It was composed in front of the house at Alfoxden, in the spring of 1798.