ADDENDA. Two books of importance to students of Wordsworth have appeared since the Introduction to the present volume was written: "A Description of the Wordsworth and Coleridge Manuscripts in the Possession of Mr. T. Norton Longman," edited, with notes, by W. Hale White (Longmans, Green & Co., 1897), and "Poems in Two Volumes by William Wordsworth, reprinted from the original edition of 1807; edited, with a note on the Wordsworthian Sonnet,” by Thomas Hutchinson (London, David Nutt, 1807). Mr. Hutchinson has called my attention to evidence furnished by Dorothy Wordsworth's "Recollections of a Tour made in Scotland" (ed. Knight, vol. I, pp. 187, 202), proving that Wordsworth was in Scotland in 1801. He believes that "To a Skylark" (p. 204) was probably written on this occasion. "The Affliction of Margaret (p. 186) is preceded in the Longman MS. copy by twelve lines" written for the Lyrical Ballads.'" The poem may be earlier than 1804. P. 376. The alterations in "Ruth," effected in 1805 and 1815 (described in the paragraph following the two stanzas printed), were made in deference to Coleridge's misgivings on the point of "ventriloquism” in poetry: i.e., throwing the writer's sentiments into the body of the characters of the poem. See Coleridge's letter to Southey, July, 1802 (S. T. C.'s Letters, vol. I, p. 387), and Crabb Robinson's Journal, Aug. 13, 1812. P. 415, note on 11. 77, 78. The stanza in MS. referred to is as follows: He wore a Cloak, the same as women wear, As one whose blood did needful comfort lack: viii A P. 422 (date of "When to the Attractions"). Lines 80-83 of this poem were probably written before July, 1802, for they seem to have suggested words of Coleridge in a letter to Southey of that date (S. T. C.'s Letters, vol. I, p. 372). P. 428 ("The Highland Girl," 11. 49-52). Note from Virgil's tenth Eclogue as parallel, perhaps as Wordsworth's original : Atque utinam ex vobis unus, vestrique fuissem Aut custos gregis, aut maturae vinitor uvae! From this Eclogue Wordsworth afterwards borrowed the name Lycoris. P. 433. The measure of "Yarrow Unvisited" is that of "Leader Haughs and Yarrow," by Nicol Burne, found in the " Roxburghe Ballads." P. 457. Lines 9-11 of the " Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle" perhaps owe something to Hudibras, bk. ii, canto i, ll. 567, 568: That shall infuse eternal spring And everlasting flourishing. For several of the above notes I am indebted to Mr. Hutchinson's private communication and to his admirable edition of the "Poems" of 1807. viii B CONTENTS. The figures in parenthesis refer to the pages of the Notes. |