a progeny of golden years Permitted to descend, and bless mankind! 529 p. 128, 129. On the disappearance of that bright vision, he was inclined to take part with the desperate party who still aimed at establishing universal regeneration, though by more questionable instruments than they had originally assumed. But the military despotism which ensued soon closed the scene against all such exertions; and, disgusted with men and Europe, he sought for shelter in the wilds of America. In the calm of the voyage, Memory and Conscience awoke him to a sense of his misery. 66 Feebly must They have felt Who, in old time, attir'd with snakes and whips Were turn'd on me the face of her I lov'd! The Wife and Mother, pitifully fixing Tender reproaches, insupportable!"-p. 133, 134. His disappointment, and ultimate seclusion in England, have been already sufficiently detailed. We must trespass upon our readers with the fragments of yet another story. It is that of a simple, seduced, and deserted girl, told with great sweetness, pathos, and indulgence, by the Vicar of the parish, by the side of her untimely grave. Looking down on the turf, he says "As, on a sunny bank, a tender Lamb, Lurks in safe shelter, froms the winds of March 530 WORDSWORTH -FRAILTY EXPIATED BY SUFFERING. Nor of that peace with which she once had mov'd Upon the mountains wet with morning dew, In the prime hour of sweetest scents and airs."-p. 285-287. Her virgin graces and gentleness are then very beautifully described, and her seduction and lonely anguish passed over very tenderly. "Ah why,' said Ellen, sighing to herself, 'Why do not words, and kiss, and solemn pledge; "A kindlier passion open'd on her soul When that poor Child was born. Upon its face 6 Of unexpected promise, where a grief Thus in her Mother's hearing Ellen spake, There was a stony region in my heart! But He at whose command the parched rock Was smitten, and pour'd forth a quenching stream, My Infant and for that good Mother dear, - -Through four month's space the infant drew its food Thoughts, which the rich are free from, came and cross'd The sweet affection. She no more could bear By her offence to lay a twofold weight On a kind parent, willing to forget Their slender means! So, to that parent's care Trusting her child, she left their common home. A Foster-Mother's office.' - p. 291-293. Here the parents of her new nursling soon forbade her all intercourse with her own most precious child; VERY LOVABLE GENTLENESS. 531 and a sudden malady carried it off, in this period of forced desertion. "Once, only once, She saw it in that mortal malady ; And, on the burial day, could scarcely gain ་ She reach'd the house last of the funeral train; То urge unthinkingly their prompt departure, Nay,' said she, with commanding look, a spirit Nay ye must wait my time!' and down she sate, Until at length her soul was satisfied. You see the Infant's Grave! - and to this Spot, And whatsoe'er the errand, urg'd her steps: Hither she came; and here she stood, or knelt, "But the green stalk of Ellen's life was snapp'd, 66 "Her fond maternal Heart had built a Nest - Meek Saint! through patience glorified on earth! In whom, as by her lonely hearth she sate, The ghastly face of cold decay put on A sun-like beauty, and appear'd divine; So, through the cloud of death her spirit pass'd Into that pure and unknown world of love, Where injury cannot come : and here is laid The mortal Body by her Infant's side!"- p. 2 6, 297. These passages, we think, are among the most touching with which the volume presents us; though there are many in a more lofty and impassioned style. The following commemoration of a beautiful and glorious youth, the love and pride of the humble valley, is full of warmth and poetry. 532 A PASSAGE ELOQUENT AND LOFTY. "The mountain Ash Deck'd with autumnal berries that outshine How she her station doth adorn, - the pool Glows at her feet, and all the gloomy rocks Our unpretending valley."--p. 342, 343 This is lofty and energetic;- but Mr. Wordsworth descends, we cannot think very gracefully, when he proceeds to describe how the quoit whizzed when his arm launched it and how the football mounted as high as a lark, at the touch of his toe; neither is it a suitable catastrophe, for one so nobly endowed, to catch cold by standing too long in the river washing sheep, and die of spasms in consequence. The general reflections on the indiscriminating ra pacity of death, though by no means original in themselves, and expressed with too bold a 'rivalry of the seven ages of Shakspeare, have yet a character of vigour and truth about them that entitles them to notice. "This file of infants; some that never breath'd Till he begins to smile upon the breast Of Infancy first blooms upon his cheek; The thinking, thoughtless Schoolboy; the bold Youth A PROTEST AGAINST FACTORIES. Smitten while all the promises of life Are op'ning round her; those of middle age, groves, And gentle Nature griev'd that One should die!' 533 p. 244, 245. There is a lively and impressive appeal on the injury done to the health, happiness, and morality of the lower orders, by the unceasing and premature labours of our crowded manufactories. The description of night-working is picturesque. In lonely and romantic regions, he says, when silence and darkness incline all to repose "An unnatural light, Prepar'd for never-resting Labour's eyes, That spake the Norman Conqueror's stern behest. Disgorg'd are now the Ministers of day; And, as they issue from the illumin'd Pile, A fresh Band meets them, at the crowded door, That turns the multitude of dizzy wheels, Glares, like a troubl'd Spirit, in its bed Among the rocks below. Men, Maidens, Youths, Mother and little Children, Boys and Girls, Enter, and each the wonted task resumes Within this Temple - where is offer'd up -p. 367. The effects on the ordinary life of the poor are delineated in graver colours. (Or call it comfort, by a humbler name,) How art thou blighted for the poor Man's heart! |