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twenty-nine places in the text of ed. 1827. (See ACADEMY, December 2, 1893, p. 486).

Sonnet XIX (page 123).—Written August, 1802. See Dorothy's Journal, in Knight's Life of Wordsworth, i., p. 349. Many textual changes were introduced into this sonnet in 1836, 1838, and 1840, but, save one, all were rejected in 1845, when the original text was restored. The exception was 1. 5, which, in 1836, became :

"The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea:"

PART THE SECOND.

Sonnet I. (page 127).—Line 10, in 1837, became :

"Beneath thee, that is England; there she lies."

Sonnet III. (page 129).—Lines 1-4 were rehandled in 1820 and 1837, thus:

"Jones! while ['as' 1837] from Calais southward you and I

Urged our accordant steps ['Went pacing side by side' 1837] this public Way

Streamed with the pomp of a too-credulous day, When faith was pledged to newborn Liberty: (1820).

In 1845 line 6, already rehandled in 1837, became (with "songs, garlands, mirth," in 1. 7):

"From hour to hour the antiquated Earth,"

In 1820 Wordsworth is still "jocund as a warbling bird" (1. 13); but in 1827 hope has waned and fears are gathering, and the sonnet is made to conclude thus:

"Yet despair

Touches me not, though pensive as a Bird
Whose vernal coverts winter hath laid bare."

The "too-credulous day" was July 14, 1790.

Sonnet IV. (page 130).-Composed May 21, 1802. Lines 2-4 were rewritten in 1815, but in 1837 Wordsworth wisely reverted to the original text, merely exchanging "the vital blood" of 1. 2 for "the tenderest mood." Irregular octaves rarely occur in Wordsworth's earlier sonnets: out of 296 sonnets

(1801-1821) there are but eleven instances. After 1821 degenerate forms of octave crowd in.

Sonnet V. (page 131).-Composed August 15, 1802. Lines 9, 10 (previously altered in 1820) became, in 1827:

"Far other show

My youth here witnessed, in a prouder time;

99

Sonnet VIII. (page 134).-Composed August, 1802. The "rural milkmaid" (1. 2) of 1807 was exchanged for "the all-cheering sun" in 1815; and this, again, for "the whistling rustic" in 1827. Lines 2-4:

"Whether the whistling Rustic tend his plough Within thy hearing, or thy head be now Pillowed in some deep dungeon's earless den ;(1827).

Sonnet IX.(page 135).-The textual changes in this sonnet are unusually perplexing: we can but indicate some of the more important. "Fellow' (1. 1) became "female" (1845); "gaudy" (1. 2) became successively "brilliant" (1827), and "spot

less" (1845); and "silent" (1. 4) became "downcast" (1827); while line 3, in 1845, was altered to:

"A white-robed Negro, like a lady gay," Line 5, in 1827, became :

"Meek, destitute, as seemed, of hope or aim'

and 11. 7-9 gradually took shape as follows:

"But on all proffered intercourse did lay

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A weight of languid speech (1827), or to the same No sign of answer made by word or face:" (1845). In 1827, ll. 10-14 were thus recast:

"Meanwhile those ['Yet still her,' 1845] eyes retained their tropic fire,

Which, burning independent of the mind,

Joined with the lustre of her rich attire

To mock the outcast-O ye Heavens, be kind!
And feel, thou Earth, for this afflicted Race!"

Sonnet X. (page 136).-Composed August 30,
Line 1, in 1827, became:

1802.

"Here, on our native soil we breathe once more."

and in 1815, ll. 3 and 5 were happily altered to:

"those Boys that in yon meadow-ground In white-sleeved shirts are playing,—and the roar Of the waves breaking on the chalky shore,—”

Sonnet XVI. (page 142).-Written September, 1802. In 1827 Wordsworth no longer contemplated the broadening flood of British freedom with unmixed complacency. In that year he substituted the following lines for ll. 5, 6 of the original text:

"Roused though it be full often to a mood
Which spurns the check of salutary bands,"

Sonnet XVII. (page 143).-Written September, 1802. In 1845 "But" (1. 6) becomes "Now," and "But" (1. 9) becomes "For."

Sonnet XIX. (page 145).—Composed, probably, 1803. Line 1, in 1827, becomes :

"There is a bondage worse, far worse, to bear"

Sonnet XX. (page 146).—Composed October, 1803. "Strike" (line 1) replaces "touch" in 1836.

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