Delphi Complete Works of William Wordsworth

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by William Wordsworth


  Through which his Wife, to that kind shelter brought,

  Died in his arms; and with those thanks a prayer

  He breathed for her, and for that merciful pair.

  The corse interred, not one hour heremained

  Beneath their roof, but to the open air

  A burthen, now with fortitude sustained,

  He bore within a breast where dreadful quiet reigned.

  LXXIII

  Confirmed of purpose, fearlessly prepared

  For act and suffering, to the city straight

  He journeyed, and forthwith his crime declared:

  “And from your doom,” he added, “now I wait,

  Nor let it linger long, the murderer’s fate.”

  Not ineffectual was that piteous claim:

  “O welcome sentence which will end though late,”

  He said, “the pangs that to my conscience came

  Out of that deed. My trust, Saviour! is in thy name!”

  LXXIV

  His fate was pitied. Him in iron case

  (Reader, forgive the intolerable thought)

  They hung not:—no one on ‘his’ form or face

  Could gaze, as on a show by idlers sought;

  No kindred sufferer, to his death-place brought

  By lawless curiosity or chance,

  When into storm the evening sky is wrought,

  Upon his swinging corse an eye can glance,

  And drop, as he once dropped, in miserable trance.

  LINES LEFT UPON A SEAT IN A YEW-TREE

  WHICH STANDS NEAR THE LAKE OF ESTHWAITE, ON A DESOLATE PART OF THE SHORE, COMMANDING A BEAUTIFUL PROSPECT

  Nay, Traveller! rest. This lonely Yew-tree stands

  Far from all human dwelling: what if here

  No sparkling rivulet spread the verdant herb?

  What if the bee love not these barren boughs?

  Yet, if the wind breathe soft, the curling waves,

  That break against the shore, shall lull thy mind

  By one soft impulse saved from vacancy.

  — — Who he was

  That piled these stones and with the mossy sod

  First covered, and here taught this aged Tree

  With its dark arms to form a circling bower,

  I well remember.—He was one who owned

  No common soul. In youth by science nursed,

  And led by nature into a wild scene

  Of lofty hopes, he to the world went forth

  A favoured Being, knowing no desire

  Which genius did not hallow; ‘gainst the taint

  Of dissolute tongues, and jealousy, and hate,

  And scorn,—against all enemies prepared,

  All but neglect. The world, for so it thought,

  Owed him no service; wherefore he at once

  With indignation turned himself away,

  And with the food of pride sustained his soul

  In solitude.—Stranger! these gloomy boughs

  Had charms for him; and here he loved to sit,

  His only visitants a straggling sheep,

  The stone-chat, or the glancing sand-piper:

  And on these barren rocks, with fern and heath,

  And juniper and thistle, sprinkled o’er,

  Fixing his downcast eye, he many an hour

  A morbid pleasure nourished, tracing here

  An emblem of his own unfruitful life:

  And, lifting up his head, he then would gaze

  On the more distant scene,—how lovely ‘tis

  Thou seest,—and he would gaze till it became

  Far lovelier, and his heart could not sustain

  The beauty, still more beauteous! Nor, that time,

  When nature had subdued him to herself,

  Would he forget those Beings to whose minds,

  Warm from the labours of benevolence,

  The world, and human life, appeared a scene

  Of kindred loveliness: then he would sigh,

  Inly disturbed, to think that others felt

  What he must never feel: and so, lost Man!

  On visionary views would fancy feed,

  Till his eye streamed with tears. In this deep vale

  He died,—this seat his only monument.

  If Thou be one whose heart the holy forms

  Of young imagination have kept pure,

  Stranger! henceforth be warned; and know that pride,

  Howe’er disguised in its own majesty,

  Is littleness; that he, who feels contempt

  For any living thing, hath faculties

  Which he has never used; that thought with him

  Is in its infancy. The man whose eye

  Is ever on himself doth look on one,

  The least of Nature’s works, one who might move

  The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds

  Unlawful, ever. O be wiser, Thou!

  Instructed that true knowledge leads to love;

  True dignity abides with him alone

  Who, in the silent hour of inward thought,

  Can still suspect, and still revere himself

  In lowliness of heart.

  THE BORDERERS

  A TRAGEDY

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

  MARMADUKE. |

  OSWALD. |

  WALLACE. |- Of the Band of Borderers.

  LACY. |

  LENNOX. |

  HERBERT.

  WILFRED, Servant to MARMADUKE.

  Host.

  Forester.

  ELDRED, a Peasant.

  Peasant, Pilgrims, etc.

  IDONEA.

  Female Beggar.

  ELEANOR, Wife to ELDRED.

  SCENE—Borders of England and Scotland.

  TIME—The Reign of Henry III.

  Readers already acquainted with my Poems will recognise, in the following composition, some eight or ten lines which I have not scrupled to retain in the places where they originally stood. It is proper, however, to add, that they would not have been used elsewhere, if I had foreseen the time when I might be induced to publish this Tragedy.

  February 28, 1842.

  ACT I.

  SCENE—Road in a Wood.

  WALLACE and LACY.

  LACY. The troop will be impatient; let us hie

  Back to our post, and strip the Scottish Foray

  Of their rich Spoil, ere they recross the Border.

  —Pity that our young Chief will have no part

  In this good service.

  WAL. Rather let us grieve

  That, in the undertaking which has caused

  His absence, he hath sought, whate’er his aim,

  Companionship with One of crooked ways,

  From whose perverted soul can come no good

  To our confiding, open-hearted, Leader.

  LACY. True; and, remembering how the Band have proved

  That Oswald finds small favour in our sight,

  Well may we wonder he has gained such power

  Over our much-loved Captain.

  WAL. I have heard

  Of some dark deed to which in early life

  His passion drove him—then a Voyager

  Upon the midland Sea. You knew his bearing

  In Palestine?

  LACY. Where he despised alike

  Mahommedan and Christian. But enough;

  Let us begone—the Band may else be foiled. [Exeunt.

  Enter MARMADUKE and WILFRED.

  WIL. Be cautious, my dear Master!

  MAR. I perceive

  That fear is like a cloak which old men huddle

  About their love, as if to keep it warm.

  WIL. Nay, but I grieve that we should part. This Stranger,

  For such he is—

  MAR. Your busy fancies, Wilfred,

  Might tempt me to a smile; but what of him?

  WIL. You know that you have saved his life.

  MAR. I know it.

  WIL. And that he hates you!—Pardon
me, perhaps

  That word was hasty.

  MAR. Fy! no more of it.

  WIL. Dear Master! gratitude’s a heavy burden

  To a proud Soul.—Nobody loves this Oswald—

  Yourself, you do not love him.

  MAR. I do more,

  I honour him. Strong feelings to his heart

  Are natural; and from no one can be learnt

  More of man’s thoughts and ways than his experience

  Has given him power to teach: and then for courage

  And enterprise—what perils hath he shunned?

  What obstacles hath he failed to overcome?

  Answer these questions, from our common knowledge,

  And be at rest.

  WIL. Oh, Sir!

  MAR. Peace, my good Wilfred;

  Repair to Liddesdale, and tell the Band

  I shall be with them in two days, at farthest.

  WIL. May He whose eye is over all protect you! [Exit.

  Enter OSWALD (a bunch of plants in his hand).

  OSW. This wood is rich in plants and curious simples.

  MAR. (looking at them). The wild rose, and the poppy, and the

  nightshade:

  Which is your favourite, Oswald?

  OSW. That which, while it is

  Strong to destroy, is also strong to heal—

  [Looking forward.

  Not yet in sight!—We’ll saunter here awhile;

  They cannot mount the hill, by us unseen.

  MAR. (a letter in his hand). It is no common thing when one like

  you

  Performs these delicate services, and therefore

  I feel myself much bounden to you, Oswald;

  ‘Tis a strange letter this!—You saw her write it?

  OSW. And saw the tears with which she blotted it.

  MAR. And nothing less would satisfy him?

  OSW. No less;

  For that another in his Child’s affection

  Should hold a place, as if ‘twere robbery,

  He seemed to quarrel with the very thought.

  Besides, I know not what strange prejudice

  Is rooted in his mind; this Band of ours,

  Which you’ve collected for the noblest ends,

  Along the confines of the Esk and Tweed

  To guard the Innocent—he calls us “Outlaws”;

  And, for yourself, in plain terms he asserts

  This garb was taken up that indolence

  Might want no cover, and rapacity

  Be better fed.

  MAR. Ne’er may I own the heart

  That cannot feel for one, helpless as he is.

  OSW. Thou know’st me for a Man not easily moved,

  Yet was I grievously provoked to think

  Of what I witnessed.

  MAR. This day will suffice

  To end her wrongs.

  OSW. But if the blind Man’s tale

  Should ‘yet’ be true?

  MAR. Would it were possible!

  Did not the soldier tell thee that himself,

  And others who survived the wreck, beheld

  The Baron Herbert perish in the waves

  Upon the coast of Cyprus?

  OSW. Yes, even so,

  And I had heard the like before: in sooth

  The tale of this his quondam Barony

  Is cunningly devised; and, on the back

  Of his forlorn appearance, could not fail

  To make the proud and vain his tributaries,

  And stir the pulse of lazy charity.

  The seignories of Herbert are in Devon;

  We, neighbours of the Esk and Tweed: ‘tis much

  The Arch-Impostor—

  MAR. Treat him gently, Oswald;

  Though I have never seen his face, methinks,

  There cannot come a day when I shall cease

  To love him. I remember, when a Boy

  Of scarcely seven years’ growth, beneath the Elm

  That casts its shade over our village school,

  ‘Twas my delight to sit and hear Idonea

  Repeat her Father’s terrible adventures,

  Till all the band of playmates wept together;

  And that was the beginning of my love.

  And, through all converse of our later years,

  An image of this old Man still was present,

  When I had been most happy. Pardon me

  If this be idly spoken.

  OSW. See, they come,

  Two Travellers!

  MAR. (points). The woman is Idonea.

  OSW. And leading Herbert.

  MAR. We must let them pass—

  This thicket will conceal us.

  [They step aside.

  Enter IDONEA, leading HERBERT blind.

  IDON. Dear Father, you sigh deeply; ever since

  We left the willow shade by the brook-side,

  Your natural breathing has been troubled.

  HER. Nay,

  You are too fearful; yet must I confess,

  Our march of yesterday had better suited

  A firmer step than mine.

  IDON. That dismal Moor—

  In spite of all the larks that cheered our path,

  I never can forgive it: but how steadily

  ‘You’ paced along, when the bewildering moonlight

  Mocked me with many a strange fantastic shape!—

  I thought the Convent never would appear;

  It seemed to move away from us: and yet,

  That you are thus the fault is mine; for the air

  Was soft and warm, no dew lay on the grass,

  And midway on the waste ere night had fallen

  I spied a Covert walled and roofed with sods—

  A miniature; belike some Shepherd-boy,

  Who might have found a nothing-doing hour

  Heavier than work, raised it: within that hut

  We might have made a kindly bed of heath,

  And thankfully there rested side by side

  Wrapped in our cloaks, and, with recruited strength,

  Have hailed the morning sun. But cheerily, Father,—

  That staff of yours, I could almost have heart

  To fling’t away from you: you make no use

  Of me, or of my strength;—come, let me feel

  That you do press upon me. There—indeed

  You are quite exhausted. Let us rest awhile

  On this green bank. [He sits down.

  HER. (after some time). Idonea, you are silent,

  And I divine the cause.

  IDON. Do not reproach me:

  I pondered patiently your wish and will

  When I gave way to your request; and now,

  When I behold the ruins of that face,

  Those eyeballs dark—dark beyond hope of light,

  And think that they were blasted for my sake,

  The name of Marmaduke is blown away:

  Father, I would not change that sacred feeling

  For all this world can give.

  HER. Nay, be composed:

  Few minutes gone a faintness overspread

  My frame, and I bethought me of two things

  I ne’er had heart to separate—my grave,

  And thee, my Child!

  IDON. Believe me, honoured Sire!

  ‘Tis weariness that breeds these gloomy fancies,

  And you mistake the cause: you hear the woods

  Resound with music, could you see the sun,

  And look upon the pleasant face of Nature—

  HER. I comprehend thee—I should be as cheerful

  As if we two were twins; two songsters bred

  In the same nest, my spring-time one with thine.

  My fancies, fancies if they be, are such

  As come, dear Child! from a far deeper source

  Than bodily weariness. While here we sit

  I feel my strength returning.—The bequest

  Of thy kind Patroness, which to receive

&nb
sp; We have thus far adventured, will suffice

  To save thee from the extreme of penury;

  But when thy Father must lie down and die,

  How wilt thou stand alone?

  IDON. Is he not strong?

  Is he not valiant?

  HER. Am I then so soon

  Forgotten? have my warnings passed so quickly

  Out of thy mind? My dear, my only, Child;

  Thou wouldst be leaning on a broker reed—

  This Marmaduke—

  IDON. O could you hear his voice:

  Alas! you do not know him. He is one

  (I wot not what ill tongue has wronged him with you)

  All gentleness and love. His face bespeaks

  A deep and simple meekness: and that Soul,

  Which with the motion of a virtuous act

  Flashes a look of terror upon guilt,

  Is, after conflict, quiet as the ocean,

  By a miraculous finger, stilled at once.

  HER. Unhappy Woman!

  IDON. Nay, it was my duty

  Thus much to speak; but think not I forget—

  Dear Father! how ‘could’ I forget and live—

  You and the story of that doleful night

  When, Antioch blazing to her topmost towers,

  You rushed into the murderous flames, returned

  Blind as the grave, but, as you oft have told me,

  Clasping your infant Daughter to your heart.

  HER. Thy Mother too!—scarce had I gained the door,

  I caught her voice; she threw herself upon me,

  I felt thy infant brother in her arms;

  She saw my blasted face—a tide of soldiers

  That instant rushed between us, and I heard

  Her last death-shriek, distinct among a thousand.

  IDON. Nay, Father, stop not; let me hear it all.

  HER. Dear Daughter! precious relic of that time—

  For my old age, it doth remain with thee

  To make it what thou wilt. Thou hast been told,

  That when, on our return from Palestine,

  I found how my domains had been usurped,

  I took thee in my arms, and we began

  Our wanderings together. Providence

  At length conducted us to Rossland,—there,

  Our melancholy story moved a Stranger

  To take thee to her home—and for myself

  Soon after, the good Abbot of St. Cuthbert’s

  Supplied my helplessness with food and raiment,

  And, as thou know’st, gave me that humble Cot

  Where now we dwell.—For many years I bore

  Thy absence, till old age and fresh infirmities

  Exacted thy return, and our reunion.

  I did not think that, during that long absence,

  My Child, forgetful of the name of Herbert,

  Had given her love to a wild Freebooter,

 

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