CHAPTER I. COCKERMOUTH, ETC. IT is to his autobiographical poem, The Prelude, that one naturally turns to find out how Wordsworth felt towards Cockermouth, the place of his birth; and how he interpreted the surrounding district in which his childhood was spent. There are many allusions in The Prelude to the old house in which he was born, its garden, and the river which passed it. In the first book, he says, alluding to the Derwent, that One, the fairest of all rivers, loved To blend his murmurs with my nurse's song, O Derwent! winding among grassy holms That Nature breathes among the hills and groves? Along the margin of our terrace walk; On Indian plains, and from my mother's hut The "mill-race" may easily be guessed, but is too vaguely described to be known with accuracy; and the "sandy fields" must be those close to the "race" itself. The "towers" are, of course, those of Cockermouth Castle. The "terrace walk" is at the foot of the garden attached to the old mansion in the town in which he was born, and in which his father, who was law-agent of the Lonsdale family, resided. Two of the sonnets composed in 1833 refer to his birthplace; the first, suggested In sight of the Town of Cockermouth (where the Author was born, and his Father's remains are laid); the second, An Address from the Spirit of Cockermouth Castle. Neither of them need be quoted; but another in the same series, and of the same date, addressed To the River Derwent, is as follows:— Among the mountains were we nursed, loved Stream! Thou near the eagle's nest-within brief sail, 1 The Prelude, book i. p. 41. I, of his bold wing floating on the gale, Where thy deep voice could lull me! Faint the beam Of human life when first allowed to gleam Such thy meek outset, with a crown, though frail, Of thy soft breath!-Less vivid wreath entwined It was in reference to this home of his childhood that, in 1801, he wrote the poem he called The Sparrow's Nest; the "sister Emmeline" referred to in it being his only sister, Dorothy. In a note written in 1801, he says: At the end of the garden of my father's house at Cockermouth was a high terrace, that commanded a fine view of the river Derwent and Cockermouth Castle. This was our favourite playground. The terrace wall, a low one, was covered with closely-clipt privet and roses, which gave an almost impervious shelter to birds who built their nests there. The following stanzas allude to one of those nests. Behold, within the leafy shade, These bright blue eggs together laid! I started-seeming to espy The home and sheltered bed, The Sparrow's dwelling, which, hard by My Father's house, in wet or dry My sister Emmeline and I Together visited. She looked at it, and seemed to fear it : She gave me eyes, she gave me ears; Though written in the Dove Cottage orchard, Grasmere, the poem, To a Butterfly, refers to the days of Wordsworth's childhood at Cockermouth, before 1778. Stay near me: do not take thy flight! Much converse do I find in thee, Historian of my infancy! Float near me: do not yet depart. Dead times revive in thee: Thou bring'st, gay creature as thou art! My father's family! Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days, Together chased the butterfly! A very hunter did I rush Upon the prey: with leaps and springs Of this poem Dorothy Wordsworth wrote, March 14, 1802: "While we were at breakfast, W. wrote the poem, To a Butterfly. The thought came upon him as we were talking about the pleasure we both always felt at the sight of a butterfly. I told him that I used to chase them a little, but that I was afraid of brushing the dust off their wings, and did not catch them." In the thirteenth book of The Prelude there is an allusion to an experience of childhood, which must refer to Cockermouth, and which I do not think any one has hitherto traced out : Who doth not love to follow with his eye For a hint in reference to this road, I have been indebted to Dr. Henry Dodgson of Cockermouth. Referring to a suggestion that it might be the road leading to Bridekirk, Dr. Dodgson writes (July 1878): “I scarcely think that the road answers to the description. The hill over which it goes is not naked, but well wooded, and has probably been so for many years. Besides, it is not visible from Wordsworth's house, nor from the garden behind it. This garden extends from the house to the river Derwent, from which it is separated by a wall, with a raised terraced walk on the inner side, and nearly on a level with the top. I understand that this terrace was in existence in the poet's 1 The Prelude, book xiii. p. 341. |