RPO -- William Wordsworth : On the Departure of Sir Walter Scott from Abbotsford, for Naples

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

On the Departure of Sir Walter Scott from Abbotsford, for Naples

1A trouble, not of clouds, or weeping rain,

2Nor of the setting sun's pathetic light

3Engendered, hangs o'er Eildon's triple height:

4Spirits of Power, assembled there, complain

5For kindred Power departing from their sight;

6While Tweed, best pleased in chanting a blithe strain,

7Saddens his voice again, and yet again.

8Lift up your hearts, ye Mourners! for the might

9Of the whole world's good wishes with him goes;

10Blessings and prayers in nobler retinue

11Than sceptred king or laurelled conqueror knows,

12Follow this wondrous Potentate. Be true,

13Ye winds of ocean, and the midland sea,

14Wafting your Charge to soft Parthenope!

Notes

1] Scott suffered a paralytic stroke in 1831, and on September 23 he left his great country house, Abbotsford, to spend the winter in Italy. On September 19-22, Wordsworth and his daughter were Scott's guests at Abbotsford. This sonnet was written within a day or two of their departure, and first published in The Literary Souvenir for 1835.

3] Eildon's triple height: the three Eildon Hills, a striking feature of the landscape near Melrose and Abbotsford. They were associated with legends of Thomas of Erceldoune.

13] the midland sea: the Mediterranean.

14] Parthenope: classical name for Naples.

Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: Alaric A. Watts, ed., The Cabinet of Modern Art and Literary Souvenir (London: Hurst, 1835). AY 13.C3 SMRS #1829.
First publication date: 1835
RPO poem editor: J. R. MacGillivray
RP edition: 3RP 2.400.
Recent editing: 2:2002/3/20

Composition date: September 1831
Form: sonnet
Rhyme: abbacaacdedeff

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