now thou art,
That in thy waters may be seen 10
The image of a poet's heart,
How bright, how solemn, how serene!
Such as did once the Poet bless, [1]
Who murmuring here a later [C] ditty, [2]
Could find no refuge from distress 15
But in the milder grief of pity.

Now let us, as we float along, [3]
For _him_ [4] suspend the dashing oar; [D]
And pray that never child of song
May know that Poet's sorrows more. [5] 20
How calm! how still! the only sound,
The dripping of the oar suspended!
--The evening darkness gathers round
By virtue's holiest Powers attended.

* * * * *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1800.

Such heart did once the poet bless, 1798.]

[Variant 2:

1815.

Who, pouring here a _later_ [i] ditty, 1798.]

[Variant 3:

1802.

Remembrance, as we glide along, 1798.

... float ... 1800.]

[Variant 4:

1802.

For him ... 1798.]

[Variant 5:

1802.

May know his freezing sorrows more. 1798.]

[Sub-Footnote i: The italics only occur in the editions of 1798 and
1800.--Ed.]

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES TO THE TEXT

[Footnote A: The title in the editions 1802-1815 was 'Remembrance of
Collins, written upon the Thames near Richmond'.--Ed.]

[Footnote B: Compare the 'After-thought' to "The River Duddon. A Series
of Sonnets":

Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide.

Ed.]

[Footnote C: Collins's 'Ode on the Death of Thomson', the last written,
I believe, of the poems which were published during his life-time. This
Ode is also alluded to in the next stanza.--W. W. 1798.]

[Footnote D: Compare Collins's 'Ode on the Death of Thomson', 'The Scene
on the Thames near Richmond':

Remembrance oft shall haunt the shore
When Thames in summer wreaths is drest.
And oft suspend the dashing oar
To bid his gentle spirit rest.

As Mr. Dowden suggests, the _him_ was probably italicised by Wordsworth,
"because the oar is suspended not for Thomson but for Collins." The
italics were first used in the edition of 1802.--Ed.]

* * * * *

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES TAKEN DURING A PEDESTRIAN TOUR AMONG THE ALPS

Composed 1791-2. [A]--Published 1793

TO THE REV.