lls us
that "the rest was added many years after," but when we know not; and
the poem was not published till 1827. In such a case, it is placed in
this edition as if it belonged chronologically to 1803, and retains its
place in the series of Poems which memorialise the Tour in Scotland of
that year. On a similar principle, 'The Highland Girl' is placed in the
same series; although Dorothy Wordsworth tells us, in her Journal of the
Tour, that it was composed "not long after our return from Scotland";
and 'Glen Almain'--although written afterwards at Rydal--retains its
published place in the memorial group. Again the 'Departure from the
Vale of Grasmere, August 1803', is prefixed to the same series; although
it was not written till 1811, and first published in 1827. To give
symmetry to such a Series, it is necessary to depart from the exact
chronological order--the departure being duly indicated.

On the same principle I have followed the 'Address to the Scholars of
the Village School of----', by its natural sequel--'By the Side of the
Grave some Years after', the date of the composition of which is
unknown: and the 'Epistle to Sir George Beaumont' (1811) is followed by
the later Lines, to which Wordsworth gave the most prosaic title--he was
often infelicitous in his titles--'Upon perusing the foregoing Epistle
thirty years after its composition'. A like remark applies to the poem
'Beggars', which is followed by its own 'Sequel', although the order of
date is disturbed; while all the "Epitaphs," translated from Chiabrera,
are printed together.

It is manifestly appropriate that the poems belonging to a series--such
as the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," or those referring to the
"Duddon"--should be brought together, as Wordsworth finally arranged
them; even although we may be aware that some of them were written
subsequently, and placed in the middle of the series. The sonnets
referring to "Aspects of Christianity in America"--inserted in the 1845
and 1849-50 editions of the collected Works--are found in no previous
edition or version of the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets." These, along with
some others on the Offices of the English Liturgy, were suggested to
Wordsworth by an American prelate, Bishop Doane, and by Professor Henry
Reed; [2] but we do not know in what year they were written. The
"Ecclesiastical Sonnets"--first called "Ecclesiastical Sketches"--were
written in the years 1820-22. The above additions to them appeared
twe