e person to
whom it is addressed. So sensible am I of the deficiencies in all that I
write, and so far does every thing that I attempt fall short of what I
wish it to be, that even private publication, if such a term may be
allowed, requires more resolution than I can command. I have written to
give vent to my own mind, and not without hope that, some time or other,
kindred minds might benefit by my labours; but I am inclined to believe
I should never have ventured to send forth any verses of mine to the
world, if it had not been done on the pressure of personal occasions.
Had I been a rich man, my productions, like this 'Epistle,' the 'Tragedy
of the Borderers,' &c., would most likely have been confined to MS.

461. _Ibid._

Loughrigg Tarn, alluded to in the foregoing Epistle, resembles, though
much smaller in compass, the Lake Nemi, or _Speculum Dianae_ as it is
often called, not only in its clear waters and circular form, and the
beauty immediately surrounding it, but also as being overlooked by the
eminence of Langdale Pikes as Lake Nemi is by that of Monte Calvo. Since
this Epistle was written Loughrigg Tarn has lost much of its beauty by
the felling of many natural clumps of wood, relics of the old forest,
particularly upon the farm called 'The Oaks,' from the abundance of that
tree which grew there.

It is to be regretted, upon public grounds, that Sir George Beaumont did
not carry into effect his intention of constructing here a Summer
Retreat in the style I have described; as his taste would have set an
example how buildings, with all the accommodations modern society
requires, might be introduced even into the most secluded parts of this
country without injuring their native character. The design was not
abandoned from failure of inclination on his part, but in consequence of
local untowardness which need not be particularised.

462. *_Gold and Silver Fishes in a Vase_.[II.]

They were a present from Miss Jewsbury, of whom mention is made in the
Note at the end of the next poem. The fish were healthy to all
appearance in their confinement for a long time, but at last, for some
cause we could not make out, languished; and one of them being all but
dead, they were taken to the pool under the old pollard oak. The
apparently dying one lay on its side unable to move. I used to watch it,
and about the tenth day it began to right itself, and in a few days more
was able to swim about with its companions. For