Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-09-03
RALPH WALDO EMERSOyS INTERVIEW
WITH MR.. WORDSWORTH.

On the 2Sth of Aug. / went to Rydal
Mount to pay my respects to Mr.. Werds-
worth. His daughters called in their father,
plain, elderly, white-haired man, not pre-
possessing and disfigured by green goggles.
lie sat down and talked with great simplic-
ity. lie had just returned from Journey.
His health was good, but he had broken q
tooth by a fall when walking with two law
yers and said he was glad it did not happen
forty years ago. He had much to say OF
America, the more that it gave occasion
tor his favorite topic,-that society is be-
ing enlightened by superficial tuition out
OF all proportion to its being restrained by
moral culture. Schools do no good. Tui-
tion is not education. He thinks more of
the education of circumstances than of
tuition. He said, what seemed paradox,
that they needed civil war in America,
to teach the necessity of knitting the social
tie stronger. And fear they lack class
of men of leisure, lin short of gentle
men,-to give tone to the community,
gentlemen of honor. In America l wish
not to know how many churches or schools
but what newspapers? My friend Colonel
Hamilton, at the foot of the hill, who
was year in America, assures me that
the newspapers are atrocious, and accuse
members of Congress of stealing spoons
The conversation turned on books. Lu-
cretius he esteemed far higher poet than
Virgil, not in his system, which is nothing,
but in his power of illustration. Faith is
necessary to explain anything, and to
reconcile the foreknowledge of God with
human evil.
He led me out into his garden and
showed me the gravel walk in which
thousands of his lines were COMPOSED.
His eyes were much infamed. This is no
loss, except for reading, because he never
writes prose, and of poetry he carries
hundreds of lines in his head before writ
ing them. He said, ''H you are interested
in my verses perhaps you would like to
hear some lines" / gladly assented, and
he recollected himself for few moments.
and then stood forth and repeated one af-
ter the other three entire sonnets with
great animation. | iancied the second
and third more beautiful than his poems
are wont to be. The third was addressed
to the flowers, which he said especially
the ox-eye daisy, were very abundant
on the top of the rock. The second al
ludes to the name of cave, which is
Love of Music;'' the first to the circum-
stances of its being visited by the prom
iscuous company of the steamboat.
This recitation was so unlocked for and
surprising, he the old Wordsworth stand
ing apart, and reciting to me in garden
walk like a school-boy deelaiming, that l
at first was near to laugh; but recollect-
ing myself, that had come thus far to
see poet, and he was chanting poems to
me, saw that he was right and was
wrong. and gladly gave myself up to
hear. | told him how much the few
printed extracts had quckened the desire
to possess his unpublished poems. He
replied, "He never was in haste to publish,
partly because he corrected good deal.
and every alteration is ungraciously re-
ceived after printing; but what he had
written would be printed, whether he lived
or died. He preferred such of his poems
as touched the affections. to any other
r. w. EMERSON.