New-York tribune., 1874-09-04
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
WORDSWORTH AND HIS SISTER.


RrcoIIECTIoNs OF TOUR MADE IN SCOTLAND,
A. ID. 1903. BY DOROTHY WORDSWORTH. Edi'eo ny
T. q SHARP, LID. q. p. Putnam's Sons.
The friendship of Wordsworth with his only sister
was one of the most remarkable features of their
common life Numerous passages in the writings OF
fhe poet attest the wonderful influence which she
exercised in the development of his intellect ana
illustrate the power which united them In the
bonds of living sympathy. Her affection LOT her
brother was but little short of idolatry, whhe 10
him she was q perfect model of natural grace ana
feminine wisdom. lie had not a thought which ne
did not share with her. She was the companion OF
his studies, she attended him in bis rural Walks
and cast an enchantment over the routine Vi us
daily life. Her own character was formed on q
noble model. With no pretense 10 hlgh cultivation
ar uncommon refinement, she possessed singular
ceaness of insight just sense of the proportion OF
things true delicacy of TASTE and sound and Wig
orons understanding. Consecrating her life to her
svmpathies with the poet, she was the most disin-
terested of human beings At the same time. she
preserved tone of rigid individuality and, though
rejecting the peculiar genius of her brother, never
consented to be merely his shadow, or his echo.
From the brief personal sketch of Miss Wordsworth
by the editor Of this volume learn that she was
about year and half younger than the poet, hav-
ing been born on Christmas day. 1771. They lost
their mother when William was eight. and Dorothy
six years old and five years afterward the family
home was broken up and the children were scat
tered by the death of the father During the
eight years which Wordsworth spent at school,
the brother and sister seldom, if ever to have
met. His first college vacation in the Summer Of
l7Ss brought him back to his old haunts in the vale
of Esthwaite and restored him TO the society OF his
sister He describes the reunion as "a JOY above all
lows that seemed another morn risen upon MD
noon" "his sole sister, after separation desolate re-
stored such absence that she seemed gift then
first bestowed"
In the following Summer, the poet was busy
with walking tours in Switzerland and Italy,
and his subsequent residence In France Kept
him some years longer apart from his sister In the
beginning of 1894, he returned from his wan
derings, with his head still in whirl with
revolutionary fervors. He was floating about
among his friends with no fixed dwelling
place no settled employment. and all his opinions
disturbed and chaotic In this seething state
of mind he sought once more his sisters calm
ing society, and the two travelled on foot from Ken
dal to Grasmere and from Grasmere to Keswick,
Through the most delightful country that ever
was SEEN" Soon after Wordsworth received a small
legacy sufficient for the support of himself and his
sister His mind was still ill at ease. Disappointed in
the sanguine hopes which had been fostered by the
French Revolution, he was in a state of morbid de-
preston. and in fact almost on the verge of de-
spar In this crisis his sister proved his good angel
She discerned his real need and OWNED the remedy
With her cheerful society," exquisite tact, and love
of nature, she enticed him away from the field of
speculative distractions and led him into the paths
of poetry.
81 was further changed
Than as clouded or waning moon:
she whispered still that brightness would return,
poet made me seek beneath that name,
And that alone, my office upon earth"
Her influence over his mind and their rambles to-
gether the delightful places of his native
try, thus gradually restored him
'To those sweet counsels between head and heart
Whence genuine knowledge grew"
In 1885, the brother and sister having cast in their
lots together settled in retired part of DOrsetshre
They had pleasant house, with good garden, and
around them delightful country looking out on
the distant sea. Wordsworth now sat down to regu-
lar poetic work His sister was engaged in household
duties and in reading and when work over,
there were endless walks and wanderings. They
had been nearly two years in this place. when they
received guest who destined to exercise more
influence on the selfcOntained mind of Wordsworth
than any other man ever did. This was Cole
ridge. His description of Miss Wordsworth shows
Just appreciation of her character. "She is a
woman indeed, in mind / mean, and in heart; for
her person is such that if you expected to
pretty woman, you would think her ordinary; if
you expected to see an ordinary woman. you would
think her pretty; but her manners are simple, ar
dent, impressive. In every motion her innocent
soul outbeams SO brightly that who saw her would
say, Guilt was a thing impossible with her. Her
information various, her eye watchful in minutest
observation of nature. and her taste a perfect
electrometer" The result Of this meeting of the
two poets was their change of abode to Somerset
shire, in order TO be near Coleridge. "'We are
three miles from Stowey,' the then abode of Cole
ridge, writes the sister, and two miles from the
sea. Wherever we turn we have woods, smooth
downs and valleys, with small brooks running
down them, through green meadows, hardly ever
intersected with hedgerOws, but scattered over with
trees The bills that cradle these valleys are either
covered with fern and bilberries, or oak woods,
which are cut for charcoal. Walks extend for miles
the hlltops the great beauty of which is their
wild simplicity-they are perfectly smooth, without
rocks"
The influence of COerdge upon his brother poet
was wholesome and iuvigorating. But the COM
panOnship of his sister was the chief sanatve power
which restored him to his better self. His spirit
was too stern and severe He judged men by lofty
moral ideal without making sufficient allowance
for the infrmities of human nature. He compares
his soul TO high naked crag, without any crannes
In which flowers may lurk. untouched by the mel
lowing influences of sun and shower His sister
came with her sweet feminine nature and sowed in
ID the needed flowers, aud touched it with soft
colors.
"she gave me eyes. she gave me ears,
And humble cares ana delicate fears,
A heart the fountain OF sweet tears
And love, and thought, and JOY"
Iu September, 1898, the bright cOmpanionship was
broken up by visit to Germany, where they passed