Remembrance of Collins

Composed upon the Thames near Richmond.

A

Composed 1789.—Published 1798

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Glide gently, thus for ever glide,
O Thames! that other bards may see
As lovely visions by thy side
As now, fair river! come to me.
O glide, fair stream! for ever so,
Thy quiet soul on all bestowing,
Till all our minds for ever flow
As thy deep waters now are flowing.

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

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

B

C

D

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20

Variant 1:

1800

Such heart did once the poet bless,

1798

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Variant 2:

1815

Who, pouring here a lateri ditty,

1798

Variant 3:

1802

Remembrance, as we glide along,

... float ...

1798

1800

Variant 4:

1802

For him ...

1798

Variant 5:

1802

May know his freezing sorrows more.

1798

Footnote A:

The title in the editions 1802-1815 was

Remembrance of Collins, written upon the Thames near Richmond

.—Ed.

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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.

Sub-Footnote i:

The italics only occur in the editions of 1798 and 1800.—Ed.

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