The Danish Boy

A Fragment Composed 1799.—Published 1800

The Poem

[Written in Germany, 1799. It was entirely a fancy; but intended as a prelude to a ballad-poem never written.—I. F.]

In the editions of 1800-1832 this poem was called A Fragment. From 1836 onwards it was named The Danish Boy. A Fragment. It was one of the "Poems of the Fancy." —Ed.

The Poem

stanza text variant footnote line number

I Between two sister moorland rills
There is a spot that seems to lie
Sacred to flowerets of the hills,
And sacred to the sky.
And in this smooth and open dell
There is a tempest-stricken tree;
A corner-stone by lightning cut,
The last stone of a lonely hut;
And in this dell you see
A thing no storm can e'er destroy,
The shadow of a Danish Boy.

A

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10

II In clouds above, the lark is heard,
But drops not here to earth for rest;
Within this lonesome nook the bird
Did never build her nest.
No beast, no bird hath here his home;
Bees, wafted on the breezy air,
Pass high above those fragrant bells
To other flowers:—to other dells
Their burthens do they bear;
The Danish Boy walks here alone:
The lovely dell is all his own.

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20

III A Spirit of noon-day is he;
Yet seems a form of flesh and blood;
Nor piping shepherd shall he be,
Nor herd-boy of the wood.
A regal vest of fur he wears,
In colour like a raven's wing;
It fears not rain, nor wind, nor dew;
But in the storm 'tis fresh and blue
As budding pines in spring;
His helmet has a vernal grace,
Fresh as the bloom upon his face.

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30

IV A harp is from his shoulder slung;
Resting the harp upon his knee;
To words of a forgotten tongue,
He suits its melody.
Of flocks upon the neighbouring hill
He is the darling and the joy;
And often, when no cause appears,
The mountain-ponies prick their ears,
—They hear the Danish Boy,
While in the dell he sings alone
Beside the tree and corner-stone.

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V There sits he; in his face you spy
No trace of a ferocious air,
Nor ever was a cloudless sky
So steady or so fair.
The lovely Danish Boy is blest
And happy in his flowery cove:
From bloody deeds his thoughts are far;
And yet he warbles songs of war,
That seem like songs of love,
For calm and gentle is his mien;
Like a dead Boy he is serene.

Contents

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Variant 1:

1836

... a cottage hut;

1800

Variant 2:

1827

He sings his blithest and his best;

1800

She sings, regardless of her rest,

1820

Variant 3:

1827

But in ...

1800

Variant 4:

1820

... his ...

1800

Variant 5:

1827

The bees borne on ...

1800

Variant 6:

1827

Nor ever linger there.

1800

Variant 7:

1836

He seems ...

1800

Variant 8:

1802

A piping Shepherd he might be,
A Herd-boy of the wood.

1800

Variant 9:

1802

... nor ...

1800

Variant 10:

1836

He rests the harp upon his knee,
And there in a forgotten tongue
He warbles melody.

1800

Variant 11:

1827

Of flocks and herds both far and near

1800

Of flocks upon the neighbouring hills

1802

Variant 12:

1845

... sits ...

1800

Variant 13:

When near this blasted tree you pass,
Two sods are plainly to be seen
Close at its root, and each with grass
Is cover'd fresh and green.
Like turf upon a new-made grave
These two green sods together lie,
Nor heat, nor cold, nor rain, nor wind
Can these two sods together bind,
Nor sun, nor earth, nor sky,
But side by side the two are laid,
As if just sever'd by the spade.

This stanza occurs only in the edition of 1800.

Variant 14:

1815

They seem ...

1800

Footnote A:

These Stanzas were designed to introduce a Ballad upon the Story of a Danish Prince who had fled from Battle, and, for the sake of the valuables about him, was murdered by the Inhabitant of a Cottage in which he had taken refuge. The House fell under a curse, and the Spirit of the Youth, it was believed, haunted the Valley where the crime had been committed.— W. W. 1827.

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