Ashley MS 2265

''My heart leaps up when I behold'': a poem by William Wordsworth; 1842. Autograph fair copy, with one correction, written on one side only of a quarto leaf of white wove paper. No watermark. The MS. is entitled ''Poem of Childhood'' and dated ''April 17 1842'' in Wordsworth''s hand. Below the date is the autograph note ''The above sonnet I wish inserted / first of my "Poems referring to the period / of Childhood" ― Wm Wordsworth / to Mr Moxon''. Another hand (Moxon''s?) has first written the initials ''EM?'', then deleted them and added the note ''corrected from Wordsworth''s last copy ― no less than ten! EM?''. The MS. is addressed on the verso ''Mr Moxon Publisher London''.

The text found in the fair copy exhibits the following variants from the printed text, which remained unaltered from its first appearance in Poems, in Two Volumes, 1807, ii, p. 44: l. 3. life / years; l. 5. So let it be when I am old; l. 8. days / years; l. 9. Each bound to each by Natural Piety. There are in fact ten words (cf. Moxon''s note quoted above) which differ or are in a different position. The text found in the MS. was not adopted by the printer, and it appears that this fair copy was a hasty one intended to identify the poem in question only. It is not clear for what edition this note was written, since ''My heart leaps up'' was placed first of ''Poems referring to the period of Childhood'' in Poetical Works, 1836, and in Poems, 1845. Possibly it refers to Select Pieces from the Poems of William Wordsworth, 1843, where the poem is printed after ''Lucy Gray'' and ''We are Seven''. Ashley Library Catalogue, viii, p. 48.

Octavo; ff. ii+1.

William Wordsworth, poet: Edward Moxon, publisher and poet: Poetry ENGLISH: Poem, ''My heart leaps up when I behold'', here entitled ''Poem of Childhood'', by William Wordsworth, with note addressed to Edward Moxon: 1842: Autogr. fair copy.