When Wordsworth was a
boy, he came over a ridge and saw Grasmere for the first time, spread out below
him:
…And, with a sudden influx overpowered
At sight of this seclusion, he forgot
His haste, for hasty had his footsteps been
As boyish his pursuits; and sighing said,
“What happy fortune were it here to live!...”
No Prophet was he, had not even a hope,
Scarcely a wish, but one bright pleasing thought,
A fancy in the heart of what might be
The lot of others, never could be his. (Home at Grasmere, 7-11, 15-18)
Who that has visited
Grasmere has not felt as Wordsworth did?
I’ve been to Grasmere several times—twice to attend the Wordsworth Trust
Summer Conference and twice to visit while doing research at the area County
Records Offices and the Jerwood Centre Library at Dove Cottage. There’s something in particular about
standing on one of the surrounding hills and looking down at the little village
quietly nestled along the edge of the lake that makes one think, “I’d love to
live there.” But as did Wordsworth, one
only sighs and thinks, yes, that is the “lot of others.”
“And now ‘tis mine,”
Wordsworth exults later in the poem Home
at Grasmere (56). My husband, Chris,
and I now find ourselves in the same situation, though not “perchance for life”
(56). Instead we will be in Grasmere for
six months while I am on sabbatical researching at the Jerwood Centre. And like Wordsworth, we can say, “Beloved
Grasmere…/One of thy lowly Dwellings is my Home” (57, 59). We will be living just a five minute walk
from Dove Cottage so that I can take full advantage of the library. The library
houses 90% of Wordsworth’s known poetic manuscripts! I can’t wait.
We are arriving in the
dead of winter, when it is likely to be cold, dark, and wet, and not at the
height of summer when we have most often seen it. Frankly, we couldn’t be happier. Whenever we’ve talked about wanting to spend
some extended time in England, naysayers have always pulled out the dark winter
card to prove that we wouldn’t like it as much as we think we would. Well, perhaps we won’t, but we are ready to
find out. But it’s our guess that we
will like it—very much. We hope to be
like Dorothy and William who also came in winter and found that even “Two
months unwearied of severest storm,/…put the temper of our minds to proof,/ And
found us faithful through the gloom” (181-3).
And since we are here six months, we will experience England’s glorious
spring season.
This blog will be a
place for me to record the joys of researching at the library and to introduce
others to the wealth of researching materials there and throughout
England. Once a month, I plan on going
down to London to visit the Quaker Library and the British Library, and I will
include those adventures here as well.
For an American scholar of British literature, there’s nothing like
being in Britain. Every time I’ve spent even a little time doing research here,
I’ve come home with a wealth of material that has sustained me for some
time. I can’t quite imagine what it will
be like to have a luxurious six months to read and explore, but I will be sure
to let you know.
Thank you for reading!
