Peter Bell

“ He had an idea that it mattered a good deal to his sister what Peter Bell's future might be, although he was confident that there was no understanding between them.
If he knew Peter, that young man was not the one to ask to marry a rich man's daughter until his own feet were on substantial ground. But that Peter cared, and cared very deeply, for Murray Townsend's sister, Murray was well assured. ”

“ That which close students of the genius of Wordsworth will always turn to seek in Peter Bell is the sincere sentiment of nature and the studied simplicity of language which inspire its best stanzas. The narrative is clumsy in the extreme, and the attempts at wit and sarcasm ludicrous. Yet Peter Bell contains exquisite things. The Primrose stanza is known to every one ”

“ If Peter could have heard the brief whispered conversation exchanged, he would hardly have dared to stand watching it, as he did.
"Olive," begged Shirley, when with difficulty she had secured her sister's reluctant attention, "if I take care of Peter Bell for a while, won't you be nice to him? He does n't dance, and he does n't know anybody----"
"It's enough that he 's here!" retorted Olive, with a frown. ”

“ But remember that no poem of mine will ever be popular; and I am afraid that the sale of Peter would not carry the expense of the engraving, and that the poem, in the estimation of the public, would be a weight upon the print. I say not this in modest disparagement of the poem, but in sorrow for the sickly taste of the public in verse. The people would love the poem of Peter Bell, but the public (a very different being) will never love it. Thanks for dear Lady B.'s transcript from your friend's letter; it is written with candour, but I must say a word or two not in praise of it. ”

“ Peter Bell presently discovers that the dead body of the master of the ass is floating in the river just below. (The poet, as he has naively recorded, read this incident in a newspaper.) In the second part Peter drags the dead man to land, and starts on the ass's back to find the survivors. In the third part a vague spiritual chastisement falls on Peter Bell for his previous wickedness. Plot there is no more than this, and if proof were wanted of the inherent innocence of Wordsworth's mind, it is afforded by the artless struggles which he makes to paint a very wicked man. ”

“ Peter Bell to the respectable family of the Fudges. Although he may fall short of those very considerable personages in the more active properties which characterize the Rat and the Apostate, I suspect that even you, their historian, will confess that he surpasses them in the more peculiarly legitimate qualification of intolerable dulness. ”

“ The parody consists of 42 stanzas, and relates how Peter Bell, visiting the churchyard, comes across a gravestone on which is engraved W. W.
I.
It is the thirty-first of march,
A gusty evening—half past seven;
The moon is shining o’er the larch,
A simple shape—a cock’d up arch,
Rising bigger than a star,
Though the stars are thick in Heaven.
IV.
Beneath the ever blessed moon
An old man o’er an old grave stares,
You never look’d upon his fellow;
His brow is covered with grey hairs,
As though they were an umbrella.
VI.
’Tis Peter Bell—’tis Peter Bell,
Who never stirreth in the day ”

“ In the which he wrapped his skin From the storm he travelled in, For fear of rheumatism. 100 6. He called the ghost out of the corse;— It was exceedingly like Peter,— Only its voice was hollow and hoarse— It had a queerish look of course— Its dress too was a little neater. 105 7. The Devil knew not his name and lot; Peter knew not that he was Bell: Each had an upper stream of thought, Which made all seem as it was not; Fitting itself to all things well. 110 8. Peter thought he had parents dear, Brothers, sisters, cousins, cronies, In the fens of Lincolnshire ”

“ I have no fancy for it, though each man to his taste, I say,” observed the youth.
“You would find it a very interesting book, though, Owen Bell,” said Peter, who had heard the youth’s name. “I never get tired of it, but I read it whenever I can; for it’s only by reading it that we can know how to obey Christ, and be prepared to live with Him in heaven.”
“Oh, but I have to live down here and knock about at sea,” answered Owen Bell, with a careless laugh. “It will be time enough when I become an old chap, like Simon Hixon, to think about matters of that sort.”
“Who is Simon Hixon?” asked Peter. ”

“ Through the rattle of the surf there came the sick melancholy lowing of the Bell Rock; swinging over a space of waters it fell across fields, unutterably, abominably sad.
And in the boy there instantly leapt to life his soul. Maimed and bruised and stunned it had been—now alive, tearing him, bringing on to his bending shoulders an awful tide of knowledge: “Everything is gone—your wife, your boy, your friend, your work.... We have won, Peter, we have won. The House is waiting for you....” ”

“ He feels what he for human kind
Had never felt before.
At length, by Peter's arm sustain'd,
The Woman rises from the ground—
"Oh, mercy! something must be done,—
"My little Rachael, you must run,
"Some willing neighbour must be found. ”

“ Fool! hell-fire Is twenty times too good for you. 6. 'By that last book of yours WE think You've double damned yourself to scorn; We warned you whilst yet on the brink 485 You stood. From your black name will shrink The babe that is unborn.' 7. All these Reviews the Devil made Up in a parcel, which he had Safely to Peter's house conveyed. 490 For carriage, tenpence Peter paid— Untied them—read them—went half mad. 8. 'What!' cried he, 'this is my reward For nights of thought, and days, of toil? Do poets, but to be abhorred 495 By men of whom they never heard, Consume their spirits' oil? ”

“ Peter missed Owen Bell greatly. The rest of the men treated him, for his friend’s sake, perhaps, with less unkindness than before, and a more subdued tone was perceptible among them; even the captain and mates seemed to feel for the loss of the men, and fewer oaths were heard than usual.
Peter found an opportunity of speaking to Emery, the negro. “That just what Owen Bell say,” answered the steward; “If Jesus die for me, and love me, I ought to love Him.”
“Yes,” observed Peter, “but not only that; you must believe that He died to take away your sins, and that your sins are taken away ”

“ It was some time before this stage in the operations was reached, and meanwhile Peter found himself obliged to share his partner with Ross and Rufus, who had no idea of allowing monopolies, with no other girls present but Nancy.
The elder people, however, proved themselves nearly as good company as the younger ones, for everybody seemed to have adopted the spirit of the season and to be ready for as much fun-making as possible. And to the great satisfaction of both Peter and Shirley, not the least care-free of the company seemed Mr. Joseph Bell himself. ”

“ Forsaken of wife and bairns; and left to die—
To be nibbled to death by rats: de’il scart the vermin!
Bell:
Time’s drawn your teeth, but hasn’t dulled your tongue’s edge.
Peter:
Come, woman: what the devil are you up to?
What’s this new game?
Bell:
Peter, I’m biding here.
Peter:
You’re biding here?
Bell:
And you are staying, too.
Peter:
By crikey, no! You’ll not catch me: I cannot—
With thon in the other room. I never could bear ...
Bell:
You’ll stop, till Michael’s old enough to manage
The sheep without your aid: then you may spurt
To overtake Jim on the road to the gallows ”

“ Yet the Reviews, who heaped abuse On Peter while he wrote for freedom, 620 So soon as in his song they spy The folly which soothes tyranny, Praise him, for those who feed 'em. 34. 'He was a man, too great to scan;— A planet lost in truth's keen rays:— 625 His virtue, awful and prodigious;— He was the most sublime, religious, Pure-minded Poet of these days.' 35. As soon as he read that, cried Peter, 'Eureka! I have found the way 630 To make a better thing of metre Than e'er was made by living creature Up to this blessed day.' 36. ”

“ Should any of our readers wish farther acquaintance with our friends, all we can say is, the new year was still young when Adam Bell bestowed his daughter’s hand upon the heir of Marchlaw, and Peter beheld the once vacant chair again occupied, and a namesake of the third generation prattling on his knee. ”

“ When she expressed a doubtful hope that Tinker Bell would be glad to see her he said, "Who is Tinker Bell?"
"O Peter!" she said, shocked; but even when she explained he could not remember.
"There are such a lot of them," he said. "I expect she is no more."
I expect he was right, for fairies don't live long, but they are so little that a short time seems a good while to them. ”

“ Peter in Hell's Grosvenor Square, A footman in the Devil's service! And the misjudging world would swear 265 That every man in service there To virtue would prefer vice. 2. But Peter, though now damned, was not What Peter was before damnation. Men oftentimes prepare a lot 270 Which ere it finds them, is not what Suits with their genuine station. ”

“ It's a' ye're fit for." Then he turned to me. "Fortunately it's no' vera serious for you, miss. The hoose ye're bound for lies aboot half-roads betwixt this and Westerbay station—less nor twa mile frae this. Peter here—afore he digs hissel' in—'ll get a barrow and hurl your box for ye. ”

“ A savage character was seen,
Of mountains and of dreary moors.
To all the unshap'd half human thoughts
Which solitary Nature feeds
'Mid summer storms or winter's ice,
Had Peter join'd whatever vice
The cruel city breeds. ”

“ More searching than the breath of spring.
Upon a stone the Woman sits
In agony of silent grief—
From his own thoughts did Peter start;
He longs to press her to his heart,
From love that cannot find relief. ”

“ Full twenty times was Peter feared
For once that Peter was respected. ”

“ These given, what more need I desire,
To stir—to sooth—or elevate?
What nobler marvels than the mind
May in life's daily prospect find,
May find or there create?
A potent wand doth Sorrow wield;
What spell so strong as guilty Fear! ”

“ And, in a light and careless way
As men who with their purpose play,
Upon the lid he knocks.
Let them whose voice can stop the clouds—
Whose cunning eye can see the wind—
Tell to a curious world the cause
Why, making here a sudden pause,
The Ass turn'd round his head—and grinn'd. ”

“ The second picture, bearing the same monogram and date, is in the possession of Herr Karl von der Heydt of Elberfeld, showing a man in full armour, standing by a fire in a courtyard, and closely observed by soldiers [Pg 51] and servants, which Dr Bode not unreasonably believes to represent "The Denial of St Peter." ”

“ Out of the bottom of his heart.
Dread Spirits! to torment the good
Why wander from your course so far,
Disordering colour form and stature!
—Let good men feel the soul of Nature,
And see things as they are. ”

“ Through all his iron frame was felt
A gentle, a relaxing power!
Each fibre of his frame was weak,
Weak all the animal within,
But in its helplessness grew mild
And gentle as an infant child,
An infant that has known no sin. ”

“ Languish and droop together. Nor unfelt
In man's perturbed soul thy sway benign;
And, haply, far within the marble belt
Of central earth, where tortured Spirits pine
For grace and goodness lost, thy murmurs melt
Their anguish,—and they blend sweet songs with thine! ”

“ He looks—he ponders—looks again;
He sees a motion—hears a groan;—
His eyes will burst—his heart will break—
He gives a loud and frightful shriek,
And drops, a senseless weight, as if his life were flown! ”

“ But, as you by their faces see,
All silent and all damn'd!
A throbbing pulse the Gazer hath—
Puzzled he was, and now is daunted;
He looks, he cannot choose but look;
Like one intent upon a book—
A book that is enchanted. ”

“ And so he sits in expectation!
The verdant pathway, in and out,
Winds upwards like a straggling chain;
And, when two toilsome miles are past,
Up through the rocks it leads at last
Into a high and open plain. ”

“ Around those happy fields we span
In boyish gambols—I was lost
Where I have been, but on this coast
I feel I am a man.
Never did fifty things at once
Appear so lovely, never, never,—
How tunefully the forests ring! ”

“ Till my ribs ach'd, I'd laugh at you!
Away we go, my Boat and I—
Frail man ne'er sate in such another;
Whether among the winds we strive,
Or deep into the heavens we dive,
Each is contented with the other. ”

“ As many a wiser man hath done,
He left a trusty guide for one
That might his steps betray.
To a thick wood he soon is brought
Where cheerfully his course he weaves,
And whistling loud may yet be heard,
Though often buried, like a bird
Darkling among the boughs and leaves. ”

“ When Mat proposed to lose no time in commencing his work at the out-station, Bell replied that he wished him to wait at Bulinda until a “new chum” arrived from England, who was expected daily.
“Fact is,” he said. “I thought I had done with ‘new chums,’ but a letter I received some time ago reminded me of a promise I once made to an old friend at home, that I would take his son on my station. He says it’s his only son, who will enter into no profession, loves horses, and can ‘rough it’ to any extent. I know what that means by experience,” growled Bell. ”

“ I am deeply interested in Peter Belden, for he has been a good, honest, industrious man ever since he came to us. I want to tell you that your kindly efforts are fully appreciated by him. He is earnestly working up in a business way, and all who have anything to do with him as a man have confidence in him. ”