Art and Science 



actually been so, but he has not said this. 

 On the contrary, he has hinted plainly that 

 she was ugly, and generally disliked ; she was 

 only like a violet when she was half-hidden 

 from the view, and only fair as a star when 

 there were so few stars out that it was prac- 

 tically impossible to make an invidious com- 

 parison. If there were as many as even two 

 stars the likeness was felt to be at an end. If 

 Wordsworth had imprudently promised to 

 marry this young person during a time when 

 he had been unusually long in keeping to 

 good resolutions, and had afterwards seen 

 some one whom he liked better, then Lucy's 

 death would undoubtedly have made a con- 

 siderable difference to him, and this is all 

 that he has ever said that it would do. 

 What right have we to put glosses upon the 

 masterly reticence of a poet, and credit him 

 with feelings possibly the very reverse of 

 those he actually entertained? 



Sometimes, indeed, I have been inclined to 

 think that a mystery is being hinted at more 

 dark than any critic has suspected. I do not 

 happen to possess a copy of the poem, but 



