204 THE ROCK OF NAMES. 



AMICUS. I see well cut in goodly and conspi- 

 cuous letters W. W. and others.* 



PISCATOR. They were cut by the hand of the 

 poet, and long may they be preserved in memo- 

 riam, in accordance with the poet's wishes and 

 hopes as expressed in the lines written respect- 

 ing this rock, ending 



" fail not, thou loved rock ! to keep 



Thy charge when we are laid asleep "f 



I heard a dear friend of his say, that the rock 

 was pointed out to him by Wordsworth himself, 

 and with a fond earnestness, showing regard. 

 They two walked from Eydal Mount here, ex- 

 pressly for the purpose of seeing it. Mark well 

 the spot ; how it is close to the road on our right, 

 and nearly in a line with the head of the lake. 

 AMICUS. I do ; and I join heartily in your 

 wish for its preservation. To appreciate the 



* The other initials are, 



M. W., Mary Wordsworth. 



D. W., Dorothy Wordsworth. 



S. T. C., Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 



J. W., John Wordsworth. 



S. H., Sarah Hutchinson. 



See Memoir s> vol. ii. p. 310. 



f See Notes to the Eighth Edition of Poems. London, 

 1845, p. 538. 



