ABSTRACT
Date of composition unknown. The lines exist only in Harriet S.’s hand as the third entry (after Nos. 65 and 94) in her ‘appendix’ to Esd, and present mutually incompatible features. The lines are headed ‘May 1813 To Harriet………’ and end ‘Cum Elam) Adieu my love good night’. Neither S. nor Harriet was at Cwm Elan in 1813. S. was there alone in 1811, in July and early August, not May; they were near Cwm Elan together in May 1812, but Harriet was then no longer ‘Westbrook’ as the nine points in the title require. Finally, as Dowden and Garnett agreed (L about S 122–3), the doggerel manner seems to belong to a period before either date, suggesting that the lines concern Harriet Grove, not Westbrook. The problem is further obscured by indications that the lines were copied from a draft (e.g. the many unrhymed lines, especially the presumed work-draft alternative ‘grief’ in line 4 instead of ‘joy’, and the fact that lines 19–20 belong here logically rather than in situ despite the change of metre.) Two ultimately separate poems seem to be involved: 1–10, and 11–37; these groups are not, however, distinguished in Esd except by a stanza-break. Any suggested solution creates some improbability. Four possible dates present themselves.
