‘A Poet of the finest water’

This satirical epigram, apparently complete as it stands, is loosely drafted in pencil on f. 51^v rev. of Nbk 10. The Poet of the first line is Wordsworth and the allusion in the second line is to the notorious passage in his Ode. The Morning of the Day Appointed for a General Thanksgiving. January 18, 1816 (1816), which celebrated the allied victory at Waterloo as a mark of divine favour. In ll. 279–82 of the Ode (commonly known as the Thanksgiving Ode) the poet apostrophises Almighty God thus: But thy most dreaded instrument, In working out a pure intent, Is Man—arrayed for mutual slaughter,— Yea, Carnage is thy Daughter.