A Day in the Lakes
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"I wander'd lonely as a cloud |
William Wordsworth, the author of the poem "The Daffodils", lived in Grasmere. One bright summer's day I went to Grasmere to see his house, "Dove Cottage", in which he lived from 1799 to 1808.
Dove Cottage is very picturesque. It is built of grey stone with brightly coloured flowers, rambling roses, and leaves climbing over the front of the house. The door is set in a little porchway and is painted green.
On entering Dove Cottage, the guide told my friend and me to sign our names in the visitors' book. The book was very interesting, containing many signatures.
After this we were conducted round the house and had pointed out to us various things of interest. Although we found the house very interesting, we did not linger for long as we were eager to be out in the sunshine again. Presently the guide took us into the garden at the back of the house. The garden was very beautiful with a large lawn surrounded by trees and flowers. Right at the top of the garden we saw a summer house. Then the guide told us that often Wordsworth used to sleep out in the summer house, and that it was where many of his poems were composed. The garden was very peaceful, birds sang in the trees and bees hummed amongst the flowers. However, by this time, it was time for us to move on to the Museum. So reluctantly we left the tranquillity of the garden and departed with the guide to the Wordsworth Museum. The Museum was almost as interesting as Dove Cottage. In one room there were some catalogues for sale, so on the way out we bought one each to remind us of all we had seen.
Then the guide held a piece of bread in her hand. She said that sometimes the birds could be persuaded to eat bread out of her hand. So we waited very quietly to see what would happen. Presently a gaily coloured chaffinch flew down onto the guide's outstretched hand and took the bread. Then, when it had. flown away, the guide tried once more to attract another bird's attention. After a few minutes' wait a shy little robin flew down after the bread on the guide's hand. A sudden noise frightened it and so it did not stay long but flew away with the bread.
After this we decided that we, too, must be off. So we waved to the guide and set off to catch the bus back home. On the way back a verse of "The Daffodils" kept recurring in my mind . . .
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"The waves beside them danced, but they |
Although I had not seen the daffodils mentioned in the poem, on looking back I realised what wealth my experiences had brought to me.
JUDITH STOTT, 1M.
Lyn
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Lyn is a tiny girl, |
At night she sweetly dreams
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