Dorothy Wordsworth writes to Jane Pollard on 6 May 1792: I promised to transcribe some of William's compositions ...a little sonnet...It is only valuable and dear to me because the lane which gave birth to it was the favourite evening walk of my dear William and me.
Sweet was the walk along the narrow lane
At noon, the bank and hedge-rows all the way
Shagged with wild pale green tufts of fragrant hay,
Caught by the hawthorns from the loaded wain,
Which Age with many a slow stoop strove to gain;
And childhood, seeming still most busy, took
His little rake; with cunning side-long look,
Sauntering to pluck the strawberries wild, unseen.
Now, too, on melancholy's idle dreams
Musing, the lone spot with my soul agrees,
Quiet and dark; for through the thick wove trees
Scarce peeps the curious star till solemn gleams
The clouded moon, and calls me forth to stray
Thro' tall, green, silent woods and ruins grey.
Much of the charm centres around the accurate observation of detail: the hay from passing waggons caught on the hawthorns, the old man slow stooping to gather the hay, the child with his 'little rake' and 'cunning sidelong look' searching for wild strawberries. Difficult to interpret 'seeming still most busy' with regard to the child, however. Perhaps when first seen, we get the idea that he is doing nothing, then realise that he is actually busy about his search for strawberries.
The break after the two quatrains needs articulating and perhaps clarifying. Same place, different time?
Dorothy writes 'idol dreams' but this cannot be right.
The 'curious star' which 'scarce peeps' 'through the thick wove trees' works very well, but the 'clouded moon' which 'solemn gleams' less so. If it is clouded, how does it gleam?
'Tall, green, silent woods' is majestic.