1. From a letter to Francis Wrangham (17 April 1808)
George Green and Sarah his Wife, Inhabitants of the Vale of Grasmere, having gone to Langdale on the morning of Saturday the 19th of March last, set off to return to their own house a lonely Dwelling on the same eve[n]ing, intending to cross over the mountain. They had left a Daughter at home, eleven years of age, with the care of five other children younger than herself, the youngest an infant at the breast. On Monday afternoon, one of the Boys went to the nearest house to borrow a Cloak for his Sister, who (he said) was going to Langdale to seek their Father and Mother, who had not returned as they had expected, on Saturday. Immediately the alarm was spread, and continual search was made, as long as daylight lasted, on that day, and the day following, and till Wednesday afternoon, when the Bodies of the unfortunate Persons were found. It is supposed they had been bewildered by the snow and mist; and they perished by falling over the rocks, they were buried in one Grave on the Friday afternoon.
The unhappy Fate of this Pair, and the forlorn condition in which the children are left, have excited much compassion; which has been more deeply felt in their own neighbourhood because the Deceased were much respected for their good morals and decent manners, for their frugality and industry, and for the constant cheerfulness and independence of mind, with which, without any assistance from the parish, they supported their Family under the burthen of extreme poverty. This compassion has naturally been accompanied with a general desire that more than ordinary exertions should be made to befriend and protect the orphan children. It is therefore thought proper to draw up a brief statement of the condition of the Family, for the information of such persons as may be disposed to promote this benevolent design.
George Green had been twice married, and has left one Son and three Daughters by his first wife who do not stand in need of assistance. By her who died with him, he has left four Sons and four Daughters: the eldest of these, a Girl fifteen years of age, is at present in Service; the second, a girl likewise, is with a Family who will take care of her and fit her out, when she also is fit, for Service. One of the Boys will be maintained by his Father’s eldest Son, who will breed him up to his own business; so that there remain five children to be provided for.
The Father has left a small Estate which is deeply mortgaged, and it is probable that after it is sold, little or nothing will remain for his children. The Parish have therefore agreed to allow, to each of these five children, two shillings per week till they are fit to go to Service or to be apprenticed. The object then of those Persons who interest themselves on this occasion, is to raise a Sum to make an addition to the weekly allowance of the Parish, by means of which the children may be placed in a respectable Family or Families: it is also intended to send them to School, and what money remains to be employed in setting them forward as Servants or Apprentices.
It is conceived that it will be grateful to benevolent Persons to promote a subscription for the above purpose: first, as a natural tribute of human Sympathy upon so melancholy an occasion; secondly, as a testimony of respect for the honesty, industry, patient and even cheerful endurance of extreme poverty by which the Deceased were distinguished: and lastly, and above all, that there may be a better hope that the children may go forward in that course of innocence and virtue in which their Parents have thus far conducted them.
2. “Elegiac Stanzas composed in the Churchyard of Grasmere, Westmorland, a few days after the Interment there of a Man and his Wife, Inhabitants of the Vale, who were lost upon the neighbouring Mountains, on the night of the nineteenth of March last” (19 April 1808)
Who weeps for Strangers? – Many wept
For George and Sarah Green;
Wept for that Pair’s unhappy end,
Whose grave may here be seen.
By night upon these stormy Heights5
Did Wife and Husband roam;
Six little-ones the Pair had left
And could not find their Home.
For any Dwelling-place of men
As vainly did they seek. –10
He perish’d; and a voice was heard
The Widow’s lonely shriek.
Down the dark precipice he fell,
And she was left alone,
Not long to think of Children dear,15
Not long to pray or groan!
A few wild steps – she too was left
A Body without life!
The chain of but a few wild steps
To the Husband bound the Wife.20
Now lodge they in one Grave, this Grave
A House with two-fold Roof,
Two Hillocks but one Grave, their own,
A covert tempest-proof.
And from all agony of mind25
It keeps them safe and far;
From fear, and from all need of hope.
From sun, or guiding Star.
Our peace is of the immortal Soul,
Our anguish is of clay;30
Such bounty is in Heaven, so pass
The bitterest pangs away.
Three days did teach the Mother’s Babe
Forgetfully to rest
In reconcilement how serene!35
Upon another’s breast
The trouble of the elder Brood
I know not that it stay’d
So long – they seiz’d their joy, and they
Have sung, and danc’d, and play’d.40
Now do those sternly-featur’d Hills
Look gently on this Grave,
And quiet now is the depth of air
As a sea without a wave.
But deeper lies the heart of peace45
In shelter more profound;
The heart of quietness is here,
Within this Church-yard ground.
O Darkness of the Grave! how calm
After that living night,50
That last and dreary living one
Of sorrow and affright!
O sacred Marriage-bed of Death
That holds them side by side.
In bond of love, in bond of God,55
Which may not be untied!
(2)
Writing to STC two days later, WW explained the origins of this account: “Within a day or two after my return home, when my mind was easier than it has been since, in passing through the churchyard I stopped at the grave of the poor Sufferers and immediately afterwards composed the following stanzas; composed I have said, I ought rather to have said effused, for it is the mere pouring out of my own feeling; but if you can turn these verses to any profit for the poor Orphans in any way, either by reciting, circulating in manuscript, or publishing them, either with or without the name of the Aut…
3. “Who Weeps for strangers (1839)”
Who weeps for strangers? Many wept
For George and Sarah Green;
Wept for that pair’s unhappy fate,
Whose grave may here be seen.
By night, upon these stormy fells,5
Did wife and husband roam;
Six little ones at home had left,
And could not find that home.
For any dwelling-place of man
As vainly did they seek.10
He perish’d; and a voice was heard–
The widow’s lonely shriek.
Not many steps, and she was left
A body without life–
A few short steps were the chain that bound15
The husband to the wife.
Now do those sternly-featured hills
Look gently on this grave;
And quiet now are the depths of air,
As a sea without a wave.20
But deeper lies the heart of peace
In quiet more profound;
The heart of quietness is here
Within this churchyard bound.
And from all agony of mind25
It keeps them safe, and far
From fear and grief, and from all need
Of sun or guiding star.
O darkness of the grave! how deep,
After that living night–30
That last and dreary living one
Of sorrow and affright?
O sacred marriage-bed of death!
That keeps them side by side
In bond of peace, in bond of love,35
That may not be untied!
(3)
This poem, along with WW’s “Elegiac Stanzas” on the Greens (see n2), first appeared in Thomas De Quincey’s “Sketches of Life and Manners; from the Autobiography of an English Opium Eater” (Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine, Sept. 1839, 573). Upon republishing this essay in his Recollections of the Lakes and the Lake Poets, De Quincey added a lengthy account of the Greens’ tragic deaths (see introduction to this section for further details).
