understand, and to sympathise with, his writing--the long note on the
revered parson of the Duddon Valley, the Rev. Robert Walker, who will be
remembered for many generations as the "Wonderful Walker." The Poet's
editors have also been occasionally led to add digressive notes, to
clear up points which had been left by himself either dubious, or
obscure. I must plead guilty to the charge of doing so: e.g. the
identification of "The Muccawiss" (see 'The Excursion', book iii. l.
953) with the Whip-poor-Will involved a great deal of laborious
correspondence years ago. It was a question of real difficulty; and,
although the result reached could now be put into two or three lines, I
have thought it desirable that the opinions of those who wrote about it,
and helped toward the solution, should be recorded. What I print is only
a small part of the correspondence that took place.

On the other hand, it would be quite out of place, in a note to the
famous passage in the 4th book of 'The Excursion', beginning

... I have seen
A curious child applying to his ear

to enter on a discussion as to the extent of Wordsworth's debt--if
any--to the author of 'Gebir'. It is quite sufficient to print the
relative passage from Landor's poem at the foot of the page.

All the Notes written by Wordsworth himself in his numerous editions
will be found in this one, with the date of their first appearance
added. Slight textual changes, however, or casual 'addenda', are not
indicated, unless they are sufficiently important. Changes in the text
of notes have not the same importance to posterity, as changes in the
text of poems. In the preface to the Prose Works, reference will be made