World Class Poetry Blog

Excavated Poem Sees Publication In Archeology Magazine
6 December 2007, the poet @ 11:33 pm

(Source) A poem that spent 150 years buried in the heart of Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, one of the most enigmatic prehistoric monuments in Europe, is published for the first time this week - but posterity may not share the high opinion of William Wordsworth.

This is an interesting way to begin this story. The headline, “Hidden poem by Wordsworth’s niece published,” makes me think that some mystery was solved, that perhaps Wordsworth’s niece hid the poem from him and only now, after 150 years, has the family decided to come clean and reveal the family secret. Not so.

The poem is described as an ode. But then we are told the poem was written by William’s second cousin, not his niece. The interesting thing about this story is not the author of the poem and not her more famous relative. It is interesting that the historic tale involves Queen Victoria, but considering that Wordsworth was the poet laureate of England when the poem was written, that’s merely a minor detail. The really interesting thing about this story is that, after all this time, the poem will finally be published - in an archeology magazine. So much for Romantic literature.

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