*_Sonnet_ XXVII.
'A poet!--He hath put,' &c.
I was impelled to write this Sonnet by the disgusting frequency with which the word _artistical_, imported with other impertinencies from the Germans, is employed by writers of the present day.

For 'artistical' let them substitute 'artificial,' and the poetry written on this system, both at home and abroad, will be, for the most part, much better characterised.
234.

*_Sonnet_ XXVIII.
'The most alluring clouds,' &c.
Hundreds of times have I seen hanging about and above the Vale of Rydal, clouds that might have given birth to this Sonnet; which was thrown off, on the impulse of the moment, one evening when I was returning home from the favourite walk of ours along the Rotha, under Loughrigg.
235.

*_Sonnet_ XXIX.
'By Art's bold privilege,' &c.
This was composed while I was ascending Helvelyn in company with my daughter and her husband.

She was on horseback, and rode to the very top of the hill without once dismounting: a feat which it was scarcely possible to perform except during a season of dry weather, and a guide with whom we fell in on the mountain told us he believed it had never been accomplished before by any one.
236.