Poet's trust acquires manuscript

The Wordsworth Trust aims to bring together the poet's works

The Wordsworth Trust has gained an important manuscript of one of the Cumbrian poet's works.

The Ecclesiastical Sonnet, Decay of Piety, was published in 1827 and the document also contains a note by the poet's future son-in-law.

Two other versions of the sonnet are also known to exist, and one is already in the Wordsworth Trust's possession.

The collection has been designated by the government for its national and international significance.

David Wilson, the trust's director, said: "This manuscript is an important acquisition for the Wordsworth Trust, which sees one of its key aims as the bringing together all Wordsworth's manuscript drafts and fair copies to its research and interpretation centre.

"In recent years, an important manuscript of the Ecclesiastical Sonnets was acquired with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

"Clearly Decay of Piety is part of this compositional period for Wordsworth, and complements this major acquisition."