Written mostly in ink on three sides of a bifolium, the manuscript reveals extensive autograph deletions, revisions and repetitions. Fol. 1 recto is a lightly amended fair copy of lines 1-16 as eventually published. The draft continues onto fol. 2 recto where the closing lines of the poem are heavily reworked from 'To mend her we end her' to the subsequently discarded line 'Other Springs, more Summers / cannot render'. This is followed by two more discarded lines and an unamended fair copy of the last five lines as published; both versions dated 'Oxford. March 13 1879' (with first date crossed out).

On fol. 1 verso are five hitherto unrecorded lines, beginning 'Other Springs, fresh Summers', written in ink over a pencil draft and then scored through by Hopkins. They are followed by five lightly-amended lines beginning 'Will Springs or Summers'. These reworkings were intended to precede the last lines of the poem, 'Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve'. There are numerous stress marks characteristic of the poet throughout. Fol. 2 verso is blank.