 |
1817, 1828, 1829.
[226] my 1817, 1828, 1829.
[230] arm] arms 1817, 1828, 1829.
[232] bitter] bitterer 1817.
[233] his 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 239] [Then observing KIUPRILI. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 245] [As he retires, in rushes CASIMIR. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[246] Casimir (entering). Monster! 1817, 1828, 1829.
[253] Bathory. There (pointing to the body of PESTALUTZ) 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 256] [BATHORY points to the Cavern, whence KIUPRILI advances. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[Before 259] Casimir (discovering Kiuprili). 1817, 1828, 1829.
[Before_ 261] _Bathory (to Kiuprili)._ 1817, 1828, 1829.
[261] Kiuprili (holds out the sword to Bathory). Bid him, &c. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[Before 266] Kiuprili (in a tone of pity). 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 275] [KIUPRILI and CASIMIR embrace; they all retire to the Cavern supporting KIUPRILI. CASIMIR as by accident drops his robe, and BATHORY throws it over the body of PESTALUTZ. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[Before 276] Emerick (entering). 1817, 1828, 1829.
[279]
As gods or wood-nymphs!— [Then sees the body of PESTALUTZ, covered by CASIMIR'S cloak.
1817, 1828, 1829.
[281] last 1817, 1828, 1829.
[283] not 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 288] [As EMERICK moves towards the body, enter from the Cavern CASIMIR and BATHORY. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[Before 289] Bathory (pointing to where the noise is, and aside to Casimir). 1817, 1828, 1829.
[289] Casimir (aside to Bathory). Hold, &c. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[Before 291] Emerick (aside, not perceiving Casimir and Bathory, and looking at the dead body). 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 293] [Uncovers the face, and starts. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[301] Casimir (triumphantly). Hear, &c. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[Before 308] Rudolph and Bathory (entering). 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 316] [Exeunt CASIMIR into the Cavern. The rest on the opposite side. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[Before 317] Scene changes to a splendid Chamber, &c. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 337] [Shouts . . . without. Then enter KIUPRILI . . . Attendants, after the clamour has subsided. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[339]
Behold, your Queen! [Enter from opposite side, ZAPOLYA, &c.
1817, 1828, 1829.
[365] my . . . I 1817, 1828, 1829.
[377] thy 1817, 1828, 1829.
[381] And sent an angel (pointing to SAROLTA) to thy, &c. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 382] [To ANDREAS. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[384] How many may claim salvage in thee! (Pointing to GLYCINE.) Take, &c. 1817, 1828, 1829.
[After 398] FINIS. 1817.
EPIGRAMS[951:1]
1
EPIGRAM
AN APOLOGY FOR SPENCERS
Said William to Edmund I can't guess the reason Why Spencers abound in this bleak wintry season. Quoth Edmund to William, I perceive you're no Solon— Men may purchase a half-coat when they cannot a whole-one. BRISTOLIENSIS.
March 21, 1796. First published in The Watchman, No. IV. March 25, 1796. First collected Poems, 1907.
2
EPIGRAM
ON A LATE MARRIAGE BETWEEN AN OLD MAID AND FRENCH PETIT MATRE
Tho' Miss ——'s match is a subject of mirth, She considered the matter full well, And wisely preferred leading one ape on earth To perhaps a whole dozen in hell.
First published in The Watchman, No. V, April 2, 1796. Included in Literary Remains, 1836, i. 45. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 368.
3
EPIGRAM
ON AN AMOROUS DOCTOR
From Rufa's eye sly Cupid shot his dart And left it sticking in Sangrado's heart. No quiet from that moment has he known, And peaceful sleep has from his eyelids flown. And opium's force, and what is more, alack! His own orations cannot bring it back. In short, unless she pities his afflictions, Despair will make him take his own prescriptions.
First published in The Watchman, No. V, April 2, 1796. Included in Lit. Rem., i. 45. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 368.
4
EPIGRAM
Of smart pretty Fellows in Bristol are numbers, some Who so modish are grown, that they think plain sense cumbersome; And lest they should seem to be queer or ridiculous, They affect to believe neither God or old Nicholas!
First published in article 'To Caius Gracchus' (signed S. T. Coleridge) in The Watchman, No. V, p. 159. Reprinted in Essays on His Own Times, 1850, i. 164. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 368.
5
ON DEPUTY ——
By many a booby's vengeance bit I leave your haunts, ye sons of wit! And swear, by Heaven's blessed light, That Epigrams no more I'll write. Now hang that ***** for an ass, Thus to thrust in his idiot face, Which spite of oaths, if e'er I spy, I'll write an Epigram—or die. LABERIUS.
First published in Morning Post, Jan. 2, 1798. First collected, P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 369.
6
[EPIGRAM]
To be ruled like a Frenchman the Briton is loth, Yet in truth a direct-tory governs them both.
1798. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 166.
7
ON MR. ROSS, USUALLY COGNOMINATED NOSY[953:1]
I fancy whenever I spy Nosy Ross, More great than a Lion is Rhy nose ros.
1799. Now first published from an MS.
8
[EPIGRAM]
Bob now resolves on marriage schemes to trample, And now he'll have a wife all in a trice. Must I advise—Pursue thy dad's example And marry not.—There, heed now my advice.
Imitated from Lessing's 'Bald willst du, Trill, und bald willst du dich nicht beweiben.' Sinngedicht No. 93. Now first published from an MS.
9
[EPIGRAM]
Say what you will, Ingenious Youth! You'll find me neither Dupe nor Dunce: Once you deceived me—only once, 'Twas then when you told me the Truth.
1799. First published from an MS. in 1893. Adapted from Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 45. An einen Lgner. 'Du magst so oft, so fein, als dir nur mglich, lgen.'
10
[ANOTHER VERSION]
If the guilt of all lying consists in deceit, Lie on—'tis your duty, sweet youth! For believe me, then only we find you a cheat When you cunningly tell us the truth.
1800. First published in Annual Anthology, 1800. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 163.
11
ON AN INSIGNIFICANT[954:1]
No doleful faces here, no sighing— Here rots a thing that won by dying: 'Tis Cypher lies beneath this crust— Whom Death created into dust.
1799. First published from an MS. in 1893. The two last lines were printed for the first time in 1834. Adapted from Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 52. Grabschrift des Nitulus.
'Hier modert Nitulus, jungfruliches Gesichts, Der durch den Tod gewann: er wurde Staub aus Nichts.'
12
[EPIGRAM]
There comes from old Avaro's grave A deadly stench—why, sure they have Immured his soul within his grave?
1799. First published in Keepsake, 1829, p. 122. Included in Lit. Rem., i. 46. Adapted from Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 27. Auf Lukrins Grab. 'Welch ttender Gestank hier, wo Lukrin begraben.'
13
ON A SLANDERER
From yonder tomb of recent date, There comes a strange mephitic blast. Here lies—Ha! Backbite, you at last— 'Tis he indeed: and sure as fate, They buried him in overhaste— Into the earth he has been cast, And in this grave, Before the man had breathed his last.
1799. First published from an MS. in 1893. An expansion of [Epigram] No. 12.
14
LINES IN A GERMAN STUDENT'S ALBUM
We both attended the same College, Where sheets of paper we did blur many, And now we're going to sport our knowledge, In England I, and you in Germany.
First published in Carlyon's Early Years, &c., 1856, i. 68. First collected P. and D. W., ii. 374.
15
[HIPPONA]
Hippona lets no silly flush Disturb her cheek, nought makes her blush. Whate'er obscenities you say, She nods and titters frank and gay. Oh Shame, awake one honest flush For this,—that nothing makes her blush.
First published in Morning Post, (?) Aug. 29, 1799. Included in An. Anth., 1800, and in Essays, &c., iii. 971. First collected P. and D. W., ii. 164. Adapted from Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 10. Auf Lucinden. 'Sie hat viel Welt, die muntere Lucinde.'
16
ON A READER OF HIS OWN VERSES
Hoarse Mvius reads his hobbling verse To all and at all times, And deems them both divinely smooth, His voice as well as rhymes.
But folks say, Mvius is no ass! But Mvius makes it clear That he's a monster of an ass, An ass without an ear.
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 7, 1799. Included in An. Anth., 1800; Keepsake, 1829, p. 122; Lit. Rem., i. 49. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 162. Adapted from Wernicke's Epigrams, Bk. IX, No. 42. An einen gewissen Pritschmeister. 'Umsonst dass jedermann, dieweil du manches Blatt.'
17
ON A REPORT OF A MINISTER'S DEATH WRITTEN IN GERMANY
Last Monday all the Papers said That Mr. —— was dead; Why, then, what said the City? The tenth part sadly shook their head, And shaking sigh'd and sighing said, 'Pity, indeed, 'tis pity!'
But when the said report was found A rumour wholly without ground, Why, then, what said the city? The other nine parts shook their head, Repeating what the tenth had said, 'Pity, indeed, 'tis pity!'
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 18, 1799. Included in Keepsake, 1829, p. 122; Lit. Rem., i. 46. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 166. Adapted from Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 29. Auf den falschen Ruf von Nigrins Tode. 'Es sagte, sonder alle Gnade, die ganze Stadt Nigrinen tot.'
LINENOTES:
[2] That Mr. —— was surely dead M. P.
[3] Why] Ah M. P.
[4] their] the M. P.
[9] Why] Ah M. P.
[10] their] the M. P.
18
[DEAR BROTHER JEM]
Jem writes his verses with more speed Than the printer's boy can set 'em; Quite as fast as we can read, And only not so fast as we forget 'em.
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23, 1799. Included in An. Anth., 1800; Essays, &c., 1850, iii. 974. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 164.
19
JOB'S LUCK
Sly Beelzebub took all occasions To try Job's constancy and patience; He took his honours, took his health, He took his children, took his wealth, His camels, horses, asses, cows— And the sly Devil did not take his spouse.
But Heaven that brings out good from evil, And loves to disappoint the Devil, Had predetermined to restore Twofold all Job had before, His children, camels, horses, cows,— Short-sighted Devil, not to take his spouse!
1799. First published in Morning Post, Sept. 26, 1801. Included in Annual Register, 1827, and Keepsake, 1829. First collected 1834.
The first stanza of 'Job's Luck' is adapted from Fr. v. Logan's Sinngedicht, Hiob's Weib. Lessing's edition, Bk. III, No. 90:—
'Als der Satan ging von Hiob, ist sein Anwalt dennoch blieben, Hiobs Weib; er htte nimmer einen bessern aufgetrieben.'
The second stanza is adapted from Fr. v. Logan's Sinngedicht, Auf den Hornutus, ibid. Bk. I, No. 68:—
'Hornutus las, was Gott Job habe weggenommen, Sei doppelt ihm hernach zu Hause wiederkommen: Wie gut, sprach er, war dies, dass Gott sein Weib nicht nahm, Auf dass Job ihrer zwei fr eine nicht bekam!'
The original source is a Latin epigram by John Owen (Audoenus Oxoniensis), Bk. III, No. 198. See N. and Q., 1st Series, ii. 516.
LINENOTES:
Title] The Devil Outwitted M. P.
[3] honours] honour M. P.
20
ON THE SICKNESS OF A GREAT MINISTER
Pluto commanded death to take away Billy—Death made pretences to obey, And only made pretences, for he shot A headless dart that struck nor wounded not. The ghaunt Economist who (tho' my grandam Thinks otherwise) ne'er shoots his darts at random Mutter'd, 'What? put my Billy in arrest? Upon my life that were a pretty jest! So flat a thing of Death shall ne'er be said or sung— No! Ministers and Quacks, them take I not so young.'
First, published in Morning Post, Oct. 1, 1799. Now reprinted for the first time. Adapted from Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 119. Auf die Genesung einer Buhlerin. 'Dem Tode wurde jngst von Pluto anbefohlen.'
21
[TO A VIRTUOUS OECONOMIST]
WERNICKE
You're careful o'er your wealth 'tis true: Yet so that of your plenteous store The needy takes and blesses you, For you hate Poverty, but not the Poor.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 28, 1799. Now reprinted for the first time. Adapted from Wernicke's Epigrams (Bk. I, No. 49). An den sparsamen Celidon.
'Du liebst zwar Geld und Gut, doch so dass dein Erbarmen Der Arme fhlt.'
22
[L'ENFANT PRODIGUE]
Jack drinks fine wines, wears modish clothing, But prithee where lies Jack's estate? In Algebra for there I found of late A quantity call'd less than nothing.
First published in Morning Post, Nov. 16, 1799. Included in An. Anth., 1800. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 163.
23
ON SIR RUBICUND NASO
A COURT ALDERMAN AND WHISPERER OF SECRETS
Speak out, Sir! you're safe, for so ruddy your nose That, talk where you will, 'tis all under the Rose.
First published in Morning Post, Dec. 7, 1799. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 975. First collected Poems, 1907. Compare Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 35. Auf eine lange Nase.
24
TO MR. PYE
On his Carmen Seculare (a title which has by various persons who have heard it, been thus translated, 'A Poem an age long').
Your poem must eternal be, Eternal! it can't fail, For 'tis incomprehensible, And without head or tail!
First published in Morning Post, Jan. 24, 1800. Included in Keepsake, 1829, p. 277. First collected P. and D. W., ii. 161.
25
[NINETY-EIGHT]
O would the Baptist come again And preach aloud with might and main Repentance to our viperous race! But should this miracle take place, I hope, ere Irish ground he treads, He'll lay in a good stock of heads!
First published in An. Anth., 1800. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 162. Adapted from Friedrich von Logau's Sinngedicht, Johannes der Tufer, Lessing's edition, Bk. I, No. 30:—
'Nicht recht! nicht recht! wrd' immer schrein Johannes, sollt' er wieder sein. Doch km er, riet' ich, dass er dchte, Wie viel er Kpf' in Vorrat brchte.'
26
OCCASIONED BY THE FORMER
I hold of all our viperous race The greedy creeping things in place Most vile, most venomous; and then The United Irishmen! To come on earth should John determine, Imprimis, we'll excuse his sermon. Without a word the good old Dervis Might work incalculable service, At once from tyranny and riot Save laws, lives, liberties and moneys, If sticking to his ancient diet He'd but eat up our locusts and wild honeys!
First published in An. Anth., 1800. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 162.
LINENOTES:
[After 4] Now by miraculous deeds to stir them MS.
27
[A LIAR BY PROFESSION]
As Dick and I at Charing Cross were walking, Whom should we see on t'other side pass by But Informator with a stranger talking, So I exclaim'd, 'Lord, what a lie!' Quoth Dick—'What, can you hear him?' 'Hear him! stuff! I saw him open his mouth—an't that enough?'
First published in An. Anth., 1800. First collected P. and D. W., ii. 163. Adapted from Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 142. Auf den Ley. 'Der gute Mann, den Ley beiseite dort gezogen!'
28
TO A PROUD PARENT
Thy babes ne'er greet thee with the father's name; 'My Lud!' they lisp. Now whence can this arise? Perhaps their mother feels an honest shame And will not teach her infant to tell lies.
First published in An. Anth., 1800, included in Essays, &c., ii. 997. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 164. Adapted from Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 17. An den Doktor Sp * *. 'Dein Shnchen lsst dich nie den Namen Vater hren.'
29
RUFA
Thy lap-dog, Rufa, is a dainty beast, It don't surprise me in the least To see thee lick so dainty clean a beast. But that so dainty clean a beast licks thee, Yes—that surprises me.
First published in An. Anth., 1800. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 164. Adapted from Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 66. An die Dorilis. 'Dein Hndchen, Dorilis, ist zrtlich, tndelnd, rein.'
30
ON A VOLUNTEER SINGER
Swans sing before they die—'twere no bad thing Should certain persons die before they sing.
First published in An. Anth., 1800. Included in Keepsake, 1829, p. 277; Essays, &c., 1850, ii. 988. First collected in 1834.
31
OCCASIONED BY THE LAST
A JOKE (cries Jack) without a sting— Post obitum can no man sing. And true, if Jack don't mend his manners And quit the atheistic banners, Post obitum will Jack run foul Of such folks as can only howl.
First published in An. Anth., 1800. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 988. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii, 165.
LINENOTES:
[1] joke] jest Essays, &c.
[5] folks] sparks Essays, &c.
32
EPITAPH ON MAJOR DIEMAN
Know thou who walks't by, Man! that wrapp'd up in lead, man, What once was a Dieman, now lies here a dead man. Alive a proud MAJOR! but ah me! of our poor all, The soul having gone, he is now merely Corporal.
? 1800. Now first published from MS.
33
ON THE ABOVE
As long as ere the life-blood's running, Say, what can stop a Punster's punning? He dares bepun even thee, O Death! To punish him, Stop thou his breath.
? 1800. Now first published from MS.
34
EPITAPH
ON A BAD MAN
Of him that in this gorgeous tomb doth lie, This sad brief tale is all that Truth can give— He lived like one who never thought to die, He died like one who dared not hope to live![961:1]
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 22, 1801. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 168.
ANOTHER VERSION
Under this stone does Walter Harcourt lie, Who valued nought that God or man could give; He lived as if he never thought to die; He died as if he dared not hope to live![962:1]
[The name Walter Harcourt has been supplied by the editor.—S. C.]
OBIIT SATURDAY, SEPT. 10, 1830.
W. H. EHEU!
Beneath this stone does William Hazlitt lie, Thankless of all that God or man could give. He lived like one who never thought to die, He died like one who dared not hope to live.
35
TO A CERTAIN MODERN NARCISSUS
Do call, dear Jess, whene'er my way you come; My looking-glass will always be at home.
First published in Morning Post, Dec. 16, 1801. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 978. First collected in 1893.
36
TO A CRITIC
WHO EXTRACTED A PASSAGE FROM A POEM WITHOUT ADDING A WORD RESPECTING THE CONTEXT, AND THEN DERIDED IT AS UNINTELLIGIBLE.
Most candid critic, what if I, By way of joke, pull out your eye, And holding up the fragment, cry, 'Ha! ha! that men such fools should be! Behold this shapeless Dab!—and he Who own'd it, fancied it could see!' The joke were mighty analytic, But should you like it, candid critic?
First published in Morning Post, Dec. 16, 1801: included in Keepsake, 1829, and in Essays, &c., iii. 977-8. First collected in P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 167.
37
ALWAYS AUDIBLE
Pass under Jack's window at twelve at night You'll hear him still—he's roaring! Pass under Jack's window at twelve at noon, You'll hear him still—he's snoring!
First published in Morning Post, Dec. 19, 1801. First collected 1893.
38
PONDERE NON NUMERO
Friends should be weigh'd, not told; who boasts to have won A multitude of friends, he ne'er had one.
First published in Morning Post, Dec. 26, 1801. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 978. First collected in 1893. Adapted from Friedrich von Logan's Sinngedicht (Lessing's edition, Bk. II, No. 65).
'Freunde muss man sich erwhlen Nur nach Wgen, nicht nach Zhlen.'
Cf. also Logan, Book II, No. 30.
39
THE COMPLIMENT QUALIFIED
To wed a fool, I really cannot see Why thou, Eliza, art so very loth; Still on a par with other pairs you'd be, Since thou hast wit and sense enough for both.
First published in Morning Post, Dec. 26, 1801. First collected 1893. The title referred to an epigram published in M. P. Dec. 24, 1801.
40
[The twenty-one 'Original Epigrams' following were printed in the Morning Post, in September and October, 1802, over the signature 'ESTSE'. They were included in Essays, &c., iii. 978-86, and were first collected in P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 171-8.]
What is an Epigram? a dwarfish whole, Its body brevity, and wit its soul.
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23, 1802. Included in Poetical Register, 1802 (1803), ii. 253; and in The Friend, No. 12, Nov. 9, 1809. Cf. Wernicke's Beschaffenheit der berschriften (i. e. The Nature of the epigram), Bk. I, No. 1.
'Dann lsst die berschrift kein Leser aus der Acht, Wenn in der Krz' ihr Leib, die Seel' in Witz bestehet.'
41
Charles, grave or merry, at no lie would stick, And taught at length his memory the same trick. Believing thus what he so oft repeats, He's brought the thing to such a pass, poor youth, That now himself and no one else he cheats, Save when unluckily he tells the truth.
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23, 1802. Included in P. R. 1802, ii. 317, and The Friend, No. 12, Nov. 9, 1809.
42
An evil spirit's on thee, friend! of late! Ev'n from the hour thou cam'st to thy Estate. Thy mirth all gone, thy kindness, thy discretion, Th' estate hath prov'd to thee a most complete possession. Shame, shame, old friend! would'st thou be truly best, Be thy wealth's Lord, not slave! possessor not possess'd.
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23, 1802. Included in P. R. 1802, ii. 317, and The Friend, No. 12, Nov. 9, 1809.
43
Here lies the Devil—ask no other name. Well—but you mean Lord——? Hush! we mean the same.
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23, 1802. Included in P. R. 1802, ii. 363, and The Friend, No. 12, Nov. 9, 1809.
44
TO ONE WHO PUBLISHED[964:1] IN PRINT WHAT HAD BEEN ENTRUSTED TO HIM BY MY FIRESIDE
Two things hast thou made known to half the nation, My secrets and my want of penetration: For O! far more than all which thou hast penn'd It shames me to have call'd a wretch, like thee, my friend!
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23, 1802. Adapted from Wernicke's Epigrams (Bk. I, No. 12), An einen falschen Freund. 'Weil ich mich dir vertraut, eh' ich dich recht gekennet.'
45
'Obscuri sub luce maligna.'—VIRG.
Scarce any scandal, but has a handle; In truth most falsehoods have their rise; Truth first unlocks Pandora's box, And out there fly a host of lies. Malignant light, by cloudy night, To precipices it decoys one! One nectar-drop from Jove's own shop Will flavour a whole cup of poison.
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23, 1802.
46
Old Harpy jeers at castles in the air, And thanks his stars, whenever Edmund speaks, That such a dupe as that is not his heir— But know, old Harpy! that these fancy freaks, Though vain and light, as floating gossamer, Always amuse, and sometimes mend the heart: A young man's idlest hopes are still his pleasures, And fetch a higher price in Wisdom's mart Than all the unenjoying Miser's treasures.
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23, 1802. Included in P. R., 1802, ii. 868. Adapted from Wernicke, Bk. VII, No. 40, An einen Geizhals.
'Steht's einem Geizhals an auf Aelius zu schmhn Weil er vergebens hofft auf was nicht kann geschehn?'
47
TO A VAIN YOUNG LADY
Didst thou think less of thy dear self Far more would others think of thee! Sweet Anne! the knowledge of thy wealth Reduces thee to poverty. Boon Nature gave wit, beauty, health, On thee as on her darling pitching; Couldst thou forget thou'rt thus enrich'd That moment would'st thou become rich in! And wert thou not so self-bewitch'd, Sweet Anne! thou wert, indeed, bewitching.
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 23 1802. Included in The Friend, No. 12, Nov. 9, 1809.
48
A HINT TO PREMIERS AND FIRST CONSULS
FROM AN OLD TRAGEDY, VIZ. AGATHA TO KING ARCHELAUS
Three truths should make thee often think and pause; The first is, that thou govern'st over men; The second, that thy power is from the laws; And this the third, that thou must die!—and then?—
First published in Morning Post, Sept. 27, 1802. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 992. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 162.
49
From me, Aurelia! you desired Your proper praise to know; Well! you're the FAIR by all admired— Some twenty years ago.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 2, 1802.
50
FOR A HOUSE-DOG'S COLLAR
When thieves come, I bark: when gallants, I am still— So perform both my Master's and Mistress's will.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 2, 1802. Included in The Friend (title, 'For a French House-Dog's Collar'), No. 12, Nov. 9, 1809.
51
In vain I praise thee, Zoilus! In vain thou rail'st at me! Me no one credits, Zoilus! And no one credits thee!
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 2, 1802. Adapted from a Latin Epigram 'In Zoilum,' by George Buchanan:
'Frustra ego te laudo, frustra Me, Zoile, laedis; Nemo mihi credit, Zoile, nemo, tibi.'
52
EPITAPH ON A MERCENARY MISER
A poor benighted Pedlar knock'd One night at SELL-ALL'S door, The same who saved old SELL-ALL'S life— 'Twas but the year before! And Sell-all rose and let him in, Not utterly unwilling, But first he bargain'd with the man, And took his only shilling! That night he dreamt he'd given away his pelf, Walk'd in his sleep, and sleeping hung himself! And now his soul and body rest below; And here they say his punishment and fate is To lie awake and every hour to know How many people read his tombstone GRATIS.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 9, 1802.
53
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN AN AUTHOR AND HIS FRIEND
Author. Come; your opinion of my manuscript!
Friend. Dear Joe! I would almost as soon be whipt.
Author. But I will have it!
Friend. If it must be had—(hesitating) You write so ill, I scarce could read the hand—
Author. A mere evasion!
Friend. And you spell so bad, That what I read I could not understand.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 11, 1802.
54
Mrosophia OR WISDOM IN FOLLY
Tom Slothful talks, as slothful Tom beseems, What he shall shortly gain and what be doing, Then drops asleep, and so prolongs his dreams And thus enjoys at once what half the world are wooing.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 11, 1802.
55
Each Bond-street buck conceits, unhappy elf! He shews his clothes! Alas! he shews himself. O that they knew, these overdrest self-lovers, What hides the body oft the mind discovers.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 11, 1802.
56
FROM AN OLD GERMAN POET
That France has put us oft to rout With powder, which ourselves found out; And laughs at us for fools in print, Of which our genius was the Mint; All this I easily admit, For we have genius, France has wit. But 'tis too bad, that blind and mad To Frenchmen's wives each travelling German goes, Expands his manly vigour by their sides, Becomes the father of his country's foes And turns their warriors oft to parricides.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 11, 1802. Adapted from Wernicke's Epigrams (Bk. VIII, No. 4), Auf die Buhlerey der Deutschen in Frankreich.
'Dass Frankreich uns pflegt zu verwunden Durch Pulver, welches wir erfunden.'
57
ON THE CURIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE,
THAT IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE THE SUN IS FEMININE, AND THE MOON IS MASCULINE
Our English poets, bad and good, agree To make the Sun a male, the Moon a she. He drives HIS dazzling diligence on high, In verse, as constantly as in the sky; And cheap as blackberries our sonnets shew The Moon, Heaven's huntress, with HER silver bow; By which they'd teach us, if I guess aright, Man rules the day, and woman rules the night. In Germany, they just reverse the thing; The Sun becomes a queen, the Moon a king. Now, that the Sun should represent the women, The Moon the men, to me seem'd mighty humming; And when I first read German, made me stare. Surely it is not that the wives are there As common as the Sun, to lord and loon, And all their husbands hornd as the Moon.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 11, 1802. Adapted from Wernicke's Epigrams (Bk. VII, No. 15), Die Sonne und der Mond.
'Die Sonn' heisst die, der Mond heisst der In unsrer Sprach', und kommt daher, Weil meist die Fraun wie die gemein, Wie der gehrnt wir Mnner sein.'
58
SPOTS IN THE SUN
My father confessor is strict and holy, Mi Fili, still he cries, peccare noli. And yet how oft I find the pious man At Annette's door, the lovely courtesan! Her soul's deformity the good man wins And not her charms! he comes to hear her sins! Good father! I would fain not do thee wrong; But ah! I fear that they who oft and long Stand gazing at the sun, to count each spot, Must sometimes find the sun itself too hot.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 11, 1802.
59
When Surface talks of other people's worth He has the weakest memory on earth! And when his own good deeds he deigns to mention, His memory still is no whit better grown; But then he makes up for it, all will own, By a prodigious talent of invention.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 11, 1802.
60
TO MY CANDLE
THE FAREWELL EPIGRAM
Good Candle, thou that with thy brother, Fire, Art my best friend and comforter at night, Just snuff'd, thou look'st as if thou didst desire That I on thee an epigram should write.
Dear Candle, burnt down to a finger-joint, Thy own flame is an epigram of sight; 'Tis short, and pointed, and all over light, Yet gives most light and burns the keenest at the point. Valete et Plaudite.
First published in Morning Post, Oct. 11, 1802.
61
EPITAPH
ON HIMSELF
Here sleeps at length poor Col., and without screaming— Who died as he had always lived, a-dreaming: Shot dead, while sleeping, by the Gout within— Alone, and all unknown, at E'nbro' in an Inn.
'Composed in my sleep for myself while dreaming that I was dying' . . . at the Black Bull, Edinburgh, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 1803. Sent in a letter to Thomas Wedgwood, Sept. 16, 1803. First published Cottle's Reminiscences, 1848, p. 467. First collected in 1893.
62
THE TASTE OF THE TIMES
Some whim or fancy pleases every eye; For talents premature 'tis now the rage: In Music how great Handel would have smil'd T' have seen what crowds are raptur'd with a child! A Garrick we have had in little Betty— And now we're told we have a Pitt in Petty! All must allow, since thus it is decreed, He is a very petty Pitt indeed!
? 1806.
First printed (from an autograph MS.) by Mr. Bertram Dobell in the Athenum, Jan. 9, 1904. Now collected for the first time.
63
ON PITT AND FOX
Britannia's boast, her glory and her pride, Pitt in his Country's service lived and died: At length resolv'd, like Pitt had done, to do, For once to serve his Country, Fox died too!
First published by Mr. B. Dobell in the Athenum, Jan. 6, 1904. This epigram belongs to the same MS. source as the preceding, 'On the Taste of the Times,' and may have been the composition of S. T. C.
In Fugitive Pieces (1806) (see P. W., 1898, i. 34) Byron published a reply 'for insertion in the Morning Chronicle to the following illiberal impromptu on the death of Mr. Fox, which appeared in the Morning Post [Sept. 26, 1806]:—
"Our Nation's Foes lament on Fox's death, But bless the hour when Pitt resigned his breath: These feelings wide let Sense and Truth unclue, We give the palm where Justice points its due."'
I have little doubt that this 'illiberal impromptu' was published by S. T. C., who had just returned from Italy and was once more writing for the press. It is possible that he veiled his initials in the line, 'Let Sense and Truth unClue.'
64
An excellent adage commands that we should Relate of the dead that alone which is good; But of the great Lord who here lies in lead We know nothing good but that he is dead.
First published in The Friend, No. 12, Nov. 9, 1809. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 986. First collected in P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 178.
65
COMPARATIVE BREVITY OF GREEK AND ENGLISH
chryson anr heurn elipe brochon, autar ho chryson hon lipen ouch heurn hpsen hon heure brochon.
Jack finding gold left a rope on the ground: Bill missing his gold used the rope which he found.
First published in Omniana, 1812, ii. 123. First collected in P. and D. W. 1877, ii. 374.
66
EPIGRAM ON THE SECRECY OF A CERTAIN LADY
'She's secret as the grave, allow!' 'I do; I cannot doubt it. But 'tis a grave with tombstone on, That tells you all about it.'
First published in The Courier, Jan. 3, 1814. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 986. Now collected for the first time.
67
MOTTO
FOR A TRANSPARENCY DESIGNED BY WASHINGTON ALLSTON AND EXHIBITED AT BRISTOL ON 'PROCLAMATION DAY'—June 29, 1814.
We've fought for Peace, and conquer'd it at last, The rav'ning vulture's leg seems fetter'd fast! Britons, rejoice! and yet be wary too: The chain may break, the clipt wing sprout anew.
First published in Cottle's Early Recollections, 1836, ii. 145. First collected 1890.
ANOTHER VERSION
We've conquered us a Peace, like lads true metalled: And Bankrupt Nap's accounts seem all now settled.
Ibid. ii. 145. First collected 1893.
68
Money, I've heard a wise man say, Makes herself wings and flies away— Ah! would she take it in her head To make a pair for me instead.
First published (from an MS.) in 1893.
69
MODERN CRITICS
No private grudge they need, no personal spite, The viva sectio is its own delight! All enmity, all envy, they disclaim, Disinterested thieves of our good name— Cool, sober murderers of their neighbours' fame!
First published in Biog. Lit., 1817, ii. 118. First collected in P. W., 1885, ii. 363.
70
WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM
Parry seeks the Polar ridge, Rhymes seeks S. T. Coleridge, Author of Works, whereof—tho' not in Dutch— The public little knows—the publisher too much.
First published in 1834.
71
TO A LADY WHO REQUESTED ME TO WRITE A POEM UPON NOTHING
On nothing, Fanny, shall I write? Shall I not one charm of thee indite? The Muse is most unruly, And vows to sing of what's more free, More soft, more beautiful than thee;— And that is Nothing, truly!
First published in the Gazette of Fashion, Feb. 22, 1822. Reprinted (by Mr. Bertram Dobell) in N. and Q., 10th Series, vol. vi, p. 145. Now collected for the first time.
72
SENTIMENTAL
The rose that blushes like the morn, Bedecks the valleys low; And so dost thou, sweet infant corn, My Angelina's toe.
But on the rose there grows a thorn That breeds disastrous woe; And so dost thou, remorseless corn, On Angelina's toe.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 59. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 366.
73
So Mr. Baker heart did pluck— And did a-courting go! And Mr. Baker is a buck; For why? he needs the doe.
First published in Letters, Conversations, &c., 1836, ii. 21. First collected in P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 373.
74
AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS
'A heavy wit shall hang at every lord,' So sung Dan Pope; but 'pon my word, He was a story-teller, Or else the times have altered quite; For wits, or heavy, now, or light Hang each by a bookseller. S. T. C.
First published in News of Literature, Dec. 10, 1825. See Arch. Constable and his Literary Correspondents, 1873, iii. 482. First collected in 1893.
75
THE ALTERNATIVE
This way or that, ye Powers above me! I of my grief were rid— Did Enna either really love me, Or cease to think she did.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 59. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 987. First collected in P. W., 1885, ii. 364.
76
In Spain, that land of Monks and Apes, The thing called Wine doth come from grapes, But on the noble River Rhine, The thing called Gripes doth come from Wine!
First published in Memoirs of C. M. Young, 1871, p. 221. First collected in 1893.
77
INSCRIPTION FOR A TIME-PIECE
Now! It is gone—Our brief hours travel post, Each with its thought or deed, its Why or How:— But know, each parting hour gives up a ghost To dwell within thee—an eternal Now!
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 60. First collected in 1844.
78
ON THE MOST VERACIOUS ANECDOTIST, AND SMALL-TALK MAN, THOMAS HILL, ESQ.[974:1]
Tom Hill, who laughs at Cares and Woes, As nauci—nili—pili— What is he like, as I suppose? Why, to be sure, a Rose—a Rose. At least, no soul that Tom Hill knows Could e'er recall a Li-ly.
Now first published from an MS.
79
Nothing speaks our mind so well As to speak Nothing. Come then, tell Thy Mind in Tears, whoe'er thou be That ow'st a name to Misery: None can fluency deny To Tears, the Language of the Eye.
Now first published from an MS. in the British Museum.
80
EPITAPH OF THE PRESENT YEAR ON THE MONUMENT OF THOMAS FULLER
A Lutheran stout, I hold for Goose-and-Gaundry Both the Pope's Limbo and his fiery Laundry: No wit e'er saw I in Original Sin, And no Sin find I in Original Wit; But if I'm all in the wrong, and, Grin for Grin, Scorch'd Souls must pay for each too lucky hit,— Oh, Fuller! much I fear, so vast thy debt, Thou art not out of Purgatory yet; Tho' one, eight, three and three this year is reckon'd, And thou, I think, didst die sub Charles the Second.
Nov. 28, 1833.
Now first published from an MS.
FOOTNOTES:
[951:1] A great, perhaps the greater, number of Coleridge's Epigrams are adaptations from the German of Wernicke, Lessing, and other less known epigrammatists. They were sent to the Morning Post and other periodicals to supply the needs of the moment, and with the rarest exceptions they were deliberately excluded from the collected editions of his poetical works which received his own sanction, and were published in his lifetime. Collected for the first time by Mrs. H. N. Coleridge and reprinted in the third volume of Essays on His Own Times (1850), they have been included, with additions and omissions, in P. and D. W., 1877-1880, P. W., 1885, P. W., 1890, and the Illustrated Edition of Coleridge's Poems, issued in 1907. The adaptations from the German were written and first published between 1799 and 1802. Of the earlier and later epigrams the greater number are original. Four epigrams were published anonymously in The Watchman, in April, 1796. Seventeen epigrams, of which twelve are by Coleridge, two by Southey, and three by Tobin, were published anonymously in the Annual Anthology of 1800. Between January 2, 1798, and October 11, 1802 Coleridge contributed at least thirty-eight epigrams to the Morning Post. Most of these epigrams appeared under the well-known signature ESTSE. Six epigrams, of which five had been published in the Morning Post, were included in The Friend (No. 11, Oct. 26, 1809). Finally, Coleridge contributed six epigrams to the Keepsake, of which four had been published in the Morning Post, and one in the Annual Anthology. Epigrams were altogether excluded from Sibylline Leaves and from the three-volume editions of 1828 and 1829; but in 1834 the rule was relaxed and six epigrams were allowed to appear. Two of these, In An Album ('Parry seeks the Polar Ridge') and On an Insignificant (''Tis Cypher lies beneath this Crust') were published for the first time.
For the discovery of the German originals of some twenty epigrams, now for the first time noted and verified, I am indebted to the generous assistance of Dr. Hermann Georg Fiedler, Taylorian Professor of the German Language and Literature at Oxford, and of my friend Miss Katharine Schlesinger.
[953:1] N.B. Bad in itself, and, as Bob Allen used to say of his puns, looks damned ugly upon paper.
[954:1] Lines 3, 4, with the heading 'On an Insignificant,' were written by S. T. C. in Southey's copy of the Omniana of 1812 [see nos. 9, 11]. See P. W., 1885, ii. 402, Note.
[961:1] The antithesis was, perhaps, borrowed from an Epigram entitled 'Posthumous Fame', included in Elegant Extracts, ii. 260.
If on his spacious marble we rely, Pity a worth like his should ever die! If credit to his real life we give, Pity a wretch like him should ever live.
[962:1] The first and second versions are included in Essays, &c., 1850, iii. 976: the third version was first published in 1893.
In 1830 Coleridge re-wrote (he did not publish) the second version as an Epitaph on Hazlitt. The following apologetic note was affixed:—
'With a sadness at heart, and an earnest hope grounded on his misanthropic sadness, when I first knew him in his twentieth or twenty-first year, that a something existed in his bodily organism that in the sight of the All-Merciful lessened his responsibility, and the moral imputation of his acts and feelings.' MS.
[964:1] The 'One who published' was, perhaps, Charles Lloyd, in his novel, Edmund Oliver, 2 vols. 1798. Compare the following Epigram of Prior's:—
To John I ow'd great obligation, But John unhappily thought fit To publish it to all the nation: Sure John and I are more than quit.
[974:1] Extempore, in reply to a question of Mr. Theodore Hook's—'Look at him, and say what you think: Is not he like a Rose?'
JEUX D'ESPRIT
1
MY GODMOTHER'S BEARD[976:1]
So great the charms of Mrs. Mundy, That men grew rude, a kiss to gain: This so provok'd the dame that one day To Pallas chaste she did complain:
Nor vainly she address'd her prayer, Nor vainly to that power applied; The goddess bade a length of hair In deep recess her muzzle hide:
Still persevere! to love be callous! For I have your petition heard! To snatch a kiss were vain (cried Pallas) Unless you first should shave your beard.
? 1791
First published in Table Talk and Omniana, 1888, p. 392. The lines were inscribed by Coleridge in Gillman's copy of the Omniana of 1812. An apologetic note is attached. J. P. Collier (Old Man's Diary, 1871, March 5, 1832, Part I, p. 34) says that Coleridge 'recited the following not very good epigram by him on his godmother's beard; the consequence of which was that he was struck out of her will'. Most probably the lines, as inscribed on the margin of Omniana, were written about 1830 or 1831. First collected in Coleridge's Poems, 1907.
LINENOTES:
[4] Pallas chaste] Wisdom's Power S. T. C.
2
LINES TO THOMAS POOLE
[Quoted in a letter from Coleridge to John Thelwall, dated Dec. 17, 1796.]
. . . . Joking apart, I would to God we could sit by a fire-side and joke viv voce, face to face—Stella [Mrs. Thelwall] and Sara [Mrs. S. T. Coleridge], Jack Thelwall and I!—as I once wrote to my dear friend T. Poole,—
Repeating Such verse as Bowles, heart honour'd Poet sang, That wakes the Tear, yet steals away the Pang, Then, or with Berkeley, or with Hobbes romance it, Dissecting Truth with metaphysic lancet. Or, drawn from up these dark unfathom'd wells, In wiser folly chink the Cap and Bells. How many tales we told! what jokes we made, Conundrum, Crambo, Rebus, or Charade; nigmas that had driven the Theban mad, And Puns, these best when exquisitely bad; And I, if aught of archer vein I hit, With my own laughter stifled my own wit.
1796. First published in 1893.
3
TO A WELL-KNOWN MUSICAL CRITIC, REMARKABLE FOR HIS EARS STICKING THROUGH HIS HAIR.
O ——! O ——! of you we complain For exposing those ears to the wind and the rain. Thy face, a huge whitlow just come to a head, Ill agrees with those ears so raw and so red.
A Musical Critic of old fell a-pouting When he saw how his asinine honours were sprouting; But he hid 'em quite snug, in a full friz of hair, And the Barber alone smoked his donkeys [so] rare.
Thy judgment much worse, and thy perkers as ample, O give heed to King Midas, and take his example. Thus to publish your fate is as useless as wrong— You but prove by your ears, what we guessed from your tongue. LABERIUS.
First published in the Morning Post, January 4, 1798. First collected P. and D. W., 1877-80, ii. 370.
4
TO T. POOLE
AN INVITATION
Plucking flowers from the Galaxy On the pinions of Abstraction, I did quite forget to ax 'e, Whether you have an objaction, With us to swill 'e and to swell 'e And make a pig-stie of your belly. A lovely limb most dainty Of a ci-devant Mud-raker, I makes bold to acquaint 'e We've trusted to the Baker: And underneath it satis Of the subterrene apple By the erudite 'clep'd taties— With which, if you'ld wish to grapple, As sure as I'm a sloven, The clock will not strike twice one, When the said dish will be out of the oven, And the dinner will be a nice one.
P.S.
Besides we've got some cabbage. You Jew-dog, if you linger, May the Itch in pomp of scabbage Pop out between each finger.
January, 1797.
First published (minus the postscript) in Thomas Poole and His Friends, 1888, i. 211.
5
SONG
TO BE SUNG BY THE LOVERS OF ALL THE NOBLE LIQUORS COMPRISED UNDER THE NAME OF ALE.
A.
Ye drinkers of Stingo and Nappy so free, Are the Gods on Olympus so happy as we?
B.
They cannot be so happy! For why? they drink no Nappy.
A.
But what if Nectar, in their lingo, Is but another name for Stingo?
B.
Why, then we and the Gods are equally blest, And Olympus an Ale-house as good as the best!
First published in Morning Post, September 18, 1801. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 995-6. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 167.
6
DRINKING VERSUS THINKING
OR, A SONG AGAINST THE NEW PHILOSOPHY
My Merry men all, that drink with glee This fanciful Philosophy, Pray tell me what good is it? If antient Nick should come and take, The same across the Stygian Lake, I guess we ne'er should miss it.
Away, each pale, self-brooding spark That goes truth-hunting in the dark, Away from our carousing! To Pallas we resign such fowls— Grave birds of wisdom! ye're but owls, And all your trade but mousing!
My merry men all, here's punch and wine, And spicy bishop, drink divine! Let's live while we are able. While Mirth and Sense sit, hand in glove, This Don Philosophy we'll shove Dead drunk beneath the table!
First published in Morning Post, September 25, 1801. Included in Essays, &c., iii. 966-7. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 168.
7
THE WILLS OF THE WISP
A SAPPHIC
Vix ea nostra voco
Lunatic Witch-fires! Ghosts of Light and Motion! Fearless I see you weave your wanton dances Near me, far off me; you, that tempt the traveller Onward and onward.
Wooing, retreating, till the swamp beneath him Groans—and 'tis dark!—This woman's wile—I know it! Learnt it from thee, from thy perfidious glances! Black-ey'd Rebecca!
First published in Morning Post, December 1, 1801. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 169.
8
TO CAPTAIN FINDLAY
When the squalls were flitting and fleering And the vessel was tacking and veering; Bravo! Captain Findlay, Who foretold a fair wind Of a constant mind; For he knew which way the wind lay, Bravo! Captain Findlay.
A Health to Captain Findlay, Bravo! Captain Findlay! When we made but ill speed with the Speedwell, Neither poets nor sheep could feed well: Now grief rotted the Liver, Yet Malta, dear Malta, as far off as ever!
Bravo! Captain Findlay, Foretold a fair wind, Of a constant mind, For he knew which way the wind lay!
May 4, 1804.
Now first published from a Notebook. The rhymes are inserted between the following entries:—'Thursday night—Wind chopped about and about, once fairly to the west, for a minute or two—but now, 1/2 past 9, the Captain comes down and promises a fair wind for to-morrow. We shall see.' 'Well, and we have got a wind the right way at last!'
9
ON DONNE'S POEM 'TO A FLEA'
Be proud as Spaniards! Leap for pride ye Fleas! Henceforth in Nature's mimic World grandees. In Phoebus' archives registered are ye, And this your patent of Nobility. No skip-Jacks now, nor civiller skip-Johns, Dread Anthropophagi! specks of living bronze, I hail you one and all, sans Pros or Cons, Descendants from a noble race of Dons. What tho' that great ancestral Flea be gone, Immortal with immortalising Donne, His earthly spots bleached off a Papist's gloze, In purgatory fire on Bardolph's nose.
1811.
Now first published from an MS.
10
[EX LIBRIS S. T. C.][981:1]
This, Hannah Scollock! may have been the case; Your writing therefore I will not erase. But now this Book, once yours, belongs to me, The Morning Post's and Courier's S. T. C.;— Elsewhere in College, knowledge, wit and scholarage To Friends and Public known as S. T. Coleridge. Witness hereto my hand, on Ashley Green, One thousand, twice four hundred, and fourteen Year of our Lord—and of the month November The fifteenth day, if right I do remember.
15th Nov. 1814. Ashley, Box, Bath.
First published in Lit. Rem., iii. 57. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 387.
11
EGENKAIPAN
The following burlesque on the Fichtean Egoismus may, perhaps, be amusing to the few who have studied the system, and to those who are unacquainted with it, may convey as tolerable a likeness of Fichte's idealism as can be expected from an avowed caricature. [S. T. C.]
The Categorical Imperative, or the annunciation of the New Teutonic God, EGENKAIPAN: a dithyrambic Ode, by QUERKOPF VON KLUBSTICK, Grammarian, and Subrector in Gymnasio. . . .
Eu! Dei vices gerens, ipse Divus, (Speak English, Friend!) the God Imperativus, Here on this market-cross aloud I cry: 'I, I, I! I itself I! The form and the substance, the what and the why, The when and the where, and the low and the high, The inside and outside, the earth and the sky, I, you, and he, and he, you and I, All souls and all bodies are I itself I! All I itself I! (Fools! a truce with this starting!) All my I! all my I! He's a heretic dog who but adds Betty Martin!' Thus cried the God with high imperial tone: In robe of stiffest state, that scoff'd at beauty, A pronoun-verb imperative he shone— Then substantive and plural-singular grown, He thus spake on:—'Behold in I alone (For Ethics boast a syntax of their own) Or if in ye, yet as I doth depute ye, In O! I, you, the vocative of duty! I of the world's whole Lexicon the root! Of the whole universe of touch, sound, sight, The genitive and ablative to boot: The accusative of wrong, the nom'native of right, And in all cases the case absolute! Self-construed, I all other moods decline: Imperative, from nothing we derive us; Yet as a super-postulate of mine, Unconstrued antecedence I assign, To X Y Z, the God Infinitivus!'
1815.
First published in Biographia Literaria, 1817, i. 148n. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 370.
12
THE BRIDGE STREET COMMITTEE
Jack Snipe Eats Tripe: It is therefore credible That tripe is edible. And therefore, perforce, It follows, of course, That the Devil will gripe All who do not eat Tripe.
And as Nic is too slow To fetch 'em below: And Gifford, the attorney, Won't quicken their journey; The Bridge-Street Committee That colleague without pity, To imprison and hang Carlile and his gang, Is the pride of the City, And 'tis Association That, alone, saves the Nation From Death and Damnation.
First published in Letters and Conversations, &c., 1836, i. 90, 91. These lines, which were inscribed in one of Coleridge's notebooks, refer to a 'Constitutional association' which promoted the prosecution of Richard Carlile, the publisher of Paine's Age of Reason, for blasphemy. See Diary of H. C. Robinson, 1869, ii. 134, 135. First collected P. W., 1885, ii. 405.
13
NONSENSE SAPPHICS[983:1]
Here's Jem's first copy of nonsense verses, All in the antique style of Mistress Sappho, Latin just like Horace the tuneful Roman, Sapph's imitator:
But we Bards, we classical Lyric Poets, Know a thing or two in a scurvy Planet: Don't we, now? Eh? Brother Horatius Flaccus, Tip us your paw, Lad:—
Here's to Mcenas and the other worthies; Rich men of England! would ye be immortal? Patronise Genius, giving Cash and Praise to Gillman Jacobus;
Gillman Jacobus, he of Merchant Taylors', Minor tate, ingenio at stupendus, Sapphic, Heroic, Elegiac,—what a Versificator!
First published in Essays, &c., 1850, iii. 987. First collected 1893.
14
TO SUSAN STEELE ON RECEIVING THE PURSE
EXTRUMPERY LINES
My dearest Dawtie! That's never naughty— When the Mare was stolen, and not before, The wise man got a stable-door: And he and I are brother Ninnies, One Beast he lost and I two guineas; And as sure as it's wet when it above rains, The man's brains and mine both alike had thick coverings, For if he lost one mare, poor I lost two sovereigns! A cash-pouch I have got, but no cash to put in it, Tho' there's gold in the world and Sir Walter can win it: For your sake I'll keep it for better or worse, So here is a dear loving kiss for your purse. S. T. COLERIDGE.
1829. Now first published from an MS.
15
ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS[984:1]
I.—By Likeness
Fond, peevish, wedded pair! why all this rant? O guard your tempers! hedge your tongues about This empty head should warn you on that point— The teeth were quarrelsome, and so fell out. S. T. C.
II.—Association by Contrast
Phidias changed marble into feet and legs. Disease! vile anti-Phidias! thou, i' fegs! Hast turned my live limbs into marble pegs.
III.—Association by Time
SIMPLICIUS SNIPKIN loquitur
I touch this scar upon my skull behind, And instantly there rises in my mind Napoleon's mighty hosts from Moscow lost, Driven forth to perish in the fangs of Frost. For in that self-same month, and self-same day, Down Skinner Street I took my hasty way— Mischief and Frost had set the boys at play; I stept upon a slide—oh! treacherous tread!— Fell smash with bottom bruised, and brake my head! Thus Time's co-presence links the great and small, Napoleon's overthrow, and Snipkin's fall.
? 1830. First published in Fraser's Magazine, Jan. 1835, Art. 'Coleridgeiana'. First collected 1893.
16
VERSES TRIVOCULAR
Of one scrap of science I've evidence ocular. A heart of one chamber they call unilocular, And in a sharp frost, or when snow-flakes fall floccular, Your wise man of old wrapp'd himself in a Roquelaure, Which was called a Wrap-rascal when folks would be jocular. And shell-fish, the small, Periwinkle and Cockle are, So with them will I finish these verses trivocular.
Now first published from an MS.
17
CHOLERA CURED BEFORE-HAND
Or a premonition promulgated gratis for the use of the Useful Classes, specially those resident in St. Giles's, Saffron Hill, Bethnal Green, etc.; and likewise, inasmuch as the good man is merciful even to the beasts, for the benefit of the Bulls and Bears of the Stock Exchange.
Pains ventral, subventral, In stomach or entrail, Think no longer mere prefaces For grins, groans, and wry faces; But off to the doctor, fast as ye can crawl! 5 Yet far better 'twould be not to have them at all.
Now to 'scape inward aches, Eat no plums nor plum-cakes; Cry avaunt! new potato— And don't drink, like old Cato. 10 Ah! beware of Dispipsy, And don't ye get tipsy! For tho' gin and whiskey May make you feel frisky, They're but crimps to Dispipsy; 15 And nose to tail, with this gipsy Comes, black as a porpus, The diabolus ipse, Call'd Cholery Morpus; Who with horns, hoofs, and tail, croaks for carrion to feed him, 20 Tho' being a Devil, no one never has seed him!
Ah! then my dear honies, There's no cure for you For loves nor for monies:— You'll find it too true. 25 Och! the hallabaloo! Och! och! how you'll wail, When the offal-fed vagrant Shall turn you as blue As the gas-light unfragrant, 30 That gushes in jets from beneath his own tail;— 'Till swift as the mail, He at last brings the cramps on, That will twist you like Samson. So without further blethring, 35 Dear mudlarks! my brethren! Of all scents and degrees, (Yourselves and your shes) Forswear all cabal, lads, Wakes, unions, and rows, 40 Hot dreams and cold salads, And don't pig in styes that would suffocate sows! Quit Cobbett's, O'Connell's and Beelzebub's banners, And whitewash at once bowels, rooms, hands, and manners!
July 26, 1832. First published in P. W. 1834. These lines were enclosed in a letter to J. H. Green, dated July 26, 1832, with the following introduction: 'Address premonitory to the Sovereign People, or the Cholera cured before-hand, promulgated gratis for the use of the useful classes, specially of those resident in St. Giles, Bethnal Green, Saffron Hill, etc., by their Majesties', i. e. the People's, loyal subject—Demophilus Mudlarkiades.'
LINENOTES:
[1-6] om. Letter 1832.
[7-8] To escape Belly ache Eat no plums nor plum cake Letter 1832.
[12] And therefore don't get tipsy Letter 1832.
[16] with this gipsy] of Dys Pipsy Letter 1832.
[22] And oh! och my dear Honies Letter 1832.
[28] offal-fed] horn-and-hoof'd Letter 1832.
[41] dreams] drams Letter 1832.
[44] And whitewash at once your Guts, Rooms and Manners Letter 1832.
[After 44]
Vivat Rex Popellio! Vivat Regina Plebs! Hurra! 3 times 3 thrice repeated Hurra!
Letter, 1832.
18
TO BABY BATES
You come from o'er the waters, From famed Columbia's land, And you have sons and daughters, And money at command.
But I live in an island, Great Britain is its name, With money none to buy land, The more it is the shame.
But we are all the children Of one great God of Love, Whose mercy like a mill-drain Runs over from above.
Lullaby, lullaby, Sugar-plums and cates, Close your little peeping eye, Bonny Baby B——s.
First collected 1893. 'Baby Bates' was the daughter of Joshua Bates, one of the donors of the Boston Library. Her father and mother passed a year (1828-1829) at Highgate, 'close to the house of Dr. and Mrs. Gillman.' See a letter to Mrs. Bates from S. T. C. dated Jan. 23, 1829. N. and Q. 4th Series, i. 469.
19
TO A CHILD[987:1]
Little Miss Fanny, So cubic and canny, With blue eyes and blue shoes— The Queen of the Blues! As darling a girl as there is in the world— If she'll laugh, skip and jump, And not be Miss Glump!
1834. First published in Athenum, Jan. 28, 1888. First collected 1893.
FOOTNOTES:
[976:1] 'There is a female saint (St. Vuilgefortis), whom the Jesuit Sautel, in his Annus Sacer Poeticus, has celebrated for her beard—a mark of divine favour bestowed upon her for her prayers.' Omniana, 1812, ii. 54. 'Pereant qui ante nos nostra dixere! What! can nothing be one's own? This is the more vexatious, for at the age of eighteen I lost a legacy of fifty pounds for the following epigram on my godmother's beard, which she had the barbarity to revenge by striking me out of her will.' S. T. C.
[981:1] These lines are written on a fly-leaf of a copy of Five Bookes of the Church by Richard Field (folio 1635), under the inscription: 'Hannah Scollock, her book, February 10, 1787.' The volume was bequeathed to the poet's younger son, Derwent Coleridge, and is now in the possession of the Editor.
[983:1] Written for James Gillman Junr. as a School Exercise, for Merchant Taylors', c. 1822-3.
[984:1] Written in pencil on the blank leaf of a book of lectures delivered at the London University, in which the Hartleyan doctrine of association was assumed as a true basis.
[987:1] To Miss Fanny Boyce, afterwards Lady Wilmot Horton.
FRAGMENTS FROM A NOTEBOOK[988:1]
Circa 1796-98
1
Light cargoes waft of modulated Sound From viewless Hybla brought, when Melodies Like Birds of Paradise on wings, that aye Disport in wild variety of hues, Murmur around the honey-dropping flower.
First published in 1893. Compare The Eolian Harp (Aug. 1795), lines 20-5 (ante p. 101).
2
Broad-breasted rock—hanging cliff that glasses His rugged forehead in the calmy sea.[988:2]
First published in 1893. Compare Destiny of Nations (1796), lines 342, 343 (ante p. 143).
3
Where Cam his stealthy flowings most dissembles And scarce the Willow's watery shadow trembles.
First published in 1893. Compare line 1 of A Fragment Found in a Lecture-Room, 'Where deep in mud Cam rolls his slumbrous stream' (ante, p. 35).
4
With secret hand heal the conjectur'd wound,
[or]
Guess at the wound, and heal with secret hand.
First published in 1893. The alternative line was first published in Lit. Rem., i. 279.
5
Outmalic'd Calumny's imposthum'd Tongue.
First published in 1893. A line from Verses to Horne Tooke, July 4, 1796, line 20 (ante, p. 151).
6
And write Impromptus Spurring their Pegasus to tortoise gallop.
First published in 1893.
7
Due to the Staggerers, that made drunk by Power Forget thirst's eager promise, and presume, Dark Dreamers! that the world forgets it too.
First published in Lit. Rem., 1836, i. 27.
LINENOTES:
[1] Due] These L. R.
8
Perish warmth Unfaithful to its seeming!
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 279.
9
Old age, 'the shape and messenger of Death,' 'His wither'd Fist still knocking at Death's door.'
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 279. Quoted from Sackville's Induction to a Mirrour for Magistrates, stanza 48:
'His wither'd fist stil knocking at deathes dore, Tumbling and driveling as he drawes his breth; For briefe, the shape and messenger of death.'
10
God no distance knows, All of the whole possessing!
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 279. Compare Religious Musings, ll. 156-7.
11
Wherefore art thou come? doth not the Creator of all things know all things? And if thou art come to seek him, know that where thou wast, there he was.
First published in 1893. Compare the Wanderings of Cain.
12
And cauldrons the scoop'd earth, a boiling sea.
First published in 1893.
13
Rush on my ear, a cataract of sound.
First published in 1893.
14
The guilty pomp, consuming while it flares.
First published in 1893.
15
My heart seraglios a whole host of Joys.
First published in 1893.
16
And Pity's sigh shall answer thy tale of Anguish Like the faint echo of a distant valley.
First published in Notizbuch, 1896, p. 350.
17
A DUNGEON
In darkness I remain'd—the neighb'ring clock Told me that now the rising sun shone lovely On my garden.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 279. Compare Osorio, Act I, lines 219-21 (ante, p. 528), and Remorse, Act I, Scene II, lines 218-20 (ante, p. 830).
LINENOTES:
[2] sun at dawn L. R.
18
The Sun (for now his orb 'gan slowly sink) Shot half his rays aslant the heath whose flowers Purpled the mountain's broad and level top; Rich was his bed of clouds, and wide beneath Expecting Ocean smiled with dimpled face.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 278. Compare This Lime-Tree Bower (1797), lines 32-7 (ante, pp. 179, 180).
19
Leanness, disquietude, and secret Pangs.
First published in Notizbuch, p. 351.
20
Smooth, shining, and deceitful as thin Ice.
First published in Notizbuch, p. 355.
21
Wisdom, Mother of retired Thought.
First published in 1893.
22
Nature wrote Rascal on his face, By chalcographic art!
First published in 1893.
23
In this world we dwell among the tombs And touch the pollutions of the Dead.
First published in 1893. Compare Destiny of Nations, ll. 177-8 (ante, p. 137).
24
The mild despairing of a Heart resigned.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 278.
25
Such fierce vivacity as fires the eye Of Genius fancy-craz'd.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 278. Compare Destiny of Nations, ll. 257, 258 (ante, p. 139).
26
——like a mighty Giantess Seiz'd in sore travail and prodigious birth Sick Nature struggled: long and strange her pangs; Her groans were horrible, but O! most fair The Twins she bore—EQUALITY and PEACE!
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 278. Compare concluding lines of the second strophe of Ode to the Departing Year, 4{o}, 1796.
27
Discontent Mild as an infant low-plaining in its sleep.
First published in 1893.
28
——terrible and loud, As the strong Voice that from the Thunder-cloud Speaks to the startled Midnight.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 278.
29
The swallows Interweaving there, mid the pair'd sea-mews At distance wildly-wailing!
First published in 1893.
30
The Brook runs over sea-weeds. Sabbath day—from the Miller's merry wheel The water-drops dripp'd leisurely.
First published in 1893. It is possible the Fragments were some of the 'studies' for The Brook. See Biog. Lit., Cap. X, ed. 1907, i. 129.
31
On the broad mountain-top The neighing wild-colt races with the wind O'er fern and heath-flowers.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 278.
32
A long deep lane So overshadow'd, it might seem one bower— The damp clay-banks were furr'd with mouldy moss.
First published in 1893.
33
Broad-breasted Pollards, with broad-branching heads.
First published in 1893.
34
'Twas sweet to know it only possible— Some wishes cross'd my mind and dimly cheer'd it— And one or two poor melancholy Pleasures— In these, the pale unwarming light of Hope Silv'ring their flimsy wing, flew silent by, Moths in the Moonlight.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 277, 278.
LINENOTES:
[4] In these] Each in L. R.
[5] their] its L. R.
35
Behind the thin Grey cloud that cover'd but not hid the sky The round full moon look'd small.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 277. Compare Christabel, ll. 16, 17 (ante, p. 216).
36
The subtle snow In every breeze rose curling from the Grove Like pillars of cottage smoke.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 278.
LINENOTES:
The Subtle snow in every passing breeze Rose curling from the grove like shafts of smoke.
L. R.
37
The sunshine lies on the cottage-wall, A-shining thro' the snow.
First published in 1893.
38
A MANIAC in the woods—She crosses heedlessly the woodman's path—scourg'd by rebounding boughs.
First published in 1893.
Compare this with discarded stanza in 'Introduction to the Tale of the Dark Ladi' as printed in the Morning Post, Dec. 21, 1799 (vide ante, p. 333).
And how he cross'd the woodman's paths, Thro' briars and swampy mosses beat; How boughs rebounding scourg'd his limbs, And low stubs gor'd his feet.
Note by J. D. Campbell, P. W., 1893, p. 456.
39
HYMNS—MOON
In a cave in the mountains of Cashmeer, an image of ice, which makes its appearance thus: Two days before the new moon there appears a bubble of ice, which increases in size every day till the fifteenth day, at which it is an ell or more in height;—then, as the moon decreases the Image does also till it vanishes. Mem. Read the whole 107th page of Maurice's Indostan.
First published in 1893. 'Hymns to the Sun, the Moon, and the Elements' are included in a list of projected works enumerated in the Gutch Notebook. The 'caves of ice' in Kubla Khan may have been a reminiscence of the 107th page of Maurice's Hindostan.
40
The tongue can't speak when the mouth is cramm'd with earth— A little mould fills up most eloquent mouths, And a square stone with a few pious texts Cut neatly on it, keeps the mould down tight.
First published in 1893. Compare Osorio, Act III, lines 259-62 (ante, p. 560).
41
And with my whole heart sing the stately song, Loving the God that made me.
First published in 1893. Compare Fears in Solitude, ll. 196-7 (ante, p. 263).
42
God's Image, Sister of the Cherubim!
First published in 1893. Compare the last line of The Ode to the Departing Year (ante, p. 168).
43
And re-implace God's Image in the Soul.
First published in 1893.
44
And arrows steeled with wrath.
First published in 1893.
45
Lov'd the same Love, and hated the same hate, Breath'd in his soul! etc. etc.
First published in 1893.
46
O man! thou half-dead Angel!
First published in 1893.
47
Thy stern and sullen eye, and thy dark brow Chill me, like dew-damps of th' unwholesome Night. My Love, a timorous and tender flower, Closes beneath thy Touch, unkindly man! Breath'd on by gentle gales of Courtesy And cheer'd by sunshine of impassion'd look— Then opes its petals of no vulgar hues.
First published in 1893. See Remorse, Act I, Sc. II, ll. 81-4 (ante, p. 826). Compare Osorio, Act. I, ll. 80-3 (ante, p. 522).
48
With skill that never Alchemist yet told, Made drossy Lead as ductile as pure Gold.
First published in 1893.
49
Grant me a Patron, gracious Heaven! whene'er My unwash'd follies call for Penance drear: But when more hideous guilt this heart infests Instead of fiery coals upon my Pate, O let a titled Patron be my Fate;— That fierce Compendium of gyptian Pests! Right reverend Dean, right honourable Squire, Lord, Marquis, Earl, Duke, Prince,—or if aught higher, However proudly nicknamed, he shall be Anathema Marnatha to me!
First published, Lit. Rem., i. 281.
FOOTNOTES:
[988:1] One of the earliest of Coleridge's Notebooks, which fell into the hands of his old schoolfellow, John Mathew Gutch, the printer and proprietor of Felix Farley's Bristol Journal, was purchased by the Trustees of the British Museum in 1868, and is now included in Add. MSS. as No. 27901. The fragments of verse contained in the notebook are included in P. W. 1893, pp. 453-8. The notebook as a whole was published by Professor A. Brandl in 1896 (S. T. Coleridge's Notizbuch aus den Jahren 1795-1798). Nineteen entries are included by H. N. Coleridge in Poems and Poetical Fragments published in Literary Remains, 1836, i. 277-80.
[988:2] An incorrect version of the lines was published in Lit. Rem., ii. 280.
FRAGMENTS[996:1]
1
O'er the raised earth the gales of evening sigh; And, see, a daisy peeps upon its slope! I wipe the dimming waters from mine eye; Even on the cold grave lights the Cherub Hope.[996:2]
? 1787. First published in Poems, 1852 (p. 379, Note 1). First collected 1893.
2
Sea-ward, white gleaming thro' the busy scud With arching Wings, the sea-mew o'er my head Posts on, as bent on speed, now passaging Edges the stiffer Breeze, now, yielding, drifts, Now floats upon the air, and sends from far A wildly-wailing Note.
Now first published from an MS. Compare Fragment No. 29 of Fragments from a Notebook.
3
OVER MY COTTAGE
The Pleasures sport beneath the thatch; But Prudence sits upon the watch; Nor Dun nor Doctor lifts the latch!
1799. First published from an MS. in 1893. Suggested by Lessing's Sinngedicht No. 104.
4
In the lame and limping metre of a barbarous Latin poet—
Est meum et est tuum, amice! at si amborum nequit esse, Sit meum, amice, precor: quia certe sum mage pauper.
'Tis mine and it is likewise yours; But and if this will not do, Let it be mine, because that I Am the poorer of the Two!
Nov. 1, 1801. First published in the Preface to Christabel, 1816. First collected 1893.
5
Names do not always meet with LOVE, And LOVE wants courage without a name.[997:1]
Dec. 1801. Now first published from an MS.
6
The Moon, how definite its orb! Yet gaze again, and with a steady gaze— 'Tis there indeed,—but where is it not?— It is suffused o'er all the sapphire Heaven, Trees, herbage, snake-like stream, unwrinkled Lake, Whose very murmur does of it partake!
And low and close the broad smooth mountain is more a thing of Heaven than when distinct by one dim shade, and yet undivided from the universal cloud in which it towers infinite in height.
? 1801. First published from an MS. in 1893.
7
Such love as mourning Husbands have To her whose Spirit has been newly given To her guardian Saint in Heaven— Whose Beauty lieth in the grave—
(Unconquered, as if the Soul could find no purer Tabernacle, nor place of sojourn than the virgin Body it had before dwelt in, and wished to stay there till the Resurrection)—
Far liker to a Flower now than when alive, Cold to the Touch and blooming to the eye.
Sept. 1803. Now first published from an MS.
8
[THE NIGHT-MARE DEATH IN LIFE]
I know 'tis but a dream, yet feel more anguish Than if 'twere truth. It has been often so: Must I die under it? Is no one near? Will no one hear these stifled groans and wake me?
? 1803. Now first published from an MS.
9
Bright clouds of reverence, sufferably bright, That intercept the dazzle, not the Light; That veil the finite form, the boundless power reveal, Itself an earthly sun of pure intensest white.
1803. First published from an MS. in 1893.
10
A BECK IN WINTER[998:1]
Over the broad, the shallow, rapid stream, The Alder, a vast hollow Trunk, and ribb'd— All mossy green with mosses manifold, And ferns still waving in the river-breeze Sent out, like fingers, five projecting trunks— The shortest twice 6 (?) of a tall man's strides.— One curving upward in its middle growth Rose straight with grove of twigs—a pollard tree:— The rest more backward, gradual in descent— One in the brook and one befoamed its waters: One ran along the bank in the elk-like head And pomp of antlers—
Jan. 1804. Now first published from an MS. (pencil).
11
I from the influence of thy Looks receive, Access in every virtue, in thy Sight More wise, more wakeful, stronger, if need were Of outward strength.—
1804. Now first published from an MS.
12
What never is, but only is to be This is not Life:— O hopeless Hope, and Death's Hypocrisy! And with perpetual promise breaks its promises.
1804-5. Now first published from an MS.
13
The silence of a City, how awful at Midnight! Mute as the battlements and crags and towers That Fancy makes in the clouds, yea, as mute As the moonlight that sleeps on the steady vanes.
(or)
The cell of a departed anchoret, His skeleton and flitting ghost are there, Sole tenants— And all the City silent as the Moon That steeps in quiet light the steady vanes Of her huge temples.
1804-5. Now first published from an MS.
14
O beauty in a beauteous body dight! Body that veiling brightness, beamest bright; Fair cloud which less we see, than by thee see the light.
1805. First published from an MS. in 1893.
15
O th' Oppressive, irksome weight Felt in an uncertain state: Comfort, peace, and rest adieu Should I prove at last untrue! Self-confiding wretch, I thought I could love thee as I ought, Win thee and deserve to feel All the Love thou canst reveal, And still I chuse thee, follow still.
1805. First published from an MS. in 1893.
16
'Twas not a mist, nor was it quite a cloud, But it pass'd smoothly on towards the sea— Smoothly and lightly between Earth and Heaven: So, thin a cloud, It scarce bedimm'd the star that shone behind it: And Hesper now Paus'd on the welkin blue, and cloudless brink, A golden circlet! while the Star of Jove— That other lovely star—high o'er my head Shone whitely in the centre of his Haze . . . one black-blue cloud Stretch'd, like the heaven, o'er all the cope of Heaven.
Dec. 1797. First published from an MS. in 1893.
17
[NOT A CRITIC—BUT A JUDGE]
Whom should I choose for my Judge? the earnest, impersonal reader, Who, in the work, forgets me and the world and himself! You who have eyes to detect, and Gall to Chastise the imperfect, Have you the heart, too, that loves,—feels and rewards the Compleat?
1805. Now first published from an MS.
18
A sumptuous and magnificent Revenge.
March 1806. First published from an MS. in 1893.
19
[DE PROFUNDIS CLAMAVI]
Come, come thou bleak December wind, And blow the dry leaves from the tree! Flash, like a love-thought, thro' me, Death! And take a life that wearies me.
Leghorn, June 7, 1806. First published in Letters of S. T. C., 1875, ii. 499, n. 1. Now collected for the first time. Adapted from Percy's version of 'Waly, Waly, Love be bonny', st. 3.
Marti'mas wind when wilt thou blaw, And shake the green leaves aff the tree? O gentle death, when wilt thou cum? For of my life I am wearie.
20
As some vast Tropic tree, itself a wood, That crests its head with clouds, beneath the flood Feeds its deep roots, and with the bulging flank Of its wide base controls the fronting bank— (By the slant current's pressure scoop'd away The fronting bank becomes a foam-piled bay) High in the Fork the uncouth Idol knits His channel'd brow; low murmurs stir by fits And dark below the horrid Faquir sits— An Horror from its broad Head's branching wreath Broods o'er the rude Idolatry beneath—
1806-7. Now first published from an MS.
21
Let Eagle bid the Tortoise sunward soar— As vainly Strength speaks to a broken Mind.[1001:1]
1807. First published in Thomas Poole and His Friends, 1888, ii. 195.
22
The body, Eternal Shadow of the finite Soul, The Soul's self-symbol, its image of itself. Its own yet not itself.
Now first published from an MS.
23
Or Wren or Linnet, In Bush and Bushet; No tree, but in it A cooing Cushat.
May 1807. Now first published from an MS.
24
The reed roof'd village still bepatch'd with snow Smok'd in the sun-thaw.
1798. Now first published from an MS. Compare Frost at Midnight, ll. 69-70, ante, p. 242.
25
And in Life's noisiest hour There whispers still the ceaseless love of thee, The heart's self-solace } and soliloquy. commune }
1807. Now first published from an MS.
26
You mould my Hopes you fashion me within: And to the leading love-throb in the heart, Through all my being, through my pulses beat; You lie in all my many thoughts like Light, Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve, On rippling stream, or cloud-reflecting lake; And looking to the Heaven that bends above you, How oft! I bless the lot that made me love you.
1807. Now first published from an MS.
27
And my heart mantles in its own delight.
Now first published from an MS.
28
The spruce and limber yellow-hammer In the dawn of spring and sultry summer, In hedge or tree the hours beguiling With notes as of one who brass is filing.
1807. Now first published from an MS.
29
FRAGMENT OF AN ODE ON NAPOLEON
O'erhung with yew, midway the Muses mount From thy sweet murmurs far, O Hippocrene! Turbid and black upboils an angry fount Tossing its shatter'd foam in vengeful spleen— Phlegethon's rage Cocytus' wailings hoarse Alternate now, now mixt, made known its headlong course: Thither with terror stricken and surprise, (For sure such haunts were ne'er to Muse's choice) Euterpe led me. Mute with asking eyes I stood expectant of her heavenly voice. Her voice entranc'd my terror and made flow In a rude understrain the maniac fount below. 'Whene'er (the Goddess said) abhorr'd of Jove Usurping Power his hands in blood imbrues—
? 1808. Now first published from an MS.
30
The singing Kettle and the purring Cat, The gentle breathing of the cradled Babe, The silence of the Mother's love-bright eye, And tender smile answering its smile of Sleep.
1803. First published from an MS. in 1893.
31
Two wedded hearts, if ere were such, Imprison'd in adjoining cells, Across whose thin partition-wall The builder left one narrow rent, And where, most content in discontent, A joy with itself at strife— Die into an intenser life.
1808. First published from an MS. in 1893.
ANOTHER VERSION
The builder left one narrow rent, Two wedded hearts, if ere were such, Contented most in discontent, Still there cling, and try in vain to touch! O Joy! with thy own joy at strife, That yearning for the Realm above Wouldst die into intenser Life, And Union absolute of Love!
1808. First published from an MS. in 1893.
32
Sole Maid, associate sole, to me beyond Compare all living creatures dear— Thoughts, which have found their harbour in thy heart Dearest! me thought of him to thee so dear!
1809. First published from an MS. in 1893.
33
EPIGRAM ON KEPLER
FROM THE GERMAN
No mortal spirit yet had clomb so high As Kepler—yet his Country saw him die For very want! the Minds alone he fed, And so the Bodies left him without bread.
1799. First published in The Friend, Nov. 30, 1809 (1818, ii. 95; 1850, ii. 69). First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 374.
LINENOTES:
[1] spirit] Genius MS.
[2] yet] and MS.
[3] Minds] Souls MS. erased.
34
When Hope but made Tranquillity be felt: A flight of Hope for ever on the wing But made Tranquillity a conscious thing; And wheeling round and round in sportive coil, Fann'd the calm air upon the brow of Toil.
1810. First published from an MS. in 1893.
35
I have experienced The worst the world can wreak on me—the worst That can make Life indifferent, yet disturb With whisper'd discontent the dying prayer— I have beheld the whole of all, wherein My heart had any interest in this life To be disrent and torn from off my Hopes That nothing now is left. Why then live on? That hostage that the world had in its keeping Given by me as a pledge that I would live— That hope of Her, say rather that pure Faith In her fix'd Love, which held me to keep truce With the tyranny of Life—is gone, ah! whither? What boots it to reply? 'tis gone! and now Well may I break this Pact, this league of Blood That ties me to myself—and break I shall.
1810. First published from an MS. in 1893.
36
As when the new or full Moon urges The high, large, long, unbreaking surges Of the Pacific main.
1811. First published from an MS. in 1893.
37
O mercy, O me, miserable man! Slowly my wisdom, and how slowly comes My Virtue! and how rapidly pass off My Joys! my Hopes! my Friendships, and my Love!
1811. Now first published from an MS.
38
A low dead Thunder mutter'd thro' the night, As 'twere a giant angry in his sleep— Nature! sweet nurse, O take me in thy lap And tell me of my Father yet unseen, Sweet tales, and true, that lull me into sleep And leave me dreaming.
1811. First published from an MS. in 1893.
39
His own fair countenance, his kingly forehead, His tender smiles, Love's day-dawn on his lips, Put on such heavenly, spiritual light, At the same moment in his steadfast eye Were Virtue's native crest, th' innocent soul's Unconscious meek self-heraldry,—to man Genial, and pleasant to his guardian angel. He suffer'd nor complain'd;—though oft with tears He mourn'd th' oppression of his helpless brethren,— And sometimes with a deeper holier grief Mourn'd for the oppressor—but this in sabbath hours— A solemn grief, that like a cloud at sunset, Was but the veil of inward meditation Pierced thro' and saturate with the intellectual rays It soften'd.
1812. First published (with many alterations of the MS.) in Lit. Rem., i. 277. First collected P. and D. W., 1887, ii. 364. Compare Teresa's speech to Valdez, Remorse, Act IV, Scene II, lines 52-63 (ante, p. 866).
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[ARS POETICA]
In the two following lines, for instance, there is nothing objectionable, nothing which would preclude them from forming, in their proper place, part of a descriptive poem:—
'Behold yon row of pines, that shorn and bow'd Bend from the sea-blast, seen at twilight eve.'
But with a small alteration of rhythm, the same words would be equally in their place in a book of topography, or in a descriptive tour. The same image will rise into a semblance of poetry if thus conveyed:—
'Yon row of bleak and visionary pines, By twilight-glimpse discerned, mark! how they flee From the fierce sea-blast, all their tresses wild Streaming before them.'
1815. First published in Biog. Lit., 1817, ii. 18; 1847, ii. 20. First collected 1893.
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TRANSLATION OF THE FIRST STROPHE OF PINDAR'S SECOND OLYMPIC
'As nearly as possible word for word.'
Ye harp-controlling hymns!
(or)
Ye hymns the sovereigns of harps! What God? what Hero? What Man shall we celebrate? Truly Pisa indeed is of Jove, But the Olympiad (or, the Olympic games) did Hercules establish, The first-fruits of the spoils of war. But Theron for the four-horsed car That bore victory to him, It behoves us now to voice aloud: The Just, the Hospitable, The Bulwark of Agrigentum, Of renowned fathers The Flower, even him Who preserves his native city erect and safe.
1815. First published in Biog. Lit., 1817, ii. 90; 1847, ii. 93. First collected 1893.
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O! Superstition is the giant shadow Which the solicitude of weak mortality, Its back toward Religion's rising sun, Casts on the thin mist of th' uncertain future.
1816. First published from an MS. in 1893.
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TRANSLATION OF A FRAGMENT OF HERACLITUS[1007:1]
Not hers To win the sense by words of rhetoric, Lip-blossoms breathing perishable sweets; But by the power of the informing Word Roll sounding onward through a thousand years Her deep prophetic bodements. |
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