Chapter XXXVI: Canto II (2)

If I had but two little wings
And were a little feathery bird,
To you I'd fly, my dear!
But thoughts like these are idle things,
And I stay here. 5

But in my sleep to you I fly:
I'm always with you in my sleep!
The world is all one's own.
But then one wakes, and where am I?
All, all alone. 10

Sleep stays not, though a monarch bids:
So I love to wake ere break of day:
For though my sleep be gone,
Yet while 'tis dark, one shuts one's lids,
And still dreams on. 15

_April_ 23, 1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[313:1] First published in the Annual Anthology (1800), with the signature 'Cordomi': included in Sibylline Leaves, 1817, 1828, 1829, and 1834. The lines, without title or heading, were sent in a letter from Coleridge to his wife, dated Göttingen, April 23, 1799 (Letters of S. T. C., 1895, i. 294-5). They are an imitation (see F. Freiligrath's Biographical Memoir to the Tauchnitz edition of 1852) of the German Folk-song Wenn ich ein Vöglein wär. For the original see Appendices of this edition. The title 'Something Childish', &c., was prefixed in the Annual Anthology, 1800.

LINENOTES:

[3] you] _you_ MS. Letter, 1799.

[6] you] _you_ MS. Letter, 1799.

HOME-SICK[314:1]

WRITTEN IN GERMANY

'Tis sweet to him who all the week
Through city-crowds must push his way,
To stroll alone through fields and woods,
And hallow thus the Sabbath-day.

And sweet it is, in summer bower, 5
Sincere, affectionate and gay,
One's own dear children feasting round,
To celebrate one's marriage-day.

But what is all to his delight,
Who having long been doomed to roam, 10
Throws off the bundle from his back,
Before the door of his own home?

Home-sickness is a wasting pang;
This feel I hourly more and more:
There's healing only in thy wings, 15
Thou breeze that play'st on Albion's shore!

_May_ 6, 1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[314:1] First published in the _Annual Anthology_ (1800), with the signature 'Cordomi': included in _Sibylline Leaves_, 1817, 1828, 1829, 1834. The lines, without title or heading, were sent in a letter from Coleridge to Poole, dated May 6, 1799 (_Letters of S. T.C._, 1895, i. 298). Dr. Carlyon in his _Early Years_, &c. (1856, i. 66), prints stanzas 1, 3, and 4. He says that they were written from Coleridge's dictation, in the Brockenstammbuch at the little inn on the Brocken. The title 'Home-Sick', &c., was prefixed in the _Annual Anthology_, 1800.

LINENOTES:

[13] a wasting pang] no baby-pang MS. Letter, 1799, An. Anth.

[15] There's only music in thy wings MS. Letter, 1799.

LINES[315:1]

WRITTEN IN THE ALBUM AT ELBINGERODE, IN THE HARTZ FOREST

I stood on Brocken's[315:2] sovran height, and saw
Woods crowding upon woods, hills over hills,
A surging scene, and only limited
By the blue distance. Heavily my way
Downward I dragged through fir groves evermore, 5
Where bright green moss heaves in sepulchral forms
Speckled with sunshine; and, but seldom heard,
The sweet bird's song became a hollow sound;
And the breeze, murmuring indivisibly,
Preserved its solemn murmur most distinct 10
From many a note of many a waterfall,
And the brook's chatter; 'mid whose islet-stones
The dingy kidling with its tinkling bell
Leaped frolicsome, or old romantic goat
Sat, his white beard slow waving. I moved on 15
In low and languid mood:[315:3] for I had found
That outward forms, the loftiest, still receive
Their finer influence from the Life within;--
Fair cyphers else: fair, but of import vague
Or unconcerning, where the heart not finds 20
History or prophecy of friend, or child,
Or gentle maid, our first and early love,
Or father, or the venerable name
Of our adoréd country! O thou Queen,
Thou delegated Deity of Earth, 25
O dear, dear England! how my longing eye
Turned westward, shaping in the steady clouds
Thy sands and high white cliffs!

My native Land!
Filled with the thought of thee this heart was proud,
Yea, mine eye swam with tears: that all the view 30
From sovran Brocken, woods and woody hills,
Floated away, like a departing dream,
Feeble and dim! Stranger, these impulses
Blame thou not lightly; nor will I profane,
With hasty judgment or injurious doubt, 35
That man's sublimer spirit, who can feel
That God is everywhere! the God who framed
Mankind to be one mighty family,
Himself our Father, and the World our Home.

_May_ 17, 1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[315:1] First published in the _Morning Post_, September 17, 1799: included in the _Annual Anthology_ (1800) [signed C.], in _Sibylline Leaves_, 1817, 1828, 1829, and 1834. The lines were sent in a letter from Coleridge to his wife, dated May 17, 1799. Part of the letter was printed in the _Amulet_, 1829, and the whole in the _Monthly Magazine_ for October, 1835. A long extract is given in Gillman's _Life of S. T. C._, 1838, pp. 125-38.

[315:2] The highest Mountain in the Harz, and indeed in North Germany.

[315:3]

----When I have gaz'd
From some high eminence on goodly vales,
And cots and villages embower'd below,
The thought would rise that all to me was strange
Amid the scenes so fair, nor one small spot
Where my tired mind might rest and call it home.
SOUTHEY'S _Hymn to the Penates_.

LINENOTES:

[3] _surging_] _surging_ M. P.

[4] Heavily] Wearily MS. Letter.

[6] heaves] mov'd MS. Letter.

[8] a] an all editions to 1834.

[9] breeze] gale MS. Letter.

[11] waterfall] waterbreak MS. Letter.

[12] 'mid] on MS. Letter.

[16] With low and languid thought, for I had found MS. Letter.

[17] That grandest scenes have but imperfect charms MS. Letter, M. P., An. Anth.

[18]

Where the eye vainly wanders nor beholds

MS. Letter.

Where the sight, &c.

M. P., An. Anth.

[19] One spot with which the heart associates MS. Letter, M. P., An. Anth.

[19-21]

Fair cyphers of vague import, where the Eye
Traces no spot, in which the Heart may read
History or Prophecy

S. L. 1817, 1828.

[20]

Holy Remembrances of Child or Friend

MS. Letter.

Holy Remembrances of Friend or Child

M. P., An. Anth.

[26] eye] eyes MS. Letter.

[28-30]

Sweet native Isle
This heart was proud, yea mine eyes swam with tears
To think of thee: and all the goodly view

MS. Letter.

[28] O native land M. P., An. Anth.

[34] I] _I_ MS. Letter.

[38] family] brother-hood MS. Letter.

THE BRITISH STRIPLING'S WAR-SONG[317:1]

IMITATED FROM STOLBERG

Yes, noble old Warrior! this heart has beat high,
Since you told of the deeds which our countrymen wrought;
O lend me the sabre that hung by thy thigh,
And I too will fight as my forefathers fought.

Despise not my youth, for my spirit is steel'd, 5
And I know there is strength in the grasp of my hand;
Yea, as firm as thyself would I march to the field,
And as proudly would die for my dear native land.

In the sports of my childhood I mimick'd the fight,
The sound of a trumpet suspended my breath; 10
And my fancy still wander'd by day and by night,
Amid battle and tumult, 'mid conquest and death.

My own shout of onset, when the Armies advance,
How oft it awakes me from visions of glory;
When I meant to have leapt on the Hero of France, 15
And have dash'd him to earth, pale and breathless and gory.

As late thro' the city with banners all streaming
To the music of trumpets the Warriors flew by,
With helmet and scimitars naked and gleaming,
On their proud-trampling, thunder-hoof'd steeds did they fly; 20

I sped to yon heath that is lonely and bare,
For each nerve was unquiet, each pulse in alarm;
And I hurl'd the mock-lance thro' the objectless air,
And in open-eyed dream proved the strength of my arm.

Yes, noble old Warrior! this heart has beat high, 25
Since you told of the deeds that our countrymen wrought;
O lend me the sabre that hung by thy thigh,
And I too will fight as my forefathers fought!

? 1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[317:1] First published in the _Morning Post_, August 24, 1799: included in the _Annual Anthology_ for 1800: reprinted in _Literary Remains_, 1836, i. 276, in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1848. ('Communicated to the _Bath Herald_ during the Volunteer Frenzy of 1803') (N. S. xxix, p. 60), and in _Essays on His Own Times_, iii. 988-9. First collected in _P. W._, 1877-80, ii. 200-1. The MS. is preserved in the British Museum. The text follows that of the _Annual Anthology_, 1800, pp. 173-4. For the original by Count F. L. Stolberg (_Lied eines deutschen Knaben_) see Appendices of this edition.

LINENOTES:

Title] The Stripling's War-Song. Imitated from the German of Stolberg MS. The Stripling's, &c. Imitated from Stolberg L. R. The British Stripling's War Song M. P., An. Anth., Essays, &c. The Volunteer Stripling. A Song G. M.

[1] Yes] My MS., L. R.

[2] Since] When G. M. which] that MS., L. R. our] your M. P., Essays, &c.

[3] Ah! give me the sabre [[*Falchion*]] that [which L. R.] MS., Essays, &c.

[5] O despise MS., L. R., Essays, &c.

[7] march] move MS., L. R.

[8] would] could Essays, &c. native land] fatherland L. R.

[9] fight] sight G. M.

[10] sound] shrill [[*sound*]] MS., L. R. a] the M. P., Essays, &c.

[12] Amid tumults [tumult L. R.] and perils MS. 'mid] and Essays, &c. Mid battle and bloodshed G. M.

[13]

My own eager shout in the heat of my trance

MS., MS. correction in An. Anth., L. R.

My own shout of onset, { in the heat of my trance G. M., 1893.
{ [*when the armies advance*] MS.

[14] visions] dreams full MS., L. R. How oft it has wak'd G. M.

[15] When I dreamt that I rush'd G. M.

[16] breathless] deathless L. R. pale, breathless G. M.

[17] city] town G. M.

[17-18]

{ with bannerets streaming
{ [*with a terrible beauty*]
To [And L. R.] the music

MS.

[19] scimitars] scymetar MS., L.R., Essays, &c., G. M.: scymeter M. P.

[Between 20-1]

And the Host pacing after in gorgeous parade
All mov'd to one measure in front and in rear;
And the Pipe, Drum and Trumpet, such harmony made
As the souls of the Slaughter'd would loiter to hear.

MS. erased.

[21] that] which L. R.

[22] For my soul MS. erased.

[23] I hurl'd my MS., L. R., Essays, &c. objectless] mind-peopled G. M.

[26] Since] When G. M.

[27] Ah! give me the falchion MS., L. R.

NAMES[318:1]

[FROM LESSING]

I ask'd my fair one happy day,
What I should call her in my lay;
By what sweet name from Rome or Greece;
Lalage, Neaera, Chloris,
Sappho, Lesbia, or Doris, 5
Arethusa or Lucrece.

'Ah!' replied my gentle fair,
'Belovéd, what are names but air?
Choose thou whatever suits the line;
Call me Sappho, call me Chloris, 10
Call me Lalage or Doris,
Only, only call me Thine.'

1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[318:1] First published in the _Morning Post_: reprinted in the _Poetical Register_ for 1803 (1805) with the signature HARLEY. PHILADELPHIA, in the _Keepsake_ for 1829, in Cottle's _Early Recollections_ (two versions) 1837, ii. 67, and in _Essays on His Own Times_, iii. 990, 'As it first appeared' in the _Morning Post_. First collected in 1834. For the original (_Die Namen_) see Appendices of this edition.

LINENOTES:

Title] Song from Lessing M. P., Essays, &c.: From the German of Lessing P. R.: Epigram Keepsake, 1829, Cottle's Early Recollections.

[1] fair] love Cottle, E. R.

[4]

Iphigenia, Clelia, Chloris,

M. P., Cottle, E. R., P. R.

Neaera, Laura, Daphne, Chloris,

Keepsake.

[5]

Laura, Lesbia, or Doris,

MS. 1799, M. P., Cottle, E. R.

Carina, Lalage, or Doris,

Keepsake.

[6] Dorimene, or Lucrece, MS. 1799, M. P., Cottle, E. R., P. R., Keepsake.

[8] Belovéd.] Dear one Keepsake.

[9] Choose thou] Take thou M. P., P. R.: Take Cottle, E. R.

[10] Call me Laura, call me Chloris MS. 1799, Keepsake.

[10-11]

Call me Clelia, call me Chloris,
Laura, Lesbia or Doris

M. P., Cottle, E. R.

[10-12]

Clelia, Iphigenia, Chloris,
Laura, Lesbia, Delia, Doris,
But don't forget to call me _thine_.

P. R.

THE DEVIL'S THOUGHTS[319:1]

I

From his brimstone bed at break of day
A walking the Devil is gone,
To visit his snug little farm the earth,
And see how his stock goes on.

II

Over the hill and over the dale, 5
And he went over the plain,
And backward and forward he switched his long tail
As a gentleman switches his cane.

III

And how then was the Devil drest?
Oh! he was in his Sunday's best: 10
His jacket was red and his breeches were blue,
And there was a hole where the tail came through.

IV

He saw a Lawyer killing a Viper
On a dunghill hard by his own stable;
And the Devil smiled, for it put him in mind 15
Of Cain and his brother, Abel.

V

He saw an Apothecary on a white horse
Ride by on his vocations,
And the Devil thought of his old Friend
Death in the Revelations.[320:1] 20

VI

He saw a cottage with a double coach-house,
A cottage of gentility;
And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin
Is pride that apes humility.

VII

He peep'd into a rich bookseller's shop, 25
Quoth he! we are both of one college!
For I sate myself, like a cormorant, once
Hard by the tree of knowledge.[321:1]

VIII

Down the river did glide, with wind and tide,
A pig with vast celerity; 30
And the Devil look'd wise as he saw how the while,
It cut its own throat. 'There!' quoth he with a smile,
'Goes "England's commercial prosperity."'

IX

As he went through Cold-Bath Fields he saw
A solitary cell; 35
And the Devil was pleased, for it gave him a hint
For improving his prisons in Hell.

X

He saw a Turnkey in a trice
Fetter a troublesome blade;
'Nimbly,' quoth he, 'do the fingers move 40
If a man be but used to his trade.'

XI

He saw the same Turnkey unfetter a man,
With but little expedition,
Which put him in mind of the long debate
On the Slave-trade abolition. 45

XII

He saw an old acquaintance
As he passed by a Methodist meeting;--
She holds a consecrated key,
And the devil nods her a greeting.

XIII

She turned up her nose, and said, 50
'Avaunt! my name's Religion,'
And she looked to Mr. ----
And leered like a love-sick pigeon.

XIV

He saw a certain minister
(A minister to his mind) 55
Go up into a certain House,
With a majority behind.

XV

The Devil quoted Genesis
Like a very learnéd clerk,
How 'Noah and his creeping things 60
Went up into the Ark.'

XVI

He took from the poor,
And he gave to the rich,
And he shook hands with a Scotchman,
For he was not afraid of the ---- 65

XVII

General ----[323:1] burning face
He saw with consternation,
And back to hell his way did he take,
For the Devil thought by a slight mistake
It was general conflagration. 70

1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[319:1] First published in the _Morning Post_, September 6, 1799: included in 1828, 1829, and 1834. It is printed separately as the _Devil's Walk_, a Poem, By Professor Porson, London, Marsh and Miller, &c., 1830. In 1827, by way of repudiating Porson's alleged authorship of _The Devil's Thoughts_, Southey expanded the _Devil's Thoughts_ of 1799 into a poem of fifty-seven stanzas entitled _The Devil's Walk_. See _P. W._, 1838, iii. pp. 87-100. In the _Morning Post_ the poem numbered fourteen stanzas; in 1828, 1829 it is reduced to ten, and in 1834 enlarged to seventeen stanzas. Stanzas iii and xiv-xvi of the text are not in the _M. P._ Stanzas iv and v appeared as iii, iv; stanza vi as ix; stanza vii as v; stanza viii as x; stanza ix as viii; stanza x as vi; stanza xi as vii; stanza xvii as xiv. In 1828, 1829, the poem consists of stanzas i-ix of the text, and of the concluding stanzas stanza xi ('Old Nicholas', &c.) of the _M. P._ version was not reprinted. Stanzas xiv-xvi of the text were first acknowledged by Coleridge in 1834.

[320:1] And I looked, and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, Rev. vi. 8. _M. P._

[321:1] This anecdote is related by that most interesting of the Devil's Biographers, Mr. John Milton, in his _Paradise Lost_, and we have here the Devil's own testimony to the truth and accuracy of it. _M. P._

'And all amid them stood the TREE OF LIFE
High, eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit
Of vegetable gold (query _paper-money_), and next to Life
_Our_ Death, the TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, grew fast by.--

* * * * *

* * * * *

So clomb this first grand thief--
Thence up he flew, and on the tree of life
Sat like a cormorant.'--_Par. Lost_, iv.

The allegory here is so apt, that in a catalogue of _various readings_ obtained from collating the MSS. one might expect to find it noted, that for 'LIFE' _Cod. quid. habent_, 'TRADE.' Though indeed THE TRADE, _i. e._ the bibliopolic, so called κατ' ἐξοχήν, may be regarded as LIFE sensu _eminentiori_; a suggestion, which I owe to a young retailer in the hosiery line, who on hearing a description of the net profits, dinner parties, country houses, etc., of the trade, exclaimed, 'Ay! that's what I call LIFE now!'--This 'Life, _our_ Death,' is thus happily contrasted with the fruits of Authorship.--Sic nos non nobis mellificamus Apes.

Of this poem, which with the 'Fire, Famine, and Slaughter' first appeared in the _Morning Post_ [6th Sept. 1799], the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 9th, and 16th stanzas[321:A] were dictated by Mr. Southey. See Apologetic Preface [to _Fire, Famine and Slaughter_]. [Between the ninth and the concluding stanza, two or three are omitted, as grounded on subjects which have lost their interest--and for better reasons. _1828_, _1829_.]

If any one should ask who General ---- meant, the Author begs leave to inform him, that he did once see a red-faced person in a dream whom by the dress he took for a General; but he might have been mistaken, and most certainly he did not hear any names mentioned. In simple verity, the author never meant any one, or indeed any thing but to put a concluding stanza to his doggerel.

[321:A] The three first stanzas, which are worth all the rest,
and the ninth _1828_, _1829_.

[323:1] In a MS. copy in the B. M. and in some pirated versions the blank is filled up by the word 'Gascoigne's'; but in a MS. copy taken at Highgate, in June, 1820, by Derwent Coleridge the line runs 'General Tarleton's', &c.

LINENOTES:

[3-4]

{ To look at his little snug farm of the Earth
{ To visit, &c.

1828, 1829.

And see how his stock went on.

M. P., 1828, 1829.

[7] switched] swish'd M. P., 1828, 1829.

[8] switches] swishes M. P., 1828, 1829.

[9-12] Not in M. P.

[14] On the dunghill beside his stable M. P.: On a dung-heap beside his stable 1828, 1829.

[15-16]

Oh! oh; quoth he, for it put him in mind
Of the story of Cain and Abel

M. P.

[16] his] _his_ 1828, 1829.

[17] He . . . on] An Apothecary on M. P.: A Pothecary on 1828, 1829.

[18] Ride] Rode M.P., 1828, 1829. vocations] vocation M. P.

[20] Revelations] Revelation M. P.

[21] saw] past M. P.

[23] And he grinn'd at the sight, for his favourite vice M. P.

[25] peep'd] went M. P., 1828, 1829.

[27] sate myself] myself sate 1828, 1829.

[28] Hard by] Upon M. P.: Fast by 1828, 1829.

[29-33]

He saw a pig right rapidly
Adown the river float,
The pig swam well, but every stroke
Was cutting his own throat.

M. P.

[29] did glide] there plied 1828, 1829.

[Between 33-4]

Old Nicholas grinn'd and swish'd his tail
For joy and admiration;
And he thought of his daughter, Victory,
And his darling babe, Taxation.

M. P.

[34-5]

As he went through ---- ---- fields he look'd
At a

M. P.

[37] his] the M. P. in] of M. P.

[39] Fetter] Hand-cuff M. P.: Unfetter 1834.

[40-1]

'Nimbly', quoth he, 'the fingers move
If a man is but us'd to his trade.'

M. P.

[42] unfetter] unfettering M. P.

[44] And he laugh'd for he thought of the long debates M. P.

[46] saw] met M. P.

[47] Just by the Methodist meeting. M. P.

[48] holds] held M. P. key] flag[323:A] M. P.

[323:A] The allusion is to Archbishop Randolph consecrating
the Duke of York's banners. See S. T. Coleridge's _Notizbuch
aus den Jahren 1795-8_ . . . von A. Brandl, 1896, p. 354 (p.
25 _a_, l. 18 of _Gutch Memorandum Book_, B. M. Add. MSS.
27,901).

[49] And the Devil nods a greeting. M. P.

[50-2]

She tip'd him the wink, then frown'd and cri'd
'Avaunt! my name's ----
And turn'd to Mr. W----

M. P.

[66] General ----] General ----'s M. P.

[68] way did take M. P.

[70] general] General M. P.

LINES COMPOSED IN A CONCERT-ROOM[324:1]

Nor cold, nor stern, my soul! yet I detest
These scented Rooms, where, to a gaudy throng,
Heaves the proud Harlot her distended breast,
In intricacies of laborious song.

These feel not Music's genuine power, nor deign 5
To melt at Nature's passion-warbled plaint;
But when the long-breathed singer's uptrilled strain
Bursts in a squall--they gape for wonderment.

Hark! the deep buzz of Vanity and Hate!
Scornful, yet envious, with self-torturing sneer 10
My lady eyes some maid of humbler state,
While the pert Captain, or the primmer Priest,
Prattles accordant scandal in her ear.

O give me, from this heartless scene released,
To hear our old Musician, blind and grey, 15
(Whom stretching from my nurse's arms I kissed,)
His Scottish tunes and warlike marches play,
By moonshine, on the balmy summer-night,
The while I dance amid the tedded hay
With merry maids, whose ringlets toss in light. 20

Or lies the purple evening on the bay
Of the calm glossy lake, O let me hide
Unheard, unseen, behind the alder-trees,
For round their roots the fisher's boat is tied,
On whose trim seat doth Edmund stretch at ease, 25
And while the lazy boat sways to and fro,
Breathes in his flute sad airs, so wild and slow,
That his own cheek is wet with quiet tears.

But O, dear Anne! when midnight wind careers,
And the gust pelting on the out-house shed 30
Makes the cock shrilly in the rainstorm crow,
To hear thee sing some ballad full of woe,
Ballad of ship-wreck'd sailor floating dead,
Whom his own true-love buried in the sands!
Thee, gentle woman, for thy voice remeasures 35
Whatever tones and melancholy pleasures
The things of Nature utter; birds or trees,
Or moan of ocean-gale in weedy caves,
Or where the stiff grass mid the heath-plant waves,
Murmur and music thin of sudden breeze. 40

1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[324:1] First published in the _Morning Post_, September 24, 1799: included in _Sibylline Leaves_, 1817, 1828, 1829, and 1834. There is no evidence as to the date of composition. In a letter to Coleridge, dated July 5, 1796, Lamb writes 'Have a care, good Master Poet, of the Statute _de Contumeliâ_. What do you mean by calling Madame Mara harlots and naughty things? The goodness of the verse would not save you in a Court of Justice'--but it is by no means certain that Lamb is referring to the _Lines Composed in a Concert-Room_, or that there is any allusion in line 3 to Madame Mara. If, as J. D. Campbell suggested, the poem as it appeared in the _Morning Post_ is a recast of some earlier verses, it is possible that the scene is Ottery, and that 'Edmund' is the 'Friend who died dead of' a 'Frenzy Fever' (vide _ante_, p. 76). In this case a probable date would be the summer of 1793. But the poem as a whole suggests a later date. Coleridge and Southey spent some weeks at Exeter in September 1799. They visited Ottery St. Mary, and walked through Newton Abbot to Ashburton and Dartmouth. It is possible that the 'Concert-Room,' the 'pert Captain,' and 'primmer Priest' are reminiscences of Exeter, the 'heath-plant,' and the 'ocean caves' of Dartmoor and Torbay. If so, the 'shame and absolute rout' (l. 49 of variant, p. 325) would refer to the victory of Suwaroff over Joubert at Novi, which took place August 15, 1799. See _Letters of S. T. C._, 1895, i. 307.

LINENOTES:

[14] heartless] loathsome M. P.

[24] Around whose roots M. P., S. L.

[40] thin] then M. P.

[After line 40]

Dear Maid! whose form in solitude I seek,
Such songs in such a mood to hear thee sing,
It were a deep delight!--But thou shalt fling
Thy white arm round my neck, and kiss my cheek,
And love the brightness of my gladder eye 45
The while I tell thee what a holier joy

It were in proud and stately step to go,
With trump and timbrel clang, and popular shout,
To celebrate the shame and absolute rout
Unhealable of Freedom's latest foe, 50
Whose tower'd might shall to its centre nod.

When human feelings, sudden, deep and vast,
As all good spirits of all ages past
Were armied in the hearts of living men,
Shall purge the earth, and violently sweep 55
These vile and painted locusts to the deep,
Leaving un---- undebas'd
A ---- world made worthy of its God.

M. P.

[The words in lines 57, 58 were left as blanks in the Morning Post, from what cause or with what object must remain a matter of doubt.]

WESTPHALIAN SONG[326:1]

[The following is an almost literal translation of a very old and very favourite song among the Westphalian Boors. The turn at the end is the same with one of Mr. Dibdin's excellent songs, and the air to which it is sung by the Boors is remarkably sweet and lively.]

When thou to my true-love com'st
Greet her from me kindly;
When she asks thee how I fare?
Say, folks in Heaven fare finely.

When she asks, 'What! Is he sick?' 5
Say, dead!--and when for sorrow
She begins to sob and cry,
Say, I come to-morrow.

? 1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[326:1] First published in the _Morning Post_, Sept. 27, 1802: reprinted in _Essays on His Own Times_, 1850, iii. 992. First collected in _P. W._, 1877-80, ii. 170.

HEXAMETERS[326:2]

PARAPHRASE OF PSALM XLVI

Gōd ĭs oŭr Strēngth ănd oŭr Rēfŭge: thērefŏre wīll wĕ nŏt trēmblĕ,
Thō' thĕ Eārth bĕ rĕmōvĕd ănd thō' thĕ pĕrpētŭăl Moūntaīns
Sink in the Swell of the Ocean! God is our Strength and our Refuge.
There is a River the Flowing whereof shall gladden the City,
Hallelujah! the City of God! Jehova shall help her. 5
Thē Idōlătĕrs rāgĕd, the kingdoms were moving in fury;
But he uttered his Voice: Earth melted away from beneath them.
Halleluja! th' Eternal is with us, Almighty Jehova!
Fearful the works of the Lord, yea fearful his Desolations;
But He maketh the Battle to cease, he burneth the Spear and the
Chariot. 10
Halleluja! th' Eternal is with us, the God of our Fathers!

1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[326:2] Now published for the first time. The lines were sent in a letter to George Coleridge dated September 29, 1799. They were prefaced as follows:--'We were talking of Hexameters with you. I will, for want of something better, fill up the paper with a translation of one of my favourite Psalms into that metre which allowing trochees for spondees, as the nature of our Language demands, you will find pretty accurate a scansion.' _Mahomet_ and, no doubt, the _Hymn to the Earth_ may be assigned to the end of September or the beginning of October, 1799.

HYMN TO THE EARTH[327:1]

[IMITATED FROM STOLBERG'S _HYMNE AN DIE ERDE_]

HEXAMETERS

Earth! thou mother of numberless children, the nurse and the
mother,
Hail! O Goddess, thrice hail! Blest be thou! and, blessing, I hymn
thee!
Forth, ye sweet sounds! from my harp, and my voice shall float on
your surges--
Soar thou aloft, O my soul! and bear up my song on thy pinions.

Travelling the vale with mine eyes--green meadows and lake with
green island, 5
Dark in its basin of rock, and the bare stream flowing in
brightness,
Thrilled with thy beauty and love in the wooded slope of the
mountain,
Here, great mother, I lie, thy child, with his head on thy bosom!
Playful the spirits of noon, that rushing soft through thy tresses,
Green-haired goddess! refresh me; and hark! as they hurry or
linger, 10
Fill the pause of my harp, or sustain it with musical murmurs.
Into my being thou murmurest joy, and tenderest sadness
Shedd'st thou, like dew, on my heart, till the joy and the
heavenly sadness
Pour themselves forth from my heart in tears, and the hymn of
thanksgiving.

Earth! thou mother of numberless children, the nurse and the
mother, 15
Sister thou of the stars, and beloved by the Sun, the rejoicer!
Guardian and friend of the moon, O Earth, whom the comets forget
not,
Yea, in the measureless distance wheel round and again they behold
thee!
Fadeless and young (and what if the latest birth of creation?)
Bride and consort of Heaven, that looks down upon thee enamoured! 20
Say, mysterious Earth! O say, great mother and goddess,
Was it not well with thee then, when first thy lap was ungirdled,
Thy lap to the genial Heaven, the day that he wooed thee and won
thee!
Fair was thy blush, the fairest and first of the blushes of
morning!
Deep was the shudder, O Earth! the throe of thy self-retention: 25
Inly thou strovest to flee, and didst seek thyself at thy centre!
Mightier far was the joy of thy sudden resilience; and forthwith
Myriad myriads of lives teemed forth from the mighty embracement.
Thousand-fold tribes of dwellers, impelled by thousand-fold
instincts,
Filled, as a dream, the wide waters; the rivers sang on their
channels; 30
Laughed on their shores the hoarse seas; the yearning ocean
swelled upward;
Young life lowed through the meadows, the woods, and the echoing
mountains,
Wandered bleating in valleys, and warbled on blossoming branches.

1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[327:1] First published in _Friendship's Offering_, 1834, pp. 165-7, with other pieces, under the general heading:--_Fragments from the Wreck of Memory: or Portions of Poems composed in Early Manhood: by S. T. Coleridge._ A Note was prefixed:--'It may not be without use or interest to youthful, and especially to intelligent female readers of poetry, to observe that in the attempt to adapt the Greek metres to the English language, we must begin by substituting _quality_ of sound for _quantity_--that is, accentuated or comparatively emphasized syllables, for what in the Greek and Latin Verse, are named long, and of which the prosodial mark is ¯; and _vice versâ_, unaccented syllables for short marked ˘. Now the Hexameter verse consists of two sorts of _feet_, the spondee composed of two long syllables, and the dactyl, composed of one long syllable followed by two short. The following verse from the Psalms is a rare instance of a _perfect_ hexameter (i. e. line of six feet) in the English language:--

Gōd cāme | ūp wĭth ă | shōut: oūr | Lōrd wĭth thĕ | sōund ŏf ă |
trūmpĕt.

But so few are the truly _spondaic_ words in our language, such as Ēgȳpt, ūprŏar, tūrmoĭl, &c., that we are compelled to substitute, in most instances, the trochee; or ¯ ˘, i. e. in such words as mērry̆, līghtly̆, &c., for the proper spondee. It need only be added, that in the hexameter the fifth foot must be a dactyl, and the sixth a spondee, or trochee. I will end this note with two hexameter lines, likewise from the Psalms:--

Thēre ĭs ă | rīvĕr thĕ | flōwĭng whĕre|ōf shāll | glāddĕn thĕ | cīty̆,
Hāllē|lūjăh thĕ | cīty̆ | Gōd Jē|hōvăh hăth | blēst hĕr.

S. T. C.'

On some proof-sheets, or loose pages of a copy of _The Hymn_ as published in _Friendship's Offering_ for 1834, which Coleridge annotated, no doubt with a view to his corrections being adopted in the forthcoming edition of his poems (1834), he adds in MS. the following supplementary note:--'To make any considerable number of Hexameters feasible in our monosyllabic trocheeo-iambic language, there must, I fear, be other licenses granted--in the _first_ foot, at least--_ex. gr._ a superfluous ˘ prefixed in cases of particles such as 'of, 'and', and the like: likewise ¯ ˘ ¯ where the stronger accent is on the first syllable.--S. T. C.'

The _Hymn to the Earth_ is a free translation of F. L. Stolberg's _Hymne an die Erde_. (See F. Freiligrath's _Biographical Memoirs_ prefixed to the Tauchnitz edition of the _Poems_ published in 1852.) The translation exceeds the German original by two lines. The Hexameters 'from the Psalms' are taken from a metrical experiment which Coleridge sent to his brother George, in a letter dated September 29, 1799 (vide _ante_). First collected in 1834. The acknowledgement that the _Hymn to the Earth_ is imitated from Stolberg's _Hymne an die Erde_ was first prefixed by J. D. Campbell in 1893.

LINENOTES:

[8] his] its F. O. 1834.

[9] that creep or rush through thy tresses F. O. 1834.

[33] on] in F. O. 1834.

[After 33]

* * * * *

F. O. 1834.

MAHOMET[329:1]

Utter the song, O my soul! the flight and return of Mohammed,
Prophet and priest, who scatter'd abroad both evil and blessing,
Huge wasteful empires founded and hallow'd slow persecution,
Soul-withering, but crush'd the blasphemous rites of the Pagan
And idolatrous Christians.--For veiling the Gospel of Jesus, 5
They, the best corrupting, had made it worse than the vilest.
Wherefore Heaven decreed th' enthusiast warrior of Mecca,
Choosing good from iniquity rather than evil from goodness.
Loud the tumult in Mecca surrounding the fane of the idol;--
Naked and prostrate the priesthood were laid--the people with mad
shouts 10
Thundering now, and now with saddest ululation
Flew, as over the channel of rock-stone the ruinous river
Shatters its waters abreast, and in mazy uproar bewilder'd,
Rushes dividuous all--all rushing impetuous onward.

? 1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[329:1] First published in 1834. In an unpublished letter to Southey, dated Sept. 25, 1799, Coleridge writes, 'I shall go on with the Mohammed'. There can be no doubt that these fourteen lines, which represent Coleridge's contribution to a poem on 'Mahomet' which he had planned in conjunction with Southey, were at that time already in existence. For Southey's portion, which numbered 109 lines, see _Oliver Newman_. By Robert Southey, 1845, pp. 113-15.

LOVE[330:1]

All thoughts, all passions, all delights,
Whatever stirs this mortal frame,
All are but ministers of Love,
And feed his sacred flame.

Oft in my waking dreams do I 5
Live o'er again that happy hour,
When midway on the mount I lay,
Beside the ruined tower.

The moonshine, stealing o'er the scene
Had blended with the lights of eve; 10
And she was there, my hope, my joy,
My own dear Genevieve!

She leant against the arméd man,
The statue of the arméd knight;
She stood and listened to my lay, 15
Amid the lingering light.

Few sorrows hath she of her own,
My hope! my joy! my Genevieve!
She loves me best, whene'er I sing
The songs that make her grieve. 20

I played a soft and doleful air,
I sang an old and moving story--
An old rude song, that suited well
That ruin wild and hoary.

She listened with a flitting blush, 25
With downcast eyes and modest grace;
For well she knew, I could not choose
But gaze upon her face.

I told her of the Knight that wore
Upon his shield a burning brand; 30
And that for ten long years he wooed
The Lady of the Land.

I told her how he pined: and ah!
The deep, the low, the pleading tone
With which I sang another's love, 35
Interpreted my own.

She listened with a flitting blush,
With downcast eyes, and modest grace;
And she forgave me, that I gazed
Too fondly on her face! 40

But when I told the cruel scorn
That crazed that bold and lovely Knight,
And that he crossed the mountain-woods,
Nor rested day nor night;

That sometimes from the savage den, 45
And sometimes from the darksome shade,
And sometimes starting up at once
In green and sunny glade,--

There came and looked him in the face
An angel beautiful and bright; 50
And that he knew it was a Fiend,
This miserable Knight!

And that unknowing what he did,
He leaped amid a murderous band,
And saved from outrage worse than death 55
The Lady of the Land!

And how she wept, and clasped his knees;
And how she tended him in vain--
And ever strove to expiate
The scorn that crazed his brain;-- 60

And that she nursed him in a cave;
And how his madness went away,
When on the yellow forest-leaves
A dying man he lay;--

His dying words--but when I reached 65
That tenderest strain of all the ditty,
My faultering voice and pausing harp
Disturbed her soul with pity!

All impulses of soul and sense
Had thrilled my guileless Genevieve; 70
The music and the doleful tale,
The rich and balmy eve;

And hopes, and fears that kindle hope,
An undistinguishable throng,
And gentle wishes long subdued, 75
Subdued and cherished long!

She wept with pity and delight,
She blushed with love, and virgin-shame;
And like the murmur of a dream,
I heard her breathe my name. 80

Her bosom heaved--she stepped aside,
As conscious of my look she stepped--
Then suddenly, with timorous eye
She fled to me and wept.

She half enclosed me with her arms, 85
She pressed me with a meek embrace;
And bending back her head, looked up,
And gazed upon my face.

'Twas partly love, and partly fear,
And partly 'twas a bashful art, 90
That I might rather feel, than see,
The swelling of her heart.

I calmed her fears, and she was calm,
And told her love with virgin pride;
And so I won my Genevieve, 95
My bright and beauteous Bride.

1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[330:1] First published (with four preliminary and three concluding stanzas) as the _Introduction to the Tale of the Dark Ladie_, in the _Morning Post_, Dec. 21, 1799 (for complete text with introductory letter vide Appendices): included (as _Love_) in the _Lyrical Ballads_ of 1800, 1802, 1805: reprinted with the text of the _Morning Post_ in _English Minstrelsy_, 1810 (ii. 131-9) with the following prefatory note:--'These exquisite stanzas appeared some years ago in a London Newspaper, and have since that time been republished in Mr. Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads, but with some alterations; the Poet having apparently relinquished his intention of writing the Fate of the Dark Ladye': included (as _Love_) in _Sibylline Leaves_, 1828, 1829, and 1834. The four opening and three concluding stanzas with prefatory note were republished in _Literary Remains_, 1836, pp. 50-2, and were first collected in 1844. For a facsimile of the MS. of _Love_ as printed in the _Lyrical Ballads_, 1800 (i. 138-44), see _Wordsworth and Coleridge MSS._, edited by W. Hale White, 1897 (between pp. 34-5). For a collation of the _Introduction to the Tale of the Dark Ladie_ with two MSS. in the British Museum [Add. MSS., No. 27,902] see _Coleridge's Poems_. A Facsimile Reproduction, &c. Ed. by James Dykes Campbell, 1899, and Appendices of this edition.

It is probable that the greater part of the _Introduction to the Tale of the Dark Ladie_ was written either during or shortly after a visit which Coleridge paid to the Wordsworths's friends, George and Mary, and Sarah Hutchinson, at Sockburn, a farm-house on the banks of the Tees, in November, 1799. In the first draft, ll. 13-16, 'She leaned, &c.' runs thus:--

She lean'd against a grey stone rudely carv'd,
The statue of an arméd Knight:
She lean'd in melancholy mood
Amid the lingering light.

In the church at Sockburn there is a recumbent statue of an 'armed knight' (of the Conyers family), and in a field near the farm-house there is a 'Grey-Stone' which is said to commemorate the slaying of a monstrous wyverne or 'worme' by the knight who is buried in the church. It is difficult to believe that the 'arméd knight' and the 'grey stone' of the first draft were not suggested by the statue in Sockburn Church, and the 'Grey-Stone' in the adjoining field. It has been argued that the _Ballad of the Dark Ladié_, of which only a fragment remains, was written after Coleridge returned from Germany, and that the _Introduction to the Tale of the Dark Ladie_, which embodies _Love_, was written at Stowey in 1797 or 1798. But in referring to 'the plan' of the _Lyrical Ballads_ of 1798 (_Biog. Lit._, 1817, Cap. XIV, ii. 3) Coleridge says that he had written the _Ancient Mariner_, and was preparing the _Dark Ladie_ and the _Christabel_ (both unpublished poems when this Chapter was written), but says nothing of so typical a poem as _Love_. By the _Dark Ladié_ he must have meant the unfinished _Ballad of the Dark Ladié_, which, at one time, numbered 190 lines, not the _Introduction to the Tale of the Dark Ladie_, which later on he refers to as the 'poem entitled Love' (_Biog. Lit._, 1817, Cap. XXIV, ii. 298), and which had appeared under that title in the _Lyrical Ballads_ of 1800, 1802, and 1805.

In _Sibylline Leaves_, 1828, 1829, and 1834, _Love_, which was the first in order of a group of poems with the sub-title 'Love Poems', was prefaced by the following motto:--

Quas humilis tenero stylus olim effudit in aevo,
Perlegis hic lacrymas, et quod pharetratus acuta
Ille puer puero fecit mihi cuspide vulnus.
Omnia paulatim consumit longior aetas,
Vivendoque simul morimur, rapimurque manendo.
Ipse mihi collatus enim non ille videbor:
Frons alia est, moresque alii, nova mentis imago,
Voxque aliud sonat--
Pectore nunc gelido calidos miseremur amantes,
Jamque arsisse pudet. Veteres tranquilla tumultus
Mens horret, relegensque alium putat ista locutum.
PETRARCH.

LINENOTES:

Title] Introduction to the Tale of the Dark Ladie M. P.: Fragment, S. T. Coleridge English Minstrelsy, 1810.

Opening stanzas

O leave the Lilly on its stem;
O leave the Rose upon the spray;
O leave the Elder-bloom, fair Maids!
And listen to my lay.

A Cypress and a Myrtle bough,
This morn around my harp you twin'd,
Because it fashion'd mournfully
Its murmurs in the wind.

And now a Tale of Love and Woe,
A woeful Tale of Love I sing:
Hark, gentle Maidens, hark! it sighs
And trembles on the string.

But most, my own dear Genevieve!
It sighs and trembles most for thee!
O come and hear what cruel wrongs
Befel the dark Ladie.

The fifth stanza of the _Introduction_ finds its place as the fifth stanza of the text, and the sixth stanza as the first.

[3] All are] Are all S. L. (For _Are all_ r. _All are_. _Errata_, p. [xi]).

[5-6]

O ever in my waking dreams
I dwell upon

M. P., MS. erased.

[7] lay] sate M. P.

[15] lay] harp M. P., MS., L. B.

[21] soft] sad M. P., MS. erased.

[22] sang] sung E. M.

[23] suited] fitted M. P., MS., L. B.

[24] That ruin] The Ruin M. P., MS., L. B.: The ruins E. M.

[29] that] who M. P.

[31] that] how M. P.

[34] The low, the deep MS., L. B.

[35] In which I told E. M.

[42] That] Which MS., L. B. that] this M. P., MS., L. B.

[43] And how he roam'd M. P. that] how MS. erased.

[Between 44-5]

And how he cross'd the Woodman's paths [path E. M.]
Tho' briars and swampy mosses beat,
How boughs rebounding scourg'd his limbs,
And low stubs gor'd his feet.

M. P.

[45] That] How M. P., MS. erased.

[51] that] how M. P., MS. erased.

[53] that] how M. P., MS. erased.

[54] murderous] lawless M. P.

[59] ever] meekly M. P. For still she MS. erased.

[61] that] how M. P., MS. erased.

[78] virgin-] maiden-M. P., MS., L. B.

[79] murmur] murmurs M. P.

[Between 80-1]

{ heave
I saw her bosom { [*rise*] and swell,
Heave and swell with inward sighs--
I could not choose but love to see
Her gentle bosom rise.

M. P., MS. erased.

[81] Her wet cheek glowed M. P., MS. erased.

[84] fled] flew M. P.

[94] virgin] maiden MS. erased.

[95] so] thus M. P.

[After 96]

And now once more a tale of woe,
A woeful tale of love I sing;
For thee, my Genevieve! it sighs,
And trembles on the string.

When last I sang [sung E. M.] the cruel scorn
That craz'd this bold and lonely [lovely E. M.] knight,
And how he roam'd the mountain woods,
Nor rested day or night;

I promis'd thee a sister tale
Of Man's perfidious Cruelty;
Come, then, and hear what cruel wrong
Befel the Dark Ladie.

_End of the Introduction_ M. P.

ODE TO GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE[335:1]

ON THE TWENTY-FOURTH STANZA IN HER 'PASSAGE OVER MOUNT GOTHARD'

And hail the Chapel! hail the Platform wild!
Where Tell directed the avenging dart,
With well-strung arm, that first preservst his child,
Then aim'd the arrow at the tyrant's heart.

Splendour's fondly-fostered child!
And did you hail the platform wild,
Where once the Austrian fell
Beneath the shaft of Tell!
O Lady, nursed in pomp and pleasure! 5
Whence learn'd you that heroic measure?

Light as a dream your days their circlets ran,
From all that teaches brotherhood to Man
Far, far removed! from want, from hope, from fear!
Enchanting music lulled your infant ear, 10
Obeisance, praises soothed your infant heart:
Emblazonments and old ancestral crests,
With many a bright obtrusive form of art,
Detained your eye from Nature: stately vests,
That veiling strove to deck your charms divine, 15
Rich viands, and the pleasurable wine,
Were yours unearned by toil; nor could you see
The unenjoying toiler's misery.
And yet, free Nature's uncorrupted child,
You hailed the Chapel and the Platform wild, 20
Where once the Austrian fell
Beneath the shaft of Tell!
O Lady, nursed in pomp and pleasure!
Whence learn'd you that heroic measure?

There crowd your finely-fibred frame 25
All living faculties of bliss;
And Genius to your cradle came,
His forehead wreathed with lambent flame,
And bending low, with godlike kiss
Breath'd in a more celestial life; 30
But boasts not many a fair compeer
A heart as sensitive to joy and fear?
And some, perchance, might wage an equal strife,
Some few, to nobler being wrought,
Corrivals in the nobler gift of thought. 35
Yet these delight to celebrate
Laurelled War and plumy State;
Or in verse and music dress
Tales of rustic happiness--
Pernicious tales! insidious strains! 40
That steel the rich man's breast,
And mock the lot unblest,
The sordid vices and the abject pains,
Which evermore must be
The doom of ignorance and penury! 45
But you, free Nature's uncorrupted child,
You hailed the Chapel and the Platform wild,
Where once the Austrian fell
Beneath the shaft of Tell!
O Lady, nursed in pomp and pleasure! 50
Whence learn'd you that heroic measure?

You were a Mother! That most holy name,
Which Heaven and Nature bless,
I may not vilely prostitute to those
Whose infants owe them less 55
Than the poor caterpillar owes
Its gaudy parent fly.
You were a mother! at your bosom fed
The babes that loved you. You, with laughing eye,
Each twilight-thought, each nascent feeling read, 60
Which you yourself created. Oh! delight!
A second time to be a mother,
Without the mother's bitter groans:
Another thought, and yet another,
By touch, or taste, by looks or tones, 65
O'er the growing sense to roll,
The mother of your infant's soul!
The Angel of the Earth, who, while he guides[337:1]
His chariot-planet round the goal of day,
All trembling gazes on the eye of God 70
A moment turned his awful face away;
And as he viewed you, from his aspect sweet
New influences in your being rose,
Blest intuitions and communions fleet
With living Nature, in her joys and woes! 75
Thenceforth your soul rejoiced to see
The shrine of social Liberty!
O beautiful! O Nature's child!
'Twas thence you hailed the Platform wild,
Where once the Austrian fell 80
Beneath the shaft of Tell!
O Lady, nursed in pomp and pleasure!
Thence learn'd you that heroic measure.

1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[335:1] First published in the _Morning Post_, December 24, 1799 (in four numbered stanzas): included in the _Annual Anthology_, 1800, in _Sibylline Leaves_, 1817, 1828, 1829, and 1834. The Duchess's poem entitled 'Passage over Mount Gothard' was published in the _Morning Chronicle_ on Dec. 20 and in the _Morning Post_, Dec. 21, 1799.

[337:1] In a copy of the _Annual Anthology_ Coleridge drew his pen through ll. 68-77, but the lines appeared in _Sibylline Leaves_, 1817, and in all later editions (see _P. W._, 1898, p. 624).

LINENOTES:

_Ode to Georgiana_, &c.--Motto 4

Then wing'd the arrow to

M. P., An. Anth.

Sub-title] On the 24{th} stanza in her Poem, entitled 'The Passage of the Mountain of St. Gothard.' M. P.

[1-2]

Lady, Splendor's foster'd child
And did _you_

M. P.

[2] you] _you_ An. Anth.

[7] your years their courses M. P.

[9] Ah! far remov'd from want and hope and fear M. P.

[11] Obeisant praises M. P.

[14] stately] gorgeous M. P.

[15] om. An. Anth.

[31 foll.]

But many of your many fair compeers
[But many of thy many fair compeers M. P.]
Have frames as sensible of joys and fears;
And some might wage an equal strife

An. Anth.

[34-5]

(Some few perchance to nobler being wrought),
Corrivals in the plastic powers of thought.

M. P.

[35] Corrivals] co-rivals An. Anth., S. L. 1828.

[36] these] _these_ S. L. 1828, 1829.

[40] insidious] insulting M. P.

[45] penury] poverty M. P., An. Anth.

[47] Hail'd the low Chapel M. P., An. Anth.

[51] Whence] Where An. Anth., S. L. 1828, 1829.

[56] caterpillar] Reptile M. P., An. Anth.

[60] each] and M. P.

[72] you] thee M. P.

[73] your] thy M. P.

[76] O Lady thence ye joy'd to see M. P.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL[338:1]

I

The shepherds went their hasty way,
And found the lowly stable-shed
Where the Virgin-Mother lay:
And now they checked their eager tread,
For to the Babe, that at her bosom clung, 5
A Mother's song the Virgin-Mother sung.

II

They told her how a glorious light,
Streaming from a heavenly throng,
Around them shone, suspending night!
While sweeter than a mother's song, 10
Blest Angels heralded the Saviour's birth,
Glory to God on high! and Peace on Earth.

III

She listened to the tale divine,
And closer still the Babe she pressed;
And while she cried, the Babe is mine! 15
The milk rushed faster to her breast:
Joy rose within her, like a summer's morn;
Peace, Peace on Earth! the Prince of Peace is born.

IV

Thou Mother of the Prince of Peace,
Poor, simple, and of low estate! 20
That strife should vanish, battle cease,
O why should this thy soul elate?
Sweet Music's loudest note, the Poet's story,--
Didst thou ne'er love to hear of fame and glory?

V

And is not War a youthful king, 25
A stately Hero clad in mail?
Beneath his footsteps laurels spring;
Him Earth's majestic monarchs hail
Their friend, their playmate! and his bold bright eye
Compels the maiden's love-confessing sigh. 30

VI

'Tell this in some more courtly scene,
To maids and youths in robes of state!
I am a woman poor and mean,
And therefore is my soul elate.
War is a ruffian, all with guilt defiled, 35
That from the agéd father tears his child!

VII

'A murderous fiend, by fiends adored,
He kills the sire and starves the son;
The husband kills, and from her board
Steals all his widow's toil had won; 40
Plunders God's world of beauty; rends away
All safety from the night, all comfort from the day.

VIII

'Then wisely is my soul elate,
That strife should vanish, battle cease:
I'm poor and of a low estate, 45
The Mother of the Prince of Peace.
Joy rises in me, like a summer's morn:
Peace, Peace on Earth! the Prince of Peace is born.'

1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[338:1] First published in the _Morning Post_, December 25, 1799: included in the _Annual Anthology_, 1800, in _Sibylline Leaves_, 1817, 1828, 1829, and 1834.

LINENOTES:

_A Christmas Carol_--8: a] an M. P., An. Anth.

[10] While] And M. P.

[35] War is a ruffian Thief, with gore defil'd M. P., An. Anth.

[37] fiend] Thief M. P., An. Anth.

[41] rends] tears M. P.

[After 49]

Strange prophecy! Could half the screams
Of half the men that since have died
To realise War's kingly dreams,
Have risen at once in one vast tide,
The choral music of Heav'n's multitude
Had been o'erpower'd, and lost amid the uproar rude!
ESTEESI.

M. P., An. Anth.

TALLEYRAND TO LORD GRENVILLE[340:1]

A METRICAL EPISTLE

[As printed in _Morning Post_ for January 10, 1800.]

To the Editor of _The Morning Post_.