Chapter LXXXVIII: Appendix: I

FIRST DRAFTS, EARLY VERSIONS, ETC.

A

[Vide _ante_, p. 100]

EFFUSION 35

Clevedon, August 20th, 1795.[1021:1]

(First Draft)

My pensive SARA! thy soft Cheek reclin'd
Thus on my arm, how soothing sweet it is
Beside our Cot to sit, our Cot o'ergrown
With white-flowr'd Jasmine and the blossom'd myrtle,
(Meet emblems they of Innocence and Love!) 5
And watch the Clouds, that late were rich with light,
Slow-sad'ning round, and mark the star of eve
Serenely brilliant, like thy polish'd Sense,
Shine opposite! What snatches of perfume
The noiseless gale from yonder bean-field wafts! 10
The stilly murmur of the far-off Sea
Tells us of Silence! and behold, my love!
In the half-closed window we will place the Harp,
Which by the desultory Breeze caress'd,
Like some coy maid half willing to be woo'd, 15
Utters such sweet upbraidings as, perforce,
Tempt to repeat the wrong!

[_M. R._]

EFFUSION, p. 96. (1797.)

(Second Draft)

My pensive SARA! thy soft Cheek reclin'd
Thus on my arm, most soothing sweet it is
To sit beside our Cot, our Cot o'ergrown
With white-flower'd Jasmin, and the broad-leav'd Myrtle
(Meet emblems they of Innocence and Love!) 5
And watch the Clouds that, late were rich with light,
Slow-sadd'ning round, and mark the Star of eve
Serenely brilliant (such should WISDOM be!)
Shine opposite. How exquisite the Scents
Snatch'd from yon Bean-field! And the world _so_ hush'd! 10
The stilly murmur of the far-off Sea
Tells us of Silence! And that simplest Lute
Plac'd lengthways in the clasping casement, hark!
How by the desultory Breeze caress'd
(Like some coy Maid half-yielding to her Lover) 15
It pours such sweet Upbraidings, as must needs
Tempt to repeat the wrong. And now it's strings
Boldlier swept, the long sequacious notes
Over delicious Surges sink and rise
In aëry voyage, Music such as erst 20
Round rosy bowers (so Legendaries tell)
To sleeping Maids came floating witchingly
By wand'ring West winds stoln from Faery land;
Where on some magic Hybla MELODIES
Round many a newborn honey-dropping Flower 25
Footless and wild, like Birds of Paradise,
Nor pause nor perch, warbling on untir'd wing.

And thus, my Love! as on the midway Slope
Of yonder Hill I stretch my limbs at noon
And tranquil muse upon Tranquillity. 30
Full many a Thought uncall'd and undetain'd
And many idle flitting Phantasies
Traverse my indolent and passive Mind
As wild, as various, as the random Gales
That swell or flutter on this subject Lute. 35
And what if All of animated Life
Be but as Instruments diversly fram'd
That tremble into thought, while thro' them breathes
One infinite and intellectual Breeze,
And all in diff'rent Heights so aptly hung, 40
That Murmurs indistinct and Bursts sublime,
Shrill Discords and most soothing Melodies,
Harmonious from Creation's vast concent--
Thus _God_ would be the universal Soul,
Mechaniz'd matter as th' organic harps 45
And each one's Tunes be that, which each calls I.

But thy more serious Look a mild Reproof
Darts, O beloved Woman, and thy words
Pious and calm check these unhallow'd Thoughts,
These Shapings of the unregen'rate Soul, 50
Bubbles, that glitter as they rise and break
On vain Philosophy's aye-babbling Spring:
Thou biddest me walk humbly with my God!
Meek Daughter in the family of Christ.
Wisely thou sayest, and holy are thy words! 55
Nor may I unblam'd or speak or think of Him,
Th' INCOMPREHENSIBLE! save when with Awe
I praise him, and with Faith that inly feels,
Who with his saving Mercies healèd me,
A sinful and most miserable man 60
Wilder'd and dark, and gave me to possess
PEACE and this COT, and THEE, my best-belov'd!

[_MS. R._]

FOOTNOTES:

[1021:1] Now first published from Cottle's MSS. preserved in the Library of Rugby School.

LINENOTES:

[40-43]

In diff'rent heights, so aptly hung, that all
In half-heard murmurs and loud bursts sublime,
Shrill discords and most soothing melodies,
Raises one great concent--one concent formed,
Thus God, the only universal Soul--

Alternative version, MS. R.

B

RECOLLECTION[1023:1]

[Vide _ante_, pp. 53, 48]

As the tir'd savage, who his drowsy frame
Had bask'd beneath the sun's unclouded flame,
Awakes amid the troubles of the air,
The skiey deluge and white lightning's glare,
Aghast he scours before the tempest's sweep, 5
And sad recalls the sunny hour of sleep!
So tost by storms along life's wild'ring way
Mine eye reverted views that cloudless day,
When by my native brook I wont to rove,
While HOPE with kisses nurs'd the infant LOVE! 10

Dear native brook! like peace so placidly
Smoothing thro' fertile fields thy current meek--
Dear native brook! where first young POESY
Star'd wildly eager in her noon-tide dream;
Where blameless Pleasures dimpled Quiet's cheek, 15
As water-lilies _ripple_ thy slow stream!
How many various-fated years have past,
What blissful and what anguish'd hours, since last
I skimm'd the smooth thin stone along thy breast
Numb'ring its light leaps! Yet so deep imprest 20
Sink the sweet scenes of childhood, that mine eyes
I never shut amid the sunny blaze,
But strait, with all their tints, thy waters rise,
The crossing plank, and margin's willowy maze,
And bedded sand, that, vein'd with various dyes, 25
Gleam'd thro' thy bright transparence to the gaze--
Ah! fair tho' faint those forms of memory seem
Like Heaven's bright bow on thy smooth evening stream.

FOOTNOTES:

[1023:1] First published in _The Watchman_, No. V, April 2, 1796: reprinted in Note 39 (p. 566) of _P. W._, 1892. The Editor (J. D. Campbell) points out that this poem as printed in _The Watchman_ is made up of lines 71-86 of _Lines on an Autumnal Evening_ (vide _ante_, p. 53), of lines 2-11 of _Sonnet to the River Otter_, and of lines 13, 14 of _The Gentle Look_, and _Anna and Harland_.

C

THE DESTINY OF NATIONS

[Add. (_MSS._) 34,225. f. 5. Vide _ante_, p. 131.]

[DRAFT I]

Auspicious Reverence! Hush all meaner song,
Till we the deep prelusive strain have pour'd
To the Great Father, only Rightful King,
Eternal Father! king omnipotent;
Beneath whose shadowing banners wide-unfurl'd 5
Justice leads forth her tyrant-quelling Hosts.
Such Symphony demands best Instrument.

Seize, then, my Soul, from Freedom's trophied dome
The harp which hanging high between the shields
Of Brutus and Leonidas, oft gives 10
A fitful music, when with breeze-like Touch
Great Spirits passing thrill its wings: the Bard
Listens and knows, thy will to work by Fame.
For what is Freedom, but the unfetter'd use
Of all the powers which God for use had given? 15
But chiefly this, him first to view, him last,
Thro' shapes, and sounds, and all the world of sense,
The change of empires, and the deeds of Man
Translucent, as thro' clouds that veil the Light.
But most, O Man! in thine in wasted Sense 20
And the still growth of Immortality
Image of God, and his Eternity.
But some there are who deem themselves most wise
When they within this gross and visible sphere
Chain down the winged thought, scoffing ascent 25
Proud in their meanness--and themselves they mock
With noisy emptiness of learned phrase
Their subtle fluids, impacts, essences,
Self-working tools, uncaused effects, and all
Those blind Omniscients, those Almighty Slaves, 30
Untenanting Creation of its God!

But properties are God: the Naked Mass
(If Mass there be, at best a guess obscure,)
Acts only by its inactivity.
Here we pause humbly. Others boldlier dream, 35
That as one body is the Aggregate
Of Atoms numberless, each organiz'd,
So by a strange and dim similitude
Infinite myriads of self-conscious minds
Form one all-conscious Spirit, who controlls 40
With absolute ubiquity of Thought
All his component Monads: linked Minds,
Each in his own sphere evermore evolving
Its own entrusted powers--Howe'er this be,
Whether a dream presumptious, caught from earth 45
And earthly form, or vision veiling Truth,
Yet the Omnific Father of all Worlds
God in God immanent, the eternal Word,
That gives forth, yet remains--Sun, that at once
Dawns, rises, sets and crowns the Height of Heaven, 50
Great general Agent in all finite souls,
Doth in that action put on finiteness,
For all his Thoughts are acts, and every act
A Being of Substance; God impersonal,
Yet in all worlds impersonate in all, 55
Absolute Infinite, whose dazzling robe
Flows in rich folds, and darts in shooting Hues
Of infinite Finiteness! he rolls each orb
Matures each planet, and Tree, and spread thro' all
Wields all the Universe of Life and Thought, 60
[Yet leaves to all the Creatures meanest, highest,
Angelic Right, self-conscious Agency--]

[_Note._ The last two lines of Draft I are erased.]

[DRAFT II]

Auspicious Reverence! Hush all meaner song,
Ere we the deep prelusive strain have pour'd
To the Great Father, only Rightful king
All-gracious Father, king Omnipotent!
Mind! co-eternal Word! forth-breathing Sound! 5
Aye unconfounded: undivided Trine--
Birth and Procession; ever re-incircling Act!
God in God immanent, distinct yet one!
Omnific, Omniform. The Immoveable,
That goes forth and remains, eke----and at once 10
Dawns, rises, and sets and crowns the height of Heaven!
[Cf. _Anima Poetæ_, 1895, p. 162.]

Such Symphony demands best Instrument.
Seize then, my soul! from Freedom's trophied dome.
The harp which hanging high between the shields
Of Brutus and Leonidas, gives oft 15
A fateful Music, when with breeze-like Touch
Pure spirits thrill its strings: the Poet's heart
Listens, and smiling knows that Poets demand
Once more to live for Man and work by Fame:
For what is Freedom, but th' unfetter'd use 20
Of all the Powers, which God for use had given!
Thro' the sweet Influence of harmonious Word----

* * * * *

The zephyr-travell'd Harp, that flashes forth
Jets and low wooings of wild melody
That sally forth and seek the meeting Ear, 25
Then start away, half-wanton, half-afraid
Like the red-breast forced by wintry snows,
In the first visits by the genial Hearth,
From the fair Hand, that tempts it to--
Or like a course of flame, from the deep sigh 30
Of the idly-musing Lover dreaming of his Love
With thoughts and hopes and fears, {sinking, snatching,
{as warily, upward
Bending, recoiling, fluttering as itself

* * * * *

And cheats us with false prophecies of sound

LINENOTES:

[9] i. e. jure suo, by any inherent Right.

[DRAFT III]

Auspicious Reverence! Hush all meaner song,
Till we the deep prelusive strain have pour'd
To the Great Father, only Rightful king,
All Gracious Father, king Omnipotent!
To Him, the inseparate, unconfounded TRINE, 5
MIND! Co-eternal WORD! Forth-breathing SOUND!
Birth! and PROCESSION! Ever-circling ACT!
GOD in GOD immanent, distinct yet one!
Sole Rest, true Substance of all finite Being!
Omnific! Omniform! The Immoveable, 10
That goes forth and remaineth: and at once
Dawns, rises, sets and crowns the height of Heaven!

* * * * *

Such Symphony demands best Instrument.
Seize then, my Soul! from Freedom's trophied dome
The Harp, that hanging high between the Shields 15
Of Brutus and Leonidas, flashes forth
Starts of shrill-music, when with breeze-like Touch
Departed Patriots thrill the----

D

PASSAGES IN SOUTHEY'S _Joan of Arc_ (FIRST EDITION, 1796) CONTRIBUTED BY S. T. COLERIDGE[1027:1].

[Vide _ante_, p. 131]