And then with sonnets and with sympathy But, whether sad or fierce, 'tis simple all, ΤΟ III ON A RUINED HOUSE IN A ROMANTIC COUNTRY AND this reft house is that the which he built, Lamented Jack! And here his malt he pil'd, Cautious in vain! These rats that squeak so wild, Squeak, not unconscious of their father's guilt. Did ye not see her gleaming thro' the glade? Belike, 'twas she, the maiden all forlorn. What though she milk no cow with crumpled horn, Yet aye she haunts the dale where erst she stray'd; And aye beside her stalks her amorous knight! Still on his thighs their wonted brogues are worn, And thro' those brogues, still tatter'd and betorn, His hindward charms gleam an unearthly white; As when thro' broken clouds at night's high noon Peeps in fair fragments forth the full-orb'd harvest-moon! 1797. 5 10 PARLIAMENTARY OSCILLATORS1 ALMOST awake? Why, what is this, and whence, Has hitch'd her pullies to each heavy eye-lid? 1 First published in the Cambridge Intelligencer, January 6, 1798 : included in Sibylline Leaves, 1817: Essays on His own Times, 1850, iii. 969-70. First collected in P. and D. W., 1877-80. In Sibylline Leaves the poem is incorrectly dated 1794. 12 in gener-al Cottle, E. R., i. 288. I] Sonnet III. To, &c. M. M. As when] Ah! thus B. L., i. 27. 10 their] his Cottle, E. R., i. 292. 13 Parliamentary Oscillators-Title] To Sir John Sinclair, S. Thornton, Alderman Lushington, and the whole Troop of Parliamentary Oscillators C. I. 2 right] tight C. I. It's hardly possible C. I. Yet wherefore else that start, which discomposes That precipice three yards beyond your noses? Yet flatter you I cannot, that your wit Is much improved by this long loyal dozing; And I admire, no more than Mr. Pitt, Your jumps and starts of patriotic prosing Now cluttering to the Treasury Cluck, like chicken, Now having faith implicit that he can't err, And now believing him a sly, inchanter, Yet still afraid to break his brittle charms, Lest some mad Devil suddenly unhamp'ring, Slap-dash the imp should fly off with the steeple, On revolutionary broom-stick scampering. O ye soft-headed and soft-hearted people, If you can stay so long from slumber free, My muse shall make an effort to salute 'e: For lo a very dainty simile 25 Flash'd sudden through my brain, and 'twill just suit 'e! You know that water-fowl that cries, Quack! Quack!? Fasten the Bird of Wisdom on its back, Both plung'd together in the deep mill-stream, Tu-whoo! quoth Broad-face, and down dives the Drake ! 30 35 1 Pitt's 'treble assessment at seven millions' which formed part of the budget for 1798. The grant was carried in the House of Commons, Jan. 4, 1798. 9 But yet I cannot flatter you, your wit C. I. 24 O ye soft-hearted and soft-headed, &c. C. I. 29 that cries] which cries C. I. 31 Fasten] Fallen C. I. 14 the] his C.I. 26, 28 'e] ye C. I. 30 Full often] Ditch-full oft 0. I. The green-neck'd Drake once more pops up to view, The broad-faced Bird! and deeper dives the other. Even so on Loyalty's Decoy-pond, each Pops up his head, as fir'd with British blood, Hears once again the Ministerial screech, And once more seeks the bottom's blackest mud! 1798. 40 45 (Signed: LABERIUS.) CHRISTABEL1 PREFACE The THE first part of the following poem was written in the year 1797, at Stowey, in the county of Somerset. second part, after my return from Germany, in the year 1800, at Keswick, Cumberland. It is probable that if the 1 First published, together with Kubla Khan and The Pains of Sleep, 1816: included in 1828, 1829, and 1834. Three MSS. of Christabel have passed through my hands. The earliest, which belonged to Wordsworth, is partly in Coleridge's handwriting and partly in that of Mary Hutchinson (Mrs. Wordsworth). The probable date of this MS., now in the possession of the poet's grandson, Mr. Gordon Wordsworth, is April-October, 1800. Later in the same year, or perhaps in 1801, Coleridge made a copy of the First Part (or Book), the Conclusion to the First Book, and the Second Book, and presented it to Mrs. Wordsworth's sister, Sarah Hutchinson. A facsimile of the MS., now in the possession of Miss Edith Coleridge, was issued in collotype in the edition of Christabel published in PREFACE] Prefixed to the three issues of 1816, and to 1828, 1829, 1834. Christabel-Preface. 2 The year one thousand seven hundred and ninety 3, 4 The year one thousand eight hundred 1816, seven 1816, 1828, 1829. 4 after 'Cumberland'] Since the latter date, my poetic powers 1828, 1829. have been, till very lately, in a state of suspended animation. But as, in my very first conception of the tale, I had the whole present to my mind, with the wholeness, no less than the liveliness of a vision; I trust that I shall be able to embody in verse the three parts yet to come, in the course of the present year. It is probable, &c. 1816, 1828, 1829: om. 1834. poem had been finished at either of the former periods, or 5 if even the first and second part had been published in the year 1800, the impression of its originality would have been much greater than I dare at present expect. But for this I have only my own indolence to blame. The dates are mentioned for the exclusive purpose of precluding charges of 10 plagiarism or servile imitation from myself. For there is amongst us a set of critics, who seem to hold, that every possible thought and image is traditional; who have no notion that there are such things as fountains in the world, small as well as great; and who would therefore charitably 15 derive every rill they behold flowing, from a perforation 1907, under the auspices of the Royal Society of Literature. In 1801, or at some subsequent period (possibly not till 1815), Miss Hutchinson transcribed Coleridge's MS. The water-mark of the paper is 1801. Her transcript, now in the possession of Mr. A. H. Hallam Murray, was sent to Lord Byron in October, 1815. It is possible that this transcription was the 'copy' for the First Edition published in 1816; but, if so, Coleridge altered the text whilst the poem was passing through the press. The existence of two other MSS. rests on the authority of John Payne Collier (see Seven Lectures on Shakespeare and Milton. By S. T. Coleridge, 1856, pp. xxxix-xliii). The first, which remained in his possession for many years, was a copy in the handwriting of Sarah Stoddart (afterwards Mrs. Hazlitt). J. P. Collier notes certain differences between this MS., which he calls the 'Salisbury Copy', and the text of the First Edition. He goes on to say that before Christabel was published Coleridge lent him an MS. in his own handwriting, and he gives two or three readings from the second MS. which differ from the text of the 'Salisbury Copy' and from the texts of those MSS. which have been placed in my hands. The copy of the First Edition of Christabel presented to William Stewart Rose's valet, David Hinves, on November 11, 1816, which Coleridge had already corrected, is now in the possession of Mr. John Murray. The emendations and additions inscribed on the margin of this volume were included in the collected edition of Coleridge's Poetical Works, published by William Pickering in 1828. The editions of 1829 and 1834 closely followed the edition of 1828, but in 1834 there was in one particular instance (Part I, lines 6-10) a reversion to the text of the First Edition. The MS. of the 'Conclusion of Part II' forms part of a letter to Southey dated May 6, 1801. (Letters of S. T. C., 1895, i. 355.) The following abbreviations have been employed to note the MSS. and transcriptions of Christabel : 1. The Wordsworth MS., partly in Coleridge's (lines 1-295) and partly in Mary Hutchinson's (lines 295-655) handwriting=MS. W. 2. The Salisbury MS., copied by Sarah Stoddart=S. T. C. (a). 8. The MS. lent by Coleridge to Payne Collier =S. T. C. (b). 4. Autograph MS. in possession of Miss Edith Coleridge (reproduced in facsimile in 1907) S. T. C. (c). = 5. Transcription made by Sarah Hutchinson=S. H. 6. Corrections made by Coleridge in the Copy of the First Edition presented to David Hinves= H. 1816. 1 made in some other man's tank. I am confident, however, "Tis mine and it is likewise yours; Let it be mine, good friend! for I 25 I have only to add that the metre of Christabel is not, properly speaking, irregular, though it may seem so from its 30 being founded on a new principle: namely, that of counting in each line the accents, not the syllables. Though the latter may vary from seven to twelve, yet in each line the accents will be found to be only four. Nevertheless, this occasional variation in number of syllables is not introduced wantonly, 35 or for the mere ends of convenience, but in correspondence with some transition in the nature of the imagery or passion. PART I 'Tis the middle of night by the castle clock, And hark, again! the crowing cock, How drowsily it crew. 1 Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron. 5 2 The Latin hexameters', 'in the lame and limping metre of a barbarous Latin poet', ran thus: 'Est meum et est tuum, amice! at si amborum nequit esse, Sit meum, amice, precor: quia certe sum magi' pauper.' It is interesting to note that Coleridge translated these lines in November, 1801, long before the 'celebrated poets' in question had made, or seemed to make, it desirable to 'preclude a charge of plagiarism '. 23 doggrel 1816, 1828, 1829. PART I] Book the First MS. W., S. T. C. (c), S. H.: Part the First 1828, 3 Tu-u-whoo! Tu-u-whoo! MS. W., S. T. C. (c), S. H. |