But through the clefts itself has made
We likewise see Love's flashing blade,
By rust consumed, or snapt in twain;
And only hilt and stump remain.
A BIRD, who for his other sins
Had liv'd amongst the Jacobins ;
Though like a kitten amid rats,
Or callow tit in nest of bats,
He much abhorr'd all democrats;
Yet nathless stood in ill report
Of wishing ill to Church and Court,
Tho' he'd nor claw, nor tooth, nor sting,
And learnt to pipe God save the King;
Tho' each day did new feathers bring,
All swore he had a leathern wing;
Nor polish'd wing, nor feather'd tail,
Nor down-clad thigh would aught avail;
And tho' his tongue devoid of gall-
He civilly assur'd them all:—
'A bird am I of Phoebus' breed,
And on the sunflower cling and feed;
My name, good Sirs, is Thomas Tit!"
The bats would hail him Brother Cit,
Or, at the furthest, cousin-german.
1 First published in 1834. It is probable that the immediate provocation of these lines was the publication of Hazlitt's character-sketch of Coleridge in The Spirit of the Age, 1825, pp. 57-75. Lines 1-7, 49, 50, 84, 89 are quoted by J. Payne Collier (An Old Man's Diary, Oct. 20, 1833, Pt. IV, p. 56) from a MS. presented by Charles Lamb to Martin Burney. A fragmentary MS. with the lines in different order is in the British Museum.
We spy no less, too, that the Blade,
Is cut away or snapt atwain
And nought but Hilt or Stump remain.
A Character-Title] A Trifle MS. J. P. C.
I for] 'mongst MS. B. M.
2 amongst] among J. P. C. 3 amid]
6 ill] bad J. P. C.
7 Of ill
II had a had but a MS. B. M.
among J. P. C.
5 all] the J. P. C.
to Church as well as Court J. P. C.
At length the matter to determine,
He publicly denounced the vermin;
He spared the mouse, he praised the owl;
But bats were neither flesh nor fowl.
Blood-sucker, vampire, harpy, goul,
Came in full clatter from his throat,
Till his old nest-mates chang'd their note
To hireling, traitor, and turncoat,-
A base apostate who had sold
His very teeth and claws for gold;-
And then his feathers!-sharp the jest-
No doubt he feather'd well his nest !
A Tit indeed! aye, tit for tat-
With place and title, brother Bat,
We e soon shall see how well he'll play
Count Goldfinch, or Sir Joseph Jay!'
Alas, poor Bird! and ill-bestarr'd-
Or rather let us say, poor Bard!
And henceforth quit the allegoric,
With metaphor and simile,
And plough'd and sow'd, while others reapt;
The work was his, but theirs the glory,
Sic vos non vobis, his whole story.
Besides, whate'er he wrote or said
Came from his heart as well as head;
And though he never left in lurch
His king, his country, or his church,
'Twas but to humour his own cynical
Contempt of doctrines Jacobinical ;
To his own conscience only hearty,
"Twas but by chance he serv'd the party ;-
The self-same things had said and writ,
Had Pitt been Fox, and Fox been Pitt;
Content his own applause to win,
Would never dash thro' thick and thin,
And he can make, so say the wise,
No claim who makes no sacrifice;-
And bard still less-what claim had he,
22 denounced] disowned MS. B. M. 36 Joseph] Judas MS. B. M.
31 sharp] smoke MS. B. M.
Who swore it vex'd his soul to see
So grand a cause, so proud a realm,
With Goose and Goody at the helm;
Who long ago had fall'n asunder
But for their rivals' baser blunder,
The coward whine and Frenchified
Slaver and slang of the other side?
Thus, his own whim his only bribe,
Our Bard pursued his old A. B. C.
Contented if he could subscribe
In fullest sense his name "Eσrησe;
('Tis Punic Greek for 'he hath stood!')
Whate'er the men, the cause was good;
And therefore with a right good will,
Poor fool, he fights their battles still.
Tush! squeak'd the Bats;-a mere bravado
To whitewash that base renegado;
'Tis plain unless you're blind or mad,
His conscience for the bays he barters;-
And true it is--as true as sad-
These circlets of green baize he had-
But then, alas! they were his garters!
Ah! silly Bard, unfed, untended,
His lamp but glimmer'd in its socket;
He lived unhonour'd and unfriended
With scarce a penny in his pocket ;-
Nay-tho' he hid it from the many-
With scarce a pocket for his penny!
Yet still pursu'd thro' scoff and gibe
From A. to Z. his old A.B.C.
Content that he could still subscribe
In symbol just his name ΕΣΤΗΣΕ ;
(In punic Greek that's He hath stood :)
Whate'er the men, the cause was good. MS. B. M.
84 Ah! silly bird and unregarded J. P. C.: Poor witless Bard, unfed, 86 He liv'd unpraised, and unfriended MS. B. M.: 87 With scarce] Without J. P. C.
untended MS. B. M.
unfriended] discarded J. P. C.
STANZAS ADDRESSED TO A LADY ON HER RECOVERY WITH
UNBLEMISHED LOOKS, FROM A SEVERE ATTACK OF PAIN
'Twas my last waking thought, how it could be
That thou, sweet friend, such anguish should'st endure;
When straight from Dreamland came a Dwarf, and he
Could tell the cause, forsooth, and knew the cure.
Methought he fronted me with peering look
Fix'd on my heart; and read aloud in game
The loves and griefs therein, as from a book:
And uttered praise like one who wished to blame.
In every heart (quoth he) since Adam's sin
Two Founts there are, of Suffering and of Cheer!
That to let forth, and this to keep within!
But she, whose aspect I find imaged here,
Of Pleasure only will to all dispense,
That Fount alone unlock, by no distress
Choked or turned inward, but still issue thence
Unconquered cheer, persistent loveliness.
As on the driving cloud the shiny bow,
That gracious thing made up of tears and light,
Mid the wild rack and rain that slants below
Stands smiling forth, unmoved and freshly bright;
As though the spirits of all lovely flowers,
Inweaving each its wreath and dewy crown,
Or ere they sank to earth in vernal showers,
Had built a bridge to tempt the angels down.
1 First published in the Annual Register for 1827 reprinted in the Bijou for 1828 included in 1828, 1829, 1834. In Gilchrist's Life of Blake (1863, i. 337) it is stated that this poem was addressed to Mrs. Aders, the daughter of the engraver Raphael Smith.' P. W., 1892, p. 642.
Title] Stanzas addressed to a Lady on her Recovery from a Severe attack of Pain Annual Register.
II That-this] That-this 1828, 1829. 14 That] That 1828, 1829. 16-17 In a MS. dated 1826, the following stanza precedes stanza 5 of the Was ne'er on earth seen beauty like to this, A concentrated satisfying sight! In its deep quiet, ask no further bliss
At once the form and substance of delight.
Looks forth upon the troubled air below
Unmov'd, entire, inviolably bright. MS. 1826.
Even so, Eliza! on that face of thine,
On that benignant face, whose look alone
(The soul's translucence thro' her crystal shrine!)
Has power to soothe all anguish but thine own,
A beauty hovers still, and ne'er takes wing,
But with a silent charm compels the stern
And tort'ring Genius of the bitter spring,
To shrink aback, and cower upon his urn.
Who then needs wonder, if (no outlet found
In passion, spleen, or strife) the Fount of Pain
O'erflowing beats against its lovely mound,
And in wild flashes shoots from heart to brain?
Sleep, and the Dwarf with that unsteady gleam
On his raised lip, that aped a critic smile,
Had passed: yet I, my sad thoughts to beguile,
Lay weaving on the tissue of my dream;
Till audibly at length I cried, as though
Thou hadst indeed been present to my eyes,
O sweet, sweet sufferer; if the case be so,
I pray thee, be less good, less sweet, less wise!
In every look a barbed arrow send,
On those soft lips let scorn and anger live!
Do any thing, rather than thus, sweet friend!
Hoard for thyself the pain, thou wilt not give!
CONSTANCY TO AN IDEAL OBJECT1
SINCE all that beat about in Nature's range,
Or veer or vanish; why should'st thou remain
The only constant in a world of change,
O yearning Thought! that liv'st but in the brain?
Call to the Hours, that in the distance play,
The faery people of the future day——
There is no evidence as to date of composition. J. D. Campbell (1893, p. 635) believed that it was written at Malta'. Line 18 seems to imply that the poem was not written in England. On the other hand a comparison of Îl. 9, 10 with a passage in the Allegoric Vision, which was re-written with large additions, and first published in 1817, suggests a much later date. The editors of 1852 include these lines among 'Poems written in Later Life', but the date (?1826) now assigned is purely conjectural. First published in 1828: included in 1829 and 1834.
31 tort'ring] fost'ring Annual Register, Bijou. less-less-less 1828, 1829. 47 any] any 1828, 1829.
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