If Smiles more winning, and a gentler Mien If these demand the empassion'd Poet's care-— TRANSLATION1 OF WRANGHAM'S HENDECASYLLABI AD BRUNTONAM MAID of unboastful charms! whom white-robed Truth Forbade the Circe Praise to witch thy soul, 35 40 5 10 1 First published in Poems, by Francis Wrangham, London, 1795, First collected in P. and D. W., 1880, ii. 360* (Supplement). pp. 79-83. 41-4 42-4 36 empassion'd] wond'ring A Child of Nature, as she feels she sings. MS. Letter, 1794. Tho' harsh her song, yet guileless is the Muse. Unwont &c. MS. E. No Serpent lurks beneath their simple hues. No purple blooms from Flattery's nightshade brings, The Child of Nature-as he feels he sings. MS. 4° erased. Nature's pure Child from Flatt'ry's night-shade brings No blooms rich-purpling: as he feels he sings. MS. 4o. Below 1. 44 September, 1794 1797, 1803: September 1792 1828, 1829, 1834. 43-4 Thou pourest lone Monimia's tale of woe; O soon to seek the city's busier scene, 1794. TO MISS BRUNTON1 WITH THE PRECEDING TRANSLATION THAT darling of the Tragic Muse, Thalia lost her rosy hues, And sicken'd at her lays: 15 20 25 30 But transient was th' unwonted sigh; 5 For soon the Goddess spied A sister-form of mirthful eye, 1794. And danc'd for joy and cried: 'Meek Pity's sweetest child, proud dame, Still bid your Poet boast her name; I have my Brunton too.' 10 1 First published in Poems, by Francis Wrangham, 1795, p. 83. First collected in P. and D. W., 1880, ii. 362* (Supplement). 1794. EPITAPH ON AN INFANT1 ERE Sin could blight or Sorrow fade, PANTISOCRACY 2 No more my visionary soul shall dwell 1 First published in the Morning Chronicle, September 28, 1794: included in The Watchman, No. IX, May 5, 1796, Poems 1796, 1797, 1803, 1828, 1829, and 1834. These well-known lines, which vexed the soul of Charles Lamb, were probably adapted from An Epitaph on an Infant' in the churchyard of Birchington, Kent (A Collection of Epitaphs, 1806, i. 219) :Ah! why so soon, just as the bloom appears, Drops the fair blossom in the vale of tears? Death view'd the treasure in the desart given And claim'd the right of planting it in Heav'n. In MS. E a Greek version (possibly a rejected prize epigram) is prefixed with the accompanying footnote. Ηλυθες εἰς αιδην, καὶ δή τυ ποθεῦσι τοκηες• Ηλυθες αδυ βρεφος ! του βραχυ δυνε φαος. Ομμα μεν εις σεο σημα Πατηρ πικρον ποτιβαλλει * Translation of the Greek Epitaph. Thou art gone down into the Grave, and heavily do thy Parents feel the Loss. Thou art gone down into the Grave, sweet Baby! Thy short Light is set! Thy Father casts an Eye of Anguish towards thy Tomb-yet with uncomplaining Piety resigns to God his own Gift!' Equal or Greater simplicity marks all the writings of the Greek Poets.— The above [i.e. the Greek] Epitaph was written in Imitation of them. [S. T. C.] 2 First published in the Life and Correspondence of R. Southey, 1849, i. 224. First collected 1852 (Notes). Southey includes the sonnet in a letter to his brother Thomas dated Oct. 19, 1794, and attributes the authorship to Coleridge's friend S. Favell, with whom he had been in correspondence. He had already received the sonnet in a letter from Coleridge (dated Sept. 18, 1794), who claims it for his own and apologizes for the badness of the poetry. The octave was included (11. 129-36) in the second version of the Monody on the Death of Chatterton, first printed in Lancelot Sharpe's edition of the Poems of Chatterton published at Cambridge in 1794. Mrs. H. N. Coleridge (Poems, 1852, p. 382) prints the sonnet and apologizes for the alleged plagiarism. It is difficult to believe that either the first eight or last six lines of the sonnet were not written by Coleridge. It is included in the MS. volume of Poems which Coleridge presented to Mrs. Estlin in 1795. The text is that of Letter Sept. 18, 1794. Pantisocracy-Title] Sonnet MS. E. I my] the MS, E. Sublime of Hope, I seek the cottag'd dell Eyes that have ach'd with Sorrow! Ye shall weep On which the fierce-eyed Fiends their revels keep, New rays of pleasance trembling to the heart. 1794. ON THE PROSPECT OF ESTABLISHING WHILST pale Anxiety, corrosive Care, And soon with kindred minds shall haste to enjoy (Free from the ills which here our peace destroy) Content and Bliss on Transatlantic shore. 1794. ELEGY 2 IMITATED FROM ONE OF AKENSIDE'S BLANK-VERSE INSCRIPTIONS [(No.) III.] NEAR the lone pile with ivy overspread, Fast by the rivulet's sleep-persuading sound, 1 First published in the Co-operative Magazine and Monthly Herald, March 6, 1826, and reprinted in the Athenæum, Nov. 5, 1904. First collected in 1907. It has been conjectured, but proof is wanting, that the sonnet was written by Coleridge. 2 First published in the Morning Chronicle, September 23, 1794: included in The Watchman, No. III, March 17, 1794 in Sibylline Leaves, 1817: 1828, 1829, and 1834, but omitted in 1852 as of doubtful origin. Pantisocracy. 8 Passions weave] Passion wears Letter, Oct. 19 1794, 1852. 9 Sorrow] anguish Letter, Oct. 19 1794, 1852. Io like theirs] as those Letter, Oct. 19 1794, 1852: as they, MS. E. 13 feel] find Letter, Oct. 19 1794, 14 pleasance] pleasure Letter, Oct. 19 1794, 1852. Elegy—Title] An Elegy Morning Chronicle, Watchman. I the] yon M. C. 1852. Where 'sleeps the moonlight' on yon verdant bed- For there does Edmund rest, the learned swain! That Riches cannot pay for Love or Truth. ? 1794. THE FADED FLOWER1 UNGRATEFUL he, who pluck'd thee from thy stalk, Thy modest beauties dew'd with Evening's gem, The elegy as printed in the Morning Chronicle is unsigned. 5 10 15 20 5 In The 1 First published in the Monthly Magazine, August, 1836. First collected in P. W., 1893. 6 And there his pale-eyed phantom loves to rove M. C. IO West-wind] Zephyr M. C. crime M. C. 12 Lucinda sunk M. C. 13 Guilt] 17 remorse and tortur'd Guilt's M. C I till] ere M. C. 14 step] steps M. C. 22 tearful] lovely M. C. 20 Could soothe the conscious horrors of her mind M. C. horror] horrors The Watchman. |