Mutter'd to wretch by necromantic spell;

Or of those hags, who at the witching time Of murky Midnight ride the air sublime, And mingle foul embrace with fiends of Hell:

Cold Horror drinks its blood! Anon the tear
More gentle starts, to hear the Beldame tell
Of pretty Babes, that lov'd each other dear,
Murder'd by cruel Uncle's mandate fell:

Even such the shiv'ring joys thy tones impart,
Even so thou, SIDDONS! meltest my sad heart!
December 29, 1794.

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IX

TO WILLIAM GODWIN1

AUTHOR OF POLITICAL JUSTICE'

O FORM'D t' illume a sunless world forlorn,
As o'er the chill and dusky brow of Night,
In Finland's wintry skies the Mimic Morn

Electric pours a stream of rosy light,

Pleas'd I have mark'd OPPRESSION, terror-pale,

Since, thro' the windings of her dark machine, Thy steady eye has shot its glances keenAnd bade th' All-lovely 'scenes at distance hail'.

Nor will I not thy holy guidance bless,

And hymn thee, GODWIN! with an ardent lay;
For that thy voice, in Passion's stormy day,
When wild I roam'd the bleak Heath of Distress,

Bade the bright form of Justice meet my way—
And told me that her name was HAPPINESS.
January 10, 1795.

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1 First published in the Morning Chronicle, January 10, 1795. First collected, P. and D. W., 1877, i. 143. The last six lines were sent in a letter to Southey, dated December 17, 1794. Letters of S. T. C., 1895, i. 117.

2 Aurora Borealis.

Mrs. Siddons-6 Of Warlock Hags that M. C.

OF BALIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD, AUTHOR OF THE 'RETROSPECT',

AND OTHER POEMS

SOUTHEY! thy melodies steal o'er mine ear
Like far-off joyance, or the murmuring

Of wild bees in the sunny showers of Spring-
Sounds of such mingled import as may cheer

The lonely breast, yet rouse a mindful tear:

Wak'd by the Song doth Hope-born FANCY fling
Rich showers of dewy fragrance from her wing,
Till sickly PASSION's drooping Myrtles sear
Blossom anew! But O! more thrill'd, I prize

Thy sadder strains, that bid in MEMORY's Dream
The faded forms of past Delight arise;

Then soft, on Love's pale cheek, the tearful gleam

Of Pleasure smiles-as faint yet beauteous lies
The imag'd Rainbow on a willowy stream.
January 14, 1795.

XI 2

TO RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN, ESQ.

Ir was some Spirit, SHERIDAN! that breath'd
O'er thy young mind such wildly-various power!

1 First published in the Morning collected, P. and D. W., 1877, i. 142. Southey, dated December 17, 1794.

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Chronicle, January 14, 1795. First
This sonnet was sent in a letter to
Letters of S. T. C., 1895, i. 120.

2 First published in the Morning Chronicle, January 29, 1795: included in 1796, 1803, 1828, 1829, and 1834, Two MS. versions are extant; one in a letter to Southey, dated December 9, 1794 (Letters of S. T. C., 1895,

To R. B. Sheridan-Title] To Sheridan MS. E: Effusion vi. 1796: Sonnet xi. 1803: Sonnet v. 1828, 1829, 1834.

1-5

1-2

1-3

Some winged Genius, Sheridan! imbreath'd
His various influence on thy natal hour:
My fancy bodies forth the Guardian power,
His temples with Hymettian flowrets wreath'd
And sweet his voice MS. Letter, Dec. 9, 1794.
Was it some Spirit, SHERIDAN! that breath'd
His various &c. M. C.

Some winged Genius, Sheridan ! imbreath'd
O'er thy young Soul a wildly-various power!
My Fancy meets thee in her shaping hour MS. E.

My soul hath mark'd thee in her shaping hour,
Thy temples with Hymettian' flow'rets wreath'd:
And sweet thy voice, as when o'er LAURA's bier
Sad Music trembled thro' Vauclusa's glade
Sweet, as at dawn the love-lorn Serenade
That wafts soft dreams to SLUMBER'S listening ear.

Now patriot Rage and Indignation high

Swell the full tones! And now thine eye-beams dance 10 Meanings of Scorn and Wit's quaint revelry! Writhes inly from the bosom-probing glance

The Apostate by the brainless rout ador'd,

As erst that elder Fiend beneath great Michael's sword. January 29, 1795.

i. 118), and a second in the Estlin copy-book. In 1796 a note to line 4 was included in Notes, p. 179, and in 1797 and 1803 affixed as a footnote, p. 95:- Hymettian Flowrets. Hymettus, a mountain near Athens, celebrated for its honey. This alludes to Mr. Sheridan's classical attainments, and the following four lines to the exquisite sweetness and almost Italian delicacy of his poetry. In Shakespeare's Lover's Complaint there is a fine stanza almost prophetically characteristic of Mr. Sheridan.

So on the tip of his subduing tongue
All kind of argument and question deep,
All replication prompt and reason strong
For his advantage still did wake and sleep,
To make the weeper laugh, the laugher weep:
He had the dialect and different skill
Catching all passions in his craft of will;
That he did in the general bosom reign
Of young and old.'

Hymettus, a mountain of Attica famous for honey. M. C.

8 wafts] bears MS. Letter, 1794, M. C., MS. E. 9 Rage] Zeal MS. Letter, to thine] his Letter, 1794, M. C.

1794, MS. E, M. C.

12

While inly writhes from the Soul-probing glance M. C.
12-14 Th' Apostate by the brainless rout ador'd
Writhes inly from the bosom-probing glance
As erst that nobler Fiend MS. Letter, 1794, MS. E.

14 elder] other M. C.

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ON READING HIS LATE PROTEST IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS

['MORNING CHRONICLE,' JAN. 31, 1795]

STANHOPE! I hail, with ardent Hymn, thy name!
Thou shalt be bless'd and lov'd, when in the dust
Thy corse shall moulder-Patriot pure and just!
And o'er thy tomb the grateful hand of FAME

Shall grave:-'Here sleeps the Friend of Humankind!'
For thou, untainted by CORRUPTION'S bowl,
Or foul AMBITION, with undaunted soul
Hast spoke the language of a Free-born mind
Pleading the cause of Nature! Still pursue
Thy path of Honour!-To thy Country true,

Still watch th' expiring flame of Liberty!

O Patriot! still pursue thy virtuous way,
As holds his course the splendid Orb of Day,
Or thro' the stormy or the tranquil sky!

1795.

ONE OF THE PEOPLE.

TO EARL STANHOPE 2

NOT, STANHOPE! with the Patriot's doubtful name
I mock thy worth-Friend of the Human Race!
Since scorning Faction's low and partial aim
Aloof thou wendest in thy stately pace,

Thyself redeeming from that leprous stain,
Nobility and aye unterrify'd

Pourest thine Abdiel warnings on the train

That sit complotting with rebellious pride

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1 First collected in 1893. Mr. Campbell assigned the authorship of the Sonnet to Coleridge, taking it to be the original of the one to Stanhope printed in the Poems of 1796 and 1803'. For 'Corruption's bowl' (1. 6) see Sonnet to Burke, line 9 (ante, p. 80).

2 First published in 1796: included in 1803, in Cottle's Early Rec. i. 203, and in Rem. 1848, p. 111. First collected in 1852.

To Earl Stanhope-Title] Effusion x. 1796 (To Earl Stanhope Contents): Sonnet xvi. 1803: Sonnet ix. 1852.

'Gainst Her who from the Almighty's bosom leapt
With whirlwind arm, fierce Minister of Love!
Wherefore, ere Virtue o'er thy tomb hath wept,
Angels shall lead thee to the Throne above:

And thou from forth its clouds shalt hear the voice,
Champion of Freedom and her God! rejoice!

1795.

LINES 2

TO A FRIEND IN ANSWER TO A MELANCHOLY LETTER

AWAY, those cloudy looks, that labouring sigh,
The peevish offspring of a sickly hour!
Nor meanly thus complain of Fortune's power,
When the blind Gamester throws a luckless die.

Yon setting Sun flashes a mournful gleam
Behind those broken clouds, his stormy train:
To-morrow shall the many-colour'd main
In brightness roll beneath his orient beam!

Wild, as the autumnal gust, the hand of Time
Flies o'er his mystic lyre: in shadowy dance
The alternate groups of Joy and Grief advance
Responsive to his varying strains sublime!

Bears on its wing each hour a load of Fate;
The swain, who, lull'd by Seine's mild murmurs, led
His weary oxen to their nightly shed,

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To-day may rule a tempest-troubled State.

Nor shall not Fortune with a vengeful smile
Survey the sanguinary Despot's might,
And haply hurl the Pageant from his height
Unwept to wander in some savage isle.

There shiv'ring sad beneath the tempest's frown
Round his tir'd limbs to wrap the purple vest;
And mix'd with nails and beads, an equal jest!
Barter for food, the jewels of his crown.

? 1795.

1 Gallic Liberty.

First published in 1796 included in 1803, 1828, 1829, and 1834.

Lines, &c.-Title] Epistle II. To a Friend, &c. 1796: To a Friend, &c.

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