The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Volume I Part 111

He took from the poor, And he gave to the rich, And he shook hands with a Scotchman, For he was not afraid of the ---- 65

XVII

General ----[323:1] burning face He saw with consternation, And back to h.e.l.l his way did he take, For the Devil thought by a slight mistake It was general conflagration. 70

1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[319:1] First published in the _Morning Post_, September 6, 1799: included in 1828, 1829, and 1834. It is printed separately as the _Devil's Walk_, a Poem, By Professor Porson, London, Marsh and Miller, &c., 1830. In 1827, by way of repudiating Porson's alleged authors.h.i.+p of _The Devil's Thoughts_, Southey expanded the _Devil's Thoughts_ of 1799 into a poem of fifty-seven stanzas ent.i.tled _The Devil's Walk_. See _P.

W._, 1838, iii. pp. 87-100. In the _Morning Post_ the poem numbered fourteen stanzas; in 1828, 1829 it is reduced to ten, and in 1834 enlarged to seventeen stanzas. Stanzas iii and xiv-xvi of the text are not in the _M. P._ Stanzas iv and v appeared as iii, iv; stanza vi as ix; stanza vii as v; stanza viii as x; stanza ix as viii; stanza x as vi; stanza xi as vii; stanza xvii as xiv. In 1828, 1829, the poem consists of stanzas i-ix of the text, and of the concluding stanzas stanza xi ('Old Nicholas', &c.) of the _M. P._ version was not reprinted. Stanzas xiv-xvi of the text were first acknowledged by Coleridge in 1834.

[320:1] And I looked, and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, Rev. vi. 8. _M. P._

[321:1] This anecdote is related by that most interesting of the Devil's Biographers, Mr. John Milton, in his _Paradise Lost_, and we have here the Devil's own testimony to the truth and accuracy of it. _M. P._

'And all amid them stood the TREE OF LIFE High, eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit Of vegetable gold (query _paper-money_), and next to Life _Our_ Death, the TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, grew fast by.--

So clomb this first grand thief-- Thence up he flew, and on the tree of life Sat like a cormorant.'--_Par. Lost_, iv.

The allegory here is so apt, that in a catalogue of _various readings_ obtained from collating the MSS. one might expect to find it noted, that for 'LIFE' _Cod. quid. habent_, 'TRADE.' Though indeed THE TRADE, _i.

e._ the bibliopolic, so called ?at' ??????, may be regarded as LIFE sensu _eminentiori_; a suggestion, which I owe to a young retailer in the hosiery line, who on hearing a description of the net profits, dinner parties, country houses, etc., of the trade, exclaimed, 'Ay!

that's what I call LIFE now!'--This 'Life, _our_ Death,' is thus happily contrasted with the fruits of Authors.h.i.+p.--Sic nos non n.o.bis mellificamus Apes.

Of this poem, which with the 'Fire, Famine, and Slaughter' first appeared in the _Morning Post_ [6th Sept. 1799], the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 9th, and 16th stanzas[321:A] were dictated by Mr. Southey. See Apologetic Preface [to _Fire, Famine and Slaughter_]. [Between the ninth and the concluding stanza, two or three are omitted, as grounded on subjects which have lost their interest--and for better reasons. _1828_, _1829_.]

If any one should ask who General ---- meant, the Author begs leave to inform him, that he did once see a red-faced person in a dream whom by the dress he took for a General; but he might have been mistaken, and most certainly he did not hear any names mentioned. In simple verity, the author never meant any one, or indeed any thing but to put a concluding stanza to his doggerel.

[321:A] The three first stanzas, which are worth all the rest, and the ninth _1828_, _1829_.

[323:1] In a MS. copy in the B. M. and in some pirated versions the blank is filled up by the word 'Gascoigne's'; but in a MS. copy taken at Highgate, in June, 1820, by Derwent Coleridge the line runs 'General Tarleton's', &c.

LINENOTES:

[3-4]

{ To look at his little snug farm of the Earth { To visit, &c.

1828, 1829.

And see how his stock went on.

M. P., 1828, 1829.

[7] switched] swish'd M. P., 1828, 1829.

[8] switches] swishes M. P., 1828, 1829.

[9-12] Not in M. P.

[14] On the dunghill beside his stable M. P.: On a dung-heap beside his stable 1828, 1829.

[15-16]

Oh! oh; quoth he, for it put him in mind Of the story of Cain and Abel

M. P.

[16] his] _his_ 1828, 1829.

[17] He . . . on] An Apothecary on M. P.: A Pothecary on 1828, 1829.

[18] Ride] Rode M.P., 1828, 1829. vocations] vocation M. P.

[20] Revelations] Revelation M. P.

[21] saw] past M. P.

[23] And he grinn'd at the sight, for his favourite vice M. P.

[25] peep'd] went M. P., 1828, 1829.

[27] sate myself] myself sate 1828, 1829.

[28] Hard by] Upon M. P.: Fast by 1828, 1829.

[29-33]

He saw a pig right rapidly Adown the river float, The pig swam well, but every stroke Was cutting his own throat.

M. P.

[29] did glide] there plied 1828, 1829.

[Between 33-4]

Old Nicholas grinn'd and swish'd his tail For joy and admiration; And he thought of his daughter, Victory, And his darling babe, Taxation.

M. P.

[34-5]