The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Volume I Part 164

_Lady._ Tell me, Bard! where Love lies buried?

_Poet._ Love lies buried where 'twas born: Oh, gentle dame! think it no scorn 5 If, in my fancy, I presume To call thy bosom poor Love's Tomb.

And on that tomb to read the line:-- 'Here lies a Love that once seem'd mine, But caught a chill, as I divine, 10 And died at length of a Decline.'

1828.

FOOTNOTES:

[475:1] First published in 1828: included in the _Amulet_, 1833, as the first of 'Three Sc.r.a.ps', and in 1852. The present text is that of the _Amulet_, 1833.

LINENOTES:

t.i.tle] The Alienated Mistress: A Madrigal (From an unfinished Melodrama) 1828, 1852.

[1-3]

_Lady._ If Love be dead (and you aver it!) Tell me Bard! where Love lies buried.

1828, 1852.

[5] Ah faithless nymph 1828, 1852.

[7] call] name 1828, 1852.

[9] seem'd] was 1828, 1852.

[10] caught] took 1828, 1852.

LINES[476:1]

TO A COMIC AUTHOR, ON AN ABUSIVE REVIEW

What though the chilly wide-mouth'd quacking chorus From the rank swamps of murk Review-land croak: So was it, neighbour, in the times before us, When Momus, throwing on his Attic cloak, Romp'd with the Graces; and each tickled Muse 5 (That Turk, Dan Phbus, whom bards call divine, Was married to--at least, he kept--all nine) Fled, but still with reverted faces ran; Yet, somewhat the broad freedoms to excuse, They had allured the audacious Greek to use, 10 Swore they mistook him for their own good man.

This Momus--Aristophanes on earth Men call'd him--maugre all his wit and worth, Was croak'd and gabbled at. How, then, should you, Or I, friend, hope to 'scape the skulking crew? 15 No! laugh, and say aloud, in tones of glee, 'I hate the quacking tribe, and they hate me!'

? 1825.

FOOTNOTES:

[476:1] First published in _Friends.h.i.+p's Offering_, 1834, as No. III of 'Lightheartednesses in Rhyme': included in 1834.

LINENOTES:

t.i.tle] To a Comic Author on an abusive review of his Aristophanes MS.

[1 foll.]

They fled;-- Friend yet unknown! What tho' a brainless rout _Usurp the sacred t.i.tle of the Bard_-- What tho' the chilly wide-mouth'd chorus From Styx or Lethe's oozy Channel croak: So was it, Peter, in the times before us When Momus throwing on his Attic cloak Romp'd with the Graces and each tickled Muse The plighted coterie of Phbus he bespoke And laughing with reverted faces ran, And somewhat the broad freedom to excuse They had allow'd the audacious Greek to use Swore they mistook him for their own good man!

If the good dulness be the home of worth Duller than Frogs co-ax'd, or Jeffrey writ We, too, will Aristoff (_sic_) and welcome it--

_First draft_ MS. B. M.

[7] kept] _kept_ F. O. 1834.

COLOGNE[477:1]

In Kohln[477:2], a town of monks and bones[477:3], And pavements fang'd with murderous stones And rags, and hags, and hideous wenches; I counted two and seventy stenches, All well defined, and several stinks! 5 Ye Nymphs that reign o'er sewers and sinks, The river Rhine, it is well known, Doth wash your city of Cologne; But tell me, Nymphs, what power divine Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine[477:4]? 10

1828.

FOOTNOTES:

[477:1] First published in _Friends.h.i.+p's Offering_, 1834, as No. IV of 'Lightheartednesses in Rhyme'. It follows the lines 'On my joyful Departure', &c., and is headed 'Expectoration the Second'. First collected in 1834.

[477:2] Kohln Coln _F. O._ The German Name of Cologne. _F. O._]

[477:3] Of the eleven thousand virgin Martyrs. _F. O._

[477:4] As Necessity is the mother of Invention, and extremes beget each other, the facts above recorded may explain how this _ancient_ town (which, alas! as sometimes happens with venison, _has been kept too long_), _came to be the birthplace of the most fragrant of spirituous fluids, the_ EAU DE COLOGNE. _F. O._

ON MY JOYFUL DEPARTURE[477:5]

FROM THE SAME CITY

As I am a Rhymer[477:6], And now at least a merry one, Mr. Mum's Rudesheimer[477:7]

And the church of St. Geryon Are the two things alone 5 That deserve to be known In the body-and-soul-stinking town of Cologne.

1828.

FOOTNOTES:

[477:5] First published in _Friends.h.i.+p's Offering_, 1834, with the heading 'An Expectoration, or Splenetic Extempore, on my joyful departure from the City of Cologne'. First collected in 1834.