The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Volume I Part 19

Letter, 1793, MS. E.

[23] Another Love may Letter, 1793.

KISSES[46:2]

Cupid, if storying Legends tell aright, Once fram'd a rich Elixir of Delight.

A Chalice o'er love-kindled flames he fix'd, And in it Nectar and Ambrosia mix'd: With these the magic dews which Evening brings, 5 Brush'd from the Idalian star by faery wings: Each tender pledge of sacred Faith he join'd, Each gentler Pleasure of th' unspotted mind-- Day-dreams, whose tints with sportive brightness glow, And Hope, the blameless parasite of Woe. 10 The eyeless Chemist heard the process rise, The steamy Chalice bubbled up in sighs; Sweet sounds transpired, as when the enamour'd Dove Pours the soft murmuring of responsive Love.

The finish'd work might Envy vainly blame, 15 And 'Kisses' was the precious Compound's name.

With half the G.o.d his Cyprian Mother blest, And breath'd on Sara's lovelier lips the rest.

1793.

FOOTNOTES:

[46:2] First published in 1796: included in 1797 (_Supplement_), 1803, and 1844. Three MSS. are extant, (1) as included in a letter to George Coleridge, Aug. 5, 1793; (2) as written in pencil in a copy of Langhorne's _Collins_ in 1793; (3) _MS. E._ _Poems_, 1796 (Note 7, p.

181), and footnotes in 1797 and 1803, supply the original Latin:

Effinxit quondam blandum meditata laborem Basia lasciva Cypria Diva manu.

Ambrosiae succos occulta temperat arte, Fragransque infuso nectare tingit opus.

Sufficit et partem mellis, quod subdolus olim Non impune favis surripuisset Amor.

Decussos violae foliis admiscet odores Et spolia aestivis plurima rapta rosis.

Addit et illecebras et mille et mille lepores, Et quot Acidalius gaudia Cestus habet.

Ex his composuit Dea basia; et omnia libens Invenias nitidae sparsa per ora Cloes.

Carm[ina] Quad[ragesimalia], vol. ii.

LINENOTES:

t.i.tle] Cupid turn'd Chymist Letter, 1793, Pencil. The Compound MS. E: Effusion xxvi. 1796: The Composition of a Kiss 1797: Kisses 1803, 1844, 1852.

[1] storying] ancient Pencil.

[3] Chalice] cauldron Letter, 1793.

[8] gentler] gentle Pencil.

[9]

Gay Dreams whose tints with beamy brightness glow.

Letter, 1793, MS. E.

[9-10]

{ Hopes the blameless parasites of Woe And { Fond Bristol MS.

And Dreams whose tints with beamy brightness glow.

Pencil, Bristol MS.

[11-12]

With joy he view'd his chymic process rise, The steaming cauldron bubbled up in sighs.

Letter, 1793.

[11-12]

the chymic process rise, The steaming chalice Pencil, MS. E.

[11-12]

the chymic process rise, The charming cauldron Bristol MS.

[14] Murmuring] murmurs Letter, 1793.

Cooes the soft murmurs Pencil.

[15]

not Envy's self could blame Letter, 1793, Pencil.

might blame. MS. E.

[17] With part Letter, 1793, MS. E.

[18]

on Nesbitt's lovely lips the rest. Letter, 1793, Pencil.

on Mary's lovelier lips the rest. MS. E.

on lovely Nesbitt's lovely lips the rest. Bristol MS.

THE GENTLE LOOK[47:1]

Thou gentle Look, that didst my soul beguile, Why hast thou left me? Still in some fond dream Revisit my sad heart, auspicious Smile!

As falls on closing flowers the lunar beam: What time, in sickly mood, at parting day 5 I lay me down and think of happier years; Of joys, that glimmer'd in Hope's twilight ray, Then left me darkling in a vale of tears.

O pleasant days of Hope--for ever gone!

Could I recall you!--But that thought is vain. 10 Availeth not Persuasion's sweetest tone To lure the fleet-wing'd Travellers back again: Yet fair, though faint, their images shall gleam Like the bright Rainbow on a willowy stream.[48:1]

? 1793.