The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Volume I Part 65

LINENOTES:

t.i.tle] Allegorical Lines on the Same Subject MS. Cottle.

[5]

When the scythes-man o'er his sheaf Caroll'd in the yellow vale

MS. Cottle.

When the rustic o'er his sheaf Caroll'd in, &c.

1797.

[_Note._ The text of Stanza ii dates from 1803.]

[9] foolish] poor fond MS. Cottle.

[15] Soon upon this sheltered walk, MS. Cottle, Second Version.

[16] to fade, and rot. MS. Cottle.

TO THE REV. GEORGE COLERIDGE[173:1]

OF OTTERY ST. MARY, DEVON

_With some Poems_

Notus in fratres animi paterni.

HOR. _Carm._ lib. II. 2.

A blessed lot hath he, who having pa.s.sed His youth and early manhood in the stir And turmoil of the world, retreats at length, With cares that move, not agitate the heart, To the same dwelling where his father dwelt; 5 And haply views his tottering little ones Embrace those aged knees and climb that lap, On which first kneeling his own infancy Lisp'd its brief prayer. Such, O my earliest Friend!

Thy lot, and such thy brothers too enjoy. 10 At distance did ye climb Life's upland road, Yet cheer'd and cheering: now fraternal love Hath drawn you to one centre. Be your days Holy, and blest and blessing may ye live!

To me the Eternal Wisdom hath dispens'd 15 A different fortune and more different mind-- Me from the spot where first I sprang to light Too soon transplanted, ere my soul had fix'd Its first domestic loves; and hence through life Chasing chance-started friends.h.i.+ps. A brief while 20 Some have preserv'd me from life's pelting ills; But, like a tree with leaves of feeble stem, If the clouds lasted, and a sudden breeze Ruffled the boughs, they on my head at once Dropped the collected shower; and some most false, 25 False and fair-foliag'd as the Manchineel, Have tempted me to slumber in their shade E'en mid the storm; then breathing subtlest damps, Mix'd their own venom with the rain from Heaven, That I woke poison'd! But, all praise to Him 30 Who gives us all things, more have yielded me Permanent shelter; and beside one Friend, Beneath the impervious covert of one oak, I've rais'd a lowly shed, and know the names Of Husband and of Father; not unhearing 35 Of that divine and nightly-whispering Voice, Which from my childhood to maturer years Spake to me of predestinated wreaths, Bright with no fading colours!

Yet at times My soul is sad, that I have roam'd through life 40 Still most a stranger, most with naked heart At mine own home and birth-place: chiefly then, When I remember thee, my earliest Friend!

Thee, who didst watch my boyhood and my youth; Didst trace my wanderings with a father's eye; 45 And boding evil yet still hoping good, Rebuk'd each fault, and over all my woes Sorrow'd in silence! He who counts alone The beatings of the solitary heart, That Being knows, how I have lov'd thee ever, 50 Lov'd as a brother, as a son rever'd thee!

Oh! 'tis to me an ever new delight, To talk of thee and thine: or when the blast Of the shrill winter, rattling our rude sash, Endears the cleanly hearth and social bowl; 55 Or when, as now, on some delicious eve, We in our sweet sequester'd orchard-plot Sit on the tree crook'd earth-ward; whose old boughs, That hang above us in an arborous roof, Stirr'd by the faint gale of departing May, 60 Send their loose blossoms slanting o'er our heads!

Nor dost not thou sometimes recall those hours, When with the joy of hope thou gavest thine ear To my wild firstling-lays. Since then my song Hath sounded deeper notes, such as beseem 65 Or that sad wisdom folly leaves behind, Or such as, tuned to these tumultuous times, Cope with the tempest's swell!

Those various strains, Which I have fram'd in many a various mood, Accept, my Brother! and (for some perchance 70 Will strike discordant on thy milder mind) If aught of error or intemperate truth Should meet thine ear, think thou that riper Age Will calm it down, and let thy love forgive it!

NETHER-STOWEY, SOMERSET, _May_ 26, 1797.

FOOTNOTES:

[173:1] First published as the Dedication to the Poems of 1797: included in 1803, _Sibylline Leaves_, 1817, 1828, 1829, and 1834. In a copy of the _Poems_ of 1797, formerly in the possession of the late Mr.

Frederick Locker-Lampson, Coleridge affixed the following note to the Dedication--'N. B. If this volume should ever be delivered according to its direction, _i. e._ to Posterity, let it be known that the Reverend George Coleridge was displeased and thought his character endangered by the Dedication.'--S. T. Coleridge. _Note_ to _P. and D. W._, 1877-80, i.

163.

LINENOTES:

_To the Rev. George Coleridge_--Motto] lib. I. 2 S. L. 1817, 1828, 1829, 1834.

[10] Thine and thy Brothers' favourable lot. 1803.

[23] and] or 1797, 1803.

[30] That I woke prison'd! But (the praise be His 1803.

[33-4]

I as beneath the covert of an oak Have rais'd

1803.

[35] not] nor 1797, 1803, S. L. 1817, 1828, 1829.

[47-9]

Rebuk'd each fault, and wept o'er all my woes.

Who counts the beatings of the lonely heart

1797, 1803.

[Between 52-3] My eager eye glist'ning with memry's tear 1797.

[62] thou] _thou_ all editions to 1834.

[Between 66-7] Or the high raptures of prophetic Faith 1797, 1803.

[68] strains] songs 1797, 1803.

ON THE CHRISTENING OF A FRIEND'S CHILD[176:1]

This day among the faithful plac'd And fed with fontal manna, O with maternal t.i.tle grac'd, Dear Anna's dearest Anna!