The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Volume II Part 1

The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

THE FALL OF ROBESPIERRE[495:1]

AN HISTORIC DRAMA

[_First Act_ by Coleridge: _Second and Third_ by Southey--1794.]

TO

H. MARTIN, ESQ.

OF

JESUS COLLEGE

CAMBRIDGE

DEAR SIR,

Accept, as a small testimony of my grateful attachment, the following Dramatic Poem, in which I have endeavoured to detail, in an interesting form, the fall of a man, whose great bad actions have cast a disastrous l.u.s.tre on his name. In the execution of the work, as intricacy of plot could not have been attempted without a gross violation of recent facts, it has been my sole aim to imitate the empa.s.sioned and highly figurative language of the French orators, and to develope the characters of the chief actors on a vast stage of horrors.

Yours fraternally, S. T. COLERIDGE.

JESUS COLLEGE, _September_ 22, 1794.

FOOTNOTES:

[495:1] First published (as an octavo pamphlet) at Cambridge by Benjamin Flower in 1794: included in _Literary Remains_, 1836, i. (1)-32. First collected in _P. and D. W._, 1877-80, in. (1)-39. 'It will be remarked,'

writes J. D. Campbell (_P. W._, 1893, p. 646), 'that neither t.i.tle-page nor dedication contains any hint of the joint authorship.' On this point Coleridge writes to Southey, September 19, 1794:--'The tragedy will be printed in less than a week. I shall put my name because it will sell at least a hundred copies in Cambridge. It would appear ridiculous to print two names to such a work. But if you choose it, mention it and it shall be done. To every man who _praises_ it, of course I give the _true_ biography of it.' _Letters of S. T. C._, 1895, i. 85.

ACT I

SCENE--_The Thuilleries._

_Barrere._ The tempest gathers--be it mine to seek A friendly shelter, ere it bursts upon him.

But where? and how? I fear the Tyrant's _soul_-- Sudden in action, fertile in resource, And rising awful 'mid impending ruins; 5 In splendor gloomy, as the midnight meteor, That fearless thwarts the elemental war.

When last in secret conference we met, He scowl'd upon me with suspicious rage, Making his eye the inmate of my bosom. 10 I know he scorns me--and I feel, I hate him-- Yet there is in him that which makes me tremble! [_Exit._

_Enter TALLIEN and LEGENDRE._

_Tallien._ It was Barrere, Legendre! didst thou mark him?

Abrupt he turn'd, yet linger'd as he went, And towards us cast a look of doubtful meaning. 15

_Legendre._ I mark'd him well. I met his eye's last glance; It menac'd not so proudly as of yore.

Methought he would have spoke--but that he dar'd not-- Such agitation darken'd on his brow.

_Tallien._ 'Twas all-distrusting guilt that kept from bursting 20 Th' imprison'd secret struggling in the face: E'en as the sudden breeze upstarting onwards Hurries the thundercloud, that pois'd awhile Hung in mid air, red with its mutinous burthen.

_Legendre._ Perfidious Traitor!--still afraid to bask 25 In the full blaze of power, the rustling serpent Lurks in the thicket of the Tyrant's greatness, Ever prepared to sting who shelters him.

Each thought, each action in himself converges; And love and friendship on his coward heart 30 Shine like the powerless sun on polar ice; To all attach'd, by turns deserting all, Cunning and dark--a necessary villain!

_Tallien._ Yet much depends upon him--well you know With plausible harangue 'tis his to paint 35 Defeat like victory--and blind the mob With truth-mix'd falsehood. They led on by him, And wild of head to work their own destruction, Support with uproar what he plans in darkness.

_Legendre._ O what a precious name is Liberty 40 To scare or cheat the simple into slaves!

Yes--we must gain him over: by dark hints We'll shew enough to rouse his watchful fears, Till the cold coward blaze a patriot.

O Danton! murder'd friend! a.s.sist my counsels-- 45 Hover around me on sad Memory's wings, And pour thy daring vengeance in my heart.

Tallien! if but to-morrow's fateful sun Beholds the Tyrant living--we are dead!

_Tallien._ Yet his keen eye that flashes mighty meanings-- 50

_Legendre._ Fear not--or rather fear th' alternative, And seek for courage e'en in cowardice-- But see--hither he comes--let us away!

His brother with him, and the b.l.o.o.d.y Couthon, And high of haughty spirit, young St. Just. [_Exeunt._ 55

_Enter ROBESPIERRE, COUTHON, ST. JUST, and ROBESPIERRE JUNIOR._

_Robespierre._ What? did La Fayette fall before my power?

And did I conquer Roland's spotless virtues?

The fervent eloquence of Vergniaud's tongue?

And Brissot's thoughtful soul unbribed and bold?

Did zealot armies haste in vain to save them? 60 What! did th' a.s.sa.s.sin's dagger aim its point Vain, as a _dream_ of murder, at my bosom?

And shall I dread the soft luxurious Tallien?

Th' Adonis Tallien? banquet-hunting Tallien?

Him, whose heart flutters at the dice-box? Him, 65 Who ever on the harlots' downy pillow Resigns his head impure to feverish slumbers!

_St. Just._ I cannot fear him--yet we must not scorn him.

Was it not Antony that conquer'd Brutus, Th' Adonis, banquet-hunting Antony? 70 The state is not yet purified: and though The stream runs clear, yet at the bottom lies The thick black sediment of all the factions-- It needs no magic hand to stir it up!

_Couthon._ O we did wrong to spare them--fatal error! 75 Why lived Legendre, when that Danton died?

And Collot d'Herbois dangerous in crimes?

_I've_ fear'd him, since his iron heart endured To make of Lyons one vast human shambles, Compar'd with which the sun-scorcht wilderness 80 Of Zara were a smiling paradise.

_St. Just._ Rightly thou judgest, Couthon! He is one Who flies from silent solitary anguish, Seeking forgetful peace amid the jar Of elements. The howl of maniac uproar 85 Lulls to sad sleep the memory of himself.

A calm is fatal to him--then he feels The dire upboilings of the storm within him.

A tiger mad with inward wounds!--I dread The fierce and restless turbulence of guilt. 90

_Robespierre._ Is not the Commune ours? The stern tribunal?

Dumas? and Vivier? Fleuriot? and Louvet?

And Henriot? We'll denounce an hundred, nor Shall they behold to-morrow's sun roll westward.