The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Volume I Part 25

Venus sees with tearful eyes-- In her lap the starling lies!

While the Loves all in a ring Softly stroke the stiffen'd wing. 10

? 1794.

FOOTNOTES:

[61:1] First published, _Literary Remains_, 1836, i. 274. First collected, _P. W._, 1893. The t.i.tles 'Lesbia' and 'The Death of the Starling' first appear in 1893.

LINENOTES:

[7] sees] see L. R.

MORIENS SUPERSt.i.tI[61:2]

The hour-bell sounds, and I must go; Death waits--again I hear him calling;-- No cowardly desires have I, Nor will I shun his face appalling.

I die in faith and honour rich-- 5 But ah! I leave behind my treasure In widowhood and lonely pain;-- To live were surely then a pleasure!

My lifeless eyes upon thy face Shall never open more to-morrow; 10 To-morrow shall thy beauteous eyes Be closed to Love, and drown'd in Sorrow; To-morrow Death shall freeze this hand, And on thy breast, my wedded treasure, I never, never more shall live;-- 15 Alas! I quit a life of pleasure.

FOOTNOTES:

[61:2] First published in the _Morning Post_, May 10, 1798, with a prefatory note:--'The two following verses from the French, never before published, were written by a French Prisoner as he was preparing to go to the Guillotine': included in _Literary Remains_, 1836, i. 275. First collected _P. W._, 1893.

MORIENTI SUPERSTES

Yet art thou happier far than she Who feels the widow's love for thee!

For while her days are days of weeping, Thou, in peace, in silence sleeping, In some still world, unknown, remote, 5 The mighty parent's care hast found, Without whose tender guardian thought No sparrow falleth to the ground.

? 1794.

THE SIGH[62:1]

When Youth his faery reign began Ere Sorrow had proclaim'd me man; While Peace the present hour beguil'd, And all the lovely Prospect smil'd; Then Mary! 'mid my lightsome glee 5 I heav'd the painless Sigh for thee.

And when, along the waves of woe, My hara.s.s'd Heart was doom'd to know The frantic burst of Outrage keen, And the slow Pang that gnaws unseen; 10 Then shipwreck'd on Life's stormy sea I heaved an anguish'd Sigh for thee!

But soon Reflection's power imprest A stiller sadness on my breast; And sickly Hope with waning eye 15 Was well content to droop and die: I yielded to the stern decree, Yet heav'd a languid Sigh for thee!

And though in distant climes to roam, A wanderer from my native home, 20 I fain would soothe the sense of Care, And lull to sleep the Joys that were!

Thy Image may not banish'd be-- Still, Mary! still I sigh for thee.

1794.

FOOTNOTES:

[62:1] First published in 1796: included in 1797, 1803, 1828, 1829.

Coleridge dated the poem, June 1794, but the verses as sent to Southey, in a letter dated November, 1794 (_Letters of S. T. C._, 1895, i. 100, 101), could not have taken shape before the August of that year, after the inception of Pantisocracy and his engagement to Sarah Fricker.

LINENOTES:

t.i.tle] Ode MS. E: Song Letter, Nov. 1794, Morrison MSS.: Effusion x.x.xii: The Sigh 1796.

[7] along th'] as tossed on 1803. waves] wilds Letter, 1794, MS. E.

[9] of] the 1803.

[13] power] hand Letter, Nov. 1794, MS. E.

[18] a] the Letter, 1794.

[21-2]

I fain would woo a gentle Fair To soothe the aching sense of Care

Letter, Nov. 1794.

[21] sense of] aching MS. E.

[Below l. 24] June 1794 Poems, 1796.

THE KISS[63:1]

One kiss, dear Maid! I said and sigh'd-- Your scorn the little boon denied.

Ah why refuse the blameless bliss?

Can danger lurk within a kiss?

Yon viewless wanderer of the vale, 5 The Spirit of the Western Gale, At Morning's break, at Evening's close Inhales the sweetness of the Rose, And hovers o'er the uninjur'd bloom Sighing back the soft perfume. 10 Vigour to the Zephyr's wing Her nectar-breathing kisses fling; And He the glitter of the Dew Scatters on the Rose's hue.

Bashful lo! she bends her head, 15 And darts a blush of deeper Red!