If she is prest by want of food, And there she begs at one steep place That oaten pipe of hers is mute, This flute, made of a hemlock stalk, I, too, have passed her on the hills By spouts and fountains wild — Farewell! and when thy days are told, WRITTEN IN GERMANY 240 250 ON ONE OF THE COLDEST DAYS OF THE CENTURY 1799. 1800 A bitter winter it was when these verses were composed by the side of my Sister, in our lodgings at a draper's house in the romantic imperial town of Goslar, on the edge of the Hartz Forest. In this town the German emperors of the Franconian line were accustomed to keep their court, and it retains vestiges of ancient splendour. So severe was the cold of this winter, that when we passed out of the parlour warmed by the stove, our cheeks were struck by the air as by cold iron. I slept in a room over a passage which was not ceiled. The people of the house used to say, rather unfeelingly, that they expected I should be frozen to death some night; but, with the protection of a pelisse lined with fur, and a dog'sskin bonnet, such as was worn by the peasants, I walked daily on the ramparts, or in a sort of public ground or garden, in which was a pond. Here, I had no companion but a kingfisher, a beautiful creature, that used to glance by me. I consequently became much attached to it. Wensley's rich dale, and Sedberge's naked heights. The frosty wind, as if to make amends For its keen breath, was aiding to our steps, And drove us onward as two ships at sea; Or like two birds, companions in mid-air, Parted and reunited by the blast. Stern was the face of Nature; we rejoiced In that stern countenance; for our souls thence drew A feeling of their strength. The naked trees, The icy brooks, as on we passed, appeared To question us, "Whence come ye, to what end ?" "ON NATURE'S INVITATION DO I COME" 1800 (?). 1851 Ox Nature's invitation do I come, By Reason sanctioned. Can the choice mislead, Her voice was like a hidden bird that sang; 29 Pleased with thy crags, and woody steeps, thy lake, Its one green island, and its winding shores, THE PRELUDE; OR, GROWTH OF A POET'S MIND AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL POEM 1799-1805. 1850 ADVERTISEMENT The following Poem was commenced in the beginning of the year 1799, and completed in t summer of 1805. The design and occasion of the work are described by the Author in his Preface to the "Exet sion," first published in 1814, where he thus speaks: - "Several years ago, when the Author retired to his native mountains with the hope of bei enabled to construct a literary work that might live, it was a reasonable thing that he shou take a review of his own mind, and examine how far Nature and Education had qualified hi for such an employment. "As subsidiary to this preparation, he undertook to record, in verse, the origin and progress his own powers, as far as he was acquainted with them. "That work, addressed to a dear friend, most distinguished for his knowledge and genius, a to whom the Author's intellect is deeply indebted, has been long finished; and the result of t investigation which gave rise to it, was a determination to compose a philosophical Poem, c taining views of Man, Nature, and Society, and to be entitled the 'Recluse; as having for principal subject the sensations and opinions of a poet living in retirement. "The preparatory poem is biographical, and conducts the history of the Author's mind to t point when he was emboldened to hope that his faculties were sufficiently matured for enteri upon the arduous labour which he had proposed to himself; and the two works have the sa kind of relation to each other, if he may so express himself, as the Ante-chapel has to the bo of a Gothic church. Continuing this allusion, he may be permitted to add, that his minor piec which have been long before the public, when they shall be properly arranged, will be fox by the attentive reader to have such connection with the main work as may give them cla to be likened to the little cells, oratories, and sepulchral recesses, ordinarily included in the edifices." Such was the Author's language in the year 1814. It will thence be seen, that the present Poem was intended to be introductory to the "Reclus and that the "Recluse," if completed, would have consisted of Three Parts. Of these, the Seco Part alone viz. the "Excursion," was finished, and given to the world by the Author. The First Book of the First Part of the "Recluse" still remains in manuscript; but the Th Part was only planned. The materials of which it would have been formed have, however, be incorporated, for the most part, in the Author's other Publications, written subsequently to 66 Excursion." The Friend, to whom the present Poem is addressed, was the late SAMUEL TAYLOR CO RIDGE, who was resident in Malta, for the restoration of his health, when the greater part of was composed. Mr. Coleridge read a considerable portion of the Poem while he was abroad; and his feelin on hearing it recited by the Author (after his return to his own country), are recorded in Verses, addressed to Mr. Wordsworth, which will be found in the Sibylline Leaves, p. 197, 1817, or Poetical Works, by S. T. Coleridge, vol. i. p. 206. Shall I take up my home? and what clear My own voice cheered me, and, far more, stream Shall with its murmur lull me into rest? 20 Come fast upon me: it is shaken off, With any promises of human life), Long months of ease and undisturbed delight Are mine in prospect; whither shall I turn, By road or pathway, or through trackless field, Up hill or down, or shall some floating thing Upon the river point me out my course ? 30 Dear Liberty! Yet what would it avail But for a gift that consecrates the joy? For I, methought, while the sweet breath Of Elements and Agents, Under-powers, Subordinate helpers of the living mind: Nor am I naked of external things, Forms, images, nor numerous other aids Of less regard, though won perhaps with to And needful to build up a Poet's praise. Time, place, and manners do I seek, an these Are found in plenteous store, but nowher such As may be singled out with steady choice No little band of yet remembered names Whom I, in perfect confidence, might hop To summon back from lonesome banish ment, And make them dwellers in the hearts men Now living, or to live in future years. Sometimes the ambitious Power of choic mistaking Proud spring-tide swellings for a regul sea, Will settle on some British theme, some of Where spear encountered spear, and swo with sword Fought, as if conscious of the blazonry That the shield bore, so glorious was th strife; |