The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Volume I Part 42

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t.i.tle] Darwiniana. The Hour, &c. L. R., 1844: Composed during illness and absence 1852.

[9-10] om. 1803.

[14] her] the Lit. Rem., 1844, 1852.

[17] New] Now Watchman.

LINES[96:2]

WRITTEN AT SHURTON BARS, NEAR BRIDGEWATER, SEPTEMBER 1795, IN ANSWER TO A LETTER FROM BRISTOL

Good verse _most_ good, and bad verse then seems better Receiv'd from absent friend by way of Letter.

For what so sweet can labour'd lays impart As one rude rhyme warm from a friendly heart?--ANON.

Nor travels my meandering eye The starry wilderness on high; Nor now with curious sight I mark the glow-worm, as I pa.s.s, Move with 'green radiance'[97:1] through the gra.s.s, 5 An emerald of light.

O ever present to my view!

My wafted spirit is with you, And soothes your boding fears: I see you all oppressed with gloom 10 Sit lonely in that cheerless room-- Ah me! You are in tears!

Beloved Woman! did you fly Chill'd Friends.h.i.+p's dark disliking eye, Or Mirth's untimely din? 15 With cruel weight these trifles press A temper sore with tenderness, When aches the void within.

But why with sable wand unblessed Should Fancy rouse within my breast 20 Dim-visag'd shapes of Dread?

Untenanting its beauteous clay My Sara's soul has wing'd its way, And hovers round my head!

I felt it prompt the tender Dream, 25 When slowly sank the day's last gleam; You rous'd each gentler sense, As sighing o'er the Blossom's bloom Meek Evening wakes its soft perfume With viewless influence. 30

And hark, my Love! The sea-breeze moans Through yon reft house! O'er rolling stones In bold ambitious sweep The onward-surging tides supply The silence of the cloudless sky 35 With mimic thunders deep.

Dark reddening from the channell'd Isle[98:1]

(Where stands one solitary pile Unslated by the blast) The Watchfire, like a sullen star 40 Twinkles to many a dozing Tar Rude cradled on the mast.

Even there--beneath that light-house tower-- In the tumultuous evil hour Ere Peace with Sara came, 45 Time was, I should have thought it sweet To count the echoings of my feet, And watch the storm-vex'd flame.

And there in black soul-jaundic'd fit A sad gloom-pamper'd Man to sit, 50 And listen to the roar: When mountain surges bellowing deep With an uncouth monster-leap Plung'd foaming on the sh.o.r.e.

Then by the lightning's blaze to mark 55 Some toiling tempest-shatter'd bark; Her vain distress-guns hear; And when a second sheet of light Flash'd o'er the blackness of the night-- To see _no_ vessel there! 60

But Fancy now more gaily sings; Or if awhile she droop her wings, As skylarks 'mid the corn, On summer fields she grounds her breast: The oblivious poppy o'er her nest 65 Nods, till returning morn.

O mark those smiling tears, that swell The open'd rose! From heaven they fell, And with the sun-beam blend.

Blest visitations from above, 70 Such are the tender woes of Love Fostering the heart they bend!

When stormy Midnight howling round Beats on our roof with clattering sound, To me your arms you'll stretch: 75 Great G.o.d! you'll say--To us so kind, O shelter from this loud bleak wind The houseless, friendless wretch!

The tears that tremble down your cheek, Shall bathe my kisses chaste and meek 80 In Pity's dew divine; And from your heart the sighs that steal Shall make your rising bosom feel The answering swell of mine!

How oft, my Love! with shapings sweet 85 I paint the moment, we shall meet!

With eager speed I dart-- I seize you in the vacant air, And fancy, with a husband's care I press you to my heart! 90

'Tis said, in Summer's evening hour Flashes the golden-colour'd flower A fair electric flame:[99:1]

And so shall flash my love-charg'd eye When all the heart's big ecstasy 95 Shoots rapid through the frame!

1795.

FOOTNOTES:

[96:1] First published in _The Watchman_, No. III, March 9, 1796 (_signed_ C.): included in 1797, 1803, 1844, and 1852. It was first reprinted, after 1803, in _Literary Remains_, 1836, i. 43, under 'the sportive t.i.tle "Darwiniana", on the supposition that it was written' in half-mockery of Darwin's style with its _dulcia vitia_. (See 1852, _Notes_, p. 885.)

[96:2] First published in 1796: included in 1797, 1803, 1828, 1829, and 1834.

[97:1] The expression 'green radiance' is borrowed from Mr. Wordsworth, a Poet whose versification is occasionally harsh and his diction too frequently obscure; but whom I deem unrivalled among the writers of the present day in manly sentiment, novel imagery, and vivid colouring.

Note, 1796, p. 185: Footnote, 1797, p. 88.

[The phrase 'green radiance' occurs in _An Evening Walk_, ll. 264-8, first published in 1793, and reprinted in 1820. In 1836 the lines were omitted.

Oft has she taught them on her lap to play Delighted with the glow-worm's harmless ray, Toss'd light from hand to hand; while on the ground Small circles of green radiance gleam around.]

[98:1] The Holmes, in the Bristol Channel.

[99:1] LIGHT _from plants_. In Sweden a very curious phenomenon has been observed on certain flowers, by M. Haggern, lecturer in natural history.

One evening he perceived a faint flash of light repeatedly dart from a marigold. Surprised at such an uncommon appearance, he resolved to examine it with attention; and, to be a.s.sured it was no deception of the eye, he placed a man near him, with orders to make a signal at the moment when he observed the light. They both saw it constantly at the same moment.

The light was most brilliant on marigolds of an orange or flame colour; but scarcely visible on pale ones. The flash was frequently seen on the same flower two or three times in quick succession; but more commonly at intervals of several minutes; and when several flowers in the same place emitted their light together, it could be observed at a considerable distance.

This phenomenon was remarked in the months of July and August at sun-set, and for half an hour when the atmosphere was clear; but after a rainy day, or when the air was loaded with vapours nothing of it was seen.

The following flowers emitted flashes, more or less vivid, in this order:--

1. The marigold, _galendula [sic] officinalis_.

2. Monk's-hood, _tropaelum [sic] majus_.

3. The orange-lily, _lilium bulbiferum_.

4. The Indian pink, _tagetes patula et erecta_.

From the rapidity of the flash, and other circ.u.mstances, it may be conjectured that there is something of electricity in this phenomenon.

Notes to _Poems_, 1796. Note 13, pp. 186, 188.

In 1797 the above was printed as a footnote on pp. 93, 94. In 1803 the last stanza, lines 91-96, was omitted, and, of course, the note disappeared. In 1828, 1829, and 1834 the last stanza was replaced but the note was not reprinted.

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