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*†July 26. London World. The Abode of Love. "Ask you, Chloe, charming fair!" Signed "S.T.C." Four five-line stanzas. Discovered in this newspaper by L. Werkmeister. See next entry.
*†July 31. Cambridge Chronicle. The Abode of Love. Signed "S.T.C." Identical with preceding. Discovered by J. R. MacGillivray. Coleridge was still a schoolboy in London; his poem preceded him to Cambridge by a year. For text and attribution see MacGillivray, "A New and Early Poem by Coleridge," BNYPL, LXIII (March, 1959), 153-154.

1794

?*†June 28. MC. Sonnet. On Reading Miranda's Sonnet to a Sigh. "Thy plaintive voice, so eloquent and meek" Unsigned. Enough like Coleridge's effusions to be worth considering. Dated "Dec. 9, 1793," by which time he was already Comberbache in the Dragoons in Reading; but December 9 may be taken as the date of the occasion (Miranda's [Mrs. Mary Robinson's?] Sonnet to a Sigh published that day in the MC); the writing could have been done in the ensuing 7 months. But we list this sonnet with misgivings; the concordance test yields only a neutral answer: possible.
?*†July 25. MP. Sonnet To an Infant at the Breast. "Dear, lovely Babe! equal in birth to all" Signed "C." This equalitarian effusion by a war-widow contains sentiments and language which the Coleridge of 1794 might have put into a female vagrant's mouth (see letter to Southey July 6). But "C." is too general a signature, by one-third. Neither this nor the preceding item could be admitted into the canon without compelling external evidence.

239

1795

Jan. 29; Feb. 21. For text and discussion of sonnets previously listed, see BNYPL, LXI and LXII.
?*†March 23. Times. "Oh People! whither are you led" Signed "C." A quatrain submitted in a contest (possibly with cash prizes) for the best renditions of a French epigram. Over 50 were submitted. The "C." might be Coleridge; the "R.S." on another entry Robert Southey. Coleridge and Southey were together at the time; needed money; were alert to possibilities of writing for London papers (see Coleridge's letter of March 10 to Dyer). Yet the text is too slight and uncreative to afford evidence of authorship. The other three lines read:
Oh People! surely turn'd to Brutes;
To have a Cap without a Head,
To have a Tree, without the Roots.

1796

*July 9. Telegraph. Poetical Address. Written for the Late Meeting of Mr. Tooke's Friends. By S. T. COLERIDGE. 53 lines, with three footnotes. This must be the draft which Charles Lamb, in a letter of July 1, expected to see in the June 30 MC; it differs much from the obviously later draft which Coleridge sent in a letter of July 4 to Estlin (Griggs, I, 224-225; E.H.C. pp. 150-151).

The title in E.H.C. is made up from phrases in the letter; otherwise E.H.C. and Griggs give the same Estlin text (E) except for punctuation, the use of ampersands, "lightning's" in line 24, a mistake in E.H.C. for "lightning," and a footnote in Greek not given in E.H.C. For the following collation we use Griggs for E.

The Telegraph version (T) omits the footnotes of E but has three of its own, attached respectively to "when*" in line 1, "whose†" in line 13, and "bore,‡" in the third line from the end, thus:
- *Alluding to Horne Tooke's first contest for Westminster, and the comparatively small numbers, which he then polled.
- †Diversions of Purley. [E gives the Greek title.]
- ‡Jun. Brutus.
T has only two words in italics, "superstition's" and "determin'd", as against 15 in E. Instead of E's numerous capitalized words within the line, T has only Genii, TOOKE, Corruption's, Calumny's, Senate, Justice, Freedom's, not counting proper names. Except for punctuation, the other variants follow. (We use the line numbers of E but give the drafts in order of growth, from T to E.)
- 3 dimly T] dim it E 4 Hush'd T] E'en E
- 9 mattin bird] Matin-bird
- 13 [preceded by a space and indented]
- Yes, patriot sage! whose cleansing spirit first T
- Patriot & Sage! whose breeze-like Spirit* first E
- 14 wordy pedant's lazy mist] lazy mists of Pedantry
240

(Next a four-line parenthesis in T is compacted to two lines, 15-16, in E.)
- (That mist, within whose dim deceitful shade, Blighting with clammy dews each pleasant glade, Decrepit superstition's pigmy band Seem'd giant forms, the Genii of the land!) T
- (Mists, in which Superstition's pigmy band Seem'd Giant Forms, the Genii of the Land!) E
(The next four lines, 17-20 in E, have the order 19, 20, 17, 18 in T.)
- 17 waken'd] wak'ning
- 32 brother's] brothers'
- 34 faulter] falter
- 35 awful] aweful 39 secret] unwholesome
- 40 precious] sacred
(Next, a bracketed triplet in T is expanded to two couplets in E:)
- 41-44 Shall bid thee with recov'ring vigor shew } Disease's gnawing pang unseen and slow, } And the worse bodings of parental woe: } T
- Shall bid thee with recover'd strength relate How dark & deadly is a Coward's Hate: What seeds of Death by wan Confinement sown When prison-echoes mock'd Disease's groan! E
- 45 Bid thy indignant spirit] Shall bid th' indignant Father
- 47 Woe to the sport] Who to the sports
(Here T was obviously a misprint.)
- 48 The helpless virgins] Two lovely Mourners
- 51 the reeking] her reeking
- 52 To strike . . . and] Not to . . . but

1797

*Jan. 5. MC. Lines to a Young Man of Fortune, Who Abandoned Himself to an Indolent and Causeless Melancholy. Unsigned. Text identical, except for mechanics, to that in the Cambridge Intelligencer of Dec. 17, 1796, as reported in previous list.
Dec. 12. MP. Melancholy. A Fragment. E.H.C. (p. 74) gives the MP variants by mistake to "M.C." (for lines 7 and 13-16).
*Dec. 16. MC. Sonnets Attempted in the Manner of 'Cotemporary Writers.' Signed "NEHEMIAH HIGGINBOTTOM." Sonnet I only (E.H.C. pp. 209-210) reprinted from the Monthly Magazine of November, as in our previous list, with "befel" for "befell" in line 10, and with this headnote:
The inundation of Sonnets with which we have been for the last ten years overrun, has justly made our sentimental Sonnetteers objects of ridicule. Nehemiah Higginbottom, in the Monthly Magazine, imitates their insipidities with good effect in the following specimen.

241

1798

*Jan. 3. MP. The APOTHEOSIS, or the SNOW-DROP. Signed "FRANCINI." 72 lines, a variant of the 64-line "Snow-drop" poem in E.H.C. pp. 356-358, there mistakenly dated 1800.
As noted above, this day's issue of the Morning Post is not extant; but on the following day "the beautiful poem, by Francini, in our paper of yesterday" is commended; and Mrs. Werkmeister has now located, in the thrice-weekly Express and Evening Chronicle of January 6-9 (No. 516) the full text of the poem. For the text and an account of the collaboration that led to its discovery, see a forthcoming issue of BNYPL.

(There remains a remote possibility that the MP text differed in some respect from the reprint in the Express, but authorial revision is ruled out by the fact that Coleridge was not in London at the time.)

1798

April 16. MP. The Recantation. An Ode. Line 95 reads "priesthood's" (as 4° and Poetical Register) and not "Priestcraft's" (E.H.C. p. 247).
July 30. MP. A Tale. Line 88 reads "And" not "Till" (E.H.C. p. 302).

1799

Aug. 29. MP. To a Proud Parent. (Should have been starred; E.H.C., p. 960, does not note newspaper appearance.) In line 2 "My Lud!" is italicized.
*Sept. 2. MP. Epigram. "O would the Baptist come again" Unsigned. 6 lines, which E.H.C. (p. 959) believed to have been first published in Annual Anthology (1800). E.H.C. brackets the title "[NINETY-EIGHT]" as his own invention; see Wise p. 59. The only variant is "vip'rous" for "viperous" in line 3. The MS (Notebooks, I, 432) differs in line 7.
*Sept. 3. MP. Epigram. "I hold of all our vip'rous race" Unsigned. 12 lines, which E.H.C. (p. 959) believed to have been first published in Annual Anthology (1800); there they are entitled Occasioned by the Former. There are no variants except in spelling and mechanics, of which "Things" for "things," "antient" for "ancient," and "locusts" in italics are perhaps worth mentioning. The MS varies in several places (Notebooks, I, 432).
[Sept. 11. MP. Epigram. "As gay Lord Edward . . ." Unsigned. Should definitely be dropped from the canon. See Wise (p. 171): "It was written by Sir James Henry Lawrence . . . . Reprinted over the initials 'J.L.,' in The Poetical Register, 1803, Vol.iii, p. 412." It was printed in the European Magazine for July, 1799 (p. 47) as "Epigram By Sir James Lawrance, Knight of Malta." It was first collected by Mrs. H. N. Coleridge as "probably from my Father's pen," in Essays On His Own Times (1850), III, 974, see 964 n.]
*Sept. 19. MP. The Lethargist and Madman. A Political Fable. "In good King Olim's reign, I've read". Unsigned. 39 lines. E.H.C. guessed
242

1809 as date of composition—ten years off. His text (pp. 414-416) of 45 lines and a reversed title ("The Madman and the Lethargist / An Example") has the same original as Notebooks, I, 625 (19), from which one can see how unnecessarily E.H.C. fiddled with Coleridge's punctuation. Olim is Latin—but also German, and it suggests a German original to Professor Coburn. Her text is cited here only to illuminate differences between E.H.C. and MP. MP omits lines 1-2, 11-12, 40-45 and hence the quotation marks. Other variants, besides capitalization (Olim's and Mad Bess) and punctuation, are:
- 3 old King] good King MP
- 5 one] first MP
- 6 Lay] Was MP
- 14 true] best MP
- 15 ghostly] ghastly MP (and Notebooks)
- 19 The other] His neighbour MP
- 21 when] while MP
- 22 Citizen] Jacobin MP
- 26 sprang] sprung MP (and Notebooks)
- 29 Belabr'ing] Belabouring MP
- 31 roll'd from every] ran from ev'ry MP
- 32 flying fingers fleet] "flying fingers sweet" MP
- 36 Slumberer] slumb'rer MP
- 37 half-prepared] fiercely girds MP
- 39 Sunk down and slept] Sunk fast asleep MP
40-45 replaced by:
THE MORAL. The Allies and the French * * *
Ye Fable-mongers in verse or prose;
By all your hopes of Cash or Laurel,
Save, O save us from the Moral. MP
*Nov. 4. MP. Imitated from the German. "An Oxford brothel-house caught fire." Unsigned. Not in E.H.C. nor any collection. 7 lines, as in Notebooks, I, 625, No. 8, except for capitalization, punctuation, and
- 3 Leapt up] Up leapt MP
- 4 To quench] And quench'd MP
- 5 this philanthropic] this truly christian MP
?*† Nov. 9. C. Epigrams. From the German of G. E. Lessing. Unsigned. 5 couplets, not in MP but possibly an overflow from that paper and hence possibly Coleridge's. The fourth is a variant of epigrams 9 and 10 in E.H.C. p. 954 and Notebooks, I, 625, No. 7. The third is the original printing of the epigram which Erdman noted under 1803 in The Poetical Register, a variant of E.H.C. p. 953, No. 8 (Notebooks, I, 625, No. 13). But, as Morchard Bishop has cautioned, these are not necessarily Coleridge's; they may be someone else's adaptations of the Lessing source. There is some Coleridge-like phrasing, but the impression is not enough to base ascription on. Here is the text, for consideration:
On an Epigrammatist.
IN his first Epigram much point is found,
Bee like, he lost his sting by that one wound.

Fabullus locks his iron chest with care,
Lest any one should know that nothing's there.

You hesitate if you shall take a wife;
Do as your father did—live single all your life.

243

Not one of all his tales I swallow,
Once he spoke truth, and dup'd me hollow.

Grudge leaves the poor his whole possessions nearly:
He means his next of kin shall weep sincerely.
[Nov. 14. MP. Epigram. "Doris can find no taste in Tea" Unsigned. This epigram belongs to Southey, as Wise correctly notes (p. 171).]
* Dec. 9. MP. Epigram. On a Maiden, More Sentimental than Chaste. "Tho' forc'd to part from my sweet Will". Unsigned (but just above To a Young Lady, over the signature "LABERIUS"; the signature could cover both poems). Not previously collected. Eight lines as in Notebooks, I, 625, No. 30, except for mechanics, the italicizing of bear, image, heart, truth, and below, and:
- 1 dear Will] sweet Will, MP
- 3 heaven] Heav'n! MP
- 5 So oft . . . sings Nancy] These words . . . said Nancy MP
* Dec. 21. C. Introduction to the Tale of the Dark Ladie. Introductory letter signed "S. T. Coleridge." Poem and letter reprinted from MP of same date.
Dec. 24. MP. Ode to Georgiana. . . . E.H.C. (p. 336) has not noted that the variants he gives for lines 32 and 33 in Annual Anthology are also the readings in MP.

1800

? * † Jan. 1. MP. Impromptu. On Candles Being Introduced While a Young Lady Was Singing. Signed "J.P."
Wherefore, wherefore, most unwise,
Did you bring the candles here?
Why remind us we have eyes,
When we wish'd to be all ear?

(Seems to be identified as Coleridge's by the signature, which is that of his "Billy Brown" verses of Feb. 5. The internal evidence is at least not negative.)
* Feb. 5. MP. On a Supposed Son. "Billy Brown, how like his Father". Signed "J.P." Not previously collected. 4 lines, identical to the undeleted lines in Notebooks, I, 625, No. 31; "but thinks not so!" in italics.
* June 21. C. Song, from the German of Lessing [sic]. "I ask'd my fair, one happy day," Unsigned. Curious not only because appearing ten months after first printing in MP (Aug. 27, 1799: see previous list) but also because the text is independent, a half-way version between MP and the text in Poetical Register for 1803 (correct in E.H.C. pp. 318-319). This Courier version agrees with PR in lines 4, 6, 10-12, but has this unique reading in line 5: "Laura, Lesbia, Delia, Doris,"

244

* Aug. 22. C. City News. "Last Monday all the Papers said" Unsigned. A reprint of the 12 lines in MP Sept. 18, 1799 (as in E.H.C. p. 956) with new title and the following variants:
- 2 Mr.--- was] Billy Pitt was surely C
- 3 Why, then] Ah—then
- 4 tenth part . . . their] tenth part . . . the
- 7 said report] sad report
- 9 Why, then] Ah—then
- 10 nine parts . . . their] nine parts . . . the
* Sept. 6. MP, also A. and C. Air, from the Piccolomini of Schiller. Thekla (plays and sings) "The cloud doth gather, the greenwood roar". "Translated by S. T. Coleridge." 10 lines as in E.H.C. p. 653. Coleridge's translation of "Schiller's New Dramas" was advertised in MP June 17, 1800. Thekla's song was promptly (reprinted and) parodied in the Sun, September 13, 1800.
* Sept. 12. C. The Dungeon. (From the Lyrical Ballads).
* Sept. 27. A. The Dungeon, Recommended to the Perusal of the Defenders of Bastiles in Every Country. (From the Lyrical Ballads.). The subtitle is the Albion's contribution, evidently.
Dec. 4. MP. The Two Round Spaces. Unsigned. E.H.C. (pp. 353-355) misses these MP readings:
- 31 those] these MP
- 32 sat] sate MP

1801

* July 16. C. To an Old Man. "By Mr. Coleridge." Follows 1797 text (as E.H.C. p. 93) except in mechanics and "Sarah" for "Sara."
Sept. 22, 25, 26 and Dec. 1. MP. The transposition of the Greek letters in the signatures is a typographical error of our first list and not of the printers of the MP.
Nov. 28. MP. Translation of a Greek Ode on Astronomy. It should have been stated that the original Greek text is given in Coleridge's Poetical Works, ed. James Dykes Campbell, London, 1903, pp. 476-477.
* † Dec. 21. MP. Pastoral from Gesner. [sic] "See I the Shepherd," Unsigned. Not previously collected, but the German original appears in Notebooks, I, 396. It seems fairly safe to deduce that the translation is Coleridge's:
See I the Shepherd,
The bold brown Shepherd,
I tell him, "Shepherd!
"I will not love thee!"
Ah tell me, Maidens!
Who've lov'd already,
There's nothing, think you,
In this to alarm me,
That I say it sighing,
Whene'er I tell him,
"Thou bold brown Shepherd,
"I will not love thee."

245

? Dec. 26. MP. The Compliment Qualified. (Vide Thursday's Paper.) Signed "P." Woof queries the attribution to Coleridge: Why not equally the epigram of Dec. 24 signed "O"? And then along comes one on Jan. 29, 1802, signed "Q" (with address: "British Coffee-House, Jan. 26, 1802").

1802

Oct. 7. MP. An Ode to the Rain. Signed "EΣTHΣE." A misprint appeared in the first list: "* Here is seems" should have read "* Here it seems". There was also a mixup of the variant given for line 25 of the Wallenstein quotation, which should have read: 25 Fast fly the clouds 1800] Fast sail MP
* Oct. 14. C. France.—An Ode. "By S. T. Coleridge." Text identical to MP of same day, but unleaded. The note ("The following Ode . . . corrected copy") is omitted.

1803

The 1803 entry in the first list should be queried; at least see above, Nov. 9, 1799.