Title] Sent to Mrs. ---- with an _Amelia_. MS. O.
89 lines✦
10] double] doubled MS. O. WRITTEN AFTER A WALK BEFORE SUPPER[37:3] Tho' much averse, dear Jack, to flicker,To find a likeness for friend V--ker,I've made thro' Earth, and Air, and Sea,A Voyage of Discovery!And let me add (to ward off strife) 5For V--ker and for V--ker's Wife--She large and round beyond belief,A superfluity of beef!Her mind and body of a piece,And both composed of kitchen-grease. 10In short, Dame Truth might safely dub herVulgarity enshrin'd in blubber!He, meagre bit of littleness,All snuff, and musk, and politesse;So thin, that strip him of his clothing, 15He'd totter on the edge of Nothing!In case of foe, he well might hideSnug in the collops of her side. Ah then, what simile will suit?Spindle-leg in great jack-boot? 20Pismire crawling in a rut?Or a spigot in a butt?Thus I humm'd and ha'd awhile,When Madam Memory with a smileThus twitch'd my ear--'Why sure, I ween, 25In London streets thou oft hast seenThe very image of this pair:A little Ape with huge She-BearLink'd by hapless chain together:An unlick'd mass the one--the other 30An antic small with nimble crupper----'But stop, my Muse! for here comes supper. 1792. FOOTNOTES: [37:3] First published in 1796, and secondly in _P. and D. W._, 1877-80.These lines, described as 'A Simile', were sent in a letter to the Rev.George Coleridge, dated August 9 [1792]. The Rev. Fulwood Smerdon, the'Vicar' of the original MS., succeeded the Rev. John Coleridge as vicarof Ottery St. Mary in 1781. He was the 'Edmund' of 'Lines to a Friend',&c., _vide post_, pp. 74, 75. LINENOTES: Title] Epistle iii. Written, &c., 1796. [1] dear Jack] at folk Letter, 1792. [2] A simile for Vicar Letter, 1792. [6] For Vicar and for Vicar's wife Letter, 1792. [7] large] gross Letter, 1792. [12] enshrin'd] enclos'd [19] will] can Letter, 1792. [23] I ha'd and hem'd Letter, 1792. [24] Madam] Mrs. Letter, 1792. [28] huge] large Letter, 1792. [29] Link'd] Tied Letter, 1792. [31] small] lean Letter, 1792: huge 1796, 1877, 1888, 1893. For Antichuge read _antic small_ 'Errata', 1796 p. [189]. IMITATED FROM OSSIAN[38:1] The stream with languid murmur creeps,In Lumin's _flowery_ vale:Beneath the dew the Lily weepsSlow-waving to the gale. 'Cease, restless gale!' it seems to say, 5'Nor wake me with thy sighing!The honours of my vernal dayOn rapid wing are flying. 'To-morrow shall the Traveller comeWho late beheld me blooming: 10His searching eye shall vainly roamThe _dreary_ vale of Lumin.' With eager gaze and wetted cheekMy wonted haunts along,Thus, faithful Maiden! _thou_ shalt seek 15The Youth of simplest song. But I along the breeze shall rollThe voice of feeble power;And dwell, the Moon-beam of thy soul,In Slumber's nightly hour. 20 1793. FOOTNOTES: [38:1] First published in 1796: included in 1803, 1828, 1829, and 1834.The following note was attached in 1796 and 1803:--The flower hangs its[heavy] head waving at times to the gale. 'Why dost thou awake me, OGale?' it seems to say, 'I am covered with the drops of Heaven. The timeof my fading is near, the blast that shall scatter my leaves. Tomorrowshall the traveller come; he that saw me in my beauty shall come. Hiseyes will search the field, [but] they will not find me. So shall theysearch in vain for the voice of Cona, after it has failed in thefield.'--Berrathon, see Ossian's _Poems_, vol. ii. [ed. 1819, p. 481]. LINENOTES:
✦