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LETTER 15（第1页）

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LETTER15

CHARLESLAMBTOS.T.COLERIDGE

[P.M.December2，1796（Friday）.]

Ihavedelaydwritingthuslong，nothavingbymemycopyofyourpoems，whichIhadlent.Iamnotsatisfiedwithallyourintendedomissions.Whyomit40:63:84:aboveall，letmeproteststronglyagainstyourrejectingthe"ComplaintofNinathoma，"86.Thewords，Iacknowledge，areOssians，butyouhaveaddedtothemthe"MusicofCaril."Ifavicarioussubstitutebewanting，sacrifice（andtwillbeapieceofself-denialtoo）theEpitaphonanInfant，ofwhichitsAuthorseemssoproud，sotenacious.Or，ifyourheartbesetonperpetuatingthefour-line-wonder，Illtellyouwhat[to]do:sellthecopywrightofitatoncetoacountrystatuary;menceinthismannerDeathsprimepoetlaureat;andletyourversesbeadoptedineveryvillageroundinsteadofthosehithertofamousones"AfflictionssorelongtimeIbore，Physicianswereinvain".IhaveseenyourlastverybeautifulpoemintheMonthlyMagazine—writethus，andyoumostgenerallyhavewrittenthus，andIshallneverquarrelwithyouaboutsimplicity.Withregardtomylines"Laughallthatweep，"etc.—Iwouldwillinglysacrificethem，butmyportionofthevolumeissoridiculouslylittle，thatinhonesttruthIcantsparetheAsthingsare，Ihaveveryslightpretensionstoparticipateinthetitle-page.—WhitesbookisatlengthreviewedintheMonthly;wasityourdoing，orDyerstowhomIsenthim?OrratherdoyounotwriteintheCritical?forIobserved，inanArticleofthisMonthsaline"edoutofthatsonnetonMrs.Siddons"witheagerwondringandperturbddelight"—andalinefromthatsonnetwouldnotreadilyhaveoccurredtoastranger.Thatsonnet，Coleridge，bringsafreshtomymindthetimewhenyouwrotethoseonBowles，Priestly，Burke—twas2Christmasesago，andinthatnicelittlesmokyroomattheSalutation，whichisevennowcontinuallypresentingitselftomyrecollection，withallitsassociatedtrainofpipes，tobacco，Egghot，welchRabbits，metaphysicsandPoetry.

AreweNEVERtomeetagain?HowdifferentlyIamcircumstancednow—Ihavenevermetwithanyone，nevershallmeetwithanyone，whocouldorcanpensatemeforthelossofyoursociety—Ihavenoonetotalkallthesemattersaboutto—Ilackfriends，Ilackbookstosupplytheirabsence.Buttheseplaintsillbeeme:letmeparemypresentsituation，prospects，andstateofmind，withwhattheywerebut2monthsback—but2months.Omyfriend，Iamindangerofforgettingtheawfullessonsthenpresentedtome—remindmeofthem;remindmeofmyDuty.Talkseriouslywithmewhenyoudowrite.Ithankyou，frommyheartIthankyou，foryoursollicitudeaboutmySister.Sheisquitewell，—butmustnot，Ifear，etolivewithusyetagoodwhile.Inthefirstplace，becauseatpresentitwouldhurther，andhurtmyfather，forthemtobetogether:secondlyfromaregardtotheworldsgoodreport，forIfear，Ifear，tongueswillbebusywheneverthateventtakesplace.Somehavehinted，onemanhasprestitonme，thatsheshouldbeinperpetualconfinement—whatshehathdonetodeserve，orthenecessityofsuchanhardship，Iseenot;doyou?IamstarvingattheIndiahouse，near7oclockwithoutmydinner，andsoithasbeenandwillbealmostalltheweek.Igethomeatnightoerwearied，quitefaint，—andthentoCARDSwithmyfather，whowillnotletmeenjoyamealinpeace—butImustconformtomysituation，andIhopeIam，forthemostpart，notunthankful.

Iamgothomeatlast，and，afterrepeatedgamesatCribbagehavegotmyfathersleavetowriteawhile:withdifficultygotit，forwhenIexpostulatedaboutplayinganymore，heveryaptlyreplied，"Ifyouwontplaywithme，youmightaswellnotehomeatall."Theargumentwasunanswerable，andIsettoafresh.

Itoldyou，Idonotapproveofyouromissions.NeitherdoIquitecoincidewithyouinyourarrangements:Ihavenottimetopointoutabetter，andIsupposesomeself-associationsofyourownhavedeterminedtheirplaceastheynowstand.YourbeginningindeedwiththeJoanofArclinesIcoincideentirelywith:IloveasplendidOutset，amagnificentPortico;andtheDiapasonisGrand—theReligiousMusings—whenIreadthem，Ithinkhowpoor，howunelevated，unoriginal，myblankverseis，"Laughallthatweep"especially，wherethesubjectdemandedagrandeurofconception:andIaskwhatbusinesstheyhaveamongyours—butFriendshipcoverethamultitudeofdefects.Whyomit73?Atallevents，letmepleadforthoseformerpages，—40.63.84.86.Ishouldlike，foroldacquaintancesake，tospare62.119wouldhavemadeafigureamongShenstonesElegies:youmayadmititorreject，asyouplease.IntheManofRosslettheoldlinestandasitused:"wine-cheerdmoments"muchbetterthanthelamepresentone.94，changetheharshword"foodful"into"dulcet"or，ifnottooharsh，"nourishing."91，"moveless":isthatasgoodas"moping"?—8，woulditnotreadbetteromittingthose2lineslastbut6aboutInspiration?IwantsomeloppingsmadeintheChatterton;itwantsbutalittletomakeitrankamongthefinestirregularLyricsIeverread.Haveyoutimeandinclinationtogotoworkuponit—orisittoolate—ordoyouthinkitneedsnone?DontrejectthoseversesinoneofyourWatchmen—"Dearnativebrook，"&c.—nor，Ithink，thoselastlinesyousentme，inwhich"alleffortless"iswithoutdoubttobepreferredto"inactive."IfIamwritingmorethanordinarilydully，tisthatIamstupifiedwithatooth-ache.37，wouldnottheconcludinglinesofthe1stparagraphbewellomitted—&itgoon"Sotosadsympathies"&c.?In40，ifyouretainit，"wove"thelearnedToilisbetterthan"urge，"whichspoilsthepersonification.Hangit，donotomit48.52.53.Whatyoudoretaintho，callsonnetsforGodssake，andnoteffusions，—spiteofyouringeniousanticipationofridiculeinyourPreface.Thelast5linesof50aretoogoodtobelost，therestisnotmuchworth.Mytoothbeesimportunate—Imustfinish.Pray，pray，writetome:ifyouknewwithwhatananxietyofjoyIopensuchalongpacketasyoulastsentme，youwouldnotgrudgegivingafewminutesnowandthentothisintercourse（theonlyintercourse，Ifearwetwoshalleverhave），thisconversation，withyourfriend—suchIboasttobecalled.

Godloveyouandyours.

Writetomewhenyoumove，lestIdirectwrong.

HasSaranopoemstopublish?Thoselines129areprobablytoolightforthevolumewheretheReligiousMusingsare—butIremembersomeverybeautifullinesaddrestbysomebodyatBristoltosomebodyatLondon.

Godblessyouoncemore.

C.LAMB.

ThursdayNight.

[ThisletterreferstothepreparationofColeridgessecondeditionofhisPoems."Whyomit40，63，84?"—thesewere"Absence，""TotheAutumnalMoon"andtheimitationfromOssian.

The"EpitaphonanInfant"ranthus:—

EreSincouldblight，orSorrowfade，

Deathcamewithfriendlycare;

TheopeningbudtoHeavenconveyed

Andbadeitblossomthere.

LambappliedthefirsttwolinestoasuckingpiginhisEliaessayon

"RoastPig"manyyearslater.Theoldepitaphruns:—

AfflictionssorelongtimeIbore，

Physicianswereinvain;

TillHeavendidpleasemywoestoease，

Andtakeawaymypain.

ColeridgesverybeautifulpoemintheMonthlyMagazine（forOctober）was"ReflectionsonEnteringintoActiveLife，"beginning，"Lowwasourprettycot."

Lambslines，"Laughallthatweep，"Icannotfind.Welearnlaterthattheywereinblankverse.

FalstaffsLetterswasreviewedintheMonthlyReviewforNovember，1796，veryfavourably.ThearticlewasquitepossiblybyColeridge.

ThesonnetonMrs.SiddonswaswrittenbyLambandColeridgetogetherwhenColeridgewasinLondonattheendof1794，anditformedoneofaseriesofsonnetsoneminentpersonsprintedintheMorningChronicle，ofwhichthoseonBowles，PriestleyandBurkewereothers.The"ationfromitwasinanarticleintheNovemberCriticalReviewonthe"MusaeEtonenses."

"Onemanhasprestitonme."Thereisreasontosupposethatthiswas

JohnLamb，thebrother.

AsithappenedColeridgedidnotbeginhissecondeditionwiththe"JoanofArc"lines，butwiththe"OdetotheNewYear."The"ReligiousMusings"broughtColeridgespartofthevolumetoaclose.

Thepoemonpage73was"IntheMannerofSpenser."Thepoemsonpages40，63，84，weknow;thatonpage86was"TheComplaintofNinathoma.""ToGenevieve"wasonpage62.Thatonpage119was"ToaFriendinAnswertoaMelancholyLetter."Coleridgeneverrestoredthephrase"wine-cheerdmoments"to"TheManofRoss."Hedidnotchange"foodful"to"dulcet"in"ToanInfant."Hedidnotalter"moveless"to"moping"in"TheYoungAss."HelefttheInspirationpassageasitwasinthe"MonodyonChatterton."NotthathedisregardedallLambsadvice，asaparisonofthe1796and1797editionsofthePoemswillshow.

Thepoem"Dearnativebrook"wasthesonnet"TotheRiverOtter."ColeridgetookLambscounsel.Thepoemcontainingthephrase"alleffortless"wasthat"AddressedtoaYoungManofFortune"（CharlesLloyd）.Coleridgedidnotincludeit.Thepoemonpage37was"ToaYoungLadywithaPoemontheFrenchRevolution."Nos.48，52and53werethesonnetstoPriestley，KosciuskoandFayette.Thelastfivelinesof50wereinthesonnettoSheridan.Thelinesonpage129wereSarasverses"TheSilverThimble."Noneofthesewerereprintedin1797.ThebeautifullinesaddressedfromsomebodyatBristoltosomebodyatLondonwerethosefromSaraColeridgetoLamb，referredtoonpage33.Coleridgepersistedintheuseoftheword"effusion".]

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