The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Chapter 108 : SOUTHEY'S _Hymn to the Penates_.LINENOTES: [3] _surging_] _surging_ M. P.[4] Heav

SOUTHEY'S _Hymn to the Penates_.

LINENOTES:

[3] _surging_] _surging_ M. P.

[4] Heavily] Wearily MS. Letter.

[6] heaves] mov'd MS. Letter.

[8] a] an all editions to 1834.

[9] breeze] gale MS. Letter.

[11] waterfall] waterbreak MS. Letter.

[12] 'mid] on MS. Letter.

[16] With low and languid thought, for I had found MS. Letter.

[17] That grandest scenes have but imperfect charms MS. Letter, M. P., An. Anth.

[18]

Where the eye vainly wanders nor beholds

MS. Letter.

Where the sight, &c.

M. P., An. Anth.

[19] One spot with which the heart a.s.sociates MS. Letter, M. P., An.

Anth.

[19-21]

Fair cyphers of vague import, where the Eye Traces no spot, in which the Heart may read History or Prophecy

S. L. 1817, 1828.

[20]

Holy Remembrances of Child or Friend

MS. Letter.

Holy Remembrances of Friend or Child

M. P., An. Anth.

[26] eye] eyes MS. Letter.

[28-30]

Sweet native Isle This heart was proud, yea mine eyes swam with tears To think of thee: and all the goodly view

MS. Letter.

[28] O native land M. P., An. Anth.

[34] I] _I_ MS. Letter.

[38] family] brother-hood MS. Letter.

THE BRITISH STRIPLING'S WAR-SONG[317:1]

IMITATED FROM s...o...b..RG

Yes, n.o.ble old Warrior! this heart has beat high, Since you told of the deeds which our countrymen wrought; O lend me the sabre that hung by thy thigh, And I too will fight as my forefathers fought.

Despise not my youth, for my spirit is steel'd, 5 And I know there is strength in the grasp of my hand; Yea, as firm as thyself would I march to the field, And as proudly would die for my dear native land.

In the sports of my childhood I mimick'd the fight, The sound of a trumpet suspended my breath; 10 And my fancy still wander'd by day and by night, Amid battle and tumult, 'mid conquest and death.

My own shout of onset, when the Armies advance, How oft it awakes me from visions of glory; When I meant to have leapt on the Hero of France, 15 And have dash'd him to earth, pale and breathless and gory.

As late thro' the city with banners all streaming To the music of trumpets the Warriors flew by, With helmet and scimitars naked and gleaming, On their proud-trampling, thunder-hoof'd steeds did they fly; 20

I sped to yon heath that is lonely and bare, For each nerve was unquiet, each pulse in alarm; And I hurl'd the mock-lance thro' the objectless air, And in open-eyed dream proved the strength of my arm.

Yes, n.o.ble old Warrior! this heart has beat high, 25 Since you told of the deeds that our countrymen wrought; O lend me the sabre that hung by thy thigh, And I too will fight as my forefathers fought!

? 1799.

FOOTNOTES:

[317:1] First published in the _Morning Post_, August 24, 1799: included in the _Annual Anthology_ for 1800: reprinted in _Literary Remains_, 1836, i. 276, in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1848. ('Communicated to the _Bath Herald_ during the Volunteer Frenzy of 1803') (N. S. xxix, p. 60), and in _Essays on His Own Times_, iii. 988-9. First collected in _P.

W._, 1877-80, ii. 200-1. The MS. is preserved in the British Museum. The text follows that of the _Annual Anthology_, 1800, pp. 173-4. For the original by Count F. L. s...o...b..rg (_Lied eines deutschen Knaben_) see Appendices of this edition.

LINENOTES:

t.i.tle] The Stripling's War-Song. Imitated from the German of s...o...b..rg MS. The Stripling's, &c. Imitated from s...o...b..rg L. R. The British Stripling's War Song M. P., An. Anth., Essays, &c. The Volunteer Stripling. A Song G. M.