The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Chapter 53 : [9-12]The Harp which hanging high between the s.h.i.+elds Of Brutus and Leonidas oft gi

[9-12]

The Harp which hanging high between the s.h.i.+elds Of Brutus and Leonidas oft gives A fitful music to the breezy touch Of patriot spirits that demand their fame.

4{o}.

[12] Man's] Earth's Sibylline Leaves, 1828, 1829.

[15]

But chiefly this with holiest habitude Of constant Faith, him First, him Last to view

4{o}.

[23-6]

Things from their shadows. Know thyself my Soul!

Confirm'd thy strength, thy pinions fledged for flight Bursting this sh.e.l.l and leaving next thy nest Soon upward soaring shalt thou fix intense Thine eaglet eye on Heaven's Eternal Sun!

4{o}.

The substance from its shadow--Earth's broad shade Revealing by Eclipse, the Eternal Sun.

Sibylline Leaves.

[The text of lines 23-6 is given in the Errata p. [lxii].]

[37] om. 4{o}.

[40] seems] is 4{o}.

[44] Form one all-conscious Spirit, who directs 4{o}.

[46] om. 4{o}.

[47] involved] component 4{o}.

[54] lightnings] lightning 4{o}.

[70] Niemi] Niemi's 4{o}.

[90] deem] deemed 1829.

[96-7]

Speeds from the mother of Death his destin'd way To s.n.a.t.c.h the murderer from his secret cell.

4{o}.

[Between lines 99-100]

(Where live the innocent as far from cares As from the storms and overwhelming waves Dark tumbling on the surface of the deep).

4{o}, Sibylline Leaves, 1828, 1829.

These lines form part of an addition (lines 111-21) which dates from 1834.

[103] Where] There 4{o}, Sibylline Leaves, 1828, 1829.

[105] om. 4{o}.

[107] 'scaping] escaping 4{o}, Sibylline Leaves, 1828, 1829.

[108] fateful word] fatal sound 4{o}.

[112-21] thence thro' . . . Untenanted are not included in 4{o}, Sibylline Leaves, 1828, or 1829. For lines 113-15 vide _ante_, variant of line 99 of the text.

[112] Ocean] Ocean's 1828, 1829.

[130 foll.]

To rear some realm with patient discipline, Aye bidding PAIN, dark ERROR'S uncouth child, Blameless Parenticide! his snakey scourge 125 Lift fierce against his Mother! Thus they make Of transient Evil ever-during Good Themselves probationary, and denied Confess'd to view by preternatural deed To o'erwhelm the will, save on some fated day 130 Headstrong, or with pet.i.tion'd might from G.o.d.

And such perhaps the guardian Power whose ken Still dwelt on France. He from the invisible World Burst on the MAIDEN'S eye, impregning Air With Voices and strange Shapes, illusions apt 135 Shadowy of Truth. [And first a landscape rose More wild and waste and desolate, than where The white bear drifting on a field of ice Howls to her sunder'd cubs with piteous rage And savage agony.] Mid the drear scene 140 A craggy ma.s.s uprear'd its misty brow, Untouch'd by breath of Spring, unwont to know Red Summer's influence, or the chearful face Of Autumn; yet its fragments many and huge Astounded ocean with the dreadful dance 145 Of whirlpools numberless, absorbing oft The blameless fisher at his perilous toil.

4{o}.

_Note_--Lines 148-223 of the Second Book of _Joan of Arc_ are by Southey. Coleridge's unpublished poem of 1796 (_The Visions of the Maid of Orleans_) begins at line 127 of the text, ending at line 277. The remaining portion of the _Destiny of Nations_ is taken from lines contributed to the Second Book. Lines 136-40 of variant 130 foll. form the concluding fragment of the _Destiny of Nations_. Lines 141-3 of the variant are by Southey. (See his Preface to _Joan of Arc_, 1796, p. vi.) The remaining lines of the variant were never reprinted.

[132] human] mortal Sibylline Leaves (correction made in Errata, p.

[xii]).

[171] an] a 1834.

[201] now] new Sibylline Leaves, 1828.

[289] An] A 1834.

[300] dew-damp] dew-damps 4{o}.

[314] Tyrants] Monarchs 4{o}, Sibylline Leaves, 1828, 1829.

Between lines 314 and 315 of the text, the text of the original version (after line 259 of _Joan of Arc_, Book II) continues:--

'These are the fiends that o'er thy native land 260 Spread Guilt and Horror. Maid belov'd of Heaven!

Dar'st thou inspir'd by the holy flame of Love Encounter such fell shapes, nor fear to meet Their wrath, their wiles? O Maiden dar'st thou die?'

'Father of Heaven: I will not fear.' she said, 265 'My arm is weak, but mighty is thy sword.'

She spake and as she spake the trump was heard That echoed ominous o'er the streets of Rome, When the first Caesar totter'd o'er the grave By Freedom delv'd: the Trump, whose chilling blast 270 On Marathon and on Plataea's plain Scatter'd the Persian.--From his obscure haunt, &c.

[Lines 267-72, She spake . . . the Persian, are claimed by Southey.]