Poems on Various Subjects (Coleridge)/Epistle 4, to the Author of Poems published in Bristol

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

EPISTLE IV.

TO THE

AUTHOR OF POEMS

PUBLISHED ANONYMOUSLY

AT BRISTOL,

IN SEPTEMBER, 1795.

UNBOASTFUL Bard! whose verse concise yet clear
Tunes to smooth melody unconquer'd sense
May your fame fadeless live, as "never-sere"
The Ivy wreathes yon Oak, whose broad defence
Embow'rs me from Noon's sultry influence!

For, like that nameless Riv'let stealing by,
Your modest verse to musing Quiet dear
Is rich with tints heaven-borrow'd: the charm'd eye
Shall gaze undazzled there, and love the soften'd sky.

Circling the base of the Poetic mount
A stream there is, which rolls in lazy flow
It's coal-black waters from Oblivion's fount:
The vapor-poison'd Birds, that fly too low,
Fall with dead swoop, and to the bottom go.
Escap'd that heavy stream on pinion fleet
Beneath the Mountain's lofty-frowning brow,
Ere aught of perilous ascent you meet,
A mead of mildest charm delays th' unlabring feet.
^{[errata 1]}

Not there the cloud-climb'd rock, sublime and vast,
That like some giant king, o'er glooms the hill;

Nor there the Pine-grove to the midnight blast
Makes solemn music! But th' unceasing rill
To the soft Wren or Lark's descending trill
Murmurs sweet undersong mid jasmin bowers.
In this same pleasant meadow, at your will,^{[errata 2]}
I ween, you wander'd—there collecting flow'rs
Of sober tint, and herbs of med'cinable powers!

There for the monarch-murder'd Soldier's tomb
You wove th' unfinish'd^[1] wreath of saddest hues;
And to that holier^[2] chaplet added bloom
Besprinkling it with Jordan's cleansing dews.
But lo your ^[3]Henderson awakes the Muse——

His Spirit beckon'd from the mountain's height!
You left the plain and soar'd 'mid richer views!
So Nature mourn'd, when sunk the First^{[errata 3]} Day's light,
With stars, unseen before, spangling her robe of night!

Still soar my Friend those richer views among,
Strong, rapid, fervent, flashing Fancy's beam!
Virtue and Truth shall love your gentler song;
But Poesy demands th' impasion'd theme:
Wak'd by Heaven's silent dews at Eve's mild gleam
What balmy sweets Pomona breathes around!
But if the vext air rush a stormy stream
Or Autumn's shrill gust moan in plaintive sound
With fruits and flowers she loads the tempest-honor'd^{[errata 4]} ground.

1. War, a Fragment.
2. John the Baptist, a Poem.
3. Monody on John Henderson.

Errata

1. Original: feet.
   was amended to feet.
   : detail
2. Original: at your will; was amended to at your will,: detail
3. Original: Frst was amended to First: detail
4. Original: tempest honor'd was amended to tempest-honor'd: detail