Chapter XCII: Introduction: To the Tale of the Dark Ladie1052:1

[Vide _ante_, p. 330.]

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING POST.

SIR,

The following Poem is the Introduction to a somewhat longer one, for which I shall solicit insertion on your next open day. The use of the Old Ballad word, _Ladie_, for Lady, is the only piece of obsoleteness in it; and as it is professedly a tale of ancient times, I trust, that 'the affectionate lovers of venerable antiquity' (as Camden says) will grant me their pardon, and perhaps may be induced to admit a force and propriety in it. A heavier objection may be adduced against the Author, that in these times of fear and expectation, when novelties _explode_ around us in all directions, he should presume to offer to the public a silly tale of old fashioned love; and, five years ago, I own, I should have allowed and felt the force of this objection. But, alas! explosion has succeeded explosion so rapidly, that novelty itself ceases to appear new; and it is possible that now, even a simple story, wholly unspired [? inspired] with politics or personality, may find some attention amid the hubbub of Revolutions, as to those who have resided a long time by the falls of Niagara, the lowest whispering becomes distinctly audible.

S. T. COLERIDGE.

1

O leave the Lily on its stem;
O leave the Rose upon the spray;
O leave the Elder-bloom, fair Maids!
And listen to my lay.

2

A Cypress and a Myrtle bough, 5
This morn around my harp you twin'd,
Because it fashion'd mournfully
Its murmurs in the wind.

3

And now a Tale of Love and Woe,
A woeful Tale of Love I sing: 10
Hark, gentle Maidens, hark! it sighs
And trembles on the string.

4

But most, my own dear Genevieve!
It sighs and trembles most for thee!
O come and hear the cruel wrongs 15
Befel the dark Ladie!

5

Few sorrows hath she of her own,
My hope, my joy, my Genevieve!
She loves me best whene'er I sing
The songs that make her grieve. 20

6

All thoughts, all passions, all delights,
Whatever stirs this mortal frame,
All are but ministers of Love,
And feed his sacred flame.

7

O ever in my waking dreams, 25
I dwell upon that happy hour,
When midway on the Mount I sate
Beside the ruin'd Tow'r.

8

The moonshine, stealing o'er the scene,
Had blended with the lights of eve, 30
And she was there, my hope! my joy!
My own dear Genevieve!

9

She lean'd against the armed Man
The statue of the armed Knight--
She stood and listen'd to my harp, 35
Amid the ling'ring light.

10

I play'd a sad and doleful air,
I sang an old and moving story,
An old rude song, that fitted well
The ruin wild and hoary. 40

11

She listen'd with a flitting blush,
With downcast eyes and modest grace:
For well she knew, I could not choose
But gaze upon her face.

12

I told her of the Knight that wore 45
Upon his shield a burning brand.
And how for ten long years he woo'd
The Ladie of the Land:

13

I told her, how he pin'd, and ah!
The deep, the low, the pleading tone, 50
With which I sang another's love,
Interpreted my own!

14

She listen'd with a flitting blush,
With downcast eyes and modest grace.
And she forgave me, that I gaz'd 55
Too fondly on her face!

15

But when I told the cruel scorn,
That craz'd this bold and lovely Knight;
And how he roam'd the mountain woods,
Nor rested day or night; 60

16

And how he cross'd the Woodman's paths,
Thro' briars and swampy mosses beat;
How boughs rebounding scourg'd his limbs,
And low stubs gor'd his feet.

17

How sometimes from the savage den, 65
And sometimes from the darksome shade,
And sometimes starting up at once,
In green and sunny glade;

18

There came and look'd him in the face
An Angel beautiful and bright, 70
And how he knew it was a Fiend,
This mis'rable Knight!

19

And how, unknowing what he did,
He leapt amid a lawless band,
And sav'd from outrage worse than death 75
The Ladie of the Land.

20

And how she wept, and clasp'd his knees,
And how she tended him in vain,
And meekly strove to expiate
The scorn that craz'd his brain; 80

21

And how she nurs'd him in a cave;
And how his madness went away,
When on the yellow forest leaves
A dying man he lay;

22

His dying words--but when I reach'd 85
That tenderest strain of all the ditty,
My fault'ring voice and pausing harp
Disturb'd her soul with pity.

23

All impulses of soul and sense
Had thrill'd my guiltless Genevieve-- 90
The music and the doleful tale,
The rich and balmy eve;

24

And hopes and fears that kindle hope,
An undistinguishable throng;
And gentle wishes long subdu'd, 95
Subdu'd and cherish'd long.

25

She wept with pity and delight--
She blush'd with love and maiden shame,
And like the murmurs of a dream,
I heard her breathe my name. 100

26

I saw her bosom heave and swell,
Heave and swell with inward sighs--
I could not choose but love to see
Her gentle bosom rise.

27

Her wet cheek glow'd; she stept aside, 105
As conscious of my look she stept;
Then suddenly, with tim'rous eye,
She flew to me, and wept;

28

She half-inclos'd me with her arms--
She press'd me with a meek embrace; 110
And, bending back her head, look'd up,
And gaz'd upon my face.

29

'Twas partly love, and partly fear,
And partly 'twas a bashful art,
That I might rather feel than see, 115
The swelling of her heart.

30

I calm'd her fears, and she was calm,
And told her love with virgin pride;
And so I won my Genevieve,
My bright and beaut'ous bride. 120

31

And now once more a tale of woe,
A woeful tale of love, I sing:
For thee, my Genevieve! it sighs,
And trembles on the string.

32

When last I sang the cruel scorn 125
That craz'd this bold and lonely Knight,
And how he roam'd the mountain woods,
Nor rested day or night;

33

I promis'd thee a sister tale
Of Man's perfidious cruelty: 130
Come, then, and hear what cruel wrong
Befel the Dark Ladie.

_End of the Introduction._

FOOTNOTES:

[1052:1] Published in the _Morning Post_, Dec. 21, 1799. Collated with two MSS.--_MS. (1)_; _MS. (2)_--in the British Museum [Add. MSS. 27,902]. See _Coleridge's Poems_, A Facsimile of the Proofs, &c., edited by the late James Dykes Campbell, 1899. _MS. 1_ consists of thirty-two stanzas (unnumbered), written on nine pages: _MS. 2_ (which begins with stanza 6, and ends with stanza 30) of fourteen stanzas (unnumbered) written on four pages.

LINENOTES:

_Title_--The Dark Ladiè. MS. B. M. (1).

[2] Rose upon] Rose-bud on MS. B. M. (1).

[3] fair] dear erased MS. (1).

[7] mournfully] sad and sweet MS. (1).

[8] in] to MS. (1).

[16] Ladie] Ladié MS. (2).

[20] The song that makes her grieve. MS. (1).

[21-4]

Each thought, each feeling of the Soul,
All lovely sights, each tender, name,
All, all are ministers of Love,
That stir our mortal frame.

MS. (1).

[22] All, all that stirs this mortal frame MS. B. M. (2).

[24] feed] fan MS. (2).

[25]

O ever in my lonely walk

erased MS. (1).

In lonely walk and noontide dreams

MS. (1).

O ever when I walk alone

erased MS. (1).

[26]

I feed upon that blissful hour

MS. (1).

I feed upon that hour of Bliss

erased MS. (1).

That ruddy eve that blissful hour

erased MS. (1).

[26] dwell] feed MS. (2).

[27]

we [*sate*]
When midway on the mount I stood

MS. (1).

When we too stood upon the Hill

erased MS. (1).

[29]

The Moonshine stole upon the ground

erased MS. (1).

The Moon [*be blended on*] the ground

MS. (1).

[30] Had] And erased MS. (1).

[31] was there] stood near (was there _erased_) MS. (1).

[33-6]

Against a grey stone rudely carv'd,
The statue of an armed Knight,
in
She lean'd [*the*] melancholy mood,
[*And*] To watch'd the lingering Light

MS. (1).

[33-4]

[*She lean'd against*] a [*chissold stone*]
[*tall*]
[*The statue of a*]

MS. (1).

[34] the] an MS. (1) [Stanza 10, revised.]

[37] sad] soft MSS. (1, 2). doleful] mournful erased MS. (1).

[39] An] And MS. (2).

rude] wild erased MS. (1).

[41-4]

With flitting Blush and downcast eyes,
In modest melancholy grace
The Maiden stood: perchance I gaz'd
Too fondly on her face.

Erased MS. (1).

[45-8] om. MS. (1).

[49] [*I gaz'd and when*] I sang of love MS. (1).

[53-6]

With flitting Blush and downcast eyes
and
With downcast eyes _in_ modest grace
for
[*She listen'd; and perchance I gaz'd*]
Too fondly on her face.

MS. (1).

[55] And] Yet MS. (1).

[57] told] sang MS. (1).

[59] roam'd] cross'd MS. (1).

[60] or] nor MS. (1).

[61-4] om. MS. (1).]

[65] How sometimes from the hollow Trees MS. (1).

[69-72]

look'd
There came and [*star'd*] him in the face
An[d] Angel beautiful and bright,
And how he knew it was a fiend
And yell'd with strange affright.

MS. (1).

[74] lawless] murderous MS. (1).

[77] clasp'd] kiss'd MS. (1).

[79] meekly] how she MS. (1).

[87] fault'ring] trembling MS. (1) erased.

[90] guiltless] guileless MS. (1).

[Between 96 and 97]

And while midnight
[*While*] Fancy like the [*nuptial*] Torch
That bends and rises in the wind
Lit up with wild and broken lights
The Tumult of her mind.

MS. (1) erased.

[99]

And like the murmur of a dream

MSS. (1, 2).

_And_ [*in a*] murmur [*faint and sweet*]

MS. (1) erased.

[100]

[*She half pronounced my name.*]
She breathed her Lover's name.

MS. (1) erased.

[101-4]

I saw her gentle Bosom heave
Th' inaudible and frequent sigh;
modest
And ah! the [*bashful*] Maiden mark'd
The wanderings of my eye[s]

MS. (1) erased.

[105-8] om. MS. (1).

[105] cheek] cheeks MS. (2).

[108] flew] fled MS. (2).

[109-16]

side
And closely to my [*heart*] she press'd
And ask'd me with her swimming eyes
might
That I [*would*] rather feel than see
Her gentle Bosom rise.--

_Or_

side
And closely to my [*heart*] she press'd
And closer still with bashful art--
That I might rather feel than see
The swelling of her Heart.

MS. (1) erased.

[111] And] Then MS. (2) erased.

[117]

And now serene, serene and chaste
But soon in calm and solemn tone

MS. (1) erased.

[118] And] She MS. (1) erased. virgin] maiden MSS. (1, 2).

[120] bright] dear MS. (1) erased. beaut'ous] lovely MS. (1) erased.

[125-8]

When last I sang of Him whose heart
Was broken by a woman's scorn--
And how he cross'd the mountain woods
All frantic and forlorn

MS. (1).

[129] sister] moving MS. (1).

[131] wrong] wrongs MS. (1).

[132] Ladie] Ladié MS. (2).

[After 132] _The Dark Ladiè._ MS. (1).

I

THE TRIUMPH OF LOYALTY.[1060:1]

[Vide _ante_, p. 421.]

AN HISTORIC DRAMA

IN

FIVE ACTS.

FIRST PERFORMED WITH UNIVERSAL APPLAUSE AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE, ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY THE 7TH, 1801.

APOECIDES.
Quis hoc scit factum?

EPIDICUS.
Ego ita esse factum dico.

PERIPHANES.
Scin' tu istuc?

EPIDICUS.
Scio.

PERIPHANES.
Qui tu scis?

EPIDICUS.
Quia ego vidi.

PERIPHANES.
[Ipse vidistine [Tragediam?]] Nimis factum bene!

EPIDICUS.
Sed vestita, aurata, ornata, ut lepide! ut concinne! ut nove! [Proh
Dii immortales! tempestatem (plausuum Populus) nobis nocte hac
misit!][1060:2]

(Plaut. _Epidicus_. Act 2. Scen. 2, ll. 22 sqq.)

LONDON.

PRINTED FOR T. N. LONGMAN AND REES, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

1801.

FOOTNOTES:

[1060:1] Now first published from an MS. in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 34,225). The _Triumph of Loyalty_, 'a sort of dramatic romance' (see _Letter to Poole_, December 5, 1800; _Letters of S. T. C._, 1895, i. 343), was begun and left unfinished in the late autumn of 1800. An excerpt (ll. 277-358) was revised and published as 'A Night Scene. A Dramatic Fragment,' in _Sibylline Leaves_ (1817), vide _ante_, pp. 421-3. The revision of the excerpt (ll. 263-349) with respect to the order and arrangement of its component parts is indicated by asterisks, which appear to be contemporary with the MS. I have, therefore, in printing the MS., followed the revised and not the original order of these lines. Again, in the hitherto unpublished portion of the MS. (ll. 1-263) I have omitted rough drafts of passages which were rewritten, either on the same page or on the reverse of the leaf.

[1060:2] The words enclosed in brackets are not to be found in the text. They were either invented or adapted by Coleridge _ad hoc_. The text of the passage as a whole has been reconstructed by modern editors.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.

Earl Henry MR. KEMBLE

Don Curio MR. C. KEMBLE

Sandoval MR. BARRYMORE

Alva, the Chancellor MR. AICKIN

Barnard, Earl Henry's Groom of the Chamber MR. SUETT

Don Fernandez MR. BANNISTER, JUN.

The Governor of the State Prison MR. DAVIS

Herreras (Oropeza's Uncle) and three Conspirators
MESSRS. PACKER, WENTWORTH, MATHEW, and GIBBON

Officers and Soldiers of Earl Henry's Regiment.

The Queen of Navarre MRS. SIDDONS

Donna Oropeza MRS. POWELL

Mira, her attendant MISS DECAMP

Aspasia, a singer MRS. CROUCH

Scene, partly at the Country seat of Donna Oropeza, and partly in Pampilona [_sic_], the Capital of Navarre.

THE TRIUMPH OF LOYALTY