Book VIII.

_Variant of_ ll. 33-67:

The Brothers’ Subject on their Morning Ride Was, as it chanced, the Misery of Pride!

* * * * *

[illegible attempts.] The very Virtues suffer! and but few Altho’ unshamed bear Want and pity too. This is the Serpent Poverty that Stings! And Wealth, thus flying, certain misery brings.

* * * * *

The Wretched then the common fate deplore And mourn Enjoyments that return no more. They who so dearly loved in happier times Doubt the tried Worth; their Sorrows are their Crimes. They spoil the Temper; they disturb the rest; Men fly the Scold, the Comforter, the Guest. (M.)

_instead of_ ll. 48-53:

“Oh! that we had the virtuous pride to show We know ourselves what all about us know; Nor, when our board contains a single dish, Tell lying tales of market-men and fish! We know ’tis hard from higher views to fall-- What is not hard when life is trial all?” (O.M.)

_after_ l. 67:

“But I digress, dear Richard, who despise Tellers of tales, who stop and moralize; As some good editors of Esop used Their privilege, and readers’ sense abused: Who half a page to write their fable took, And just a page and half to swell their book. But to that gentle being I return, And, as I treat of patience, let me learn.” (O.M.)

_instead of_ ll. 106-7:

“Like Saul’s fair daughters, as by Cowley sung; Not from a monarch, but a yeoman sprung.” (O.M.)

_after_ l. 113:

Who gazed at Jane saw Wonder and Delight; Who looked on Lucy blessd the pleasing Sight.

* * * * *

The Air of Lucy her Admirers held In pleasing Bondage; that of Jane repell’d. (M.)

_after_ l. 119:

Lucy not often could those Looks command, But had the sober praise and offered Hand; For those who breathed for Jane those Sighs of fire Asked not their Reason, What do I desire? While Lucy’s Lovers felt the Wishes rise And could explain the purport of their Sighs. In future day one spake how Friendships please, And one, a Lover, whom we charm and teize; And then began the speech of Jane to raise Men’s awe, and Lucy’s to obtain their praise. (M.)

_instead of_ ll. 196-207:

Now Lucy’s Lover was a plain good Man, Who meant to marry on a saving Plan. Jane is perhaps the prettier one to view, He judged; but [has] the Keener Judgment too; And, if her Eye be more than Lucy’s bright, And beams upon you with a fiercer Light, A face may be admired; but, put the Case A Man shall marry, what avails a face? A Wife that[’s] pretty her Conditions makes; A Wife that[’s] prudent rather gives than takes. Beauty will cost require and Wealth command, But there is Safety in a closing Hand; And what if Lucy to the needy sends Too great a portion and the deed defends, That ’tis her own; there’s prudence in the Words That will preserve the Good that is her Lord’s. Besides, there’s not a Virtue we possess So soon restrain’d as giving to distress; And, then, a rival makes a woman nice, And Jane’s admirer will enhance her price. Thus, thinking but concealing what he thought, This cautious Lover Lucy’s favour sought. (M.)

_after_ l. 231:

Or why the Fear? and all that seemed so good Was only Slyness rightly understood; Then, too, his father living held the Son From the sad Course he was disposed to run. (M.)

_instead of_ ll. 255-8:

“Near to the village, where they now abide, In their own style--the vulgar call it pride-- Dwelt the fair sisters: good they were and kind, That prying scandal scarce could error find-- And candour none--they spent, they spared, they gave Just as they ought to give, to spare, to save; Like two queen-myrtles in an arbour’s side, So they abode, and so might still abide, But for a blight! it wounds me at the heart, That I have grief and anguish to impart.” (O.M.)

l. 287. alchemist. _after_ l. 419:

“Thus fill’d with fear, that evening they attend To his last home an ancient village-friend; And they, reflecting on the old man’s days, Who living had their love, and now their praise-- That good old man, with so much native sense, Such health and ease, such hope with competence: They could but own, if such should be their lot, They should be thankful!--It, alas! was not.” (O.M.)

l. 550. ecstacy. _after_ l. 824:

“I read your looks, my Brother, you would give Largely to these--they should in comfort live, Nor labour thus; but you would find it hard To gain assent: professions they regard As their experience bids them, and they run From ready love, as they would treachery shun; Yet have I woo’d them long, and they attend With growing trust--they treat me as a friend, And talk of my probation; but, afraid, They take my counsel, but refuse my aid.” (O.M.)

=Book IX=.

_Instead of_ ll. 150-5:

“The weeks fled smoothly, five or six, before, Bless’d in the present, he could think of more. Two months beside were at his villa spent, } Where first enraptured, he became content; } Then went to town, scarce knowing why he went. } His lady with him, as a wife should be-- Talk of a moon of honey! there were three.” (O.M.)

_instead of_ ll. 176-7:

“For pairs not loving, cannot music find, And loving pairs have music in the mind.” (O.M.)

=Book XI=.

_The Book opens_:

That gentle Spinster, whom our Squire approved So well, they judged aright who said he loved; Though, when they thought to what the love would lead, They err’d--for neither would so far proceed. This Maiden Lady, to her promise just, Gave them her story.--She could safely trust Her neighbours both: the one she long had known, The other kindness and respect had shown. Frankly not fearless, from her early youth, She gave her tale, nor would disguise a truth; Timid in places, and with some restraint, But still resolved the very facts to paint, With plaintive smile she prefaced what she spoke, And the Friends listen’d with attentive look. (O.M.)

_after_ l. 67:

“Think not of love! it is a chance indeed, When love and prudence side by side proceed. Nay, when they do, I doubtfully approve-- Love baffles prudence--Oh! beware of love.” (O.M.)

_variant of_ ll. 109-32:

He knew that Girls had heard that youth is bold, And he would show how youthful were the old.

* * * * *

He knew the Vices that the youthful boast, And he desired to show the form and Ghost Of naked Evil, rob’d of every Grace That could our Anger or Contempt displace-- Not as the drunken Slave to make me think How odious Vice, but hoping I should drink.

* * * * *

Repelled awhile, he answered, Did you drive A Charge so precious, fear would be alive. (U.P.)

_instead of_ ll. 150-1:

He said that Beauty now would scarcely sell; The drug was plenteous, and the Market fell. (U.P.)

_after_ l. 163:

And the weak side of woman--but he spied, So it appeared to me, the viler side. (U.P.)

_instead of_ ll. 164-5:

And all that this superior knowledge meant Was to delude the weak and innocent. (U.P.)

_variant of_ ll. 190-221:

My Mother too seemed now disposed to try A Life of Reason and Tranquillity; She had till lately health and Spirits kept; She ate in Comfort, and in Quiet slept. But our late Subject was a kind that fills The Mind, and poison in the Heart instills. For five and forty years my Mother bore Her Placid Looks, and Dress becoming wore; She would a Compliment with pleasure take That no undue Impression seemed to make; But now her Nerves became disturbed and weak, And we must Aid from a Physician seek: A Scotch Physician, who had just began To settle here--a very handsome Man, And very wise, for I with Lovers twain Was in his eye a very Child again; While my dear Mother, twenty years a Wife, Was to decide the Fortune of his life; And she decided---In a general way Mama her power was willing to display.

* * * * *

But now like Monarch weary of a Throne She would no longer reign, at least alone! She held her pulse, and with a Look so sweet Gave him to feel how softly they could beat. (U.P.)

_after_ l. 227:

It was reported, nay it was believed That both the wary parties were deceived; For both had learnt the wicked world to cheat And be a match for all its vile Deceit. (U.P.)

_instead of_ ll. 323-5:

Was just his present purpose to pursue, Send him to college and there let him learn To live, and to his numerous brothers turn! (U.P.)

_variant of_ ll. 336-7:

In fact our hearts we gave as Lovers give Before we asked if we as Men could live. I lov’d the Youth, nor had I doubts that he } Had tender thoughts and faithful Hopes like me, } And, as our Love was now, so would it ever be. } (U.P.)

_instead of_ l. 410:

Were placed our yellow plates of Stafford Ware. (U.P.)

_instead of_ ll. 433-4:

While Biddy slept, upon a Bed so hard And coarse, I laid and was of Sleep debarred. (U.P.)

_instead of_ ll. 508-14:

And what, as armed with right and power they asked, Are your Soul’s Contests? and their own unmasked. Confessing thoughts so strange and views so wild I thought them Dreams, or fancies of a Child Could she, they ask, her best attempts condemn, } And did she long to touch the Garment’s hem, } And was it so with her, for so it was with them?} (U.P.)

_instead of_ ll. 517-26:

My Mother kindly lent her teachers Aid To win the Soul of her deluded maid; I was compelled her female friends to hear, But suffer’d not one bearded teacher near; Tho’ more than one attempted with their whine And ‘Sister! Sister!’ turn to love divine; But my contending Spirit to direct Was what I vow’d no Brother should effect; But O! their Preacher, would I could receive His precious dropping of the Dew at Eve! (U.P.)

_instead of_ ll. 533-6:

But soon appear’d and spoke in mode correct, With all the cold dead freedom of the Sect; Of his Conversion with conceit he spoke Before he orders from his Bishop took. (U.P.)

_after_ l. 548:

He then with self-applause his valour told And how his boyish Love for me grew cold. (U.P.)

_instead of_ ll. 566-9:

On Sidmouth terrace pace at morn and noon, Or view from Dawlish rocks the full-orb’d moon, At Exmouth beacon the far bay explore, } Or quiet sit at Teignmouth’s pebbly shore; } These scenes are lovely all, and will your peace restore. } (O.M.)

_instead of_ ll. 574-87:

Dear scenes of social comfort, friendly ease, The power of pleasing, the delight to please; When friends agreed the views around t’ explore, When sympathising minds exchanged their store; When fear was banish’d, and no form desired, But such as decency and sense required; When each in meeting wore the looks that make Such strong impression, and preclude mistake; When looks, and words, and manner all declare What hearts, and thoughts, and dispositions are-- In fact, when we in various modes express } That we are happy all! all answer yes! } This is indeed approach to perfect happiness. } Dear objects! scatter’d in the world around, Whom do ye gladden? where may ye be found? Ye who excited joy by day, by night, Ye who delighted to dispense delight, Ye who to please the sadden’d temper strove, Who, when ye loved not, show’d the effect of love, Ye who are blessings wheresoe’er ye dwell, Accept the wishes of a long farewell! (O.M.)

_instead of_ ll. 600-1:

“No, I confess, there was a proneness yet To think with foolish fondness and regret.” (U.P.)

_variant of_ ll. 620-38:

Are we not good, benevolent and just; Must not all love us? We are sure they must. Are we not read in works of every kind; Are we not prudent, rational, refined; Are not our thoughts correct, our words discreet, } And our Life void of folly, fraud, deceit; } And where can we on Earth a purer Spirit meet? } Here the Heart ceased; I answer’d to the Heart: A vile Deceiver, and a vain, thou art. First, thy Religion I can plainly see Wants the first requisite--Humility. We are so pure, the humble mind’s [resource], Truth and Repentance, we may drop of course, And with the gallant Frenchman at the Cry Of the last Day say boldly, here am I! (U.P.)

_variant of_ ll. 649-52:

What is the good that thy whole life has done Compared with her one day, a single one? (O.M.)

_variant of_ ll. 692-7:

The tears of tender Souls which for him fell, } And strong Persuasion, Brother! all is well. } Tarry, and Heav’n is thine; depart, and there is hell.-- } So I from frenzy’s Zeal and folly’s Creed Was by Exertion and Discretion freed. (U.P.)

_variant of_ ll. 712-20:

Still he would come, and talk as idlers do } Both of his old opinions and his new; } For now he was convinced that nothing could be true. } Barriers so strong against all Truth were placed That by the wise no Tenet was embraced. This was religion here that there was spurned; Then how could Truth be anywhere discerned? Her as a mistress Men indeed pursue } In Chace for ever, never in their view; } And who shall dare affirm that anything is true? } (U.P.)

_variant of_ ll. 816-27:

But in that world the faithful Youth shall view One like himself, as generous and as true. Such our Discourse; but, growing more refin’d, And suited only to a Soul resigned-- For she would far in her fair View proceed And as I could, I doubted or agreed-- I asked if Lovers took the wiser Way Who to their Death their Union would delay, For fear that Marriage should the Vision spoil And the pure pleasure of the fancy soil? (U.P.)

_variant of_ ll. 834-49:

And all betrayed a Man who had of Gold a store. The comely Man moved, onward, and a pair Of comely Maidens waited, with an Air Of Doubt, till one exclaim’d with Voice profound, And, O! ’tis Henry, dropt upon the Ground. But she recovered, and, I pray you, guess What then ensued and how much Happiness. Just as the Lover chanc’d his Home to find, The Lady fixed on other home her Mind; They parted Lovers who were grieved to part; They met as Neighbours! heal’d was either heart. Each on the others Looks could raptured dwell, They now could say, You look extremely well. She had prepared in some blessed world to meet; The Knight, of purchasing a snug Retreat, In this and there in good Regard to live: Among their Friends ’twas all it now could give. (U.P.)

_variant of_ ll. 864-75:

What Time has done, gross food and vulgar Trade Has all impaired that Love and Nature made. I cannot take him--I my Friend approved, Who dare refuse when she no longer loved. But he was loud and loving, fierce and free, And weak and timid vain and grateful She. Thus sundry motives more than I can name Rose on his side, and she a Wife became. (U.P.)

_instead of_ ll. 890-3:

Yet his the Comfort of an Heart that feels A single day, and that the morrow heals; And yet he grieved a while, and he would weep, And swear profusely I had murdered sleep; Had quite unman’d him for heroic Vein, And he could only murmur and complain. (U.P.)

_variant of_ ll. 903-4:

Yet e’er we parted he his Prayer renewed, And urged me “Do not live in Solitude! Wert thou my Lady to the Study take O! what a Desdemona wouldst thou make.” (U.P.)

_after_ l. 904:

And then he spouted--till I cried, Is he The man I loved? Oh! that could never be. No! time upon the outward beauty preys, And the mind’s beauty in its vice decays. (O.M.)

_instead of_ ll. 910-2:

But that he lost, and with a wither’d hand. Stood at his father’s gate, as beggars stand; But his were jealous brethren, and they kept Their dying father from him, till he slept. (O.M.)

_instead of_ ll. 926-8:

And no Adventure marked the waste of Years; I thought me past them, but I met with one, A call to Folly e’er the pasts were done. (U.P.)

VARIANTS. VOL. I. ADDENDA.

=THE LIBRARY=. ‘Original MS.’ readings given as footnotes Life and Poems (1834).

_After_ l. 4:

Where can the wretched lose their cares, and hide The tears of sorrow from the eyes of pride? Can they in silent shades a refuge find From all the scorn and malice of mankind? From wit’s disdain, and wealth’s provoking sneer, } From folly’s grin, and humour’s stupid leer, } And clamour’s iron tongue, censorious and severe? } There can they see the scenes of nature gay, And shake the gloomy dreams of life away? Without a sigh, the hope of youth give o’er, And with aspiring honour climb no more. Alas! we fly to peaceful shades in vain; Peace dwells within, or all without is pain: No storm-tost sailor sighs for slumbering seas-- He dreads a tempest, but desires a breeze. The placid waves with silent swell disclose A clearer view, and but reflect his woes. So life has calms, in which we only see A fuller prospect of our misery. When the sick heart, by no design employ’d, Throbs o’er the past, or suffer’d, or enjoy’d, In former pleasures finding no relief, And pain’d anew in every former grief. Can friends console us when our cares distress, Smile on our woes, and make misfortunes less? Alas! like winter’d leaves, they fall away, Or more disgrace our prospects by delay; The genial warmth, the fostering sap is past, That kept them faithful, and that held them fast. Where shall we fly?--to yonder still retreat, The haunt of Genius and the Muses’ seat, Where all our griefs in others’ strains rehearse, Speak with old Time, and with the dead converse; Till Fancy, far in distant regions flown, Adopts a thousand schemes, and quits her own; Skims every scene, and plans with each design, Towers in each thought, and lives in every line; From clime to clime with rapid motion flies, Weeps without woe, and without sorrow sighs; To all things yielding, and by all things sway’d, To all obedient, and by all obey’d; The source of pleasures, noble and refined, And the great empress of the Poet’s mind. Here led by thee, fair Fancy, I behold The mighty heroes, and the bards of old! For here the Muses sacred vigils keep, And all the busy cares of being sleep; No monarch covets war, nor dreams of fame, No subject bleeds to raise his tyrant’s name, No proud great man, or man that would be great, Drives modest merit from its proper state, Nor rapine reaps the good by labour sown, Nor envy blasts a laurel, but her own. Yet Contemplation, silent goddess, here, In her vast eye, makes all mankind appear, All Nature’s treasures, all the stores of Art, That fire the fancy, or engage the heart, The world’s vast views, the fancy’s wild domain, And all the motley objects of the brain: Here mountains hurl’d on mountains proudly rise, Far, far o’er Nature’s dull realities; Eternal verdure decks a sacred clime, Eternal spring for ever blooms in rhyme, And heroes honour’d for imputed deeds, And saints adored for visionary creeds, Legends and tales, and solitude and sighs, Poor doating dreams, and miserable lies, The empty bubbles of a pensive mind, And Spleen’s sad effort to debase mankind. Here Wonder gapes at Story’s dreadful page, And Valour mounts by true poetic rage, And Pity weeps to hear the mourning maid, And Envy saddens at the praise convey’d. Devotion kindles at the pious strain, And mocks the madness of the fool’s disdain: Here gentle Delicacy turns her eye From the loose page, and blushes her reply, Alone, unheeded, calls her soul to arms, Fears every thought, and flies from all alarms. Pale Study here, to one great point resign’d; Derides the various follies of mankind; As distant objects sees their several cares, And with his own their trifling work compares; But still forgets like him men take their view, And near their own, his works are trifling too:-- So suns and planets scarcely fill the eye When earth’s poor hills and man’s poor huts are nigh; But, were the eye in airy regions tost, The world would lessen, and her hills be lost; And were the mighty orbs above us known, No world would seem so trifling as our own. Here looking back, the wond’ring soul surveys The sacred relics of departed days, Where grace, and truth, and excellence reside, To claim our praise, and mortify our pride; Favour’d by fate, our mighty fathers found The virgin Muse, with every beauty crown’d: They woo’d and won; and, banish’d their embrace, She comes a harlot to their feebler race: Deck’d in false taste, with gaudy shows of art She charms the eye, but touches not the heart; By thousands courted, but by few caress’d, False when pursued, and fatal when possess’d. From hence we rove, with Fancy for our guide, O’er this wide world, and other worlds more wide, Where other suns their vital power display, And round revolving planets dart the day; Where comets blaze, by mortals unsurvey’d, And stray where Galileo never stray’d; Where God himself conducts each vast machine, Uncensured by mankind, because unseen. Here, too, we trace the varied scenes of life, The tyrant husband, the retorting wife, The hero fearful to appear afraid, The thoughts of the deliberating maid; The snares for virtue, and the turns of fate, The lie of trade, and madness of debate; Here force deals death around, while fools applaud, And caution watches o’er the lips of fraud; Whate’er the world can show, here scorn derides, And here suspicion whispers what it hides-- The secret thought, the counsel of the breast, The coming news, and the expected jest. . . . High panegyric, in exalted style, That smiles for ever, and provokes a smile, And Satire, with her fav’rite handmaids by-- Here loud abuse, there simpering irony. . . . All now display’d, without a mask are known, And every vice in nature, but our own. Yet Pleasure too, and Virtue, still more fair, To this blest seat with mutual speed repair; The social sweets in life’s securer road, Its bliss unenvied, its substantial good, The happy thought that conscious virtue gives, And all that ought to live, and all that lives.

_after_ l. 104:

Maxims I glean, of mighty pith and force, And moral themes to shine in a discourse, But, tired with these, I take a lighter train, Tuned to the times, impertinent and vain. The tarts which wits provide for taste decay’d, And syllabubs by frothy witlings made, An easy, idle, thoughtless, graceless throng, Pun, jest, and quibble, epigram and song, Trifles to which declining genius bends, And steps by which aspiring wit ascends. Now sad and slow, with cautious step I tread, And view around the venerable dead; For where in all her walks shall study seize Such monuments of human state as these?

_after_ l. 430:

“Ah! happy age,” the youthful poet cries, “Ere laws arose--ere tyrants bade them rise; No land-marks then the happy swain beheld, Nor lords walk’d proudly o’er the furrow’d field; Nor through distorted ways did Avarice roam, To fetch delights for Luxury at home: But mutual joy the friends of Nature proved, And swains were faithful to the nymphs they loved.” “Mistaken bards! all nations first were rude; Man! proud, unsocial, prone to solitude: O’er hills, or vales, or floods, was fond to roam-- The mead his garden, and the rock his home: For flying prey he searched a savage coast-- Want was his spur, and liberty his boast.”

_after_ l. 570:

Ah! lost, for ever lost, to me these charms, These lofty notions and divine alarms, Too dearly bought--maturer judgment calls My pensive soul from tales and madrigals-- For who so blest or who so great as I, Wing’d round the globe with Rowland or Sir Guy? Alas! no more I see my queen repair To balmy bowers that blossom in the air, Where on their rosy beds the Graces rest, And not a care lies heavy on the breast. No more the hermit’s mossy cave I choose, Nor o’er the babbling brook delight to muse; My doughty giants all are slain or fled, And all my knights--blue, green, and yellow--dead! Magicians cease to charm me with their art, And not a griffin flies to glad my heart. No more the midnight fairy tribe I view, All in the merry moonshine tippling dew. The easy joys that charm’d my sportive youth, Fly Reason’s power, and shun the voice of Truth. Maturer thoughts severer taste prepares, And baffles every spell that charm’d my cares. Can Fiction, then, the noblest bliss supply, Or joy reside in inconsistency?

_after_ l. 594:

But who are these, a tribe that soar above, And tell more tender tales of modern love? A NOVEL train! the brood of old Romance, Conceived by Folly on the coast of France, That now with lighter thought, and gentler fire, Usurp the honours of their drooping sire; And still fantastic, vain, and trifling, sing Of many a soft and inconsistent thing,-- Of rakes repenting, clogg’d in Hymen’s chain-- Of nymph reclined by unpresuming swain-- Of captains, colonels, lords, and amorous knights, That find in humbler nymphs such chaste delights, Such heavenly charms, so gentle, yet so gay, That all their former follies fly away. Honour springs up, where’er their looks impart A moment’s sunshine to the harden’d heart-- A virtue, just before the rover’s jest, Grows like a mushroom in his melting breast. Much, too, they tell of cottages and shades, Of balls, and routs, and midnight masquerades, Where dangerous men and dangerous mirth reside, And Virtue goes--on purpose to be tried. These are the tales that wake the soul to life, That charm the sprightly niece and forward wife, That form the manners of a polish’d age, And each pure easy moral of the Stage. Thus to her friend the ever-faithful she-- The tender Delia--writes, securely free-- Delia from school was lately bold to rove, Where yet Lucinda meditated love. “Oh thou, the partner of my pensive breast, And, but for one! its most delightful guest, But for that one of whom ’twas joy to talk, When the chaste moon gleam’d o’er our ev’ning walk, And cooing fondly in the neighbouring groves The pretty songsters all enjoy’d their loves; Receive! as witness all ye powers! I send, With melting heart, this token of thy friend. “Calm was the night! and every breeze was low; Swift ran the stream--but, ah! the moments slow! Fly swift, ye moments! slowly run, thou stream, And on thy margin let a maiden dream. “Methought he came, my Harry, young and gay, The very youth that stole my heart away. I wake. Surprise! yet guess how blest was I! With looks of love--the very youth was by. ‘Whose is that form my Delia’s bosom hides? What youth divinely blest within presides?’ He spoke and sigh’d. His sighs my fear supprest, He seized his angel form, and actions spoke the rest. “Oh, Virtue! brighter than the noon-tide ray! Still guide my steps, and guide them nature’s way; With sacred precepts fill the youthful mind, Soothe all its cares, and force it to be kind.” Thus, gentle passions warm the generous maid, No more reluctant, and no more afraid; Thus Virtue shines, and in her loveliest dress Not over nice, nor Virtue to excess. Near these I look, and lo! a reptile race, In goodly vests conceal the want of grace; The brood of Humour, Fancy, Frolic, Fun, The tale obscene, the miserable pun; The jest that Laughter loves, he knows not why, And Whim tells quaintly with distorted eye. Here Languor, yawning, pays his first devoirs, And skims sedately o’er his dear Memoirs; Here tries his tedious moments to employ, And, palsied by enjoyment, dreams of joy; From all the tribe his little knowledge steals, From dull “Torpedoes,” and “Electric Eels;” And every trifle of a trifling age, That shames the closet, or degrades the Stage.

_after_ l. 602:

Here as I stand, of sovereign power possess’d, A vast ambition fires my swelling breast; I deal destruction round, and, all severe, Damn with a dash, and censure with a sneer; Or from the Critic wrest a sinking cause, Rejudge his justice, and repeal his laws; Now half by judgment guided, half by whim, I grasp disputed power, and tyrannise like him; Food for the mind I seek; but who shall find The food that satisfies the craving mind? Like fire it rages; and its fatal rage What pains can deaden, and what care assuage? Choked by its fuel, though it clouded lies, It soon eats through, and craves for new supplies; Now here, now there, with sudden fury breaks And to its substance turns whate’er it takes. To weighty themes I fly with eager haste, And skim their treasures like the man of taste; From a few pages learn the whole design, } And damn a book for one suspicious line, } Or steal its sentiments, and call them mine! }

=THE BIRTH OF FLATTERY=. ‘Original MS.’ readings given as footnotes in Life and Poems (1834).

_Instead of_ ll. 1-9:

Muse of my Spenser, who so well could sing The Passions, and the sources whence they spring; Who taught the birth, the bearings, and the ties, The strong connections, nice dependencies, Of these the Foes of Virtue and the Friends, With whom she rises and with whom descends-- A Syren’s birth, a Syren’s power I trace, Aid me, oh! Herald of the Fairy-race; Say whence she sprang, to what strange fortune born, And why we love and hate, desire and scorn.

_instead of_ ll. 29-40:

From whom she sprang, not one around her knew, Nor why she came, nor what she had in view, Labour she loved not, had no wealth in store, Pursued no calling, yet was never poor, A thousand gifts her various arts repaid, And bounteous fairies blest the thriving maid; For she had secret means of easy gains, And Cunning was her name among the swains.

=SIR EUSTACE GREY=. ‘Original MS.’ readings given as footnotes in Life and Poems (1834).

_Instead of_ ll. 29-32:

The worthy doctor, and a friend. ’Tis more than kind to visit one Who has not now to spare or spend.

_instead of_ l. 75:

Worms, doctor, worms, and so are we.

_instead of_ ll. 100-7:

Madman! shall He who made this all, The parts that form the whole reject? Is aught with him so great or small, He cannot punish or protect? Man’s folly may his crimes neglect, And hope the eye of God to shun; But there’s of all the account correct-- Not one omitted--no, not one.

_instead of_ ll. 144-7:

Nay, frown not--chide not--but allow Pity to one so sorely tried: But I am calm--to fate I bow And all the storms of life abide.

_instead of_ ll. 260-7:

Ills that no medicines can heal, And griefs that no man can forget; Whatever cares the mind can fret, The spirits wear, the bosom gall-- Pain, hunger, prison, duns, and debt Foul-fiends and fear,--I’ve felt ye all.

=THE HALL OF JUSTICE=. ‘Original MS.’ readings given as footnotes in Life and Poems (1834).