Chapter 88

3. and like (7). 7. away (7). 8. Fairer it seems than (7). 10. self, (9). 11. divine (2), beauty— (3). 12. own. (9). 14. fear, (1), choose, (4). 17. death? the (1). 19. radiance (3). 22. spake; (5). 25. thee beloved;— (8). 26. towers (6). 28. repent, (2). 29. withdrawn, (2). 31. stood a winged Thought (1). 32. gossamer, (6). 33. stream (1). 34. sunrise, (3), gold, (3), quiver, (4). 35. abode, (4). 37. wonderful; (3), go, (4). 40. blended: (4), heavens, (6), lake; (6).

1. PRINCE ATHANASE.

Lines 28-30. The punctuation here (“Poetical Works”, 1839) is supported by the Bodleian manuscript, which has a full stop at relief (line 28), and a comma at chief (line 30). The text of the “Posthumous Poems”, 1824, has a semicolon at relief and a full stop at chief. The original draft of lines 29, 30, in the Bodleian manuscript, runs:— He was the child of fortune and of power, And, though of a high race the orphan Chief, etc. —which is decisive in favour of our punctuation (1839). See Locock, “Examination”, etc., page 51.

2. Which wake and feed an ever-living woe,— (line 74.) All the editions have on for an, the reading of the Bodleian manuscript, where it appears as a substitute for his, the word originally written. The first draft of the line runs: Which nursed and fed his everliving woe. Wake, accordingly, is to be construed as a transitive (Locock).

3. Lines 130-169. This entire passage is distinctly cancelled in the Bodleian manuscript, where the following revised version of lines 125-129 and 168-181 is found some way later on:— Prince Athanase had one beloved friend, An old, old man, with hair of silver white, And lips where heavenly smiles would hang and blend With his wise words; and eyes whose arrowy light Was the reflex of many minds; he filled From fountains pure, nigh overgrown and [lost], The spirit of Prince Athanase, a child; And soul-sustaining songs of ancient lore And philosophic wisdom, clear and mild. And sweet and subtle talk they evermore The pupil and the master [share], until Sharing that undiminishable store, The youth, as clouds athwart a grassy hill Outrun the winds that chase them, soon outran His teacher, and did teach with native skill Strange truths and new to that experienced man; So [?] they were friends, as few have ever been Who mark the extremes of life’s discordant span. The words bracketed above, and in Fragment 5 of our text, are cancelled in the manuscript (Locock).

4. And blighting hope, etc. (line 152.) The word blighting here, noted as unsuitable by Rossetti, is cancelled in the Bodleian manuscript (Locock).

5. She saw between the chestnuts, far beneath, etc. (line 154.) The reading of editions 1824, 1839 (beneath the chestnuts) is a palpable misprint.

6. And sweet and subtle talk they evermore, The pupil and the master, shared; (lines 173, 174.) So edition 1824, which is supported by the Bodleian manuscript,—both the cancelled draft and the revised version: cf. note above. “Poetical Works”, 1839, has now for they—a reading retained by Rossetti alone of modern editors.

7. Line 193. The ‘three-dots’ point at storm is in the Bodleian manuscript.

8. Lines 202-207. The Bodleian manuscript, which has a comma and dash after nightingale, bears out James Thomson’s (‘B. V.’s’) view, approved by Rossetti, that these lines form one sentence. The manuscript has a dash after here (line 207), which must be regarded as ‘equivalent to a full stop or note of exclamation’ (Locock). Editions 1824, 1839 have a note of exclamation after nightingale (line 204) and a comma after here (line 207).

9. Fragment 3 (lines 230-239). First printed from the Bodleian manuscript by Mr. C.D. Locock. In the space here left blank, line 231, the manuscript has manhood, which is cancelled for some monosyllable unknown—query, spring?

10. And sea-buds burst under the waves serene:— (line 250.) For under edition 1839 has beneath, which, however, is cancelled for under in the Bodleian manuscript (Locock).

11. Lines 251-254. This, with many other places from line 222 onwards, evidently lacks Shelley’s final corrections.

12. Line 259. According to Mr. Locock, the final text of this line in the Bodleian manuscript runs:— Exulting, while the wide world shrinks below, etc.

13. Fragment 5 (lines 261-278). The text here is much tortured in the Bodleian manuscript. What the editions give us is clearly but a rough and tentative draft. ‘The language contains no third rhyme to mountains (line 262) and fountains (line 264).’ Locock. Lines 270-278 were first printed by Mr. Locock.

14. Line 289. For light (Bodleian manuscript) here the editions read bright. But light is undoubtedly the right word: cf. line 287. Investeth (line 285), Rossetti’s cj. for Investeth (1824, 1839) is found in the Bodleian manuscript.

15. Lines 297-302 (the darts...ungarmented). First printed by Mr. Locock from the Bodleian manuscript.

16. Another Fragment (A). Lines 1-3 of this Fragment reappear in a modified shape in the Bodleian manuscript of “Prometheus Unbound”, 2 4 28-30:— Or looks which tell that while the lips are calm And the eyes cold, the spirit weeps within Tears like the sanguine sweat of agony; Here the lines are cancelled—only, however, to reappear in a heightened shape in “The Cenci”, 1 1 111-113:— The dry, fixed eyeball; the pale quivering lip, Which tells me that the spirit weeps within Tears bitterer than the bloody sweat of Christ. (Garnett, Locock.)

17. PUNCTUAL VARIATIONS. The punctuation of “Prince Athanase” is that of “Poetical Works”, 1839, save in the places specified in the notes above, and in line 60—where there is a full stop, instead of the comma demanded by the sense, at the close of the line.

ROSALIND AND HELEN.

1. A sound from there, etc. (line 63.) Rossetti’s cj., there for thee, is adopted by all modern editors.

2. And down my cheeks the quick tears fell, etc. (line 366.) The word fell is Rossetti’s cj. (to rhyme with tell, line 369) for ran 1819, 1839).

3. Lines 405-409. The syntax here does not hang together, and Shelley may have been thinking of this passage amongst others when, on September 6, 1819, he wrote to Ollier:—‘In the “Rosalind and Helen” I see there are some few errors, which are so much the worse because they are errors in the sense.’ The obscurity, however, may have been, in part at least, designed: Rosalind grows incoherent before breaking off abruptly. No satisfactory emendation has been proposed.

4. Where weary meteor lamps repose, etc. (line 551.) With Woodberry I regard Where, his cj. for When (1819, 1839), as necessary for the sense.

5. With which they drag from mines of gore, etc. (line 711.) Rossetti proposes yore for gore here, or, as an alternative, rivers of gore, etc. If yore be right, Shelley’s meaning is: ‘With which from of old they drag,’ etc. But cf. Note (3) above.

6. Where, like twin vultures, etc. (line 932.) Where is Woodberry’s reading for When (1819, 1839). Forman suggests Where but does not print it.

7. Lines 1093-1096. The editio princeps (1819) punctuates:— Hung in dense flocks beneath the dome, That ivory dome, whose azure night With golden stars, like heaven, was bright O’er the split cedar’s pointed flame;

8. Lines 1168-1170. Sunk (line 1170) must be taken as a transitive in this passage, the grammar of which is defended by Mr. Swinburne.

9. Whilst animal life many long years Had rescue from a chasm of tears; (lines 1208-9.) Forman substitutes rescue for rescued (1819, 1839)—a highly probable cj. adopted by Dowden, but rejected by Woodberry. The sense is: ‘Whilst my life, surviving by the physical functions merely, thus escaped during many years from hopeless weeping.’

10. PUNCTUAL VARIATIONS. The following is a list of punctual variations, giving in each case the pointing of the editio princeps (1819):—heart 257; weak 425; Aye 492; There—now 545; immortally 864; not, 894; bleeding, 933; Fidelity 1055; dome, 1093; bright 1095; tremble, 1150; life-dissolving 1166; words, 1176; omit parentheses lines 1188-9; bereft, 1230.

JULIAN AND MADDALO.

1. Line 158. Salutations past; (1824); Salutations passed; (1839). Our text follows Woodberry.

2. —we might be all We dream of happy, high, majestical. (lines 172-3.) So the Hunt manuscript, edition 1824, has a comma after of (line 173), which is retained by Rossetti and Dowden.

3. —his melody Is interrupted—now we hear the din, etc. (lines 265-6.) So the Hunt manuscript; his melody Is interrupted now: we hear the din, etc., 1824, 1829.

4. Lines 282-284. The editio princeps (1824) runs:— Smiled in their motions as they lay apart, As one who wrought from his own fervid heart The eloquence of passion: soon he raised, etc.

5. Line 414. The editio princeps (1824) has a colon at the end of this line, and a semicolon at the close of line 415.

6. The ‘three-dots’ point, which appears several times in these pages, is taken from the Hunt manuscript and serves to mark a pause longer than that of a full stop.

7. He ceased, and overcome leant back awhile, etc. (line 511.) The form leant is retained here, as the stem-vowel, though unaltered in spelling, is shortened in pronunciation. Thus leant (pronounced ‘lent’) from lean comes under the same category as crept from creep, lept from leap, cleft from cleave, etc.—perfectly normal forms, all of them. In the case of weak preterites formed without any vowel-change, the more regular formation with ed is that which has been adopted in this volume. See Editor’s “Preface”.

8. CANCELLED FRAGMENTS OF JULIAN AND MADDALO. These were first printed by Dr. Garnett, “Relics of Shelley”, 1862.

9. PUNCTUAL VARIATIONS. Shelley’s final transcript of “Julian and Maddalo”, though written with great care and neatness, is yet very imperfectly punctuated. He would seem to have relied on the vigilance of Leigh Hunt—or, failing Hunt, of Peacock—to make good all omissions while seeing the poem through the press. Even Mr. Buxton Forman, careful as he is to uphold manuscript authority in general, finds it necessary to supplement the pointing of the Hunt manuscript in no fewer than ninety-four places. The following table gives a list of the pointings adopted in our text, over and above those found in the Hunt manuscript. In all but four or five instances, the supplementary points are derived from Mrs. Shelley’s text of 1824.

1. Comma added at end of line: 40, 54, 60, 77, 78, 85, 90, 94, 107, 110, 116, 120, 123, 134, 144, 145, 154, 157, 168, 179, 183, 191, 196, 202, 203, 215, 217, 221, 224, 225, 238, 253, 254, 262, 287, 305, 307, 331, 338, 360, 375, 384, 385, 396, 432, 436, 447, 450, 451, 473, 475, 476, 511, 520, 526, 541, 582, 590, 591, 592, 593, 595, 603, 612.

2. Comma added elsewhere: seas, 58; vineyards, 58; dismounted, 61; evening, 65; companion, 86; isles, 90; meant, 94; Look, Julian, 96; maniacs, 110; maker, 113; past, 114; churches, 136; rainy, 141; blithe, 167; beauty, 174; Maddalo, 192; others, 205; this, 232; respects, 241; shriek, 267; wrote, 286; month, 300; cried, 300; O, 304; and, 306; misery, disappointment, 314; soon, 369; stay, 392; mad, 394; Nay, 398; serpent, 399; said, 403; cruel, 439; hate, 461; hearts, 483; he, 529; seemed, 529; Unseen, 554; morning, 582; aspect, 585; And, 593; remember, 604; parted, 610.

3. Semicolon added at end of line: 101, 103, 167, 181, 279, 496.

4. Colon added at end of line: 164, 178, 606, 610.

5. Full stop added at end of line: 95, 201, 299, 319, 407, 481, 599, 601, 617.

6. Full stop added elsewhere: transparent. 85; trials. 472; Venice, 583.

7. Admiration—note added at end of line: 392, 492; elsewhere: 310, 323,

8. Dash added at end of line: 158, 379.

9. Full stop for comma (manuscript): eye. 119.

10. Full stop for dash (manuscript): entered. 158.

11. Colon for full stop (manuscript): tale: 596.

12. Dash for colon (manuscript): this— 207; prepared— 379.

13. Comma and dash for semicolon (manuscript): expressionless,— 292.

14. Comma and dash for comma (manuscript): not,— 127.

PROMETHEUS UNBOUND.

The variants of B. (Shelley’s ‘intermediate draft’ of “Prometheus Unbound”, now in the Bodleian Library), here recorded, are taken from Mr. C.D. Locock’s “Examination”, etc., Clarendon Press, 1903. See Editor’s Prefatory Note, above.

1.