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LETTER 23（第1页）

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LETTER23

CHARLESLAMBTOS.T.COLERIDGE

Feb.13th，1797.

Yourpoemisaltogetheradmirable—partsofitareevenexquisite—inparticularyourpersonalaccountoftheMaidfarsurpassesanythingofthesortinSouthey.Iperceivedallitsexcellences，onafirstreading，asreadilyasnowyouhavebeenremovingasupposedfilmfrommyeyes.Iwasonlystruckwith[a]certainfaultydisproportioninthematterandthestyle，whichIstillthinkIperceive，betweentheselinesandtheformerones.Ihadanendinview;Iwishedtomakeyourejectthepoem，onlyasbeingdiscordantwiththeother;and，insubserviencetothatend，itwaspoliticallydoneinmetoover-pass，andmakenomentionofmeritwhich，couldyouthinkmecapableofoverlooking，mightreasonablydamnforeverinyourjudgmentallpretensionsinmetobecritical.There，IwillbejudgedbyLloyd，whetherIhavenotmadeaveryhandsomerecantation.Iwasinthecaseofamanwhosefriendhasaskedhimhisopinionofacertainyounglady;thedeludedwightgivesjudgmentagainstherintoto—dontlikeherface，herwalk，hermanners—findsfaultwithhereyebrows—canseenowitinher.Hisfriendlooksblank;hebeginstosmellarat;windveersabout;heacknowledgeshergoodsense，herjudgmentindress，acertainsimplicityofmannersandhonestyofheart，somethingtooinhermannerswhichgainsuponyouafterashortacquaintance，—andthenheraccuratepronunciationoftheFrenchlanguageandaprettyuncultivatedtasteindrawing.Thereconciledgentlemansmilesapplause，squeezeshimbythehand，andhopeshewilldohimthehonouroftakingabitofdinnerwithMrs.—andhim—aplainfamilydinner—somedaynextweek."For，Isuppose，youneverheardweweremarried!Imgladtoseeyoulikemywife，however;youlleandseeher，ha?"NowamItooproudtoretractentirely.YetIdoperceiveIaminsomesortstraitened;youaremanifestlyweddedtothispoem，andwhatfancyhasjoinedletnomanseparate.IturnmetotheJoanofArc，secondbook.

Thesolemnopeningsofitarewithsoundswhich，Lloydwouldsay，"aresilencetothemind."Thedeeppreludingstrainsarefittedtoinitiatethemind，withapleasingawe，intothesublimestmysteriesoftheoryconcerningmansnatureandhisnoblestdestination—thephilosophyofafirstcause—ofsubordinateagentsincreationsuperiortoman—thesubserviencyofPaganworshipandPaganfaithtotheintroductionofapurerandmoreperfectreligion，whichyousoelegantlydescribeaswinningwithgradualstepsherdifficultwaynorthwardfromBethabra.AfterallthisethJoan，apublicansdaughter，sittingonanale-housebench，andmarkingtheswingingsofthesignboard，findingapoorman，hiswifeandsixchildren，starvedtodeathwithcold，andthencerousedintoastateofmindpropertoreceivevisionsemblematicalofequality;whichwhatthedevilJoanhadtodowith，Idontknow，orindeedwiththeFrenchandAmericanrevolutions;thoughthatneedsnopardon，itisexecutedsonobly.Afterall，ifyouperceivenodisproportion，allargumentisvain:Idonotsomuchobjecttoparts.Again，whenyoutalkofbuildingyourfameontheselinesinpreferencetothe"ReligiousMusings，"Icannothelpconceivingofyouandoftheauthorofthatastwodifferentpersons，andIthinkyouaveryvainman.

Ihavebeenre-readingyourletter.MuchofitIcoulddispute;butwiththelatterpartofit，inwhichyouparethetwoJoanswithrespecttotheirpredispositionsforfanaticism，Itotocordecoincide;onlyIthinkthatSoutheysstrengthratherliesinthedescriptionoftheemotionsoftheMaidundertheweightofinspiration，—these（Iseenomightydifferencebetweenherdescribingthemoryoudescribingthem），theseifyouonlyequal，thepreviousadmirersofhispoem，asisnatural，willpreferhis;ifyousurpass，prejudicewillscarcelyallowit，andIscarcethinkyouwillsurpass，thoughyourspecimenattheconclusion（Iaminearnest）IthinkverynighequalstheAndinanaccountofafanaticorofaprophetthedescriptionofheremotionsisexpectedtobemosthighlyfinished.Bytheway，Ispokefartoodisparaginglyofyourlines，and，Iamashamedtosay，purposely.Ishouldlikeyoutospecifyorparticularise;thestoryofthe"TotteringEld，"of"hiseventfulyearsalleandgone，"istoogeneral;whynotmakehimasoldier，orsomecharacter，however，inwhichhehasbeenwitnesstofrequencyof"cruelwrongandstrangedistress!"IthinkIshould.WhenIlaughedatthe"miserablemancrawlingfrombeneaththecoverture，"IwonderI[?you]didnotperceiveitwasalaughofhorror—suchasIhavelaughedatDantespictureofthefamishedUgolino.Withoutfalsehood，Iperceiveanhundredbeautiesinyournarrative.YetIwonderyoudonotperceivesomethingout-of-theway，somethingunsimpleandartificial，intheexpression，"voicedasadtale."Ihatemade-dishesatthemusesbanquet.IbelieveIwaswronginmostofmyotherobjections.Butsurely"hailedhimimmortal，"addsnothingtotheterrorofthemansdeath，whichitwasyourbusinesstoheighten，notdiminishbyaphrasewhichtakesawayallterrorfromit.Ilikethatline，"Theyclosedtheireyesinsleep，norknewtwasdeath."Indeed，thereisscarcealineIdonotlike."Turbidecstacy，"issurelynotsogoodaswhatyouhadwritten，"troublous."TurbidrathersuitsthemuddykindofinspirationwhichLondonporterconfers.Theversificationis，throughout，tomyearsunexceptionable，withnodisparagementtothemeasureofthe"ReligiousMusings，"whichisexactlyfittedtothethoughts.

Youwerebuildingyourhouseonarock，whenyourestedyourfameonthatpoeIcanscarcebringmyselftobelieve，thatIamadmittedtoafamiliarcorrespondence，andallthelicenceoffriendship，withamanwhowritesblankverselikeMilton.Now，thisisdelicateflattery，indirectflattery.Goonwithyour"MaidofOrleans，"andbecontenttobesecondtoyourself.Ishallbeeaconverttoit，whentisfinished.

ThisafternoonIattendthefuneralofmypooroldaunt，whodiedonThursday.IownIamthankfulthatthegoodcreaturehasendedallherdaysofsufferingandinfirmity.Shewastomethe"cherisherofinfancy，"andonemustfallontheseoccasionsintoreflectionswhichitwouldbemonplacetoenumerate，concerningdeath，"ofchanceandchange，andfateinhumanlife."GoodGod，whocouldhaveforeseenallthisbutfourmonthsback!Ihadreckoned，inparticular，onmyauntslivingmanyyears;shewasaveryheartyoldwoman.Butshewasamereskeletonbeforeshedied，lookedmorelikeacorpsethathadlainweeksinthegrave，thanonefreshdead."Trulythelightissweet，andapleasantthingitisfortheeyestobeholdthesun;butletamanlivemanydaysandrejoiceinthemall，yetlethimrememberthedaysofdarkness，fortheyshallbemany."Coleridge，whyarewetoliveonafterallthestrengthandbeautyofexistencearegone，whenallthelifeoflifeisfled，aspoorBurnsexpressesit?TellLloydIhavehadthoughtsofturningQuaker，andhavebeenreading，oramratherjustbeginningtoread，amostcapitalbook，goodthoughtsingoodlanguage，WilliamPenns"NoCross，noCrown;"Ilikeitimmensely.UnluckilyIwenttooneofhismeetings，tellhim，inSt.JohnStreet，yesterday，andsawamanunderalltheagitationsandworkingsofafanatic，whobelievedhimselfundertheinfluenceofsome"inevitablepresence."ThiscuredmeofQuakerism;IloveitinthebooksofPennandWoolman，butIdetestthevanityofamanthinkinghespeaksbytheSpirit，whenwhathesaysanordinarymanmightsaywithoutallthatquakingandtrembling.Inthemidstofhisinspiration—andtheeffectsofitweremostnoisy—washandedintothemidstofthemeetingamostterribleblackguardWappingsailor;thepoorman，Ibelieve，hadratherhavebeeninthehottestpartofanengagement，forthecongregationofbroad-brims，togetherwiththeravingsoftheprophet，weretoomuchforhisgravity，thoughIsawevenhehaddelicacyenoughnottolaughout.Andtheinspiredgentleman，thoughhismannerwassosupernatural，yetneithertalkednorprofessedtotalkanythingmorethangoodsobersense，monmorality，withnowandthenadeclarationofnotspeakingfromhimself.Amongotherthings，lookingbacktohischildhoodandearlyyouth，hetoldthemeetingwhatagracelessyoungdoghehadbeen，thatinhisyouthhehadagoodshareofwit:reader，ifthouhadstseenthegentleman，thouwouldsthaveswornthatitmustindeedhavebeenmanyyearsago，forhisruefulphysiognomywouldhavescaredawaytheplayfulgoddessfromthemeeting，wherehepresided，forever.Awit!awit!whatcouldhemean?Lloyd，itmindedmeofFalklandinthe"Rivals，""AmIfullofwitandhumour?No，indeedyouarenot.AmIthelifeandsoulofeverypanyIeinto?No，itcannotbesaidyouare."Thathard-facedgentleman，awit!Why，Naturewroteonhisfanaticforeheadfiftyyearsago，"Witneveres，thatestoall."Ishouldbeasscandalisedatabonmotissuingfromhisoracle-lookingmouth，astoseeCatogodownacountry-dance.Godloveyouall.Youareverygoodtosubmittobepleasedwithreadingmynothings.Tistheprivilegeoffriendshiptotalknonsense，andtohavehernonsensere-spected.—Yoursever，

C.LAMB.

[LambsAuntHetty，SarahLamb，wasburiedatSt.Jamess，Clerkenwell，onFebruary13，1797.

"AspoorBurnsexpressesit."Inthe"LamentforJames，Earlof

Glencairn，"theStanza:—

InwearybeingnowIpine，

Forathelifeoflifeisdead，

Andhopehasleftmyagedken，

Onforwardwingforeverfled.

"TurningQuaker."LambreferstothePeelmeeting-houseinJohnStreet，Clerkenwell.LambafterwardsusedthestoryofthewitintheEllaessay"AQuakersMeeting."InhisinvocationtothereaderhehereforeshadowshisElianmanner.

"Falkland"isinSheridansedy"TheRivals"（seeActII.，Scenei）.]

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