The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Volume 11: Shorter Works and Fragments: Volume I 9780691200651

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THE COLLECTED WORKS OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE · 11

SHORTER WORKS AND FRAGMENTS

General Editor:

KATHLEEN CoBURN

THE COLLECTED WORKS 1. LECTURES 1795: ON POLITICS AND RELIGION 2. THE WATCHMAN 3. ESSAYS ON HIS TIMES 4. THE FRIEND 5. LECTURES 1808-1819: ON LITERATURE 6. LAY SERMONS 7. BIOGRAPH lA LITERA RIA 8. LECTURES 1818-1819: ON THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 9. AIDS TO REFLECTION 10. ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH AND STATE II. SHORTER WORKS AND FRAGMENTS 12. MARGINALIA 13. LOGIC 14. TABLE TALK 15. OPUS MAXIMUM 16. POETICAL WORKS

OVERLEAF

I. The compass of nature. MS Cornell University Library (Wordsworth Collection); reproduced by kind permission

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Shorter Works and Fragments I

EDITED BY

H. J. Jackson and J. R. de J. Jackson

ROUTLEDGE

+

BOLLINGEN SERIES LXXV

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

Princeton Legacy Library edition 2019 Paperback ISBN: 978-0-691-65587-1 Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-691-65601-4

THIS EDITION OF THE WORKS OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE IS DEDICATED IN GRATITUDE TO THE FAMILY EDITORS IN EACH GENERATION

CONTENTS I LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

page xxi

INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGMEN TS

XXlll

EDITORIAL PRACTICE

xxix

CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

XXX

xxxvii

Shorter Works and Fragments Titles in quotation marks are either those given by C himself or those used upon publication by other editors since C's time; titles without quotation marks are the work of the present editors. Entries are listed in chronological order according to the principles outlined on p xxix.

1788-1791 School Exercises ''Temperance'' ''Nil dictu fcedum, visuque . ''Nee lusisse pudet ... '' "Exemplaria Grreca ... " ''Was the loss of so many of the antient Authors a detriment ... ?'' ''Quid fas / Atque nefas . . . '' "Nescia mens hominum ... "

3 3 4

5 6 8 9 10

1789-1790 ''A Sermon''

12

1792 ''That the desire of Posthumous Fame is unworthy a Wise Man''

18

vii

v1u

Shorter Works and Fragments 1794 "Proposals for publishing ... Imitations" ''The Study of History preferable to the Study of Natural Philosophy"

25

1795 "Remarks ... on Atheism" The Slave-Trade Believing or Disbelieving A Sermon by Richard Bentley Faults and Beauties in Milton

28 32 33 34 36

1796 List of Books Review of Musae Etonenses Notice of [Jane West] The History of Ned Evans 1797 Quotations from Monstrelet Review of [Samuel Horsley] On the Prosodies Review of [M.G. Lewis] The Monk Educational Scheme S;emund the Wise Ideas for a Poem?

36 38 48

49 50 57 65 66 68

1797-'?1809 Pages from an Early Commonplace Book

69

1798 Review of Ann Radcliffe The Italian Review of Mary Robinson Huberr de Sevrac France and Germany Compared 1799 On the Hanoverian Peasants Notes on the Life of Klotz College Commemoration Sermon 1800 On the Novels of Agnes Maria Bennett Humphry Davy's "Detail of Mr. Coleridge" On English Metrics

79

82 83 84 85

92 103 103 104

Contents On David Hartley Observations on Man "Memoranda for a History of English Poetry" On Free Will

ix

lOS 107 109

1801 Observations on Optical Phenomena Projected Work on the Death of Homer Mottoes

110 111 111

1802 Critical Comments on William Sotheby Orestes

113

1803 "Outlines of the History of Logic" Directions for Shaving Implements Quotations List of Books

123 140 141 141

1804 On the Purchase of a Vessel Observations in Sicily On Hostility towards the British Notes on Henry Brougham An inquiry

144 145 146 146

1805 154

The Soul and the Universe

1806 Reflections on God's Ideas "A Greek Grammar" A Fragmentary Introduction to Greek Grammar

156 157 196

1807 Lesson in English Prosody Note upon Separation "Hints for a weekly Paper" On Miracles On Scepticism On the Qualities of Two Sisters Extracts from Swift

201 206 207 209 211 213 213

1808 Self-Love, Fame, and Reputation

215

X

Shorter Works and Fragments Definition of a Gentleman Review of Thomas Clarkson Abolition of the Slave- Trade Translation of Ernst Moritz Arndt Geist der Zeit

216 216 243

1809 Hypochondria Comments on Reading Chillingworth and Shakespeare

250 250

1810 A Chapter in James Bruce Travels On Pindar's Second Olympian Ode On Martyrdom, Christ, and Unitarianism On Unitarianism Dialogue on the Italian Language On Grammatical Cases in English and Italian On Grammatical Cases in Italian

253 254 256 259 260 266 268

1811 A Projected Work on Shakespeare On Narrative Comments on Beaumont and Fletcher Valentinian On Parliament Proposal for a Collection of Fables "Hints respecting Beauty" Notes on the Bullion Controversy On the "Right" of Religious Toleration On the Sonnet Love and Desire

270 273 274 275 276 277 280 282 283 284

1812 "True Love, illustrated . .. geometrically" Tribute to Spencer Perceval Distinction between Imagination and Fancy Observation on Mrs Jordan's Acting Well-Being, Friendship, Love, and Desire Calculation of Printing Costs Two Satirical Notes Notes for a Lecture Contributions to Southey's Omniana Translation from Schelling System

285 288 289 290 290 292 292 293 295 342

Contents

xi

1813 Reply to a Critic On Reading Shakespeare

344 345 1814

Aesthetic Terms On Aesthetic Problems

345 347

~~~~

~

Definitions of Aesthetic Terms On the Distinction between the Picturesque and the Sublime "Essays on the Principles of Genial Criticism"

350 352 353

1815 "Dialogue between Master and Scholar" ''The Greek Pronoun Relative'' Aphorisms Proposal for an Encyclopaedia Biblica On Language and Thought Comments on Edward Williams An Essay "On the Supernatural in Poetry" "Evidences of Christianity" Memorandum on Suicide On Suicide A Definition of Right The Physiology of the Brain

387 390 393 393 395 396 401 402 405 406 408 409

1816 On the Four Convictions Natural to Man Four Sorts of Knowledges Sophistical Writing On the Trinity On Inspiration On Revelation "Morning Prayer" and "Evening Prayer" On the Existence of Evil and the Uncertainty of Progress On Love Fragmentary Advice On Death and Disease and Consciousness

411 412 412 413 416 417 417 419 421 422 423

XII

Shorter Works and Fragments On Consciousness and Self-Consciousness On Free Will On Noumena and Phaenomena On Election Three Kinds of Religion Distinguished Four Faculties of Human Intellect On Moral Opposites Footnotes to a Philosophical Text Newspaper Leader on Wilberforce Observations on Disagreements between Friends "Wonderfulness of Prose" On the Metre of Christabel Draft of a Letter to Lord Liverpool Leader on the Decline of Trade Note and List of Books Table of Greek Grammatical Inflections On the Concept of "Depth" An Essay on Scrofula Notes on Predisposing Conditions of Scrofula ''Theory of Life'' On the Infinite

425 430 431 433 434 435 436 437 438 440 441 441 442 444 448 450 452 454 479 481 557

1817 On Reason "Confession of Belief" Preface to an Essay on the Law of Life Defence of Southey on the Publication of Wat Tyler Prospectus to the Encyclopaedia M etropolitana On Animal Magnetism Outline of a "Logo-sophia" Comment on K. W. F. Solger Envin An Application of the Theory of Powers in Nature Antecedents to the Anglo-German Dictionary The Compass of Nature On Teaching Greek to a Child Grammatical Cases Notes on Colour, Light, etc Note on Spinoza

565 569 572 576 576 588 595 596 600 601 602 604 605 606 607

Contents

Xlll

1818 ''Treatise on Method'' A Glossary of Terms Glossary: The Term "Formal" Summary of the Development of Philosophy On Anonymous Reviewing Architectural Genius Table of the Requirements of Reason "Thoughts on Spinoza" The Role of the Tetradic Logic Reflections on Italian Prosody RulesofSty1e Pamphlets on Children's Labour (a) Remarks on the Objections which have b'!en urged against the Principle of Sir Robert Peel's Bill (b) "Memoranda" from the Minutes of Evidence (c) The Grounds of Sir Robert Peel's Bill Vindicated Appendix: Manuscript Drafts of The Grounds (d) Notes on Peel's Bill Conversations from Logo sophia The Sciences and Theology Notes on Schelling Von der Weltseele Draft of a Letter on Comets Project for a Bibliography "Weatherbound Traveller" On First Postulates in Philosophy On the Will On the Polar Forces Morality and Self-Love On the Error of Schelling's Philosophy Definition of Judgment and Reasoning On Philosophical Equivocation On Genesis 1.1-3 I and 2. I -3 On the Scientific Appositeness of the Creation in Genesis

715 724 730 736 746 751 756 763 766 769 770 774 776 783 785 786 788 789 790 794

1819 Lessons in Greek Grammar for James Gillman, Jr (a) Notes on "to be" in Greek

796 796

625 687 694 695 697 701 702 703 710 712 713 714

xiv

Shorter Works and Fragments (b) How to Construe

(c) The Definition and Classification of Pronouns

(d) On Greek Prepositions Comparison of Mediaeval and Modem Philosophy Charitable Appeal Patriotism On Knowledge, Divine and Human On Idealism On Miracles Lessons in Latin Verse Composition (a) On the Order of Words in Latin Elegiacs (b) On Turning Hexameters into Sapphics (c) "Rules for turning Hexameters into Sapphics" Rules for Construing Latin (a) "Rules for Construing" (b) An Elementary Version (c) The Accusative before an Infinitive Comment on Immanuel Kant Metaphysische Anfangsgrunde Memorandum for a Letter The Relation of Potential to Actual Properties in Nature

798 799 800 801 801 802 803 806 806 808 808 809 814 815 815 817 818 819 822 822

II 1820 Request for Books Critique of an Unidentified Book or Review Reflections on Belief Summary of the History of Philosophy On Swedenborg's Views on Christian Beliefs "Essay on Faith'' On St Paul's Definition of Faith The Parts of Speech Profession Distinguished from Trade The Constituent Powers of Nature Response to Arthur H. Kenney Principles and Practices On Modern Taste On Greek Metre

825 825 826 829 830 833 845 847 848 849 851 854 861

Contents On Self-Interest On Christianity On Love, the Holy Spirit, and the Divine Will Addresses 1821 "What is a germ?" Review of Two Books on Uterine Disorders "The Quality Smile" On an Unanswerable Philosophical Question On Object, Subject, Evolution Theories, and Bruno On the Importance of Metaphysics On the Eucharist The Limitations of a Philosophy of the Understanding Outline of the ''Assertion of Religion'' "Letter II" on the Catholic Question Appendix: Another Draft ''Zoo magnetism'' Advice on Marriage ''Selection from Mr Coleridge's Literary Correspondence'' "To the Readers of the Edinburgh Magazine" List of Literary Projects On the Plan of a Magazine Allegory on Fickleness Note on the Difference between Opposites and Contraries On the Nature of Music 1822 "Mementos for young Snout" ''The H istorie and Gests of Maxilian'' Fragmentary Continuation of '' Maxilian'' On the Nature of a Grammar School "Memoirs of Mr Halyburton's Life" Vindication of the Scheme of the Anti-Prelatists On Occam's Nominalism On the Act of Understanding Notes towards a Prospectus for a Class "Monologues of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Esq."

XV

864 865 868 871 872 873 892 893 894 898 901 902 905 907 909 911 914 915 953 954 957 959 960 960 963 963 985 988 992 993 999 1004 1007 1008

xv1

Shorter Works and Fragments

"The Science and System of Logic" "Life" Notes on the Criteria of Canonicity in the Old Testament Notes on the Usefulness of Negative Positions The Danger of Equivocal Terms 1823 On the Theory of Brunonian Medicine The Thorn-Plant as Emblem Comment on J. Franklin Narrative of a Journey Comment on J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata Bibliography for Scottish Church History Commentary on Books of Church History On the Formation of German Verbs On Proofs of the Divine Origin of Christianity Drafts of the ''Apology for the Life of Archbishop Leighton" Comment on Edinburgh Review XXXIX ( 1823-4) 4-5 Extract from J. H. L. Campan Memoirs of the Private Life of Marie Antoinette Extracts from C. Butler Historical Memoirs of the English, Irish. and Scottish Catholics "On Noumena and Phainomena"

1009 1027 I033 1034 I035 1038 1038 I040 I042 1044 1045 1072 1073 I 074 1079 I 081 1082 1084

1824 Translation of Ovid Suggestions for J. H. Green· s Lectures on Anatomy and Surgery (a) Logic for Surgeons (b) Attempt to Define the Idea of Life (c) A "just philosophical idea of life" On the Formation of Tenses in Greek (a) A Synopsis of Tenses (b) Synopsis by Modification of the Stem Consonant (c) The Formation of the Middle and Passive Voices (d) Passive Endings and Contracted Verbs (e) "Recapitulation of the Tenses" A Mathematical Puzzle

1086 I 086 1087 1090 1090 1093 1094 1095 1096 1098 1100 1103

Contents On the Greek Breathings Faith, Will, and Intelligence On the Assumptions of Atheism and Theism On the Importance of a National Church Remonstrance against a Scoffer at Logic On Evidence of the Deluge "Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit" Lessons in Translation into Latin Prose (a) The Gerund (b) Gerunds (c) From Terence Andria (d) On Terence Andria (e) Lessons on Terence Andria IV (j) On a Letter from Dolabella to Cicero (g) On Some Ciceronian Letters On Miss Trotter The Subjective Nature of Objectivity

xvii

1103 1104 1105 1106 1106 1109 1111 1172 1173 1175 1I 76 1176 1178 1181 1183 1186 1187

1825 Notes on Intuition etc On Kinds of Intuitive Knowledge ''Three Genera of Seeing'' Observations on the Scale of Life On the Formation of Greek Tenses and their Meaning Dialogue on Greek Tenses The Dynamic Powers at Work in the Natural World "Of States in which the Will is the predominant Factor" Tables of Categories On Worldliness Aphorisms Law of Distinction between Organic and Inorganic Forms ''First effect of the Holomeric Nature'' Lessons in Latin Elegiacs (a) The Rules for Scanning and Making Latin Elegiacs (b) On the Feet Used in Elegiacs (c) "Mementos" (d) The Pentameter (e) Word-Feet

1189 1190 1191 1193 1195 1202 1204 1207 1209 1211 1211 1212 1213 1214 1216 1219 1221 1223 1223

xviii

Shorter Works and Fragments (j) Claudian The Old Man of Verona (g) Claudian The Old Man of Verona (continued) (h) A Couplet (i) An Old Gardener 0) Claudian The Horse's Girth (k) Claudian Archimedes' Sphere (l) Claudian To Alethius (m) Claudian: Two Epigrams (n) Claudian Against Rujinus (a) Claudian On Stilicho (p) "Questions and Answers respecting Elegiac Verse" (q) Claudian On Honorius' Sixth Consulship and

The Rape of Proserpina (r) Claudian On Mallius' Consulship (s) Two Poems: Orpheus and On Poverty "On the Prometheus of Aeschylus" Appendix "On Latin Grammar" Contributions to J. H. Green's Lectures on Aesthetics Verbs Transitive and Intransitive Greek Adjectives 1826 The Relationship of Church and State

"Subordination of the Supertemporal, of Co-eternals"

1224 1226 1231 1232 1234 1234 1235 1237 1238 1239 1242 1245 1248 1249 1251 1286 1302 1308 1322 1324

1332 1333 1335 1338 1343 1343

Note on Individuality "Conversation between a Tutor and his Pupil" Comments on Anne Mathews's Garden On Consanguineous Marriage On the Metaphysical Implications of Comparative Etymology Lesson in Universal History for James Gillman, Jr Observations at Ramsgate

1345 1353 1357

1827 On the Fine Arts Comment on G. A. Goldfuss The Primary Power of Magnetism

1359 1360 1362

Contents Organic and Inorganic Forms "Fulguratiunculre in Zoogoniam" Octad of Colours Schemes of Colours "Notes on M' H's Letter" ''Paragraphs on the Catholic Question'' Nouns and Prepositions in Greek Greek Parts of Speech (I) Greek Vowels Long and Short 1828 Notes on Polar Logic "Schema of the total Man" Mr Erich and Mrs Jones Contributions to a Course of Lectures given by J. H. Green (a) ''On the distinguishing Characters of Man and Mankind'' (b) Distinction between "species" and "race" and "variety" (c) Distinguishing Men from Animals (d) "Solitary" and "Gregarious" (e) The Races of Men if) Origins of the Human Race (g) The Distinguishing Characteristics of Mankind (h) The Emergence of the Passions in the Scale of Nature Greek Parts of Speech (II) Heptad of Colours ''Men talk most about that which they are most wanting in'' "On the Passions" Survey of the Natural World The Migration and Degeneration of the Races of Men The Origin of the Pelasgi Memoranda from the Rhine Tour of 1828 Commentary on Alaric Watts Poetical Sketches "Fragments of a Journey over the Bracken"

xix 1364 1365 1366 1367 1369 1370 1378 1380 1382

1383 1384 1387 1387 1388 1388 1390 1392 1399 1409 1410 1415 1416 1417 1417 1419 1453 1456 1461 1462 1464 1471

Shorter Works and Fragments

XX

1829 Talk Table Luther's on Note Property the Foundation of the State Rebellion within the State Prescription for Dyspepsia 1830 On the Articles of Faith Necessary to Christians "My Nightly Prayer'' Critical Notes on William Sotheby's Translation of The Iliad Comment on a Report in The Times

1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1486 1488 1491

1831 On the Forms of Knowledge

1495

1832 On Civility On Redemption Orville Dewey ''The Theology of Nature'' Comment on a Burlesque of Southey Comment on a Correspondence in The Times On the Bullion Controversy Advice on Marriage

1499 1500 1501 1502 1503 1504 1506

1833 Steel Susan for Lesson On the Trinity "Morning Prayer" "A prayer to be said before a man begins his work"

1508 1510 1512 1513

APPENDIXES

Appendix A Joseph Henry Green: Introduction to the Philosophical Remains of S. T. Coleridge Appendix 8 List of Manuscripts Omitted

1517 1537

INDEX

1545

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS I I. The compass of nature (seep 602)

frontispiece

2. A page from James Boyer's fiber aureus, September 1790 facing page 6

3. ''The Fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse'': an opening from P. Brydone A Tour through Sicily and Malta (2 vols Perth 1799) facing page 146 4. "The Dead Man Restored to Life by Touching the Bones of the Prophet Elisha": oil-painting by Washington Allston facing page 372

5. Title-page of Coleridge's Hints Towards the Formation of a More Comprehensive Theory of Life ( 1848) facing page 486 6. Advertisement of the Encyclopaedia M etropolitana, included in some copies of Biographia Literaria facing page 576

II 7. The dispersion of the nations (see especially p 1456). A map of the ancient world from Holy Bible ed George D'Oyly and Richard Mant (3 vols 1817-18) frontispiece 8. "Ink Stands" from the Wedgwood Drawing Book (1802) facing page 942 9. First page of Coleridge's "Maxilian" in Blackwood's XI (1822) facing page 964

10. "Schema of the total Man" in the hand of Joseph Henry Green facing page 1385 II. Facing pages from Coleridge's ms "On the Passions" between pages 1444 and 1445 12. Portrait bust of Joseph Henry Green by H. Weekes facing page 1519

xxi

INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS HE BOLLINGEN EDITION of Coleridge's collected works poses something of a challenge to the image of Coleridge as an author who was eternally promising but never fulfilling his promises, rich in projects but poor in actual publications, an "omni-pregnant, nihili-parturient genius" as he ruefully called himself in the 1812 Omniana. 1 It now looks as though the edition will be complete in thirty volumes, of which fifteen will present texts that Coleridge published in his lifetime, five will present texts (including lectures) that he hoped to publish and to some extent prepared for publication, and eight will deal with the more informal utterances of the marginalia and table-talk. The two volumes of Shorter Works and Fragments are a sort of microcosm of the whole. They contain essays, reviews, and pamphlets that Coleridge himself saw into print; more sustained works, such as the "Theory of Life" and "Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit'', that were finished enough to be brought out posthumously by friends and family; papers associated with work in progress; and a variety of occasional and personal documents that were never intended for publication. A significant quantity of the materials included here consists of work that Coleridge did on behalf of others, not only literary advice solicited from him by anxious authors, but also language lessons for young Coleridges and Gillmans, anonymous political pamphlets supporting the cause of children who worked long hours in cotton factories, medical essays and reviews written for James Gillman to publish as his own, and drafts of lectures-on subjects ranging from aesthetics to comparative anatomy-to be delivered by Joseph Henry Green. Given the miscellaneous character of these volumes, it is impractical to survey the contents or supply a uniform context in a general introduction. The materials have been arranged chronologically, as far as possible, according to the principles outlined in "Editorial Practice" (xxix below), and the headnote for each entry attempts to provide an appropriate context for that particular entry. Something may be said, however, about the origins of Shorter Works and Fragments.

T

1

295 below.

xxiii

xxiv

Shorter Works and Fragments

Coleridge rather surprisingly accepted and even fostered his reputation as a good starter but bad finisher. In the 1808 Prospectus to the Friend. he admitted "that the Number of my unrealized Schemes, and the Mass of my miscellaneous Fragments. have often furnished my Friends •.vith a subject of Raillery, and sometimes of Regret and Reproof" (Friend-CC-n 16). Among the ralliers and teasers was his old friend Charles Lamb, who wrote a joking Jetter on Christmas Day 1815, in which he reported Coleridge's death, adding. "It is said he has left behind him more than forty thousand treatises in criticism and metaphysics, but few of them in a state of completion" (L Work.i VI 481 ). So the legend grew, Coleridge himself writing to correspondents about "my Book and Paper Closet or rather Wilderness" and confessing after an illness, "I do not know which is in the greater litter & confusionmy head or my Room"