68
Money, I've heard a wise man say,
Makes herself wings and flies away—
Ah! would she take it in her head
To make a pair for me instead.
First published (from an MS.) in 1893.
69
MODERN CRITICS
No private grudge they need, no personal spite,
The viva sectio is its own delight!
All enmity, all envy, they disclaim,
Disinterested thieves of our good name—
Cool, sober murderers of their neighbours' fame!
First published in Biog. Lit., 1817, ii. 118. First collected in P. W., 1885, ii. 363.
70
WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM
Parry seeks the Polar ridge,
Rhymes seeks S. T. Coleridge,
Author of Works, whereof—tho' not in Dutch—
The public little knows—the publisher too much.
First published in 1834.
71
TO A LADY WHO REQUESTED ME TO WRITE
A POEM UPON NOTHING
On nothing, Fanny, shall I write?
Shall I not one charm of thee indite?
The Muse is most unruly,
And vows to sing of what's more free,
More soft, more beautiful than thee;—
And that is Nothing, truly!
First published in the Gazette of Fashion, Feb. 22, 1822. Reprinted (by Mr. Bertram Dobell) in N. and Q., 10th Series, vol. vi, p. 145. Now collected for the first time.
72
SENTIMENTAL
The rose that blushes like the morn,
Bedecks the valleys low;
And so dost thou, sweet infant corn,
My Angelina's toe.
But on the rose there grows a thorn
That breeds disastrous woe;
And so dost thou, remorseless corn,
On Angelina's toe.
First published in Lit. Rem., i. 59. First collected P. and D. W., 1877, ii. 366.