I expect neither profit nor general fame by my writings; and I consider
myself as having been amply repayed without either. Poetry has been to
me its own[1146:1] "exceeding great reward": it has soothed my afflictions: it
has multiplied and refined my enjoyments; it has endeared solitude;
and it has given me the habit of wishing to discover the Good and the 35
Beautiful in all that meets and surrounds me.
There were inserted in my former Edition, a few Sonnets of my Friend
and old School-fellow, Charles Lamb. He has now communicated to me
a complete Collection of all his Poems; quae qui non prorsus amet, illum
omnes et Virtutes et Veneres odere. My friend Charles Lloyd has 40
likewise joined me; and has contributed every poem of his, which he
deemed worthy of preservation. With respect to my own share of the
Volume, I have omitted a third of the former Edition, and added almost
an equal number. The Poems thus added are marked in the Contents by
Italics. 45
S. T. C.
Stowey,
May, 1797.
MS. Notes attached to proof sheets of the second Edition.
(a) As neither of us three were present to correct the Press, and as my handwriting is not eminently distinguished for neatness or legibility, the Printer has made a few mistakes. The Reader will consult equally his own convenience, and our credit if before he peruses the volume he will scan the Table of Errata and make the desired alterations.
S. T. Coleridge.
Stowey,
May 1797.
(b) Table of Contents. (N.B. of my Poems)—and let it be printed in the same manner as Southey's Table of Contents—take care to mark the new poems of the Edition by Italics.
Dedication.