New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-07-09
COLERIDGE.
A NEW EDITION OF HIS POEMS. WITH
PIECES HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED.

TIE ToErlCAL WORKS OF SAMUEL TAYLOR
(rLEhlDGE. Edited, with biographical intro
duCtion hy jaime, Dykes CAMPBELL Pp cAxiv.
Ooi. Macmillan Co.
The figure of Mary Evans, always shadowy,
is less indistinct in Mr.. Campbclls sketch OF
ColeildGes life and Ill his notes TO the poems
IMAM IN most studies OF the poct-philoSOpher 5
ecccntrlcitlcs This is not because the new editor
advances any theories OH the subject. Indeed he
rather ostentatiously avoids such vanitcs oil
cditorship. aiming by the collation. of facts al
ready familiar. with others less we'll known, and
by the recovery of poems hitherto neglected or
unknown TO the public, to furnish the materials
for an argument which he does not make.
1t Is easy i'll the of most people TO over
ESTIMATE the effect of IA youthful disappointment
such as Mary Evans inflicted willingly I'M
willingly on Colcridgc. But in this particular
instance it must be remembered how slight the
angle Of deviation was by which genius swcrved
from the straight line Of safety. The aberra-
ton began, in fact. long before Coerdgc's years
at Christ's Hospital or Cambridge. His abnormal
sclfconsciousncsS. which gave him the memory
of his childhood almost to his infancy, makes
him an admirable subject for student of mental
phenomena. OF his defects i'll after life there
Is none which was not suggested in his actions
before he ten yc1r' old. When he ran away
from home 10 escape punishment for some trivial
offence and slept of the night the
banks Of the Otter. he simply did for the first
time what lie dill at frequent intervals as long
us it was possible for him 10 escape from
proof. restraint. from duty a. others or 10
hiipsclf His genius. which from the first as
simulated every scrap of information that cam"
30 him. whether by reading, by formal instruc-
ton, or by talk. ana turned il 10 Use in new
of every body in the simple ncighborhood where
his fc began He was the pet of his father Of
his mother, Of all The old women, min" DAYS
wonder because OF his prccocify. No effort on
ccpt Of some furtive kind seems to have been
made TO correct the faults OF his disposition. lie
was aversc 10 most forms Of bodily exercise \
book TO read and the sunlight 10 bask in suf'lccd.
When il observed that the books he read
unduy stimulated his imagination they were
burned by his father. If he had been Of healthy
mental fibre such act would have awakened
lis Will merely from resentment and would have
put into him some lasting determination. AS
il was he went through life with only rudmcn-
tary development of voltion, all intellect and
hardly whil of common sense. III" boys Of his
own age taking the courSc instructive with all
animals in the prescnc" OF a weak member OF the
species first tormcnted and then avoided him.
before ] was eight years old said he IN spelking
Of his youth " was a character" The conviction
is forced upon one by every narrative of this
wonderful yet melancholy career that the only
trouble with Boyers birch was that it did not
begin to play early enough upon Colerldgc's
jacket The fogging, something equally
enicacous would have been a countrr-irrltanf, and
would have divided the attention of mind NOR
biGly devoted to itself. Coeridge himself con
e-sod that but for the stcrnness 81 the hcad
master Of Christs Hospital, he might have
dwndled into ono Of those sickcning objects known
as juvenile prOdigi,s. II was certainly as youth
full phenomenon that he was contemplated hy the
whole circle Of his relatives, If one may hazard "A
conjecture from the conduct Of uncle whom
he visited when he went up 10 London 10 enter
school. This uncle used to carry the boy OF
nine from collee-housc to coffee house and from
tavern TO tavern, where, said Colcrldgc, drank
and talked and disputed as if had been man.
In fact intellectually he was already the superior
of most men. but otherwise he a child, and
childish some elements Of his nature remained
10 III dying day.
His acquaintance with Mary Evans an in
cidcnt of his later years at school before he went
TO Jesus College, Cambridge, and the affair did
not come 10 an end until some years after his
rival he seems not 10 have been aware Of
his affection for the girl, but when he began
10 suspect that she about to marry another
man he became tragical lie insisted that lie
had been trying to smother his passion for years.
He had in fact done well in the way of con-
ccalment that lie had no reason TO suspect the
girl of cherishing any feelings for him except
those OF sister Yet she must have done so, il
the closing incident of the little romance is cor
rectly told. Coleridge and friend from the
university made journey through Wales While
they were standing at the window of an inn at
Wrexham Mary Evans and one of her sisters
passed in the street. Colcridgc, who was as
pcdantic as he was learned, startled into
making an exclamation which he, subsequently,
it is charitable 10 suppose translated into Latin
for even university men do not a rule use a |
dead language for living affection. The two girls |
saw him and both gave a cry that was almost a
Shrek Coleridgc declared that he "sickened !
and we'll nigh tainted" and retired from the
window without appearing TO recognize the woman
with whom he thought himself in love After |
such "a confession Of defective will il is hard TO
believe that Coleridgc was independent in his
courtship of Southcy's sistcr-in-law, which fol-
lowed 30 hard upon his separation from Mary
Evans.
Perhaps Mary Evans attracted him most as
svmpathetic person TO whom he might send his
vcrscs lie seems 10 have written many letters
not only 10 her but TO her mother and her sisters
hut the rhymes were all reserved for Mary.
Among the poems which Mr.. Campbell has re-
covered are three, now published from manu-
script which were sent together from Cambridge 10
Miss Evans. Tie first is wish that like a
certain river which he has In sight or in mind,
his life may Smooth its meek stream by sordid