Between this and Antistrophe 2a (the second member of the group)
there is a general correspondence with, in one particular, a subtle
modification.
there is a general correspondence with, in one particular, a subtle
modification.
Shelley copy
The letters H.
F.
may stand for
'Historian of the Fudges' (Garnett), Hibernicae Filius (Rossetti), or,
perhaps, Hibernicae Fidicen. Castles and Oliver (3 2 1; 7 4 4) were
government spies, as readers of Charles Lamb are aware. The allusion in
6 36 is to Wordsworth's "Thanksgiving Ode on The Battle of Waterloo",
original version, published in 1816:--
But Thy most dreaded instrument,
In working out a pure intent,
Is Man--arrayed for mutual slaughter,
--Yea, Carnage is Thy daughter!
1.
Lines 547-549 (6 18 5; 19 1, 2). These lines evidently form a continuous
clause. The full stop of the editio princeps at rocks, line 547, has
therefore been deleted, and a semicolon substituted for the original
comma at the close of line 546.
2.
'Ay--and at last desert me too. ' (line 603. )
Rossetti, who however follows the editio princeps, saw that these words
are spoken--not by Peter to his soul, but--by his soul to Peter, by way
of rejoinder to the challenge of lines 600-602:--'And I and you, My
dearest Soul, will then make merry, As the Prince Regent did with
Sherry. ' In order to indicate this fact, inverted commas are inserted at
the close of line 602 and the beginning of line 603.
3.
The punctuation of the editio princeps, 1839, has been throughout
revised, but--with the two exceptions specified in notes (1) and (2)
above--it seemed an unprofitable labour to record the particular
alterations, which serve but to clarify--in no instance to modify--the
sense as indicated by Mrs. Shelley's punctuation.
LETTER TO MARIA GISBORNE.
Our text mainly follows Mrs. Shelley's transcript, for the readings of
which we are indebted to Mr. Buxton Forman's Library Edition of the
Poems, 1876. The variants from Shelley's draft are supplied by Dr.
Garnett.
1.
Lines 197-201. These lines, which are wanting in editions 1824 and 1839
(1st edition), are supplied from Mrs. Shelley's transcript and from
Shelley's draft (Boscombe manuscript). In the 2nd edition of 1839 the
following lines appear in their place:--
Your old friend Godwin, greater none than he;
Though fallen on evil times, yet will he stand,
Among the spirits of our age and land,
Before the dread tribunal of To-come
The foremost, whilst rebuke stands pale and dumb.
2.
Line 296. The names in this line are supplied from the two manuscripts.
In the "Posthumous Poems" of 1824 the line appears:--Oh! that H-- -- and
-- were there, etc.
3.
The following list gives the places where the pointing of the text
varies from that of Mrs. Shelley's transcript as reported by Mr. Buxton
Forman, and records in each case the pointing of that original:--Turk
26; scorn 40; understood, 49; boat-- 75; think, 86; believe; 158; are;
164; fair 233; cameleopard; 240; Now 291.
THE WITCH OF ATLAS.
1.
The following list gives the places where our text departs from the
pointing of the editio princeps ("Dedication", 1839; "Witch of Atlas",
1824), and records in each case the original pointing:--
DEDIC. --pinions, 14; fellow, 41; Othello, 45.
WITCH OF ATLAS. --bliss; 164; above. 192; gums 258; flashed 409;
sunlight, 409; Thamondocana. 424; by. 432; engraven. 448; apart, 662;
mind! 662.
EPIPSYCHIDION.
1.
The following list gives the places where our text departs from the
pointing of the editio princeps, 1821, with the original point in each
case:--love, 44; pleasure; 68; flowing 96; where! 234; passed 252;
dreamed, 278; Night 418; year), 440; children, 528.
ADONAIS.
1.
The following list indicates the places in which the punctuation of this
edition departs from that of the editio princeps, of 1821, and records
in each instance the pointing of that text:--thou 10; Oh 19; apace, 65;
Oh 73; flown 138; Thou 142; Ah 154; immersed 167; corpse 172; tender
172; his 193; they 213; Death 217; Might 218; bow, 249; sighs 314;
escape 320; Cease 366; dark 406; forth 415; dead, 440; Whilst 493.
HELLAS.
A Reprint of the original edition (1822) of "Hellas" was edited for the
Shelley Society in 1887 by Mr. Thomas J. Wise. In Shelley's list of
Dramatis Personae the Phantom of Mahomet the Second is wanting.
Shelley's list of Errata in edition 1822 was first printed in Mr. Buxton
Forman's Library Edition of the Poems, 1876 (4 page 572). These errata
are silently corrected in the text.
1.
For Revenge and Wrong bring forth their kind, etc. (lines 728-729. )
'"For" has no rhyme (unless "are" and "despair" are to be considered
such): it requires to rhyme with "hear. " From this defect of rhyme, and
other considerations, I (following Mr. Fleay) used to consider it almost
certain that "Fear" ought to replace "For"; and I gave "Fear" in my
edition of 1870. . . However, the word in the manuscript ["Williams
transcript"] is "For," and Shelley's list of errata leaves this
unaltered--so we must needs abide by it. '--Rossetti, "Complete Poetical
Works of P. B. S. ", edition 1878 (3 volumes), 2 page 456.
2.
Lines 729-732. This quatrain, as Dr. Garnett ("Letters of Shelley",
1884, pages 166, 249) points out, is an expansion of the following lines
from the "Agamemmon" of Aeschylus (758-760), quoted by Shelley in a
letter to his wife, dated 'Friday, August 10, 1821':--
to dussebes--
meta men pleiona tiktei,
sphetera d' eikota genna.
3.
Lines 1091-1093. This passage, from the words more bright to the close
of line 1093, is wanting in the editio princeps, 1822, its place being
supplied by asterisks. The lacuna in the text is due, no doubt, to the
timidity of Ollier, the publisher, whom Shelley had authorised to make
excisions from the notes. In "Poetical Works", 1839, the lines, as they
appear in our text, are restored; in Galignani's edition of "Coleridge,
Shelley, and Keats" (Paris, 1829), however, they had already appeared,
though with the substitution of wise for bright (line 1091), and of
unwithstood for unsubdued (line 1093). Galignani's reading--native for
votive--in line 1095 is an evident misprint. In Ascham's edition of
Shelley (2 volumes, fcp. 8vo. , 1834), the passage is reprinted from
Galignani.
4.
The following list shows the places in which our text departs from the
punctuation of the editio princeps, 1822, and records in each instance
the pointing of that edition:--dreams 71; course. 125; mockery 150;
conqueror 212; streams 235; Moslems 275; West 305; moon, 347; harm, 394;
shame, 402; anger 408; descends 447; crime 454; banner. 461; Phanae,
470; blood 551; tyrant 557; Cydaris, 606; Heaven 636; Highness 638; man
738; sayest 738; One 768; mountains 831; dust 885; consummation? 902;
dream 921; may 923; death 935; clime. 1005; feast, 1025; horn, 1032;
Noon, 1045; death 1057; dowers 1094.
CHARLES THE FIRST.
To Mr. Rossetti we owe the reconstruction of this fragmentary drama out
of materials partly published by Mrs. Shelley in 1824, partly recovered
from manuscript by himself. The bracketed words are, presumably,
supplied by Mr. Rossetti to fill actual lacunae in the manuscript; those
queried represent indistinct writing. Mr. Rossetti's additions to the
text are indicated in the footnotes. In one or two instances Mr. Forman
and Dr. Garnett have restored the true reading. The list of Dramatis
Personae is Mr. Forman's.
THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE.
1.
Lines 131-135. This grammatically incoherent passage is thus
conjecturally emended by Rossetti:--
Fled back like eagles to their native noon;
For those who put aside the diadem
Of earthly thrones or gems. . . ,
Whether of Athens or Jerusalem,
Were neither mid the mighty captives seen, etc.
In the case of an incomplete poem lacking the author's final
corrections, however, restoration by conjecture is, to say the least of
it, gratuitous.
2.
Line 282. The words, 'Even as the deeds of others, not as theirs. ' And
then--are wanting in editions 1824, 1839, and were recovered by Dr.
Garnett from the Boscombe manuscript. Mrs. Shelley's note here
runs:--'There is a chasm here in the manuscript which it is impossible
to fill. It appears from the context that other shapes pass and that
Rousseau still stood beside the dreamer. ' Mr. Forman thinks that the
'chasm' is filled up by the words restored from the manuscript by Dr.
Garnett. Mr. A. C. Bradley writes: 'It seems likely that, after writing
"I have suffered. . . pain", Shelley meant to strike out the words between
"known" [276] and "I" [278], and to fill up the gap in such a way that
"I" would be the last word of the line beginning "May well be known". '
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
1.
TO --. Mrs. Shelley tentatively assigned this fragment to 1817. 'It
seems not improbable that it was addressed at this time [June, 1814] to
Mary Godwin. ' Dowden, "Life", 1 422, Woodberry suggests that 'Harriet
answers as well, or better, to the situation described. '
2.
ON DEATH. These stanzas occur in the Esdaile manuscript along with
others which Shelley intended to print with "Queen Mab" in 1813; but the
text was revised before publication in 1816.
3.
TO --. 'The poem beginning "Oh, there are spirits in the air," was
addressed in idea to Coleridge, whom he never knew'--writes Mrs.
Shelley. Mr. Bertram Dobell, Mr. Rossetti and Professor Dowden, however,
incline to think that we have here an address by Shelley in a despondent
mood to his own spirit.
4.
LINES. These appear to be antedated by a year, as they evidently allude
to the death of Harriet Shelley in November, 1816.
5.
ANOTHER FRAGMENT TO MUSIC. To Mr. Forman we owe the restoration of the
true text here--'food of Love. ' Mrs. Shelley printed 'god of Love. '
6.
MARENGHI, lines 92, 93. The 1870 (Rossetti) version of these lines is:--
White bones, and locks of dun and yellow hair,
And ringed horns which buffaloes did wear--
The words locks of dun (line 92) are cancelled in the manuscript.
Shelley's failure to cancel the whole line was due, Mr. Locock rightly
argues, to inadvertence merely; instead of buffaloes the manuscript
gives the buffalo, and it supplies the 'wonderful line' (Locock) which
closes the stanza in our text, and with which Mr. Locock aptly compares
"Mont Blanc", line 69:--
Save when the eagle brings some hunter's bone,
And the wolf tracks her there.
7.
ODE TO LIBERTY, lines 1, 2. On the suggestion of his brother, Mr. Alfred
Forman, the editor of the Library Edition of Shelley's Poems (1876), Mr.
Buxton Forman, printed these lines as follows:--
A glorious people vibrated again:
The lightning of the nations, Liberty,
From heart to heart, etc.
The testimony of Shelley's autograph in the Harvard College manuscript,
however, is final against such a punctuation.
8.
Lines 41, 42. We follow Mrs. Shelley's punctuation (1839). In Shelley's
edition (1820) there is no stop at the end of line 41, and a semicolon
closes line 42.
9.
ODE TO NAPLES. In Mrs. Shelley's editions the various sections of this
Ode are severally headed as follows:--'Epode 1 alpha, Epode 2 alpha,
Strophe alpha 1, Strophe beta 2, Antistrophe alpha gamma, Antistrophe
beta gamma, Antistrophe beta gamma, Antistrophe alpha gamma, Epode 1
gamma, Epode 2 gamma. In the manuscript, Mr. Locock tells us, the
headings are 'very doubtful, many of them being vaguely altered with pen
and pencil. ' Shelley evidently hesitated between two or three
alternative ways of indicating the structure and corresponding parts of
his elaborate song; hence the chaotic jumble of headings printed in
editions 1824, 1839. So far as the "Epodes" are concerned, the headings
in this edition are those of editions 1824, 1839, which may be taken as
supported by the manuscript (Locock). As to the remaining sections, Mr.
Locock's examination of the manuscript leads him to conclude that
Shelley's final choice was:--'Strophe 1, Strophe 2, Antistrophe 1,
Antistrophe 2, Antistrophe 1 alpha, Antistrophe 2 alpha. ' This in itself
would be perfectly appropriate, but it would be inconsistent with the
method employed in designating the "Epodes". I have therefore adopted in
preference a scheme which, if it lacks manuscript authority in some
particulars, has at least the merit of being absolutely logical and
consistent throughout.
Mr. Locock has some interesting remarks on the metrical features of this
complex ode. On the 10th line of Antistrophe 1a (line 86 of the
ode)--Aghast she pass from the Earth's disk--which exceeds by one foot
the 10th lines of the two corresponding divisions, Strophe 1 and
Antistrophe 1b, he observes happily enough that 'Aghast may well have
been intended to disappear. ' Mr. Locock does not seem to notice that the
closing lines of these three answering sections--(1) hail, hail, all
hail! --(2) Thou shalt be great--All hail! --(3) Art Thou of all these
hopes. --O hail! increase by regular lengths--two, three, four iambi. Nor
does he seem quite to grasp Shelley's intention with regard to the rhyme
scheme of the other triple group, Strophe 2, Antistrophe 2a, Antistrophe
2b. That of Strophe 2 may be thus expressed:--a-a-bc; d-d-bc; a-c-d;
b-c.
Between this and Antistrophe 2a (the second member of the group)
there is a general correspondence with, in one particular, a subtle
modification. The scheme now becomes a-a-bc; d-d-bc; a-c-b; d-c: i. e.
the rhymes of lines 9 and 10 are transposed--God (line 9) answering to
the halfway rhymes of lines 3 and 6, gawd and unawed, instead of (as in
Strophe 2) to the rhyme-endings of lines 4 and 5; and, vice versa, fate
(line 10) answering to desolate and state (lines 4 and 5), instead of to
the halfway rhymes aforesaid. As to Antistrophe 2b, that follows
Antistrophe 2a, so far as it goes; but after line 9 it breaks off
suddenly, and closes with two lines corresponding in length and rhyme to
the closing couplet of Antistrophe 1b, the section immediately
preceding, which, however, belongs not to this group, but to the other.
Mr. Locock speaks of line 124 as 'a rhymeless line. ' Rhymeless it is
not, for shore, its rhyme-termination, answers to bower and power, the
halfway rhymes of lines 118 and 121 respectively. Why Mr. Locock should
call line 12 an 'unmetrical line,' I cannot see. It is a decasyllabic
line, with a trochee substituted for an iambus in the third foot--Around
: me gleamed : many a : bright se : pulchre.
10.
THE TOWER OF FAMINE. --It is doubtful whether the following note is
Shelley's or Mrs. Shelley's: 'At Pisa there still exists the prison of
Ugolino, which goes by the name of "La Torre della Fame"; in the
adjoining building the galley-slaves are confined. It is situated on the
Ponte al Mare on the Arno. '
11.
GINEVRA, line 129: Through seas and winds, cities and wildernesses. The
footnote omits Professor Dowden's conjectural emendation--woods--for
winds, the reading of edition 1824 here.
12.
THE LADY OF THE SOUTH. Our text adopts Mr. Forman's correction--drouth
for drought--in line 3. This should have been recorded in a footnote.
13.
HYMN TO MERCURY, line 609. The period at now is supported by the Harvard
manuscript.
JUVENILIA.
QUEEN MAB.
1.
Throughout this varied and eternal world
Soul is the only element: the block
That for uncounted ages has remained
The moveless pillar of a mountain's weight
Is active, living spirit. (4, lines 139-143. )
This punctuation was proposed in 1888 by Mr. J. R. Tutin (see "Notebook
of the Shelley Society", Part 1, page 21), and adopted by Dowden,
"Poetical Works of Shelley", Macmillan, 1890. The editio princeps
(1813), which is followed by Forman (1892) and Woodberry (1893), has a
comma after element and a full stop at remained.
2.
Guards. . . from a nation's rage
Secure the crown, etc. (4, lines 173-176. )
So Mrs. Shelley ("Poetical Works", 1839, both editions), Rossetti,
Forman, Dowden. The editio princeps reads Secures, which Woodberry
defends and retains.
3.
4, lines 203-220: omitted by Mrs. Shelley from the text of "Poetical
Works", 1839, 1st edition, but restored in the 2nd edition of 1839. See
above, "Note on Queen Mab, by Mrs. Shelley".
4.
All germs of promise, yet when the tall trees, etc. (5, line 9. )
So Rossetti, Dowden, Woodberry. In editions 1813 (editio princeps) and
1839 ("Poetical Works", both editions) there is a full stop at promise
which Forman retains.
5.
Who ever hears his famished offspring's scream, etc. (5, line 116. )
The editio princeps has offsprings--an evident misprint.
6.
6, lines 54-57, line 275: struck out of the text of "Poetical Works", 1839
(1st edition), but restored in the 2nd edition of that year. See Note 3 above.
7.
The exterminable spirit it contains, etc. (7, line 23. )
Exterminable seems to be used here in the sense of 'illimitable' (N. E.
D. ). Rossetti proposes interminable, or inexterminable.
8.
A smile of godlike malice reillumed, etc. (7, line 180. )
The editio princeps and the first edition of "Poetical Works", 1839,
read reillumined here, which is retained by Forman, Dowden, Woodberry.
With Rossetti, I follow Mrs. Shelley's reading in "Poetical Works", 1839
(2nd edition).
9.
One curse alone was spared--the name of God. (8, line 165. )
Removed from the text, "Poetical Works", 1839 (1st edition); restored,
"Poetical Works", 1839 (2nd edition). See Notes 3 and 6 above.
10.
Which from the exhaustless lore of human weal
Dawns on the virtuous mind, etc. (8, lines 204-205. )
With some hesitation as to lore, I reprint these lines as they are given
by Shelley himself in the note on this passage (supra). The text of 1813
runs:--
Which from the exhaustless store of human weal
Draws on the virtuous mind, etc.
This is retained by Woodberry, while Rossetti, Forman, and Dowden adopt
eclectic texts, Forman and Dowden reading lore and Draws, while
Rossetti, again, reads store and Dawns. Our text is supported by the
authority of Dr. Richard Garnett. The comma after infiniteness (line
206) has a metrical, not a logical, value.
11.
Nor searing Reason with the brand of God. (9, line 48. )
Removed from the text, "Poetical Works", 1839 (1st edition), by Mrs.
Shelley, who failed, doubtless through an oversight, to restore it in
the second edition. See Notes 3, 6, and 9 above.
12.
Where neither avarice, cunning, pride, nor care, etc. (9, line 67. )
The editio princeps reads pride, or care, which is retained by Forman
and Woodberry. With Rossetti and Dowden, I follow Mrs. Shelley's text,
"Poetical Works", 1839 (both editions).
NOTES TO QUEEN MAB.
1.
The mine, big with destructive power, burst under me, etc. (Note on 7 67. )
This is the reading of the "Poetical Works" of 1839 (2nd edition). The
editio princeps (1813) reads burst upon me. Doubtless under was intended
by Shelley: the occurrence, thrice over, of upon in the ten lines
preceding would account for the unconscious substitution of the word
here, either by the printer, or perhaps by Shelley himself in his
transcript for the press.
2.
. . . it cannot arise from reasoning, etc. (Note on 7 135. )
The editio princeps (1813) has conviction for reasoning here--an obvious
error of the press, overlooked by Mrs. Shelley in 1839, and perpetuated
in his several editions of the poems by Mr. H. Buxton Forman. Reasoning,
Mr. W. M. Rossetti's conjectural emendation, is manifestly the right word
here, and has been adopted by Dowden and Woodberry.
3.
Him, still from hope to hope, etc. (Note on 8 203-207. )
See editor's note 10 on "Queen Mab" above.
1.
A DIALOGUE. --The titles of this poem, of the stanzas "On an Icicle",
etc. , and of the lines "To Death", were first given by Professor Dowden
("Poetical Works of P. B. S. ", 1890) from the Esdaile manuscript book.
The textual corrections from the same quarter (see footnotes passim) are
also owing to Professor Dowden.
2.
ORIGINAL POETRY BY VICTOR AND CAZIRE. --Dr. Garnett, who in 1898 edited
for Mr. John Lane a reprint of these long-lost verses, identifies
"Victor's" coadjutrix, "Cazire", with Elizabeth Shelley, the poet's
sister. 'The two initial pieces are the only two which can be attributed
to Elizabeth Shelley with absolute certainty, though others in the
volume may possibly belong to her' (Garnett).
3.
SAINT EDMOND'S EVE. This ballad-tale was "conveyed" in its entirety by
"Cazire" from Matthew Gregory Lewis's "Tales of Terror", 1801, where it
appears under the title of "The Black Canon of Elmham; or, Saint
Edmond's Eve". Stockdale, the publisher of "Victor and Cazire", detected
the imposition, and communicated his discovery to Shelley--when 'with
all the ardour natural to his character he [Shelley] expressed the
warmest resentment at the imposition practised upon him by his
coadjutor, and entreated me to destroy all the copies, of which about
one hundred had been put into circulation. '
4.
TO MARY WHO DIED IN THIS OPINION. --From a letter addressed by Shelley to
Miss Hitchener, dated November 23, 1811.
5.
A TALE OF SOCIETY. --The titles of this and the following piece were
first given by Professor Dowden from the Esdaile manuscript, from which
also one or two corrections in the text of both poems, made in
Macmillan's edition of 1890, were derived.
***
A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL EDITIONS OF SHELLEY'S POETICAL WORKS,
SHOWING THE VARIOUS PRINTED SOURCES OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS EDITION.
1.
(1) Original Poetry; : By : Victor and Cazire. : Call it not vain:--they
do not err, : Who say, that, when the poet dies, : Mute Nature mourns
her worshipper. : "Lay of the Last Minstrel. " : Worthing : Printed by C.
and W. Phillips, : for the Authors; : And sold by J. J. Stockdale, 41,
Pall-Mall, : And all other Booksellers. 1810.
(2) Original : Poetry : By : Victor & Cazire : [Percy Bysshe Shelley : &
Elizabeth Shelley] : Edited by : Richard Garnett C. B. , LL. D. : Published
by : John Lane, at the Sign : of the Bodley Head in : London and New
York : MDCCCXCVIII.
2.
Posthumous Fragments : of : Margaret Nicholson; : Being Poems Found
Amongst the Papers of that : Noted Female who attempted the Life : of
the King in 1786. : Edited by : John Fitz-Victor. : Oxford: : Printed
and sold by J. Munday : 1810.
3.
St. Irvyne; : or, : The Rosicrucian. : A Romance. : By : A Gentleman :
of the University of Oxford. : London: : Printed for J. J. Stockdale, :
41, Pall Mall. : 1811.
4.
The Devil's Walk; a Ballad. Printed as a broadside, 1812.
5.
Queen Mab; : a : Philosophical Poem: : with Notes. : By : Percy Bysshe
Shelley. : Ecrasez l'Infame! : "Correspondance de Voltaire. " : Avia
Pieridum peragro loca, nullius ante : Trita solo; iuvat integros
accedere fonteis; : Atque haurire: iuratque (sic) novos decerpere
flores. : Unde prius nulli velarint tempora nausae. : Primum quod magnis
doceo de rebus; et arctis : Religionum animos nodis exsolvere pergo. :
Lucret. lib. 4 : Dos pou sto, kai kosmon kineso. : Archimedes. : London:
: Printed by P. B. Shelley, : 23, Chapel Street, Grosvenor Square. :
1813.
'Historian of the Fudges' (Garnett), Hibernicae Filius (Rossetti), or,
perhaps, Hibernicae Fidicen. Castles and Oliver (3 2 1; 7 4 4) were
government spies, as readers of Charles Lamb are aware. The allusion in
6 36 is to Wordsworth's "Thanksgiving Ode on The Battle of Waterloo",
original version, published in 1816:--
But Thy most dreaded instrument,
In working out a pure intent,
Is Man--arrayed for mutual slaughter,
--Yea, Carnage is Thy daughter!
1.
Lines 547-549 (6 18 5; 19 1, 2). These lines evidently form a continuous
clause. The full stop of the editio princeps at rocks, line 547, has
therefore been deleted, and a semicolon substituted for the original
comma at the close of line 546.
2.
'Ay--and at last desert me too. ' (line 603. )
Rossetti, who however follows the editio princeps, saw that these words
are spoken--not by Peter to his soul, but--by his soul to Peter, by way
of rejoinder to the challenge of lines 600-602:--'And I and you, My
dearest Soul, will then make merry, As the Prince Regent did with
Sherry. ' In order to indicate this fact, inverted commas are inserted at
the close of line 602 and the beginning of line 603.
3.
The punctuation of the editio princeps, 1839, has been throughout
revised, but--with the two exceptions specified in notes (1) and (2)
above--it seemed an unprofitable labour to record the particular
alterations, which serve but to clarify--in no instance to modify--the
sense as indicated by Mrs. Shelley's punctuation.
LETTER TO MARIA GISBORNE.
Our text mainly follows Mrs. Shelley's transcript, for the readings of
which we are indebted to Mr. Buxton Forman's Library Edition of the
Poems, 1876. The variants from Shelley's draft are supplied by Dr.
Garnett.
1.
Lines 197-201. These lines, which are wanting in editions 1824 and 1839
(1st edition), are supplied from Mrs. Shelley's transcript and from
Shelley's draft (Boscombe manuscript). In the 2nd edition of 1839 the
following lines appear in their place:--
Your old friend Godwin, greater none than he;
Though fallen on evil times, yet will he stand,
Among the spirits of our age and land,
Before the dread tribunal of To-come
The foremost, whilst rebuke stands pale and dumb.
2.
Line 296. The names in this line are supplied from the two manuscripts.
In the "Posthumous Poems" of 1824 the line appears:--Oh! that H-- -- and
-- were there, etc.
3.
The following list gives the places where the pointing of the text
varies from that of Mrs. Shelley's transcript as reported by Mr. Buxton
Forman, and records in each case the pointing of that original:--Turk
26; scorn 40; understood, 49; boat-- 75; think, 86; believe; 158; are;
164; fair 233; cameleopard; 240; Now 291.
THE WITCH OF ATLAS.
1.
The following list gives the places where our text departs from the
pointing of the editio princeps ("Dedication", 1839; "Witch of Atlas",
1824), and records in each case the original pointing:--
DEDIC. --pinions, 14; fellow, 41; Othello, 45.
WITCH OF ATLAS. --bliss; 164; above. 192; gums 258; flashed 409;
sunlight, 409; Thamondocana. 424; by. 432; engraven. 448; apart, 662;
mind! 662.
EPIPSYCHIDION.
1.
The following list gives the places where our text departs from the
pointing of the editio princeps, 1821, with the original point in each
case:--love, 44; pleasure; 68; flowing 96; where! 234; passed 252;
dreamed, 278; Night 418; year), 440; children, 528.
ADONAIS.
1.
The following list indicates the places in which the punctuation of this
edition departs from that of the editio princeps, of 1821, and records
in each instance the pointing of that text:--thou 10; Oh 19; apace, 65;
Oh 73; flown 138; Thou 142; Ah 154; immersed 167; corpse 172; tender
172; his 193; they 213; Death 217; Might 218; bow, 249; sighs 314;
escape 320; Cease 366; dark 406; forth 415; dead, 440; Whilst 493.
HELLAS.
A Reprint of the original edition (1822) of "Hellas" was edited for the
Shelley Society in 1887 by Mr. Thomas J. Wise. In Shelley's list of
Dramatis Personae the Phantom of Mahomet the Second is wanting.
Shelley's list of Errata in edition 1822 was first printed in Mr. Buxton
Forman's Library Edition of the Poems, 1876 (4 page 572). These errata
are silently corrected in the text.
1.
For Revenge and Wrong bring forth their kind, etc. (lines 728-729. )
'"For" has no rhyme (unless "are" and "despair" are to be considered
such): it requires to rhyme with "hear. " From this defect of rhyme, and
other considerations, I (following Mr. Fleay) used to consider it almost
certain that "Fear" ought to replace "For"; and I gave "Fear" in my
edition of 1870. . . However, the word in the manuscript ["Williams
transcript"] is "For," and Shelley's list of errata leaves this
unaltered--so we must needs abide by it. '--Rossetti, "Complete Poetical
Works of P. B. S. ", edition 1878 (3 volumes), 2 page 456.
2.
Lines 729-732. This quatrain, as Dr. Garnett ("Letters of Shelley",
1884, pages 166, 249) points out, is an expansion of the following lines
from the "Agamemmon" of Aeschylus (758-760), quoted by Shelley in a
letter to his wife, dated 'Friday, August 10, 1821':--
to dussebes--
meta men pleiona tiktei,
sphetera d' eikota genna.
3.
Lines 1091-1093. This passage, from the words more bright to the close
of line 1093, is wanting in the editio princeps, 1822, its place being
supplied by asterisks. The lacuna in the text is due, no doubt, to the
timidity of Ollier, the publisher, whom Shelley had authorised to make
excisions from the notes. In "Poetical Works", 1839, the lines, as they
appear in our text, are restored; in Galignani's edition of "Coleridge,
Shelley, and Keats" (Paris, 1829), however, they had already appeared,
though with the substitution of wise for bright (line 1091), and of
unwithstood for unsubdued (line 1093). Galignani's reading--native for
votive--in line 1095 is an evident misprint. In Ascham's edition of
Shelley (2 volumes, fcp. 8vo. , 1834), the passage is reprinted from
Galignani.
4.
The following list shows the places in which our text departs from the
punctuation of the editio princeps, 1822, and records in each instance
the pointing of that edition:--dreams 71; course. 125; mockery 150;
conqueror 212; streams 235; Moslems 275; West 305; moon, 347; harm, 394;
shame, 402; anger 408; descends 447; crime 454; banner. 461; Phanae,
470; blood 551; tyrant 557; Cydaris, 606; Heaven 636; Highness 638; man
738; sayest 738; One 768; mountains 831; dust 885; consummation? 902;
dream 921; may 923; death 935; clime. 1005; feast, 1025; horn, 1032;
Noon, 1045; death 1057; dowers 1094.
CHARLES THE FIRST.
To Mr. Rossetti we owe the reconstruction of this fragmentary drama out
of materials partly published by Mrs. Shelley in 1824, partly recovered
from manuscript by himself. The bracketed words are, presumably,
supplied by Mr. Rossetti to fill actual lacunae in the manuscript; those
queried represent indistinct writing. Mr. Rossetti's additions to the
text are indicated in the footnotes. In one or two instances Mr. Forman
and Dr. Garnett have restored the true reading. The list of Dramatis
Personae is Mr. Forman's.
THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE.
1.
Lines 131-135. This grammatically incoherent passage is thus
conjecturally emended by Rossetti:--
Fled back like eagles to their native noon;
For those who put aside the diadem
Of earthly thrones or gems. . . ,
Whether of Athens or Jerusalem,
Were neither mid the mighty captives seen, etc.
In the case of an incomplete poem lacking the author's final
corrections, however, restoration by conjecture is, to say the least of
it, gratuitous.
2.
Line 282. The words, 'Even as the deeds of others, not as theirs. ' And
then--are wanting in editions 1824, 1839, and were recovered by Dr.
Garnett from the Boscombe manuscript. Mrs. Shelley's note here
runs:--'There is a chasm here in the manuscript which it is impossible
to fill. It appears from the context that other shapes pass and that
Rousseau still stood beside the dreamer. ' Mr. Forman thinks that the
'chasm' is filled up by the words restored from the manuscript by Dr.
Garnett. Mr. A. C. Bradley writes: 'It seems likely that, after writing
"I have suffered. . . pain", Shelley meant to strike out the words between
"known" [276] and "I" [278], and to fill up the gap in such a way that
"I" would be the last word of the line beginning "May well be known". '
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
1.
TO --. Mrs. Shelley tentatively assigned this fragment to 1817. 'It
seems not improbable that it was addressed at this time [June, 1814] to
Mary Godwin. ' Dowden, "Life", 1 422, Woodberry suggests that 'Harriet
answers as well, or better, to the situation described. '
2.
ON DEATH. These stanzas occur in the Esdaile manuscript along with
others which Shelley intended to print with "Queen Mab" in 1813; but the
text was revised before publication in 1816.
3.
TO --. 'The poem beginning "Oh, there are spirits in the air," was
addressed in idea to Coleridge, whom he never knew'--writes Mrs.
Shelley. Mr. Bertram Dobell, Mr. Rossetti and Professor Dowden, however,
incline to think that we have here an address by Shelley in a despondent
mood to his own spirit.
4.
LINES. These appear to be antedated by a year, as they evidently allude
to the death of Harriet Shelley in November, 1816.
5.
ANOTHER FRAGMENT TO MUSIC. To Mr. Forman we owe the restoration of the
true text here--'food of Love. ' Mrs. Shelley printed 'god of Love. '
6.
MARENGHI, lines 92, 93. The 1870 (Rossetti) version of these lines is:--
White bones, and locks of dun and yellow hair,
And ringed horns which buffaloes did wear--
The words locks of dun (line 92) are cancelled in the manuscript.
Shelley's failure to cancel the whole line was due, Mr. Locock rightly
argues, to inadvertence merely; instead of buffaloes the manuscript
gives the buffalo, and it supplies the 'wonderful line' (Locock) which
closes the stanza in our text, and with which Mr. Locock aptly compares
"Mont Blanc", line 69:--
Save when the eagle brings some hunter's bone,
And the wolf tracks her there.
7.
ODE TO LIBERTY, lines 1, 2. On the suggestion of his brother, Mr. Alfred
Forman, the editor of the Library Edition of Shelley's Poems (1876), Mr.
Buxton Forman, printed these lines as follows:--
A glorious people vibrated again:
The lightning of the nations, Liberty,
From heart to heart, etc.
The testimony of Shelley's autograph in the Harvard College manuscript,
however, is final against such a punctuation.
8.
Lines 41, 42. We follow Mrs. Shelley's punctuation (1839). In Shelley's
edition (1820) there is no stop at the end of line 41, and a semicolon
closes line 42.
9.
ODE TO NAPLES. In Mrs. Shelley's editions the various sections of this
Ode are severally headed as follows:--'Epode 1 alpha, Epode 2 alpha,
Strophe alpha 1, Strophe beta 2, Antistrophe alpha gamma, Antistrophe
beta gamma, Antistrophe beta gamma, Antistrophe alpha gamma, Epode 1
gamma, Epode 2 gamma. In the manuscript, Mr. Locock tells us, the
headings are 'very doubtful, many of them being vaguely altered with pen
and pencil. ' Shelley evidently hesitated between two or three
alternative ways of indicating the structure and corresponding parts of
his elaborate song; hence the chaotic jumble of headings printed in
editions 1824, 1839. So far as the "Epodes" are concerned, the headings
in this edition are those of editions 1824, 1839, which may be taken as
supported by the manuscript (Locock). As to the remaining sections, Mr.
Locock's examination of the manuscript leads him to conclude that
Shelley's final choice was:--'Strophe 1, Strophe 2, Antistrophe 1,
Antistrophe 2, Antistrophe 1 alpha, Antistrophe 2 alpha. ' This in itself
would be perfectly appropriate, but it would be inconsistent with the
method employed in designating the "Epodes". I have therefore adopted in
preference a scheme which, if it lacks manuscript authority in some
particulars, has at least the merit of being absolutely logical and
consistent throughout.
Mr. Locock has some interesting remarks on the metrical features of this
complex ode. On the 10th line of Antistrophe 1a (line 86 of the
ode)--Aghast she pass from the Earth's disk--which exceeds by one foot
the 10th lines of the two corresponding divisions, Strophe 1 and
Antistrophe 1b, he observes happily enough that 'Aghast may well have
been intended to disappear. ' Mr. Locock does not seem to notice that the
closing lines of these three answering sections--(1) hail, hail, all
hail! --(2) Thou shalt be great--All hail! --(3) Art Thou of all these
hopes. --O hail! increase by regular lengths--two, three, four iambi. Nor
does he seem quite to grasp Shelley's intention with regard to the rhyme
scheme of the other triple group, Strophe 2, Antistrophe 2a, Antistrophe
2b. That of Strophe 2 may be thus expressed:--a-a-bc; d-d-bc; a-c-d;
b-c.
Between this and Antistrophe 2a (the second member of the group)
there is a general correspondence with, in one particular, a subtle
modification. The scheme now becomes a-a-bc; d-d-bc; a-c-b; d-c: i. e.
the rhymes of lines 9 and 10 are transposed--God (line 9) answering to
the halfway rhymes of lines 3 and 6, gawd and unawed, instead of (as in
Strophe 2) to the rhyme-endings of lines 4 and 5; and, vice versa, fate
(line 10) answering to desolate and state (lines 4 and 5), instead of to
the halfway rhymes aforesaid. As to Antistrophe 2b, that follows
Antistrophe 2a, so far as it goes; but after line 9 it breaks off
suddenly, and closes with two lines corresponding in length and rhyme to
the closing couplet of Antistrophe 1b, the section immediately
preceding, which, however, belongs not to this group, but to the other.
Mr. Locock speaks of line 124 as 'a rhymeless line. ' Rhymeless it is
not, for shore, its rhyme-termination, answers to bower and power, the
halfway rhymes of lines 118 and 121 respectively. Why Mr. Locock should
call line 12 an 'unmetrical line,' I cannot see. It is a decasyllabic
line, with a trochee substituted for an iambus in the third foot--Around
: me gleamed : many a : bright se : pulchre.
10.
THE TOWER OF FAMINE. --It is doubtful whether the following note is
Shelley's or Mrs. Shelley's: 'At Pisa there still exists the prison of
Ugolino, which goes by the name of "La Torre della Fame"; in the
adjoining building the galley-slaves are confined. It is situated on the
Ponte al Mare on the Arno. '
11.
GINEVRA, line 129: Through seas and winds, cities and wildernesses. The
footnote omits Professor Dowden's conjectural emendation--woods--for
winds, the reading of edition 1824 here.
12.
THE LADY OF THE SOUTH. Our text adopts Mr. Forman's correction--drouth
for drought--in line 3. This should have been recorded in a footnote.
13.
HYMN TO MERCURY, line 609. The period at now is supported by the Harvard
manuscript.
JUVENILIA.
QUEEN MAB.
1.
Throughout this varied and eternal world
Soul is the only element: the block
That for uncounted ages has remained
The moveless pillar of a mountain's weight
Is active, living spirit. (4, lines 139-143. )
This punctuation was proposed in 1888 by Mr. J. R. Tutin (see "Notebook
of the Shelley Society", Part 1, page 21), and adopted by Dowden,
"Poetical Works of Shelley", Macmillan, 1890. The editio princeps
(1813), which is followed by Forman (1892) and Woodberry (1893), has a
comma after element and a full stop at remained.
2.
Guards. . . from a nation's rage
Secure the crown, etc. (4, lines 173-176. )
So Mrs. Shelley ("Poetical Works", 1839, both editions), Rossetti,
Forman, Dowden. The editio princeps reads Secures, which Woodberry
defends and retains.
3.
4, lines 203-220: omitted by Mrs. Shelley from the text of "Poetical
Works", 1839, 1st edition, but restored in the 2nd edition of 1839. See
above, "Note on Queen Mab, by Mrs. Shelley".
4.
All germs of promise, yet when the tall trees, etc. (5, line 9. )
So Rossetti, Dowden, Woodberry. In editions 1813 (editio princeps) and
1839 ("Poetical Works", both editions) there is a full stop at promise
which Forman retains.
5.
Who ever hears his famished offspring's scream, etc. (5, line 116. )
The editio princeps has offsprings--an evident misprint.
6.
6, lines 54-57, line 275: struck out of the text of "Poetical Works", 1839
(1st edition), but restored in the 2nd edition of that year. See Note 3 above.
7.
The exterminable spirit it contains, etc. (7, line 23. )
Exterminable seems to be used here in the sense of 'illimitable' (N. E.
D. ). Rossetti proposes interminable, or inexterminable.
8.
A smile of godlike malice reillumed, etc. (7, line 180. )
The editio princeps and the first edition of "Poetical Works", 1839,
read reillumined here, which is retained by Forman, Dowden, Woodberry.
With Rossetti, I follow Mrs. Shelley's reading in "Poetical Works", 1839
(2nd edition).
9.
One curse alone was spared--the name of God. (8, line 165. )
Removed from the text, "Poetical Works", 1839 (1st edition); restored,
"Poetical Works", 1839 (2nd edition). See Notes 3 and 6 above.
10.
Which from the exhaustless lore of human weal
Dawns on the virtuous mind, etc. (8, lines 204-205. )
With some hesitation as to lore, I reprint these lines as they are given
by Shelley himself in the note on this passage (supra). The text of 1813
runs:--
Which from the exhaustless store of human weal
Draws on the virtuous mind, etc.
This is retained by Woodberry, while Rossetti, Forman, and Dowden adopt
eclectic texts, Forman and Dowden reading lore and Draws, while
Rossetti, again, reads store and Dawns. Our text is supported by the
authority of Dr. Richard Garnett. The comma after infiniteness (line
206) has a metrical, not a logical, value.
11.
Nor searing Reason with the brand of God. (9, line 48. )
Removed from the text, "Poetical Works", 1839 (1st edition), by Mrs.
Shelley, who failed, doubtless through an oversight, to restore it in
the second edition. See Notes 3, 6, and 9 above.
12.
Where neither avarice, cunning, pride, nor care, etc. (9, line 67. )
The editio princeps reads pride, or care, which is retained by Forman
and Woodberry. With Rossetti and Dowden, I follow Mrs. Shelley's text,
"Poetical Works", 1839 (both editions).
NOTES TO QUEEN MAB.
1.
The mine, big with destructive power, burst under me, etc. (Note on 7 67. )
This is the reading of the "Poetical Works" of 1839 (2nd edition). The
editio princeps (1813) reads burst upon me. Doubtless under was intended
by Shelley: the occurrence, thrice over, of upon in the ten lines
preceding would account for the unconscious substitution of the word
here, either by the printer, or perhaps by Shelley himself in his
transcript for the press.
2.
. . . it cannot arise from reasoning, etc. (Note on 7 135. )
The editio princeps (1813) has conviction for reasoning here--an obvious
error of the press, overlooked by Mrs. Shelley in 1839, and perpetuated
in his several editions of the poems by Mr. H. Buxton Forman. Reasoning,
Mr. W. M. Rossetti's conjectural emendation, is manifestly the right word
here, and has been adopted by Dowden and Woodberry.
3.
Him, still from hope to hope, etc. (Note on 8 203-207. )
See editor's note 10 on "Queen Mab" above.
1.
A DIALOGUE. --The titles of this poem, of the stanzas "On an Icicle",
etc. , and of the lines "To Death", were first given by Professor Dowden
("Poetical Works of P. B. S. ", 1890) from the Esdaile manuscript book.
The textual corrections from the same quarter (see footnotes passim) are
also owing to Professor Dowden.
2.
ORIGINAL POETRY BY VICTOR AND CAZIRE. --Dr. Garnett, who in 1898 edited
for Mr. John Lane a reprint of these long-lost verses, identifies
"Victor's" coadjutrix, "Cazire", with Elizabeth Shelley, the poet's
sister. 'The two initial pieces are the only two which can be attributed
to Elizabeth Shelley with absolute certainty, though others in the
volume may possibly belong to her' (Garnett).
3.
SAINT EDMOND'S EVE. This ballad-tale was "conveyed" in its entirety by
"Cazire" from Matthew Gregory Lewis's "Tales of Terror", 1801, where it
appears under the title of "The Black Canon of Elmham; or, Saint
Edmond's Eve". Stockdale, the publisher of "Victor and Cazire", detected
the imposition, and communicated his discovery to Shelley--when 'with
all the ardour natural to his character he [Shelley] expressed the
warmest resentment at the imposition practised upon him by his
coadjutor, and entreated me to destroy all the copies, of which about
one hundred had been put into circulation. '
4.
TO MARY WHO DIED IN THIS OPINION. --From a letter addressed by Shelley to
Miss Hitchener, dated November 23, 1811.
5.
A TALE OF SOCIETY. --The titles of this and the following piece were
first given by Professor Dowden from the Esdaile manuscript, from which
also one or two corrections in the text of both poems, made in
Macmillan's edition of 1890, were derived.
***
A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL EDITIONS OF SHELLEY'S POETICAL WORKS,
SHOWING THE VARIOUS PRINTED SOURCES OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS EDITION.
1.
(1) Original Poetry; : By : Victor and Cazire. : Call it not vain:--they
do not err, : Who say, that, when the poet dies, : Mute Nature mourns
her worshipper. : "Lay of the Last Minstrel. " : Worthing : Printed by C.
and W. Phillips, : for the Authors; : And sold by J. J. Stockdale, 41,
Pall-Mall, : And all other Booksellers. 1810.
(2) Original : Poetry : By : Victor & Cazire : [Percy Bysshe Shelley : &
Elizabeth Shelley] : Edited by : Richard Garnett C. B. , LL. D. : Published
by : John Lane, at the Sign : of the Bodley Head in : London and New
York : MDCCCXCVIII.
2.
Posthumous Fragments : of : Margaret Nicholson; : Being Poems Found
Amongst the Papers of that : Noted Female who attempted the Life : of
the King in 1786. : Edited by : John Fitz-Victor. : Oxford: : Printed
and sold by J. Munday : 1810.
3.
St. Irvyne; : or, : The Rosicrucian. : A Romance. : By : A Gentleman :
of the University of Oxford. : London: : Printed for J. J. Stockdale, :
41, Pall Mall. : 1811.
4.
The Devil's Walk; a Ballad. Printed as a broadside, 1812.
5.
Queen Mab; : a : Philosophical Poem: : with Notes. : By : Percy Bysshe
Shelley. : Ecrasez l'Infame! : "Correspondance de Voltaire. " : Avia
Pieridum peragro loca, nullius ante : Trita solo; iuvat integros
accedere fonteis; : Atque haurire: iuratque (sic) novos decerpere
flores. : Unde prius nulli velarint tempora nausae. : Primum quod magnis
doceo de rebus; et arctis : Religionum animos nodis exsolvere pergo. :
Lucret. lib. 4 : Dos pou sto, kai kosmon kineso. : Archimedes. : London:
: Printed by P. B. Shelley, : 23, Chapel Street, Grosvenor Square. :
1813.
