ADVERTISEMENT.

A SMALL proportion of the Poems in this volume was prepared for the press by the Author. Of the remainder, it is probable that several have not received his last corrections; and that some were not intended for publication. But in making the selection from a much larger number, the Editor has had no guide but his own discretion. He has generally, but not uniformly, chosen such as appeared to him most finished. In some cases, he has seen in a hasty sketch sufficient interest to atone, in his opinion, for one or more weak or imperfect lines. A word here and there may have been mistaken from the imperfection of the manuscript; and better copies of some of the pieces, now first printed, may be in existence. These, and other inaccuracies, should such be detected, will, it is hoped, be pardoned in a posthumous publication.

ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, CHELSEA,
December, 1850.

A FRESH collation of manuscripts has enabled the Editor, in the present edition, to remove many of the imperfections, and most of the inaccuracies, which it was apprehended might be found in the first.

ST. MARK'S, CHELSEA,

September, 1851.

SONNETS.

I.

TO S. T. COLERIDGE.

IF when thou wert a living man, my sire,
I shrank unequal from the task to praise
The ripening worth of thy successive days,
What shall I do since that imputed fire,
Extinct its earthly aliment, doth aspire,
Purged from the passionate subject of all lays,
From all that fancy fashions and obeys,
Beyond the argument of mortal lyre?

If while a militant and suffering saint,
Thou walk'dst the earth in penury
and pain,
Thy great Idea was too high a strain
For my infirmity, how shall I dare
Thy perfect and immortal self to paint?
Less awful task to "draw empyreal air."

October 28, 1835.