INTRODUCTION - The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 4 - Charles Lamb - 其他小说 - 30读书

INTRODUCTION

introduction

theearliestpoeminthisvolumebearsthedate1794,whenlambwasnineteen,thelatest1834,theyearofhisdeath;sothatitcoversanevenlongerperiodofhislifethanvol.i.—the"miscellaneousprose."thechronologicalorderwhichwasstrictlyobservedinthatvolumehasbeenonlypartlyobservedinthefollowingpages—sinceitseemedbettertokeeptheplaystogetherandtomakeaseparatesectionoflamb'sepigrams.these,therefore,willbefoundtobeoutsidethegeneralscheme.suchoflamb'slaterpoemsashedidnothimselfcollectinvolumeformwillalsobefoundtobeoutoftheirchronologicalposition,partlybecauseithasseemedtomebesttogiveprominencetothoseverseswhichlambhimselfreprinted,andpartlybecausethereisoftennoindicationoftheyearinwhichthepoemwaswritten.

anotherdifficultyhasbeenthefrequencywithwhichlambreprintedsomeofhisearlierpoetry.thetextofmanyofhisearliestandbestpoemswasnotfixeduntil1818,twentyyearsorsoaftertheircomposition.ithadtobedecidedwhethertoprintthesepoemsintheirtrueorderastheywerefirstpublished—incoleridge'spoemsonvarioussubjects,1796;incharleslloyd'semsonthedeathofpriscillafarmer,1796;incoleridge'spoems,secondedition,1797;inblankversebycharleslloydandcharleslamb,1798;andinjohnwoodvil,1802—withalltheirearlyreadings;orwhethertodisregardchronologicalsequence,andwaituntilthetimeoftheworks—1818—hadcome,andprintthemalltogetherthen.idecided,intheinterestsoftheirbiographicalvalue,toprintthemintheorderastheyfirstappeared,particularlyascrabbrobinsontellsusthatlamboncesaidofthearrangementofapoet'sworks:"thereisonlyonegoodorder—andthatistheorderinwhichtheywerewritten—thatisahistoryofthepoet'smind."itthenhadtobedecidedwhethertoprintthemintheirfirstshape,which,unlessirepeatedthemlater,wouldmeantherelegationoflamb'sfinaltexttothenotes,ortoprintthem,attheexpenseofaslightinfringementuponthechronologicalscheme,intheirfinal1818state,andrelegateallearlierreadingstothenotes.aftermuchdeliberationidecidedthattoprintthemintheirfinal1818statewasbest,andthisthereforeididinthelargeeditionof1903,towhichthestudentisreferredforallvariorumreadings,fullernotesandmanyillustrations,andhaverepeatedhere.inorder,however,thattheschemeoflamb's1818editionofhisworksmightbepreserved,ihaveindicatedinthetextthepositionintheworksoccupiedbyallthepoemsthatinthepresentvolumehavebeenprintedearlier.

thechronologicalorder,insofarasithasbeenfollowed,emphasisesthedividinglinebetweenlamb'spoetryandhisverse.ashegrewolderhispoetry,forthemostpart,passedintohisprose.hisbestandtruestpoems,withfewexceptions,belongtotheyearsbefore,say,1805,whenhewasthirty.afterthis,followingalongintervalofsilence,camethebriefsatiricaloutburstof1812,intheexaminer,andthelongerone,in1820,inthechampion;then,afteranotherinterval,duringwhichhewasbusyaselia,cametheperiodofalbumverses,whichlastedtotheend.theimpulsetowritepersonalprose,whichwasquickenedinlambbythelondonmagazinein1820,seemstohavetakentheplaceofhisoldambitiontobeapoet.inhislaterandmoremechanicalperiodtherewere,however,occasionalinspirations,aswhenhewrotethesonneton"work,"in1819;on"leisure,"in1821;thelinesinhisownalbum,in1827,and,pre-eminently,thepoem"onaninfantdyingassoonasborn,"in1827.

thisvolumecontains,withtheexceptionoftheverseforchildren,whichwillbefoundinvol.iii.ofthisedition,alltheaccessiblepoeticalworkofcharlesandmarylambthatisknowntoexistandseveralpoemsnottobefoundinthelargeedition.thereareprobablystillmanycopiesofalbumverseswhichhavenotyetseenthelight.inthelondonmagazine,april,1824,isastoryentitled"thebrideofmodernitaly,"whichhasformottothefollowingcouplet:—

myheartisfixt:

thisisthesixt.—elia.

buttherestofwhatseemstobeapleasantcatalogueismissing.inalettertocoleridge,december2,1796,lambreferstoapoemwhichhasapparentlyperished,beginning,"laugh,allthatweep."ihaveleftinthecorrespondencetherhymingletterstoayrtonanddibdin,andanepigramon"coelebsinsearchofawife."ihaveplacedthededicationtocoleridgeatthebeginningofthisvolume,althoughitbelongsproperlyonlytothosepoemsthatarereprintedfromtheworksof1818,theproseofwhichlambofferedtomartinburney.butitistoofinetobeputamongthenotes,anditmayeasily,byapardonablestretch,bemadetorefertothewholebodyoflamb'spoeticalanddramaticwork,althoughalbumverses,1830,wasdedicatedseparatelytoedwardmoxon.

inmr.bedford'sdesignforthecoverofthiseditioncertaineliansymbolismwillbefound.theuppercoatofarmsisthatofchrist'shospital,wherelambwasatschool;theloweristhatoftheinnertemple,wherehewasbornandspentmanyyears.thefiguresatthebellsarethosewhichoncestoodoutfromthefaçadeofst.dunstan'schurchinfleetstreet,andarenowinlordlondesborough'sgardeninregent'spark.lambshedtearswhentheywereremoved.thetricksyspriteandthecandles(broughtbybetty)neednoexplanatorywordsofmine.

e.v.l.