The Complete Poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley

Original Poetry: by Victor and Cazire

Title page of Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire (1810). With kind permission of The Huntington Library. This page intentionally left blank ORIGINAL POETRY by Victor and Cazire Most of the seventeen poems and fragments in this collection (V&C) were written by Percy Bysshe Shelley (PBS), but five were probably written, in whole or in part, by his eldest sister, Elizabeth Shelley, and the longest poem in the volume was plagiarized from Matthew G. (“Monk”) Lewis. The volume was printed in Sussex during the summer of 1810 under PBS’s supervision and published with authorial pseudonyms early in the autumn of that year by John Joseph Stockdale, an established London bookseller. When Stockdale became aware of the plagiarism from Lewis, the edition was suppressed and most copies destroyed. Though V&C was reviewed in a few contemporary periodicals, the texts of its poems did not come to light again till 1898, when a copy was located and a type-facsimile was printed in London. The copy-text, or base text, for our edition is the original edition of 1810, as established through a comparison of the three known surviving copies. Below our critical Text, we record its variants from 1810 and the facsimile (1898). On pages 335–53, we collate historically important publications that involve texts from V&C. Detailed historical, textual, and informational commentary can be found on pages 149–87. 5 Of the PBS volumes presented in the first volume of this edition, only V&C had a table of contents, and we reproduce that page below. CONTENTS. PAGE. Letter, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5 Letter, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10 Song, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14 Song, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17 Despair, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 19 Sorrow, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21 Hope, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 24 Song, translated from the Italian, - - - - - - - - 26 Song, translated from the German, - - - - - - - 27 The Irishman’s Song, - - - - - - - - - - - - 29 Song, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 31 Song, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 33 Song, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 35 St. Edmond’s Eve, - - - - - - - - - - - - - 37 Revenge - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 45 Ghasta, or the avenging Demon, - - - - - - - - 50 Fragment, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 63 6 Victor and Cazire LETTER [1] A Person complained that whenever he began to write, he never could arrange his ideas in grammatical order. Which occasion suggested the idea of the following lines: Here I sit with my paper, my pen and my ink, First of this thing, and that thing, and t’other thing think; Then my thoughts come so pell-mell all into my mind, That the sense or the subject I never can find: This word is wrong placed, no regard to the sense, 5 The present and future, instead of past tense, Then my grammar I want; O dear! what a bore, I think I shall never attempt to write more, With patience I then my thoughts must arraign, Have them all in due order like mutes in a train, 10 Like them too must wait in due patience and thought, Or else my fine works will all come to nought, My wit too’s so copious, it flows like a river, But disperses its waters on black and white never; Like smoke it appears independent and free, 15 But ah luckless smoke! it all passes like thee Then at length all my patience entirely lost, My paper and pens in the fire are tost; But come, try again you must never despair Our Murray’s or Entick’s are not all so rare, 20 Implore their assistance they’ll come to your aid, Perform all your business without being paid, They’ll tell you the present tense, future and past, Which should come first, and which should come last, This Murray will do then to Entick repair, 25 To find out the meaning of any word rare. This they friendly will tell, and ne’er make you blush, With a jeering look, taunt, or an O fie! tush! Then straight all your thoughts in black and white put, Not minding the if’s, the be’s, and the but, 30 Then read it all over, see how it will run, How answers the wit, the retort, and the pun, Your writings may then with old Socrates vie, Letter 1 7 Text collated with 1810 and 1898. Title. omitted 1810 1898 12 nought, ] nought. 1898 19 despair ] despair, 1898 May on the same shelf with Demosthenes lie, May as Junius be sharp, or as Plato be sage, 35 The pattern or satire to all of the age; But stop a mad author I mean not to turn, Nor with thirst of applause does my heated brain burn, Sufficient that sense, wit, and grammar combined, My letters may make some...