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 CROFT AND ANTHONY CROFT AND ROBERT DAVISON
MATHEMATICS FOR ENGINEERS DAVISON
Fifth edition
MATHEMATICS

ENGINEERS
MATHEMATICS FOR
Understanding key mathematical concepts and applying them successfully to solve problems are vital skills

FOR ENGINEERS
that all engineering students must acquire. Mathematics for Engineers introduces, teaches, develops and
nurtures those skills. Practical, informal and accessible, it begins with the foundations and gradually builds
upon this knowledge as it introduces more complex concepts. Learn everything you will need for your first year
engineering mathematics course, together with a wealth of introductory material for even more advanced
topics such as Laplace and Fourier transforms and partial differential equations.

Key features
• Applications of mathematics are drawn from a wide range of engineering areas: aeronautical, automotive,
FIFTH EDITION
chemical, civil, computer, electrical and electronic, manufacturing, materials, mechanical, production,
reliability, and systems engineering.
• Hundreds of interactive examples are provided in the context of various engineering disciplines, so you
are able to both engage with the problems and also see the relevance of the maths to your wider studies.
• A wealth of practice and revision exercises with solutions help test your knowledge.
• Key points and important results are highlighted throughout.
• Computer and calculator examples and exercises are incorporated in relevant sections.
• Specimen examination papers give further opportunity to practise.
• A foundation section gives you a firm base in arithmetic, the building block of many high-level
mathematical topics.

New to this 5th edition

• Significant enhancements integrating the use of computer software in the solution of engineering
mathematics problems.
• Widening of the applications base to include more from mechanical, materials and aeronautical
engineering.
• Introductory material on the solution of partial differential equations, loci in the complex plane and the
equation of a circle.

Anthony Croft is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics Education at Loughborough University and

FIFTH
Robert Davison spent over 30 years teaching and writing mathematics for higher education students. EDITION
They have authored many best-selling mathematics textbooks including several for engineering students.

Cover image: © shutterstock Premier/ Ekaphon maneechot www.pearson-books.com

CVR_CROFT_05_53640.indd 1 12/12/18 9:45 AM

A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page vii

Brief contents

Contents ix
Publisher’s acknowledgements xv
Preface xvi
Using mathematical software packages xx

1 Arithmetic 1

2 Fractions 18

3 Decimal numbers 35

4 Percentage and ratio 45

5 Basic algebra 57

6 Functions and mathematical models 136

7 Polynomial equations, inequalities,

partial fractions and proportionality 215

8 Logarithms and exponentials 289

9 Trigonometry 335
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page viii

viii Brief contents

10 Further trigonometry 401

11 Complex numbers 450

12 Matrices and determinants 521

13 Using matrices and determinants to solve equations 600

14 Vectors 669

15 Differentiation 740

16 Techniques and applications of differentiation 771

17 Integration 826

18 Applications of integration 895

19 Sequences and series 943

20 Differential equations 977

21 Functions of more than one variable

and partial differentiation 1048

22 The Laplace transform 1094

23 Statistics and probability 1129

24 An introduction to Fourier series

and the Fourier transform 1213

Typical examination papers 1242

Appendix 1: SI units and prefixes 1248
Index 1249
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page ix

Contents

Publisher’s acknowledgements xv
Preface xvi
Using mathematical software packages xx

1 Arithmetic 1
Block 1 Operations on numbers 3
Block 2 Prime numbers and prime factorisation 10
End of chapter exercises 17

2 Fractions 18
Block 1 Introducing fractions 20
Block 2 Operations on fractions 25
End of chapter exercises 33

3 Decimal numbers 35
Block 1 Introduction to decimal numbers 37
Block 2 Significant figures 42
End of chapter exercises 43

4 Percentage and ratio 45

Block 1 Percentage 47
Block 2 Ratio 51
End of chapter exercises 56
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page x

x Contents

5 Basic algebra 57
Block 1 Mathematical notation and symbols 59
Block 2 Indices 72
Block 3 Simplification by collecting like terms 88
Block 4 Removing brackets 91
Block 5 Factorisation 99
Block 6 Arithmetic of algebraic fractions 106
Block 7 Formulae and transposition 119
End of chapter exercises 133

6 Functions and mathematical models 136

Block 1 Basic concepts of functions 138
Block 2 The graph of a function 147
Block 3 Composition of functions 155
Block 4 One-to-one functions and inverse functions 158
Block 5 Parametric representation of a function 165
Block 6 Describing functions 168
Block 7 The straight line 177
Block 8 Common engineering functions 192
Block 9 The equation of a circle 209
End of chapter exercises 212

7 Polynomial equations, inequalities,

partial fractions and proportionality 215
Block 1 Solving linear equations 218
Block 2 Solving quadratic equations 230
Block 3 Factorising polynomial expressions and solving
polynomial equations 243
Block 4 Solving simultaneous equations 252
Block 5 Solution of inequalities 261
Block 6 Partial fractions 270
Block 7 Proportionality 282
End of chapter exercises 286

8 Logarithms and exponentials 289

Block 1 The exponential function 291
Block 2 Logarithms and their laws 306
Block 3 Solving equations involving logarithms and exponentials 316
Block 4 Applications of logarithms 321
End of chapter exercises 332

9 Trigonometry 335
Block 1 Angles 337
Block 2 The trigonometrical ratios 341
Block 3 The trigonometrical ratios in all quadrants 352
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page xi

Contents xi

Block 4 Trigonometrical functions and their graphs 360

Block 5 Trigonometrical identities 372
Block 6 Trigonometrical equations 377
Block 7 Engineering waves 386
End of chapter exercises 399

10 Further trigonometry 401

Block 1 Pythagoras’s theorem and the solution
of right-angled triangles 403
Block 2 Solving triangles using the sine rule 413
Block 3 Solving triangles using the cosine rule 419
Block 4 Surveying 424
Block 5 Resolution and resultant of forces 435
End of chapter exercises 447

11 Complex numbers 450

Block 1 Arithmetic of complex numbers 452
Block 2 The Argand diagram and polar form of a complex number 465
Block 3 The exponential form of a complex number 490
Block 4 De Moivre’s theorem 496
Block 5 Solving equations and finding roots of complex numbers 504
Block 6 Phasors 512
End of chapter exercises 518

12 Matrices and determinants 521

Block 1 Introduction to matrices 523
Block 2 Multiplication of matrices 534
Block 3 Determinants 544
Block 4 The inverse of a matrix 563
Block 5 Computer graphics 572
End of chapter exercises 595

13 Using matrices and determinants

to solve equations 600
Block 1 Cramer’s rule 603
Block 2 Using the inverse matrix to solve simultaneous equations 607
Block 3 Gaussian elimination 615
Block 4 Eigenvalues and eigenvectors 628
Block 5 Iterative techniques 646
Block 6 Electrical networks 655
End of chapter exercises 665

14 Vectors 669
Block 1 Basic concepts of vectors 671
Block 2 Cartesian components of vectors 685
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page xii

xii Contents

Block 3 The scalar product, or dot product 703

Block 4 The vector product, or cross product 715
Block 5 The vector equation of a line and a plane 726
End of chapter exercises 738

15 Differentiation 740
Block 1 Interpretation of a derivative 742
Block 2 Using a table of derivatives 755
Block 3 Higher derivatives 764
End of chapter exercises 769

16 Techniques and applications of differentiation 771

Block 1 The product rule and the quotient rule 773
Block 2 The chain rule 779
Block 3 Implicit differentiation 785
Block 4 Parametric differentiation 791
Block 5 Logarithmic differentiation 795
Block 6 Tangents and normals 799
Block 7 Maximum and minimum values of a function 809
End of chapter exercises 823

17 Integration 826
Block 1 Integration as differentiation in reverse 828
Block 2 Definite integrals 840
Block 3 The area bounded by a curve 847
Block 4 Computational approaches to integration 857
Block 5 Integration by parts 867
Block 6 Integration by substitution 874
Block 7 Integration using partial fractions 885
Block 8 Integration of trigonometrical functions 888
End of chapter exercises 892

18 Applications of integration 895

Block 1 Integration as the limit of a sum 897
Block 2 Volumes of revolution 903
Block 3 Calculating centres of mass 910
Block 4 Moment of inertia 923
Block 5 The length of a curve and the area of a surface
of revolution 929
Block 6 The mean value and root-mean-square
value of a function 935
End of chapter exercises 942
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page xiii

Contents xiii

19 Sequences and series 943

Block 1 Sequences and series 945
Block 2 Sums of whole numbers, their squares and cubes 958
Block 3 Pascal’s triangle and the binomial theorem 961
Block 4 Taylor, Maclaurin and other series 967
End of chapter exercises 975

20 Differential equations 977

Block 1 Basic concepts of differential equations 980
Block 2 Separation of variables 995
Block 3 Solving first-order linear equations using an integrating factor 1003
Block 4 Computational approaches to differential equations 1011
Block 5 Second-order linear constant-coefficient equations I 1021
Block 6 Second-order linear constant-coefficient equations II 1034
End of chapter exercises 1046

21 Functions of more than one variable

and partial differentiation 1048
Block 1 Functions of two independent variables, and their graphs 1050
Block 2 Partial differentiation 1060
Block 3 Higher-order derivatives 1070
Block 4 Partial differential equations 1075
Block 5 Stationary values of a function of two variables 1087
End of chapter exercises 1092

22 The Laplace transform 1094

Block 1 The Laplace transform 1096
Block 2 The inverse Laplace transform 1107
Block 3 Solving differential equations using
the Laplace transform 1116
End of chapter exercises 1126

23 Statistics and probability 1129

Block 1 Data 1131
Block 2 Data averages 1133
Block 3 Variation of data 1141
Block 4 Elementary probability 1146
Block 5 Laws of probability 1155
Block 6 Probability distributions 1169
Block 7 The binomial distribution 1177
Block 8 The Poisson distribution 1185
Block 9 The normal distribution 1194
End of chapter exercises 1210
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page xiv

xiv Contents

24 An introduction to Fourier series

and the Fourier transform 1213
Block 1 Periodic waveforms and their Fourier representation 1215
Block 2 Introducing the Fourier transform 1232
End of chapter exercises 1240

Typical examination papers 1242

Appendix 1: SI units and prefixes 1248
Index 1249

Companion Website ON THE

WEBSITE
For open-access student resources specifically
written to complement this textbook and support
your learning, please visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/croft

Lecturer Resources
For password-protected online resources tailored to support
the use of this textbook in teaching, please visit
www.pearsoned.co.uk/croft
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 11/9/18 2:57 PM Page xv

Publisher’s acknowledgements

We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:

The screenshots in this book are Copyright © Waterloo Maple Inc., xxi and
The MathWorks, Inc., xxii and reprinted with permission.
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page xvi

Preface

Audience
This book has been written to serve the mathematical needs of students engaged in a
first course in engineering or technology at degree level. Students of a very wide
range of these programmes will find that the book contains the mathematical
methods they will meet in a first-year course in most UK universities. So the book
will satisfy the needs of students of aeronautical, automotive, chemical, civil,
electronic and electrical, systems, mechanical, manufacturing, and production
engineering, and other technological fields. Care has been taken to include illustra-
tive examples from these disciplines where appropriate.

Aims
There are two main aims of this book.
Firstly, we wish to provide a readable, accessible and student-friendly introduc-
tion to mathematics for engineers and technologists at degree level. Great care has
been taken with explanations of difficult concepts, and wherever possible statements
are made in everyday language, as well as symbolically. It is the use of symbolic
notation that seems to cause many students problems, and we hope that we have
gone a long way to alleviate such problems.
Secondly, we wish to develop in the reader the confidence and competence to
handle mathematical methods relevant to engineering and technology through an
interactive approach to learning. You will find that the book encourages you to take
an active part in the learning process – this is an essential ingredient in the learning
of mathematics.
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page xvii

Preface xvii

The structure of this book

The book has been divided into 24 chapters. Each chapter is subdivided into a unit
called a block. A block is intended to be a self-contained unit of study. Each block
has a brief introduction to the material in it, followed by explanations, examples and
applications. Important results and key points are highlighted. Many of the examples
require you to participate in the problem-solving process, so you will need to have
pens or pencils, scrap paper and a scientific calculator to hand. We say more about
this aspect below. Solutions to these examples are all given alongside.
Each block also contains a number of practice exercises, and the solutions to these
are placed immediately afterwards. This avoids the need for searching at the back of
the book for solutions. A further set of exercises appears at the end of each block.
At the end of each chapter you will find end of chapter exercises, which are
designed to consolidate and draw together techniques from all the blocks within the
chapter.
Some sections contain computer or calculator exercises. These are denoted by the
computer icon. It is not essential that these are attempted, but those of you with
access to graphical calculators or computer software can see how these modern
technologies can be used to speed up long and complicated calculations.

Learning mathematics
In mathematics almost all early building blocks are required in advanced work. New
ideas are usually built upon existing ones. This means that, if some early topics are
not adequately mastered, difficulties are almost certain to arise later on. For example,
if you have not mastered the arithmetic of fractions, then you will find some aspects
of algebra confusing. Without a firm grasp of algebra you will not be able to perform
the techniques of calculus, and so on. It is therefore essential to try to master the full
range of topics in your mathematics course and to remedy deficiencies in your prior
knowledge.
Learning mathematics requires you to participate actively in the learning process.
This means that in order to get a sound understanding of any mathematical topic it is
essential that you actually perform the calculations yourself. You cannot learn math-
ematics by being a spectator. You must use your brain to solve the problem, and you
must write out the solution. These are essential parts of the learning process. It is not
sufficient to watch someone else solve a similar problem, or to read a solution in a
book, although these things of course can help. The test of real understanding and
skill is whether or not you can do the necessary work on your own.

How to use this book

This book contains hundreds of fully worked examples. When studying such an
example, read it through carefully and ensure you understand each stage of the
calculation.
A central feature of the book is the use of interactive examples that require the
reader to participate actively in the learning process. These examples are indicated
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page xviii

xviii Preface

by the pencil icon. Make sure you have to hand scrap paper, pens or pencils and a
calculator. Interactive examples contain ‘empty boxes’ and ‘completed boxes’. An
empty box indicates that a calculation needs to be performed by you. The corres-
ponding completed box on the right of the page contains the calculation you should
have performed. When working through an interactive example, cover up the com-
pleted boxes, perform a calculation when prompted by an empty box, and then
compare your work with that contained in the completed box. Continue in this way
through the entire example. Interactive examples provide some help and structure
while also allowing you to test your understanding.
Sets of exercises are provided regularly throughout most blocks. Try these exer-
cises, always remembering to check your answers with those provided. Practice
enhances understanding, reinforces the techniques, and aids memory. Carrying out a
large number of exercises allows you to experience a greater variety of problems,
thus building your expertise and developing confidence.

Content
The content of the book reflects that taught to first-year engineering and technology
students in the majority of UK universities. However, particular care has been taken
to develop algebraic skills from first principles and to give students plenty of oppor-
tunity to practise using these. It is our firm belief, based on recent experience of
teaching engineering undergraduates, that many will benefit from this material
because they have had insufficient opportunity in their previous mathematical edu-
cation to develop such skills fully. Inevitably the choice of contents is a compro-
mise, but the topics covered were chosen after wide consultation coupled with
many years of teaching experience. Given the constraint of space we believe our
choice is optimal.

Use of modern IT aids

One of the main developments in the teaching of engineering mathematics in recent
years has been the widespread availability of sophisticated computer software and its
adoption by many educational institutions. Once a firm foundation of techniques has
been built, we would encourage its use, and so we have made general references at
several points in the text. In addition, in some blocks we focus specifically on two
common packages (Matlab and Maple), and these are introduced in the ‘Using
mathematical software packages’ section on page xx. Many features available in
software packages can also be found in graphical calculators.
On pages xxiii–xxiv we provide a reference table of Maple and Matlab commands
that are particularly useful for exploring and developing further the topics in this
book.
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/1/18 3:58 PM Page xix

Preface xix

Additions for the fifth edition

We have been delighted with the positive response to Mathematics for Engineers
since it was first published in 1998. In writing this fifth edition we have been guided
and helped by the numerous comments from both staff and students. For these com-
ments we express our thanks.
This fifth edition has been enhanced by the addition of numerous examples from
even wider fields of engineering. Applicability lies at the heart of engineering math-
ematics. We believe these additional examples serve to reinforce the crucial role that
mathematics plays in engineering. We hope that you agree.
Following useful suggestions from reviewers we have added new sections to cover
the equation of a circle, locus of a point in the complex plane and solution of partial
differential equations. We have enhanced and integrated the use of software in the
solution of engineering problems.
We hope the book supports you in your learning and wish you every success.

Anthony Croft and Robert Davison

May 2018
A01_CROF5939_04_SE_A01.QXD 10/8/18 7:28 PM Page xx

Using mathematical software packages

One of the main developments influencing the learning and teaching of engineering
mathematics in recent years has been the widespread availability of sophisticated
computer software and its adoption by many educational institutions.
As engineering students, you will meet a range of software in your studies. It is
also highly likely that you will have access to specialist mathematical software.
Two software packages that are particularly useful for engineering mathematics,
and which are referred to on occasions throughout this book, are Matlab and Maple.
There are others, and you should enquire about the packages that have been made
available for your use. A number of these packages come with specialist tools for
subjects such as control theory and signal processing, so you will find them useful in
other subjects that you study.
Common features of all these packages include:
• the facility to plot two- and three-dimensional graphs;
• the facility to perform calculations with symbols (e.g. a2, x + y, as opposed to
just numbers) including the solution of equations.
In addition, some packages allow you to write computer programs of your own that
build upon existing functionality, and enable the experienced user to create powerful
tools for the solution of engineering problems.
The facility to work with symbols, as opposed to just numbers, means that these
packages are often referred to as computer algebra systems or symbolic processors.
You will be able to enter mathematical expressions, such as (x + 2)(x - 3) or
t - 6
2
, and subject them to all of the common mathematical operations:
t + 2t + 1
simplification, factorisation, differentiation, integration, and much more. You will be
able to perform calculations with vectors and matrices. With experience you will
find that lengthy, laborious work can be performed at the click of a button.
Discovering Diverse Content Through
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to the poor unfortunate object of her resentment. You are at liberty,
certainly, to say what you please.
It has been confidently affirmed by most excellent judges (tho’ the
best may be mistaken) that I have grown very handsome lately. Pray
that I may have grace not to be vain. Yet, ah! who can read the
stories of Pamela, or Joseph Andrews, or Susannah and the three
Elders, and not perceive what a dangerous snare beauty is? Beauty
is like the grass, that groweth up in the morning and is withered
before night. Mary! Anne! Do not be vain of your beauty!!!!!
I keep a cat. Amid the strange collection of strange animals with
which I am surrounded, I think it necessary to have some meek
well-looking being, that I may keep my social affections alive. Puss,
like her master, is a very gentle brute, and I behave to her with all
possible politeness. Indeed, a cat is a very worthy animal. To be
sure, I have known some very malicious cats in my lifetime, but then
they were old—and besides, they had not nearly so many legs as
you, my sweet Pussy. I wish, Puss! I could break you of that
indecorous habit of turning your back front to the fire. It is not frosty
weather now.
N. B.—If ever, Mary, you should feel yourself inclined to visit me at
Cambridge, pray do not suffer the consideration of my having a cat
to deter you. Indeed, I will keep her chained up all the while you
stay.
I was in company the other day with a very dashing literary lady.
After my departure, a friend of mine asked her her opinion of me.
She answered: “The best I can say of him is, that he is a very gentle
bear.” What think you of this character?
What a lovely anticipation of spring the last three or four days have
afforded. Nature has not been very profuse of her ornaments to the
country about Cambridge; yet the clear rivulet that runs through the
grove adjacent to our College, and the numberless little birds
(particularly robins) that are singing away, and above all, the little
lambs, each by the side of its mother, recall the most pleasing ideas
of pastoral simplicity, and almost soothe one’s soul into congenial
innocence. Amid these delightful scenes, of which the uncommon
flow of health I at present possess permits me the full enjoyment, I
should not deign to think of London, were it not for a little family,
whom I trust I need not name. What bird of the air whispers me
that you too will soon enjoy the same and more delightful pleasures
in a much more delightful country? What we strongly wish we are
very apt to believe. At present, my presentiments on that head
amount to confidence.
Last Sunday, Middleton and I set off at one o’clock on a ramble. We
sauntered on, chatting and contemplating, till to our great surprise
we came to a village seven miles from Cambridge. And here at a
farmhouse we drank tea. The rusticity of the habitation and the
inhabitants was charming; we had cream to our tea, which though
not brought in a lordly dish, Sisera would have jumped at. Being
here informed that we could return to Cambridge another way, over
a common, for the sake of diversifying our walk, we chose this road,
“if road it might be called, where road was none,” though we were
not unapprized of its difficulties. The fine weather deceived us. We
forgot that it was a summer day in warmth only, and not in length;
but we were soon reminded of it. For on the pathless solitude of this
common, the night overtook us—we must have been four miles
distant from Cambridge—the night, though calm, was as dark as the
place was dreary: here steering our course by our imperfect
conceptions of the point in which we conjectured Cambridge to lie,
we wandered on “with cautious steps and slow.” We feared the bog,
the stump, and the fen: we feared the ghosts of the night—at least,
those material and knock-me-down ghosts, the apprehension of
which causes you, Mary (valorous girl that you are!), always to peep
under your bed of a night. As we were thus creeping forward like the
two children in the wood, we spy’d something white moving across
the common. This we made up to, though contrary to our supposed
destination. It proved to be a man with a white bundle. We enquired
our way, and luckily he was going to Cambridge. He informed us that
we had gone half a mile out of our way, and that in five minutes
more we must have arrived at a deep quagmire grassed over. What
an escape! The man was as glad of our company as we of his—for, it
seemed, the poor fellow was afraid of Jack o’ Lanthorns—the
superstition of this county attributing a kind of fascination to those
wandering vapours, so that whoever fixes his eyes on them is forced
by some irresistible impulse to follow them. He entertained us with
many a dreadful tale. By nine o’clock we arrived at Cambridge,
betired and bemudded. I never recollect to have been so much
fatigued.
Do you spell the word scarsely? When Momus, the fault-finding God,
endeavoured to discover some imperfection in Venus, he could only
censure the creaking of her slipper. I, too, Momuslike, can only fall
foul on a single s. Yet will not my dear Mary be angry with me, or
think the remark trivial, when she considers that half a grain is of
consequence in the weight of a diamond.
I had entertained hopes that you would really have sent me a piece
of sticking plaister, which would have been very convenient at that
time, I having cut my finger. I had to buy sticking plaister, etc. What
is the use of a man’s knowing you girls, if he cannot chouse you out
of such little things as that? Do not your fingers, Mary, feel an odd
kind of titillation to be about my ears for my impudence?
On Saturday night, as I was sitting by myself all alone, I heard a
creaking sound, something like the noise which a crazy chair would
make, if pressed by the tremendous weight of Mr. Barlow’s
extremities. I cast my eyes around, and what should I behold but a
Ghost rising out of the floor! A deadly paleness instantly overspread
my body, which retained no other symptom of life but its violent
trembling. My hair (as is usual in frights of this nature) stood upright
by many degrees stiffer than the oaks of the mountains, yea, stiffer
than Mr. ——; yet was it rendered oily-pliant by the profuse
perspiration that burst from every pore. This spirit advanced with a
book in his hand, and having first dissipated my terrors, said as
follows: “I am the Ghost of Gray. There lives a young lady” (then he
mentioned your name), “of whose judgment I entertain so high an
opinion, that her approbation of my works would make the turf lie
lighter on me; present her with this book, and transmit it to her as
soon as possible, adding my love to her. And, as for you, O young
man!” (now he addressed himself to me) “write no more verses. In
the first place your poetry is vile stuff; and secondly” (here he
sighed almost to bursting), “all poets go to —ll; we are so intolerably
addicted to the vice of lying!” He vanished, and convinced me of the
truth of his last dismal account by the sulphurous stink which he left
behind him.
His first mandate I have obeyed, and, I hope you will receive safe
your ghostly admirer’s present. But so far have I been from obeying
his second injunction, that I never had the scribble-mania stronger
on me than for these last three or four days: nay, not content with
suffering it myself, I must pester those I love best with the blessed
effects of my disorder.
Besides two things, which you will find in the next sheet, I cannot
forbear filling the remainder of this sheet with an Odeling, though I
know and approve your aversion to mere prettiness, and though my
tiny love ode possesses no other property in the world. Let then its
shortness recommend it to your perusal—by the by, the only thing in
which it resembles you, for wit, sense, elegance, or beauty it has
none.
 AN ODE IN THE MANNER OF ANACREON.[24]

As late in wreaths gay flowers I bound,

Beneath some roses Love I found,
And by his little frolic pinion
As quick as thought I seiz’d the minion,
Then in my cup the prisoner threw,
And drank him in its sparkling dew:
And sure I feel my angry guest
Flutt’ring his wings within my breast!

Are you quite asleep, dear Mary? Sleep on; but when you awake,
read the following productions, and then, I’ll be bound, you will
sleep again sounder than ever.
A WISH WRITTEN IN JESUS WOOD, FEBRUARY 10, 1792.[25]
Lo! through the dusky silence of the groves,
Thro’ vales irriguous, and thro’ green retreats,
With languid murmur creeps the placid stream
And works its secret way.

Awhile meand’ring round its native fields,

It rolls the playful wave and winds its flight:
Then downward flowing with awaken’d speed
Embosoms in the Deep!

Thus thro’ its silent tenor may my Life

Smooth its meek stream by sordid wealth unclogg’d,
Alike unconscious of forensic storms,
And Glory’s blood-stain’d palm!

And when dark Age shall close Life’s little day,

Satiate of sport, and weary of its toils,
E’en thus may slumb’rous Death my decent limbs
Compose with icy hand!

A LOVER’S COMPLAINT TO HIS MISTRESS

WHO DESERTED HIM IN QUEST OF A MORE WEALTHY
HUSBAND IN THE EAST INDIES.[26]
 The dubious light sad glimmers o’er the sky:
’Tis silence all. By lonely anguish torn,
With wandering feet to gloomy groves I fly,
And wakeful Love still tracks my course forlorn.

And will you, cruel Julia? will you go?

And trust you to the Ocean’s dark dismay?
Shall the wide, wat’ry world between us flow?
And winds unpitying snatch my Hopes away?

Thus could you sport with my too easy heart?

Yet tremble, lest not unaveng’d I grieve!
The winds may learn your own delusive art,
And faithless Ocean smile—but to deceive!

I have written too long a letter. Give me a hint, and I will avoid a
repetition of the offence.
It’s a compensation for the above-written rhymes (which if you ever
condescend to read a second time, pray let it be by the light of their
own flames) in my next letter I will send some delicious poetry lately
published by the exquisite Bowles.
To-morrow morning I fill the rest of this sheet with a letter to Anne.
And now, good-night, dear sister! and peaceful slumbers await us
both!
S. T. Coleridge.

XII. TO ANNE EVANS.

February 19, 1792.
Dear Anne,—To be sure I felt myself rather disappointed at my not
receiving a few lines from you; but I am nevertheless greatly
rejoiced at your amicable dispositions towards me. Please to accept
two kisses, as the seals of reconciliation—you will find them on the
word “Anne” at the beginning of the letter—at least, there I left
them. I must, however, give you warning, that the next time you are
affronted with Brother Coly, and show your resentment by that most
cruel of all punishments, silence, I shall address a letter to you as
long and as sorrowful as Jeremiah’s Lamentations, and somewhat in
the style of your sister’s favourite lover, beginning with,—
TO THE IRASCIBLE MISS.
Dear Miss, &c.
My dear Anne, you are my Valentine. I dreamt of you this morning,
and I have seen no female in the whole course of the day, except an
old bedmaker belonging to the College, and I don’t count her one,
as the bristle of her beard makes me suspect her to be of the
masculine gender. Some one of the genii must have conveyed your
image to me so opportunely, nor will you think this impossible, if you
will read the little volumes which contain their exploits, and crave
the honour of your acceptance.
If I could draw, I would have sent a pretty heart stuck through with
arrows, with some such sweet posy underneath it as this:—

“The rose is red, the violet blue;

The pink is sweet, and so are you.”

But as the Gods have not made me a drawer (of anything but
corks), you must accept the will for the deed.
You never wrote or desired your sister to write concerning the bodily
health of the Barlowites, though you know my affection for that
family. Do not forget this in your next.
Is Mr. Caleb Barlow recovered of the rheumatism? The quiet ugliness
of Cambridge supplies me with very few communicables in the news
way. The most important is, that Mr. Tim Grubskin, of this town,
citizen, is dead. Poor man! he loved fish too well. A violent
commotion in his bowels carried him off. They say he made a very
good end. There is his epitaph:—

“A loving friend and tender parent dear,

Just in all actions, and he the Lord did fear,
Hoping, that, when the day of Resurrection come,
He shall arise in glory like the Sun.”

It was composed by a Mr. Thistlewait, the town crier, and is much

admired. We are all mortal!!
His wife carries on the business. It is whispered about the town that
a match between her and Mr. Coe, the shoemaker, is not improbable.
He certainly seems very assiduous in consoling her, but as to
anything matrimonial I do not write it as a well authenticated fact.
I went the other evening to the concert, and spent the time there
much to my heart’s content in cursing Mr. Hague, who played on the
violin most piggishly, and a Miss (I forget her name)—Miss
Humstrum, who sung most sowishly. O the Billington! That I should
be absent during the oratorios! The prince unable to conceal his
pain! Oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! oh!
To which house is Mrs. B. engaged this season?
The mutton and winter cabbage are confoundedly tough here,
though very venerable for their old age. Were you ever at
Cambridge, Anne? The river Cam is a handsome stream of a muddy
complexion, somewhat like Miss Yates, to whom you will present my
love (if you like).
In Cambridge there are sixteen colleges, that look like workhouses,
and fourteen churches that look like little houses. The town is very
fertile in alleys, and mud, and cats, and dogs, besides men, women,
ravens, clergy, proctors, tutors, owls, and other two-legged cattle. It
likewise—but here I must interrupt my description to hurry to Mr.
Costobadie’s lectures on Euclid, who is as mathematical an author,
my dear Anne, as you would wish to read on a long summer’s day.
Addio! God bless you, ma chère soeur, and your affectionate frère,
S. T. Coleridge.
P. S. I add a postscript on purpose to communicate a joke to you. A
party of us had been drinking wine together, and three or four
freshmen were most deplorably intoxicated. (I have too great a
respect for delicacy to say drunk.) As we were returning homewards,
two of them fell into the gutter (or kennel). We ran to assist one of
them, who very generously stuttered out, as he lay sprawling in the
mud: “N-n-n-no—n-n-no!—save my f-fr-fr-friend there; n-never mind
me, I can swim.”
Won’t you write me a long letter now, Anne?
P. S. Give my respectful compliments to Betty, and say that I
enquired after her health with the most emphatic energy of
impassioned avidity.

XIII. TO MRS EVANS.

February 22 [? 1792].
Dear Madam,—The incongruity of the dates in these letters you will
immediately perceive. The truth is that I had written the foregoing
heap of nothingness six or seven days ago, but I was prevented
from sending it by a variety of disagreeable little impediments.
Mr. Massy must be arrived in Cambridge by this time; but to call on
an utter stranger just arrived with so trivial a message as yours and
his uncle’s love to him, when I myself had been in Cambridge five or
six weeks, would appear rather awkward, not to say ludicrous. If,
however, I meet him at any wine party (which is by no means
improbable) I shall take the opportunity of mentioning it en passant.
As to Mr. M.’s debts, the most intimate friends in college are perfect
strangers to each other’s affairs; consequently it is little likely that I
should procure any information of this kind.
I hope and trust that neither yourself nor my sisters have
experienced any ill effects from this wonderful change of weather. A
very slight cold is the only favour with which it has honoured me. I
feel myself apprehensive for all of you, but more particularly for
Anne, whose frame I think most susceptible of cold.
Yesterday a Frenchman came dancing into my room, of which he
made but three steps, and presented me with a card. I had scarcely
collected, by glancing my eye over it, that he was a tooth-monger,
before he seized hold of my muzzle, and, baring my teeth (as they
do a horse’s, in order to know his age), he exclaimed, as if in violent
agitation: “Mon Dieu! Monsieur, all your teeth will fall out in a day or
two, unless you permit me the honour of scaling them!” This
ineffable piece of assurance discovered such a genius for impudence,
that I could not suffer it to go unrewarded. So, after a hearty laugh,
I sat down, and let the rascal chouse me out of half a guinea by
scraping my grinders—the more readily, indeed, as I recollected the
great penchant which all your family have for delicate teeth.
So (I hear) Allen[27] will be most precipitately emancipated. Good
luck have thou of thy emancipation, Bob-bee! Tell him from me that
if he does not kick Richards’[28] fame out of doors by the superiority
of his own, I will never forgive him.
If you will send me a box of Mr. Stringer’s tooth powder, mamma!
we will accept of it.
And now, Right Reverend Mother in God, let me claim your
permission to subscribe myself with all observance and gratitude,
your most obedient humble servant, and lowly slave,
 Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
Reverend in the future tense, and scholar of Jesus College in the
present time.

XIV. TO MARY EVANS.

Jesus College, Cambridge, February 22 [1792].
Dear Mary,—Writing long letters is not the fault into which I am most
apt to fall, but whenever I do, by some inexplicable ill luck, my
prolixity is always directed to those whom I would yet least of all
wish to torment. You think, and think rightly, that I had no occasion
to increase the preceding accumulations of wearisomeness, but I
wished to inform you that I have sent the poem of Bowles, which I
mentioned in a former sheet; though I dare say you would have
discovered this without my information. If the pleasure which you
receive from the perusal of it prove equal to that which I have
received, it will make you some small return for the exertions of
friendship, which you must have found necessary in order to travel
through my long, long, long letter.
Though it may be a little effrontery to point out beauties, which
would be obvious to a far less sensible heart than yours, yet I
cannot forbear the self-indulgence of remarking to you the exquisite
description of Hope in the third page and of Fortitude in the sixth;
but the poem “On leaving a place of residence” appears to me to be
almost superior to any of Bowles’s compositions.
I hope that the Jermyn Street ledgers are well. How can they be
otherwise in such lovely keeping?
Your Jessamine Pomatum, I trust, is as strong and as odorous as
ever, and the roasted turkeys at Villiers Street honoured, as usual,
with a thick crust of your Mille (what do you call it?) powder.
I had a variety of other interesting inquiries to make, but time and
memory fail me.
Without a swanskin waistcoat, what is man? I have got a swanskin
waistcoat,—a most attractive external.
Yours with sincerity of friendship,
Samuel Taylor C.

XV. TO THE REV. GEORGE COLERIDGE.

Monday night, April [1792].
Dear Brother,—You would have heard from me long since had I not
been entangled in such various businesses as have occupied my
whole time. Besides my ordinary business, which, as I look forward
to a smart contest some time this year, is not an indolent one, I have
been writing for all the prizes, namely, the Greek Ode, the Latin Ode,
and the Epigrams. I have little or no expectation of success, as a Mr.
Smith,[29] a man of immense genius, author of some papers in the
“Microcosm,” is among my numerous competitors. The prize medals
will be adjudged about the beginning of June. If you can think of a
good thought for the beginning of the Latin Ode upon the miseries
of the W. India slaves, communicate. My Greek Ode[30] is, I think,
my chef d’œuvre in poetical composition. I have sent you a sermon
metamorphosed from an obscure publication by vamping,
transposition, etc. If you like it, I can send you two more of the
same kidney. Our examination as Rustats comes [off] on the
Thursday in Easter week. After it a man of our college has offered to
take me to town in his gig, and, if he can bring me back, I think I
shall accept his offer, as the expense, at all events, will not be more
than 12 shillings, and my very commons, and tea, etc., would
amount to more than that in the week which I intend to stay in
town. Almost all the men are out of college, and I am most
villainously vapoured. I wrote the following the other day under the
title of “A Fragment found in a Lecture-Room:”—

Where deep in mud Cam rolls his slumbrous stream,

And bog and desolation reign supreme;
Where all Bœotia clouds the misty brain,
The owl Mathesis pipes her loathsome strain.
Far, far aloof the frighted Muses fly,
Indignant Genius scowls and passes by:
The frolic Pleasures start amid their dance,
And Wit congealed stands fix’d in wintry trance.
But to the sounds with duteous haste repair
Cold Industry, and wary-footed Care;
And Dulness, dosing on a couch of lead,
Pleas’d with the song uplifts her heavy head,
The sympathetic numbers lists awhile,
Then yawns propitiously a frosty smile....
[Cætera desunt.]

This morning I went for the first time with a party on the river. The
clumsy dog to whom we had entrusted the sail was fool enough to
fasten it. A gust of wind embraced the opportunity of turning over
the boat, and baptizing all that were in it. We swam to shore, and
walked dripping home, like so many river gods. Thank God! I do not
feel as if I should be the worse for it.
I was matriculated on Saturday.[31] Oath-taking is very healthy in
spring, I should suppose. I am grown very fat. We have two men at
our college, great cronies, their names Head and Bones; the first an
unlicked cub of a Yorkshireman, the second a very fierce buck. I call
them Raw Head and Bloody Bones.
As soon as you can make it convenient I should feel thankful if you
could transmit me ten or five pounds, as I am at present cashless.
Pray, was the bible clerk’s place accounted a disreputable one at
Oxford in your time? Poor Allen, who is just settled there, complains
of the great distance with which the men treat him. ’Tis a childish
University! Thank God! I am at Cambridge. Pray let me hear from
you soon, and whether your health has held out this long campaign.
I hope, however, soon to see you, till when believe me, with
gratitude and affection, yours ever,
S. T. Coleridge.

XVI. TO MRS. EVANS.

February 5, 1793.
My dear Mrs. Evans,—This is the third day of my resurrection from the
couch, or rather, the sofa of sickness. About a fortnight ago, a
quantity of matter took it into its head to form in my left gum, and
was attended with such violent pain, inflammation, and swelling,
that it threw me into a fever. However, God be praised, my gum has
at last been opened, a villainous tooth extracted, and all is well. I am
still very weak, as well I may, since for seven days together I was
incapable of swallowing anything but spoon meat, so that in point of
spirits I am but the dregs of my former self—a decaying flame
agonizing in the snuff of a tallow candle—a kind of hobgoblin,
clouted and bagged up in the most contemptible shreds, rags, and
yellow relics of threadbare mortality. The event of our
examination[32] was such as surpassed my expectations, and
perfectly accorded with my wishes. After a very severe trial of six
days’ continuance, the number of the competitors was reduced from
seventeen to four, and after a further process of ordeal we, the
survivors, were declared equal each to the other, and the
Scholarship, according to the will of its founder, awarded to the
youngest of us, who was found to be a Mr. Butler of St. John’s
College. I am just two months older than he is, and though I would
doubtless have rather had it myself, I am yet not at all sorry at his
success; for he is sensible and unassuming, and besides, from his
circumstances, such an accession to his annual income must have
been very acceptable to him. So much for myself.
I am greatly rejoiced at your brother’s recovery; in proportion,
indeed, to the anxiety and fears I felt on your account during his
illness. I recollected, my most dear Mrs. Evans, that you are
frequently troubled with a strange forgetfulness of yourself, and too
apt to go far beyond your strength, if by any means you may
alleviate the sufferings of others. Ah! how different from the majority
of others whom we courteously dignify with the name of human—a
vile herd, who sit still in the severest distresses of their friends, and
cry out, There is a lion in the way! animals, who walk with leaden
sandals in the paths of charity, yet to gratify their own inclinations
will run a mile in a breath. Oh! I do know a set of little, dirty,
pimping, petty-fogging, ambidextrous fellows, who would set your
house on fire, though it were but to roast an egg for themselves! Yet
surely, considering it were a selfish view, the pleasures that arise
from whispering peace to those who are in trouble, and healing the
broken in heart, are far superior to all the unfeeling can enjoy.
I have inclosed a little work of that great and good man Archdeacon
Paley; it is entitled Motives of Contentment, addressed to the poorer
part of our fellow men. The twelfth page I particularly admire, and
the twentieth. The reasoning has been of some service to me, who
am of the race of the Grumbletonians. My dear friend Allen has a
resource against most misfortunes in the natural gaiety of his
temper, whereas my hypochondriac, gloomy spirit amid blessings too
frequently warbles out the hoarse gruntings of discontent! Nor have
all the lectures that divines and philosophers have given us for these
three thousand years past, on the vanity of riches, and the cares of
greatness, etc., prevented me from sincerely regretting that Nature
had not put it into the head of some rich man to beget me for his
first-born, whereas now I am likely to get bread just when I shall
have no teeth left to chew it. Cheer up, my little one (thus I answer
I)! better late than never. Hath literature been thy choice, and hast
thou food and raiment? Be thankful, be amazed at thy good fortune!
Art thou dissatisfied and desirous of other things? Go, and make
twelve votes at an election; it shall do thee more service and procure
thee greater preferment than to have made twelve commentaries on
the twelve prophets. My dear Mrs. Evans! excuse the wanderings of
my castle building imagination. I have not a thought which I conceal
from you. I write to others, but my pen talks to you. Convey my
softest affections to Betty, and believe me,
Your grateful and affectionate boy,
S. T. Coleridge.

XVII. TO MARY EVANS.

Jesus College, Cambridge, February 7, 1793.
I would to Heaven, my dear Miss Evans, that the god of wit, or
news, or politics would whisper in my ear something that might be
worth sending fifty-four miles—but alas! I am so closely blocked by
an army of misfortunes that really there is no passage left open for
mirth or anything else. Now, just to give you a few articles in the
large inventory of my calamities. Imprimis, a gloomy, uncomfortable
morning. Item, my head aches. Item, the Dean has set me a
swinging imposition for missing morning chapel. Item, of the two
only coats which I am worth in the world, both have holes in the
elbows. Item, Mr. Newton, our mathematical lecturer, has recovered
from an illness. But the story is rather a laughable one, so I must tell
it you. Mr. Newton (a tall, thin man with a little, tiny, blushing face)
is a great botanist. Last Sunday, as he was strolling out with a friend
of his, some curious plant suddenly caught his eye. He turned round
his head with great eagerness to call his companion to a
participation of discovery, and unfortunately continuing to walk
forward he fell into a pool, deep, muddy, and full of chickweed. I
was lucky enough to meet him as he was entering the college gates
on his return (a sight I would not have lost for the Indies), his best
black clothes all green with duckweed, he shivering and dripping, in
short a perfect river god. I went up to him (you must understand we
hate each other most cordially) and sympathized with him in all the
tenderness of condolence. The consequence of his misadventure
was a violent cold attended with fever, which confined him to his
room, prevented him from giving lectures, and freed me from the
necessity of attending them; but this misfortune I supported with
truly Christian fortitude. However, I constantly asked after his health
with filial anxiety, and this morning, making my usual inquiries, I was
informed, to my infinite astonishment and vexation, that he was
perfectly recovered and intended to give lectures this very day!!!
Verily, I swear that six of his duteous pupils—myself as their general
—sallied forth to the apothecary’s house with a fixed determination
to thrash him for having performed so speedy a cure, but, luckily for
himself, the rascal was not at home. But here comes my fiddling
master, for (but this is a secret) I am learning to play on the violin.
Twit, twat, twat, twit! “Pray, M. de la Penche, do you think I shall
ever make anything of this violin? Do you think I have an ear for
music?” “Un magnifique! Un superbe! Par honneur, sir, you be a ver
great genius in de music. Good morning, monsieur!” This M. de la
Penche is a better judge than I thought for.
This new whim of mine is partly a scheme of self-defence. Three
neighbours have run music-mad lately—two of them fiddle-scrapers,
the third a flute-tooter—and are perpetually annoying me with their
vile performances, compared with which the gruntings of a whole
herd of sows would be seraphic melody. Now I hope, by frequently
playing myself, to render my ear callous. Besides, the evils of life are
crowding upon me, and music is “the sweetest assuager of cares.” It
helps to relieve and soothe the mind, and is a sort of refuge from
calamity, from slights and neglects and censures and insults and
disappointments; from the warmth of real enemies and the coldness
of pretended friends; from your well wishers (as they are justly
called, in opposition, I suppose, to well doers), men whose
inclinations to serve you always decrease in a most mathematical
proportion as their opportunities to do it increase; from the

“Proud man’s contumely, and the spurns

Which patient merit of th’ unworthy takes;”

from grievances that are the growth of all times and places and not
peculiar to this age, which authors call this critical age, and divines
this sinful age, and politicians this age of revolutions. An
acquaintance of mine calls it this learned age in due reverence to his
own abilities, and like Monsieur Whatd’yecallhim, who used to pull
off his hat when he spoke of himself. The poet laureate calls it “this
golden age,” and with good reason,—

For him the fountains with Canary flow,

And, best of fruit, spontaneous guineas grow.

Pope, in his “Dunciad,” makes it this leaden age, but I choose to call
it without an epithet, this age. Many things we must expect to meet
with which it would be hard to bear, if a compensation were not
found in honest endeavours to do well, in virtuous affections and
connections, and in harmless and reasonable amusements. And why
should not a man amuse himself sometimes? Vive la bagatelle!
I received a letter this morning from my friend Allen. He is up to his
ears in business, and I sincerely congratulate him upon it—
occupation, I am convinced, being the great secret of happiness.
“Nothing makes the temper so fretful as indolence,” said a young
lady who, beneath the soft surface of feminine delicacy, possesses a
mind acute by nature, and strengthened by habits of reflection. ’Pon
my word, Miss Evans, I beg your pardon a thousand times for
bepraising you to your face, but, really, I have written so long that I
had forgot to whom I was writing.
Have you read Mr. Fox’s letter to the Westminster electors? It is quite
the political go at Cambridge, and has converted many souls to the
Foxite faith.
Have you seen the Siddons this season? or the Jordan? An
acquaintance of mine has a tragedy coming out early in the next
season, the principal character of which Mrs. Siddons will act. He has
importuned me to write the prologue and epilogue, but, conscious of
my inability, I have excused myself with a jest, and told him I was
too good a Christian to be accessory to the damnation of anything.
There is an old proverb of a river of words and a spoonful of sense,
and I think this letter has been a pretty good proof of it. But as
nonsense is better than blank paper, I will fill this side with a song I
wrote lately. My friend, Charles Hague[33] the composer, will set it to
wild music. I shall sing it, and accompany myself on the violin. Ça
ira!
Cathloma, who reigned in the Highlands of Scotland about two
hundred years after the birth of our Saviour, was defeated and killed
in a war with a neighbouring prince, and Nina-Thoma his daughter
(according to the custom of those times and that country) was
imprisoned in a cave by the seaside. This is supposed to be her
complaint:—
 How long will ye round me be swelling,
O ye blue-tumbling waves of the sea?
Not always in caves was my dwelling,
Nor beneath the cold blast of the Tree;

Thro’ the high sounding Hall of Cathloma

In the steps of my beauty I strayed,
The warriors beheld Nina-Thoma,
And they blessed the dark-tressed Maid!

By my Friends, by my Lovers discarded,

Like the Flower of the Rock now I waste,
That lifts its fair head unregarded,
And scatters its leaves on the blast.

A Ghost! by my cavern it darted!

In moonbeams the spirit was drest—
For lovely appear the Departed,
When they visit the dreams of my rest!

But dispersed by the tempest’s commotion,

Fleet the shadowy forms of Delight;
Ah! cease, thou shrill blast of the Ocean!
To howl thro’ my Cavern by night.[34]

Are you asleep, my dear Mary? I have administered rather a strong

dose of opium; however, if in the course of your nap you should
chance to dream that I am, with ardor of eternal friendship, your
affectionate
S. T. Coleridge,
you will never have dreamt a truer dream in all your days.
 XVIII. TO ANNE EVANS.
Jesus College, Cambridge, February 10, 1793.
My dear Anne,—A little before I had received your mamma’s letter, a
bird of the air had informed me of your illness—and sure never did
owl or night-raven (“those mournful messengers of heavy things”)
pipe a more loathsome song. But I flatter myself that ere you have
received this scrawl of mine, by care and attention you will have
lured back the rosy-lipped fugitive, Health. I know of no misfortune
so little susceptible of consolation as sickness: it is indeed easy to
offer comfort, when we ourselves are well; then we can be full of
grave saws upon the duty of resignation, etc.; but alas! when the
sore visitations of pain come home, all our philosophy vanishes, and
nothing remains to be seen. I speak of myself, but a mere sensitive
animal, with little wisdom and no patience. Yet if anything can throw
a melancholy smile over the pale, wan face of illness, it must be the
sight and attentions of those we love. There are one or two beings,
in this planet of ours, whom God has formed in so kindly a mould
that I could almost consent to be ill in order to be nursed by them.

O turtle-eyed affection!
If thou be present—who can be distrest?
Pain seems to smile, and sorrow is at rest:
No more the thoughts in wild repinings roll,
And tender murmurs hush the soften’d soul.

But I will not proceed at this rate, for I am writing and thinking
myself fast into the spleen, and feel very obligingly disposed to
communicate the same doleful fit to you, my dear sister. Yet permit
me to say, it is almost your own fault. You were half angry at my
writing laughing nonsense to you, and see what you have got in
exchange—pale-faced, solemn, stiff-starched stupidity. I must
confess, indeed, that the latter is rather more in unison with my
present feelings, which from one untoward freak of fortune or other
are not of the most comfortable kind. Within this last month I have
lost a brother[35] and a friend! But I struggle for cheerfulness—and
sometimes, when the sun shines out, I succeed in the effort. This at
least I endeavour, not to infect the cheerfulness of others, and not to
write my vexations upon my forehead. I read a story lately of an old
Greek philosopher, who once harangued so movingly on the miseries
of life, that his audience went home and hanged themselves; but he
himself (my author adds) lived many years afterwards in very sleek
condition.
God love you, my dear Anne! and receive as from a brother the
warmest affections of your
S. T. Coleridge.

XIX. TO THE REV. GEORGE COLERIDGE.

Wednesday morning, July 28, 1793.
My dear Brother,—I left Salisbury on Tuesday morning—should have
stayed there longer, but that Ned, ignorant of my coming, had
preëngaged himself on a journey to Portsmouth with Skinner. I left
Ned well and merry, as likewise his wife, who, by all the Cupids, is a
very worthy old lady.[36]
Monday afternoon, Ned, Tatum, and myself sat from four till ten
drinking! and then arose as cool as three undressed cucumbers.
Edward and I (O! the wonders of this life) disputed with great
coolness and forbearance the whole time. We neither of us were
convinced, though now and then Ned was convicted. Tatum umpire
sat,

And by decision more embroiled the fray.

I found all well in Exeter, to which place I proceeded directly, as my
mother might have been unprepared from the supposition I meant
to stay longer in Salisbury. I shall dine with James to-day at brother
Phillips’.[37]
My ideas are so discomposed by the jolting of the coach that I can
write no more at present.
A piece of gallantry!
I presented a moss rose to a lady. Dick Hart[38] asked her if she was
not afraid to put it in her bosom, as perhaps there might be love in
it. I immediately wrote the following little ode or song or what you
please to call it.[39] It is of the namby-pamby genus.
THE ROSE.
 As late each flower that sweetest blows
I plucked, the Garden’s pride!
Within the petals of a Rose
A sleeping Love I spied.

Around his brows a beaming wreath

Of many a lucent hue;
All purple glowed his cheek beneath,
Inebriate with dew.

I softly seized the unguarded Power,

Nor scared his balmy rest;
And placed him, caged within the flower,
On Angelina’s breast.

But when unweeting of the guile

Awoke the prisoner sweet,
He struggled to escape awhile
And stamped his faery feet.

Ah! soon the soul-entrancing sight

Subdued the impatient boy!
He gazed! he thrilled with deep delight!
Then clapped his wings for joy.

“And O!” he cried, “of magic kind

What charms this Throne endear!
Some other Love let Venus find—
I’ll fix my empire here.”

An extempore! Ned during the dispute, thinking he had got me

down, said, “Ah! Sam! you blush!” “Sir,” answered I,
 Ten thousand Blushes
Flutter round me drest like little Loves,
And veil my visage with their crimson wings.

There is no meaning in the lines, but we both agreed they were very
pretty. If you see Mr. Hussy, you will not forget to present my
respects to him, and to his accomplished daughter, who certes is a
very sweet young lady.
God bless you and your grateful and affectionate
S. T. Coleridge.

XX. TO THE SAME.

[Postmark, August 5, 1793.]
My dear Brother,—Since my arrival in the country I have been
anxiously expecting a letter from you, nor can I divine the reason of
your silence. From the letter to my brother James, a few lines of
which he read to me, I am fearful that your silence proceeds from
displeasure. If so, what is left for me to do but to grieve? The past is
not in my power. For the follies of which I may have been guilty, I
have been greatly disgusted; and I trust the memory of them will
operate to future consistency of conduct.
My mother is very well,—indeed, better for her illness. Her
complexion and eye, the truest indications of health, are much
clearer. Little William and his mother are well. My brother James is at
Sidmouth. I was there yesterday. He, his wife, and children are well.
Frederick is a charming child. Little James had a most providential
escape the day before yesterday. As my brother was in the field
contiguous to his place he heard two men scream, and turning
round saw a horse leap over little James, and then kick at him. He
ran up; found him unhurt. The men said that the horse was feeding
with his tail toward the child, and looking round ran at him open-
mouthed, pushed him down and leaped over him, and then kicked
back at him. Their screaming, my brother supposes, prevented the
horse from repeating the blow. Brother was greatly agitated, as you
may suppose. I stayed at Tiverton about ten days, and got no small
kudos among the young belles by complimentary effusions in the
poetic way.
A specimen:—
CUPID TURNED CHYMIST.

Cupid, if storying Legends tell aright,

Once framed a rich Elixir of Delight.
A chalice o’er love-kindled flames he fix’d,
And in it Nectar and Ambrosia mix’d:
With these the magic dews which Evening brings,
Brush’d from the Idalian star by faery wings:
Each tender pledge of sacred Faith he join’d,
Each gentler Pleasure of th’ unspotted mind—
Day-dreams, whose tints with sportive brightness glow,
And Hope, the blameless parasite of Woe.
The eyeless Chymist heard the process rise,
The steamy chalice bubbled up in sighs;
Sweet sounds transpired, as when the enamor’d dove
Pours the soft murmuring of responsive Love.
The finished work might Envy vainly blame,
And “Kisses” was the precious Compound’s name.
With half the God his Cyprian Mother blest,
And breath’d on Nesbitt’s lovelier lips the rest.

Do you know Fanny Nesbitt? She was my fellow-traveler in the

Tiverton diligence from Exeter. [She is], I think, a very pretty girl.
The orders for tea are: Imprimis, five pounds of ten shillings green;
Item, four pounds of eight shillings green; in all nine pounds of tea.
God bless you and your obliged
S. T. Coleridge.

XXI. TO G. L. TUCKETT.[40]
Henley, Thursday night, February 6 [1794].
Dear Tuckett,—I have this moment received your long letter! The
Tuesday before last, an accident of the Reading Fair, our regiment
was disposed of for the week in and about the towns within ten
miles of Reading, and, as it was not known before we set off to what
places we would go, my letters were kept at the Reading post-office
till our return. I was conveyed to Henley-upon-Thames, which place
our regiment left last Tuesday; but I am ordered to remain on
account of these dreadfully troublesome eruptions, and that I might
nurse my comrade, who last Friday sickened of the confluent
smallpox. So here I am, videlicet the Henley workhouse.[41] It is a
little house of one apartment situated in the midst of a large garden,
about a hundred yards from the house. It is four strides in length
and three in breadth; has four windows, which look to all the winds.
The almost total want of sleep, the putrid smell, and the fatiguing
struggles with my poor comrade during his delirium are nearly too
much for me in my present state. In return I enjoy external peace,
and kind and respectful behaviour from the people of the
workhouse. Tuckett, your motives must have been excellent ones;
how could they be otherwise! As an agent, therefore, you are
blameless, but your efforts in my behalf demand my gratitude—that
my heart will pay you, into whatever depth of horror your mistaken
activity may eventually have precipitated me. As an agent, you stand
acquitted, but the action was morally base. In an hour of extreme
anguish, under the most solemn imposition of secrecy, I entrusted
my place and residence to the young men at Christ’s Hospital; the
intelligence which you extorted from their imbecility should have
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