Dedicatory Sonnet To S.T. Coleridge

Dedicatory Sonnet To S.T. Coleridge by Hartley Coleridge

Hartley Coleridge published a collection of poetry in 1833. The first poem in it was a reply to Frost at Midnight written by his father, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He quotes directly from his father's poem, and thanks Coleridge for passing on the gift of poetry. With the phrase 'sadder years', we get the impression that Hartley is aware of falling short of the hopes his father had for him.

Father, and Bard revered! To whom I owe,
Whate'er it be, my little art of numbers,
Thou, in thy night-watch o'er my cradled slumbers
Didst meditate the verse that lives to shew,
(And long shall live, when we alike are low)
Thy prayer how ardent, and they hope how strong,
That I should learn of Nature's self the song.
The lore which none but Nature's pupils know.

The prayer was heard: I 'wandered like a breeze',
By mountain brooks and solitary meres,
And gather'd there the shapes and phantasies
Which, mixt with passions of my sadder years,
Compose this book. If good therein there be,
That good, my sire, I dedicate to thee.


Published 1833