left to comfort thee.

VIII Perhaps some dungeon hears thee groan, 50
Maimed, mangled by inhuman men;
Or thou upon a desert thrown
Inheritest the lion's den;
Or hast been summoned to the deep,
Thou, thou and all thy mates, to keep 55
An incommunicable sleep.

IX I look for ghosts; but none will force
Their way to me: 'tis falsely said
That there was ever intercourse
Between [3] the living and the dead; 60
For, surely, then I should have sight
Of him I wait for day and night,
With love and longings infinite.

X My apprehensions come in crowds;
I dread the rustling of the grass; 65
The very shadows of the clouds
Have power to shake me as they pass:
I question things and do not find
One that will answer to my mind;
And all the world appears unkind. 70

XI Beyond participation lie
My troubles, and beyond relief:
If any chance to heave a sigh,
They pity me, and not my grief.
Then come to me, my Son, or send 75
Some tidings that my woes may end;
I have no other earthly friend!

* * * * *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:

1836.

To have despair'd, and have believ'd,
And be for evermore beguil'd; 1807.]

[Variant 2:

1832.

What power hath even ... 1807.]

[Variant 3:

1832.

Betwixt ... 1807.]

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE ON THE TEXT

[Footnote A: In the edition of 1807, the title was 'The Affliction of
Margaret--of--'; in 1820, it was 'The Affliction of Margaret'; and in
1845, it was as above. In an early MS. it was 'The Affliction of
Mary--of--'. For an as yet unpublished Preface to it, see volume viii.
of this edition.--Ed.]

* * * * *

THE FORSAKEN

Composed 1804.--Published 1842

[This was an overflow from 'The Affliction of Margaret', and was
excluded as superfluous there, but preserved in the faint hope that it
may turn to account by restoring a shy lover to some forsaken damsel. My
poetry has been complained of as deficient in interests of this so