ted 1795 in
Coleridge's _Poems_. In the same letter Lamb adds:--"Since writing it, I
have found in a poem by Hamilton of Bangour [William Hamilton,
1704-1754, the Scotch poet, of Bangour, Linlithgowshire] these 2 lines
to happiness:--

"Nun sober and devout, where art thou fled,
To hide in shades thy meek contented head.

Lines eminently beautiful, but I do not remember having re'd 'em
previously, for the credit of my 10th and 11th lines. Parnell [Thomas
Parnell, 1679-1718] has 2 lines (which probably suggested the _above_)
to Contentment

"Whither ah whither art Thou fled,
To hide thy meek contented head.

"Cowley's exquisite Elegy on the death of his friend Harvey suggested
the phrase of 'we two'

"Was there a tree [about] that did not know
The love betwixt us two?--"

When Coleridge printed the sonnet in the pamphlet described on page 310,
he appended to the eleventh line the following note:--

Innocence, which, while we possess it, is playful as a babe, becomes
AWFUL when it has departed from us. This is the sentiment of the line
--a fine sentiment and nobly expressed.

Lamb printed this sonnet twice--in 1797 and 1818.

Page 9. _Childhood._

See note to "The Grandame," page 312. The "turf-clad slope" in line 4
was probably at Blakesware. It is difficult to re-create the scene, for
the new house stands a quarter of a mile west of the old one, the site
of which is hidden by grass and trees. Where once were gardens is now
meadow land.

Lamb printed this poem twice--in 1797 and 1818.

* * * * *

Page 10. _The Sabbath Bells_.

Lamb printed this poem twice--in 1797 and 1818. Church bells seem always
to have had charms for him (see the reference in _John Woodvil_, page
197, and in Susan Yates' story in _Mrs. Leicester's School_ in Vol.
III.). See note to "The Grandame."

Page 10. _Fancy Employed on Divine Subjects._

In the letter of December 5, 1796, quoted below, Lamb remarks concerning
this poem: "I beg you to alter the words 'pain and want,' to 'pain and
grief' (line 10), this last being a more familiar and ear-satisfying
combination. Do it, I beg of you." But the alteration either was not
made, or was cancelled later. The reference in lines 6, 7 and 8 is to
Revelation xxii. 1, 2. See note to "The Grandame." Lamb printed this
poem twice--in 1797 and 1818.

* * * * *

Page 11. _The Tomb