Some readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" may be interested in a reading of a few
lines in this poem which varies from that given in Pickering's edition of
the _Poems_, 1844. In that edition the verses I refer to stand thus (p.
69):
"For in his own, and in his Father's might,
The Saviour comes! While as the Thousand Years
Lead up their mystic dance, the Desert shouts!
Old Ocean claps his hands! The mighty Dead
Rise to new life, whoe'er from earliest time
With conscious zeal had urged Love's wondrous plan,
Coadjutors of God."
I happen to be in possession of these lines as originally written, in
Coleridge's own hand, on a detached piece of paper. It will be seen that
they have been much altered in the printed edition above cited. I am now
copying from Coleridge's autograph:
"For in his own, and in his Father's Might,
Heaven blazing in his train, the SAVIOUR comes!
To solemn symphonies of Truth and Love
The THOUSAND YEARS lead up their mystic dance.
Old Ocean claps his hands, the Desert shouts,
And vernal Breezes wafting seraph sounds
Melt the primaeval North. The Mighty Dead
Rise from their tombs, whoe'e[r] from earliest time
With conscious zeal had aided the vast plan
Of Love Almighty."
The variations of the printed poem from this MS. fragment appear to me of
sufficient importance to warrant my supposition that many readers and
admirers of Coleridge may be glad to have the original text restored.