20
  They who had fed their childhood upon dreams,
  The playfellows of fancy, who had made
  All powers of swiftness, subtilty, and strength
  Their ministers,—­who in lordly wise had stirred [5]
  Among the grandest objects of the sense, 25
  And dealt [6] with whatsoever they found there
  As if they had within some lurking right
  To wield it;—­they, too, who, of gentle mood,
  Had watched all gentle motions, and to these
  Had fitted their own thoughts, schemers more mild, 30
  And in the region of their peaceful selves;—­
  Now was it that both [7] found, the meek and lofty
  Did both find, helpers to their heart’s desire,
  And stuff at hand, plastic as they could wish;
  Were called upon to exercise their skill, 35
  Not in Utopia, subterranean [8] fields,
  Or some secreted island, Heaven knows where! 
  But in the very world, which is the world
  Of all of us,—­the place where in the end
  We find our happiness, or not at all! 40

* * * * *

VARIANTS ON THE TEXT

[Variant 1:  “were” omitted from the 1820 edition only.]

[Variant 2: 

1809.

  ... us ...  ‘The Prelude’, 1850.]

[Variant 3: 

1815.

  ...  Enchanter ... 1809.]

[Variant 4: 

1832.

  (To take an image which was felt no doubt 1809.

  (As at some moments might not be unfelt ‘The Prelude’, 1850.]

[Variant 5: 

1815.

  Their ministers—­used to stir in lordly wise 1809.]

[Variant 6: 

1815.

  And deal ... 1809.]

[Variant 7:  “both” ‘italicised’ from 1815 to 1832, and also in ’The Prelude’.]

[Variant 8: 

1832

    ... subterraneous ... 1809.]

Compare Coleridge’s remarks in ‘The Friend’, vol. ii. p. 38, before quoting this poem,

“My feelings and imagination did not remain unkindled in this general conflagration; and I confess I should be more inclined to be ashamed than proud of myself if they had!  I was a sharer in the general vortex, though my little world described the path of its revolution in an orbit of its own,” etc.

Ed.

* * * * *

ODE TO DUTY

Composed 1805.—­Published 1807

  “Jam non consilio bonus, sed more eo perductus, ut non tantum recte
  facere possim, sed nisi recte facere non possim.” [A]