Phantasmion, a Fairy Tale
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HANmsMIO^ s-: PHANTASMION, A FAIRY TALE. BY SARA COLERIDGE. WITH AN INTRODUCTORY PREFACE BY LORD COLERIDGE, LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. 1874. Roberts Brothers, Boston. 9 5" 5' ^~ C ^ ^ 3 PEEFACE. Phantasmion, the product of the enforced leisure on a sick bed of Sara Coleridge, was first given to the world in 1837; and although the book received warm and hearty commendation both privately and publicly from those who read it, the success which then attended it neither equalled in any degree its own singular merit, nor was what might have been expected, from the approbation the book met with at the hands of those best qualified to judge. I have always believed that this was in great measure owing to the mode of its publication. It was an expensive book, with no author's name, without a single illustration, and the edition was limited to two hundred and fifty copies. The publisher, Mr Pickering, popular doubted apparently the possibility of its being ; and except that he printed it with all the care and beauty which marked every book he put forth, he seems almost to have determined that, as far as depended upon him, it should have no chance of becoming so. A small edition of a long fairy tale, by an unnamed author, M559428 ; iv Preface. published at nine shillings, had little chance in those days of forcing its way into general circulation. The few copies sold slowly, and were at length exhausted. The book has long been out of print ; and even amongst men of letters, and men interested in the character and admiriDg the genius of Sara Coleridge, it is almost unknown or forgotten. The book, as now revived, appeals to a larger audience and a new generation ; to readers who know the author, and who are already to some extent acquainted with the power, the grace, the refinement of her mind. They will be prepared to find in this, her only work of fiction, her longest continuous original composition, the delicate imagination, the melody of verse, the clear and pic- turesque language, the virginal purity of conception, which are to be found in this book by those who look for them. Indeed, these things do not need searching for; they lie upon the surface. It may be said that this is exaggerated language to use about a fairy tale, which is nothing but a fairy tale into which no moral is intruded, the characters of which are slightly indicated only, and never elaborately de- veloped ; and which is itself an example of a kind of composition old-fashioned, out of date, and entirely at odds with the spirit and temper of the time we live in. No one, however, who reads this book through is likely Preface. v to say that I have described it too favourably ; and tliis edition is an attempt at least to ascertain whether it is not fitted for general readers, and may not achieve a general and lasting popularity. Some time ago it would have been by no means super- fluous to plead for fairy tales as entitled to a distinct and useful place in the cultivation of the intellect, and as having an important function to perform in a sensible and practical education. But this is hardly necessary now. We have, indeed, still too much of the directly moral and instructive tale, of stories wherein the ioterest turns ujDon small incidents of daily life, which are invested with a moral importance altogether unreal and exaggerated ; the tendency of the whole tale being too often to foster a morbid self-introspection, and a diseased and effeminate religion. But there are signs of a healthy change ; and if the number of good books, and books of what is called useful knowledge, is still somewhat overwhelming, the use of works of pure fancy is at least now generally admitted, and the good sense of culti- vating the imagination is not disputed. Indeed, in England, and for most of us it would be hard-hearted to dispute it. When we think of the grim and unlovely lives, which the great body of the English people is doomed to lead, their dreary toil, their dull homes, their harsh surroundings, it is surely wise as well as merciful, vi Preface. to try to give them glimpses of things more beautiful and lofty than their daily life affords, and to enrich at least their minds with pictures of brighter scenes, and their hearts with happier thoughts, than are before them and within them, in the state in which their lot is for the most part cast. Phantasmion does not pretend to teach directly any moral lesson ; it is not a sermon in disguise ; but most people will be better and happier while they read it, and after they have read it too. It stands alone, or almost alone, in fairy literature in the nature of its fancies, and in the extent and completeness of its narrative. Its supernatural beings have no English originals perhaps indeed they have rather a German ; than an English character. The Legends of Number Nip, and the exquisite fancy of Undine are their nearest prototypes. But the various powers and spirits of earth, and sea, and sky, some gentle and comparatively weak, like Feydeleen the Flower Spirit, some stern and terrible, like Oloola the Spirit of the Storm, or Valhorga the gigantic Earth Spirit, have more of the bright and fresh Greek, or early Latin imagination in them than any other or later mythology. The scenery of the tale is that of Cumberland and Westmorland, only under a brighter sky and with a softer climate. To me the descriptive power of it seems very uncommon. The characters are, as I have said, slightly Preface. vii drawn ; the passion is not deep or strong; yet we are carried on by a very interesting story, and few readers but will regret when they end it. The English is pure and clear and vigorous. The verses are very lovely, always full of delicate fancy, sometimes rising into high imagination, and exhibiting, in the management of lyrical measures, often difficult and peculiar, the metrical melody and refinement, which in her case at least were an hereditary gift. As a rule, the poems are closely connected with the prose which surrounds them, and cannot without great disadvantage be taken out of their dramatic setting. It is not always so however ; and many of them would be exquisite songs and lyrics if printed independently, and read as separate and uncon- nected poems. Those beginning '' One face alone," *' The winds were whispering," and '' Sylvan Stag securely play" (to take only two or three examples out of a number), are surely worthy of any great lyrical writer. Indeed, the general literary excellence of the book fits it for all readers and all ages. The perfect purity of the story, its freshness, its beauty, its interest, fit it especially for the young. With such readers at least, a<3cording to a limited experience, it has been most successful. The fairies and spirits of the book, its heroes and its witches, its maidens and its kings, have been, and may viii Preface. be again, household words with intelligent children, and may once more live, as they have lived already, in their minds, and give names and characters to their bright and pleasant play. The success of Phantasmion has hitherto been limited indeed, but within limits it has been complete. I would fain hope that there is in store for it a success not less complete, but far less limited. It remains only to say why this Preface has been written. It is done at the request of those who have a much better right to do it, and who would have done it much better ; and because it is a pleasure to be con- nected, in however humble a sort, with one who was the teacher of my childhood, the friend of my youth and manhood, and who is now, in the decline of life, a precious, indeed a sacred memory. John Duke Coleridge. Hkath's Court, Ottery S. Mary, \^)th January 187-1. L'ENVOY OF PHANTASMION. Go, little book, and sing of love and beauty, fairy To tempt the worldling into land ; Tell him that airy dreams are sacred duty, Bring better wealth than aught his toils command- Toils fraught with mickle harm. But if thou meet some spirit high and tender, On blessed works and noblest love intent, Tell him that airy dreams of nature's splendour, With graver thoughts and hallowed musings bleut, Prove no too earthly charm. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. The Fairy Potentilla appears to the young Prince Phantasmion, 1 CHAPTER II. Potentilla fulJ&ls her promise to Phantasmion, . 5 CHAPTER III. Phantasmion sees and hears strange things by the sea-shore, 13 CHAPTER ly. Phantasmion ascends the Mount of Eagles, . .18 CHAPTER Y. Phantasmion enters the Land of Rocks, . .25 CHAPTER YI. Phantasmion pays a second visit to the King's Island, . 34 CHAPTER YII. After passing the night in a thicket, Phantasmion talks with Telza, the nurse of larine, . .43 xii Contents. CHAPTER YIIL Phantasmion is guided by the fisherman to Polyanthida, . 50 CHAPTER IX. Karadan takes possession of the silver pitcher, . 68 CHAPTER X. Hermillian charges Karadan with poisoning his owl, . 76 CHAPTER XI. Phantasmion is entertained by his host's family in the garden, 81 CHAPTER XII. After meeting with adventures in the wood, Phantasmion goes to seek Penselimer, ..... 89 CHAPTER XIII. Penselimer tells his story to Phantasmion, . .96 CHAPTER XIY.