The “Faust,” you perhaps know, is only a Fragment.  Whether Goethe ever will finish it, or whether it is ever his object to do so, is quite unknown.  A large proportion of the work cannot be rendered in blank verse, but must be given in wild lyrical metres; and Mr. Lamb informs me that the Baroness de Stael has given a very unfavourable account of the work.  Still, however, I will undertake it, and that instantly, so as to let you have the last sheet by the middle of November, on the following terms: 

1.  That on the delivery of the last MS. sheet you remit 100 guineas to Mrs. Coleridge, or Mr. Robert Southey, at a bill of five weeks. 2.  That I, or my widow or family, may, any time after two years from the first publication, have the privilege of reprinting it in any collection of all my poetical writings, or of my works in general, which set off with a Life of me, might perhaps be made profitable to my widow.  And 3rd, that if (as I long ago meditated) I should re-model the whole, give it a finale, and be able to bring it, thus re-written and re-cast, on the stage, it shall not be considered as a breach of the engagement between us, I on my part promising that you shall, for an equitable consideration, have the copy of this new work, either as a separate work, or forming a part of the same volume or both, as circumstances may dictate to you.  When I say that I am confident that in this possible and not probable case, I should not repeat or retain one fifth of the original, you will perceive that I consult only my dread of appearing to act amiss, as it would be even more easy to compose the whole anew.

If these terms suit you I will commence the Task as soon as I receive Goethe’s works from you.  If you could procure Goethe’s late Life of himself, which extends but a short way, or any German biographical work of the Germans living, it would enable me to render the preliminary Essay more entertaining.

Respectfully, dear Sir,

S.T.  COLERIDGE.

Mr. Murray’s reply to this letter has not been preserved.  At all events, nothing further was done by Coleridge with respect to the translation of “Faust,” which is to be deplored, as his exquisite and original melody of versification might have produced a translation almost as great as the original.

Shortly after Coleridge took up his residence with the Gillmans at Highgate, and his intercourse with Murray recommenced.  Lord Byron, while on the managing committee of Drury Lane Theatre, had been instrumental in getting Coleridge’s “Remorse” played upon the stage, as he entertained a great respect for its author.  He was now encouraging Mr. Murray to publish other works by Coleridge—­among others, “Zapolya” and “Christabel.”

On April 12, 1816, Coleridge gave the following lines to Mr. Murray, written in his own hand:  [Footnote:  The “Song, by Glycine” was first published in “Zapolya:  A Christmas Tale,” 1817, Part II., Act ii., Scene I. It was set to music by W. Patten in 1836; and again, with the title “May Song,” in 1879, by B.H.  Loehr.]