PREFACE. THE dramatic works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, including the translation of the "Wallenstein," are now for the first time presented to the public as a separate whole, forming a companion-volume to the new edition of the Poems, which has just appeared. Of the two original dramas, "Remorse" and "Zapolya," the former, as already stated in the Preface to that collection, which was intended by the lamented authoress as a general introduction to the Poetical Works, was first cast at Nether Stowey, in the year 1797, the author being then in his twentyfifth year, in the spring-tide of his creative faculty, if not in the maturity of his judgment. It was written expressly for the stage, at the instigation, and with the encouragement of Mr. Sheridan, by whom, however, it was not deemed suitable for that purpose. Ultimately it was brought out at Drury Lane Theatre in the year 1813, under the auspices of Lord Byron and Mr. Whitbread, when it ran twenty nights, such welcome was given to the aspirant, Who first essayed in that distinguished fane The concluding lines of the Prologue to "Remorse" by Charles Lamb. |