The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens
Title: The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens
Author: Charles Dickens
Editor: Frederic George Kitton
Release date: March 10, 2011 [eBook #35536]
Most recently updated: January 7, 2021
Language: English
Credits: Produced by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries.)
THE POEMS AND VERSES OF
CHARLES DICKENS
Maclise. R.A. C. H. Jeens
CHARLES DICKENS, HIS WIFE, & HER SISTER
DRAWN BY MACLISE IN 1842.
THE
POEMS AND VERSES
OF
CHARLES DICKENS
Collected and Edited, with
Bibliographical Notes, by
F. G. KITTON
LONDON
CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED
1903
Edinburgh: Printed by T. and A. Constable
TO
MISS GEORGINA HOGARTH
THIS LITTLE VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| The Village Coquettes (1836), | 3 |
| Round. Hail to the merry Autumn days, |
7 |
| Lucy’s Song. Love is not a feeling to pass away, |
8 |
| Squire Norton’s Song. That very wise head, old Æsop, said, |
9 |
| George Edmunds’ Song. Autumn leaves, autumn leaves, |
10 |
| Rose’s Song. Some folks who have grown old and sour, |
11 |
| Duet (Flam and Rose). ’Tis true I’m caressed by the witty, |
12 |
| Squire Norton’s Song. The child and the old man sat alone, |
13 |
| Duet (The Squire and Lucy). In rich and lofty station shine, |
14 |
| Sestet and Chorus. Turn him from the farm, |
15 |
| Quartet. Hear me, when I swear that the farm is your own, |
17 |
|
Squire Norton’s Song. There’s a charm in Spring, |
20 |
| Young Benson’s Song. My fair home is no longer mine, |
21 |
| Duet (The Squire and Edmunds). Listen, though I do not fear you, |
22 |
| Lucy’s Song. How beautiful at even-tide, |
23 |
| Chorus. Join the dance, with step as light, |
23 |
| Quintet. No light bound of stag or timid hare, |
24 |
| The Lamplighter (1838), | 29 |
| Duet (Tom and Betsy). There comes a new moon twelve times a year, |
31 |
| The Pickwick Papers (1837), | 35, 41, 47, 51 |
| The Ivy Green. Oh, a dainty plant is the Ivy green, |
36 |
| A Christmas Carol. I care not for Spring, |
42 |
| Gabriel Grub’s Song. Brave lodgings for one, |
48 |
| Romance (Sam Weller’s Song). Bold Turpin vunce, on Hounslow Heath, |
53 |
| The Examiner (1841), | 57 |
| The Fine Old English Gentleman. I’ll sing you a new ballad, |
59 |
| The Quack Doctor’s Proclamation. An astonishing doctor has just come to town, |
67 |
| Subjects for Painters. To you, Sir Martin, |
73 |
| The Patrician’s Daughter (1842), | 79 |
| Prologue. No tale of streaming plumes and harness bright, |
81 |
| The Keepsake (1844), | 87 |
| A Word in Season. They have a superstition in the East, |
89 |
| The Daily News (1846), | 93 |
| The British Lion. Oh, p’r’aps you may have heard, |
95 |
| The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers. Oh God, who by Thy Prophet’s hand, |
101 |
| Lines addressed to Mark Lemon (1849), | 107 |
| New Song. Lemon is a little hipped, |
109 |
| The Lighthouse (1855), | 113 |
| Prologue. A story of those rocks where doom’d ships come, |
115 |
| The Song of the Wreck. The wind blew high, the waters raved, |
119 |
| The Frozen Deep (1856), | 125 |
| Prologue. One savage footprint on the lonely shore, |
127 |
| The Wreck of the Golden Mary (1856), | 131 |
| A Child’s Hymn. Hear my prayer, O! Heavenly Father, |
133 |
SONGS, CHORUSES,
AND CONCERTED PIECES FROM
‘THE VILLAGE COQUETTES’
A COMIC OPERA
1836
THE VILLAGE COQUETTES
About the year 1834, when the earliest of the Sketches by Boz were appearing in print, a young composer named John Hullah set to music a portion of an opera called The Gondolier, which he thought might prove successful on the stage. Twelve months later Hullah became acquainted with Charles Dickens, whose name was then unknown to those outside his own immediate circle, and it occurred to him that he and ‘Boz’ might combine their forces by converting The Gondolier into a popular play. Dickens, who always entertained a passion for the theatre, entered into the project at once, and informed Hullah that he had a little unpublished story by him which he thought would dramatise well—even better than The Gondolier notion; confessing that he would rather deal with familiar English scenes than with the unfamiliar Venetian environment of the play favoured by Hullah. The title of The Gondolier was consequently abandoned, and a novel subject found and put forward as The Village Coquettes, a comic opera of which songs, duets, and concerted pieces were to form constituent parts. Dickens, of course, became responsible for the libretto and Hullah for the music; and when completed the little play was offered to, and accepted by, Braham, the lessee of the St. James’s Theatre, who expressed an earnest desire to be the first to introduce ‘Boz’ to the public as a dramatic writer. A favourite comedian of that day, John Pritt Harley, after reading the words of the opera prior to its representation, declared it was ‘a sure card,’ and felt so confident of its success that he offered to wager ten pounds that it would run fifty nights!—an assurance which at once decided Braham to produce it.
The Village Coquettes, described on the title-page of the printed copies as ‘A Comic Opera, in Two Acts,’ was played for the first time on December 6, 1836, with Braham and Harley in the cast. In his preface to the play (published contemporaneously by Richard Bentley, and dedicated to Harley) Dickens explained that ‘the libretto of an opera must be, to a certain extent, a mere vehicle for the music,’ and that ‘it is scarcely fair or reasonable to judge it by those strict rules of criticism which would be justly applicable to a five-act tragedy or a finished comedy.’ There is no doubt that the merits of the play were based upon the songs set to Hullah’s music rather than upon the play itself, and it is said that Harley’s reputation as a vocalist was established by his able rendering of them.
The Village Coquettes enjoyed a run of nineteen nights in London during the season, and was then transferred to Edinburgh, where it was performed under the management of Mr. Ramsay, a friend of Sir Walter Scott. Sala, as a boy of ten, witnessed its first representation in London, and ever retained a vivid impression of the event; while especial interest appertains to the fact that a copy of the play became the means of first bringing Dickens into personal communication with John Forster, his life-long friend and biographer. It is more than probable that ‘Boz’ felt a little elated by the reception accorded by the public to the ‘dramatic bantling,’ but as time progressed he realised that the somewhat unfavourable comments of the critics were not entirely devoid of truth. Indeed, when in 1843 it was proposed to revive the play, he expressed a hope that it might be allowed ‘to sink into its native obscurity.’ ‘I did it,’ he explained, ‘in a fit of damnable good-nature long ago, for Hullah, who wrote some very pretty music to it. I just put down for everybody what everybody at the St. James’s Theatre wanted to say and do, and what they could say and do best, and I have been most sincerely repentant ever since.’ The novelist confessed that both the operetta and a little farce called The Strange Gentleman (the latter written as ‘a practical joke’ for the St. James’s Theatre about the same time) were done ‘without the least consideration or regard to reputation’; he also declared that he ‘wouldn’t repeat them for a thousand pounds apiece,’ and devoutly wished these early dramatic efforts to be forgotten. À propos of this, the late Frederick Locker-Lampson has recorded that when he asked Dickens (about a year before the great writer’s death) whether he possessed a copy of The Village Coquettes, his reply was, ‘No; and if I knew it was in my house, and if I could not get rid of it in any other way, I would burn the wing of the house where it was!’
Although, perhaps, not of a high order of merit, The Village Coquettes is not without bibliographical interest, and may be regarded as a musical and literary curiosity. Copies of the first edition of the little play are now seldom met with, and whenever a perfect impression comes into the market it commands a good price, even as much as £10 or £12,—indeed, a particularly fine copy was sold at Sotheby’s in 1889 for twenty-five pounds. In 1878 the words of the opera were reprinted in facsimile by Richard Bentley, for which a frontispiece was etched by F. W. Pailthorpe a year later.
THE VILLAGE COQUETTES
| Lucy’s Song |
| Love is not a feeling to pass away, Like the balmy breath of a summer day; It is not—it cannot be—laid aside; It is not a thing to forget or hide. It clings to the heart, ah, woe is me! As the ivy clings to the old oak tree. Love is not a passion of earthly mould, As a thirst for honour, or fame, or gold: For when all these wishes have died away, The deep strong love of a brighter day, Though nourished in secret, consumes the more, As the slow rust eats to the iron’s core. |
| Rose’s Song |
| Some folks who have grown old and sour, Say love does nothing but annoy. The fact is, they have had their hour, So envy what they can’t enjoy. I like the glance—I like the sigh— That does of ardent passion tell! If some folks were as young as I, I’m sure they’d like it quite as well. Old maiden aunts so hate the men, So well know how wives are harried, It makes them sad—not jealous—when They see their poor dear nieces married. All men are fair and false, they know, And with deep sighs they assail ’em, It’s so long since they tried men, though, I rather think their mem’ries fail ’em. |
| Sestet and Chorus |
| Young Benson. Turn him from the farm! From his home will you cast The old man who has tilled it for years! Ev’ry tree, ev’ry flower, is linked with the past, And a friend of his childhood appears. Turn him from the farm! O’er its grassy hillside, A gay boy he once loved to range; His boyhood has fled, and its dear friends are dead, But these meadows have never known change. |
| Young Benson’s Song |
| My fair home is no longer mine; From its roof-tree I’m driven away. Alas! who will tend the old vine, Which I planted in infancy’s day! The garden, the beautiful flowers, The oak with its branches on high, Dear friends of my happiest hours, Among thee I long hoped to die. The briar, the moss, and the bramble, Along the green paths will run wild: The paths where I once used to ramble, An innocent, light-hearted child. |
LYRIC FROM
‘THE LAMPLIGHTER’
A FARCE
1838
THE LAMPLIGHTER
In 1838 Dickens agreed to prepare a little play for Macready, the famous actor, then the manager of Drury Lane Theatre. It was called The Lamplighter, and when completed the author read aloud the ‘unfortunate little farce’ (as he subsequently termed it) in the greenroom of the theatre. Although the play went through rehearsal, it was never presented before an audience, for the actors would not agree about it, and, at Macready’s suggestion, Dickens consented to withdraw it, declaring that he had ‘no other feeling of disappointment connected with this matter’ but that which arose from the failure in attempting to serve his friend. The manuscript of the play, not in Dickens’s handwriting, reposes in the Forster Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and in 1879 it was printed for the first time, in the form of a pamphlet, of which only two hundred and fifty copies were issued.
When rejected by Macready as unsuitable for stage presentation, The Lamplighter was adapted by Dickens to another purpose—that is to say, he converted it into a tale called The Lamplighter’s Story, for publication in The Pic-Nic Papers, issued in 1841 for the benefit of the widow of Macrone, Dickens’s first publisher, who died in great poverty. Between the farce and the story there are but slight differences. The duet of two verses, sung by Tom and Betsy to the air of ‘The Young May-moon,’ cannot of course be regarded as a remarkable composition, but it served its purpose sufficiently well, and for that reason deserves recognition.
DUET FROM ‘THE LAMPLIGHTER’
Air—‘The Young May-moon’
SONGS FROM
‘THE PICKWICK PAPERS’
1837
I.—THE IVY GREEN
THE IVY GREEN
This famous ballad of three verses, from the sixth chapter of Pickwick, is perhaps the most acceptable of all Dickens’s poetical efforts. It was originally set to music, at Dickens’s request, by his brother-in-law, Henry Burnett, a professional vocalist, who, by the way, was the admitted prototype of Nicholas Nickleby. Mr. Burnett sang the ballad scores of times in the presence of literary men and artists, and it proved an especial favourite with Landor. ‘The Ivy Green’ was not written for Pickwick, Mr. Burnett assured me; but on its being so much admired the author said it should go into a monthly number, and it did. The most popular setting is undoubtedly that of Henry Russell, who has recorded that he received, as his fee, the magnificent sum of ten shillings! The ballad, in this form, went into many editions, and the sales must have amounted to tens of thousands.
THE IVY GREEN
II.—A CHRISTMAS CAROL
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
The five stanzas bearing the above title will be found in the twenty-eighth chapter of Pickwick, where they are introduced as the song which that hospitable old soul, Mr. Wardle, sung appropriately, ‘in a good, round, sturdy voice,’ before the Pickwickians and others assembled on Christmas Eve at Manor Farm. The ‘Carol,’ shortly after its appearance in Pickwick, was set to music to the air of ‘Old King Cole,’ and published in The Book of British Song (New Edition), with an illustration drawn by ‘Alfred Crowquill’—i.e., A. H. Forrester.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
III.—GABRIEL GRUB’S SONG
GABRIEL GRUB’S SONG
The Sexton’s melancholy dirge, in the twenty-ninth chapter of Pickwick, seems a little incongruous in a humorous work. The sentiment, however, thoroughly accords with the philosophic gravedigger’s gruesome occupation. ‘The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton’ is one of several short tales (chiefly of a dismal character) introduced into Pickwick; they were doubtless written prior to the conception of Pickwick, each being probably intended for independent publication, and in a manner similar to the ‘Boz’ Sketches. For some reason these stories were not so published, and Dickens evidently saw a favourable opportunity of utilising his unused manuscripts by inserting them in The Pickwick Papers.
GABRIEL GRUB’S SONG
| Brave lodgings for one, brave lodgings for one, A few feet of cold earth, when life is done; A stone at the head, a stone at the feet, A rich, juicy meal for the worms to eat; Rank grass over head, and damp clay around, Brave lodgings for one, these, in holy ground! |
IV.—ROMANCE
ROMANCE
It will be remembered that while Sam Weller and his coaching-friends refreshed themselves at the little public-house opposite the Insolvent Court in Portugal Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, prior to Sam joining Mr. Pickwick in the Fleet, that faithful body-servant was persuaded to ‘oblige the company’ with a song. ‘Raly, gentlemen,’ said Sam, ‘I’m not wery much in the habit o’ singin’ vithout the instrument; but anythin’ for a quiet life, as the man said ven he took the sitivation at the light-house.’
‘With this prelude, Mr. Samuel Weller burst at once into the following wild and beautiful legend, which, under the impression that it is not generally known, we take the liberty of quoting. We would beg to call particular attention to the monosyllable at the end of the second and fourth lines, which not only enables the singer to take breath at those points, but greatly assists the metre.’-The Pickwick Papers, chapter xliii.
At the conclusion of the performance the mottled-faced gentleman contended that the song was ‘personal to the cloth,’ and demanded the name of the bishop’s coachman, whose cowardice he regarded as a reflection upon coachmen in general. Sam replied that his name was not known, as ‘he hadn’t got his card in his pocket’; whereupon the mottled-faced gentleman declared the statement to be untrue, stoutly maintaining that the said coachman did not run away, but ‘died game—game as pheasants,’ and he would ‘hear nothin’ said to the contrairey.’
Even in the vernacular (observes Mr. Percy Fitzgerald), ‘this master of words [Charles Dickens] could be artistic; and it may fairly be asserted that Mr. Weller’s song to the coachmen is superior to anything of the kind that has appeared since.’ The two stanzas have been set to music, as a humorous part-song, by Sir Frederick Bridge, Mus. Doc., M.V.O., the organist of Westminster Abbey, who informs me that it was written some years since, to celebrate a festive gathering in honour of Dr. Turpin (!), Secretary of the College of Organists. ‘It has had a very great success,’ says Sir Frederick, ‘and is sung much in the North of England at competitions of choirs. It is for men’s voices. The humour of the words never fails to make a great hit, and I hope the music does no harm. “The Bishop’s Coach” is set to a bit of old Plain-Chant, and I introduce a Fugue at the words “Sure as eggs is eggs.”’
ROMANCE
| I |
| Bold Turpin vunce, on Hounslow Heath, His bold mare Bess bestrode—er; Ven there he see’d the Bishop’s coach A-comin’ along the road—er. So he gallops close to the ’orse’s legs, And he claps his head vithin; And the Bishop says, ‘Sure as eggs is eggs, This here’s the bold Turpin!’ |
| Chorus—And the Bishop says, ‘Sure as eggs is eggs, This here’s the bold Turpin!’ |
| Chorus (sarcastically)—But Dick put a couple of balls in his nob, And perwailed on him to stop. |
POLITICAL SQUIBS FROM
‘THE EXAMINER’
1841
I.—THE FINE OLD ENGLISH GENTLEMAN
POLITICAL SQUIBS FROM ‘THE EXAMINER,’ 1841
In August 1841 Dickens contributed anonymously to The Examiner (then edited by Forster) three political squibs, which were signed W., and were intended to help the Liberals in fighting their opponents. These squibs were entitled respectively ‘The Fine Old English Gentleman (to be said or sung at all Conservative Dinners)’; ‘The Quack Doctor’s Proclamation’; and ‘Subjects for Painters (after Peter Pindar).’ Concerning those productions, Forster says: ‘I doubt if he ever enjoyed anything more than the power of thus taking part occasionally, unknown to outsiders, in the sharp conflict the press was waging at the time.’ In all probability he contributed other political rhymes to the pages of The Examiner as events prompted: if so, they are buried beyond easy reach of identification.
Writing to Forster at this time, Dickens said: ‘By Jove, how Radical I am getting! I wax stronger and stronger in the true principles every day.’... He would (observes Forster) sometimes even talk, in moments of sudden indignation at the political outlook, ‘of carrying off himself and his household gods, like Coriolanus, to a world elsewhere.’ This was the period of the Tory interregnum, with Sir Robert Peel at the head of affairs.
THE FINE OLD ENGLISH GENTLEMAN
New Version
(To be said or sung at all Conservative Dinners)
II.—THE QUACK DOCTOR’S PROCLAMATION
THE QUACK DOCTOR’S PROCLAMATION
Tune—‘A Cobbler there was’