NOTES

Previous

The Castle in the Air. Last published in 1872.

The Cradle. Last published in 1878.

O Tempora Mutantur. Written in 1856: last published in 1893: omitted from the 1881 edition. In 1893 the last stanza is different: I have quoted from it in the Introduction.

Piccadilly. Last published in 1893. After the words “If ‘yes,’ Piccadilly,” the 1893 version is as follows:—

“From Primrose balcony, long ages ago
‘Old Q’ sat at gaze,—who now passes below?
A frolicsome statesman, the Man of the Day,”
etc.

The Old Clerk. Written in 1856: last published in 1893: omitted in 1881. The final version (title, “The Old Government Clerk”) is a good deal elaborated, and a stanza added.

The Garter. Last published in 1878. In the 1862 and subsequent editions the title is “Arcadia.”

Pilgrims of Pall Mall. Written in 1856: last published in 1893. The first lines of the fifth stanza run, as finally revised:

“I often wander up and down,
When morning bathes the silent town
In dewy glory”;

and the seventh stanza is altered to:

“My heart grows chill! Can Soul like thine,
Weary of this clear world of mine,
Have loosed its fetter,
To find a world whose promised bliss
Is better than the best of this?—
And is it better?”

These are the most important changes.

The Russet Pitcher. Last published in 1870: omitted in 1868.

The Enchanted Rose. “The Fairy Rose” in subsequent editions. Last published in 1870: omitted in 1868.

Circumstance. Written in 1856: last published in 1893, with some alteration. The last line runs, finally: “And—wish them at the devil.”

A Wish. Last published in 1878.

My Life is a—. Last published in 1893: omitted in 1881. Practically the same in the final version.

Vanity Fair. Last published in 1878.

Bramble-Rise. Written in 1857: last published in 1893, a good deal altered. It is less “Praedian” than in the original form: the puns in stanzas four and nine disappear.

Old Letters. Last published in 1878. Of all the London Lyrics this is the most obviously reminiscent of Praed: and as such it is rejected by Locker’s final judgment. It belongs evidently to the period when “I once tried to write like Praed.”

Susannah. Last published (as “Susan”) in 1872: omitted in 1868. The first verse, slightly altered, serves as “motto” for the serious poem, “Her quiet resting-place is far away,” which is in some of the later editions.

My Firstborn. Last published in 1878, omitted in 1868.

The Widow’s Mite. Last published in 1893. In the final form of the poem the pun is (characteristically) dropped.

St George’s. Last published in 1878: omitted in 1868.

Seven Dials. Last published in 1862.

Miss Edith. Not again published.

Gretna Green. Subsequently under the title “Vae Victis”: last published in 1870.

The Four Seasons. Not again published.

Enigma. 1. / 2. } Not again published.

The Printer’s Devil. Not again published.

the riverside press limited
edinburgh

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Clyx.com


Top of Page
Top of Page