Ashley MS A4373

'Songs Before Sunrise' by Algernon Charles Swinburne by Algernon Charles Swinburne; [1867-1870].

1. 'The Eve of Revolution'; [Dec.? 1869-Feb. 1870]. Early draft, heavily revised, of ll. 5-34, written on both sides of a folio leaf of white laid paper. No watermark. The final text found in the draft differs only by a few words from that printed on pp. 10-11 of the first edition. In a letter to W. M. Rossetti dated 14 Feb. 1870 (C. Y. Lang, Swinburne Letters, ii, 1959, p. 95) Swinburne says 'I have all but finished the centre poem and mainspring of my volume ― "The Eve of Revolution" '. ff. 57, 57b.

2. 'The Halt before Rome'; [1867]. Draft, with many revisions, of stanzas 14-20, written on one side only of a folio leaf of blue laid paper. Watermark figure of Britannia. The final text differs but slightly from that printed on pp. 49-51 of the first edition. On the verso is a translation of stanzas 35-38 and 40 of François Villon's 'Grant Testament' (see art. 12). In a letter to George Powell dated 5 Oct. 1867 (Lang, op. cit., i, 1959, p. 266) Swinburne announces 'I am quite well and have written a poem on this check of Garibaldi's expedition . . . I have had time and thought for nothing not Italian these ten days'. The poem was first printed in The Fortnightly Review for Nov. 1867, pp. 539-546. f. 58a.

3. 'The Litany of Nations'; [1867-1868?]. Draft of the first chorus (ll. 1-40), written on both sides of a folio leaf of white laid paper. Watermark 'T&FH / 1867'. Lines 14-16, 29-32, 37-40, 1-13, in that order, are on f. 59a, and lines 17-28, 33-36, also in that order, on f. 59b. Those on f. 59b are more heavily revised than the others. The final text found in the MS. differs only by the omission of 'and' in two places from that printed on pp. 73-75 of the first edition. ff. 59, 59b.

4. 'Before a Crucifix'; [1869]. Early draft of stanzas 1-13, 20-22, 27, 30 and 33, written on both sides of a folio leaf of white laid paper. No watermark. Stanzas 1-12 are on f. 60b, another version of stanza 12 and the remainder on f. 60a. Those on f. 60b are considerably more finished that the others. The final text of stanzas 1-12 differs only by two lines and three words from that printed on pp. 93-96 of the first edition. Two lines are missing from stanza 21, all but ll. 1 and 3 from stanza 22, one line from 27, half a line from 30, and all but the last two lines from stanza 33, but apart from these gaps the variants from the text printed on pp. 96-101 of the first edition are very few. There is a rejected stanza on f. 60b, and a rejected stanza and two rejected lines on f. 60. The MS. is entitled 'Before a Crucifix' in another hand. On 25 Nov. 1869 Swinburne wrote to W. M. Rossetti (Lang, op. cit., ii, 1959, pp. 56-57) 'I have begun a democratic poem―"Before a Crucifix"― . . .'. ff. 60, 60b.

5. 'Quia Multum Amavit'; 1869. Early draft, heavily revised, of ll. 49-142, 147-150, written on one side only of two folio leaves of white laid paper, and on both sides of a third. No watermark. Lines 49-72 are on f. 61, 73-98 on f. 62, 99-124 on f. 63, and 125-142, 147-152 on f. 63b. Lines 133-140 were added, with an arrow indicating their final position, after the completion of the rest of f. 63b. Throughout the draft only occasional words differ from the text printed on pp. 134-139 of the first edition. The MS. is dated '18 brumaire, an 78.' as is the printed poem. In a letter to W. M. Rossetti dated 25 Nov. 1869 (C. Y. Lang, op. cit., ii, 1959, pp. 55-57) Swinburne says 'I finished my poem on France as the penitent Magdalen bringing her box of ointment to the feet of Freedom after eighteen years whoredom just about the anniversary of the first Buonaparte's treason ― eighteenth of last month (brumaire), known to reactionists who know not the Calendar as November 9th of the year 1869 . . .'. ff. 61-63b.

6. 'Genesis'; [between 1867 and 1870]. Draft, with many revisions, especially towards the end, written on one side only of three folio leaves of grey wove paper. No watermark. With the exception of stanza 14, where the same idea is expressed in different words, the final text of the MS. is identical with that printed on pp. 140-142 of the first edition. The MS. has the autograph title 'Genesis'. ff. 64, 65, 68.

7. 'To Walt Whitman in America'; [1870?]. Cancelled draft of the first stanza, less the last line, written at the top of a folio leaf of blue laid paper. No watermark. The text of the MS. is identical with that printed on p. 143 of the first edition. The MS. has the autograph title 'To Walt Whitman in America'. The rest of the leaf, verso as well as recto, contains a draft of 'On the Downs' (see article 10). On 28 Aug. 1870 Swinburne wrote to W. M. Rossetti (Lang, op. cit., ii, 1959, p. 121) 'I have more than doubled the length of the verses to Walt Whitman . . .'. f. 72.

8. 'Tiresias'; 1870. Early drafts, heavily revised, of Part I, stanzas 26-28, 33-36 and Part II, stanzas 1-4. As follows:―(a) (i) Part I, stanzas 26-28, l. 4 (rejected version of l. 4), f. 66b; (ii) Part I, stanza 28, l. 4 (final version of l. 4), to end and rejected version of stanza 20, f. 67; (iii) Part I, stanzas 33-35, l. 4, f. 66; (iv) Part I, stanzas 35, l. 5 to end and 36, f. 67b. The final text of these stanzas in the MS. is identical, with the exception of four words, with that printed on pp. 214-216 of the first edition. The draft is written on a sheet of white laid paper, folded to form two conjoined octavo leaves. Watermark 'James & Sons'. (b) (i) Part II, stanzas 1-4, l. 2, f. 69b; (ii) Part II, stanzas 4, l. 3 to end, and 5-7, l. 3, f. 69. The final text of these stanzas in the MS. is identical with that printed on pp. 2l8-220 of the first edition, except that stanza 1, l. 1, is different, one word is different in each of stanzas 2-4, and stanza 7, ll. 2 and 3 are different. Underneath stanza 7 are written the words 'Dante' and 'Italia'. The draft is written on both sides of a folio leaf of white laid paper. Watermark figure of Britannia.

In a letter to W. M. Rossetti dated 28 Aug. 1870 (C. Y. Lang, op. cit., ii, 1959, p. 122) Swinburne says 'I am writing a poem on Tiresias at the grave of Antigone . . . '. The idea for the poem had, however, come to the poet two years earlier (see Lang, op. cit., i, 1959, p. 295). The stanzas on ff. 66a, 66b and 67b are printed, very inaccurately, in Poems from 'Villon' and Other Fragments, ed. C. K. Shorter, 1916, pp. 6-7. ff. 66-67b, 69, 69b.

9. 'The Song of the Standard'; [1867-1868?]. Draft, heavily revised, written on both sides of one folio leaf of blue laid paper, and on one side only of another. Watermark 'E / 1867' and figure of Britannia. Stanzas 1, 2 and 13, an early version of stanza 1, and a cancelled version of stanza 5 are on f. 70. Stanzas 3-11 are on f. 70b, and stanzas 12, 14-16 on f. 71. The draft has been entitled 'The Song of the Standard', and the stanzas numbered, in Swinburne's hand, but in a different ink from that used in the body of the text. Apart from the order of two words in stanza 6, l. 1, one word in stanza 15, l. 3, and half of stanza 16, l. 1, the final text in the MS. is identical with that printed on pp. 224-228 of the first edition. On f. 71b are two stanzas of six lines, and two lines of a third. The lines, which begin 'Now till I die, while I live,' appear to be a prayer to Freedom or the Republic, or some similar concept. The lines are of seven syllables, and the rhyme scheme is ABCABC. The stanzas are not part of any poem printed in Songs Before Sunrise, nor are they clearly stanzas rejected for one of those poems. Only the Dedication and 'The Oblation' have the same metre and rhyme scheme. ff. 70-71a.

10. 'On the Downs'; [1870?]. Draft, heavily revised, of stanzas 1-4, 6, 18, and 24-26, written on both sides of a single folio leaf of blue laid paper. No watermark. Stanzas 6 and 26 are on f. 72b, the remainder on f. 72. With the exception of four words, the final text of the draft is identical with that printed on pp. 229, 230, 233 and 235 of the first edition. The fact that a cancelled draft of the first stanza of 'To Walt Whitman in America' (see article 7) already occupied part of f. 72 before it was used for 'On the Downs' suggests a possible date of 1870 for this draft. ff. 72, 72b.

11. 'Non Dolet'; [1870?]. Draft of early version, written on one side only of a folio leaf of blue laid paper. No watermark. The draft consists of two six-line stanzas, with eight feet to the line, and three lines of a third stanza. The rhyme scheme is ABBA AB. The version printed on p. 251 of the first edition is a sonnet, with rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA CDDCEE. Only the first four words of the two versions are identical, but the ideas expressed make it clear that the draft is an early version of the printed poem. The only indication as to date is that this draft is written on paper identical with that used for article 12. The draft is printed in Poems from 'Villon' and Other Fragments, ed. C. K. Shorter, 1916, p. 5. f. 73.

In addition A4373 contains the following extraneous material:―

12. Translation of stanzas 35-38 and 40 of François Villon's 'Grant Testament'; [1867?]. Early draft, heavily revised, written on one side only of a folio leaf of blue laid paper. Watermark figure of Britannia. The draft corresponds to the first five lines of stanza 35, the whole of stanzas 36, 37, and 40, and the first five lines of stanza 38. The metre and rhyme scheme of the original are exactly followed. At the head of the same side are certain rejected lines and a rejected rhyme scheme for a 10-line stanza. Towards the foot Swinburne has scribbled his initials twice, and his signature. A translation of stanzas 40 and 41 of the 'Grant Testament' appears on pp. 204-205 of Poems and Ballads Second Series, 1878. The version of stanza 40 found there differs considerably from that found in this MS. The other side of the leaf contains a draft of part of 'The Halt before Rome', which suggests a date for this draft of 1867. f. 58b.

includes:

• ff. 57, 57b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'The Eve of Revolution', lines 5-34, by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1869-1870]: Autogr. draft.
• f. 58a Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'The Halt Before Rome', stanzas 14-20 by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1867]: Autogr. draft.
• f. 58b Poetry ENGLISH: François Villon, poet: Poems of Villon, transl. by A. C. Swinburne of François Villon: [1867?]-[1876?].
• f. 58b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Grant Testament', stanzas 35-38, 40, transl. from F. Villon by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1867?]: Autogr. draft.
• ff. 59, 59b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'The Litany of Nations' lines 1-40, by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1867-1868?]: Autogr. draft.
• ff. 60, 60b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Before a Crucifix', stanzas 1-13, 20-22, 27, 30, 33, by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1869]: Autogr. draft.
• ff. 61-63b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Quia Multum Amavit', lines 49-142, 147-150, by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1869: Autogr. draft.
• ff. 64, 65, 68 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Genesis', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1867-1870]: Autogr. draft.
• ff. 66-67b, 69, 69b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Tiresias', Part I, stanzas 26-28, 33-36, Part II, stanzas 1-4, by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1870: Autogr. drafts.
• ff. 70-71a Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'The Song of the Standard', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1867-1868?]: Autogr. draft.
• f. 71b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Stanzas, beg. 'Now till I die, while I live', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1867-1868?]: Imperf.
• f. 72 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'To Walt Whitman in America', stanza 1, by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1870?]: Autogr. draft.
• ff. 72, 72b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'On the Downs', stanzas 1-4, 6, 18, 24-26, by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1870?]: Autogr. draft.
• f. 73 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Non Dolet', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1870?]: Autogr. draft of an early version.