Ashley MS A1932

'Astrophel and other poems' by A. C. Swinburne; 1887-[before 1894].

1. 'The Ballad of Melicertes'; [1891]. Fair copy, with revisions, especially in the last five lines, written on one side only of a folio leaf of white wove paper. Watermark 'Hieratica / (a vegetable Parchment) / J. S & Co.'. The MS. is entitled 'The Ballad of Melicertes' in Swinburne's hand, and at the end is the deleted signature 'Algernon Charles Swinburne'. The final text found in the fair copy differs in the order of two words from that printed on pp. 153-155 of the first edition. The poem was first published in La Conque for June 1891 and the Athenæum for 27 June 1891. f. 143.

2. 'Light: an Epicede'; 1887. Draft, written on both sides of a folio leaf of blue laid paper, and on one side only of another already used for artt. 4 and 5. No watermarks. The MS. is entitled 'Light: an Epicede' in Swinburne's hand. Next to the title is the autograph date 'Feb. 15. (ob. 14.)' and the deleted autograph note '7 stanzas of 5 lines / He has outsoared the shadow of our night / Nor let us weep that our delight is fled / I do not commiserate ― I congratulate you'. The MS. is dated at the end 'Feb. 15. 87.'.

As follows: Stanzas 1 and 3-6, f. 144a; stanzas 7 and 8, f. 144b; stanza 2, f. 145b, written parallel with the length of the paper in the right hand margin.

The final text found in the draft differs by six words from that printed on pp. 157-159 of the first edition. The poem was first published in the Fortnightly for Jan. 1891.

Written parallel with the length of the paper in the right hand margin of f. 144a is a draft of the first line of 'Transfiguration' (art. 3) and of a rejected line. On the lower half of f. 144b, written parallel with the length of the paper, is a cancelled draft of the whole of 'Transfiguration'. ff. 144, 144b, 145b.

3. 'Transfiguration'; [1887]. Cancelled draft, written on both sides of a folio leaf of blue laid paper. No watermark. A first version of l. 1 is written parallel with the length of the paper in the right hand margin of f. 144a, and a draft of the whole poem, also parallel with the length of the paper, on the lower half of f. 144b. Above the latter is the pencil title 'Transfiguration' in another hand, and a note by Swinburne '1, 2, 3, 4, (Lib. Vert.), 5 (+Epicede and lyric sonnet)'. The final text found in the draft differs by two lines from that printed on p. 167 of the first edition.

Before being used for 'Transfiguration' both sides of the leaf had already been used for 'Light: an Epicede' (art. 2). ff. 144, 144b.

4. 'A Dirge'; [1887]. Fair copy, with revisions, written on one side only of a folio leaf of blue laid paper. No watermark. The MS. is entitled 'A Dirge' in Swinburne's hand. At the head of the page is the note 'M 161', and below it, in blue pencil, '52', both in another hand. In the first edition of Astrophel and Other Poems the signature 'M' occurs on p. 161. The text found in the fair copy is identical with that printed on pp. 163-164 of the first edition. On the verso is art. 5 and part of art. 2. f. 145a.

5. 'The Last Word', [1887]. Cancelled draft, written on one side only of a folio leaf of blue laid paper. No watermark. The MS. has the deleted title 'The last Word' and the deleted number 'VII', both in Swinburne's hand. The final text found in the draft differs by one word only from that printed on p. 173 of the first edition.

On the same side of the paper, at the foot, is a note by Swinburne:―

2) Threnody

1) Light (?: an Epicede)

3) Dirge ['A bell tolls on in my heart']

4) [?] A Reminiscence

5) 'The days of a man' ? Death in Life

Sonnets

1. Transfiguration

2. Deliverance

3. Thanksgiving

4. Libitina Verticordia

5. 'Thou canst not give it'

6. Life in Death

7. The Last Word 'Finished, Sunday Feb. 20 ― 6 days' work.'

'Dirge' and 'A Reminiscence' were added later.

Also on the same side of the leaf, written parallel with the length of the paper in the right hand margin, is part of art. 2, and on the other side art. 4. f. 145b.

6. 'A Reminiscence', 1887. Draft, written on one side only of a scrap of white wove paper (137 x 112mm.). No watermark. The MS. is entitled 'A Reminiscence' in Swinburne's hand. At the head of the page is the deleted title 'By the fireside', in the top right hand corner the deleted words ['the chair'], and immediately above the title the deleted note '? 2 more sonnets (9) and 1 more lyric (12)', all autograph. The final text found in the draft differs by one word only from that printed on p. 165 of the first edition. f. 146a.

7. 'In Memory of Aurelio Saffi', [1890]. Draft, written on both sides of two folio leaves of white wove paper, and on one side only of a third. Watermark 'Hieratica / (a vegetable Parchment) / J. S & Co.'.

As follows: Stanzas 1, 4 and 5, ll. 1 and 2, f. 147a; stanzas 2 and 3, f. 147b; stanza, 5, ll. 3-8, and stanzas 6-8, f. 148a; stanzas 11 (second version) and 12, f. 148b; stanza 3, ll. 6-8 (first version), stanzas 9, 10, and 11 (first version), f. 149a. The stanzas are numbered in Swinburne's hand as follows: 1:1; 2:2 (originally 3); 3:3; 4:2, emended to 3 and deleted; 5:3, deleted; 6:4; 7:5; 8:6; 9:9, emended from 7; 10:10, emended from 8; 11:11; 12:12.

Below stanza 1 is the autograph note '2 (Rome '49) T.O.', against l. 12 of the poem the autograph note 'March '72', and below stanza 10 the autograph note '(When Mazzini and Saffi were born, the [altered from their] Italy now existing was unimaginable, but they made it. Who shall imagine the Italy to be? (another England if that be possible))'.

The final text found in the draft differs from that printed on pp. 174-179 of the first edition by three lines, two half lines and seven words. The poem was first published in the Athenæum for 3 May 1890. ff. 147-149.

8. 'Life in Death', 1891. Fair copy, written on one side only of an octavo leaf of white laid paper. Watermark 'ST BR[ ]'. The MS. is entitled 'Life in Death' and dated 'August 2nd, 1891' in Swinburne's hand. The leaf bears the name 'Emery' in pencil, and below it the blue pencil number '63', both in another hand, indicating that the MS. was used as printer's copy. The text found in the fair copy is identical with that printed on p. 183 of the first edition. f. 150.

9. 'A Moss-Rose', before 1894. Fair copy, with two revisions, written on one side only of an octavo leaf of white wove paper. Watermark [Hiera]tica / [(a vegetable] Parchment) / [J, S] & Co.'. The MS. is entitled 'A Moss-Rose' in Swinburne's hand. At the head of the page is the note 'O 193', and below it the blue pencil number '70', both in another hand. In the first edition of Astrophel and Other Poems the signature 'O' occurs on p. 193. The text found in the fair copy is identical with that printed on pp. 195-196 of the first edition. f. 151.

includes:

• f. 143 Ballads ENGLISH: Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'The Ballad of Melicertes', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1891: Autogr. fair copy.
• ff. 144-144b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Transfiguration', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1887: Autogr. draft.
• ff. 144-144b, 145b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Light: an Epicede', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1887: Autogr. draft.
• f. 145 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'A Dirge', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1887: Autogr. fair copy.
• f. 145b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'The Last Word', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1887: Autogr. draft.
• f. 146 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'A Reminiscence', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1887: Autogr. draft.
• ff. 147-149 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'In Memory of Aurelio Saffi', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1890: Autogr. draft.
• f. 150 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Life in Death', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1891: Autogr. fair copy.
• f. 151 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'A Moss-Rose', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: bef. 1894: Autogr. fair copy.