Ashley MS 5267

'Poems and Ballads Second Series'. 'Ex Voto'; [1877?]. Draft, heavily revised, written on one side only of three folio leaves, the first (f. 1) of white wove paper, the other two of blue laid paper, watermarked 'E Towgood/1874'. The two blue leaves form a single sheet, and ff. 2a and 3b were used by the poet. The draft is entitled 'Ex Voto'. The final text differs by eight words and one line from that printed on pp. 116-122. The order of stanzas appears originally to have been different in the draft. The second half of the present stanza 7 was originally the first half of stanza 4. The second half of the present stanza 6 was originally the second half of stanza 4. The present stanza 4 was originally stanza 5, and so on throughout the remainder of the poem. The second half of the present last stanza was originally the second half of stanza 6, while the first half of the present stanza 7 was written later. 'Ex Voto' was first published in the Athenæum for 2 June 1877. Swinburne is possibly referring to it when he says in a letter to Norman MacColl, dated 2 April 1877, 'I have by me two little elegiac poems, one just completed, the other ["Inferiae"] written out of hand on the day after my father's death'.

Also included is an incomplete letter, apparently to the editor of a journal or newspaper, headed 'A Discovery', and a draft of twenty-one lines of high-flown French prose. Possibly these are the remains of an abandoned burlesque on the lines of 'Les Amours Étiques. Par Félicien Cossu' and 'Les Abîmes. Par Ernest Clouët'; f. 1b.

Folio; ff. ii+3.

includes:

• f. 1b Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Prose passage, beg. 'Comme j'errais doucement' by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1877]: Fr.: Autogr. draft.
• f. 1b Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Letter, headed 'A Discovery', to — from Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1877]: Draft. Imperf.
• ff. 1a, 2a, 3b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Ex-Voto', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1877: Autogr. draft.