Ashley MS A1992

'Is there any to weep for the dead', 'The Eve of Revolution', 'After Many Days', 'Stanzas', 'I thought it would be pain to see', 'Poeta Loquitur', 'Ode to the Night', and 'I know not if the word she said to me': poems byA. C. Swinburne. Autograph drafts and fair copies. With one exception, the poems were privately printed by T. J. Wise in The Italian Mother and Other Poems, 1918. The poem entitled by Wise 'The Italian Mother' ('Is there any to weep for the dead') was published in the Times for 25 Sept. 1918. Ashley Library Catalogue, vii, pp. 55-56. As follows:―

1. 'Is there any to weep for the dead'; [1869-1870]. Draft of six stanzas, beginning thus, written on one side only of three octavo leaves of white laid paper. Watermark 'Joynson / 1865'. The stanzas are not entitled. Metre abcabc3, with mixed iambs and anapaests. Printed, inaccurately, in The Italian Mother, pp. 7 and 8, where they are given the title 'The Italian Mother'. On the verso of the first leaf (f. 217) is (2). ff. 217, 218, 219.

2. 'The Eve of Revolution'; [Dec.? 1869-Feb. 1870]. Fair copy of stanza 21, written on one side only of an octavo leaf of white laid paper, also used for part of (1). Watermark '[Joyn]son [186]5'. The lines, which are not entitled, are iambic decasyllables, with rhyme scheme abababab. The lines were not included in The Italian Mother. 'The Eve of Revolution' was first printed in Songs Before Sunrise, 1871. f. 217b.

3. 'After Many Days'; 1881. Fair copy, with revisions, of seven stanzas written on one side only of two folio leaves of blue laid paper. No watermark. The MS. is entitled 'After Many Days', and dated at the end 'May 23. 81.', in Swinburne's hand. Beneath the title is the deleted autograph note 'To DGR', and beneath the date the deleted autograph note '(on reading the proofs of The Bride's Prelude, Part I.)'. Metre a5b2a5b2a5b2, iambs. Printed, with some inaccuracies of punctuation, in The Italian Mother, pp. 9-11. For another autograph fair copy of 'After Many Days' see A1415. ff. 220, 221.

4. 'Stanzas'; [circa 1857?]. Fair copy, with revisions, of seven stanzas beginning 'And is there nought indeed for life but sorrow?', written on both sides of a quarto leaf of ruled laid cream paper. Watermark part of the figure of Britannia. The MS. is entitled 'Stanzas' in Swinburne's hand. Metre a4b4a4b3b4, iambs. The hand and paper suggest a date of circa 1857. Printed with some inaccuracies of punctuation, in The Italian Mother, pp. 12-13. ff. 222, 222b.

5. 'I thought it would be pain to see'; [circa 1860?]. Fair copy, with revisions, of four stanzas beginning thus, written on one side only of two quarto leaves of ruled laid white paper. No watermark. The stanzas are not entitled. Metre aabba4, iambs (a2 and a3 are the same word in each stanza). The hand and subject suggest a date of circa 1860. Printed, with slight inaccuracies of punctuation, in The Italian Mother, pp. 14-15, where they are given the title 'Lines'. ff. 223, 224.

6. 'Poeta Loquitur'; [1880?]. The poem is a parody of Swinburne's 'By the North Sea', Part I. This latter is first mentioned by Swinburne in a letter to Gosse dated 5 July 1880 (C. Y. Lang, Swinburne Letters, iv, 1960, pp. 156-158), but Swinburne visited Dunwich and 'did a good deal of verse there' (letter to Edwin Harrison, 10 Jan. 1876, in Lang, op. cit., iii, 1960, pp. 111-112) at the end of Sept. and beginning of Oct. 1875. His collection of parodies, Heptalogia, was published in 1880.

a. Fair copy, written on one side only of four octavo leaves of white laid paper. Watermark 'Joynson / Superfine'. The MS. is entitled 'Poeta Loquitur', and the stanzas are numbered 1-8 in Swinburne's hand. Printed, with some inaccuracies of punctuation, in The Italian Mother, pp. 16-18. ff. 225-228.

b. Draft of a stanza and two half-stanzas, written on both sides of an octavo leaf of cream laid paper. Watermark 'J. K[ ]'. These lines are not found in the fair copy (a). The first half-stanza (a second half) begins 'But such rollicking rhymesters get duly' and the stanza begins 'For freedom to swagger and scribble'. It is followed by the second half-stanza (a first half) which begins 'I may think to get honour and glory at'. The draft is printed, in the wrong order, in Wise, Ashley Catalogue, vii, 1925, pp. 55-56. ff. 229, 229b.

7. 'Ode to the Night'; [circa 1857?]. Fair copy, written on both sides of a quarto leaf of cream wove paper. No watermark. The MS. is entitled 'Ode to the Night' in Swinburne's hand. The ode is of 37 lines, and has an irregular metre, without strophes. The hand and subject suggest a date of circa 1857. Printed, with some inaccuracies of punctuation, in The Italian Mother, pp. 19-20. ff. 230, 230b.

8. 'I know not if the word she said to me'; [circa 1860?]. Draft of two stanzas beginning thus, written on one side only of a quarto leaf of white laid paper. No watermark. The MS. has been entitled 'Memories' in Wise's hand. Metre ab5a3b6a6, iambs. The hand and subject suggest a date of circa 1860. Printed, with some inaccuracies of punctuation, in The Italian Mother, p. 21. f. 231.

includes:

• f. 217b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'The Eve of Revolution', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1869-1870: Fair copy of stanza 21.
• ff. 217, 218, 219 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Is there any to weep for the dead', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1869-1870: Draft.
• ff. 220, 221 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'After Many Days', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: 1881: Fair copy.
• ff. 222, 222b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: 'Stanzas', beg. 'And is there nought indeed for life but sorrow?', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [circa 1857?]: Fair copy.
• ff. 223, 224 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, beg. 'I thought it would be pain to see', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [circa 1860?]: Fair copy.
• ff. 225-228 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Poeta Loquitur', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1880?]: Fair copy.
• ff. 229, 229b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Poeta Loquitur', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [1880?]: Draft of a stanza and two half-stanzas.
• ff. 230, 230b Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Ode to the Night', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [circa 1857?]: Fair copy.
• f. 231 Poetry ENGLISH: Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet: Poem, 'Memories' beg. 'I know not if the word she said to me', by Algernon Charles Swinburne: [circa 1860?]: Draft.