WALTER HAMILTON,

Fellow of the Royal Geographical and Royal Historical Societies; Author of “A History of National Anthems and Patriotic Songs,” “A Memoir of George Cruikshank” “The Poets Laureate of England,” “The Æsthetic Movement in England,” etc.

“I have here only made a Nosegay of culled Flowers, and have brought little more of my own than the band which ties them.”

VOLUME V.

CONTAINING PARODIES OF

Thomas Gray’s “Elegy in a Country Churchyard,”

AND OTHER POEMS.

WILLIAM COWPER. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

S. T. COLERIDGE. M. G. LEWIS. LEIGH HUNT.

LORD MACAULAY.

W. M. PRAED. W. M. THACKERAY. LORD LYTTON.

P. B. Shelley. Mrs. Browning. The Ingoldsby Legends.

J. ADDISON. W. COLLINS. S. ROGERS. E. WALLER.

NATIONAL SONGS OF THE UNITED STATES.

MODERN AMERICAN POETS.

SONGS OF THE CIVIL WAR.

REEVES & TURNER, 196, STRAND, LONDON, W.C.

1888.

INTRODUCTION.

VOLUME V.

HE completion of the Fifth Volume of this collection of Parodies affords me an opportunity of acknowledging many acts of courtesy shown by gentlemen who take an interest in the subject.

They have appreciated the importance of making the collection complete, and reliable as a book of reference on Parody and Burlesque, and by the information they have sent, have assisted me to carry out my design so far as it has gone.

In some few cases the difficulty of finding the authors has prevented me from obtaining their permission to insert their poems, but in every instance due acknowledgment has been made.

No trouble has been spared to obtain every parody worth quoting, to trace every poem to its original source, and to give the Authors’ names, wherever they could be ascertained.

Without the assistance of the Authors themselves it would have been impossible to collect and verify such a mass of information, and my thanks are especially due to the following gentlemen, either for permission to reprint their parodies, or for other literary assistance in the compilation of the work: E. B. Anstee, Cuthbert Bede, (Rev. E. Bradley,) F. W. Crawford, T. F. Dillon-Croker, J. G. Dalton (of Boston, U.S.) F. B. Doveton, James Gordon, F.S.A., J. H. Ingram, J. Brodie-Innes, John Lane, Rev. H. C. Leonard, J. M. Lowry, A. W. Mackenzie, F. B. Perkins (of San Francisco, U.S.) Walter Parke, Edward Simpson, G. R. Sims, T. H. Smith, (of Chicago, U.S.) Edward Walford, M.A., C. H. Waring, and Edmund H. Yates.

Not only has their friendly aid cheered my labors, but it has encouraged me to hope for equally valuable assistance during the publication of the Sixth Volume, which will deal principally with the works of living poets, or with the poems of those who have only recently passed away.

WALTER HAMILTON,

57, Gauden Road, Clapham, S.W.

December, 1888.

THOMAS GRAY

Born in Cornhill, London, December 26, 1716.

Died in Cambridge, July 30, 1771.

The following is a list of the principal poems written by Thomas Gray, upon most of which parodies will be given:

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The Elegy in a Country Churchyard was commenced by Gray in 1742, at the age of 34; it was then laid aside, to be taken up again after the death of his aunt, Mary Antrobus, in 1749. Stoke-Poges Churchyard, where this lady was buried, is the generally accepted scene of the poem, and there the poet was himself afterwards laid to rest.

The “Elegy” was completed at Stoke in June, 1750, a copy, in MS., was sent immediately by Gray to his friend Horace Walpole, and another to Dr. Wharton of Durham, which latter is now in the library of the British Museum. Another MS. is in the library of Pembroke College, Cambridge, but which was really the original MS. cannot be definitely ascertained, as Gray sent out several other copies to his friends. Hence the difficulty there is now in deciding upon the particular version of the “Elegy” which received the last finishing touches of the author, who was known to be most fastidious in the diction, and punctuation of his poems.

On the 12th June, 1750, Gray announced to Walpole that “a thing,” whose beginning he had seen long before, had at last got an end to it, “a merit,” he added, “that most of my writings have wanted and are like to want.” This “thing” was the “Elegy.” Walpole showed it about, copies were taken, and early in 1751 Gray received a letter from the editors of the “Magazine of Magazines” informing him that his “ingenious poem” was in the press, and begging not only his indulgence, but the honour of his correspondence. “I am not at all disposed,” wrote Gray, “to be either so indulgent or so correspondent as they desire.” Gray had not intended to publish the poem, but annoyed at the unscrupulous action of the proprietors of the “Magazine of Magazines,” he determined to forestall them if possible, and requested Walpole to get the “Elegy” printed without the author’s name, “in what form is most convenient to the printer, but on his best paper and character; he must correct the press himself, and print it without

any intervals between the stanzas, because the sense is in some places continued beyond them.” Accordingly, on the 16th of February, 1751, five days after this letter was written, the first edition was printed and published by Robert Dodsley of Pall Mall. In this hasty manner, and without the author’s corrections, was issued from the press one of the most popular poems in the English language.

It also appeared in The Magazine of Magazines (London) for February, 1751, where it was introduced as having been composed “by the very ingenious Mr. Gray, of Peterhouse, Cambridge.” In this it was entitled, Stanzas written in a Country Churchyard, although it was entered in the Index as An Elegy made in a Country Churchyard. This was more modern in its orthography, and contained several variations from the authorised edition published by Dodsley.

There can be little doubt but that this pirated version of the “Elegy” was at first generally preferred to Gray’s authorised edition, in which there were some very obvious errors, due to its hasty production. Certain it is that all subsequent editions far more nearly resembled the pirated version, than that printed by Dodsley at Gray’s request.

Dodsley’s first edition was in quarto, and is now excessively rare. The following is an exact reprint of it, the original orthography and style of printing being in strict accordance with the copy now in the library of the British Museum. The only variation being that the stanzas are numbered for convenience of reference to the foot notes.

AN

ELEGY

WROTE IN A

COUNTRY CHURCH YARD.

London:

Printed for R. Dodsley, in Pall-mall; and sold by M. Cooper in Pater-noster-Row. 1751.

[Price Six-pence.]

ADVERTISEMENT.

The following Poem came into my Hands by accident, if the general Approbation with which this little Piece has been spread, may be call’d by so slight a Term as accident. It is this approbation which makes it unnecessary for me to make any Apology but to the Author: As he cannot but feel some Satisfaction in having pleas’d so many Readers already, I flatter myself he will forgive my communicating that Pleasure to many more.

THE EDITOR.

1. Curfew in later editions.

2. This verse seems to have strong features of similarity with the following in Collins’s “Ode to Evening:”

10. Another version reads;

11. Burns borrowed an idea from this verse in his epitaph on the monument to Robert Fergusson, the poet:—

14. This beautiful comparison of the Gem and the Flower seems borrowed (but with added force and elegance) from Dr. Young:

15. Mr. Edwards (author of the Canons of Criticism), who, though an old bachelor, like Mr. Gray, was far more attentive to the fair sex, endeavoured to supply what he thought a defect in this Poem, by introducing after this the two following stanzas:

18. After this verse, in Mr. Gray’s first MS. of the Poem, were the four following:—

And here the Poem was originally intended to conclude, before the happy idea of the hoary-headed Swain, &c. suggested itself to him.

23.

25. In the M.S. copy of the Elegy bequeathed by Gray to his friend Mason which is now in the possession of Sir William Fraser, Bart., the last two lines of this stanza read:—

After this stanza in the same manuscript there was the following:—

“I rather wonder (says Mr. Mason) that he rejected this stanza, as it completes the account of his whole day; whereas, this Evening scene being omitted, we have only his Morning walk, and his Noontide repose.”

29. Before the Epitaph, Mr. Gray originally inserted a very beautiful stanza, which was printed in some of the first editions, but afterwards omitted, because he thought that it was too long a parenthesis in this place. The lines however are, in themselves, exquisitely fine, and demand preservation.

To some readers they may appear to be an imitation of the following in Collins’s “Dirge in Cymbeline:”

Notwithstanding the want of originality in some detached passages of this “Elegy,” and the obvious truisms of many of its ideas, it is doubtless the finest poem of its kind in the language, not even excepting the beautiful, and perhaps more pathetic, “Elegy on the Death of Sir John Moore.” The best proof of its popularity is to be found in the immense number of Parodies, Imitations, and Translations to which it has given rise. In dealing with the Parodies the chief difficulty has been to decide which were worthy of preservation. To reprint all the Parodies, in full, is out of the question, yet the omission of any important or noteworthy example would destroy the utility of this Collection as a work of reference, especially in the eyes of the numerous admirers of Thomas Gray.

To readers not having access to either of our great public libraries it is the earlier parodies which are the most difficult to refer to, these will therefore be inserted complete, though it must be admitted that the first half dozen will be found rather heavy reading.

These will be followed by selections from the most amusing modern parodies, and a few of the best imitations and translations.

The earliest parody I can trace of Gray’s “Elegy” is one entitled—

AN EVENING CONTEMPLATION IN A COLLEGE. Being a Parody on the ELEGY IN A COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD. By another Gentleman of Cambridge. London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley in Pall-mall; and Sold by M. Cooper in Pater-noster Row. 1753. [Price Sixpence.]

ADVERTISEMENT.

The Author of the excellent Poem on which the following Parody is built, it is hop’d will forgive this innocent Play upon it; which a sincere admiration of its beauties invited the Parodist to attempt: and if it should be thought there is any merit in this Imitation, it must be attributed in a great measure to his working after so fine an Original.

The above is an exact reprint of the very scarce first edition of this parody, which was brought out by the same publisher, and within two years, of Gray’s “Elegy.” It was published in quarto size, and in type and style closely resembled the original “Elegy.”

“An Evening Contemplation in a College” was written by the Rev. John Duncombe, M.A., of Corpus College, Cambridge, who was born in 1730 and died on January 19, 1786. He was the author of several other poems and parodies, neither of which obtained the success of the above, which has been frequently reprinted. It appears at the end of one Dublin edition of Gray’s Poems, in 12mo, 1768, and of another printed by William Sleater in 1775. A pirated quarto edition was published in London by J. Wheble in 1776, and attributed to “An Oxonian,” it was also included in the collection entitled The Oxford Sausage, and in the second volume of The Repository, London, 1777. All these reprints contain numerous verbal alterations from the original.

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The next parody, which bears no date, was probably published only a little later than the above, as it was issued in quarto in the same general style, and by the same firm.

THE NUNNERY. AN ELEGY. In imitation of the ELEGY in a CHURCH-YARD. Son pittore anche io.—Corregio.

London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley, at Tully’s-Head, Pall-Mall. [Price Sixpence.]

This is given from the original quarto; there have been numerous reprints, all containing considerable variations from the above, which it would be alike tedious and unnecessary to enumerate. One version, and perhaps the best known, is to be found in The Repository, Vol. 2, London, 1777.

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The exact dates of the first appearance of this and the following parody are unknown, but they were both included in Vol. 2 of “The Repository; a Select Collection of Fugitive Pieces of Wit and Humour.” London, 1777.

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From The History of the Westminster Election. London, J. Debrett. 1784.

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From The Literary Magazine, and British Review, London, September, 1789.

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Bartholomew (or Bartlemy) Fair, was formerly held in Smithfield on September 3rd, unless that day fell on a Sunday. Of later years it became an intolerable nuisance in the city, the shows were discontinued in 1850, and the Fair was proclaimed for the last time in 1855. A very interesting account of the old customs attending it will be found in Hone’s “Every Day Book.”

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From The Pleasures of Nature; or, the Charms of Rural Life. With other Poems. By David Carey. London: Vernon and Hood. 1803.

(D. Carey also published “Reign of Fancy, with Lyrical Tales,” 1804. “Craig Phadric; Visions of Sensibility, with Legendary Tales,” Printed at Inverness for the Author, 8vo., 1811. Carey was the son of a manufacturer in Arbroath, Forfarshire, where he was born in 1782. He edited The Inverness Journal for five years, and died at Arbroath, October 4th, 1824.)

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From Posthumous Parodies and other Pieces, composed by several of our most celebrated Poets. London. John Miller, 25, Bow Street. 1814.

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The Last of the Lotteries.

(Public Lotteries were abolished by Act of Parliament in 1826, and the last was drawn on October 18, 1826.)

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This Parody was published anonymously in a little work, entitled, “Prison Thoughts,” by a Collegian. London, John Lowndes, 1821. It was afterwards reprinted in “Doings in London, or Day and Night Scenes in the Metropolis,” by George Smeeton, which was published about 1828. In this it is said that the above Parody of Gray’s Elegy was written by a favourite dramatist, but it does not give his name.

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Another parody, with a somewhat similar title, was published, in quarto, in 1790, of which the following is an exact reprint, omitting an advertisement, a list of subscribers, a dedication to Sir Martin Stapylton Bart, and some rather tedious footnotes:—

AN ELEGY. In Imitation of Gray. Written in The King’s Bench Prison. By a Minor. Printed for the Author; and sold by R. Lea, Greek Street, Mdccxc.

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Part of this parody was quoted in Doings in London, 1828; and also in The Mirror, May 28, 1831.

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The following parodies of The Elegy may also be found in early volumes of The Mirror:—

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This parody originally appeared in a publication called Town-Talk, but was afterwards reprinted in a scarce little volume of poems entitled “Plaintive Tales,” by a Comedian. Published by W. Tilley, Chelsea, London, in 1819. This book is now principally sought after by collectors because it has an early illustration by George Cruikshank, on which the name is incorrectly spelt Cruikshanks.

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From “Gimcrackiana, or Fugitive pieces on Manchester Men and Manners.” By Geoffrey Gimcrack. Manchester. 1833.

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From Bentley’s Miscellany. 1843. This parody was afterwards republished, with alterations, and omissions, in The Bentley Ballads.

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(Published during the dreadful Cholera Visitation, when attention was being called to the danger of burials in the crowded churchyards of the City of London.)

Punch. September 15, 1849.

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There was another short parody in Diogenes entitled—

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From Idyls of the Rink, by A. W. Mackenzie. Second Edition. London. Hardwicke and Bogue, 1877.

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Cremorne: An Elegy.

[An application being made for the renewal of the license, it was stated that the proprietor had decided to have the ground built on. The counsel then said nothing remained but to put up a tombstone, and write the epitaph of Cremorne Gardens.]

Cremorne Gardens were closed in 1877. These gardens had had a long and chequered career, and the ground they stood on has since been entirely built over. Elderly people can remember that fifty years ago a certain Count de Berenger started an Institution called “The Stadium,” or British National Arena, in the grounds of Lord Cremorne. Here archery, riding, swimming, and gymnastics were taught, but the venture did not succeed. The lighter, and more frolicsome, entertainments of Cremorne Gardens were tried instead.

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Circuit Elegy. By the late Lord Chelmsford.

On the occasion of a dinner given by the Bar Mess to Lord Justice Bramwell and Mr. Justice Denman, at Maidstone, on July 12, 1881, Mr. Justice Denman rose and remarked that amongst some old papers he had found a MS. by the late Lord Chelmsford, being a parody on Gray’s ‘Elegy;’ he then read it, and afterwards offered it to the Mess.

Mr. Day, Q.C., moved that it be accepted and entered in the Minute Book, and that copies should be printed and sent to the members of the Bar Mess.

The motion was carried unanimously.

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After conferring for some time, the following, it is agreed, shall be the

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DETACHED FRAGMENTS OF PARODIES ON THE “ELEGY.”

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This parody (consisting of thirty-two verses in all) originally appeared in The British Press of September 14, 1812; it was afterwards reprinted in The Spirit of the Public Journals, Volume XVI. 1813.

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This was the first verse of a long parody which appeared in the “Free Lance” a paper published in Manchester, many years ago. A celebrated chop house stood in Newall’s Buildings, and the parody describes its principal frequenters, but the allusions are too local to be of any general interest.

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IMITATIONS OF GRAY’S ELEGY.

Imitations of Gray’s “Elegy” are not only numerous, but are, as a rule, both long and dull. It is not, therefore, advisable to reprint them in this collection, but for the sake of completeness, some of the best must be enumerated.

William Mason, the poet, and biographer of Gray, ventured to write an imitation, entitled “An Elegy in a Churchyard in South Wales.”

Mason said his desire was to describe a day scene, so as to contrast it with the twilight scene of Gray’s “Elegy.”

But Mason’s presumption and self-sufficiency were extreme, not only could he venture to put forth this mawkish elegy, written in a churchyard by day, as a companion-piece to the far-famed twilight scene; but he also had the effrontery to tack a paltry tail-piece to Gray’s exquisite fragment on “Vicissitude,” and even believed himself capable of improving Gray’s epistolary compositions, although Gray was known to be one of the most fastidious, and most correct of writers. Mason’s tampering with Gray’s letters has been repeatedly exposed, and his imitations of Gray’s poetry now rest in merited oblivion. Another author, with almost equal temerity, ventured to publish a

SUPPLEMENT to Gray’s Elegy in a Church Yard.