Volume III

CAMBRIDGE: at the University Press 1907

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE C. F. CLAY, MANAGER. =London=: FETTER LANE, E.C. =Glasgow=: 50, WELLINGTON STREET.

=Leipzig=: F. A. BROCKHAUS. =New York=: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS. =Bombay and Calcutta=: MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.

[_All Rights reserved_]

PREFACE.

The very miscellaneous nature of the contents of this third and last volume of the present edition of Crabbe’s _Poems_ obliges me to trouble the reader with a rather lengthy series of prefatory remarks. Before, however, entering on these, I should like to supplement what was said in the Preface to Vol. 1 with regard to the source of the earliest among the _Juvenilia_ there printed. Since writing that Preface I have at last had an opportunity of examining the whole set of Vols. I-VI (for the years 1770–5) of the elusive _Lady’s Magazine_, of which Vol. I was published by Robinson and Roberts, and the remaining five volumes by Robinson. Curiously enough, the 1773 volume of this _Magazine_ contains, in the February number, a long piece of verse, apparently a prize poem, entitled _An Essay on Hope_; but the six lines quoted by the younger Crabbe are not to be found in this poem any more than in that printed in the October number of the 1772 volume of the _Magazine_. By another coincidence, a poem called _The Bee_, signed “Louisa Broughton,” appears in the April number of the same _Magazine_ for 1774. I may add, that the June number of the same volume contains a poem, in Shenstone’s manner, addressed “To Miss E——r M——,” and signed “G. C., Cambridge, May 2, 1774.” It has an apologetic introductory note, which _might have been_ written by Crabbe.

To turn to the present volume. The _Tales of the Hall_ (Bks. XII-XXII), which occupy its earlier pages are, like the previous _Tales_ contained in Vol. II, printed from the edition of 1823; and the variants are taken from the first edition (1819) and from the “Original MS.” readings given as footnotes in the edition of 1834. The _Posthumous Tales_ are printed from Vol. VIII of the _Poetical Works of Crabbe_ edited by his son (1834). The sources of the variants in the _Posthumous Tales_ will be indicated immediately.

With regard to the remaining contents of the present volume, it may be convenient if I here, in accordance with a promise made in the Preface to Vol. II of the present edition, furnish some account of the Crabbe MSS. now in the possession of the Cambridge University Press, as well as of certain other collections of MSS. of which I have been fortunate enough to be allowed to make use. In each case, I have, for purposes of reference, indicated the marks by which, in a list given at the end of the Bibliography included in the present volume, the previously unpublished pieces by Crabbe, here printed from transcripts of the originals in the several collections, have been distinguished.

The MS. books acquired by the Cambridge University Press (U.P.) are five in number. One of these, half-bound in red, is throughout in Crabbe’s handwriting, and contains, together with fragments of the _Posthumous Tales_ I, III, VI, VII and X, and a version of _Lines written at Warwick_ (p. 428), in each case offering some variants which have been duly noted, _Joseph’s Dream_ (p. 521) and some other pieces now printed for the first time. The writing, partly in pen, partly in pencil, on the first and the last four pages of this volume, has been disregarded, as not sufficiently coherent to warrant an attempt at printing it. A note superscribed “Duchess of Rutland, Oct. 11th, 1824” (perhaps the lines in question were written in the Duchess’s album) states that the verses here entitled _On a View of Barford_ (p. 505) refer to a picture drawn by Miss Bagot of that house, when occupied by Mr and Mrs Mills. This note further states that _An Inscription at Guy’s Cliff_ which Crabbe has marked as “By ——,” and the verses added by him (p. 504) refer to a picture of Guy’s Cliff near Leamington, the property of Mr Bertie Greathead. Another note explains that the verses _On a Drawing of Cadlands_ (p. 518) refer to a picture of Mr Drummond’s seat of that name by Lady Elizabeth Drummond; and that the “drawing by the Hon. Mrs. Smith (Eliza Forrester)” (p. 519) consisted of “a Landscape and other pieces.” This MS. book also contains an earlier copy of the lines entitled _La Femme Jalouse_ (p. 507). The last three stanzas of the poem on a drawing of _Brompton Park Cottage_ (p. 506) are added from the version given in this MS. book. From it are also taken a few readings in the stanzas _For the Drawing of the Lady in the Green Mantle_ (p. 520). From it is also printed the fragment _Joseph and Charles_ (p. 492), with which should be compared Vol. VIII, pp. 63 sq. of the edition of 1834, and indeed the whole tale of _The Family of Love_. It also contains a draft of _The Equal Marriage_ (_Posthumous Tales_, III), with a few variants, noted among those printed at the end of the present volume; also a draft of _Silford Hall_ (_Posthumous Tales_, I), with a considerable number of variants, of which the chief have been noted in the same place. There are also to be found here drafts of _Lines written at Warwick_ (p. 428), and of the lines _On a Drawing of the Elm Tree_ (p. 431), &c., there stated to be by Miss Chilibeen(?), both with variants. Finally, the same MS. book contains the lines which I have entitled _Rest in the Lord_ (p. 523) and the unfinished lines _And He said unto her, “Thy Sins are forgiven”_ (p. 524).

On the fly-leaf of a second Crabbe MS. book in the possession of the Cambridge University Press (U.P.) is written: “This MS. is by the Poet Crabbe and in his autograph. It is one of his Memorandum Books.” This book begins with three pages of almost illegible verse, which appear to contain an earlier draft of a portion of what follows. Then ensues the long MS. entitled _Tracy_, to which is prefixed, in Crabbe’s own handwriting, the date “1 Jan. 1813,” and which is interrupted at intervals by further illegible passages. On pp. “18–19” of this MS. book there is an account, only in part legible, of the beginning of the Lady’s Vision, which is continued in the portion printed in the present volume (from p. 450). The lines beginning “The good are happy,” appear to form no part of _Tracy_, though they have been inserted in the middle of it, and are therefore here printed as a separate piece, to which I have given the title _Conscious Guiltiness_ (p. 498). The verses superscribed _Jane Adair_, which are similarly inserted in the text of _Tracy_, are likewise printed separately (p. 512), as are also those which I have respectively called _Horatio_ (p. 513), _Jacob and Rachel_ (p. 514), _David and Saul_ (p. 515), _Belief and Unbelief_ (p. 499), and _The Task_ (p. 498). Then follows a version of the lines _On receiving from a Lady a Present of a Ring_ (p. 432); then a version of _Villars_ (_Posthumous Tales_, V); then the fragment of a tale, which I have entitled _Susan and her Lovers_ (p. 462), interspersed with some illegible passages; then another fragment of a tale, _Captain Godfrey_ (p. 468); then a further fragment, _The Amours of G[eorge]_, which is obviously an early draft, in a different metre, of a large portion of _The Elder Brother_ (_Tales of the Hall_, Bk. VII); then the _Charade_ (_Modesty_) (p. 516); then a variant of the conclusion of the tale of _Villars_ (see above); then the lines _Tragic Tales, Why?_ a fragment (p. 474). Opening this volume at the other end, we find it to contain prose-sketches of certain of the _Tales_; a criticism of Gibbon and other miscellaneous matter; besides the verses on _Miss Waldron’s Birthday_ (p. 502), and some partially illegible and quite incoherent fragments.

A third, small, MS. book (U.P.), of which the writing is throughout remarkably clear, and which has few variants from the text of the 1834 edition, contains, together with fifteen of the _Posthumous Tales_, _The Funeral of the Squire_, obviously designed as one of this series, and now printed for the first time (p. 489). There is nothing in this book that has not been previously printed except _The Funeral_.

A fourth, small, MS. book (U.P.) contains, together with some fragments of _Tales of the Hall_, Bks. VII and XI, of which the variants have been noted in Vol. II of this edition, and a version of the lines _On the Death of Sir Samuel Romilly_ (p. 439), the stanzas entitled _Matilda_ (p. 516). A number of pages in pencil have been unavoidably disregarded. In the same little book are a few fragmentary lines, hitherto unprinted, that must originally have been intended to form part of the _Tales of the Hall_ (p. 473).

A fifth, also small, MS. book (U.P.) contains, besides a catalogue of Crabbe’s library at Trowbridge, and a few accounts, the two short pieces printed in the present volume under the titles _Momentary Grief_ (p. 507) and _Enigma_ (_Sovereign_) (p. 515). A number of pages at the end of this volume have been cut out.

Through the kind offices of the Vice-Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, Mr W. Aldis Wright, I was allowed to examine a MS. volume in the Trinity Library (T.C.) which bears the following inscription: “This volume, which formerly belonged to Crabbe the poet was given to the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, by Edward FitzGerald, M.A., April, 1871.” The obverse of the volume contains a list of Plants, beginning with _Cryptogamia_. On a fly-leaf are written, in a tremulous hand (probably Crabbe’s), the lines which I have entitled _A Fragment_ (p. 497). Then follow, in Crabbe’s ordinary writing, the lines printed in the present volume under the title of _Poverty and Love_ (_ib._); and towards the end of the book, are, in Crabbe’s handwriting, the lines here called _The Curate’s Progress_ (_ib._). The reverse of this MS. book, which is on the cover very neatly dated September 23, 1793, contains, besides another shorter list of plants and much miscellaneous matter, a scribbled page of verse, from which I was only able to extract the following entire couplet:

“The Sum on Dress by this fair Creature spent Would more than equal Colin’s yearly rent.”

Professor E. Dowden, LL.D., of Trinity College, Dublin, has added to previous obligations conferred on me in connexion with the present edition by allowing me the use of two small books belonging to him, in Crabbe’s handwriting (D.). One of these supplies the complete Tale of _The Deserted Family_, now for the first time printed (pp. 477–488). The other contains drafts of _Posthumous Tales_ VI-XVI and XXII; the more important variants offered by these are inserted in the list at the end of the present volume. From this MS. book are also taken the verses entitled _The Prodigal Going_ (p. 517).

The originals of certain pieces contained in the present volume are to be found in a book belonging to Mrs Mackay, of Trowbridge, which she has with the utmost liberality placed at my service. This interesting portion of Mrs Mackay’s collection (M.) contains a series of proof-engravings of Corbould’s, Westall’s and other illustrations of certain among the earlier editions of Crabbe’s _Poems_. It also includes a draft of a portion of _The Sisters_ (_Tales of the Hall_, Bk. VIII; see Vol. II, and variants, _ib._), and the lines _To Lady Jersey_ (p. 435), in a version, of which the variants have been duly noted. From this book are taken the following poems: the stanzas called by me _The Flowers of the Spring_ (p. 508), of which I have ventured to transpose the last two, and the fragment which I have named _La Belle Dame sans Merci_ (p. 509). Both pieces are here printed for the first time. Mrs Mackay’s collection also contains, written on separate leaves, the blank-verse lines entitled by me _The Passionate Pilgrim_ (p. 496), which are subscribed “Crabbe,” and of which the handwriting in several respects resembles that in Crabbe’s autograph of _Midnight_ (see Vol. I), though less flowing than this; the couplets called by me _Sorrow_ (p. 496), which are not in the handwriting of Crabbe; and, finally, the lines _To the Hon. Mrs Spencer_ (p. 503), which are signed “Geo. Crabbe.”

Mr Buxton-Forman has most generously allowed me to print a series of pieces from his collection of MSS. (B.F.). It includes the verses which are entirely in Crabbe’s handwriting, as is perhaps the signature appended, and which I have called _Hopeless Love_ (p. 510); the fragment _David Jones_ (p. 476) of which the text may be, the title is certainly not, in Crabbe’s hand; and the fragment which I have called _Robert and Catharine_ (p. 475), as to which it seems uncertain whether the text is in Crabbe’s hand. It is manifestly an early draft of _The Cousins_ (_Posthumous Tales_, XXI); but the actual phraseology in the two versions is very rarely the same. The following pieces are also derived from the same collection: those called by me _Union_ (p. 511) and _Revival_ (_ib._), of which latter the third stanza appears in a rather different form on a separate leaf; _Metamorphosis_ (p. 512); and _Contentment_ (p. 493), a fragment of a tale. Mr Buxton-Forman’s Crabbe MSS. also include memoranda for Tales and drafts of parts of _The Will_ (_Posthumous Tales_, XX) and of _Belinda Waters_ (_ib._ XV). In neither case are the variants offered by these drafts of importance.

Finally, the late Duke of Rutland was so kind as to allow several pieces of verse in Crabbe’s own handwriting preserved at Belvoir to be transcribed for insertion in the present edition (B). Some of these, I cannot but think, were transcribed by the Duke’s own hand. Most of them were exhibited at the Crabbe Celebration held at Aldborough in September, 1905, and successfully arranged and organised by Mr Charles Ganz. The _Verses to the Duke of Rutland_ dated Belvoir, August, 1784, were most kindly transcribed for me after the death of the late Duke by his Grace’s Chaplain and Librarian, the Rev. F. W. Knox. Of these pieces, the _Verses written for the Duke of Rutland’s Birthday_ (_January 4, 1817_) (p. 499) and the lines entitled _La Femme Jalouse_ (_Teniers_) (p. 507) are here printed for the first time; to the latter a few variants have been furnished from an earlier copy in one of the MS. books in the possession of the University Press (U.P.). The stanzas For _the Drawing of the Lady in the Green Mantle_ (p. 520), and _Brompton Park Cottage_ (p. 506), are also printed for the first time, from transcripts made by the late Duke of Rutland, or by his Grace’s instructions, from the originals at Belvoir. In the former case the original states the “Fair Artist” who drew the picture to have been Miss Isabella Forrester. In the latter the drawing in question is stated to have been made by Lady Sophia Norman, the cottage having been lent to the Duke, when ill, by Mr Greenwood. In the former case the last three stanzas, and in the latter a few various readings, have been supplied from one of the Crabbe MS. books in the possession of the Cambridge University Press (U.P.). To the lines _From Belvoir Castle_ (p. 389), _Storm and Calm_ (p. 396), and _To Sarah, Countess of Jersey, on her Birthday_ (p. 435), previously printed in the 1834 edition, variants have been supplied from the Duke’s transcripts.

Of the _Miscellaneous Verses previously printed_ reprinted in the present volume the two _Poetical Epistles_ (April, 1780) are, by the kind permission of Mr Buxton-Forman, owner of the MSS., and of Dr W. Robertson Nicoll and Mr T. J. Wise, editors of _Literary Anecdotes of the Nineteenth Century_ (1896), and of Messrs Hodder and Stoughton, reproduced at length from Vol. II of that work. Ten lines from the _Epistle to Mira_ had already been printed in Vol. I (p. 67) from the _Life_ (p. 58) in Vol. I of the 1834 edition.

From this edition also come, with the exception of the last but two and the last, all the remaining shorter pieces already published (some with variants, duly noted, from the University Press and Belvoir MSS., from the MSS. of Mrs Mackay, and from an article entitled _Treasure Trove_ contributed by Miss M. Jourdain to _The Book Monthly_ for May, 1906). This article, of which Miss Jourdain and her publishers (Messrs Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co.) kindly allowed me to make use, consists of pieces printed from transcripts made at Belvoir Castle. In Miss Jourdain’s article is included stanza v of _The Friend in Love_ (p. 437), which is missing in the stanzas given in the _Life_ (1834). A few variants in this version have been duly noted. I may add that between _The World of Dreams_ and _Sir Eustace Grey_ which in metre and otherwise are so closely associated with one another, no actual parallelisms either of sense or of form are noticeable. The exceptions referred to are the following. _The Lines_ (_Edinburgh, August 15, 1822_) (p. 440) are printed, without variants, from a separately printed leaflet in my possession: and the _Lines addressed to the Dowager Duchess of Rutland_ (p. 441) from _The Casket_ (1829), with variants from Miss Jourdain’s article in _The Book Monthly_.

_Of the Poems hitherto unpublished_ a list giving the source of each will be found at the close of the Bibliography in this volume. In the general sequence of these pieces I have so far as possible adopted a chronological order; the whole body of previously unpublished verse has however been divided into two groups—viz. tales and fragments of tales, and lyrical pieces; and, where there was no indication of date, the poems taken from the same collection of MSS. have been kept together.

It remains for me to return my sincere thanks to the possessors of Crabbe MSS. already mentioned, and to others who have in various ways aided me in making this concluding volume of Crabbe’s _Poems_, and therewith the edition as a whole, as complete as possible. I should like, in especial, to thank Professor MORFILL of Oxford for enriching the Bibliography at the close of this volume by enabling us to refer to two works which attest the very curious and significant fact of the interest in Crabbe taken in Russia.

The Bibliography itself has been drawn up by Mr A. T. BARTHOLOMEW, of Peterhouse and the University Library, who has again compiled the list of Variants, and to whom the present volume of this edition, like its predecessors, is throughout indebted for his continuous cooperation. It is a true pleasure to me to have been so zealously and efficiently aided in the performance of my task by a member of my own College.

A. W. WARD.

PETERHOUSE LODGE, CAMBRIDGE. _December 10th, 1906._

CORRIGENDUM, CRABBE’S POEMS, VOL. III.

p. xviii, l. 6 from bottom } p. 414, l. 1 } for _Mother’s_ read _Wife’s_. p. 567, last line }

CONTENTS.

TALES OF THE HALL: PAGE

XII. SIR OWEN DALE 1

XIII. DELAY HAS DANGER 26

XIV. THE NATURAL DEATH OF LOVE 48

XV. GRETNA GREEN 61

XVI. LADY BARBARA; OR, THE GHOST 74

XVII. THE WIDOW 100

XVIII. ELLEN 115

XIX. WILLIAM BAILEY 126

XX. THE CATHEDRAL-WALK 147

XXI. SMUGGLERS AND POACHERS 160

XXII. THE VISIT CONCLUDED 178

POSTHUMOUS TALES

I. SILFORD HALL; OR, THE HAPPY DAY 194

II. THE FAMILY OF LOVE 213

III. THE EQUAL MARRIAGE 241

IV. RACHEL 250

V. VILLARS 255

THE FAREWELL AND RETURN

VI. THE FAREWELL AND RETURN 269

VII. THE SCHOOL-FELLOW 274

VIII. BARNABY, THE SHOPMAN 277

IX. JANE 282

X. THE ANCIENT MANSION 287

XI. THE MERCHANT 293

XII. THE BROTHER BURGESSES 297

XIII. THE DEAN’S LADY 301

XIV. THE WIFE AND WIDOW 306

XV. BELINDA WATERS 311

XVI. THE DEALER AND CLERK 315

XVII. DANVERS AND RAYNER 325

XVIII. THE BOAT RACE 335

XIX. MASTER WILLIAM; OR, LAD’S LOVE 344

XX. THE WILL 351

XXI. THE COUSINS 358

XXII. PREACHING AND PRACTICE 368

MISCELLANEOUS VERSES PREVIOUSLY PRINTED

Poetical Epistles 376 Epistle I 378 Epistle II. To Mira 387

[From Belvoir Castle] 389

The Ladies of the Lake 390

Infancy—A Fragment 391

The Magnet 395

Storm and Calm 396

Satire 398

[The New Samaritan] 399

Belvoir Castle 400

The World of Dreams 403

[His Mother’s Wedding-Ring] 414

[Parham Revisited] 414

Flirtation 415

Lines in Laura’s Album 426

Lines written at Warwick 428

On a drawing of the Elm Tree ... 431

On receiving from a Lady a present of a Ring 432

To a Lady, with some Poetical Extracts 433

To a Lady, on leaving her at Sidmouth 434

To Sarah, Countess of Jersey, on her Birthday 435

To a Lady who desired some verses at parting 436

The Friend in Love 437

[Disillusioned] 438

[Lines] from a discarded Poem 438

On the death of Sir Samuel Romilly 439

Lines 440

[Lines] 441

Lines, addressed to the Dowager Duchess of Rutland 441

FRAGMENTS OF TALES AND MISCELLANEOUS VERSES NOT PREVIOUSLY PRINTED

Tracy 444

[Susan and her Lovers] 462

Captain Godfrey 468

The Amours of G[eorge] 471

[Fragments of Tales of the Hall] 473

Tragic Tales, Why? 474

[Robert and Catharine] 475

David Jones 476

The Deserted Family 477

The Funeral of the Squire 489

Joseph and Charles 492

[Contentment] 493

To His Grace the Duke of Rutland 493

[The Passionate Pilgrim] 496

[Sorrow] 496

[A Fragment] 497

[Poverty and Love] 497

[The Curate’s Progress] 497

[The Task] 498

[Conscious Guiltiness] 498

[Belief and Unbelief] 499

Verses written for the Duke of Rutland’s Birthday 499

Miss Waldron’s Birthday 502

To the Hon. Mrs. Spencer 503

An Inscription at Guy’s Cliff 504

[On a view of] Barford 505

Brompton Park Cottage 506

[Momentary Grief] 507

La Femme Jalouse (Teniers) 507

[The Flowers of the Spring] 508

[La Belle Dame Sans Merci] 509

[Hopeless Love] 510

[Union] 511

[Revival] 511

[Metamorphosis] 512

Jane Adair 512

[Horatio] 513

[Jacob and Rachel] 514

[David and Saul] 515

Enigma 515

Charade 516

[Matilda] 516

The Prodigal Going 517

On a drawing of Cadlands 518

[On] a drawing, by the Hon. Mrs. Smith (Eliza Forrester) 519

For the drawing of the Lady in the Green Mantle 520

Joseph’s Dream 521

[Rest in the Lord!] 523

And He said unto her “Thy sins are forgiven” 524

ERRATA 525

VARIANTS 526

BIBLIOGRAPHY 554

TALES OF THE HALL.