1 10 361 https://www.dickenssearch.com/files/original/Manchester_Museum_[founded_1821]/museum.jpg 2f4c3dd36a97dd343b19445d704ca41f Place Location The location Manchester Venue Where the speech was given Manchester Museum Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Manchester Museum (founded 1821) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context place-manchester-museum Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1821 manchester https://www.dickenssearch.com/files/original/3/Acrostic/1830-31_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_Acrostic.pdf 07a3b45cffddc16d3c4114b63d8673f2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Verse Description An account of the resource <h4>This collection brings together the most complete set of Dickens's verse to date, supplementing the work of existing editions with previously uncollected poems Dickens contributed to albums, or wrote anonymously.</h4> Though such productions receive scant attention from scholars interested in his fiction and journalism, Dickens composed a surprising amount of verse. It was a genre in which he evidently felt much less at home (and financially rewarded) than when writing in prose. However, several poems gained popular favour during his lifetime; that so many were <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Song">written to be set to music</a> indicates the permeable boundary between metered verse functioning as poem or song in the nineteenth century, and may explain why some of Dickens’s poems were more enduringly popular than others. Notably, <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836-05_Pickwick_Papers_The_Ivy_Green">'The Ivy Green'</a> from Pickwick Papers (1837), a story of time’s inexorable passing, was frequently republished in newspapers. Several poems written to young ladies of Dickens’s acquaintance are released on Dickens Search as part of the author’s poetic output for the first time, testifying to the author’s ability to write impromptu poetry and gallantly turn a phrase. Since keeping <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Autograph+Album&collection=&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">autograph albums</a> was a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era, it is possible that further examples of such activity remain to be discovered in various archives and private collections. When writing <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter&collection=3&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">letters</a> to friends, Dickens occasionally included comedic poems for the recipient. Several of these are included. Considering the enormity of Dickens’s correspondence, likely more instances of this sort of poetic humour will result over time. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Epitaph">Epitaphs</a> Dickens wrote for friends and family, whether used or not, are included with Dickens's other verse for the first time. Users can also browse <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Play">verse from Dickens's plays</a>, including songs removed from The Strange Gentleman and Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular! before performance. Care is necessary when verifying the accuracy of these poems, as some are misattributed to Dickens. Widespread reprintings of 'Dickens poems' in nineteenth-century newspapers are insufficient evidence for authorial attribution, owing to the mistakes intentionally or inadvertently made in ascribing authorship. An unusual example of a poem that is and is not by Dickens, the lines of 'Little Nell’s Funeral' are taken, with minimal alterations, from Chapter 72 of The Old Curiosity Shop. An instance of the strikingly lyrical quality of Dickens’s sentimental prose, they were divided into metered, unrhymed verse by M.A.H. for the 1849 collection Echoes of Infant Voices. Because Dickens did not intend for this passage to be structured in verse form, the poem is not included in the poetry collection of Dickens Search. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry-dickens-didnt-write">Read our blog post for more on poetry Dickens didn't write.</a> Occasionally, Dickens will quote a poem by another author, as in his burlesque Is She his Wife? Or, Something Singular! (1836). The character Mr Felix Tapkins launches into a short hunting song beginning 'The wife around her husband throws/Her arms to make him stay'. As William Chappell noted in 1840, this is a well-known variant of 'A Hunting We Will Go' (1777), by Thomas Arne, though he misattributes its composition to Henry Fielding. Previous notable collections of some of Dickens's poetry include The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens (1882) edited by Richard Herne Shepherd and The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903) edited by Frederic G. Kitton. In 2025, we published <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-verse-of-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Verse of Charles Dickens</a> (Edinburgh University Press), which includes an introduction and editorial apparatus for this verse.  Caution has been taken when ascertaining that each poem is indeed by Dickens. Please <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/contact">contact us</a> with any errors, corrections, suggestions, or other poems written by Dickens. 1. The Verse of Charles Dickens. Edited by Lydia Craig and Emily Middleton. Edinburgh University Press, 2025; Robert Butterworth. 'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers.' The Dickensian 516.118.1 (Spring 2022): pp. 43-56; Eva-Charlotta Mebius. 'Dreams of Dying Girls: The Poetry of Thomas J. Ouseley and Charles Dickens.' Dickens Quarterly 34.3 (September 2017): pp. 256-261; Robert C. Hanna. 'Before Boz; The Juvenilia and Early Writings of Charles Dickens, 1820-1833'. Dickens Studies Annual 40 (2009): pp. 231-364. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context verse Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig; Emily Middleton Poem Publication Type E.g. newspaper/serial Autograph Album TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1830-31_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_Acrostic.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Acrostic.' From the autograph album of Maria Beadnell (1830-1831).</a> Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18300101 Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. My life may chequered be with scenes of misery and pain, And’t may be my fate to struggle with adversity in vain: Regardless of misfortunes tho’ howe’er bitter they may be, I shall always have one retrospect, a hallowed one to me, And it will be of that happy time when first I gazed on thee. Blighted hopes, and prospects drear, for me will lose their sting, Endless troubles shall harm not me, when fancy on the wing A lapse of years shall travel o’er, and again before me cast Dreams of happy fleeting moments then for ever past: Not any worldly pleasure has such magic charms for me E’en now, as those short moments spent in company with thee; Life has no charms, no happiness, no pleasures, now for me Like those I feel, when ’tis my lot Maria, to gaze on thee. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'Acrostic' Description An account of the resource From the autograph album of Maria Beadnell (1830-1831). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Charles Dickens Museum, <a href="http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105</a>. Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1830 1831 Type The nature or genre of the resource Poem Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1830-31_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_Acrostic Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'Acrostic.' Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell (1830-31). Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1830-31_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_Acrostic">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1830-31_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_Acrostic</a>. Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. My life may chequered be with scenes of misery and pain, And’t may be my fate to struggle with adversity in vain: Regardless of misfortunes tho’ howe’er bitter they may be, I shall always have one retrospect, a hallowed one to me, And it will be of that happy time when first I gazed on thee. Blighted hopes, and prospects drear, for me will lose their sting, Endless troubles shall harm not me, when fancy on the wing A lapse of years shall travel o’er, and again before me cast Dreams of happy fleeting moments then for ever past: Not any worldly pleasure has such magic charms for me E’en now, as those short moments spent in company with thee; Life has no charms, no happiness, no pleasures, now for me Like those I feel, when ’tis my lot Maria, to gaze on thee. https://www.dickenssearch.com/files/original/12/The_Amusements_of_the_People_[No.1]/1850-03-30-The_Amusements_of_the_People_No1.pdf 9e36a87d2746b891cd20b3245cd40c04 Journalism Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18500330 Publication The title of the newspaper/serial (if applicable) Household Words Publication Type E.g. newspaper/serial Weekly magazine Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. As one half of the world is said not to know how the other half lives, so it maybe affirmed that the upper half of the world neither knows nor greatly cares how the lower half amuses itself. Believing that it does not care, mainly because it does not know, we purpose occasionally recording a few facts on this subject. The general character of the lower class of dramatic amusements is a very significant sign of a people, and a very good test of their intellectual condition. We design to make our readers acquainted in the first place with a few of our experiences under this head in the metropolis. It is probable that nothing will ever root out from among the common people an innate love they have for dramatic entertainment in some form or other. It would be a very doubtful benefit to society, we think, if it could be rooted out. The Polytechnic Institution in Regent Street, where an infinite variety of ingenious models are exhibited and explained, and where lectures comprising a quantity of useful information on many practical subjects are delivered, is a great public bene t and a wonderful place, but we think a people formed entirely in their hours of leisure by Polytechnic Institutions would be an uncomfortable community. We would rather not have to appeal to the generous sympathies of a man of five-and-twenty, in respect of some affliction of which he had had no personal experience, who had passed all his holidays, when a boy, among cranks and cogwheels. We should be more disposed to trust him if he had been brought into occasional contact with a Maid and a Magpie; if he had made one or two diversions into the Forest of Bondy; or had even gone the length of a Christmas Pantomime. There is a range of imagination in most of us, which no amount of steam-engines will satisfy; and which The-great-exhibition-of-the-works-of-industry-of-all-nations, itself, will probably leave unappeased. The lower we go, the more natural it is that the best-relished provision for this should be found in dramatic entertainments; as at once the most obvious, the least troublesome, and the most real, of all escapes out of the literal world. Joe Whelks, of the New Cut, Lambeth, is not much of a reader, has no great store of books, no very commodious room to read in, no very decided inclination to read, and no power at all of presenting vividly before his mind’s eye what he reads about. But, put Joe in the gallery of the Victoria Theatre; show him doors and windows in the scene that will open and shut, and that people can get in and out of; tell him a story with these aids, and by the help of live men and women dressed up, confiding to him their innermost secrets, in voices audible half a mile off; and Joe will unravel a story through all its entanglements, and sit there as long after midnight as you have anything left to show him. Accordingly, the Theatres to which Mr. Whelks resorts, are always full; and whatever changes of fashion the drama knows elsewhere, it is always fashionable in the New Cut. The question, then, might not unnaturally arise, one would suppose, whether Mr. Whelks’s education is at all susceptible of improvement, through the agency of his theatrical tastes. How far it is improved at present, our readers shall judge for themselves. In affording them the means of doing so, we wish to disclaim any grave imputation on those who are concerned in ministering to the dramatic gratification of Mr. Whelks. Heavily taxed, wholly unassisted by the State, deserted by the gentry, and quite unrecognised as a means of public instruction, the higher English Drama has declined. Those who would live to please Mr. Whelks, must please Mr. Whelks to live. It is not the Manager’s province to hold the Mirror up to Nature, but to Mr. Whelks – the only person who acknowledges him. If, in like manner, the actor’s nature, like the dyer’s hand, become subdued to what he works in, the actor can hardly be blamed for it. He grinds hard at his vocation, is often steeped in direful poverty, and lives, at the best, in a little world of mockeries. It is bad enough to give away a great estate six nights a-week, and want a shilling; to preside at imaginary banquets, hungry for a mutton chop; to smack the lips over a tankard of toast and water, and declaim about the mellow produce of the sunny vineyard on the banks of the Rhine; to be a rattling young lover, with the measles at home; and to paint sorrow over, with burnt cork and rouge; without being called upon to despise his vocation too. If he can utter the trash to which he is condemned, with any relish, so much the better for him, Heaven knows; and peace be with him! A few weeks ago, we went to one of Mr. Whelks’s favourite Theatres, to see an attractive Melo-Drama called MAY MORNING, OR THE MYSTERY OF 1715, AND THE MURDER! We had an idea that the former of these titles might refer to the month in which either the Mystery or the Murder happened, but we found it to be the name of the heroine, the pride of Keswick Vale; who was ‘called May Morning’ (after a common custom among the English Peasantry) ‘from her bright eyes and merry laugh.’ Of this young lady, it may be observed, in passing, that she subsequently sustained every possible calamity of human existence, in a white muslin gown with blue tucks; and that she did every conceivable and inconceivable thing with a pistol, that could anyhow be effected by that description of fire-arms. The Theatre was extremely full. The prices of admission were, to the boxes, a shilling; to the pit, sixpence; to the gallery, threepence. The gallery was of enormous dimensions (among the company, in the front row, we observed Mr. Whelks); and overflowing with occupants. It required no close observation of the attentive faces, rising one above another, to the very door in the roof, and squeezed and jammed in, regardless of all discomforts, even there, to impress a stranger with a sense of its being highly desirable to lose no possible chance of effecting any mental improvement in that great audience. The company in the pit were not very clean or sweet-savoured, but there were some goodhumoured young mechanics among them, with their wives. These were generally accompanied by ‘the baby,’ insomuch that the pit was a perfect nursery. No effect made on the stage was so curious, as the looking down on the quiet faces of these babies fast asleep, after looking up at the staring sea of heads in the gallery. There were a good many cold fried soles in the pit, besides; and a variety of at stone bottles, of all portable sizes. The audience in the boxes was of much the same character (babies and fish excepted) as the audience in the pit. A private in the Foot Guards sat in the next box; and a personage who wore pins on his coat instead of buttons, and was in such a damp habit of living as to be quite mouldy, was our nearest neighbour. In several parts of the house we noticed some young pickpockets of our acquaintance; but as they were evidently there as private individuals, and not in their public capacity, we were little disturbed by their presence. For we consider the hours of idleness passed by this class of society as so much gain to society at large; and we do not join in a whimsical sort of lamentation that is generally made over them, when they are found to be unoccupied. As we made these observations the curtain rose, and we were presently in possession of the following particulars. Sir George Elmore, a melancholy Baronet with every appearance of being in that advanced stage of indigestion in which Mr. Morrison’s patients usually are, when they happen to hear, through Mr. Moat, of the surprising effects of his Vegetable Pills, was found to be living in a very large castle, in the society of one round table, two chairs, and Captain George Elmore, ‘his supposed son, the Child of Mystery, and the Man of Crime.’ The Captain, in addition to an undutiful habit of bullying his father on all occasions, was a prey to many vices: foremost among which may be mentioned his desertion of his wife, ‘Estella de Neva, a Spanish lady,’ and his determination unlawfully to possess himself of May Morning; M. M. being then on the eve of marriage to Will Stanmore, a cheerful sailor, with very loose legs. The strongest evidence, at first, of the Captain’s being the Child of Mystery and the Man of Crime was deducible from his boots, which, being very high and wide, and apparently made of sticking-plaister, justified the worst theatrical suspicions to his disadvantage. And indeed he presently turned out as ill as could be desired: getting into May Morning’s Cottage by the window after dark; refusing to ‘unhand’ May Morning when required to do so by that lady; waking May Morning’s only surviving parent, a blind old gentleman with a black ribbon over his eyes, whom we shall call Mr. Stars, as his name was stated in the bill thus ******; and showing himself desperately bent on carrying off May Morning by force of arms. Even this was not the worst of the Captain; for, being foiled in his diabolical purpose – temporarily by means of knives and pistols, providentially caught up and directed at him by May Morning, and finally, for the time being, by the advent of Will Stanmore – he caused one Slink, his adherent, to denounce Will Stanmore as a rebel, and got that cheerful mariner carried off, and shut up in prison. At about the same period of the Captain’s career, there suddenly appeared in his father’s castle, a dark complexioned lady of the name of Manuella, ‘a Zingara Woman from the Pyrenean mountains; the wild wanderer of the heath, and the pronouncer of the prophecy,’ who threw the melancholy baronet, his supposed father, into the greatest confusion by asking him what he had upon his conscience, and by pronouncing mysterious rhymes concerning the Child of Mystery and the Man of Crime, to a low trembling of fiddles. Matters were in this state when the Theatre resounded with applause, and Mr. Whelks fell into a t of unbounded enthusiasm, consequent on the entrance of ‘Michael the Mendicant.’ At first we referred something of the cordiality with which Michael the Mendicant was greeted, to the fact of his being ‘made up’ with an excessively dirty face, which might create a bond of union between himself and a large majority of the audience. But it soon came out that Michael the Mendicant had been hired in old time by Sir George Elmore, to murder his (Sir George Elmore’s) elder brother which he had done; notwithstanding which little affair of honour, Michael was in reality a very good fellow; quite a tender-hearted man; who, on hearing of the Captain’s determination to settle Will Stanmore, cried out, ‘What! more bel-ood!’ and fell flat – overpowered by his nice sense of humanity. In like manner, in describing that small error of judgment into which he had allowed himself to be tempted by money, this gentleman exclaimed, ‘I ster-ruck him down, and fel-ed in er-orror!’ and further he remarked, with honest pride, ‘I have liveder as a beggar a roadersider vaigerant, but no ker-rime since then has stained these hands!’ All these sentiments of the worthy man were hailed with showers of applause; and when, in the excitement of his feelings on one occasion, after a soliloquy, he ‘went off’ on his back, kicking and shuffling along the ground, after the manner of bold spirits in trouble, who object to be taken to the station-house, the cheering was tremendous. And to see how little harm he had done, after all! Sir George Elmore’s elder brother was NOT dead. Not he! He recovered, after this sensitive creature had ‘fel-ed in er-orror,’ and, putting a black ribbon over his eyes to disguise himself, went and lived in a modest retirement with his only child. In short, Mr. Stars was the identical individual! When Will Stanmore turned out to be the wrongful Sir George Elmore's son, instead of the Child of Mystery and Man of Crime, who turned out to be Michael’s son, (a change having been effected, in revenge, by the lady from the Pyrenean Mountains, who became the Wild Wanderer of the Heath, in consequence of the wrongful Sir George Elmore’s perfidy to her and desertion of her), Mr. Stars went up to the Castle, and mentioned to his murdering brother how it was. Mr. Stars said it was all right; he bore no malice; he had kept out of the way, in order that his murdering brother (to whose numerous virtues he was no stranger) might enjoy the property; and now he would propose that they should make it up and dine together. The murdering brother immediately consented, embraced the Wild Wanderer, and it is supposed sent instructions to Doctors’ Commons for a license to marry her. After which, they were all very comfortable indeed. For it is not much to try to murder your brother for the sake of his property, if you only suborn such a delicate assassin as Michael the Mendicant! All this did not tend to the satisfaction of the Child of Mystery and Man of Crime, who was so little pleased by the general happiness, that he shot Will Stanmore, now joyfully out of prison and going to be married directly to May Morning, and carried off the body, and May Morning to boot, to a lone hut. Here, Will Stanmore, laid out for dead at fifteen minutes past twelve, P.M., arose at seventeen minutes past, infinitely fresher than most daisies, and fought two strong men single-handed. However, the Wild Wanderer, arriving with a party of male wild wanderers, who were always at her disposal – and the murdering brother arriving arm-in-arm with Mr. Stars – stopped the combat, confounded the Child of Mystery and Man of Crime, and blessed the lovers. The adventures of ‘RED RIVEN THE BANDIT’ concluded the moral lesson of the evening. But, feeling by this time a little fatigued, and believing that we already discerned in the countenance of Mr. Whelks a sufficient confusion between right and wrong to last him for one night, we retired: the rather as we intended to meet him, shortly, at another place of dramatic entertainment for the people. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'The Amusements of the People' (No.1) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1830-03-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Dickens Journals Online, used by permission. Type The nature or genre of the resource Journalism article Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1850-03-30-The_Amusements_of_the_People_No1 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <div id="dublin-core-source" class="element"> <div class="element-text five columns omega"> Household Words, vol.1, no.1, 30 March 1850, pp. 13-15. Dickens Journals Online, <a href="https://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-i/page-13.html">https://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-i/page-13.html</a>. </div> </div> Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'The Amusements of the People'. Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/journalism/1850-03-30-The_Amusements_of_the_People_No1">https://dickenssearch.com/journalism/1850-03-30-The_Amusements_of_the_People_No1.</a> Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig Description An account of the resource Published in Household Words (30 March 1850) Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. As one half of the world is said not to know how the other half lives, so it maybe affirmed that the upper half of the world neither knows nor greatly cares how the lower half amuses itself. Believing that it does not care, mainly because it does not know, we purpose occasionally recording a few facts on this subject. The general character of the lower class of dramatic amusements is a very significant sign of a people, and a very good test of their intellectual condition. We design to make our readers acquainted in the first place with a few of our experiences under this head in the metropolis. It is probable that nothing will ever root out from among the common people an innate love they have for dramatic entertainment in some form or other. It would be a very doubtful benefit to society, we think, if it could be rooted out. The Polytechnic Institution in Regent Street, where an infinite variety of ingenious models are exhibited and explained, and where lectures comprising a quantity of useful information on many practical subjects are delivered, is a great public bene t and a wonderful place, but we think a people formed entirely in their hours of leisure by Polytechnic Institutions would be an uncomfortable community. We would rather not have to appeal to the generous sympathies of a man of five-and-twenty, in respect of some affliction of which he had had no personal experience, who had passed all his holidays, when a boy, among cranks and cogwheels. We should be more disposed to trust him if he had been brought into occasional contact with a Maid and a Magpie; if he had made one or two diversions into the Forest of Bondy; or had even gone the length of a Christmas Pantomime. There is a range of imagination in most of us, which no amount of steam-engines will satisfy; and which The-great-exhibition-of-the-works-of-industry-of-all-nations, itself, will probably leave unappeased. The lower we go, the more natural it is that the best-relished provision for this should be found in dramatic entertainments; as at once the most obvious, the least troublesome, and the most real, of all escapes out of the literal world. Joe Whelks, of the New Cut, Lambeth, is not much of a reader, has no great store of books, no very commodious room to read in, no very decided inclination to read, and no power at all of presenting vividly before his mind’s eye what he reads about. But, put Joe in the gallery of the Victoria Theatre; show him doors and windows in the scene that will open and shut, and that people can get in and out of; tell him a story with these aids, and by the help of live men and women dressed up, confiding to him their innermost secrets, in voices audible half a mile off; and Joe will unravel a story through all its entanglements, and sit there as long after midnight as you have anything left to show him. Accordingly, the Theatres to which Mr. Whelks resorts, are always full; and whatever changes of fashion the drama knows elsewhere, it is always fashionable in the New Cut. The question, then, might not unnaturally arise, one would suppose, whether Mr. Whelks’s education is at all susceptible of improvement, through the agency of his theatrical tastes. How far it is improved at present, our readers shall judge for themselves. In affording them the means of doing so, we wish to disclaim any grave imputation on those who are concerned in ministering to the dramatic gratification of Mr. Whelks. Heavily taxed, wholly unassisted by the State, deserted by the gentry, and quite unrecognised as a means of public instruction, the higher English Drama has declined. Those who would live to please Mr. Whelks, must please Mr. Whelks to live. It is not the Manager’s province to hold the Mirror up to Nature, but to Mr. Whelks – the only person who acknowledges him. If, in like manner, the actor’s nature, like the dyer’s hand, become subdued to what he works in, the actor can hardly be blamed for it. He grinds hard at his vocation, is often steeped in direful poverty, and lives, at the best, in a little world of mockeries. It is bad enough to give away a great estate six nights a-week, and want a shilling; to preside at imaginary banquets, hungry for a mutton chop; to smack the lips over a tankard of toast and water, and declaim about the mellow produce of the sunny vineyard on the banks of the Rhine; to be a rattling young lover, with the measles at home; and to paint sorrow over, with burnt cork and rouge; without being called upon to despise his vocation too. If he can utter the trash to which he is condemned, with any relish, so much the better for him, Heaven knows; and peace be with him! A few weeks ago, we went to one of Mr. Whelks’s favourite Theatres, to see an attractive Melo-Drama called MAY MORNING, OR THE MYSTERY OF 1715, AND THE MURDER! We had an idea that the former of these titles might refer to the month in which either the Mystery or the Murder happened, but we found it to be the name of the heroine, the pride of Keswick Vale; who was ‘called May Morning’ (after a common custom among the English Peasantry) ‘from her bright eyes and merry laugh.’ Of this young lady, it may be observed, in passing, that she subsequently sustained every possible calamity of human existence, in a white muslin gown with blue tucks; and that she did every conceivable and inconceivable thing with a pistol, that could anyhow be effected by that description of fire-arms. The Theatre was extremely full. The prices of admission were, to the boxes, a shilling; to the pit, sixpence; to the gallery, threepence. The gallery was of enormous dimensions (among the company, in the front row, we observed Mr. Whelks); and overflowing with occupants. It required no close observation of the attentive faces, rising one above another, to the very door in the roof, and squeezed and jammed in, regardless of all discomforts, even there, to impress a stranger with a sense of its being highly desirable to lose no possible chance of effecting any mental improvement in that great audience. The company in the pit were not very clean or sweet-savoured, but there were some goodhumoured young mechanics among them, with their wives. These were generally accompanied by ‘the baby,’ insomuch that the pit was a perfect nursery. No effect made on the stage was so curious, as the looking down on the quiet faces of these babies fast asleep, after looking up at the staring sea of heads in the gallery. There were a good many cold fried soles in the pit, besides; and a variety of at stone bottles, of all portable sizes. The audience in the boxes was of much the same character (babies and fish excepted) as the audience in the pit. A private in the Foot Guards sat in the next box; and a personage who wore pins on his coat instead of buttons, and was in such a damp habit of living as to be quite mouldy, was our nearest neighbour. In several parts of the house we noticed some young pickpockets of our acquaintance; but as they were evidently there as private individuals, and not in their public capacity, we were little disturbed by their presence. For we consider the hours of idleness passed by this class of society as so much gain to society at large; and we do not join in a whimsical sort of lamentation that is generally made over them, when they are found to be unoccupied. As we made these observations the curtain rose, and we were presently in possession of the following particulars. Sir George Elmore, a melancholy Baronet with every appearance of being in that advanced stage of indigestion in which Mr. Morrison’s patients usually are, when they happen to hear, through Mr. Moat, of the surprising effects of his Vegetable Pills, was found to be living in a very large castle, in the society of one round table, two chairs, and Captain George Elmore, ‘his supposed son, the Child of Mystery, and the Man of Crime.’ The Captain, in addition to an undutiful habit of bullying his father on all occasions, was a prey to many vices: foremost among which may be mentioned his desertion of his wife, ‘Estella de Neva, a Spanish lady,’ and his determination unlawfully to possess himself of May Morning; M. M. being then on the eve of marriage to Will Stanmore, a cheerful sailor, with very loose legs. The strongest evidence, at first, of the Captain’s being the Child of Mystery and the Man of Crime was deducible from his boots, which, being very high and wide, and apparently made of sticking-plaister, justified the worst theatrical suspicions to his disadvantage. And indeed he presently turned out as ill as could be desired: getting into May Morning’s Cottage by the window after dark; refusing to ‘unhand’ May Morning when required to do so by that lady; waking May Morning’s only surviving parent, a blind old gentleman with a black ribbon over his eyes, whom we shall call Mr. Stars, as his name was stated in the bill thus ******; and showing himself desperately bent on carrying off May Morning by force of arms. Even this was not the worst of the Captain; for, being foiled in his diabolical purpose – temporarily by means of knives and pistols, providentially caught up and directed at him by May Morning, and finally, for the time being, by the advent of Will Stanmore – he caused one Slink, his adherent, to denounce Will Stanmore as a rebel, and got that cheerful mariner carried off, and shut up in prison. At about the same period of the Captain’s career, there suddenly appeared in his father's castle, a dark complexioned lady of the name of Manuella, ‘a Zingara Woman from the Pyrenean mountains; the wild wanderer of the heath, and the pronouncer of the prophecy,’ who threw the melancholy baronet, his supposed father, into the greatest confusion by asking him what he had upon his conscience, and by pronouncing mysterious rhymes concerning the Child of Mystery and the Man of Crime, to a low trembling of fiddles. Matters were in this state when the Theatre resounded with applause, and Mr. Whelks fell into a t of unbounded enthusiasm, consequent on the entrance of ‘Michael the Mendicant.’ At first we referred something of the cordiality with which Michael the Mendicant was greeted, to the fact of his being ‘made up’ with an excessively dirty face, which might create a bond of union between himself and a large majority of the audience. But it soon came out that Michael the Mendicant had been hired in old time by Sir George Elmore, to murder his (Sir George Elmore’s) elder brother which he had done; notwithstanding which little affair of honour, Michael was in reality a very good fellow; quite a tender-hearted man; who, on hearing of the Captain’s determination to settle Will Stanmore, cried out, ‘What! more bel-ood!’ and fell flat – overpowered by his nice sense of humanity. In like manner, in describing that small error of judgment into which he had allowed himself to be tempted by money, this gentleman exclaimed, ‘I ster-ruck him down, and fel-ed in er-orror!’ and further he remarked, with honest pride, ‘I have liveder as a beggar a roadersider vaigerant, but no ker-rime since then has stained these hands!’ All these sentiments of the worthy man were hailed with showers of applause; and when, in the excitement of his feelings on one occasion, after a soliloquy, he ‘went off’ on his back, kicking and shuffling along the ground, after the manner of bold spirits in trouble, who object to be taken to the station-house, the cheering was tremendous. And to see how little harm he had done, after all! Sir George Elmore’s elder brother was NOT dead. Not he! He recovered, after this sensitive creature had ‘fel-ed in er-orror,’ and, putting a black ribbon over his eyes to disguise himself, went and lived in a modest retirement with his only child. In short, Mr. Stars was the identical individual! When Will Stanmore turned out to be the wrongful Sir George Elmore's son, instead of the Child of Mystery and Man of Crime, who turned out to be Michael’s son, (a change having been effected, in revenge, by the lady from the Pyrenean Mountains, who became the Wild Wanderer of the Heath, in consequence of the wrongful Sir George Elmore’s perfidy to her and desertion of her), Mr. Stars went up to the Castle, and mentioned to his murdering brother how it was. Mr. Stars said it was all right; he bore no malice; he had kept out of the way, in order that his murdering brother (to whose numerous virtues he was no stranger) might enjoy the property; and now he would propose that they should make it up and dine together. The murdering brother immediately consented, embraced the Wild Wanderer, and it is supposed sent instructions to Doctors’ Commons for a license to marry her. After which, they were all very comfortable indeed. For it is not much to try to murder your brother for the sake of his property, if you only suborn such a delicate assassin as Michael the Mendicant! All this did not tend to the satisfaction of the Child of Mystery and Man of Crime, who was so little pleased by the general happiness, that he shot Will Stanmore, now joyfully out of prison and going to be married directly to May Morning, and carried off the body, and May Morning to boot, to a lone hut. Here, Will Stanmore, laid out for dead at fifteen minutes past twelve, P.M., arose at seventeen minutes past, infinitely fresher than most daisies, and fought two strong men single-handed. However, the Wild Wanderer, arriving with a party of male wild wanderers, who were always at her disposal – and the murdering brother arriving arm-in-arm with Mr. Stars – stopped the combat, confounded the Child of Mystery and Man of Crime, and blessed the lovers. The adventures of ‘RED RIVEN THE BANDIT’ concluded the moral lesson of the evening. But, feeling by this time a little fatigued, and believing that we already discerned in the countenance of Mr. Whelks a sufficient confusion between right and wrong to last him for one night, we retired: the rather as we intended to meet him, shortly, at another place of dramatic entertainment for the people. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Verse Description An account of the resource <h4>This collection brings together the most complete set of Dickens's verse to date, supplementing the work of existing editions with previously uncollected poems Dickens contributed to albums, or wrote anonymously.</h4> Though such productions receive scant attention from scholars interested in his fiction and journalism, Dickens composed a surprising amount of verse. It was a genre in which he evidently felt much less at home (and financially rewarded) than when writing in prose. However, several poems gained popular favour during his lifetime; that so many were <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Song">written to be set to music</a> indicates the permeable boundary between metered verse functioning as poem or song in the nineteenth century, and may explain why some of Dickens’s poems were more enduringly popular than others. Notably, <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836-05_Pickwick_Papers_The_Ivy_Green">'The Ivy Green'</a> from Pickwick Papers (1837), a story of time’s inexorable passing, was frequently republished in newspapers. Several poems written to young ladies of Dickens’s acquaintance are released on Dickens Search as part of the author’s poetic output for the first time, testifying to the author’s ability to write impromptu poetry and gallantly turn a phrase. Since keeping <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Autograph+Album&collection=&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">autograph albums</a> was a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era, it is possible that further examples of such activity remain to be discovered in various archives and private collections. When writing <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter&collection=3&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">letters</a> to friends, Dickens occasionally included comedic poems for the recipient. Several of these are included. Considering the enormity of Dickens’s correspondence, likely more instances of this sort of poetic humour will result over time. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Epitaph">Epitaphs</a> Dickens wrote for friends and family, whether used or not, are included with Dickens's other verse for the first time. Users can also browse <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Play">verse from Dickens's plays</a>, including songs removed from The Strange Gentleman and Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular! before performance. Care is necessary when verifying the accuracy of these poems, as some are misattributed to Dickens. Widespread reprintings of 'Dickens poems' in nineteenth-century newspapers are insufficient evidence for authorial attribution, owing to the mistakes intentionally or inadvertently made in ascribing authorship. An unusual example of a poem that is and is not by Dickens, the lines of 'Little Nell’s Funeral' are taken, with minimal alterations, from Chapter 72 of The Old Curiosity Shop. An instance of the strikingly lyrical quality of Dickens’s sentimental prose, they were divided into metered, unrhymed verse by M.A.H. for the 1849 collection Echoes of Infant Voices. Because Dickens did not intend for this passage to be structured in verse form, the poem is not included in the poetry collection of Dickens Search. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry-dickens-didnt-write">Read our blog post for more on poetry Dickens didn't write.</a> Occasionally, Dickens will quote a poem by another author, as in his burlesque Is She his Wife? Or, Something Singular! (1836). The character Mr Felix Tapkins launches into a short hunting song beginning 'The wife around her husband throws/Her arms to make him stay'. As William Chappell noted in 1840, this is a well-known variant of 'A Hunting We Will Go' (1777), by Thomas Arne, though he misattributes its composition to Henry Fielding. Previous notable collections of some of Dickens's poetry include The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens (1882) edited by Richard Herne Shepherd and The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903) edited by Frederic G. Kitton. In 2025, we published <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-verse-of-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Verse of Charles Dickens</a> (Edinburgh University Press), which includes an introduction and editorial apparatus for this verse.  Caution has been taken when ascertaining that each poem is indeed by Dickens. Please <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/contact">contact us</a> with any errors, corrections, suggestions, or other poems written by Dickens. 1. The Verse of Charles Dickens. Edited by Lydia Craig and Emily Middleton. Edinburgh University Press, 2025; Robert Butterworth. 'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers.' The Dickensian 516.118.1 (Spring 2022): pp. 43-56; Eva-Charlotta Mebius. 'Dreams of Dying Girls: The Poetry of Thomas J. Ouseley and Charles Dickens.' Dickens Quarterly 34.3 (September 2017): pp. 256-261; Robert C. Hanna. 'Before Boz; The Juvenilia and Early Writings of Charles Dickens, 1820-1833'. Dickens Studies Annual 40 (2009): pp. 231-364. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context verse Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig; Emily Middleton Poem Publication Type E.g. newspaper/serial Autograph Album TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1831_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_Lodgings_To_Let.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Lodgings To Let.' Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell (1831).</a> Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18310101 Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. Lodgings here! A charming place, The Owner’s such a lovely face The Neighbours too seem very pretty Lively, sprightly, gay, and witty Of all the spots that I could find This is the place to suit my mind. Then I will say sans hesitation This place shall be my habitation This charming spot my home shall be While dear “Maria” keeps the key, I’ll settle here, no more I’ll roam But make this place my happy home. A great advantage too will be, I shall keep such good company, So good that I fear my composing Will be considered very prosing Still I’m most proud amongst these pickings To rank the humblest name. – Charles Dickens. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'Lodgings To Let' Description An account of the resource From the autograph album of Maria Beadnell (c. 1831). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Charles Dickens Museum, <a href="http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105</a>. Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1831 Type The nature or genre of the resource Poem Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1831_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_Lodgings_To_Let Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'Lodgings To Let.' Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell (1831). Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_Lodgings_To_Let">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_Lodgings_To_Let</a>. Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. Lodgings here! A charming place, The Owner’s such a lovely face The Neighbours too seem very pretty Lively, sprightly, gay, and witty Of all the spots that I could find This is the place to suit my mind. Then I will say sans hesitation This place shall be my habitation This charming spot my home shall be While dear “Maria” keeps the key, I’ll settle here, no more I’ll roam But make this place my happy home. A great advantage too will be, I shall keep such good company, So good that I fear my composing Will be considered very prosing Still I’m most proud amongst these pickings To rank the humblest name. – Charles Dickens. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Verse Description An account of the resource <h4>This collection brings together the most complete set of Dickens's verse to date, supplementing the work of existing editions with previously uncollected poems Dickens contributed to albums, or wrote anonymously.</h4> Though such productions receive scant attention from scholars interested in his fiction and journalism, Dickens composed a surprising amount of verse. It was a genre in which he evidently felt much less at home (and financially rewarded) than when writing in prose. However, several poems gained popular favour during his lifetime; that so many were <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Song">written to be set to music</a> indicates the permeable boundary between metered verse functioning as poem or song in the nineteenth century, and may explain why some of Dickens’s poems were more enduringly popular than others. Notably, <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836-05_Pickwick_Papers_The_Ivy_Green">'The Ivy Green'</a> from Pickwick Papers (1837), a story of time’s inexorable passing, was frequently republished in newspapers. Several poems written to young ladies of Dickens’s acquaintance are released on Dickens Search as part of the author’s poetic output for the first time, testifying to the author’s ability to write impromptu poetry and gallantly turn a phrase. Since keeping <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Autograph+Album&collection=&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">autograph albums</a> was a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era, it is possible that further examples of such activity remain to be discovered in various archives and private collections. When writing <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter&collection=3&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">letters</a> to friends, Dickens occasionally included comedic poems for the recipient. Several of these are included. Considering the enormity of Dickens’s correspondence, likely more instances of this sort of poetic humour will result over time. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Epitaph">Epitaphs</a> Dickens wrote for friends and family, whether used or not, are included with Dickens's other verse for the first time. Users can also browse <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Play">verse from Dickens's plays</a>, including songs removed from The Strange Gentleman and Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular! before performance. Care is necessary when verifying the accuracy of these poems, as some are misattributed to Dickens. Widespread reprintings of 'Dickens poems' in nineteenth-century newspapers are insufficient evidence for authorial attribution, owing to the mistakes intentionally or inadvertently made in ascribing authorship. An unusual example of a poem that is and is not by Dickens, the lines of 'Little Nell’s Funeral' are taken, with minimal alterations, from Chapter 72 of The Old Curiosity Shop. An instance of the strikingly lyrical quality of Dickens’s sentimental prose, they were divided into metered, unrhymed verse by M.A.H. for the 1849 collection Echoes of Infant Voices. Because Dickens did not intend for this passage to be structured in verse form, the poem is not included in the poetry collection of Dickens Search. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry-dickens-didnt-write">Read our blog post for more on poetry Dickens didn't write.</a> Occasionally, Dickens will quote a poem by another author, as in his burlesque Is She his Wife? Or, Something Singular! (1836). The character Mr Felix Tapkins launches into a short hunting song beginning 'The wife around her husband throws/Her arms to make him stay'. As William Chappell noted in 1840, this is a well-known variant of 'A Hunting We Will Go' (1777), by Thomas Arne, though he misattributes its composition to Henry Fielding. Previous notable collections of some of Dickens's poetry include The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens (1882) edited by Richard Herne Shepherd and The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903) edited by Frederic G. Kitton. In 2025, we published <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-verse-of-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Verse of Charles Dickens</a> (Edinburgh University Press), which includes an introduction and editorial apparatus for this verse.  Caution has been taken when ascertaining that each poem is indeed by Dickens. Please <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/contact">contact us</a> with any errors, corrections, suggestions, or other poems written by Dickens. 1. The Verse of Charles Dickens. Edited by Lydia Craig and Emily Middleton. Edinburgh University Press, 2025; Robert Butterworth. 'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers.' The Dickensian 516.118.1 (Spring 2022): pp. 43-56; Eva-Charlotta Mebius. 'Dreams of Dying Girls: The Poetry of Thomas J. Ouseley and Charles Dickens.' Dickens Quarterly 34.3 (September 2017): pp. 256-261; Robert C. Hanna. 'Before Boz; The Juvenilia and Early Writings of Charles Dickens, 1820-1833'. Dickens Studies Annual 40 (2009): pp. 231-364. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context verse Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig; Emily Middleton Poem Publication Type E.g. newspaper/serial Manuscript TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1831_The_Bill_of_Fare.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dickens, Charles. 'The Bill of Fare.' Manuscript (1831).</a> Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18310101 Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. As the great rage just now is imitation, 'Mong high-born and low, throughout the whole Nation, I trust 'twill excuse the few following lines, Of which I'll say nothing, but that these poor rhymes, As you might expect, in degenerate days Like these, are entitled to no share of praise Because they are novel, – the ground work at least, Is a copy from Goldsmith's ever famed Feast. "And a bad one it is too," – you'll say, I fear, But let me entreat you, don't be too severe. – If, in a fair face, 'twill elicit a smile, If one single moment 'twill serve to beguile, – I shall think on it with great satisfaction, Et cet'ra, – and so forth: – now then to action! Without further preface to waste the time in We'll set to at once, – If you please we'll begin. We'll say a small party to Dinner are met, And the guests are themselves about to be eat; Without saying Grace, – (I own I'm a sinner, –) We'll endeavor to see what we've for dinner. Mr. Beadnell's a good fine sirloin of beef, Though to see him cut up would cause no small grief; And then Mrs. Beadnell, I think I may name, As being an excellent Rib of the same. The Miss B's are next, who it must be confessed Are two nice little Ducks; and very well dressed. William Moule's of a trifle, a trifling dish; Mr. Leigh we all know is a very great fish; Mrs. Leigh a Curry, smart, hot and biting, Although a dish that is always inviting. For cooking our meat we utensils won't lack So Miss Leigh shall be called a fine roasting Jack, A thing of great use, when we dine or we sup, A patent one too – never wants winding up. Mr Moule's a bottle of excellent Port; Mrs. Moule of Champagne, – good humor's her forte; The Miss M's of Snipe are a brace, if you please, And Joe is a very fine flavored Dutch-Cheese; Mrs. Lloyd and her spouse are a nice side dish, – (Some type of their most happy state I must wish To produce; – let me see, I've found out one soon) Of Honey and sweets in the form of a Moon; Arthur Beetham, – this dish has cost me some pains, Is a tongue with a well made garnish of brains; M'Namara, I think must by the same rule Be a dish of excellent gooseberry-fool; And Charles Dickens, who in our Feast plays a part, Is a young Summer Cabbage, without any heart; – Not that he's heartless, but because, as folks say, He lost his a twelve month ago from last May. Now let us suppose that the dinner is done, And the guests have roll'd on the floor one by one: – I don't mean to say that they're at the completion, Trying the fam'd city cure for repletion. Nor do I by any means raise up the question Whether they owe their deaths to indigestion. We'll say they're all dead; it's a terrible sight But I'll dry my tears, and their Epitaphs write. Here lies Mr. Beadnell, beyond contradiction, An excellent man, and a good politician; His opinions were always sound and sincere, Come here! ye Reformers, o'er him drop a tear: Come here, and with me weep at his sudden end, Ye who're to ballot and freedom a friend. Come here, all of ye who to him ever listened, Praise on rare quality – he was consistent; And if any one can say so much for you We'll try to write on you an epitaph too. He was most hospitable, friendly and kind; An enemy, I'm sure, he's not left behind; And if he be fairly, and all in all ta'en, "We never shall look upon his like again." Here lies Mrs. Beadnell, whose conduct through life, As a mother, a woman, a friend, a wife, I shall think, while I possess recollection, Can be summ'd up in one word – PERFECTION. Her faults I'd tell you beyond any doubt, But for this plain reason, – I ne'er found them out: Her character from my own knowledge I tell, For when she was living she was, I then knew her well. It chances to've been by the fates brought about, That she was the means of first bringing me out: – All my thanks for that and her kindness since then I'd vainly endeavor to tell with my pen: I think what I'd say, – I feel it, that's better, Or I'd scorn to write of these lines one letter. Excuse me, dear reader, for pause now I must; Here two charming Sisters lie low in the dust. – But why should I pause? do they want my poor aid To tell of their virtues while with us they stayed? Can a few words from me add a hundredth part To the regret felt for them in every heart? No, no! 't is impossible; still I must try, To speak of them here, for I can't pass them by. And first then for Anne I'll my banner unfurl – A truly delightful and sweet-tempered girl, And, what's very odd, and will add to her fame, Is this one plain fact, – she was always the same. She was witty, clever, – you liked what she said; Without being blue, she was very well read. Her favourite Author, or else I'm a fibber, And have been deceived, was the famed Colley Cibber. I don't think dear reader 'twill interest you, But still, if you please, keep that quite entre nous. I grow tedious, so of her I'll not din more, – Oh! – She sometimes drest her hair a la Chinois. Ladies, if you want this fashion to follow, And don't know where you the pattern can borrow, Don't look in "the fashions" 'mong bows and wreathings, You'll find it on any antique China Tea things. But who have we here? alas what sight is this? Has her spirit flown back to regions of bliss? Has Maria left this World of trouble and care Because for us she was too good and too fair? Has Heaven in its jealousy ta'en her away As a blessing too great for us children of clay? All ye fair and beautiful, sadly come here, And Springs early flowers strew over her bier; Fit emblems are they of life's short fleeting day, Fit tributes are they to her mem'ry to pay; For though blooming now, they will soon be decayed, They blossom one moment, then wither and fade. I linger here now, and I hardly know why, I've no wish, no hope now, but this one – to die. My bright hopes and fond wishes were all centered here Their brightness has vanished, they're now dark and drear. The impression that Mem'ry engraves in my heart Is all I have left, and with that I ne'er part. I might tell you much, and I say't with a sigh, Of the grace of her form, and the glance of her eye; I might tell of happy days now pass'd away, Which I fondly hoped then would never decay, But 'twere useless – I should only those times deplore, I know that again I can see them no more. But what's this small form that she folds to her breast, As if it had only laid down there to rest? Poor thing is it living? – Ah no! it's dead quite; It is a small dog, liver-colored and white. Dear me, now I see – 'tis the little dog that Would eat mutton chops if you cut off the fat! So very happy was its situation An object it was of such admiration, That I'd resign all my natural graces, E'en now, if I could with "Daphne" change places. William Moule next alas with the dead lieth here, And his loss we shall ne'er recover I fear; No more shall the young men, among whom am I, Regard with great envy his elegant tie; No more shall the girls, with anxiety wait, At a party, and mourn that he came in late; Though it was not his fault, it must be confess'd We knew very well that he lived "in the West" The purlieus of Tottenham Court Road!!! And men of great fashion now never go out, Till long after twelve when engaged to a rout. No more shall he waltz an hour with one lady, To the delight of tut'ress, Miss A. B. Who no more shall turn to me, and whispering low, Say "Doesn't he waltz well? I taught him, you know." No more shall he curse all the City Folks' Balls, And vow that he never will honor their halls; No more from "the London", will he be turned back Because of his wearing a Kerchief of black; No more when we sit round the blithe supper table Shall he hush to silence the prattling Babel, By, – When a lady, a speech made upon her – Rising to return us her thanks for the honor. No more – but I think I'll use that phrase no more, I feel that I can't this loss enough deplore. Momus and Bacchus, both be merry no more, Your friend Mr. Leigh lies dead on the floor. Weep both of ye, each hide your sorrowful head, For he isn't dead drunk, but he's really dead. We shall never again see his good humored face, We shall never again much admire the grace With which he would drink off his bottle of wine, Or with which he'd ask you next Sunday to dine. We shall never again laugh aloud at his fun, We shall never in turn amuse him with a pun. In his Will I hope as a Legacy that He's left me that elegant, pretty dress hat, The shape, make, and color of which were so rare; And which on all extra occasions he'd wear. I really do his loss most deeply regret, As the kindest best temper'd man, I e'er met. I'm as hale and as hearty as any one here So I'll help to carry him to his new bier. Mrs. Leigh's life, alas, has come to an end: – But I can't speak of her, I fear to offend; I don't think the truth need her feelings much gall, But if I can't tell it I won't write at all. If 'twere not for the lesson that I've been taught I'd have painted her as in justice I ought; I'd have said she was friendly, good hearted, kind, Her wit I'd have praised and intelligent mind; 'Bout scandal, or spreading reports without heed, Of course I'd say nothing, how could I indeed? Because if I did I should certainly lie, And my remarks here, doubtless, would not apply. So as I fear either to praise or to blame, I will not her faults or her virtues here name. And Mary Anne Leigh's death I much regret too, Though the greatest tormentor that I e'er knew; Whenever she met you, at morn, noon or night To tease and torment you, was her chief delight; To each glance or smile she'd a meaning apply, On every flirtation she kept a sharp eye. Though – tender feelings I trust I'm not hurting – She ne'er herself much objected to flirting. A singular fact. She to each little secret always held the candle, And I think she liked a small bit of scandal. I think, too, that she used to dress her hair well, Although Arthur said, – but that tale I won't tell. In short though she was so terribly teasing So pretty she looked, her ways were so pleasing, That when she had finished I used to remain Half fearing, half hoping, to be teased again. Here lies – Mr. Moule, at whose plentiful board We often have sat, and where, with one accord, Mirth, pleasure, good humor and capital Wine, Seem'd always to meet when one went there to dine. To his friends he was always good-humored and kind And a much better host 'twould be hard to find. If he for an instant his good humor missed I've heard it would be at a rubber of whist; At least I've sometimes heard his Partners say so; Though of course I myself this fact cannot know. His hospitality deserved great credit; Indeed I much wish all men did inherit That merit from him; I'm sure it is needed, That some should prize it as highly as he did. I think his opinions were not always quite So kind, or so just as they should be of right. However that question I'll not travel though, 'Twould not I think become me so to do. Some others in this point like him we may see, So I will say requiescat in pace. Mrs. Moule alas lieth here with the dead, Her good temper vanish'd, her light spirits fled; I'd say much of her but all knew her too well, To leave any thing new for me here to tell, So I'll only say, – in thus speaking of her I'm sure all she e'er knew will concur – If kindness and temper as virtues are held She never by any one yet was excelled. Louisa Moule's next, – I can't better call her Than the same pattern, – N.B. a size smaller. Here lies Fanny Moule, of whom't may be said, That romance or sentiment quite turned her head. Her chief pleasure was, but I cannot tell why To sit by herself in a corner and sigh. You might talk for an hour to her thinking she heard, And find out at last she had not heard a word; She'd start turn her head, – the case was a hard one, – And say with a sigh, "Dear! I beg your pardon." Whether this arose from love, doubt, hesitation, Or whether indeed, 'twas all affectation, I will not by my own decision abide, I'll leave it to others the point to decide; Thus much though, I will say, – I think it is droll, That one who so pleasing might be on the whole, Should take so much trouble, – it must be a toil, – All her charms and graces entirely to spoil. Here lies honest Joe, and I'm sure when I say That he'd a good heart, there's no one will say nay, The themes, of all others, on which he would doat Were splendid gold lace and a flaming red Coat; His mind always ran on battles and slaughters, Guards, Bands, Kettle-drums and splendid Head Quarters. I've heard that the best bate to catch a young girl Is a red coat and a mustachio's curl; Bait your hook with but this, and Joe would soon bite Hint at it, he'd talk on from morning to night. In portraits of Soldiers he spent all his hoard; You talked of a penknife – he thought of a sword. Inspecting accounts he ne'er could get through His mind would revert to some former review. He ne'er made a bill out, smaller or larger But he thought he was then mounting his charger. He ne'er to the counting house trudged in a heat But he thought of forced marches and a retreat And ne'er from the play to his home went again But trembling he thought of the roll call at TEN. But fallen at last is this "gay young deceiver," A prey to Death and a bad Scarlet fever. Here lies Mrs. Lloyd, I'm sorry to say That she too from us is so soon snatched away; That her fate is most hard it can't be denied, When we think how recently she was a bride. That she became one is no source of surprise, For if all that's charming in critical eyes Is likely to finish a dull single life, I'm sure she ought t’ve been long since a wife Though we lament one so pleasing, so witty, And though her death we may think a great pitty I really myself do quite envy her fate, And I wish when with Death I've my tête à tête, He'd do me the favor to take me away When my prospects here were bright, blooming and gay, When I'm quite happy, ere with sorrows jaded, I wish for my grave, when my hopes are faded, – When I might be certain of leaving behind Those who would ne'er cease to bear me in mind She's gone and who shall now those sweet ballads sing Which still in my ears so delightfully ring? "We met," "Friends depart" – I those sweet sounds retain, And I feel I shall never forget them again. And down here Mr. Lloyd's remains lie beside Those of his so recently blooming young bride, I'm sorry he's dead, for I knew him to be, Good humored, most honest, kind hearted and free. That he was consistent, I ne'er had a doubt, Although scandal said, and 'twas whisper'd about, That when he last Summer from Paris came home (I think 'twas his marriage induced him to roam) He his principles changed, – so runs the story, Threw off the Whigs, and became a staunch Tory. But be that as it may, I think it's but fair, To say that I know he enjoyed the fresh air. And is Arthur Beetham for the first time hush'd? And has he returned to his original dust? Has he gone the way of all flesh with the rest In spite of the great care he took of his Chest! The reason assigned by Mr. A. B. for constantly wearing his coat buttoned up to his chin, was his extreme anxiety to preserve his chest from cold. At our snug coteries will he never make one? Will he never again gladden us with his fun? Poor fellow! I fear, now he's laid in the earth, That of our amusements we'll all find a dearth; And yet he'd his faults, – to speak without joking, He had a knack of being very provoking; So much so that several times t' other day I devoutly, heartily, wished him away; But after I'd done so, my conscience me smote And here perhaps a couple of lines I may quote Missing his mirth and agreeable vein, I directly wished we had him back again. And does M'Namara with the dead recline? Poor Francis, his waistcoats were wond'rously fine; He certainly was an elegant fellow, His coats were well made, his gloves a bright yellow; Florists shall hold up his Pall by the corners, Morgan a celebrated glove maker and Watkins a celebrated Tailor shall be his chief mourners. Last, here's Charles Dickens, who's now gone for ever; It's clear that he thought himself very clever; To all his friends' faults – it almost makes me weep, He was wide awake – to his own fast asleep. Though blame he deserved for such wilful blindness He had one merit – he ne'er forgot kindness. Perhaps I don't do right to call that a merit Which each human creature's bound to inherit; But when old Death claimed the debt that he owed him He felt most grateful to all that was showed him, His faults, and there were not in number few, As all his acquaintance extremely well knew, Emanated – to speak of him in good part – I think rather more from the head than the heart. His death wasn't sudden, he had long been ill, Slowly he languished and got worse, until, No mortal means could the poor young fellow save, And a sweet pair of eyes sent him home to his grave. Finis Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'The Bill of Fare' Description An account of the resource MS in Maria Beadnell's hand (1831). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Beinecke Library, Yale University. Manuscript. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1831 Type The nature or genre of the resource Poem Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1831_The_Bill_of_Fare Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'Lodgings To Let.' Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell (1831). Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831_The_Bill_of_Fare">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831_The_Bill_of_Fare</a>. Relation A related resource Parody of Oliver Goldsmith's 'Retaliation: A Poem'. Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. As the great rage just now is imitation, 'Mong high-born & low, throughout the whole Nation, I trust 'twill excuse the few following lines, Of which I'll say nothing, but that these poor rhymes, As you might expect, in degenerate days Like these, are entitled to no share of praise Because they are novel, – the ground work at least, Is a copy from Goldsmith's ever famed Feast. "And a bad one it is too," – you'll say, I fear, But let me entreat you, don't be too severe. – If, in a fair face, 'twill elicit a smile, If one single moment 'twill serve to beguile, – I shall think on it with great satisfaction, Et cet'ra, – & so forth: – now then to action! Without further preface to waste the time in We'll set to at once, – If you please we'll begin. We'll say a small party to Dinner are met, And the guests are themselves about to be eat; Without saying Grace, – (I own I'm a sinner, –) We'll endeavor to see what we've for dinner. Mr. Beadnell's a good fine sirloin of beef, Though to see him cut up would cause no small grief; And then Mrs. Beadnell, I think I may name, As being an excellent Rib of the same. The Miss B's are next, who it must be confessed Are two nice little Ducks; and very well dressed. William Moule's of a trifle, a trifling dish; Mr. Leigh we all know is a very great fish; Mrs. Leigh a Curry, smart, hot & biting, Although a dish that is always inviting. For cooking our meat we utensils won't lack So Miss Leigh shall be called a fine roasting Jack, A thing of great use, when we dine or we sup, A patent one too – never wants winding up. Mr Moule's a bottle of excellent Port; Mrs. Moule of Champagne, – good humor's her forte; The Miss M's of Snipe are a brace, if you please, And Joe is a very fine flavored Dutch-Cheese; Mrs. Lloyd & her spouse are a nice side dish, – (Some type of their most happy state I must wish To produce; – let me see, I've found out one soon) Of Honey & sweets in the form of a Moon; Arthur Beetham, – this dish has cost me some pains, Is a tongue with a well made garnish of brains; M'Namara, I think must by the same rule Be a dish of excellent gooseberry-fool; And Charles Dickens, who in our Feast plays a part, Is a young Summer Cabbage, without any heart; – Not that he's heartless, but because, as folks say, He lost his a twelve month ago from last May. Now let us suppose that the dinner is done, And the guests have roll'd on the floor one by one: – I don't mean to say that they're at the completion, Trying the fam'd city cure for repletion. Nor do I by any means raise up the question Whether they owe their deaths to indigestion. We'll say they're all dead; it's a terrible sight But I'll dry my tears, and their Epitaphs write. Here lies Mr. Beadnell, beyond contradiction, An excellent man, and a good politician; His opinions were always sound and sincere, Come here! ye Reformers, o'er him drop a tear: Come here, and with me weep at his sudden end, Ye who're to ballot & freedom a friend. Come here, all of ye who to him ever listened, Praise on rare quality – he was consistent; And if any one can say so much for you We'll try to write on you an epitaph too. He was most hospitable, friendly & kind; An enemy, I'm sure, he's not left behind; And if he be fairly, and all in all ta'en, "We never shall look upon his like again." Here lies Mrs. Beadnell, whose conduct through life, As a mother, a woman, a friend, a wife, I shall think, while I possess recollection, Can be summ'd up in one word – PERFECTION. Her faults I'd tell you beyond any doubt, But for this plain reason, – I ne'er found them out: Her character from my own knowledge I tell, For when she was living she was, I then knew her well. It chances to've been by the fates brought about, That she was the means of first bringing me out: – All my thanks for that & her kindness since then I'd vainly endeavor to tell with my pen: I think what I'd say, – I feel it, that's better, Or I'd scorn to write of these lines one letter. Excuse me, dear reader, for pause now I must; Here two charming Sisters lie low in the dust. – But why should I pause? do they want my poor aid To tell of their virtues while with us they stayed? Can a few words from me add a hundredth part To the regret felt for them in every heart? No, no! 't is impossible; still I must try, To speak of them here, for I can't pass them by. And first then for Anne I'll my banner unfurl – A truly delightful and sweet tempered girl, And, what's very odd, and will add to her fame, Is this one plain fact, – she was always the same. She was witty, clever, – you liked what she said; Without being blue, she was very well read. Her favourite Author, or else I'm a fibber, And have been deceived, was a famed Colley Cibber. I don't think dear reader 'twill interest you, But still, if you please, keep that quite entre nous. I grow tedious, so of her I'll not din more, – Oh! – She sometimes drest her hair a la Chinois. Ladies, if you want this fashion to follow, And don't know where you the pattern can borrow, Don't look in "the fashions" 'mong bows & wreathings, You'll find it on any antique China Tea things. But who have we here? alas what sight is this? Has her spirit flown back to regions of bliss? Has Maria left this World of trouble & care Because for us she was too good & too fair? Has Heaven in its jealousy ta'en her away As a blessing too great for us children of clay? All ye fair & beautiful, sadly come here, And Springs early flowers strew over her bier; Fit emblems are they of life's short fleeting day, Fit tributes are they to her mem'ry to pay; For though blooming now, they will soon be decayed, They blossom one moment, then wither and fade. I linger here now, and I hardly know why, I've no wish, no hope now, but this one – to die. My bright hopes & fond wishes were all centered here Their brightness has vanished, they're now dark & drear. The impression that Mem'ry engraves in my heart Is all I have left, and with that I ne'er part. I might tell you much, & I say't with a sigh, Of the grace of her form, & the glance of her eye; I might tell of happy days now pass'd away, Which I fondly hoped then would never decay, But 'twere useless – I should only those times deplore,  I know that again I can see them no more. But what's this small form that she folds to her breast, As if it had only laid down there to rest? Poor thing is it living? – Ah no! it's dead quite; It is a small dog, liver-colored & white. Dear me, now I see – 'tis the little dog that Would eat mutton chops if you cut off the fat! So very happy was its situation An object it was of such admiration, That I'd resign all my natural graces, E'en now, if I could with "Daphne" change places. William Moule next alas with the dead lieth here, And his loss we shall ne'er recover I fear; No more shall the young men, among whom am I, Regard with great envy his elegant tie; No more shall the girls, with anxiety wait, At a party, and mourn that he came in late; Though it was not his fault, it must be confess'd We knew very well that he lived "in the West"<a href="#fn1" id="ref1">1</a> And men of great fashion now never go out, Till long after twelve when engaged to a rout. No more shall he waltz an hour with one lady, To the delight of tut'ress, Miss A. B. Who no more shall turn to me, & whispering low, Say "Doesn't he waltz well? I taught him, you know." No more shall he curse all the City Folks' Balls, And vow that he never will honor their halls; No more from "the London", will he be turned back Because of his wearing a Kerchief of black; No more when we sit round the blithe supper table Shall he hush to silence the prattling Babel, By, – When a lady, a speech made upon her – Rising to return us her thanks for the honor. No more – but I think I'll use that phrase no more, I feel that I can't this loss enough deplore. Momus & Bacchus, both be merry no more, Your friend Mr. Leigh lies dead on the floor. Weep both of ye, each hide your sorrowful head, For he isn't dead drunk, but he's really dead. We shall never again see his good humored face, We shall never again much admire the grace With which he would drink off his bottle of wine, Or with which he'd ask you next Sunday to dine. We shall never again laugh aloud at his fun,  We shall never in turn amuse him with a pun. In his Will I hope as a Legacy that He's left me that elegant, pretty dress hat, The shape, make, & color of which were so rare; And which on all extra occasions he'd wear. I really do his loss most deeply regret, As the kindest best temper'd man, I e'er met. I'm as hale and as hearty as any one here So I'll help to carry him to his new bier. Mrs. Leigh's life, alas, has come to an end: – But I can't speak of her, I fear to offend; I don't think the truth need her feelings much gall, But if I can't tell it I won't write at all. If 'twere not for the lesson that I've been taught I'd have painted her as in justice I ought; I'd have said she was friendly, good hearted, kind, Her wit I'd have praised and intelligent mind; 'Bout scandal, or spreading reports without heed, Of course I'd say nothing, how could I indeed? Because if I did I should certainly lie, And my remarks here, doubtless, would not apply. So as I fear either to praise or to blame, I will not her faults or her virtues here name. And Mary Anne Leigh's death I much regret too, Though the greatest tormentor that I e'er knew; Whenever she met you, at morn, noon or night To tease & torment you, was her chief delight; To each glance or smile she'd a meaning apply, On every flirtation she kept a sharp eye. Though – tender feelings I trust I'm not hurting – She ne'er herself much objected to flirting.<a href="#fn2" id="ref2">2</a> She to each little secret always held the candle, And I think she liked a small bit of scandal. I think, too, that she used to dress her hair well, Although Arthur said, – but that tale I won't tell. In short though she was so terribly teasing So pretty she looked, her ways were so pleasing, That when she had finished I used to remain Half fearing, half hoping, to be teased again. Here lies – Mr. Moule, at whose plentiful board We often have sat, and where, with one accord, Mirth, pleasure, good humor & capital Wine, Seem'd always to meet when one went there to dine. To his friends he was always good-humored and kind And a much better host 'twould be hard to find. If he for an instant his good humor missed I've heard it would be at a rubber of whist; At least I've sometimes heard his Partners say so; Though of course I myself this fact cannot know. His hospitality deserved great credit; Indeed I much wish all men did inherit That merit from him; I'm sure it is needed, That some should prize it as highly as he did. I think his opinions were not always quite So kind, or so just as they should be of right. However that question I'll not travel though, 'Twould not I think become me so to do. Some others in this point like him we may see, So I will say requiescat in pace. Mrs. Moule alas lieth here with the dead, Her good temper vanish'd, her light spirits fled; I'd say much of her but all knew her too well, To leave any thing new for me here to tell, So I'll only say, – in thus speaking of her I'm sure all she e'er knew will concur – If kindness & temper as virtues are held She never by any one yet was excelled. Louisa Moule's next, – I can't better call her Than the same pattern, – N.B. a size smaller. Here lies Fanny Moule, of whom't may be said, That romance or sentiment quite turned her head. Her chief pleasure was, but I cannot tell why To sit by herself in a corner and sigh. You might talk for an hour to her thinking she heard, And find out at last she had not heard a word; She'd start turn her head, – the case was a hard one, – And say with a sigh, "Dear! I beg your pardon." Whether this arose from love, doubt, hesitation, Or whether indeed, 'twas all affectation, I will not by my own decision abide, I'll leave it to others the point to decide; Thus much though, I will say, – I think it is droll, That one who so pleasing might be on the whole, Should take so much trouble, – it must be a toil, – All her charms and graces entirely to spoil. Here lies honest Joe, & I'm sure when I say That he'd a good heart, there's no one will say nay, The themes, of all others, on which he would doat Were splendid gold lace & a flaming red Coat; His mind always ran on battles & slaughters, Guards, Bands, Kettle-drums & splendid Head Quarters. I've heard that the best bate to catch a young girl Is a red coat & a mustachio's curl; Bait your hook with but this, & Joe would soon bite Hint at it, he'd talk on from morning to night. In portraits of Soldiers he spent all his hoard; You talked of a penknife – he thought of a sword. Inspecting accounts he ne'er could get through His mind would revert to some former review. He ne'er made a bill out, smaller or larger But he thought he was then mounting his charger. He ne'er to the counting house trudged in a heat But he thought of forced marches & a retreat And ne'er from the play to his home went again But trembling he thought of the roll call at TEN. But fallen at last is this "gay young deceiver," A prey to Death and a bad Scarlet fever. Here lies Mrs. Lloyd, I'm sorry to say That she too from us is so soon snatched away; That her fate is most hard it can't be denied, When we think how recently she was a bride. That she became one is no source of surprise, For if all that's charming in critical eyes Is likely to finish a dull single life, I'm sure she ought t’ve been long since a wife Though we lament one so pleasing, so witty, And though her death we may think a great pitty I really myself do quite envy her fate, And I wish when with Death I've my tête à tête, He'd do me the favor to take me away When my prospects here were bright, blooming & gay, When I'm quite happy, ere with sorrows jaded, I wish for my grave, when my hopes are faded, – When I might be certain of leaving behind Those who would ne'er cease to bear me in mind She's gone and who shall now those sweet ballads sing Which still in my ears so delightfully ring? "We met," "Friends depart" – I those sweet sounds retain, And I feel I shall never forget them again. And down here Mr. Lloyd's remains lie beside Those of his so recently blooming young bride, I'm sorry he's dead, for I knew him to be, Good humored, most honest, kind hearted & free. That he was consistent, I ne'er had a doubt, Although scandal said, & 'twas whisper'd about, That when he last Summer from Paris came home (I think 'twas his marriage induced him to roam) He his principles changed, – so runs the story, Threw off the Whigs, & became a staunch Tory. But be that as it may, I think it's but fair, To say that I know he enjoyed the fresh air. And is Arthur Beetham for the first time hush'd? And has he returned to his original dust? Has he gone the way of all flesh with the rest In spite of the great care he took of his Chest!<a href="#fn3" id="ref3">3</a> At our snug coteries will he never make one? Will he never again gladden us with his fun? Poor fellow! I fear, now he's laid in the earth, That of our amusements we'll all find a dearth; And yet he'd his fault, – to speak without joking, He had a knack of being very provoking; So much so that several times t' other day I devoutly, heartily, wished him away; But after I'd done so, my conscience me smote And here perhaps a couple of lines I may quote Missing his mirth and agreeable vein, I directly wished we had him back again. And does M'Namara with the dead recline? Poor Francis, his waistcoats were wond'rously fine; He certainly was an elegant fellow, His coats were well made, his gloves a bright yellow; Florists shall hold up his Pall by the corners, Morgan<a href="#fn4" id="ref4">4</a> & Watkins<a href="#fn5" id="ref5">5</a> shall be his chief mourners. Last, here's Charles Dickens, who's now gone for ever; It's clear that he thought himself very clever; To all his friends' faults – it almost makes me weep, He was wide awake – to his own fast asleep. Though blame he deserved for such wilful blindness He had one merit – he ne'er forgot kindness. Perhaps I don't do right to call that a merit Which each human creature's bound to inherit; But when old Death claimed the debt that he owed him He felt most grateful to all that was showed him, His faults, & there were not in number few, As all his acquaintance extremely well knew, Emanated – to speak of him in good part – I think rather more from the head than the heart. His death wasn't sudden, he had long been ill, Slowly he languished & got worse, until, No mortal means could the poor young fellow save, And a sweet pair of eyes sent him home to his grave.  Finis 1. The purlieus of Tottenham Court Road!!!<a href="#ref1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩</a> 2. A singular fact.<a href="#ref2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.">↩</a> 3. The reason assigned by Mr. A. B. for constantly wearing his coat buttoned up to his chin, was his extreme anxiety to preserve his chest from cold.<a href="#ref3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.">↩</a> 4. a celebrated glove maker<a href="#ref4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text.">↩</a> 5. a celebrated Tailor<a href="#ref5" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text.">↩</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Verse Description An account of the resource <h4>This collection brings together the most complete set of Dickens's verse to date, supplementing the work of existing editions with previously uncollected poems Dickens contributed to albums, or wrote anonymously.</h4> Though such productions receive scant attention from scholars interested in his fiction and journalism, Dickens composed a surprising amount of verse. It was a genre in which he evidently felt much less at home (and financially rewarded) than when writing in prose. However, several poems gained popular favour during his lifetime; that so many were <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Song">written to be set to music</a> indicates the permeable boundary between metered verse functioning as poem or song in the nineteenth century, and may explain why some of Dickens’s poems were more enduringly popular than others. Notably, <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836-05_Pickwick_Papers_The_Ivy_Green">'The Ivy Green'</a> from Pickwick Papers (1837), a story of time’s inexorable passing, was frequently republished in newspapers. Several poems written to young ladies of Dickens’s acquaintance are released on Dickens Search as part of the author’s poetic output for the first time, testifying to the author’s ability to write impromptu poetry and gallantly turn a phrase. Since keeping <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Autograph+Album&collection=&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">autograph albums</a> was a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era, it is possible that further examples of such activity remain to be discovered in various archives and private collections. When writing <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter&collection=3&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">letters</a> to friends, Dickens occasionally included comedic poems for the recipient. Several of these are included. Considering the enormity of Dickens’s correspondence, likely more instances of this sort of poetic humour will result over time. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Epitaph">Epitaphs</a> Dickens wrote for friends and family, whether used or not, are included with Dickens's other verse for the first time. Users can also browse <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Play">verse from Dickens's plays</a>, including songs removed from The Strange Gentleman and Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular! before performance. Care is necessary when verifying the accuracy of these poems, as some are misattributed to Dickens. Widespread reprintings of 'Dickens poems' in nineteenth-century newspapers are insufficient evidence for authorial attribution, owing to the mistakes intentionally or inadvertently made in ascribing authorship. An unusual example of a poem that is and is not by Dickens, the lines of 'Little Nell’s Funeral' are taken, with minimal alterations, from Chapter 72 of The Old Curiosity Shop. An instance of the strikingly lyrical quality of Dickens’s sentimental prose, they were divided into metered, unrhymed verse by M.A.H. for the 1849 collection Echoes of Infant Voices. Because Dickens did not intend for this passage to be structured in verse form, the poem is not included in the poetry collection of Dickens Search. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry-dickens-didnt-write">Read our blog post for more on poetry Dickens didn't write.</a> Occasionally, Dickens will quote a poem by another author, as in his burlesque Is She his Wife? Or, Something Singular! (1836). The character Mr Felix Tapkins launches into a short hunting song beginning 'The wife around her husband throws/Her arms to make him stay'. As William Chappell noted in 1840, this is a well-known variant of 'A Hunting We Will Go' (1777), by Thomas Arne, though he misattributes its composition to Henry Fielding. Previous notable collections of some of Dickens's poetry include The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens (1882) edited by Richard Herne Shepherd and The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903) edited by Frederic G. Kitton. In 2025, we published <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-verse-of-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Verse of Charles Dickens</a> (Edinburgh University Press), which includes an introduction and editorial apparatus for this verse.  Caution has been taken when ascertaining that each poem is indeed by Dickens. Please <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/contact">contact us</a> with any errors, corrections, suggestions, or other poems written by Dickens. 1. The Verse of Charles Dickens. Edited by Lydia Craig and Emily Middleton. Edinburgh University Press, 2025; Robert Butterworth. 'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers.' The Dickensian 516.118.1 (Spring 2022): pp. 43-56; Eva-Charlotta Mebius. 'Dreams of Dying Girls: The Poetry of Thomas J. Ouseley and Charles Dickens.' Dickens Quarterly 34.3 (September 2017): pp. 256-261; Robert C. Hanna. 'Before Boz; The Juvenilia and Early Writings of Charles Dickens, 1820-1833'. Dickens Studies Annual 40 (2009): pp. 231-364. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context verse Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig; Emily Middleton Poem Publication Type E.g. newspaper/serial Autograph Album Pseudonym The name under which the item was published C.D. TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Devils_Walk.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'The Devil's Walk.' From the autograph album of Maria Beadnell (1830-1831).</a> Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18311101 Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. While sitting one day in his well aired halls Of which we've often heard tell, The Devil determined to make a few calls To see if his Friends were well: So he put on his best and himself he drest In his long tailed coat of green And he buttoned it tightly o'er his chest Lest his own tail should be seen. To the House of Lords the Devil went straight To learn the state of Nations, And with mixed feelings of pleasure and hate He heard their deliberations; For he saw a few Nobles rich and proud War 'gainst the people and Prince, And he thought with pain tho' he laughed aloud Of the Wars in Heav'n long since. Then to Irving's Chapel he gaily hied To hear the new "unknown tongue" And he welcomed with great pleasure and pride The Maniacs he'd got among: For it always fills the Devil with glee To hear Religion mocked, And it pleases him very much to see Sights at which others are shocked. Then away to Bristol he quickly walked T'indulge in meditation, And he gaily laughed as he slowly stalked O'er a scene of desolation. He honored the hand that had done the deed Vowed that an "Anti" he'd be Then back to London he started with speed His old friend Sir Charles to see. The Devil was walking up Regent Street As some other great folks do When a very old friend he chanced to meet Whom it pleased him much to view. Let those describe his great pleasure who can On the Member for Preston spying He took off his hat for he envied the Man His pow'r of deceit and lying. As the Devil was passing I won't say where But not far from Lombard Street, He saw at a window a face so fair That it made him start and weep For a passing thought rushed over his brain Of days no beyond recal, He thought of the bright angelic train And of his own wretched fall. A dim cold feeling of what he had been Wrung from him a bitter groan He gazed and thought of the Angels who sing Surrounding Heaven's High Throne. He thought of the time, – the happy time, – When among them he had been And he madly cursed the impious crime Which plunged him in pain and sin. This feeling vanished as soon as it came And he turned to walk away But sought for this Album to find the name Of her he'd seen that day. He cast his eye swiftly o'er these few lines To drive away thoughts so sad And he said with glee "they're worthy of me For I'm sure they're devilish bad." Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'The Devil's Walk' Description An account of the resource From the autograph album of Maria Beadnell (November 1831). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Charles Dickens Museum, <a href="http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105</a>. Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1831-11 Type The nature or genre of the resource Poem Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Devils_Walk Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'The Devil's Walk.' Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell (November 1831). Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Devils_Walk">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/</a><a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Devils_Walk">1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Devils_Walk</a>. Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. While sitting one day in his well aired halls Of which we've often heard tell, The Devil determined to make a few calls To see if his Friends were well: So he put on his best and himself he drest In his long tailed coat of green And he buttoned it tightly o'er his chest Lest his own tail should be seen. To the House of Lords the Devil went straight To learn the state of Nations, And with mixed feelings of pleasure and hate He heard their deliberations; For he saw a few Nobles rich and proud War 'gainst the people and Prince, And he thought with pain tho' he laughed aloud Of the Wars in Heav'n long since. Then to Irving's Chapel he gaily hied To hear the new "unknown tongue" And he welcomed with great pleasure and pride The Maniacs he'd got among: For it always fills the Devil with glee To hear Religion mocked, And it pleases him very much to see Sights at which others are shocked. Then away to Bristol he quickly walked T'indulge in meditation, And he gaily laughed as he slowly stalked O'er a scene of desolation. He honored the hand that had done the deed Vowed that an "Anti" he'd be Then back to London he started with speed His old friend Sir Charles to see. The Devil was walking up Regent Street As some other great folks do When a very old friend he chanced to meet Whom it pleased him much to view. Let those describe his great pleasure who can On the Member for Preston spying He took off his hat for he envied the Man His pow'r of deceit and lying. As the Devil was passing I won't say where But not far from Lombard Street, He saw at a window a face so fair That it made him start and weep For a passing thought rushed over his brain Of days no beyond recal, He thought of the bright angelic train And of his own wretched fall. A dim cold feeling of what he had been Wrung from him a bitter groan He gazed and thought of the Angels who sing Surrounding Heaven's High Throne. He thought of the time, – the happy time, – When among them he had been And he madly cursed the impious crime Which plunged him in pain and sin. This feeling vanished as soon as it came And he turned to walk away But sought for this Album to find the name Of her he'd seen that day. He cast his eye swiftly o'er these few lines To drive away thoughts so sad And he said with glee "they're worthy of me For I'm sure they're devilish bad." Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Verse Description An account of the resource <h4>This collection brings together the most complete set of Dickens's verse to date, supplementing the work of existing editions with previously uncollected poems Dickens contributed to albums, or wrote anonymously.</h4> Though such productions receive scant attention from scholars interested in his fiction and journalism, Dickens composed a surprising amount of verse. It was a genre in which he evidently felt much less at home (and financially rewarded) than when writing in prose. However, several poems gained popular favour during his lifetime; that so many were <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Song">written to be set to music</a> indicates the permeable boundary between metered verse functioning as poem or song in the nineteenth century, and may explain why some of Dickens’s poems were more enduringly popular than others. Notably, <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836-05_Pickwick_Papers_The_Ivy_Green">'The Ivy Green'</a> from Pickwick Papers (1837), a story of time’s inexorable passing, was frequently republished in newspapers. Several poems written to young ladies of Dickens’s acquaintance are released on Dickens Search as part of the author’s poetic output for the first time, testifying to the author’s ability to write impromptu poetry and gallantly turn a phrase. Since keeping <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Autograph+Album&collection=&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">autograph albums</a> was a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era, it is possible that further examples of such activity remain to be discovered in various archives and private collections. When writing <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter&collection=3&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">letters</a> to friends, Dickens occasionally included comedic poems for the recipient. Several of these are included. Considering the enormity of Dickens’s correspondence, likely more instances of this sort of poetic humour will result over time. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Epitaph">Epitaphs</a> Dickens wrote for friends and family, whether used or not, are included with Dickens's other verse for the first time. Users can also browse <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Play">verse from Dickens's plays</a>, including songs removed from The Strange Gentleman and Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular! before performance. Care is necessary when verifying the accuracy of these poems, as some are misattributed to Dickens. Widespread reprintings of 'Dickens poems' in nineteenth-century newspapers are insufficient evidence for authorial attribution, owing to the mistakes intentionally or inadvertently made in ascribing authorship. An unusual example of a poem that is and is not by Dickens, the lines of 'Little Nell’s Funeral' are taken, with minimal alterations, from Chapter 72 of The Old Curiosity Shop. An instance of the strikingly lyrical quality of Dickens’s sentimental prose, they were divided into metered, unrhymed verse by M.A.H. for the 1849 collection Echoes of Infant Voices. Because Dickens did not intend for this passage to be structured in verse form, the poem is not included in the poetry collection of Dickens Search. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry-dickens-didnt-write">Read our blog post for more on poetry Dickens didn't write.</a> Occasionally, Dickens will quote a poem by another author, as in his burlesque Is She his Wife? Or, Something Singular! (1836). The character Mr Felix Tapkins launches into a short hunting song beginning 'The wife around her husband throws/Her arms to make him stay'. As William Chappell noted in 1840, this is a well-known variant of 'A Hunting We Will Go' (1777), by Thomas Arne, though he misattributes its composition to Henry Fielding. Previous notable collections of some of Dickens's poetry include The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens (1882) edited by Richard Herne Shepherd and The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903) edited by Frederic G. Kitton. In 2025, we published <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-verse-of-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Verse of Charles Dickens</a> (Edinburgh University Press), which includes an introduction and editorial apparatus for this verse.  Caution has been taken when ascertaining that each poem is indeed by Dickens. Please <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/contact">contact us</a> with any errors, corrections, suggestions, or other poems written by Dickens. 1. The Verse of Charles Dickens. Edited by Lydia Craig and Emily Middleton. Edinburgh University Press, 2025; Robert Butterworth. 'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers.' The Dickensian 516.118.1 (Spring 2022): pp. 43-56; Eva-Charlotta Mebius. 'Dreams of Dying Girls: The Poetry of Thomas J. Ouseley and Charles Dickens.' Dickens Quarterly 34.3 (September 2017): pp. 256-261; Robert C. Hanna. 'Before Boz; The Juvenilia and Early Writings of Charles Dickens, 1820-1833'. Dickens Studies Annual 40 (2009): pp. 231-364. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context verse Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig; Emily Middleton Poem Publication The title of the newspaper/serial (if applicable) Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell. Pseudonym The name under which the item was published C.D. TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Churchyard.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'The Churchyard.' Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell (November 1831). </a> Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18311101 Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. How many tales these Tombstones tell Of life's e'er changing scene, Of by gone days spent ill or well By those who gay have been; Who have been happy, rich, and vain, Who now are dead, and cold, Who've gone alike to dust again The rich, poor, young, and old. Here lies a Man who lived to save Of Wordly gain a store; – It has not saved him from the grave He ne'er can use it more. A marble Tablet tells his fame To those who shall survive; – It tells us not who blest his name While he remained alive. Now mark the contrast. – Near this mound Lie the remains of one With whom no fault was ever found, Who spotless as the sun Fulfilled his Christian duties here, Both cheerfully and well But no rich velvet deck'd his Bier No lines his virtues tell. And is it so! Is man so vain, To riches such a Slave As to take his pride of gold, and gain E'en with him to the Grave! – Why let him take it. – Let him see If 'twill avail him there, Where we must all one dread day be, Where all Men must appear. Here sleeps a girl. – A year ago Bright, beautiful, and gay, Peaceful, and happy, then but Oh! How soon such days decay: They changed to times of shame and brief And this the mournful token Death was to her a glad relief For her young heart was broken. Aye – broken. – Let the Roué smile And let him boldly speed Exulting in his shameless guile To boast of such a deed. Let him boast gaily among men – They'll hear without surprize And let him boast if he can when On his death bed he lies. In truth it is a manly deed With woman's heart to trifle, To break the bent and bruised reed And with neglect to stifle The feelings man himself has raised Which he can't prize too high. – To leave the object he has praised Alone to weep and die. But why pursue this painful theme Or longer here remain The dead sleep sound; they cannot dream Of sorrow, grief, or pain. From Man to GOD they will appeal Where no man can dissemble There will the wronged for justice kneel There will the Tyrant tremble. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'The Churchyard' Description An account of the resource From the autograph album of Maria Beadnell (November 1831). Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Charles Dickens Museum, <a href="http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105</a>. Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1831-11 Type The nature or genre of the resource Poem Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Churchyard Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'The Churchyard.' Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell (November 1831). Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Churchyard">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Churchyard</a><a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Devils_Walk"></a>. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. How many tales these Tombstones tell Of life's e'er changing scene, Of by gone days spent ill or well By those who gay have been; Who have been happy, rich, and vain, Who now are dead, and cold, Who've gone alike to dust again The rich, poor, young, and old. Here lies a Man who lived to save Of Wordly gain a store; – It has not saved him from the grave He ne'er can use it more. A marble Tablet tells his fame To those who shall survive; – It tells us not who blest his name While he remained alive. Now mark the contrast. – Near this mound Lie the remains of one With whom no fault was ever found, Who spotless as the sun Fulfilled his Christian duties here, Both cheerfully and well But no rich velvet deck'd his Bier No lines his virtues tell. And is it so! Is man so vain, To riches such a Slave As to take his pride of gold, and gain E'en with him to the Grave! – Why let him take it. – Let him see If 'twill avail him there, Where we must all one dread day be, Where all Men must appear. Here sleeps a girl. – A year ago Bright, beautiful, and gay, Peaceful, and happy, then but Oh! How soon such days decay: They changed to times of shame and brief And this the mournful token Death was to her a glad relief For her young heart was broken. Aye – broken. – Let the Roué smile And let him boldly speed Exulting in his shameless guile To boast of such a deed. Let him boast gaily among men – They'll hear without surprize And let him boast if he can when On his death bed he lies. In truth it is a manly deed With woman's heart to trifle, To break the bent and bruised reed And with neglect to stifle The feelings man himself has raised Which he can't prize too high. – To leave the object he has praised Alone to weep and die. But why pursue this painful theme Or longer here remain The dead sleep sound; they cannot dream Of sorrow, grief, or pain. From Man to GOD they will appeal Where no man can dissemble There will the wronged for justice kneel There will the Tyrant tremble. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Verse Description An account of the resource <h4>This collection brings together the most complete set of Dickens's verse to date, supplementing the work of existing editions with previously uncollected poems Dickens contributed to albums, or wrote anonymously.</h4> Though such productions receive scant attention from scholars interested in his fiction and journalism, Dickens composed a surprising amount of verse. It was a genre in which he evidently felt much less at home (and financially rewarded) than when writing in prose. However, several poems gained popular favour during his lifetime; that so many were <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Song">written to be set to music</a> indicates the permeable boundary between metered verse functioning as poem or song in the nineteenth century, and may explain why some of Dickens’s poems were more enduringly popular than others. Notably, <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836-05_Pickwick_Papers_The_Ivy_Green">'The Ivy Green'</a> from Pickwick Papers (1837), a story of time’s inexorable passing, was frequently republished in newspapers. Several poems written to young ladies of Dickens’s acquaintance are released on Dickens Search as part of the author’s poetic output for the first time, testifying to the author’s ability to write impromptu poetry and gallantly turn a phrase. Since keeping <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Autograph+Album&collection=&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">autograph albums</a> was a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era, it is possible that further examples of such activity remain to be discovered in various archives and private collections. When writing <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter&collection=3&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">letters</a> to friends, Dickens occasionally included comedic poems for the recipient. Several of these are included. Considering the enormity of Dickens’s correspondence, likely more instances of this sort of poetic humour will result over time. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Epitaph">Epitaphs</a> Dickens wrote for friends and family, whether used or not, are included with Dickens's other verse for the first time. Users can also browse <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Play">verse from Dickens's plays</a>, including songs removed from The Strange Gentleman and Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular! before performance. Care is necessary when verifying the accuracy of these poems, as some are misattributed to Dickens. Widespread reprintings of 'Dickens poems' in nineteenth-century newspapers are insufficient evidence for authorial attribution, owing to the mistakes intentionally or inadvertently made in ascribing authorship. An unusual example of a poem that is and is not by Dickens, the lines of 'Little Nell’s Funeral' are taken, with minimal alterations, from Chapter 72 of The Old Curiosity Shop. An instance of the strikingly lyrical quality of Dickens’s sentimental prose, they were divided into metered, unrhymed verse by M.A.H. for the 1849 collection Echoes of Infant Voices. Because Dickens did not intend for this passage to be structured in verse form, the poem is not included in the poetry collection of Dickens Search. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry-dickens-didnt-write">Read our blog post for more on poetry Dickens didn't write.</a> Occasionally, Dickens will quote a poem by another author, as in his burlesque Is She his Wife? Or, Something Singular! (1836). The character Mr Felix Tapkins launches into a short hunting song beginning 'The wife around her husband throws/Her arms to make him stay'. As William Chappell noted in 1840, this is a well-known variant of 'A Hunting We Will Go' (1777), by Thomas Arne, though he misattributes its composition to Henry Fielding. Previous notable collections of some of Dickens's poetry include The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens (1882) edited by Richard Herne Shepherd and The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903) edited by Frederic G. Kitton. In 2025, we published <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-verse-of-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Verse of Charles Dickens</a> (Edinburgh University Press), which includes an introduction and editorial apparatus for this verse.  Caution has been taken when ascertaining that each poem is indeed by Dickens. Please <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/contact">contact us</a> with any errors, corrections, suggestions, or other poems written by Dickens. 1. The Verse of Charles Dickens. Edited by Lydia Craig and Emily Middleton. Edinburgh University Press, 2025; Robert Butterworth. 'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers.' The Dickensian 516.118.1 (Spring 2022): pp. 43-56; Eva-Charlotta Mebius. 'Dreams of Dying Girls: The Poetry of Thomas J. Ouseley and Charles Dickens.' Dickens Quarterly 34.3 (September 2017): pp. 256-261; Robert C. Hanna. 'Before Boz; The Juvenilia and Early Writings of Charles Dickens, 1820-1833'. Dickens Studies Annual 40 (2009): pp. 231-364. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context verse Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig; Emily Middleton Poem Publication Type E.g. newspaper/serial Play Publication The title of the newspaper/serial (if applicable) O'Thello TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1833-34_Othello_Grand_Chorus.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Grand Chorus.' O'Thello (1833-34).</a> Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18330101 Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. Solo. The Great Unpaid Air – "Away with melancholy" – Away with grief. Be jolly Nor grave night charges bring Of drunken freaks and folly But merrily merrily sing falla! What's the use of repining At magistrates odd law? Can we prevent their fining? The merrily merrily sing falla Chorus   Away with grief etc. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'Grand Chorus' Description An account of the resource From Act 1, Scene 2 of O'Thello (1833-1834). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rosenbach Museum and Library. Manuscript. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1833 1834 Type The nature or genre of the resource Song Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1833-34_Othello_Grand_Chorus Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'Grand Chorus.' O'Thello (1833-34). Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1833-34_Othello_Grand_Chorus">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1833-34_Othello_Grand_Chorus</a>. Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. Solo. The Great Unpaid Air – "Away with melancholy" – Away with grief. Be jolly Nor grave night charges bring Of drunken freaks and folly But merrily merrily sing falla! What's the use of repining At magistrates odd law? Can we prevent their fining? The merrily merrily sing falla Chorus   Away with grief &c. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Verse Description An account of the resource <h4>This collection brings together the most complete set of Dickens's verse to date, supplementing the work of existing editions with previously uncollected poems Dickens contributed to albums, or wrote anonymously.</h4> Though such productions receive scant attention from scholars interested in his fiction and journalism, Dickens composed a surprising amount of verse. It was a genre in which he evidently felt much less at home (and financially rewarded) than when writing in prose. However, several poems gained popular favour during his lifetime; that so many were <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Song">written to be set to music</a> indicates the permeable boundary between metered verse functioning as poem or song in the nineteenth century, and may explain why some of Dickens’s poems were more enduringly popular than others. Notably, <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836-05_Pickwick_Papers_The_Ivy_Green">'The Ivy Green'</a> from Pickwick Papers (1837), a story of time’s inexorable passing, was frequently republished in newspapers. Several poems written to young ladies of Dickens’s acquaintance are released on Dickens Search as part of the author’s poetic output for the first time, testifying to the author’s ability to write impromptu poetry and gallantly turn a phrase. Since keeping <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Autograph+Album&collection=&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">autograph albums</a> was a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era, it is possible that further examples of such activity remain to be discovered in various archives and private collections. When writing <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter&collection=3&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">letters</a> to friends, Dickens occasionally included comedic poems for the recipient. Several of these are included. Considering the enormity of Dickens’s correspondence, likely more instances of this sort of poetic humour will result over time. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Epitaph">Epitaphs</a> Dickens wrote for friends and family, whether used or not, are included with Dickens's other verse for the first time. Users can also browse <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Play">verse from Dickens's plays</a>, including songs removed from The Strange Gentleman and Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular! before performance. Care is necessary when verifying the accuracy of these poems, as some are misattributed to Dickens. Widespread reprintings of 'Dickens poems' in nineteenth-century newspapers are insufficient evidence for authorial attribution, owing to the mistakes intentionally or inadvertently made in ascribing authorship. An unusual example of a poem that is and is not by Dickens, the lines of 'Little Nell’s Funeral' are taken, with minimal alterations, from Chapter 72 of The Old Curiosity Shop. An instance of the strikingly lyrical quality of Dickens’s sentimental prose, they were divided into metered, unrhymed verse by M.A.H. for the 1849 collection Echoes of Infant Voices. Because Dickens did not intend for this passage to be structured in verse form, the poem is not included in the poetry collection of Dickens Search. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry-dickens-didnt-write">Read our blog post for more on poetry Dickens didn't write.</a> Occasionally, Dickens will quote a poem by another author, as in his burlesque Is She his Wife? Or, Something Singular! (1836). The character Mr Felix Tapkins launches into a short hunting song beginning 'The wife around her husband throws/Her arms to make him stay'. As William Chappell noted in 1840, this is a well-known variant of 'A Hunting We Will Go' (1777), by Thomas Arne, though he misattributes its composition to Henry Fielding. Previous notable collections of some of Dickens's poetry include The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens (1882) edited by Richard Herne Shepherd and The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903) edited by Frederic G. Kitton. In 2025, we published <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-verse-of-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Verse of Charles Dickens</a> (Edinburgh University Press), which includes an introduction and editorial apparatus for this verse.  Caution has been taken when ascertaining that each poem is indeed by Dickens. Please <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/contact">contact us</a> with any errors, corrections, suggestions, or other poems written by Dickens. 1. The Verse of Charles Dickens. Edited by Lydia Craig and Emily Middleton. Edinburgh University Press, 2025; Robert Butterworth. 'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers.' The Dickensian 516.118.1 (Spring 2022): pp. 43-56; Eva-Charlotta Mebius. 'Dreams of Dying Girls: The Poetry of Thomas J. Ouseley and Charles Dickens.' Dickens Quarterly 34.3 (September 2017): pp. 256-261; Robert C. Hanna. 'Before Boz; The Juvenilia and Early Writings of Charles Dickens, 1820-1833'. Dickens Studies Annual 40 (2009): pp. 231-364. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context verse Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig; Emily Middleton Poem Publication Type E.g. newspaper/serial Play Publication The title of the newspaper/serial (if applicable) O'Thello TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1833-34_Othello_Medley_Chorus.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Medley Chorus.' O'Thello (1833-34).</a> Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18330101 Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. Solo. Desdemona Air "There's no luck about the house" Oh! Let us pass a merry night Our house is rather small But being recovered I invite All present to a Ball. There is some cold duck in the house There's wine enough for all Likewise some spirits and some grouse So we'll enjoy the ball Cho. Oh let us pass etc Solo. E argo I felt all of a quiver With grief and shame I shiver Bring a cigar Bring a cigar It's balmy smoke I love Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'Medley Chorus' Description An account of the resource From O'Thello (1833-1834). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Beinecke Library, Yale University. Manuscript. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1833 1834 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1833-34_Othello_Medley_Chorus Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'Grand Chorus.' O'Thello (1833-34). Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1833-34_Othello_Medley_Chorus">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1833-34_Othello_Medley_Chorus</a>. Type The nature or genre of the resource Song Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. Solo. Desdemona Air "There's no luck about the house" Oh! Let us pass a merry night Our house is rather small But being recovered I invite All present to a Ball. There is some cold duck in the house There's wine enough for all:  Likewise some spirits & some grouse So we'll enjoy the ball Cho. Oh let us pass &c Solo. E argo I felt all of a quiver With grief & shame I shiver Bring a cigar Bring a cigar It's balmy smoke I love Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Verse Description An account of the resource <h4>This collection brings together the most complete set of Dickens's verse to date, supplementing the work of existing editions with previously uncollected poems Dickens contributed to albums, or wrote anonymously.</h4> Though such productions receive scant attention from scholars interested in his fiction and journalism, Dickens composed a surprising amount of verse. It was a genre in which he evidently felt much less at home (and financially rewarded) than when writing in prose. However, several poems gained popular favour during his lifetime; that so many were <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Song">written to be set to music</a> indicates the permeable boundary between metered verse functioning as poem or song in the nineteenth century, and may explain why some of Dickens’s poems were more enduringly popular than others. Notably, <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836-05_Pickwick_Papers_The_Ivy_Green">'The Ivy Green'</a> from Pickwick Papers (1837), a story of time’s inexorable passing, was frequently republished in newspapers. Several poems written to young ladies of Dickens’s acquaintance are released on Dickens Search as part of the author’s poetic output for the first time, testifying to the author’s ability to write impromptu poetry and gallantly turn a phrase. Since keeping <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Autograph+Album&collection=&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">autograph albums</a> was a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era, it is possible that further examples of such activity remain to be discovered in various archives and private collections. When writing <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter&collection=3&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">letters</a> to friends, Dickens occasionally included comedic poems for the recipient. Several of these are included. Considering the enormity of Dickens’s correspondence, likely more instances of this sort of poetic humour will result over time. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Epitaph">Epitaphs</a> Dickens wrote for friends and family, whether used or not, are included with Dickens's other verse for the first time. Users can also browse <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Play">verse from Dickens's plays</a>, including songs removed from The Strange Gentleman and Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular! before performance. Care is necessary when verifying the accuracy of these poems, as some are misattributed to Dickens. Widespread reprintings of 'Dickens poems' in nineteenth-century newspapers are insufficient evidence for authorial attribution, owing to the mistakes intentionally or inadvertently made in ascribing authorship. An unusual example of a poem that is and is not by Dickens, the lines of 'Little Nell’s Funeral' are taken, with minimal alterations, from Chapter 72 of The Old Curiosity Shop. An instance of the strikingly lyrical quality of Dickens’s sentimental prose, they were divided into metered, unrhymed verse by M.A.H. for the 1849 collection Echoes of Infant Voices. Because Dickens did not intend for this passage to be structured in verse form, the poem is not included in the poetry collection of Dickens Search. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry-dickens-didnt-write">Read our blog post for more on poetry Dickens didn't write.</a> Occasionally, Dickens will quote a poem by another author, as in his burlesque Is She his Wife? Or, Something Singular! (1836). The character Mr Felix Tapkins launches into a short hunting song beginning 'The wife around her husband throws/Her arms to make him stay'. As William Chappell noted in 1840, this is a well-known variant of 'A Hunting We Will Go' (1777), by Thomas Arne, though he misattributes its composition to Henry Fielding. Previous notable collections of some of Dickens's poetry include The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens (1882) edited by Richard Herne Shepherd and The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903) edited by Frederic G. Kitton. In 2025, we published <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-verse-of-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Verse of Charles Dickens</a> (Edinburgh University Press), which includes an introduction and editorial apparatus for this verse.  Caution has been taken when ascertaining that each poem is indeed by Dickens. Please <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/contact">contact us</a> with any errors, corrections, suggestions, or other poems written by Dickens. 1. The Verse of Charles Dickens. Edited by Lydia Craig and Emily Middleton. Edinburgh University Press, 2025; Robert Butterworth. 'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers.' The Dickensian 516.118.1 (Spring 2022): pp. 43-56; Eva-Charlotta Mebius. 'Dreams of Dying Girls: The Poetry of Thomas J. Ouseley and Charles Dickens.' Dickens Quarterly 34.3 (September 2017): pp. 256-261; Robert C. Hanna. 'Before Boz; The Juvenilia and Early Writings of Charles Dickens, 1820-1833'. Dickens Studies Annual 40 (2009): pp. 231-364. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context verse Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig; Emily Middleton Poem Publication Type E.g. newspaper/serial Play Publication The title of the newspaper/serial (if applicable) O'Thello TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1833-34_Othello_Chorus.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'Chorus.' O'Thello (1833-34).</a> Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18330101 Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. Air – "Gold's but dross" – Robert le diable GU. Bring the porter in the Pewter and be sure they draw it mild E argo If he suspects his wife he'll shoot her and I am for vegeance wild. Cass Let's be happy Lots of baccy Let the cheerful smoke abound Desd Dancing lightly Gaily Sprightly Let the merry song go round GU. Right fal la ral la ral lide E argo. Right fal la ral liddle dol de Cass Right fal la ral la ral lide Desd Right fal la ral liddle dol de Cho: Right fal la ral de (at End of chorus go out with the rest) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'Chorus' (O'Thello) Description An account of the resource From O'Thello (1833-1834). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Beinecke Library, Yale University. Manuscript Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1833 1834 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1833-34_Othello_Chorus Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'Chorus.' O'Thello (1833-34). Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1833-34_Othello_Chorus">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1833-34_Othello_Chorus</a>. Type The nature or genre of the resource Song Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. Air – "Gold's but dross" – Robert le diable GU. Bring the porter in the Pewter and be sure they draw it mild E argo If he suspects his wife he'll shoot her and I am for vegeance wild. Cass Let's be happy Lots of baccy Let the cheerful smoke abound Desd Dancing lightly Gaily Sprightly Let the merry song go round GU. Right fal la ral la ral lide E argo. Right fal la ral liddle dol de Cass Right fal la ral la ral lide Desd Right fal la ral liddle dol de Cho: Right fal la ral de (at End of chorus go out with the rest)