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."