https://www.dickenssearch.com/files/original/3/The_British_Lion/1846-01-24-Daily_News_The_British_Lion.pdf b46447fd0db4d6de12133ffc18293d41 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 Pseudonym The name under which the item was published CATNACH 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. 18460124 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. A NEW SONG, BUT AN OLD STORY TUNE. - The Great Sea-Snake. Oh, p’raps you may heard, and if not, I’ll sing, Of the British Lion free, That was constantly a-going for to make a spring Upon his en-e-me; But who, being rather groggy at the knees, Broke down, always before; And generally gave a feeble wheeze Instead of a loud roar. Right toor rol, loor rol, fee faw fum, The British Lion bold! That was always a-going for to do great things, And was always being “sold”! He was carried about, in a caravan, And was show'd in country parts, And they said “Walk-up! Be in time! He can Eat Corn-Law-Leagues like tarts!” And his showmen, shouting there and then, To puff him didn’t fail; And they said, as they peep'd into his den, “Oh, Don’t he wag his tail!” Now, the principal keeper of this poor old beast, WAN HUMBUG was his name, Would once ev’ry day stir him up - at least - And wasn’t that a Game! For he hadn’t a tooth, and he hadn’t a claw, In that “Struggle” so “Sublime;” And, however sharp they touch’d him on the raw, He couldn’t come up to time. And this, you will observe, was the reason why WAN HUMBUG, on weak grounds, Was forced to make believe that he heard his cry In all unlikely sounds. So there wasn’t a bleat from an Essex Calf, Or a Duke, or a Lordling slim; But he said, with a very triumphant laugh, “I’m blest if that ain’t him.” At length, wery bald in his mane and tail, This British Lion growed: He pined, and declined, and he satisfied The last debt which he owed. And when they came to examine the skin, It was a wonder sore, To find that the an-i-mal within Was nothing but a BOAR! Right toor rol, loor rol, fee faw fum, The British Lion bold! That was always a-going for to do great things, And was always being "sold"! Publication Type E.g. newspaper/serial Newspaper Publication The title of the newspaper/serial (if applicable) Daily News TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1846-01-24_Daily_News_The_British_Lion.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'The British Lion.' The Daily News (24 January 1846): p. 5.</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 'The British Lion' Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived British Newspapers Archive Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource British Newspapers Archive, <a href="https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000051/18460124/061/0005">https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000051/18460124/061/0005</a>.  Some rights reserved. This work permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1846-01-24-Daily_News_The_British_Lion 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 British Lion.' Daily News (21 January 1841): p. 5. Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1846-01-24-Daily_News_The_British_Lion">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1846-01-24-Daily_News_The_British_Lion</a>. Type The nature or genre of the resource Poem Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1846-01-24 Description An account of the resource Published in the Daily News (24 January 1846). Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. A NEW SONG, BUT AN OLD STORY TUNE. - The Great Sea-Snake. Oh, p’raps you may heard, and if not, I’ll sing, Of the British Lion free, That was constantly a-going for to make a spring Upon his en-e-me; But who, being rather groggy at the knees, Broke down, always before; And generally gave a feeble wheeze Instead of a loud roar.   Right toor rol, loor rol, fee faw fum, The British Lion bold! That was always a-going for to do great things, And was always being “sold”!   He was carried about, in a caravan, And was show'd in country parts, And they said “Walk-up! Be in time! He can Eat Corn-Law-Leagues like tarts!” And his showmen, shouting there and then, To puff him didn’t fail; And they said, as they peep'd into his den, “Oh, Don’t he wag his tail!”   Now, the principal keeper of this poor old beast, WAN HUMBUG was his name, Would once ev’ry day stir him up - at least - And wasn’t that a Game! For he hadn’t a tooth, and he hadn’t a claw, In that “Struggle” so “Sublime;” And, however sharp they touch’d him on the raw, He couldn’t come up to time.   And this, you will observe, was the reason why WAN HUMBUG, on weak grounds, Was forced to make believe that he heard his cry In all unlikely sounds. So there wasn’t a bleat from an Essex Calf, Or a Duke, or a Lordling slim; But he said, with a very triumphant laugh, “I’m blest if that ain’t him.”   At length, wery bald in his mane and tail, This British Lion growed: He pined, and declined, and he satisfied The last debt which he owed. And when they came to examine the skin, It was a wonder sore, To find that the an-i-mal within Was nothing but a BOAR!   Right toor rol, loor rol, fee faw fum, The British Lion bold! That was always a-going for to do great things, And was always being "sold"!