Winthrop Mackworth Praed, who wrote much admirable humorous and satirical verse, is not a Victorian author, although his present popularity makes that rather hard to realise. He died in 1839. Richard Hengist Horne1803-1884, on the other hand, although he lived into our time, is now remembered only by his friendship with Mrs Browning and by the humorous freak of publishing his epic "Orion" at a farthing. He was the author of a miracle play entitled "Judas Iscariot," a tragedy entitled "The Death of Marlowe," and many other works.
Another writer of well-nigh forgotten tragedies was Thomas Lovell Beddoes1803-1849, who wrote "The Bride's Tragedy" and "Death's Jest Book." A like extinction, it is to be feared, has befallen Ebenezer Jones and Ebenezer Elliott—the former of whom belonged to that spasmodic school of poets of which Alexander Smith and Philip James Bailey were supposed to be the leaders. Ebenezer Jones 1820-1860 wrote "Studies in Sensation and Event," to which in 1879 his brother, Sumner Jones, attached an interesting biography. There is very genuine poetry in the volume, but it is not likely to be republished. Ebenezer Elliott 1781-1849 had a very different fate. He enjoyed for many years the suffrages of the multitude. His "Corn Law Rhymes" played a considerable part in the political agitation of the period. James Montgomery called him "the poet of the poor." Another writer with a fine democratic impulse was Gerald Massey1828- , who was associated with the Chartist movement, and wrote "Poems and Charms" and "Voices of Freedom and Lyrics of Love." Another Chartist was Thomas Cooper 1805-1892, who wrote "The Purgatory of Suicides" and many other poems and an entertaining autobiography. Cooper was an active political agitator, and was imprisoned for two years in Stafford gaol for sedition.
A poet who holds a great place in the minds of many is William Barnes 1820-1886, who kept a school for a time in Mr Thomas Hardy's town of Dorchester. He afterwards became a clergyman and rector of Winterbourne-Came. He was a philologist as well as a poet, and published many works on language. His interest for us here is in his "Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect" (1844). Another poet-clergyman of great learning was Robert Stephen Hawker1803-1875 whose work reflects Devonshire and Cornwall as Barnes' reflects Dorsetshire. He wrote the "Song of the Western Men" which he deceived Macaulay into believing to be an old Cornish ballad, and the great historian introduced it into his "History of England" as an example of the excitement caused by the arrest of the seven bishops.[7] Its stirring refrain:—
"And shall Trelawney die, and shall Trelawney die?
Then thirty thousand Cornish boys will know the reason why"
will always keep Hawker in remembrance. He was vicar of Morwenstow and wrote several volumes of poems and some prose, including "Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall."
Two poets, father and son, made the name of Marston honoured in their days. John Westland Marston (1819-1890) was born at Boston, Lincolnshire. He wrote two dramas, "Strathmore" and "Marie de Méranie," which had much success some years ago. Another work, "A Hard Struggle," obtained the enthusiastic praise of Dickens. Dr Garnett claims for Marston that he was long the chief upholder of the poetical drama on the English stage. Philip Bourke Marston1850-1887, a son of Westland Marston, should not have failed of literary success, as he had for godfather Philip James Bailey, the author of "Festus," and for godmother Miss Mulock, author of "John Halifax, Gentleman." He, however, became blind at three years of age. He published three volumes of verse, "Song Tide and Other Poems" (1871), "All in All" (1875) and "Wind Voices" (1883). They were never popular, although his poetry gained him the esteem of many eminent men, Rossetti and Mr Swinburne among others. Mrs Chandler Moulton, an American lady who wrote "Swallow Flights," gave us a memoir of Philip Bourke Marston. In this she was assisted by Mr William Sharp, who was also one of Rossetti's biographers. Mrs Moulton did a like good office to the memory of Arthur O'Shaughnessy1844-1881, a poet of considerable distinction in his day. O'Shaughnessy married the younger Marston's sister. His "Epic of Women & Other Poems," published in 1870, was a volume of very great promise. He wrote other verses, which never attained to quite the same measure of success.
It only remains for me to name Alfred Austin1835- the Poet Laureate. After Lord Tennyson's death in 1892 the office remained vacant for four years. The two poets who might have been considered to have had some claim, William Morris and Mr Swinburne, were supposed to be impossible on account of democratic sympathies, although it is doubtful if either would have accepted the office. Almost every living poet, however small the bulk of his achievement, and however inconsiderable his years, was nominated—by the press—in turn. Finally, in 1896, by a pleasant irony of circumstances, the laureateship was given to a journalist,—for Mr Austin had been a leader-writer on the staff of the Standard newspaper for many years. He has written "The Golden Age, a Satire" (1871), "Savonarola" (1881), "English Lyrics" (1891), and many prose works. His "English Lyrics" contained an appreciative introduction by William Watson, the author of "Wordsworth's Grave," "Lachrymæ Musarum," and other poems which have been received with abundant cordiality by the press and public. Another living poet who has been well and justly praised is Rudyard Kipling1864-. He made his earliest fame as a writer of short stories of Indian military life. "Soldiers Three" and "Wee Willie Winkie" have entirely captivated the imagination of Mr Kipling's contemporaries. It is as a poet, however, that he will perhaps longest retain his hold upon them. His "Barrack-Room Ballads" (1892) are finely touched with that martial spirit which so strongly appeals to the heart of our nation.
CHAPTER II
The Novelists