Recently our esteemed Post Editor introduced us to a story by Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch, aka Q¹. This reminded me that I have a book by Q that belonged to my grandfather so I decided to locate it and have a proper look at it.

Pleasingly it was printed in 1913 so it is more than 100 years old, but it is not in good condition as it is an anthology for use in 'Oxford Local Examinations' so it had become well-thumbed by the time it came into my grandfather's possession in about 1925. Also disappointing is the fact that it is not a book by Q, but it is merely edited by Q. Q did provide introductions to the three poets who feature in the anthology, but the tone of the biographical sketches is relatively dry, especially in comparison with Q's amusing story 'The Astonishing History of Troy Town'. However, the book is still worth examining in its own right.

George Crabbe

Part One of the book is devoted to George Crabbe. He is not a poet I am familiar with but I see his poem 'Peter Grimes' inspired the opera of the same name by Benjamin Britten. His life experiences influenced his writing. He came from humble beginnings but his parents hoped he would obtain a career in medicine. However, he instead wrote poetry and went into the church. He had met Miss Sarah Elmy in 1771, but they were only married in 1783 after he had started to earn enough to support a family. Sarah died in 1813 and he outlived her by 19 years. Q writes:

In 1785 he appeared as author of a trivial poem - 'The Newspaper' - and then was silent for twenty-two years. [...] Then suddenly in 1807 with 'The Parish Register' he surprised a world that had almost forgotten it, and his second success far outdistanced his first.

The poems by Crabbe in the anthology cover poverty and imprisonment, young love and lost love...

On his lost wife

Yes, I behold again the place,

The seat of joy, the source of pain;

It brings in view the form and face

That I must never see again.

The night-bird's song that sweetly floats

On this soft gloom - this balmy air

Brings to the mind her sweeter notes

That I again must never hear.

Lo! Yonder shines that window's light,

My guide, my token, heretofore;

And now again it shines as bright,

When those dear eyes can shine no more.

William Blake

Second in the anthology is William Blake. A variety of his short poems are included, as well as excerpts from his longer works. In particular famous works including 'The Tiger' (Tiger! Tiger! burning bright / In the forests of the night) and 'Auguries of Innocence' (To see a world in a grain of sand, / And a heaven in a wild flower) are printed in full. Q writes:

We open a page, let us say, upon the lines -

When the stars threw down their spears

And watered heaven with their tears

and we feel that here is a visionary in whose company it is good for us - at least for a while - to be.

Thomas Hood

The third and final poet featured in the anthology is Thomas Hood, another that I am not familiar with. Q writes:

His aspirations turned more and more to writing, and in 1821 an accident made him 'a sort of sub-editor' of the then famous London Magazine.

As with h2g2, he wasn't just a sub-editor for the London Magazine but he also wrote poetry for it. He wrote on many themes, but his humorous verse was the most popular:

His mirth, at its maddest and most whimsical, is always that of a sick man, as in his most serious moments he can always turn aside for a pun.

Faithless Sally Brown

Young Ben he was a nice young man,

A carpenter by trade;

And he fell in love with Sally Brown,

That was a lady's maid.

But as they fetched a walk one day,

They met a press-gang crew;

And Sally she did faint away,

Whilst Ben he was brought to. [...]

'Alas! They've taken my beau Ben

To sail with old Benbow';

And her woe began to run afresh,

As if she'd said Gee woe! ...

In conclusion, I'm not sure I would pass any examination based on this book, but I certainly learned something from it as my grandfather must have done before me!

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