Fellow of the Royal Geographical and Royal Historical Societies; Author of "The Esthetic Movement in England," "The Poets Laureate of England," I HAVE, for many years past, been collecting Parodies of the works of the most celebrated British and American Authors. This I have done, not because I entirely approve of the custom of turning high-class literature into ridicule, but because many of the parodies are in themselves works of considerable literary merit. Moreover, as "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," so does a parody show that its original has acquired a certain celebrity, for no author would waste his time, or his talent, in composing a burlesque of an unknown or obscure poem. A work devoted to the history of English Parody is not so frivolous as it may appear at first sight. Thackeray wrote many Parodies, so did Sheridan, Fielding, and Dryden, whilst numerous articles on parodies are to be found scattered up and down in odd corners of old magazines and reviews, and a few small books have been written on the topic; but, until now, no attempt has been made to give, in a connected form, a history of parody with examples and explanatory notes. This, then, is what I propose to do in the following articles, and those who desire to possess a complete set of parodies on any favourite author, would do well to preserve these papers for future reference. PARODY is a form of composition of a somewhat ungracious description, as it owes its very existence to the work it caricatures; but it has some beneficial results in drawing our attention to the defects of some authors, whose stilted language, and grandiloquent phrases, have veiled their poverty of ideas, their sham sentiment, and their mawkish affectations. The first attribute of a parody is that it should present a sharp contrast to its original either in the subject, or treatment of the subject; that if the original should be founded on some lofty theme, the parody may reduce it to a prosaic matter-of-fact narrative. If, on the other hand, the topic selected be one of every day life, it may be made exceedingly amusing if described in highflown mock heroic diction. If the original errs in sentimental affectation, so much the better for the parodist. Thus many of Tom Moore's best known songs are mere windy platitudes in very musical verse, which afford excellent and legitimate materials for ridicule. The nearer the original diction is preserved, and the fewer the alterations needed to produce a totally opposite meaning, or ridiculous contrast, the more complete is the antithesis, the more striking is the parody; take for instance Pope's well-known lines: "Here shall the Spring its earliest sweets bestow, which, by the alteration of two words only, were thus applied by Miss Katherine Fanshawe to the Regent's Park when it was first opened to the public : "Here shall the Spring its earliest coughs bestow, Here the first noses of the year shall blow." In this happy parody we have that "union of remote ideas," which is said, and said truly, to constitute the essence of wit. Even the most serious and religious works have been parodied, and by authors of the highest position. Thus, Luther mimicked the language of the Bible, and both Cavaliers and Puritans railed at each other in Scriptural phraseology. The Church services and Litanies of both the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches, have served in turn as originals for many bitter satires and lampoons, directed at one time against the Church and the priests, at another time in equally bitter invective against their opponents. To undertake the composition of parodies, as the word is generally comprehended—that is, to make a close imitation of some particular poem, though it should be characteristic of the author -would be at times rather a flat business. Even the Brothers Smith in "Rejected Addresses," and Professor Aytoun in the " Bon Gaultier Ballads," admirable as they were, adhered almost too closely to their selected models; and Phoebe Carey, who has written some of the best American parodies, did the same thing. It is an evidence of a poet's distinct individuality, when he can be amusingly imitated. We can only make those the object of our imitations whose manner, or dialect, stamps itself so deeply into our minds that a new cast can be taken. But how could one imitate or burlesque Robert Pollok's "Course of Time," or Young's "Night Thoughts," or Blair's "Grave," or any other of those masses of words, which are too ponderous for poetry, and much too respectable for absurdity! Either extreme will do for a parody, excellence or imbecility; but the original must at least have a distinct and pronounced character. Certain well-known poems are so frequently selected as models for parodies that it will only be possible to select a few from the best of them; to re-publish every parody that has appeared on Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade," E. A. Poe's "The Raven," Hamlet's Soliloquy, or Longfellow's "Excelsior," would be a tedious, and almost endless task. Prose parodies, though less numerous than those in verse, are often far more amusing, and it will be found that Dr. Johnson's ponderous sentences, Carlyle's rugged eloquence, and Dickens's playful humour and tender pathos, lend themselves admirably to parody. The first portion of this work will be devoted to the parodies themselves, accompanied by short notes sufficient to explain such allusions as may, in time, appear obscure; the second will contain a full bibliographical account of all the principal collection of Parodies, and Works on the subject, such as the "Probationary Odes," "Hone's Three Trials," Rejected Addresses," and the late M. Octave Delepierre's Essai sur la Parodie. The latter work, which was published by Trübner & Co., in 1870, gave an account of old Greek and Roman, and of modern French and English Parodies. I had the pleasure of supplying M. Delepierre with the materials for his chapter on English Parodies, but, owing to the limited space at his command, he was only able to quote a verse or two of the best parody of each description. My aim will be to give each parody intact, except in the few cases where I have been unable to obtain the author's permission to do so. WALTER HAMILTON. Alfred Tennyson. Poet Laureate. ALFRED TENNYSON, the third of seven sons, was born August 5th, 1809, at Somersby, a small village near Horncastle, in Lincolnshire. His father, Dr. George Clayton Tennyson, was the rector of this parish, he was a man remarkable for his strength, stature, and varied attainments as poet, painter, musician and linguist. In 1827, Alfred Tennyson, with his elder brother Charles, both then being scholars at the Louth Grammar School, published a small volume entitled, "Poems by Two Brothers." Shortly afterwards, these two young men removed to Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1829, Alfred Tennyson obtained the Chancellor's Gold Medal for his poem on "Timbuctoo." His subsequent poetical works rapidly attracted attention, and, on the death of William Wordsworth, he was created Poet Laureate, the Warrant being dated the 19th November, 1850. As a poet he has achieved almost the highest fame, but in his numerous efforts as a dramatist he has been far less successful, For the consideration of the Parodies of Tennyson's poems, they may conveniently be divided into three periods; namely, his early Poems, poems in connection with his appointment in 1850 to the office of Poet Laureate, and Poems since that date. Although Tennyson has suppressed many of his early works, yet he occasionally furbishes up, and re-issues as a new poem one or other of his youthful compositions. Fastidious as he is known to be in his selection of what he thus re-publishes, it is still a matter of some surprise that he should have entirely suppressed his prize poem, Timbuctoo, which would always be of interest as a specimen of his early work, and is, besides, far removed above the average of Prize Poems. It is printed in full in the edition of his works, published by Harper and Brothers, New York, 1873. The poems were sent in for competition in the month of April, 1829; and on June 12, 1829, the Cambridge Chronicle recorded that "On Saturday last, the Chancellor's Gold Medal for the best English poem by a resident undergraduate was adjudged to Alfred Tennyson, of Trinity College." Shortly afterwards the poem was published, and was favourably reviewed in The Athenaeum, which in speaking of Prize poems generally, stated, "These productions have "often been ingenious and elegant, but we have "never before seen one of them which indicated "really first-rate poetical genius, and which "would have done honour to any man that ever "wrote. Such, we do not hesitate to affirm, is the "little work before us." W. M. Thackeray was at Cambridge at the same time as Tennyson, and early in 1829 he commenced the publication of a small paper entitled "THE SNOB, a Literary and Scientific Journal, not conducted by members of the University." This was published by W. H. Smith, of Rose Crescent, Cambridge, and ran for eleven weeks; its contents were humorous sketches in prose and verse, and the most remarkable paper amongst them is the following droll poem on Timbuctoo, which appeared on the 30th April, 1829. This has most unaccountably been omitted from recent editions of Thackeray's works, although it seems almost certain he must have written it: To the Editor of the "SNOB." SIR,-Though your name be Snob, I trust you will not refuse this tiny "Poem of a Gownsman," which was unluckily not finished on the day appointed for delivery of the several copies of verses on Timbuctoo. I thought, Sir, it would be a pity that such a poem should be lost to the world; and conceiving "THE SNOB" to be the most widely circulated periodical in Europe, I have taken the liberty of submitting it for insertion or approbation.—I am, Sir, yours, &c., &c. TIMBUCTOO. PART I. The day shall come when Albion's self shall feel 30 32 Stern Afric's wrath, and writhe 'neath Afric's steel. I see her tribes the hills of glory mount, And sell their sugars on their own account; While round her throne the prostrate nations come, Sue for her rice, and barter for her rum! NOTES.-Lines 1 and 2.-See Guthrie's Geography. The site of Timbuctoo is doubtful; the author has neatly expressed this in the poem, at the same time giving us some slights hints relative to its situation. Line 5.-So Horace: leonum arida nutrix. ་་ Line 13.-" Pop goes the musketoons. A learned friend suggested" Bang" as a stronger expression, but as African gunpowder is notoriously bad, the author thought "Pop" the better word. Lines 15-18.-A concise but affecting description is here given of the domestic habits of the people. The infamous manner in which they are entrapped and sold as slaves is described, and the whole ends with an appropriate moral sentiment. The enthusiasm the author feels is beautifully expressed in lines 25 and 26. Although this poem is not actually a parody of Tennyson's Timbuctoo, it is a clever burlesque of Prize poems in general, and derives additional interest from being one of Thackeray's earliest writings. The first independent volume of poems which Tennyson published in 1830, contained Mariana; The Ballad of Oriana; Adeline; Lilian; The Poet; The Merman; and the Mermaid ; all of which are so well known that the following parodies require no introduction : : From Fun, February 26th, 1873. "Oriana," a romantic legend in three acts, by James Albery, music by F. Clay, was first performed at the Globe Theatre, on Saturday, February 15th, 1873. The lessee and manager, Mr. H. J. Montague, performed the part of King Raymond, that of Oriana being represented by Miss Rose Massey. The plot was founded on a fairy tale, slightly resembling Mr. Gilbert's "Palace of Truth," but, beyond the name, the play had nothing in common with Tennyson's poem of "Oriana." MARIANA. (At the Railway Station.) HER parcels, tied with many a knot, She waited for the train to call. She only said, "The night is dreary- She sought the grim refreshment stall- Shot coloured beams into the dark. In tones the opposite of gay: "The hour is late, the night is dreary- Then mentally: "The man is beery- About the middle of the night She heard the shrill steam-whistle blow, She said, "I am aweary, aweary, The tired officials kept aloof, The telegraphic wires did sound Their notes Æolian on the roof, And goods trains shunting did confound Her sense; yet still she waited on, Until the porter came in sight"There is no other train to-night; The next will stop at early dawn," She only said, "I am aweary : It seems to me, she said, "Your tables, like yourself, are beeryGo find me now a bed." JOSEPH VEREY. THE WEDDING DRESS. IN picturesque confusion lies Her scattered finery on the floor, And here and there her handmaid flies With parcels to increase the store. But dolefully she paced the room, Although it was her wedding morn, She only said, "The morn is dreary;" She hears the sound of pipe and drum, The merry Teuton minstrelsy, "Oh! ain't he swallowed lots o' starch !" "I wonder if 'twill be in time? How swiftly now the minutes pass, Of her who would be made a wife. "Three quarters!" cried she weeping-weary, "It cometh now," they said. The maiden looked no longer dreary, But hastened to be wed. From Funny Folks. In the Bon Gaultier Ballads is a parody of Lilian, entitled : CAROLINE. LIGHTSOME, bright some, cousin mine, With thy locks all raven-shaded, Thou in chains of love hast bound me- When I fain would go to sleep Wherefore on my slumbers creep- Wherefore, then, if thou dost love me, Would she only say she'd love me, Winsome, tinsome, Caroline, Unto such excess 'twould move me, Teazing, pleasing, cousin mine! That she might the live-long day Tickle still my hooked nose, With her pretty persecution; Throw the tongs against my shins, Run me through and through with pins, Like a pierced cushion; Would she only say she'd love me, Darning-needles should not move me; But, reclining back I'd say, "Dearest! there's the snuffer tray; Pinch, O pinch those legs of mine! Cork me, cousin Caroline !" THE LAUREate. (After "The Merman.") WHO would not be The Laureate bold, With his butt of sherry To keep him merry, P.86 And nothing to do but to pocket his gold? Oh, that would be the life for me, Then the chambermaids, that clean the rooms, Handsomely, handsomely!" * Oh, would not that be a merry life, Apart from care and apart from strife, With the Laureate's wine, and the Laureate's pay, And no deductions at quarter-day! Oh, that would be the post for me! With plenty to get and nothing to do, But to deck a pet poodle with ribbons of blue, And at evening empty a bottle or two; |