PARODIES
OF THE WORKS OF
ENGLISH and AMERICAN AUTHORS,
COLLECTED AND ANNOTATED BY
WALTER HAMILTON,
_Fellow of the Royal Geographical and Royal Historical Societies;
Author of “A History of National Anthems and Patriotic Songs,” “A
Memoir of George Cruikshank” “The Poets Laureate of England,” “The
Æsthetic Movement in England,” etc._
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“We maintain that, far from converting virtue into a paradox, and
degrading truth by ridicule, Parody will only strike at what is
chimerical and false; it is not a piece of buffoonery so much as a
critical exposition. What do we parody but the absurdities of writers,
who frequently make their heroes act against nature, common-sense, and
truth? After all, it is the public, not we, who are the authors of
these Parodies.”
D’ISRAELI’S Curiosities of Literature.
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VOLUME II.
CONTAINING PARODIES OF
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,
JOHN MILTON, JOHN DRYDEN, DR. WATTS,
ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON,
H. W. LONGFELLOW, THOMAS HOOD, BRET HARTE,
MATTHEW ARNOLD,
E. A. POE, WOLFE’S ODE, AND “MY MOTHER”
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REEVES & TURNER, 196, STRAND, LONDON, W.C.
1885.
“_It was because Homer was the most popular poet, that he was most
susceptible of the playful honours of the Greek parodist; unless the
prototype is familiar to us, a parody is nothing!_”
ISAAC D’ISRAELI.
“_La Parodie, fille ainée de la Satire, est aussi ancienne que la
poésie méme. Il est de l’essence de la Parodie de substituer toujours
un nouveau sujet & celui qu’on parodie; aux sujets sérieux, des sujets
légers et badins, en employant autant que possible, les expressions de
l’auteur parodié._”
_Traité des Belles-Lettres sur la Poésie Française, par M. le Père de
Montespin_,
(_Jesuite_) _Avignon_, 1747.
BROWN & DAVENPORT, 40, SUN STREET, FINSBURY, LONDON, E.C.
PREFACE.
[Illustration: W]hen this Collection was originally projected it was
intended to publish a few only of the best Parodies of each author.
After the issue of the first few numbers, however, the sale rapidly
increased, and subscribers not only expressed their desire that the
collection should be made as nearly complete as possible, but by the
loans of scarce books, and copies of Parodies, helped to make it so.
This involved an alteration in the original arrangement, and as it
would have been monotonous to have filled a whole number with parodies
of one short poem, such as those on “To be or not to be,” “Excelsior,”
“My Mother” or Wolfe’s Ode, it became necessary to spread them over
several numbers: In the Index, which has been carefully prepared,
references will be found, under the titles of the original Poems, to
all the parodies mentioned. In all cases, where it has been possible
to do so, full titles and descriptions of the works quoted from, have
been given; any omission to do this has been unintentional, and will
be at once rectified on the necessary information being supplied.
By the completion of the second Volume of my collection, the works of
the following Authors have been fully treated, William Shakespeare,
John Milton, John Dryden, Dr. Watts, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, H. W.
Longfellow, Thomas Hood, Bret Harte, Matthew Arnold, E. A. Poe,
Wolfe’s Ode on the Death of Sir John Moore, and Miss Ann Taylor’s poem
“My Mother.” Certainly most of the best parodies on these Authors have
been collected, yet as new ones are constantly appearing, a further
collection of them will appear in a future part of Parodies, which
will also contain any good old parodies that may hitherto have escaped
notice.
In a few cases where parodies are to be found in easily accessible
works, extracts only have been quoted, or references given; but it is
intended in future, wherever permission can be obtained, to give the
parodies in full, as they are found to be useful for public
entertainments, and recitations. When the older masters of our
Literature are reached, a great deal of curious and amusing
information will be given, and it is intended to conclude with a
complete bibliographical account of Parody, with extracts and
translations from all the principal works on the topic. Whilst
arranging the first and second volumes, I have been gathering
materials for those to come, which will illustrate the works of those
old writers whose names are familiar in our mouths as household words.
Much that is quaint and amusing will thus be collected, whilst many
illustrations of our literature, both in prose and verse, which are
valuable to the student, will for the first time be methodically
arranged, annotated, and published in a cheap and accessible form.
In all Collections, such as this, there are some pieces which offend
the taste, or run counter to the prejudice of some individual reader,
but great care has been taken to exclude every parody of a vulgar or
slangy description, although it need hardly be said that many such
parodies exist.
Every effort has been made to avoid giving preference to the parodies
of any Political party, and this could only be done by inserting the
poems on their own merits. If any good Political Parody has been
omitted, ignorance of its existence, not party motive, has been the
cause.
I am much indebted to the following gentlemen either for permission to
quote from their works, or for copies of parodies sent to me for
publication:――Messrs. P. J. Anderson, of Aberdeen; A. H. Bates, of
Birmingham; W. Butler; George Cotterell (Author of the “Banquet”); T.
F. Dillon-Croker; F. B. Doveton; James Gordon, F.S.A., of Edinburgh;
John H. Ingram; Walter Parke (author of “The Lays of the Saintly”); F.
B. Perkins, of the Free Public Library, San Francisco; W. Smith, of
Morley, near Leeds; Basil H. Soulsby, Corpus Christi, Oxford; Joseph
Verey; John Whyte; J. W. Gleeson White; and A. R. Wright. The
following ladies have also sent me some amusing parodies:――Miss E.
Orton; Mrs. S. A. Wetmore of New York State; and Mrs. J. E. Whitby. My
best thanks are also due to Mr. Walsh, and his courteous assistants in
the Guildhall Library of the City of London, as well as to the
gentlemen in the Library of the British Museum.
WALTER HAMILTON.
64, BROMFELDE ROAD, CLAPHAM, LONDON, S.W.
_December_, 1885.
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CONTENTS OF PARTS I. TO XXIV. PARODIES.
EACH PART MAY BE PURCHASED SEPARATELY.
PART 1. Introduction.
Alfred Tennyson’s Early Poems.