Title: The Original Poems of Edward Edwin Foot, of Her Majesty's Customs, London
Author: Edward Edwin Foot
Release date: March 29, 2019 [eBook #59153]
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Meredith Bach and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
THE
ORIGINAL POEMS
OF
EDWARD EDWIN FOOT,
OF HER MAJESTY’S CUSTOMS, LONDON.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR.
1867.
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR,
BY CASSELL, PETTER, AND GALPIN, LUDGATE HILL,
LONDON, E.C.
THE POEMS
OF
EDWARD EDWIN FOOT,
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY PERMISSION, TO
HENRY WILLIAM DOBELL, ESQ.,
Comptroller-General of Her Majesty’s Customs, London,
BY
HIS MOST OBEDIENT AND OBLIGED SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
The author[1] of the present Volume, in tendering his sincere thanks to the gentlemen of Her Majesty’s Customs,[2] and to his other numerous and kind patrons, who so liberally subscribed towards the publication of his little work, assures them that he is deeply sensible of his obligations to them for the almost uniform courtesy with which his solicitations were met; because (being perfectly conscious at the onset of his undertaking how necessary it was to prepare to subject himself to censure as well as approbation, and to arm himself with those indispensable virtues—patience, perseverance, endurance, and thankfulness, without which the attempt would have been futile, and being also aware that nothing but a favourable response to his appeal could possibly lead to the accomplishment of his object) the success which has attended his efforts is certainly far beyond what might have been expected by one in so humble and so obscure a position in life.
There is, however, one gentleman[3] in particular[vi] to whom it is the Author’s duty to be—if ’twere possible—more than grateful, for his generous condescension in permitting the manuscripts to be placed in his hands for perusal, and who—after surveying a portion of them—not only recommended the method of publication which was adopted, but gave effect to his advice by kindly becoming the first subscriber to the work—for the Author never would have presumed to publish these poems on his own personal estimation of whatever merit they may possess, so that unless such an impetus had been given to the project it is more than probable he never would have had the gratification of seeing them produced in their present form.
This the Author hopes will afford to his numerous subscribers, and to those in whose hands it may perchance happen to fall, a not unreasonable excuse for his having intruded himself into the unmerciful arena of poetical literature, and, perhaps, be the means of saving his little work—the product of his leisure hours—from being thrust into the gloomy recesses of oblivion.
E. E. FOOT.
London, December, 1867.
[1] A native of Ashburton, Devonshire.
[2] To which he belongs.
[3] Sir F. H. Doyle, Bart., Receiver-General of Her Majesty’s Customs, &c.
The Poems of Edward Edwin Foot.
PUBLISHED 1867.
| PAGE | |
| A Voice from the People (To Her Majesty the Queen) | 9 |
| O! Gather in the Old Yule Log | 11 |
| Evening | 13 |
| The Homeward-Bound Passenger Ship | 15 |
| “Raven Rock” | 28 |
| “Lovers’ Leap” | 36 |
| A Welcome to Alexandra | 41 |
| A West-Countryman’s Visit to London | 45 |
| England’s Hope | 60 |
| Christening the Prince | 62 |
| The Astronomer | 64 |
| On Shakespeare | 68 |
| The Banquet | 71 |
| Thought | 74 |
| Sheep | 77 |
| A School Festival | 81 |
| An Autumnal Day | 84 |
| Our Little Brother | 87 |
| The Coming of the Belgians (1867) | 88 |
| A Song: “Willy” and Anne | 91 |
| [viii]A Song: The Lost Merchantman | 93 |
| Friend Charles | 94 |
| The Fallen Leaf | 95 |
| The Gout | 97 |
| The Fox’s Lair | 101 |
| The Petrified Nest | 105 |
| The Kingly Oak of Bagot’s Park | 106 |
| Song: Up, Up my Brave Comrades! | 109 |
| A Letter to His Lordship | 111 |
| My dear Friend John | 113 |
| Christmas Eve (1864) | 114 |
| The End of Miscellaneous Poems. | |
| The Death, Burial, and Destruction of Bacchus; or, The Fruits of Lasciviousness.—An Allegorical Poem, in Two Cantos | 117 |
| Jane Hollybrand; or, Virtue Rewarded.—A Romance, in Six Chapters | 161 |
| A Word for Gifford (In Conclusion) | 263 |
[Composed on the occasion of the inauguration of the memorial statue of His late Royal Highness the Prince Consort, at Aberdeen, 13th October, 1863.]
[4] The author having sent a copy of this poem to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales (then at Sandringham), had the pleasure of receiving the following letter:—
“Sandringham, November 4, 1863.
“Sir,—I am desired to inform you that, by the direction of the Princess of Wales, I have to-day forwarded to Sir Charles Phipps, for presentation to Her Majesty the Queen, your poem, written on the occasion of the inauguration of the memorial statue of the Prince Consort, at Aberdeen. Her Royal Highness also desires me to say that she read the lines with great gratification.
“I am, sir,
“Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) “Herbert Fisher.
“Mr. E. E. Foot,
“105, Ebury St., Pimlico.”
[5] The dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.
[6] Dew.
[7] The setting sun.
[8] The Author had the gratification of receiving a present from the late Viscount Palmerston (January, 1864), in acknowledgment of a manuscript copy of this poem.
[9] The west wind.
[10] Perchance a party of lucky adventurers; such, for instance, as three or four fortunate diggers, who probably had worked as a company on some gold field in Australia, and were returning to their native country.
[11] A figurative expression, intended by the author to signify the horizon.
[12] Port-bow.
[13] Prayer.
[14] Imagine.
A Word for my Native Place.—Should any of my readers ever be making a tour to the west of England, I venture to say they will be highly gratified with the grandeur of the prospect afforded them on “Raven Rock,” and other commanding points in that locality; and there are several high Tors, besides other places of attraction, in the neighbourhood of Ashburton, which will well repay the visitor.—E. E. Foot, London, 1867.
[15] “Raven Rock” is about 500 feet above, and near the banks of, the river Dart; is distant about two and a-half miles from Ashburton, Devonshire, and bounded on the north side by Aswell Woods, from which it is easily accessible.
[16] The Dart river, whose source is in the forest of Dartmoor, is most appropriately called the “English Rhine.” The scenery in the locality of “Raven Rock” is very beautiful.
[17] The author of the poem.
[18] Sir Bouchier Wrey, Bart., the lord of the manor; great in stature, and a most amiable gentleman.
[19] The rock.
[20] Thousands of rare oaks which embellished this beautiful locality, belonging to Sir Bouchier, were hewn down ‘some few years since’, to the great regret of the people of the neighbourhood.
[21] Sir Henry Seale, Bart., of Dartmouth, Devon.
[22] Buckland-beacon, a very high point, commanding an immense tract of magnificent scenery, and where there is a strong refuge for the hard-hunted animal.
[23] For instance.
[24] A slight reference to the author’s short sojourn in Australia, 1855-56.
[25] “Lovers’ Leap,” which is situated in a very picturesque spot on the banks of the river Dart, is a perpendicular rugged precipice, immediately contiguous to a carriage-road. Its summit is about seventy feet above the river, and where, at the foot of the rock, the stilly waters flow: distance from Ashburton about three miles, and about half a mile from the foot of “Raven Rock,” which is seen on “Lovers’ Leap” with great advantage.
[26] The late lamented Prince Consort, accompanied by the late Colonel Phipps, and two other gentlemen in attendance on His Royal Highness, made a tour from Dartmouth, viâ Totnes, to Ashburton, and thence to Tavistock (en route for Plymouth by this circuit), proceeding by way of the river Dart, in the carriage-drive which passes over “Lovers’ Leap,” on the 20th of July, 1852; Her Majesty Queen Victoria proceeding, in the meanwhile, in her yacht to Plymouth.
[27] “Raven Rock”—aspect south from “Lovers’ Leap.”
[28] This is stated on the authority of Mr. G. Sparkes, of Ashburton, who had the honour of conducting His Royal Highness and suite through this part of the journey.
[29] Gathered to his fathers, December 14, 1861, in his forty-second year.
[Composed on the occasion of the arrival of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, 7th March, 1863.]
[30] Their Royal Highnesses, and the ladies and gentlemen in attendance, travelled by railway to London, where, at the Bricklayers’ Arms Station, they were received by the Corporation of the City with great joy and magnificence.
[31] The route taken was over London Bridge, King William Street, Cheapside, by St. Paul’s, Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street, Strand, Pall Mall, St. James’s Street, Piccadilly, Hyde Park, Edgware Road, thence to Paddington.
[32] The morning was only partially fine. About half-past four o’clock it began to rain. The evening was very wet.
[33] Windsor Castle.
[34] The Round Tower.
Note.—This poem is, by kind permission, most respectfully inscribed to the Author’s sincere friend. H. Caunter, Esq.
[35] London.
[36] “Captain” is a familiar term invariably applied to the manager of a mine.
[37] Westlooe is a small town in Cornwall.
[38] Little dreaming of the sad disasters which were about to befall him. The puffing of the engine.
[39] Passing through a tunnel.
[40] Where the train stopped for ten minutes.
[41] The refreshment department at the station.
[42] A Five-shilling piece.
[43] A very doubtful matter whether the lad ever did return.
[44] Paddington Station.
[45] In a dream.
[46] Seven and sixpence—a singular coincidence.
[47] The sensation of one’s hair standing erect.
[48] Inside the skirt-lining of his coat.
[49] Stationer’s shop.
[50] The lady with whom the Captain joked on his journey to town.
[51] The Captain had promised his friends to give them a full account of his journey, &c., when he returned.
[52] His wit.
[53] An extra sixpence to pay for a glass of grog.
[54] Including the value of the watch, chain, &c.
[55] The Captain himself.
[56] Grave.
[57] There seems to be no doubt whatever (assuming the story to be a true one) that the Captain’s greatest disaster—his losing his old “leathern pouch,” as he called it, occurred on the platform of the Paddington Station, when, in his great hurry to get away, he tumbled so violently over the trunk; and being in the habit of carrying his “pouch” in the inside breast-pocket of his coat, the probability is, that it escaped from thence in consequence of the sudden jerk it received. He, as a matter of course, being a Cornishman, took very little—if indeed any—notice of the fall, for (with an air of triumph) he recovered his perpendicular, and started off—as observed before in the poem—in which the direction of Edgware Road. As regards the disappointment and dismay which the Captain met with afterwards as to the recovery of his watch, that was what might have been expected by any shrewd person, because it was very natural that some sharp individual would have observed the “vertisement,” and would, as a matter of course, take some such a step as, unfortunately for Joseph, turned out to be the case.
Note.—The author takes the opportunity of stating here that, having sent of the three poems—“England’s Hope,” “Christening the Prince,” and “Our Little Brother”—to Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales (as the three incidents occurred), he had the gratification of receiving on each occasion a letter expressing their thanks for the same.
[58] The accouchement of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, and the happy birth of a Prince, at Frogmore Lodge, Windsor, at 8.55 p.m., Friday, 8th January, 1864.
[59] Her Majesty the Queen.
[60] Albert. His late Royal Highness The Prince Consort died 14th Dec., 1861.
[61] The reader will please to observe that lines 1st and 5th, 2nd and 6th, 3rd and 7th, &c., have rhythmical terminations.
[62] The author seeks indulgence in using the word “stray’d.”
[63] The Planets.
[64] His astronomical instrument.
[Composed on the occasion of “The Shakespeare Tercentenary Festival,” 1864.]
Note.—The reader is requested to observe that lines 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-8 (and so in every eight consecutive lines), have rhythmical terminations, though the quantity of feet do not agree; but the number of feet in lines 1-9, 2-10, 3-11, 4-12, 5-13, 6-14, 7-15, and 8-16 (and so in each successive 16 lines), will be found to correspond, with but slight variation.
[65] This poem was composed on the occasion of the Banquet given by Lord and Lady Palmerston, June 22nd, 1864, in honour of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales.
[66] Grapes.
[67] The guests.
[68] The Bible.
[69] Cornfields.
[70] A kind of knitted jacket for the body.
[71] The woodbine.
[72] The peasant’s cot.
[73] Composed on the occasion of St. Peter’s (Pimlico, London) annual School Festival, held at Bushy Park, Hampton Court, 27th July, 1865.
[74] Make holdfast.
[75] The singing of a hymn.
[76] This poem is intended to illustrate the Sun’s fleetings on the Earth’s surface, occasioned by the passage of clouds, on a breezy day.
[77] The Sun.
[78] Written on the occasion of the birth of Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert, second son of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, at Marlborough House, Pall Mall, 3rd June, 1865, at 1.18.
[79] Return visit of the Belgian Volunteers (to England), July, 1867.
[80] Signifying the sea.
London, October 2nd, 1865.
[81] A few lines on the author’s receipt of a box of pills from an old acquaintance (C. H.) of Ashburton.
London, 18th October, 1865.
[82] One hemisphere.
[83] The nation.
[84] The Right Honourable Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston, K.G., G.C.B., &c. (the then Premier of the British Government), died at “Brockett Hall,” Herts, at a quarter to eleven o’clock in the forenoon of Wednesday, 18th October, 1865, aged eighty-one years (all but two days), having been born on the 20th October, 1784. The above lines were written on the occasion of his death.
[85] Scriptural limitation.
[86] Bottle.
[87] The introduction to Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, &c.
[88] Doctor Samuel Johnson.
[89] These lines were composed to accompany the nest, which the author purchased at the little museum of petrified curiosities in “Mother Shipton’s” Inn, situated about a quarter of a mile from the Dropping Wells at Knaresborough, and which he presented to his much respected friend and benefactor, J. Cutcliffe, Esq., then residing at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, August, 1865.
[90] Use the article “a.”
[91] Supposed to be more than two centuries old.
[92] In Staffordshire.
[93] Another very large oak, called the “Queen.”
[94] The King.
[95] About twenty-four feet round, as measured by the author (of the poem) and his friend, Mr. E. Emery, of Abbots Bromley.
[96] Land, in its forest-like condition.
[97] The “Kingly Oak”.
[98] This poem was composed during the author’s visit to his friend, J. C——, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Sept., 1865.
(An Exhortation to the Volunteers)
[99] Composed on the occasion of the first Volunteer Review at Dover, on Easter Monday, 22nd April, 1867.
76, Upper Ebury Street, Pimlico, S.W.,
6th May, 1865.
I am, My Lord,
Your Lordship’s most obedient Servant,
EDWARD E. FOOT.
To the Right Honorable Viscount Palmerston, K.G. &c., Cambridge House, Piccadilly, W.C.
[100] Tennyson, poet laureat.
[101] Book.
[102] Composed on the occasion of receiving a letter from his great friend, J. Cutcliffe, Esq., complaining of the Author’s negligence in correspondence, and which “few lines” form’d part of his letter, in reply. 1865.
[103] Christmas Day, in this year, happened to be on Sunday.
[104] In Devonshire farmhouses, it is a very customary practice, on Christmas Eve, to put a number of wooden binders around an ashen or oaken faggot, and according to the quantity of them (the binders), so is the quantity of cider regulated for the evening’s entertainment.
[105] The dance.
THE
DEATH, BURIAL, AND DESTRUCTION
OF
BACCHUS;
OR,
THE FRUITS OF LASCIVIOUSNESS.
AN ALLEGORICAL POEM.
IN
TWO CANTOS.
By
E. E. FOOT.
Prologue.—It may be considered presumptuous of the Author that he should have dared to venture in the paths of Allegory; but since he has been guilty of doing so, he must bear whatever chastisement may be inflicted upon him. The Poem is intended, in the first instance, to illustrate in a figurative manner the frailty of the human mind—or rather, the natural propensity of the human heart—in the pursuit of pleasure; which, if not mercifully prevented by the interposition of Divine Providence, tends to create an insatiate desire for new and unattainable delights; fosters an intemperate habit; promotes an incessant craving after carnal joys; and which inevitably involves a person in the whirlpool of vice, and ultimately leads to the destruction of the Soul. In the second instance, to depict (according to the Author’s humble ideas) the manner of mystic glorification—instituted by the Sovereign of the Outer World—continually going on in the dominions of his Satanic Majesty; but which, to the unredeemed souls of departed creatures, is the sad state of everlasting torment, consequent to perdition. And thirdly, the Author hopes this representation[106] of the unblissful regions may have the effect of retarding, at least—in some degree, the appetite for the pleasures, or he would say: vanities of this life; and of eventually averting the evil and direful calamity, by—“Turning the hearts of the disobedient unto the wisdom of the just.”
[106] For it scarcely can be believed that there is such a place in reality—viz., of a tangible nature; but if so, in what direction of the boundless Profound can it be? and where are we to look for it?
Note.—The Author has taken the liberty to use the celestial deities in this poem in the category of planets, and to give to each of them the imaginary character of a person.
[107] The venerable grape-vine at Hampton Court Palace, near London.
[108] A title of the Sun.
[109] The zodiacal sign for July.
[110] The god of wine and sensuality.
[111] Represented in this poem as the great Mythological Musician; who fell violently in love with the nymph Daphne, famed for her modesty.
[112] A mighty hunter.
[113] The god of festivals.
[114] The sovereign lord of the Mythological Heaven.
[115] The goddess of Beauty (daughter of Jupiter).
[116] A planet known as the “Georgium Sidus:”—no mythological title.
[117] The god of Eloquence, &c.
[118] The most ancient of all the Heathen Deities; the emblem of Time.
[119] Of Bacchus.
[120] See the two preceding pages.
[121] The beloved nymph of Apollo.
[122] Apollo.
[123] One of the names of Bacchus.
[124] The Lord and Governor of Hell.
[125] The god of subterraneous fire.
[126] Pluto.
[127] A river of hell.
[128] Avernus, a lake on the borders of hell.
[129] The fiery elements.
[130] Apollo—who (having as it were come down from earth to intercede with Pluto in behalf of Bacchus) is, in this instance, to be considered one of the earth.
[131] A title of Vulcan.
[132] Son of Chaos.
[133] Pluto and Apollo.
[134] Pluto.
[135] The north wind.
Note.—It is the author’s intention (if spared, and his friends—subscribers to this little work—appreciate his motive) to represent, in a subsequent poem, “The Resurrection of Bacchus,”—his return and glorious reception upon Earth, etc.
[157] The ferryman of Hell.
[158] Dog with three heads.
[136] Libitina, goddess of funerals.
[137] A son of Jupiter, remarkable for his wondrous strength and numerous exploits.
[138] The goddess of death.
[139] The west wind.
[140] The embalming of the body of Bacchus.
[141] Goddess of the morn.
[142] The moon.
[143] “Stripling” is intended to signify its more recent discovery in the heavens than that of the other planets.
[144] The World.
[145] Goddess of agriculture.
[146] The earth.
[147] The superior and inferior deities and planets enumerated in the poem.
[148] Of the interment of Bacchus.
[149] Daughters of Jupiter. The Muses.
[150] Wife of Pluto.
[151] With their tremendous shouts.
[152] Here follows Bacchus’ agony.
[153] The three Fates.
[154] The three Furies.
[155] The word “there,” at the beginning of same line.
[156] The goddess of Darkness.
A Poem, in Romance.
IN SIX CHAPTERS.
JANE HOLLYBRAND;
OR,
VIRTUE REWARDED.
BY
EDWARD EDWIN FOOT.
[159] Corn.
[160] Inner room.
[161] The ocean.
[162] The cottage.
[163] Unadulterated.
[164] The (imaginary) bishop of the diocese.
[165] The value of ——.
[166] (Peak of his cap), in making obeisance to the passer-by.
[167] A news-monger, or “bill-sticker.”
[168] Suppose him to be a pedler.
[169] At Westonbury Hall, the “squire’s” mansion.
[170] Arnold Mountjoy.
[171] One of her poor mother’s dresses.
[172] His daughter’s statement.
[173] The Prews.
[174] The seat of Lord William Mountjoy:—Arnold’s father.
[175] A pretty yellow flower, which generally abounds in Meadlands.
[176] Which passed through the village of Westonbury, (situated about two miles from the “Hall,”) where Arnold had “book’d” himself for his journey home.
[177] The Sun.
[178] Arnold’s father.
[179] As reported in Lady Prew’s alarming letter.
XVII.
[180] Pointing to the field, which could be seen from the garden, where they were standing.
[181] And familiarising with him, preliminary to the question.
[182] The deceased Lady Prew.
[183] The doorway.
[184] A portion of a letter, which bore the impression of the seal of the late Lord Mountjoy, and which old Squire Prew had (on the occasion of one of his visits) left at the cottage.
[185] The preceding sentence—“And this the dawn of thy prosperity.”
[186] The Sun.
[187] A purse containing some gold.
[188] Vagrant beggars.
[189] The early part of the nineteenth century, the date when the incidents which form this poem are to be considered to have their origin.
[190] Whistling of the whip.
[191] Something over the proper fare.
[192] The sun.
[193] Obscured.
[194] Public-house signboards.
[195] The various incidents recorded in this section.
[196] The proper title of this picture was, no doubt, “The birth of our Saviour.”
[197] Affliction.
[198] The painter’s.
[199] See Ossian’s “Songs of Selma.”
[200] Of flowers.
[201] An elderly aunt, formerly a faithful companion to the late Lady Mountjoy.
[202] Drawing aside.
[203] The branches.
[204] The chimes.
[205] Family prayers.
[206] The Sun.
[207] Meridian.
[208] The right (arm).
[209] Toogood.
[210] Stars.
[211] Time.
[212] The sun.
[213] Aunt Toogood.
[214] D.D.
[215] Appoggiaturas, a musical term.
[216] One of Haydn’s symphonies.
[217] She now habitually addressed Mistress Toogood as “Aunt,” and not at all (it was thought) improper.
SONG: TO A STAR.
E. E. F.
[218] Aunt Toogood.
[219] A magnifying glass, which poor old Andrew was in the habit of using when reading.
[220] A little village, about a mile and a half from the lodge at Rollingate.
[221] The cattle on adjacent farms.
[222] The lodge.
[223] Lord Arnold’s steward.
[224] Chief of the constabulary force at Ruttendell.
[225] The market town, before alluded to.
[226] A canary bird.
[227] The postman.
[228] Artificial tresses.
[229] John Somers, the head groom.
[230] Ruttendell.
[231] A quaint expression which Sir H. B. had acquired when any new sentiment of pleasure inspired his heart.
[232] Mr. Frederick Champernown, stationer and news-agent.
[233] At each end of the town.
[234] The drum.
[235] A windmill.
[236] The coachman.
[237] Yes!
[238] The Park.
[239] Arnold.
[240] Jane.
[241] The proprietor.
[242] A hawker of watches and jewellery.
[243] Among the servants.
[244] A wandering draper.
[245] John Swift, a very old servant (formerly coachman) of Arnold’s father; who still was an inmate of the mansion, though almost incapable of doing any kind of work.
[246] Lord Mountjoy.
[247] O’clock.
[248] A green dress.
[249] To put on the wedding-garments.
[250] Sir Humphrey’s two daughters.
[251] The exterior masonry.
[252] The leader of the band.
[253] Bapta, the goddess of shame.
[254] Concordia, the goddess of peace.
A Word for Gifford.
[255] William Gifford was born at Ashburton, April, 1756, and, as may be inferred from the fact of his being interred at Westminster Abbey, attained a celebrity of no common order.
[256] This may appear singular, and unpardonable, but the Author (of this little work) is obliged to confess that it was only within a few days prior to the publication of these poems he, by accident, (having purchased a small volume in the Strand, London,) for the first time had the pleasure of perusing a portion of the works of this great man.
[257] His satirical poems,—the “Baviad,” and “Mæviad,” and his translation of “Juvenal.”
[258] Those professing poets of the age, whom Gifford lashed with his peculiar wit and humour.
[259] His munificence to the poor of his native town, in the form of an annual gift, will for ever revive the sacredness of his memory, thus:—Mr Gifford bequeathed property sufficient in value to realise the annual sum of £60 a-year; £50 of which is equally divided among twenty poor persons of both sexes, and £10 is distributed in bread to other poor persons on Christmas Eve.
THE END.