Aberdeen Press and Journal
The Jubilee – A Retrospect, 16 April 1887, p. 8.
At Harlaw, July 24, 1914, 25 July 1914, p. 6.
Academy
The Laureate Dead, (November 1892).
The Master of Balliol: A Memory, 64 (7 October 1893, p. 294.
‘O aged head! O never aging face,’ (circa. October 1893).
In Memoriam: Lady Tennyson, 50 (22 August 1896), p. 130.
Animal’s Guardian
The End, circa March 1910.
Army and Navy Gazette
The Unforgotten Dead: To the Memory of Capt. Hamilton, Lieut. Wyness-Stuart, Hitchin, Sept. 6; and Lieut. Bettington, Wolvercote, Sept. 10, 5 October 1912, p. 2.
Atalanta
A Ballad of Port Blair, 5 (March 1892), pp. 332-333.
Well Done, ‘Calliope’!, 6 (November 1892), pp. 130-131.
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette
The Anniversary of the Coronation, 13 August 1903, p. 6.
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine
In Praise of Vulcan: 1 – The Forth Bridge, 147 (March 1890), p. 429.
In Praise of Vulcan: — The Eiffel Tower, 147 (March 1890), p. 429.
Leaving Aldworth: October 11th, 1892, 152 (November 1892), p. 768.
Bognor Regis Observer
An Incident of the Floods in Picton Street, 19 December 1894, p. 7.
Boston Guardian
St. Botolph’s Tower. The Sexcentenary of Boston Church, 19 June 1909.
Bournemouth Graphic
The War-Worn Horses Appeal, 13 April 1917, p. 5.
Bradford Daily Telegraph
The Spirit of Gordon, 6 September 1898, p. 2.
British Review
To the Heroes of the Antarctic, II (April 1913), pp. 80-84.
Sonnets of War, 8 (October 1914), pp. 87-93.
Sonnets of the War: Second Series, 8 (October 1914), pp. 285-290.
In a Harvest Field, 9 (January 1915), p. 83.
A Contrast, 9 (January 1915), p. 83.
Burnley News
‘When this wild storm of war is overblown,’ 22 March 1916, p. 6.
Carlisle Diocesan Magazine
Dean Oakley, 1 (September 1890, p. 37.
Canon Liddon, 1 (November 1890), p. 69.
In Memoriam: The Most Rev. William Connor Magee, D.D., Archbishop of York, 1 (May 1891), p. 182.
Carlisle Journal
Sea Gulls at St. Bees, 25 March 1887, p. 6.
April with Rain – A Sequel, 20 May 1887, p. 6.
July at the Lakes, 5 August 1887, p. 6.
‘Tenderly down the hill we bore them,’ 23 February 1900, p. 6.
At the Funeral of Chancellor Ferguson: Stanwix, March 7th, 9 March 1900, p. 6.
To England and America: A New Year’s Greeting, 3 January 1902, p. 6.
Skating on Derwentwater. Monday, February 17th, 1902, 7 March 1902, p. 6.
A Christmas Message, 26 December 1902, p. 6.
Keswick Old Folks’ “Do,” New Year’s Eve, 1902, 2 January 1903, p. 6.
The Delhi Durbar, 13 January 1903, p. 6.
Colonel Henderson, 13 March 1903, p. 6.
Blencathra Sanatorium: The Cry of the Poor Consumptives, 1 May 1903, p. 5.
The Anniversary of the Coronation, 14 August 1903, p. 6.
T’Auld Fwoks’ Cursmas “Do”, Keswick, December 30, 1903, 1 January 1904, p. 3.
The King Dead, 13 May 1910, p. 6.
At the Wellington Pit Mouth, 20 May 1910, p. 6.
The King’s Funeral: A Retrospect, 24 May 1910, p. 4.
T’Auld Fwoks’ Kessick Do – Cursmas, 1913, 2 January 1914, p. 5.
The New Year, 2 January 1914, p. 8.
La Giaconda, 6 January 1914, p. 6.
In Memory of Lord Strathcona, 30 January 1914, p. 8.
March, 6 March 1914, p. 8.
The Birth of a County Borough: Carlisle, April 1st, 1914, 3 April 1914, p. 8.
The Promise of May, 5 May 1914, p. 6.
In Memoriam: Silvester Horne, M.P., 12 May 1914, p. 6.
Maytide in Italy, 5 June 1914, p. 8.
A Call to Arms, 8 September 1914, p. 6.
“Fort en Loyaltie”, 10 November 1914, p. 4.
St. Paul’s: November 19, 1914, 24 November 1914, p. 6.
At Whitby Abbey – December 16th, 22 December 1914, p. 6.
Hoo Jossy Went to T’War, 1 January 1915, p. 7.
The Day of Intercession, 5 January 1915, p. 6.
The New Year, 8 January 1915, p. 8.
February, 5 February 1915, p. 8.
The Cross of Valour, 26 February 1915, p. 8.
At the Funeral of Archdeacon Sherwen, 12 March 1915, p. 8.
Springtime and War, 6 April 1915, p. 6.
The King’s Example, 13 April 1915, p. 6.
May Day, 11 May 1915, p. 6.
The Call of May, 1 June 1915, p. 6.
July, 6 July 1915, p. 6.
The Boy Sentry of Ypres, 13 August 1915, p. 8.
A Scottish V.C., 24 August 1915, p. 6.
To Bulgaria: The Earthquake’s Warning, 8 October 1915, p. 8.
In Memoriam: Captain Andrew Ferguson Chance, 12 October 1915, p. 6.
Lieutenant Forshaw’s Gallant Deed, 29 October 1915, p. 8.
Britain’s Call to the Colours, 9 November 1915, p. 6.
‘Not for vainglorious boast or mock parade,’ 3 December 1915, p. 7.
Peace on Earth, 24 December 1915, p. 8.
The New Year, 7 January 1916, p. 8.
“Ubi Aves, Ubi Angeli”, 4 February 1916, p. 8.
The Coming of Spring, 7 March 1916, p. 6.
In Memoriam: Acting-Lieutenant Courtenay Tennyson, 21 March 1916, p. 6.
A Plea for Song in War-Time, 25 August 1916, p. 6.
Tribute to Keswick Heroes, 8 September 1916, p. 7.
In Memoriam: Stanley Theodore Carr, 13 October 1916, p. 7.
To Venezelos, 13 October 1916, p. 8.
Oor Lad Wha Nobbut Cooms I’ Dreams, 29 December 1916, p. 7.
Going Home, 5 January 1917, p. 8.
Munition Girls, 25 December 1917, p. 2.
Comin’ Yham T’ Front, 28 December 1917, p. 7.
The Two Springs, 30 April 1918, p. 2.
The Advent of Peace, 12 November 1918, p. 5.
A Welcome to President Wilson, 31 December 1918, p. 7.
Peace at Last, 31 December 1918, p. 8.
An Appeal, 3 October 1919, p. 7.
A Voice in the Silence: Armistice Day, 1919, 18 November 1919, p. 4.
Christmas Day, 26 December 1919, p. 7.
In Vienna, 30 December 1919, p. 4.
Oor Jack he cam’ fra ower t’ sea, 30 December 1920, p. 6.
Carlisle Patriot
The Workhouse Nurse, 3 December 1897, p. 6.
Century
Death, the Angel Friend, 69 (February 1905), p. 576.
Senator Hoar, 72 (July 1906), p. 379.
Chester Chronicle
In Memory of Lieut. W.G.C. Gladstone, M.P., April 13th, 1915, 15 May 1915, p. 2.
Christian World Pulpit
To England and America, 49 (1 January 1896), p. 11.
In Memory of Edna Lyall, 63 (25 February 1903), pp. 125-126.
Church Monthly
The Choosing of Mathias, 3 (circa. January 1891).
Church of England Pulpit and Ecclesiastical Review
The Dying Charger, 49 (26 May 1900), p. 252.
Cornhill Magazine
The Ballad of the Cleopatra, 11 (August 1888), pp. 151-156.
The Bitter Cry of Brer Rabbit, 18 (May 1892), pp. 541-543.
Cornishman
In Memoriam: Lady Tennyson, 27 August 1896, p. 4.
The End, 24 March 1910, p. 3.
Critic
Westminster Abbey, 12 (25 January 1890), p. 46.
To Liddon, 14 (11 October 1890), p. 184.
John Greenleaf Whittier, 21 (23 June 1894), p. 422.
Crosthwaite Parish Magazine
Seascale Memories, (August 1884).
A Royal Wedding: July 23, 1885, (August 1885).
Church and State, (December 1885).
The Old Folks Dinner, (February 1886).
In Memoriam: M. S. Rooke. Obiit March 26, 1886, (March 1886).
In Memoriam, John Richardson, the Cumberland Poet and Village Schoolmaster, Obiit St. John’s Vale, April 30, 1886, (June 1886).
August in the Keswick Vale, (August 1886).
Ripon Millenary Festival, (September 1886).
In Memoriam: September 9, 1886, (October 1886). [Poem on the death of Edward Rathbone]
In Memoriam: September 9, 1886, (October 1886). [Poem on the death of Spencer Bell].
November at the Lakes, (November 1886).
So Songolo: The Crosthwaite Boy on Lake Nyasa, (December 1886).
1887, (January 1887).
The Old Parish Church, (February 1887).
Crosthwaite Churchyard, (My 1887).
The Jubilee – A Retrospect, (June 1887).
On Hearing a Sermon by the Rev. Phillip Brooks, (August 1887).
Jubilee Bonfires: Prospect, (September 1887).
Jubilee Bonfires: Retrospect, (September 1887).
The Letter of Frederick III to Prince Bismarck, (April 1888).
Life thro’ Death: St. Helen’s Colliery Explosion, Thursday, April 19th, 1888, (May 1888).
On the Leaving of John Sharpe Ostle after Five Years Faithful Service, (November 1888).
New Year Joy, (January 1889).
Ned Brown: Killed at His Post, Thornthwaite Mines, January 8th, (February 1889).
To Lord Tennyson: On His Eightieth Birthday, August 6th, 1889, (September 1889).
In Memoriam: Horatius Bonar D.D., (October 1889).
To the Rev. W. Colville on His Leaving Keswick, (November 1889).
In Memoriam: Margaret Mitchell, (January 1890).
St. Kentigern’s Spinners Song, (February 1890).
A Memory, (March 1890).
‘Merry little maidens, oh!’, (June 1890).
In Memoriam: William Peel, (July 1890).
The Fell Shepherd: Death, (August 1890).
Cardinal Newman, (September 1890).
Canon Liddon: Buried at St. Paul’s, September 16th, 1890, (October 1890).
Village Naturalist, (December 1890).
‘O, good New Year, we clasp,’ (January 1891).
To the Memory of Robert Grave, (February 1891),
In Memoriam: Joseph Hawell, (April 1891).
The Cuckoo at Lucerne, (May 1891).
In Memoriam: Archbishop Magee, (June 1891).
‘First cleanly be, and last be clean as well,’ (July 1891).
In Memoriam: Alice Lietch, Died at Derwent Bank, July 13th, 1891, (August 1891).
In Memoriam: Henry Irwin Jenkinson, August 28th, 1891, (September 1891).
At the Bishop’s Grave, (January 1892).
The Dead Prince, January 14th, 1892, (February 1892).
The Crown of Tears. St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, 20th January, 1892, (March 1892).
The First Swallow, (May 1892).
The Laureate Dead, (November 1892).
In Memory of the Old Folks Passed Away, (January 1893).
In Memoriam: Joe Cape, the Clogger, (March 1893).
In Memoriam: Robert Slack, (October 1893).
The Master of Balliol: A Memory, (November 1893).
‘We ask for those unresting thousands, rest,’ (May 1894).
Thirlmere: Loss and Gain, (November 1894).
The New Year, (January 1895).
Heavenly Glory and Earth’s Peace, (April 1895).
On Hearing of the Death of Alice Grisdale, (June 1895).
In Memoriam: Henry Hewetson, (July 1895).
To the Memory of Martha Harrison, (August 1895).
A Welcome to the Kaiser at Dunmail Raise, (September 1895).
To the Memory of Bishop Chauncy Maples, (November 1895).
To England and America, (January 1896).
A New Year’s Greetings, (January 1896).
At the Funeral of Prince Henry of Battenberg, 5th February, 1896, (March 1896).
To the Honour of Trooper Frank William Baxter, (May 1896).
Archdeacon Cooper: In Memoriam, (August 1896).
In Memory of September 23, 1896, (October 1896).
Archbishop Benson, (November 1896).
Sonnet Written for the Opening of the “Victoria” Working Men’s Reading Room, Keswick, November 28th, 1896, (December 1896).
A New Year’s Greeting, (January 1897).
In Memory of Acting Consul-General Phillips, (February 1897).
In Memoriam: Frank C. Crossley, (April 1897).
In Memoriam: Charles Gore Ring, Medical Officer of Health for Keswick. Died in Crosthwaite Church, Easter Morning, 1897, During Service, (May 1897).
In Grateful Memory of John Fisher Crosthwaite, died June 2nd, 1897, (July 1897).
To the Elders of the Church in Europe, (August 1897).
A Song of Life, (November 1897).
The Workhouse Nurse, (December 1897).
We Keep Christ’s Day in Cumberland, (January 1898).
A Spring Song at the Lakes, (February 1898).
The Blackbird Dead, (April 1898).
To America, (May 1898).
In Memoriam: Funeral of William Ewart Gladstone, May 28th, 1898, (June 1898).
Home from Italy, (July 1898).
The Railway Heroes, (August 1898).
The Tsar’s Manifesto, (September 1898).
The Empress of Austria: In Memoriam, (October 1898).
To the Sirdar – A Welcome Home, (November 1898).
The New Year’s Hope, (January 1899).
The Peace Conference, (February 1899).
To John Ruskin: On His 80th Birthday, 8th February 1899, (March 1899).
To Victoria – A Birthday Greeting: 24th May, 1899, (June 1899).
Home from Lombardy, (July 1899).
The Khalifa Dead! Om Debriket – Nov. 23, (December 1899).
John Ruskin, (February 1900).
St. George’s Day, April 23rd, 1900, (May 1900).
In Memory of the Vicar of St. John’s, Keswick, 1st May, 1901, (May 1901).
To Mrs Hoare: On Her Leaving St. John’s Parsonage, 26th June, 1901, (July 1901).
To All Who Helped, (September 1901).
In Memory of Ann Cockbain, November 14th, 1901, (December 1901).
Rhodes Dead, (April 1902).
The Angel-Whisper, Peace, (June 1902).
The Crowning of the King, August 9th, 1902, (September 1902).
Brandelhow, October 16 1902, (November 1902).
The New Year, (January 1903).
In Memory of Edna Lyall: Bournemouth, 8th February, 1903, (March 1903).
Lord Salisbury: In Memoriam, August 22nd, 1903, (September 1903).
The Cry of Macedonia, (November 1903).
Bishop Muldoon. At the Burning Theatre, Chicago, 30th December, 1903, (January 1904).
Liao-Yang, Sept. 1st, 1904, (September 1904).
At the Bishop’s Grave, Raughtonhead, (October 1904).
In Memory of a Slack, Derwent Hill, Oct., 24th, (November 1904).
The New Year, (January 1905).
Red Sunday in St. Petersburg, January 22nd, (February 1905).
Mark Cockbain, laid to rest in Crosthwaite Churchyard, Feb. 15th, 1905, (March 1905).
Jupiter and Venus: March 1905, (April 1905).
Dawn in Greece and Cumberland, (May 1905).
Empire Day, (June 1905).
To Admiral Togo. Tsu-shina, May 27-28, 1905, (July 1905).
In Memory of Mary Jane Lowe, 27th July, 1905, (August 1905).
To the Mikado. Portsmouth, USA, 29th August, 1905, (September 1905.
The Anglo-Japanese Treaty, (October 1905).
Nelson’s Last Prayer, October 21st, 1905, (November 1905).
The Queen’s Appeal, Nov. 13th, (December 1905).
The New Year, (January 1906).
A Crosthwaite Belfry Song, (February 1906).
The Double Choir, (March 1906).
The Chiff-Chaff, (May 1906).
Sir Wilfrid Lawson: Obiit July 1, 1906, (August 1906).
At Yew Crag, Gowbarrow Fell, (September 1906).
The New Year, 1907, (January 1907).
In Memoriam: J. R. Anderson. Died at Glasgow, March 26th, (April 1907).
In Memoriam: T. E. Highton, Entered Rest Saturday, June 15th, 1907, (July 1907).
At a Picture Exhibition, (August 1907).
On Laying the Foundation Stone of the New Church at Plumpton, All Saints’ Day, 1907, (November 1907).
On Memory of the Bell-Master – Stephen Hogarth, (December 1907).
In Memoriam – W. D. Clewdon, Jan. 13th, 1908, (February 1908).
In Memory of Lizzie Renshaw. Who Entered Rest 14th March, 1908, Aged 87, (April 1908).
The Sorrow of Skelghyll, (May 1908).
In a Vicarage Garden, (June 1908).
The Pan-Anglican Congress, (July 1908).
The Children’s Day at Seascale, (August 1908).
In Memoriam – Rosellen Eliza Favell, Obiit., 13th August, 1908, aetat. 83, (September 1908).
The Spider’s Message, (October 1908).
In Grateful Memory of Geoffrey Payne (Aged 23 years). Who Fell Asleep at Keswick 5th October, 1908, (November 1908).
Milton, 1608-1908, (December 1908).
New Year’s Day, (January 1909).
In Memory of Mary Cockbain, (February 1909).
“Old Charlie”, (March 1909).
Charles Algernon Swinburne, (May 1909).
To My Friends Mr. and Mrs. Henry Walker, on their Diamond Wedding Day, June 7th, 1909, (July 1909).
In Memory of the Tennyson Centenary at Somersby, August 5th, 1909, (September 1909).
An Incident of the Adana Massacre: The Martyrs of Missis, (October 1909).
Dawn in the Abbey Precincts, Carlisle, (November 1909).
The New Year, 1912, (January 1912.
In Memory of Lord Carlisle: Lanercost, January 14th, 1912, (February 1912).
In Honour of Charles Dickens: February 7th, 1912, (March 1912).
Birds and the Coal Strike, 1912, (April 1912).
The Music of Hope: In Memory of the Bandsmen of the Titanic, (May 1912).
Home from Lucerne, (July 1912).
Conscience the Founder, (August 1912).
Octavia Hill: August 13th, 1912, (August 1912).
General Booth: Congress Hall, Clapton, 26th August, 1912, (August 1912).
A September Day – Latrigg, (October 1912).
A Voice from Santa Sophia, (November 1912).
The Two Angels, (December 1912).
Freedom’s Spring-Tide, (December 1912).
Tribute to Keswick Heroes, (September 1916).
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
Christmas in Crete, 1898, 31 December 1898, p. 7.
In Memory of William Wilson, Keswick Hotel, 8th Oct., 1900, 13 October 1900, p. 5.
The Secret of Old Age, 28 December 1901, p. 5.
At the Declaring Open of the Brandelhow Estate by H.R.H. Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, October 16th, 1902, 18 October 1902, p. 5.
Keswick Old Folks’ “Do,” New Year’s Eve, 1902, 3 January 1903, p. 1.
T’Auld Fwoks’ Kursmas “Do.” In Memory of Irwin Jenkinson, 31 December 1910, p. 1.
Auld Ganny’s Cursmas Teal, 30 December 1911, p. 1.
Daily Chronicle
Poem, 11 March 1897.
Daily Gazette for Middlesborough
‘Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,’ 12 September 1896, p. 3.
Schacee, the Brave, 12 September 1896, p. 3.
Here’s to Kitchener, 30 November 1898, p. 2.
After the Battle, 8 December 1899, p. 3.
Daily News and Leader (following a merger between London Daily News and The Leader)
To the Heroes of the Terra Nova, 12 February 1913, p. 6.
Dial
‘O aged head! O never aging face,’ 15 (1 November 1893), p. 253.
The Master of Balliol: A Memory, 15 (1 November 1893), p. 253.
Poet’s Death-Chamber, 15 (1 November 1893), p. 253.
John Greenleaf Whittier, 15 (1 November 1893), p. 267.
Born in Our Monster Babylon, 24 (1 March 1898), p. 156.
Dundee Evening Telegraph
The Cry of the Poor Consumptives, 19 October 1903, p. 3.
Durham County Advertiser
The Spirit of Gordon, 9 September 1898, p. 3.
English Lakes Visitor and Keswick Guardian
In Memoriam: Thomas Dundas Hartford-Battersby, 28 July 1883 p. 5.
Some Good friends have said the parson’s a sinner, 29 December 1883, p. 4.
Old last year’s friends brought together, 29 December 1883, p. 5. [Poem with Edith Rawnsley]
A Happy Death, 16 February 1884, p. 5.
‘Blind was the storm, from wild Atlantic brought’, English Lakes Visitor and Keswick Guardian, 21 June 1884, p. 5.
Now from the sacred grove of Borrowdale, 21 June 1884, p. 5.
Ill could we spare the Tree St. Patrick knew, 21 June 1884, p. 5.
T’Ald Fwoake’s Dinner, 3 January 1885, p. 4.
Once more, from hall and cottage home, we meet, 2 January 1886, p. 5.
In Memoriam. W. E. Forster. Obiit April 5, 24 April 1886, p. 5.
In Memoriam, John Richardson, the Cumberland Poet and Village Schoolmaster, Obiit St. John’s Vale, April 30, 1886, 8 May 1886, p. 5.
For Rich or Poor or High or Low, 31 December 1887, p. 4.
To My Colleague John Sharpe Ostle, On Leaving the Parish and Church of St. Kentigern, Crosthwaite, after Five Years Faithful Friendship and Service, 3 November 1888, p. 5.
Poet Browning’s Funeral: Westminster Abbey, Dec. 31, 4 January 1890, p. 5.
St. Kentigern’s Spinners Song, 25 January 1890, p. 4.
To Sister Rose Gertrude, 15 February 1890, p. 4.
‘Merry little maidens, oh!’, 3 May 1890, p. 5.
In Memoriam: William Peel. Killed at Bassenthwaite Station by the Excursion Train, July 11th, 14 June 1890, p. 5.
Village Naturalist, 22 November 1890, p. 4.
The Choosing of Mathias, 31 January 1891, p. 5.
Joseph Hawell, 28 March 1891, p. 5.
In Memoriam: Henry Irwin Jenkinson, August 28th, 1891, 5 September 1891, p. 4.
The Undoing of De Harcla: A Ballad of Cumberland, 26 December 1891, p. 5.
A Traveller’s Tale, 2 January 1892, p. 5.
In Memoriam: Mrs Attlee, Who Died in Mission Work on Mount Olivet, February, 1892, 20 February 1892, p. 5.
Death of Miss Walker of Portinscale, 22 October 1892, p. 5.
In Memory of the Old Folks Passed Away, 31 December 1892, p. 5.
To Sir John Harwood, 13 October 1894, p. 5.
To the Promoters and Builders of the Thirlmere Waterworks, 13 October 1894, p. 5.
To the Workmen, 13 October 1894, p. 5.
Thirlmere: Loss and Gain, 13 October 1894, p. 5.
The Rhyme of the Keswick Old Folks’ Dinner, 28 December 1895, p. 4.
‘Not to make smooth the pathway to the grave,’ 4 March 1899, p. 5.
‘Lord have me! Help me! Unafraid,’ 13 May 1899, p. 5.
French Justice and God’s Truth, 16 September 1899, p. 4.
The Leonids and Ladysmith, 18 November 1899, p. 5.
A Hero of Belmont: November 23, 1899, 2 December 1899, p. 5.
War and the Old Folks’ Creed, 30 December 1899, p. 5.
A Man of Straw at Ladysmith, 30 December 1899, p. 5.
At William Unwin’s Grave, Crosthwaite, Jan. 11th, 13 January 1900, p. 4.
‘She gave us more than gold could buy,’ 13 January 1900, p. 5.
To the Men of the Border Regiment, Cumberland Sends Thanks and Greetings for 1900, 20 January 1900, p. 5.
At Ruskin’s Grave: On His Birthday, February 8, 10 February 1900, p. 4.
The Dying Charger, 26 May 1900, p. 5.
In Memory of William Wilson, Keswick Hotel, 8th Oct., 1900, 13 October 1900, p. 5.
At the Last Old Folks’ “Do” of the Century, 29 December 1900, p. 4.
Keswick Old Folks’ “Do,” New Year’s Eve, 1902, 3 January 1903, p. 5.
T’ Keswick Auld Fwokes’ Do, 1905, 30 December 1905, p. 5.
The Double Choir: To My Old Friend, Mr. P. T. Freeman, 3 February 1906, p. 5.
Sir Wilfrid Lawson: Obiit July 1, 1906, 7 July 1906, p. 4.
Old Mary’s Secret, 29 December 1906, p. 4.
‘Here, at the entrance of the street,’ 25 April 1908, p. 8.
A Keswick Voter, Christmas 1909, 1 January 1910, p. 5.
T’Auld Fwoks’ Kursmas “Do”, 31 December 1910, p. 8.
English Review
To Great Britain, 18 (November 1914), p. 403.
Fife Free Press and Kirkcaldy Guardian
In Memory of the Men of H.M.S. ‘Tiger’: April 2, 1908, 11 April 1908, p. 6.
The End, 19 March 1910, p. 3.
Gloucester Citizen
‘Tenderly down the hill we bore them,’ 22 February 1900, p. 3.
Gloucester Journal
In the Choir of Gloucester Cathedral: 9 June, 15 June 1918, p. 3.
Good Words
In Memoriam—Horatius Bonar D.D.: Died August 7th, 1889, 30 (October 1889), p. 695.
An Old Conspiracy, 31 (February 1890), p. 117.
Hamilton Herald and Lanarkshire Weekly News
In Memoriam: Principal Rainy, 29 December 1906, p. 8.
Hampshire Telegraph
New Year, 4 January 1908, p. 10.
Hull Daily Mail
General Booth: Congress Hall, Clapton, 26th August, 1912, 28 August 1912, p. 3.
A Prayer for Recruits, 12 September 1914, p. 3.
Journal of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club
In the Abbey Precincts, Carlisle, Dawn, 1 (1909), p. 252.
Lakes Herald
‘Now let the ocean wanderers, going free,’ 5 January 1894, p. 4.
The Children are Singing in Kendal Town, 3 May 1895, p. 4.
The Miss Armitt Memorial Trust, 15 November 1912, p. 8.
Lancashire Evening Post
The Spirit of Gordon: A Sonnet on Omdurman, 2 September 1898, p. 9.
In Memoriam, V.R.I, 24 January 1901, p. 4.
Love Triumphant. Buffalo, September 6th, 1901, 16 September 1901, p. 4.
The Bereaved Premier: To a Statesman (Bereaved August 30th, 1906), 3 September 1906, p. 2.
In Honour of Private James Miller, V.C., 14 September 1916, p. 4.
The Ideal Speaker, 24 February 1919, p. 4.
To the May Queen of Keswick, 7 May 1920, p. 3.
Liverpool Echo
Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, V.C., R.A.M.C., Died of Wounds in France, August, 1917, 15 August 1917, p. 3.
Living Age
In Praise of Vulcan: 1 — The Forth Bridge, 185 (19 April 1890, p. 130.
In Praise of Vulcan: II — The Eiffel Tower, 185 (19 April 1890, p. 130.
Spring the Beloved, 187 (25 October 1890), p. 706.
Leaving Home, 187 (25 October 1890), p. 194.
Village Naturalist, 187 (20 December 1890), p. 706.
The Laureate Dead, 195 (17 December 1892), p. 706.
In Memoriam: Lady Tennyson, 210 (26 September 1896), p. 770.
Belgium, 284 (30 January 1915), p. 258.
To Great Britain, 284 (20 February 1915), p. 450.
London Daily News
King Alfred the Great, 19 March 1898, p. 6.
On, Lads, On!, 14 April 1898, p. 2.
In Honour of Peart and Dean, 27 July 1898, p. 6.
French Justice and God’s Truth, 12 September 1899, p. 6.
To Sir Redvers Buller: A Welcome Home, 10 November 1900, p. 3.
The Angel-Whisper, Peace, 26 May 1902, p. 6.
The Cry of the Avon Banks, 1 October 1904, p. 6.
The Dreamers of Peace, 23 August 1905, p. 7.
Christmas, 1905, 25 December 1905, p. 6.
In Memory of W. B. H.: A Social Reformer, 21 February 1906, p. 6.
Christmas Day, 1907, 25 December 1907, p. 4.
At the Wellington Pit Mouth, 18 May 1910, p. 6.
The Music of Hope: In Memory of the Bandsmen of the Titanic, 27 April 1912, p. 6.
Lowestoft Journal
The Spirit of Gordon, 10 September 1898, p. 7.
The Queen’s Memorial. Plea for a National Valhalla, 9 March 1901, p. 8.
A New Year’s Sonnet. The Tide of Love, 1904, 9 January 1904, p. 8.
Macmillan’s Magazine
Father Damien, 60 (July 1889), p. 182.
To Lord Tennyson: On His Eightieth Birthday, August 6th, 1889, 60 (August 1889), p. 293.
The Wreck of the ‘Ocean Queen.’ To the Heroes of Colwyn Bay, November 7th, 1890. 63 (January 1891), pp. 189-191.
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser
‘Jourbet is dead! Far off the whisper ran,’ 7 April 1900, p. 15.
Welcome to Sir Alfred Milner, 24 May 1901, p. 8.
Manchester Evening News
Lord Roberts: In Memoriam, 17 November 1914, p. 7.
‘Children, when you plant your tree,’ 18 March 1915, p. 6.
Manchester Times
‘I am the mistress of the post,’ 30 March 1900, p. 14.
Maryport Advertiser
‘I, in a tranquil May-tide’s afterglow,’ 3 June 1905, p. 6.
Mid Sussex Times
An Incident of the Flood in Picton Street, 18 December 1894, p. 2.
Middlesex and Surrey Express
Harassed Horses, 8 January 1900, p. 3.
Millom Gazette
I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes to the Hills, 31 March 1904, p. 7.
The Battle of Tsu-Shima, May 27-28, 1905, 12 April 1906, p. 5.
A Cumberland War Song, 18 September 1914, p. 7.
Morning Post
Welcome to Sir Alfred Milner, 24 May 1901, p. 4,
Murray’s Magazine
John Bright, 5 (May 1889), p. 660.
The Poet’s Home-Going, 7 (February 1890), pp. 145-150.
A Welcome to Stanley, 7 (June 1890), pp. 734-741.
Nature Notes
The Mavis and the Merle, 1 (April 1890), p. 49.
The Starling, 1 (May 1890), p. 72.
Village Naturalist, 1 (December 1890), p. 188.
The Waking of the Birds, 2 (15 May 1891), p. 84.
The First Swallow, 3 (May 1892), p. 92.
My Feathered Lady, 4 (December 1893), pp. 225-227.
My Friend the Starling, 5 (May 1894), p. 89.
When Spring and the Throstle Come Back from the Sea, 6 (April 1895), p. 66.
‘Must Foyers fail, its thunders sound no more,’ 6 (October 1895), pp. 190-191.
Noble Sport, 7 (December 1896), p. 256.
The Royal Buck-Hounds, 8 (January 1897), p. 11.
The Pigeons’ Sanctuary, 8 (March 1897), p. 52.
To London’s Heart: An Appeal for the Churchyard Bottom Wood, Highgate, 8 (April 1897), p. 74.
The Chiffchaff’s Message, 8 (June 1897), p. 116.
The Altar of Fashion, 9 (May 1898), p. 81.
In a Gullery, 9 (June 1898), p. 109.
Doll and the Starling: A Morning Call, 9 (November 1898), p. 203.
The Angel in the Lilac-Bush, 12 (August 1901), p. 147.
The Missel Thrush and Irish Yew, XIV (May 1903), p. 87.
The Chiff-Chaffs Return, XIV (June 1903), p. 132.
To a Thrush on a Mid-March Morning, 17 (April 1906), p. 61.
The Egret’s Royal Charter, 17 (June 1906), p. 105.
The Thrush’s Funeral, 19 (August 1908), p. 141.
The Thrush’s Word, 23 (April 1912), p. 71.
Northampton Mercury
The Long Buckby Hero, 13 May 1904, p. 6.
Northern Counties Magazine
Bernard Gilpin, 2 (April 1901), p. 2.
In Memory of Bishop Westcott. At Bishop Auckland, Friday, 2nd August, 2 (September 1901), p. 401.
Nottingham Evening Post
In Memoriam: Josephine Kipling, New York, March 6, 11 March 1899, p. 2.
Nottinghamshire Guardian
To John Ruskin on His 79th Birthday, 12 February 1898, p. 4.
Pall Mall Gazette
A Sonneteer at the New Gallery, 17 May 1888, p. 14.
For Browning’s Funeral, 31 December 1889, p. 2.
To Sister Rose Gertrude, 3 February 1890, p. 2.
To H. M. Stanley, 26 April 1890, p. 2.
To H. M. Stanley and Miss D. Tennant, 12 July 1890, p. 4.
‘In olden time, the prophet of the Lord,’ 16 September 1890, p. 2.
The Dead Prince, January 14th, 1892, 15 January 1892, p. 1.
Lieut. R.G. Garvin: A Tribute from Canon Rawnsley, 12 August 1916, p. 2.
Pall Mall Gazette, Literary Supplement
The Crown of Tears. St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, 20th January, 1892, 28 January 1892.
Pall Mall Magazine
The Heroes of Rhondda Vale, 1 (September 1893), pp. 773-780.
The Haunted Oak of Nannau, 3 (July 1894), pp. 353-361.
Penrith Herald
In Memory of THomas Bakewell, 8 April 1916.
Penrith Observer
Sonnet to Dean Oakley, 17 June 1890, p. 7.
A Welcome to the Kaiser at Dunmail Raise, 20 August 1895, p. 5.
To America, 10 May 1898, p. 6.
The New Year’s Hope, 9 January 1899, p. 6.
Across the Flood, 5 February 1901, p. 7.
In Memoriam: Mr. Henry Howard, 11 August 1914, p. 7.
To the 4th Battalion Border Regiment: On Their Sailing for Burmah, Oct. 29th, 1914, 10 November 1914, p. 6.
Penrith Grammar School Song, 30 March 1915, p. 7.
The Coming of Spring, 7 March 1916, p. 6.
Oor Lad Wha Nobbut Cooms I’ Dreams, 3 January 1917, p. 6.
Going Home, 9 January 1917, p. 7.
Peterborough Advertiser
‘They who, with sight of Death see Duty clear,’ 1 February 1899, p. 3.
Picture Politics
To England and America: A New Year’s Greeting, (January-February 1902), p. 3.
Reading Mercury
The Crown of Tears, 30 January 1892, p. 2.
Review of Reviews
The Forth Bridge, 1 (March 1890), p. 203.
Royal Cornwall Gazette
The Dying Charger, 24 May 1900, p. 6.
Saint George: The Journal of the Ruskin Society of Birmingham
The master at Rest, III (April 1900), p. 74.
At Ruskin’s Grave: On His Birthday, February 8th, 1900, III (April 1900), p. 75.
At Ruskin’s Funeral, III (April 1900), pp. 76-79.
Scots Magazine
The Legend of St. Bees, 1 January 1888, p. 47.
Scotsman
St. Andrew’s Quincentenary, 14 September 1911, p. 8.
A Scottish V.C., 23 August 1915, p. 11.
Selborne Magazine and Nature Notes
The Larger Spotted Woodpecker: Allan Bank, Grasmere, 1917, 28 (September 1917), pp. 106-107.
Sheffield Daily Telegraph
‘To-day the land remembers him who fought,’ 25 April 1904, p. 7.
A Brave Doctor: In Honour of Dr. D. C. Turnbull, 31 March 1915, p. 6.
Sheffield Weekly Telegraph
Matthew Arnold: In Laleham Churchyard, April 1888, 27 October 1894, p. 27.
Shields Daily News
The Spirit of Gordon, 7 September, 1898, p. 4.
South Wales Daily News
In Memoriam, 8 April 1899, p. 6.
To General Buller, 3 March 1900, p. 6.
South Wales Echo
The Spirit of Gordon, 6 September 1898, p. 3.
An Estcourt Hero, 21 November 1899, p. 2.
Southend Standard and Essex Weekly Advertiser
‘Tenderly down the hill we bore them,’ 22 February 1900, p. 5.
Spectator
A Cry from Ireland, 59 (13 March 1886), p. 355.
August in the Keswick Vale, 59 (31 July 1886), p. 1022.
November at the Lakes, 59 (13 November 1886), p. 1527.
A Christmas Sonnet, 60 (8 January 1887), p. 44.
A Rainless April, 60 (23 April 1887), p. 558.
April with Rain – A Sequel, 60 (30 April 1887), p. 590.
July at the Lakes, 60 (16 July 1887), p. 959.
August at the Lakes, 60 (6 August 1887), p. 1057.
Edward Thring, 60 (5 November 1887), p. 1488.
Frederick III, 61 (30 June 1888), p. 886.
Glen Almond, 61 (25 August 1888), p. 1162.
Spring the Beloved, 64 (3 May 1890), p. 624.
Village Naturalist, 65 (15 November 1890), p. 683.
The Gordon Home: An Appeal, 67 (15 August 1891), p. 225.
Sphere
February, 21 February 1914, p. 34.
The Memorial Shrine, Westminster, 26 April 1919, p. 24.
St. James’s Gazette
To Lord Tennyson: On His Eightieth Birthday, 6 August 1889, p. 12.
Owens College Jubilee, the Opening of the Whitworth Hall, March 12, 1902, 12 March 1902, p. 10.
Star
Poem, 11 March 1897.
T.P.’s Journal of Great Deeds of the Great War
Sonnet in Honour of Lieut.-Commander H. de P. Rennick, 2 (30 January 1915), p. 59.
To Lieut. Holbrook and His Gallant Crew of B11 (December 13th), 2 (13 February 1915), p. 124.
General Joffre’s Farewell, 2 (20 March 1915), p. 255.
Take Me Home, 3 (15 May 1915), p. 132.
Tamworth Herald
‘There is glory now by Anker stream,’ 7 May 1904, p. 8.
Times
‘Hark to the moaning of the Northern Sea,’ 26 September 1914, p. 9.
Belgium, 7 November 1914, p. 9.
1915, 1 January 1915, p. 7.
Uppingham School Magazine
The Wooing of the North Wind: Its Beginning and End, 8 (June 1870), pp. 147-57.
[Sonnets], (January 1888).
Wells Journal
A Farewell to Kitchener, 15 December 1898, p. 2.
At Ruskin’s Grave, 1 February 1900, p. 2.
West Cumberland Times
A May Song, 11 May 1895, p. 2.
In Honour of William Thompson Stephenson, 26 December 1896, p. 4.
‘Now let the stars from heaven to earth be shed,’ 19 June 1897, p. 6.
‘Born of the love of Bridget when her soul,’ 16 December 1899, p. 2.
The Secret of Olad Age, 28 December 1901, p. 5.
At the Declaring Open of the Brandelhow Estate by H.R.H. Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, October 16th, 1902, 18 October 1902, p. 2.
Keswick Old Folks’ “Do,” New Year’s Eve, 1902, 3 January 1903, p. 3.
T’Oald Fwoks’ Cursmas Do, 2 January 1904, p. 3.
I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes to the Hills, 26 March 1904, p. 3.
T’Ald Fwoks’ Cursmas, December, 1904. Barns Yance Agean, 31 December 1904, p. 5.
T’Oald Fwoks’ Cursmas Dea, 1904. Barns Yance Agean, 7 January 1905, p. 3.
‘I, in a tranquil May-tide’s afterglow,’ 3 June 1905, p. 6.
T’ Keswick Auld Fwokes’ Do, 1905, 30 December 1905, p. 3.
To My Friends Well Met, 31st March, 7 April 1906, p. 3.
Old Mary’s Secret, 29 December 1906, p. 2.
T’Auld Fwoks’ Kursmas “Do”. In Memory of Irwin Jenkinson, 31 December 1910, p. 3.
Western Daily Press
St. Werburgh’s Tower, 7 March 1876, p. 3.
To the Memory of the Fathers of the Western Church, whose Memorial is Preserved by the Sculptures in the Cathedral Porch, 3 April 1876, p. 4.
To All Who are Interested in Pulling Down or Preserving to Grateful Memory the Sculptures of the Few Latin Fathers of the Western Church, now Erected on Either Side of the Cathedral Porch, 3 April 1876, p. 4.
Raika, “Queen of the Bulgarians”, 5 September 1876, p. 3.
Harvest Thanksgiving at St. Barnabas, Sept. 5, 1876, 9 September 1876, p. 3.
An Incident of the Floods in Picton Street, 11 December 1894, p. 5.
To Czar Nicholas II, 19 December 1898, p. 2.
Western Times
To Sir Redvers Buller, V.C., Exeter, September 6th, 8 September 1905, p. 10.
Westminster Gazette
To W. E. Gladstone, On His Eighty-Seventh Birthday, 29 December 1896, p. 3.
‘They who, with sight of Death see Duty clear,’ 24 January 1899, p. 2.
In Memoriam: Josephine Kipling, New York, March 6th, 10 March 1899, p. 2.
‘Tenderly down the hill we bore them,’ 21 February 1900, p. 2.
‘Jourbet is dead! far off the whisper ran,’ 2 April 1900, p. 2.
A Brave Trumpeter, 23 August 1900, p. 2.
The Delhi Durbar, 10 January 1903, p. 2.
America to England, Greeting!, 26 January 1903, p. 2.
Colonel Henderson, Ave Atque Vale!, 11 March 1903, p. 2.
A New Year’s Sonnet. The Tide of Love, 1904, 1 January 1904, p. 11.
Sir Wilfrid Lawson: Obiit July 1, 1906, 3 July 1906, p. 2.
To a Statesman: (Bereaved August 30, 1906), 1 September 1906, p. 2.
Books for the Blind: An Appeal, 63 (16 April 1914), p. 2.
The Promise of May, 63 (2 May 1914), p. 2.
In Memoriam: Silvester Horne, M.P., 63 (7 May 1914), p. 2.
A Prayer for Peace, 44 (4 August 1914), p. 2.
To the Heroes of the Northern Sea, 19 September 1914, p. 2.
St. Paul’s: November 19, 1914, 44 (19 November 1914), p. 2.
To the Football Player: An Appeal, 44 (30 November 1914), p. 2.
The Day of Intercession, 45 (2 January 1915), p. 2.
In Honour of Dr. Elsie Inglis, 3 December 1917, p. 2.
Westmoreland Gazette
August in the Keswick Vale, 7 August 1886, p. 3.
Father Damien, 6 July 1889, p. 3.
To Lord Tennyson: On His Eightieth Birthday, 17 August 1889, p. 3.
In Memoriam: Bishop Lightfoot, 4 January 1890, p. 8.
Whitby Gazette
‘He’s an absent-minded beggar – that’s no reason we should take,’ 19 January 1900, p. 8.
Wigton Advertiser
To My Friends Well Met, 13 February 1909, p. 5.
The Way of Freedom, 26 August 1911, p. 5.
Peace at Last, 4 January 1919, p. 3.
World
The King Dead, 10 May 1910, p. 795.
Yorkshire Evening Post
Brave Little Lads of Lincolnshire, 31 December 1898, p. 5.
Yorkshire Gazette
The Cathedral Service, 28 August 1886, p. 6.
The Banquet, 28 August 1886, p. 6.
Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer
Stewardess of the Stella, 6 May 1899, p. 7.
Trafalgar Day, October 21, 1905, 21 October 1905, p. 8.
At Saint William’s College, York, May 18, 1911, 19 May 1911, p. 6.
A Sonnet on the Welsh Church Bill: To Our Legislators, An Appeal, 13 January 1913, p. 6.
To Captain F.C. Grenfell, 9th Lancers: Le Cateau, August 31, 1914, 10 September 1914, p. 4.
The Soldier’s Last Will and Testament: Verdun, 21 April 1916, p. 4.
Death the Revealer, 24 April 1916, p. 4.
In Memory of Lieut. R.G. Garvin: The Battle of the Somme, July 22nd, 1916, 12 August 1916, p. 6.
Christmas Day, 1916, 23 December 1916, p. 4.
The Kaiser’s Letter to His Chancellor, Oct. 31, 1916, 19 January 1917, p. 4.
Miscellaneous Poetry Publications
“The Miner’s Rescue. Troedyrhiw Colliery, Rhondda Vale, Glamorganshire, April 20, 1877. (A poem published in pamphlet form).
The Haunted Oak of Nannau: A Dramatic Cantata (with William E. Haesche), 1903.
A Ballad of the Conemaugh Flood, (A poem published in Poems of American History, edited by Burton Egbert Stevenson, 1908).
A Prayer for Peace, (A poem published in Songs and Sonnets for England in War Time, 1914).
Preface to the book Songs and Wings: A Posy of Bird Poems for Young and Old, edited by Isa J. Postgate, 1914.
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Globe, 31 July 1915, p. 8
The Mechanical Muse – Turning Out Poems of the Great War. Someone has said that no single line of real poetry ever dies. Even the gem in the mass of ineptitude is saved from the destruction that must inevitably wait upon the whole. The spheres ring sweet to many a voice without a name, to many a stave the song of which none can place. There is a lesson in this—that the poet should write only when moved by an inspiration, and not merely by his own confidence in himself as a servant to the Muse. Not only is the poet born and not made; he is a spasmodic individual, being a great singer of songs for a day or so, and then a mere man for month son end. His general mistake is that he imagines himself a poet always.
The war is now to blame. It has been a terrible temptation to our minor poets. Doubtless Canon Rawnsley would have written a poem or two when the Muses piped in his ear, and nothing more; but the rumbling of the guns was too much for him. His morning paper always bore an epic, and the evening paper a sonnet. He could not read of a Voctoria Cross won without being fired to a fine frenzy; and then a confiding publisher gave him enough rope to hang a dozen writers of rhymes.
Canon Rawnsley has first of all made the mistake of believing that the sonnet form is suited to warrior themes. Most decidedly it is not. It is the proper vehicle for Phyllis and Corydon, for frisking lambs and green leaves, but its adoption for the clash of arms and the circumstance of war as much the same effect as would the loading of a hundred-ton gun on a wagon tared for a ton. In any case, few writers nowadays can handle the sonnet form adequately. It passed with the Victorian era. It is the mould into which young ladies were taught to pour their sentimental fancies. It is the “reach-me-down” of poetry.
This is no promising introduction to a good statement, and there are many really good things in the book; but that is the fact. Canon Rawnsley at times shows a pretty trick of narrative verse, as in “A Modern Horatius”:
Ah! many deeds were done that day,
But braver never sure was done
Than his who kept the foe at bay
Against a thousand one.
Still do they praise in Roman song
How Cocles fought and died of old,
Let this Horatius live as long
His as long be told.
I imagine the Muse must have been leaning very closely over Canon Rawnsley’s shoulder when he wrote this:
“Lords and ladies all in waiting,
Rise within your tents of green,
Spring is coming, birds are mating,
Rise and bow before your Queen.
The sonnet to Rupert Brooke is one of the best things in the book. Here for once, is the subject suited to its treatment:
For never since upon his golden quest
To Lemnos Jason with his Argo came
And Orpheus sang the maidens back to
love,
Has sweeter singer on this isle found rest
Than he who warrior-poet died to prove
The patriot’s inextinguishable flame.
Western Daily Press, 2 August 1915, p. 7
Under the title “The European War 1914-1915: Poems,” Canon Rawnsley publishes about a hundred and fifty short poems. They have mostly appeared in different newspapers and all owe their inspiration to various incidents of the war. Indeed, they comprise something like a history in poetry of the leading events to date. The canon is certainly dowered with the poetic gift, and he has now no lack of fit subjects for his muse. Courage is his constant theme; he sings dirges over the fallen, and is moved to indignant sorrow by the woes of the martyred, and to scorn and defiance of their insolent persecutors. Sometimes it is a trench song, sometimes a general’s praise, sometimes a V.C. story. He hails “Max, Burgomaster of Brussels,” tells about Rheims Cathedral, sings of the “Men of H.M.S. Hawke,” and lays a wreath of poesy on the grave of “2nd Lieutenant W. G. C. Gladstone, M.P.” Indeed, Canon Rawnsley bids fair to become, in England, the poet of the war. And over all his pieces there plays the light of Christian faith and hope, as becomes the poet who is also a Christian preacher.
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Leeds Mercury, 21 August 1906, p. 2
Sonnets While You Wait. There is something appalling about Canon Rawnsley’s prolific output of sonnets. It would be no exaggeration to say that he could—we do not know if he would—supply a sonnet at a moment’s notice on any subject, whether of things that are in the heavens above, on the earth beneath, or the waters under the earth. His printed sonnets in book form, include “Sonnets at the English Lakes,” “Sonnets Round the Coast,” “Valete and other Sonnets,” and “Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy.
His addition to this extensive collection is now given to the public under the title “A Sonnet Chronicle, 1900-1906.” The Canon explains—was it was scarcely necessary, perhaps, to mention—that it had been his custom for some years past to keep in sonnet form a calendar of events “that stirred one or seemed of interest to others; and I have ventured to publish a selection of these, in the hope that readers—if there be any found (the words are Canon Rawnsley’s)—may care to have their minds recalled to the events they commemorate.”
The subjects [of his new book] are of all kinds. To each is given its sonnet of monotonous mediocrity. There is no reason, of course, why Canon Rawnsley should not do this thing, but, in the interests of peace and good-will among men, it is to be hoped that he will endeavour to subject himself to a self-denying ordinance in the matter of sonnets in the future—that, in a word, he will recognise the necessity for what sportsmen call a close time.
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Liverpool Daily Post, 4 August 1909, p. 8
Canon Rawnsley has the faculty of placing vivid impressions in vivid verse. He is a true and a worthy disciple of Wordsworth. In our own and other columns he has dealt with events of the moment in verse which always displays a wonderful faculty for grasping the inner meaning of these events. This, too, is Wordsworthian in influence. "Poems at Home and Abroad" shows Canon Rawnsley in every phase of his art. The “Poems of Italy” are quite characteristic. There is the appreciation of colour, the tender optimism of the philosophy, the wide comprehension of sympathy. The “Memorial Sonnets” appeal most to us. Here is a collection of sonnets dealing in Canon Rawnsley’s own way events of the time. It would be absurd to say that the sonnets are perfect in form; after all, that is an achievement which is given to very few. But they have their own dignity and richness of thought. If we place the tribute to Swinburne as the best, it is largely because it shows in every line Canon Rawnsley’s widely sympathetic temper. It is not every ecclesiastic who can see so deeply into Swinburne’s yearning heart.
Citizen (Letchworth), 6 November 1909, p. 8
Canon Rawnsley has long been known to us as a lover of nature and the author of some of the most charming books in our library. We have followed him on many a jaunt around his favourite Lakeland, but he has now taken us further afield and given us a volume of “Poems at Home and Abroad.” The talented parson is a sweet singer, and although we like his Nature poems best of all, he has written much that is worth reading of Italy and other foreign lands. We should like to quote many stanzas by this pleasant songster, but a reasonable quotation from the poem “Fieldfares” must suffice. These birds, if not already here, will soon be heard uttering their “chank, chank” upon our breezy Common, and judging by the wild fruits which now abound, these winter visitors from the far North will find food in plenty to tide them over the winter.
With ‘tsik-tsak’ high and ‘tsik-tsak’ low—
While perched far off their pickets stand—
These wandering birds possess the land
Our Norseman fathers used to know.
In voice, half quarrel, half command,
They wrangle on, the robber band—
Swift-wingéd Vikings from the strand
Of ice and winter snow.
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Glasgow Herald, 12 April 1900 p. 10
It is perhaps too soon to put a fair valuation upon Can Rawnsley’s war-ballads, partly because they lack the halo of romance which memory confers upon the most commonplace incidents of the national and even the local life of the past. The incidents in the South African War which have caught the fancy and touched the heart of the Keswick poet are treated with spirit and sympathy, but it was, we suppose, inevitable that they should have to some extent the effect of newspaper paragraphs about things of yesterday. As a matter of fact, some of the newspaper descriptions of the battles and their peculiar details have been far more effective than much of the verse which they have inspired. The ancient poets and rhymers, no doubt, often wrote their songs and ballads in the heat of the events which they celebrate. But much of the early minstrelsy has an air of having been written on events remembered long after their occurrence or heard in the form of oral tradition. It is probable, for instance, there existed old songs lamenting the disaster of Flodden; but the two songs on the same theme—those by Miss Jane Elliot and Mrs Cockburn—which are so well known, were written some 200 years after the battle in which the Flowers of the Forest suffered so dreadfully, and afflicted all Scotland with centuries of sadness. The blow was perhaps too stunning to allow of immediate and pure poetic effort; and it was not until the historic calamity had, in a sense, become a romantic memory, and ceased to be an intolerable mental burden, that it became possible to transmute the nation’s lingering sorrow into pathetic and durable song. Bannockburn had much longer to wait for its predestined poet. There had no doubt been poetic references to the great fight of liberation in June, 1314, as, for instance, in Barbour’s Bruce. But no less than 479 years had to elapse before Burns flashed out his immortal ode in September, 1793. It was worthwhile for Bannockburn to wait all that time for such a splendid glorification. In modern days great or sensational events find ready poets, who too often treat them in rhymes that fit the hour and perish with it. Wh have, however, had poets who made great deeds live again in great verse; and of this high breed of singer, the late laureate was our noblest example. The present war has called forth much verse and some good poetry, but none really great. Poets who rush and gush on this subject are not likely to produce good work, especially on vital points that are scarcely ripe for treatment—which may be ripe perhaps twenty, fifty, or a hundred years hence, when South Africa has found its permanent position in the British Empire, and when the historic and poetic facts and ideas can be seen in proper perspective. But, of course, the living ? when strongly moved by passing events, must sing or choke. There were poets before Homer, but Homer’s theme was at least 700 years old when he wrote the Ilian and the Odyssey. We have many living poets, but no Homer has yet risen to sing in adequate numbers the great war which ended with Waterloo, and of which Napoleon and Wellington were the heroes. The comment on that is that the epic, as a poetic form, is dead beyond the possibility of revival. Perhaps—but after all who knows? Certainly not we of the present generation. Many poets are embodying in verse some of the incidents of the present war; but a time may come, many years hence, when the subject will be treated in a manner worthy of its far-reaching greatness. In the meantime we must be content with the well-meant lyrical utterances of the hour, while yet the wonderful and picturesque events of the new Iliad are being enacted. Of Canon Rawnsley’s book of ballads it may be said that they present some of the incidents of the war with much spirit and pathos; and it is certain that some of them will find a permanent place in military anthologies. The best example of the poet’s work is, to our liking, the piece which describes “The Burial of General Wauchope” at Modder River, December 13, 1899. It is only truth to say that the unmerited fate of this noble leader of the Highland Brigade has thrilled the heart, not only of the Queen’s Highland soldiers, but of the whole nation.
There is one special merit in Canon Rawnsley’s book. His ballads are not fanciful, but are based upon facts, properly authenticated by the war correspondents, from whose writings relative passages are quoted. Some of these prose paragraphs have all the effect of real poetry.
Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 27 June 1900, p. 7
Ballads of the War.—Canon Rawnsley has a nice skill in ballad-making; and he has been busy since the war began. His “Ballads of the War” deserve a general welcome. He gives us ample variety. There are stirring ballads dealing with such incidents as that of the “Wounded Piper of Elandslaagte” and “How the Naval Guns Came to Ladysmith.” There are sonnets dealing rather with the conscience and thoughts of the nation at home than with incidents of the field. There are shorter poems concerned with persons and incidents in the strife. Canon Rawnsley knows how to write a ballad with swing and fire as well as pathos in it; how to touch the chords that lie deeper within us; and how happily to hit off the national feeling towards a hero or a sufferer. If sometimes it looks as though he had lent momentary attention to the cunning lie which writes this struggle down as a “capitalists’ war,” the Imperial spirit is always strong within him. A sonnet on the Queen’s visit to Netley, suggested by a Highlander’s words, will serve as a specimen of the contents of this volume:--
They spake not, but their wounds were eloquent
As there they stood in hospital array,
The pain of sword and bullet passed away
While on from ward to ward Victoria went;
And here she thanked them for their brave intent,
There for some tender question would she stay;
Here speak with sorrow of the battle day,
There smile such smile as more than praises
meant.
Lady revered, for whom all men endure
The heat of onset gladly, and the cold
Of loss and failure, love is ever green
To crown your royal head with more than gold;
When all the thrones are shaken yours is sure,
Seeming so much more mother than a Queen.
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