POEMSearly

The Earliest Poems of Ebenezer Elliott

The Vernal Walk, The Soldier, Night and Peter Faultless

The Vernal Walk (1801)

The first Elliott poem to appear in print was "The Vernal Walk, a poem" and this was published in 1801 by the Cambridge publisher, Benjamin Flower. The book was 34 pages long and was an octavo volume in size. Flower published a second corrected edition in 1802 increasing the number of pages to 62. Elliott and Flower would have developed a friendship during their literary business: since in 1810 when Flower's wife died, Elliott wrote a poem about her called "Elegy On Eliza." The text of "Elegy On Eliza" can be found here on this site along with notes on Benjamin Flower.

Athough "The Vernal Walk" was published in 1801, the Bard of the Beggars (as he later described himself) revealed that the poem was composed in 1798 when the bard was only 17 years of age. What do we know of Elliott at this young age? He had struggled at school and had worked occasionally in his father's ironmongers shop on Rotherham High Street. He had recently started work in his father's foundry; he had become interested in nature and wild flowers; he was reading widely and dabbling with poetry. Less admirably, he was going out drinking - something introduced to him by his workmates at the foundry!

One of Elliott's ealiest attempts at poetry was mocked by his family. The poem surprisingly told of sheep running around after they had been killed off by lightning earlier in the poem! From this anecdote we can probably deduce that the poem was a longish one since the poet had lost track of the plot in his verse.

The notion of appearing in print would have had enormous appeal to the young poet, and having his work actually accepted for publication would have created a wonderful stir in his family circles - and very likely throughout the small town of Rotherham too. This excitement would have been fed back to Benjamin Flower, Elliott's publisher, and helped establish a good relationship between the two men. Bear in mind here that Elliott (or his father) would have paid Flower to publish his poetry.

The Preface to "The Vernal Walk"

Elliott wrote a preface to "The Vernal Walk" and this preface is printed below:-

I HAVE discovered among some old papers the first sketch of my first publication, "the Vernal Walk,"

written in my seventeenth year, and like all my early writings, except the very earliest — in my

favourite measure  - blank verse, contains some poetry, stolen from Ossian and Thompson, and

some theology, furnished by my learned friend, young Joseph Ramsbottom; but even as the work

of a boy, it is bad, though better than the published poem, improved as it was, by my art of joinery,

into a rather showy piece of patch-work, bombast, and common-place.

The tale* is my first sustained effort in rhyme, and it shews, by the construction of the sentences,

that its author had been accustomed to write blank verse only. It was first published many

years ago, after having been improved, like "the Vernal Walk." It is now printed as originally

written. All my local and domestic critics made it a butt for ridicule, before its publication;

and it was frightfully castigated, on its first appearance in print, by one of the dispensers of public

praise and blame. Why, then, reprint it? Because it is endeared to me, by the persecution it has suf-

fered. The idiot of the family is sometimes a favourite; and Byron doggedly wrote dramas, be-

cause he was told that he could not write them.

Of the following drama, perhaps, the less I say the better. Almost from my first acquaintance

with Shakespeare, I determined to have a Hamlet of my own! "This determination," said a friend of

mine who has been ten years in his grave, but whose letter is now before me, "would have been

sufficiently ridiculous, even if I had not proceeded to draw impossible characters, actuated by motives

scarcely human." But I deny that the characters are impossible, and that the motives are unnatural.

Did not the prophet, Samuel, hunt, as with serpents, the last drop of the blood of Saul? And as

to the improbability of the action, I have, at least, placed the scene in the infancy of time and of the

arts, amid the ever-changing and recordless dynasties of the east.

 * Elliott is probably referring to "Night" published in 1818

The date of the preface is uncertain. The second edition (1802) of "The Vernal Walk" has a one page preliminary, but this cannot be the preface above since it refers to other poems and a drama which were published a good deal later than "The Vernal Walk." The second edition had 28 pages more than the first edition which means that Elliott added more of his poems to his manuscript. For Elliott to take on the cost of extra pages in the enlarged edition so soon after the first edition, this would indicate that sales of the first edition must have been very encouraging.

Review of "The Vernal Walk

A short review appeared in The Monthly Review 1801 page 109. The reviewer declared "Though this poem is far from being faultless, it manifests a mind capable of feeling and of bolldly sketching the beauties of nature." He goes on to add: "The address to the Deity, with which the poem concludes, is truly sublime." He concludes: "If this pamphlet should arrive at another edition, which it probably will, we would request the author to revise it with care; and to consider the propriety of such epithets as "illuminative lake," "wandering hedge," "army shade," "uncreated light," etc

On the whole, a quite encouraging review for the first published work of the young Elliott.

The Soldier (1810)

This volume of poems was published in 1810 and was Elliott's second work to be published. Elliott continued his association with Benjamin Flower who was responsible for printing the volume for the London publisher M. Jones of Newgate Street. For more information on Benjamin and Eliza Flower, click on Radical Friends and also see the notes on Flower appended to the poem "Elegy On Eliza".

"The Soldier" did not appear under the poet's name but the pseodonym Britannicus was used instead. It would have been better from a commercial point of view to have advertised the book as being by the author of "The Vernal Walk," Elliott's first publication which had received some good reviews. However, the poet chose to use the Britannicus name as a patriotic gesture and also because he had decided not to use his real name until he became a successful writer.

Today "The Soldier" is almost an unknown work by the bard since there appears to be only one copy extant, namely in Rotherham Library Archives where it is bound together with a copy of "The Vernal Walk." To obtain the full text of the poem, contact Rotherham Archives by emailing Archives@rotherham.gov.uk. Elliott had a habit of reprinting his early verse in later volumes. As the poet became famous, he dug out his juvenalia and re-issued it to make it available to his growing readership. Sometimes he would re-publish a poem after revising it and giving it a new title. Neither of these tactics occured with "The Soldier." All these points explain why the poem is unknown. This begs the question - why did Elliott shun the poem? A reading reveals the poem to be of doubtful quality. This probably explains why Corn Law Rhymer did not trouble to make the poem more widely available. Nor has a review of the poem been found in the journals of Elliott's day; this is somewhat surprising!

"The Soldier" was published in 1810, some two years after Elliott wrote to Robert Southey, the eminent poet & man of letters, for advice on how to get published. In a letter of October 13th 1808, Southey wrote to Elliott and commented: "I have no doubt that you possess the feeling of a poet, and may distinguish yourself." He urged the young poet to continue practising poetry writing and to submit his work to the newspapers." Good advice which Elliott would have been thrilled to receive and which he would take to heart. More letters between the two men followed before "The Soldier" appeared in print in 1810. Given the poor quality of the poem, it was unlikely that Southey had the opportunity to discuss the poem with Elliott since there is no mention of "The Soldier" in their correspondence, but there was discussion of a similar title. In a letter dated February 3rd 1809, Southey told Elliott not to publish: "The sum of my advice is - do not publish this poem." In his reply of March 10th 1809, Elliott agreed: "I have long thought the poem unremarkable. Sorry that your opinion confirmed mine own. I determine to follow your advice." The remarks could not have been about "The Soldier" as this was published the following year, but there was another poem by Elliott called "The Soldier's Love." This poem has never surfaced and is probably the poem under discussion. More about the poem appeared in a letter to Southey dated October 30th 1809 when Elliott stated: "I have told Longman to forward the MS of "The Soldier's Love" to you and I wait patiently for your severest opinion of it. I cannot possibly publish by subscription." Possibly "The Soldier's Love" was a sequel; this is supported by lines from "The Soldier" which are shown below:-

"The soldier's widow, and the sireless maid,
(The soldier's love), shall think of thee and weep."

"The Soldier" was a collection of poems, and these are listed below in order to make a record of them:-

The Soldier
The Storm
Odes:
War
Peace
Evening
Ode

Inscriptions
Sonnets
Songs

Miscellaneous Pieces:-
Happiness
Exile
On A Snowdrop Seen By Moonlight
The Redbreast
April
On The Death Of A Young Lady's Cat
Epigram

It needs pointing out with the titles listed in the table that Elliott frequently used some of these titles many times over the years: Epigram, Sonnets, Songs, Insciptions and of course Ode.

The volume also contained a preface which was very short:- "The Author is aware that no apology can evail for the performance that needs one; but whatever opinion may be formed of the following pieces, he begs leave to assure the public he has spared no pains to render them not unworthy attention." These words reflect a lack of self confidence from the author. Such a brief statement hardly seemed worth doing.

For the full text of "The Soldier"and further discussion of the poem, please click here

Night, a descriptive poem (1818)

The Corn Law Rhymer's third work to be published was called "Night" and was subtitled "A descriptive poem, Part 1 in four books." It was printed in 1818 by the Rotherham printer, J. De Camps, for the London publisher Baldwin, Cradock and Joy. The octavo volume contained 144 pages , making it much larger than the earlier publications. From the larger size of the book and the use of a London publisher it is permissable to conclude that Elliott had arrived as a literary figure.

In 1810 the Northern Star announced that "Proposals have been issued for publishing by subscription, Night, a descriptive Poem, by Ebenezer Elliott, jun, of Rotherham." The subscription idea cannot have caught on since there was an eight year delay before the poem came out in 1818. When it was finally published, it was advertised at 7/6d (that is 37.5p today). This period for Elliott was a dire time in the poet's story. The bard revealed "Night was written under great depression of mind, in sorrow and despondency." The foundry that he owned had done very badly and in 1816 Elliott was declared bankrupt. With six children to feed, Elliott was at his wit's end: he was begging in Rotherham town centre for food and contemplating suicide. Strange that despite his desperation, he still was composing poetry. An escape mechanism, perhaps, but it shows how keen the young man was on his art.

"Night" was profusely dedicated to Earl Fitzwilliam. When the earl heard that Elliott was on the street begging for food, he sent the young poet a generous contribution for which Elliott was extremely grateful. (The Elliott family was well known in the town for their ironmongers shop on High St and for the foundry. And a published poet was a novelty, too).

The announcement date for "Night" was the same year when "The Soldier" was published, namely 1810. Clearly as soon as "The Soldier" appeared, Elliott was already working hard on his next project. The delay before "Night" was published was important for the young poet since from 1816 he was mentored by his minister, Jacob Brettell. We know that the young man submitted his work to Rev Brettell, for comments. Brettell, a scholar and poet as well as a minister, was a figure the young Elliott looked up to, and the reverend's opinions on Elliott's verses were respected. Nor would Brettell have been inclined to spend his spare time reading poor quality work. Elliott's friendship with Brettell was to prompt the composition of a poem which Elliott dedicated to his minister; the poem and biographical notes about Brettell are available here.

As already noted, Elliott's writing of "Night" occured well before the publication date of 1818; the proposed subscription scheme for "Night" in 1810 would suggest that Elliott had finished writing the poem in 1810. At this time Elliott was two years into his correspondence with Robert Southey who was such a great influence on Elliott and his poetry. Whether Southey helped to shape "Night" - or not - is yet to be discovered. (Southey was one of the Lake Poets and was a friend of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Walter Scott. He became Poet Laureate in 1813). Elliott was to dedicate his dramatic poem Bothwell to Southey.

A Review of "Night"

As the third published work by the upcoming poet, "Night" was of interest to the reviewers. In the London Literary Gazette of 1818 we read that the reviewer was not impressed by the choice of the poem's title. He then quoted from Elliott's preface to the volume: "It is a descriptive poem, in the narrative form; an attempt to depict the scenery of night as connected with great and interesting events." This was an idea which interested the reviewer who liked the different approach to the subject. The reviewer then commented: "The scenes of Night are well calculated" and the work "certainly possesses many passages of great original excellence" A good start to the review - Elliott would have been very appreciative.

The volume was in four books; each book being a poem. "The first book contains the tragical story of two unfortunate lovers." Both of them perished in the poem, along with their parents and their murderer too. The reviewer found much to admire though: "In the introduction to this poem, there are lines of great beauty." The second book of "Night" was set in Wharncliffe, just outside Sheffield, and was based on local tales of enchantment and witchcraft. Of the third book, the reviewer stated: "The Canadiad," contained in the third book, we consider as the most interesting, and least imperfect of the whole." The writer then reviewed Elliott's interpretation of the fall of Quebec and noted "a spirited strain of poetry" and pointed out "a passage of great merit." The fourth book of "Night" was a poem about Napoleon in Russia, and the reviewer was most impressed with the burning of Moscow: "the description of which is remarkably grand. The picture of Buonaparte sleeping, and of the spectres which disturb his dream, is drawn with the powerful hand of a master, and contains strokes, which we think, either in point of conception or embellishment, equal to some of the finest pieces in the modern school of poetry." High praise for the Corn Law Rhymer!

Having found much to praise, the reviewer did then find a number of faults with Elliott's poem. He was critical of the poet's use of compound words which were far too numerous. "A still greater fault, in the construction of the language, is the conversion of adjectives and substantives into verbs and adverbs. Another defect is the repetition of the same images and expressions." After further criticism, the reviewer qualified his remarks: "In general, however, it is but justice to say we think the versification of Night is good." He concluded: "On the whole we think highly of this work. Its faults appear to arise from the luxuriance of genius which requires the rein rather than the spur. They are not attempted to be concealed or adorned under the covering of rhyme, which to many readers renders even nonsense acceptable. Whatever is good in this poem is intrinsically so, and does not derive its beauty from adventitious ornament. Disdaining the embellishment of dress, it stands forward in naked, but in modest beauty. The name of the writer is stated to be Elliott, and he is evidently a native of North Britain."

It is true to say that Elliott was unimpressed with the reviews he received. It was very discouraging for any poet to receive harsh criticism, he said. While some journals produced thoughtful reviews, Elliott had no time for "those literary bigots, the Monthly Reviewers." They were "nameless oracles of petulance and prejudice." He went on: "On all subjects of poetry, the Monthly Reviewers are of less than no authority. They are the men-milliners of literature." These angry comments were taken from Elliott's Preface to "Tales of Night," though they actually refer to critisism of his volume called "Night!"

Peter Faultless To His Brother Simon (1820)

The next published work by the Corn Law Rhymer came in 1820. This was another large volume (225 pages) and was priced at 6/- (or 30p today). It came with a long title: "Peter Faultless To His Brother Simon, Tales Of Night, In Rhyme, And Other Poems." This is usually abbreviated to "Peter Faultless." Once again, Elliott did not have his name on the title page - this bore the label "By The Author Of Night." So while the Rhymer now boasted four works, he still did not consider himself an established poet. Odd really.

Despite Elliott's lack of confidence in his work, the book was published by two publishers: Archibald Constable & Co in Edinburgh and Hurst Robinson & Co in London; which suggests that the publishers had faith in the poetry. Interesting with the publishers that Elliott was no longer with Benjamin Flower, his earlier publisher. Sales of "Peter Faultless" were slow which prompted Constable to write to Elliott in 1821 demanding more money as his £20 contribution was proving too little. Elliott obliged. This is surprising considering his recent bankruptcy and his large family to feed, but by this time in 1821 things were looking brighter for the Poet of the Poor. In 1819 Elliott moved from Rotherham and set up in business in Sheffield where he traded prosperously. The good times had appeared and in the next few years he moved to a smart new home and acquired new business premises.

"Peter Faultless" is a curious work and appears to be an attack on the reviewers of the Monthly Review which had criticised his earlier volume called "Night." It begins with an Advertisement which is very critical of the Monthly Review. In the Advertisement, Elliott reveals that "Simon the Faultless is not an imaginary personage. I address a living pedant, and in the individual exhibit the species. Unable to percieve merit in any British poet since Pope, and himself a most inveterate syllable-weigher and finger counter, Simon might pass for a certain Review personified." The tone of the Advertisement is bitter and sarcastic: Elliott clearly felt that the he had been badly treated by the reviewer he called "Simon the Faultless."

The first poem in the collection is written in couplets and is a short poem called "Peter Faultless" - thus giving its name to the title of the book. The opening lines continue to mock the Monthly Review:-

"Thou ablest scribbler in our chaste Review;
Who darning old thoughts, mak'st them pass for new!"

The short poem "Peter Faultless" then introduces the next poem with a very odd title: "Ode To Chopp'd Cabbage And Darkness Tangible." The significance of the title can only be guessed but even I cant imagine that! It's a fairly long poem and describes itself as an epistle to Brother Simon. So Peter Faultless is writing a letter in verse to his Brother Simon, who has also been named Simon the Faultless. The poem is followed by copious footnotes. It's all bewildering! To add a little more confusion, when Elliott was sending letters to the Sheffield newspapers he sometimes initialled them mischieviously "PF."

Contents of Peter Faultless

    ADVERTISEMENT
    PETER FAULTLESS To His Brother Simon
            Chopp'd Cabbage And Darkness Tangible
            Notes To The Epistle
    TALES OF NIGHT,
            Preface
            The Exile
            Matrimonial Magic
            Bothwell
            Notes to Bothwell
            Second Nuptials
    POEMS
            Fragment
            To The Michaelmas Daisy
            To The Wood Anemone
            A Sketch Of One Who Cannot be Caricatured
            To The Reverend -------
            On Seeing A Wild Honeysuckle In Flower, near the source of the River Don, August 1817
            Fragment
            To The Reverend J.B. -------
    CONTENTS
            Elegy
            Song
            Extempore Lines
            Ilderim
            To A Friend In Heaven
            To One Who Once Knew Me
            Extempore Lines
            The Devil on Snealsden-Pike

Notes On The Contents List

The layout of the contents list above is taken directly from the title page.

"Bothwell" is a drama in verse and is 35 pages long. "The Exile" is 27 pp.

"Matrimonial Magic" (32pp) and "Second Nuptials" (39pp) are described as being vigorous, coarse and bizarre! Thought to be based on ghost stories the young poet had heard in the York Keelman Inn at Masbrough, Rotherham.

"To The Reverend J.B. -------" is a poem dedicated to Jacob Brettell. The poem and information about Brettell are available here.

"Elegy" is a poem that Elliott re-titled "Elegy On Eliza." The text of the poem is on this site with some information on Eliza and her family. Visit New Poems2

Review of Peter Faultless

This review appeared in the Cambridge Quarterly Review October 1824:-

"Here we again have to complain of numerous faults, while we witness the same vigour of conception and expression; and, as he writes best when he is most serious, we have also to complain of an adaptation of talent to that, in which - though not without considerable merit, - he is the least successful; for it must be apparent to all, that the higher he plumes his wings for flight, the better he succeeds. Notwithstanding he has full power to put in motion all our risible faculties, and he possesses satire sufficient to cut and to penetrate anything but a heart of adamant, yet we love to sse him for the most part muffled up in the solemnity of night - or to hear him warbling in the breeze with the songsters of the grove."

To return to the Ebenezer Research Foundry, please click the anvil