The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens Part 7

NEW SONG LINES ADDRESSED TO MARK LEMON

1849

NEW SONG

d.i.c.kens, like Silas Wegg, would sometimes 'drop into poetry' when writing to intimate friends, as, for example, in a letter to Maclise, the artist, which began with a parody of Byron's lines to Thomas Moore--

'My foot is in the house, My bath is on the sea, And, before I take a souse, Here's a single note to thee.'

A more remarkable instance of his propensity to indulge in parody of this kind is to be found in a letter addressed to Mark Lemon in the spring of 1849. The novelist was then enjoying a holiday with his wife and daughters at Brighton, whence he wrote to Lemon (who had been ill), pressing him to pay them a visit. After commanding him to 'get a clean pocket-handkerchief ready for the close of "Copperfield" No. 3--"simple and quiet, but very natural and touching"--_Evening Bore_,' d.i.c.kens invites his friend in lines headed 'New Song,' and signed 'T. Sparkler,' the effusion also bearing the signatures of other members of the family party--Catherine d.i.c.kens, Annie Leech, Georgina Hogarth, Mary d.i.c.kens, Katie d.i.c.kens, and John Leech.

NEW SONG

TUNE--'LESBIA HATH A BEAMING EYE'

I

Lemon is a little hipped, And this is Lemon's true position-- He is not pale, he's not white-lipped, Yet wants a little fresh condition.

Sweeter 'tis to gaze upon Old Ocean's rising, falling billers, Than on the Houses every one That form the street called Saint Anne's Willers!

Oh my Lemon, round and fat, Oh my bright, my right, my tight 'un, Think a little what you're at-- Don't stay at home, but come to Brighton!

II

Lemon has a coat of frieze, But all so seldom Lemon wears it, That it is a prey to fleas, And ev'ry moth that's hungry, tears it.

Oh, that coat's the coat for me, That braves the railway sparks and breezes, Leaving ev'ry engine free To smoke it, till its owner sneezes!

Then my Lemon, round and fat, L., my bright, my right, my tight 'un, Think a little what you're at-- On Tuesday first, come down to Brighton!

T. SPARKLER.

WILKIE COLLINS'S PLAY 'THE LIGHTHOUSE'

1855

I.--THE PROLOGUE

'THE LIGHTHOUSE'

Wilkie Collins composed two powerful dramas for representation at d.i.c.kens's residence, Tavistock House, a portion of which had been already adapted for private theatricals, the rooms so converted being described in the bills as 'The Smallest Theatre in the World.' The first of these plays was called _The Lighthouse_, and the initial performance took place on June 19, 1855. d.i.c.kens not only wrote the Prologue and 'The Song of the Wreck,' but signally distinguished himself by enacting the part of Aaron Gurnock, a lighthouse-keeper, his clever impersonation recalling Frederick Lemaitre, the only actor he ever tried to take as a model.

With regard to 'The Song of the Wreck,' d.i.c.kens evidently intended to bestow upon it a different t.i.tle, for, in a letter addressed to Wilkie Collins during the preparation of the play, he said: 'I have written a little ballad for Mary--"The Story of the Ship's Carpenter and the Little Boy, in the Shipwreck."' The song was rendered by his eldest daughter, Mary (who a.s.sumed the role of Phoebe in the play); it was set to the music composed by George Linley for Miss Charlotte Young's pretty ballad, 'Little Nell,' of which d.i.c.kens became very fond, and which his daughter had been in the habit of singing to him constantly since her childhood.

Dr. A. W. Ward, Master of Peter-house, Cambridge University, refers to 'The Song of the Wreck' as 'a most successful effort in Cowper's manner.'

THE PROLOGUE

(_Slow music all the time; unseen speaker; curtain down._)

A story of those rocks where doom'd ships come To cast them wreck'd upon the steps of home, Where solitary men, the long year through-- The wind their music and the brine their view-- Warn mariners to shun the beacon-light; A story of those rocks is here to-night.

Eddystone Lighthouse!

(_Exterior view discovered._)

In its ancient form, Ere he who built it wish'd for the great storm That shiver'd it to nothing,[2] once again Behold outgleaming on the angry main!

Within it are three men; to these repair In our frail bark of Fancy, swift as air!

They are but shadows, as the rower grim Took none but shadows in his boat with him.

So be _ye_ shades, and, for a little s.p.a.ce, The real world a dream without a trace.

Return is easy. It will have ye back Too soon to the old beaten dusty track; For but one hour forget it. Billows, rise; Blow winds, fall rain, be black, ye midnight skies; And you who watch the light, arise! arise!

(_Exterior view rises and discovers the scene._)

II.--THE SONG OF THE WRECK

THE SONG OF THE WRECK

I

The wind blew high, the waters raved, A ship drove on the land, A hundred human creatures saved Kneel'd down upon the sand.

Three-score were drown'd, three-score were thrown Upon the black rocks wild, And thus among them, left alone, They found one helpless child.

II

A seaman rough, to shipwreck bred, Stood out from all the rest, And gently laid the lonely head Upon his honest breast.

And travelling o'er the desert wide It was a solemn joy, To see them, ever side by side, The sailor and the boy.

III

In famine, sickness, hunger, thirst, The two were still but one, Until the strong man droop'd the first And felt his labours done.

Then to a trusty friend he spake, 'Across the desert wide, O take this poor boy for my sake!'

And kiss'd the child and died.

IV

Toiling along in weary plight Through heavy jungle, mire, These two came later every night To warm them at the fire.

Until the captain said one day, 'O seaman good and kind, To save thyself now come away, And leave the boy behind!'

V

The child was slumbering near the blaze: 'O captain, let him rest Until it sinks, when G.o.d's own ways Shall teach us what is best!'