- The Lifetime Published Poetry
The Dunston copy follows the most
common page order for the second edition. The first printed page has the name of the volume. On its reverse is the name of the
printer. Facing that is the full title
page, the reverse of which is blank.
This is faced by the Introduction, which continues on page ii. After the final page of the Introduction
(xxiii), there is the first page of Contents, which continue on page vi. The first item in Contents is Introduction,
which is listed as beginning on page i, although the reader will already have
passed that point.
In the first edition the Contents
similarly follow the Introduction, but the page numbering reflects this, and
there is no reference to the Introduction.
However, for the second edition both the Introduction and the Contents
underwent minor revisions, and were renumbered. The new page numbering for Contents, and the fact that they refer
to the Introduction, seem to indicate that they were intended to precede the
Introduction. In BOD Vet.A6e.889 the
Contents precede the Introduction. In a
further deviation from the common order, the full title page is placed before
the name of the volume. However, given
that the order adopted in subsequent editions was volume name, full title page,
Introduction and Contents, that is the order that has been used in this
e-text.
While it is not the aim of these notes to detail the changes made to the first edition
when it was reprinted*, some general comments may be in order. There is a noticeable increase in
punctuation and capitalisation, which sometimes results in
inconsistencies. For example, in Helpstone
line 106, the
final comma is replaced by a semicolon.
The difficulty this creates in the reading of the following line (on the
next page) was recognised in the fourth edition when line 107 was changed to
read “Now all’s laid waste….” Earlier in the same poem, the plethora of capitalisation
– “Genius”, “Labour”, “Ignorance”, “Fancy” – does not extend to “laughing
plenty” (14) or “want’s keener frost” (18).
However, not all additional
punctuation changes are unwarranted. The
insertion of brackets around line 20 of Helpstone actually restores
Clare’s original intention. Other
changes which return the text to Clare’s manuscript version include “elder” for
“alder” (The Fate of Amy 21, Elegy on the Ruins… 30), “Where all”
for “Whence all” (The Village Funeral 40) and “wary watching” for “weary
watching” (Summer Morning 89).
It is difficult, however, to imagine what advantage John Taylor, the
editor, thought would be gained from changing Clare’s “baulk” to “balk” (Evening
56) or “teazle’s” to “teasel’s” (Noon 50).
The e-text adheres to the text of the second edition, regardless of variants, except for the following corrections:
Contents Fate of Amy.—A Tale ………………. 16
The page
number is given as “19”. Oakley
comments that it appears that the type
was inverted. This is corrected in the third edition.
iii – line 68 …changes to the workhouse;
The
semicolon does not appear in the second and third editions. In the first and
fourth editions
the first word of the following line is “and”, and the semicolon
appears.
5 – line 31 Hail, scenes obscure!…
There is a
“turned” letter in the second edition so that the word reads “obscnre”.
This was retained in the
third edition, but corrected in the fourth.
23 – line 116 To some destroying hand.
The text lacks the final period.
43 – line 22 …with
Sparrows must fall.
The final
word is misprinted as “all”. Corrected
in the fourth edition.
149 – line 59 …I’m
fearful of harm!”
The second
edition lacks the final quotation mark.
It appeared in the first edition,
and returned in
the fourth edition.
178 – line 40 “To-day
the Fox must die.”
The initial
quotation mark appears in the first edition but is lacking in the second.
184 – line 32 The
kiss of her I love.
“I” is omitted in
the second edition, but appears elsewhere.
220 – line 5 T’int, a contraction of “it is not.”
The final
quotation mark appears as an apostrophe.
Words appearing in italics in the
second edition have not been changed.
The first of these, on page 116 (line 54), “To pint it
just at my desire,” is referred to in the Introduction (line 209). There are two others – page 148 (line 45) “night-hour”,
and page 211 (line 14) “faint” – which are retained even in the fourth
edition.
* The best summary and analysis of textual variation in the different
editions of Poems Descriptive is to be found in Maroussia Oakley’s
unpublished MA thesis (Birmingham University).