



Produced by Amy E Zelmer, Barb Grow, Derek Thompson and David Widger









THE COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH


By Oliver Goldsmith (Sir Joshua Reynolds)

Oxford Edition


Edited with Introduction and Note by Austin Dobson



PREFATORY NOTE

This volume is a reprint, extended and revised, of the Selected Poems
of Goldsmith issued by the Clarendon Press in 1887. It is 'extended,'
because it now contains the whole of Goldsmith's poetry: it is'revised'
because, besides the supplementary text, a good deal has been added in
the way of annotation and illustration. In other words, the book has
been substantially enlarged. Of the new editorial material, the bulk
has been collected at odd times during the last twenty years; but fresh
Goldsmith facts are growing rare. I hope I have acknowledged obligation
wherever it has been incurred; I trust also, for the sake of those
who come after me, that something of my own will be found to have been
contributed to the literature of the subject.

AUSTIN DOBSON.

Ealing, September, 1906.



CONTENTS

Introduction Chronology of Goldsmith's Life and Poems

POEMS Descriptive Poems The Traveller; or, A Prospect of Society page 3
The Deserted Village page 23 Lyrical and Miscellaneous Pieces Prologue
of Laberius page 41 On a Beautiful Youth struck Blind with Lightning
page 42 The Gift. To Iris, in Bow Street page 43 The Logicians Refuted
page 44 A Sonnet page 46 Stanzas on the Taking of Quebec page 46 An
Elegy on Mrs. Mary Blaize page 47 Description of an Author's Bedchamber
page 48 On seeing Mrs. *** perform in the Character of **** page 49
On the Death of the Right Hon.*** page 50 An Epigram. Addressed to the
Gentlemen reflected on in 'The Rosciad', a Poem, by the Author page 51
To G. C. and R. L. page 51 Translation of a South American Ode page 51
The Double Transformation. A Tale page 52 A New Simile, in the Manner of
Swift page 56 Edwin and Angelina page 59 Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog
page 65 Song ('When Lovely Woman,' etc.) page 67 Epilogue to The Good
Natur'd Man page 68 Epilogue to The Sister page 70 Prologue to Zobeide
page 72 Threnodia Augustalis: Sacred to the Memory of Her Late
Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales page 74 Song ('Let
school-masters,' etc.) page 84 Epilogue to She Stoops to Conquer page
85 Retaliation page 87 Song ('Ah, me! when shall I marry me?') page 94
Translation ('Chaste are their instincts') page 94

page v



The Haunch of Venison page 95 Epitaph on Thomas Parnell page 100 The
Clown's Reply page 100 Epitaph on Edward Purdon page 100 Epilogue for
Lee Lewes page 101 Epilogue written for She Stoops to Conquer (1)
page 103 Epilogue written for She Stoops to Conquer (2) page 108 The
Captivity. An Oratorio Verses in Reply to an Invitation to Dinner page
128 Letter in Prose and Verse to Mrs. Bunbury page 130 Vida's Game of
Chess page 135

NOTES Introduction to the Notes page 159 Editions of the Poems page
161 The Traveller page 162 The Deserted Village page 177 Prologue of
Laberius page 190 On a Beautiful Youth struck Blind with Lightning page
192 The Gift page 193 The Logicians Refuted page 194 A Sonnet page 196
Stanzas on the Taking of Quebec page 196 An Elegy on Mrs. Mary Blaize
page 197 Description of an Author's Bedchamber page 199 On seeing Mrs.
*** perform in the Character of **** page 202 On the Death of the
Right Hon. *** page 202 An Epigram page 203 To G. C. and R. L. page 203
Translation of a South American Ode page 203 The Double Transformation
page 203 A New Simile page 205 Edwin and Angelina page 206 Elegy on the
Death of a Mad Dog page 212 Song (from The Vicar of Wakefield) page 213
Epilogue (The Good Natur'd Man) page 214 Epilogue (The Sister) page 215
Prologue (Zobeide) page 216 Threnodia Augustalis page 218 Song (from She
Stoops to Conquer) page 219

page vi



Epilogue (She Stoops to Conquer) page 220 Retaliation page 222 Song
intended for She Stoops to Conquer page 235 Translation page 236 The
Haunch of Venison page 236 Epitaph on Thomas Parnell page 243 The
Clown's Reply page 244 Epitaph on Edward Purdon page 244 Epilogue for
Lee Lewes's Benefit page 245 Epilogue (She Stoops to Conquer) (1) page
246 Epilogue (She Stoops to Conquer) (2) page 248 The Captivity page 249
Verses in Reply to an Invitation to Dinner page 250 Letter in Prose and
Verse to Mrs. Bunbury page 252 Vida's Game of Chess page 255

APPENDIXES Portraits of Goldsmith page 259 Descriptions of Newell's
Views of Lissoy, etc. page 262 The Epithet 'Sentimental' page 264
Fragments of Translations, etc., by Goldsmith page 266 Goldsmith
on Poetry under Anne and George the First page 268 Criticisms from
Goldsmith's Beauties of English Poesy page 270

page vii



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS OLIVER GOLDSMITH. From Joseph Marchi's mezzotint
of 1770 after the portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds. PANE OF GLASS with
Goldsmith's autograph signature, dated March, 1746, now at Trinity
College, Dublin. VIGNETTE TO THE TRAVELLER. Drawn by Samuel Wale, and
engraved by Charles Grignion. HEADPIECE TO THE TRAVELLER. Engraved on
wood by Charlton Nesbit for Bulmer's Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell,
1795. THE TRAVELLER. From a design by Richard Westall, R. A., engraved
on wood by Thomas Bewick for Bulmer's Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell,
1795. VIGNETTE TO THE DESERTED VILLAGE, 1770. Drawn and engraved by
Isaac Taylor. HEADPIECE TO THE DESERTED VILLAGE. Engraved on wood by
Charlton Nesbit for Bulmer's Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell, 1795. THE
WATER-CRESS GATHERER. Drawn and engraved on wood by John Bewick
for Bulmer's Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell, 1795. {This picture is
unavailable.] THE DEPARTURE. Drawn by Robert Johnson, and engraved on
wood by Thomas Bewick for Bulmer's Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell,
1795. EDWIN AND ANGELINA. From an original washed drawing made by Thomas
Stothard, R.A., for Aikin's Goldsmith's Poetical Works, 1805. PORTRAIT
OF GOLDSMITH, after Sir Joshua Reynolds. From an etching by James
Basire on the title-page of Retaliation, 1774. SONG FROM THE CAPTIVITY.
Facsimile of Goldsmith's writing and signature, from Prior's Life of
Oliver Goldsmith, M.B., 1837, ii, frontispiece. GREEN ARBOUR COURT, OLD
BAILEY. From an engraving in the European Magazine for January, 1803.

page viii



KILKENNY WEST CHURCH. From an aquatint by S. Alken of a sketch by R. H.
Newell (Goldsmith's Poetical Works, 1811). HAWTHORN TREE. From the same.
SOUTH VIEW FROM GOLDSMITH'S MOUNT. From the same... To face p. 183.
[This picture is unavailable.] THE SCHOOL HOUSE. From the same. PORTRAIT
OF GOLDSMITH. Drawn by Henry William Bunbury and etched by James
Bretherton. From the Haunch of Venison, 1776. PORTRAIT OF GOLDSMITH.
From a silhouette by Ozias Humphry, R.A., in the National Portrait
Gallery. LISSOY (OR LISHOY) MILL. From an aquatint by S. Alken of
a sketch by R. H. Newell (Goldsmith's Poetical Works, 1811). THE
PARSONAGE. From the same.

Introduction

Poetical Works of Goldsmith / Contents / Chronology /


page ix



INTRODUCTION

Two of the earlier, and, in some respects, more important Memoirs of
Oliver Goldsmith open with a quotation from one of his minor works, in
which he refers to the generally uneventful life of the scholar. His own
chequered career was a notable exception to this rule. He was born
on the 10th of November, 1728, at Pallas, a village in the county of
Longford in Ireland, his father, the Rev. Charles Goldsmith, being a
clergyman of the Established Church. Oliver was the fifth of a family
of five sons and three daughters. In 1730, his father, who had been
assisting the rector of the neighbouring parish of Kilkenny West,
succeeded to that living, and moved to Lissoy, a hamlet in Westmeath,
lying a little to the right of the road from Ballymahon to Athlone.
Educated first by a humble relative named Elizabeth Delap, the
boy passed subsequently to the care of Thomas Byrne, the village
schoolmaster, an old soldier who had fought Queen Anne's battles in
Spain, and had retained from those experiences a wandering and unsettled
spirit, which he is thought to have communicated to one at least of his
pupils. After an attack of confluent small-pox, which scarred him for
life, Oliver was transferred from the care of this not-uncongenial
preceptor to a school at Elphin. From Elphin he passed to Athlone; from
Athlone to Edgeworthstown, where he remained until he was thirteen
or fourteen years of age. The accounts of these early days are
contradictory. By his schoolfellows he seems to have been regarded as
stupid and heavy,'little better than a fool'; but they

notes

page x



admitted that he was remarkably active and athletic, and that he was
an adept in all boyish sports. At home, notwithstanding a variable
disposition, and occasional fits of depression, he showed to greater
advantage. He scribbled verses early; and sometimes startled those
about him by unexpected'swallow- flights' of repartee. One of these, an
oft-quoted retort to a musical friend who had likened his awkward antics
in a hornpipe to the dancing of Aesop,

Heralds! proclaim aloud! all saying, See Aesop dancing, and his monkey
playing,

reads more like a happily-adapted recollection than the actual impromptu
of a boy of nine. But another, in which, after a painful silence, he
replied to the brutal enquiry of a ne'er-do-well relative as to when he
meant to grow handsome, by saying that he would do so when the speaker
grew good,is characteristic of the easily-wounded spirit and 'exquisite
sensibility of contempt' with which he was to enter upon the battle of
life.

In June, 1744, after anticipating in his own person, the plot of
his later play of She Stoops to Conquer by mistaking the house of a
gentleman at Ardagh for an inn, he was sent to Trinity College, Dublin.
The special dress and semi-menial footing of a sizar or poor scholarfor
his father, impoverished by the imprudent portioning of his eldest
daughter, could not afford to make him a pensionerwere scarcely
calculated to modify his personal peculiarities. Added to these, his
tutor elect, Dr. Theaker Wilder, was a violent and vindictive man, with
whom his ungainly and unhopeful pupil found little favour. Wilder had a
passion for mathematics which was not shared by Goldsmith, who, indeed,
spoke contemptuously enough of that science in after life. He could,
however, he told Malone, 'turn an Ode of Horace into English better than
any of them.' But his academic career was not a success.

notes

page xi



Goldsmith's Autograph PANE OF GLASS WITH GOLDSMITH'S AUTOGRAPH (Trinity
College, Dublin)

In May, 1747, the year in which his father died,an event that further
contracted his already slender means,he became involved in a college
riot, and was publicly admonished. From this disgrace he recovered
to some extent in the following month by obtaining a trifling money
exhibition, a triumph which he unluckily celebrated by a party at his
rooms. Into these festivities, the heinousness of which was aggravated
by the fact that they included guests of both sexes, the exasperated
Wilder made irruption, and summarily terminated the proceedings by
knocking down the host. The disgrace was too much for the poor lad. He
forthwith sold his books and belongings, and ran away, vaguely bound for
America. But after considerable privations, including the achievement
of a destitution so complete that a handful of grey peas, given him by
a girl at a wake, seemed a banquet, he turned his steps homeward, and,
a reconciliation having been patched up with his tutor, he was received
once more at college. In February, 1749, he took his degree, a low one,
as B.A., and quitted the university, leaving behind him, for relics of
that time, a scratched signature upon a window-pane, a folio Scapula
scored liberally with 'promises to pay,' and a reputation for much
loitering at the college gates in the study of passing humanity. Another
habit which his associates recalled was his writing of ballads when in
want of funds. These he would sell at five shillings apiece; and
would afterwards steal out in the twilight to hear them sung to the
indiscriminate but applauding audience of the Dublin streets.

What was to be done with a genius so unstable, so erratic? Nothing,
apparently, but to let him qualify for orders, and for this he is too
young. Thereupon ensues a sort of 'Martin's summer' in his changing
life,a disengaged, delightful time when 'Master Noll' wanders

notes

page xii



irresponsibly from house to house, fishing and flute-playing, or, of
winter evenings, taking the chair at the village inn. When at last the
moment came for his presentation to the Bishop of Elphin, that prelate,
sad to say, rejected him, perhaps because of his college reputation,
perhaps because of actual incompetence, perhaps even, as tradition
affirms, because he had the bad taste to appear before his examiner in
flaming scarlet breeches. After this rebuff, tutoring was next tried.
But he had no sooner saved some thirty pounds by teaching, than he threw
up his engagement, bought a horse, and started once more for America, by
way of Cork. In six weeks he had returned penniless, having substituted
for his roadster a sorry jade, to which he gave the contemptuous name of
Fiddleback. He had also the simplicity to wonder, on this occasion, that
his mother was not rejoiced to see him again. His next ambition was to
be a lawyer; and, to this end, a kindly Uncle Contarine equipped him
with fifty pounds for preliminary studies. But on his way to London he
was decoyed into gambling, lost every farthing, and came home once more
in bitter self-abasement. Having now essayed both divinity and law,
his next attempt was physic; and, in 1752, fitted out afresh by his
long-suffering uncle, he started for, and succeeded in reaching,
Edinburgh. Here more memories survive of his social qualities than
of his studies; and two years later he left the Scottish capital for
Leyden, rather, it may be conjectured, from a restless desire to see the
world than really to exchange the lectures of Monro for the lectures
of Albinus. At Newcastle (according to his own account) he had the good
fortune to be locked up as a Jacobite, and thus escaped drowning, as the
ship by which he was to have sailed to Bordeaux sank at the mouth of
the Garonne. Shortly afterwards he arrived in Leyden. Gaubius and other
Dutch professors figure

page xiii



sonorously in his future works; but whether he had much experimental
knowledge of their instructions may be doubted. What seems undeniable
is, that the old seduction of play stripped him of every shilling; so
that, like Holberg before him, he set out deliberately to make the tour
of Europe on foot. Haud inexpertus loquor, he wrote in after days, when
praising this mode of locomotion. He first visited Flanders. Thence he
passed to France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, supporting himself
mainly by his flute, and by occasional disputations at convents or
universities. 'Sir,' said Boswell to Johnson, 'he disputed his passage
through Europe.' When on the 1st February, 1756, he landed at Dover, it
was with empty pockets. But he had sent home to his brother in Ireland
his first rough sketch for the poem of The Traveller.

He was now seven-and-twenty. He had seen and suffered much, but he
was to have further trials before drifting definitely into literature.
Between Dover and London, it has been surmised, he made a tentative
appearance as a strolling player. His next ascertained part was that
