ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN (1841 - 1901)
|
|
|
ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN (1841 - 1901) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
POETRY |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
If Buchanan’s reputation is to be revived at all it is dependent on his poetry. Hailed as a genius by G. H. Lewes after the publication of Idyls and Legends of Inverburn, Buchanan’s status as a poet was assured in the early years but was then practically destroyed by the ‘Fleshly School’ scandal. However it could be argued that one effect of that episode was to remove poetry as a source of finance for Buchanan, so that his poetry (unlike his novels and plays) was not tainted by hackwork. When I began this site in August 2002 it was not that easy to find any of Buchanan’s poems. Apart from the odd one in the occasional anthology his work had not been reprinted since his death in 1901 and there were only a few examples online. After borrowing the two volume Complete Poetical Works from the library, I skimmed through the thousand, double-columned pages and decided it would be best to just add a personal selection of some of the shorter poems to the site. Later, as the Buchanan bug well and truly bit, I decided to try and add all of his poems to the site, book by book, but in a rather arbitrary fashion dependent on what I could afford to acquire from ebay and abebooks. In April 2007, I discovered that several of Buchanan’s works were now available on the Internet Archive in various formats. However, I decided to carry on with the original aim to get all of Buchanan’s poetry onto one site. In a way it is a rather redundant exercise, especially now (March 2014) when all but his first two books of poetry are available at the Internet Archive, but, in true Mastermind fashion, I had started, so I thought I might as well finish. The books below are available to read online or to download in .rtf format, as is the original version of the sonnet sequence, ‘Faces on the Wall’, from The Saint Pauls Magazine. I have also retained my original selection of ‘the best of Buchanan’. The Complete Poetical Works of 1901 does not contain every poem that Buchanan wrote. Omissions are noted in the books transferred to this site, but occasionally I come across poems which only appear to have been published in magazines, etc., so these have been placed in a separate section. There is also a list of all the poems on this site in alphabetical order. Reviews of Buchanan’s poetry are available in the Reviews section and other assessments can be found in The Critical Response. _____
Glasgow: Thomas Murray and Son. 1857. Download the zipped .rtf version. *
London: Edward Moxon, 1863. Download the zipped .rtf version Undertones is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
IDYLS AND LEGENDS OF INVERBURN London: Alexander Strahan, 1865. Download the zipped .rtf version Idyls and Legends of Inverburn is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: Alexander Strahan, 1866 Download the zipped .rtf version London Poems is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
BALLAD STORIES OF THE AFFECTIONS: from the Scandinavian London: George Routledge & Sons, 1866 (illus.) Download the zipped .rtf version Ballad Stories of the Affections is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: George Routledge and Sons, 1867. Download the zipped .rtf version North Coast and other Poems is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: Strahan & Co., 1870 Download the zipped .rtf version The Book of Orm is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
NAPOLEON FALLEN: A Lyrical Drama London: Strahan & Co., 1871 Download the zipped .rtf version Napoleon Fallen is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: Strahan & Co., 1871 Download the zipped .rtf version The Drama of Kings is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
SAINT ABE AND HIS SEVEN WIVES: A Tale of Salt Lake City London: Strahan & Co., 1871 Download the zipped .rtf version Saint Abe and his Seven Wives is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: Strahan & Co., 1873 Download the zipped .rtf version White Rose and Red is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
BALDER THE BEAUTIFUL: A Song of Divine Death London: William Mullan and Son, 1877. Download the zipped .rtf version Balder the Beautiful is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
BALLADS OF LIFE, LOVE, AND HUMOUR London: Chatto & Windus, 1882. Download the zipped .rtf version Ballads of Life, Love, and Humour is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: Chatto & Windus, 1885 Download the zipped .rtf version The Earthquake is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: Chatto & Windus, 1888 Download the zipped .rtf version The City of Dream is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: Chatto & Windus, 1891 Download the zipped .rtf version The Outcast is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: Chatto & Windus, 1893 Download the zipped .rtf version The Wandering Jew is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. I’ve also included a section on the controversy which followed Richard Le Gallienne’s review of the poem in The Daily Chronicle: ‘Is Christianity Played Out?’ - The ‘Wandering Jew’ controversy. *
London: Robert Buchanan, 1896 Download the zipped .rtf version The Devil’s Case is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
London: Robert Buchanan, 1897 Download the zipped .rtf version The Ballad of Mary the Mother is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. *
THE NEW ROME: Poems and Ballads of our Empire London: Walter Scott, Ltd., 1898 Download the zipped .rtf version The New Rome is also available to download in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive. _____
The various Collections and Selections of Buchanan’s poems are dealt with in this section. 1. Poems (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1866.) 2. The Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan (3 vols. London: Henry S. King & Co., 1874. Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., 1874.) Volume II: Ballads and Poems of Life, Lyrical Poems etc. Volume III: Coruisken Sonnets, Book of Orm and Political Mystics 3. Selected Poems (London: Chatto & Windus, 1882.) 4. The Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan (London: Chatto & Windus, 1884.) 5. The Buchanan Ballads Old and New (London: John Haddon and Company, 1892.) 6. The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan (2 vols. London: Chatto & Windus, 1901.) _____
The Saint Pauls Magazine, May, 1872 _____
Poems from magazines and newspapers which were not reprinted in Buchanan’s books. _____
A selection of some of the shorter poems of Buchanan which originally piqued my interest. Download the zipped .rtf version _____
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF POEMS ON THIS SITE _____
_____
Books of Poetry: Poems and Love Lyrics. Glasgow: Thomas Murray and Son. 1857. (available on this site) [reviews] Mary, and other Poems. Glasgow. 1859. [reviews] Undertones. London: E. Moxon, 1863. (available on this site) [reviews] Idyls and Legends of Inverburn. London: Alexander Strahan, 1865. (available on this site) [reviews] London Poems. London: Alexander Strahan, 1866. (available on this site) [reviews] Ballad Stories of the Affections: from the Scandinavian. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1866. (available on this site) [reviews] North Coast and Other Poems. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1867. (available on this site) [reviews] The Book of Orm: a prelude to the epic. London: Strahan & Co., 1870. (available on this site) [reviews] Napoleon Fallen: a lyrical drama. London: Strahan & Co., 1871. (available on this site) [reviews] The Drama of Kings. London: Strahan & Co., 1871. (available on this site) [reviews] Saint Abe and His Seven Wives: a Tale of Salt Lake City. London: Strahan & Co., 1871. (available on this site) [reviews] White Rose and Red. a love story. London: Strahan & Co., 1873. (available on this site) [reviews] Balder the Beautiful: a song of divine death. London: William Mullan and Son, 1877. (available on this site) [reviews] Selected Poems. London: Chatto & Windus, 1882. (available at the Internet Archive) [more information] [reviews] Ballads of Life, Love, and Humour. London: Chatto & Windus, 1882. (available on this site) [reviews] The Earthquake: or Six days and a Sabbath. London: Chatto & Windus, 1885. (available on this site) [reviews] The City of Dream. London: Chatto & Windus, 1888. (available on this site) [reviews] The Outcast: a rhyme for the time. London: Chatto & Windus, 1891. (available on this site) [reviews] The Buchanan Ballads Old and New. London: John Haddon and Company, 1892. (available at the Internet Archive) [more information] [reviews] The Wandering Jew: a Christmas carol. London: Chatto & Windus, 1893. (available on this site) [reviews] The Devil’s Case: a bank holiday interlude. London: Robert Buchanan, 1896. (available on this site) [reviews] The Ballad of Mary the Mother: a Christmas carol. London: Robert Buchanan, 1897. (available on this site) The New Rome: poems and ballads of our empire. London: Walter Scott, Ltd., 1898. (available on this site) [reviews]
Collected Editions: Poems. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1866. (available at the Internet Archive) [more information] [reviews] The Poetical Works. 3 vols. London: H. S. King & Co., 1874. Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., 1874. (available at the Internet Archive: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3) [more information] [reviews] The Poetical Works. 1 vol. London: Chatto & Windus, 1884. (Identical to Vol. 1 of the 1901 edition.) [more information] [reviews] The Complete Poetical Works. 2 vols. London: Chatto & Windus, 1901. (available at the Internet Archive:
Miscellaneous: Wayside Posies: original poems of the country life. Edited by R. Buchanan. London: G. Routledge & Sons, 1866. (available at the Internet Archive) [reviews] The Poetical Works of H. W. Longfellow. Edited and prefaced by R. Buchanan. London: E. Moxon & Co., 1869. [reviews] Hon. Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel: Poems of the Hon. Roden Noel. A selection. With an introduction by Robert Buchanan. London, New York: W. Scott, 1892. (available at the Internet Archive) [reviews]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|