ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN (1841 - 1901)

THE WANDERING JEW

THE WANDERING JEW

A Christmas Carol

BY

ROBERT BUCHANAN

‘Quo diversus abis?’

The oldest man he seemed that ever wore gray hairs!’

                                                                                                                   WORDSWORTH

London

CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY

1893

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PRINTED BY

SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE

LONDON

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TO MY DEAR FATHER

ROBERT BUCHANAN

POET AND SOCIAL MISSIONARY

THIS CHRISTMAS GIFT

                                                                   Christmas 1892

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Father on Earth, for whom I wept bereaven,
Father more dear than any Father in Heaven,
Flesh of my flesh, heart of this heart of mine,
Still quick, though dead, in me, true son of thine,
I draw the gravecloth from thy dear dead face,
I kiss thee gently sleeping, while I place
This wreath of Song upon thy holy head.

For since I live, I know thou art quick not dead,
And since thou art quick, yet drawest no living breath,
I know, dear Father, that there is Life in Death.

This, too, my Soul hath found—that if there were
No hope in Heaven, the world might well despair,
That thro’ the mystery of my hope and love
I reach the Mystery that dwells above . . .                                        viii
Father on Earth, still lying calm and blest
After long years of trouble and sad unrest,
Sleep,—while the Christ I paint for men to see
Seeketh the Fatherhood I found in thee!

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THE WANDERING JEW

[Notes:
The quotations on the title page are from the following:
‘Quo diversus abis?’ (“Whither dost thou run wandering?”) - Virgil’s Æneid Book V.
‘The oldest man he seemed that ever wore gray hairs!’ - Wordsworth’s Resolution and Independence (that’s the one about the Leech-gatherer):

“Now, whether it were by peculiar grace,
A leading from above, a something given,
Yet it befell, that, in this lonely place,
When I with these untoward thoughts had striven,
Beside a pool bare to the eye of heaven
I saw a Man before me unawares:
The oldest man he seemed that ever wore grey hairs.”

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In Chapter XII of her biography of Buchanan, Harriett Jay explains the origins of The Wandering Jew, which Buchanan began to write following the death of his father in 1866.

‘In times of supreme sorrow the poet turned for consolation to the only thing which ever interested him—his beloved poetry. While mourning his dear comrade, David Gray, he wrote one of the most beautiful poems in the English language, “To David in Heaven”—and in this, his second great sorrow, he conceived and commenced to write the poem, which was afterwards published under the title of “The Wandering Jew.” It was not until some thirty years later that this poem was given to the world, and then the poet in some beautiful lines dedicated it to his father, who had been its inspiration.’

Chapter XXVII of the biography is devoted to The Wandering Jew and the controversy caused by its publication in 1893. It concludes with the following passage:

‘The postman left one day a small parcel addressed to the poet, which, on being opened, was thought to be a hoax (though it was not the 1st of April), for the box contained nothing but a few blackened and charred remains. A careful search, however, brought to light a small scrap of printed paper which had been allowed to escape the flames. The poet read, and smiled. An indignant reader had sent him the charred remains of his book, “The Wandering Jew.”’

For the second edition of The Wandering Jew, Buchanan added a note at the end of the poem and a four page section of ‘Press and Public Opinions’, which are available here:

Note to the Second Edition of The Wandering Jew and Press Comments

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A review of The Wandering Jew by Richard Le Gallienne in The Daily Chronicle (11th January 1893) sparked a great controversy on the subject, “Is Christianity Played Out?” Buchanan himself participated in the debate (which lasted until the end of January), sending six letters to the paper, and the controversy was made the subject of several Sunday sermons. Buchanan’s letters and a selection of the rest are included in the following section:

“Is Christianity Played Out?” - The Wandering Jew controversy.

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In the first edition there is an errata slip inserted after page viii with the following corrections:

Page 5, line 3, for blew read flew
   “ 41, line 5, insert comma after stood below

In this transcript I’ve corrected the text accordingly.]

Reviews of The Wandering Jew

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