Dora Greenwell: Carmina Crucis, Bell & Daldy, 1869. Re-issued in 1906, with an introduction by Constance L.Maynard, published by H.R.Allenson Ltd.
Transcriptions of Title-page, Introduction, Dedication and Contents, from a copy of the 1906 edition in the British Library (Inter-Library Loans).
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(Title Page, 1st edn)
Et Teneo . . . . . . . . et Teneor
LONDON:
BELL AND DALDY, YORK STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.
1869
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(Title page, 1906 edition)
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
CONSTANCE L.MAYNARD
MISTRESS OF WESTFIELD COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
[ logo : a hand grasping a Cross ]
LONDON
H.R.ALLENSON, LIMITED
RACQUET COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C.
1906
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( Preface, 1906 edn )
By the kindness of the Rev. Alan Greenwell, I am allowed to re-edit his sister's poems. Two volumes are offered to the public, the first consisting of Carmina Crucis alone, and the second of Poems Selected from the numerous verses written during the comparatively short period in which the best of her work was done.
Carmina Crucis was published in 1869, and though one of her most beautiful works, has long been out of print. Mr Alan Greenwell kindly sent me his private copy, in which every poem was dated by dictation from his sister, so I am able to add to the interest of the book by giving these dates; all are written in the very centre of her brief flowering time, between 1861 and 1869, and a third of them, and those the most wonderful, belong to the year 1868.
The illustrations are possessed of a singular charm, and are, save the terminal ornament of Part II., reproduced from the original edition.
C.L.M.
(Dedication page, reproduced in 1906 edn)
"I took," said Luther, "for the symbol of my theology a seal on which I had engraven a cross, with a heart in its centre. The cross is black, to indicate the sorrows, even unto death, through which the Christian must pass; but the heart preserves its natural colour, for the cross does not extinguish nature, it does not kill, but give[**] life. Justus fide vivet, sed fide crucifixi. The heart is placed in the midst of a white rose, which signifies the joy, peace, and consolation which faith gives; but the rose is white and not red, because it is not the joy and peace of the world, but of spirits."
[ ** `give' (sic) ]
(List of Contents, given in 1906 edn)
- FIRST PART
- L'Envoi
- The Garden of Proserpine
- The Aloe
- A Morning in Spring
- The Playfellows
- One Friend
- A Remembrance
- A Life-Requiem
- A Thought at Midnight
- November
- Desdichado
- Coelo tegitur qui non habet Urnam
- O amiable, lovely Death!
- SECOND PART
- L'Envoi
- A Pastoral
- A Mystery
- Quis separabit
- The Cross
- A Song of Joy and Pain
- Summa Theologiae
- Sponsalia Amoris et Doloris
- The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
- Schola Crucis, Schola Lucis
- Si descendero in Infernum, Ades
- Quid dixit, Maria?
- THIRD PART
- L'Envoi
- The Sun-flower
- Sita
- Expectans Expectavi
- Election
- Buried, yet not dead
- Receiving
- Declension and Revival
- Vespers
- The Meek shall increase their Joy in the Lord
- Christ's Garland
- Veni, Veni, Emmanuel
- Notes
(Part of Constance Maynard's Introduction, 1906, pp.xviii-xix)
. . . Reader, I pray you, do not be deterred by the poverty of some of the verses in the first part, or the looseness of texture here and there, but press on through the extraordinary prose-poem Lovely Death, and through the Pastoral, which, though the metre is careless, is truly an exquisite thing both in thought and diction, and do not stop till you reach the solemn centre of the whole, which begins with Quis Separabit? There are some eight poems on the one subject, and there you will find the soldier-soul standing faithful to death beside the Cross. There wait awhile, and then go on again through varied work, through the humble patience of Expectans Expectavi, and the deep-rooted confidence of the verses on Election, till you reach the ringing march of the Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, where the whole closes in light and victory. By the coming of Christ, not as Redeemer, but as Lawgiver, Judge, and King, all the woes of man are over. Every shadow flees away before this triumphant sunrise.
- "And art Thou come with us to dwell,
- Our Prince, our Guide, our Love, our Lord?
- And is Thy name Emmanuel,
- God present with His world restored?
- The world is glad for Thee! the heart
- Is glad for Thee! and all is well,
- And fixed, and sure, because Thou art
- Whose name is called Emmanuel."
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