The lines are a parody, or travesty, that DGR executed on his own poem âThe Cloud Confinesâ. He interlineated that poem's refrain with lines of American slang verse that he took from John Hays's comic ballad âJim Bludsoâ. John Hay (1838-1905), a prominent American author and statesman, published
âJim Bludsoâ in his 1871 collection
Pike County Ballads and other poems
. WMR collected two of Hays's poemsâincluding âJim Bludsoââ in his 1879 anthology of
Humorous Poems
.
The manuscript text is uniquely present in DGR's letter of 1 September 1876 to Mrs. Holme Summer. Mrs. Summer had asked DGR about the refrain lines of his poem âThe Cloud Confinesâ. He quoted the refrain and then added: âHaving thus unburdened myself, I hope you will refrain from remembering it in some such form asâ the text of his parodic transformation, which he then copied out for her. After copying his miscegenated text he added: âPlease pardon the horrible handwriting. I cannot excuse the punsâ, in the latter case meaning his play on the words âunburdenedâ and ârefrainâ.
This collection contains 1 text or image, including:
Princeton manuscript
Scholarly Commentary
IntroductionÂ
The lines are a parody, or travesty, that DGR executed on his own poem âThe Cloud Confinesâ. He interlineated that poem's refrain with lines of American slang verse that he took from John Hays's comic ballad âJim Bludsoâ. John Hay (1838-1905), a prominent American author and statesman, published âJim Bludsoâ in his 1871 collection Pike County Ballads and other poems . WMR collected two of Hays's poemsâincluding âJim Bludsoââ in his 1879 anthology of Humorous Poems .
The manuscript text is uniquely present in DGR's letter of 1 September 1876 to Mrs. Holme Summer. Mrs. Summer had asked DGR about the refrain lines of his poem âThe Cloud Confinesâ. He quoted the refrain and then added: âHaving thus unburdened myself, I hope you will refrain from remembering it in some such form asâ the text of his parodic transformation, which he then copied out for her. After copying his miscegenated text he added: âPlease pardon the horrible handwriting. I cannot excuse the punsâ, in the latter case meaning his play on the words âunburdenedâ and ârefrainâ.
Printing HistoryÂ
First printed from manuscript in Doughty and Wahl, Letters of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, III.1457 .