PARODIES
OF THE WORKS OF
ENGLISH and AMERICAN AUTHORS,
COLLECTED AND ANNOTATED BY
WALTER HAMILTON,
Fellow of the Royal Geographical and Royal Historical Societies;
Author of “A History of National Anthems and Patriotic Songs,” “A Memoir of George Cruikshank”
“The Poets Laureate of England,” “The Æsthetic Movement in England,” etc.
“We maintain that, far from converting virtue into a paradox, and degrading truth by ridicule, Parody will only strike atwhat is chimerical and false; it is not a piece of buffoonery so much as a critical exposition. What do we parody but the absurditiesof writers, who frequently make their heroes act against nature, common-sense, and truth? After all, it is the public, not we, who arethe authors of these Parodies.”
D’Israeli’s Curiosities of Literature.
VOLUME II.
CONTAINING PARODIES OF
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,
JOHN MILTON, JOHN DRYDEN, DR. WATTS,
ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON,
H. W. LONGFELLOW, THOMAS HOOD, BRET HARTE,
MATTHEW ARNOLD,
E. A. POE, WOLFE’S ODE, AND “MY MOTHER”
REEVES & TURNER, 196, STRAND, LONDON, W.C.
1885.
“It was because Homer was the most popular poet, that he was most susceptibleof the playful honours of the Greek parodist; unless the prototype is familiar tous, a parody is nothing!”
Isaac D’Israeli.
“La Parodie, fille ainée de la Satire, est aussi ancienne que la poésie méme. Ilest de l’essence de la Parodie de substituer toujours un nouveau sujet & celui qu’onparodie; aux sujets sérieux, des sujets légers et badins, en employant autant quepossible, les expressions de l’auteur parodié.”
Traité des Belles-Lettres sur la Poésie Française, par M. le Père de Montespin,
(Jesuite) Avignon, 1747.
BROWN & DAVENPORT, 40, SUN STREET, FINSBURY, LONDON, E.C.
hen this Collection was originally projected it was intended to publish a few only of the bestParodies of each author. After the issue of the first few numbers, however, the sale rapidlyincreased, and subscribers not only expressed their desire that the collection should be madeas nearly complete as possible, but by the loans of scarce books, and copies of Parodies,helped to make it so.
This involved an alteration in the original arrangement, and as it would have been monotonous tohave filled a whole number with parodies of one short poem, such as those on “To be or not to be,”“Excelsior,” “My Mother” or Wolfe’s Ode, it became necessary to spread them over several numbers:In the Index, which has been carefully prepared, references will be found, under the titles ofthe original Poe