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Charles Dickens: Poems Plays in the monarchy ofhis Novels.
Indranil Sarkar
.Charles Dickens at 18
Dickens is undoubtedly the most lovable of all Englishwriters.
He wrote 22 memorable novels. Our admiration toDickens rests mainly
on his unforgettable novels where hecreated 989 life-like
characters and had furnished a vividpicture of Victorian London
society with its virtues and vices.Hugh Walker once said, Dickenss
novels never grow dustin the shelves. The statement holds good even
in this
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postmodern age when there is a general distaste on novelbecause
of the lack of time. However, it would not be asurprise if anybody
outright rejects to accept the fact thatDickens had tried his hands
in writing plays and poems also.It is really very difficult to
imagine Dickens anything but anovelist. But facts are sometimes
stranger than fictions.Dickens is definitely one such case. He
wrote at least 10(ten)poems and 7(seven) plays, hundreds of
newspaper articles andstories as well.Dickens gave us altogether
989 round characters. In thisregard he is next only to Shakespeare
who created 1380inimitable characters. His writing style is florid
and poetic,with a strong comic touch. A Tale of two cities is
anexample of lyrical prose. In this regard he can be classed
withCarlyle only. No other prose writer could have shown such a
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versatile poetic sensibility. His character sketches with
thesingle stroke of a distinctive phrase or a single sentence
arereally surprising. A single word like Murdstone brings outboth
the physical feature and mental make-up of a characterin our minds
eye.His satires of British aristocratic snobberythrough phrases
like Noble Refrigerator, and comparingorphans to stocks and shares,
ordinary people to tug boats, ordinner-party guests to furniture
are just some of Dickens'sacclaimed flights of fancy. Many of his
characters' namesprovide the reader with a hint of the roles played
by him inadvancing the storyline, such as Mr. Murdstone in the
novelDavid Copperfield, which is clearly a combination ofmurder and
stony coldness, Oliver Twist, Madam
Defurge etc. His literary style is a mixture of fantasy
andrealism. The balanced use of humour and satire is indeed
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of the time behind the curtain. There is no reason to considerit
just a Victorian biasness.His Dramatic works could not satisfy him
and as such hetried to forget them. In one occasion he even wanted
to burnhis house if one of them were heaped amongst his
wastepapers. Modern researches on the Dramatic works of Dickenshave
excavated seven such plays worked independently or incollaboration
with other literary activists.
Dickensian PlaysThe Village Coquettes (1836): It is a light
opera or burletta.It originally featured words by Charles Dickens
and music byJohn Pyke Hullah. The project came about through
Fanny
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Dickens, Charless older sister, who put the author in
contactwith her friends and colleagues at the Royal Academy
ofMusic. It was a historical romance, deliberately written in
thestyle of the light popular plays of the time. It was
badlyreviewed and of limited success. As with StrangeGentleman,
Dickens soon renounced the work. The play ledto the first
communication between Dickens and JohnForster.The Strange
Gentleman, (1836):Dickens wrote it in 1836.But,he became very angry
while reviewing it latter and did notwant it to be in
circulation.However, it is appreciated as anapprentice work in the
field of Dramatic literature of the greatnovelist at present.Is She
His Wife? (1837):Its a one act play. It was his thirdplay. It is a
brief, hammy, and enjoyable thirty-minute
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farce. It is considered as Dickenss most risque work. Itfeatured
such racy material as extra-marital flirting, flippantjokes about
adultery, and even a woman displaying hershapely ankle. It may be
viewed as an imitation of thepretentious and immoral social
activities presented byWilliam Congreve and other playwrights of
the Restorationperiod.The Lamplighter (1838):The Lamplighter was
his fourth play.It has gained popularity in recent times. It is
also the finalplay which Dickens wrote alone. It belongs to the
genre ofcomic farce. It covers his topical satire on astrologers
andprognosticators and their reaction to Halleys Comet (1835).The
farcical humour of the play reminds us the recentdestruction of the
earth hoax created by a section ofastrologers and astronomers about
21st of December, 2012. It
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was written for theatre manager Macready, one of Dickenssclosest
friends. But Macready rejected it. The rejection waswhatsoever, an
extremely rare event for Dickens. None of hiswritings suffered such
humiliating record of refusal. Dickenscould not take the matter
easily. The piece was finallypublished and performed after his
death.
He wrote three other dramatic pieces incollaboration with the
prominent literary and theatricalpersonalities of the time. These
are Mr. NightingalesDiary (1851), The Frozen Deep (1857) and No
Thoroughfare:A Drama: In Five Acts (1867).Mr. Nightingales
Diary(1851) is a collaborative workbetween Dickens and Punch editor
Mark Lemon. It is a farce.This farce was written and performed as a
benefit for theGuild of Literature and Art, and the cast was an
all-star team
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of Victorian authors and illustrators. The action takes place
ina health resort, where the schemes of a conman and quackdoctor
(Lemon) are exposed by Gabblewig, a quick-changeamateur actor.
Dickens called him a man of a thousandfaces. Gabblewig is shown as
a classic trickster- characterthat changes into a deaf sexton, a
feeble invalid, Sam Weller,and, in the plays highlight, Mrs. Gamp
successively. Twoarticles on the Guild plays, by Household Words
subeditorR.H. Horne was also attached with it. The essays
detailedstaging, costume, props, audience reaction, stage fluffs,
castparties, Dickenss role as theatre manager, and every aspect
ofthe production. The attachment of the instructive essays
forperformance guideline may be viewed as the fore-runner ofShavian
technique of providing a detail introduction on stage-craft in his
Problem Plays of the 20thcentury.
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The Frozen Deep (1857): The Frozen eepwas a play,originally
staged as an amateur theatrical. It was writtenby Willkie Collins
but Dickens provided a substantialguidance. It was first performed
in 1856. Dickens's hand wasvery prominent here. Besides acting in
the play for severalperformances, he added a preface, altered
lines, and attendedto most of the props and sets. As such the
principal edition ofthe play was titled Under the Management of
CharlesDickens.The Frozen eepis a dramatic tale of vengeance and
self-sacrifice based on the lost expedition in search of the
NorthWest Passage led by Lord John Franklin in 1845. The FrozenDeep
is a dramatic tale of vengeance and self-sacrifice.Exchanging vows
of love with sailor Frank Aldersley thenight before his departure,
Clara Burnham is haunted by the
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memory of Richard Wardour, and his mistaken belief thatthey will
one day marry. On different ships, the two menhave no cause to
meetuntil disaster strikes and they findthemselves united by their
battle for survival. When theylearn of their rivalry, there follows
an act of pure selflessness,making The Frozen Deep one of Collins'
most moving andtragic works.J.Eddy.In the said exploration attempt
almost all the explorers died.Some of them even indulged in
Cannibalism for survival. Itwas a very sensitive incident which
made the whole nationsorrowful.No Thoroughfare: A Drama: In Five
Acts (1867):The lastplay Dickens ever worked on was No
Thoroughfare: ADrama: In Five Acts (1867).It was a dramatization of
theChristmas Story of the same year. The Christmas Story and
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the play were always credited to Charles Dickens andWillkie
Collins. The play was in fact, written almostentirely by Collins.
Dickens provided long-distancesupervision all through. Here,
Dickens developed the initialplan for the play, and reviewed each
act as Collins completedit. It is undoubtedly a good read but a bad
drama.
Dickens, the poetCharles Dickens wrote a number of songs and
balladsindividually and as parts of his novels. At least ten ofthem
can be seen as marvellous poetry from the handsof a great prose
writer. These are---
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A Childs Hymn:Dickens wrote the poem in 1856.It is aninsightful
lyric addressed to children. The poem is evocative.He shows his
trust in God. He regrets for his past sins andbegs Divine Mercy.
The song possesses a devotional tune. Itshows Dickenss Christian
faiths.A fine Old English Gentleman: The poem was published on7th
August, signed simply W . Dickenss poetic output wassmall: a few
songs in The Pickwick Papers, poems for plays,and a brilliant trio
of political squibs which appeared in theliberal journal The
Examiner in 1841. The Fine Old EnglishGentleman:is one of the
latter, and the pick of the crop.It embodies the writer's angry
response to the election of SirRobert Peel as British prime
minister, replacing LordMelbourne and his Whig ministry. Dickens
viewed thepower shift a serious threat to the liberal cause and
its
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reformative activities. He personified it as
strong-wing'dTolerance, who triumphs briefly over the pure old
spirit ofrepression in verse seven.Dickens wrote the poem on the
basis of a song titled Russellssong by Henry Russell, a popular
composer, pianist, singerand lyricist and the great-nephew of the
British chief rabbi,Solomon Herschel. Dickens initially took up
Russell'srhymes and some of his phrases. Here, Dickens used
theoriginal a launch-pad for his own fiercer and more
extensivepolitical battery.
Gabriels Grub Song: Its a song from Christmas Carolhighlighting
the necessity and importance to participate inthe Christmas.
Dickens wrote a short story of the same namein 1836, six year
before the publication of Christmas Carol in1842. Here, Gabriel is
a solitary, nasty old man who not only
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refuses to celebrate Christmas, but also spurns the greetingsof
those who do, and even tries to hurt a boy who sings aChristmas
carol. On Christmas Eve, this man receivesunexpected supernatural
visitors who proceed to show himmany scenes of life, including a
moving scene of a poor,loving family whose youngest child is
terribly ill. In the end,the man is changed by this experience.
These are some of theobvious parallels between the story of Gabriel
Grub and thatof Ebenezer Scrooge. The Sextons melancholy dirge, in
thetwenty-ninth chapter of Pickwick, seems a little incongruousin a
humorous work. The sentiment, however, thoroughlyaccords with the
philosophic gravediggers gruesomeoccupationGeorge Edmunds' Song :
This is a brave, unreservedinterpretation of the otherwise cold,
dreary, sad, withered and
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mournful English Autumn landscape. The colours mightelude one
more to a Laurentian fall rather than the Englishmaritime west
coast climate. The withered autumn leavesreveal the eternal sadness
it brings to all English minds. It isreally a great poem on
autumn.
Little Nell's Funeral :This memorable heart touching poembelongs
to Dickenss novel The Old Curiosity shop.Mr.R.H.Horne detected the
use of blank verse of irregularrhyme and metre here, in this poem
as dexterous as Shelleyand Southey.
Lucys song: It is a poem about Lucys lasting scars.Itsuggests
that Lucy is diseased, as the wind--gently blowsAs if to soothe her
in her in sleep
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Although sleep being related to death is merely a conjecture,it
is evident that the narrator is experiencing loss or perhapsregret
when analysing the last four lines .It is a poem ofbeauty and
sadness, about mourning the death of someonedear. He penned the
poem around 1950s.This little lyric bearsthe stamp of Dickenss
lyrical talent.
Blacksmith:Here in this lyric, Dickens sees the Blacksmithsas
the architect of Englands victories in various battlesbecause they
equipped the English soldiers with properweapons forged in their
hearths. He asks English people neverto forget their contribution
in the glory of their motherland.
The Ivy Green: This poem belongs to Dickens' novelPickwick
Papers. Here, Dickens used various literary images,symbols, similes
to reflect the changes of emotions. It is astylistically memorable
poem by the Monarch of English
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novels. This exquisite little lyric, with its effective refrain,
---so often wedded to music and so familiar to all,----wouldalone
suffice to show that in turning his hands from prose toverse, his
hands did not altogether forget its cunning. Andlike Macaulay and
Carlyle, we can say about Dickens alsothat one who can write so
beautiful prose could hardly fail towrite eloquent verses.
The Song of The Wreck: Dickens wrote this poem forWillkie
Collins' play, The Lighthouse, composed for Dickens'own place,
Tavistock House, and first performed there June19, 1855. Sad, but
beautiful, with a touch or reality thrown in.A great story told by
a great man, Charles Dickens. He had usrooting through out for the
well being of the boy, but, in theend, God's will was done, as it
always is.
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Squire Nortons song and The Hymn of the WiltshireLabourers are
the other two remarkable poetical works ofDickens.References, Links
and Acknowledgements:-
i. www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Frozen_Deepii.
www.online-literature.comiii. http://www.theguardian.comiv.
http://wiki.answers.comv.
http://www.alleytheatre.org/Alley/Author_Charles_Dickens_A_Christmas_Carol.aspvi.
http://www.gutenberg.orgvii. http://www.c-s-p.orgviii.
http://www.poemhunter.com/charles-dickensix.
http://www.poeticous.comx. http://www.poeticterminology.netxi.
http://www.jstor.org
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