A friend, lads, a friend (1888) | Frederick Langbridge
The following poem appeared in the Leisure Hour in December 1888 and was written by Frederick Langbridge. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
“A Rascal … but rich”: Karl Marx and G. W. M. Reynolds | Stephen Basdeo
“Reynolds is a rascal,” said Marx, “but a rich and able speculator. Find out what the father of communism thought about the biggest-selling novelist of the Victorian era.
Errors of the Christian Religion (1832) | G. W. M. Reynolds
I defy any living soul to refute Thomas Paine’s arguments. I have read answers to them, and attempts at refutation; but none succeed–all sink into the ground.
A Call to the People (1850) | Anonymous
The following pro-democracy hymn was written by a writer known only as “Bandiera” and was published in the Red Republican magazine, edited by George Julian Harney. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
To Some Birds Flown Away (1837) | Victor Hugo
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo in 1837 and translated by Mrs Newton Crossland.
The Sacking of the City (1825) | Victor Hugo
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo in 1825 and translated by John Sullivan. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Three Glorious Days | Victor Hugo
The following poem, written by Victor Hugo to celebrate the French Revolution of 1830, was translated by Elizabeth Collins.
The Scourge of Heaven (1828) | Victor Hugo
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo in 1828 and translated by J.N. Fazakerley. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Ode to the Column of Napoleon (1835) | Victor Hugo
The following poem appeared in G.W.M. Reynolds’s translation of Victor Hugo’s Songs of Twilight (1835). It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Madelaine (1825) | Victor Hugo
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo, one of France’s finest poets, in 1823 and has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Victorian Killer Snakes | Stephen Basdeo
Snakes are one of mankind’s most feared enemies, and the Victorians loved to read about them. Killer snakes appear in a variety of popular magazines and novels.
The Canadian Exile (1839) | Anonymous
The following song was written in 1838, by an author who remains anonymous, and was published in Hugh Williams’s National Songs and Poetical Pieces (1839). It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Adapting Hegel: Helen Macfarlane’s Writings for the Democratic Review (1849) | Stephen Basdeo
“Democracy, the Idea of the 19th century,” is a great and most welcome fact. This idea has revealed itself at different times, and in different ways.”
A Democratic Lyric (1850) | Tyrtaeus
The following pro-democracy poem was written by someone writing under the pseudonym of Tyrtaeus and was published in Reynolds’s Political Instructor on 19 January 1850.
France (1838) | G. W. M. Reynolds
George W. M. Reynolds spent his teenage years and early twenties in France and was a great admirer of the country’s history and culture which is celebrated in this poem.
Henry Hetherington: The Revolutionary Life of a Radical Printer (1850) | G. W. M. Reynolds
“He defied the law, he suffered imprisonment, and lost his property in struggling for a right … we are indebted for the immense benefits derived by the masses from the circulation amongst them of cheap literature.”
Napoleon (1838) | Victor Hugo
The following poem, celebrating the life and deeds of Napoleon, was first written by Victor Hugo in the 1830s. It was later translated for the Monthly Magazine, probably by G.W.M. Reynolds, who had previously translated several of Hugo’s works.
Sun-Set (1835) | Charles Cole
The following poem was written by the radical poet Charles Cole and printed in A Poetical Address to his Grace the Duke of Wellington (1835).
Love of Country (1867) | Anonymous
‘Love of Country’, was written anonymously and printed in Reynolds’s Miscellany. It does not celebrate any one country in particular.
George R. Stewart’s “Earth Abides” (1949) | Stephen Basdeo
George R. Stewart’s novel Earth Abides grapples with the question of what shape society will take after a deadly pandemic kills off most of the earth’s population.
The Lyre | E.L.E.
The following poem was written by someone known only as “E.L.E.” and published in the Monthly Magazine in February 1837. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
The Chartist History of England: Henry I (1849) | Edwin Roberts
Selfish, haughty and arrogant…and can merit nothing but the severest censure. All his actions, when closely scrutinized, fill us with the most unequivocal contempt.
A Song of Hatred (1849) | Georg Herwegh
Georg Herwegh’s ‘A Song of Hatred’ expresses contempt for the German ruling class and was translated by the Fenian activist James Clarence Mangan in 1849.
Victor Hugo’s “Songs of Twilight” (1835) | G. W. M. Reynolds
In the present age, everything, whether ideal or fact, whether connected with society in general, or with a single individual—everything is in a state of twilight. But of what species is that twilight? Oh! who shall solve so profound a mystery—the most sublime of all those that are agitated during times of doubt and uncertainty?