With hideous face, and tuneless note, A ballad-singer strains his throat; Roars out the life of Betty Saunders, With Turpin Dick, and Molly Flanders; Tells many woeful tragic stories, Recorded of our British worthies.
In this book, therefore—small though it be when compared with the vast magnitude of its subject—there are a thousand discrepancies—lustre and obscurity, which pervade all we see, and all we conceive in this age of twilight, which envelope our political theories, our religious opinions, our domestic life, and which are even discovered in the histories we write of others, as well as in those of ourselves.
The following poem appeared in Victor Hugo’s Chants des Crepuscules (1835) and was translated by G.W.M. Reynolds. It celebrates Napoleon’s son, Napoleon, who died too young and had no contact with father after the emperor was exiled to St Helena.
This pro-democracy poem titled ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ was written by William Jones in 1875 and published in the socialist People’s Advocate newspaper.
‘Bridal Festivity’ was written by Victor Hugo in August 1832 and published in his Chants des Crepuscules. The poem itself takes a somewhat dark turn towards the end, as readers will see. Perhaps this was an allegory on the dangers that awaited the French ruling classes
Charles Swain’s poem ‘If thou hast lost a friend’ appeared in the London Journal in 1853 and has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo
The following poem, titled ‘The Sea’, was written by G.W.M. Reynolds and first appeared in the London Journal in 1845. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
This poem was originally printed in the London Journal in 1855 and celebrates England. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Man of Titles Won with Blood was how the radical poet Charles Cole described the Duke of Wellington in 1835. In his eyes, he was clearly not the national hero that everyone thought…
‘A Lay from the Trenches’ was a poem, written in 1855, by a soldier serving in the Crimean War. It was first published in the London Journal.
The following lines were written by the antiquary Joseph Ritson (1752–1803) and were first printed in the Newcastle Miscellany in 1772, then later as a standalone tract.
The following poem was written by George W.M. Reynolds and originally appeared in his novel Alfred: The Adventures of a French Gentleman (1838), which was originally serialised in the Monthly Magazine. The poem is about the deeds of a knight errant in medieval Palestine during the crusades.
The following poem appeared in the Leisure Hour in December 1888 and was written by Frederick Langbridge. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
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.
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo in 1837 and translated by Mrs Newton Crossland.
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo in 1825 and translated by John Sullivan. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
The following poem, written by Victor Hugo to celebrate the French Revolution of 1830, was translated by Elizabeth Collins.
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo in 1828 and translated by J.N. Fazakerley. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
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.
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo, one of France’s finest poets, in 1823 and has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
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.
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.
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.
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.