Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Verse Description An account of the resource <h4>This collection brings together the most complete set of Dickens's verse to date, supplementing the work of existing editions with previously uncollected poems Dickens contributed to albums, or wrote anonymously.</h4> Though such productions receive scant attention from scholars interested in his fiction and journalism, Dickens composed a surprising amount of verse. It was a genre in which he evidently felt much less at home (and financially rewarded) than when writing in prose. However, several poems gained popular favour during his lifetime; that so many were <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Song">written to be set to music</a> indicates the permeable boundary between metered verse functioning as poem or song in the nineteenth century, and may explain why some of Dickens’s poems were more enduringly popular than others. Notably, <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836-05_Pickwick_Papers_The_Ivy_Green">'The Ivy Green'</a> from Pickwick Papers (1837), a story of time’s inexorable passing, was frequently republished in newspapers. Several poems written to young ladies of Dickens’s acquaintance are released on Dickens Search as part of the author’s poetic output for the first time, testifying to the author’s ability to write impromptu poetry and gallantly turn a phrase. Since keeping <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Autograph+Album&collection=&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">autograph albums</a> was a popular pastime for women in the Victorian era, it is possible that further examples of such activity remain to be discovered in various archives and private collections. When writing <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Letter&collection=3&type=&tags=&date_search_term=&submit_search=Search+For+Items">letters</a> to friends, Dickens occasionally included comedic poems for the recipient. Several of these are included. Considering the enormity of Dickens’s correspondence, likely more instances of this sort of poetic humour will result over time. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Epitaph">Epitaphs</a> Dickens wrote for friends and family, whether used or not, are included with Dickens's other verse for the first time. Users can also browse <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=94&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Play">verse from Dickens's plays</a>, including songs removed from The Strange Gentleman and Is She His Wife? Or, Something Singular! before performance. Care is necessary when verifying the accuracy of these poems, as some are misattributed to Dickens. Widespread reprintings of 'Dickens poems' in nineteenth-century newspapers are insufficient evidence for authorial attribution, owing to the mistakes intentionally or inadvertently made in ascribing authorship. An unusual example of a poem that is and is not by Dickens, the lines of 'Little Nell’s Funeral' are taken, with minimal alterations, from Chapter 72 of The Old Curiosity Shop. An instance of the strikingly lyrical quality of Dickens’s sentimental prose, they were divided into metered, unrhymed verse by M.A.H. for the 1849 collection Echoes of Infant Voices. Because Dickens did not intend for this passage to be structured in verse form, the poem is not included in the poetry collection of Dickens Search. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry-dickens-didnt-write">Read our blog post for more on poetry Dickens didn't write.</a> Occasionally, Dickens will quote a poem by another author, as in his burlesque Is She his Wife? Or, Something Singular! (1836). The character Mr Felix Tapkins launches into a short hunting song beginning 'The wife around her husband throws/Her arms to make him stay'. As William Chappell noted in 1840, this is a well-known variant of 'A Hunting We Will Go' (1777), by Thomas Arne, though he misattributes its composition to Henry Fielding. Previous notable collections of some of Dickens's poetry include The Plays and Poems of Charles Dickens (1882) edited by Richard Herne Shepherd and The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903) edited by Frederic G. Kitton. In 2025, we published <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-verse-of-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Verse of Charles Dickens</a> (Edinburgh University Press), which includes an introduction and editorial apparatus for this verse.  Caution has been taken when ascertaining that each poem is indeed by Dickens. Please <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/contact">contact us</a> with any errors, corrections, suggestions, or other poems written by Dickens. 1. The Verse of Charles Dickens. Edited by Lydia Craig and Emily Middleton. Edinburgh University Press, 2025; Robert Butterworth. 'The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers.' The Dickensian 516.118.1 (Spring 2022): pp. 43-56; Eva-Charlotta Mebius. 'Dreams of Dying Girls: The Poetry of Thomas J. Ouseley and Charles Dickens.' Dickens Quarterly 34.3 (September 2017): pp. 256-261; Robert C. Hanna. 'Before Boz; The Juvenilia and Early Writings of Charles Dickens, 1820-1833'. Dickens Studies Annual 40 (2009): pp. 231-364. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context verse Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lydia Craig; Emily Middleton Poem Publication The title of the newspaper/serial (if applicable) Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell. Pseudonym The name under which the item was published C.D. TEI File Link to TEI file <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/teibp/dist/content/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Churchyard.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'The Churchyard.' Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell (November 1831). </a> Ngram Date Hidden from users and search. All items in a collection need to have the same data in the same format in order to show up in Ngram (either YYYY, YYYYMMDD, or YYYYMMDD). No combinations will work. For journalism, letters and poetry, if there is no month or day, default to the first of the month or January. So a poem with a date of March 1843 would be 18430301. A poem published in 1856 with no month or date information would be 18560101. 18311101 Ngram Text Hidden from users and search. Copy and paste from the Scripto transcription. Then check and uncheck HTML to strip out all formatting. Finally, search and remove any   (which is the HTML for spaces). This will prevent the Ngram picking up on irrelevant HTML. How many tales these Tombstones tell Of life's e'er changing scene, Of by gone days spent ill or well By those who gay have been; Who have been happy, rich, and vain, Who now are dead, and cold, Who've gone alike to dust again The rich, poor, young, and old. Here lies a Man who lived to save Of Wordly gain a store; – It has not saved him from the grave He ne'er can use it more. A marble Tablet tells his fame To those who shall survive; – It tells us not who blest his name While he remained alive. Now mark the contrast. – Near this mound Lie the remains of one With whom no fault was ever found, Who spotless as the sun Fulfilled his Christian duties here, Both cheerfully and well But no rich velvet deck'd his Bier No lines his virtues tell. And is it so! Is man so vain, To riches such a Slave As to take his pride of gold, and gain E'en with him to the Grave! – Why let him take it. – Let him see If 'twill avail him there, Where we must all one dread day be, Where all Men must appear. Here sleeps a girl. – A year ago Bright, beautiful, and gay, Peaceful, and happy, then but Oh! How soon such days decay: They changed to times of shame and brief And this the mournful token Death was to her a glad relief For her young heart was broken. Aye – broken. – Let the Roué smile And let him boldly speed Exulting in his shameless guile To boast of such a deed. Let him boast gaily among men – They'll hear without surprize And let him boast if he can when On his death bed he lies. In truth it is a manly deed With woman's heart to trifle, To break the bent and bruised reed And with neglect to stifle The feelings man himself has raised Which he can't prize too high. – To leave the object he has praised Alone to weep and die. But why pursue this painful theme Or longer here remain The dead sleep sound; they cannot dream Of sorrow, grief, or pain. From Man to GOD they will appeal Where no man can dissemble There will the wronged for justice kneel There will the Tyrant tremble. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'The Churchyard' Description An account of the resource From the autograph album of Maria Beadnell (November 1831). Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Charles Dickens Museum, <a href="http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.collections.dickensmuseum.com/object-b319--1971-1-105</a>. Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1831-11 Type The nature or genre of the resource Poem Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Churchyard Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. Dickens, Charles. 'The Churchyard.' Autograph Album of Maria Beadnell (November 1831). Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Middleton and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. <a href="https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Churchyard">https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Churchyard</a><a href="https://dickenssearch.com/poetry/1831-11_Autograph_Album_of_Maria_Beadnell_The_Devils_Walk"></a>. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dickens, Charles Scripto Transcription A written representation of a document. How many tales these Tombstones tell Of life's e'er changing scene, Of by gone days spent ill or well By those who gay have been; Who have been happy, rich, and vain, Who now are dead, and cold, Who've gone alike to dust again The rich, poor, young, and old. Here lies a Man who lived to save Of Wordly gain a store; – It has not saved him from the grave He ne'er can use it more. A marble Tablet tells his fame To those who shall survive; – It tells us not who blest his name While he remained alive. Now mark the contrast. – Near this mound Lie the remains of one With whom no fault was ever found, Who spotless as the sun Fulfilled his Christian duties here, Both cheerfully and well But no rich velvet deck'd his Bier No lines his virtues tell. And is it so! Is man so vain, To riches such a Slave As to take his pride of gold, and gain E'en with him to the Grave! – Why let him take it. – Let him see If 'twill avail him there, Where we must all one dread day be, Where all Men must appear. Here sleeps a girl. – A year ago Bright, beautiful, and gay, Peaceful, and happy, then but Oh! How soon such days decay: They changed to times of shame and brief And this the mournful token Death was to her a glad relief For her young heart was broken. Aye – broken. – Let the Roué smile And let him boldly speed Exulting in his shameless guile To boast of such a deed. Let him boast gaily among men – They'll hear without surprize And let him boast if he can when On his death bed he lies. In truth it is a manly deed With woman's heart to trifle, To break the bent and bruised reed And with neglect to stifle The feelings man himself has raised Which he can't prize too high. – To leave the object he has praised Alone to weep and die. But why pursue this painful theme Or longer here remain The dead sleep sound; they cannot dream Of sorrow, grief, or pain. From Man to GOD they will appeal Where no man can dissemble There will the wronged for justice kneel There will the Tyrant tremble.