Читать книгу Life of Sir Henry Parkes - Charles E. Lyne - Страница 6
Оглавление"STOLEN MOMENTS."
In 1842 Sir Henry Parkes published his first volume of Poems under the title "Stolen Moments", with the quotation from Coleridge
"Stolen
From anxious Self, life's cruel taskmaster,"
and dedicated to Lieutenant-Colonel Gibbes "as a faint token of gratitude for services rendered". Colonel Gibbes was a friend of Henry Parkes. At the time of his employment in the Customs Department Colonel Gibbes was its head, and after the honest but perhaps indiscreet tidewaiter had left the service his chief, not forgetful of his merits, gave him high testimonials which he spoke of with satisfaction to his last day.
The book is interesting because it gives an insight into the writer's character, and some representation of his circumstances at the time when the poems appeared in this collected form. Most of them, the author tells us, in the preface to the little book, had seen the light previously in periodical publications in Australia or in England. Of those which had been published in New South Wales all but one had filled a place in the columns of the Australasian Chronicle, a newspaper at that time under the editorship of the late Mr. W. A. Duncan, and the one exception had appeared in the Sydney (now the Sydney Morning Herald). The expense of printing the little volume would seem to have been defrayed by subscription, for the book contains a long list of subscribers. As it appeared in 1842, the date of its publication was just three years after the author had arrived in the colony, and his ability to obtain the support of such a large number of persons as the list of subscribers represents, some of them men occupying positions among the highest in the land, indicates that in spite of adverse circumstances he had contrived to make himself both known and respected in the community.
In his preface he expressed the hope that his modest efforts to court the Muse might be of some little service to the cause of Australian Literature, by encouraging "some Australian bard to seize in earnest the unstrung lyre of his beautiful country", but though the desire to assist any legitimate literary enterprise may have been the incentive which elicited the support of some of the subscribers, most of them must have had a personal knowledge of, and some regard for, the writer. Evidently he had begun to make his way, and to prepare for the bolder movements and the higher flights in which his progressive mind and his strong will were to be engaged in the future. His subsequent success as a journalist with the Empire newspaper undoubtedly owed something to his efforts in writing verse, for these efforts, and the occasional production of prose articles, were perseveringly carried on for many years.
Some of the poems in "Stolen Moments" were written in Birmingham in 1834, when the age of the writer could not have been more than nineteen. Others were written in London in 1838. Nearly all, he said, were put together "in moments literally stolen from the time occupied by the ordinary duties of a not over-happy life", and a study of some of them will show how true this statement was.
In some "Retrospective Lines, written on the passage from England to Australia in the year 1839", we get a picture of an emigrant ship such as he journeyed in to Australia. "To complete the wretchedness of the crowded hole," he says, in a note, alluding to the 'tween deck experiences on board the vessel, "in which three or four hundred human beings are pent together for the space of four months, the ear is incessantly assailed by the coarse expressions and blasphemies of the profligate; and the eye, let it turn where it will, is offended by some malignity or unnecessary unpleasantness in the conduct of those around."
We learn from the same "Lines" something of his habits in early manhood. As already mentioned, he was an ardent pursuer of knowledge. Whilst working hard for a livelihood as a mechanic:
"I mingled with the blessed few
Of Nature's children whom I ever knew,
Who strove with poverty, in bold pursuit
Of knowledge, and of freedom its best fruit.
. . . . .
I have watched the children of the poor,
Like Hunger's victims at the rich man's door,
Who turn not from denial, jeer, or threat,
But knock the louder till some bread they get,—
Yes! watched them oft to wisdom's waters come,
From toils ungenial, trials wearisome,
Press through all obstacles, to gain the brink,
Thirsting for knowledge, and resolved to drink.
. . . . .
"Though 'gainst them their country's schools were barred,
Not all unblest were they with lot so hard,
They had—enough to make your boasters mute—
Their own self-reared Mechanics' Institute."
His verses breathe a deep love for England. He possessed to the full that veneration for the mother country as "home" which is characteristic of most emigrants from her shores, and some of his poems manifest an intense longing to return.
"It may come mine when future years are gone,
Yet in beloved England to possess
A home of peace, and think of all I've done,
Even with a keener tranquil happiness
Than if I could have passed through life with suffering less"
And again:
"It may be here that Britons find
Scenes brighter than they leave behind;
But, oh! the counter-charm for home
Is found not yet, where'er I roam
O'er sea or land."
Equally strong with his love for England in these "Stolen Moments" was his loyalty to the Throne, and it is rather remarkable that an ode to the young Queen Victoria, published in this unpretending volume, should appear as a prominent feature, used to considerable advantage, in an eloquent speech delivered by the author of the poem in the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, on the occasion of his moving an address of congratulation to the Queen in the jubilee year of her reign, nearly fifty years after the poem was written. The lines are worth quoting for they are harmonious, picturesque, and forcible.
"High-destined daughter of our country, thou
Who sitt'st on England's throne in beauty's morning!
God pour His richest blessings round thee now;
And may the eyes that watch thy glory's dawning
With hearts right glad and loyal, proudly scorning
All that dare hostile to Victoria be,
Daily behold new light thy name adorning!
So may'st thou trust thy people's love for thee,
Queen of this mighty land, Protectress of the Free!"
"Stolen Moments" was published at five shillings. In 1892 in Sydney, at auction, copies of it were sold at from £5 to £7 each.
