Victorian Poetry Collections

Love's Messenger
A Choice Collection of 
Victorian Love Poetry

The verses embraced within these pages have been kissed awake after a long slumber.  Copied from the fragile pages of nineteenth-century books and magazines, they are the whispers of lovers long entranced.  In this beautifully diverse collection of Victorian love poetry high-born ladies and their eloquent beaux keep company with simple maids whose sweethearts pledge their love in simpler —and often much funnier— terms.  Prepare for your happy sighs to be joined by occasional giggles while you hold this book close to your heart.
 
Compiled, edited and introduced by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the charming Tales of Chetzemoka historical fiction series, This Victorian Life, Victorian Secrets, and others.​

A sample from this volume:
The Oak's Secret
Near the deep forest, dim with leafy shadow,
Relieved by sunny glade,
A sturdy oak, o'er green and fragrant meadow,
Once threw a welcome shade.
 
Here children oft in summer days were playing:
Here lovers held their tryst
When all the verdant boughs were gently swaying,
By evening zephyr kissed.
 
In stately pride the monarch stood for ages,
Through sunshine and through storm;
And no rude blast, that round the forest rages,
Had marred his kingly form.
 
One day the sky, aglow with noon-day gladness,
Grew dark with sudden woe;
The cyclone wild, descending into madness,
The mighty oak laid low.
 
When morning sunshine bathed the earth with splendor,
Crowds came and by it stood,
And noticed, as they spoke in accents tender,
A curious knot of wood.
 
They hewed it open, that they might discover
The secret buried there,
And found—no doubt 'twas hidden by a lover--
A lock of sunny hair.
 
Within the oak's tough bark the knot was driven,
Two centuries before;
They counted, from the place the trunk was riven,
Two hundred rings and more.
 
The silent oak repaid no further question;
That waving tress of hair
Betrayed the secret, with the sweet suggestion
Of lovers' meeting there.
 
When summer moonlight tinged with silver glory
The velvety green earth,
Beneath its boughs was told the wondrous story,
As old as Eden's birth.
 
Sweet promises were made, fond vows were spoken,
And sealed with solemn oath;
This golden curl was given as a token--
Bright emblem of their troth.
 
In kindly heart of oak, through years unnumbered,
Reposed the precious trust,
While the fair head, from which the curl was sundered,
Had mingled with the dust.
 
And many youths and maidens, hither straying,
Had owned love's potent spell;
Yet still the stalwart trunk and branches swaying
Had kept the secret well.
 
While tales of cruel strife, and warriors' glory,
The world may well forget,
Around the humble sweetness of this story
The fragrance lingers yet.
 
For still, though empires fall, and monarchs perish,
Though planets cease to move,
Throughout all change, mankind will ever cherish
Thy name, O deathless Love!
 
—Marie Corinne
Peterson's Magazine, September, 1883, p. 237.

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A Bouquet of Victorian Roses

          "What flower did she most resemble?… A rose! Certainly… strong, vigorous, self-asserting… yet shapely, perfect in outline and development, exquisite, enchanting in its never fully realized tints, yet compelling the admiration of every one, and recalling its admirers again and again by the unspoken appeal of its own perfection—its unvarying radiance." —John Habberton, 1876.
          All hail the Queen of Flowers! In this collection of Victorian writings on roses, brief prose remarks, lovely poetry and engaging short stories are gathered together —all with nature's most perfect blossom as their central theme. From poetry on the fragrant beauty of roses, to tales ranging from a ghost story about roses as omens to a romance of love among the roses, this collection will delight anyone who dreams of being surrounded by roses. A perfect gift for weddings, birthdays… or your own sunny afternoon!
​          Compiled and edited by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the Tales of Chetzemoka series and others.

A sample from this volume:
Roses
"It is summer," says a fairy,
"Bring me tissue light and airy;
Bring me colors of the rarest,
Search the rainbow for the fairest--
Sea-shell pink and sunny yellow,
Kingly crimson, deep and mellow,
Faint red in Aurora beaming,
And the white in pure pearls gleaming;
 
"Bring me diamonds, shining brightly
Where the morning dew lies lightly;
Bring me gold dust, by divining
Where the humming-bird is mining;
Bring me sweets as rich as may be
From the kisses of a baby;--
With an art no fay discloses
I am going to make some roses."
 
—Mrs. M.F. Butts
St. Nicholas, July, 1880, p. 736.

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The Wheelman's Joy
Victorian Cycling Poetry and Words About Wheels

There is something inherently romantic about cycling, and there has been since the first riders set their wheels to the road. This collection of nineteenth-century poetry, prose quotes and bon-mots about cycling reflects both the ardent passion and the innocent affection cycling inspires. From the glory days of high-wheel cycling through the boom of the safety bicycle, riders were falling in love with their wheels, with new-found freedoms, and above all with each other. This delightful little collection tells of those days in their own words, and evokes sentiments which every cyclist will find timeless. Compiled edited and introduced by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the charming Tales of Chetzemoka cycling club series, This Victorian Life, Victorian Secrets, and others.

A sample from this volume:
Mermaid's Woe
Only a little mermaid,
Who perched on a cold, damp rock.
And wept as if her system
Had incurred a dreadful shock.
 
"Alas! Ah, woe!" She blubbered,
"I'm the victim of a cheat,
I cannot ride a bicycle,
For I haven't any feet."
 
--Chicago Record, 1896.

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Words For Parting
Victorian Poetry on Death and Mourning

          Love and grief are the two most private, and at the same time the most universal of all human emotions. It is for love that we remember the dead: love of their spirits, love of their vibrancy, love of the good deeds which they did and which live on after them. The poems in this collection were all written by grieving hearts who have now themselves passed over into that great mystery. We can not truly know what death is, yet we know it will come to all of us. In ancient times when a friend told the philosopher Socrates that his judges had sentenced him to death he responded, "And has not Nature passed the same sentence on them?"
          Inasmuch as there can ever be any comfort for those left behind, part of it lies in knowing that death is a reflection of life. When it comes we cry, then we take our first faltering steps towards understanding. In time we become accustomed to this manifold enigma which nature has given us, and then ultimately we look towards the future with hope.
          If this little book of poems may be of some help to those in sorrow by reminding them they are not alone, then it will have done its work.
​
          Compiled and edited by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the Tales of Chetzemoka series, This Victorian Life, and others.
​

Samples from this volume:

The Difference
Cried the grim spectre Death:
"Time is a thief,
Who, with each passing breath,
Lightening grief,
Takes from men all their fears."
Love merrily
Laughed, "In a thousand years
Time robs not me."
—Flavel Scott Mines
The Ladies' Home Journal, December, 1893, p. 9.

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When Sorrow Sleepeth Wake It Not
When sorrow sleepeth, wake it not,
But let it slumber on;
If grief is for a while forgot,
Its power that while is gone.
The mind may, from the pause, gain strength
To grapple with its foe,
And thence may rise, to prove, at length,
Triumphant over woe.
—Anonymous
Home Songster, 1883, p. 94.

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A Christmas Wish
Victorian Winter Poetry for Christmas and New Year's

As soon as winter arrives, when icy pictures appear on windows and Jack Frost makes maidens blush, our thoughts turn to Christmas. Treats are baked, larders filled, and hunts for mistletoe lead to the most delightful results. Children eagerly await Santa Claus and older folks fill their stockings with memories old and new. Finally the day comes with all its joys and celebrations, and even then we still have more to look forward to, for there is still New Year's to come with all its hopes and promises. This delightful collection of Victorian poetry is perfect for cozy winter evenings. Cuddle up by a crackling fire while the snow flurries outside and share these delightful old verses with all your holiday guests, young and old. Compiled and edited by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the charming Tales of Chetzemoka series as well as This Victorian Life, Victorian Secrets, and others.

"Had I power to give to you
Many a rich and costly gem,
Fit, in brilliancy of hue,
To adorn a diadem,
I'd bestow the jewels rare
On some other friend less dear,
While for you I'd breathe a prayer,
Such as I do offer here.
Many a merry Christmas, friend,
Health, contentment, joy and bliss;
More delights in thought I send
Than I can convey in this.
With the now departing year
May your cares and sorrows cease;
May the new one, drawing near,
Bring you happiness and peace." —1883
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Some individual poems, in alphabetical order

A Christmas Glee (Poem—1890)​

​A Floral Flirtation (Poem—1889)

A Header (?) (Poem—1883)

A Song of the Wheel (Poem—1883)
​
The American Carver (Poem—1887)​

A Modern Love Sung in Ancient Fashion (Poem—1884)

​Another Year (Poem--1896)

Aunt Nancy's Romance (Poem—1889)

The Autumn Woods (Poem—1888)

An Early Morning Ride (Poem—1883)

Bicycler's Song (1882)

The Blue and the Grey (Poem—1887)
​
Christmas Pensees (Poem—1890)

Come Find My Queen (Poem—1886)

The End of the Quarrel (Poem—1892)

Give Me A Rosebud (Poem—1883)

Great Grandma's Hallowe'en (Poem —1887)

In Nutting Time (Poem—1890)

Marguerite (Poem—1886)

May Day (Poem—1889)

Memorial Day (Poem—1890)

​My Wheel (Poem—1883)

'Neath the Magnolias (Poem—1883)

October (Poem—1888)

On Wings of Love (Poem—1884)

The End of the Quarrel (Poem—1892)
​
​The Old and the New (Poem--1890)

The Railway Engineer (Poem—1883)

​The Right Sort of Girl (Poem—1889)

The Soldier's Daughter (Poem—1889)

Song for October (Poem—1888)​​​

Together (Poem—1888)

Was it an Angel's Song? (Poem—1883)

The Wheelman's Joy (Poem—1883)

When Apple Blossoms Fall (Poem—1892)

Wheelman's Song (Poem—1883)
​
Winter Cheer (Poem—1888)
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