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Although it was published in 1793, Edgar and Elfrida may have had its genesis years earlier. As Hutton himself explains in the introduction to the poem, most of his life's works were destroyed when his houses were fired by an angry mob during the Birmingham riots of 1791.
Lost to public life; my volume of poems being destroyed; and, as an active mind condemned to silence, becomes a burden to itself, I took up the poetical pen, and in nine months composed two slender volumes. The following, which is a small part, is a most interesting anecdote in our own history, which, I believe, has been displayed by Mr. Mason, though I have never seen the work.
The full text can be read online or downloaded free of charge. It is in XHTML format, like this page. Please note the file size is 47kb and it may take some time to open-up if you choose to read it online. Downloading for reading later may be the preferred option and this can be typically achieved by calling up an option box. If you have a mouse and it is configured for left click to select, right clicking the link may give you this option. Link to the full text of Edgar and Elfrida.
Edgar and Elfrida is more than just a retelling in rhyming couplets of an old story. It also gives William Hutton a chance to poke gentle fun at several of his favourite targets: doctors, politicians, and the clergy, whom he regards as parasites on the generosity of others.
The parson kept a table then,
But now depends on other men.-
He also has a keen eye for the foibles and weaknesses of contemporary society, though his satire is less scarifying than that of Pope or Swift, his near-contemporaries.
Relenting, she taught time to tell
The spot on which her husband fell,
For there a nunnery she built
To mark the place his blood was spilt.
Such pious jobs must, without doubt,
Erase the vilest murder out;
It stifles all religious qualms,
It pays the monk for singing psalms,
Appeases heaven, and, what is best,
It rocks the fleeting ghost to rest.
Page created 5 December 2002 and last
updated 5 December 2002
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