Charles Kingsley
Most common moods
Poems
A Farewell
The first poems in full
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Lorraine
“ARE you ready for your steeplechase, Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorree? Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Baree. You’re booked to ride your capping race to-day at Coulterlee, You’re booked to ride Vindictive, for all the world to see, To keep him straight, and keep him first, and win the run for me.” Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Baree.
She clasp’d her newborn baby, poor Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorrèe, Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Baree. “I cannot ride Vindictive, as any man might see, And I will not ride Vindictive, with this baby on my knee; He ’s kill’d a boy, he ’s kill’d a man, and why must he kill me?”
“Unless you ride Vindictive, Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorree, Unless you ride Vindictive to-day at Coulterlee, And land him safe across the brook, and win the blank for me, It ’s you may keep your baby, for you ’ll get no keep from me.”
“That husbands could be cruel,” said Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorrèe, “That husbands could be cruel, I have known for seasons three; But oh, to ride Vindictive while a baby cries for me, And be kill’d across a fence at last for all the world to see!”
She master’d young Vindictive—O, the gallant lass was she! And kept him straight and won the race as near as near could be; But he kill’d her at the brook against a pollard willow tree; Oh! he kill’d her at the brook, the brute, for all the world to see, And no one but the baby cried for poor Lorraine, Lorree.
Biography
He was born in 1819 and died in 1875, serving as a priest in the Church of England and later as a professor of modern history at Cambridge. As a poet, he wrote ballads and lyrics that often draw on the landscapes and seascapes of Devon and Cornwall. His poetry frequently addresses the struggles of the working class, faith, and moral duty, reflecting his broad churchmanship. Imagery of the sea, wind, and rural life recurs, conveying both beauty and peril. Among his best-known poems are 'The Sands of Dee' and 'The Three Fishers', which lament tragedy and loss. His work is associated with the Victorian era's social consciousness and the Christian Socialist movement. He also wrote historical novels and children's literature, but his poetry endures for its lyrical simplicity and earnestness. In literary history, he bridges the Romantic sensitivity to nature with Victorian moral earnestness. His poem 'Ode to the North-East Wind' exemplifies his robust, direct style.
