| Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien | |
| Visio de Doworst | |
|---|---|
| Poem Information | |
| Other names | Doworst, Do Worst, Visio Petri Aratoris de Doworst, Incipit Visio Petri Aratoris de Doworst |
| Written | Around 1933 |
| Revised | Summer, 1953 |
| Published | The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Subject(s) | Non-legendarium poetry |
Visio de Doworst is a humorous poem that was written by J.R.R. Tolkien in a medieval style reminiscent of Piers Plowman.[1]
First stanza
In a summer season when sultry was the sun
with lourdains and lubbers I lounged in a hall,
and wood in his wits was each wight as meseemed:
on his head was a hat as hard as a board,
on his neck was there knotted a noose all of white
with big bow and broad as a butterfly's wings.
Most of that meiny had on mantles of stuff,
shrouds short as shrift and shapeless as sacks
that never covered their tails nor their touts either.
The clamour of that company was the cackle of hens,
till a bell rang brazenly —- that abated their noise![2]
Background
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The earliest surviving[2] manuscript, entitled both Doworst and Visio Petri Aratoris de Doworst, was given by Tolkien to R.W. Chambers as a Christmas gift[3] on December 21[2] of 1933. After the death of Chambers in 1942[2], the decorated manuscript containing the poem came into the possession of his secretary[2], Winifred Husband. In 1957,[2] upon her retirement, Husband gave the manuscript to Arthur Brown, who later became the Professor of English at Monash University in Australia.[1]
While the manuscript was later lost upon Brown's death in 1979,[2] parts of the poem and its background were printed as "Do Worst" in "Fantasy that! — a Tolkien original", an article published in July of 1975 within the third issue of the Monash Review. The article describes the poem's background and contains a transcription of a letter from Tolkien to R.W. Chambers.[4]
In the summer of 1978, the first nineteen lines of the poem were printed as "Doworst" in an article on the third page of A Elbereth Gilthoniel! 1, no. 2, an issue of A Elbereth Gilthoniel!, a newsletter published by The Fellowship of Middle Earth, a Tolkien fan-group at Monash University.[1][5][6][7] The exact month and day of the issue’s publication is not known, but it was likely published either between June and July,[5][6] or between May and August.[7][8]
Though the original manuscript was lost, Tolkien made another manuscript entitled Incipit Visio Petri Aratoris de Doworst, which he gave to C.S. Lewis. After Lewis's death in 1963, the manuscript came into Walter Hooper's possession and ended up in the Bodleian Library after Hooper's death.[2]
In the summer of 1953,[1] Tolkien revised the poem, shortening it significantly, and gave a calligraphic[9] copy of it to Kathleen Lea,[1] who sent him a letter of thanks and some sherry[9] on 5 August. This version was entitled Visio de Doworst.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: II. Reader's Guide, p. 214
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "139. Doworst · Visio de Doworst (?1933-53)"
- ↑ Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2017), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (Second Edition): II. Reader's Guide, Part I, entry "Chambers, Raymond Wilson"
- ↑ "Doworst in 'Monash Review'", Tolkien Collector's Guide, accessed 27 February 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Douglas A. Anderson, "R. W. Chambers and The Hobbit", in Tolkien Studies, Vol. III, p. 144
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "A Elbereth Gilthoniel. 1978" on tolkienbooks.net
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "A Elbereth Gilthoniel! #2 (1978)" on tolkienguide.com, July 7, 2011
- ↑ "A elbereth gilthoniel! (microform)" on Marquette University Libraries Online Catalog
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (2017), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (Second Edition): II. Reader's Guide, Part I, entry "Lea, Kathleen Marguerite"