Imperial London sketches from the history of a great city
Poets' Corner

Westminster Abbey: Poets' Corner

Great British Writers - Geoffrey Chaucer
Art Print
17" x 22"
$14.99
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Arthur H. Beavan continued his survey of Westminster Abbey in Imperial London, 1901, with this look at Poets' Corner:

And now, to Poets' Corner! - the world-famous corner of Westminster Abbey where the immortal writers are remembered - it speaks for itself and needs no description.

Yes, in Westminster Abbey you can gaze on Garrick's tomb, and, if you seek some other "poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more," you will find in a portion of the cloisters, termed the Actors' Corner, Thomas Betterton, Samuel Foote (in a grave without inscription), Mrs. Bracegirdle, Mrs. Cibber, etc.

Grouped lovingly together in Poets' Corner are poets, dramatists, authors, and one immortal composer.

Tread softly, for this is hallowed ground, where rest Chaucer, Spenser, Dryden, Dr. Johnson, Sheridan, and Macaulay.

By the door of St. Faith's Chapel, Westminster Abbey, look upon the bust of Sir Walter Scott, unveiled in 1897 by the Duke of Buccleuch, and recall the prodigious brainwork of him who sleeps not here, but amidst the peaceful ruins of Dryburgh Abbey.

Should it happen to be the 9th of June, you would probably find that on the slab marking the spot where Dickens lies at Handel's feet, his own at Sheridan's head, fresh wreaths are placed, one of which a few years ago, bore this touching inscription:

"Not this world, O not this!
The world that sets this right."

Should it be Christmas Eve, you would find on the bust of Thackeray (his body is at Kensal Green), below Handel's monument by Roubiliac, a card with some such record as this:

"In Memoriam, William Makepeace Thackeray (adsum), December 24 1863. And lo! he, whose heart was that of a little child, had answered to his name, and stood in the presence of his Master."

The Lady of Shalott, 1888
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31.5" x 23.625"
$24.99
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By the side of Browning, close by, lies Tennyson, and there on the 6th of October, you may leave your floral tribute and recall how on that day, 1892, he slept away his life, as the bright moonlight streamed down upon his noble face and the desire of his heart was met.

"Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell
When I embark!---"

Sadly, we pause, more especially if we be Americans, at the bust of Longfellow, a few feet distant from the Poet-Laureate's grave, and realize how we, the mightiest of whose dead lie thick around us, are descended from one common ancestry, becoming like the promised offspring of the patriarch Abraham, "so many as the sand which is by the sea innumerable."

This look at Poets' Corner concludes the survey of Westminster Abbey from a 1900 perspective.

Next: London's great cathedral: St Paul's Cathedral

1900 London (Home) | History of London