Post office Thirsk1 | Yorkshire, Sep. 1845.
A selection of verses written by the poet Ginty during his several amours2 both in England and Ireland. These verses bespoke an honest soul and fully confirms the old saying that ‘true lovers are always the most liberal men’, and so it is with the poet Ginty, it is well known that when he does chance to get entrapped by the fair ones he loves with that degree of ardour so peculiar to the Irish character but more particularly so to the inhabitants of an oft spoken of province I mean Connaught!3 as the richness of the subjoined lines will show.
To Miss S. Aubury4 on leaving Youghal5
We’ve met when heavenly morn was bright
When twilight shadows fell
When festal halls were bathed in light
And dreamt not of farewell
We’ve wandered thro’ the shady grove
The bright and flowery dell
The eve has heard our sighs of love
But never our farewell
But now the fatal word must come
It strikes me like a knell
From love and Sally6 I must roam
Farewell! sweet girl farewell!!
These are beautiful lines but they unavoidably show in so few words the bewildered state of the poet’s mind. Here followeth an acrostic.7
‘Acrostic to my beloved on leaving her for ever’
Must I at length believe my life a dream
And clasp the pang which withered hopes impart
Rend every tie as flits the radiate beam
Your presence but to cheer my drooping heart
Even as the mantling ivy fondly flings
Despite the storm its tendrils round the oak
Wreathed round my soul thy loved idea clings
Amid the fury of each worldly shock
Rest crushed affection in thy silent cell
Deep cherished shrouded there for ever dwell
Sweet idol of my bosom, fare thee well!
Surely after the perusal of this a little more in the same strain will be wished for, so one more shall be given, to them –
To Miss Maria Hopkins8
May heaven its choicest holiest blessings strew
And throw its beautiful beam on you
Rest my sweet love devoid of care or dread
And sylphs9 stand sentinels about thy bed.
Serenade
‘Oh! Mary10 pon my soul my love
I love you very dear
The midnight moon now rolls above
And yet you are not here
‘Amid the far blue ether love
My thoughts in wildness roam
Can lovely Mary faithless prove
Oh! why am I alone!!
When last I pressed your cheek my love
And trembled in your eye
The world was half asleep my love
And full of stars the sky
You said you’d meet me here my love
Where I my vigil keep
And while I dream of blighted love
I blow my nose and weep
‘Then come oh! come my only love
And cheer thy poet’s heart
Else Mary Hill the window sill
Is warmer than thou art
The moon is high and cloudless love
And yet thou art not here
With healing on thy wings my dove
Appear! appear!! appear!!!
Finis.11
RI MS JT/1/TYP/11/3636-3637
LT Transcript Only
Thirsk: a small market town in Yorkshire.
amours: loves (French).
Connaught: a province in western Ireland.
Miss S. Aubury: not identified; the end of the poem suggests that the woman’s first name is Sally.
Youghal: a seaside town on the southeastern coast of Ireland.
Sally: Sally Aubury (see n. 4), not identified; possibly another love interest of Phillip Evans’s. See also letters 0303 and 0305.
acrostic: a poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word or name. In this case, the acrostic spells out ‘Mary Edwards’. Mary (c. 1822-?) lived with her uncle and aunt in Kirkby Lonsdale, and, despite having a putative romance with William Ginty, married William Henry Owen, an Irish solicitor, in June 1843.
Miss Maria Hopkins: not identified.
sylphs: a creature that lives in the air; a beautiful, graceful woman (OED).
Oh! Mary: possibly a nickname or variation on the name ‘Maria’.
Finis: Finished (Latin).
Please cite as “Tyndall0326,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 2 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0326