GOOD KING WENCESLAS 
 
GOOD KING 
 WENCESLAS 
 
 ACSRDLWR1TTEN 
 BYDRNEALEPIC 
 TURESBYARTHUR 
 GASKINWITHXN 
 INTRODUCTION BY 
 WILLIAM MORRIS 
 
 HINCHAMMA.SSACHUSEITS 
 MCM-rv 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 jHE POEM HERE 
 [illustrated by Mr. 
 [Gaskin's beautiful 
 ipidtures was written 
 to suit a Mediaeval 
 • tune by Dr. John Ma" 
 son Neale, who was one of the lead" 
 ers in the early days of the Ritualistic 
 movement. Dr. Neale was a repre- 
 sentative of a side of the movement, 
 which, unless I am mistaken has al* 
 moSt died out as a special charadter* 
 iStic of Ritualism— the historical side 
 
to wit. This has happened I think be* 
 cause of the growth amongst think* 
 ing people generally of a sense of the 
 importance of Mediae val history, and 
 of the increasing knowledge that the 
 ecclesiastical part of it cannot be dis* 
 sociated from its civil & popular parts. 
 Mediaeval history in all its detail, 
 with all its enthusiasms, legends, and 
 superstitions, is now cultivated by 
 many who have no ecclesiastical bias 
 as a portion of the great progress of 
 the life of man on the earth, the dis* 
 covery of which as an unbroken 
 chain belongs almost entirely to our 
 own days. But to Dr. Neale muSt be 
 6 
 
awarded the honour of being the 
 chief figure of the history lovers, or 
 shall we say the Medievalists in the 
 movement in question, and the poem 
 before us is a good specimen of his 
 manner & its limitations. The legend 
 itself is pleasing and a genuine one, 
 and the Chri^tmas'like quality of it, 
 recalling the times of my boyhood, 
 appeals to me at lea^t as a happy mem* 
 ory of paydays. 
 
 As this preface is a part of the book 
 and not a criticism of it as a work of 
 art I mu^l not say much of the merits 
 of the pidtures done by my friend Mr. 
 Gaskin; but I cannot help saying that 
 b 7 
 
they have given me very much pleas* 
 ure, both as achievements in them* 
 selves and as giving hopes of a turn 
 towards the ornamental side of illus* 
 tration, which is mo^t desirable. 
 
 WILLIAM MORRIS. 
 
 September 1894. 
 
GOOD KING WENCESLAS 
 
GOOD KING WENCESLAS 
 
 OOD KING WENCESLAS 
 
 LOOK'D OUT 
 
 ON THE FEAST OF 
 
 STEPHEN, 
 WHEN THE SNOW LAY 
 ROUND ABOUT, 
 DEEP, AND CRISP, AND EVEN. 
 BRIGHTLY SHONE THE 
 MOON THAT NIGHT, 
 THOUGH THE FROST 
 WAS CRUEL, 
 
 WHEN A POOR MAN CAME 
 IN SIGHT 
 
 GATH'RING WINTER FUEL. 
 ii 
 
HITHER, PAGE & STAND BY ME 
 IF THOU KNOW'ST IT, 
 TELLING, 
 
 YONDER PEASANT, 
 WHO IS HE? 
 WHERE, AND WHAT 
 HIS DWELLING?" " 
 "SIRE, HE LIVES A GOOD 
 LEAGUE HENCE, 
 UNDERNEATH THE 
 MOUNTAIN: 
 RIGHT AGAINST THE 
 FOREST FENCE, 
 BY SAINT AGNES' FOUNTAIN." 
 
 J 3 
 
BRING ME FLESH, AND 
 BRING ME WINE, 
 BRING ME PINE-LOGS 
 HITHER: 
 
 THOU AND I WILL SEE 
 HIM DINE 
 
 WHEN WE BEAR THEM 
 THITHER." 
 
 PAGE AND MONARCH, 
 FORTH THEY WENT, 
 FORTH THEY WENT 
 TOGETHER; 
 THROUGH THE RUDE 
 WINDS LOUD LAMENT 
 AND THE BITTER WEATHER. 
 
SIRE THE NIGHT IS 
 DARKER NOW, 
 AND THE WIND BLOWS 
 STRONGER; 
 
 FAILS MY HEART, I KNOW 
 NOT HOW. 
 
 I CAN GO NO LONGER." 
 "MARK MY FOOTSTEPS, 
 MY GOOD PAGE, 
 TREAD THOU IN THEM 
 BOLDLY; 
 
 THOU SHALT FIND THE 
 WINTER WIND 
 FREEZE THY BLOOD 
 LESS COLDLY." 
 
 l 7 
 
IN HIS MASTER'S STEPS 
 
 1 HE TROD, 
 
 WHERE THE SNOW LAY 
 
 DINTED; 
 
 HEATWASINTHEVERYSOD 
 
 WHICH THE SAINT 
 
 HAD PRINTED. 
 
 THEREFORE, CHRISTIAN 
 
 MEN, BE SURE 
 
 WEALTH OR RANK 
 
 POSSESSING, 
 
 YE WHO NOW WILL BLESS 
 
 THE POOR, 
 
 SHALL YOURSELVES 
 
 FIND BLESSING. 
 
 *9 
 
Reprinted from the edition issued by 
 Cornish Brothers. Double border and 
 title from drawings by Will Dwig* 
 gins.One hundred eighty-five copies 
 printed by hand at the Village Press, 
 Hingham, Massachusetts, by Fred & 
 Bertha Goudy, and finished the 19th 
 day of November, 1904. 
 
 www * 
 
 
MSS 
 1 9 o4n 
 
 BENDER 
 COLL