This is Mackenzie Bell's 1929 publication of Wise's 1912 private printing of the ballad. The title page of this printing erroneously lists the date as 1912.
The edition is most important for Bell's Prefatory Essay, which includes texts of a number of DGR's limericks.
It would be impossible in the space at my disposal
here, to deal fully with the reasons which induced that group of great poets,
Dante Rossetti, William Morris, and Algernon Charles Swinburne, to hold firmly
the theory that humour was not admissible in serious poetry. But this may be
said the theory is a remarkable one—a theory about which much could
be written for and against. Soon it became widely known these famous men of
letters so thought, and the silly deducation was made by many people that the
men themselves were not humorists, and further indeed, lacked a sense of humour
altogether. Nothing could be more untrue None whose lives were enriched by
intimacy with Morris could doubt his perpetual fondness for fun and playful sarcasm
Frederick Shields, the illustrious religious painter, is not of those one would ordinarily associate with merriment, yet he could be merry. During the evenings we spent together, occasionally, he was wont to declaim, with blushing beautiful eyes, and much dramatic force, these three epigrams by Rossetti I am about to set down, none of which have appeared previously in print
Some of us, in the inner circle, knew that for a long while Rossetti and Swinburne vied with each other in the making of “Limericks,” and, although it be impracticable to aver this far with absolute certainty, most likely these three form part of the series.
(Written in Book Room 16-4-1918, 7.45—10p.m.)
This, by Rossetti, on himself, requires no comment:—
The fame of William Bell Scott is in eclipse somewhat in these days;
however, no discerning critic of the art of his period would desire to detract
from the meed of praise due to his ability and sustained industry. The nickname
of “
(Written in Book Room 23-4-1918, 7.50—8.45 p.m.)
But perhaps the most pungent epigram by Rossetti, quoted to me by shields, is the following, the idea of which is that his Satanic Majesty, conducting a limited class of two, is unexpectedly surprised when his pupils outsoar himself. Readers may, or may not, surmise a personal allusion on Rossetti's part—
Dante Rossetti will live not alone as a poet, by the magnificent sonnets of
(Written in Book Room 30-4-1918, 7.45—8.30 p.m.)
Copywright by Mackenzie Bell, 1918.