Commentary
Introduction
As with all of CR's poems published in
The Germ
, this short piece
appeared pseudonymously as
the work of “Ellen Alleyn”. It was first reprinted in
CR's
Goblin
Market and Other Poems
(1862).
Textual History: Composition
August 1849
Textual History: Revision
Printing History
First printed in
The
Germ
2, pages 73-75.
Literary
The poem scatters biblical references throughout. It is
of course a recapitulation of Ecclesiastes.