The Question Unanswered

Thomas Woolner

General Description

Date: 1849
Rhyme: a4b3c4b3 d3d3e4b3"
Meter: iambic
Genre: lyric

Scholarly Commentary

Introduction

This manuscript poem by Woolner, written in late 1849, is unpublished and seems to be unfinished as well. The title, however, makes it uncertain whether the uncompleted character of the poem (and see the missing word at the beginning of line 12) isn't intended to index the poem's central subject.

The verso of the manuscript contains DGR's transcription of Cornelius Donovan's phrenological “character” of Thomas Woolner, along with an interesting note by DGR relating the data to the PRB. WMR's note at the head of Woolner's poem glosses the situation.

Textual History: Composition

The only text that we know is the manuscript in the South African National Gallery library.

Printing History

Hitherto unpublished.

Electronic Archive Edition: 1
Source File: woolner005.raw.xml