On a Whit-sunday morn in the month of May

John Orchard

General Description

Date: 1850 January
Rhyme: abcbdbebebf, with variations
Meter: iambic tetrameter and trimeter
Genre: ballad

Scholarly Commentary

Introduction

John Orchard sent this poem to DGR in January 1850, and the latter seems to have been involved with its revision, which was apparently a substantial process (see Fredeman, Journal of the P. R. B., 43 : entry for 14 January 1850).

Whit Sunday (or Pentecost) is the seventh sunday after Easter. It celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

Orchard also contributed his important (but unfinished) “Dialogue on Art” to the same fourth number of The Germ (May 1850).

Textual History: Composition

Composed apparently in early January 1850

Printing History

Published in The Germ IV (167-169).

Electronic Archive Edition: 1
Source File: orchard002.raw.xml