The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb Volume III Part 57

Reprinted by Lamb, with Mary Lamb's name to it, in the _Works_, 1818, the text of which is here given. This was the last poem in _Poetry for Children_.

Page 488, _Summer Friends_.

By Mary Lamb. This poem was sent by Robert Lloyd to his wife in April, 1809, as being one of the poems which Mary Lamb was writing for _Poetry for Children_. It was not, however, included in that collection.

Page 488. _A Birth-day Thought_.

This poem is printed by Mylius in his _First Book of Poetry_. In the edition of 1811 the initials M.L. are appended; in later editions, C.L. Hence it is included here. But we have no proof that M.L. stands for Mary Lamb, or C.L. for Charles Lamb; although the coincidence would be very striking if they did not.

Page 489. _The Boy, the Mother, and the b.u.t.terfly_.

These verses, which have not before been collected with Lamb's writings, exist in an alb.u.m which belonged probably to Thomas Westwood, son of the Lambs' providers at Enfield. They are signed Charles Lamb and dated October 9, 1827, at Enfield Chase.

Page 490. PRINCE DORUS, OR FLATTERY PUT OUT OF COUNTENANCE.

Apart from the internal evidence, which is very strong, I think, the only reason for attributing this tale to Charles Lamb is an entry in Crabb Robinson's diary for May 15, 1811: "A very pleasant call on Charles and Mary Lamb. Read his version of _Prince Dorus, the Long-Nosed King_." In his reminiscences of Lamb and others (in MS.) Robinson said, under 1811: "C. Lamb wrote this year for children a version of the Nursery Tale of Prince Dorus. I mention this, because it is not in his collected works and like two vols. of Poems for Children likely to be lost. I this year tried to persuade him to make a new version of the old Tale of Reynard the Fox. He said he was sure it would not succeed--sense for humour, said L., is extinct." What particular version of the story was used by Lamb we cannot tell, but in a little book called _Adventures of Musul; or, The Three Gifts_, printed for Vernor & Hood and E. Newbery in 1800, "The Prince that had a Long Nose" is one of the tales. Lamb's version does not call for annotation.