"Forest Worship" by Ebenezer Elliott
Introduction
Ebenezer Elliot, best known for his Corn-Law Rhymes, has been dismissed by scholars for far too long. The Corn-Law Rhymes, written to express Elliott's rage against perceive legislative injustice, caused him to be viewed merely as a disgruntled politician and not a serious poet. "Forest Worship" is a prime example of Elliott's ability to combine his passion for justice with his skill in crafting elegant and even worshipful poetry.Life of the Corn Law Rhymer
Ebenezer Elliott, an English poet and politician, was born on 17 March 1781 near Rotherham, Yorkshire. He was raised by a strongly religious, Calvinistic, fire-and-brimstone-preaching father and often ill mother, who sent him to a private dame school at a young age. He had many siblings but had a generally lonely childhood. Most of his peers and teachers viewed him as odd and unintelligent, which led him to drop out of school at a young age. However, this did not prevent him from learning to enjoy reading and writing, composing his first poems in the 1810s.Since formal schooling was a terrible experience for Elliott, he was almost entirely self-taught. Thus, his earliest volumes, the most notable being Night, were met with "little but unfriendly comment." After he lost nearly all his and his wife's money investing in his father's company, he turned his writing into advocating against the corn laws and bread tax. During this time, he wrote his most infamous work, the Corn-Law Rhymes.
The Corn Laws were introduced in 1815, and they were disproportionately damaging to the working class and advantageous to the aristocrats. The harm of the Corn Laws was that they increased the cost of food, which forced employers to raise their wages. It led to an intense class struggle of decades, finally culminating in the Irish famine which opened Parliament's eyes to the repercussions of their decision. They overturned the dreaded Corn Laws in 1846, resulting in the public's rejoicing and applause.
Because of Elliott's passion for advocating social issues, most scholars today dismiss him as the "Corn Law Rhymer;" but his many other poems are proof of his beautiful and unique verse-writing. Elliott was passionate not merely about the political controversies of his day but how every legislative decision affected the working-class.
He continued writing and speaking until he developed a nervous disorder that plagued him for six years. After falling ill from another disease in addition to his nervous disorder, Elliott passed away in December 1849.
Ebenezer Elliott's "Forest Worship"
Not long after Elliott's death, his son Edwin published many of Elliott's previously unpublished works. In 1853, The Poems of Ebenezer Elliott, a collection of Elliott's previously private works, was published. As an introduction to the collection, which included "Forest Worship" and many other new pieces, Rufus W. Griswold wrote that Elliott was a "fiery-hearted poet and devoted friend of humanity." He also note that despite having little formal education, Elliott was "quick to observe, and had an ardent love of nature," which is abundantly clear in "Forest Worship."Elliott's rage against the Corn Laws was well-known, but less so was the reason for this rage: Elliott harbored deep sympathy toward groups of humanity who suffered from oppression, including what he perceived as unfair taxation. He had the ability to see beauty in the most down-trodden of individuals.
"Forest Worship" is a culmination of both these passions: the Corn Laws were and always will be a major part of Ebenezer Elliott's legacy, but his political activism cannot be separated from his hope in humanity's ability to overcome oppression--his hope in the belief that no oppression can keep the sun from rising, the earth from turning on its axis, or the stars from shining through a dark sky. As January Searle wrote, Elliott was no "half and half man," but a man completely sincere in his beliefs, dreams, and writing.
Forest Worship
Within the sun-lit forest,
Our roof the bright blue sky.
Where fountains flow, and wild flowers blow,
We lift our hearts on high:
Beneath the frown of wicked men
Our country's strength is bowing:
But, thanks be to God! they can't prevent
The lone wildflowers from blowing!
High, high above the tree-tops,
The lark is soaring free:
Where streams the light through broken clouds
His speckled breast I see:
Beneath the might of wicked men
The poor man's worth is dying;
But, thank'd be God! in spite of them,
The lark still warbles flying!
The preacher prays, "Lord, bless us!"
"Lord, bless us!" echo cries;
"Amen!" the breezes murmur low;
"Amen!" the rill [1] replies:
The ceaseless toil of wo-worn hearts
The proud with pangs are paying;
But here, O God of earth and heaven!
The humble heart is praying!
How softly, in the pauses
Of song, re-echoed wide,
The cushat's [2] coo, the linnet's [3] lay,
O'er rill and river glide!
With evil deeds of evil men
Th' affrighted land is ringing;
But still, O Lord! the pious heart
And soul toned voice are singing!
Hush! hush! the preacher preacheth:
"Wo to the oppressor, wo!"
But sudden gloom o'ercasts the sun
And sadden'd flowers below:
So frowns the Lord!--but, tyrants, ye
Deride his indignation,
And see not in his gather'd brow
Your days of tribulation!
Speak low, thou heaven-paid teacher
The tempest bursts above:
God whispers in the thunder: hear
The terrors of his love!
On useful hands, and honest hearts,
The base their wrath are wreaking;
But, thank'd be God! they can't prevent
The storm of heav'n from speaking.
Footnotes
[1] a small stream[2] a wood pigeon
[3] a small bird in the finch family
Bibliography
Easley, Alexis. "Ebenezer Elliott and the Reconstruction of Working-Class Masculinity." Victorian Poetry 39, no. 2 (2001): 303-318. doi:10.1353/vp.2001.0011.Elliott, Ebenezer. The Poems of Ebenezer Elliott, with an Introduction by Rufus W. Griswold. New York: Leavitt & Allen, 1853. https://books.google.com/books?id=cgQzAQAA MAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#
"Elliott, Ebenezer." 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 9. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Elliott,_Ebenezer
Pirie, Madsen. "The Anti-Corn Law League Fought for Free Trade." The Adam Smith Institute https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-anti-corn-law-league-fought-for-free-trade
Searle, January. The Life, Character, and Genius of Ebenezer Elliot: The Corn Law Rhymer. United Kingdom: C. Gilpin,1850. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Life_Character_and_Genius_of_Ebeneze/mq8-AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
Images:
Parliament Meeting (header image): https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-anti-corn-law-league-fought-for-free-tradeThe Corn Law Rhymer: https://minorvictorianwriters.org.uk/elliott/index.htm
"Forest of Fontainebleau" by Jean Baptiste Camille Corot: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forest_of_Fontainebleau-1830-Jean-Baptiste-Camille_Corot.jpg