"Ben Bolt" ( Roud 2653) is a

sentimental ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. ...

with lyrics derived from a poem by

Thomas Dunn English Thomas Dunn English (June 29, 1819 – April 1, 1902) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who represented the state's 6th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1891 to 1895. He was also a published a ...

. It enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the English-speaking world during the nineteenth century.

History

Thomas Dunn English wrote the poem "Ben Bolt" in 1842 at the specific request of

Nathaniel Parker Willis Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), also known as N. P. Willis,Baker, 3 was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...

. While he was then an active participant in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

literary scene and lived much of his life in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, English is popularly believed to have written the poem while visiting

Tazewell, Virginia Tazewell () is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,627 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area, which has a population of 107,578. It is the county seat of Tazewell County. ...

on a hunting trip, as claimed by regional folklorists. The poem was published in the '' New-York Mirror'', appearing in print for the first time on September 2, 1843. The most popular musical arrangement of "Ben Bolt" was composed by Nelson Kneass in 1848. A widely reported story is that Kneass produced the song as accompaniment to a play about the recent

Battle of Buena Vista The Battle of Buena Vista (February 22–23, 1847), known as the Battle of La Angostura in Mexico, and sometimes as Battle of Buena Vista/La Angostura, was a battle of the Mexican–American War. It was fought between the US invading forces, l ...

, borrowing the music from a German melody. However, a search through

Ludwig Erk Ludwig Christian Erk (6 January 1807, Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important ...

's folk song compilation ''Deutscher Liederschatz'' produced no songs with similar melodies, and it is much more likely that the tune was an original composition by Kneass.Krohn, p. 38.

Lyrics

The poem, which is five stanzas long, describes nostalgic scenes from the life of the anonymous narrator. The narrator, who addresses each memory to the title character, begins the first stanza by describing the life and death of a woman named Alice. Some variation occurs in the beginning of the poem's fourth stanza. In the original manuscript, the stanza begins as follows: However, when the poem was arranged to music, the lyrics of that section were changed slightly, so that the relevant lines were as follows: This mild

bowdlerization Expurgation, also known as bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is a pejorative term for the practi ...

met with some annoyance from the author. Thomas Dunn English, writing to '' Harper's Bazaar'', commented: "I must protest against this change, because the school-masters of between sixty and seventy years since were, to my memory, 'cruel and grim'; they were neither kind nor true. They seemed to think the only way to get learning into a boy's head was by the use of the rod. There may have been exceptions, but I never met them."Gilder & Gilder
p. 31.

Cultural impact

Shortly after being published, "Ben Bolt" vaulted to nationwide popularity, single-handedly establishing Thomas Dunn English's literary reputation and remaining relevant as a classic American song throughout the nineteenth century. It swiftly became the subject of both tribute and parody, with many sets of variant lyrics. "Ben Bolt" circulated widely in unauthorized broadside format and was selected by

Rufus Wilmot Griswold Rufus Wilmot Griswold (February 13, 1815 – August 27, 1857) was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15 years old. He worked as a journalist, editor, and critic in Philadelphia, New Y ...

for his anthology ''

The Poets and Poetry of America ''The Poets and Poetry of America'' was a popular anthology of American poetry collected by American literary critic and editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold. It was first published in 1842 and went into several editions throughout the 19th century. Back ...

''. The ballad was a particular favorite of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

during his lifetime.

In literature

"Ben Bolt" had its popularity rejuvenated in 1894 when

George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch'' and a Gothic novel ''Trilby'', featuring the character Svengali. His son was the actor Sir Gerald ...

published his novel ''

Trilby A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. Barnes & Noble. an ...

'', which uses the song as a plot point. The title character Trilby O'Ferrall is portrayed as incapable of skillful singing when she delivers a tone-deaf version of "Ben Bolt" near the novel's beginning. Later, the failure of

Svengali Svengali () is a character in the novel ''Trilby'' which was first published in 1894 by George du Maurier. Svengali is a man who seduces, dominates and exploits Trilby, a young half-Irish girl, and makes her into a famous singer. Definition ...

's hypnotic powers is revealed when Trilby is once again incapable of singing "Ben Bolt" with any degree of skill. The success of the novel and the subsequent

Trilbyana Trilbyana or Trilby-Mania was the fashion for things based on the story ''Trilby (novel), Trilby'' by George du Maurier. This was especially popular during the 1890s. The works included burlesques, cartoons, movies, parody, parodies, plays, sket ...

craze promoted interest in the songs of ''Trilby''. In his old age, Thomas Dunn English contributed a manuscript copy of "Ben Bolt" to an 1895 ''Trilby''-themed charity auction for the benefit of the New York Kindergarten Association.Gilder & Gilder
p. 20. As a widely known song of the nineteenth century, "Ben Bolt" was popularly used as a cultural reference in books set during that era, whether published in the nineteenth century or decades later. It is quoted in the novel ''Dr. Sevier'' by

George Washington Cable George Washington Cable (October 12, 1844 – January 31, 1925) was an American novelist notable for the realism of his portrayals of Creole life in his native New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been called "the most important southern artist wo ...

and by

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, mostly known for the ''Little House on the Prairie'' series of children's books, published between 1932 and 1943, which were based on her childhood ...

in ''

By the Shores of Silver Lake ''By the Shores of Silver Lake'' is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1939, the fifth of nine books in her Little House series. It spans just over one year, beginning when she is 12 years ol ...

''.

Leopold Bloom Leopold Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's 1922 novel '' Ulysses''. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/Odysseus in Homer's epic po ...

contemplated Ben Bolt along with other stories about long-lost loves in

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

's '' Ulysses''.

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected i ...

illustrated "Ben Bolt" as part of a poetry illustration series for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

''. The song is also referenced in the P. G. Wodehouse novel ''

Uncle Fred in the Springtime ''Uncle Fred in the Springtime'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 18 August 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 25 August 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London.McIlvaine (1990), p. ...

'', when Mr Pott quotes the opening verse to Lord Ickenham. In 'Afternoon Tea', by Robert W. Service, the protagonist, a British veteran of the trenches during WW1 sips his tea at a party some years afterwards, while idly relating the tale of an attack across no man's land in which he participated, mentioning a few times in the poem that he was humming 'Ben Bolt' throughout the charge.

In film

Norma Talmadge Norma Marie Talmadge (May 2, 1894 – December 24, 1957) was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box-office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most pop ...

would have the song played in order to get in character for tearful scenes. *In ''

'' (1931), Marian Marsh as Trilby O'Ferrall performs the song. *In '' Gone with the Wind'',

Vivien Leigh Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...

Scarlett O'Hara Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler is a fictional character and the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel '' Gone with the Wind'' and in the 1939 film of the same name, where she is portrayed by Vivien Leigh. She also is t ...

briefly sings several lines from "Ben Bolt." *In '' Girls About Town'',

Lilyan Tashman Lilyan Tashman (October 23, 1896 – March 21, 1934) was an American actress. Tashman was best known for her supporting roles as tongue-in-cheek villainesses or playing the vindictive "other woman". She made 66 films over the course of her ...

as Marie Bailey sings several lines, complaining about having to sing such an "old-fashioned song" to make her much older boyfriend happy.

In music

James Bellak James Bellak (March 1, 1813 – September 1, 1891) was a Bohemian-American musician and instrument manufacturer active in Philadelphia during the nineteenth century. Bellak was born in Prague and educated at the former Jesuit College. He was ...

, ''Ben Bolt's Waltz'' (1850) *

Charles Grobe Charles Grobe ( – October 20, 1879) was an American composer who wrote nearly two thousand works, including many piano variations on popular melodies. According to '' The Grove Dictionary of American Music'', he was the most prolific 19th-ce ...

, '' ariations on"Ben Bolt"'' (1850) *

William Vincent Wallace William Vincent Wallace (11 March 1812 – 12 October 1865) was an Irish composer and pianist. In his day, he was famous on three continents as a double virtuoso on violin and piano. Nowadays, he is mainly remembered as an opera composer of n ...

, ''Grande fantaisie de concert sur la ballade Americaine "Ben Bolt"'' (1853) *

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to di ...

, ''"Ben Bolt" March'' (1888) * Charles Ives, '' Central Park in the Dark'' (1906) Popular vocalists have also recorded covers of "Ben Bolt," from

Geraldine Farrar Alice Geraldine Farrar (February 28, 1882 – March 11, 1967) was an American lyric soprano who could also sing Dramatic soprano, dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a ...

and John McCormack to Joe Dolan and

Johnny McEvoy Johnny McEvoy (born 24 April 1945) is an Irish people, Irish singer and entertainer of Country and Irish genre born in Banagher, County Offaly, Ireland. Personal life Johnny was born in 1945, one of four children with two sisters and a broth ...

References

External links

*
Ben Bolt
at Bartleby.com *
Ben Bolt
(includes

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, an ...

sound file) {{authority control 1848 songs 1843 poems 1842 poems Poems about death