Poems

Complete Catalogue of Olive Custance’s Poetry (1888–1944

This catalogue combines every verified poem: collected, uncollected, and manuscript. It is a work in progress.

Layout: Title | Source / First Publication | Location | Status. Collected, uncollected, and manuscript-only works are included. Reprints are indicated where relevant.

I. Early Juvenilia and the “Wild Olive” Period (1888–1896)

Title Source / First Publication Location Status
Voices of Nature The Lady’s Pictorial (Children’s Page), 1888 London press Uncollected
’Tis an Age The Lady’s Pictorial, c. 1888–89 London press Uncollected
Be Content The Lady’s Pictorial, c. 1890 London press Uncollected
The Passing of the Old Year The Lady’s Pictorial, late 1880s–early 1890s London press Uncollected
The Waking of Spring The Gentlewoman (“Children’s Salon”), 1892 London press Uncollected → later revised in Opals
Joy The Pall Mall Gazette, 11 May 1895 London press Uncollected
To John Gray 1896 (link & discussion on olivecustance.org) Untraced Uncollected

II. Fin-de-Siècle and the Opals Era (1896–1903)

Title Source / First Publication Location Status
At the Day’s End (“Oh, Lover!”) The Kansas City Star, 7 Mar 1896 (repr. Glen Innes Examiner, 4 Dec 1896; Riverina Times, 16 Dec 1896) US & Australian press Uncollected
Safe in My Golden Room of Thought Boston Evening Transcript, 12 Jun 1897 US press Uncollected
A Dancing Girl The Sketch, 1899 (repr. Chattanooga Daily Times, 7 Jun 1899) London & US press Uncollected
The Heart of a Child The Sketch, 1899 (repr. Buffalo News, 11 Jun 1899) London & US press Uncollected
Dreamed Tryst The Sketch, 1899 (repr. New Zealand Herald, 29 Mar 1899) London & NZ press Uncollected
The Snow The Kansas City Star, 3 Feb 1901 US press Uncollected
A Song of Welcome (“You know I love you…”) New-York Tribune, 8 Mar 1903 US press Uncollected (distinct from Rainbows poem)
The White Witch The Sunday Times (Sydney), 13 Dec 1903; repr. Sewell, Selected Poems (1964) Australian press / later ed. Uncollected
Note: All other Opals (1897) contents are in the collected volume.

III. Rainbows and The Blue Bird Years (1904–1909)

Title Source / First Publication Location Status
Rainbows Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
A Song to Beauty Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
Songs of a Fairy Princess (I–V) Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
The Masquerade The Living Age, late 1903 (repr. Boston Globe) → later in The Blue Bird (1905) US press / collected Collected
A Girl’s Love Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
The Secret Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
After the Dance The Sketch (1898) → repr. Rainbows (1902); Kansas City Star, 14 Jan 1905 London & US press Collected
The Song Rainbows (1902); repr. Pittsburgh Post, 17 May 1903 London & US press Collected
The Heart of a Child The Sketch (1899) → repr. Rainbows (1902) London press Collected
The Kiss Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
The Snow Kansas City Star (1901) → repr. Rainbows (1902) US press Collected
Mélissande Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
After Rain The Kingston Whig-Standard, 27 Oct 1909 Canadian press Uncollected
A Dancing Girl The Sketch (1899) → repr. Rainbows (1902) London press Collected
A Sea Song Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
Reminiscence(s) Pall Mall Magazine, Feb 1899 → repr. Rainbows (1902) London press Collected
Ritornello Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
Grey Eyes Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
The Dreamer Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
The Lingering Day Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
In Praise of Love Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
Antinous Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
The Silence of Love Rainbows (1902) Collected volume Collected
Good-night Rainbows (1902); repr. Waco Times-Herald, 13 Nov 1903 London & US press Collected
Life Rainbows (1902); repr. Courier-Journal, 25 Jan 1903 London & US press Collected
A Song of Youth The Kansas City Star, 18 Jun 1905 US press Uncollected
To a Playfellow The Kansas City Star, 18 Oct 1905 US press Uncollected

IV. The Inn of Dreams and Post-War Poems (1911–1931)

Title Source / First Publication Location Status
The Inn of Dreams The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
The Kingdom of Heaven The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
A Dream The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
The Autumn Day The Blue Bird (1905) → repr. 1911 Collected volume Reprint
Angels The Blue Bird (1905) → repr. 1911 Collected volume Reprint
The Changeling The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
A Song Against Care The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
The Vision The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
The Dance The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
The Prisoner of God The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
St. Anthony The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
Black Butterflies The Blue Bird (1905) → repr. 1911 Collected volume Reprint
In Praise of Youth The Blue Bird (1905) → repr. 1911 Collected volume Reprint
Opal Song The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
Gifts The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
Primrose Hill The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
A Morning Song The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
The Wings of Fortune The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
Shadow-Nets The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
Hyacinthus The Blue Bird (1905) → repr. 1911 Collected volume Reprint
Hylas The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
Blue Flowers The Blue Bird (1905) → repr. 1911 Collected volume Reprint
Endymion The Blue Bird (1905) → repr. 1911 Collected volume Reprint
Dance Song The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
A Memory The Blue Bird (1905) → repr. 1911 Collected volume Reprint
The Magic Mirrors The Inn of Dreams (1911) Collected volume Collected
Mowing Country Life, 30 Aug 1919 London press Uncollected
Escape Country Life, 22 Nov 1919 London press Uncollected
The Storm (1919) Country Life, 6 Dec 1919 London press Uncollected (different from 1911 title)
To Byron Autograph, 7 Feb 1924, Weston Hall, Norwich (Fonds Jacques Doucet) Paris archive MS unpublished
To Bosie (after reading his Autobiography) Border Standard, c. Mar 1929 (holograph Sorbonne) Dorset press / Paris archive Uncollected / MS
The Shepherds Border Standard, 26 Dec 1931 (Magdalen College copy) Dorset press Uncollected

V. Late Wartime and Devotional Poems (1940–1944)

Title Source / First Publication Location Status
To the Wounded Private printed card, c. 1940 (Hyde Collection; Magdalen copy) England Uncollected
Immortal Youth (I) Private RAF card (Magdalen College P 204), c. 1940 England Uncollected
Immortal Youth (II) The Daily Telegraph, 31 Jul 1940 London press Uncollected
For Our Lady — A Prayer of Peace Described in Hyde notes (Magdalen College Archives), c. 1942 England MS fragment, unpublished

VI. Manuscript-Only Poems and Fragments

Title Source / Description Location Status
Poems to John Gray (sequence) 16 poems to John Gray; several unique Fonds Jacques Doucet (Paris) MS only
Before a Portrait of Byron Autograph poem beginning “Oh, to have been a woman that he loved!” Fonds Jacques Doucet MS only
The Woman Remembers Holograph about Bosie, 1920s Fonds Jacques Doucet MS only
The Girl Holograph, 1913–1930s Fonds Jacques Doucet MS only
To Byron Autograph, 7 Feb 1924 Fonds Jacques Doucet MS only
To Bosie (after reading his Autobiography) Holograph, 1929 Fonds Jacques Doucet / Magdalen copy MS confirmed
Untitled devotional scraps Sewell (1975, p. 34): “short religious verses and prayers … written in a shaky hand.” Hyde Collection / Sewell correspondence Untraced MS reported
For Our Lady — A Prayer of Peace Card described in Hyde notes, c. 1942: “Mary, whose eyes have looked on grief / Pray for us now in our unbelief.” Hyde Collection, Magdalen College MS fragment, unpublished

Note on reprints: Several poems from The Blue Bird (1905) are reprinted in The Inn of Dreams (1911). These are listed once with “→ repr. 1911” in the source column.