Théophile-Jules-Henri "Theo" Marzials (20 December 1850 – 2 February 1920) was a British composer, singer and poet.Howse, Christopher. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

''. 18 October 2006.
Did this man really write the worst poem ever?
. Retrieved 16 August 2007. Marzials was described in 1894 as a "poet and eccentric" by

parodist A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...

,The Works of Max Beerbohm
. Retrieved 16 August 2007. and, after writing and performing several popular songs, vanished into obscurity. His poetry is seen as an example of 19th-century aestheticism.Stasny, John F.
Theo Marzials Biography
. Retrieved 16 August 2007.

Background

Marzials's father, Antoine-Theophile Marzials, was the pastor of the

French Protestant Church The French Protestant Church of London (''Église protestante française de Londres'') is a Reformed / Presbyterian church that has catered to the French-speaking community of London since 1550. It is the last remaining Huguenot church of London ...

of London and had been a clergyman before visiting London in 1839. While there he met Mary Ann Jackson (Marzials' mother) and the couple married. Theo was the youngest of their five children. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School His brother, Frank Marzials, was a prolific author of poetry, essays, and biographies and an accountant general in the army; he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1904. In 1870 Marzials started work at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

as a junior assistant in the librarian's office. There he would work with

Coventry Patmore Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (23 July 1823 – 26 November 1896) was an English poet and literary critic. He is best known for his book of poetry ''The Angel in the House'', a narrative poem about the Victorian ideal of a happy marriage. A ...

, John Payne, Arthur O'Shaughnessy, and

Edmund Gosse Sir Edmund William Gosse (; 21 September 184916 May 1928) was an English poet, author and critic. He was strictly brought up in a small Protestant sect, the Plymouth Brethren, but broke away sharply from that faith. His account of his childhoo ...

, with whom he would form a particularly close friendship.

Poetry

In 1873 Marzials's only published collection of poetry was released, ''The Gallery of Pigeons and Other Poems'', which included the anthologised love poem "A Fragment" ("And then it seem'd I was a bird...")Cary Wilkins, ''A Little Treasury of Love Poems'' (NY: Avenel Books, 1980), pp. 86–87. It also includes ''A Tragedy'', an unusual poem that has often been called the worst ever written in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

. The poem has been chosen as the worst ever by Ross and Kathryn Petras in the 1997 book '' Very Bad Poetry'' and by the Not Terribly Good Club of Great Britain along with many other writers and critics.The Worst Poem Ever Written in the English Language
. Retrieved 16 August 2007. However, Ford Madox Ford called the collection "by far the most exquisite ... by any of the lesser

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

poets". Other poems by Marzials featured in ''

The Yellow Book ''The Yellow Book'' was a British quarterly literary periodical that was published in London from 1894 to 1897. It was published at The Bodley Head Publishing House by Elkin Mathews and John Lane, and later by John Lane alone, and edited by th ...

'', an important literary periodical of the late 19th century.FirstScience.
Theophilus Marzials (1850–1920)
. Retrieved 16 August 2007.

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame placed him among leading Victorian poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovato ...

described Marzials's "Rondel" as having "an art and finish rare in English verse".

John M. Munro John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

edited a selection of Marzials's poems and had them published in 1974. He referred to him as "interesting rather than significant, a literary curiosity, perhaps, rather than a neglected genius."

Music

Marzials later spent much of his time as a composer and in 1883 released ''Pan Pipes'', which coupled his music with the work of Christina Rossetti and the illustrations of

Walter Crane Walter Crane (15 August 184514 March 1915) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and K ...

. The most successful of his songs was 1878's "Twickenham Ferry", which was well received in both England and America, and a musical version of

Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

's poem "Ask Nothing More of Me, Sweet", which became one of the most popular ballads of the 1880s. Marzials socialized with composer

Mary Augusta Wakefield Mary Augusta Wakefield (19 August 1853 – 16 September 1910) was a British composer, contralto, festival organiser, and writer. Biography Early life Wakefield was born in Kendal, where her paternal ancestors had been members of the Quaker ...

, who also set Swinburne's work to music. Around the same time, Marzials collaborated with

Alberto Randegger Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely used textbook o ...

as a librettist on

Arthur Goring Thomas Arthur Goring Thomas (20 November 185020 March 1892) was an English composer. Life He was the youngest son of Freeman Thomas and Amelia, daughter of Colonel Thomas Frederick. His elder brothers included Freeman Frederick Thomas, a noted cricket ...

' '' Esmeralda'', an opera based on the character of the same name from

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame''.

Eccentric behaviour

Marzials's behaviour was often seen as eccentric and unusual, and he often gave impromptu performances of his works. He is quoted as saying "Am I not the darling of the British Museum reading room?" while inside that same silent room. Marzials worked at the British Museum until his retirement at the age of 32, after which he received a pension of £38 a year. This was supplemented by

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

from his published work which were estimated at around £1000 annually. The relationship between Marzials and fellow author

is debated, with some claims that their relationship was more than platonic. Marzials retired to

Colyton, Devon Colyton is a town in Devon, England. It is located within the East Devon local authority area, the river River Coly runs through it. It is from Seaton and from Axminster. Its population in 1991 was 2,783, reducing to 2,105 at the 2011 Censu ...

in the early 1900s where he became addicted to

chlorodyne Chlorodyne was one of the best known patent medicines sold in the British Isles. It was invented in the 19th century by a Dr. John Collis Browne, a doctor in the British Indian Army; its original purpose was in the treatment of cholera. Browne ...

. He died there in February 1920.

References

* ''Theo Marzials: Poet in a Gallery of Pigeons'' by Richard Whittington-Egan (Cappella 2013)

External links