"Tom O' Bedlam" is the name of a critically acclaimed^[1] anonymous poem written circa 1600 (it can be definitely dated back to 1634[1]) about a Bedlamite. Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... 1600 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, which has been variously known as St. ...

The term "Tom O' Bedlam" was used in Early Modern Britain and later to describe beggars and vagrants who had or feigned mental illness (see also Abraham-men). They claimed, or were assumed, to have been former inmates at the Bethlem Royal Hospital (Bedlam). It was commonly thought that inmates were released with authority to make their way by begging, though this is probably untrue. If it happened at all the numbers were certainly small, though there were probably large numbers of mentally-ill travellers who turned to begging, but had never been near Bedlam. It was adopted as a technique of begging, or a character. For example, Edgar in King Lear disguises himself as mad "Tom O'Bedlam". John Everett Millais The Blind Girl: vagrant musicians See also vagrancy (biology) for an alternative use of the term. ... The Abraham-men (alternative spellings: Abram-Man or Abraham Cove) were a class of lunatics allowed out of restraint, in the Tudor and Stuart periods, to roam about England and beg; in reality, they were a set of impostors who wandered about the country pretending to be mad. ... The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, which has been variously known as St. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ...

It was a popular enough ballad that another poem was written in reply, "Mad Maudlin's Search" or "Mad Maudlin's Search for Her Tom of Bedlam"[2] (the same Maud who was mentioned in the verse "With a thought I took for Maudlin / And a cruise of cockle pottage / With a thing thus tall, Sky bless you all / I befell into this dotage." which apparently records Tom going mad, "dotage") or "Bedlam Boys" (from the chorus, "Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys / Bedlam boys are bonny / For they all go bare and they live by the air / And they want no drink or money."), whose first stanza was:

For to see Mad Tom of Bedlam,

Ten thousand miles I've traveled.

Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes,

For to save her shoes from gravel
[3] [4]

It was apparently first published in 1720 by Thomas D'Urfey in his Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy. "Maudlin" was a form of Mary Magdalene; Bedlam was all-male, and the corresponding institute for females was the Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem. Thomas DUrfey (Tom Durfey) (1653 - February 26, 1723), was an English writer and wit. ... Wit and Mirth: Or Pills to Purge Melancholy is the title of a large collection of songs by Thomas dUrfey, published between 1698 and 1720, which in its final, six-volume edition held over 1,000 songs and poems. ... This article is about the disciple of Jesus. ... The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, which has been variously known as St. ...

Structure and verses

At least 25 stanzas of 4 lines each comprise the complete poem. The existence of a chorus suggests that it was originally sung as a ballad. Both "Tom O' Bedlam" and "Mad Maudlin" are difficult to give a definitive form, because of the number of variant versions and the confusion between the two within the manuscripts. [5] The version given here is taken from Harold Bloom ^[2]; Bloom modernizes the spelling however. Harold Bloom (born July 11, 1930) is an American professor and prominent literary and cultural critic. ...

From the hagg and hungrie goblin

That into raggs would rend ye,

And the spirit that stands by the naked man [Hermes, god associated with magic?]

In the Book of Moones [presumably a work of astrology]- defend ye!

That of your five sound senses

You never be forsaken,

Nor wander from your selves with Tom

Abroad to beg your bacon.

(Chorus; sung after every verse)

While I doe sing "any foode, any feeding,

Feedinge, drinke or clothing,"

Come dame or maid, be not afraid,

Poor Tom will injure nothing.

Of thirty bare years have I

Twice twenty been enraged,

And of forty been three times fifteen

In durance soundly caged.

On the lordly lofts [this is sarcasm] of Bedlam,

With stubble soft and dainty,

Brave bracelets [handcuffs] strong, sweet whips ding-dong,

With wholesome hunger plenty.

With a thought I took for Maudlin

And a cruse of cockle pottage["weed stew"],

With a thing thus tall, skie blesse you all,

I befell into this dotage.

I slept not since the Conquest,

Till then I never waked,

Till the roguish boy of love where I lay

Me found and stript me naked.

When I short have shorne my sowre face

And swigged my horny barrel, [flask of leather]

In an oaken inn I [im]pound my skin

As a suit of gilt apparel.

The moon's my constant Mistrisse,

And the lowly owl my morrowe,["mate"?]

The flaming Drake [dragon/wyrm] and the Nightcrow make

Me music to my sorrow.

The palsie plagues my pulses

When I prigg [steal] your pigs or pullen[poultry],

Your culvers [doves] take, or matchless make

Your Chanticleers[rooster from Chaucer], or sullen.

When I want provant,[provender] with Humfrie

I sup, and when benighted,

I repose in Powles [St. Paul's Churchyard] with waking souls

Yet never am affrighted.

I know more than Apollo [Greek god of the Sun and rationality],

For oft, when he lies sleeping

I see the stars at bloody wars

In the wounded welkin [the sky arch] weeping,

The moone embrace her shepherd

And the queen of Love her warrior,

While the first doth horne [make a cuckold of] the star of morne,

And the next the heavenly Farrier. [Hephaestus]

The Gipsie Snap and Pedro

Are none of Tom's companions.

The punk [prostitute] I skorne and the cut purse [pickpocket] sworne

And the roaring boyes [street gangster] bravadoe.

The meek, the white, the gentle,

Me handle touch and spare not

But those that crosse Tom Rynosseros[Rhinoceros]>

Do what the panther dare not.

With a host of furious fancies

Whereof I am commander,

With a burning spear and a horse of air,

To the wilderness I wander.

By a knight of ghostes and shadowes

I summon'd am to tourney

Ten leagues beyond the wild world's end.

Methinks it is no journey.

Bayeux Tapestry depicting events leading to the Battle of Hastings The Norman Conquest of England was the conquest of the Kingdom of England by William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy), in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman control of England. ... Chanticleer can refer to: Chanticleer, a rooster appearing in fables surrounding the fables of Reynard the Fox. ... For other uses, see Apollo (disambiguation). ... The Diana of Versailles In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt, in literature the equivalent of the Greek goddess Artemis, though in cult she was Italic in origin. ... Endymion and Selene, by Sebastiano Ricci (Chiswick House, London) In Greek mythology, Endymion was a handsome Aeolian shepherd or hunter, or, in the version Pausanias knew,[1] a king, who ruled Elis in Asia Minor; Endymion was the son, perhaps with Aethlius or with Zeus himself, of the nymph Calyce. ... The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli c. ... Mars, painting by Diego Velazquez Mars was the Roman warrior god, the son of Juno and Jupiter, husband of Bellona, and the lover of Venus. ... A cuckold is a married man whose wife has sex with other men. ... This article is about the big cat. ... A tournament is an organized competition in which many participants play each other in individual games. ...

In modern fiction

• Patricia Finney´s novel "Firedrake´s Eye" is loosely based on "Tom O Bedlam" and makes frequent reference to the poem.
• Kenneth Patchen's surrealist novel The Journal of Albion Moonlight is loosely based on "Tom O'Bedlam" and makes frequent reference to the poem.
• Poul Anderson wrote a novel called A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows.
• Part II of Alfred Bester's novel The Stars My Destination is introduced with a section of the poem
• Robert Silverberg has written a book called Tom O' Bedlam (1985), which includes several quotations from the poem.
• John Brunner's novel Bedlam Planet quotes from the poem at the start of each chapter.
• Mercedes Lackey has co-authored a series of books whose titles are taken from verses of the poem.
• The Jolie Holland album Escondida features a song titled "Mad Tom of Bedlam," based on the lyrics of "Tom O'Bedlam".
• A character named Tom O'Bedlam is an important mentor/mystic/revolutionary in Grant Morrison's graphic novel The Invisibles. He appears as a mad old homeless man whose madness is really an act that both aides and masks his transcendent knowledge.
• George Hagen has written a book called "Tom Bedlam," a Dickensian novel set in the Victorian era through WWI.
• A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer mentions the song often, in quotes and as the party anthem of the Monarchist party in Aravis.
• M.M. Kaye quotes a few stanzas in the book Trade Wind and uses the reference to further character development.
• Steven Brust's sci-fi novel Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill has a segment where an Irish band plays "Tom O Bedlam" upon discovering that the Earth is no more.
• Segments of the poem are quoted in Timothy Taylor's 2001 novel Stanley Park.

Kenneth Patchen (December 13, 1911 – January 8, 1972) was an American poet and novelist. ... Surrealism is an artistic movement and an aesthetic philosophy that aims for the liberation of the mind by emphasizing the critical and imaginative powers of the subconscious. ... For other uses, see Novel (disambiguation). ... Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926–July 31, 2001) was an American science fiction author of the genres Golden Age. ... Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 - September 30, 1987) was a science fiction author and the winner of the first Hugo Award in 1953 for his novel The Demolished Man. ... The Stars My Destination (originally called Tiger! Tiger!, from William Blakes poem The Tyger) is a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester, first published in Galaxy magazine as a 4-part serial, beginning in the October 1956 issue. ... At the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, August 2005 Robert Silverberg (January 15, 1935, Brooklyn, New York) is a prolific American author best known for writing science fiction, a multiple winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. ... John Brunner John Kilian Houston Brunner (September 24, 1934 – August 26, 1995) was a prolific British author of science fiction novels and stories. ... Mercedes Lackey (born June 24, 1950) (also known as Misty Lackey) is a prolific American author of fantasy novels. ... Former member of The Be Good Tanyas, Texas native Jolie Holland records country music and folk music in a manner that conveys the spontaneous nature of her performance. ... Grant Morrison (born January 31, 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. ... The Invisibles is an adult comic book series that was published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. ... Steven Brust in 2004 at Minicon 39 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ... Sci-fi is an abbreviation for science fiction. ... For other uses, see Novel (disambiguation). ...

References

Harold Bloom (born July 11, 1930) is an American professor and prominent literary and cultural critic. ...

External links

• [6]
• [7]
• Comments by Isaac Disraeli in "Curiosities of Literature" [8]