Complete poems of famous 19th Century Birr Poet to be republished

THE POEMS of ‘John de Jean’, the famous 'Workman Poet from Birr' are being republished and will be officially launched, probably on Friday, November 18th in Birr.

Offaly History has put up a fascinating video on YouTube about John de Jean which is well worth a look at.

John de Jean was the nom-de-plume of John Frazer (c. 1804–1852), a Presbyterian of Huguenot extraction, cabinet-maker and a native of Birr.

As a young man he started writing poetry, and his first work – a lengthy poem entitled ‘Eva O’Connor’ was published in 1826 (Richard Milliken, Grafton Street, Dublin). During the 1840s individual poems, increasingly expressing a radicalised politics, appeared in the newspapers and periodicals of the day, including The Nation, The Dublin University Magazine and The United Irishman

He established and edited a newspaper himself, entitled The Irish Trades Advocate and contributed to it a column called ‘Lays of Labour’ which consisted of poems supportive of the rights of working men. This publication was short-lived, but included around ten of his poems.

In 1845, most of the poems that he had contributed to periodicals were gathered together and published as Poems for the People (J. Browne, Nassau Street, Dublin). This contained 82 poems and was a mixture of lyrical and polemical pieces.

He suffered from ill-health towards the end of the 1840s and was unable to properly support his family. Supporters arranged for a third collection of his work to be published to provide him with an income. This was Poems by John de Jean, published in 1851 by James McGlashan, Sackville Street, Dublin, with a second, posthumous, edition in 1853. There were 32 poems in this collection, including several very lengthy works. Again, there was a mixture of lyrical, political, and historical material.

He deserves the attention of modern readers. Frazer’s poetry was written very skilfully, in the style of his time. He adhered rigidly to the metres that he adopted, and succeeded in creating work in a language register that was seemingly everyday in character without violating his chosen structures, or straining after effect with ‘heightened’ language. His work is an essential part of our creative heritage.

He displayed great imagination in the use of different verse forms, and even varied the metre and structure within individual pieces.

His use of imagery is remarkable, and constantly provides the reader with memorable couplets that could easily be as commonly used as those of more well-known writers.

A particular talent that he displayed was his use of the device of alliteration. He constantly discovered novel ways to use commonplace words in seemingly commonplace combinations that are pleasing to read, and never seem gratuitous or forced.

In his political pieces, he became one of the most well-known writers of the Young Ireland movement that published the Nation newspaper. He expressed the views of that movement in a trenchant, memorable fashion, which made him a celebrated name in the second half of the 19th century. His subjects included the Famine, the economic condition of Ireland, and the degradation of the Irish peasantry. He was related through marriage to prominent members of the Fenian organization. His name was adopted by a G.A.A team affiliated to the Dublin G.A.A. county board. It was called De Jeans.

In his lyrical pieces he displayed an affecting tenderness, while avoiding a sentimental or maudlin tone. His imaginative use of imagery, and novel comparisons, lifts his verse above that of many contemporaries.

His poetry continued to be included in anthologies throughout the 19th century and into the 20th.

All his poetry is being republished in a complete edition. This includes his published collections, his ‘Lays of Labour’ material, and the individual pieces which appeared only in various periodicals and were not re-printed. This comes to around 150 pieces, several of them quite lengthy, coming to 480 pages. Research has been conducted into Frazer’s life and times, allowing a correct biographical sketch to be prepared.

The periodicals of the period have been examined to identify and capture poems that were not included in the above three publications. This exercise yielded 24 previously unknown pieces.

A search for Frazer’s publication The Irish Trades Advocate turned up the information that, while it is not held by any Irish institution, there is a copy in the British Library, and a copy of this has been ordered.

Research into suitable illustrations has been conducted, which yielded several images that will serve as appropriate images to include in the collection.

Contact has been made with a descendant of Frazer’s, Laurel Grube, who lives in America. She has inherited, through her family, knowledge and documentary evidence of Frazer’s family and descendants, enabling the publishers to form an accurate account of his origins and connections. Interestingly her middle name is Jean thus perpetuating his name to the present time. Laurel will be attending the Birr launch, probably on November 18th.

A contemporary portrait of Frazer has been located and a copy obtained.

It has been discovered that Frazer was also an artist, producing landscape pictures in various media. Three of these have been so far identified, and two secured.

The location of Frazer’s grave in Glasnevin cemetery has been identified.

What does Frazer have to say to us today? Well as we look on in horror at the events in Ukraine his poem `Song for Tyranny` is very appropriate:

“Come, Tyranny, listen!—my song may be,

Tho’ foolish to liberty, wise to thee!

Thou art beset with inveterate foes;

(And one of the fiercest the minstrel knows:)

’Tis worth the listening, to learn how long

The nation will brook thy chain;

While thou addest new insult to ancient wrong,

To torture the heart and brain!

When ice shall be over the cataract spread,

And the river roll mute o’er a rocky bed;

The people shall cease to complain of the gyves,

Thou hast set to obstruct the free flow of their lives;

And till some spirit—of brave, most brave—

To marshal and counsel men,

Shall step from the people, like foam from the wave;

Thou shalt be secure, till then!”