CHRONOLOGY FOR 1834 (See also nos. 98, 173, 180–82.)

186. Mineral list, after February 8, MS IIIA (endboard); unpublished.
	Each item is followed by a reference to an unnamed source, which Viljoen identifies as vols. II and III of de Saussure's Voyages dans les Alpes.  Ruskin received the book for his fifteenth birthday (see Works 35:121).

187. "The Vintage," February, MS VIII; unpublished.
	Amid later draft for no. 180, Ruskin began work on this poem about a restive cask of champagne that picks a quarrel with calmer port and sherry, John James’s trade wines. Inserted following the first part of this untitled draft are nos. 188 and 192, begun before February 22, followed by the rest of no. 187, designated by Ruskin as “Continuation of Vintage”—hence, the presumptive title for both sections.
	With its opening descriptions of Continental harvests, “The Vintage” was certainly suggested by the tour sequence, no. 180, and a more direct narrative link between the poems may have been intended. At the end of the prose section of no. 180 entitled “The Rhine” by the editors (Works, 2:368), Ruskin sets the stage for a narrator to relate lore from the “haunted ground” of the Rhine valley—a promise that is not fulfilled in the prose draft. “The Vintage” relates nothing about what seems specifically promised by the Rhine passage—“the gambols of brownies fairies gnomes and all other fashionable hobgoblins” (MS VIII, pp. 67r–v)—but “The Vintage,” along with “The Crystal Hunter” (no. 188), are the only narrative poems that certainly are written contemporaneously with the tour poem, no. 180. There are, however, other candidates, as well, for Ruskin’s promised Rhineland fairy story; see nos. 188 and 213.
	Poems about wine were on Ruskin’s mind. He drafted a drinking song for the previous New Year’s, no. 185a, and his upcoming birthday address to John James, no. 192, would contain wishes for a good vintage. It is possible that “The Vintage” was initially meant as a birthday poem and then replaced by no. 188.

188. “The Crystal Hunter,” February–May, MSS IA, VIII; printed PJR 1:167–74, Works 2:388–93.
	Drafted in MS VIII; fair-copied and accompanied by no. 192 in MS IA, where dated May 1834. This birthday poem for John James is probably what John had begun by February 22, when he reported a “Geological poem” as “knocked up on the humps and bumps of the road, and brought to a standstill” (RFL 280). The draft in MS VIII does show significant variants from the MS IA fair copy, especially near the start of the poem; and, when Ruskin renumbered a stanza in draft and inserted another, he gave up on his line numbering in the margin, no longer confident of his drafting.
	As discussed in connection with “The Vintage” (see no. 187), at the end of the prose section of no. 180 entitled “The Rhine” by the editors (Works, 2:368), Ruskin promises to relate lore from the “haunted ground” of the Rhine valley—a promise left unfulfilled immediately following the prose draft. The editors suggest that Ruskin may have been hatching a version of The King of the Golden River. While there is no evidence that Ruskin already had his fairy tale in mind, themes that will prove significant for King do emerge in “The Crystal Hunter”: the story of a hidden, marvelous valley, whose riches are elusive and in some way conditional on the spirit of the hunter—although here the conditions appear more psychological than moral.
	“The Crystal Hunter” can be read for thematic connections with King quite apart from the more immediate textual question—whether this poem is the story announced at the end of the Rhine passage. As a story about Chamouni rather than about the Rhine valley, and as one containing none of the promised “gambols of brownies fairies gnomes and all other fashionable hobgoblins” (MS VIII, pp. 67r–v), the only persuasive qualification offered by “The Crystal Hunter,” as by “The Vintage,” is its near contemporaneous composition with the prose passage. See no. 213 for a poem whose content corresponds much more closely with the narrative promised in the Rhine passage, although the poem’s dating is questionable.

	Stz. 1, l. 3, Works By the ribbed rock or the frozen sea?] By dark ribbed rock or by frozen sea, MS VIII, which is followed by a few lines not in MS IA. Next, stz. 2 begins with what becomes stz. 1, l. 4 in MS IA, and this draft stz. 2 continues until the final words frontlet of the peak as in stz. 1, MS IA. Hereafter, the stz. numbering in MS VIII does not match that in MS IA. I.e.—
		By dark ribbed rock or by frozen sea,
		<And he sang a song of the hill countrie>
		A song of the glaciéres, made long ago,
		By the children of the cloud, by the dwellers on the snow.
2.
		And he hath past the avalanche [etc., for 11 more lines]

	Stz. 2 in Works is stz. 3 in MS VIII.
	Stz. 3 (stz. 4 in MS VIII), l. 2, Works “My limb hath scaled the Cervin,—Dru,—] “My foot hath trod the Cervin. Dru. MS VIII
	Stzs. 4–11 in Works are stzs. 5–12 in MS VIII. After stz. 12 of draft (11 of MS IA), beginning There was a gathering of the Swiss Ruskin composed stz. 13 of draft, beginning Long time had passed away before Then he changed this number “13” to “14,” and he numbered the next composed stanza as “13,” beginning And still the silver hills put on and so all stzs. in MS VIII remained one ahead of what would be the numbering in MS IA.
	Stz. 13 (stz. 14 in MS VIII), after l. 4, Works The cloudy phalanx broke. MS VIII has
		And yet at set of eventide
		The heavens were not glad
		The even star was seen that night
		But its glow was faint and sad
Then MS VIII starts a new stz. 15 with variants of what would become stz. 13, l. 5 and ff. of MS IA:
15
		Full lustrously the ruby morn
		Upon the chalets rose,
		And gaily oer the glaciéres
		The crystal hunter goes 
and so on, continuing as to the end of stz. 13 in MS IA.
	Stzs. 14–15, Works, are stzs. 16–17 in MS VIII.
	Stz. 15 (17 in MS VIII), MS VIII has for l. 10–12 in MS IA:
		And hear the icebergs crashing loud,
		Above the deep blue arch below
		And when the <first> silver dawning shone
		Oh, I would climb a peak of snow
and so on, continuing as to the end of stz. 15 in MS IA.

189. Rhyming letter to John James ["But this day week"], March 10, MS XI; printed RFL 283–85, and in part Works 1:191 n. 1.

	192. “The Address. 1834” (“MY DEAREST FATHER / You know on birthdays it is customary”], May 10, MSS IA, VIII. Quoted Works 2:388 n. 2; printed in full, RFL 287–89. 
	This birthday address to his father was placed by Ruskin before the presentation copy of no. 188 in MS IA. In MS VIII the draft follows no. 188, where the poem is entitled “The Address. 1834.” In MS IA, this title is dropped, and, instead, the first line of MS VIII is made to serve as both first line and title, “MY DEAREST FATHER.”
	Since the fair copy MS IA version has been printed in RFL, the MS VIII version is made available here.

The Address. 1834
My dearest Father
You know, on birthdays it is customary
To make a birthday present rich & raree
Or sometimes rather
A rhymical address, which necessary
It is from year to year to change & vary
But always caring
That it shall have the same due birthday bearing
Some, being fond of novelty & daring
Finding it racked their brains
To be thus shackled quite threw off their chains
And so presented any sort of poem
By way of showing
That showy rhymes in such a situation
Though bearing not one point on the occasion
Would be accepted
This customs bad though some have seized on, kept it
But stupid—lazy, and their toil being double
Pounced upon any thing that saved em trouble
Strung a few rhymes together for the rattle
Moonlight and mist, love thunder, blood & battle
Still this produced variety
It cut a dash—that is—it made a show
And that you know
As sameness will produce satiety
Must never be despised, and so,
Ive made some new acquaintance—plenty
Ive cut no old ones—dont you take
I’ll give you other poems—twenty
But must not the address forsake
For sans address, or what you choose to call that,
How could I wish you health, wealth, strength, & all that
On many happy 10ths of May, et cetera,
(Or that the coming vintage may be better far
Than any that have gone before
Or that all Europe may drink more
That port be shut up in Oporto,
Madeira sales may droop
And claret all be out of sort so
It can be only used for soup,)
But this once done in style,
You may be ornamental if you like
And sport yourself a little while
Though all the air of poesy take flight
Go—gather ideas in the moon
Or chase the sunset—thou wilt soon
Get up some lines exceedingly respectable
You may be sure they’ll be acceptable.
And now—I’ve done my preface. If you like it
(I hope you do)
Take it & keep it—tis for you
Most humbly also thou art here invited
To read these other trifles—fables—froth
Yet thou mayest have some pleasure in them both—
I would my wishes brought thee good
And that were doubled oer & oer
The last of mine shall be that thine
May neer be disappointed more.

	Line 1 and title, MS IA MY DEAREST FATHER] My dearest Father MS VIII
	Line 3, MS IA present; rich and raree] present rich & raree MS VIII
	Line 6, MS IA and] & MS VIII
	Line 9, MS IA and daring,] & daring MS VIII
	Line 10, MS IA brains,] brains MS VIII
	Line 11, MS IA shackled,] shackled MS VIII
	Line 14, MS IA rhymes,] rhymes MS VIII
	Line 16, MS IA Might] Would MS VIII
	Line 17, MS IA custom’s bad,] customs bad MS VIII
	Line 18, MS IA stupid, lazy,] stupid—lazy, MS VIII
	Line 19, MS IA anything that saved ’em trouble.] any thing that saved em trouble MS VIII
	Line 20, MS IA rattle,] rattle MS VIII
	Line 21, MS IA Moonlight & mist, love, thunder, blood and battle—] Moonlight and mist, love thunder, blood & battle MS VIII
	Line 22, MS IA Still,] Still MS VIII
	Line 23, MS IA dash, that is,] dash—that is— MS VIII; MS IA show,] show MS VIII
	Line 24, MS IA that,] that MS VIII
	Line 25, MS IA satiety,] satiety MS VIII
	Line 26, MS IA despised; and so] despised, and so, MS VIII
	Line 27, MS IA I’ve] Ive MS VIII; MS IA acquaintance,] acquaintance— MS VIII
	Line 28, MS IA I’ve cut no old ones,—don’t you take.] Ive cut no old ones—dont you take MS VIII
	Line 29, MS IA poems, twenty,] poems—twenty MS VIII
	Line 31, MS IA For,] For MS VIII
	Line 33, MS IA Or many happy tenths of May, et cetera] On many happy 10ths of May, et cetera, MS VIII
	Line 34, MS IA Or] (Or MS VIII (see line 40 below); MS IA far,] far MS VIII
	Line 35, MS IA before,] before MS VIII
	Line 36, MS IA more,] more MS VIII
	Line 37, MS IA Oporto] Oporto, MS VIII
	Line 38, MS IA [Madeira(?)]] Madeira MS VIII
	Line 39, MS IA sort, so,] sort so MS VIII
	Line 40, MS IA soup] soup,) MS VIII
	Line 41, MS IA one] once MS VIII
	Line 42, MS IA ornamental, if you like,] ornamental if you like MS VIII
	Line 44, MS IA flight,] flight MS VIII
	Line 45, MS IA Go,] Go— MS VIII
	Line 46, MS IA sunset; thou wilt soon,] sunset—thou wilt soon MS VIII
	Line 47, MS IA respectable,] respectable MS VIII
	Line 49, MS IA now] now— MS VIII; MS IA preface, if you like it,] preface. If you like it MS VIII
	Line 51, MS IA and keep it, ’tis for you.]  & keep it—tis for you MS VIII
	Line 53, MS IA trifles, fables, froth,] trifles—fables—froth MS VIII
	Line 54, MS IA both.] both— MS VIII
	Line 56, MS IA oer and oer,] oer & oer MS VIII
	Line 57, MS IA be, that] be that MS VIII

193. Note on the perforation of a lead pipe by rats (prose), September, no ms; printed Works 1:193.
	A brief note (in vol. vii [November 1834], p. 592) responding to an article by another amateur contributor in the volume of Loudon's Magazine of Natural History in which Ruskin published no. 190.

194. "As I was walking round by Peckham rye" [published in part as “The Months”], December–January 1, 1835, MSS VIII, XI; printed RFL 289–94, and (as "The Months") in PJR 1:176–77, Works 2:5–6.
	A New Year's poem presumably begun in December 1834, with fair copy in MS XI dated "Jany 1st 1835."  In MS VIII the draft falls many pages after the last dateable poems of 1834—the birthday poems nos. 188 and 192, and the last entries for the Tour no. 180—with the intervening space filled by poems certainly belonging to later in 1835.  I conjecture that Ruskin allowed the space for more Continental Tour material, which never materialized, leaving the space to be filled in other ways after the New Year.
	Three stanzas (12–14) of this poem were excerpted to form "The Months," for publication in Friendship's Offering for 1836, and then in the 1850 Poems.  See also no. 195.

195. "January," December, MS VIII; unpublished.
	Between stanzas 11 and 12 of the draft of no. 194, there falls this 32-line poem in trimeter, followed by the 5-line "Nay I could think I heard the year come singing," which returns to the pentameter of no. 194.  Since stanza 11 of no. 194 announces the round of months covered in stanzas 12-14 of the enveloping poem, perhaps Ruskin originally intended a more ambitious poem, of which "January" was to be the first of a series of songs, each celebrating a month. Indeed the original opening line, stanza 12, of the enveloping poem, first read “<Come, ye cold winds at January’s call>.”