Poetical Works

The chief want hitherto felt by students of the poetry of Thomson has
been a variorum edition of The Seasons. This I have endeavoured to
supply in the present edition.

The first edition of Winter appeared in March, 1726, and consisted of
only 405 lines. The second, published in the following June, contained
many variations, and increased the original text by 58 lines. I give a
reprint of the first Winter, accompanying it with the variations of the
second. Three other editions prior to 1730 were reprints of the second.

Summer was published in 1727; and consisted of 1, 146 lines. A second
edition, which appeared in the same year, was a reprint.

Spring came out in 1728, and consisted of 1, 082 lines: it was followed
in 1729 by a reprint.

Autumn appeared in 1730 as part of the first edition of the collected
Seasons, and consisted of 1, 269 lines. The Hymn, numbering 121 lines,
appeared at the same time.

But in this first edition of the whole Seasons, which was issued in two
forms, quarto and octavo, Winter was augmented to 787 lines (781 in the
quarto), Summer to 1, 206, Spring to 1, 087; and there were numerous
changes besides in the previous texts which are not indicated by mere
increment in the number of lines.

Between 1730 and 1738 no change was made in the separate or collected
texts of The Seasons. Thomson was busy at other work.

In the edition of 1744 great changes were made--more especially in
Summer and Winter--not merely by addition, but in other ways.

Thomson revised the text of The Seasons for the last time in 1746,
making a few alterations, and increasing the length of the poem as a
whole--by 10 lines. The final result was a poem of 5, 541 lines, made up
in the following way: