Songs and Sonnets Atlantean

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean
	Jacket illustration by Gordon R. Barnett for first Songs and Sonnets Atlantean
Author	Donald Sidney-Fryer
Cover artist	Gordon R. Barnett
Language	English
Genre	poetry
Publisher	Arkham House, Wildside Press, Phosphor Lantern Press, Hippocampus Press
Publication date	First Series June 16, 1971; Second Series 2003; Third Series 2005; trilogy 2008
Publication place	United States
Media type	Printed volumes
Pages	First Series; xxx, 134 pp.; Second Series 159 pp.; Third Series 192 pp.; trilogy 550 pp.

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean refers to either the 1971 first volume in a trilogy of poetry collections by Donald Sidney-Fryer or to the complete trilogy. Each volume claims some poems were written by poets in the lost continent of Atlantis and translated by Sidney-Fryer into English. Songs and Sonnets Atlantean: The Second Series was published in 2003, and The Third Series in 2005. All three Atlantean collections were gathered in the 2008 volume The Atlantis Fragments: The Trilogy of Songs and Sonnets Atlantean. Sidney-Fryer also wrote two companion novels. The series has been praised by critics. “Fryer has created, in his fictional Atlantis, an entire civilization and a body of absorbing literature,” said New Bedford Standard-Times.^[1] Fritz Leiber wrote in Fantastic Stories: “A total picture of a fabulous Atlantis is presented, more convincing and touching than that of a novel might be. But the book ... shows much more than that. Sunken Atlantis becomes a symbol of all lost glories and grandeurs of Earth.”^[2] The Murfreesboro Sidelines reported: “The poems are of unearthly beauty. ... Whether the poems really are from the Atlantean or whether they are the creations of the poet Fryer, they deserve to be read and to be experienced.”^[3]

Creation and publication

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean (First Series)

Sidney-Fryer began writing the poems in March 1961, inspired by The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser. Songs and Sonnets Atlantean took Sidney-Fryer ten years to write.^[4]

The book tells the story of the romance between Princess Aïs and Prince Atlantarion, "but," wrote Sidney-Fryer, "in the form of a seemingly miscellaneous or random complilation of poems or 'fragments' ... Thus, the reader must 'work' to discover or recover the main narrative; ... but 'clues' are scattered both carefully and abundantly over the entire 'terrain' from the beginning of the book (including both its outer front dust-jacket and the inner front dust-jacket or flap) up through its finish (including the printer's note, the inner back dust-jacket or flap, and then the final and outer back dust-jacket...)." The book's "Introduction" and "Notes" sections help tell the story. The scholarly "Introduction" explains how the poems were created in Atlantis, how they were lost for thousands of years, and how they were rediscovered. The introduction's author, Dr. Ibid Massachusetts Andor, also provides an explanatory "Notes" section givinging background for individual poems. "Dr. Andor" is actually a pseudonym for Sidney-Fryer.^[5]

Sidney-Fryer erroneously believed that San Francisco publisher A. M. Robertson published 2,000 copies of poetry books by George Sterling, so he persuaded Arkham House owner August Derleth that instead of publishing 500 copies (Arkham House's normal print quantity for poetry books) he should publish 2,000 copies of Songs and Sonnets Atlantean.^[6] The book was published June 16, 1971 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,045 copies. Copies of this verse collection exist both with and without the limitation page bound in the rear of the book; the priorites of these states are not known. Soon after the book's publication, the poet went to Sauk City to visit Arkham House, where he personally inscribed, signed, and dated an unknown number of copies. The inscription was identical in each book and reads: "Atlantean Greetings & Salutations/ Donald Sidney-Fryer/ the Last of the Courtly Poets,/ 17 June 1971." Other signed copies with variations of this inscription have been noted and may have been signed at different dates. This first volume went out of print in the early 1980s.^[7]

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean (Second Series)

The second volume in the trilogy, Songs and Sonnets Atlantean: The Second Series, was published by Wildside Press in 2003.

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean (Third Series)

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean: The Third Series was self-published by Sidney-Fryer while he lived in Los Angeles, under his own Phosphor Lantern Press company name, in 2005.

The Trilogy of the Songs and Sonnets Atlantean

Finally, in 2008 New York publisher Hippocampus Press produced all three books together in one volume titled The Atlantis Fragments: The Trilogy of the Songs and Sonnets Atlantean. The hardcover edition also includes a front endpaper map of the continent of Atlantis "and its Relationship to the Known World," back endpaper maps of showing detail of the isle of Atlantis and its capital, the city of Atlantis; and an introduction by author Brian Stableford.

The Atlantis Fragments: The Novel

Sidney-Fryer's companion novel about the end of Atlantis, The Atlantis Fragments: The Novel, was published in 2011 by Hippocampus Press.

West of Wherevermore: Interlude in Atlantis

He also wrote a shorter second novel, West of Wherevermore: Interlude in Atlantis, printed in Sidney-Fryer's 2016 book West of Wherevermore and Other Travel Writings. The second novel describes the five-year wedding voyage of the Princess Aïs and the Prince Atlantaryon.^[8] (Confusingly, the novel was not included in Sidney-Fryer's similarly-named book West of Wherevermore and Other Essays, published in 2019.)

Critical responses to First Series

August Derleth’s publishing company Arkham House published Songs and Sonnets Atlantean on June 16, 1971. 18 days later Derleth died of a heart attack. His small publishing company did little to publicize the new book. Sidney-Fryer mailed copies to newspaper and magazine reviewers himself.^[9]

Only a few mainstream media publications paid any attention to a poetry book from a small publisher by an unknown poet. The New Bedford Standard-Times said: “Fryer has created, in his fictional Atlantis, an entire civilization and a body of absorbing literature.”^[1] In the national magazine The Advocate, poet Richard L. Tierney enthused: “It is sheer beauty, and one can tell that Mr. Sidney-Fryer is a lover of life and beauty to the core of his being. ... I am overwhelmed by the depth of feeling and the rich intricacy with which Donald Sidney-Fryer depicts his world. For this creation is indeed a world, not just a book.”^[10] University Bookman: A Quarterly Review called Songs and Sonnets Atlantean “a delightful book of verse ... a work that reflects a glittering imagination and no mean talent.”^[11] “The poems are of unearthly beauty,” said the Murfreesboro Sidelines in Tennessee. It continued: “The imagery is lush, exotic, full of colors and magic names. ... Whether the poems really are from the Atlantean or whether they are the creations of the poet Fryer, they deserve to be read and to be experienced.”^[12] The Lake Geneva Regional News ended its review: “Our complaint is that we cannot possibly thank Donald Fryer enough for this book which hints of a land beyond redemption and entices us into believing we have traveled there.”^[13]

Sidney-Fryer generated more coverage by sending copies to reviewers with journals that cover science fiction and fantasy literature. Most of these reviews were favorable, but not all. In Luna Monthly, Mark Purcell wrote a lengthy review that decided “... Mr. Fryer has nothing to say in his poems. ... The strict prose sense in Fryer's poems is banal.”^[14] Sidney-Fryer published a long, polite response which expressed his gratitude to Purcell for reviewing Songs and Sonnets Atlantean and then walked through Purcell's review step-by-step correcting misunderstandings and errors.^[15]

Other reviewers disagreed with Purcell. Author Jack L. Chalker wrote: “Fryer's an entertaining and competent poet who reads well, and people who like fantasy poetry in general (as I do) will find the collection worth reading.”^[16] In Fantastic Stories, Fritz Leiber said: “A total picture of a fabulous Atlantis is presented, more convincing and touching than that of a novel might be. But the book ... shows much more than that. Sunken Atlantis becomes a symbol of all lost glories and grandeurs of Earth.”^[17] In The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Gahan Wilson reported: “He has managed in his slim book, slim only in size, to evoke an Atlantis which is both haunting and astonishingly solid.”^[18]

The most impressive coverage in a publication focused on fantasy literature appeared in the journal Nyctalops, which devoted sixty percent of a double issue to Sidney-Fryer, Songs and Sonnets Atlantean, and his other works. Included in the many articles was one praising “the joy of sound” in Sidney-Fryer's poetry and calling Songs and Sonnets Atlantean “that modern Arkham House masterpiece.”^[19] Professor Charles K. Wolfe wrote a detailed, insightful investigation of the book's parts and how they affected readers, pointing out: “Songs and Sonnets Atlantean contains many different kinds of writing, but its impact is above all synergistic: its overall structure and overall effect are more than simply the sum of its parts and make the book what it is, a unique application of the most modern literary methods to some of the oldest literary forms.”^[20]

Contents of First Series

Songs and Sonnets Atlantean contains the following pieces. Items presented as written by poets from the lost continent of Atlantis are prefaced with "(A)". All (A) items are presented as originally written in the Atlantean language but surviving only as French translations by Michel de Labretagne (a pseudonym of Donald Sidney-Fryer) and translated by Sidney-Fryer. Items without the (A) label are presented as either written by Sidney-Fryer or translated by Sidney-Fryer from other French poets.

"Introduction" by Dr. Ibid M. Andor (pseudonym of Donald Sidney-Fryer)

(A) "Avalonessys"
(A) "The Crown and Trident Imperial" (Translated from the Atlantean of an unknown poet.)
(A) "Atlantis" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
(A) "The Rose and the Thorn"
(A) "Rose Escariate"
(A) "'O Ebon-Colored Rose'" (Translated from the Atlantean of Prince Atlantarion.)
(A) "Your Mouth of Pomegranate" (Translated from the Atlantean of Prince Atlantarion.)
"As Buds and Blossoms in the Month of May the Rose" (Translated from the French of Pierre de Ronsard.)
"To Clark Ashton Smith"
"Pavane"
(A) "When We Were Prince and Princess" (Translated from the Atlantean of King Atlantarion I.)
(A) "The Crown and Trident" (Translated from the Atlantean of King Atlantarion I.)
(A) "Song" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
"'Thy Spirit Walks the Sea'" (To Nora May French)
(A) "Recompense" (Translated from the Atlantean of an unknown poet.)
"To a Youth"
"Spenserian Stanza-Sonnet Empourpré"
"A Symbol for All Splendor Lost" (Opening of poem is by George Sterling. Written about Atlantis, but not presented as written by an Atlantean poet.)
"The Ashes in the Rose Garden" (To "B. M. B.", who was possibly Bertha Maude Severance Haas Boyd [1 January 1885 - 25 January 1965], buried in plot 52D of Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.)
"To Edmund Spenser"
(A) "Rose Verdastre" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
"Ave Atque Vale"
"Thaïs and Alexander in Persepolis"
(A) "A Fragment" (Translated from the Atlantean of an unknown poet.)
"O fair dark eyes, O glances turned aside" (Translated from the French of Louise Labé.)
"The Cydnus" (Translated from the French of José-Maria de Heredia.)
"Golden Mycenae"
(A) "Lullaby" (Translated from the Atlantean of Prince Atlantarion.)

Minor Chronicles of Atlantis

"Proem" by Michel de Labretagne (pseudonym of Donald Sidney-Fryer)
(A) "The Hippokamp" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "The Alpha Huge" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "The River Called Amphus" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "The Amphus Delta" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "The Imperial Crown Jewels of Atlantis" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "The Atlantean Obelisk" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "The Garden of Jealous Roses" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "The Tale of an Olden Love" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "The Shepherd and the Shepherdess" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "Reciprocity" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "The Iffinnix" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)
(A) "A Vision of Strange Splendor" (Prose poem translated from the Atlantean of Aon.)

"Kilcolman Castle: 20 August 1965" (to Edmund Spenser)
(A) "Aubade" (Translated from the Atlantean of Prince Atlantarion.)
"The Lilac Hedge at Cassell Prairie: 27 May 1967" (to August Derleth)
(A) "Black Poppy and Black Lotus" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
"The House of Roses" (to George Sterling)
(A) "'The Musical Note of Swans...Before Their Death'" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
"Green Sleeves"
(A) "O Beautiful Dark-Amber Eyes of Old"
"The Forsaken Palace" (to Algernon Charles Swinburne)
"For the Shapes of Clay of Ambrose Bierce"
"Connaissance Fatale"
"For the Black Beetles in Amber of Ambrose Bierce"
"Offrande Exotique" (to Mary Eulalie Shannon)

Sonnets on an Empire of Many Waters

I. (A) "Here, where the fountains of the deep-sea flow" (No source noted.)
II. (A) "Atlantis" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
III. (A) "Gades" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
IV. (A) "Atlantigades" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
V. (A) "Atkantharia" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
VI. (A) "Iffrikonn-Yssthia" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
VII. (A) "Atalantessys" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
VIII. (A) "Atlantillia" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
IX. (A) "Atatemthessys" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
X. (A) "At-Thulonn" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
XI. (A) "Avalonessys" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
XII. (A) "Poseidonis" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
XIII. (A) "The Merchant-Princes" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
XIV. (A) "An Argosy of Trade" (Translated from the Atlantean of Athallarion.)
XV. (A) "Memories of the Astazhan" (Translated from the Atlantean of Aänsess.)
XVI. (A) "A Letter from Valoth" (Translated from the Atlantean of Aänsess.)
XVII. (A) "No, not until the final age of Earth" (No source noted.)

Commendatory and Dedicatory Poems

"To an Atlantean Poet" (to Donald Sidney-Fryer) by Margo Skinner
"Inspiration" (to Donald Sidney-Fryer) by Ian M. M. Law
"Secretest" (to Donald Sidney-Fryer) by Fritz Leiber
"To Gloria Kathleen [Braly Fryer]"
"To Master Edmund Spenser: His Great Song"

"Notes" by Dr. Ibid M. Andor (pseudonym of Donald Sidney-Fryer)

References

^ ^a ^b Earl J. Dias, “Books,” New Bedford Standard-Times (March 5, 1972); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 79.
^ Fritz Leiber, “Fantasy Books,” Fantastic Stories, v. 21 n. 6 (August 1972), p. 108; reprinted Nyctalops (April 1976), pp. 79-80.
^ Chris Keith, “Book Makings,” Murfreesboro Sidelines (October 5, 1971); reprinted Nyctalops (April 1976), pp. 77-78.
^ Sidney-Fryer, Hobgoblin Apollo: The Autobiography of Donald Sidney-Fryer (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2016), pp. 180-181.
^ Sidney-Fryer, “A Defense and Illustration of One Poetic Method,” Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 82.
^ Don Herron, "Rediscovered: Every Copy of an Edition" (April 10, 2021).
^ Jaffery, Sheldon. The Arkham House Companion. Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, 1989, p. 101.
^ Sidney-Fryer, "A Note on The Interlude", West of Wherevermore and Other Travel Writings (Auburn, California: Phosphor Lantern Press, 2016), p. 7.
^ Sidney-Fryer, “A Defense and Illustration of One Poetic Method,” Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 81.
^ Richard L. Tierney, “Books: Sidney-Fryer's Poetry Evokes Courtly Grandeur”, Advocate n. 79 (February 16, 1972); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), pp. 78-79.
^ James Gorski, University Bookman: A Quarterly Review, v. 13 n. 2 (Winter 1973/1974); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 80.
^ Chris Keith, “Book Makings,” Murfreesboro Sidelines (October 5, 1971); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), pp. 77-78.
^ Burton Frye, “Book Reviews,” Lake Geneva Regional News (August 12, 1971), p. 6; reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 77.
^ Mark Purcell, “Reviews: Songs and Sonnets Atlantean,” Luna Monthly, n. 43 (December 1972), pp. 22-23; reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 80.
^ Sidney-Fryer, “A Defense and Illustration of One Poetic Method,” pp. 81-87.
^ Jack L. Chalker, “Books,” Mirage n. 10 (1971); reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 78.
^ Fritz Leiber, “Fantasy Books,” Fantastic Stories, v. 21 n. 6 (August 1972), p. 108; reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), pp. 79-80.
^ Gahan Wilson, “The Dark Corner,” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, v. 43 n. 2 (August 1972), p. 23; reprinted Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 79.
^ Allene Phy, “Master Donald Sidney-Fryer & Baudelaire,” Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), pp. 50-55.
^ Charles K. Wolfe, “Romantic Synergy: Sidney-Fryer's Songs and Sonne[t]s Atlantean,” Nyctalops v. 2, nos. 4/5, whole numbers 11/12 (April 1976), p. 67.

Jaffery, Sheldon (1989). The Arkham House Companion. Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, Inc. pp. 100–101. ISBN 1-55742-005-X.
Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 46.
Joshi, S.T. (1999). Sixty Years of Arkham House: A History and Bibliography. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. pp. 125–127. ISBN 0-87054-176-5.
Nielsen, Leon (2004). Arkham House Books: A Collector's Guide. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 114–115. ISBN 0-7864-1785-4.

External links

Sidney-Fryer's prepublication bookmark promoting the first edition: Don Herron, "Rediscovered: Arcane Arkham Arch-Collectors Corner No. 3" (May 4, 2020).
First edition print quantity and collecting autographed copies: Don Herron, "Rediscovered: Every Copy of an Edition" (April 10, 2021).