Death's Jestbook

Death’s Jest-Book, a five-act play (I prefer to think of it as a Gothic Orgy) by Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849) is one of the truly fabulous artistic creations of the 19th century.

It has a strange, complex plot which, according to some critics, descends into chaos. The plot of it, though, is not what Death’s Jest-Book is all about. It’s the poetry of it that captures one’s imagination, its bizarre flights of fancy and strange phrasings, its bold, surprising metaphors and startling, surrealistic visions.