The Moon Endureth

The Moon Endureth, subtitled 'Tales and Fancies', is a 1912 short story and poetry collection by the Scottish author John Buchan.^[2]

The Moon Endureth

First edition 1912
Author	John Buchan
Language	English
Genre	Short story and poetry collection
Set in	Various
Publisher	W Blackwood & Sons[1]
Publication date	1912[1]
Media type	Print
Pages	324[1]

Title

In an introduction to the collection Buchan quotes from an article on St Francis in Lives of the Saints: "To the righteous is promised abundance of peace while the moon endureth". Psalms 72:7 in the King James Version has "In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth".

Content

The collection includes the following short stories and poems. The stories Streams of Water in the South and The Rime of True Thomas were reprinted from a former collection, Grey Weather. The remaining tales had all previously appeared in Blackwood's Magazine.^[3]

• From the Pentlands Looking North and South (poem)
• I. The Company of the Marjolaine (short story)
  • "Avignon" (poem)
• II. A Lucid Interval (short story)
  • "The Shorter Catechism" (poem)
• III. The Lemnian (short story)
  • "Atta's Song" (poem)
• IV. Space (short story)
  • "Stocks and Stones" (poem)
• V. Streams of Water in the South (short story)
  • "The Gipsy's Song to the Lady Cassilis" (poem)
• VI. The Grove of Ashtaroth (short story)
  • "Wood Magic" (poem)
• VII. The Riding of Ninemileburn (short story)
  • "Plain Folk" (poem)
• VIII. The Kings of Orion (short story)
  • "Babylon" (poem)
• IX. The Green Glen (short story)
  • "The Wise Years" (poem)
• X. The Rime of True Thomas (short story)

Critical reception

In its review of the first edition The Athenaeum noted "a marked leaning towards the mysterious and bizarre". The collection was said to show "considerable imagination, and occasionally a touch of delicate satire".^[4]