Description
Book SynopsisThis Companion brings together specially commissioned essays by distinguished international scholars that reflect both the diversity of Victorian poetry and the variety of critical approaches that illuminate it.
Trade Review"Yet overall, and at its best, it provides what few critical books can offer: a highly readable, even rollicking account of the whole era, as variegated and lively as Victorian poetry itself." (Review 19, 2011)
"[A] comprehensive, challenging picture of Victorian poetry emerges when reading the entire collection of essays.... A feast of information." (Brontë Studies, November 2009)
"The essays within are excellent. I think it an indispensable book. The essays address the multifariousness of Victorian poetry, and the variety of critical and theoretical issues; in addition, they give the reader a sense of the marketing and reception of the poetry." (Studies in English Literature, Fall 2008)
"Scholars will want to own this book.... Highly recommended." (Choice)
"A rich diversity of distinguished and learned scholars, mostly from North America and the UK, have combined in this singularly impressive and important volume, to provide what for many might at first sight seem to be an almost impossible harvest: fresh and original essays on carefully selected aspects of the poetry of Victorian England." (Reference Reviews)
"Nicely affordable for the wealth of insights contained therein. Contains some fresh research.... This companion will not sit on the shelf and collect dust, but [will] be useful for both scholarly and entertaining reading." (English Literature in Transition)
"Not only is the Companion brimming with fine arguments—there are far too many essays that warrant notice than can possibly be picked out in a short review—but it is also very well put together as a collection. Its clear table of contents and fulsome index make it easy to negotiate. Each essay is, moreover, followed by a generous list of references and suggested further reading." (The Tennyson Research Bulletin)
Table of ContentsEditors’ Preface viii
Notes on Contributors x
Chronology xv
Introduction: Victorian Poetics 1
Carol T. Christ
PART ONE Varieties and Forms 23
1 Epic 25
Herbert F. Tucker
2 Domestic and Idyllic 42
Linda H. Peterson
3 Lyric 59
Matthew Rowlinson
4 Dramatic Monologue 80
E. Warwick Slinn
5 Sonnet and Sonnet Sequence 99
Alison Chapman
6 Elegy 115
Seamus Perry
7 Hymn 134
J. R. Watson
8 Nonsense 155
Roderick McGillis
9 Verse Novel 171
Dino Felluga
10 Verse Drama 187
Adrienne Scullion
11 Working-Class Poetry 204
Florence Boos
12 The Classical Tradition 229
Richard Jenkyns
13 Arthurian Poetry and Medievalism 246
Antony H. Harrison
14 Poetry in Translation 262
J.-A. George
15 Tractarian Poetry 279
Stephen Prickett
16 The Spasmodics 291
Richard Cronin
17 The Pre-Raphaelite School 305
David Riede
18 The Poetry of the 1890s 321
Chris Snodgrass
PART TWO Production, Distribution and Reception 343
19 The Market 345
Lee Erickson
20 Anthologies and the Making of the Poetic Canon 361
Natalie M. Houston
21 Reviewing 378
Joanne Shattock
22 Poetry and Illustration 392
Lorraine Janzen Kooistra
PART THREE Victorian Poetry and Victorian Culture 419
23 Nationhood and Empire 421
Margaret Linley
24 Poetry in the Four Nations 438
Matthew Campbell
25 Poetry and Religion 457
W. David Shaw
26 Poetry and Science 475
Alan Rauch
27 Landscape and Cityscape 493
Pauline Fletcher
28 Vision and Visuality 510
Catherine Maxwell
29 Marriage and Gender 526
Julia F. Saville
30 Sexuality and Love 543
John Maynard
Index 567
