Victorian Women Poets: An Annotated Anthology

by Virginia Blain

There has been a huge revival of interest in Victorian women's poetry in the last ten years, and it has led to a major reconfiguration of the English poetic landscape of the nineteenth century. This title offers a key selection of poems by 13 Victorian women poets from Christina Rosetti and Felicia Hemans to the witty, iconoclastic May Kendall. The book starts with a substantial general Introduction which places the work of the poets into a context both historical (that of the poems' production) and modern (that of their past and present reception). Each poet's work is introduced by an expansive headnote which tells the story of her life and writing career. The poems all have full explanatory notes to help readers unfamiliar with the period. A Bibliography lists general sources as well as useful further readings. Written in an engaging and accessible manner, the extensive annotations throughout Victorian Women Poets ensure that this fascinating poetry is enjoyable for undergraduate and non-specialist readers.

Genres: Poetry

400 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2009

Reviews

[Janessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

As you can imagine, I didn't read all of the poems in the anthology.

But the ones that I did read, I enjoyed.

The low rating is simply because I don't ever see myself reaching for this book again -- maybe for another class.