The Improvisatrice: And Other Poems

by Letitia Elizabeth Landon

The And Other Poems by Letitia Elizabeth Landon is a Romantic-era collection of verse that weaves lyric introspection with narrative sketches drawn from Italian, Iberian, Indian, and classical landscapes. At the center stands The Improvisatrice, spoken in the voice of a Florence-born artist who channels genius through painting, music, and memory, and whose passion is tempered by tragedy and longing. The volume then gathers a gallery of shorter pieces and longer legends—Rosalie, Roland’s Tower, The Guerilla Chief, The Bayadere, The Sailor, The Covenanters, The Idiot Boy, The Soldier’s Funeral, Arion, and many songs and dramatic scenes. Across these works Landon moves between myth and history, courtly romance and war-torn realism, moral reflection and gusts of romantic fever. Themes of fidelity and betrayal, the sanctity of art, the costs of love, and the persistence of memory recur as the poems inhabit a kaleidoscope of voices, from the orientalized to the sentimental. The collection displays Landon’s melodic diction, fondness for vivid tableaux, and a pioneering blend of narrative with lyric expression.

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Letitia Elizabeth Landon was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.

Reviews

[Dana]

An apt follow-up to Cunningham's How To Spin Gold. Delighting.