Pre-Raphaelite Poetry: An Anthology

by Paul Negri (Editor)

This outstanding anthology presents the most inspired verse of the the Pre-Raphaelite movement — a treasury of poems that resounds with a lush musicality of language. The poetry of Dante Gabriel Rossetti crowns this highlights include "The Blessed Damozel," "My Sister's Sleep," and selections from The House of Life. Christina Rossetti is amply represented by "Remember," "Cousin Kate," "Song," "The Convent Threshold," and other memorable poems. Algernon Charles Swinburne's "The Garden of Proserpine" and William Morris' "The Haystack in the Floods" appear here, along with George Meredith's "Lucifer by Starlight" and selections from Modern Love.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, 19th Century

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2003

Reviews

[Francisco Becerra]

This is an obliged reference for the Romantic period and the Gothic movement. Desolate vistas of decay where mysterious women walk side by side with the supernatural enrapture with each passing page. Dante Gabriel Rosseti's poems are convoluted, filled with lavish images of grandiose and isolated beauty. Christina, his sister, had a more standard use of metrics, but her portrayal of the life, fears and passion of the Victorian woman are priceless. Swinburne was a master of metric experimentation and musicality (even Borges acknowledge that). Morris' and Meredith's poems were, by comparison with their prdecessors in this anthology, less elaborate or profound, hence the 4 stars.

[Kirsty]

I adore the Pre-Raphaelites, and have wanted an anthology like this for such a long time. The introductory note, which one presumes is written by the book’s editor, Paul Negri, is insightful. The book’s blurb states that it ‘contains a rich selection of works by the major Pre-Raphaelite poets’. These ‘major’ poets are comprised of five in total – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, William Morris and George Meredith. I would not personally call it an anthology in this respect, but each to their own. I liked the little biographies which appeared at the start of each poet’s work, and it is true to say that this is such a lovely collection and, indeed, selection of work.

To talk about the poetry, then. I very much adored all of Christina Rossetti’s work, as I knew I would, and I loved much of her brother’s too. Swinburne and Meredith were both poets whom I had not read before, and I very much enjoyed their style. The imagery which their poems created in my mind was stunning. I was so pleased to see William Morris here, and think it quite sad that his poetry is so neglected. For me, it is as beautiful as his prints:

He did not die in the night,
He did not die in the day,
But in the morning twilight
His spirit pass’d away,
When neither sun nor moon was bright,
And the trees were merely grey.
(From ‘Shameful Death’)

[WILLIAM SEATON]

Readers may wish to have a look at my essay "The Problem with Swinburne" at http://williamseaton.blogspot.com/201....
Those interested in the literature of the period m ay also be nrerested in "A Decadent's Dilemmas" about Ernest Diowson at http://williamseaton.blogspot.com/201... .

[Andrew Wright]

What a tedious collection. The other Victorian poets had more to offer. For the Rossetti's their return to the simplicity of pre-raphaelite forms was really a return to insipidity.

[Margherita Mocenigo]

First time reading the Pre - Raphaelites and was struck by how beautiful they are. I have a preference to the poetry of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Incredibly artistic and vivid.

[Joseph Wilson]

Hard and cold and small, of all hearts the worst of all

[Beth]

Includes poems by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, William Morris, and George Meredith. I only really liked the poems by Christina Rossetti, and I think her earlier poems were the best ones. I like poems that tell a story better than purely descriptive poems. Some of the poems were very cryptic and hard to understand.

[Gisela]

Inclui alguns dos poemas que estiveram enterrados por 7 anos com a musa de Rosseti, Lizzie Siddal. :)