Table Of Content

Nineteenth-Century Major Lives and Letters Series Editor: Marilyn Gaull This series presents original biographical, critical, and scholarly studies of literary works and public figures in Great Britain, North America, and continental Europe during the nineteenth century. The volumes in Nineteenth-Century Major Lives and Letters evoke the energies, achievements, contributions, cultural traditions, and indi- 3 viduals who reflected and generated them during the Romantic and Victorian period. 4-1 0 The topics: critical, textual, and historical scholarship, literary and book history, biog- 1- 1 raphy, cultural and comparative studies, critical theory, art, architecture, science, pol- 20 itics, religion, music, language, philosophy, aesthetics, law, publication, translation, ct - e domestic and public life, popular culture, and anything that influenced, impinges nn o upon, expresses or contributes to an understanding of the authors, works, and events C e of the nineteenth century. The authors consist of political figures, artists, scientists, av gr and cultural icons including William Blake, Thomas Hardy, Charles Darwin, William al P Wordsworth, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Taylor, and their contemporaries. o - The series editor is Marilyn Gaull, PhD (Indiana University), FEA. She has taught ms o at William and Mary, Temple University, New York University, and is Research Tr Professor at the Editorial Institute at Boston University. She is the founder and ed- et i k itor of The Wordsworth Circle and the author of English Romanticism: The Human ote Context, and editions, essays, and reviews in journals. She lectures internationally on bli bi British Romanticism, folklore, and narrative theory, intellectual history, publishing s et procedures, and history of science. sit er v ni PUBLISHED BY PALGRAVE: U o Shelley’s German Afterlives, by Susanne Schmid d t e s Coleridge, the Bible, and Religion, by Jeffrey W. Barbeau n e RByormona,n etdici tLeidt ebrya tCuhree,r Ryl aAc.e ,W anildso Cnolonial Encounter, by Peter J. Kitson m - lic o Romantic Migrations, by Michael Wiley ct.c The Long and Winding Road from Blake to the Beatles, by Matthew Schneider ne n British Periodicals and Romantic Identity, by Mark Schoenfield co e Women Writers and Nineteenth-Century Medievalism, by Clare Broome Saunders av British Victorian Women’s Periodicals, by Kathryn Ledbetter algr Romantic Diasporas, by Toby R. Benis w.p w Romantic Literary Families, by Scott Krawczyk w Victorian Christmas in Print, by Tara Moore m o Culinary Aesthetics and Practices in Nineteenth-Century American Literature, al fr Edited by Monika Elbert and Marie Drews eri Reading Popular Culture in Victorian Print, by Alberto Gabriele mat Romanticism and the Object, Edited by Larry H. Peer ht g Poetics en passant, by Anne Jamison yri p From Song to Print, by Terence Hoagwood Co Gothic Romanticism, by Tom Duggett Victorian Medicine and Social Reform, by Louise Penner Populism, Gender, and Sympathy in the Romantic Novel, by James P. Carson Byron and the Rhetoric of Italian Nationalism, by Arnold A. Schmidt Poetry and Public Discourse in Nineteenth-Century America, by Shira Wolosky The Discourses of Food in Nineteenth-Century British Fiction, by Annette Cozzi Romanticism and Pleasure, Edited by Thomas H. Schmid and Michelle Faubert 10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel Robinson 99778800223300110000225511__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd ii 1122//2288//22001100 1111::0088::0011 AAMM Royal Romances, by Kristin Flieger Samuelian Trauma, Transcendence, and Trust, by Thomas J. Brennan, S.J. The Business of Literary Circles in Nineteenth-Century America, by David Dowling Popular Medievalism in Romantic-Era Britain, by Clare A. Simmons Beyond Romantic Ecocriticism, by Ashton Nichols The Poetry of Mary Robinson, by Daniel Robinson 3 1 FORTHCOMING TITLES: 4- 0 1- Romanticism and the City, by Larry H. Peer 1 0 2 CRoolmeraindtgiec aDnhda trhme aD, abeym Monairck I Lmuasgsiienration, by Gregory Leadbetter ect - n Regions of Sara Coleridge’s Thought, by Peter Swaab on C e v a gr al P o - s m o Tr et i k e ot bli bi s et sit er v ni U o d t e s n e c m - li o c ct. e n n o c e v a gr al p w. w w m o al fr eri at m ht g yri p o C 10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel Robinson 99778800223300110000225511__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd iiii 1122//2288//22001100 1111::0088::0022 AAMM The Poetry of Mary Robinson 13 4- 0 1- 1 0 2 Form and Fame ct - e n n o C e v a gr al P Daniel Robinson so - m o Tr et i k e ot bli bi s et sit er v ni U o d t e s n e c m - li o c ct. e n n o c e v a gr al p w. w w m o al fr eri at m ht g yri p o C 10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel Robinson 99778800223300110000225511__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd iiiiii 1122//2288//22001100 1111::0088::0022 AAMM THE POETRY OF MARY ROBINSON Copyright © Daniel Robinson, 2011. All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. 3 1 4- Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, 0 1- this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1 0 rBeagsiisntgesrteodk ien, HEnagmlapnsdh,i rceo mRGp2a1n y6 nXuSm. ber 785998, of Houndmills, ect - 2 n n Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies o C and has companies and representatives throughout the world. ve a Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, algr the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. o - P ISBN: 978–0–230–10025–1 ms o Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data et i Tr Robinson, Daniel, 1969– ek T hpe. cpmoe.—try( Nofin Metaereyn Rtho-bcinensotunr :y f moramjo ar nlidv efas m&e l e/ tDtearnsi)el Robinson. bibliot Includes bibliographical references and index. ets ISBN 978–0–230–10025–1 sit er 1. Robinson, Mary, 1758–1800—Criticism and interpretation. v ni 2. Robinson, Mary, 1758–1800—Poetic works. I. Title. U o PR5233.R27Z85 2011 d t e 821(cid:1).6—dc22 2010035168 ns e c A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. m - li Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. o c First edition: March 2011 ect. n n 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 co e v Printed in the United States of America. gra al p w. w w m o al fr eri at m ht g yri p o C 10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel Robinson 99778800223300110000225511__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd iivv 1122//2288//22001100 1111::0088::0022 AAMM 3 1 4- 0 1- 1 0 2 ct - e n n o C e v a gr al P o - s m o Tr et i k e ot bli bi s et sit er v For my mother, Miriam C. Robinson, ni U the preeminent “Mrs. Robinson” d to e s n e c m - li o c ct. e n n o c e v a gr al p w. w w m o al fr eri at m ht g yri p o C 10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel Robinson 99778800223300110000225511__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd vv 1122//2288//22001100 1111::0088::0022 AAMM 3 1 4- 0 1- 1 0 2 ct - e n n o C e v a gr al P o - s m o Tr et i Poor poet! happy art thou, thus remov’d ek ot From pride and folly!—for in thy domain bli bi Thou can’st command thy subjects;—fill thy lines— ets Wield the all-conqu’ring weapon heav’n bestows ersit v In the grey goose’s wing! which, tow’ring high, ni U Bears thy rich fancy to IMMORTAL FAME! d to e s —Mary Robinson, “The Poet’s Garret” en c m - li o c ct. e n n o c e v a gr al p w. w w m o al fr eri at m ht g yri p o C 10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel Robinson 99778800223300110000225511__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd vvii 1122//2288//22001100 1111::0088::0022 AAMM Contents 3 1 4- 0 1- 1 0 2 Acknowledgments ix ct - e n n o A Note on Sources and Symbols xi C e v a gr al P Introduction: The Wreath of Fame 1 o - s m 1 Bell’s Laureates I: Robinson’s Avatars and Tro the Della Crusca Network 15 et i k e ot 2 Bell’s Laureates II: . . . So Goes the World 63 bli bi s 3 The English Sappho and the Legitimate Sonnet 111 sitet er 4 Stuart’s Laureates I: Poets and Politics Perplext 153 niv U o 5 Stuart’s Laureates II: A Woman of Undoubted Genius 197 d t e s n e c Notes 243 m - li o c Works Cited 257 ect. n n o Index 269 ec v a gr al p w. w w m o al fr eri at m ht g yri p o C 10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel Robinson 99778800223300110000225511__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd vviiii 1122//2288//22001100 1111::0088::0022 AAMM 3 1 4- 0 1- 1 0 2 ct - e n n o C e v a gr al P o - s m o Tr et i k e ot bli bi s et sit er v ni U o d t e s n e c m - li o c ct. e n n o c e v a gr al p w. w w m o al fr eri at m ht g yri p o C 10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel Robinson 99778800223300110000225511__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd vviiiiii 1122//2288//22001100 1111::0088::0022 AAMM Acknowledgments 3 1 4- 0 1- 1 0 First and foremost, I thank Marilyn Gaull for her support and guid- ct - 2 e n ance. I hope that the present study proves worthy of the confidence, on C encouragement, and direction she has provided to me from its incep- ve a tion through its publication. At Palgrave, I thank Brigitte Shull, Lee algr P Norton, and Jo Roberts for their assistance. Portions of chapters four o - s and five have appeared in The Wordsworth Circle; I am grateful to m o Marilyn for permission to republish them in revised form. et i Tr My interest in Mary Robinson’s poetry began in 1992 when, dur- ek ot ing my first year in graduate school, I had the good fortune to enroll bli bi in Paula R. Feldman’s graduate seminar on Romantic Poetry. Paula s et introduced me to Robinson’s poetry and has been a tireless supporter sit er of my work since then, particularly as a superlative mentor, inspiring niv U collaborator, and valued friend. o d t I am deeply grateful to William Brewer for his invitation to edit se n the poetry for Pickering and Chatto’s edition, under his general edi- ce torship, of the Works of Mary Robinson. I am indebted to the work of m - li o Stuart Curran and of Judith Pascoe, who, in addition to pioneering ct.c e the study of Robinson’s poetry, provided crucial help to me during n n o the completion of my edition. I am proud to be in the company of ec v a my fellow editors of the Pickering and Chatto edition, but thank es- gr al pecially Bill Brewer, Hester Davenport, and Dawn Vernooy-Epp for w.p w specific help during this project. I also want to acknowledge a cohort w m of Robinsonists (Robinsonians) with whom I have had the pleasure o of working, even if in most cases not actually in person, and of know- al fr eri ing, in person, on Facebook, or via email. In addition to those already at m named, I have thought of the following as my ideal readers: Ashley ht g Cross, Tim Fulford, Jacqueline Labbe, Sharon Setzer, Julie Shaffer, yri p o and Lisa Vargo. I thank especially Michael Gamer for his friendship, C insight, and enthusiasm. Thanks also to Julie Wilson at Pickering and Chatto, Autumn Mather at the Newberry Library, and Kathryn Hodson at the Libraries of the University of Iowa. Thanks are due to Stephen C. Behrendt for inviting me to partic- ipate in his NEH 2010 Summer Seminar, “The Aesthetics of British 10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel Robinson 99778800223300110000225511__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd iixx 1122//2288//22001100 1111::0088::0022 AAMM