The Poetry of Mary Robinson: Form and Fame

296 Pages·2011·4.074 MB·English

by  Daniel Robinson (auth.)

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
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The series editor is Marilyn Gaull, PhD (Indiana University), FEA. She has taught
at William and Mary, Temple University, New York University, and is Research
Professor at the Editorial Institute at Boston University. She is the founder and ed-
itor of The Wordsworth Circle and the author of English Romanticism: The Human
Context, and editions, essays, and reviews in journals. She lectures internationally on
British Romanticism, folklore, and narrative theory, intellectual history, publishing
procedures, and history of science.
PUBLISHED BY PALGRAVE:
Shelley’s German Afterlives, by Susanne Schmid
Coleridge, the Bible, and Religion, by Jeffrey W. Barbeau
Romantic Literature, Race, and Colonial Encounter, by Peter J. Kitson
Byron, edited by Cheryl A. Wilson
Romantic Migrations, by Michael Wiley
The Long and Winding Road from Blake to the Beatles, by Matthew Schneider
British Periodicals and Romantic Identity, by Mark Schoenfield
Women Writers and Nineteenth-Century Medievalism, by Clare Broome Saunders
British Victorian Women’s Periodicals, by Kathryn Ledbetter
Romantic Diasporas, by Toby R. Benis
Romantic Literary Families, by Scott Krawczyk
Victorian Christmas in Print, by Tara Moore
Culinary Aesthetics and Practices in Nineteenth-Century American Literature,
Edited by Monika Elbert and Marie Drews
Reading Popular Culture in Victorian Print, by Alberto Gabriele
Romanticism and the Object, Edited by Larry H. Peer
Poetics en passant, by Anne Jamison
From Song to Print, by Terence Hoagwood
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
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
FORTHCOMING TITLES:
Romanticism and the City, by Larry H. Peer
Coleridge and the Daemonic Imagination, by Gregory Leadbetter
Romantic Dharma, by Mark Lussier
Regions of Sara Coleridge’s Thought, by Peter Swaab
The Poetry of Mary
Robinson
Form and Fame
Daniel Robinson
THE POETRY OF MARY ROBINSON
Copyright © Daniel Robinson, 2011.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-10025-1
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.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-28642-3 ISBN 978-0-230-11803-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230118034
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robinson, Daniel, 1969–
The poetry of Mary Robinson : form and fame / Daniel Robinson.
p. cm.—(Nineteenth-century major lives & letters)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Robinson, Mary, 1758–1800—Criticism and interpretation.
2. Robinson, Mary, 1758–1800—Poetic works. I. Title.
PR5233.R27Z85 2011
821(cid:2).6—dc22 2010035168
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: March 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my mother, Miriam C. Robinson,
the preeminent “Mrs. Robinson”
Poor poet! happy art thou, thus remov’d
From pride and folly!—for in thy domain
Thou can’st command thy subjects;—fill thy lines—
Wield the all-conqu’ring weapon heav’n bestows
In the grey goose’s wing! which, tow’ring high,
Bears thy rich fancy to IMMORTAL FAME!
—Mary Robinson, “The Poet’s Garret”
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Sources and Symbols xi
Introduction: The Wreath of Fame 1
1 Bell’s Laureates I: Robinson’s Avatars and
the Della Crusca Network 15
2 Bell’s Laureates II: . . . So Goes the World 63
3 The English Sappho and the Legitimate Sonnet 111
4 Stuart’s Laureates I: Poets and Politics Perplext 153
5 Stuart’s Laureates II: A Woman of Undoubted Genius 197
Notes 243
Works Cited 257
Index 269
Acknowledgments
F
irst and foremost, I thank Marilyn Gaull for her support and guid-
ance. I hope that the present study proves worthy of the confidence,
encouragement, and direction she has provided to me from its incep-
tion through its publication. At Palgrave, I thank Brigitte Shull, Lee
Norton, and Jo Roberts for their assistance. Portions of chapters four
and five have appeared in The Wordsworth Circle; I am grateful to
Marilyn for permission to republish them in revised form.
My interest in Mary Robinson’s poetry began in 1992 when, dur-
ing my first year in graduate school, I had the good fortune to enroll
in Paula R. Feldman’s graduate seminar on Romantic Poetry. Paula
introduced me to Robinson’s poetry and has been a tireless supporter
of my work since then, particularly as a superlative mentor, inspiring
collaborator, and valued friend.
I am deeply grateful to William Brewer for his invitation to edit
the poetry for Pickering and Chatto’s edition, under his general edi-
torship, of the Works of Mary Robinson. I am indebted to the work of
Stuart Curran and of Judith Pascoe, who, in addition to pioneering
the study of Robinson’s poetry, provided crucial help to me during
the completion of my edition. I am proud to be in the company of
my fellow editors of the Pickering and Chatto edition, but thank es-
pecially Bill Brewer, Hester Davenport, and Dawn Vernooy-Epp for
specific help during this project. I also want to acknowledge a cohort
of Robinsonists (Robinsonians) with whom I have had the pleasure
of working, even if in most cases not actually in person, and of know-
ing, in person, on Facebook, or via email. In addition to those already
named, I have thought of the following as my ideal readers: Ashley
Cross, Tim Fulford, Jacqueline Labbe, Sharon Setzer, Julie Shaffer,
and Lisa Vargo. I thank especially Michael Gamer for his friendship,
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
x Acknowledgments
Romanticism, Then and Now,” at the University of Nebraska, where
I finished writing this book. I am grateful to Steve and all of the
participants for their support and camaraderie, with special thanks to
Jason Goldsmith.
At Widener University, I am blessed with a supportive dean,
Matthew Poslusny, to whom I am grateful. I also owe special thanks
to the staff of the Wolfgram Library, especially Susan Tsiouris. I
would be remiss if I did not thank the students who endured a se-
mester of Mary Robinson during the spring of 2010, but who also
greatly enriched my thinking about her poetry. Susan Logsdon’s
insights were particularly brilliant, and I thank her for reading the
manuscript. Thanks to Mark Graybill for being a good friend, valued
colleague, and awesome lead guitarist. Also at Widener, I am fortu-
nate to have as a colleague Janine Utell, who has been a generous
friend and inspiration during this project. I owe her many thanks for
brainstorming, feedback, and encouragement.
As always, I am deeply grateful for the love, support, and patience
of my family, Wendy Warren and Sarah Margaret Robinson.