The first standard edition of the writings of Felicia Hemans
(1793-1835), this volume marks a revival of interest in, and a new
critical appreciation of, one of the most important literary
figures of the early nineteenth century. A best-selling poet in
England and America, Felicia Hemans was regarded as leading female
poet in her day, celebrated as the epitome of national "feminine"
values. However, this same narrow perception of her work eventually
relegated Hemans to an obscurity lightened occasionally by parody
and a sentimental enthusiasm for poems such as "The Landing of the
Pilgrim Fathers" and "Casabianca." Only now is Hemans's work being
rediscovered and reconsidered--for the complexity of its social and
political vision, but also for its sounding of dissonances in
nineteenth-century cultural ideals, and for its recasting of the
traditional canon of male "Romantics."
Offering readers a firsthand acquaintance with the remarkable
range of Hemans's writing, this volume includes five major works in
their entirety, along with a much-admired aggregate, "Records of
Woman." Hemans's letters, many published here for the first time,
reflect her views of her contemporaries, her work, her negotiations
with publishers, and her emerging celebrity, while reviews and
letters from others--including Lord Byron, Walter Scott, and the
Wordsworths--tell the story of Hemans's reception in her time. An
introduction by editor Susan Wolfson puts these writings, as well
as Hemans's life and work, into much-needed perspective for the
contemporary reader.
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