Victorian poetry was read and enjoyed by a much larger audience than is sometimes thought. Publication in widely-circulating periodicals, reprinting in book reviews, and excerpting in novels and essays ensured that major poets such as Tennyson, Browning, Hardy and Rossetti were household names, and they remain popular today. The Cambridge Introduction to Victorian Poetry provides an accessible overview of British poetry from 1830 to 1901, paying particular attention to its role in mass media print culture. Designed to interest both students and scholars, the book traces lively dialogues between poets and explains poets' choices of form, style and language. It also demonstrates poetry's relevance to Victorian debates on science, social justice, religion, imperialism, and art. Featuring a glossary of literary terms, a guide to further reading, and two examples of close readings of Victorian poems, this introduction is the ideal starting-point for the study of verse in the nineteenth century.
Preface; Acknowledgments; Introducing Victorian poetry; Part I. The Forms of Victorian Poetry: 1. Victorian experimentalism; 2. Victorian dialogues with tradition; 3. The impress of print; Part II. The Rhetoric of Victorian Poetry: 4. Poetry, technology, science; 5. Poetry and religion; 6. Poetry and the heart's affections; 7. Poetry and empire; 8. Poetic liberties; 9. Art for art's sake; Coda: close readings: Aurora Leigh, 'Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam' and 'Friends Beyond'; Glossary; Guide to further reading; Index.
