Felicia Hemans: Selected Poems, Letters, Reception Materials - Paperback

by Susan J. Wolfson (Editor)

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."

Back Jacket

"An extraordinary editorial achievement. For the first time, Susan Wolfson has provided us with a scholarly, superbly annotated and introduced edition of the major works of the most popular and important female poet of the Romantic era in England, Felicia Hemans."--Anne Mellor, University of California at Los Angeles

Author Biography

Susan Wolfson is Professor of English at Princeton University. She is the author of several critical volumes on poetry of the British Romantic era and the editor of critical editions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and editions of Byron, Hood, Praed, Beddoes, as well as the "Romantics" unit of the Longman Anthology of British Literature.