Romanticism, lyricism, and history
By: Sarah M. Zimmerman.
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Albbany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 233
Subjects: Wordsworth, William, 1770-1850 -- Criticism and interpretation; Clare, John, 1793-1864 -- Criticism and interpretation; Smith, Charlotte Turner, 1749-1806 -- Poetic works; Wordsworth, Dorothy, 1771-1855; English poetry -- 19th century -- History and criticism; Literature and history -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century; Literature and history -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century; Romanticism -- Great Britain
Description: Arguing against a persistent view of Romantic lyricism as an inherently introspective mode, this book examines how Charlotte Smith, William Wordsworth, and John Clare recognized end employed the mode's immense capacity for engaging reading audiences in reflections both personal and social.

Zimmerman focuses new attention on the Romantic lyric's audiences - not the silent, passive auditor of canonical paradigms, but historical readers and critics who can tell us more than we have asked about the mode's rhetorical possibilities.

She situates poems within the specific circumstances of their production and consumption, including the aftermath in England of the French Revolution, rural poverty, the processes of parliamentary enclosure, the biographical contours of poet's careers, and the myriad exchanges among poets, patrons, publishers, critics, and readers in the literary marketplace.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-222) and index.