History and Poetics in the Early Writings of William Morris, 18551870 [Hardcover]

Florence S. BoossHistory and Poetics in the Early Writings of William Morris, 18551870examines Morriss literary development in the context of his Victorian contemporaries, probing the cross-influences of temperament, cultural ambiance, early reader reactions, and his restless search for an authentic poetic voice. Boos argues that to understand this development, we must understand how Morris reinterpreted and transformed medieval history and legend into modern guise. In doing so, Morris preserved a duality of privacy and detachmentthe intimacy of personal lyrics and the detachment (and silences) of historical judgment.?????????????? Booss study is the first to utilize surviving original manuscripts, periodical publications, and poems unpublished during Morriss lifetime.History and Poetics in the Early Writings of William Morris, 18551870traces Morriss literary evolution through his juvenile poems; the essays, poems, and prose romances of theOxford and CambridgeMagazine; the startlingly original verses ofThe Defence of Guenevere; and the ten years of experimentation that preceded his two best-known epics,The Life and Deathof JasonandThe Earthly Paradise. This book explores the young poets successive efforts to find a balancing ethical framework through poetrya framework that was at once a motivation for action and a template for authentic, shared popular art, one that reemerges forcefully in his later work.

Examines William Morriss literary development in the context of his Victorian contemporaries, probing the cross-influences of temperament, cultural ambiance, early reader reactions, and his restless search for an authentic poetic voice.

“Florence Boos’s name is virtually synonymous with important discoveries, recoveries, and interpretations of the work of William Morris. Truly, she is without peer when it comes to guiding readers into and through the worll³ª