149-] English Literature
Letitia
Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and
novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.
The
writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age.
Her first major breakthrough came with The Improvisatrice and thence she
developed the metrical romance towards the Victorian ideal of the Victorian
monologue, casting her influence on Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning
and Christina Rossetti. Her influence can also be found in Alfred Tennyson and
in America, where she was very popular. Poe regarded her genius as
self-evident.
In
spite of these wide influences, due to the perceived immorality of Landon's
lifestyle, her works were largely ignored or misrepresented after her death.
Early life
Letitia
Elizabeth Landon was born on 14 August 1802 in Chelsea, London to John Landon
and Catherine Jane, née Bishop. A precocious child, Landon learned to read as a
toddler; a disabled neighbour would scatter letter tiles on the floor and
reward young Letitia for reading, and, according to her father, "she used
to bring home many rewards".
At
the age of five, Landon began attending Frances Arabella Rowden's school at 22
Hans Place, Knightsbridge. Rowden was an engaging teacher, a poet, and had a
particular enthusiasm for the theatre. According to Mary Russell Mitford,
"she had a knack of making poetesses of her pupils". Other pupils of
Rowden were: Caroline Ponsonby, later Lady Caroline Lamb; Emma Roberts, the
travel writer; Anna Maria Fielding, who published as Mrs S. C. Hall; and Rosina
Doyle Wheeler, who married Edward Bulwer-Lytton and published her many novels
as Rosina Bulwer Lytton. It was here that Landon became fluent in French from
an early age.
The
Landons moved to the country in 1809, so that John Landon could carry out a
model farm project. Letitia was educated at home by her older cousin Elizabeth
from that point on. Elizabeth found her knowledge and abilities outstripped by
those of her pupil: "When I asked Letitia any question relating either to
history, geography, grammar – Plutarch's Lives, or to any book we had been
reading, I was pretty certain her answers would be perfectly correct; still,
not exactly recollecting, and unwilling she should find out just then that I
was less learned than herself, I used thus to question her: 'Are you quite
certain?' ... I never knew her to be wrong."
When
young, Letitia was close to her younger brother, Whittington Henry, born 1804.
Paying for university education for him, at Worcester College, Oxford , was one
of the reasons that brought Letitia to publish. She also supported his
preferment and later (in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838) dedicated her
poetical illustration Captain Cook to him, in recollection of their domestic
childhood adventures together. Whittington went on to become a minister and
published a book of sermons in 1835. Rather than showing appreciation for his
sister's assistance, he spread false rumours about her marriage and death. Letitia
also had a younger sister, Elizabeth Jane (born 1806), who was a frail child
and died in 1819 aged just 13. Little is known of Elizabeth but her death may
well have left a profound impression on Letitia and it could be Elizabeth who
is referred to in the poem "The Forgotten One" ("I have no early
flowers to fling").
Literary
career
An
agricultural depression meant that the Landon family moved back to London in
1815. There John Landon made the acquaintance of William Jerdan, editor of The
Literary Gazette. According to Mrs A. T. Thomson, Jerdan took notice of the
young Letitia Landon when he saw her coming down the street, "trundling a
hoop with one hand, and holding in the other a book of poems, of which she was
catching a glimpse between the agitating course of her evolutions". Jerdan
later described her ideas as "original and extraordinary". He
encouraged Landon's poetic endeavours, and her first poem was published under
the single initial "L" in the Gazette in 1820, when Landon was 18.
The following year, with financial support from her grandmother, Landon
published a book of poetry, The Fate of Adelaide, under her full name. The book
met with little critical notice, but sold well; Landon, however, received no
profits, since the publisher shortly went out of business. The same month that
The Fate of Adelaide appeared, Landon published two poems under the initials
"L.E.L." in the Gazette; these poems, and the initials under which
they were published, attracted much discussion and speculation. As contemporary
critic Laman Blanchard put it, the initials L.E.L. "speedily became a
signature of magical interest and curiosity". Bulwer Lytton wrote that, as
a young college student, he and his classmates would rush every Saturday
afternoon for the Literary Gazette, [with] an impatient anxiety to hasten at
once to that corner of the sheet which contained the three magical letters
L.E.L. And all of us praised the verse, and all of us guessed at the author. We
soon learned it was a female, and our admiration was doubled, and our
conjectures tripled.
Landon
served as the Gazette's chief reviewer as she continued to write poetry and she
soon began to display an enthusiastic interest in art, which she projected into
her poetic productions. She began, in innovative fashion, with a series on
Medallion Wafers, which were commercially produced highly decorative letter
seals. This was closely followed in the Literary Gazette by a Poetical
Catalogue of Pictures, which was to be ‘continued occasionally’ and which in
fact continued unremarked into 1824, the year her landmark volume, The
Improvisatrice; and Other Poems was published. A further group of these poems
was published in 1825 in her next volume, The Troubadour, as Poetical Sketches
of Modern Pictures. In The Troubadour she included a lament for her late
father, who died in 1824, thus forcing her to write to support her family; Some
contemporaries saw this profit-motive as detrimental to the quality of Landon's
work: a woman was not supposed to be a professional writer. Also, by 1826,
Landon's reputation began to suffer as rumours circulated that she had had
affairs or secretly borne children. However, her further volumes of poetry
continued to be favourably reviewed, these being The Golden Violet with its
Tales of Romance and Chivalry and Other Poems (1827) and The Venetian Bracelet,
The Lost Pleiad, A History of the Lyre, and Other Poems (1829).
The
new trend of annual gift books provided her with new opportunities for
continuing her engagement with art through combinations of an engraved artwork
and what she came to call ‘a poetical illustration’. In the 1830s she became a
highly valued artist in this field, included amongst her work, most of the
poetry for Fisher’s Drawing Room Scrap Books from 1832 through to 1839. Sarah
Sheppard describes this work thus: 'How did pictures ever seem to speak to her
soul ! how would she seize on some interesting characteristic in the painting
or engraving before her, and inspire it with new life, till that pictured scene
spread before you in bright association with some touching history or
spirit-stirring poem! L.E.L.'s appreciation of painting, like that of music,
was intellectual rather than mechanical,—belonging to the combinations rather
than to the details; she loved the poetical effects and suggestive influences
of the Arts, although caring not for their mere technicalities.'[17] In the
words of Glenn T. Hines, 'What L.E.L.'s readers appreciated in her creations
was that "new life" that she brought to her subject. Her imaginative
re-castings produced intellectual pleasure for her audience. The wonderful
characteristic of L.E.L.'s writings, which her readers recognized, was the
author's special creative capacity to bring new meanings to her audience.'
She
continued to publish poetry, but, as trends changed, she turned to prose in
1831 with her first novel, Romance and Reality. The following year, she
produced her only volume of religious poetry, The Easter Gift, again as
illustrations to engravings of artwork. Next she was responsible for the whole
of Heath's Book of Beauty, 1833, her most self-consciously Byronic volume,
which opens with The Enchantress in which she creates a 'Promethean, distinctly
Luciferan, model of poetic identity and self-creation'. She returned to the
long poem with The Zenana in the Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1834 and gave the
1835 Scrap Book a sting in the tale with The Fairy of the Fountains, Landon's
version of the Melusine legend displaying 'the aesthetic dilemma of the woman
poet who is exiled not once like the male poet, but twice'. 1834 also saw the
publication of her second novel, Francesca Carrara, of which one reviewer
commented 'A sterner goddess never presided over the destinies of a novel'.
In
July that year Landon visited Paris with a friend, Miss Turin, who was
unfortunately taken ill, restricting Landon's activities. However, amongst
those she met were Heinrich Heine, Prosper Mérimée, Chateaubriand and Madame
Tastu.
In
1835, she became engaged to John Forster. Forster became aware of the rumours
regarding Landon's sexual activity, and asked her to refute them. Landon
responded that Forster should "make every inquiry in [his] power",
which Forster did; after he pronounced himself satisfied, however, Landon broke
off their engagement. To him, she wrote:
The
more I think, the more I feel I ought not – I can not – allow you to unite
yourself with one accused of – I can not write it. The mere suspicion is
dreadful as death. Were it stated as a fact, that might be disproved . Were it
a difficulty of any other kind, I might say, Look back at every action of my
life, ask every friend I have. But what answer can I give ... ? I feel that to
give up all idea of a near and dear connection is as much my duty to myself as
to you....
Privately,
Landon stated that she would never marry a man who had mistrusted her. In a
letter to Bulwer Lytton, she wrote that "if his future protection is to
harass and humiliate me as much as his present – God keep me from it ... I
cannot get over the entire want of delicacy to me which could repeat such
slander to myself."
A
further volume of poetry, The Vow of the Peacock, was published in 1835 and, in
1836, a volume of stories and poetry for children, Traits and Trials of Early
Life. The History of a Child from this volume may draw on the surroundings of
her childhood but the circumstances of the story are so unlike the known facts
of her early life that it can scarcely be considered as autobiographical.
During
the 1830s, Landon’s poetry became more thoughtful and mature. Some of her best
poems appeared in The New Monthly Magazine culminating in the series, Subjects
for Pictures, with their elaborate rhyming patterns. These are in a sense a
reversal of her earlier poetical illustrations of existing pictures. Also in
that magazine is the set, Three Extracts from the Diary of a Week and here, she
expresses her aim in opening lines, which, in Sypher’s words 'could stand as a
preface to much of her poetry'.
A
record of the inward world, whose facts
Are
thoughts—and feelings—fears, and hopes, and dreams.
There
are some days that might outmeasure years—
Days
that obliterate the past, and make
The
future of the colour which they cast .
A
day may be a destiny; for life
Lives
in but little—but that little teems
With
some one chance, the balance of all time:
A
look—a word—and we are wholly changed.
We
marvel at ourselves—we would deny
That
which is working in the hidden soul;
But
the heart knows and trembles at the truth:
On
such these records linger.
In
1837, Landon published a further novel, Ethel Churchill. and began to explore
new forms in which to express her literary talent.[26] One of these was her
dramatic tragedy, Castruccio Castracani, which represents a culmination of her
development of the metrical romance, both in its form and content. Already, she
had experimented with verses for Schloss's Bijou Almanacks, which measured 3/4
by 1/2 inch and were to be read with a magnifier. She also negotiated with
Heath for the publication in the future of a series of Female Portraits of
characters from literature. Her final endeavour was Lady Anne Granard (or
Keeping up Appearances), a novel on a lighter note, but her work on this at
Cape Coast was cut short all too soon.
Later
life
Landon
began to "[talk] of marrying any one , and of wishing to get away, from
England, and from those who had thus misunderstood her". In October 1836,
Landon met George Maclean, governor of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), at a dinner
party given by Matthew Forster, and the two began a relationship. Maclean,
however, moved to Scotland early the following year, to the surprise and
distress of Landon and her friends. After much prodding, Maclean returned to
England and he and Landon were married shortly thereafter, on 7 June 1838. The
marriage was held privately, and Landon spent the first month of it living with
friends. Her schoolfriend Emma Roberts wrote of Maclean:
No
one could better appreciate than L.E.L. the high and sterling qualities of her
lover's character, his philanthropic and unceasing endeavours to improve the
condition of the natives of Africa; the noble manner in which he interfered to
prevent the horrid waste of human life by the barbarian princes in his
neighbourhood; and the chivalric energy with which he strove to put an end to
the slave-trade. L.E.L. esteemed Mr Maclean the more, in consequence of his not
approaching her with the adulation with which her ear had been accustomed, to
satiety; she was gratified by the manly nature of his attachment. Possessing,
in her estimation, merits of the highest order, the influence which he gained
over her promised, in the opinion of those who were best acquainted with the
docility of her temper, and her ready acquiescence with the wishes of those she
loved, to ensure lasting happiness.
In
early July, the couple sailed for Cape Coast, where they arrived on 16 August
1838. During the short time she had in Africa, Landon continued her work on The
Female Portrait Gallery, covering Walter Scott's principal heroines, and
completed the first volume of a new novel, Lady Anne Granard, or Keeping Up
Appearances .
In
his 1883 memoir Retrospect of a Long Life, Samuel Carter Hall writes of
Landon's marriage and husband in very negative terms. "Her marriage
wrecked her life; but before that fatal mistake was made, slander had been busy
with her fair fame" (Retrospect , p. 395). Landon had taken "refuge
from [slander] . . . in union with a man utterly incapable of appreciating her
or making her happy, and [she] went out with him to his government at the Gold
Coast -- to die" (ibid.). Her death was "not even -- tragical as such
an ending would have been . . . to wither before the pestilential influences
that steam up from that wilderness of swamp and jungle" but rather
"to die a violent death -- a fearful one" (ibid.). Here Hall asserts
his belief that Landon was murdered by her husband's common-law wife:
"unhappy 'L.E.L.' was murdered I have had a doubt. . . . She landed at
Cape Coast Castle in July, 1838, and on the 15th of October she was dead . . .
from having accidentally taken a dose of prussic acid. But where was she to
have procured that poison? . . . .It was not among the contents of the
medicine-chest she took out from England" ( ibid., pp. 395–396) . Rather,
claims Hall, after arriving in Africa, "Maclean left her on board while he
went to arrange matters on shore. A negro woman was there, with four or five
children -- his children; she had to be sent into the interior to make room for
her legitimate successor. It is understood the negress was the daughter of a
king . . . [and] from the moment 'L.E.L.' landed her life was at the mercy of
her rival; that by her hand she was done to death I am all but certain"
(ibid., p. 396).
In
fact Maclean's local mistress had left for Accra long before their arrival, as
was confirmed by later interviews with her. His going ashore was most likely to
ensure that the accommodation arranged for his new wife was in a healthy
condition. The date on her prescription for dilute prussic acid was 1836,
probably given when she was first diagnosed as having a critical heart
condition.[31] Letitia told her husband that her life depended on it.
Most
of Hall's accounts are based on the fantastic stories invented by the press
following Mrs Maclean's death and have little or no basis in fact.
Death
Two
months later, on 15 October 1838, Landon was found dead, a bottle of prussic
acid in her hand. This was a prescription labelled 'Acid Hydrocianicum Delatum,
Pharm. London 1836. Medium Dose Five Minims , being about one third the
strength of that in former use, prepared by Scheele's proof'. That she was
poisoned thereby was an assumption. There is evidence that she showed symptoms
of Stokes–Adams syndrome (for one, Mrs Elwood writes that she was subject to
spasms, hysterical affections, and deep and instantaneous fainting fits) for
which the dilute acid was the standard remedy and, as she told her husband it
was so necessary for the preservation of her life, it would appear she had been
told that her life was in danger. William Cobbald, the surgeon who attended,
reported that 'she was insensible with the pupils of both eyes much dilated',
an almost certain indication that a seizure had occurred. No autopsy was
carried out (there being no qualified pathologist available) but from the
eye-witness accounts it has been argued that Landon suffered a fatal
convulsion. Hall notes in Retrospect that Maclean refused Hall's attempts to
erect a statue in honour of Landon, and that her funeral services were shrouded
in secrecy: "on the evening of her death she was buried in the courtyard
of Cape Coast Castle . The grave was dug by torchlight amid a pitiless torrent
of rain " (Retrospect, pp. 397–398) .
Mrs.
Hall and I strove to raise money to place a monument there; but objection was
made, and the project was abandoned. Lady Blessington directed a slab to be
placed at her expense on the wall. That, also, was objected to. But her
husband, for very shame, at last permitted it to be done, and a mural table
records that in that African courtyard rests all that is mortal of Letitia
Elizabeth Maclean. (Retrospect, p. 398)
This
is another example of the disinformation being circulated at the time, see
above, and in fact the immediate burial was due to the climate and all the
European residents attended with William Topp reading the funeral service. The
sudden tropical rainstorm came subsequently during the preparation of the
grave. Blanchard states that
It
was the immediate wish of Mr. Maclean to place above this grave a suitable
memorial, and his desire was expressed in the earliest letter which he sent to
England; but we believe that some delay took place in the execution of the
order he issued, from the necessity of referring back to the Coast for
information as to the intended site of the monument, in order that it might be
prepared accordingly. "A handsome marble tablet" is now, it appears,
on its way to Cape Coast, to be erected in the castle.
Neither
Hall nor Lady Blessington had any part in it, although Lady Blessington was
hoping to erect a memorial in Brompton.
Character
sketches
Landon's
appearance and personality were described by a number of her friends and
contemporaries:
Emma
Roberts, from her introduction to "The Zenana and other works":
L.E.L.
could not be, strictly speaking, called handsome; her eyes being the only good
feature in a countenance, which was, however, so animated, and lighted up with
such intellectual expression, as to be exceedingly attractive. Gay and piquant,
her clear complexion, dark hair, and eyes, rendered her, when in health and
spirits, a sparkling brunette. The prettiness of L.E.L., though generally
acknowledged, was not talked about; and many persons, on their first
introduction, were as pleasingly surprised as the Ettrick Shepherd, who, gazing
upon her with great admiration, exclaimed "I did na think ye had been sae bonny."
Her figure was slight, and beautifully proportioned, with little hands and
feet; and these personal advantages, added to her kind and endearing manners,
rendered her exceedingly fascinating.
In
truth, she was the most unselfish of human creatures; and it was quite
extraordinary to witness her ceaseless consideration for the feelings of
others, even in minute trifles, whilst her own mind was probably troubled and
oppressed; a sweet disposition, so perfectly amiable, from Nature's fount, and
so unalterable in its manifestations throughout her entire life, that every one
who enjoyed her society loved her, and servants, companions, intimates,
friends, all united in esteem and affection for the gentle and self-sacrificing
being who never exhibited a single trait of egotism, presumption, or
unkindliness!
Perhaps
the greatest magic she exercised was, that, after the first rush of remembrance
of all that wonderful young woman had written had subsided, she rendered you
completely oblivious of what she had done by the irresistible charm of what she
was. You forgot all about her books, – you only felt the intense delight of
life with her; she was penetrating and sympathetic, and entered into your
feelings so entirely that you wondered how "the little witch" could
read you so readily and so rightly, – and if, now and then, you were startled,
perhaps dismayed, by her wit, it was but the prick of a diamond arrow. Words
and thoughts that she flung hither and thither, without design or intent beyond
the amusement of the moment, come to me still with a mingled thrill of pleasure
and pain that I cannot describe, and that my most friendly readers, not having
known her, could not understand.
It
was her invariable habit to write in her bed-room, – "a homely-looking,
almost uncomfortable room, fronting the street, and barely furnished – with a
simple white bed, at the foot of which was a small, old, oblong-shaped sort of
dressing-table, quite covered with a common worn writing-desk, heaped with
papers, while some strewed the ground, the table being too small for aught
besides the desk. A little high-backed cane chair, which gave you any idea but
that of comfort, and a few books scattered about, completed the author's
paraphernalia."
Emma
Roberts again:
She
not only read, but thoroughly understood, and entered into the merits of every
book that came out; while it is merely necessary to refer to her printed works,
to calculate the amount of information which she had gathered from preceding
authors. The history and literature of all ages and all countries were familiar
to her; nor did she acquire any portion of her knowledge in a superficial
manner; the extent of her learning, and the depth of her research, manifesting
themselves in publications which do not bear her name; her claim to them being
only known to friends, who, like myself, had access to her desk, and with whom
she knew the secret might be safely trusted.
Her
depth of reading is confirmed by Laman Blanchard in his Life, who states:
To
those who, looking at the quantity of her published prose and poetry, might
wonder how she found time for all these private and unproductive exercises of
her pen, it may be desirable to explain, not merely that she wrote, but that
she read, with remarkable rapidity. Books, indeed, of the highest character,
she would dwell upon with "amorous delay;" but those of ordinary
interest, or the nine-day wonders of literature, she would run through in a
much shorter space of time than would seem consistent with that thorough
understanding of their contents at which she always arrived, or with that
accurate observation of the less striking features which she would generally
prove to have been bestowed, by reference almost to the very page in which they
might be noted. Of some work which she scarcely seemed to have glanced through,
she would give an elaborate and succinct account, pointing out the gaps in the
plot, or the discrepancies in the characters, and supporting her judgment by
all but verbatim quotations.
Other
contemporaries also praised Landon's exceptionally high level of intelligence.
Fredric Rowton, in The Female Poets of Great Britain, put it thus:
Of
Mrs Maclean's genius there can be but one opinion. It is distinguished by very
great intellectual power, a highly sensitive and ardent imagination, an intense
fervour of passionate emotion, and almost unequalled eloquence and fluency. Of
mere art she displays but little. Her style is irregular and careless, and her
painting sketchy and rough but there is genius in every line she has written.
(Like
many others, Rowton is deceived by the artistry of Landon's projection of
herself as the improvisatrice, L. E. L. As Glennis Stevenson writes, few poets
have been as artificial as Landon in her "gushing stream of Song".
She cites the usage of repetition, mirroring and the embedding of texts amongst
the techniques that account for the characteristic intensity of Landon's
poetry.)
The
Life of Forgotten Poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon
She
was known as the “female Byron.” So why doesn’t anyone read L.E.L. anymore?
The
newly published biography L.E.L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia
Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated “Female Byron,” written by literary critic
Lucasta Miller, dives deep into the life of Letitia Elizabeth Landon. The book
covers recent revelations about the poet, examining her legacy through a modern
lens.
Landon
was writing in Romantic-era England. She published novels and essays, but was
known mostly for her sentimental romantic poetry, which appeared in literary
annuals and magazines; in 1820, when she was 18, her first poem was published
in London’s Literary Gazette. The following year, she published a book of
poetry, The Fate of Adelaide, which sold well. Her work was attributed only to
“L.E.L.,” and when her first poems were released her readers were fascinated by
the mysterious poet. There was much speculation as to who the poet behind the
initials might be before Landon was revealed as the writer. Literature scholar
Glennis Stephenson notes that her poetry contained euphemisms for sex,
allusions to passionate love, and “erotically suggestive images.” According to
Stephenson, Landon purposefully created her writing persona, L.E.L., as a
“poetic construction,” and was always keenly aware of the differences between
L.E.L. and her actual self, even if her readers were not.
Her
poetry contained euphemisms for sex, allusions to passionate love, and
“erotically suggestive images.”
Landon
understood instinctively her role as a female writer, and played with her
audience’s perceptions. Through her poems’ narrators, she molded her image into
what would be acceptable and appealing to the public, which in turn rewarded
her with more attention. Literature scholar Jonas Cope writes, “Her interest,
perhaps obsession, with the plight of personal interiority in a world of
stifling fashionable exteriors makes sense when we consider that she rose to
fame shortly after the ascension of George IV to the British throne.”
L.E.L.
was considered a “poetess.” This gendered term for literary women of the Romantic
era was a way to patronize their work as soon as it gained fame. Society and
the literary critics of the time demanded a specific construction of female
beauty, intelligence, and manner in which women should conduct themselves in
public. Landon recognized the role of the female writer in her time and, since
she needed to make a living, she took advantage. She had a keen understanding
of the market and wrote what would sell. Cope goes on to write that this was
why her poetry consisted of popular themes like love, death, and beauty.
Many
critics argue that Landon fell victim to the literary market and only wrote to
cater to a popular taste formed by the masses, never developing her own voice.
Cope, however, disagrees: “[Landon] manipulates market forces to her own
advantage. Doing so empowers her as a woman writer and literary entrepreneur.”
Landon had agency over the work she was giving the audience and found power in
it. In an 1832 article for The New Monthly Magazine, she wrote that the “best
and most popular…poetry makes its appeal to the higher and better feelings of
our nature.”
Reputation
Among
the poets of her own time to recognise and admire Landon were Elizabeth Barrett
Browning, who wrote "L.E.L.'s Last Question" in homage; and Christina
Rossetti, who published a tribute poem entitled "L.E.L" in her 1866
volume The Prince's Progress and Other Poems.
Landon's
reputation, while high in the 19th century, fell during most of the 20th as
literary fashions changed: her poetry was perceived (without any actual
examination) as overly simple and sentimental. However, such criticism had
already been addressed by Sarah Sheppard in her "Characteristics of the
Genius and Writings of L E L" of 1841. Her opening paragraph runs:
Because
they whose decision it is, are subjects of the superficial spirit of the age,
which leaves them unacquainted with all of which it appoints them judges.
Because, either from a dislike of trouble, or inability to pursue the inquiry,
these judges never deviate from their own beaten right line to observe how
genius acts and is acted upon,—how it is influenced, and what effects it
produces on society. Hence the mistaken opinions concerning literary characters
one is often compelled to hear from those who, it is to be feared, know little
of what they affirm; and of literary works from those who, it is also to be
feared, are not competent to decide on their merits. It is indeed strange with
what decision people set their seal of condemnation on volumes beyond whose
title-pages they have scarcely looked.
In
recent years, scholars and critics have increasingly studied her work,
beginning with Germaine Greer in the 1970s and critics such as Isobel Armstrong
argue that the supposed simplicity of poetry such as Landon's is deceptive, and
that women poets of the 19th century often employed a method of writing which
allows for multiple, concurrent levels of meaning. McMullen argues that Landon,
although she wrote about what would sell—romance, sensuality, vicariousness,
etc, and plays the role of the imitator, actually uses genealogical subversion
underneath her words to canonize herself. In mistranslation and retranslation
of already quickly canonized Romantic male poets, Landon establishes herself
among and even beyond their accomplishments.
Her
ideas and the diversity of her poetry engendered a "Landon School",
in England but also in America. As for style, William Howitt comments:
"This is one singular peculiarity of the poetry of L. E. L.; and her
poetry must be confessed to be peculiar. It is entirely her own. It had one
prominent and fixed character, and that character belonged solely to itself.
The rhythm, the feeling, the style and phraseology of L. E. L.'s poetry, were
such, that you could immediately recognize it, though the writer's name was not
mentioned."
A
tribute in The Literary Gazette, following Landon's death, ran:
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