Visions of the Past: Felicia Hemans & William Wordsworth I will here attempt to give an idea of the links between Felicia Hemans and William Wordsworth. I will begin with a brief biography of Hemans, followed by a look at the relationship between Hemans and Wordsworth. I will end with a short comparison of Hemans' poem "To My Own Portrait" and "Tintern Abbey." Hemans' Biography [1] Born Felicia Dorothea Browne in Liverpool in 1793 and raised in North Wales, Hemans was largely home-schooled by her mother. Considered a child prodigy by her family, she loved Shakespeare, was well read in several languages, and is said to have been able to quote passages from literature at length after only one reading. Felicia also studied music and drawing, and was later to include several of her sketches as frontispieces for her publications. She began writing as early as the age of eight, and her first volume, Poems was published by subscription in 1808 when she was only 14. The collection was met with some harsh reviews, which, although upsetting to the young poet, did not lessen her passion for writing. In fact, the same year saw the publication of England and Spain, or Valour and Patriotism. This volume was likely inspired by the service of her elder brothers, who both entered the army at an early age, and served in the Peninsular Campaigns in Spain. As her sister Anne Browne was later to write in her posthumous biography of Hemans, "trumpets and banners now floated through her dreams in which birds and flowers had once reigned paramount." [2] Felicia's father left his wife and children in 1810 to move to Upper Canada, effectively ending all contact with his family. By this time Felicia was engaged in correspondence with Captain Alfre... ... middle of paper ... ... V. 1. Hemans' Life and Works, 1839. P. 26 4. Hemans, Felicia. Quoted by Anne Browne. "Memoir of Mrs. Hemans." V. 1. Hemans' Life and Works, 1839. P. 251 5. Byron, Lord. From a letter to the Hon. Douglas Kinnaird, September 17th, 1820. Byron: A Self-Portrait, Letters and Diaries 1798-1824. V. II. London: John Murray, 1950. 6. Jeffrey, Lord. Edinburgh Review. October, 1829. 7. The information for this section is taken from two sources: Wolfson, Susan & Peter Manning. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: The Romantics and Their Contemporaries. V. 2A. New York: Longman, 1999. Kennedy, Deborah. "Hemans, Wordsworth, and the 'Literary Lady.'" Victorian Poetry. 35:3 Fall 1997. 267-286. 8. Quoted in Kennedy, p. 268. 9. Quoted in Kennedy, p. 270. 10. Kennedy, p. 270. 11. Quoted in Kennedy, p. 273. 12. Longman Anthology, p. 736.
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In this Bibliography written by Susanne Woods, the author analyzes the life of Amelia Lanyer and how her life story contributes to the many poems she wrote. Lanyer is considered to be the first women to ever publish collection
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