Romantic Intertexts in Alice Meynell's "The Shepherdess"

What is it about?

This article explores Alice Meynell's negotiation with her Romantic predecessors in "The Shepherdess." This poem parodically engages the conventions of lyric verse as exemplified in Byron's "She Walks in Beauty" and Wordsworth's "She Was a Phantom of Delight."

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Photo by Marc Markstein on Unsplash

Photo by Marc Markstein on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The article is important because it shows how "The Shepherdess" illuminates the tensions generated by the turn-of-the-century poet's effort to turn conservative aesthetic practice to modern feminist use.