Selected Poems Of Thomas Lovell Beddoes

This anthology brings together three powerfully original figures who vividly capture the spirit and anxieties of their age. Thomas Hood and Winthrop Mackworth Praed write with a self-conscious playfulness about literary history and traditions as well as an active and often satirical engagement with contemporary social and political culture. Thomas Lovell Beddoes has always held the interest of the "dark" Victorianists for his lushly lurid imagination and of the modernists for his ironic, frequently caustic verses. Most of all, these are three amazingly interesting poets--full of verbal wit, evocative imagery, compelling imaginations. Although he started by writing in the style of Keats, Thomas Hood (1799-1845) declared, "I have to be a lively Hood for a livelihood," and devoted most of his career to comic verse. But his sheer verbal ingenuity and endlessly inventive punning do not conceal his phobias and fears, nor overshadow the emerging social protest that was to shape the impressive poems in his later years. Winthrop Mackworth Praed (1802-1839) observed the social scene of his day--the flirtations, political intrigues, elegant chit-chat, and parliamentary procedures--with sparkling, self-deprecating wit. Having read law, Praed was called to the Bar in 1829 and entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1830. Even so, he wrote to his school friend and future editor, "Having been favoured by Nature with a long face, a short purse, and two elder Brothers, I find no way of making myself popular in the circle in which she has placed me, except versifying." Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803-1849), who committed suicide, was, in the editors' words "brilliant, solitary, eccentric, erratic, homosexual, politically radical, a poet of powerful, haunting imagination, and, like the other morbidly witty poets in this volume, is most characteristic for his defiance of easy characterization." He has been called the last Elizabethan, a Jacobean scion, an original interpreter of gothic terror, the first modernist, and, with his comic grotesqueries, a precursor of the twentieth-century theater of the absurd. The editors' introductions to each poet are lively and accessible to the non-specialist, while their editorial work, both in establishing the texts and in their annotation and apparatus, makes this an ideal text for specialist study as well.

First published in 1932, this book contains a selection of the poetry of Thomas Lovell Beddoes edited by renowned English author, poet and classicist Frank Laurence Lucas. A detailed editorial introduction is also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the works of Beddoes and Lucas.

This collection of poems by the late Thomas Lovell Beddoes is a must-read for anyone interested in classic English literature. Beddoes' unique style, blending Gothic and Romantic themes, sets his poetry apart and makes it as relevant now as when it was written. This edition also includes a memoir of Beddoes' life, providing context to his work. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.