Book chapter
Second Generation Pre-Raphaelitism: The Poetry of The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine
Defining Pre-Raphaelite Poetics, pp.83-116
Springer International Publishing
11/13/2020
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-51338-2_4
Abstract
With its distinctive focus on creative writing, The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine (1856) marked an important if relatively underappreciated stage in the development of literary Pre-Raphaelitism. The OCM's inclusion of poetry motivated its two most distinguished writers, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris, to refine their earlier efforts into the crafted, evocative style which would characterize their later volumes of poetry. Rossetti brought three of his best-known works into near-final form, and his OCM versions of “The Blessed Damozel,” “The Staff and Scrip,” and "The Burden of Nineveh" reflected as well as influenced the Magazine's distinctive combination of romantic medievalism, heightened language, and resistance to conventional norms in art and politics. Morris acquired greater skill in the use of strong rhythms, visual imagery, and dramatic settings employed in the 1858 Defence of Guenevere. William Fulford influenced his fellow contributors through his critical zeal for Tennyson and commitment to women's rights; his poem “To the English Army Before Sebastopol” celebrates an ethical militance latent in the imagery of his fellow OCM poets. The OCM's sole female contributor Georgiana Burne-Jones left no further poetic legacy, but in later life continued its ideals through her political efforts and her eloquent account of the Magazine's origins. The existence of the OCM thus not only encouraged several lifelong collaborations but helped shape the further development of Pre-Raphaelite poetry in accord with its secular, avant-garde, and anti-establishmentarian aesthetic ideals.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Second Generation Pre-Raphaelitism: The Poetry of The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine
- Creators
- Florence Boos - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- Defining Pre-Raphaelite Poetics, pp.83-116
- Publisher
- Springer International Publishing; Cham
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-030-51338-2_4
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/13/2020
- Academic Unit
- International Programs; English
- Record Identifier
- 9984397928502771
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