Becoming a Land Girl: Reprinting Alice Meynell's "The Shepherdess" in the Landswoman

Abstract

This article uncovers an unexpected periodical context for Alice Meynell's 1895 poem Shepherdess, which was reprinted in the Landswoman: The Journal of the Women's Land Army and Women's Institutes on November 1, 1918. It argues that the Landswoman capitalized on the poem's rural theme and Meynell's cultural identity as an Angel in the House. Why was the poem published in the Landswoman ? How does this periodical context affect the poem's meaning? Why did the Landswoman opt for the 1895 poem rather that publishing an example of Meynell's more politically outspoken World War I poetry?