Victorian Poetry and the Poetics of the Literary Periodical

Abstract

Victorian Poetry and the Poetics of the Literary Periodical considers the role of popular, commercial poetry in the development of mid-Victorian periodical culture and poetics. Focusing on the poetry of un-anthologized, unnamed, and underappreciated poets (alongside some canonical names), this monograph represents a direct response to Linda Hughes’s call for the study of periodical poetry over a decade ago in ‘What the Wellesley Index Left Out: Why Poetry Matters to Periodical Studies.’ It argues that periodical poems should matter to all those interested in Victorian poetry whether they care for periodicals or not. Modifying and adapting the work of previous scholars (Houston, Hughes, Ledbetter, Kooistra), Victorian Poetry and the Poetics of the Literary Periodical considers how the competing and complementary forces of genre, material production, cultural value, and the literary market shaped the genre and reception of periodical poetry. Chapter one introduces the central concept of inaugural poetry through a study of three important mid-Victorian weeklies—Household Words, All the Year Round, and Once a Week—while chapters two through four broaden and deepen the discussion of the relationship between periodical and poetic forms through an examination of several prominent monthlies: Macmillan Magazine and the Cornhill (chapter two), Good Words (chapter three), and The Argosy (chapter four).