Poetry

Poetry Epigraph:

Table of Contents:



Poems from "Modern Love":
 * Considered one of the first psychological sonnet sequences.
 * There are 50 sixteen line sonnets, in ABBA quatrains that are printed as a single block of text.
 * “In 1885, when asked by William Sharp about the form of the sonnets of Modern Love . . . George Meredith responded: ‘The Italians allow of 16 lines under the title of “Sonnets with a Tail.’ But the lines of ‘Modern Love’ were not designed for that form’” (Crowell, 539).
 * Modern Love includes the characters of Meredith-as-poet, his wife, his wife's lover, and his own mistress.

First poem in sonnet cycle: Last poem in sonnet cycle:
 * The marital bed as central to the sonnet sequence--unusual for Victorian writings.
 * Modern Love is considered his most important poetic achievement.