Victorian Poetry - Volume 1 - An Introduction. Victoria's reign was long and presided over the restless expansion of the British Empire and reams of creative genius. Within these volumes we can bring only a glimpse of the richness, beauty and words of their poets and their musings on this remarkable age. Many are world renowned - Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Kipling, Austin, Hopkins, Hardy and Swinburne. Some almost forgotten - Patmore, Newbolt, Synge. And some barely noted - Lyall, Meynell and Merdeith. But together they encompass a great poetical age. In Volume 1 we collect together Matthew Arnold to Elizabeth Gaskell. Among our readers are Richard Mitchley and Ghizela Rowe.
As a poetical movement Georgian Poetry is easy to classify. It began naturally enough in 1910 when George V ascended to the throne of England. Edward Marsh, a civil servant, polymath and arts patron decided that the verse of that time needed to be seen in its own right and from 1912 - 1922 set out to publish anthologies. Marsh agreed a deal with the poet and bookseller Harold Munro, who had recently opened The Poetry Bookshop in London's Devonshire Street to publish the books in return for a share of the profits. Five volumes spanning some forty poets ranging from Rupert Brooke to GK Chesterton and DH Lawrence were published over the years and remain today the encyclopaedia of this poetical period. In this volume you will find the best work of the Georgian Poets.