Abstract

The essay considers James's relation to poetry and to the poetic tradition in various aspects: the sense in which James sees himself as a poet; his personal acquaintance with numerous poets, including Rossetti, Swinburne, Arnold, Browning and Tennyson; and the significance for him of works by poets like Whitman and Emily Brontë. It characterizes his under-recognised practices of poetic allusion to, for instance, poems by Wordsworth, Gray, Tennyson, and Macbeth. James's sensitivity to poetic language and awareness of the canon of poetry make it rewarding, even necessary, for his reader to remember the place of poetry in his imagination.

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