The Fin-de-Siècle Poem: English Literary Culture and the 1890s (review)

The eleven essays in The Fin-de-Siècle Poem: English Literary Culture and the 1890s argue for a broader interpretation of the poetry produced at the end of the nineteenth century, reevaluating many of the better known figures of the age and reintroducing many poets, particularly women, who have been unfairly excluded. This work, largely the result of a conference titled "The Fin-de-Siècle Poem," held at UCLA in February 2002, is an important contribution to the ongoing reinterpretation of this most peculiar period, and adds important voices to its critical discourse.

Joseph Bristow's excellent introduction, along with Jerusha McCormack's first chapter, lays out many of the thorny problems of the period and gives a sweeping overview of the late nineteenth century. Bristow notes, for example, Max Nordau's Degeneration, which conflated aestheticism and decadence (two terms that have never been particularly well defined) with the more general fin-de-siècle, linking them together in a manner that has not been fully unraveled even today. Other factors, such Oscar Wilde's conviction in 1895 for gross indecency and his death at the turn of the century, along with W. B. Yeats's withering summation of the period in his 1922 essay "The Tragic Generation," ensured that the full truth would not be revealed for some time. Bristow pays particular attention to the manner of publication, ranging from one of the first periodicals to seriously address active and educated women, Woman's World, edited by Wilde in the late 1880s, and the infamous Yellow Book, a veritable symbol of the fin-de-siècle, to the finely crafted books such as John Gray's Silverpoints, which have become emblems of the age.

VPR readers will be particularly interested in Nicholas Frankel's chapter on the Rhymers' Club. In evaluating the Club's two major poetry anthologies, published in 1892 and 1894, Frankel reminds us of the place these volumes hold in the continuing reevaluation of the decadent and aesthetic movements. While each poem in these volumes is attributed, the arrangement of each poem effectively erases the individual voice of the writer, subsuming it into the larger, "corporate," identity of the Club itself. This is at odds with publication within periodicals such as the Century Guild Hobby Horse and the Dial, two magazines that were known for publishing aesthetic and decadent material. Publication in these serials allowed the name and style of the individual poet to be stressed, unlike the volumes under the Rhymers' Club imprint.

Ana Parejo Vadillo reevaluates the work of the largely forgotten poet and critic Mary F. Robinson. Known in the early 1880s as a poet equal in reputation to A. C. Swinburne, Robinson rose quickly through the publication of her verse and criticism in Oscar Wilde's Woman's World as well as the Sunday Times, Cornhill, and the University Magazine. She was considered by many (including Edmund Gosse, who likened her to Sappho) as one of the foremost poets of her age, yet her work is rarely reprinted. Vadillo rightly establishes Robinson's central place in late-Victorian circles, and notes the ways in which Robinson continued to "haunt" the aesthetic movement long after her departure for Paris in 1888.

Linda Hunt Beckman's chapter on "heterosexual outlaw" Graham Tomson, a regular contributor to Andrew Lang's column in Longman's Magazine, again notes the ways in which women writers from the fin-de-siècle have been unfairly excluded from contemporary discourse on period. Beckman calls attention to Tomson's use of "masks" which allowed her to move successfully between aestheticism and decadence.

Two chapters, by Julia Saville and Marion Thain, add important details to the continued interest in the aunt and niece duo known as "Michael Field." Saville notes the ways that the poets challenged the role expected for women of the day by their bold and audacious reinterpretations of the art...