Record Number: 16380

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Elizabeth Barrett to Mary Russell Mitford, ?24 August 1836: 'You have not read all Tennyson's poems -- neither have I -- but did you see his "mermaid" at the end of Leigh Hunt's paper on mermaids in the New Monthly Magazine? There is a tone in the poetry -- in the very extravagance of the poetry & language -- an abandonment & wildness -- which seemed to me to accord beautifully with the subject, & stayed with me afterwards -- a true sign of true poetry -- whether I would or not. And if there are [...] occasional perplexities & obscurations in the meaning -- still, no one could complain of them [italics]there[end italics] -- seeing that the language seems to have caught its strangeness with its music from the Mermaid's tongue.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jul 1836 and 24 Sep 1836

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Elizabeth Barrett

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

6 Mar 1806

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Alfred Tennyson

Title:

'The Mermaid'

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Serial / periodical

Publication Details

In The New Monthly Magazine for July 1836, p.282 (following essay by Leigh Hunt, 'The Syrens and Mermaids of the Poets' (pp.273-82).

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

16380

Source:

Print

Author:

n/a

Editor:

Philip Kelley and Ronald Hudson

Title:

The Brownings' Correspondence

Place of Publication:

Winfield

Date of Publication:

1985

Vol:

3

Page:

191

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Philip Kelley and Ronald Hudson (ed.), The Brownings' Correspondence, (Winfield, 1985), 3, p. 191, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=16380, accessed: 22 December 2024

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Additional Comments:

None