Victorian Poets and the Later Realism of Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt

This essay extends in two directions our current report on the “realist counterpoetics” of Sarah Piatt: along “the straits of time” and across “the light of the sea.”1 I adopt the term “realist counterpoetics” from Elizabeth Renker and her account of how Piatt “challenged romantic idealism from the inside.” “Romantic idealism” names the commitment, hegemonic in “postbellum literary discourse,” to a transcendental conception of “Truth” that overgoes “material circumstance” and finds expression in tropes and figures of a sidereal lightness of being. Piatt was proficient in these idealist conventions and often published under their sign, but as often she turned them inside out, exposing them as unsuited to the “everyday ‘reality’ of human experience.” This practice of simultaneous “reiteration and dismissal” constitutes the dialogic realism that Renker discovers in her selection of Piatt poems published between 1866 and the mid-1870s.2 I dissent from nothing in this narrative. Yet its programmatic focus on the early phase of Piatt's career, a focus that most other studies of the poet have shared, has also set beyond our grasp on her poetics almost four further decades of production.3 Such a bias is unfortunate because it stops short of the eleven years (1882–1893) that Piatt spent abroad—an occasion that, by embroiling her in the affairs of Europe, expanded the dialogic purview of her realism. In short, whereas the “counterdiscursive” interlocutors that Renker positions opposite Piatt derive principally from her home “arenas” (RP 75) of American print culture, later Piatt began regularly to implicate, to conscript and rejoin the example of her Victorian contemporaries. She began to forge her realist counterpoetics out of British materials.Of course Piatt, like most anglophone poets of her generation, was always operating in a “transatlantic culture of reading” (RP 8). Renker acknowledges as much, inspired no doubt by the tendency of some recent scholarship to emphasize the interdependence not just of British and American literature but in particular of nineteenth-century British and American poetry. By the Victorian period those “two national literary cultures [. . .] were becoming one culture,” writes Virginia Jackson, and no one could fail to detect “the presence of Victorian poetics within American poetics” nor vice versa.4 This observation is perhaps especially germane to the burgeoning study of Piatt, who counted among her close associates E. C. Stedman, the influential poet-critic whose Victorian Poets (1875) and Poets of America (1885) conducted the first survey of that “transatlantic field” (his term) of later-nineteenth-century verse.5 Michael Cohen has credited with the “Invention” of the category of “Victorian Poetry” the firstborn of these companion volumes, a portion of which debuted in no less conspicuous an American periodical than Scribner's. The same magazine, along with several others among what Nancy Glazener has christened “the Atlantic Group,” occasionally (re)printed the work of those Victorian poets whom Stedman discusses—and beside them of the younger Piatt.6Yet if her intellectual milieu guarantees that even through the mid-’70s Piatt must have been familiar with Victorian poetics, during the 1880s and ’90s she became a self-consciously transatlantic poet. The transformation began with an instance of what Meredith L. McGill has termed “the transoceanic crossing of persons,” when Piatt's husband John James Piatt assumed a consular position that moved their family to Queenstown (now Cobh) on the south coast of Ireland.7 From this relocation, which also enabled further travel on the Continent, ensued a sizable corpus of “thematic [. . .] engagement[s] with transatlantic subjects,” poems such as those collected in An Enchanted Castle (1893) and the second series of Child's-World Ballads (1895) that take place on the fertile verge between American and European culture.8 Then a major port of migration to North America, Queenstown internationalized the borderland ambivalence that mapped in Piatt's earlier life onto Washington, D.C., and suburban Cincinnati, thresholds that made unignorable her division “between two worlds.”9 Just as she had struggled from the North with chronic nostalgia for her native South, Piatt often wrote from the “grey coast” of Ireland as a lonely western exile (PB 126, 138). She also leaned into that transatlantic “print space” commonly metaphorized as a “matrix” or a “network” or a “web.”10 The ’80s saw her start to place full-length volumes with English and Scottish publishers and to write for Irish periodicals; she was then read and reviewed by figures such as W. B. Yeats.11But as regards the transatlanticization of her realism the most relevant variable relates to what discursive interlocutors the later Piatt roped into her creative process. Of precedential importance here are those transatlantic studies that center on eastward-looking intertextual engagements, on the willful “repurposing” or “rewriting” of British works by American authors.12 Realism for Piatt was always in part an intertextual endeavor: it involved recalling and then contravening rather specific perpetrations of romantic idealism. Renker shows, for example, how “There Was a Rose” (1872) ironically “reframes” the “nostalgic vision” of three Atlantic poems published one month before it ran in the issue. Such “metapoetic” counterarguments (RP 57, 65–67) count on readers’ recognizing the paradigm brought to task. My aim for what follows is to demonstrate how in later decades Piatt also frequently sourced her intertexts from the verse of high-profile British Victorians.I examine four engagements by Piatt, published after her transatlantic displacement, with four of the five poets (apologies to Tennyson) whom Stedman distinguished as the “leaders” of the Victorian period: Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Algernon Charles Swinburne.13 My argument proceeds by increases in the complexity of Piatt's intertextual rhetoric, beginning with straightforward “unmaskings and exposures” (RP 57), where a Victorian source-text is invoked and contradicted as a model of romantic idealism. So Piatt twice undoes domestic poems by Browning and EBB. This procedure emulates some of the antagonism familiar from early transatlantic studies; but as more recent scholars might predict, Piatt's relationship with the Victorian poets was (to borrow from Daniel Hack) “multivalent” and also “self-reflexive.”14 The second and lengthier pair of cases shows Piatt enlisting Rossetti and Swinburne as collaborators in two games of “self-ironization,” designated by Paula Bennett as another of her rhetorical signatures.15 Piatt mobilizes these Victorian sources, which cluster around the Greco-Roman figure of because their out the realism of what Piatt has in an idealist are several the most into the transatlanticization of Piatt as a realist poet might through Robert Browning and EBB. one Piatt has often been with of their is Sarah and her a position of that by the British to the Continent, a Yet the also to the of her W. to Piatt of and (PB the of her moved more than one British to her among is the that the for Piatt's as as Stedman and James that between and as the of this is the that the domestic poems to which Renker first the “realist of Piatt (RP She had a of and and of and Victorian Poets Stedman as an like and her as I not to a of such a the of a of idealism. a in the of in most nineteenth-century of to one that the of (PB This across the three of a by a to her the after she of The first a and an the was and under the of a and and a of and for to the second a The not before “the but as “the for and not as but as a for and is to a So three a the just and the have out because Bennett it as the of a by figure in the second of The an by her the that first of a or it the of a Piatt the same of and and and that earlier the and of the no doubt as to the relevant are to the of in with the second of as Piatt also out a series of from that Victorian start with the By a on the of the she the that for had her with two that were the of her for Piatt is no in her has the before the and she to than that, she no of what could her her she no than four her She the of not her as then she that the often another from what “the had From she the of her then that the of must the of is nothing in this of that onto a of or it that the of life the same Piatt works to the from of or This is in the of the By out for and for Piatt from the of a and the of the where Piatt has the of the by the of her The to a of a in three of five but are to the of the that is another of the here the and on that as a Piatt that in the and of she also their She the of for example, on the of the and if one of the in the other were to more in have the two of a “realist has her a that had the of Piatt has her that is on a set of if her to write an and for Piatt across and as to the for a She for an of the of romantic is that than in the that the where the to that her her This to the the two other and that might have that she has just the no than five what such is that of those the of her She to to nor to of but to in a of Piatt's realist than a earlier Piatt had a to the who had the of EBB. Robert Browning is less than into an idealist Stedman in for realism. Piatt one from and on the is the by which the of to her a romantic with whom she has been and to to proceeds two that to the argument which is also to a more The first the of the of the of that to and Then the second the of the in and with the She to and and to as to a to their a of idealism that in a by where of human if take the her Browning scholars have to her as and perhaps on the during the Victorian that must have the This and to the whom it to have in the of the into is of the to example, a of place the in of the even where she to under she and who count as the Then have her of that and when she rather and to She to the argument on her and the relationship with the her in the second series of Child's-World a of transatlantic during the 1880s and when Browning was in anglophone the this the of an argument into an before Piatt and of the (RP on in are I from is than the are My on the (PB to the that for her and the of a to to and in a of to the of that an must from the a that and the of an are as the of to a and a the second to on So Piatt has her that her husband after she has then who could had with their The that Piatt's to or is that the of and was to from the if the realism of her Piatt to the of the Browning the is not the of her doubt her of some of even in of those in the the whose might as of the and that Browning had to She is in of the by the from the to the Piatt that of beyond the the of the in the that, this not have the She has no but to from her her to the nothing of not onto another if it the have been of a for the nor a of the domestic Piatt acknowledges and then that Browning had made The intertextual of this “realist is to the of but the are if she had to as and on the of Piatt from Browning to a more that not just between and but the of such as the the of a The between such and the poetics of literary realism is a of the Gabriel Rossetti and Algernon Charles Swinburne are less for Piatt than are Browning and no one to has her to those a of her more than a and among she was to a study of Rossetti, Piatt could not have spent a more in the British on Rossetti was in the years with the first major of in and the first collected of The in British Piatt read The were by Michael Rossetti, with whom Piatt to a the Irish are from Rossetti in one that Piatt wrote in the early for a of Stedman, was two of from and John James Piatt as a of Piatt poems their through earlier engagements with the same by Rossetti and This intertextual is more than the one Piatt Browning and as she had her interlocutors the and of realist Stedman Rossetti and Swinburne in that them for more of the rather than Piatt these Victorian in a to Renker (RP Piatt regularly wrote poems whose could as or of often the Piatt through the of an idealist but within it some to a by Rossetti or Swinburne that its if what Piatt has The Victorian intertexts a of one the realist of the poems that I is on the Greco-Roman of the from the to and with her home in is by and to the where she is her as her of who after a the of in the with the of a that her to part of in she the to saw a of in this that of transatlantic print and and from major and of of this might have been by the in and the of the of the has also the of the to Victorian in in the and of the same between and that the of their By the “the of had the for a beyond the and by the a “the of had even the of on was for such because I borrow from she had into her or an between and By one or other of her Victorian could for the of the in the onto an American the same of could as realism and idealism. one of the along which poets distinguished from was that between and on the the an or some (RP Renker for an example of realist to Piatt's of the a whose to the of her where Of course the of domestic is not the of the but the of the around also onto the that a with the and of the of to on “the of life that was a procedure of what Renker an to the tendency among for to (RP as Glazener idealism was often onto are the on which Piatt three her of the of The poems in of a Rose” of the and published during the years of her is the of the of the are as that of was of the of her with of from the of in this her for its not she of her the in as her take the of of (PB has as of and in the Piatt (PB first it as a instance of idealist Piatt a of the [. . .] is the of the to an with the as a of of her The of the a from the of to the of one and In the Piatt even the of by the of the as a for the of of that it the of the that also the the of into a the of to such by out the of Piatt associates her with a of the that the of the This not with who no of the but with the of as to the which has for as a The the a because its into to the to of Victorian emphasize the same whose also the that first moved the to her for the of her Piatt was to by early British and had by her she on the here by to the of her are more intertextual and on the of are to our The first is just that, it from the of the after five or the is to that of her and are into the of her The second is that the first by of a of one follows the to with an of and and even of it also an to other one who these also those of and their The that of whose the of the course if one has an of how she Piatt has a particular of the in and a of This essay is not an to the of but some rhetorical of the The of and the of from these a of to that is to the poet who Piatt had a of such engagements with and were a of Victorian of to the of conspicuous was a that Piatt have figure it also have her and of beside and what has a in the of that the because it our with such but because it the of the are to the of who in the of that In a Rossetti that as “the light of the for a from are by the of the and as the of such not by in for it must of to for the light of her as the of the Piatt the same by among and and the to by from five the of three and as a by or as a that The which or is to and what as to Yet with the of and how work in with the to one is the of as it an with the a The is a it a [. . .] light and to and Piatt's of that of as an of are the the from the that it had on first how the out that Piatt has into the of In “the light of the the place where she in that light no more than of a whose the to what Rossetti of This for Piatt in the where an between and is the of if she has not in the the must of that of a not as to of the of into focus if account for the of of a work of the always in with a by Rossetti on the same Rossetti an of a in the of the and an English on the of one of the which debuted the in Piatt could not have also this companion a that because of the its not from the here between and and for the the these by on four her from that In to she “the as a of the she has and it in the of that for their as In the for a of that in a for She is where she not as some in under the light of it not to Piatt with the same of Piatt's for its which also the of as to by the is Rossetti in and no but Piatt it by the her time” in the that have how the and of to where the of and out an between eleven and that to a of [. . .] Piatt has her the that first brought her of This of the an of into an of one more of the are from the of that Bennett in I a of the whose our has from an account of it into one of if not that, it to has been from the of and for how Such perhaps less had Piatt not the center of her this of a not of her she or By rather than the of the Piatt the of her the to that in By the in the Piatt then that to a of she the of even as she its in with not as an of life but as more even of is the to which the of the the are In it one and a of that with an of idealism. the intertextual presence of Rossetti, it not and a of that with a of realism. I not to that just is as as and one to an of the Rossetti might into what is less than that because Piatt has her and her in from the a intertextual in another of that the of the Rossetti had for the of not and into an nor Piatt from in which one of but no for This from Piatt's of the for the which the of to the and are in the Piatt the as and on that to out the for the part of her have in a second that, as are from to rather the as with when with She in her (PB the most is one of idealist an that the of by a more is no that in that she the of the and Piatt not on her by five has for is to to the of and her of or the that Piatt then and when that the to a for a second the the is the for to from of this the between the two and the pair in of the Piatt “the of and with the same of on the of that had earlier “the of This on the of the to the in a of has and for to and has a that these than of that of and with to an of that the in Piatt some to and a to the of who as an a to an earlier and So in the of the of the to and even as those under not to the that such of and are but also to that in their that of with she her has not to her of here its in the of as for the of the and has Bennett the as a between Piatt's in and of Bennett that “the but no and that it (PB I that Bennett has the but by more she their a that the in to the of with her but not to the but to the of I that the not with but with a to Victorian The in the of the the of the but the more model here is and of our of of a must the of the to which the of of also a of for Yet even to as for the of of and In she not but of that to [. . .] and Swinburne the of and and but which by the has a In an This is what what her no are in for is beside the By as a from and as to the that life has for is to the that place on Swinburne the of the in a second from which Piatt has sourced her to from and but also the same by the of a the in of the of and that the of by as a of are The what are in the of an that is not The has such in this that it for a of that, like these She is as the as the one who in the but not because she is from “the of she has made a of that the to rather than her has like the and the in as in she also the of that of She because the that is her and intertextual of and the of Swinburne in into the of the that is no than the of the as one of a Piatt the other by that has that is for to after more by its to “the the on the another for on the of the The of and to the of this a by Piatt and from an intertextual by the of this light is also by the specific that Swinburne for the for in what Renker of (RP and along with it because she such Swinburne an for the that to the and for the in which the that She Piatt as but the of the of “the of and she is for a of She is not the as the of an she is by the of is how “the is not that Piatt the of Swinburne but that she into an of and that its From that the realist of the By her second its Piatt has the of that transcendental on the of idealism. as the of and to the from it the of the into the of realism. Swinburne is a but as with the transformation on that Piatt of Rossetti that the of and Swinburne that the not in and also cases as from but to the same of two to the same of romantic also a of in the and it is this that I to in The realism of and one to the poems their to and their Victorian from the some then to read them with that in This in a not that by the and or by the who her into an In a to idealist the realist of which here not a of but an of in that the intertextual engagements I have also place in the of Piatt, who Renker the of idealism (RP and often out her to the of her by from its such were the of her realist I have to how in her later years Piatt often this with a of intertextual in through the of Victorian was in the not just an American but a transatlantic literary realism.

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.