The Poetics of Sensibility: A Revolution in Literary Style

This new edition of Jerome McGann’s exciting work, out of print for years, has been called the most significant intervention in Romantic studies since his The Romantic Ideology. It takes as its prime aim the reading of neglected poetry, principally by women, which qualifies as either poetry of sensibility or poetry of sentiment, and as such it contributes significantly to feminist perspectives. McGann’s analyses continue to provoke discussion among those interested in the hundred years of poetry it considers. Writers discussed include: Ann Batten Cristall, Benardin, Coleridge, Erasmus Darwin, Thomas Gray, Francis Greville, Felicia Hemans, William Jones, Keats, Ossian, Mary Robinson, Schiller, Shelley, Wordsworth, and Ann Yearsley. This sui generis work by the preeminent critic of Romantic poetry will attract students and scholars of English literature and Women’s Studies.