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Article: "Her ideas arranged themselves": re-membering poetry in Radcliffe.(Ann Radcliffe)(Critical essay)
- Article from:
- Studies in Romanticism
- Article date:
- December 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Boston University. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN 1810 ANNA LAETITIA BARBAULD WROTE SOMEWHAT ANXIOUSLY ABOUT the tendency of readers to skip over the poems in Ann Radcliffe's novels:
It ought not to be forgotten that there are many elegant pieces of
poetry interspersed through the volumes of Mrs. Radcliffe.... The
true lovers of poetry are almost apt to regret its being brought in
as an accompaniment to narrative, where it is generally neglected
... and the common reader is always impatient to get on with the
story. (1)
The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and Radcliffe's immediately preceding novel, The Romance of the Forest (1791), carry the subtitle, Interspersed with some pieces of ...