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Article: Therese of Lisieux and Alphonse de Lamartine: the spiritual transformation of Romanticism.(Critical essay)
- Article from:
- Christianity and Literature
- Article date:
- March 22, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Conference on Christianity and Literature. 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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There has been some controversy since the death of Therese of Lisieux (Therese Martin) regarding the value of her poetry. Some critics have considered it to be somewhat charming but full of the pious sentimental images typical of her day. Sackville-West, for example, declares that "It cannot be claimed for Therese's poems that they have much merit beyond their obvious sincerity ... "(138). Kathryn Harrison, in a more recent study of Therese, is somewhat less critical. She claims that most of the saint's poems are "unremarkable as art, but useful for what insight they provide into her spiritual development" (116). Her thoughts resemble Therese's own judgment of her poetry. ...