Tag: S. T. Coleridge

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Winter — Undersong (2021)

Winter, Kathleen. Undersong: A Novel. Canada: Knopf, 2021.

Abstract: “When young James Dixon, a local jack-of-all-trades recently returned from the Battle of Waterloo, meets Dorothy Wordsworth, he quickly realizes he’s never met another woman anything like her. In her early thirties, Dorothy has already lived a wildly unconventional life. And as her famous brother William Wordsworth’s confidante and creative collaborator—considered by some in their circle to be the secret to his success as a poet—she has carved a seemingly idyllic existence for herself, alongside William and his wife, in England’s Lake District. ¶ One day, Dixon is approached by William to do some handiwork around the Wordsworth estate. Soon he takes on more and more chores—and quickly understands that his real, unspoken responsibility is to keep an eye on Dorothy, who is growing frail and melancholic. The unlikely pair of misfits form a sympathetic bond despite the troubling chasm in social class between them, and soon Dixon is the quiet witness to everyday life in Dorothy’s family and glittering social circle, which includes literary legends Samuel Coleridge, Thomas de Quincy, William Blake, and Charles and Mary Lamb. ¶ Through the fictional James Dixon—a gentle but troubled soul, more attuned to the wonders of the garden he faithfully tends than to vexing worldly matters—we step inside the Wordsworth family, witnessing their dramatic emotional and artistic struggles, hidden traumas, private betrayals and triumphs. At the same time, Winter slowly weaves a darker, complex ‘undersong’ through the novel, one as earthy and elemental as flower and tree, gradually revealing the pattern of Dorothy’s rich, hidden life—that of a woman determined, against all odds, to exist on her own terms. But the unsettling effects of Dorothy’s tragically repressed brilliance take their toll, and when at last her true voice sings out, it is so searing and bright that Dixon must make an impossible choice.”

For an account by Winter of her experiences in writing the novel, see this essay by her (Web), and an interview by Trevor Corkum (Web). For a description of a talk by  Winter, see Hannah Britton, “An Afternoon with Dorothy Wordsworth,” 6 August 2019 (Web).

Reviews: Janet Somerville, “Dorothy Wordsworth Finally Gets Her Poetic Due in Kathleen Winter’s New Novel ‘Undersong,’” Toronto Star, 13 August 2021 [Web]. Doreen Yakabuski, 29 August 2021 [Web]. — Brett Josef Grubisic, “Poetry She Wrote,” Literary Review of Canada, September 2021 [Web], ⁠ Marie Wadden, “Winter Captures Kindred Spirit,” Newfoundland Quarterly, January 2022 [Web].
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Bainbridge — Mountaineering and British Romanticism (2020)

Bainbridge, Simon. Mountaineering and British Romanticism: The Literary Cultures of Climbing, 1770–1836. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

Abstract: “This book examines the relationship between Romantic-period writing and the activity that Samuel Taylor Coleridge christened ‘mountaineering’ in 1802. It argues that mountaineering developed as a pursuit in Britain during the Romantic era, earlier than is generally recognised, and shows how writers including William and Dorothy Wordsworth, Ann Radcliffe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, and Walter Scott were central to the activity’s evolution. It explores how the desire for physical ascent shaped Romantic-period literary culture and investigates how the figure of the mountaineer became crucial to creative identities and literary outputs. Illustrated with 25 images from the period, the book shows how mountaineering in Britain had its origins in scientific research, antiquarian travel, and the search for the picturesque and the sublime. It considers how writers engaged with mountaineering’s power dynamics and investigates issues including the politics of the summit view (what Wordsworth terms ‘visual sovereignty’), the relationships between different types of ‘mountaineers’, and the role of women in the developing cultures of ascent. ¶ Placing the work of canonical writers alongside a wide range of other types of mountaineering literature, this book reassesses key Romantic-period terms and ideas, such as vision, insight, elevation, revelation, transcendence, and the sublime. It opens up new ways of understanding the relationship between Romantic-period writers and the world that they experienced through their feet and hands, as well as their eyes, as they moved through the challenging landscapes of the British mountains.”

Contents: Introduction — 1. ‘The traveller of taste . . . the naturalist, and the antiquary’: The Evolution of Romantic-period Mountaineering in Britain — 2. ‘Curiosity’, ‘Dangerous Adventure’, and ‘the Perilous Point of Honour’: Three Case Studies in the Invention of Mountaineering — 3. From ‘Vast Extended Prospect’ to ‘The Spectacle of Nature’: Wordsworth, Keats, and the Aesthetics of Elevated Viewing — 4. ‘Master[s] of the Prospect’?: Wordsworth, Keats, and the Revelations of Elevation — 5. Romanticism on the Rocks: Feeling and Fear in the Mountains — 6. ‘Fearless I rove, exploring, free’: The Mountaineer and the Romantic Imagination — 7. ‘Active Climber[s] of the Hills’: Women and Mountaineering — 8. ‘I was a bauld craigsman’: Walter Scott’s Rock-Climbing Heroes — Conclusion: John Keats on Everest.

Reviews: Kerri Andrews, The Wordsworth Journal 52.4 (Fall, 2021); John Bugg, Studies in Romanticism 62.1 (Spring, 2023): 159–61.