Tag: Tintern Abbey

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Özdemir — Two Poems by Dorothy Wordsworth (2005)

Özdemir, Erinç. “Two Poems by Dorothy Wordsworth in Dialogic Interaction with ‘Tintern Abbey.'” Studies in Romanticism 44.4 (Winter, 2005): 551–79, 659.

Abstract: “Dorothy Wordsworth’s work has revealed itself of paradigmatic value to feminist criticism seeking a more complete and truthful picture of Romanticism, thought by scholars working in the area to be possible only through a recapturing of texts hitherto not allowed into the canon, these being often texts by acknowledged or unacknowledged woman writers. Rectifying the traditional attitude to Dorothy Wordsworth’s work, which treated it merely as a textual-biographical source illuminating William Wordsworth’s life and work, Margaret Homans and Susan Levin drew attention to the value of her writing both in its own right and as a part of Romantic literary activity/history. Özdemir examines the dialogic interaction of two poems by Dorothy Wordsworth mainly with ‘Tintern Abbey’ in addition to some other poems by Wordsworth.”
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Fadem — Dorothy Wordsworth (1978)

Fadem, Richard. “Dorothy Wordsworth: A View from ‘Tintern Abbey’.” Wordsworth Circle 9.1 (Winter, 1978): 17–32.

“Without William Wordsworth, Dorothy would surely be unknown to us. To say so is merely to confirm her modest sense of herself. She would be the last to claim for herself genuine talents, the first to be astonished by the attention she has received. Certainly, she would be embarrassed by the fervid assertions of those who claim that her journals and letters provide vital insights into William’s poetry and that her own writing – the journals, the ‘Recollections’ of several tours, the many letters, and the few poems – possess literary merits of their own. Although Dorothy was given to embarrassment and self-effacement, in this instance her feelings would be appropriate. Our readings of Wordsworth’s poems have not been materially altered by Dorothy’s few remarks on their genesis and development, nor is her own writing in any sustained way interesting as literature, no matter how beguiling it is for its accounts of the Wordsworth household and surrounding landscape” (p. 17).
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Soderholm — Dorothy Wordsworth’s Return (1995)

Soderholm, James. “Dorothy Wordsworth’s Return to Tintern Abbey.” New Literary History 26.2 (Spring, 1995): 309–22.

“After analyzing the last section of ‘Tintern Abbey,’ I will discuss [Dorothy Wordsworth’s poem] ‘Thoughts on my sick bed.’ I will argue that it replies directly to the hopes of futurity evoked in the last lines of her brother’s poem. Dorothy’s poem echoes her brother’s earlier works, borrowing from them as liberally as William once borrowed from her journals. The intermingling of poetic images helps us to reexamine the function of address and apostrophe: figural evocations of subjectivity produced by turning, and returning, to another person. I will conclude with a few remarks about the meaning of recent critical views of both Wordsworths” (p. 309).