By Nancy Martin-Young
The JASNA-NC book club jumped genres February 19 and perused poetry from Jane Austen’s era. Led by co-regional coordinator Sara Tavela, the group examined poetry ranging from William Collins’ heavy-handed “Ode to Pity” to the wonders of William Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey”—and the parodic verse of Austen herself.
Austen’s life straddles the wit and order of the Enlightenment and Romanticism’s cult of Nature and feeling.
In Austen’s day, reading poetry helped people pass a pleasant evening, as seen in Sense and Sensibility’s recitations of Cowper’s verse. Writing poetry was Austen family entertainment as well as a kind of mental gymnastics. The activity was part of a domestic manuscript culture of the period. Mrs. Cassandra Austen excelled at light verse, but Jane’s brother James was the acknowledged poet of the family.
Jane Austen’s own poetry reflects her prose style, with a sense of control, a distant, sometimes amused tone, and what one member called “mordant wit.” Her verse is generally light, except for “To the Memory of Mrs. Lefroy.” The fact that Austen composed her poem about the Winchester races days before her death may illuminate the dark tone in some parts.
Sara pointed out links between period poetry and Austen’s novels. Wordsworth’s “Nutting,” with its idealized portrait of a boy in nature and his ravaging of the laden tree, has a parallel in Wentworth’s hazelnut parable in Persuasion, a novel that also alludes to poems by Scott and Byron.
Speaking of Byron, the delightfully macabre “unquenched, unquenchable” vampire from The Giaour sparked the group’s horror and fascination, as well as reminding some of Northanger Abbey Gothicism. Bryon’s gruesome description illustrates Romanticism’s embrace of imagination.
The Romantics’ focus on Nature can be seen in Pride and Prejudice, when Lizzie notes how Edenic Pemberley was: “She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste.” Mansfield Park also echoes this theme in Fanny’s mourning the loss of woods in a nearby estate (‘Cut down an avenue! What a pity! Does not it make you think of Cowper? “Ye fallen avenues, once more I mourn your fate unmerited”). Austen adored Cowper’s poetry. Like her, Cowper lifts up domestic life and the lives of women.
Book club members admitted to preferring the shorter poems in the collection. Austen’s hilarious four-line poem about Camilla was a group favorite. Many also admired Smith’s sonnet for both its brevity and clarity. And Wordsworth’s familiar daffodil poem remained well loved. A few members related similar visions that flashed upon their inward eyes, recalling how they had recited the poem when they stumbled upon their own hosts of golden daffodils.
All would agree what wealth the show to us has brought with this venture into poetry.
Annotated Poetry Packet
Below, you’ll find an annotated version of the poetry packet we read for this meeting (it is a Word document with comments for annotations, introductions for each poetry selection, and links to additional resources):