Charlotte Smith's "Elegiac Sonnets"

"Elegiac Sonnets"  

1794

Biography

• Born May 4, 1749 to Nicholas Turner and Anna Towers 
• Anna died a few years later 
• In 1765 Nicholas remarries to Henrietta Meriton. At Henrietta’s insistence Father arranges for Charlotte to marry Benjamin Smith 
• At age 15 Charlotte marries Benjamin Smith son of a wealthy West Indian merchant
• Lived with Benjamin and his parents 
• Gave birth to 12 children 
• In 1783, the family (minus the in-laws) was imprisoned in King’s Bench Prison due to Benjamin’s credit debts 
• Escaped to France shortly after their release from debtor’s prison 
• In 1784 Smith formally separated from Benjamin but remained close to her father-in-law who left her money in his will instead of his son 
• Father-in-law’s will sparked a lengthy lawsuit with Benjamin due to English laws regarding women during that time 
• Died in 1806 just months after Benjamin Smith

Poetry

• Smith reintroduced Shakespeare's sonnet form, however like Bowles, she experimented with the form and changed it with different sonnets. She is credited for being the first to do so. 
• Since many sonnets in “Elegiac Sonnets” broke form numerous times Smith received criticism from poets who adhered to the strict sonnet form. 
•  Smith’s sonnets “resemble small tableaux…one poem per page…their intensely autobiographical quality renders them miniature, verbal self-portraits.” Smith’s sonnets and much of her later work were greatly influenced by her own tragic life. 

Publication

• Dedicated the book to William Hayley 
• Written by Smith while with Benjamin in debtor’s prison 
• Smith paid for the publication herself at Chinchester 
• Published for J. Dodsley 
• Smith’s first book of poetry ever published 
• First book contained only 16 sonnets 
• By the time of Smith’s death in 1806 “Elegiac Sonnets” reached its 11th edition and spawned two volumes 
• “Elegiac Sonnets” provided some small financial support for Smith and her family(this also included her husband unfortunately)

Reception

• “Elegiac Sonnets” was an instant success. The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle wrote : “A very trifling compliment is paid to Mrs. Smith, when it is observed how much her Sonnets exceed those of Shakespeare and Milton” 
• “Elegiac Sonnets” provided inspiration to William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge. Wordsworth acknowledged Smith in an explanatory note in “Stanzas Suggested in a Steam-boat Off St. Bees' Heads.” Coleridge acknowledged Smith’s revolutionary use of sonnet form in “Introduction to the Sonnets”. 
• Smith’s book was so popular that its’ second edition occurred within the first year it was published.

Interesting Facts

• Subscriber’s Page- for people who ordered the book before it was printed 
• Smith considered her arranged marriage as a form of prostitution promoted by her father 
• Smith added differing prefaces to almost every edition of “Elegiac Sonnets” 
• “Elegiac Sonnets” reached two volumes and spanned over 250 pages in the latest edition before Smith’s death

Bibliography 

"A review of 'Sonnets'." The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle 56.4 (Apr. 1786): 333-334. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Janet Mullane and Robert Thomas Wilson. Vol. 23. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 Oct. 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420019852&v=2.1&u=txshracd2679&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

Napier, Elizabeth R. "Charlotte (Turner) Smith." British Novelists, 1660-1800. Ed. Martin C. Battestin. Detroit: Gale Research, 1985. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 39. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 Oct. 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1200003646&v=2.1&u=txshracd2679&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

Ravin, Kate. "Charlotte (Turner) Smith." Eighteenth-Century British Poets: Second Series. Ed. John E. Sitter. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 109. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 Oct. 2012.

Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1200003647&v=2.1&u=txshracd2679&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

Zimmerman, Sarah M. "'Dost thou not know my voice?': Charlotte Smith and the Lyric's Audience." Romanticism and Women Poets: Opening the Doors of Reception. Ed. Harriet Kramer Linkin and Stephen C. Behrendt. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1999. 101-124. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Jessica Bomarito and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 160. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 Oct. 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420068109&v=2.1&u=txshracd2679&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w