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Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

Jane and Dorothy: Lives of Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth

Posted in Biography, Book review, Georgian Life, Jane Austen's World, Poetry, Regency Women, tagged , , , on June 23, 2025| 4 Comments »

A Book Review by Brenda S. Cox

“Marianne’s ‘excess of sensibility’ almost destroys her reputation, her health and her happiness, wihle Elinor’s more guarded behaviour is rewarded. But that is fiction; what of real life?”—Prologue to Jane and Dorothy, by Marian Veevers

Jane and Dorothy: A True Tale of Sense and Sensibility, The Lives of Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth, by Marian Veevers. The lovely cover attracted my attention as I perused a library book table focused on Jane Austen.

I had read a review of this book some time ago and suggested it to a literary friend, who said there was no connection between Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth, sister of poet William Wordsworth. But I decided to check out the book and find out how the author connects them. I’m glad I did, as it was a fascinating read.

Jane and Dorothy, by Marian Veevers, explores two parallel lives, Jane Austen’s and Dorothy Wordsworth’s. Veevers works for the Wordsworth Trust.

Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth

Jane and Dorothy follows the lives of two women, living at approximately the same time, who never met. Parallel, never intersecting, similar in some ways and contrasting in others. Connections with Austen’s novels are intertwined in their stories. Jane (1775-1817) is compared to Elinor Dashwood, with strong feelings controlled by reason and religion. Dorothy (1771-1855) is more like Marianne, focusing on her emotions. In one teenage letter to a friend who was sympathizing with her misery, Dorothy wrote, “You cannot think how I like the idea of being called poor Dorothy . . . I could cry whenever I think of it.”

Both were writers. Jane Austen, of course, had four novels published during her lifetime, two more shortly after her death, and her Juvenilia and letters published years later.

Dorothy Wordsworth wrote journals, mostly about her ramblings in nature with her brother, who became a famous poet of Romanticism.  William Wordsworth used his sister’s journals as inspiration and a source of details for his poetry. His discussions and experiences with her also inspired him. A few of Dorothy’s own poems were published during her lifetime, but her journals and her travel narrative of a trip to Scotland were only published after her death.

Both Jane and Dorothy were dependent on their brothers later in their lives. Austen and her mother and sister were financially supported by her brothers after her father’s death, and her brother Edward provided Chawton Cottage where she wrote and rewrote her novels.

Dorothy lost her parents early in life and lived with various relatives as a poor relation, similar to Austen’s Fanny Price, until she threw in her lot with her brother William. Dorothy loved William passionately. (The author discusses rumors of sexual involvement and concludes that the rumors were false.) Dorothy devoted the rest of her life to her brother and, eventually, to his wife and children. Their financial situation was much harder than the Austens’, but they survived.

It was interesting to see the similar social and financial restrictions that society placed on both Jane and Dorothy, particularly as unmarried women, and to see how Jane’s life might have played out differently in other circumstances.

Yates ranting in Mansfield Park. Did Austen love home theatricals, or hate them? Or did she simply see their dangers?
C.E. Brock, public domain.

Austen and Drama

Having read so much about Jane Austen, I wasn’t expecting new insights into her life from this book. However, I found several. I’ll give just one example, from pages 47-50 of Jane and Dorothy.

Veevers discusses Austen’s attitude toward amateur home theatricals in Mansfield Park. Many have commented on the fact that Austen’s family performed such plays when she was growing up, and that she couldn’t really have thought they were wrong. Perhaps it was just the specific circumstances at Mansfield Park that made it wrong, or her attitude had changed due to the growing Evangelical disapproval of drama, or she was attributing disapproval to Fanny and Edmund.

However, Veevers speculates that, first, Jane may not have participated herself in those plays when she was growing up. She says the only evidence we have for that is Jane’s cousin, Phylly Walters, who wrote that “all the young folks” were participating in a performance in 1787—that is rather vague. Or Jane may have participated without enjoying it.

While Austen’s family approved of amateur theatricals, we don’t have to assume that she herself agreed. Instead, those experiences of plays in the Steventon barn may have shown Jane “the dark underbelly” of such practices. Veevers says any “modern-day member of an amateur dramatics company” would recognize these issues. She continues,

“Jane Austen gives an unflinching insider’s view of everything that is worst about amateur acting, from the concealed, but overwhelming self-interest of Julia and Maria Bertram who each hope to have the best part in the play ‘pressed on her by the rest,’ to the self-indulgent over-rehearsal of favourite scenes by some actors, and the insidious, self-gratifying criticisms of others’ performances—‘Mr Yates was in general thought to rant dreadfully . . . Mr Yates was disappointed in Henry Crawford . . .’” etc., etc. “There can be no doubt that this detailed understanding . . . came from real observation. It would seem that brother James’s annual productions in the Steventon barn were riven by jealousy, bad-feeling and unkindness.”—Jane and Dorothy, p. 49

Veevers goes on to speculate that Jane’s opinions may have been influenced by her dear friend Anne Lefroy. Mrs. Lefroy was a clergyman’s wife who apparently disapproved of amateur theatricals, politely declining to participate when a friend invited her. (Also, I would add, it appears those Steventon theatricals were an opportunity for flirtation between Jane’s still-married cousin Eliza and two of her brothers, so perhaps Henry Crawford and Maria Bertram’s fictitious flirtation also had a basis in past experience.)

I don’t think I personally agree with the idea that Austen disapproved of such theatricals, though. Austen certainly enjoyed the professional theatre, “good hardened real acting,” as Edmund Bertram called it, distinguishing that from amateur performances. Austen did, though, write several short, comic plays as a teenager, which may have been acted by her family. On a visit to Godmersham, she and Cassandra acted—most likely by reading aloud— a couple of plays with their nieces and nephews. (The Spoilt Child and Innocence Rewarded, according to Fanny Knight’s diary). Of course, that would have been on a much more limited scale than the play at Mansfield Park, with presumably less objectionable plays.

Whether Austen objected to amateur dramatics in general is questionable, but certainly she had seen enough to very realistically show the pitfalls of such productions in Mansfield Park. So I appreciated this insight from Jane and Dorothy.

Fanny Price loves nature, like both Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth. Both Jane and Dorothy, like Fanny, experienced being marginalized by wealthier relatives.
H.M. Brock, public domain.

Spinsterhood

The book extensively explores attitudes toward “old maids” in Austen’s society. It’s easy to forget that Austen herself probably experienced prejudices against unmarried women. She certainly sometimes felt herself a poor relation at her wealthy brother’s Godmersham estate. She often lacked autonomy: her living situations and travels were dictated by her parents or brothers. Perhaps those feelings helped her create Fanny Price, dependent and marginalized.

Jane and Dorothy points out many illuminating parallels between Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park. Fanny is much like Marianne, with strong feelings. However Austen, when she was a more mature writer, made Fanny spiritually stronger, more nuanced, and with greater depth.

Marianne Dashwood gives way to her feelings and nearly dies. Fanny Price turns to religion and reason to keep her feelings under control, as Marianne determines to do at the end of Sense and Sensibility.
C.E. Brock, public domain.

End of Life

Dorothy lived much longer than Jane. Sadly, though, Dorothy’s last twenty years were spent with “her mind completely broken.” She had given her life to taking care of her family; that same family gave her loving care for those long years. It’s been speculated that she may have had some kind of dementia, or possibly severe depression. (She suffered, in fact, similarly to William Cowper in his final years. Cowper’s poetry, by the way, impacted both women.)

Of course we all wish that Jane had lived longer and written more. However, thinking of the many ways a spinster (like Miss Bates, for example, or Dorothy Wordsworth) might end up in Austen’s world, perhaps Jane’s earlier demise from an unknown disease was not the worst possible ending for her. The recent book and series Miss Austen also imagines long-lived Cassandra suffering late in her life.

As Veevers concludes,

“Jane and Dorothy were two unmarried, childless women who had failed to fulfil the destiny that their society prescribed for their sex. But they neither drooped nor withered as [1838 writer] Carlisle expected, nor developed the chagrin and peevishness which Dr. Gregory [1774] believed inseparable from their condition. Instead they forged their own meanings from their lives. . . . Jane and Dorothy were not simply products of their time. They made choices in their lives, and it was those choices which defined them.”

I found it fascinating to trace the choices of these two parallel lives, and the resulting joys and sorrows, during the same time in history. Well-written, easy to read, and compelling, Jane and Dorothy  is worth reading for anyone who wants to get deeper into “Jane Austen’s World.”

 

Brenda S. Cox is the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. She also blogs at Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen.

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The Tour of Doctor Syntax, Book Review

Posted in 18th Century England, Ackermann, Anglican Church, Author interview, Book review, Books Jane Austen Read, Cartoons, Satirical, Clergy, Jane Austen's World, Poetry, Regency Travel, tagged , , on October 14, 2024| 2 Comments »

Reviewed by Brenda S. Cox

“I have seen nobody in London yet with such a long chin as Dr Syntax” (Jane Austen, March 2, 1814).

I just finished reading, cover to cover, a brand-new book which is over 200 years old. The Tour of Doctor Syntax in Search of the Picturesque, by William Combe, is a classic which Jane Austen herself enjoyed. But it’s out in a new edition, with wonderful illustrations, explanations, and comments.

A fun new annotated version of The Tour of Doctor Syntax, including parallels with Jane Austen’s novels!

The story in verse was first published from 1809-1811 as a series in Ackermann’s Poetical Magazine. Ackermann had a series of prints by the great caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson. They featured a country clergyman with a long pointed chin and a tall white wig traveling through the countryside. Ackermann gave Combe the illustrations for each issue of the magazine, and Combe wrote a section of the story to go with them. He didn’t know ahead of time what the pictures would be for the next issue, but somehow he came up with a coherent story. One interesting facet is that Rowlandson apparently intended to satirize the clergy, but Combe made Syntax into a good, learned man, a little silly, but lovable.

A book version came out in 1812. Dr. Syntax was wildly popular and stayed in print, with multiple printings and editions, well into the 1800s.

This new version of The Tour of Doctor Syntax was edited and annotated by an advanced high school class and their professor, Dr. Ben Wiebracht. Ben actually discovered Dr. Syntax through one of my posts right here at Jane Austen’s World. Recognizing its potential for his class on “Jane Austen and Her World,” he asked Vic Sanborn, owner and primary writer of this website, and myself, to share with his class. Vic owns some lovely Rowlandson prints. We both loved connecting with such bright and interested students, who asked knowledgeable questions.

The Book

They’ve done a brilliant job with the book. It starts with a biography of William Combe and the history of the book itself. Combe’s challenges as a writer in Austen’s age were fascinating to me, as a writer myself. A clear introduction explains “the picturesque,” which is mentioned in Austen’s novels. Parallel to the text are straightforward explanations of difficult terms and phrases. That makes them easy to quickly reference. A glossary in the back gives terms previously defined.

The best part, for me, are comments pointing out parallels with Jane Austen’s work. I can’t even begin to list these, but there are many great insights. Some are about the clergy in Austen’s work, since Syntax is an underpaid country curate like Charles Hayter of Persuasion. Many comments have to do with the “picturesque,” “improvement” and country estates ranging from Sotherton to Pemberley. Others relate to the class system, Gothic novels, and other topics.

The full text of the poem/story is opposite explanations, comments, and illustrations, making them easy to access. The Tour of Doctor Syntax, 2024.
“Doctor Syntax Tumbling into the Lake,” by Thomas Rowlandson. One of the lovely full-page illustrations for this new version of The Tour of Doctor Syntax.
Victorian illustration, 1838, of the same scene, by Alfred Crowquill. The Tour of Doctor Syntax includes both the Rowlandson and Crowquill illustrations.

I also loved the illustrations. The editors chose the best versions they could find of each of the full-page, hand-colored pictures by Rowlandson that were the basis of the book. They added illustrations from a later Victorian version, as well as other entertaining and illuminating cartoons and pictures from the time.

Interview with the Editor

I’ll let Dr. Wiebracht himself tell you more about how this book came about.

Ben, please tell me about your class that produced this book.

The class is called “Jane Austen and Her World” and it’s designed for advanced juniors and seniors. The goal is to see Austen’s novels not as sealed-off masterpieces, floating in a historical vacuum, but as windows into her world. Most class days, our Austen reading is accompanied by shorter texts designed to create a sense of context and show how Austen was in conversation with her contemporaries. For instance:

  • We pair Austen’s account of Bath in Northanger Abbey with a number of late 18th-c. satires of Bath, 18th-c. dance music, and illustrations of the city by Rowlandson and others.
  • We pair Catherine’s pseudo-Gothic adventures in Vol. II with excerpts from The Monk, The Castle of Otranto, and The Mysteries of Udolpho.
  • We pair the private theatricals in Mansfield Park with a viewing of a performance of Lover’s Vows, as well as specimens of anti-theatrical criticism from the period, including a satire on private theatricals by Jane’s brothers!
  • We pair the discussion of landscape gardening in Mansfield Park with images from Humphry Repton’s famous “red books” showing “before and after” estate grounds.

The idea is to understand Austen in a deeper way by developing the practice of “reading outward.” And we incorporate that principle in our work for the class. Instead of the usual school essays, students work with me to create a critical edition of a neglected text from Austen’s time, with annotations and other resources that draw connections between the text and Austen’s life and work.

The class enrolled 16 students (the maximum). They hailed from all over the country and world: Japan, China, and many different U.S. states. This was my first time teaching the course, though I developed the core ideas in an Austen unit for a previous course. In the future, I will probably teach the course every three years. The book project in particular is a heavy lift, and I’m not capable of it every year!           

How did you end up studying Dr. Syntax along with Jane Austen?

I have to back up a bit here. In the course of an Austen unit for a previous class, students and I had created a critical edition of a long-forgotten 1795 poem called Bath: An Adumbration in Rhyme. We used that book to launch a new series called “Forgotten Contemporaries of Jane Austen.” Its goals are:

  • to recover neglected but valuable texts from Austen’s time, and
  • to trace new connections between Austen and her contemporaries.

As I was preparing my Austen class, I settled on Doctor Syntax (first brought to my attention in JAW by one of your articles!) for three reasons.

  • First, the poem had undeniable literary-historical importance – one of the all-out bestsellers of the Regency. A critical edition, I thought, was long overdue.
  • Second, many of its themes – from the plight of poor clergy to the “picturesque” – were major concerns of Austen’s novels, too.
  • Finally, the poem was simply a really good read. Combe’s verses are light, fun, and at times even touching, and Rowlandson’s accompanying illustrations are some of his best work. In every way, the poem deserved to be revived!

What do you hope readers will gain from the book?

There are a lot of things I hope people take away! One would be a deeper appreciation of just how engaged Austen was in the debates and issues of her day. Sometimes Austen is talked about as something of a provincial writer, sealed off from the wider Regency world, modestly toiling away on her “pictures of domestic life in country villages,” as she once put it. But when we keep in mind just how much of a smash hit Doctor Syntax was, and when we consider the many, many parallels between this work and Austen’s novels, which our edition lays out in detail, then we see Austen differently. She now starts looking like a very savvy writer, who understood what the major issues of the day were, what readers were interested in. To be sure, she stuck to her convictions and drew on her own experience and observations, but she did so in a way designed to appeal to a broad, national readership.

I’m also excited for people to meet this poet William Combe, who had one of the most interesting lives of any Regency writer. He was a remarkable literary talent. He doesn’t fit the mold of the “Romantic poet,” which is one reason he might be overlooked. Instead he offers a light, generous humor that shows us that Regency poetry wasn’t all about Byronic heroes and Wordsworthian dreamers. There was a sociable, comic side to the poetry of the period. Combe represents that comic side particularly well.

Finally, I would love it if this book inspired other teacher-scholars to undertake collaborative research with their students – especially at the upper-high-school level. There are so many benefits. For students, it’s a more rewarding and enjoyable approach to literary scholarship than the usual school essays. For teachers, it’s a welcome relief from the role of “judge/grader” – instead you get to teach through co-creation, as is done in most trades through the apprenticeship model. And for the reading public, there’s the benefit of the work produced! I am convinced that student involvement, with the right guidance and leadership from the teacher, leads to better scholarship. It certainly has in my experience.

By the way, while we don’t offer a Kindle edition, we do offer a free etext in the form of a downloadable PDF on our website. We decided from the beginning to be an open-access publisher, in part to make it easier for teachers with low-income students to assign our books. The best way to use the e-text is to enable the 2-page view in your pdf reader – that way the text and notes are neatly parallel, as in the physical book. The etext can also be used as a supplement to the physical book – for instance if you want to do a text search for a particular word.

How did you and the students share the work on this project?

Each student was responsible to annotate one of the poem’s 26 cantos, about ten pages of text. I did the other ten cantos myself. Students also had one or more additional responsibilities, which included:

  • Researching aspects of Combe’s life
  • Researching Gilpin and the picturesque
  • Compiling chronologies
  • Drawing maps
  • Designing the cover
  • Editing the text according to scholarly standards

My job was twofold. First, I offered regular feedback on work in progress, helping students learn how to navigate library databases, write good, concise annotations, etc. I also did the parts of the book that were a bit beyond the reach of high-school students, even excellent ones, which all the students who worked on this book were! For example, I wrote most of the introductory materials, as well as some of the trickier annotations. I helped with the final prose, too, to ensure continuity of voice. That doesn’t mean, though, that the best stuff is mine. Many of the best, most insightful annotations in the book are entirely by students, and every one of my students has some of their own writing, their own voice in the final book – which was a major priority for me. And just as students benefited from my feedback, I benefitted from theirs. They fully earned their editor credits in the final book.

Final Thoughts

Dr. Wiebracht and his class did an amazing job. I highly recommend this book, which is available on Amazon and from Jane Austen Books at a discount. I have not yet read the earlier book in the series, Bath: An Adumbration in Rhyme, but now I want to get hold of that and read it, too!

If you’re at the JASNA AGM this month, you can hear Ben and some of his students speak, and get them to sign your copy of the book. (Unfortunately I’m speaking in a slot opposite theirs, as well as other excellent speakers at that time, so you’ll have to choose! It’s always challenging.) Their talk is also available in the virtual version of the AGM.

The price is very reasonable for a book with color illustrations. I hope you’ll get a chance to enjoy and learn from this lovely book!

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Bygone: Musings and Poems from a Regency Hearthside

Posted in Book review, Jane Austen's World, Poetry, Regency, Regency Life, Regency society, Regency Women, Regency World on September 12, 2023| 7 Comments »

I’m delighted to share with you a beautiful new book I think you’ll want by your side this fall as you settle down for a cozy read by the fire! It’s called Bygone: Musings and Poems from a Regency Hearthside by Hannah Linder.

Not only is it beautiful to behold, but it is also beautiful to read. Read on for a fun interview with Hannah and some of my own thoughts on her book!

Book Description:

Modern, Regency-Esque Love Poems from a Regency Novelist. Enjoy this hardback collection of whimsical thoughts and poems, perfect for fans of Jane Austen. Grab a cup of tea and immerse yourself in this gift book release, just in time for fall.

I had the great honor of writing an endorsement for this book:

“In Bygone: Musings and Poems from a Regency Hearthside, Hannah Linder offers elegant, heartfelt verses for the discerning Regency soul. As words dance delicately across the page, you’ll soon hear the gentle rustle of silk and the subtle murmur of voices as you step back through time to the beauty and romance of a bygone era.”

As you can see, I found myself in a very poetic mood after reading Hannah’s poems! Her words not only sweep you away to another time and place, but they are also food for the soul.

Interview with Hannah Linder

Hannah agreed to do an interview with me, and I enjoyed getting to know more about her and her writing and artistic background. She is an accomplished, creative, and talented person (I’m sure Austen would approve) with the same deep love for Austen and the Regency Era that all of us here at Jane Austen’s World share. I hope you enjoy our Q&A!

1. What is your background with poetry and what inspired you to write this book?

For years, I’ve enjoyed slipping off alone somewhere with an old poetry book, reading the stanzas out loud, or committing them to memory. I love the way poems play with words. The soothing sound. The cut of realization, throbbing at your chest, when you read something you always knew about life but never really pondered.

For years, I said I could not write poetry. I liked freedom best and writing in rhythms seemed too binding. Funny, isn’t it? Oftentimes the things we say we’ll never do are those we find ourselves doing. Now, writing poetry is an outlet. When emotions swell, I let them topple over and bleed into paper, each line a journal entry or a piece of what cries within me. Bygone is the collection of all my thoughts, dreams, and longings.

2. What are 2 of your favorite poems and what is the story behind each one?

Love You? is one that will always be special to me, because it reflects the heart of a wife who tries to explain to her husband all the ways she loves him. Love is not always flowers and moonlit dances and serenating music. Love, more often, is the simple things we do for each other. The life we live together.

Another favorite is Worth the While. This poem is a sweet reminder to slow down, be happy, and enjoy life as it comes.

3. When did you first discover Jane Austen and the Regency Era? 

My best friend, in my early teens, invited me over and introduced me to the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. From the moment Mr. Darcy walked through the foggy field with his coat billowing in the wind, I was hopelessly twitterpated. I have been in love with everything Jane Austen ever since.

4. Do you read Regency or Historical Fiction? If so, who are your favorite authors?

Absolutely! My all-time favorite Regency author is Michelle Griep. Her stories always keep me captivated.

5. What are your favorite 3 books you read in the last year?

This is such a hard question! I think Memory Lane by Becky Wade and Forgotten Secrets by Christy Barritt were among my favorite reads of the year.

6. Who do you picture reading the poems in this collection?

Anyone who loves the Regency Era, the sweetness of romance, the sing-song voice of poetry, or the sentimental things in life. Bygone would be a fun book to curl up with in a chair, near a hearth, with a steaming cup of tea.

7. What was your writing process for this collection? Where did you write these poems?

Anywhere, everywhere! Sometimes a thought or idea would strike me, and I would rush to write it down before I could forget. Other times, I’d just go wandering in a field, take a seat by the creek, and ponder on life until a poem came to me.

Bonus: Who is your favorite Jane Austen hero? Who is your favorite villain?

Absolutely, hands down, the wonderful Mr. Darcy. Though Mr. Knightly would be a close second. And villain, hmm…perhaps Mr. Wickham. He’s so charmingly deceitful and such a layered character. Jane Austen was so masterful.

About the Author

Hannah Linder resides in the beautiful mountains of central West Virginia. Represented by Books & Such, she writes Regency romantic suspense novels filled with passion, secrets, and danger. She is a four-time Selah Award winner, a 2023 Carol Award semi-finalist, and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Also, Hannah is an international and multi-award-winning graphic designer who specializes in professional book cover design. She designs for both traditional publishing houses and individual authors, including New York Times, USA Today, and international bestsellers. She is also a self-portrait photographer of historical fashion. When Hannah is not writing, she enjoys playing her instruments—piano, guitar, ukulele, and banjolele—songwriting, painting still life, walking in the rain, and sitting on the front porch of her 1800s farmhouse.

To follow her journey, visit hannahlinderbooks.com.

Hannah’s Links

If you’d like to follow along with Hannah’s other literary and artistic ventures, here are a few ways to find her online:

Purchase Bygone

You can purchase Bygone by Hannah Linder HERE!

I hope you enjoyed learning more about Hannah and her beautiful new book! Which Jane Austen character do you think would be most likely to read poetry? Which would be most likely to write poetry?

RACHEL DODGE teaches college English classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and book clubs, and writes for Jane Austen’s World blog. She is the bestselling author of The Little Women Devotional, The Anne of Green Gables Devotional and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. Now Available: The Secret Garden Devotional! You can visit Rachel online at www.RachelDodge.com.

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