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The favorite poetess of Queen Victoria was a convert to Catholicism. To quote:
Adelaide Procter is almost forgotten today, but she was Queen
Victoria’s favorite poet, and in her time (1825-1864) she was second
only to Tennyson in sales and popularity. She was admired and published
by Dickens, and if today she is remembered at all, it is either for
their work together, or for Arthur Sullivan‘s setting of her poem, “A Lost Chord.”
Procter, Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Wilkie Collins collaborated on “A House to Let” and “The Haunted House,”
and Dickens wrote a lengthy encomium to introduce a posthumous edition
of her poems. In it, he alluded to the cause of her death at age 38
being related to her tireless charitable work, thus placing her firmly
in the mold of the Idealized Dickensian Woman Who Sacrifices Herself.
Procter’s work with the poor–particularly women–was extensive, and
inspired by her conversion to Catholicism in 1851. She was friends with
writer and feminist Bessie Parkes, who would also later convert to Catholicism and give the world a couple of famous children.
Procter , Parkes, and their circle worked to uplift the condition of
the poor, with a focus on helping women to be self-sufficient.
Her faith deeply informed her work, which is rich in Catholic imagery and symbolism, particularly “A Chaplet of Verses,”
published to benefit the Providence Row Night Refuge for the Homeless
Poor. Moderns tend to dismiss Victorian poetry–particularly religious
poetry–not just because of its traditional forms, but because of a
misunderstanding of Victorian piety, which they associate with treacly
verse and lace holy cards featuring a cherubic, rosy-cheeked infant
Jesus. If you want a better sense of Victorian piety, think of this.
There was a deep concern for the social ills of the time, which
naturally flowed from Christianity. This was more than mere surface
piety: it was a deep faith that moved people like Procter to help those
in need while also expressing her faith through her art. (Read more.)
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2 comments:
I know Adelaide Proctor. I recited several of her poems, including "the Names of Our Lady" at a poetry club I did in high school. It's a shame she's been mostly forgotten.
Another Catholic poet who is very little known any more is Joyce Kilmer. People only ever know "Trees" these days.
I never heard of this lovely poetess before. What a beautiful face she has!
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