Charlotte Smith, The Emigrants

Bethan Roberts (University of Liverpool)

Ed. by Daniel Robinson, Widener University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1793

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

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Charlotte Smith was best known as a sonnet writer when her blank verse poem

The Emigrants, a Poem, in Two Books

was published in 1793. After the publication of the sixth edition of her popular

Elegiac Sonnets

in 1792, she took a break from expanding that volume (the next, second volume was published in 1797) and

The Emigrants

marks a shift in both poetic form and emphasis. While Smith’s sonnets hitherto published had been largely apolitical,

The Emigrants

is more expansive in scope, blending private and public. The title refers to members of the Catholic French clergy and nobility who fled post-revolution France following the abolition of state religion, seeking refuge in England. Smith herself took several emigrants into her home, and her daughter Anna Augusta married an émigré in…

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3617 words

Citation: Roberts, Bethan. "The Emigrants". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 October 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12425, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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