Lyric poetry has long been considered an art form of timelessness, but Romantic poets became fascinated by one time above all others: evening, the threshold between day and night. Christopher R. Miller investigates the cultural background of this development. The tradition of evening poetry runs from the idyllic settings of Virgil to the urban twilights of T. S. Eliot, and flourished in the works of Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats. In fresh readings of familiar Romantic poems, Miller shows how evening settings enabled poets to represent the passage of time and to associate it with subtle movements of thought and perception. This leads to new ways of reading canonical works, and of thinking about the kinds of themes the lyric can express.

An exploration of the tradition of evening poetry that flourished with Coleridge, Shelley and Keats.

About the Author
Christopher Miller is Associate Professor of English at Yale University.

Reviews
'One of the most striking things about this engaging and scholarly book is the way that it draws to the reader's attention just how many major poems of the late 18th and early 19th century (and beyond) are indeed set in or focused around the crepuscular time of the evening.' The Times Higher Education Supplement
'Miller's study is highly welcome ... it should be given to students as a model for intense and theory-informed concentration on what is really worth reading ...' Anglia Newspaper for English Philology



Book Information
ISBN 9780521863827
Author Christopher R. Miller
Format Hardback
Page Count 278
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 580g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 160mm * 21mm