Edward Lear Williams Paperback Liverpool University Press 9780746312223

Northcote House

Edward LearAuthor(s): James Williams\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Liverpool University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Liverpool University Press\nISBN-13: 9780746312223, 978-0746312223\nSynopsis\nEdward Lear wrote a well-known autobiographical poem that begins How pleasant to know Mr Lear! But how well do we really know him? On the one hand he is, in John Ashberys words, one of the most popular poets who ever lived; on the other hand he has often been overlooked or marginalized by scholars and in literary histories. James Williamss account, the first book-length critical study of the poet since the 1980s, sets out to re-introduce Lear and to accord him his proper place: as a major Victorian figure of continuing appeal and relevance, and especially as a poet of beauty, comedy, and profound ingenuity. Williams approaches Lears work thematically, tracing some of its most fundamental subjects and situations. Grounded in attentive close readings, Williams also connects Lears nonsense w.