Most of the sonnets that DGR wrote on his trip to Paris and Belgium with Hunt in 1849 were concerned with explicitly aesthetic issues, but
someâlike this oneâdealt with the social and political situation in the aftermath of 1848. Though
guarded enough, the social and political hope expressed in these lines is stronger than in any of DGR's other poems
on such topics.
DGR had the poem set in type for printing in the
1881 Ballads and Sonnets volume
(see the first author's proof for
Signature Y). He removed the poem during the proofing process so that it was only first published by WMR in
his collected edition of 1886 (I.261).
This collection contains 5 texts and images, including:
1881 Ballads and Sonnets proof text
Scholarly Commentary
IntroductionÂ
Most of the sonnets that DGR wrote on his trip to Paris and Belgium with Hunt in 1849 were concerned with explicitly aesthetic issues, but someâlike this oneâdealt with the social and political situation in the aftermath of 1848. Though guarded enough, the social and political hope expressed in these lines is stronger than in any of DGR's other poems on such topics.
The poem is loosely connected with a group of works, many with an anti-Gallic inflection, that DGR wrote in 1849 (see âOn a Handful of French Moneyâ, âThe Can-Can at Valentino'sâ, âVox Ecclesiae, Vox Christiâ, âThe Staircase of Notre Dame, Parisâ, and âPlace de la Bastille, Parisâ).
Textual History: CompositionÂ
The poem was one of sonnets DGR sent to his brother in his letter of 8 October 1849, which is the only manuscript that we know.
Printing HistoryÂ
DGR had the poem set in type for printing in the 1881 Ballads and Sonnets volume (see the first author's proof for Signature Y). He removed the poem during the proofing process so that it was only first published by WMR in his collected edition of 1886 (I.261).