DGR never published these two sonnets, either separately or together. WMR first published them as
distinct works, which in their initial composition they were. The first is the earlier, having been written in 1847; the
second was written in 1849 in Belgium when DGR was traveling with Holman Hunt. The first sonnet is
thus the earliest example we have of
one of DGR's most characteristic literary formsâthe sonnet âforâ a
picture. WMR said that his brother wrote it about a painting he had
seen âin an auction-roomâ (see
WMR's note to the (1911) text of the first
sonnet, which he published by itself in 1886 under the title âFor an Annunciation. Early Germanâ.
WMR published the second as âReturning to
Brussellsââpart of the sequence he constructed from
DGR letters and manuscripts under the title
âA Trip to Paris and Belgiumâ.
It is interesting that DGR did not include these sonnets among
the Sonnets for Pictures he published in
The
Germ in 1850, or indeed in any of the later groupings
similarly titled. But in 1881, when he was preparing his 1881 Poems.
A New Edition for the presss,
he considered including both sonnets as a joined pairâa striking idea given their
disjunctive compositional relation. As the paired
title âFilii Filiaâ suggests, the significance of the sonnets gets shifted and
augmented when they are joined together.
The only surviving manuscript of the sonnet pair is
in the Delaware Art Museum library; it dates from 1881. The second sonnet exists in an
early manuscript version in
DGR's letter to his brother of
18 October 1849.
The two sonnets have not been published as a unit until now, although
they were first printed in the first revise proof
of Signature T of the 1881
Poems. A New Edition. DGR removed them from the book in
the next revise proof stage.
The painting referenced in the first sonnet has not been identified.
It seems clear that WMR knew what the picture was, given his 1886 title for
the first sonnet.
This collection contains 14 texts and images, including:
Delaware Art Museum Manuscript
Scholarly Commentary
IntroductionÂ
DGR never published these two sonnets, either separately or together. WMR first published them as distinct works, which in their initial composition they were. The first is the earlier, having been written in 1847; the second was written in 1849 in Belgium when DGR was traveling with Holman Hunt. The first sonnet is thus the earliest example we have of one of DGR's most characteristic literary formsâthe sonnet âforâ a picture. WMR said that his brother wrote it about a painting he had seen âin an auction-roomâ (see WMR's note to the (1911) text of the first sonnet, which he published by itself in 1886 under the title âFor an Annunciation. Early Germanâ. WMR published the second as âReturning to Brussellsââpart of the sequence he constructed from DGR letters and manuscripts under the title âA Trip to Paris and Belgiumâ.
It is interesting that DGR did not include these sonnets among the Sonnets for Pictures he published in The Germ in 1850, or indeed in any of the later groupings similarly titled. But in 1881, when he was preparing his 1881 Poems. A New Edition for the presss, he considered including both sonnets as a joined pairâa striking idea given their disjunctive compositional relation. As the paired title âFilii Filiaâ suggests, the significance of the sonnets gets shifted and augmented when they are joined together.
Textual History: CompositionÂ
The only surviving manuscript of the sonnet pair is in the Delaware Art Museum library; it dates from 1881. The second sonnet exists in an early manuscript version in DGR's letter to his brother of 18 October 1849.
Printing HistoryÂ
The two sonnets have not been published as a unit until now, although they were first printed in the first revise proof of Signature T of the 1881 Poems. A New Edition. DGR removed them from the book in the next revise proof stage.
The second sonnet was first published by WMR in its earlier (1849) variant form under the title âReturning to Brusselsâ (see Family Letters (II. 79)), and collected thereafter. The first was also printed posthumously (in 1886) by WMR under the title âFor an Annunciation. Early Germanâ.
PictorialÂ
The painting referenced in the first sonnet has not been identified. It seems clear that WMR knew what the picture was, given his 1886 title for the first sonnet.
LiteraryÂ
The sonnets clearly have a close relation to the sonnets on âMary's Girlhoodâ.