George Meredith Modern Love Analysis

From the bottom of the barrel poverty to fame and fortune through his prolific and relentless writing, George Meredith made a name for himself with his eclectic choice of words and subject matters. Meredith often wrote fanciful works of fiction, such as the famous novel “The Egoist”, along with volumes upon volumes of poetry. However, with Meredith’s more carefree and happy poems are juxtaposed by his sporadic, grimmer poetry, and this darker side of his poetry seems to be inspired by what Meredith has experienced first hand. Such examples of this being his 50 sonnet collection entitled “Modern Love” which dealt with his feelings towards his first marriage, and “Dirge in Woods” comes across as his thoughts on the wars in his lifetime. The events

This collection of 50 sonnets is published one year after the death of Nicolls in 1861, his first wife, which gave Meredith time to reflect on what went wrong and assess his feelings towards the eventual estrangement. The very title, “Modern Love” , can be representative of Meredith’s views of love at the time of writing is the opposite of the flawless, romanticised love stories of old; Ergo, the “modern” love ultimately full of hardships. One of which being referenced is the mention in sonnet six of Meredith desperately calling out to his wife, “O bitter barren woman! what 's the name?/The name, the name, the new name thou hast won?” (11-12) wanting to know the name of who she favors over him, and this is in reference to Mary’s eloping with another man. In sonnet 16 of the collection, like Caesar to Brutus, she has betrayed and utterly devastated him, and it is evident when he writes, “I open an old book, and there I find / That 'Women still may love whom they deceive? ' / Such love I prize not, madam: by your leave,” (13-15). He openly states that her love is not one that he desires any longer, and even goes as far as saying that he is ready for her to take her

The poem “Dirge in Woods” portrays itself as Meredith’s experiences during his time as a war correspondent in Italy with various references to the locations of the war and his thoughts on mortality. Meredith doesn 't hesitate to set the tone of the poem by starting with the title itself. A dirge is defined as “ song or hymn of grief or lamentation; especially : one intended to accompany funeral or memorial rites” (“Dirge.”) This would also add to the overall theme of death in the poem as is the same in war, and the “in Woods” would be in reference to some the battles of the Austro-Prussian war taking place in the forest. This, in turn, would mean that the title of the poem is most likely in reference to a dirge held for a soldier who dies within one of the