The Verse of Charles Dickens

The Verse of Charles Dickens reveals Charles Dickens’s complex, tortured relationship from 1830 to 1870 with the form and function of verse, a highly influential literary medium in the nineteenth century. Renowned as a prose writer, not as a poet, Dickens’s various engagements with the genre reflect a dichotomy of enjoyment and aversion. Positioning Dickens as sensitive to the emotive capacities of verse, despite arguably lacking lyrical talent, solidifies the active role it played in his career and relationships. Whether utilising it for flirtation, political satire, parody, eulogy, or to construct elaborate riddles, Dickens continued to ‘drop into’ poetry. Furthermore, as editor of Household Words and All the Year Round, he regulated and influenced its periodical production by other Victorian writers. Uncovering new biographical and historical allusions in over one hundred verse items, this collection’s editorial apparatus also cites Dickens’s oeuvre and previous scholarship, clarifies definitions, and demystifies cultural references.