Death Becomes Her: Figuration and Decay in Swift's "Birthday Poems" to Stella.
The article offers poetry criticism of the poetry collection "Birthday Poems" by Jonathan Swift. It comments on Swift's relationship with Esther Johnson, whom he nicknamed "Stella," and whom he mentored while he was secretary to sir William Temple. It talks about the complexity of Swift's poem "On S...
| Published in: | Eighteenth Century: Theory & Interpretation Vol. 51; no. 4; pp. 431 - 451 |
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| Format: | Poetry Review |
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University of Pennsylvania Press
Winter2010
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| Summary: | The article offers poetry criticism of the poetry collection "Birthday Poems" by Jonathan Swift. It comments on Swift's relationship with Esther Johnson, whom he nicknamed "Stella," and whom he mentored while he was secretary to sir William Temple. It talks about the complexity of Swift's poem "On Stella's Birthday, 1719" and on discrepancies between Johnson's actual age and that which he stated her at in the poem was in fact a critique of the deadening effects of traditional femininity. |
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