The spasmodic poets were a group of British poets of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. The term was coined by

William Edmonstoune Aytoun William Edmondstoune "W. E." Aytoun FRSE (21 June 18134 August 1865) was a Scottish poet, lawyer by training, and professor of rhetoric and belles lettres at the University of Edinburgh. He published poetry, translation, prose fiction, criticis ...

with some

derogatory A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility ...

as well as humorous intention. The epithet itself is attributed, by

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

, to

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

. Spasmodic poets include

George Gilfillan __NOTOC__ George Gilfillan (30 January 1813 – 13 August 1878) was a Scottish author and poet. One of the spasmodic poets, Gilfillan was also an editor and commentator, with memoirs, critical dissertations in many editions of earlier British po ...

, the friend and inspiration of

William McGonagall William McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish poet and public performer. He gained notoriety as an poetaster, extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers' opinions of his work. He wrote ...

. Gilfillan worked for thirty years on his long poem ''Night'', but he is best known for his encouragement of the young Spasmodics in literary reviews which he wrote under the pseudonym "Apollodorus". Others associated with the group were

Philip James Bailey Philip James Bailey (22 April 1816 – 6 September 1902) was an English poet, best known as the author of ''Festus''. Life Bailey was born on 22 April 1816, in Nottingham, the only son of Thomas Bailey by his first wife, Mary Taylor. He was ...

, Richard Hengist Horne,

Sydney Thompson Dobell Sydney Thompson Dobell (5 April 182422 August 1874) was an English poet and critic, and a member of the so-called Spasmodic school. Biography Dobell was born at Cranbrook, Kent. His father, John Dobell, was a wine merchant and his mother Ju ...

, Alexander Smith, John Stanyan Bigg,

Gerald Massey Gerald Massey (; 29 May 1828 – 29 October 1907) was an English poet and writer on Spiritualism and Ancient Egypt. Early life Massey was born near Tring, Hertfordshire in England to poor parents. When little more than a child, he was made to ...

John Westland Marston John Westland Marston (30 January 1819 – 5 January 1890) was an English dramatist and critic. Early Life and Career He was born at Boston, Lincolnshire, on 30 January 1819, was son of the Rev. Stephen Marston, minister of a Baptist congrega ...

, and Ebenezer Jones. The term "spasmodic" was also applied by contemporary reviewers to

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. Her work receiv ...

's ''Aurora Leigh'',

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...

's ''Maud'', Longfellow's ''Golden Legend'', and the poetry of

Arthur Hugh Clough Arthur Hugh Clough ( ; 1 January 181913 November 1861) was an English poet, an educationalist, and the devoted assistant to Florence Nightingale. He was the brother of suffragist Anne Clough and father of Blanche Athena Clough, who both becam ...

. These poets are not generally included in the Spasmodic school by modern literary critics. Spasmodic poetry was extremely popular from the late 1840s through the 1850s when it abruptly fell out of fashion.

William Edmondstoune Aytoun William Edmondstoune "W. E." Aytoun FRSE (21 June 18134 August 1865) was a Scottish poet, lawyer by training, and professor of rhetoric and belles lettres at the University of Edinburgh. He published poetry, translation, prose fiction, criticis ...

's parodic ''Firmilian; or, The Student of Badajoz: a Spasmodic Tragedy'' (1854) is credited with getting the verse of the Spasmodic school laughed down as bombast. Spasmodic poetry frequently took the form of

verse drama Verse drama is any drama written significantly in poetry, verse (that is: with line endings) to be performed by an actor before an audience. Although verse drama does not need to be ''primarily'' in verse to be considered verse drama, significan ...

, the protagonist of which was often a poet. It was characterized by a number of features including lengthy introspective

soliloquies Soliloquy (from Latin: "talking by oneself") is a device often used in drama. Soliloquy may also refer to: * ''Soliloquy'' (2002 film), a 2002 film by Jacques Zanetti, starring Diahnne Abbott and Drena De Niro * ''Soliloquy'' (McCoy Tyner album ...

by the protagonist, which led to the charge that the poetry was

egotist Egotism is defined as the drive to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself and generally features an inflated opinion of one's personal features and Importance#Value of importance and desire to be important, importance distinguished by a ...

ical.

Notes

External links

Gerald Massey's essay, 'The Spasmodists', published in the North British Review, February 1858
British poetry British literary movements {{poetry-stub