Review: The Poems of Evelyn Pickering De Morgan

 Gosh, I've just looked up when I wrote about Evelyn De Morgan on this blog and it was 2011! Since then, I've definitely noticed that she crops up everywhere and I was delighted to include her in the Pre-Raphaelite Girl Gang. This is the first in a bit of a De Morgan double-bill as next week I'll be reviewing the new exhibition catalogue.  I don't know, you wait around for ages for one Evelyn De Morgan book to come along and then two come along at the same time!  Onwards to the poetry!

What do you mean, you didn't realise that EDM wrote poetry?! Well, yes, unless you were a De Morgan specialist, you might not have realised (I hadn't a clue) but considering that Serena also brought us Elizabeth Siddal's poetry then we should have guessed that painting and poetry often went hand in hand. What really appealed to me about this collection is that it is mainly poems from her younger years and you can see the conversation between her artworks that were to follow and her childhood thoughts.

Famously, in her diary on her 17th birthday, Evelyn wrote 'art is eternal but life is short and each minute idly spent will rise to whole months and years and hound me in my grave.' That level of drive resulted in her creating at least 102 oil paintings, thousands of sketches and studies and sculpted in gesso and bronze. She is known for her spiritualist beliefs which were also in her canvases so unsurprisingly you can see them in her poems too. 

The Soul's Prison House (1880-88)

Of course, it didn't hurt that her Mother-in-Law was Sophia Frend, a famous spiritualist medium and Evelyn's husband also shared her spiritualist beliefs. Through that lens, her preoccupation with death in her poetry becomes understandable and not as maudlin as it could appear.

The Angel of Death (1880)

The poems included in this book are from her teenage years, although some of her note books are undated and some poems are copied out again in later books and may come from earlier years.  The poem 'My love lies deep' starts 'My love lies deep / Under the ground / And Autumn's gloom / Is gath'ring round'. It describes the narrator's grief as time moves on from Autumn to Winter, when the narrator dies as well. I found the narrator of the poem interesting as it is either a man mourning a woman (as the 'love' is female) or a woman mourning another woman so much they die as well. It reminded me of how parts of Tennyson's In Memoriam (1850) are from the viewpoint of both men and women. There is certainly no fear associated with death, only of separation. The Angel of Death is described in very welcoming terms - 'Soft thy kisses / Warm thy breath / Vision of love / Angel of Death'.

The Passing of a Soul at Death (1910-1919)

One particular favourite of mine has to be 'Little Gretlein', which tells the tale of a little poppet who loses 'her pretty pet lamb Snowball'. She looks everywhere but Snowball is never located and Gretein gets lost and dies. I don't think Snowball is ever located but verses 7-12 aren't included so possibly that's when Snowball is seen taking it easy at a Travelodge on a Spa Break. Somehow, I feel this makes Little Gretlein's demise in the snow to be even more tragic. T'uh, Snowball, you callous ratbag.

Love the Misleader (1889)

Interestingly, there is a poem by Alice Fleming, 'Love the Misleader', inspired by Evelyn's painting from 1889. Alice, sister of Rudyard Kipling, knew the De Morgans in 1897 and wrote vivid poems in response to Evelyn's works.  I  woulddefinitely like to know more about their relationship and the relationships between the two art forms.

Death of a Butterfly (c.1910-14)

Much like Serena's previous book on the poetry of Elizabeth Siddal, this is a compact and enlightening read. Evelyn's teenage death poems are cracking and unrelentingly morbid but realistic and weirdly positive. As she wrote in 'The flowers were budding in early spring' - "We bloom but to fade".  During this period of national mourning (which feels marvellously Victorian) it is comforting to read poems whose main message is 'we all die but it'll be okay'. It is a welcome new angle on Evelyn and her beliefs and it is a really enjoyable read.

The Poems of Evelyn Pickering De Morgan is from the publisher Victorian Secrets here and is available from all good booksellers.