The Sexual Side of Meredith's Poetry

In his imagery, story, nuances of language, and even in explicit terms, Meredith made sex a part, often a highly striking and appropriate part, of his poetry. Scholars and critics have virtually ignored his use of sex and the sensual (except in "Modern Love"), although they are to be found in every phase of Meredith's poetic career and in a wide variety of settings. Some of his sexuality comes up in his treatment of Nature, but far more evidence of it occurs in poems dealing directly with the human scene and condition. Meredith is poetically deft and forceful in his sexual imagery; and in his awareness of the sexual situation, he employs narrative verse to tell several very mature stories; at his worst, he is sentimental or obscure. The implications of Meredith's pervasive sexuality open up broad areas of Meredithian biography and philosophy for re-analysis.