48 The Poetry of Mary RobinsonLaura as Laurel
The promise of literary fame was a powerful charm for Robinson, in
addition to the professional and social opportunities she would have
recognized upon her return to England. So, she begins publishing
poetry in the World. Her debut poem is deliberately modest: “Lines,
Dedicated to the Memory of a Much- Lamented Young Gentleman,”
appeared in the World on 24 October 1788. On the day before its
appearance, the “To Correspondents” column promoted Laura in
juxtaposition with the return of Della Crusca, who had been silent
since his last farewell, just prior to the publication of The Poetry of
the World: “Della Crusca—if possible, to- morrow.... LAUR A—is
received, and shall have that attention she so deservedly merits.”
Space concerns, however, prevented the publication of Della Crusca’s
seventy- line poem until four days later; on 24 October, the paper
made a f lattering apology to Della Crusca, noting that “AKENSIDE
and THOMSON are the only Poets of late fit to talk of with him.” That
day, deferring the publication of Della Crusca’s latest poem, Topham
and Este printed Robinson’s short, fourteen- line poem instead.
Robinson likely knew that a shorter poem had a better chance of
publication.
This particular poem is, as its title suggests, an elegiac lament
praising the memory of this young man, emphasizing his virtue and
integrity. The poem concludes with the allegorical figure of Genius
mourning the loss of her “Darling Son” (1: 51; 12). It is a serious
and earnest composition. Robinson’s signature, “Laura,” refers to the
eternal virtue Petrarch’s beloved ultimately represents as she leads him
from eros to agape over the course of his Canzoniere. Possibly the
poem’s fourteen lines are a general allusion to the sonnet form—or
they are merely a coincidence. But the poem is not, strictly speaking,
a sonnet because it is in couplets and lacks the rhetorical structure
and development of a sonnet. None of Robinson’s sonnets consist of
couplets. In her 1791 volume, the poem is significantly longer and
has been retitled as “Lines to the Memory of Richard Boyle, Esq.
Son of Mrs. Walsingham.” Robinson’s 1791 volume includes, in addi-
tion to the expanded version of this poem, another one on the young
man’s death, “Elegy to the Memory of Richard Boyle, Esq.” com-
posed appropriately in elegiac quatrains, along with a note indicating
he died in Bristol. The newspaper poem elides any such connections
or identifying references—and may be simply a fourteen- line excerpt
from the longer version of the poem. More important is the signature,
which is not as modest as the poem itself. The “Laura” avatar allows9780230100251_03_ch01.indd 489780230100251_03_ch01.indd 48 12/31/2010 4:20:15 PM12/31/2010 4:20:15 PM
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