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| A sketch of Alice Meynnell (1921) |
To help me with my research, I thought it would be essential to research the author of the poem. This will only be a brief exploration of her past to see whether anything may have effected her writing i.e. any real emotions could have an emphasis on her style of writing.
Brief Background
Alice Meynnell was 75 when she died - born in 1847 and died in 1922. This makes her 67 when she wrote the poem ( as the poem was written in 1914) - a crucial time in someones life for a war to begin. Nonetheless, Alice was born in London and travelled across Switzerland, France and other parts of England as she grew up.
Apart from writing poetry, Alice was also a suffragist - a member of the women's organisation protesting the right for women to vote. This may suggest to us that Alice had a confronting personality, as its clear that she wanting her opinion to be heard, likewise to the other women protesting.
Nonetheless, one of the main points I noticed whilst researching was that she converted to the Catholic Church in her 20s. Here, she gained a huge affection for the 'handsome' priest, leading her to write the poems "Renouncement" and "After a Parting". This therefore may suggest that her conversion may influence her poetry with religious connotations - which may be the reason for religion for the last line of the last stanza ("the very kiss of Christ")
One of the main sections of Alice's life was her passion for journalism where she had frequent work in the newspaper. Her main key element of her career was writing for the catholic paper the "Weekly Register". Throughout journalism she eventually met someone whom to be her husband - Wilfred Meynnell. They stayed together until she passed away and had 8 children in total.
Moving on towards the end of her life was the sorrow which World War 1 bought to her. Her son in law, Percy Lucas, was killed in the Battle of Somme. Her son Francis was arrested for refusing to serve for his country, however was eventually released after he began a hunger strike. This may have eventually led to her illness which was partly depression - the effects of the war may have finally got to her own age which you can argue is evident in the poem I am understanding.
Conclusion
To conclude, I'm quite pleased that I undertook this research. It makes her style and intentions of the poem slightly clearer - her family were effected by the war which is why it may seem very patronising and emotive, the reasons for her religious connotations could be because of her conversion to Catholicism which too is very prominent hence her journalism for catholic newspapers. The fact that she was also a suffragist shows how she may not be scared to express her emotions which too link to the poem as it can be interpreted to contain mixed emotions. Nonetheless, this is only my interpretation so not all of it may be exactly accurate!
Website link to research : http://xroads.virginia.edu/~PUBLIC/FEG/alice/ambio.html
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