Greenwell, Dora

(1821-1882)

   Born at Greenwell Ford, near Lanchester, Lancashire, she was taught by a governess for five years, then taught herself, studying philosophy, political economy and languages. After the death of her mother she moved to London, and became friendly with Josephine Butler, the great Victorian campaigner, and Christina Rossetti (see entry). An evangelical Anglican, she was a woman of deep religious views, often expressed in her poems. Her essays were concerned with various social issues: child labor, women's education, the franchise, and education for those who at that time were called "imbeciles." She also wrote a memoir of the Quaker essayist John Woolman (1871). Some of her other publications: Poems, 1848, 1861, 1865, 1867. Stories That Might Be True, 1850. Carmina Cruces, 1868. Songs of Salvation, 1873. The Soul's Legend, 1873. Camera Obscura, 1876. Some of her poems: "A National Song," "Demeter and Cora," "Go and Come," "I Am Not Skilled to Understand" (hymn), "The Battle-Flag of Sigurd," "The Blade of Grass," "To Christina Rossetti," "To Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in 1851," "When the Night and Morning Meet."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Poetry Archive (www.poetry-archive.com). Stanford University libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry and Poetic Theory. Thomas J. Collins and Vivienne Rundle, eds. Broadview, 1999. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. Oxford University Press, 1971. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Victorian Women Poets: An Antholog y. Angela Leighton and Margaret Reynolds, eds. Blackwell, 1991.