Modern Love

Disturbingly modern, one might say, this collection of poetry was published in 1862. While the diction and meter of the poems are quite conventional, the subject matter is not. The 50 sonnets of 16 lines each tell the story of the breakup of a marriage. This was inspired by Meredith’s real-life experience, as his wife Mary Ellen Meredith fell in love with the artist Henry Wallis and left her husband for him.