Sublime

For Emily, who returned her borrowed stardust to the universe far too soon.

Cecilia (1782) and Camilla (1796) are by Frances (or Fanny) Burney; Belinda (1801) is by Maria Edgeworth. Burney, the most acclaimed novelist of the late eighteenth century, was, along with Samuel Richardson, the most important influence on Jane Austen’s work. Burney’s novels consistently focus on the tribulations—romantic and otherwise—of a young

Cowper.”

The English poet Thomas Gray (1716–1771) meditated on the melancholy theme of unexploited talent while looking at the headstones of farm labourers in the graveyard of a small country village. He wondered who these people had been and what, in better circumstances, they might have become: Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregna

Shelley, on the other hand, incest was an opportunity to expose the corruption of institutions and the men at their helm.

I turned with more attention towards the cottagers. Their happiness was not decreased by the absence of summer. They loved and sympathized with one another; and their joys, depending on each other, were not interrupted by the casualties that took place around them. The more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and k

Sibyl—if