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What reception did George Meredith’s 1851 collection Poems receive from literary critics?
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George Meredith
George Meredith, detail of an oil painting by G.F. Watts, 1893; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
George Meredith’s 1851 collection, Poems, received positive attention from notable literary figures of the time. The writer and critic William Michael Rossetti praised the work, while the novelist Charles Kingsley noted that the collection showed "very high promise." Additionally, the poet Alfred Tennyson offered kind words, specifically expressing that he wished he had written the collection's beautiful piece, "Love in the Valley."1
Despite this critical appreciation, the collection did not achieve commercial success, and the praise it received did not provide the financial support Meredith needed at the time.1