Poetry of Amy Levy, The

Amy Levy was born in London, England in 1861, the second of seven in a fairly wealthy Anglo-Jewish family. The children read and participated in secular literary activities and became firmly integrated into Victorian life. Her education was at Brighton High School, Brighton, before studies at Newnham College, Cambridge; she was the first Jewish student when she arrived in 1879, but left after four terms. Amy’s writing career began early; her poem ‘Ida Grey’ appeared when she was only fourteen. Her acclaimed short stories ‘Cohen of Trinity’ and ‘Wise in Their Generation,’ were published by Oscar Wilde in his magazine ‘Women's World’. Her poetic writings reveal feminist concerns; ‘Xantippe and Other Verses’, from 1881 includes a poem in the voice of Socrates's wife. ‘A Minor Poet and Other Verse’ from 1884 comprises of dramatic monologues and lyric poems. In 1886, Amy began a series of essays on Jewish culture and literature for the Jewish Chronicle, including ‘The Ghetto at Florence’, ‘The Jew in Fiction’, ‘Jewish Humour’ and ‘Jewish Children’. That same year while travelling in Florence she met the writer Vernon Lee. It is generally assumed they fell in love and this inspired the poem ‘To Vernon Lee’. Her first novel ‘Romance of a Shop’, written in 1888 is based on four sisters who experience the pleasures and hardships of running a London business during the 1880s. This was followed by Reuben Sachs (also 1888) and concerned with Jewish identity and mores in the England of her time and was somewhat controversial. Her final book of poems, ‘A London Plane-Tree’ from 1889, shows the beginnings of the influence of French symbolism. Despite many friendships and an active life, Amy suffered for many years with serious depressions and this, together with her growing deafness, led her to commit suicide by inhaling carbon monoxide on September 10th, 1889. She was 27. 01 - The Poetry of Amy Levy - An Introduction 02 - Xantippe (A Fragment) by Amy Levy 03 - At Dawn by Amy Levy 04 - In the Night by Amy Levy 05 - Sonnet by Amy Levy 06 - A March Day in London by Amy Levy 07 - The First Extra - A Waltz Song by Amy Levy 08 - A Game of Lawn Tennis by Amy Levy 09 - On the Wye in May by Amy Levy 10 - A June Tide Echo by Amy Levy 11 - A London Plane Tree by Amy Levy 12 - London In July by Amy Levy 13 - In the Black Forest by Amy Levy 14 - On the Threhold by Amy Levy 15 - The Dream by Amy Levy 16 - In September by Amy Levy 17 - A Dirge by Amy Levy 18 - In a Minor Key (An Echo From a Larger Lyre) by Amy Levy 19 - The Old House by Amy Levy 20 - Out of Town by Amy Levy 21 - In the Mile End Road by Amy Levy 22 - Ballade of a Special Edition by Amy Levy 23 - Ballade of An Omnibus by Amy Levy 24 - A Reminisence by Amy Levy 25 - To Lallie (Outside the British Museum) by Amy Levy 26 - Oh, Is it Love by Amy Levy 27 - Philosophy by Amy Levy 28 - Contradictions by Amy Levy 29 - To Sylvia by Amy Levy 30 - A Prayer by Amy Levy 31 - The Lost Friend by Amy Levy 32 - To A Dead Poet by Amy Levy 33 - London Poets by Amy Levy 34 - The Old Poet by Amy Levy 35 - The Sick Man and the Nightingale by Amy Levy 36 - Epitaph (On a Commonplace Person Who Died in Bed) by Amy Levy 37 - Run to Death by Amy Levy 38 - A Cross Road Epitaph by Amy Levy 39 - Twilight by Amy Levy 40 - The Two Terrors by Amy Levy 41 - Last Words by Amy Levy 42 - The Promise of Sleep by Amy Levy 43 - A Farewell by Amy Levy 44 - A Minor Poet by Amy Levy