Brennan (English, Indiana State U.) analyzes and interprets the poetry of antebellum Charleston writer William Gilmore Simms in terms of the major British romantic poets, especially the
influence of Wordsworth. He examines Simms's poetic theories and practical criticism, his experimental sonnets, and his use of nature and ecology before Thoreau. He argues that the lesser-known
Simms shows the influence of British romanticism earlier than his contemporaries Longfellow, Emerson, and Thoreau; demonstrates his imitation of neoclassicism and Lord Byron; describes how he
developed a pioneering American realism that encompasses local and regional places and sympathetic portrayals of Native Americans; and discusses his absorption of Keats, Shelley, and Gothicism.
Some parts of chapters have been previously published in journals. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
