Sydney Dobell
Sydney Dobell was a British poet born in Cranbrook, Kent, into a family known for their radical political and religious views. Raised in a small sect that rejected traditional religious practices and education, he was educated at home and began writing at a young age despite limited support from his family. Dobell married Emily Fordham in 1844 and later gained recognition for his long poem, *The Roman*, published in 1850, which addressed the unification of Italy amidst a backdrop of European uprisings. His subsequent work, *Balder*, published in 1853, explored complex themes through the perspective of a troubled poet, but faced severe criticism, particularly from the Scottish poet William Edmondstoune Aytoun, who labeled it as an example of "spasmodic" poetry. The negative reception of *Balder* marked a turning point in Dobell's career, leading to a decline in his literary pursuits as he grappled with health issues and societal rejection. He did publish additional works, with *England in Time of War* being his most successful, but he ultimately withdrew from serious writing. Dobell passed away in 1874 following a prolonged illness stemming from a horse training accident. His literary legacy remains complex, reflecting the struggles of an artist navigating personal and societal challenges in Victorian England.
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Sydney Dobell
Poet
- Born: April 5, 1824
- Birthplace: Cranbrook, Kent, England
- Died: August 22, 1874
Biography
Sydney Dobell was born in Cranbrook, Kent, into a family of radical political reformers and religious non-conformists. His father, John Dobell, was a merchant, and his grandfather, Samuel Thompson, had founded the small religious sect in which Dobell was raised. The sect denied all religious rites and sacraments as well as the doctrine of original sin, the need for public worship, and institutions such as public schools and universities. As a result, Dobell was educated at home. He began writing in childhood, although his family was unsympathetic to his interests; as a young man he assisted his father as a wine merchant. In 1844, he married Emily Fordham.
In the late 1840’s, spurred by an interest in Rome, Dobell began his first major work. His resulting long poem, The Roman, dealt with the unification of Italy. It was published in 1850 to great success among a reading public which was already interested in the wave of European uprisings of the time. The poem’s reception encouraged Dobell to begin work on another long poem, eventually titled Balder, published in an incomplete form in 1853. The work was in part the result of Dobell’s final break with his family’s religious sect, in part the product of European travel. The poem examines the mind of the title character, a poet whose name recalls the name of a Norse hero. In the course of the hero’s decline, he sacrifices his daughter and prepares to kill his wife. Dobell’s Victorian readers found these themes repellant, and the poem was met with a barrage of negative criticism, unjustly harsh in the view of some twentieth century critics. Even more virulent rejection came in 1854, when Balder was identified by Scottish poet William Edmondstoune Aytoun as the prime example of the poetry which Aytoun labeled “spasmodic,” a term Aytoun used for what he considered the worst excesses of romanticism. Aytoun’s biting satire Firmilian was based on Balder.
Dobell’s later life was marked by increasingly bad health for both him and his wife. He published some additional poems, of which England in Time of War is regarded as most successful, but he never escaped the condemnation of the “spasmodic” label and gradually relinquished efforts at sustained writing. He died in 1874 after a long period as an invalid, the result of a horse training accident.