George Meredith: A Revolutionary Voice in 19th-Century Literature 

George Meredith was an English novelist and poet. His early writings appeared in periodicals, and he supplemented that income with a job reading for a publisher. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times.

Poem Overview

George Meredith was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, in February of 1828. He was the son of a tailor and lived with his parents above the family shop. That is until his mother died when he was five years old. He inherited a small amount of money from his mother that allowed him to attend a local seminary and begin to take on the qualities of a “gentleman.” Unfortunately for the young Meredith, who harbored goals of being accepted into upper-class society, his father’s shop went bankrupt. In the wake of this change, Meredith’s father married the family’s housekeeper. 

When Meredith was fourteen, he attended a Moravian School at Neuwied on the Rhine River. The land on which the school was situated was picturesque. It is thought that these landscapes stuck with the young man for the rest of his life, making their way into his later works. Within the institution, he was educated in religion and humanism. He learned to love nature and seek out peace. 

Meredith returned to England four years later at the age of 16. This was the end of his formal education, he was largely self-educated.  By the time he was 18, he was the apprentice to a solicitor and had supposedly begun a career in law. It is clear from the path of his life and writings that he never truly pursued this option though. In 1849 he married Mary Ellen Nicolls. Unfortunately, she left him ten years later, running off with the Pre-Raphaelite painter Henry Wallis for whom Meredith had posed. 

His first book of poems was published in 1851 and was titled Poems. Later he would publish a collection of sonnets titled, Modern Love. These are among his best-known poems. The loss of his wife inspired these pieces as well as his first serious novel,  Ordeal of Richard Feverel. 

Meredith remarried in 1864 and moved to Surrey. He continued to write works that were deeply inspired by nature. It was not until 1885, with the publication of Diana of the Crossways that Meredith saw any commercial success. Gaining an audience was a consistent struggle. Meredith died in May 1909 at the age of 81. 

His reputation is incredible to this day. Towards the end of his life, on his 80th birthday, he was celebrated by a number of important people. 250 great world figures sent him their good wishes in a testimonial. These people included the likes of King Edward VII and President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States. He also has been branded with many names, such as the ‘Grand Old Man of Letters,’ ‘the Dean of English Writers,’ ‘last Great Victorian,’ and the ‘Sage of Box Hill.’