Lady Clara Vere de Vere, by Julia Margaret Cameron

"Lady Clara Vere de Vere" is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

written by

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

, part of his collected ''Poems'' published in 1842. The poem is about a lady in a family of

aristocrats Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

, and includes numerous references to

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

, such as to

earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

s or

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

. One such line from the poem goes, "Kind hearts are more than

coronet A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara does ...

s, and simple faith than

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

blood." This line gave the title to the film ''

Kind Hearts and Coronets ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' is a 1949 British crime black comedy film. It features Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson and Alec Guinness; Guinness plays nine characters. The plot is loosely based on the novel ''Israel Rank: The Autob ...

''.

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

's poem "Echoes" is based on "Lady Clare Vere de Vere". Tennyson spent some time as a guest at Curragh Chase and wrote the poem to show his close friendship with the de Vere family. Despite this, the poem is a scathing rebuke. The speaker tells that Lady Clara has rebuffed a young, but low-born man who loved her, and he committed suicide after her rejection. The references to coronets and earls are deployed ironically—the poem's speaker is not, in fact, impressed with the Vere de Vere ancestry, and all of her noble claims can't balance out Lady Clara's coldness, pride, and idleness (as proven by the fact that she apparently has no better claim on her time than breaking hearts). The poem's speaker then professes a more democratic viewpoint, where good character is earned by virtue, not by high birth.

References in other works

* In

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

's play '' What Every Woman Knows'', "Vere de Vere" is referred to as a slightly-cynical metaphor for "the noble nobility": ::COMTESSE. It seems to be no joke to you, Mr. Shand. Sybil, my pet, are you to let him off? ::SYBIL

lashing Lash or Lashing may refer to: * Eyelash * Whiplash (disambiguation) * Lashing (ropework), a form of connecting solid objects tightly using rope or cord * Flagellation, a form of torture or punishment involving a whip * Backlash (engineering), clea ...

Let him off? If he wishes it. Do you? ::JOHN anfully I want it to go on. omething seems to have caught in his throat: perhaps it is the impediment trying a temporary home.It’s the one wish of my heart. If you come with me, Sybil, I’ll do all in a man’s power to make you never regret it. :: riumph of the Vere de Veres. * In C. J. Mathews' ''My Awful Dad'' (1881) the name Vere de Vere is used humorously as a stereotypical name of a member of the nobility: "You shall sit next to Evangeline Clara Vere de Vere, née Tadpole, the grand double-jointed sentimental comic clog and pump dancer." * In the 1914

Angela Brazil Angela Brazil (pronounced "brazzle") (30 November 186813 March 1947) was one of the first British writers of "modern schoolgirls' stories", written from the characters' point of view and intended primarily as entertainment rather than moral ins ...

story ''The Youngest Girl in the Fifth'', chapter two, the second sentence is 'She was tall for her age, and rather awkward in her manners, apt at present to be slapdash and independent, and decidedly lacking in "that repose which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere"'. * In the 1917

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

short story ''The Romance of an Ugly Policeman,'' there is this passage: ::"Ellen Brown was a nice girl, but she had a temper, and there were moments when her manners lacked rather noticeably the repose which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere." * The theme is alluded to in the fictional play 'Simple Hearts and Coronets', which is advertised as playing locally in the 1932 film '

The Water Gipsies (film) ''The Water Gipsies'' is a 1932 British, low-budget "quota quickie" drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Ann Todd, Sari Maritza and Ian Hunter. It is an adaptation of the 1930 novel '' The Water Gipsies'' by A.P. Herbert. The film ...

' which allegorically refers to the real film's plot.

References

External links

* - full text of the poem Poetry by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1842 poems {{UK-poem-stub