At the heart of the 1890s

"Widely recognized in his own time as a poet of the highest order, Lionel Johnson has since been largely overshadowed by critical interest in some of the brighter luminaries of the fin de siecle literary moment, such as Wilde and Yeats. In At the Heart of the 1890s: Essays on Lionel Johnson, Gary H. Paterson compensates for some of that neglect, aiming to restore Johnson to his deserved position at the center of the 1890s literary world." "The eleven essays comprising At the Heart of the 1890s engage Johnson's poetry in detail, offering a critical portrait of the writer and his times. While giving critical attention to the familiar topics of Johnson's religiosity and homosexuality in the context of late nineteenth-century literary decadence, Paterson also devotes much of his study to an exploration of less critically considered "aspects of character," including Johnson's sense of humor, his interest in music, and his fascination with Celtic history and culture."--Jacket.