Dollie Radford and the Ethical Aesthetics of Fin-de-Siecle Poetry

This chapter uses the case of the poet, Socialist League member, and Fabian, Dollie Radford, to examine the relationship between socialism and fin-de-siècle aestheticism. After outlining Radford's conversion to socialism, the discussion examines her attempts to publish her work in the socialist journal Today. Radford's work from the 1880s forms a marked contrast with that of her widely published fellow Fabian E. Nesbit and the contrast highlights the oft-remarked ‘feminine’ lyricism of Radford's poetry. The chapter argues that, like Schreiner's Dreams, Radford's ‘A Ballad of Victory’, published in the Yellow Book, uses allegory to render political questions in an aesthetic register. The chapter concludes by comparing Radford's work from the 1890s with that of her fellow in the League, William Morris.