The lyric poetry of Louisa Siefert from a historical-typological perspective

Abstract

The study aims to provide a typological description of Louisa Siefert’s lyric poetry. Based on an analysis of works from the poet’s major poetry collections, the article identifies the most characteristic features of Siefert’s poetic world as well as the significant traits of her poetics. The scientific novelty of the work lies in revising the prevailing view of the poet’s oeuvre as a phenomenon that merely combines features of Romanticism and Parnassian poetry. Siefert’s lyric poetry is examined from a typological, historical, and cultural perspective across all four of her poetry collections without exception, rather than relying on selective texts used to confirm her adherence to a supposed Romantic-Parnassian mode of representing reality. The study establishes that Louisa Siefert’s work represents a characteristic literary phenomenon of the post-Romantic era: while her poetry exhibits Romantic influence (in certain texts and primarily at the stylistic level, which does not inherently make her a Romantic poet), it lacks key traits of Parnassian poetics (despite her contributions to “Le Parnasse contemporain”, which does not automatically render her a devotee of the Parnassian school); instead, it demonstrates a clear orientation toward a realistic reflection of her personal experiences and the surrounding world.