George Eliot, born Mary Ann Evans in 1819, was a leading English novelist, poet, translator, and journalist of the Victorian era. Adopting a male pen name to ensure her work was taken seriously, she became renowned for her novels, including "Middlemarch" and "The Mill on the Floss." Alongside her fiction, she produced a significant body of poetry, deeply informed by her intellectual and moral preoccupations. Her verse often engaged with philosophical and religious questions, blending emotional intensity with rigorous thought. Major poetic works include the dramatic poem "The Spanish Gypsy" and the collection "The Legend of Jubal and Other Poems." Her poetry frequently examines duty, sacrifice, and the redemptive power of human sympathy, often using classical and biblical allusions. Stylistically, her poems are formal and meditative, drawing on narrative and dramatic structures. Though her poetry is less read today than her novels, it was highly regarded by contemporaries like Tennyson. Her philosophical poem "O May I Join the Choir Invisible" remains a testament to her humanist vision. As an author, she significantly shaped English literature, influencing the psychological novel and expanding the scope of poetic themes in the Victorian period.
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