Our first meeting was held at the Center for Cultural Analysis at Rutgers University and paired Sidney Lanier with George Saintsbury. We were a smaller group, then, and joined by Ivy Wilson (Northwestern), Mary Loeffelholz (Northeastern), and Jessica Roberts (Albion). These members rotated off in the following year. Eliza Richards (UNC Chapel Hill) was an active member of the group until 2016. We had a lively discussion about the racial ideologies at work in both texts. This was before the days when we held a public meeting.

Readings:

Sidney Lanier The Science of English Verse. New York: Scribner, 1880.

George Saintsbury  A History of English Prosody. Vol. 3. 1910. New York: Russell, 1961