The obituary which follows appeared in the Times on 5 May 1924 (full details in bibliography). It gives a very mixed appraisal of Nesbit's poetry, which it treats first, and pays tribute to her husband's talent. It becomes clear that she is chiefly to be remembered as a novelist, particularly for children. It seems odd that the obituarist has got her first name wrong, but then she was always known as "E." not as "Edith" Nesbit. — Jacqueline Banerjee
E. NESBIT., Mrs. Hubert Bland, who was long known under her maiden name of E. Nesbit as poet, novelist, and writer of chiidren's books, died yesterday at New Romney, Kent, at the age of 65.
Elizabeth [sic] Nesbit, daughter of John Collis Nesbit, was born in London, and educated chiefly on the Continent. Her early poetry showed a correct ear for metre, but her ffluency seemed to overcome her sense of style, and though her powers steadily ripened she could not always avoid the prolix, the commonplace, and even bathos. On the whole, her best poetic work was done in the form of dramatic and nature lyrics, which are much to be preferred to her narrative verse.
In the 'eighties her young entlhusiasm was caught by the new Socialist movement, and was confirmed by her marriage to Mr. Hubert Bland, who is still remembered as a writer of some distinction. In 1885 she collaborated with him in The Prophet's Mantle. Many of her early poems are full of a rhetorical and emotional, yet plainly sincere, revolt against the inequality of social conditions, and a burning sympathy with the disinherited of the earth. Later on, however, under the influence of the Diamond Jubilee, she struck in Songs of Love and Empire (1898) a note of equally rhetorical patriotism.
Probably she will bc best remembered for her novels, of which The Incomplete Amorist (1906) and The Incredible Honeymoon (1921) may be particularly mentioned. Her children's stories were deservedly successful, for she put into them more ingeniuity, observation, and humour than such compositions generally display. They were stories of delicate fancy about the fairies and the enchantments of which children never tire. Only in The Would-be-Goods (1901) did she leave fairyland for ordinary life, and the change caused a sharp division among her young readers. But it was such an amusing tale that it prevailed over its detractors.
Mrs. Bland died in 1914, leaving two sons and two daughters.
Bibliography
Obituary. The Times. Issue: 43643. Monday 5 May 1924: 16. Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 July 2021.
Created 29 July 2021