Spontaneous Overflows and Revivifying Rays

"Angela Esterhammer introduces us to the art of the Italian improvvisatori, who created spontaneous verses on topics chosen by their audiences. English Romantics such as Shelley and Byron witnessed some of these performances and were greatly impressed. The ability of the improvvisatori touched on the very essence of poetic creation; is it simply, as the improvvisatori would seem to demonstrate, "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" or does it have to be "recollected in tranquility?" Dr. Esterhammer examines the ramifications of these two questions through the words of the English Romantic poets who had witnessed the art of the improvvisatori, and in doing so presents some fascinating material and deep insights into the process of creating verses."

—Gernot R. Wieland, Professor

Angela Esterhammer was born and raised in Toronto; after studying at the Universities of Toronto and Tuebingen (Germany), she earned her PhD in Comparative Literature at Princeton University. She has been teaching at the University of Western Ontario since 1989, and is currently Professor of English and Comparative Literature, and Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.