Meynell, Alice (Thompson) [key], 1847–1922, English poet and essayist. She spent most of her youth in Italy. Converted to Roman Catholicism in 1872, she wrote much on religious subjects. In 1877 she married Wilfrid Meynell (1852–1948), the founder and editor of Merry England, a Catholic paper, to which she was a frequent contributor. The Meynells befriended and encouraged Francis Thompson, whose work also appeared in their magazine. A complete edition of Meynell's poetry was published in 1923. Her verse, characterized by control and religious emotion, includes “The Shepherdess,” “A Letter from a Girl to Her Own Old Age,” and the sonnet “Renouncement.” The Rhythm of Life (1893) and The Second Person Singular (1921) are among her many books of essays.
See biography by her daughter Viola Meynell (1929).
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