Michael Field

Michael Field was a pseudonym used by English authors Edith Cooper and Katherine Bradley.  These two women were involved in a sexual relationship, which certainly ran counter to the social norms of Victorian England where they lived.  This is most probably the reason they felt the need to assume the pen name, and if so, it can be argued that a queer theory analysis may be hard to apply; after all, if queer theory seeks to undermine "hegemonic" heterosexuality, then masking one's identity would tend to lessen the subversive effect, especially if the identity assumed is male.  It would certainly be difficult to undermine prevailing social norms about sexuality if the poetic form mirrored that of many other traditional romantic poems, as is the case with many of Field's poems.  But in any case, it would still be useful to apply such a lens to Field's "Unbosoming."  In this poem, sexual imagery is abound.  The narrator compares his/her (not sure which to use in this case, as the poem was written by a woman, but the voice would be seen by a Victorian reader as male.  Perhaps this is an example of subversion, however, as it is causing me at least a little uncertainty) love to an "iris...brimful of seeds," further stating that "all that it flowered for among the reeds/ Is packed in a thousand vermilion-beads/ That push, and riot, and squeeze, and clip,/ Till they burst the sides of the silver scrip."  The last two lines are especially charged with sexual connotations, as the language employed, such as "squeeze" and "burst," could similarly be used to describe sex ending in climax.  The word "seed" is also notable, as it carries undertones of fertility/sexuality.  The words "fragrance" and "sigh" also give similar sexual connotations, as romantic poems often make note of a lover's scent and the satisfied sighs that result from lovemaking.  Even the name of the poem, "Unbosoming," carries with it an implication of release, one which, given the several allusions to fertility and love, can be assumed to be sexual.