ABSTRACT
Like most writers, Gaskell produced a variety of pieces that reflect occasional requests, particular interests, or, the chance to earn some ready money. Some, like the sonnet 'On Visiting the Grave of My Stillborn Little Girl', 1 clearly came from a private impulse that did not allow publication; verse, indeed, was not a natural medium, as her one collaboration with William Gaskell reminds us. 'Sketches Among the Poor. No.I' found no successor, despite the title's promise (i, xxii-v).2 Written in couplets, its material is reminiscent of George Crabbe's poems of 'The Village' and 'The Borough', anticipating Elizabeth's future interests in memory and the contrast between country childhood and town life.
