Poetry and Reform: Periodical Verse from the English Democratic Press, 1792-1824Although the English reform movement was divided ideologically and socially, it was united in its opposition to the aristocratic elite that ruled Britain through a parliament that excluded both the middle and laboring classes. The movement was not just political but cultural as well; its activities included challenging established opinion in every sphere-economics, religion, philosophy, and literature. Poetry and Reform is the only anthology of its kind on poetry from the English reform movement. The volume features 162 poems from twenty-three different periodicals. The poems reflect the cultural vitality of the movement in their intellectual sophistication and defiant rebelliousness. The periodicals and their poets range from moderate liberal to radical socialist, from bourgeois to plebeian. The poems reflect the generic diversity of the period; except for epic, almost every poetic genre is represented here. These poems provide an illuminating context for understanding the major Romantic poets, most of whom wrote for the reform press at some point in their career. The bold Romantic experiments in poetry, which set the agenda for English poetry for decades to come, are unthinkable outside the context of this remarkable democratic insurgence, which increased overall literacy and established an innovative literary spirit. The anthology also makes available to readers a body of poetry" outside the canon" that is valuable in its own terms and that helps us comprehend with greater precision Romantic literary conventions and their origins. Important plebeian poets are introduced, including Allen Davenport, Edward J. Blandford, Robert C. Fair, and Robert Wedderburn. |
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... forces of “ the Cause . " Indeed , there is a radical substitution of common people for mon- archy in line 21 : “ God save " not the king but " the Cause . " There is a similar reversal in the last stanza , where the abolition of the ...
... force Of Sickness , preying on her tender frame , Too carefully conceal'd , lest she should add Another pang t'encrease her partner's woes ; She sinks at last , and feels the icy grasp Of Desolation waste her feeble frame . Resign'd ...
... force , Succeeding worlds atone the past , And strike our balance right at last . -Unclench thy hand , subdue thine eye , Recal [ sic ] those curses deep and high ; Tame thy rude breast's vindictive swell , Nor rave of everlasting hell ...
Contents
THE REFORM | 7 |
REPRESSIVE AFTERMATH A SONG COMPOSED FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE FRENCH | 37 |
The Patriot 1793 | 61 |
Copyright | |
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