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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... human gore , We hear our brethren's dying cries , We feel their pangs , and sympathise . We see the devastation made By fire and the destructive blade ; Cities and towns in ruins lie , And tens of thousands tortur'd die . Monarchs and ...
... human tribes , And shared alike by all ? But ah ! how soon The glorious prospect darken'd ! When the cross Gleam'd direful ' mid the host of Constantine , And took the eagle's place - when mitred priests Mimick'd the flamen in his ...
... human woe , for human weal , Man will , man must , man ought to feel ; And while they feel , the untutored crowd , With clamours vehement and loud , Will rend the skies , and wildly trust God shall avenge , for God is just ! They see ...
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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