The Minor Poems Of Robert Southey

Author : Robert Southey
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330119907
Total Pages : 804 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (199 download)

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Download or read book Poems of Robert Southey written by Robert Southey and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-16 with total page 804 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Poems of Robert Southey: Containing Thalaba, the Curse Kehama Roderick, Madoc, a Tale of Paraguay and Selected Minor Poems 'Few people,' it has been said, 'have so much and so well as Southey, and have been so little read.' The remark refers to his work as a whole - in prose as well as in verse - but it is singularly applicable to his poetry. As a poet Southey is now scarcely known, save as the author of the lines beginning: 'My days among the Dead are past,' and of a few ballads such as The Battle of Blenheim and The Inchcape Rock, which are learnt by children in the nursery. The general estimations in which he is held may be illustrated by the obiter dictum in a recent review, that 'it is impossible to take Southey as a poet seriously'; and he is usually condemned as unreadable without a trial. But it is surely impossible to accept so summary a verdict - a verdict, be it remarked, which is in direct contradiction to that pronounced upon Southey's poetry by the most competent judges of his own day. No one, indeed, would pretend that Southey was one of the greatest of English poets. His position in our poetical hierarchy is far more modest. But a man may attain to an honourable place on the roll of Parnassus, although he fall considerably short of the highest rank, and in his lifetime Southey had no cause to fear the judgment of his peers. The praise bestowed upon his poetry by S. T. Coleridge, and by W. S. Landor, might perhaps be discounted on the ground that each of these two critics was influenced by close personal friendship for its author. But we may cite the opinions of other men free from any suspicious of such bias and equally well qualified to speak. In 1813 Sir Walter Scott declined the laureateship which had been offered him, (though without the Regent's knowledge or approval), by Lord Liverpool; and in declining he suggested to Croker that the post should be offered to Southey. On September 4 of that year he writes to Southey to explain what he has done, and to make it clear, as he expresses it, that he has not himself refused the laurel 'from any foolish prejudice against the situation: otherwise, how durst I mention it to you, my elder brother in the muse? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.