Robert Southey (1774–1843)
Author of The Life of Nelson
About the Author
Robert Southey was born on August 12, 1774. In 1788, Southey entered the Westminster school at the expense of his uncle. One year after his admission to Westminster, the French Revolution began. Southey was fifteen years old at the time, and like many young people of his day, he passionately show more sympathized with the high ideals of the French cause. During these years, Southey befriended both Charles W. W. Wynn and Grosvenor Charles Bedford. Bedford and Wynn began a publication in 1792, The Flagellant, which Southey later joined as writer and co-editor. He submitted an anonymous article on "Flogging," in which he claimed that the school's disciplinary practice of flogging students was satanic. Dr. Vincent, the headmaster at the school, viewed the essay not as the product of a boy's imagination, but as a direct attack on both the school and the British Constitution. Eventually, Southey came forward and offered his apology, but was nonetheless expelled from school. Southey was of course then refused admission at Christ Church and had to attend Balliol College at Oxford. In order to escape life at Oxford and postpone making his decision to join the clergy, Southey took some time off from school in the autumn of 1793. Southey eventually left Oxford after his second term to be married. Shortly after leaving, he crossed paths with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with whom he formed a friendship which would mold his early life and continue until his later years. In 1794, Southey, Coleridge, and several mutual friends came up with the idea of "Pantisocracy," or "equal rule of all." Their goal was to emigrate to America to practice Pantisocracy by forming a communal, utopian settlement where everyone would live in harmony and brotherhood. In order to raise money for this, Southey and Coleridge joined to write drama and political propaganda, and to write and deliver weekly lectures on politics and history. At this time, they co-wrote the drama entitled "The Fall of Robespierre," which was published by a radical printer at Cambridge under Coleridge's name. This same year Southey wrote Wat Tyler, based on the Peasant's Revolt of 1381. Unfortunately, Wat Tyler was not published, the scheme to emigrate to America to practice "Pantisocracy" never came to fruition, and his friendship with Coleridge became increasingly strained. The relationship deteriorated further when Coleridge and his wife began having marital difficulties. Coleridge eventually left his wife and Southey was forced to support both families. Southey then accepted Charles Wynn's offer to set up an annuity for him if he would study law. Southey began to study law by day and write poetry and prose at night. He drifted entirely away from his legal studies and began to concentrate solely on his writing. Between 1796 and 1805 Southey wrote Joan of Arc: An Epic Poem, Thalaba the Destroyer, Madoc, and several volumes of shorter verse. He also wrote numerous ballads, made frequent contributions to The Monthly Magazine and published the popular Letters Written During a Short Residence in Spain and Portugal. After several years of estrangement from Coleridge, the two poets collaborated on the Devil's Walk in 1799. Although Southey remained a champion of the poor and became an outspoken adversary of slavery, he began to cherish the maintenance of social order. After becoming an outspoken member of the Tory party, Southey's changing views led him to accept a position as Britain's Poet Laureate in 1813, a position that he held for 30 years. Twenty-three years after Wat Tyler was written, it suddenly resurfaced into a highly charged political atmosphere in which an older, more conservative Southey was at the forefront. Upon learning that Southey was the author, his adversaries, such as William Hazlitt and William Smith, seized upon the play as an example of his hypocrisy, while his friends, Wynn, Coleridge, and Wordsworth, defended him vehemently. Despite the effects of Wat Tyler's appearance on Southey's reputation, it sold over 60,000 copies and was reprinted, making it one of his most well-read and commercially successful works. Southey eventually incorporated the play into his complete works in 1838. Although the reappearance of the poem forced Southey to confront the dissipation of his youthful ideals, it did not significantly affect his career as an esteemed poet and writer. Southey remained Poet Laureate of Britain for 30 years, and eventually died in 1843. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: From Wikipedia
Works by Robert Southey
Nelson 2 copies
Selected Poems of Robert Southey 2 copies
Roderick, the last of the Goths 2 copies
Lives of the British Admirals: With an Introductory View of the Naval History of England, vol. III (2012) 2 copies
Lives of the British Admirals, with an Introductory View of the Naval History of England, vol. III 1 copy
Lives of the British Admirals, with an Introductory View of the Naval History of England, vol. II 1 copy
Lives of the British Admirals, with an Introductory View of the Naval History of England, vol. I 1 copy
CACHINHOS DE OURO 1 copy
Expediton to Orsua 1 copy
The Poetry of Robert Southey 1 copy
Southey’s Works 1 copy
Rare THE CHRONICLES OF THE CID Robert Southey Heritage Press in Slipcase w/ Sandglass [Hardcover] unknown (1958) 1 copy
A tale of Paraguay 1 copy
História do Brasil, v. 1 1 copy
Lives of the British Admirals: With an Introductory View of the Naval History of England, Vol. IV 1 copy
Lives of the British Admirals: With an Introductory View of the Naval History of England, Vol. V 1 copy
Lives of the British Admirals. With an Introductory View of the Naval History of England. Volume II 1 copy
A vision of judgment 1 copy
The Poems of Shakespeare 1 copy
The Cid 1 copy
História do Brasil - 03 vol. 1 copy
História do Brasil v. 2 e 3 1 copy
Lives of the British Admirals. With an Introductory View of the Naval History of England. Volume I 1 copy
The minor poems 1 copy
A Love Story : a fragment from "The doctor," etc. — Author — 1 copy
The life of William Cowper 1 copy
The Life And Works Of William Cowper Comprising His Poems, Correspondence, And Translations With A Life Of The Author (2006) 1 copy
La expedición de Ursúa 1 copy
Associated Works
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 4th Edition, Volume 2 (1979) — Contributor — 269 copies, 1 review
Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown: A Treasury of Bizarre Tales Old and New (1993) — Contributor — 212 copies, 2 reviews
Vampires, Wine and Roses: Chilling Tales of Immortal Pleasure (1997) — Contributor — 169 copies, 2 reviews
The Sophisticated Cat: A Gathering of Stories, Poems, and Miscellaneous Writings About Cats (1992) — Contributor — 112 copies, 1 review
The Junior Classics Volume 04: Heroes and Heroines of Chivalry (1912) — Contributor — 66 copies, 1 review
Lapham's Quarterly - Lines of Work: Volume IV, Number 2, Spring 2011 (2011) — Contributor — 32 copies, 2 reviews
Oh Excellent Air Bag: Under the Influence of Nitrous Oxide, 1799-1920 (2016) — Contributor — 7 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Southey, Robert
- Birthdate
- 1774-08-12
- Date of death
- 1843-03-21
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Oxford (Balliol College)
- Occupations
- poet
translator
essayist
biographer - Awards and honors
- Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom (1813-1843)
Southey Lectures (Bristol|1979) - Relationships
- Southey, Caroline Anne (wife)
Warter, John Wood (son-in-law and editor) - Short biography
- The Southey Lectures, promoted by the Rector and Church Council of Old Bristol Parish Church (Christ Church with St Ewen and All Saints, City), are intended to consider Bristolians who have made a major contribution to the Arts, Literature, Philosophy, Science, Politics and Religion, and are named after Robert Southey, who was baptized in Christ Church in 1774. The first lecture, on Robert Southey and Bristol, was delivered in 1979 and published in 1980.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Keswick, Cumberland, England, UK
- Place of death
- Keswick, Cumberland, England, UK
- Burial location
- Crosthwaite Parish Church, Cumbria, England, UK
- Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
I really enjoyed this, but the versification (irregularly long unrhymed iambics in stanzas of varying length) seemed disruptive to me. I'm not sure if blank verse or regular, rhymed stanzas would have been the better choice to improve the poem, but since Shelley took obvious (and copious) influence from this poem for his Revolt of Islam in Spenserian stanzas, I'd bet on the latter. Better, I think, than Southey's Joan of Arc, which was in blank verse. It's easy to see why Southey had the show more reputation he did at the time, but why is he so neglected today? show less
This review is of the edition illustrated by David Catrow
With its thrilling description of the water rushing through the countryside, Southey's poem really works well as the text for a children's book. Catrow's lovely illustrations, featuring a father and his three children taking a whimsical trip by armchair down the waterfall, make this book quite the charmer.
With its thrilling description of the water rushing through the countryside, Southey's poem really works well as the text for a children's book. Catrow's lovely illustrations, featuring a father and his three children taking a whimsical trip by armchair down the waterfall, make this book quite the charmer.
Surprisingly good. The verse isn't anything to write home about, but there's an enjoyable story in there; kind of an Arabian Nights thing with a splash of Conan the Barbarian.
*ROBERT SOUTHEY, 'The Story of the Three Bears'
This morning, thinking about this story, I asked the most convenient person in my home: "What happened to Goldilocks?" The answer, "Uh, she got eaten by bears?" So I thought, as well!
Southey's version of this nursery tale was published in 1837 (the first written version of the story; whether the idea originated with Southey is debated.) There's no adorable blond child here at all. The home invader who samples porridge and sits in chairs is, show more instead, a foul-tempered old homeless woman. However, the plot, language and phrasing will be very familiar to those who've read any of a number of versions.
But... no one gets eaten by a bear. The vagrant jumps out a window to escape. Which, to my way of thinking, kind of misses the point of the three bears being 'bears.' show less
This morning, thinking about this story, I asked the most convenient person in my home: "What happened to Goldilocks?" The answer, "Uh, she got eaten by bears?" So I thought, as well!
Southey's version of this nursery tale was published in 1837 (the first written version of the story; whether the idea originated with Southey is debated.) There's no adorable blond child here at all. The home invader who samples porridge and sits in chairs is, show more instead, a foul-tempered old homeless woman. However, the plot, language and phrasing will be very familiar to those who've read any of a number of versions.
But... no one gets eaten by a bear. The vagrant jumps out a window to escape. Which, to my way of thinking, kind of misses the point of the three bears being 'bears.' show less
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 137
- Also by
- 40
- Members
- 884
- Popularity
- #28,974
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 14
- ISBNs
- 185
- Languages
- 4
