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Full Description
The poetry of the mid - and late eighteenth century has long been regarded as primarily private and apolitical; in this wide-ranging study Dustin Griffin argues that in fact the poets of the period were addressing the great issues of national life - rebellion at home, imperial wars abroad, an expanding commercial empire, an emerging new 'British' national identity. Taking up the topic of patriotic verse, Griffin shows that the poets, like many contemporary essayists, sermon writers, and political journalists, were engaged in the century-long debate about the nature of 'true patriotism'. Griffin argues that canonical figures - James Thomson, William Collins, Thomas Gray, Christopher Smart, Oliver Goldsmith, William Cowper - along with less canonical writers such as Mark Akenside, John Dyer, and Ann Yearsley ask how poets might serve and even save their country, and take their place in a broader tradition of patriotic verse.
Contents
List of illustrations; Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. The eighteenth-century debate about patriotism; 2. Patriotic odes and Patriot-poets; 3. James Thomson: 'To mix the patriot's with the poet's flame'; 4. Mark Akenside: 'Great citizen of Albion'; 5. William Collins: 'Virtue's patriot theme'; 6. Thomas Gray: 'Some great and singular service to his country'; 7. John Dyer: 'Sedulous for the public weal'; 8. Oliver Goldsmith: 'Half a patriot'; 9. Christopher Smart and William Cowper: 'Christian patriots'; 10. Ann Yearsley: 'The female patriot'; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.