Poems

Southey, Robert, 1774-1843Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 126K words
Chapters: 13

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Poems by Robert SoutheyAuthor: Southey, Robert, 1774-1843,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jun 1, 2005

Editor's review

This is a poetry collection by Robert Southey, a poet of the English Romantic period, presented as a Project Gutenberg public-domain eBook. Southey served as Poet Laureate; his poems span a wide range of subjects, including narrative poems, ballads, and reflective shorter pieces, with careful attention to rhythm and imagery and a distinct imprint of their era. For Chinese readers, the value of this collection lies not in seeking out famous pieces but in treating it as a sample for entering the context of nineteenth-century English poetry: it offers a view of the Romantic period's attention to nature, history, and emotion, and a sense of how narrative poetry organizes plot and pace. Begin with the shorter works, first feeling the sound and rhythm, then using notes to understand allusions and historical background. It suits supplementary reading for English literature courses or slow, appreciative reading by those with some grounding in English poetry.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English majors studying English Romantic poetry
Readers interested in nineteenth-century English literature and the Poet Laureate
Readers with a foundation in English poetry willing to read slowly and savor the rhythm
Those needing public-domain English poetry texts for teaching or research

Not a good fit for

Beginners hoping to read a large number of familiar famous poems
Those not yet fluent in English reading and dependent on sentence-by-sentence translation
Readers who prefer modern free verse and contemporary subjects

Reading tips

First pick a short poem and read it aloud to feel the rhythm, then work through the meaning section by section.
Mark historical allusions as you go, and look up the background after finishing.
Read alongside an overview of English Romantic literature to establish a sense of the period.
Read only two or three poems at a time and write down the line that moves you most.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is Southey's poetry collection suitable for poetry beginners?

It can serve as supplementary reading, but it is not advisable as the only starting point. His poems contain many historical allusions and period vocabulary; readers should preferably have some experience reading English poetry, or read with notes and literary-historical background materials, otherwise they may remain at the literal level and miss the flavor.

What is the reading experience of this collection's electronic edition like?

As a Project Gutenberg public-domain eBook, the text is complete but plainly formatted, suitable for searching and annotation. Line breaks in the poems may display poorly on some readers; adjusting font size and line spacing, or using reading software that supports fixed layout, is recommended to preserve the presentation of the verse lines.

What background should I know before reading this collection?

Knowing the basic features of the English Romantic period, the institution of the Poet Laureate, and the literary circle Southey moved in will help in understanding the orientation of the poems. For historical events and place names in specific poems, look them up and note them as you read; systematic preparation in advance is unnecessary.

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About the author

Southey, Robert, 1774-1843 Author

Robert Southey (1774-1843) was an English poet and prose writer of the Romantic period, and eight of his works are currently included in this library. His output spans narrative poetry, lyric verse, and biographical prose. His representative works include the long poems Thalaba the Destroyer and The Curse of Kehama, as well as The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson. He also wrote Sir Thomas More, or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society, along with several poetry collections containing sonnets, odes, and elegies. Southey's long poems often draw on exotic legends and myth, with expansive imagination and densely elaborated verse, while his prose and biographies are clearly organized and argumentative in tone. Public information is limited, so no further inferences are made here about the details of his life or his literary school; readers may learn about his choice of subjects and writing style from the works listed above.