A choice of Robert Southey's verse;

by Robert Southey

All too easily parodied, the least regarded of the Lake Poets wrote much that can still give pleasure. This selection draws on less familiar work as well as including such old favourites as The Battle of Blenheim and The Inchcape Rock.

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate. Although his fame tends to be eclipsed by that of his contemporaries and friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey's verse enjoys enduring popularity. Moreover, he was a prolific letter writer, literary scholar, historian and biographer. His biographies include the life and works of John Bunyan, John Wesley, William Cowper, Oliver Cromwell and Horatio Nelson. The latter has rarely been out of print since its publication in 1813 and was adapted for the screen in the 1926 British film, Nelson.

Southey was also a renowned Portuguese and Spanish scholar, translating a number of works of those two countries into English and writing both a History of Brazil (part of his planned History of Portugal which was never completed) and a History of the Peninsular War. Perhaps his most enduring contribution to literary history is the immortal children's classic, The Story of the Three Bears, the original Goldilocks story.

Reviews

[J Grimsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light and well written verse. One of our first men of letters to make a living out of writing although he was mocked by Coleridge despite financially supporting his wife and children. This book is very enjoyable from early anti-war poems to praise of goose and a sound picture of a waterfall. Add to this achievement the first history of Brazil, the three bears and a very readable biography of Nelson.