Robert Southey

The unmarried Miss Tyler was overbearing and eccentric, but she was financially independent and easily able to raise Southey in the fashionable district of Bath. Moreover, as an avid reader and patron of the theatre, she nurtured young Southey's intellectual development, taking him to stage performances at an early age. Under her influence, Southey began reading Shakespeare and trying to write his own poetry and plays as early as the age of eight.

The young Robert Southey continued to show great promise, and his family began to nurse aspirations of him joining the clergy. In 1788, Southey entered the Westminster school at the expense of his uncle, the Reverend Herbert Hill. One year after his admission to Westminster, the French Revolution began. Southey was approximately fifteen years old at the time, and like many young people of his day, he passionately sympathized with the high ideals of the French cause. Southey managed to fan his growing radicalism by seeking out works by authors such as Rousseau, Voltaire, and Goethe on his own.

During these formative years, Southey befriended both Charles W. W. Wynn, the nephew of the prominent Lord Grenville, and Grosvenor Charles Bedford. Bedford and Wynn began a publication in 1792 entitled "The Flagellant", which the young Southey later joined as writer and co-editor. While writing for the publication, Southey often exercised his fledgling literary talents by exploring philosophical issues of the day, and sometimes imitating the style of the writers he admired. It was in this spirit that he submitted an anonymous article on "Flogging," in which he asserted that the school's disciplinary practice of flogging students was satanic. Influenced by the prevailing fear of seditious writing at the time. Dr. Vincent, the headmaster at the school, viewed the mischievous essay not as the product of a precocious boy's imagination, but as a direct attack on both the school and the British Constitution. Eventually, Southey came forward and offered his heartfelt apology, but was nonetheless expelled from the school. As a result, his uncle's hopes were dashed -- Southey was refused admission at Christ Church and had to attend Balliol College at Oxford.

Although Southey's family continued to push him towards the clergy, he found the idea distasteful, and continued to gravitate towards literature, philosophy, and politics. The intellectual atmosphere at Oxford, however, proved to be as stifling to Southey as that at Westminster, so Southey was again forced to pursue his own interests with extra-curricular reading and writing. Southey took some time off from school in the autumn of 1793. It was at this time that Southey read William Godwin's "Political Justice", which had a profound effect upon him. Godwin's assertion that most social ills were a product of the extremes of poverty and privilege strengthened Southey's commitment to political reform.

Southey fell in love with Edith Fricker and began to think about marriage, bringing the looming decision of his career choice into high relief. Still adverse to joining the clergy, he flirted with the possibility of becoming a doctor; this goal was short-lived, however, for when he returned to Oxford, he realized that he had an "aversion to the dissecting room". This, combined with the fact that his Aunt Tyler cut off all financial help after learning of her nephew's alliance with the socially unacceptable Fricker family, left Southey feeling uncertain of his future. More confused than ever and eager to start a new life with Edith, he finally left the University after his second term.

Shortly after leaving Oxford, Southey crossed paths with the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, forming a tempestuous friendship which would mold his early life and continue until his later years. Ostensibly, the two men shared many common interests and beliefs, including a love of literature and politics, a frustration with the staid practices of Britain's educational institutions, and a growing disillusionment in the political atmosphere of their country.

In 1794, Southey, Coleridge, and several mutual friends came up with the idea of "Pantisocracy," or "equal rule of all" in which the egalitarian principles of the French Revolution could be fully realized. 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 their venture, Southey and Coleridge joined forces 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. Despite their efforts to raise money and interest in their "Pantisocratic" scheme, the project was fraught with difficulties, not the least of which being their growing differences in opinion as to how to realize their goal.

This same year Southey wrote Wat Tyler, based on the "Peasant's Revolt of 1381". The play expressed Southey's Republican ideals against the backdrop of a historical event scarily reminiscent of the French Revolution. Southey's friend and future brother-in-law, Robert Lovell, gave the play to the radical printer, James Ridgeway, who expressed an interest in publishing it. In January 1795, Southey visited Ridgeway at Newgate prison in London, where he had recently been incarcerated, to close the deal. Ridgeway's intention was to arrange to have the play printed immediately for the price of 2 shillings and to advance some of the money to Southey to finance his impending marriage to Edith Fricker as well as their emigration with Coleridge and Sarah Fricker to America. But Southey was forced to face disappointment on all counts: Wat Tyler was not published, the scheme to emigrate to America to practice "Pantisocracy" never materialized, and his friendship with Coleridge was becoming increasingly strained.

The closest Coleridge and Southey ever came to realizing their "Pantisocratic" dream was when the briefly lived together after marrying the Fricker sisters, Edith and Sarah. Their relationship, both philosophical and personal, deteriorated further when Coleridge and Sarah began having marital difficulties. Eventually, Coleridge left his wife and Southey was forced to support both families. It was around this time that Southey accepted Charles Wynn's generous offer to set up an annuity for him if he would study law. This situation occupied only a limited portion of Southey's interest however, as he studied law by day and wrote 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 made amends, collaborating on the Devil's Walk in 1799.

Over the next few years, Southey's political ideals underwent a metamorphosis. Although Southey steadfastly remained a champion of the poor and became an outspoken adversary of slavery, he began to cherish the maintenance of social order above all else. 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 of honor that he held for 30 years. Most shocking was the fact that he now advocated the censorship of seditious writing, which included what he called "the Satanic school of poetry," led by Byron, as well as the writings of certain journalists. In view of this radical shift toward conservatism, it is not surprising that Southey was accused by his critics of being an "apostate," and abandoning his political convictions.

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. On the morning of February 14, 1817, Southey came across an advertisement for the play, published by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, in the "Morning Chronicle". 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, such as Wynn, Coleridge, and Wordsworth, defended him vehemently.

Despite the effects of Wat Tyler's ill-timed appearance on Southey's reputation, it sold over 60,000 copies and was reprinted by numerous publishers, making it one of his most well-read and commercially successful works. After initially trying to suppress its publication, Southey eventually incorporated the play into his complete works in 1838. Although the reappearance of Wat Tyler forced an older Southey to confront the dissipation of his youthful ideals, it did not significantly affect his career as an esteemed poet and writer. Southey died in 1843.

Major works include:

Fall of Robespierre ( 1794 ).
Joan of Arc: An Epic Poem ( 1796 ).
Poems ( 1797 - 99 ).
Letters from Spain ( 1797 ).
Devil's Thoughts ( 1799 ).
Thalaba the Destroyer ( 1801 ).
Amadis of Gaul ( 1803 ). Translation.
Madoc ( 1805 ).
Letters from England ( 1807 ).
Palmerin of England ( 1807 ). Translation.
The Cid ( 1808 ). Translation.
The Curse of Kehama ( 1810 ).
The Life of Nelson ( 1813 ).
Roderick, the Last of the Got ( 1814 ).
Wat Tyler: A Dramatic Poem ( 1817 ).
A Vision of Judgment ( 1821 ).
Life of Cromwell ( 1821 ).
Thomas More ( 1829 ).
Cowper ( 1833 ).


Bibliography and image source: The San Antonio College LitWeb