This book explores how British Romantic poetry--the writing, reading, and critical reception of it--reinforced British nationalism in the 19th century, ripening the political processes of nationhood that began with the first Act of Union in 1707....
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This book explores how British Romantic poetry--the writing, reading, and critical reception of it--reinforced British nationalism in the 19th century, ripening the political processes of nationhood that began with the first Act of Union in 1707. Using archival research on literary collections, criticism and reviews, this study documents the rise of bardic criticism in the 18th century, a style of literary criticism that reinvented the vernacular poet as a national bard and established a national role for poetry. Within this context, this book offers a new reading of major works by Romantic po
Cover; Table of Contents; Acknowledgments; Preface; Introduction; 1. Bardic Criticism, the Canon and the Invention of the Poet-Bard; 2. Wordsworth's Bardic Poetics in Lyrical Ballads; 3. Wordsworth and Class (Un)Consciousness; 4. Coleridge, Religious Nationalism and the Anxiety of Empire; 5. Patriot Women and the Future of Empire; Conclusion: William Blake's Prophecies and the Limits of Nationalism; Chapter Notes; Bibliography; Index