Coleridge and the Romantic Newspaper : The 'Morning Post' and the Road to 'Dejection'

This book examines how Coleridge staged his private woes in the public space of the newspaper. It looks at his publications in the __Morning Post__, which first published one of his most famous poems, __Dejection. An Ode.__ It reveals how he found a socially sanctioned public outlet for poetic disappointments and personal frustrations which he could not possibly articulate in any other way. Featuring fresh, contextual readings of established major poems; original readings of epigrams, sentimental ballads, and translations; analyses of political and human-interest stories, this book reveals the remarkable extent to which Coleridge used the public medium of the newspaper to divulge his complex and ambivalent private emotions about his marriage, his relationship with the Wordsworths and the Hutchinsons, and the effect of these dynamics on his own poetry and poetics. This book examines how Coleridge staged his private woes in the public space of the newspaper by looking at his publications in the Morning Post, which first published one of his most famous poems, Dejection. An Ode. It reveals how he found a socially sanctioned public outlet for poetic disappointments and personal frustrations which he could not possibly articulate in any other way. Featuring fresh, contextual readings of established major poems; original readings of epigrams, sentimental ballads, and translations; analyses of political and human-interest stories, this book reveals the remarkable extent to which Coleridge used the public medium of the newspaper to divulge his complex and ambivalent private emotions about his marriage, his relationship with the Wordsworths and the Hutchinsons, and the effect of these dynamics on his own poetry and poetics Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction: A Character in the Antithetical Manner....Pages 1-20 The Return from Germany....Pages 21-45 The Morning Post and ‘Introduction to the Tale of the Dark Ladie’....Pages 47-78 Mothers, Sons, and Poets in the Morning Post ....Pages 79-102 Homeless at Grieta Hall....Pages 103-134 The 1800 Lyrical Ballads, Mary Robinson, and ‘The Mad Monk’....Pages 135-161 Mary Robinson and the Poet Coleridge....Pages 163-190 ‘Merely the Emptying Out of My Desk’....Pages 191-216 Conclusion: ‘Dejection. An Ode’ in the Morning Post as a Palimpsest....Pages 217-244 Back Matter....Pages 245-274 Introduction : A Character In The Antithetical Manner -- The Return From Germany -- The Morning Post And 'introduction To The Tale Of The Dark Ladie' -- Mothers, Sons, And Poets In The Morning Post -- Homeless At Grieta Hall -- The 1800 Lyrical Ballads, Mary Robinson, And 'the Mad Monk' -- Mary Robinson And The Poet Coleridge -- 'merely The Emptying Out Of My Desk' -- Conclusion : 'dejection. An Ode' In The Morning Post As A Palimpsest. Heidi Thomson. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 245-262) And Index.