Romantic Poets and the Culture of Posterity (Cambridge Studies in Romanticism, Series Number 35)

This 1999 book examines the way in which the Romantic period's culture of posterity inaugurates a tradition of writing which demands that the poet should write for an audience of the future: the true poet, a figure of neglected genius, can be properly appreciated only after death. Andrew Bennett argues that this involves a radical shift in the conceptualization of the poet and poetic reception, with wide-ranging implications for the poetry and poetics of the Romantic period. He surveys the contexts for this transformation of the relationship between poet and audience, engaging with issues such as the commercialization of poetry, the gendering of the canon, and the construction of poetic identity. Bennett goes on to discuss the strangely compelling effects which this reception theory produces in the work of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley and Byron, who have come to embody, for posterity, the figure of the Romantic poet. Here is a book that will profoundly interest not only the large and growing public who want to know all about one of the greatest Americans, but also all who are concerned with Civil War military history. The volume is made up of all of the Civil War letters to his parents that Justice Holmes possessed and the complete text of the only Civil War diary that was found among his personal papers. The letters cover the period from May, 1861, to July, 1864, when Holmes participated in the Battle of Ball's Bluff, the Peninsula Campaign, 1st and 2nd Fredericksburg, and Antietam, and the period of his service as aide-de-camp to General Horatio Wright. The diary is principally concerned with the Wilderness Campaign, the Battle of Spottsylvania, and the assault on Petersburg in May and June of 1864. An unpublished portrait of Holmes as a young man and Holmes's own sketches and maps are among the many illustrations.Holmes's diary and letters convey the fervor, enthusiasm, and boredom of all young men at war and gives not only a detailed account of events that are still the subject of considerable interest, but a vivid impression of the convictions which led the youth of 1861 to go to war. For the large American audience of Holmes's admirers the volume will bring fresh understanding of the roots of his philosophy and feeling and insights into his relationship with his family and friends. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 6 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Books......Page 14 Journals......Page 15 Introduction......Page 17 PART I......Page 25 CHAPTER 1 Writing for the future......Page 27 CHAPTER 2 The Romantic culture of posterity......Page 54 CHAPTER 3 Engendering posterity......Page 81 PART II......Page 109 CHAPTER 4 Wordsworth’s survival......Page 111 CHAPTER 5 Coleridge’s conversation......Page 132 CHAPTER 6 Keats’s prescience......Page 155 CHAPTER 7 Shelley’s ghosts......Page 174 CHAPTER 8 Byron’s success......Page 195 Afterword......Page 216 1 WRITING FOR THE FUTURE......Page 219 2 THE ROMANTIC CULTURE OF POSTERITY......Page 229 3 ENGENDERING POSTERITY......Page 238 4 WORDSWORTH’S SURVIVAL......Page 245 5 COLERIDGE’S CONVERSATION......Page 252 6 KEATS’S PRESCIENCE......Page 258 7 SHELLEY’S GHOSTS......Page 267 8 BYRON’S SUCCESS......Page 272 AFTERWORD......Page 276 Index......Page 277 "This original book examines the way in which the Romantic period's culture of posterity inaugurates a tradition of writing which demands that the poet should write for an audience of the future : the true poet, a figure of neglected genius, can only be properly appreciated after death. Andrew Bennett argues that this involves a radical shift in the conceptualisation of the poet and poetic reception, with wide-ranging implications for the poetry and poetics of the Romantic period. He surveys the contexts for this transformation of the relationship between poet and audience, engaging with issues such as the commercialisation of poetry, the gendering of the canon, and the construction of poetic identity. Bennett goes on to discuss the strangely compelling effects which this new reception theory produces in the work of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley and Byron, who have come to embody, for posterity, the figure of the Romantic poet."--Résumé de l'éditeur "This original book examines the way in which the Romantic period's culture of posterity inaugurates a tradition of writing which demands that the poet should write for an audience of the future: the true poet, a figure of neglected genius, can only be properly appreciated after death. Andrew Bennett argues that this involves a radical shift in the conceptualisation of the poet and poetic reception, with wide-ranging implications for the poetry and poetics of the Romantic period. He surveys the contexts for this transformation of the relationship between poet and audience, engaging with issues such as the commercialisation of poetry, the gendering of the canon, and the construction of poetic identity. Bennett goes on to discuss the strangely compelling effects which this new reception theory produces in the work of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley and Byron, who have come to embody, for posterity, the figure of the Romantic poet."--Jacket This book offers a new theory of reception governing Romantic poetry, through its culture of posterity - a tradition of writing which demands that the poet should write for an audience of the future: the true poet, a figure of neglected genius, can only be properly appreciated after death Andrew Bennett. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.