Robert Southey.
(Born at Bristol, August 1st, 1774; Died at Greta Hall near Keswick, March
21st, 1843, after a residence of Thirty-Nine Years in the Lake District.)
SOUTHEY, ’t is most thy early verse I love,
Full of old lore, and musical to me
As songs of birds, or hum of humble bee;
Written before thou didst a recreant prove
To the grand cause of Human Liberty. 5
Strange that thou ever could’st degrade thy mind—
So well-inform’d, so studious and refined—
As unto Tyranny to bend the knee!
Thy industry was marvellous; thy heart
Kind to thy fellows; imagination too 10
Was fertile with thee; but thou knew not how
The feelings to control—no small part
Of the true poet’s duty: yet must we
Pay homage to thee for thy earliest poetry.
George Markham Tweddell
Robert Southey “12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called “Lake Poets”, and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843. Although his fame has been long eclipsed by that of his contemporaries and friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey’s verse still enjoys some popularity. Moreover, Southey was a prolific letter writer, literary scholar, essay writer, historian and biographer. His biographies include the life and works of John Bunyan, John Wesley,William Cowper, Oliver Cromwell and Horatio Nelson.Perhaps his most enduring contribution to literary history is the children’s classic The Story of the Three Bears, the original Goldilocks story, which first saw print in Southey’s prose collection The Doctor.” Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Southey
“Pantisocracy (from the Greek “πάν” and “ισοκρατία” meaning “equal or level government by/for all”) was a utopian scheme devised in 1794 by the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey for an egalitarian community. They originally intended to establish such a community on the banks of the Susquehanna River in the United States, but by 1795 Southey had doubts about the viability of this and proposed moving the project to Wales. The two men were unable to agree on the location, causing the project to collapse.
The Pantisocrats viewed their attempt as not only a search for personal domestic peace, but also as an attempt to change the status quo in England. One influence on the plan was disillusionment with the French Revolution and with the current politics of England, from which Coleridge may have sought solace through an utopian escape. Coleridge viewed the utopian scheme as an experiment that, if successful, might be gradually extended to a larger citizenship. Coleridge also hoped that through a more active, natural lifestyle he would live a healthier and more wholesome existence with his family” Read More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantisocracy