Table Of ContentPARADOXICAL SOLITUDE IN THE LIFE, LETTERS, AND
POETRY OF JOHN KEATS, 1814-1818
John Theobald
A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD
at the
University of St. Andrews
2009
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Paradoxical Solitude in the Life, Letters, and
Poetry of John Keats, 1814-1818
John Theobald
A thesis presented for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
University of St Andrews
School of English
April 2009
i
ABSTRACT
This thesis proposes two distinct but connected ideas: that John Keats’s idiom
of friendship was haunted by “sequestered” longings and that he ultimately valued
specific, one-on-one partnerships as a basis for his poetical character. The
Introduction places the thesis within its critical context and outlines “paradoxical
solitude,” a concept the poet expressed by joining a “kindred spirit” in a wilderness
retreat in “O, Solitude.”
I begin by examining the evolving role of solitude in Keats’s literary
predecessors (Chapter I). I then trace the development of ideas of creativity and
solitude from his 1814-1815 verse, including his first association with a coterie and
the influence of Wordsworth (Chapter II). Building on these findings, I explore the
poet’s introduction to the Hunt circle in 1816, assessing his relationships with its
members and their overstated roles in the production of Poems (Chapter III). I then
discuss how Keats regarded the composition of Endymion in 1817 as a poetic “test,”
specifically tailored to reinforce his identity as a solitary poet (Chapter IV).
I contend that Keats engaged in a dialogue of independence with Reynolds,
adapted the theories of Hazlitt, and restlessly travelled throughout England as a means
of rejecting the highly social periods of 1818 (Chapter V). I then consider the creative
gains of his northern expedition with Brown in the summer of 1818. I argue that Keats
exaggerated his development into a “post-Wordsworthian” poet, positioning himself
outside both the coterie’s sphere and the reach of Blackwood’s criticism, and inspiring
the theme of Hyperion (Chapter VI).
In closing, I analyze Keats’s advice to Shelley to be a selfish creator of his
poetic identity. Only through paradoxical solitude, I argue, was Keats able to
construct the poetic identity that led him to compose the poems on which his fame
rests in the 1820 volume.
ii
Declarations
I, John Owen Theobald, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 75, 000
words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by
me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree.
I was admitted as a research student in September 2005 and as a candidate for the
degree of PhD in September 2006; the higher study for which this is a record was
carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2005 and 2009.
Date: Signature of candidate:
I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and
Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and
that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree.
Date: Signature of supervisor:
In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are
giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the
regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any
copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand that the
title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and
supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be
electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an
embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis
into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. We
have obtained any third- party copyright permissions that may be required in order to
allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below.
The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the
electronic publication of this thesis:
Access to printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of
St. Andrews.
Date: Signature of candidate: Signature of supervisor:
iii
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Jane Stabler for her guidance, encouragement, and
professionalism. I would also like to express gratitude to Jon Hesk for his generosity
and cheerfulness.
My parents, Greg and Bronwyn, deserve special thanks for their endless support, as
do my grandparents, John, Irene, and Harvey, and my aunt Dale for helping to keep
me fed and watered. Finally, I would like to thank Jackie Pepall, for her love and
enthusiasm.
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List of Contents
Abbreviations............................................................................................................ v
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1
CHAPTER I
“THEIR SOLITARY WAY”
A TRADITION OF PARADOXICAL SOLITUDE..................................................17
CHAPTER II
“O, SOLITUDE”
FORMULATING PARADOXICAL SOLITUDE, 1814-1816..................................45
CHAPTER III
DISCOVERY AND INDEPENDENCE
POEMS, 1816-1817.................................................................................................67
CHAPTER IV
POETIC WILDERNESS
THE COMPOSITION OF ENDYMION, 1817-1818...............................................100
CHAPTER V
A MOST SOCIAL TIME
DEVELOPMENT OF PARADOXICAL SOLITUDE, JANUARY-MAY 1818.....132
CHAPTER VI
POETIC PILGRIMAGE
POETRY OF EXPERIENCE, JUNE-DECEMBER 1818.......................................170
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................200
Appendix A............................................................................................................209
Appendix B............................................................................................................210
Appendix C............................................................................................................211
Appendix D............................................................................................................212
Appendix E............................................................................................................213
Bibliography..........................................................................................................214
v
Abbreviations
Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations of Keats’s poetry are from The Poems of
John Keats. Miriam Allott (ed.). London, 1970.
Within the text, quotations from Keats’s letters are referenced by the volume and page
number; in the footnotes, however, they are abbreviated as L to avoid confusion with
other references.
Barnard John Barnard, John Keats. Cambridge, 1987, repr. 1993.
Bate Walter Jackson Bate, John Keats. Cambridge, Mass. 1963,
repr. 1992.
CH John Keats: The Critical Heritage. G.M. Mathews (ed.).
London, 1971.
Chatterjee Bhabatosh Chatterjee, John Keats: His Mind and Work.
Calcutta, 1971, repr. 2001.
Cox Jeffrey Cox, Poetry and Politics in the Cockney School: Keats,
Shelley, Hunt and their Circle. Cambridge, 1998, repr. 2004.
FH Nicholas Roe, Fiery Heart: The First Life of Leigh Hunt.
London, 2005.
Gittings Robert Gittings, John Keats. London, 1968, repr. 1979.
JK&CD Nicholas Roe, John Keats and the Culture of Dissent. Oxford,
1998.
K-SJ Keats-Shelley Journal.
K&H Keats and History. Nicholas Roe (ed.). Cambridge, 1995.
KC The Keats Circle: Letters and Papers 1816-1878. Hyder
Edward Rollins (ed.). 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1948.
L The Letters of John Keats 1814-1821. Hyder Edward Rollins
(ed.). 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1958.
LH: LPP Leigh Hunt: Life, Poetics, Politics. Nicholas Roe (ed.).
London, 2003.
Motion Andrew Motion, Keats. London, 1997.
OED Oxford English Dictionary.
vi
SiR Studies in Romanticism.
Severn Joseph Severn: Letters and Memoirs. Grant F. Scott (ed.).
Aldershot, 2005.
Sperry Stuart M. Sperry, Keats the Poet. Princeton, 1973, repr. 1994.
Stillinger The Poems of John Keats. Jack Stillinger (ed.). London, 1978.
Walker Carol Kyros Walker, Walking North with Keats. London,
1992.
Ward Aileen Ward, John Keats: The Making of a Poet. Toronto,
1963, rev. 1986.
Introduction 1
INTRODUCTION
Grouping Keats:
Recent scholarship
Keats’s concept of friendship pervades both his life and his writings. Although
Ronald A. Sharp, in his essay “Keats and Friendship,” argues that “no one has studied
the place of friendship in Keats’s life and work as a whole,” Nicholas Roe’s John
Keats and the Culture of Dissent (1997) and Jeffrey Cox’s Poetry and Politics in the
Cockney School (1998) address this vital point of intersection.1 Both scholars explore
the political connotations of poetic bonds of friendship, focussing on Keats’s
engagement with the larger outside world through the circle led by Leigh Hunt. These
studies locate the poet within the Cockney School, proposing that Keats’s creative
nature was charged by his membership of, and interaction with, this coterie.
I challenge this interpretation by arguing that Keats’s poetic efforts were in
fact stultified, interrupted, and distorted by his interaction with groups.2 He sought
instead to establish a poetic character that would grant him the necessary authenticity
to achieve his ambitious goals. Keats defined himself as a poet by contrasting his
independence against a group identity. This distinction, which he maintained
1 Ronald A. Sharp, “Keats and Friendship,” The Persistence of Poetry: Bicentennial Essays
on Keats, ed. Robert M. Ryan and Ronald A. Sharp (Cambridge, Mass., 1998). 67-8. He adds:
“To an extent virtually unparalleled, the story of his life and work is indeed a story of
friendship.” 66.
2 I adopt Cox’s definition of a group, an “intersubjective collectivity always in the process of
being imagined,” to which membership requires “an act of willed identification.” 6. He
clarifies that “[p]airs do not comprise groups.” 5.
Introduction 2
throughout his career, is exemplified in his 23 August 1819 letter to his publisher,
John Taylor:
You will observe at the end of this if you put down the Letter ‘How a solitary
life engenders pride and egotism!’ True: I know it does but this Pride and
egotism will enable me to write finer things than any thing else could – so I
will indulge it – Just so much as I am hu[m]bled by the genius above my
grasp, am I exalted and look with hate and contempt upon the literary world
[…] Who would wish to be among the commonplace crowd of the little-
famous – who are each individually lost in a throng made up of themselves (II,
144).
I refine the theory of Keats as a coterie poet by exploring the frequent travel and
varied, individual partnerships exhibited in both his life and his poetry. “Paradoxical
solitude” refers to the complex but coherent theory of interaction that Keats followed
in order to achieve a sense of poetic legitimacy and autonomy.
Paradoxical solitude:
“O, Solitude” and the Wordsworthian guide
Keats found expression for this concept in his first published poem, “O,
Solitude.” In this sonnet, he depicts the “highest bliss of human-kind” as “two kindred
spirits” retreating into the wilderness (ll. 13, 14). This celebration of solitude involves
both a journey and the “sweet converse of an innocent mind” (l. 10). More than a
poetic experiment with a conventional literary idea, this poem represents the
combination of an encouraging friend, an inspiring landscape, and an escape from the
suburban all under the guise of the trope of solitude.
Description:Poetry of John Keats, 1814-1818. John Theobald. A thesis presented for the
degree of. Doctor of Philosophy. University of St Andrews. School of English.
