The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to John Martyn Longmire, 4 November 1812
“I am truly sensible. Sir, of the honour you have
conferred upon me by your letter of October 29th, ![]()
| Ætat. 38. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 351 |
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and
shall be still farther gratified by a communication of the sketch which is
there mentioned. My aim has been to diffuse through my poems a sense of the
beautiful and good (το καλόν καί άγαθόν) rather than to aim at the
exemplification of any particular moral precept. It has, however, so happened
that both in Thalaba and
Kehama, the nature of the story led
me to represent examples of faith. At a very early age, indeed, when I was a
schoolboy, my imagination was strongly impressed by the mythological fables of
different nations. I can trace this to the effect produced upon me when quite a
child, by some prints in the Christian’s
Magazine, copied, as I afterwards discovered, from the great work of
Picart. I got at
Picart when I was about fifteen, and soon became as
well acquainted with the gods of Asia and America, as with those of Greece and
Rome. This led me to conceive a design of rendering every mythology, which had
ever extended itself widely, and powerfully influenced the human mind, the
basis of a narrative poem. I began with the religion of the Koran, and
consequently founded the interest of the story upon that resignation, which is
the only virtue it has produced. Had Thalaba been
more successful, my whole design would, by this time, have been effected; for
prepared as I was with the whole materials for each, and with a general idea of
the story, I should assuredly have produced such a poem every year. For popular
praise, quoad praise, I cared
nothing; but it was of consequence to me, inasmuch as it affected those
emoluments with which my worldly circumstances did not permit me to dispense.
The sacrifice, therefore, was made to prudence, and it was ![]()
| 352 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 38. |
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not made without reluctance. Kehama lay by me in
an unfinished state for many years, and but for a mere accident, might,
perhaps, for ever have remained incomplete.
“Whether the design may ever be accomplished, is now
doubtful. The inclination and the power remain, but the time has passed away.
My literary engagements are numerous and weighty, beyond those of any other
individual; and though, by God’s blessing, I enjoy good health,
never-failing cheerfulness, and unwearied perseverance, there seems to be more
before me than I shall ever live to get through. . . . .
Believe me. Sir,
Yours, with due respect,
Robert Southey.
“My next mythological poem, should I ever write
another, would be founded upon the system of Zoroaster. I should represent
the chief personage as persecuted by the evil powers, and make every
calamity they brought upon him the means of evolving some virtue, which
would never else have been called into action. In the hope that the fables
of false religion may be made subservient to the true, by exalting and
strengthening Christian feelings.”
Bernard Picart (1673-1733)
French Hugenot engraver who worked in Amsterdam.
