Anna Barbauld, Eighteen Hundred and Eleven

Mary Waters (Wichita State University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1812

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

As Anna Letitia Barbauld composed her darkly satirical poem Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, England had been at war with France almost continuously since 1793, and the economy was in shambles as a result. Financial distress was widespread, and serious ills such as hunger were on the rise, exaggerated even further by the naval blockades against Napoleon. The king had fallen prey to dementia, leaving the country under the regency of an unpopular spendthrift voluptuary in the person of the Prince of Wales. And on top of it all, another war, this time with America, loomed ominously on the horizon. While these conditions distressed many Britons, sentiments about the country’s current military involvements were deeply divided between t…

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1362 words

Citation: Waters, Mary. "Eighteen Hundred and Eleven". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 February 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5425, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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