Ebenezer Elliott : A study of his poetry, 1781-1849.

The intention of this study is to evaluate the writings of Ebenezer Elliott by particularly considering the response he makes in his poetry to his social environment as that is shaped by the impact of the Industrial Revolution on his native South Yorkshire during his lifetime (1781 - 1848).While this response to context in his verse remains central, the particular quality of Elliott's techniques are analysed and assessed by reference to the appraisal of his contemporaries, his own estimate of his achievement and also with detachment from those contemporary values and expectations which shaped both the poetry' and the estimate of it. The influence upon Elliott's work of his literary predecessors and contemporaries is referred to insofar as it facilitates an appreciation of Elliott's own work.In placing Elliott in his social and historical context, and in considering the strengths and weaknesses of his verse, a thematic approach is adopted. Consideration of his treatment of the natural surroundings of his own locality is followed by an assessment of the development of his industrial muse as he strove to find a suitable manner in which to express the impact of the Industrial Revolution on himself and those around him. Thirdly, his political poetry, notably the forceful Corn Law Rhymes, their form and their implication are discussed, before a final consideration of his use of the narrative mode, which began in his early Gothic tales and reached its fulfilment in The Village Patriarch, in which his contemplation of man in society exhibits a distinctive humanitarianism and concern.Insofar as this study provides a critical evaluation of Elliott's verse it breaks new ground and goes some way towards placing his achievement in both literary and historical terms.