Sonnets on Eminent Characters or Sonnets on Eminent Contemporaries is an 11-part sonnet series created by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and printed in the Morning Chronicle between 1 December 1794 and 31 January 1795. Although Coleridge promised to have at least 16 poems within the series, only one addition poem, "To Lord Stanhope", was published.
The poems have been moderately received and emphasized for what they reveal about Coleridge's political and philosophical feelings during his early years. Within the poems, he praises 10 individuals that he treats as his heroes along and denounces two people that he feels have turned against their country and liberty. The sonnet series has been compared to John Milton's addressing of sonnets to his own contemporaries in both the types of individuals chosen and the style of composition.
Background When "To Erskine" was published in the 1 December 1794 Morning Chronicle, a note addressed to the editor was printed before it and read: "If, Sir, the following Poems will not disgrace your poetical department, I will transmit you a series of Sonnets (as it is the fashion to call them), addressed, like these, to eminent Contemporaries."Mays 2001 qtd p. 155 Following the poem was a note by the editor that read, "Our elegant Correspondent will highly gratify every reader of taste by the continuance of his exquisitely beautiful productions. No. II. shall appear on an early day."
Many sonnets were to follow after with each addressed to different people: Edmund Burke (9 December 1794), Joseph Priestley (11 December), Fayette (15 December), Kosciusko (16 December), Pitt (23 December), Bowles (26 December), Mrs Siddons (29 December), William Godwin (10 January 1795), Robert Southey (14 January), and Sheridan (29 January). Each sonnet was numbered with a total of 11 sonnets published as Sonnets to Eminent Characters. In a letter dated 11 December 1794, Coleridge told Southey that there were 10 sonnets composed and a plan for 6 more. However, he stopped at 11 by 29 January. In a letter dated 10 March 1795, Coleridge wrote to George Dyer explaining that he would write five additional sonnets for the series. Of these, only one is documented to have existed; Coleridge wrote one to Lord Stanhope, but the sonnet was never published in the Morning Chronicle.Mays 2001 p. 155
The poems in the series, except for "To Godwin" and "To Southey", were printed in Coleridge's 1796 collection of poems. However, Coleridge began to doubt himself and he considered the poems more the property of Joseph Cottle, the publisher, than his own. He also felt that the poems were a failed attempt at following the style of John Milton. In what possibly refers specifically to the Sonnets on Eminent Characters,Joseph and Francis 2004 p. 268 Coleridge wrote to Thomas Poole and said "My poetic Vanity & my political Furore have been exhaled; and I would rather be an expert, self-maintaining Gardener than a Milton, if I could not unite both."Joseph and Francis 2004 qtd. p. 268
Poems Although the poems were published as Sonnets on Eminent Characters and numbered, they were not written as a set.
To the Hon Mr Erskine
"To the Hon Mr Erskine" was first published in the 1 December 1794 Morning Chronicle. Thomas Erskine, a member of the Whig party, was a lawyer that served as a defender during the 1794 Treason Trials.Mays 2001 pp. 155–156 Erskine, unlike others during the trial, did not accept money for his services. This was a point that Coleridge emphasized when praising Erskine as it represented a purity that Coleridge appreciated.Pascoe 1997 pp. 46–47
Erskine's defense led Coleridge to consider him as among his heroes,Ashton 1997 p. 61 and the poem was written after Erskine was triumphant in his defense of those put on trial.Patterson 2002 p. 202 The sonnet would later be evoked within the final issue of his political newspaper The Watchman as Coleridge describes John Thelwall, one of those Erskine defended, as successor to Erskine.Colmer 1959 p. 50
To Burke
"To Burke" was first published in the 9 December 1794 Morning Chronicle and was included in Coleridge's 1796 collection of poems with a note that criticized Edmund Burke for taking a government pension.Mays 2001 pp. 155–157 Of all the Sonnets on Eminent Characters, only "To Burke" and "To Pitt" are addressed to people that Coleridge disagreed with at the time of their composition.
Coleridge's disagreement with Burke stems from Coleridge's support of the French Revolution. To Coleridge, Burke supported oppression while disguising it with the rhetoric of "Freedom". As such, Coleridge describes Burke as a male who seeks to harm a feminine incarnation of Freedom, and that Freedom at the end of the poem wishes to restore him as a proper son.Fulford 1999 p. 67 The poem also discusses Burke's genius and believes that Burke was intelligent but wrong. William Wordsworth, Coleridge's friend, would also discuss Burke's genius years later in The Prelude Book 7.Patterson 2002 pp. 250–251
To Priestley
"To Priestley" was first published in the 11 December 1794 Morning Chronicle. After a mob burned Joseph Priestley's Birmingham house during the summer of 1791, he left England for America.Mays 2001 pp. 157–158 The mob was motivated by Priestley's support of the French Revolution.Levere 1981 p. 9 Coleridge was in correspondence with Priestley at the time in order to discuss Coleridge and Robert Southey's idea of Pantisocracy.Flynn 2008 p. 73 In general, Coleridge viewed Priestley as both a spiritual and intellectual leader, and Coleridge's political life was to spread Priestley's views after Priestley left for America.Barfoot 2004 p. 136
Like many of the sonnets, "To Priestley" was dedicated to an individual that Coleridge viewed as one of his heroes. The imagery within the poem is a reversal of those within "To Burke" with an emphasis on Priestley being a defender of freedom and without flaws. Coleridge's views on Priestley appear in many of his works, including Religious Musings written at the end of 1794.
To Fayette
"To Fayette" was first published in the 15 December 1794 Morning Chronicle. In the 1796 edition of the poem, a footnote was added to line 14 which explained the connection of the poem to the events in Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette's life: "The above beautiful Sonnet was written antecedently to the joyful account of the Patriot's escape from the Tyrant's Dungeon."Mays II 2001 qtd. p. 210 Lafayette was involved in the American Revolution serving as a major-general and served in France as the commander of the National Guard between 1789 and 1791 after the Bastille fell.Patton 1970 p. 39 After the French monarch was removed, he was imprisoned in Austria and was not released until 1797.Mays 2001 p. 158
Like many of the Romantic poets, Coleridge saw those who challenged their governments in the name of liberty as a hero, which included Lafayette.Dolin 2007 p. 117 The poem uses an image of the "ray", which is connected to Coleridge's poems on what an ideal society would be plus to the millennial views he expressed within his poem Religious Musings.Stevenson 1996 pp. 67–68
To Kosciusko
"To Kosciusko" was first published in the 16 December 1794 Morning Chronicle.Mays 2001 pp. 155, 159 Tadeusz Kościuszko led Poland in rebellion against two countries, Prussia and Russia, during the spring of 1794. When the rebellion was crushed by that October, he was captured by Russian forces and held as a prisoner. Coleridge knew few details about the specifics, which showed in alterations of the poem.Mays 2001 p. 159
The emphasis on Kosciusko as a political prisoner that was being martyred for his beliefs connects "To Kosciusko" with "To Fayette". Coleridge discussed Kosciusko throughout his works, including a lecture series that Coleridge gave during 1795 and articles in his newspaper, Watchman.Mays 2001 pp. 157–159 The British Romantic poets favoring of Kosciusko as a hero can be traced to Coleridge, and Leigh Hunt published his own sonnet on Kosciusko in 1815 with John Keats following with his own in 1817. They viewed Koscuisko as a figure connected to Alfred the Great, the individual that was believed to have established English constitutional liberty.Roe 1997 p. 108
To Pitt
"To Pitt" was first published in the 23 December 1794 Morning Chronicle. The poem to Prime Minister William Pitt was reprinted with a small revision in Coleridge's magazine The Watchman on 2 April 1796 and included in Coleridge's 1796 collection of poemsMays 2001 pp. 155, 160–161 under the name "Effusion 3, to Mercy". This edition was soon reprinted in The Universal Magazine for the October 1796 edition.Mays 2001 II p. 213 Earlier in the year, Pitt used his power to suspend Habeas Corpus in order to crack down on government opposition. This crackdown was followed by the 1794 Treason Trials, in which dissidents were charged with treason. Although Coleridge was an opponent of Pitt's at the time of writing the sonnet "To Pitt", he was to later change his mind about politics and Pitt's government.Ashton 1997 pp. 53, 156, 209
Like "To Burke", Coleridge's "To Pitt" is one of the few poems within the Sonnets on Eminent Characters series that does not address one of his heroes. Both poems discuss the abuse of "freedom" along with the depiction of a male figure dominating a female image. Within the poem, Pitt is seen as Judas the betrayer with Britain as a feminine version of Christ.Fulford 1999 pp. 66–69 Coleridge took a political risk in the publishing of the poem.Holmes 1989 p. 81 However, the political ramifications and effect the poem may have had was ephemeral as the poem may not have had the influence that Coleridge would have wanted.Traill 1901 p. 34
To Bowles
"To Bowles" was first published in the 26 December 1794 Morning Chronicle. William Lisle Bowles had an important role in Coleridge's early poetry; he served as a poetic model for Coleridge to follow.Mays 2001 pp. 161–162 This influence can be traced to when Coleridge was given a copy of Bowles's sonnets in 1789.Ashton 1997 p. 29
Most of the Sonnets on Eminent Characters is devoted to those Coleridge considered heroes with Bowles representing poetry. Although Coleridge praises Bowles for "soft Strains", Coleridge was to turn to flashy type of poetic model as he developed as a poet. In many of Coleridge's works, he compares Bowles with other poems, such as William Cowper.Ashton 1997 pp. 30, 60–61 However, the sonnets as a whole discussed views on politics that Coleridge held. and Coleridge emphasizes how Bowles influenced his political beliefs. In particular, Bowles provided Coleridge with the ideas of a universal brotherhood.Mays 2001 p. 162
To Mrs Siddons
"To Mrs Siddons" was first published in the 29 December 1794 Morning Chronicle.Mays 2001 p. 164 Sarah Siddons was an actress that Coleridge became aware of during his college years when he would travel to London to experience the theatre.Holmes 1989 p. 50 Although it was originally printed as by Coleridge, it is uncertain as to who actually wrote the poem; it is possible that Charles Lamb wrote the poem, as he mentioned it as his in a June 1796 letter. Later, the 1796 collection of Coleridge's letters claimed it as Lamb's, but later collections did not attribute it to Lamb. It is possible that the poem was jointly written by Coleridge and Lamb, and the poem, if Lamb's, would represent one of his earliest works.Lindop 1990 p. 109