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Madoc in Scotland: A transatlantic perspective on Stepping Westward

Jarvis, Robin

Authors



Abstract

Wordsworth's Stepping Westward, one of the Poems Written During a Tour in Scotland included in Poems, in Two Volumes (1807), has received little critical attention compared with its companion tour poem, The Solitary Reaper. This essay offers a fresh angle on the poem by placing it within the circumstances of its time of composition in late spring 1805 - circumstances that included the personal grief of bereavement and fears for national security at a critical time in the war against France. More particularly, I propose that Wordsworth's reading of Southey's epic Madoc just prior to writing Stepping Westward opens transatlantic horizons of meaning within a poem that otherwise does little to explore the metaphorical potential of its title. Just as modern scholarship has unearthed a complex textual history beneath Southey's published work that reflects his ideological journey during a tumultuous decade, so the strange irresolution of Wordsworth's poem makes sense when both the mythic and contemporary dimensions of westward travel and migration are brought into play.

Citation

Jarvis, R. (2008). Madoc in Scotland: A transatlantic perspective on Stepping Westward. European Romantic Review, 19(2), 149-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509580802030441

Journal Article Type Conference Paper
Publication Date Apr 1, 2008
Journal European Romantic Review
Print ISSN 1050-9585
Electronic ISSN 1740-4657
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 19
Issue 2
Pages 149-156
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/10509580802030441
Keywords Wordsworth, Southey, transatlantic travel
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1013857
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10509580802030441