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theses

The Corsican Republic, defeated by the French in 1769 after fifteen years of independence, elicited a passionate, yet little explored, response from much of the British public. Poetic response to its defeat, seen in "Corsica" published in 1773 by Anna Laetitia Barbauld, and "The Cyrnean Hero" published in 1772 by Robert Colvill, shared a struggle to accept that defeat. Both poems feature a contentious relationship with time. "The Cyrnean Hero" acknowledges the fall of the Corsican Republic, but insists that they may still succeed as if the war with France were still ongoing. "Corsica" takes this further; much of the poem contemplates the Republic's imminent success, until the final 18 lines lament its defeat, treating 1769 and 1773 as the same point in time. Colvill's poem shows his support for Scottish independence, and Barbauld was both a dissenter and a woman, making the two poets political outsiders. As such, I argue the collapsed time present in both poems stems from an inability to reconcile their ambition with their sense of inevitable failure. Both poems struggle with the concept of fate; Barbauld's even more so as she writes that the Corsicans will succeed against fate, but ultimately concludes that the "iron fates prevail". The Corsican Republic represented the hope they held for their own nations, while at the same time its fall felt predetermined. Barbauld and Colvill too hope for success while simultaneously expecting failure against the ingrained political structure of Great Britain

ETD_9014

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

by Gwendolyn Barbee-Yow

doi:10.7282/T3CN777R

ETD graduate

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