This 1879 biography of poet and author Robert Southey (1774–1843), friend of Coleridge and Wordsworth, and Poet Laureate, provided a fresh and concise account of his literary endeavours and personal experiences. Written by Edward Dowden (1843–1913), an author and poet of the subsequent generation, and published in the first series of English Men of Letters, the work charts Southey's life, education, travels and literary activities, as well as his changing political views from the Jacobinism of his youth to the relatively conservative outlook of his later years. The book is notable for the extensive quotations which allow the reader to hear the subject's voice, but takes its cue from the writings as a whole instead of engaging in the analysis of individual books and poems.