192 The Poetry of Mary RobinsonThe events that follow show that Southey actually replaced her as a
poetic correspondent. Around the beginning of 1798, reports in the
Post and in the Oracle indicate that Robinson had become severely ill.
Such a notice, for instance, appears in the Oracle on 15 January, the
day before Southey’s first poem for Stuart appears in the Post: “On
t he Sett lement of Sierra L eona” signed w it h his “ Walter” pseudonym.
Robinson, due to her illness, likely was not able to contribute as many
poems as she and Stuart had hoped. For instance, Stuart reprints the
“St. James’s Street” poem on the Queen’s birthday, which Robinson
had published three years before in the Morning Post; it appears on
January 19 with the “T.B.” initials, although in January of 1795
Robinson had signed it “Portia.” The next day, Stuart puffs Robinson
yet again as “the English Sappho,” perhaps out of concern for her
health. Interestingly, the Post does not report on her illness until 10
days after the Oracle.
To me, this suggests that Stuart or Coleridge called upon Southey
to supply poetry in Robinson’s stead. We do know Southey needed
the money. By the time Robinson’s recovery is reported at the end
of February, Southey already has replaced her. The bulk of Stuart’s
“anecdotes” in the Gentleman’s Magazine are devoted to proving that
Coleridge was a delinquent contributor; but in the process of doing
so, he remarks on Southey’s dependability and writes, “He contrib-
uted freely pieces of poetry on a small salary” (577). Southey himself
referred to the position as a “laureateship,” long before his national one.
As early as 15 December 1799, Southey writes to Coleridge that he
has “written to Stuart and resigned the Laureateship” in order to focus
on Thalaba (New Letters 1: 207). This is the position that Robinson
assumes at around this time. Obviously, a laureateship is quite different
from an editorship. In an 1838 letter, Southey explains his responsibil-
ities: “In 1798 Stuart offered me a guinea a week to supply verses for
the Morning Post.... About 60 lines a week I thought a fair discharge”
(qtd. in Speck 71). W hen Stuart asserted in the Gentleman’s Magazine
that Southey supplied “a most satisfactory quantity” to make up for
Coleridge’s “deficiency” (486), Southey responded to Stuart, “My
engagement as your Poet- Laureate did not commence till 1798; and
the quantity which I supplied was never intended to be considered as
making up Coleridge’s deficiency.” He adds, “I never think of that
Laureateship without satisfaction. The guinea a week, while I held it,
came every quarter very seasonably in aid of slender means” (Letters
Lake Poets 434). Three decades earlier, Southey describes to William
Taylor his laureateship as “my grand apprenticeship to the craft and
mystery of verse- making” (Robberds 2: 133).9780230100251_06_ch04.indd 1929780230100251_06_ch04.indd 192 12/28/2010 11:08:54 AM12/28/2010 11:08:54 AM
10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel RobinsonCopyright material from www.palgraveconnect.com - licensed to Universitetsbiblioteket iTr
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