Poetry · Chapter
Addressed to Benjamin Robert Haydon explained
The speaker celebrates great spirits currently on earth, including Wordsworth and another poet, and praises high-mindedness and steadfast genius against a money-mongering society.
What happens
The speaker celebrates great spirits currently on earth, including Wordsworth and another poet, and praises high-mindedness and steadfast genius against a money-mongering society.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs when the King, overwhelmed by his own confession, reveals Bertha’s…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Social Critique and Mortality
The poem criticizes 'money-mong'ring, pitiable brood' and champions steadfast genius against societal corruption.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker who addresses the poem to Benjamin Robert Haydon and praises the great spirits.
Key passages
“Great spirits now on earth are sojourning; He of the cloud, the cataract, the lake, Who on Helvellyn’s summit, wide awake, Catches his freshness from Archangel’s wing”
Great souls are living on earth now; one of them is the poet of nature who, awake on Helvellyn's peak, draws inspiration from an angelic source.
Likely refers to William Wordsworth, celebrated for his nature poetry.
“A money-mong’ring, pitiable brood.”
A contemptible group obsessed with money.
Critique of mercantile society.
