Majestic Indolence : English Romantic Poetry and the Work of Art

This book examines the theme of indolence in Romantic poetry and demonstrates the rich variety of experiments performed upon it by a quartet of poets. Aware of recent Marxist and New Historical approaches to Romanticism, Spiegelman examines how poems work and argues for a return to an `aesthetic' appreciation of poetry's particular beauties by treating the poetic genre - pastoral - that most freely and exuberantly celebrates the virtues of leisure, holiday, and dolce far niente.