born Aug. 12, 1774, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng.
died March 21, 1843, Keswick, Cumberland
English poet and prose writer.
In youth Southey ardently embraced the ideals of the French Revolution, as did Samuel Taylor Coleridge , with whom he was associated from 1794. Like Coleridge, he gradually became more conservative. About 1799 he devoted himself to writing; later he was obliged to produce unremittingly to support both his and Coleridge's family. In 1813 he was appointed poet laureate. His poetry is now little read, but his prose style is masterly in its ease and clarity, as seen in such works as Life of Nelson (1813), Life of Wesley (1820), and The Doctor (1834–47), a fantastic, rambling miscellany.