Joan of Arc is a 1796 epic poem composed by Robert Southey. The idea for the story came from a discussion between Southey and Grosvenor Bedford, when Southey realised that the story would be suitable for an epic. The subject further appealed to Southey because the events of the French Revolution were concurrent to the writing of the poem and would serve as a parallel to current events. Eventually, Samuel Taylor Coleridge helped rewrite parts of the poem for a 1798 edition. Later editions removed Coleridge's additions along with other changes.
The poem is divided into two-halves with the first describing Joan's quest to meet Charles, the Dauphin of France. Eventually, she is capable of gaining the Dauphin's support and begins to lead the French military. The secondary half describes the French defeat of the British army at Orléans. After many victories, the poem ends with Charles crowned King of France. Joan of Arc serves as a way for Southey to express his views on history and on politics; these include his republican ideals, his claims that political tyranny was a common element in Europe, and his opposition to Christian practices that he thought were superstitious. Later editions of the poem shifted from a promotion of a deistic view of religion to a more traditional view. Critics gave the work mixed reviews, with some emphasising the quality of the images and themes of the poem. However, others believed that the poem lacked merit and some believed that the subject matter was inappropriate to the time. Many critics felt that Southey rushed in composing the work and did not devote enough time to it.
Background
In July 1793, Southey discussed the story of Joan of Arc with Grosvenor Bedford, his friend. The conversation led to him believe that Joan of Arc would serve as a good basis for an epic so he began to work a plan for the poem and started composing lines. The subject of the poem appealed to Southey because it reflected incidents surrounding the French Revolution that started in early 1793. By 8 August, he had around 300 lines of the poem written. On 13 August, he devoted his time to writing a 12-book poem that he hoped to complete by the end of September. After admitting this desire for haste in the preface to the poem's first edition, critics accused Southey of not spending enough time on composing the poem. During Summer 1794, Southey attempted to find a publisher for John of Arc while taking up The Fall of Robespierre, a poetic drama about the French Revolution, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
During 1794, Southey began to plan with Coleridge and others about a political system that they would start in America called Pantisocracy. He needed to get money for the project and he contacted Richard Cruttwell on 19 July 1794 to publish Joan of Arc for that end. After notifying Bedford about the plan, Bedford advised Southey to contact William Nicol, a London publisher, to publish the work and raise more money. Southey did find a publisher, Joseph Cottle, to print his poem. A notification for the publication of Joan of Arc was included in a publication of Southey's poems later in 1794, but the edition was stopped from being printed since it lacked the minimum of 50 subscribers to pay for the cost. The poem was finally published by Cottle in 1796 (see 1796 in poetry) after changes to the text including a section added by Coleridge. The second edition would later be printed without Coleridge's lines and they were instead published on their own. For the second edition, Southey revised many lines and added more research to the work. It was printed in May 1798. Later editions were published in 1806, 1812, and 1837, with the final one further toning down Southey's republican sentiment.