ABSTRACT
As the central repository for all the 'treasure' of knowledge in the world, Southey allocates himself a position of supreme importance. Southey creates an impression of the world's vastness and historical longevity, in order to put himself at its centre and remind readers of his prominent role in early nineteenth-century British culture. Southey was pre-eminent among his literary peers for his direct and consistent engagement with colonial issues. The canonical revisionism of the last decade has resulted in a massive resurgence of interest both in Southey's life and writing and in his relationship to Romantic period culture. Southey's speculative responses to colonial matters simply reflect the uncertainties and anxieties that beset others in implementing imperial strategy – and which could disrupt the coherence of political aims and ambitions. Southey's political position only became more entrenched after what Geoffrey Carnall refers to as his 'conversion to conservatism'.
