DESCRIPTION
This essay surveys significant developments in laboring-class poetry in the Romantic period, most notably the recognition of a self-aware tradition, comprising hundreds of poets, many of whom have been recovered in the last 30 years. Scholars have shifted their approach to the study of laboring-class poets to assert their artistic accomplishments and vital contributions to key characteristics and themes of Romanticism, including the focus on nature, agricultural change, and regional culture, simplicity in style, and experimentation with the ballad form. How the poets were published underwent changes in the period, as many struggled with patrons and found new venues for their work due to the growth of newspapers and periodicals. The current digitization of the archive as well as digital humanities methodologies have opened up the study of the tradition, making possible new discoveries and new understandings of its reach and importance.
