The Poetry of Ernest Jones: Myth, Song, and the ‘Mighty Mind’

Sep 1, 2026

Upload by Anda

This thesis studies the poetry of Ernest Charles Jones (1819-69) from 1840 to 1860, focusing on Chartist verse as a critically neglected field. It examines the social, political, and aesthetic consequences of poetry functioning as propaganda or polemic, while providing close readings of many previously unstudied poems. Using original manuscripts, the study traces Jones’s revision practices and includes the first translations of some German-language work. Six broadly chronological chapters address conceptual themes across his publications, Chartist activity, imprisonment, and leadership of the movement.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPaper Templates

FormatDOCX

Pages330

Reading Time1 h 55 min

AccessFree to download

Acknowledgements

Abstract

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

A Biographical Sketch

A Brief Survey of Sources

Chartism and Poetry

Structural Overview

Chapter One - Influences and Early Poetry (1840-5)

Chapter Two - Jones and Myth (1846-8)

Chapter Three - The ‘Mighty Mind’ (1846-8)

Chapter Four - Lyrical Prison Poetry (1848-50)

Chapter Five - The New World, A Democratic Poem (1851)

Chapter Six - Pseudonymity, Revision, Songs of the Low and High (1851-60)

The Poetry of Ernest Jones: Myth, Song, and the ‘Mighty Mind’ Simon Rennie Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of PhD The University of Leeds School of English September 2013 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2013 The University of Leeds and Simon Rennie The right of Simon Rennie to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Acknowledgements I am profoundly grateful to my supervisor, Francis O’Gorman, whose support, engagement, and erudition have been invaluable to the composition of this study. A vital contributor in terms of critical discussions on the subject of the poetry of Ernest Jones and Chartist poetry in general has been Mike Sanders, who also encouraged my initial interest in Chartist poetics. I am grateful for the intellectual stimulation provided by discussions (however brief) with the following people: Owen Ashton, Malcolm Chase, Ian Heywood, Brian Maidment, Alec Newman, Michael O’Neill, Stephen Roberts, Mark Sandy, Miles Taylor, Herbert Tucker, and Roy Vickers. If I have omitted anybody from this list I apologise. I also wish to thank Adrian Knapp for his assistance translating Jones’s German-language poetry from the Deutsche Londoner Zietung. Finally, I am indebted to my partner, Libby Tempest, for allowing a long-dead Chartist to become the third person in our relationship. Abstract This thesis studies the poetry of Ernest Charles Jones (1819-69) from 1840 to 1860. One of its aims is to cast further light on the critically neglected area of Chartist poetry, and to investigate the social, political, and aesthetic implications of poetry whose explicit function is that of propaganda or polemic. Aside from offering close analysis of many poems which have not been studied before, this thesis presents previously unlisted Jones poems and, most importantly, a complete pseudonymous poetry collection. Study of original manuscripts has given significant insight into Jones’s process of poetic revision and some of his German-language poetry has been translated for the first time. My research covers Jones’s first publications in conservative newspapers shortly after his arrival in Great Britain from the German Duchy of Holstein, his early Chartist period, his imprisonment, and his years as the effective leader of Chartism. Although the six chapters are in broadly chronological order, each addresses a conceptual or contextual theme. These are, consecutively: poetic influence; mythopoeia; poet/reader relationships; prison writing; epic poetry; and poetic revision. Themes recurring throughout the study include the political and literary implications of republication and revision; the relationship between poetry and politics in the early Victorian period; the figure of the ‘gentleman radical’ and his relationship with his readership; the influence of Romantic legacies on mid-nineteenth-century radical poetics; links between Chartist and Irish Nationalist poetry; and intersections between radical and conservative imaginative conceptions of the past. Close analysis of the poetry is consistently related to its historical, political and cultural circumstances – the declarative and socially-engaged nature of Chartist poetry demands it be studied alongside its extra-literary contexts. What emerges from this study is a new version of Ernest Jones, a political poet whose exceptional complexity is here mapped for the first time in its fullness. Contents Abbreviations .………………………………………………………….8 Introduction .…………………………………………………………...9 A Biographical Sketch ……………………………………………………………...11 A Brief Survey of Sources ………………………………………………………….16 Chartism and P

FAQs

What time period and poet does the thesis focus on?

The thesis focuses on Ernest Charles Jones’s poetry from 1840 to 1860 and studies works by Ernest Charles Jones (1819-69).

Which aspect of Chartist poetry does the thesis aim to clarify?

It aims to shed further light on the critically neglected area of Chartist poetry and on poetry whose explicit function is propaganda or polemic.

How does the thesis treat Jones’s manuscripts and German-language material?

Study of original manuscripts provides insight into Jones’s poetic revision process, and some of his German-language poetry is translated for the first time.

Sep 1, 2026

Upload by Anda