Written as the war against Napoleon dragged on, Barbauld’s long poem in heroic couplets imagines Britain’s greatness passing away like that of earlier empires. Future travellers from America wander the ruins of London, climb its crumbling turrets and see the Thames, once choked with fleets, wind idly through reeds, as the genius of civilisation moves west.
A bold, prophetic poem whose hostile reception helped end its author’s public career as a poet. Download the free EPUB.