Sen, R. orcid.org/0000-0002-1558-7938 (2025) Resurrecting rhymes, reasons and (no) rhotics: Reconstructing Keats’s pronunciation. In: Kennard, H., Lindsay-Smith, E., Lahiri, A. and Maiden, M., (eds.) Historical Linguistics 2022: Selected papers from the 25th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Oxford, 1–5 August 2022. 25th International Conference on Historical Linguistics (ICHL25), 01-05 Aug 2022, Oxford, UK. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 369 . John Benjamins , Amsterdam , pp. 5-19. ISBN 9789027219176
Abstract
This paper reconstructs the pronunciation of the English Romantic poet John Keats — and in particular the likely original sound of one of his final poems, Bright Star — just over two hundred years after his death (1821). Keats makes a particularly fascinating phonological study due to Lockhart’s (1818) denunciation of him as a ‘Cockney poet’. I use evidence from contemporary pronouncing dictionaries and several other treatises and orthoepical works from the early nineteenth century to narrow down likely pronunciation variants in 1819. I then employ evidence from Keats’s own rhyme schemes (more concrete) and biographical details relating to his location, education, and social and literary milieu (more speculative) to construct a likely rendition of Bright Star in the poet’s own voice.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: | |
Editors: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 John Benjamins. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Historical Linguistics 2022: Selected papers from the 25th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Oxford, 1–5 August 2022, Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 369. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. For all re-use permissions please contact the publishers. |
Keywords: | Late Modern English phonology; original pronunciation; Bright Star; Cockney; poetry |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > School of English (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 29 Feb 2024 16:46 |
Last Modified: | 18 Nov 2024 16:46 |
Published Version: | https://benjamins.com/catalog/cilt.369 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | John Benjamins |
Series Name: | Current Issues in Linguistic Theory |
Refereed: | Yes |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:209767 |
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