James Thomson's defence of poetry

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This study offers a contextual and intertextual interpretation of James Thomson's poem, considering the cultural community's presuppositions and the role of its numerous intertextual allusions. It argues that contemporary views on perception, reading, and virtue necessitate an analysis that incorporates literary pre-texts. An intertextual approach reveals that, despite its heterogeneous surface, the poem serves a coherent cultural function: it seeks to cultivate virtuous habits in readers and asserts the significance of poetic discourse, particularly in relation to natural philosophy. As natural philosophy gained cultural prominence and market value, poetry needed to establish its relevance. The analysis of intertextual references, notably to Virgil, Ovid, and Milton, as well as to genre conventions like pastoral, romance, sermon, and panegyric, uncovers strategies that aim to re-legitimize poetry by integrating scientific methods into a poetic framework. Additionally, the text illustrates that poetry possesses powers extending beyond the rational and empirical concerns of natural philosophy, serving a unique cultural role as a source of vision, insight, and moral knowledge. This interpretation highlights the intricate relationship between poetry and the evolving discourse of its time.