Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen by Walter Savage Landor

First published: 1824-1829 (five volumes)

Type of work: Philosophy

The Work:

Walter Savage Landor once said, “Poetry was always my amusement, prose my study and business.” When he was forty-five years of age, after having devoted many years to poetic composition, he began what became Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen, in which he found the form best suited to the peculiar aim and direction of his art. Although some of his poetry attains a gemlike perfection, it suffers by comparison with the work of his more famous contemporaries. While the major Romantic writers, with their emphasis on imagination, were bringing new life to poetry, Landor chose not to go beyond ideas that could be clearly grasped. His poetry thus lacks the emotional appeal necessary to the highest attainment in this form. In prose writing, however, where clarity and restraint are more to be desired, Landor deserves consideration with the best of his age.

By the nature of his character, Landor was drawn for guidance and inspiration to the classical tradition. One side of his personality admired balance, moderation, and precision, qualities admirably displayed in his writing. The other side was irascible, impractical, and impulsive; these traits are revealed in some of his personal relationships. Like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Landor appears to have found in his restrained and faultless art a counterpoise to his external world of turbulence.

Landor was a true classicist, not a belated adherent of neoclassicism with its emphasis on rules over substance. He was rigorously trained in youth and continued his scholarly pursuits throughout his adult life. His knowledge was no mere surface phenomenon; he was so immersed in the ancients that he took on their characteristic habits of thought. Thus these five volumes not only make use of events and characters from the Greco-Roman civilization but also are infused with classical ideals of clarity and precision in style and tough intellectualism in content.

The “conversations” in Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen are grouped into classical dialogues, dialogues of sovereigns and statesmen, dialogues of literary men, dialogues of famous women, and miscellaneous dialogues. The conversations, usually between two people, cover many centuries, ranging from the time of the Trojan War to Landor’s own period, and they include people from many geographical areas. Many of the scenes are based on suggestions from history or mythology, but the actual remarks of the individuals are never used. Landor did not attempt to re-create a sense of the past by use of artificial or archaic language. He did, however, endeavor to represent faithfully the spirit of the age and the essential nature of the personage presented.

Landor is, above all, concerned with interpretation of character. Although he displays brilliant insights into human nature, he does not aim toward fully developed characters but toward abstract idealizations. They are not products of observation directly reported but of observation, especially that gained from reading, filtered through a long process of reflection. Never are the predilections of the author—his sympathies and his aversions—far from the surface.

Many of the dialogues depict a manly, heroic character; two examples of this type are found in “Marcellus and Hannibal.” History records the death of Marcellus in the Second Punic War and the respect paid him by Hannibal. Landor creates a scene in which Marcellus survives long enough to converse with the Carthaginian leader. When the wounded Marcellus is brought to the camp, Hannibal makes every effort to save his life and to make him comfortable. A contrast to Hannibal’s chivalric behavior is provided by that of his ally, a Gallic chief who thinks only of revenge and of glory to Gaul. Marcellus welcomes death as an escape from capture and politely declines Hannibal’s request that Rome agree to a peace treaty. Although under great suffering, he avoids any outward expression of pain. In return for Hannibal’s kindness, Marcellus presents him with a ring that might benefit him with the Romans, if his fortunes change. As Marcellus is dying, the two men are more closely united by their common nobility and respect for nobility in others than were they divided by the exigencies of war.

Women of praiseworthy character are depicted in several of the conversations. In “Lady Lisle and Elizabeth Gaunt,” Landor portrays the remarkable idealism of two women who are condemned to death for sheltering fugitives. They act through simple Christian charity: Confronted with a choice between the law of the king and the commandment of Jesus, they embrace the latter. Lady Lisle has no blame for the jury that, under duress, convicts her. Elizabeth, serene about her own fate, feels sorrow for her companion. Betrayed by the very man she concealed, she feels no anger toward him but pities him for his having to suffer a guilty conscience. Both view execution as the avenue to eternal bliss and wish that others might have their perfect serenity.

A more complex character study is found in “Oliver Cromwell and Walter Noble.” Cromwell is controlled by conflicting emotions—ambition, pride, compassion, vindictiveness, humility, fear. In response to the practically irrefutable arguments of Noble against regicide, Cromwell constantly shifts position and even contradicts himself. As a last refuge, he justifies his proposed action as the carrying out of God’s will.

Although Landor sometimes uses crucial situations as settings for his conversations, he seldom reveals character in truly dramatic fashion. His dialogues, unlike Robert Browning’s monologues, do not have a close causal relationship between the stresses of the moment and the disclosures of the speaker. Nor do Landor’s speakers often reveal their inner natures unwittingly. While Browning’s works are subtle and require reading between the lines, Landor’s are direct and leave little to implication. In the treatment of characters with whom he is unsympathetic, Landor uses an irony that is unmistakable, even too obvious at times.

In some of the dialogues, especially the long discursive ones, the characters are not important in themselves but serve as vehicles for the ideas of the author. Neither a systematic philosopher nor a highly original thinker, Landor was alive to the whole range of humankind’s thought, past and present. A wise and judicious man, he expresses his opinions felicitously.

Love of freedom is a leading theme in Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen. Fighters for liberty, such as George Washington and Thaddeus Kosciusko, who combined modesty with valor, evoke Landor’s highest admiration. Equally fervid is his detestation of tyrants, as expressed, for example, in “Peter the Great and Alexis,” a dialogue in which Peter, having failed to make his son as brutal as he, callously orders the boy’s execution.

Landor believed in a republican form of government and opposed pure democracy because of the corruption, intemperance, and anti-intellectualism that such a system fostered. His expression of political ideas seldom went beyond a statement of general principles.

Landor is often critical of religious leaders, and he shows his antipathy to fanaticism in such dialogues as “Mahomet and Sergius” and “Melanchthon and Calvin.” Hypocrisy is attacked in other dialogues, such as “Fra Filippo Lippi and Pope Eugenius IV,” which is, in part, a satire on the pope, who makes an outward show of piety and displays great zeal in maintaining the forms of religion but who is essentially a worldly and sensual man. In this conversation, too, the Christian-spirited barbarians of Tunisia are, with heavy irony, contrasted with the barbaric Christians of Rome. Landor favors a simple religion that stays close to its basic tenets. Believing in the limitation of human reason in such matters, he dislikes dogmatism and theological quibbling.

His philosophy was influenced by Epicurus and by the Stoics. He believes in meditation, detachment, and freedom from the ambition and envy of the world. These sentiments are expressed in “Epicurus, Leontion, and Ternissa.” Feeling that man’s happiness depends on his use of reason to overcome doubts and worries, in many of his character portrayals Landor reveals his belief in self-control, fortitude, sympathy, and humanitarianism.

A significant part of Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen is devoted to literary criticism. Classical standards were Landor’s guide. He disapproves of unnecessary ornamentation in writing. “Never try to say things admirably, try only to say them plainly.” “Whatever is rightly said, sounds rightly.” Landor was not a narrow classicist in his tastes; he admired a variety of authors, his favorites being John Milton, Francis Bacon, William Shakespeare, Dante Alighieri, and Pindar. Among his contemporaries, he most respected William Wordsworth and Robert Southey.

Landor predicted that only a small, select group of people would prize his writings. He was correct. One reason for the failure of his major work to attract a large audience is the fact that the dialogues lack direction and cohesive development. The absence of dramatic motivation and the presence of disconcerting gaps and shifts in argument create difficulties for the reader.

This weakness, which is a considerable one, has prevented the high merits of the Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen from being widely appreciated. The aphorisms scattered throughout the work are among the best in the language. The range of Landor’s thought is impressive. His prose style is unexcelled in vigor and purity.

Bibliography

Dilworth, Ernest. Walter Savage Landor. New York: Twayne, 1971. Introductory survey of Landor’s works and his achievements as a writer. Contains numerous insights into Landor’s unusual method for creating Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen and comments on the technical merits of these sketches.

Elwin, Malcolm. Savage Landor. New York: Macmillan, 1941. Full-length biography aimed at rescuing Landor from the poor reputation he earned from nineteenth century critics. Elwin’s comments on Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen are interspersed throughout the narrative; he discusses possible motives for Landor choosing individual figures as subjects for these dialogues.

Field, Jean. Landor: A Biography of Walter Savage Landor, 1775-1864. Studley, England: Brewin Books, 2000. Field attempts to “set the record straight” about Landor, whom she claims is a misunderstood and maligned figure. The book also contains selections from Landor’s poetry and prose.

Hanley, Keith. Introduction to Walter Savage Landor: Selected Poetry and Prose. Manchester, England: Carcanet Press, 1981. Discusses the dramatic qualities of the various individual segments of Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen. Faults Landor for the liberties he takes with the historical record but praises him for his ability to vivify the personalities he chooses as subjects.

Hewitt, Regina. Symbolic Interactions: Social Problems and Literary Interventions in the Works of Baillie, Scott, and Landor. Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 2006. Examines Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen, novels by Sir Walter Scott, and plays by Joanna Baillie to demonstrate how these Romantic works address questions of capital punishment and political participation.

Proudfit, Charles, ed. Introduction to Selected Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen, by Walter Savage Landor. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1969. Links Landor with the Romantics rather than with the Victorians. Discusses the genesis of the project and comments on the reception of these writings by Landor’s contemporaries and succeeding generations.

Super, R. H. Walter Savage Landor: A Biography. New York: New York University Press, 1954. Comprehensive scholarly biography and critical study of Landor’s works. Discusses individual “conversations” in the context of Landor’s career; explains the writer’s interest in the figures he chose as subjects for his work.