This is the first book to examine the literature of the Romantic period as a conscious attempt to affect the religious transformation of society. Robert Ryan argues that the political quarrel that preoccupied England during the Romantic period was in large part an argument about the religious character of the nation, and that the Romantics became active and conspicuous participants in this public debate. Ryan shows how the careers of the Romantic poets are radically reconfigured when viewed in the context of the period's passionate debate on religion, politics and society.