In the following essay, Logan discusses at length Darwin's poetic merits, considering first the poet's occasional verse and continuing on through Darwin's three major works of poetry: The Loves of the Plants, The Economy of Vegetation, and the posthumously published Temple of Nature.

In the following essay, McNeil contends that as Darwin celebrated the industrial and scientific advances of the late eighteenth century, he also expressed in his poetry an overall sense of optimism regarding the power and possibilities of all of humanity.

In the following essay, McNeil explores the historical and cultural background against which Darwin endeavored to combine science and poetry.

In the following essay, Hassler argues that the major literary figures of the Romantic movement—Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge, Keats, and Byron—were influenced considerably by Darwin's writings, as they reacted to his scientific ideas, his tone of comic defense, and his use of language.

In the following essay, King-Hele argues that Darwin's scientific, religious, and political ideas, as revealed in his poetry, strongly influenced the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

In the following essay, Harrison focuses on Darwin's emerging ideas on the evolutionary process.

In the following excerpt, Bush considers the effect of Darwin's poetical interpretation of the ideas contained in Linnaeus' Sexual System on the pioneering botanical engravings in Dr. Robert John Thornton's New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnaeus (1797-1807).

In the following essay, delivered at the Wordsworth Summer Conference in the U.K. in 1993, King-Hele argues that Darwin's poetic style and scientific convictions significantly influenced the works of the major writers of the Romantic era—namely Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, and Blake.

In the following excerpt, King-Hele provides a brief overview of Darwin's works.

In the following essay, King-Hele offers an assessment of The Temple of Nature, and states that the poem is evidence that Darwin, although a minor poet, deserves to hold a distinguished place among his eighteenth-century literary contemporaries.

In the following excerpt, Reed examines the essence and impact of Darwin's contribution to the alternative psychological theory referred to as fluid materialism—a belief that the human mind, and indeed life itself, can be understood within the framework of natural science.