{"id":5857,"date":"2025-03-08T12:48:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T12:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=5857"},"modified":"2025-03-08T13:30:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T13:30:02","slug":"romantic-poets-in-the-wild-9-ralph-hoyte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=5857","title":{"rendered":"Romantic Poets in the Wild #9: Ralph Hoyte"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Romantic Poets in the Wild is back after a bit of a break, ringing in our 2025 series with a Bristol-based poet heavily inspired by what he calls the “RomLitScape.” But first, a call for contributors:

Are you a creative writer or artist who might be too busy, or simply too shy to pursue publication? Are you an academic with a creative flair, or a creative who works with academia in mind? Finally, do you feel inspired by Romanticism and Romantic writers\/writing? BARS wants to feature your work on the BARS Blog’s ‘Romantic Poets in the Wild’ series! We are looking for more writers and artists to feature (and publish) on the BARS Blog and would love to hear from you! Please get in touch with me, Comms Fellow Adam Neikirk (adamneikirk@gmail.com), or Comms Officer Amy Wilcockson (britishassociationromantic@gmail.com) if you would like to contribute. We’re not just looking for poems, but also short prose, excerpts, photographs, painting, and anything else that fits the broad theme of creative work inspired by the legacy of Romanticism.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ralph Hoyte, Poet of the Quantocks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ralph says: “I started off, many years ago, as a SLAM poet (in London and Bristol), but grew out of wanting to deliver poetry\/spoken word in exchange for acclaim. A seminal event in my subsequent journey was being commissioned by the Year of the Artist (2000) to be English Heritage\u2019s writer-in-residence at Tintagel for a year, which resulted in a strong identification with Place in my work, as well as a leaning towards the Epic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This led further to an interest in representation of Place as in maps and mapping technologies. Somewhat later I happened to pitch the right idea at the right time (rare!) to Mobile Bristol, who were working with the University of Bristol and Hewlett-Packard Labs to develop \u2018Mediascape\u2019 technology – the first platform which enabled audio to be attached to Place, GPS-triggered and played only in that designated\/mapped Place. Tying audio to Place is a totally new way of thinking of audio and what it can do.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralph’s ACE-funded located audio project is called “Geo-locating the RomLitScape,” which allows travelers to become audience members who can “eavesdrop” on conversations and recitations from Romantic writers such as Dorothy Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. These scripted conversations, recorded by professional voice actors and triggered via GPS, allow place to fuse with the historical memory of sound embedded in creative writing, giving rise to a new, emergent dimension of literary immersion. Ralph was kind enough to share a partial script below, as well as a related graphic that shows how Coleridge’s famous poem can be heard nearby the statue of the ‘Ancient Mariner’:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Audio associated with The Rime of the Ancient Mariner<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Dorothy Wordsworth to Mary Hutchinson; Alfoxton, 20 November 1797
    We have been on another tour: we set out last Monday evening at half-past four. The
    evening was dark and cloudy; we went eight miles, William and Coleridge employing
    themselves in laying the plan of a ballad [The Ancient Mariner], to be published with some
    pieces of William’s. . . William’s play is finished, and sent to the managers of the Covent
    Garden Theatre. We have not the faintest expectation that it will be accepted.<\/em><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    In The Bell Inn, Watchet<\/strong>

    Dorothy<\/strong> I bid thee good evening, gentlemen
    Coleridge<\/strong> As do we, dark maid, whose eye doth glitter bold and free, and doth the midnight wood wander, hark! what marketh she there?
    Dorothy<\/strong> Behind yon old oak tree there lurks an emerald green snake. Perhaps a woman. Hisss!
    Coleridge<\/strong> Mm – there\u2019s a poem, if not a life in\u2019t\u2026
    William<\/strong> Come, dear sister. Sit down. Do you want a drink? We\u2019re on the flip, then we
    dine. Are you hungry?
    Dorothy<\/strong> We timed that well \u2013 did you see the sun set across Blue Anchor Bay? Wonderful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Coleridge<\/strong> The Sun came up upon the left, out of the Sea came he –
    Dorothy<\/strong> And the bladderwrack \u2013 \u2018twas as if the very deep did rot
    William<\/strong> Yes, I was telling Coleridge –
    Coleridge<\/strong> And he shone bright, and on the right, went down into the Sea
    William<\/strong> So simple, too simple – what would friend Southey say of that?
    Coleridge<\/strong> We know what he would say \u2013 and –
    Coleridge & Dorothy<\/strong> We don\u2019t care!
    [ALL THREE LAUGH]
    William<\/strong> Landlord, more flip all round!

    AUDIO HERE:     The Rime of the Ancient Mariner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Poetry<\/strong>: excerpted from the album Christabel Released<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ralph says: “a residency with the (then) Quantocks AONB (now the Quantocks National Landscape) during which Christabel entreated me at midnight on the winter equinox at Lady Well to release her from the over 200 year-long limbo imposed upon her by a certain ST Coleridge failing to finish the ballad. The Lady being somewhat, er\u2026 persuasive, I had no choice but to complete Christabel and bring closure to Christabel, Sir Leoline, Geraldine, and Sir Roland de Vaux. Christabel Released is a dark Gothic ballad of demonic possession, the ending of innocence and the passing of the Age of Chivalry. It takes 3 to 3 \u00bd hrs to declaim (I am a declamatory or live-art poet). Christabel Released was premiered at Halsway Manor in the Quantocks (the
    National Centre for the Folk Arts) in 2014 over a long weekend (with period-authentic supper and dress), and has been performed at venues round the West Country.

    Listener comments include \u201cMy partner dragged me along. I thought \u20183 hours of POETRY?!? No way!\u2019 But time passed like a dream – was that really 3 hours? I neverwanted it to end!\u201d<\/em>, and; \u201cIt seemed Coleridge had come back among us!\u201d<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (Christabel\u2019s mother manifests to save her daughter \u2026 of whom, it seems, she disapproves)\n\n\u2018Mother!\u2019 exclaimed the maid in tones of wonder,\n\u2018O Mother dear! Is that thee, under yon old oak tree?\nO prithee mercy upon your daughter forlorn,\nFor whom didst die the day I was born!\nHave mercy, else I am like to perish,\nBy my own father no longer cherish\u2019d;\nE\u2019er since that lady appeared, that Geraldine,\nAre my heart, my will and, above all, my father no longer mine!\u2019\n\nThe spectre moved as if compell\u2019d,\nA tale of woe and fright to tell;\nFull pathetic it was to see, its writhing in perplexity;.\nIts slender arms reached out to Christabel,\nWho quoth, \u2018O Mother, Mother dear, shall all be well?\u2019\n\nNo word, no sound issued forth the spectre:\nWhat it purposed Christabel could only conjecture;\nYet felt she as it touched by an effulgence,\nA touch, perhaps, of heavenly indulgence,\nAnd an inwardly motherly voice spoke to her heart:\n\u2018Take courage, my daughter, for I\u2019ll take your part.\u2019\n\nThen grew the radiance ever brighter:\nAs the souls of men ascending to the golden realms grow ever lighter;\nBecome more concentrated in their core;\nAnd, incandescent, burn their way thru\u2019 heaven\u2019s door.\n\u2018That power hadst thou but once,\u2019 spake the spectre, \u2018now I have thee -\nThy power is dark, and of the night;\nMine is at the bidding of my daughter, and of the light:\nBegone, fiend!\u2019\nBrighter then, and brighter as it seemed,\nShone the spectre, as Geraldine screamed:\n\u2018Mercy, have mercy upon me, mother mild,\n\u2018T was not my wish to besiege thy child!\u2019\n\u2018Then whose, demon-stock?\u2019 Set forth the mother:\n\u2018Doth the succubus have father, sister, brother?\nArt thou witch, warlock, devil\u2019s sporn?\nIn which measureless cavern wast thou born?\nIn which savage place, devil haunted?\nOut of which hag\u2019s unclean womb wast enchanted?\nSpeak!\u2019<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Ralph says: “I (foolhardily) promised to \u2018finish Kubla Khan\u2019 for the recent 2025 Words in Watchet Literary Festival (Coleridge always insisted KK was \u2018a fragment\u2019, rudely interrupted by the infamous \u2018Man from Porlock\u2019 just over the hill from Watchet. My \u2018Xanadu Remixed\u2019 is a work in progress and was delivered as such at the festival” (editor’s comment: how did I miss this?<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Extract from XANADU REMIXED (work-in-progress)\n\nSo twice five miles of fertile ground\nWith walls and towers were girdled round;\nAnd there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,\nWhere blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;\nAnd here were forests ancient as the hills,\nEnfolding sunny spots of greenery.\nAnd in his gardens was Kubla wont to roam\nTo meditate in solitude, to be alone\nTo seek respite from clamouring voices, from affairs of state\nTo be soothed by the voice of the river, the sacred Alph\nWhich through the gardens joyful ran,\nThen plunged down, down, down to caverns measureless to man\n\nSo Kubla did himself lay down\nOn marble bench of sumptuous design\nScrolls lion-headed, \u2018neath purple graped vine\nunder incense-bearing tree, of outlook sublime\nTo close his weary eyes\nSurrounded by sinous, tinkling rills\n\nFed by the crystal-clear waters from forests ancient as the hills\n\nStraight into deep slumber he fell\nHere, in a paradise designed all desires to quell\nMomentarily shivered then Gaia, the mother earth,\nAnd bolt upright shot he -\nWhen I dream, am I the dreamer, or doth the dream dream me?\nThere, before him in his sight\nStood a figure calculated to affright:\nA wild-eyed vision, hefting ram\u2019s horn\nA vision of dread, a vision of scorn\nWearing wild regalia\nAn open-jawed bear\u2019s head amongst other-worldly paraphernalia\n\u2018Twas a fur-pelted shaman from the Lands of the North\nWhat nightmare, what cause had him called forth?\nThe birds did all lift off in alarm, did outcry \u2018Beware! Beware!\nHe of the flashing eyes, the floating hair!\nWeave a circle round him thrice,\nAnd close your eyes with fear and dread\nFor he with rancid fat is a-smeared\nAnd spittle flecks his wild grey beard!\u2019<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n
    Epilogue: more info about Ralph’s project, and some links!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    No longer do you need to listen to a CD, or a radio programme, or even read a book about the Romantic poets \u2013 you can go to Alfoxton Hall and hear Dorothy and William Wordsworth and Coleridge discussing their new invention, Romantic poetry, \u2018the poetry of the sublime in the voice of the common Man\u2019<\/em>; or you can go and stand outside the Bell Inn in Watchet and eavesdrop on them creating The Ancient Mariner.

    Or at least you will be able to when I complete my ongoing \u2018Lost Voices of the Romantic Poets\u2019 project (Stage1 \u2013 research, scriptwriting, voicing by voice actors – thus far funded by Arts Council England; Stage2 -geo-locating the dialogues as audio-in-place across the Quantock Hills etc \u2013 in progress)

    I am, obviously, seeking interest in my RomPoet-based work in all its forms: as completions\/remixes of Coleridge both on paper, declaimed and as audio downloads. I am actively seeking a partner interested in making Christabel Released into a graphic novel\/anime\/manga\/film

    Current work includes collaborating with a technology partner to look deeply into AI an  Poetry (Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival\/Brigstow Institute of University of Bristol). A fascinating development of my existing digitally-based work \u2013 AI RomPoets???<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Links<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
    ralphhoyte.org<\/a>
    satsymph.co.uk<\/a>
    Christabel Released<\/a> (as POD, eBook and audio);
    The Quantock Poetry Trail<\/a> – RomPoet-inspired en plein air<\/em> wanderings with 11 fellow poets
    to create a series of 7 gps-triggered located poemscapes across the Quantocks and out to
    Watchet, accessed thru’ the smartphone. Curated by Ralph Hoyte. Supported by the
    Quantock Landscape Partnership Scheme. Made possible by Heritage Fund.
    The Ballad of Johny Walford<\/a> \u2013 short film as part of Romancing the Gibbet<\/a> with the University
    of the West of England Regional History Centre (Wordsworth had a go at tackling this
    infamous 18thc murder case when at Alfoxton)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Join us next time when we will feature the poetry of Clay F. Johnson! Hope to see you there!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Romantic Poets in the Wild is back after a bit of a break, ringing in our 2025 series with a Bristol-based poet heavily inspired by what he calls the “RomLitScape.”… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[48,111,117],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5857"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5867,"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5857\/revisions\/5867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bars.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}