Thalaba the destroyer by robert southey biography

Poem by Robert Southey

Thalaba the Destroyer is an 1801 epic poem composed by Robert Southey.

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The origins of the poem can be traced to Southey's school boy days, but he did not begin to write the poem until he finished composing Madoc at the age of 25. Thalaba the Destroyer was completed while Southey travelled in Portugal.

When the poem was finally published by the publisher Longman, it suffered from poor sales and only half of the copies were sold by 1804.

The poem is divided into twelve "books" with irregular stanza structures and unrhymed lines of poetry.

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The story describes how a group of sorcerers work to destroy the Hodeirah family in an attempt to prevent a prophecy of their future doom from coming true. However, a young child named Thalaba is able to escape from the slaughter.

After one of the sorcerers hunts down Thalaba to kill him, the sorcerer is defeated by a great storm and his powerful magical ring comes into Thalaba's possessio