William Drennan and the Poetry of Presbytery.

Belfast Presbyterian radical Dr William Drennan (1754–1820) is widely regarded as the premier poet of the United Irishmen movement. However, while his significance as a key player in the political drama of the 1790s has been well documented, and his political poetry anthologized, few of Drennan's other poems have received critical attention. Permeating such neglected work from this poet of presbytery is an Irish dissenting, non-subscribing Unitarian Presbyterianism, which also crucially colors his famous political poems. It is proposed here that Drennan's muse is predominantly moral, specifically New Light, being the signature watermark of his chief poetical statements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]