Wordsworth's Dark Joke in 'The Barberry-Tree': The Influence of Humphry Davy, Coleridge and the 'Gang'.

The essay offers a critique of the humorous English Romantic poem "The Barberry-Tree," by William Wordsworth, focusing on the influence of the chemist Humphry Davy, and poets Charles Abraham Elton and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Details are given describing the close literary and philosophical friendship shared between the figures, the natural philosophy themes found within the poem, and the particular use of scientific humor within the work.