This work investigates how British Romantic poets grappled with the theological framework of the Book of Revelation and its potential for secularization within their historical context. Morton D. Paley, a distinguished scholar of Romanticism and William Blake, examines the tension between apocalyptic expectations and the concept of the millennium. He analyzes how poets such as Blake, Wordsworth, and Shelley navigated the shift from religious eschatology to historical and political interpretation. The text argues that these writers viewed the progression of history as a complex struggle between linear teleology and cyclical repetition.

Scholars frequently cite this text as a foundational study for understanding the intersection of theology and political theory in Romantic literature. It is widely regarded as a dense, rigorous academic resource that provides essential context for the eschatological themes prevalent in 19th-century British poetry.