Southey — Robert Southey, author of the poems Thalaba: the Destroyer and Curse of Kehama, and the collection of essays called “The Doctor” (all of which are referenced elsewhere in The Hasheesh Eater). He had a running feud with his fellow-poet Lord Byron, whom he accused of belonging to “the satanic school” of poetry. His politics shifted wildly from far-left to far-right through his life; he started out as a utopian socialist and ended up as the poet laureate writing paeans to the monarchy.