The Masters of English Literature |
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Page vii
... period which sets so much value on specialised study . The writer would justify it by the view , first , that in English literature there are certain authors who may be classed as obligatory - concerning whom total ignorance is a defect ...
... period which sets so much value on specialised study . The writer would justify it by the view , first , that in English literature there are certain authors who may be classed as obligatory - concerning whom total ignorance is a defect ...
Page ix
... period , as more familiar , has been dismissed with very summary treatment . Generally speaking , the more quotable an author , the more he has been quoted ; and poetry therefore much more than prose . Also , since it was necessary in ...
... period , as more familiar , has been dismissed with very summary treatment . Generally speaking , the more quotable an author , the more he has been quoted ; and poetry therefore much more than prose . Also , since it was necessary in ...
Page 6
... considered his roughnesses , were in mere technical skill far the inferiors of this great beginner . From a literary point of view , Chaucer's life falls into three periods . In the first we see 6 THE MASTERS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.
... considered his roughnesses , were in mere technical skill far the inferiors of this great beginner . From a literary point of view , Chaucer's life falls into three periods . In the first we see 6 THE MASTERS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.
Page 7
Stephen Lucius Gwynn. falls into three periods . In the first we see him as a translator and imitator of the French , employing the eight - syllable rhymed verse of the French romances . His principal work as translator was undoubtedly a ...
Stephen Lucius Gwynn. falls into three periods . In the first we see him as a translator and imitator of the French , employing the eight - syllable rhymed verse of the French romances . His principal work as translator was undoubtedly a ...
Page 8
... period Chaucer was at best a fine derivative poet . He was certainly over forty before his full originality displayed itself in the great scheme of the Canterbury Tales . We can see him in the Hous of Fame and the Legende of Good Women ...
... period Chaucer was at best a fine derivative poet . He was certainly over forty before his full originality displayed itself in the great scheme of the Canterbury Tales . We can see him in the Hous of Fame and the Legende of Good Women ...
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admirable ballad beauty Ben Jonson blank verse Bonny Dundee born Burns Byron Canterbury Tales century character charm Chaucer chronicle plays colour comedy contemporary couplet criticism death describes Dickens drama Dryden England English literature essays expression eyes Faerie Queene Falstaff fame famous genius heart heaven honour Hudibras human humour Johnson Keats King lady later less lines literary living London Lord lyric Lyrical Ballads master metre Milton mind narrative nature never night novel o'er Paradise Lost Paradise Regained passage passion perhaps persons play poem poet poetry Pope prose published reader rhyme satire Scott sense Shakespeare Shelley song sonnets Spenser spirit stanzas story style sweet Swift tale Tamburlaine tell thee Theseus things thou thought tragedy Troilus and Cressida truth uncle Toby verse whole woman words Wordsworth writing written wrote young
Popular passages
Page 181 - Peace to all such ! but were there one whose fires True genius kindles, and fair fame inspires; Blest with each talent and each art to please, And born to write, converse, and live with ease; Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne...
Page 145 - Bacchus' blessings are a treasure; Drinking is the soldier's pleasure: Rich the treasure; Sweet the pleasure; Sweet is pleasure after pain! Soothed with the sound, the king grew vain; Fought all his battles o'er again : And thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew the slain!
Page 272 - Piping down the valleys wild, Piping songs of pleasant glee, On a cloud I saw a child, And he laughing said to me: "Pipe a song about a Lamb!' So I piped with merry cheer. 'Piper, pipe that song again;
Page 332 - Of towns and cities, I have owed to them, In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; And passing even into my purer mind, With tranquil restoration ; — feelings too...
Page 181 - Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer; Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, Just hint a fault and hesitate dislike...
Page 332 - But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; And passing even into my purer mind. With tranquil restoration...
Page 369 - That Light whose smile kindles the Universe, That Beauty in which all things work and move, That Benediction which the eclipsing Curse Of birth can quench not, that sustaining Love Which through the web of being blindly wove By man and beast and earth and air and sea, Burns bright or dim, as each are mirrors of The fire for which all thirst, now beams on me, Consuming the last clouds of cold mortality...
Page 243 - Here Reynolds is laid, and to tell you my mind, He has not left a wiser or better behind : His pencil was striking, resistless, and grand : His manners were gentle, complying, and bland ; Still born to improve us in every part, His pencil our faces, his manners our heart...
Page 135 - For his religion, it was fit To match his learning and his wit : 'Twas Presbyterian true blue, For he was of that stubborn crew Of errant saints, whom all men grant To be the true church militant ; Such as do build their faith upon The holy text of pike and gun ; Decide all controversies by Infallible artillery ; And prove their doctrine orthodox By apostolic blows and knocks...
Page 349 - It ceased; yet still the sails made on A pleasant noise till noon, A noise like of a hidden brook In the leafy month of June, That to the sleeping woods all night Singeth a quiet tune.