Outline history of English and American literature

Front matter

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the publisher to a library and finally to you.

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.

Preface

It has been my object to compress into this book the minimum of what every young person should know of the literature of our own country and England, even if his education is strictly scientific. I believe that specializing in any one period is more likely to prove fruitful and of benefit to the student if preceded by a general review of the development of thought and expression in the English-speaking peoples.

The book is intended as a text-book for a course of three hours a week for a school year of thirty-three weeks. As a rule I have aimed at keeping the biographical matter and the critical matter in separate paragraphs, in order that the teacher may use his discretion in requir- .-. . ing biographical matter to be memorized (for there must ' 1 be a certain amount of drudgery insisted on in the study . > of literature) and critical matter merely to be read. I have, however, endeavored to keep in view the needs and /^ limitations of a text-book, and have omitted many names *^ that would find a place in a manual or pocket encyclopedia. American literature is treated on a fuller plan 5 than is English literature, the object being to make one ^ ' book and one course suffice for an introduction to both

subjects, i Literature, especially poetry, may be appreciated simply c as art, and without any reference to the human society in

6 PREFACE

which it is produced. But in that case much of its significance and interest is lost, for everything that is written is addressed to contemporaries, and the author himself, if not entirely the product of social conditions, is at least molded by them. The historic method of study is the true one, unless in a blind study of surroundings the fact that literary productions are primarily creations of the art impulse is entirely lost sight of, in which case, indeed, the study of literature might be reduced to barren classifications of facts. Therefore, although this book is strictly elementary, I have referred briefly in each chapter to events bearing on social development, to changes in religious and political theory, and even to advances in the industrial arts, which underlie all social progress and are one of the chief causes of political amelioration.

It has been rather difficult to reconcile compression and due proportion with personal preference for certain authors or certain subjects, and it is quite possible that some of the omissions are not those that others would have made. It was necessary to draw the line somewhere and sometimes arbitrarily.

The examples have been chosen as a rule from poems which are generally familiar, and as far as possible from those which have an illustrative character.

The selections from the poems of Emerson, Holmes, Whittier, and Longfellow are used by permission of and by special arrangement with Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin and Co., publishers of the works of the authors named, to whom my acknowledgments are due.

CHARLES F. JOHNSON.

Hartford,

February 14, 1900.

Introduction

The love of song and the love of listening to stories are among the primitive instincts of the human race. A group of people acknowledging the tie of race always feels the desire of recording the events of its own history, especially the deeds of popular heroes. A few individuals appear in every generation who have the power of responding to these instincts in a manner so acceptable that their words are transmitted to posterity in a more or less fixed form. Such persons are called literary artists, and the body of their records is called a national literature. Naturally, it is affected by the religion and ethics of the time, by the prevalent views of life and nature, by the current speculations on the origin and destiny of the world and by the character of the language in which it is embodied. In its production imagination and reality play important parts, sometimes one and sometimes the other having the most influence, so that it is frequently diflicult to distinguish their relative importance.

In the very earliest ages, and in undeveloped communities in later times, the medium of transmission is memory, as was the case with the Homeric poems and the old English ballads. This necessitates the use of the metrical or rhythmical form, and accounts for the fact that poetic literature is older than prose literature, since meter and rhythm are very great aids to the memory. When letters were invented, the written document gradually displaced

10 ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITEHATURE

memory, until at present everything that is composed is committed to writing, and even the word " literature " is 'derived from the Latin word meaning letters.

Since society is continually subjected to various experiences, war, peace, and political and industrial revolutions, it is continually developing, and its tone or what may be called the spirit of the age changes as time passes on. As literature is the expression of the prevalent views and character of the nation, it also passes through phases reflecting the spirit of the age. It changes as civilization changes. Tlie time during which literary expression remains substantially the same in form, following it may be also certain lines of thought, is called a literary period.

Literary periods will be found to correspond roughly to political periods, for the development of free institutions has very great influence on national character. The character of religious and philosophic thought is closely connected with literary tone and political growth, and tends to bring about marked changes iu both at nearly the same time. The triumph of Puritanism in 1G45 and the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 affected the literature of the time profoundly. But further, the literature of one nation is affected by that of another without much reference to historical events. Latin literature has always been studied in England, and its great masterpieces have always been regarded as models, but Greek was not read in the universities till the reign of Henry VIII. France and Italy have tAvice been sources of inspiration to English writers. Literature is therefore subject to influences quite independent of historical or political events, and its periods correspond only approximately to periods of historical or political development.

A consideration of literary periods is not only justifiable

INTRODUCTION 11

as calling our attention to the life and movement of history, but it is of very great assistance to the memory. It enables us to associate writers with important changes in society and with phases of culture and thought. By grouping them, it enables us to understand their relations to other men and to their times. It gives us a sort of scaffolding about which we can erect in our minds a structure in which dates and names have their places. It is difficult to remember dates and names unless associated with characters and events, or to remember characters and events unless they are paragraphed into periods. Indeed, it is hardly worth wliile to try to remember them at all unless they are grouped and arranged with reference to some principle. For these reasons the history of literatiu'e is almost invariably divided into periods. Indeed, it divides itself naturally.

But it must not be concluded that these periods are detached and independent. Each grows out of the past and sends its influence into the future. Nor can we say that they begin at a certain definite date and terminate at another. The dates must always be approximate and uncertain, for literary periods are not sharply defined. In one period may exist a group of influential writers whose roots are in the past, who in reality belong to the past, and with them others who belong to their own time, and possibly even others who in some regards seem to anticipate the future. It is only in a general and broad way that we can say that the spirit of an age is reflected in the writings of that age. The " spirit of tlie age " is sometimes very complex and, even in a well-defined period, is probably changing. The period, marking an evolution in the history of thought and art, is itself an evolution, and has a beginning, a middle, and an end. All these modifying conceptions must form part of our general conception of a literary period.

The greatest literature possesses what may be called a general human interest, because the greatest writers take a serious view of life and are profoundly conscious of the great questions of duty, destiny, fate, and the significance of human character, which are the same in all periods. Furthermore, the aesthetic element or the relation of the work to the principles of the beautiful is found in all great literature and is not affected by time. We can enjoy Homer without much knowledge of the heroic age of Greek civilization, and Shakespeare is properly said to be not "of an age, but for all time." It might be concluded from this that some historical study is necessary only to the comprehension of the smaller men who are molded by their time and embody the faiths and sentiments of their own social environments. But this would not be true, because the great men are also conditioned by their surroundings, although not entirely subject to them. The more we know about the Elizabethan period, for example, the better we understand Shakespeare ; nor is our admiration of his works diminished ; on the contrary, it is increased because it is more intelligent. Unless we are devoid of the imaginative power to form a general comprehension of a period, some knowledge of history, especially of the history of manners and social development, aids greatly in appreciation of literature, even of literature of the highest form.

Note. — Many definitions of literature have been made, as, "A criticism of life," " Expression of the thought and emotion of a nation," "The recorded thought of men of genius," etc. Professor Mark Liddell, in the Atlantic Monthly, July, 1899, gives a very satisfactory definition : " Literature is that part of recorded human thought which

INTRODUCTION 13

possesses or has possessed a more or less general and abiding human interest." Literature is evidently produced to be read (or listened to). That which is read with interest and delight justifies its claim to be considered literature. The general intelligence and culture of the body of readers determines its grade. That which is read once and cast aside is ephemeral literature; that which is read often becomes permanent literature; that which is read by successive generations becomes universal literature ; that which is not read with delight and interest is not literature at all, at least for the reader. Criticism or judgment, which may be based either on questions of thought or on questions of form or on the relation of matter to form, seeks to discover why a given production is read with pleagure. Literature in this view is one of the social forces of the world, molding character and manners in common with ths other great social forces, and not merely an art product, though its appeal is largely to the aesthetic sense. Hence its connection with historical and social study.

In this book English Literature will be regarded as divided into the following periods : —

SOVEREIOXD

L The Anglo-Saxon The Invaders. Saxon and An-

449 to 1066. kings. Saxon and Danish kings.

n. The Norman-French William the Conqueror to Ed-

Period. ward III., thirty-third year.

IIL The First English Thirty-third year of Edward III.

Period. Reigns of Richard 11., Henry

1360 to 1525. IV., Henry V., Henry VI., Ed-

ward IV., Richard III., Henry VII., Henry VIII. to sixteenth year.

V. The Renaissance Sixteenth year of Henry VIII.

Period. Reigns of Edward VL, Mary,

1525 to 1634. Elizabeth, James I., Charles I.

to ninth year.

V. The Puritan Period. Ninth year of Charles I. and the 1634 to 1660: Commonwealth.

VI. The Restoration Period. 1660 to 1702.

Vn. The Queen Anne or Augustan Period. 1702 to 1744.

VIII. The Georgian Period. 1744 to 1800.

IX. The Revolutionary Period. 1800 to 1837.

Charles II. James 11. William and Mary.

Anne. George I. George II. to seventeenth year of reign.

From seventeenth year of George II. Reign of George III. to fortieth year.

From fortieth year of George III.

Reigns of George IV. and Wil- Ifam IV.

X. The Victorian Period. Accession of Victoria to 1900. 1837-

GENERAL WORKS OF REFERENCE

Beers, H. A. From Chaucer to Tennyson.

Courthope, W. J. History of English Poetry.

"Encyclopaedia Britannica."

Mitchell, D. G. English Lands, Letters, and Kings.

Ryland, F. Chronological Outlines of English Literature.

Taine, H. a. History of English Literature.

Ward, T. H. (Ed.) Selections from the English Poets : Chaucer to

Dobell. 4 V. (Especially valuable for its introductions.) Warner, C. D. (Ed.) Library of the World's Best Literature. 30 v. Warton, T. History of P^nglish Poetry. Ed. by W. C. Hazlitt. 4 v. Shairp, J. C. Aspects of Poetry.

Palgrave, F. T. Landscape in Poetry : From Homer to Tennyson.

Abbreviations. — In the reference lists which follow, D. N. B. = Dictionary of National Biography (ed. by Stephen and Lee) ; E. M. L. = English Men of Letters ; E. W. = English Worthies ; and G. W. S. = Great Writers Series.

OUTLINE HISTORY OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE o><Ko

CHAPTER I THB ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD (449 to 1066)

Green, J. R. Short History of the English People, c. 1.

Green, J. R. The Making of England.

Kemble, J. M. The Saxons in England.

Pauli, R. Life of Alfred the Great.

Freeman, E. A. Old English History.

HosMER, J. K. Short History of Anglo-Saxon Freedom. 1890.

Barnes, W. ICarly England and the Saxon-English. 1869.

Powell, F. Y. Early England to the Norman Conquest.

In the sixth century of the Christian era the island of Britain was a province of the Roman Empire. The inhabitants, " Brythons " and Gaels (or Goils), branches of the Historioal Celtic stock with some admixture of the blood Sketch. of still earlier prehistoric races, had not become

Romanized as the Gauls of the continent had. Christianity had been introduced, but neither in language nor in institutions can much trace of the Roman occupation be found among the Celtic people of Britain. The necessity of defending the heart of the Empire compelled the withdrawal of the legions, a.d. 411. The great Roman ro^^, Roman villas, and the names oi som^ T^ci\s\'dxv \s>Kv- ^ 15 tary camps, like Winchester or Lancaster (Lanchester), were about all that remained to mark the fact that the island had once been a Roman province.

Before the withdrawal of the Roman soldiers Britain had been subject to incursions by piratical bands of the Low- Germanic people who inhabited the shores of the North Sea in the neighborhood of the Danish peninsula. It had been the duty of a special officer, comes limitis Saxoniciy — count of the Saxon shore, — to guard against the raids of the Saxon sea-rovers. Afterwards the people of Britain were subjected to attacks from Saxon pirates, from the wild tribes of the north (Picts), and from marauders from Ireland (Scots). The Celts were not united, and in despair called on the Jutes, one of the Germanic tribes, for aid. These last made a permanent settlement, and soon a great body of the German tribes. Angles and Saxons, invaded the south and east coasts. The Celts were gradually forced westward. The conquest of the island was gradual, and several centuries elapsed before the various bodies of Angles and Saxons, after much fighting among themselves and with Danish invaders, coalesced to form the germ of a nation. The language of the Germanic conquerors was called " Englisc," and they, known in history as Anglo-Saxons, gave to the southern and main part of the island the name of England. This language, consisting of a number of dialects more or less markedly different, gave rise, chiefly through literary influence, to the standard language called English, the medium of English literature. A northern dialect of it, separated by the political division of Scotland from England so that it developed independently, became the medium of early Scottish literature and of later writers in the Scottish vernacular.

TUE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD {U9 TO 1066) 17

Although the Celtic inhabitants of Britain were driven from their homes, it must not be supposed that they were exterminated. They maintained for centuries a waning independence in Wales, where they called themselves Cymri. Their blood was mixed with that of the conquerors in other parts of the country. They have given very little to the English language or to the slowly developing institutions of the English nation. But they have contributed valuable qualities to the national character, especially when regarded from the literary side.

It is impossible to determine the proportion of each of the original elements in the mass of the people. In cer- Eiemenu of *^^^ districts, such as Cornwall and Wales, the tJie English population is still of nearly pure Celtic blood of Nation. ^^ Cymric branch ; in parts of the Highlands of Scotland it is still of nearly pure Celtic blood of the Gaelic branch. In parts of Yorkshire and southeastern Scotland it is of nearly pure Anglian and Norse descent. Throughout the greater part of the island the original races have blended in varying and uncertain proportions. The blend has produced a people of great energy, physical and mental, and of great range of mental power, from sturdy common sense to pure idealism. All great nations are made up in this way, of races of widely different character, but in England tlie mixture has been especially fortunate. It has produced a distinct national type, and yet individuals of widely different mental and physical characteristics appear in about the proportions demanded for the healthy development of a varied civilization.

The other element of the English nation — the Norman- French — will be discussed when we speak of the next period. It mu*t be understood that England has received contributions from other races, — notably the Flemish and French Huguenots, — but not of sufficient importance to modify perceptibly the national character. The Danish invaders of the ninth century were from another Germanic race not radically different in type (mental, or physical) from the Anglo-Saxons. The English people may therefore properly be regarded as descended from Germanic and Celtic ancestors. There can be no doubt that the civic institutions and the stubborn individualism Celt and of the English are derived from their Germanic Saxon, roots. Exactly what literary qualities are due

to the Celtic root is a question that cannot be answered with precision because literary genius is so subtle. The answer to the question will depend largely on the admiration for the qualities of one race or the other felt by the writer. It is at least safe to say that the Celtic race is distinguished for mental alertness, capacity for emotional enthusiasm, creative imagination, and for love of color, music, and artistic ornament. The Low-Germanic race is slower and more logical in its mental operations, but steady and persevering. In practical matters, it is bolder and more enterprising. It has a high ideal of truth and duty and a substratum of moral earnestness. In literature it cares more for strength and force than for ornamentation. Its great book is the English Bible.

When we find anything delicately graceful, gay, or fanciful in English literature, we may discern some trace of the original Celtic race -impulse ; when we find something strong, rugged, and vigorous, we may say, here is the Germanic or Norse genius cropping out in the spirit of modern times. Thus Shakesi)eare's ''Midsummer Night's Dream " could not have appeared in a nation of pure Germanic blood, nor Carlyle's " Sartor Resartus " in a nation of pure Celtic blood. But both are great monu-

THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD (U9 TO 1066) 19

ments of English literature. There is little in Coleridge's poetry that is Saxon, and nothing in Pope's that is Celtic, though both are parts of English literature. Dr. Johnson is solidly Saxon, and Goldsmith has the Celtic pathos and grace in his style. Burke is a Celtic orator, and Fox an English debater. So the two great hereditary strains appear, and give English literature scope, variety, and interest. Shakespeare's preeminence depends on the fact that the qualities of the two races were organically united in his mind.

When the German tribes invaded England, they were not Christianized. Christianity had been established Iniroducr ^Hiong the Celts, and the Saxon invasion was in tion of reality a heathen reaction, although the Saxons

Christianity, ^^p^ q^ f g^j. advanced in the essentials of civilization as were the Britons. When their power was firmly established, a band of missionaries (under the leadership of Saint Augustine, who "brought fulhut [baptism] hider in") arrived from Rome in 597, and, landing in Kent near the site of the present city of Canterbury, taught the doctrine and worship of the Christian religion. From this center Christianity spread over the land. Soon afterwards missionaries from Ireland established monasteries and churches in the north, and in a short time the worship of the heathen deities was superseded among the conquerors.

Both before and after their conversion to Christianity the Anglo-Saxon people developed a native literature. Aaglo-Sazon '^^® language is a highly inflected one, and is Po^. characterized by virility rather than by grace

Emd harmony. Although Anglo-Saxon literature can be fully appreciated only by those who have joade a study of the language, any one can gather from history and translations some idea of the character of our remote ancestors. Their poetry, as the oldest written record of the Teutonic races, except the translation of the Gospel in Gothic, is entitled to be regarded with veneration. Strictly speaking, it forms no part of English literature, since it is not in a form of English that we can read without study ; unfortunately it has not the relation to our minds that the poems of Homer had to the minds of the Athenians of the time of Sophocles, but in the truest sense there is no break of continuity between that which is written in Anglo-Saxon (old English) and in modern English. But it has great qualities of its own, and throws light on all the subsequent development of English thought. It is hoped that the following brief references may lead to fuller study, even if only through the medium of translations.

Anglo-Saxon literature consists of short poems, paraphrases of portions of the Old Testament, prose translations from Latin, and the " Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," on which and on Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," written in Latin in the eighth century, but translated by King Alfred into Anglo-Saxon, early English history is for the most part based.

The oldest document in Anglo-Saxon is the '^ Song of Widsith the Far-Traveler." It probably received its present form after the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. The wanderer is a " scop," or gleeman, who asserts that he visited the halls of kings, some of whom lived in the fourth century, others in the sixth. The narrative throws light upon the life of a professional singer of the early times among the Teutonic races.

^^ Beowulf is the longest poem in Anglo-Saxon. It

THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD (U9 TO 1066) 21

details the exploits of the hero in early life, his last feat in killing the "fire-dragon," his death from injuries received in the combat, and the ceremonies of his funeral. It, too, probably originated in heathen times, and received its final recasting in Northumbria in the eighth century. The poem was forgotten for eight or nine hundred years, and would have been irrevocably lost but for the preservation of a single manuscript not published till early in the nineteenth century. The story is briefly as follows: Hrothgar, king of the Gar-Danes, has built himself a splendid mead hall called Heorot, where he holds high festival. A monster from the fen, called Grendel, breaks in and carries off thirty of the king's men. No one can cope with Grendel till Beowulf, the hero of the Geats, hears of the calamity, and undertakes to protect the Danes. He is received with joy and royally entertained. During the night Grendel comes and kills one of his companions, but is mortally wounded by Beowulf, who pulls off the creature's arm. The next night Grendel's mother, a monster of still more extraordinary power, comes to the hall and kills one of Hrothgar's thanes. In the morning Beowulf tracks her to "her submarine den, dives in, and after a fearful combat kills her too. He then returns to Sweden. After an interval of fifty years we find him king of the Geats. A fire-breathing dragon, possessor or guardian of a great treasure, is devastating the land. Him the heroic old king attacks, accompanied by his thanes. All but one prove cowardly, but Beowulf, with the aid of the faithful one, attacks and kills the dragon, and is fatally injured. He divides the treasure and dies ; his body is burned, and a barrow or tumulus is erected in his honor, a " sea-mark for sailors"; —

" High and broad stood it, The mound on the hill-side, Saw it from far and wide.

All the searpilgrims."

There are extant a number of other poetical works, some fragmentary and some complete, among which may be mentioned Caedmon's paraphrase of parts of Genesis; " Judith," a fine poem, also from the Bible ; and three descriptions of fights, the "Fight at Finnesburg," the " Battle of Brunanburh," and the " Battle of Maldon," which last is very graphic. The last two are contained in the "Saxon Chronicle" of the tenth century. All of them relate to contests with other Teutonic tribes. The battles with the Britons apparently were not celebrated in song.

Anglo-Saxon poetry is marked by vigor rather than by grace. The form is short alliterative lines, which were The "Fin- ii^^ended to be sung or recited with considerneshwg able force and emphasis. In the " Finnesburg Fight.** Fight," of which we have but a few verses. Fin, the Frisian prince, sees a gleam of light in his hall, fired by the Danes at night. This passage is rendered by Miss E. W. Washburn as follows : —

*' Then wildly cried he, The Warrior King, * This is no dawn of East, No flight of dragon, Nor burn the cressets ; Bright in the broad hall Fierce is the flaming.

Rouse ye, my heroes.

Fight for your dear land.

Fight in the forefront.* Then in the hall arose

THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD {U9 TO 1066) 23

Roar of the slaughter ; Kouiid mighty Guthlafson Lay many corpses.

Sailed then the raven Swart and brown-sallow ; In the fierce sword-gleam, Seemed it Fin's castle Blazed altogether.

Battle I never heard, Nobler of heroes, Fitter for mead-feast."

To one whose ear is accustomed to the melody of the Romance languages, or to the interlocked harmonies of the Greek or Latin hexameter or of the Miltonic or Tennysonian blank verse, the form of Anglo-Saxon verse must seem crude, rugged, and devoid of melody. But we must remember that grace and fluency are not the only qualities of verse. Vigor is another one, and the proper one on which to superinduce the ornamental. Excess of vigor is far preferable to excess of sweetness. Besides, the fine elemental moral qualities of our forefathers, courage, fidelity, earnestness, and a devotion to duty, are evident in their poetry.

The paraphrase of Genesis by Caedmon, and the fragment of Judith by an unknown author, were written after the conversion of the people to Christianity, and are serious poetry of a high order for sincerity and force. The " call " of Caedmon is told by Bede. Though well advanced in years, Caedmon had learned nothing of the art of verse, the alliterative jingle so common among his fellows, " wherefore being sometimes at feasts, when all agreed for glee's sake to sing in turn, he no sooner saw the harp come towards him than he rose from the board and turned homewards. Once when he had done thus, axid gon^ itc^m "^Jwe.

feast to the stable, where he had that night charge of the cattle, there appeared to him in his sleep One who said, greeting him by name, ' Sing, Caidmon, some song to Me.' ' I cannot sing,' he answered ; ' for this cause left I the feast and came liither.' He who talked with him answered, ' However that be, you shall sing to Me.' ' What shall I sing?' rejoined Caedmon. 'The beginning of created things,' replied He. In the morning the cowherd stood before Hild, the abbess, and told his dream. Abbess and brethren alike concluded, ' that heavenly grace had been conferred on him by the Lord.' They translated for Caedmon a passage in Holy Writ, ' bidding him, if he could, put the same in verse.' The next morning he gave it them composed in excellent verse, whereon the abbess, understanding the divine grace in the man, bade him quit the secular habit and take on him the monastic life."