A hand-book of English and American literature. Historical and critical, with illustrations of the writings of each successive period ...

Front matter

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HAND-BOOK ENGLISH AND AMERICAN

Chapter I

First Period of English History and Literature. Origin of the English Language.

I NTRODUCTORY.

LITEBATUKE is the recorded expression of knowledge and fancy. In its widest sense, it includes all the written thoughts of mankind ; in its more restricted sense, it excludes all technical works and embraces only those departments of thought in which all mankind have a common interest. The study of literature, therefore, implies the study of the works of poets, dramatists, novelists, philosophers, theologians, historians, essayists, and critics.

A history of literature consists of a chronological, systematic review of the literary productions of a nation, with the causes which mould the thoughts, feelings, and expressions of each successive period of time.

The history of English literature begins in the seventh century after Christ. The history of the English language begins ages before the Christian era, when our ancestors tilled their lands and fed their flocks in the heart of Asia.

HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.

The English language, a branch of the Teutonic, is one of the numerous offsprings of the great Aryan family, whose descendants reach from India in the east to the remotest portions of Europe in the west.* India, Persia, and the borders of the Caspian and Aral Seas formed the original seat of the Aryan race, and from this oriental home the tidal wave of immigration began ; but what were the countless causes to create out of the common parent language all the various tongues of the Aryan family, we must leave to the philologist, remembering that languages flourish or decay in proportion as they are well or carelessly used.

We can gain an idea of the verbal changes that centuries may produce, when we notice the changes in our own language. In the speech of the old-fashioned, we hear the faint echoes of a departing language. The possessive its was not in use until the latter part of the seventeenth century. It seldom occurs in the earliest editions of Shakespeare, not once in the Bible, translated in 1611, and is rarely used by Milton. He says :

" His form had yet not lost All her original brightness."

The pronunciation and signification of words likewise undergo changes. The word let, which now means permit, once signified hinder.

" I will let that hunting giff that I may."J I will hinder that hunting if that I may.

So, likewise, the word prevent has lost its original meaning of anticipate. We find:

" Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word." g

The regeneration of a language or its decay depends upon the influences brought to bear upon it. If the speech of the educated prevail, the language will grow in strength and symmetry. In no way is corruption or decay more hastened than by the dropping of consonant sounds in words. In the course of time the English language, if learned from the uneducated or careless, and by the ear alone, would contain such words as " chile," " mounh'n," " weel," instead of child, mountain, wheel.

The seven great branches of the Aryan family are : 1. The Indie, or the language of India (its most ancient form the San-

* From the names of these two extremities the Aryan language is sometimes called Indo-European. It is also called Indo-Germanic, because the German or Teutonic element forms so large a portion of the family.

t Gif was the old form of if.

X From the Ballad of Chevy Chase. I Psalm cxix. 148,

FIRST PERIOD OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 11 scrit) ; 2. The Iranic, or language of Persia ; 3. The Hellenic, or Greek ; 4. Italic, or Latin ; 5. Teutonic, or Germanic ; 6. Celtic, or Irish, Welsh, and Scotch ; 7. Sclavonic, or the language of Russia, Poland, etc.

We need go no farther back in time than the first century before Christ, to find our ancestors resting, in their journey westward, on the banks of the Black Sea,* occupying a district east of the river Don or Tanais, as it was then called. The great leader of these people was Odin f or Woden. This home of Odin and his people, on the banks of the Tanais or Don, was called Asgard or Godheim, the home of the Gods or Aesir people. But Odin, it is said, dreamed that far to the west or north-west he should find a home for his people \— a Manheim. So again this great "seething people " take up their westward or north-westward course, and reach the shores of the Baltic and North Seas. They passed through the low-lying country of Saxe-land, immediately north of the Elbe River, and made settlements, over which the sons of Odin ruled. Angle-land lay just north of Saxe-land, and here Odin established his son Baldur, " the beautiful." Others of the tribe passed on to Jute-land, immediately north of Angle-land, and corresponding to the present Jutland, as Angle-land corresponds to Schleswig, and Saxe-land to Holstein. Odin himself crossed over to the land of the Teutons, and established there his capital, Odens-6e§ (Odin's Isand), still the capital of

* It will give increased interest to the subject to follow with, a geographical map the migratory footsteps of these early ancestors.

f There was probably a historic Odin, as well as the mythological deity Odin, the latter corresponding to the Zeus, or Jupiter, of the Greeks and Romans. In all these accounts we have to sift history from mythology, but the student has probably discovered that one of the most important lessons in life is to learn to extract the true from the false, the wheat from the chaff.

% In the first century b. c. they were disturbed by the encroachments of the then all-conquering Roman.

§ From this abode Odin sent envoys across the sound into Gothland or Sweden, and on arriving they transformed some of the giants (jotuns, a name signifying rudeness) into reindeer, and with them ploughed off a piece of land nearest Odins-6e. As it floated off they called it Selund (Zealand). Odin soon passed over into Sweden, and fixed his abode and temples for sacrifice near the present capital, Stockholm. Upsala and other towns of Sweden are also said to have been established by this great leader.

the island of Funen, and known as Odense.* And now in their sea-girt home, we will leave the sons of Odin for a time, and trace the parallel course of another great leader.

Before the middle of the first century before Christ, near the time that Odin and his people began their north-westward journey, Julius Caesar made his march of conquest through Gaul, and, crossing the channel, entered Britain. This was in 55 B. c, and with this event the authentic history of England begins.

The inhabitants of Britain were Celts (Kelts), who had migrated to this western home long before the great Gothic or Teutonic nation had left the common parent home in the east. Caesar did not take actual possession of the country, and it was not made a Eoman province for nearly a hundred years after his invasion. The Romans were never able to conquer the whole of Britain. The wild, untamable Picts in the north of the island, with their allies, the Scots, from Ireland, kept their strongholds among the mountains. But when, in the fifth century, the Roman troops were recalled to Italy, to help defend her from the invading Goths, the warlike Scots and Picts left their Highland fastnesses and poured down in lawless numbers upon their defenceless kinsmen.

Long dependence on Roman arms had enfeebled the southern Britons. Alone they were unable to defend themselves against their powerful northern foes. So with no hope of the Romans' return, they sent for aid to the English people, whom we left five hundred years before in Angle-land, Saxe-land, and Jutland. They needed no second invitation. Indeed, they knew the island of Britain, for they had become great searovers, and had visited many shores. So they came, in 449, with two brothers, Hengist and Horsa, as leaders. They drove back the savage Scots and Picts ; and, liking the country well, decided to conquer the southern Britons too, and plant their own nation there. The Britons had not looked for this, and stoutly they resisted. King Arthur, the semi-fabulous hero of the Celtic nation, with whose deeds romance is filled, is supposed to have lived about this time, and to have contended with great prowess against the invading Saxon. But

* The historic date of the founding of this city by Odin is 70 B. c

FIRST PERIOD OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 13 the weaker Celt, like the aboriginal Indian of America, was driven to the wall. Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany became the refuge of the overpowered race of Britons. Here they treasured their traditions, their laws, and their religion ; and here, from generation to generation, were told the stories of Arthur and his beautiful queen, Guenevere; and the exploits of the daring Knights of the Round Table ; and here six hundred years afterwards, in the twelfth century, these stories found the light in the chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth.*

Thus exiling themselves in the remotest corners of the kingdom which they had once occupied with undisputed sway, their numbers and force became less and less ; and to-day, the once warlike Celtic race of which Arthur, Sir Launcelot, and Galahad were fairest types, can be found only in the wildest parts of Ireland, the Highlands of Scotland, in the Isle of Man, in Wales and Cornwall, and in friendly Brittany.

The language of the Celts is nearly extinguished. Like that of the American Indian, it is represented in the English language only in the names of places once their own. The rivers especially retain the names given them by those who first wandered on their banks. Avon meant, in Celtic language, "running water." Ouse, Eske, UsJc, and Tlx are all, likewise, modifications of the Celtic word uisc, "water." The syllable don, with which many names end, is the Celtic dun, "a fortified rock." Likewise the Caer, which is found at the beginning of Welsh names, means "rock" or "stone." The Kil, beginning so many names in Ireland, signifies a "forest." Among the very few common words derived from the Celtic are basket, button, clan, claymore, crag, funnel, gruel, etc. Out of forty thousand words now in use, not one hundred are directly derived from this fast-dying language.

Returning to the new possessors of the land, the English, we find them a " race of land-holders and land-tillers," loving freedom above all things. Their manners are heartfelt, and they are as earnest in frolic as in feud. Their hospitable doors stand open, and round their ruddy fires they tell the stories of their Saxon homes ; and perhaps their Scalds, or Bards, recite

* See page 32.

HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.

portions of a poem about a great Gothic hero, Beowulf, whose deeds were in every mouth ; or their Saga-men tell of Odin, the Alfathir, and Thor, the thunderer, of Tiw, the God of War, and Fria, the fruitful goddess.

But the old traditions and beliefs were soon to be replaced by the Christian religion ; and although our forefathers still cherished secretly the love and memory of their old heathen deities, the names of Woden, of Thor, of Fria, and Tiw are preserved only in the days of the week, — Woden's-day, Thor's-day, Fria's-day, and Tiw's-day.

In the year 597 these Angles and Saxons were formally converted to Christianity by Augustine and his followers, who had been sent thither from Rome, for that purpose, by Pope Gregory. But the pagan traditions of the Gothic race did not perish.* They were carried by the Northmen into Iceland, and there cherished, as the Celtic legends of Arthur had been in Wales and Brittany ; and, like the Celtic legends, they were restored to literature in the twelfth century.

The Saxons, for so we are accustomed to call the early English, comprising the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes, were now firmly established in the island, and the name of England was adopted soon after by these " Englisc /oZc," as they called themselves. Many Saxon kings reigned, but one was truly great. Alfred, the wise, good, and powerful king, united in himself all the qualities which fitted him to be the Father of his country, and to bear the title of the " Great." His reign (871-901) was dis^ turbed by the Danes, who were nearly allied to the Anglo- Saxons. They inhabited the country which the " Englisc /oZc" had left, but they were troublesome, piratical neighbors. After many attempts to secure the English throne, they at last succeeded, and from 1017 until 1041 a Danish line of kings ruled England. Being so closely allied to the English there was little change occasioned in the language. In 1041 the Anglo-Saxons conquered the Danes, and resuming their sway ruled England until the nation was conquered by the Normans in 1066.

The Normans were likewise related to the Anglo-Saxons ; for

* The traditions of the Goths, together with the discourses of Odin and the story of his life, were preserved in the two Eddas, the sacred and historic books of the Northmen.

FIRST PERIOD OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 15 when, in the fifth century, the Saxons invaded and took possession of England, the Franks, another German tribe, possessed themselves of Gaul. In the ninth and tenth centuries, when the Danes were plundering the coast of England, tribes of the same people, called Northmen, Norsemen, or Normans, invaded northern France and established the dukedom of Normandy. Adopting the language of the conquered people, they formed the Norman-French language. The original people of Gaul, like those of Britain, had been Celts. Conquered by the Romans, they had learned by ear to speak the Roman language, and more readily than the Celts of Britain adopted it as their own. So, before the Gothic invasion of Gaul, the language of that nation was a corrupt Latin or Romance dialect.*

It will be seen that northern France, having a double infusion of the Gothic element, from the last Norman invaders, was more nearly allied to the Anglo-Saxon race than southern France (Provence,) which retained its Romance character. So entirely distinct, indeed, were the languages of Normandy and Provence, that one was called Langue (Voui and the other Langue d'oc; that is, the sounds of the same words were so different that yes in Normandy was ou% and in Provence it was oc.

The Literature of England.

Poetry, or rude numbers, has been the first form of expression in the literature of every nation, and usually we find that sentiments of religion are earliest embodied in written language. The Celts had a literature of their own, quite distinct from any that followed . Their Druid bards composed the religious hymns and the war-songs of the nation, f

* The Romance languages of Southern Europe— of Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal — are merely a corrupt form of Latin, or Latin learned by the ear from the Roman soldiers as they passed through these countries or dwelt with these Celtic nations.

f The Druids were a class of people held in sacred esteem by the Celts of Gaul and Britain. They had unlimited authority in religion and in affairs of government. They were likewise teachers of the young. Their instructions were conveyed in verse, and it required twenty years of study to become conversant with the circle of the sciences they taught.

The religious ceremonies of the Druids presented two extreme phases, one typical of innocence and purity and one horrible in the extreme. They worshipped in the groves and forests, and the oak was their sacred tree. When the mistletoe was found upon it, which was regarded with especial reverence by the Druids, they made a

HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.

The earliest Celtic poets whose names are recorded in historyare Ossian, Merlin, and Taliesin. Ossian probably lived in the third century, and Merlin and Taliesin in the mythical period of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Ireland, with its ancient traditions extending so far back into the regions of time as to startle the curious scholar, was one of the earliest seats of learning. The poet, with his stafT of office, the historian, whose calling was transmitted from generation to generation, were recognized powers in the government of Ireland as early as the third century.

Christianity was introduced into Ireland before the great Saint Patrick's time, as it was really introduced into England at a very much earlier date than that of Augustine's mission. "When, in the early centuries of the Dark Ages, learning was exiled from Southern Europe, it took refuge in the monasteries of Ireland. The English people went over to this island for study and retirement, and were gratuitously supplied with everything pertaining to instruction. The Irish sent their learned men abroad as missionaries. Saint Columba (520- 597) carried the Christian religion to Scotland and the Hebrides, and founded the celebrated monastery of Iona. Saint Coltjmbantjs (540-615) visited the continent and founded monasteries in various places. Here the monks, in careful Latin, copied and preserved the ancient manuscripts of the church and of classic writers, so that the monasteries became the conservatories of learning.

banquet beneath the limb on which it grew, and, crowning themselves with oakleaves, performed their sacred rites. Then the Druid priest, clothed in a white robe, ascended the tree, and with a golden knife cut off the mistletoe,— the " all-heal,"— and sacrifice and feasting followed. But tbese simple, innocent ceremonies did not prevent those of the most cruel nature, and yearly a human sacrifice was offered. The Eoman invasion extinguished this barbarous rite, and soon the Druidic power declined. The island of Anglesea (Mona) was the last refuge of the Druids. Their cromlechs, or rude structures of unhewn stone, which may have been reared as altars or as memorial tablets, are still to be found in Wales, Scotland, and Brittany, while that of Stonehenge, near Salisbury, in England, is the most celebrated.

ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD.

Anglo-Saxon Period.

450-1154.

When the " Englisc folc " came over, they brought with them their great epic poem Beowulf — whether as an entire poem or as different sagas, recited and sung by Sagamen and Scalds, is not clearly ascertained. The author is unknown, but he has vividly portrayed to us the life and manners of our rude ancestors. We see the "mead-hall" where hospitality was dispensed to the ' ' table-sharers, " " hearth-enjoyers ' ' of the chief. We hear the heartfelt welcome as the " hand-gripe " is given to the " swordwielders," and " far-dwellers " who have come to them over the " wave-path."

The scenes in the story of Beowulf are laid in Denmark and Sweden (Gothland). The hero, Beowulf, is a Goth, who, hearing of the distress of Hrothgar, King of Denmark, owing to the nightly ravages of a monster named Grendel, goes with a company of fifteen warriors to rid the Danish lord of his dreaded foe.

t>a waes on salum

the bright Danes' lord, gehyrde on Beowulfe in Beowulf heard folces hyrde the people's shepherd faestraedne gej>6ht.

steadfast resolve.

Hrothgar' s queen ;

cynna gemyndig, mindful of their races, grette gold-hroden the gold-adorned one greeted guman on healle the men in hall, and J?a freolic wife and then the joyous woman ful gesealde gave the cup aerst East-Dena first to the East-Danes'

e>el-wearde country's guardian ;

HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.

bade him (be) blithe at the beer drinking, the dear to his people.

After the feasting is over, the king and his household retire, and Beowulf awaits the coming of the nightly visitant.

After a long contest Beowulf kills the monster, and, receiving rich gifts from Hrothgar, returns to his own country — the land of the East Goths. In due season he becomes king of this country, and his last warlike encounter is with a fiery dragon that infests his own domain. Beowulf kills the dragon, but dies from venom received in the conflict.

The story of Beowulf was wholly Gothic in its original conception, and the few interpolations giving the tone of the later religion, were probably made by some monk of the seventh century. It is impossible to fix the date of the composition of this old Pagan story. It must simply stand as the first known poem in our language, or indeed in any Teutonic language.

In the seventh century lived the first English poet, Caedmon ( — 680). Little dreaming that he possessed within himself the divine gift of song, this poet's life, until he was past middle age, was spent as a simple cowherd, a calling more humble even than that of a shepherd.

We first see him seated in one of the "mead-halls" of the great, where song and mirth are resounding, and stories of great deeds, perhaps those of Beowulf, are told. It was the custom of an evening, especially on an occasion of festivity, for all, regardless of rank, to assemble in the hall, and each to take his turn to sing, accompanying his song with the harp. One evening, as the stories went round, and song and revelry fa. com of more under mist-hle6>um Grendel gongan ;

Then came from the moor under the misty hills Grendel stalking ;

until he the wine-house, the golden hall of men, most readily perceived richly variegated.

He strode under the clouds

ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD.

grew louder, Caedmon saw that his turn was approaching, and, ashamed of his inability to compose a song, he left the hall, and went out and lay down by his herds in the stable. There he fell asleep, and dreamed that an angel came to him and said, "Caedmon, sing ! " Caedmon said, "I cannot ; for that reason I left the hall." "Nay, but thou canst sing," persisted the angel, "and sing, now, the Song of Creation." Whereupon, the story goes, Caedmon opened his lips and sang such strains as he had never heard before. And when he awoke, he not only could recall the verses of his sleep, but went on making others. Near at hand was the celebrated monastery of Whitby, over which the Abbess Hilda presided. To her Caedmon went, and repeated his poem and the occurrences of the preceding night. Not daring to trust to this single evidence of his power, Hilda caused several stories from the Bible to be told to Caedmon, and then she requested him to go home and turn them into verse. This he did, and so delighted was the Abbess Hilda and the learned monks of the monastery, that they persuaded the poor cowherd to give up his occupation and enter the cloister as a monk.

Caedmon's poems are all on religious subjects, and are mostly paraphrases of the Scripture. His Fall of Man might be termed the framework of Paradise Lost, while his "Satan " seems to be the very archetype of Milton's " Apostate Angel." In his rebellious pride he says :

" What shall I for his favor serve ? " Who will not fail rue in the strife, Bend to him in such vassalage? Heroes stern of mood I may be a God as he. They have chosen me for chief.

Stand by me strong associates Renowned warriors ! "

Caedmon, and the unknown author of Beowulf, are the two great poets of the Anglo-Saxon period ; but there were a few others of less note, whose names deserve to be mentioned. There was Aldhelm (656-709), the pious monk, who, in minstrel garb, sang his songs on the highways, to incite men to a holier, purer life. Cynewulf, another Anglo-Saxon poet, whose date is uncertain, wrote several long poems on religious subjects.

Many old Anglo-Saxon poems have been preserved in two different collections, ealled, from the places in which they were found, the Exeter Book, and the Vercelli Book.

A celebrated song of the eleventh century is the Canute Song, supposed to have been sung by King Canute, the Dane, as he was rowing with his knights past the monastery of Ely :

Merie sungen the muneches binnen Merry sung the monks that were in

And here we thes muneches saeng. And hear we these monks' song.

All the learned works of this time were written in Latin, so but little prose was contributed to the early English literature. The Venerable Bede (673-735) produced many scholarly works in Latin, principal of which was his Ecclesiastical History. This being a history of the English Church, was likewise a history of England. Bede left, in English, an interesting Life of Caedmon. He died just as the last sentence of his last work was written— a translation into English of the Gospel of St. John. His friend and disciple, Cuthbert, was writing at his master's dictation, and when the last sentence was ended,

" It is well," cried the venerable Bede, sitting upright on the floor of his cell, " you have said the truth ; it is ended. Receive . my head into your hands, for it is a great satisfaction to me to sit facing my holy place, where I was wont to pray, that I may also, sitting, call upon my Father." " And so," says the chronicler, " singing ' Glory be to the Father, and to the Son. and to the Holy Ghost/ when he had named the Holy Spirit he breathed his last, and so departed into the heavenly kingdom."

The philosophy and theology of this time were represented by Alcuin (735-804) and Joannes Scotus (Erigena) ( — 875). Joannes Scotus was an Irish monk, and the most profound

philosopher of that age. Aelfric ( 1006) wrote a series

of Homilies and an English and Latin Dictionary. He translated into English the Pentateuch and the Book of Job, the greatest portion of the Bible that had as yet been translated.

But it is to the good and great king Alfred (848-901) that early English prose is indebted. This excellent king lived for his people and his country. That the English language might be cultivated, he took upon himself the labor of translating and of teaching his people. The most popular works in

Ely,

Ely

When Canute king rowed thereby.

Kow, knights, near the land,

Prose Writers.

PROSE WRITERS.

Latin he translated for their use, Bedels History, Pope Gregory's Pastoral Bide, and the works of two of the writers of Rome nearest his own time, Orosius'' History, and Boethius 1 Consolations of Philosophy. He employed scholars from abroad to help him in his great work of educating the people. He established schools and monasteries, "where every free-born youth, who has the means, shall abide at his book till he can well understand English."

At the instigation of this wise ruler the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was commenced. It was the work of different compilers in Alfred's time, and after his death was continued until 1154. It is a dry collection of the most important events in each year, beginning with the Roman invasion, 55 b. c. Sometimes one line conveys all that the chronicler deemed necessary for the history of a year ; as,

" 509 A. D. This year St. Benedict, the Abbot, father of all monks, went to heaven."

The last portions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle show some little variation in the use of the language, so that the termination of this work in 1154 marks the close of the First English or Anglo-Saxon Period.

Illustrations of the Literature of the First English or Anglo-Saxon Period. 450— 1150.

From Beowulf.

Tha com of mor under mist-hleothum Grendel gongan.

From Caedmon's Song of Creation.

Nii we sceolan herian, Now we "shall praise

heofon-rices weard, the guardian of heaven,

metodes mihte, the maker's might,

and his mod-gethonc, and his mind's thought,

wera wuldor-fader ! the glory-father of men !

swa he wundra gehwaes, how he of all wonders,

ece dryhten, the eternal lord,

ord onstealde. formed the beginning.

HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.

He erst created

for earth's children

heaven as a roof,

the holy creator!

then this mid-world,

the guardian of mankind,

the eternal lord,

produced afterwards

the earth for men,

the almighty master!

From Alfred. Preface to his Translation of Boethius.

Aelfred kuning waes wealhstod thisse bee and hie of bee Ledene on Englisc wende swa hio nu is gedon. Whilum he sette worde be worde, hwilum andgit of andgite, swa swa he hit tha sweotolost and andgitfullicost gereccan mihte, for thaem mistlicum and manigfealdum weoruld bisgum the hine oft aegper ge on mode ge on lichoman bisgodan. Tha bisgu us sint swithe earforth rime the on his dagum on tha ricu becomon the he underfangen haefde, and theah tha he thas boc haefde geleornode, and of Laedne to Engliscum spelle gewende tha geworhte he hi efter to leothe swa swa heo nu gedon is, and nu bit and for Godes naman healsath aelcne thara the thas boc raedan lyste tha he for hine gebidde and him ne wite gif he hit rihtlicor ongite thonne he mihte forthaemde aelc mon sceal be his andgites maethe and be his aemettan sprecan thaet he sprecth, and don thaet thaet he deth.

Alfred king was translator (of) this book and he (it) from booklatin into English turned as it now is done. Whiles he set word by word, whiles sense for sense just as he it the clearest and fullest of sense speak might for the distracting and manifold world business (which) him oft both in mind (and) in body busied. The businesses to us are very hard to count which in his days on those kingdoms came that he undertaken had, and yet when he this book had learned and from Latin into English speech turned (it) then wrought he it afterwards to (a) lay so as it now done is, and now prays and for God's name implores each (of) them that this book to read lists, that he for him pray and him not blame if he it rightlier understand than he might ; for that each man should by his understanding measure and by his leisure speak that he speaketh, and do that he doeth.