An Essay on English Poetry; with notices of the British poets. [Edited by Peter Cunningham.]John Murray, 1848 - 436 pages |
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Page 1
... court from the time of Edward the Confessor , a more complete predominance among the higher classes of society . The native gentry of England were either driven into exile , or depressed into a state of dependence on their conqueror ...
... court from the time of Edward the Confessor , a more complete predominance among the higher classes of society . The native gentry of England were either driven into exile , or depressed into a state of dependence on their conqueror ...
Page 3
... court lan- guage , continued to maintain its ground till a later period . " - Misc . Pr . Works , vol . xvii . p . 8. ] † [ It seems reasonable to infer that Layamon's work was composed at or very near the period when the Saxons and ...
... court lan- guage , continued to maintain its ground till a later period . " - Misc . Pr . Works , vol . xvii . p . 8. ] † [ It seems reasonable to infer that Layamon's work was composed at or very near the period when the Saxons and ...
Page 25
... court of King Mark at Tintagil , the other at London . Only one of the fragments refers to the authority of a Thomas , and the style of that one bears very strong marks of being French of the twelfth century , a date which would place ...
... court of King Mark at Tintagil , the other at London . Only one of the fragments refers to the authority of a Thomas , and the style of that one bears very strong marks of being French of the twelfth century , a date which would place ...
Page 28
... courts of judicature , and in the licentiousness of a nobility who countenanced disorders and robbery , we trace the unbanished remains of barbarism ; but , on the other hand , we may refer to this period for the genuine commencement of ...
... courts of judicature , and in the licentiousness of a nobility who countenanced disorders and robbery , we trace the unbanished remains of barbarism ; but , on the other hand , we may refer to this period for the genuine commencement of ...
Page 30
... courts of justice , where it appears that she has many friends , both among the civil judges and ecclesiastics . The poem after this becomes more and more desultory . The author awakens more than once ; but , forgetting that he has told ...
... courts of justice , where it appears that she has many friends , both among the civil judges and ecclesiastics . The poem after this becomes more and more desultory . The author awakens more than once ; but , forgetting that he has told ...
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Common terms and phrases
admiration Æneid afterwards amidst ancient appear ballad beauty Ben Jonson Born century certainly character Chaucer church circumstances comedy court Cowper Creusa death Died drama Dryden Earl eclogues Edinburgh edition Elizabeth England English English poetry entitled Euphuism exhibits expression fancy father fiction Fletcher French gave genius Henry honour humour imagination imitation interest Jonson King Lady language Layamon letters literary lived London Lord manners married Milton mind Mirror for Magistrates moral Muse native nature Oxford passage passion pastoral period pieces poem poet poet's poetical poetry Pope probably prose published Queen racter reign returned rhyme Robert of Gloucester romance satire Saxon says scene Scotland Scottish seems Shakspeare Shakspeare's Sir Philip Sydney Sir Walter Scott Spenser spirit story style supposed Surrey taste Thomas Thomas Warton thought tion tragedy translation verse Warton William writer written wrote Xuthus
Popular passages
Page 109 - He scarce had ceased, when the superior fiend Was moving toward the shore : his ponderous shield, Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round, Behind him cast ; the broad circumference Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views, At evening, from the top of Fesole, Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands, Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe.
Page 64 - See what a grace was seated on this brow ; Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself, An eye like Mars, to threaten and command; A station like the herald Mercury New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill ; A combination and a form indeed, Where every god did seem to set his seal To give the world assurance of a man : This was your husband.
Page 94 - GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles to-day, To-morrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse and worst Times still succeed the former.
Page 112 - But clear and artless pouring through the plain Health to the sick, and solace to the swain. Whose causeway parts the vale with shady rows ? Whose seats the weary traveller repose ? Who taught that heaven-directed spire to rise ? " The Man of Ross," each lisping babe replies. Behold the market-place with poor o'erspread ! The Man of Ross...
Page 110 - Farewell the tranquil mind ! Farewell content ! Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars, That make ambition virtue ! O, farewell ! Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, The royal banner ; and all quality. Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war ! And O, you mortal engines, whose rude throats The immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit, Farewell ! Othello's occupation's gone ! lago.
Page 381 - To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet, To smooth the ice, or add another hue Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, Is wasteful, and ridiculous excess.
Page 113 - All things are hush'd as Nature's self lay dead, The mountains seem to nod their drowsy head : The little birds in dreams their songs repeat, And sleeping flowers beneath the night dews sweat. Even lust and envy sleep...
Page 110 - Idalia's velvet-green has something of cant. An epithet or metaphor drawn from Nature ennobles Art; an epithet or metaphor drawn from Art degrades Nature.
Page 316 - His best companions, innocence and health; And his best riches, ignorance of wealth. But times are alter'd; trade's unfeeling train Usurp the land and dispossess the swain; Along the lawn, where scatter'd hamlets rose, Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose; And every want to luxury allied, And every pang that folly pays to pride.
Page 112 - What modes of sight betwixt each wide extreme, The mole's dim curtain and the lynx's beam ! Of smell, the headlong lioness between And hound sagacious on the tainted green ! Of hearing, from the life that fills' the flood To that which warbles through the vernal wood ! The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine ! Feels at each thread, and lives along the line...