Show The Classical School of English Poetry By Julia Julia k A Farnsworth v f LITERATURE is a J. J mirror in which a nation reflects its whole life By it is the surroundings surroundings surround s judged the race physical i ings gs the different epochs epoch and the degree degree degree de de- gree of civilization which which the people have attained English literature e has been likened to a stream of W water er T This his stream stream had its origin during t the e early history of the Saxons Anglo-Saxons and from Caedmon and Bede to Tenny Tennyson on Although the stream at times has been retarded and the waters have become murky the great under-current under has never changed but it has had a clearly marked course and has never ceased to toil tor il fy i r fl flow The The first literature was wa of of war ar after the introduction of Christianity it was Ii of religion but with Chaucer t- t it has felt the effect of three great influences influences in in- r first the Italian or romantic u second the French or cl classical and andu third the Ge German ma the influence of to to- to day Romantic literature is IS the narration narration narration narra narra- tion of extraordinary adventures fictitious fictitious f and often extravagant It has for its theme man as influenced by the ther f r passions The subjects are usually of ar war or of love and awaken the sensibilities sensibilities sensibilities of the heart and arouse feelings f M of wonder hatred curiosity admiration r r or revenge This literature is always r highly imaginative and is the literature of feeling and broad natural sympathy k The authors of romantic literature are they who have looked deepest into human life for they not only see it but they see through it The romantic age j h has s its its beginning g with Chaucer and closes with the Civil War To this age 4 belong the most glorious names in English English Eng Eng- t lish literature Chaucer Spenser Marlowe Mar lowe Shakespeare Jonson and reflecting reflecting reflecting reflect reflect- ing both this age and the coming one John Milton The great authors of Elizabeths Elizabeth's days were dead and a a great number of inferior ones sprang sprang up to tOj y take their places These authors not the great poets and I Ithe the dramatists but the writers of light and extremely fanta fantastic tic literature re as Sir Philip Sid Sid- ney The Their r thoughts were wild false and impossible and to make make up for their lack of inspiration they adorned their writings with extravagant imagery and good sense and clear thought were for a time lost in English One of the I principal reasons for this was that English English English Eng Eng- lish verse had not been neatly balanced balanced balanced bal bal- nor of a regular form An inspired genius geni us could do well enough with the rugged rhyme but more ordinary men required rules by which they might be governed and guided During this period the current of literature literature literature litera litera- ture was choked by impurities and i it t was to bring clear thought and clear expression of thought into English that the Classical School was introduced Standing like a solitary landmark in English literature is John Milton the thelast thelast thelast last of of the Elizabethans and except Shakespeare far the greatest of them all This poet was of Puritan parentage parentage parentage parent parent- age and inherited a delicate constitution constitution constitution tion and gentle disposition from his mother together with fa a passionate love of music and of literature from his father Wh When h very young he displayed remarkable aptness for learning his literary career may be said to begin with his entrance t tc tS Cambridge He first intended to study for the ministry but the troublesome times decided him to give up his and he left college college col col- co- co lege and retired to the country where he spent spen several years in pursuing his favorite studies Of his poems while in college the Hymn an on the Nativity is perhaps the best ano most familiar Every line in this magnificent poem carries the conviction to the reader that th the poet was inspired by Him in whose honor he was writing In the following ng y stanza how well the poet shows the Saviors Savior's mission mission- Peace mission II Peace on Earth II But peaceful was the night Wherein the Prince of Light His reign of peace upon the earth began The winds with wonder whist Smoothly the waters kist r Whispering new joys to ocean Who now hath quite forgot to rave While birds of oj calm si sit t brooding on the charmed wave While in the country he wrote II L' L Allegro II El El EI II and II II The first two companion pieces II and II Melancholy were f written written while the poets poet's soul was stirred f by the scenes of sweet rural life They l display the effect nature has on the i 1 scholar who does more than merely see i. i her who feels her II is perhaps the richest of all Milton's l works It It- Itis is the last of his earl early poems and in it is seen the first traces of the lil l Milton ton of II Paradise Lost The Lake School poets do not excell the following description description description de de- of nature from Return Sicilian Muse And call the vales and bid them hither cast Their bells and flowerets of a hues 4 Ye valleys lo low where the mild whispers use Of shades and wanton winds and gushing brooks brooksOn brooksOn brooksOn On whose fresh lap the swart star sparely looks Throw hither all your quaint enameled eyes eyes That on the green turf suck the honeyed showers And purple all the ground with vernal flowers Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies The tufted crow toe crow toe and pale The white pink and the p pansy with The glowing violet The rose musk-rose and the well woodbine With cowslips wan that hang their pensive head And every ever flower that sad embroidery wears Bid Amaran less thus all his beauty shed And fill their cups with tears To strew the laureat her herse e where lies Mark Pattison says that Milton never equaled again It is the ther r poem which h marks the transition and has all th the the richness and beauty of the t. t Renaissance z t coupled with the seriousness serious serious- ness and co contemplativeness of the Re Re- r formation 1 A year after II yas as written Milton left England and wet w wen r t t to Italy I 1 He visited many of the famous famous- old cities and studied the classics in the places that gave them birth He intended to go on to Greece but while at Naples he heard of the civil strife at home and the following remark of Milton's displays his high sense of duty his patriotism and his II I I thought it base to be traveling at my ease for intellectual culture while my fellow-countrymen fellow at home were fighting for liberty In 1640 he returned to England and for twenty years he wrote no poetry except an occasional sonnet But he was actively enga engaged ed in the religious and political struggles He wrote a powerful II Defense for the People of England and when Cromwell Cromwell Cromwell Crom Crom- well became Protector Milton was made Latin Secretary of State His labors were unceasing and all were exerted on the side of liberty and reformation In 1660 1669 Milton evidently felt that he had reached his II mellowing year and returned to his long cherished plan of writing a great poem Taine says that Milton was not born for the drama but for the ode He conceived the loftiest of ideal beauties but he conceived only one one and and vast knowledge close logic and grand passion were his marks The universal subject The Fall of Man Mal was eminently suited to him for he was wasa a religious philosopher as well as a poet II Paradise Lost is full of deep religious melody that sounds like cathedral cathedral cathedral cathe cathe- dral music Following II Paradise Lost was Paradise Regained and Milton concludes his poetical works with II Samson the bitterest of all his poetry The poet had grown old and blind and had lost his friends and property he had witnessed the downfall of the cause for which he had fought so valiantly He felt keenly that both himself and his cause could well be likened to the great Hebrew Milton has never been the peoples people's poet and perhaps never will be but he has moved the minds that move the world Milton's character was noble and and- his life almost faultlessly pure His strictness made him man many enemies and his extreme sensitiveness caused him much unhappiness He was a great admirer of the beautiful and was passionately passionately pas pas- fond of music and literature and he gathered and preserved the best features of the Ren Renaissance blended with the noble sympathy of f distressed humanity and a living faith in God He used satire only in prose prose- but he wrote almost all forms of poetry poetry- except y the the- lighter love poems Milton Milton was perhaps of all English authors thy the the Classics of f fi tF greatest student of i. i Greece and Rome He constantly refers to them and was was classical himself in that he used classical meters and long involved constructions But his spirit of freedom and love of nature make him thoroughly English and his influence in England cannot be over By r his pure and lofty character his mighty genius and his great scholarship he he was a powerful agent in arousing th the spirit of criticism in England Only Only- when people are more zealous refined intelligent and approach near to spiritual spirit spirit- 0 ual heights will Milton be appreciated II for inthe in the words of Dryden i Three poets in in three three distant ages born Greece Italy and England did adorn The first in in loftiness of thought surpassed j The next in majesty in both the both the last j. j i The force of nature could no further go 1 To make a third she joined the other two t Beginning with the Restoration in E England gland is the Classical School of English English English Eng Eng- lish Poetry It is classical in that it is concise polished and refined Previous us to this the thoughts in many of the literary productions were good but the natural manner of expression had become very unnatural and it was to rescue literature from this confusion and to permit of regular form reasonable reasonable reason reason- able ble thought and subdued and chast chast- ened ornament that the Classical School was welcomed in England This was brought about by two influences Everything that affects the nation affects affects' the literature A About bout this time a spirit of inquiry was felt all over Europe Many important discoveries in science had been made and people were anxious to know how to do everything correctly This feeling was vigorously manifested in England Milton had made known to the people the fact that there was a higher form of literature than the prevalent prevalent prevalent pre pre- valent sm one and they soon demanded it The Classical Classi al School was founded by Edmund Walier who however did little but introduce the trie couplet into English but that is the most important event of the period It remained for forJohn forJohn forJohn John Dryden to take up the tools that had been forged for him and create a magnificent work He was born in 1631 His parents were Puritans and until the Restoration he supported Cromwell's party and wrote a poem on f the death of the Protector I It t is said however that Dryden was a born royalist and and with the return of the Stuart kings he took the step that changed the whole course of of- his life His work as as a literary m man tn may be divided into seven classes He devoted the earlier part of his car career career er to to writing sycophantic prefaces and eulogies on unworthy persons His aim in this was to gain the favor of those in power and in this he was very successful He became popular famous and very wealthy and was made Poet Laureat a Dryden saw that the drama was coming coming coming com com- ing into great favor and wishing to be beon beon beon on the popular side he devoted devoted himself to writing ting plays He used the French as his models The great dramas of Marlowe Shakespeare and Jonson were ignored The plays of DIy Dryden en are very unworthy The plots and language are obscene and the of the emotions emotions emotions emo emo- brutal In most plays pla s h he employs rhyme The dramas of Dryden's old age are re much better than his early ones Party Party literature is always bitter and satirical Dryden used satires with more force and elegance than anyone else has ever done save done save perhaps Pope His most familiar satire are Absolam and against his political enemies and Mac Flecknoe directed against his literary opponents Previous to Dryden's time there had been various fashions in literature but there had been no criticism He had theories and rules according to too to which he considered poetry should be written He advocated classicism and thus made the first marked beginning in the Classical School In his Essay on nn Dramatic Poetry he expresses his ideas in regard to the form of poetry In the frivolous times of Charles I II I. I scholarship was sadly and very few people could read the ancient classics in in the original so Dryden partly on account of his love of literature literature litera litera- t ture re and partly to please the nobles translated Virgil's Aeneid and Boccaccio's Tales and wrote re-wrote some of Chaucer Up to the time of of the accession of James II 11 Dryden supported the Church of England and wrote the Laici in which he upheld it but with the accession of the Catholic king he changed his faith again and wrote the Hind and Panther in support of the Church of Rome In t this is last change hange however we feel that Dryden was perfectly perfectly perfectly per per- sincere for when the Church of Rome fell in England he fell with it and refused t to to change his faith again although great advantages were offered him if he would do so The The Hind and Panther is his best epic poem The milk white milk white hind represents the Catholic Church the spotted panther the Church of England All his life Dryden wrote lyrics but the best known are his odes A Song oj for St. St Cecilias Day pay and Alexanders Feast When William and Mary came came to the throne Dryden fell into disfavor He t. t lost his friends and property but buthe he he made a decided change for the better better in in ih his literary productions After this all his works are sincere and elevated He recognized the serious mistake he had made ade in having squandered his genius on unworthy themes Gosse says Dryden w was was s never an innovates because because because be be- cause an an n i stands outside of public feeling that he may direct it Dryden always represented the public K ft feeling eling and was led led by it But no wn writer ter previous to Dryden had so much influence as he had He was the first of the Ii literary dictators and his style was imitated for a century after fter his death All of his works abound in wit and his descriptive powers are of the highest order order but he he- lacks the humor delicacy tenderness and sympathy of a really great author He was a brilliant conversationalist and personally a very attractive man He had the power of saying the fittest word in the fittest place Yet Dryden's character cannot be admired He appeared in the most corrupt ag age of English history there thereas was was as little Ii that was noble for him hihi to contemplate Though Though- naturally much uch purer than the spirit of the the age age he had hadnot not strength to resist the evil and it is too clearly reflected in him But Dryden Dryden Dryden Dry- Dry den brought ease int intelligibility and flexibility ty into English James Russel Lowell says he always thinks of Dryden as the lock which let our language down from its of highest poetry poetry- to its level of easiest a and d most gently flowing prose He HP has made |