POEMS OLD AND NEW
(1818), illustrates the strength and weakness of Keats :
it excels in rich sensuous descriptions and happy
phrases but the story is lost (and remains unfinished)
among the wealth of detail. The influence of Spenser
is deeply marked. In his next volume, " Lamia,
Isabella, and Other Poems" (1820), Keats illustrates
the statement that he went to school with the great
English poets. " Lamia " is in the style of Dryden,
" Hyperion " is a Mil tonic fragment, while many of
the sonnets are Shakespearean in tone. These poems
show a rapid development and his " Letters " prove
that he was even more mature in mind than some of
the poems might allow us to suspect. He was attain-
ing to something of the literary perfection of his
favourite Greece, when he died of consumption in
Rome. Keats at his best is master of a Shakespearean
felicity of phrase, and his early death robbed England
of one of her potentially greatest poets.
P. 12, 1. 22. gone : girdle, belt.
1. 23. As : as if.
P. 13, 1. 2. Manna dew : cf. Exodus xvi. 15.
The Knight's Leap.
Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), Rector of Eversley, was
keenly interested in social reform, and in his early
novels, " Alton Locke " and " Yeast," he advocates
a type of Christian socialism. His best novels, " West-
ward Ho ! " and " Hereward the Wake," deal with his-
torical adventure and the sea, in which as a Devonshire
man he naturally delighted. His best poetic work is
found in a few short lyrics like " The Sands of Dee " ;
while of his prose work " The Heroes," a group of
Greek legends, and "The Water Babies" are still
popular with the young.
P. 13, 1. 27. Ahr: a western tributary of the Rhine, famous
for the red wine produced in its valley.
P. 14, 1. i. Harness : armour.
1. 7. Trier: Treves, on the river Moselle, a tributary of
the Rhine.
Coin : Cologne, on the Rhine, in Germany.
Horatius.
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) was educated
at Cambridge and, after being called to the Bar,
entered Parliament and held several political posts.
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