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THE    BEGINNINGS 


t 


OF  THE 


ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT 


A  STUDY   IN   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY 
LITERATURE 


BY 
WILLIAM    LYON    PHELPS 

A.M.  (HARVARD),  PH.D.  (YALE) 
LAMPSON  PROFESSOR  OF  ENGLISH  LITERATURE  AT  VALE  COLLEGE 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON     •     NEW  YORK     •     CHICAGO     •     LONDON 

ATLANTA     •     DALLAS     •     COLUMBUS     •     SAN  FRANCISCO 


PR 


Pfc 


COPYRIGHT,  1893, 
BY  WILLIAM   LYON  PHELPS. 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED. 

PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 
426.9 


QCfte   fltftenaeum 

GINN  AND  COMPANY  •  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


TO 
PROFESSOR  J.  P.  MAHAFFY 

OF  TRINITY  COLLEGE,  DUBLIN,   IN  REMEMBRANCE 

OF  A  FEW  DAYS  IN  A  DULL  VACATION 

MADE  BRIGHT  BY  HIS 

KINDNESS 


PREFACE. 


THIS  little  book  gives  the  results  of  a  search  in  English 
literature  from  1700  to  1765,  for  the  beginnings  of  the  English 
Romantic  movement.  The  minor  poetry  from  1725  to  1765, 
although  desperately  dull  reading,  has  satisfactorily  rewarded 
my  search.  I  have  reached  no  startling  conclusions,  but  there 
is  some  matter  in  the  book  that  may  fairly  be  called  new ;  and 
a  number  of  points  suggested  by  previous  study  have  been 
more  fully  developed.  The  Spenserian  Revival  is  treated  with 
some  approach  to  thoroughness,  and  my  list  of  imitations  I 
believe  to  be  much  longer  than  any  other  ever  printed.  In  the 
discussion  of  Ballad  Literature  and  in  the  chapter  on  Gray  I 
have  also  gone  carefully  into  details. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware  no  book  has  ever  been  written  on  the 
history  of  English  Romanticism,  so  that  the  matter  given  here 
is  the  result  of  first-hand  study.  Every  statement  of  fact  and 
every  critical  opinion,  unless  the  contrary  is  distinctly  stated, 
are  based  on  references  to  the  original  sources,  so  far  as  these 
have  been  accessible.  The  prose  and  poetry  of  the  period  I 
have  read  very  largely  in  first  and  early  editions.  An  original 
edition  with  the  author's  first  preface  is  often  of  the  greatest 
value  to  the  student  of  a  literary  development. 

The  utmost  care  has  been  taken  to  secure  accuracy  in  dates. 
In  this  kind  of  work  dates  are  exceedingly  important,  and 
different  histories,  encylopaedias  and  dictionaries  vary  so  widely 
from  each  other,  that  accuracy  is  not  always  easy.  Every 
doubtful  date  has  here  been  followed  up  carefully,  and  the  date 
finally  given  is  based  on  the  best  evidences  and  authorities. 


vi  PREFACE. 

In  this  book  I  have  tried  to  establish  two  things.  First,  that 
the  spirit  of  Romanticism  has_  never  been  wholly  extinct  in 
English  literature.  Second,  that  between  the  years  1725  and 
1765  the  Romantic  movement  was  a  real,  if  quiet  force,  and  that 
in  these  forty  years  may  be  found  the  seeds  which  sprang  to  full 
maturity  in  Scott  and  Byron,  and  in  all  the  subsequent  Romantic 
literature  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  the  officials  of  the  Boston  Public 
Library,  and  to  the  librarians  of  Harvard  and  Yale  Universities, 
who  have  always  shown  me  the  utmost  courtesy.  I  cannot 
sufficiently  express  my  obligations  to  Professor  H.  A.  Beers  of 
Yale,  and  to  Professor  Barrett  Wendell  of  Harvard.  It  was  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  former  that  I  first  entered  upon  this  line 
of  study,  and  the  generous  loan  of  his  own  manuscript  notes 
on  the  period  has  been  an  invaluable  help.  It  was  Professor 
Wendell  who  first  suggested  the  idea  of  printing  my  results, 
a  thought  that  had  not  previously  occurred  to  me.  He  also 
read  all  of  the  first  draft  of  my  manuscript  and  made  many 
useful  suggestions.  My  thanks  are  due  to  Professor  John 
M.  Manly  of  Brown,  who  read  and  annotated  my  manuscript, 
and  to  Professor  George  Lyman  Kittredge  of  Harvard,  who 
assisted  me  materially  in  countless  places  with  his  wide  learning 
and  unfailing  kindness.  Mr.  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry  of  Boston, 
and  Professor  T.  R.  Lounsbury,  of  Yale,  also  read  extracts 
and  helped  me  by  many  fruitful  hints,  and  by  much  friendly 
counsel ;  and  I  should  also  like  to  express  in  common  with 
so  many  other  students  my  appreciation  of  the  inspiration 
and  general  stimulus  I  have  received  from  the  kind  words  of 
Professor  F.  J.  Child.  No  sincere  student  ever  came  into 
close  contact  with  this  Teacher  without  becoming  both  a  better 
scholar  and  a  better  man. 

Any  corrections  of  errors,  or  suggestions,  will  be  gratefully 

received  and  promptly  acknowledged. 

W.  L.  P. 

YALE  UNIVERSITY,  10  March,  1893. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION, 
is  ROMANTICISM? 


CHAPTER    I. 

"-"•PRINCIPAL  LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  AUGUSTAN  AGE  .        7  -— 

CHAPTER    II. 

REACTIONARY  TENDENCIES  DURING  THE  AUGUSTAN  AGE     ...      23  —- 

CHAPTER   III. 
L^PHE  REACTION  IN  FORM 36 

CHAPTER    IV. 
THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL 47 

CHAPTER   V. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  MILTON   IN   THE  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  — 

THE  LITERATURE  OF  MELANCHOLY 87 

CHAPTER   VI. 

REVIVAL  OF  THE  PAST  —  GOTHICISM  AND  CHIVALRY     ....     102    <.- 

CHAPTER   VII. 
REVIVAL  OF  THE  PAST  —  BALLAD  LITERATURE  AND  PERCY    ,    .     116 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
REVIVAL  OF  THE  PAST  —  NORTHERN  MYTHOLOGY,  WELSH  POETRY, 

AND    C)SSIAN 137 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 
CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  GRAY 155 

CHAPTER  X. 
GENERAL  SUMMARY .171 


APPENDICES 175 

INDEX 183 


INTRODUCTION. 


WHAT  IS   ROMANTICISM? 

ANY  attempt  to  make  a  definition  of  Romanticism  thai,  will 
be  at  once  specific  and  adequate  is  sure  to  result  in  failure.  It 
is  not  simply  that  the  word  "  Romantic  "  has  both  a  popular 
and  a  critical  sense,  each  of  which  differs  widely  from  the 
other ;  but  that  the  word  is  used  critically  in  very  different 
ways.  For  example,  we  say  that  Scott's  couplets  are  Classic, 
as  distinguished  from  those  of  Keats,  which  are  Romantic ; 
but,  speaking  critically,  it  will  never  do  to  say  that  Scott  was  a 
Classic  poet,  because  he  certainly  stands  as  one  of  the  most 
prominent  figures  in  English  Romanticism. 

Again,  we  call  Byron  a  Romantic  poet,  because  hj§^  poetry 

expresses  that  sentimental    melancholy  and  v^p^np  aqpirgtmn 

which  characterize  the  Romantic  mood ;  but  if  we  take  Roman- 

x  ticism  to  be  wEaf  Heine  says  it  is  —  the  revival  of  the  life  and 

/thought  of  the  Middle  Ages  —  we  certainly  cannot  class  Byron 

as  a  Romantic  poet. 

>>  The  word  Romanticism  is  also  often  applied  not  to  subject, 
but  to  method.  Any  poet,  like  Victor  Hugo  for  example,  who 
rebels  against  and  ignores  the  rules  of  the  Classicists,  is  thereby 
a  Romantic  poet.  In  this  sense  Wordsworth  might  be,  and  in 
fact  is,  called  a  Romanticist,  although  he  differs  completely 
from  Scott  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  Byron  on  the  other. 
When  three  poets  so  utterly  unlike  as  Scott,  Byron,  and  Words- 
worth are  each  and  all  ranked  by  various  critics  as  belonging 
to  the  Romantic  school  of  English  literature,  it  jsjeasy  to^see 
that  the  term  must  be  used  in  widely  different  senses. 


2  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

I  have  seen  many  people  who  thought  they  could  define 
Romanticism  off-hand ;  but  I  have  never  seen  one  who  could 
actually  do  it  when  brought  to  the  test.  It  may  be  profitable 
to  rehearse  a  few  of  the  definitions  given  by  critics  and  men  of 
letters,  in  order  to  show  the  difficulty  of  getting  at  something 
that  will  satisfy  everybody.  Heine  says,  "Was  war  aber  die 
romantische  Schule  in  Deutschland?  Sie  war  nichts  anders 
als  die  Wiedererweckung  der  Poesie  des  Mittelalters,  wie  sie 
sich  in  dessen  Liedern,  Bild-  und  Bauwerken,  in  Kunst  und 
Leben,  manifestiert  hatte.  Die  Poesie  in  alien  diesen  Gedichten 
des  Mittelalters  tragt  einen  bestimmten  Charakter,  wodurch 
sie  sich  von  der  Poesie  der  Griechen  und  Romer  unterscheidet. 
In  Betreff  dieses  Unterschieds  nennen  wir  erstere  die  roman- 
tische und  letztere  die  klassische  Poesie."  1  Then  Heine  goes 
on  to  say  that  in  antique  art  the  plastic  figures  are  identical 
with  the  thing  represented,  with  the  idea  which  the  artist  seeks 
fto  embody  and  communicate,  whereas  in  romantic  art  all 
l  descriptions,  as,  for  example,  the  wanderings  of  a  knight,  have 
always  an  allegorical  significance.  Classic  art_jportrays  the 
/  finite,  Romantic  art  the  infinite. 

*MaZame~He"  Stael  follows  much  the  same  idea.  She  says, 
"  Le  nom  de  romantique  a  etc  introduit  nouvellement  en  Alle- 
magne,  pour  designer  la  poesie  .  .  .  qui  est  nee  de  la  chevalerie 
et  du  christianisme.  .  .  .  On  prend  quelquefois  le  mot  classique 
comme  synonyme  de  perfection.  Je  m'en  .sers  ici  dans  une 
autre  acception,  en  consideVant  la  poesie  classique.  comme  celle 
des  anciens  et  la  poesie  romantique  comme  celle  qui  tient  de 
quelque  maniere  aux  traditions  chevaleresques."  She  also 
remarks  on  "  1'imitation  de  1'une  et  Pinspiration  de  Pautre."  2 

These  two  definitions  evidently  refer  mainly  to  the  subject- 
matter  —  the  kind  of  topics  handled  by  Romantic  writers. 
Other  definitions  refer  more  to  the  subjective  side  —  to  the 
Romantic  mood.  Mr.  Pater  says,  "The  essential  classical 

1  Die  Romantische  Schule  (Cotta  edition),  page  158. 

2  De  1'Allemagne,  Vol.  I.,  Chap.  XXX.  (Stuttgart,  1830). 


i 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

element  is  that  quality  of  order  in  beauty.  ...  It  is  the  addition 
of  strangeness  to  beauty  that  constitutes  the  Romantic 'char- 
acter in  art.  ...  It  is  the  addition  of  curiosity  to  the  desire  of 
beauty  that  constitutes  the  romantic  temper.  .  .  .  The  essential 
elements,  then,  of  the  Romantic  spirit  are  curiosity  and  the 
love  of  beauty ;  and  it  is  as  the  accidental  effects  of  these 
qualities  only  that  it  seeks  the  middle  age."  1 

Again,  Dr.  F.  H.  Hedge  declares  that  the  Romantic  feeling 
has  its  origin  in  wonder  and  mystery.  "  It  is  the  sense  of 
something  hidden,  of  imperfect  revelation.  .  .  .  The  peculiarity 
of  the  classic  style  is  reserve,  self-suppression  of  the  writer. 
.  .  .  The  Romantic  is  self-reflecting.  ...  To  the  Greeks  the 
world  was  a  fact,  to  us  it  is  a  problem.  .  .  .  Byron  is  simply 
and  wholly  Romantic,  with  no  tincture  of  classicism  in  his 
nature  or  works."  2  Dr.  Hedge  gave  the  essence  of  Romanticism 
as  Aspiration.  Prof.  Boyesen  writes,  "  Romanticism  is  really 
on  one  side  retrogressive,  as  it  seeks  to  bring  back  the  past, 
and  on  the  other  hand,  progressive,  as  it  seeks  to  break  up  the 
traditional  order  of  things.  .  .  .  The  conventional  machinery 
of  Romantic  fiction ;  night,  moonlight,  dreams  .  .  .  Romantic 

Uetry  invariably  deals  with  longing,  .  .  .  not  a  definite  desire, 
t  a  dim,  mysterious  aspiration."  8 

Now  for  some  definitions  referring  neither  to  mood  nor  to 
subject  matter,  but  to  method.  Mr.  Sajntsbury  lays  down  this 
dictum.  "  The  terms  classic  and  romantic  apply  to  treatment 
not  to  subject,  and  the  difference  is  that  the  treatment  is  classic 
when  the  idea  is  represented  as  directly  and  with  as  exact  an 
adaptation  of  form  as  possible,  while  it  is  romantic  when  the 
idea  is  left  to  the  reader's  faculty  of  divination  assisted  only  by 
suggestion  and  symbol." 4  Victor  Hugo,  in  the  preface  to 
Hernani  (1830)  said,  "Le  Romantisme,  tant  de  fois  mal  de'fini, 
n'est  .  .  .  que  le  libe'ralisme  en  litte'rature."  Toreinx,  in  his 

1  Macmillarts  Magazine,  Vol.  XXXV. 

2  Atlantic  Monthly,  Vol.  LVII. 

**  8  Novalis  and  the  Blue  Flower,  Atlantic  Monthly,  Dec.,  1875. 
4  A  Short  History  of  French  Literature,  page  582. 


4  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Histoire  du  Romantisme  en  France,  says,  "  Les  Romantiques  sont 
ceux  qui  dans  les  arts  veulent  autre  chose  que  ce  qui  est." 
M.  Brunetiere,  in  an  exceedingly  interesting  article  called 
Classiques  et  Romantiques^  says,  "  Le  romantisme  n'est  pas 
n'importe  quelle  revolution,  mais  une  revolution  pour  remettre 
en  honneur  tout  ce  que  le  classicisme  avait,  sinon  dogmatique- 
ment  condamne,  du  moins  effectivement  rejete.  ...  Us  sont 
precisement  aux  deux  poles  de  1'histoire  de  notre  litteVature 
nationale."  Classicism  he  calls  "  la  regularite  du  bon  sens  — 
la  perfection  dans  la  mesure,"  and  Romanticism  "  le  desordre 
de  1'imagination  —  la  fougue  dans  1'incorrection." 
"^H&No  one  ever  showed  better  the  hopelessness  of  finding  a 

(satisfactory  definition  of  Romanticism  than  Alfred  de  Musset, 
in  his  brilliant  Lettres  de  Dupuis  et  Cotonet  (1836).  This  cor- 
respondence is  a  charming  burlesque.  The  two  letter-writers 
try  definition  after  definition,  only  to  find  that  something  ex- 
tremely important  has  been  left  out,  or  that  the  definition  is 
self-contradictory,  or  that  it  is  ridiculously  meaningless.  ^They 
finally  conclude  that  Romanticism  consists  in  employing  an 
abundance  of  glowing  adjectives ;  which,  though  meant  to  be 
laughable,  is  as  helpful  a  definition  as  many  that  have  been 
seriously  urged.2 

~^But,  though  all  the  above  definitions  of  Romanticism  make  a 
confusing  variety  of  opinions,  we  cannot  help  seeing  that  there 
is  something  in  them  common  to  all!  Romantic  literature  will 
generally  be  found  to  show  three  qualities  /'gubjectivity,  'Love 
the  Picturieso^ue,  Vnd  a  Reactionary  Spirit.  By  the  first 
quality  I  mean  that  the_aspjration  and  vague  longing  of  the 
writer  will  be  manifest  in  his  literary  production ;  by  the 
secon37~that  element  of  Strangeness  added  to  beauty,  which 
Mr.  Pater  declares  is  fundamental ;  this  may  appear  mildly,  as 
where  the  writer  is  fond  of  ivy-mantled  towers  and  moonlit 

1  Revue  des  deux  Mondes,  15  Jan.,  1883. 

2  Theophile  Gautier's  brilliant  Histoire  du  Romantisme  is  full  of  interest ;  and  Mr. 
Courthope's  last  chapter  in  his  Life  of  Pope  has  much  that  is  pertinent  and  suggestive 


\ 

INTRODUCTION.  S 

water,  or  may  turn  into  a  passion  for  the  unnatural  and  the 
horrible,  as  in  tales  of  ghosts  and  of  deeds  of  blood.  And  b 
the  third  is  meant  that  the  Romantic  movement  in  any  country 
will  always  be^reacliuiiaiy  to  what  has  immediately  preceded ; 
it  may  be  gently  and  unconsciously  reactionary,  as  in  England, 
or  proudly  and  fiercely  rebellious,  as  in  France.  j^. 

Taking  these  three  elements,  Subjectivity,  Picturesqueness, 
and  Reaction,  it  is  easy  to  see  why  the  Romantic  movement  in 
England,  in  Germany,  and  in  France,  went  for  its  inspiration 
back  to  the  Middle  Ages.J(  Romanticism  is  certainly  wider  in 
connotation  than  Mediaevalism ;  and  in  the  discussion  of  Eng- 
lish Romanticism  attempted  in  this  book,  the  definitions  of 
Heine  and  Madame  de  Stael  would  have  to  be  supplemented 
and  amplified  to  be  adequate.  VBut  in  the  Middle  Age  lay  just 
the  material  for  which  the  Romantic  spirit  yearned.  Its 
religious,  military  and  social  life  and  all  forms  of  mediaeval  art 
can  hardly  be  better  characterized  than  by  the  word  Picturesque; 
and  souls  weary  of  form  and  finish,  of  "dead  perfection,"  of 
"  faultily  faultless  "  monotony,  naturally  sought  the  opposite  of 
all  this  in  the  literature  and  thought  of  the  Middle  Ages.  And 
as  the  Classical  Augustans  had  neglected  this  period  above 
all  others,  and  treated  it  with  contempt,  the  Reactionists 
began  with  an  attempt  to  revivify  and  brighten  this  forgotten 
Mediaeval  lifej 

The  most  striking  difference  between  the  Romantic  move- 
ment in  France  and  in  England  is  that  in  the  former  country 
the  movement  was  amadous,  while  in  the  latter  it  was  only 
instinrtive.  French  Romanticism  had  a  definite  program, 
backed  almost  from  the  start  by  a  brilliant  critical  school, 
headed  by  one  supreme  creative  genius.  English  Romanticism 
was  a  totally  different  thing.  Its  beginnings  are  so  faint 
-  so  far  below  the  surface  that  many  writers  seem  to  believe  that 
English  Romanticism  began  with  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
[that  in  the  "  age  of  prose  and  reason "  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  a  Romantic  movement  at  all.  It  is  very  true  that  the 


TH&  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

— 

general  character  of  eighteenth  century  literature  was  ^formal, 
critical,  andjprosaic ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  beneath  this  out- 
ward crust  the  fire  of  Romanticism  was  glowing.  The  volcanic 
eruption  of  genius  which  marked  the  first  years  of  the  present 
century  can  be  explained  only  by  the  examination  of  previous 
conditions.  These  conditions  I  have  endeavored  to  explain 
with  some  fullness  and  clearness ;  and  the  result  ought  to 
prove  that  the  beginnings  of  the  English  Romantic  movement 
should  date  back  to  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century ; 
and  that  during  the  second  quarter,  and  especially  during  the 
fifth  decade,  the  strength  of  the  movement  was  much  greater 
than  seems  to  have  been  commonly  supposed. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PRINCIPAL   LITERARY    CHARACTERISTICS    OF   THE 
AUGUSTAN    AGE. 

THE  literary  characteristics  of  the  so-called  Classical  of 
Augustan  age  of  English  literature  are  so  well  known,  that  I 
shall  Ixere  discuss  them  only  in  a  cursory  manner.  In  tracing 
the  early  growth  of  the  Romantic  reaction,  it  is  necessary  to 
begin  with  a  review  of  the  prominent  qualities  of  the  Classical 
period;  this  may  best  be  done  by  enumerating  certain  strik- 
ing characteristics,  and  establishing  these  by  examples  taken 
directly  from  the  literature  of  the  time.  We  may  proceed  in 
the  following  order  : 

I.     THE    VIEW    OF    LIFE.  _  -THE   ATTITUDE    TOWA^rt    T?ff_ 


As  in  every  age,  literature  is  simply  the  crystallization  of 
tendencies  of  thought,  so  the  Queen  Anne  school  of  English 
literature  expressed  the  popular  dominating  ideas  about  the 
problems  of  life.  Classicism  was  not  merely  a  literary  fashion, 
arbitrarily  set  by  the  leaders  of  taste;  it  had  its  roots  deep 
in  the  prevailing  religious  and  philosophical  thought.  The 
Augustan  view  of  life  was  almost  wholly  phenomenal.  A  man 
like  Addison  carried  his  whiggism  into  everything.  He  reso- 
lutely closed  his  senses  to  feelings  of  Mystery  and  Awe;  the 
idea  of  unseen  and  eternal  realities,  so  constantly  present 
to  the  Puritan  mind,  seems  to  have  had  no  significance  for 

men  Of  his  Stamp.      Respectability  -  Hpppnt  Pnr>fr>rmity          fh^g 

wArf*  tV.A  wc,f-rfrworr|s  of  the  Augustans,     The  view  of  life  was 
equally  unlike   that   of   the   Renaissance   and  of   Puritanism. 


8  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

In  the  former,  boundless  imagination,  unspeakable  aspiration, 
overflowing  enthusiasm  predominated;  in  the  latter  the  vivid 
realization  of  the  supersensual  world,  a  religious  creed  full 
of  the  symbolism  of  Hebrew  poetry,  and  a  gloom  that  was 
as  quickening  to  poetical  and  religious  imagination  as  it  was 
mortifying  to  earthly  happiness.  Now  if  there  was  anything: 
ffip  Augns^ans  hatedf  it  was  Enthusiasm^  they  were  simply  bored 
by  it,  as  the  man  of  the  world  is  bored  by  the  naive  raptures 
of  the  unsophisticated.  Those  who  naturally  lacked  enthusiasm 
abhorred  the  feeling;  those  who  had  it,  cautiously  and  deliber- 
ately checked  its  expression  as  something  childish  and  plebeian. 
On  the  religious  side  of  popular  belief,  Mystery  was  hated  and 
gpopo/^dKiiity  gYoli-Pf][  This  was  owing  partly  to  a  reaction 
against  Puritanism,  and  partly  to  a  skeptical  indifference 
oy  generated  by  the  constant  sectarian  controversies  of  the  seven- 
^'  teenth  century.  It  was  not  simply  fanaticism  and  intense 
religious  zeal  that  were  despised;  the  atheists,  pronounced 
skeptics,  and  deists  were  hated  with  equal  fervor,  as  men  who 
were  trying  to  unsettle  and  disturb  the  reign  of  respectable 
conformity.  Mr.  IngersoU  would  have  had  no  more  influence 
over  the  typical  Augustan  than  Mr.  Moody. 


conformity  is  rn finely  ghmvn  in  the  greatest  man  of  th? 

J^TTIf  I  g«fot-     The  Dean  was  as  destitute  of  positive  religious 

belief  as  can  well  be  imagined;  but  the  age  forced  him  to, 

^_f\  masquerade  as  the  most  powerful  champion  of  Christianity. T^ 

This  view  of  life,  with  its  absence  of  spontaneous  enthusiasm 

and  religious  imagination,  must  never  be  forgotten  in  the  study 

of  the  contemporary  literature.     I  think  that  fnpp1  nntwith- 

iU    manifest    lifpitatinng     hsH    mnrP    imagination     anH 


Enthusiasm  than  he  generally  has  credit  for:  but  he  was  forced 
to  bow  to  the  public  opinion  which  he  himself  had  done  so 
much  to  form.  Mr.  Leslie  Stephen,  in  his  admirable  history 
of  English  thought,  in  comparing  the  relation  between  Milton, 
Spenser,  and  Pope,  says  that  the  first  two  could  speak  in  a 
familiar  symbolism;  Pope  had  to  take  a  creed  of  the  time. 


PRINCIPAL  LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  9 

"  But  the  thought  had  generated  no  concrete  imagery.  .  .  . 
We  have  .  .  .  diagrams,  instead  of  pictures;  a  system  of  axioms 
.  .  .  instead  of  a  rich  mythology."  1 

-    II.      THF.     FXAT.TATTHM    OF    FOKM    HVFT?     MATTFP 

This  was  largely  due  to  two  causes:  a  reaction  against  the 
"  Metaphysical"  school  of  poetry,  and  the  following  of  French 
models.  The  former  has  been  well  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Gosse 
in  his  book  From  Shakespeare  to  Pope,  although  Mr.  Gosse's 
conclusions  and  assertions  here  as  elsewhere  must  be  taken 
cum  grano  salts.  By  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  reaction  against  the  school  of  Donne  was  complete.  The 
"surface"  view  of  life  disliked  obscurity  in  literature  as  much 
as  mystery  in  religion.  When  Addison  and  his  friends  ridicule 
"  pointed  antithesis,"  "  forced  wit,"  etc.,  they  do  not  refer  to 
the  pointed,  antithetical  style  of  Pope,  but  to  the  far-fetched 
figures  and  subtile  comparisons  of  Donne,  Herbert,  Crashaw, 
and  the  rest.  Pope's  view  of  the  Metaphysicals  may  be  shown 
most  plainly  by  a  letter  to  his  friend  Cromwell  in  1710,  on 
the  poet  Crashaw.  "  All  that  regards  design,  form,  fable,  which 
is  the  soul  of  poetry;  all  that  concerns  exactness,  or  consent 
of  parts,  which  is  the  body,  will  probably  be  wanting.  Only 
pretty  conceptions,  fine  metaphors,  glittering  expressions,  ajid 
something  of  a  neat  cast  of  verse,  which  are  properly  the 
dress,  gems,  or  loose  ornaments  of  poetry,  may  be  found  in 
these  verses/.  .  .  No  man  can  be  a  true  poet,  who  writes 
for  diversion  only.  These  authors  should  be  considered  as 
versifiers  and  witty  men,  rather  than  as  poets."  '2  This  last 
phrase  affords  a  particularly  good  example  of  the  irony  of  fate, 
because  much  modern  criticism  would  use  Pope's  very  words 
in  reference  to  himself;  considering  him  as  a  versifier  and 
witty  man  rather  than  a  poet.  Indeed,  not  a  few  students 

1  History  of  English  Thought  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  Vol.  II.,  page  351,  et  seq. 

2  All  my  references  to  Pope's  Works  are  to  the  Elwin-Courthope  edition.     The 
present  quotation  is  in  Vol.  VI.,  page  116. 


10  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

of  literature  would   call  "the  author  of   The  Flaming  Heart  a 
truer  poet  than  the  author  of  the  Essay  on  Man. 

French  influence  had  also  much  to  do  with  the  formation 
of  literary  taste  in  England.  Within  the  last  few  years  there 
has  been  a  movement  among  some  critics  which  is  an  attempt 
to  depreciate  the  influence  of  France  on  English  literature  — 
not  only  of  the  Augustan  period,  but  also  in  the  case  of  the 
Comic  Drama  of  the  Restoration.  It  is  perhaps  true  that 
in  the  past,  Gallic  influence  has  been  greatly  exaggerated;  but 
it  is  an  element  that  cannot  be  overlooked.  The  Romanticists 
(Avould  not  have  rebelled  against  Voltaire  and  his  countrymen 
>$o  strongly,  had  the  French  influence  been  small;  and  French 
pressure  on  England  was  of  course  wholly  in  the  direction 
of  clearness  and  restraint.  It  reinforced  the  reaction  against 
the  Metaphysicals.  Clearness  was  exalted  above  force,  raiment 
above  body,  brilliancy  above  depth.  The  reason  why  Augustan 
literature  is  so  transparently  clear  is  not  wholly  due  to  the 
accuracy  and  care  of  the  authors;  it  is  owing  largely  to  the 
subject  matter.  Men  avoided  difficulty  themes.  Whether 
Pope  and  his  friends  pleased  the,,  ^English  heart  or  not,  they 
certainly  suited  the  French.  Voltaire  always  looked  on  Queen 
Anne  literature  as  the  high-water  ma*k-  of  English  achievement. 
In  1760  he  wrote  in  English  to  a  British  friend:  "Though  I 
do  not  like  the  monstruous  irregularities  of  Shakespear;  though 
I  admire  but  some  lively  and  masterly  strokes  in  his  per- 
formances, yet  I  am  confident  nobody  in  the  world  looks  with 
a  greater  veneration  on  your  good  philosophers.  You  are  now 
at  the  pitch  of  glory  in  regard  to  public  affairs.  But  I  know 
not  wether  you  have  preserved  the  reputation  your  island 
enjoyed  in  point  of  literature  when  Addison,  Congreve,  Pope, 
Swift  were  alive."  1 

1  I  transcribed  this  from  the  autograph  letter  in  the  British  Museum. 


PRINCIPAL   LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  11 

/: 

III.     THE    BELIEF   THAT   ALL   TRUE    LITERATURE    CON- 
SISTS   IN    FOLLOWING   NATURE. 

Nature  is  here  used,  of  course,  in  a  different  sense  from  that 
in  which  we  use  the  word  when  we  speak  of  Thomson  or 
Wordsworth  as  a  follower  of  Nature.  The  growth  of  nature- 
poetry  was  one  of  the  strong  tendencies  in  the  Romantic 
movement,  as  will  be  pointed  out  later.  But  the  cry  "  Follow 
Nature"  was  the  shibboleth  of  the  Classicists.  What  they 
meant  was  an  exact  reproduction  of  everv-dav  Jiff  and., 
manners,  as  opposed  to  anything  wild  or  extravagant,  or 
that  existed  only  in  the  writer's  imagination.  Nature  meant 
with  them  little  more  than  their  deity,  Common-Sense.  Pope's 
Essay  on  Criticism  sets  forth  the  doctrine,  and  as  Mr. 
Courthope  has  given  so  admirable  an  analysis  of  the  Essay, 
I  will  quote  him  directly.  "  Three  main  principles  underlie 
Pope's  reasoning  : 

1.  That  all  sound  judgment  and  true  'wit'  is  founded  on    ; 
'ihe  observation  of  Nature  ; 

2.  That  false  'wit'  arises  from  a  disregard  of  Nature  and   i 
an  excessive  affection  for  the  conceptions  of  the  mind ; 

3.  That  the  true  standard  for  determining  what  is  'natural' 
in  poetry  is  to  be  found  in  the  best  works  of  the  ancients."  * 

This  gives  Augustan  canons  of  criticism  in  a  nutshell.  The 
contemporary  ideal  of  poetry  appears  again  in  a  letter  written 
by  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  to  Pope  in  lyiy.2  Speaking 
of  the  Iliad,  she  says  Pope  has  passed  it  through  his  poetical 
crucible  without  its  losing  "aught  of  its  original  beauty."  She 
calls  Achilles  "  extremely  absurd,"  and  says  she  likes  Ulysses, 
"who  was  an  observer  of  men  and  manners"  much  better  than 
"the  hot-headed  son  of  Peleus."  This  shows  again  what  the 

/Classicists  meant  by  following  Nature;  it  was  not  to  describe 
the  flowers  and  the  trees  and  the  changes  of  the  seasons,  or  to 

,  use  the  language  of  common  life — Jt  was  to  copy  the  men  and  „ 

1  Pope's  Works,  Vol.  V.,  page  49.  2  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.,  page  386. 


12  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

manners  of  polite  society — above  all  things  to  exclude  what 
was  excessively  emotional.  Lady  Mary's  Town  Eclogues  were 
good  poetry,  because  they  followed  Nature ;  Joseph  Warton's 

'Enthusiast  did   not  follow  Nature,  being  too   subjective  and 

^passionate. 

IV.  CLASSICISM.  IN  WHAT  SENSE  WAS  THE  LITERATURE 
OF  THE  FIRST  QUARTER  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY  CLASSICAL? 

Here  again  we  have  a  word  most  difficult  to  define  because 
it  is  used   in  so  many  different  senses.     At  this   point   it   is 
sufficient  to  repeat  that  the  Augustan  literature  was  not  really 
Classic  ;  it  was  pseudo-classic.     As  has  often  been  said,  it  was 
"more  Latin  than  Greek,  and  more  French  than  Latin."     It 
lacked   the  element  that  gives  to  Greek  literature   its  unpar- 
alleled glory  and  charm  —  Unconsciousness.     The  literature  of 
-  the   school  of   Pope  was   painfully    self-conscious  ;    and    here 
\  we  must  remember  that  there  is  a  great  difference    between 
!  subjectivity    and    self-consciousness.    ,  Romanticism    is    often 
v  subjective,  full  of  the  passion  and  aspiration  of  the  individual 
composer  ;    pseudo-classicism    is    self-conscious,    in    that    the 
author  is  constantly  observing  and   laboriously  polishing  his, 
own  workmanship? He  is  like  an  opera  singer  ravished  not 
by  the  beauty  of  the  aria  or  the  dramatic  passion  of  the  scene, 
but  by  the  sound  of  her  own  voice.     But  although  the  Queen 
Anne    literature    lacked   the    Greek    unconsciousness,    it   was 
Classical  in  its  clearness  both  of  expression  and  of  thought,  in 
the  pprfert  adaptability  of  lan^ua^e  to  sense;  it  was  Classical 
(\r\    its  repression   of   emotion,   in   its  limited    imagination;     it 
was  Classical  in  its  faithful  obedience  to  critical  rules,  in  its, 
suppression   of   individuality  to  the  mandates   of   established, 
jaw;  it  was  Classical  in  its  intellectuality,  and  enthronement  of, 
Reasoru.    As  Professor  Beers  says,1   "Its  sole  Latin  master 

1  In  an  unpublished  lecture. 


PRINCIPAL   LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  13 

was  Horace,"  and  "not  Horace  in  his  odes,  but  in  his 
Epistles  and  Satires,  and  even  then  Horace  as  seen  through 
the  spectacles  of  Boileau."  The  Augustan s  were  conscious 
(71a.ssiri.sts  ;  they  thought  it  no  shame  to  say  they  were 
imitators;  their  standard  of  excellence  they  clearly  understood, 
and  fidelity  to  the  model  was  valued  more  than  any  spontaneity 
which  diverged  from  it.  We  know  how  profoundly  Pope  was 
influenced  by  Walsh's  words,  written  to  him  in  ijo6.1  "The 
best  of  the  modern  poets  in  all  languages  are  those  that  have 
the  nearest  copied  the  ancients." 

V.     SUPREMACY    OF   TOWN    OVER   COUNTRY    LIFE. 

Dr.  Johnson  was  simply  carrying  on  Augustan  ideas  when 
he  said  that  the  best  sight  for  a  Scotchman's  eyes  was  the 
road  that  led  to  London  ;  and  in  all  his  love  for  the  city 
and  failure  to  appreciate  natural  scenery  he  was  entirely  in 
accord  with  the  preceding  age.  It  is  true  that  Pastoral  poetry 
flourished  like  the  green  bay-tree ;  but  these  compositions  — 
with  one  exception  to  be  noticed  later  —  show  even  more 
-clearly  than  the  society  satires,  how  utterly  lacking  the  age 
;was  in  appreciation  nf  rural  life  The  Augustan  Pastorals 
wprpjrtifirial  to  thp  last  plAgr^A  and  form  the  best  evidence 
that  their  authors  had  no  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  scenes 
they  attempted  to  portray.  Their  Pastorals  were  simply 
hollow  imitations  of  r1a<s<tlV  ™nH*>1s  —  Theocritus  and  Vergil. 
The  literary  monarchs  had  no  genuine  love  for  the  country; 
he  drawing-room,  the  theatre  and  the  coffee-house  absorbed 
11  their  attention.  In  their  judgment,  the  country  was  no 
place  for  a  healthy  mind.  It  should  be  taken  as  medicine,  not 
as  diet.  This  view  appears  in  a  letter  from  Pope  to  Mrs.  J. 
Cowper,  written  in  1722.  "I  ...  wish  you  may  love  the 
town  .  .  .  these  many  years.  It  is  time  enough  to  like,  or 
affect  to  like,  the  country,  when  one  is  out  of  love  with  all  but 
one's  self."  2 

1  Pope's  Works,  Vol.  VI.,  page  53.  2  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.,  page  420. 


14  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

VI.     THE    FONDNESS    FOR  JVVIT.  J3ATIRE    AND 
AS    LITERARY    SUBJECTS. 

A  large  proportion  of  all  the  Queen  Anne  and  early  Georgian 
literature  is  composed  of  work  wholly  or  in  part  satirical.  This 
is  seldom  a  sign  of  health,  as  it  indicates  that  original  compo- 
sition and  spontaneousness  of  imagination  have  succumbed 
to  the  reign  of  the  critics.  The  cold,  hard  worldliness  of 
Augustan  life  found  its  natural  expression  in  polished  wit  and 
satire ;  and  the  sarcasm  was  not  directed  against  Sin,  but 
against  Dullness  and  Unconventionality  T —  another  bad  sign. 
/Many  people  wrote  satires  because  they  couldn't  write  anything 
>else,  not  because  they  wished  to  lash  any  particular  vice.  Even 
Young  and  some  of  the  Romanticists  followed  the  popular 
taste  and  composed  satires.  The  people  were  so  deficient  in 
natural  emotion  and  higher  imagination  that  the  best  men  felt 
forced  to  yield  to  the  prevailing  demand  —  for  the  law  of 
supply  and  demand  affects  the  market  of  literature  in  much 
the  same  way  as  it  fixes  the  price  of  wheat.  In  those  days 
people  wrote  satirical  pamphlets  for  the  same  reason  that 
-people  to-day  write  sonnets  for  magazines.  Pope,  writing  to 
Walsh  in  1706, l  said,  "I  have  not  attempted  anything  of  a 
pastoral  comedy,  because  I  think  the  taste  of  our  age  will  not 
relish  a  poem  of  that  sort.  People  seek  for  what  they  call  wit, 
on  all  subjects,  and  in  all  places  ;  not  considering  that  nature 
loves  truth  so  well,  that  it  hardly  ever  admits  of  nourishing. 
Conceit  is  to  nature  what  paint  is  to  beauty."  Matthew 

{Arnold's  remark  that  Gray  would  have  been  another  man  in  a 
different  age,  would  be  much  nearer  the  truth  if  spoken  of 
Pope  ;  for  the  great  wit  and  satirist  did  have  occasional  touches 
of  emotion  and  imagination,  which,  in  another  age,  he  would 
have  fostered  rather  than  repressed.  The  brilliant  and  beauti- 
ful Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  represents  even  better  than 

1  Pope's   Works,\o\.  VI.,  page  51.     This  was  the  letter  that  called  out  Walsh's 
famous  advice. 


PRINCIPAL  'LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  15 

Pope  and  Addison  the  limitations  of  the  Augustan  days.  With 
all  her  intellectual  power,  she  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
guilty  of  a  single  touch  of  real  feeling  or  lofty  imagination. 
The  spirit  of  the  age  spoke  out  in  her  when  she  answered  Pope's 
letter  containing  his  verses  on  the  country  lovers  struck  by 
lightning ;  she  replied  by  a  coarse,  doggerel  burlesque.1 

VII.     THE    ATTITUDE    TOWARD    OLD    ENGLISH    WRITERS. 

The  rank  and  file  of  the  Classicists  regarded  the  old  English 
writers  not  with  absolute  contempt,  but  with  indifference.    This 
indifference    arose    usually  from    ignorance.       Shakspere    was 
commonly  regarded  as  the  greatest  English  writer,  although  he 
was  often  handled  in  a  way  that  would  nowadays  be  thought 
sacrilegious  ;  and  even  though  admired,  he  was  not  very  widely 
read  and  by  no  means  always  understood.     Chaucer  was  not 
thought  worthy  of  serious  treatment,   as  is  shown  by  Pope's 
disgusting  Imitation.     The  people  at  large  were  grossly  ignorant  -- 
of  him.     Spenser  fared  not  much  better  than  Chaucer ;  those!v 
who   knew   him    did    not   generally  regard   him    as   worthy  of 
serious    study ;  indeed  it  was  by  reviving  Spenser  that  the<  ^ 
Romanticists  did  some  of  their  best  work.     Milton  had  been 
neglected,  but    only   partially   so ;    and   his    day  was  rapidly 

1  coming  ;  he  had,  especially  through  his  minor  poems,  a  power- 

,  ful  influence  on  the  Romantic  movement. 

Outside  of  these  four  great  names,  old  English  writers  were 
buried  in  the  dust-heaps  of  the  past.  The  splendor  and  ex- 
uberance of  the  Elizabethan  drama  had  been  forgotten  in  the 
attention  paid  to  the  insipid,  moralizing  Augustan  stage  ;  the 
old  dramatists  were  empty  names.  The  old  English  style  in 
poetry  and  romance  was  generally  spoken  of  as  "  Gothic,"  a 
term  of  reproach,  "  synonymous  with  barbarous,  lawless  and 
tawdry."  2  Even  Shakspere  was  half  Gothic;  if  he  was  a  great 
dramatist,  he  was  no  playwright ;  and  he  was  full  of  excres- 

1  Pope's  Works,  Vol.  IX.,  page  410.  '2  Prof.  Beers's  Unpublished  Lectures. 


16  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

cences.  True  English  poetry  began  with  Waller.  To  show 
how  roughly  Shakspere  was  handled,  let  us  look  at  one  of 
Dr.  Atterbury's  letters  to  Pope.  Atterbury,  like  Lady  Mary, 
was  a  genuine  Augustan.  He  writes  in  1721,  "I  have  found 
time  to  read  some  parts  of  Shakespeare,  which  I  was  least 
acquainted  with.  I  protest  to  you  in  a  hundred  places  I  cannot 
construe  him.  I  do  not  understand  him.  The  hardest  part  of 
Chaucer  is  more  intelligible  to  me  than  some  of  those  scenes, 
not  merely  through  the  faults  of  the  edition,  but  the  obscurity 
of  the  writer,  for  obscure-he  is,  and  a  little  (not  a  little)  inclined 
now  and  then  to  bombast,  whatever  apology  you  may  have 
contrived  on  that  head  for  him.  There  are  allusions  in  him  to 
an  hundred  things,  of  which  I  know  nothing  and  can  guess 
nothing.  ...  I  protest  Aeschylus  does  not  want  a  comment 
to  me  more  than  he  does." 1 

Perhaps  the  extreme  example  of  inability  to  appreciate 
Shakspere  is  afforded  by  William  Hamilton  of  Bangour, 
(1704-1754),  the  author  of  the  Braes  0'  Yarrow.  Hamilton 
really  liked  Shakspere,  but  that  did  not  prevent  him  from 
"  versifying "  him.  He  had  the  audacity  to  put  Hamlet's 
soliloquy  into  the  heroic  couplet,  and  he  meant  it  all  seriously. 

"  My  anxious  soul  is  tore  with  doubtful  strife, 
And  hangs  suspended  betwixt  death  and  life  ; 
Life  !  death  !  dread  objects  of  mankind's  debate  ! 
Whether  superior  to  the  shocks  of  fate, 
To  bear  its  fiercest  ills  with  steadfast  mind, 
To  Nature's  order  piously  resign'd, 
Or,  with  magnanimous  and  brave  disdain, 
Return  her  back  th'  injurious  gift  again."  2 

He  also  put  part  of  King  Lear  into  the  couplet,  with  equal 
success.3 

1  Poke's  Works,  Vol.  IX.,  page  26.     This  is  the  celebrated  divine  and  Bishop  of 
Rochester,  Francis  Atterbury  (1662-1732).      He  was  very  intimate  with  Augustan 
men  of  letters,  especially  Pope  and  Swift. 

2  Hamilton's  Poems  and  Songs,  page  65. 

3  Ibid.,  page  172. 


PRINCIPAL   LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  17 

Another  interesting  bit  of  Augustan  appreciation  of  Shak- 
spere  is  found  in  David  Mallet's  poem,  Of  Verbal  Criticism. 
For  an  example  of  infelicitous  discrimination,  it  is  worth 
reading: — 

"  Great  above  rule  and  imitating  none  ; 
Rich  without  borrowing,  nature  was  his  own  ; 
Yet  is  his  sense  debas'd  by  gross  allay  : 
As  gold  in  mines  lies  mix'd  with  dirt  and  clay. 
Now,  eagle-wing'd,  his  heavenward  flight  he  takes ; 
The  big  stage  thunders,  and  the  soul  awakes  ; 
Now,  low  on  earth,  a  kindred  reptile  creeps  ; 
Sad  Hamlet  quibbles,  and  the  hearer  sleeps." 

Pope  had  to  speak  apologeticaUy_about  Shakspere,  as  he 
did  about  other  things  that  he  admired,  which  were  contrary  to 
the  public  taste.  His  Preface  to  his  edition  of  Shakspere 
goes  just  as  far  as  he  dared.1 

How  Milton  was  regarded  even  by  the  elect  may  be  seen  by 
another  letter  from  Atterbury.  He  writes  to  Pope  in  1722, 
about  Samson  Agonistes.  This  poem  appealed  to  Atterbury  not 
ibecause  it  was  Milton  —  rather  in  spite  of  that  fact  —  but 
'because  it  was_Classical.  He  thinks  that  with  Pope's  improve- 
ments it  will  pass.  "  Some  time  or  other,  I  wish  you  would 
review,  and  polish  that  piece.  If  upon  a  new  perusal  of  it  ... 
you  think  as  I  do,  that  it  is  written  in  the  very  spirit  of  the 
ancients,  it  deserves  your  care,  and  is  capable  of  being  improved, 
with  little  trouble,  into  a  perfect  model  and  standard  of  tragic 
poetry."  2  No  wonder  the  Wartons  took  every  opportunity  to 
bring  Milton  into  popular  recognition.3 

1  Pope's  Works,  Vol.  X.,  page  534. 

2  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.,  page  49. 

3  In  the  Preface  to  C.  Gildon's  Art  of  Poetry  (1718)  there  is  a  good  word  spoken  for 
Shakspere  and  Spenser. 


18  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

I     VIII.    THE  ATTITUDE  TOWARD   ANYTHING  SAVOURING 
OF   ROMANTICISM. 

Romantic  literature  could  hardly  hope  to  find  favor  in  an 
age  whose  standard  was  one  of  fidelity  to  every-day  life  and 
.fixnrt  rrTyinfi  nf  i«>anm-T.afrin  mnHflfa  When  the  Augustans 
/called  a  poem  or  story  "  romantic,"  they  meant  that  it  was 
[either  wildly  improbable  and  extravagant  or  else  over-senti- 
k  mental;  and  in  either  case  it  deserved  an  unqualified  con- 
demnation. •  Everything  must  conform  to  their  own  standard 
of  criticism ;  otherwise,  it  could  not  hope  for  the  serious  con- 
sideration of  sane  men  and  women  ;  and  if  there  was  anything 
on  which  the  Augustans  prided  themselves,  it  was  tjhe,jr  psrfprfr 
sanity  —  their  immense  superiority  in  reason  and  common-sense 
over  their  own  ancestors  and  over  the  nations  of  the  north 
and  east.  Pope  chafed  a  little  under  this  rigid  exclusion  of 
Romanticism,  for  in  his  sentimental  correspondence  with  Lady 
Mary,  he  writes  in  1716,  "The  more  I  examine  my  own  mind, 
/the  more  romantic ]  I  find  myself.  .  .  .  Let  them  say  I  am 
romantic ;  so  is  every  one  said  to  be  that  either  admires  a  fine 
Ithing  or  praises  one  ;  it  is  no  wonder  such  people  are  thought 
mad,  for  they  are  as  much  out  of  the  way  of  common  under- 
standing as  if  they  were  mad,  because  they  are  in  the  right." 2 
Lady  Mary  hated  Romanticism,  but  admired  Theocritus  ;  she 
therefore  cannot  have  him  included  among  the  Romanticists. 
She  writes  to  Pope  in  1717,  "I  no  longer  look  upon  Theocritus 
as  a  romantic  writer ;  he  has  only  given  a  plain  image  of  the 
way  of  life  amongst  the  peasants  of  his  country,  ...  I  do  not 
doubt,  had  he  been  born  a  Briton,  but  his  Idylliums  had  been 
filled  with  descriptions  of  threshing  and  churning."  8  Again, 
we  have  some  more  testimony  against  Romanticism  from  Dr. 
Atterbury.  Pope  sent  him  some  Arabian  Tales,  half-recom- 
mending them  himself,  and  asking  for  Atterbury's  opinion. 

1  Meaning  sentimental.  2  Pope's  Works,  Vol.  IX.,  page  360. 

a  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.,  page  374. 


PRINCIPAL   LITKRARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  19 

The  latter  replies  :  "  And,  now,  Sir,  for  your  Arabian  Tales 

Indeed  they  do  not  please  my  taste  ;  they  are  writ  with  so 
romantic  an  air,  and,  allowing  for  the  difference  of  eastern' 
manners,  are  yet,  upon  any  supposition  that  can  be  made,  of 
so  wild  and  absurd  a  contrivance  (at  least  to  my  northern 
understanding),  that  I  have  not  only  no  pleasure,  but  no 
patience,  in  perusing  them.  .  .  .  They  may  furnish  the  mind 
with  some  new  images,  but  I  think  the  purchase  is  made  at  too 
great  an  expense."  l 

This  gives  a  very  good  idea  of  the  Augustan  attitude  toward 
Romanticism  ;  but  the  best  case  I  have  succeeded  in  finding 
occurs  in  a  letter  of  Lady  Mary's  to  Pope  —  the  same  letter 
quoted  above  in  which  she  speaks  of  Theocritus.  Lady  Mary 
writes  from  Adrianople  —  she  has  come  upon  some  Turkish 
verses  and  she  gives  them  first  in  their  literal  form,  and  then 
puts  them  "  into  the  style  of  English  poetry,"  with  what  success 
will  presently  appear.  Speaking  of  the  Turks,  she  says,  "  They 
have  what  they  call  the  sublime,  that  is,  a  style  proper  for 
^poetry,  and  which  is  the  exact  Scripture  style.  ...  I  have  it 
in  my  power  to  satisfy  your  curiosity,  by  sending  you  a  faithful 
copy  of  the  verses  that  Ibrahim  Pasha,  the  reigning  favourite, 
has  made  for  the  young  princess,  his  contracted  wife.  .  .  . 
The  verses  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  sample  of  their  finest 
poetry  ":  — 

STANZA  I. 

1.  "  The  nightingale  now  wanders  in  the  vines  ; 
Her  passion  is  to  seek  roses. 

2.  I  went  down  to  admire  the  beauty  of  the  vines  ; 
The  sweetness  of  your  charms  has  ravish'd  my  s&ul. 

3.  Your  eyes  are  black  and  lovely, 

But  wild  and  disdainful  as  those  of  a  stag." 

1  Papers  Works,  Vol.  IX.,  page  22.     This  letter  was  probably  written  in  1720 


20  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

STANZA  II. 

1.  "The  wish'd  possession  is  delay'd  from  day  to  day  ; 
The  cruel  Sultan  Achmet  will  not  permit  me 

To  see  those  cheeks,  more  vermilion  than  roses. 

2.  I  dare  not  snatch  one  of  your  kisses  ; 

The  sweetness  of  your  charms  has  ravish'd  my  soul. 

3.  Your  eyes  are  black  and  lovely, 

But  wild  and  disdainful  as  those  of  a  stag." 

STANZA  III. 

1.  "The  wretched  Ibrahim  sighs  in  these  verses ; 
One  dart  from  your  eyes  has  pierc'd  thro'  my  heart. 

2.  Ah  !  when  will  the  hour  of  possession  arrive  ? 
Must  I  yet  wait  a  long  time  ? 

The  sweetness  of  your  charms  has  ravish'd  my  soul. 

3.  Ah  !  Sultana  !  stag-ey'd  !  —  an  angel  amongst  angels  \ 
I  desire,  —  and  my  desire  remains  unsatisfied.  — 
Can  you  take  delight  to  prey  upon  my  heart  ?  " 

STANZA  IV. 

1.  "  My  cries  pierce  the  heavens  ! 

My  eyes  are  without  sleep  ! 
Turn  to  me,  Sultana  —  let  me  gaze  on  thy  beauty. 

2.  Adieu  —  I  go  down  to  the  grave. 

If  you  call  me  —  I  return. 
My  heart  is  hot  as  sulphur  ;  —  sigh,  and  it  will  flame. 

3.  Crown  of  my  life  !  fair  light  of  my  eyes  ! 

My  Sultana  !  my  princess  ! 
I  rub  my  face  against  the  earth  ;  — 

I  am  drown'd  in  scalding  tears  —  I  rave  ! 
Have  you  no  compassion  ?     Will  you  not  turn  to  look 
upon  me  ?  " 


PRINCIPAL   LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  21 

Lady  Mary  then  gives  a  general  criticism  and  finally  says, 
"What  if  I  turned  the  whole  into  the  style  of  English  poetry, 
to  see  how  it  would  look  ? " 

She  "versifies"  it  as  follows  :  — 

STANZA  I. 

"Now  Philomel  renews  her  tender  strain, 
Indulging  all  the  night  her  pleasing  pain  ; 

I  sought  the  groves  to  hear  the  wanton  sing, 
There  saw  a  face  more  beauteous  than  the  spring. 

Your  large  stag-eyes,  where  thousand  glories  play, 
As  bright,  as  lively,  but  as  wild  as  they." 

STANZA  II. 

"In  vain  I'm  promis'd  such  a  heav'nly  prize  ; 
Ah  !  cruel  Sultan  !  who  delays't  my  joys  ! 

While  piercing  dreams  transfix  my  am'rous  heart, 
I  dare  not  snatch  one  kiss  to  ease  the  smart. 

Those  eyes  !  like,  etc." 

STANZA  III. 

"  Your  wretched  lover  in  these  lines  complains  ; 
From  those  dear  beauties  rise  his  killing  pains. 

When  will  the  hour  of  wish'd-for  bliss  arrive? 
Must  I  wait  longer?  —  Can  I  wait  and  live? 

Ah  !  bright  Sultana  !  maid  divinely  fair  ! 
Can  you,  unpitying,  see  the  pains  I  bear?" 

STANZA  IV. 

"  The  heavens  relenting,  hear  my  piercing  cries, 
I  loathe  the  light,  and  sleep  forsakes  my  eyes  j 
Turn  thee,  Sultana,  ere  thy  lover  dies. 


22  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Sinking  to  earth,  I  sigh  the  last  adieu  ; 
Call  me,  my  goddess,  and  my  life  renew. 

My  queen  !  my  angel  !  my  fond  heart's  desire  ! 
I  rave  —  my  bosom  burns  with  heav'nly  fire  ! 
Pity  that  passion  which  thy  charms  inspire." 

Lady  Mary  adds,  "I  cannot  determine  upon  the  whole 
how  well  I  have  succeeded  in  the  translation,  neither  do  I 
|hink  our  English  proper  to  express  such  violence  of  passion, 
which  is  very  seldom  felt  amongst  us."  This  last  clause  is 
significant. 

I  have  given  this  extract  at ,  length,  because  it  shows  so 
clearly  the  limitation  of  the  Augustan  mind.  No  reader  of 
to-day  would  hesitate  in  answering  the  question  as  to  which 
of  these  two  versions  was  the  more  poetical.  The  fact  that 
Lady  Mary  lays  the  blame  of  the  short-comings  of  her 
translation  on  the  English  language,  and  not  on  her  own 
uninspired  couplets,  is  very  suggestive.  But  she  was  not 
the  only  person  who  thought  that  the  orthodox  form  of 
versification  was  necessary  to  poetry ;  Hamilton's  version  of 
Hamlet's  soliloquy  is  a  case  in  point,  and  even  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  century,  when  the  Romantic  movement  was  a 
reality,  Macpherson  thought  seriously  of  putting  Ossian  into 
the  Heroic  Couplet. 


CHAPTER  II. 

REACTIONARY  TENDENCIES  DURING  THE 
AUGUSTAN  AGE. 

IN  support  of  the  proposition  that  the  spirit  of  Romanticism 
has  never  been  wholly  extinct  in  English  literature,  it  may  be 
interesting  to  notice  certain  reactionary  tendencies  which  were 
present  even  in  the  height  of  the  classical  period.  Such  writers 
fas  Samuel  Croxall,  Lady  Winchelsea,1  Thomas  Parnell,  Allan 
\Ramsay,  William  Hamilton  of  Bangour,  are  not  easy  to  classify  ; 
they  can  hardly  be  said  to  belong  to  the  new  Romantic  move- 
ment, nor  do  they  preserve  the  seventeenth  century  traditions 
of  Romanticism.  It  is  perhaps  better  to  consider  them  as 
currents  flowing  in  a  direction  opposite  to  the  general  stream ; 
individualities  who  were  really  out  of  sympathy  with  the 
Augustans,  but  who  were  overpowered  by  the  prevailing 
fashion  —  partly  because  the  fashion  was  so  strong,  partly 
because  no  one  of  them  had  sufficient  force  publicly  to  throw 
off  the  shackles.  But,  though  their  light  was  under  a  bushel, 
they  have  a  genuine  significance  to  the  student  of  a  literary 
movement.  They  show  that  the  reign  of  Classicism  .was  not 
complete.  Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  fact  that 
even  the  monarch  himself  was  not  wholly  satisfied  with  his 
reign.  Pope's  lines  in  Thomson's  Seasons  have  a  peculiar  ring, 
when  we  know  their  authorship.2  It  is  rather  surprising  that 
Pope  should  have  assisted  Thomson  in  any  way,  because  the 
\latter  was  one  of  the  early  and  powerful  forces  in  the  Romantic 

1  Also  spelled  Winchilsea. 

2  The  lines  in  Autumn,  beginning 

"  Thoughtless  of  beauty,  she  was  beauty's  self." 

Mr.  Perry  has  some  interesting  remarks  on  this  passage :   see  his  English  Litera- 
ture in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  pages  386  and  387. 


24  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

reaction,  though  certainly  not  always  conscious  of  the  fact 
But  Pope  himself  did  some  work  that  in  aim,  at  any  rate,  was 
not  wholly  Augustan.  Windsor  Forest,  in  spite  of  Wordsworth's 
complimentary  allusion,1  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  anything 
more  than  artificial ;  in  Eloisa  and  in  the  Unfortunate  Lady, 
however,  amid  much  coldness  and  artificiality,  we  nave  occa- 
sional touches  of  genuine  passion  and  pathos,  which  suggest 
what  Pope  might  have  done  had  he  wholly  freed  himself  from 
contemporary  influences.  A  mystery  surrounds  the  Elegy  — 
we  do  not  know  the  circumstances  by  which  it  was  conceived  ; 
but  the  warmth  of  Eloisa  may  be  largely  explained  on  purely 
personal  grounds,  which  fact,  of  course,  robs  it  of  much  of  its 
significance  as  an  index  to  Pope's  general  taste  in  poetry.  No 
one  who  reads  Pope's  correspondence  with  Lady  Mary  can 
avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  poet  embodied  in  this  Epistle 
much  of  his  own  sentimental  longings  ;  for  Pope's  attitude 
toward  the  brilliant  society  woman  was  certainly  more  than 
that  of  conventional  gallantry.  He  himself  realized  that  Eloisa 
was  different  from  the  general  nature  of  his  literary  production. 
Writing  to  Mrs.  Martha  Blount  in  1716,  he  says,  "The  Epistle 
of  Eloisa  grows  warm,  and  begins  to  have  some  breathings  of 
the  heart  in  it,  which  may  make  posterity  think  I  was  in  love." 2 
And  in  sending  the  poem  to  Lady  Mary  in  1717,  he  adds, 
"  You  will  find  one  passage,  that  I  cannot  tell  whether  to  wish 
you  should  understand,  or  not,"  3  presumably  referring  to  the 
closing  lines, 

"  And  sure  if  fate  some  future  bard  shall  join"  etc.4 

But  though  Pope's  nature  and  passion  poetry  can  hardly  be 
said    to    show    much   distinct   non-conformity  with   prevailing 

1  Wordsworth' 's  Prose  Works,  Vol.  II.,  page  118. 

2  Pope's  Works,  Vol.  IX.,  page  264. 

3  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX.,  page  382. 

4  The  original  editor  of  the  edition  of  Pope  does  not  agree  with  this  view  that 
Eloisa  is  largely  the  expression  of  personal  feeling.     See  Note  in  Vol.  IX.,  page  264. 
Mr.  Courthope,  however,  is  in  substantial  agreement  with  the  view  expressed  in  these 
pages.    See  Vol.  V.,  page  135. 


: 


REACTIONARY   TENDENCIES.  25 

ideas,  a  few  passages  in  his  private  correspondence  show 
glimpses  of  Romantic  feeling.  He  writes  to  Mrs.  J.  Cowper  in 
1723,  "I  could  wish  you  tried  something  in  the  descriptive 
way  on  any  subject  you  please,  mixed  with  vision  and  moral ; 
like  pieces  of  the  old  Provengal  poets,  which  abound  with 
fancy,  and  are  the  most  amusing  scenes  in  nature.  ...  I 

(have  long  had  an  inclination  to  tell  a  fairy  tale,  the  more  wild 
and  exotic  the  better  ;  therefore  ^vision,  which  is  confined  to  no 
rules  of  probability,  will  take  in  all  the  variety  and  luxuriancy 
of  description  you  will ;  provided  there  be  an  apparent  moral 
to  it.  I  think  one  or  two  of  the  Persian  tales  would  have  given 
one  hints  for  such  an  invention." *  This  outbreak  is  very 
suggestive. 

But  although  it  is  half  paradoxical  to  speak  of  Romanticism 
in  Pope,  there  was  a  quiet,  retiring  figure  of  the  time  whose 
poetry  displays  some  tendencies  wholly  contrary  to  Augustan 
feeling.  It  is  worth  noticing  tha4"  he  was  an  intimate  friend  of 
Pope's,  and  that  the  latter  first  edited  his  works.  I  refer  to 
(J  Thomas  Parnell  (i 679-1 71 7). 2  It  is  not  true,  as  Mr.  Gosse  >j 
says,  that  he  "  published  nothing."  3  The  Hermit  was  published) , 
in  1710,  and  he  printed  in  miscellanies  a  number  of  pieces 
which  Pope  collected  and  published  in  1722.  Still  it  was 
largely  owing  to  the  influence  of  Pope  and  Swift,  that  he  was 
brought  out  of  his  Ulster  obscurity,  and  induced  to  exercise  his 
poetic  gifts.  His  best  known  piece,  The  Hermit,  and  his  Satires 
are  in  the  Classic  style  ;  but  certain  other  of  his  writings  have  a 
real  significance  in  the  history  of  Romanticism.  Mr.  Gosse 
remarks -with  much  truth,  "  there  lay  unvisited  a  romantic  island 

1  Works,  Vol.  IX.,  page  431. 

2  Considerable  difference  of  opinion  seems  to  prevail  as  to  the  date  of  Parnell's 
death.    Dr.  Johnson  says  he  died  in  July,  1717.    Goldsmith,  in  his  Life  of  Parnell, 
gives  the  same  date,  but  later  on  in  the  very  same  account,  says  "  he  died  in  the  year 
1718."     Ryland's  Chronological  Outlines  gives  the  date  1717.     The  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica    (gth    edition)    says    1718.      Mr.    Gosse   (in    Ward's    English    Poets, 
Vol.  III.,  page  132)  says  Parnell  "was  buried  at  Chester  on  the  i8th  of  October 
-718." 

3  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  page  137. 


26  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

of  poesy,  which  was  his  by  birthright."  1  His  Night-Piece  on 
Death  is  very  interesting  as  the  fore-runner  of  the  grave-yard 
literature  of  Young,  Blair,  and  the  rest,  and  especially  as  the 
prototype  of  Gray's  Elegy.  Compare  these  lines  from  the 

Night-Piece :  — 

"  Those  graves,  with  bending  osier  bound 

That  nameless  heave  the  crumbled  ground," 
with  the  well-known  stanza  from  Gray. 

But  besides  Darnell's  significance  as  the  first  of  the  church- 
yard poets,  there  is  in  his  poetry  a  genuine  feeling  for  Nature, 
which  is  very  unlike  the  Augustan  spirit,  and  which  even 
suggests  Wordsworth.2  It  seems  as  if  the  latter  might  have 
named  Parnell  along  with  Lady  Winchelsea  in  his  famous 
utterance  in  1815.  These  lines  from  the  Night- Piece  show  real 
love  of  nature.  The  poet  forsakes  the  books  of  the  schoolmen 
for  the  wisdom  of  the  sky  and  stars  :  — 

"  How  deep  yon  azure  dyes  the  sky  ! 

Where  orbs  of  gold  unnumbered  lie, 
While  thro'  their  ranks  in  silver  pride 

The  nether  crescent  seems  to  glide. 
The  slumbering  breeze  forgets  to  breathe, 

The  lake  is  smooth  and  clear  beneath, 
Where  once  again  the  spangled  show 

Descends  to  meet  our  eyes  below." 

Goldsmith  preferred  the  Night-Piece  to  Gray's  Elegy ;  but  Dr. 
Johnson,  although  uniformly  unjust  to  Gray,  did  not  agree  with 
his  friend  in  this  instance. 

ParnelFs  Hymn  to  Contentment  also  shows  true  nature-feeling. 
The  following  passage  seems  especially  to  foreshadow  Words 
worth :  — 

"  The  sun  that  walks  his  airy  way, 

To  light  the  world,  and  give  the  day; 

The  moon  that  shines  with  borrowed  light  *7 

The  stars  that  gild  the  gloomy  night ; 

1  Ward's  English  Poets,  Vol.  III.,  page  133. 

2  See  Mr.  Gosse's  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  page  137. 


REACTIONARY  TENDENCIES.  27 

The  seas  that  roll  unnumbered  waves  ; 

The  wood  that  spreads  its  shady  leaves ; 
The  field  whose  ears  conceal  the  grain, 

The  yellow  treasure  of  the  plain  : 
All  of  these  and  all  I  see, 

Should  be  sung,  and  sung  by  me  ; 
They  speak  their  Maker  as  they  can, 

But  want  and  ask  the  tongue  of  man."  * 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  both  these  poems  of  Parnell  are  in 
the  octosyllabic  couplet,  a  measure  that  he  handled  with 
singular  grace  and  charm.  This  verse-form  was  one  largely 
employed  by  the  Romanticists. 

Besides  Parnell's  nature  poetry,  and  melancholy  mood,  he 
gives  us  a  breath  of  real  Romanticism  in  his  Fairy  Tale.  It 
^ opens  thus :  — 

"In  Britain's  isle,  and  Arthur's  days, 
When  midnight  fairies  danced  the  maze, 

Lived  Edwin  of  the  Green  ; 
Edwin,  I  wis,  a  gentle  youth, 
Endowed  with  courage,  sense  and  truth, 
Though  badly  shaped  he  been." 

This  is  one  of  the  first  faint  echoes  of  Mediaevalism. 

Anne  Finch,  Countess  of  Winchelsea  (died  1720),  may  also 
be  considered  among  the  reactionary  tendencies  of  the  age. 
She  has  attained  some  prominence  in  literary  history,  owing  to 
Wordsworth's  remark  in  1815,  alluded  to  above;  but  her  poetry 
has  been  very  little  xead,  and  is  not  at  all  easy  to  find.  She 
was  a  friend  of  Pope's,  and  exchanged  poems  with  him  on 
The  Rape  of  the  Lock.  Her  lines  to  him  — 

"  Our  admiration  you  command 
For  all  that's  gone  before  ; 
What  next  we  look  for  at  your  hand 
Can  only  raise  it  more  "2  — 

'!  See  also  the  quotation  Mr.  Gosse  gives,  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  page  137. 
jMr.  Gosse  is  wrong,  however,  in  saying,  "  The  Hymn  opens  thus."  He  has  taken  a 
passage  not  from  the  beginning.  -^ 

2  Poems  by  Eminent  Ladies  (1755),  VoL  II.,  page  314.  "- 


28  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

do  not  sound  like  the  words  of  a  rebel  against  the  Augustan 
age ;  and,  indeed,  she  was  not.  Mr.  Gosse  says  :  "  She  was 
entirely  out  of  sympathy  with  her  age,  and  her  talent  was 
hampered  and  suppressed  by  her  conditions.  She  was  the 
/solitary  writer  of  actively-developed  romantic  tastes  between 
»Marvell  and  Gray,  and  she  was  not  strong  enough  to  create 
an  atmosphere  for  herself  within  the  vacuum  in  which  she 
languished."1  These  are  the  words  of  a  charmingly  inaccurate 
writer,  and  have  every  symptom  of  the  fatal  "enthusiasm  of 
discovery."  Mr.  Gosse  also  remarks  elsewhere  :  "  It  is  impos- 
sible to  say  whether  she  was  the  last  of  the  old,  or  the  first 
of  the  new  romantic  school."2  I  should  say  she  was  neither, 
but  in  general  feeling  an  Augustan,  with  an  under-current  of 
real  love  for  nature.  It  is  in  her  fondness  for  country  life, 
her  love  of  out-door  beauty,  and  her  accurate  descriptions  of 
nature,  that  she  differs  from  her  contemporaries.  In  these 
important  points,  she  may  certainly  be  classed  as  reactionary 
in  tendency.  Her  octosyllabic  ode,  To  the  Nightingale,  has  true 
lyric  quality,  and  her  short  poems,  The  Tree  and  A  Nocturnal 
Reverie,  are  notable  expressions  of  nature-worship.3  The  last 
named  is  in  the  heroic  couplet. 

An  interesting  figure  of  the  time  is  Samuel  Croxall  (died 
i752).4  He  is  remembered  to-day  chiefly  as  the  translator 
of  ./Esop's  Fables;  most  of  his  original  poetry  has  been  for 
gotten.  With  the  exception  of  one  poem,  to  be  noticed  later, 
his  effusions  found  little  favor  among  his  contemporaries. 
Croxall  was  celebrated  more  for  his  preaching  than  for  his 
poetry.  He  seems  to  have  been  wholly  out  of  sympathy  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  even  consciously  and  defiantly  so.  His 
poetical  master  was  Spenser,  for  whom  he  had  a  fervent 
admiration  in  a  time  when  Spenser  was  comparatively  neg- 
lected. His  important  contributions  to  the  Spenserian  revival 

1  Gossip  in  a  Library,  page  123. 

2  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  page  35. 

a  'rhese  three  poems  are  in  Ward's  English  Poets,  Vol.  III.,  pages  29-31. 
4  Date  of  his  birth  unknown ;  he  died  at  a  venerable  age. 


REACTIONARY  TENDENCIES.  29 

will  be  discussed  later  ;  but  the  first  work  of  his  that  concerns 
our  present  purpose  is  The  Vision,  published  in  1715.  This 
is  in  the  heroic  couplet,  but  trie  style  of  the  poem  is  distinctly 
unorthodox.  It  describes  a  vision  of  the  ancient  kings  and 
queens  of  England,  and  the  opening  pictures  of  the  woods  and 
flowers  and  streams  have  a  perceptible  Romantic  coloring. 
Besides  the  crowned  heads,  the  poet  has  a  vision  of  two 
English  poets,  not  Cowley  and  Waller,  but,  strange  to  say, 
Chaucer  and  Spenser.  He  thus  describes  them :  — 

"  Chaucer  the  Parent  of  Britannic  Lays 
His  Brow  begirt  with  everlasting  Bays, 
All  in  a  Kirtle  of  green  silk  array'd 
With  gleeful  smile  his  merry  Lesson  play'd. 
His  fellow  Bard  beside  him  Spenser  sate 
And  twitch'd  the  sounding  Chords  in  solemn  State: 
An  Ivy  Garland  on  his  Temples  hoar 
With  Sprigs  of  Laurel  interwove  he  wore. 
Adown  his  Shoulders  hung  a  Mantle  blue 
Bedrop'd  with  Spangles  of  a  Golden  Hue  ; 
Of  Arms  and  Elfin  Knights  he  mus'd  his  Song, 
And  taught  in  Mystic  Tales  the  list'ning  Throng." 

It  is  disappointing  to  find  at  the  conclusion  of  this  poem, 
that  the  work  has  a  theological  purpose  —  to  attack  Popery ; 
but  even  this  unfortunate  ending  does  not  rob  the  poetry  of  its 
rich  and  warm  color.  The  Vision  lay  practically  unknown  till 
parts  of  it  were  republished  by  Southey.  Since  then  it  has 
lapsed  into  a  still  deeper  obscurity.1 

In  1720,  Croxall  published  anonymously  The  Fair  Circassian,* 
a  poetic   paraphrase   of   Solomon's   Song.     The   Preface   was 
dated  "  Oxon.  25  March  1720,"  and  was  avowedly  written  by 
a  tutor  who   said    that    the    real    author  had   lately  died  —  a 
form   of   literary  deception    by   no   means   uncommon    in   the 

1  It  is  barely  possible  that  Croxall  took  the  hint  for  his  Vision  from  Robert 
Greene's  Vision  —  Grosarfs  Edition  of  Greene,  Vol.  XII.  Greene  sees  Chaucer  and 
Gower. 


30  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

eighteenth  century.  This  poem  was  exceedingly  popular.  It 
went  through  many  editions,  but  it  raised  up  a  host  of  enemies 
for  Croxall,  on  account  of  its  voluptuousness.  It  is  not  the 
only  one  of  CroxalF.s  poems  characterized  by  untheological 
carnality.  It  is  written  in  the  heroic  couplet  with  a  sprinkling 
of  Alexandrines.  In  warmth  of  passion  it  is  very  unlike  the 
stock  phrases  of  contemporary  poetry. 

Some  of  the  editions  of  The  Fair  Circassian  had  shorter 
poems  appended.  These  are  also  in  CroxalPs  glowing  style. 
One  of  these  —  written  in  a  Spenserian  verse-form  —  has  a 
not  unpleasant  musical  flow.  It  is  called  Florinda  Seen  While, 
She  Was  Bathing?-  Two  stanzas  will  suffice  :  — 

"  Florinda,  with  her  sister  nymphs,  undrest, 

Within  the  channel  of  the  cooly  tide, 
By  bathing  sought  to.  soothe  her  virgin  breast, 

Nor  could  the  night  her  dazzling  beauties  hide  : 
Her  features,  glowing  with  eternal  bloom, 
Darted,  like  Hesper,  thro'  the  dusky  gloom. 

"Her  hair  bound  backward  in  a  spiral  wreath 
Her  upper  beauties  to  my  sight  betray'd  ; 
The  happy  stream  concealing  those  beneath, 

Around  her  waste  with  circling  waters  play'd  ; 
Who,  while  the  fair  one  on  his  bosom  sported, 
Her  dainty  limbs  with  liquid  kisses  courted."  2 

Mr.  Gosse  says  that  Croxall  Described  his  aim  in  poetn; 
as  being  "to  set  off  the  dry  and  insipid  stuff"  of  the  age  by 
publishing  "a  whole  piece  of  rich  glowing  scarlet." 3  This 
is  interesting,  as  it  shows  that  his  dislike  of  Augustan  poetry 
was  conscious  and  pronounced.  He  was,  however,  not  more 
than  half  emancipated ;  with  all  his  fire  and  passion,  his  work 

1  There  is  nothing  especially  Romantic  about  the  title — the  Classicists  were  always 
seeing  women  bathing. 

2  Gibber,  Lives  of  the  Poets,  Vol.  V.,  page  288. 

8  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  page  139.     I  do  not  know  in  what  connection 
Croxall  made  this  remark ;  his  writings  are  not  easy  to  find. 


REACTIONARY  TENDENCIES.  31 

has  many  conventionalities.     He  has  more  significance  as  a 
Spenserian. 

We  next  come  to  the  sturdy  figure  of  Allan  Ramsay  (1686- 
1758).  Ramsay  is  perhaps  best  known  as  the  editor  of 
miscellanies ;  but  we  are  here  concerned  with  his  own  poetic 
productions.  These  are  in  some  cases  characterized  by  a 
decided  antipathy  to  the  prevailing  Classicism.  He  managed 
to  put  some  real  life  into  the  most  artificial  of  all  compositions 
—  the  Pastoral.  His  Gentle  Shepherd  appeared  in  1725. 
What  Ramsay  thought  of  the  conventional  Pastoral  may  be 
seen  by  the  Preface  to  his  miscellany,  The  Evergreen,  1724.-—, 
He  said,  in  the  old  bards,  "the  morning;  rises  as  she  does  in  i 
the  Scottish  horizon.  We  are  not  carried  to  Greece  or  Italy  for 
a  Shade,  a  Stream  or  a  Breeze.  .  .  .1  find  not  Fault  with 
those  Things,  as  they  are  in  Greece  or  Italy:  But  with  a 
Northern  Poet  for  fetching  his  Materials  from  these  Places,  in 
a  Poem,  of  which  his  own  Country  is  the  Scene  ;  as  our 
Hymners  to  the  Spring  and  Makers  of  Pastorals  frequently  do." 
There  is  a  freshness  and  healthy  natural  life  about  the  Gentle 
Shepherd,  which  made  it  seem  almost  startlingly  new  to  the 
Augustans,  accustomed  as  they  were  to  the  Theocritus-Vergil 
pattern.  The  songs  Ramsay  introduced  were  fresh  and  sweet; 
and  many  images  taken  directly  from  nature  show  where  the 
author's  real  inspiration  lay.  But  unfortunately  Ramsay  —  in 
spite  of  his  aggressive  naturalness  —  was  too  much  under  the 
influence  of  Pope  and  the  rest  to  leave  his  pastoral  drama 
unblemished.  He  doubtless  thought  that  in  making  the  two 
shepherd  lovers  turn  out  to  be  of  noble  blood,  he  would  please 
the  public  taste  ;  to  a  modern  reader  this  denoument  is  a 
glaring  fault.  Again,  after  some  most  natural  and  beautiful 
touches,  he  introduces  didactic  observations  in  the  regular 
Augustan  manner.  The  freshness  of  this  pastoral  is  thus 
mingled  with  artificiality,  another  illustration  of  the  power  of 
literary  fashion  even  over  those  men  who  are  most  opposed 
to  it. 


32  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Ramsay  had  published  a  quarto  of  his  poems  in  1721,  and 
in  1731  appeared  the  first  collected  edition  of  his  works.  The 
Preface  to  this  edition  contains  some  matter  not  uninteresting. 
He  says,  "  I  shall  never  quarrel  with  any  man  whose  temper  is 
the  reverse  ofmine,  and  enters  not  into  the  taste  of  the  same 
pleasures.  ,  .  .  Every  man  is  born  with  a  particular  bent,  which 
will  discover  itself  in  spite  of  all  opposition.  Mine  is  obvious, 
which  since  I  knew,  I  never  inclined  to  curb;  but  rather 
encouraged  myself  in  the  pursuit,  though  many  difficulties  lay 
in  my  way."  He  apologizes  for  his  Scotch  songs.  "  Such 
pedants  as  confine  learning  to  the  critical  understanding  of  the 
dead  languages,  do  not  view  me  with  a  friendly  eye.  .  .  . 
That  I  have  exprest  my  thought  in  my  native  dialect,  was  not 
only  inclination,  but  the  desire  of  my  best  and  wisest  friends; 
and  most  reasonable,  since  good  imagery,  just  similes,  and  all 
manner  of  ingenious  thoughts,  in  a  well  laid  design,  disposed 
into  numbers,  is  poetry."  This  is  an  interesting  definition. 

Again  he  says,  "Throughout  the  whole  I  have  only  copied 
from  nature,  and  with  all  precaution  have  studied  .  .  .  not 
to  repeat  what  has  been  already  said  by  others."  All  this 
gives  us  evidence  of  Ramsay's  originality,  and  defiant  spirit; 
but  his  inability  to  free  himself  entirely  from  contemporary 
thought  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  along  with  his  nature-poetry 
he  published  imitations  of  Horace,  and  in  another  part  of  the 
Preface,  he  says,  "  Anacreon,  Horace  and  Waller  were  poets, 
and  had  souls  warmed  with  true  poetick  flame."  Such  mention 
of  Waller  is  damnatory  evidence  against  any  complete  break 
with  Classicism  on  Ramsay's  part.  Some  of  Ramsay's  songs, 
however,  as  The  Last  Time  I  Came  o'er  the  Moor,  The  Lass  of 
Patie^s  Mill,  Bessie  Bell,  and  The  Young  Laird  are  significant 
as  forerunners  of  the  songs  of  Burns,  and  we  know  that  Burns 
had  a  high  regard  for  Ramsay's  work.1  Principal  Shairp  speaks 
highly  of  Ramsay's  services  to  the  poetry  of  nature;2  and 

1  "Yes!  there  is  ane!  a  Scottish  callan  — 

There's  ane ;  come  forrit,  honest  Allan ! " 

2  Poetic  Interpretation  of  Nature,  pages  194-196. 


REACTIONARY  TENDENCIES.  33 

Veitch  says,  "  Allan  Ramsay  is  by  far  the  most  interesting  and 
influential  literary  personage  in  Scotland  in  the  first  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  .  .  .  Ramsay  had  the  courage,  in  a 
conventional  time  both  in  English  and  Scottish  poetry,  to 
recognize  and  be  true  to  the  manners,  the  simple  every-day 
life,  the  rural  character,  and  the  scenery  of  his  native  land."  1 
Had  Ramsay  never  come  into  so  close  personal  contact  with 
the  Augustans,  he  might  have  done  much  bolder  and  more 
original  work  than  he  did.2 

The  last  author  we  shall  treat  in  the  contemporary  reaction 
is  William  Hamilton  of  Bangour  (1704-1754).  Hamilton  was 
like  Parnell  in  his  quiet,  retiring  disposition.  The  first 
collection  of  his  poems  was  not  published  till  1748,  and 
then  during  the  Author's  absence  from  the  country.  It  was 
published  anonymously,  with  a  preface  by  Adam  Smith,  the 
economist.  A  reprint  of  this  edition  appeared  in  1749.  In 
1758  a  new  edition  was  published  bearing  the  author's  name. 
In  1760  came  the  only  edition  marked  by  any  accuracy  or 
completeness;  and  his  fame  was  immediately  assailed  by  the 
Monthly  Review  (February,  1761),  which  sneered  at  his  poetical 
ability.  After  that  there  was  no  new  edition  of  Hamilton 
—  although  he  was  reprinted  once  or  twice  —  until  1850. 
Hamilton  has  thus  never  enjoyed  a  wide  reputation;  but 
during  his  life-time  he  was  well  known  within  a  small  circle, 
and  regarded  with  high  admiration.  He  was  something  of  an 
aristocrat  and  in  his  temperament  not  unlike  the  poet  Gray. 
He  was  a  lonely  scholar,  fond  of  solitude  and  books,  and 
disliked  publicity  as  sincerely  as  his  great  contemporary. 
Among  much  incomparably  wretched  trash,  he  wrote  some 
excellent  pieces,  and  one  thoroughly  Romantic  ballad,  The  Braes 
c'  Yarrow.  Allan  Ramsay,  although  barred  from  Hamilton's 

1  The  Feeling  for  Nature  in  Scottish  Poetry,  Vol.  II.,  page  24. 

2  Ramsay  was  on  intimate  terms  with  the  great  Classicists ;  the  last  poem  in  Vol.  1 
of  the  Tea-Table  Miscellany  (1724)  is  called  The  Quadruple  Alliance,  and  he  says1 

"  Swift,  Sandy,  Young  and  Gay, 
Are  still  my  heart's  delight." 


34  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

circle  by  social  inferiority,  exerted  a  strong  influence  upon 
him;  and  his  influence  was  all  for  good.  It  was  Ramsay  who 
first  brought  The  Braes  d1  Yarrow  into  public  attention,  by 
publishing  it  in  his  Tea- Table  Miscellany.  This  poem  is  not 
only  lyrically  melodious,  but  is  full  of  the  spirit  and  fire  of  the 
old  ballads.  It  is  by  all  odds  the  best  thing  Hamilton  ever 
wrote,  as  well  as  the  most  Romantic  in  tone. 

Like  Parnell,  Hamilton  handled  the  octosyllabic  couplet  with 
great  ease,  and  did  some  excellent  work  in  this  measure. 
Some  of  his  nature-poetry  will  bear  quoting.  In  his  poem, 
Contemplation  (probably  written  in  1739)  he  shows  something 
of  the  Wordsworthian  spirit  :  — 

"  Above,  belpw,  and  all  around, 
Now  naught  but  awful  quiet's  found, 
The  feeling  air  forgets  to  move, 
No  zephyr  stirs  the  leafy  grove, 
The  gentlest  murmur  of  the  rill 
Struck  by  the  potent  charm  is  still, 
Each  passion  in  this  troubled  breast 
So  toiling  once  lies  hush'd  to  rest, 
Whate'er  man's  bustling  race  employs, 
His  cares,  his  hopes,  his  fears,  his  joys. 
Ambition,  pleasure,  interest,  fame, 
Each  nothing  of  important  name, 
Ye  tyrants  of  this  restless  ball, 
This  grove  annihilates  you  all.1 
Oh  power  unseen,  yet  felt,  appear  ! 
Sure  something  more  than  nature's  here. 
Now  on  the  flow'ring  turf  I  lie, 
My  soul  conversing  with  the  sky." 

After  this  singularly  fine  passage,  which,  in  its  day,  was  a 
real  contribution  to  nature-poetry,  he  wanders  off  into  dreamy 
moralizing,  after  the  fashion  of  Pope. 

1  Cf.  Marell,  in  The  Garden: 

"  Annihilating  all  that's  made 
To  a  green  thought  in  a  green  shade." 


REACTIONARY   TENDENCIES.  35 

Hamilton  seems  to  have  had  a  great  deal  of  force  and 
passion  which  he  deliberately  repressed  —  perhaps  thinking  the 
age  would  not  stand  it  —  perhaps  himself  ashamed  of  it.  This 
fact  is  curiously  well  shown  by  the  1850  edition  of  his  poems.1 
His 'ode  to  Fancy  is  there  published,  and  along  with  it  a  MS. 
copy  which  the  author  had  written,  but  for  some  reason  had 
withheld  from  the  public.  The  MS.  copy  differs  considerably 
from  the  printed  one,  especially  in  its  franker  expression  of 
passion.  Here  is  a  passage  from  the  suppressed  draft,  which 
appeared  in  print  entirely  changed  and  subdued :  — 

"  And  now  I  gaze  o'er  all  her  charms, 
Now  sink  transported  in  her  arms  ; 
Fierce  to  her  lips  my  lips  I  join, 
Fierce  in  amorous  folds  we  twine  ; 
Fierce  in  rage  of  love  compressed, 
Swells  throbbing  to  the  touch  her  breast 
Thus  rioting  in  bliss  supreme, 
Might  I  enjoy  the  golden  dream  ! 
But  ah  !  the  rapture  will  not  stay, 
For  see,  she  glides,  she  glides  away  ! " 

-Hamilton  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Milton,  and  some  of  his 
Verses  will  be  considered  again  among  the  poets  of  the  Miltonic 
group.  He  was  a  good  ballad-maker,  writing  in  a  vein  strikingly 
Romantic,  he  had  genuine  passionate  force  which  he  hardly 
dared  to  express,  he  "  unlocked  his  heart "  in  his  nature-poetry, 
and  yet  he  wrote  long  stretches  of  perfectly  smooth  and 
perfectly  flat  heroic  couplets.2  With  this  poet,  we  close  for  the 
present  the  consideration  of  reactionary  tendencies  during  the 
Augustan  age.  Gay  might  perhaps  have  been  included,  but  in 
all  probability  whatever  opposition  he  had  to  the  Classicists  was 
not  at  all  serious. 

•    !  Page  55. 

2  For  example,  he  started  a  long  poem  in  twelve  books,  called  The  Maid  of 
Gallowshiels.  He  never  progressed  further  than  into  the  second  book.  He  wrote 
this  in  1726,  when  he  was  possibly  re-acting  from  Ramsay's  influence.  The  poem  is 
inexpressibly  tedious. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    REACTION    IN    FORM. 

ROMANTICISM  may  be  considered  in  two  distinct  aspects  — - 
Subject-matter  and  Form.  In  the  study  of  the  English  move- 
ment, the  first  is  far  more  important;  but  the  latter  cannot 
be  overlooked.  Since  Romanticism,  like  almost  all  literary 
fashions,  started  as  a  reaction,  the  forms  in  which  the  new 
school  clothed  their  productions  naturally  differed  from  that 
which  had  been  most  common  ;  and  in  this  aspect  especially 
the  movement  was  wholly  in  the  direction  of  freedom.  Here 
we  may  agree  with  Victor  Hugo,  that  Romanticism  is  nothing 
but  liberalism  in  literature.  The  same  spirit  that  in  other 
times  and  places  rebelled  against  the  Unities  in  dramatic  art, 
struggled  successfully  in  England  with  the  tyranny  of  the 
Heroic  Couplet  in  poetry.  By  1726  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Couplet  was  doomed,  though  for  the  rest  of  the  century  it  lived 
and  spasmodically  flourished.  It  did  not  seem  to  occur  to  the 
Romanticists  to  make  their  reforms  within  the  limits  of  the 
Couplet ;  that  is,  to  return  to  the  loose,  overflowing  couplets 
of  the  early  seventeenth  century.  This  would  have  brought 
the  rebels  even  more  squarely  at  issue  with  the  reigning 
dynasty,  and  would  have  precipitated  a  conflict  which  the  early 
reformers  did  not  seek,  and  which  they  would  have  shrunk 
from  entering  upon.  English  poetry  had  to  wait  for  Keats,  to 
see  the  Heroic  Couplet  used  in  the  field  of  Romanticism, 
and  manipulated  in  direct  defiance  of  the  practice  of  Waller, 
Dryden  and  Pope. 

The  early  Romanticists  do  not  seem  to  have  shown  much 
direct  opposition  to  the  Couplet  —  they  were  simply  weary  of 
its  monotony,  and  instinctively  turned  to  other  and  freer  forms 


THE   REACTION  IN  FORM.  37 


of  versification.  Blank  Verse,  Octosyllabics,  and  the  Spenserian 
stanza  were  the  principal  vehicles  of  expression  which  the  new 
school  adopted.  These  were  in  a  way  also  associated  with  the 
Subject-matter  aspect  of  Romanticism,  for  the  first  two  of  these 
forms  owed  much  of  their  popularity  to  the  powerful  influence 
of  Milton,  and  the  third  to  the  growing  study  and  appreciation 
of  Spenser.  Indeed,  Blank  Verse  came  to  be  distinctly  asso- 
ciated with  the  Romantic  movement  —  its  freedom  giving  a 
wider  scope  to  the  imagination  than  the  closed  couplets  of  the 
Classicists.  Dr.  Johnson  and  his  ally  Goldsmith  perceived 
this  fact,  and  accordingly  threw  the  whole  weight  of  their 
influence  against  blank  verse  ;  while  the  liberals  defended  it, 
notably  the  poet  Young,  who  grew  more  intensely  radical  as 
he  advanced  in  years. 

John  Philips's  Cyder  appeared  in  1706;  his  Splendid  Shilling 
in  1705  ;  it  had  been  surreptitiously  printed  even  earlier. 
Philips,  of  course,  had  been  influenced  by  Milton  and  wrote 
in  a  pseudo-Miltonic  style.  On  the  title-page  of  the  Splendid 
Shilling  were  the  words  An  Imitation  of  Milton,  and  Cyder 
begins  :  — 

"  What  soil  the  apple  loves,  what  care  is  due 
To  orchats,  timeliest  when  to  press  the  fruits, 
Thy  gift,  Pomona,  in  Miltonian  verse  /' 

Adventurous  I  presume  to  sing." 

Philips  deserves  mention  here  because  he  took  to  blank 
verse  so  early,  and  because  twenty-five  years  later  his  example 
was  much  more  influential  than  the  intrinsic  merit  of  his  work 
justified.  After  Philips,  the  next  important  poem  in  blank 
verse  was  Thomson's  Winter,  which  appeared  in  1726,  followed 
by  Summer  in  1727,  and  Spring  in  1728.  Autumn  was  first 
published  with  The  Seasons  in  1730.  Thomson  does  not  seem 
to  have  talked  very  much  about  his  reasons  for  choosing  blank 
verse  ;  he  probably  did  not  do  so  out  of  particular  conscious 
hostility  to  the  Couplet,  though  he  was  doubtless  weary  of  its 
monotony.  Possibly  one  of  his  reasons  for  forsaking  the 


38  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Couplet  was  the  fact  that  Pope  had  brought  it  to  its  utmost 
refinement  and  polish,  and  that  it  was  not  capable  of  any 
further  development.  There  is  an  interesting  passage  in 
Autumn  which  shows  that  Thomson  had  a  distinct  preference 
for  blank  verse,  and  also  evidences  the  influence  of  Philips's 
example  :  — 

"  Philips,  facetious  bard,  the  second  thou 
Who  nobly  durst,  in  rhyme-unfettered  verse, 
With  British  freedom  sing  the  British  song." 

Although  the  influence  of  Philips  was  out  of  all  proportion 
to  his  worth,  his  fame  was  not  great  enough  to  give  sufficient 
prestige  to  the  verse-form  he  adopted  ;  but  when  Thomson 
used  it  for  The  Seasons,  the  case  was  different.  Others  felt 
free  to  follow  in  his  wake.  Somerville's  Chase  appeared  in 
1735,  and  Mr.  Gosse  says  that  "he  delayed  writing  it  so  long 
that  we  find  his  old  Addisonian  style  tempered  by  the  new  and 
freer  manner  of  Thomson."  1 

Dyer's  Ruins  of  Rome  appeared  in  1740.  Dyer  thought  the 
Ruins  of  Rome  bore  about  the  same  relation  to  Grongar  Hill 
as  Paradise  Lost  to  U  Allegro.  The  poem  begins  :  — 

"  Enough  of  Grongar  and  the  shady  dales 
Of  winding  Towy,  Merlin's  fabled  haunt, 
I  sung  inglorious.     Now  the  love  of  arts, 
And  what  in  metal  or  in  stone  remains 
Of  proud  Antiquity,"  etc. 

But  posterity  —  so  far  as  it  has  expressed  any  opinion  —  has 
preferred  Grongar. 

The  first  installment  of  Young's  Night  Thoughts  was  given 
to  the  world  in  1742  ;  by  1745  it  was  all  published.  Young 
was  an  older  man  than  Thomson,  but  his  chief  poem  came  over 
a  decade  later  than  The  Seasons.  The  style  shows  traces  of 
both  Milton  and  Thomson ;  of  the  former  in  the  swelling 

1  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  page  138.    Mr.  Gosse  gives  the  date  of  this  poem 


THE   REACTION  IN  FORM.  39 

magnificence  of  some  of  the  lines,  and  of  the  latter  in  its  some- 
what even  regularity.  It  should  be  said  that  both  Thomson 
and  Young  show  the  influence  of  the  Classic  measure  ;  many 
of  the  lines  are  simply  unrimed  couplets.  They  could  not 
completely  shake  off  the  shackles  in  their  versification,  any 
more  than  they  could  make  a  complete  departure  from  Augustan 
thought. 

In  1743  appeared  Robert  Blair's  Grave^  a  poem  that  he  had 
begun  to  work  upon  a  number  of  years  before.  It  is  an  inter- 
esting fact  that  this  talented  author  should  have  written  only 1 
one  poem,  and  written  that  in  blank  verse  ;  still  more  interesting 
when  we  observe  that  his  versification  is  not  of  the  Miltonic- 
Thomson  order,  but  points  back  to  the  Elizabethan  age.2 
Blair's  verse  is  very  loose  and  free,  and  bears  evidence  on  every 
page  of  the  reading  of  old  dramatists  ;  in  the  great  number  of 
feminine  endings,  I  think  I  detect  particularly  the  influence  of 
Fletcher.  The  Grave  was  originally  written  before  1731,  and 
may  have  been  begun  independently  of  Thomson's  example. 
If  so,  it  is  another  instance  of  the  symptoms  of  revolt.  Blair 
was  naturally  more  free  from  the  reigning  literary  fashion  for 
two  reasons  ;  he  was  a  Scotchman,  and  he  was  young.  The 
young  Scotchmen  of  those  days  were  fond  of  reading  in  old 
English  authors  and  in  the  open  book  of  Nature  —  two  sources 
of  inspiration  less  familiar  to  their  southern  neighbors. 

In  1744,  Dr.  Mark  Akenside  published  his  Pleasures  of  Im- 
agination. This  was  a  didactic  poem  in  three  books,  which  the 
author  afterward  laboriously  rewrote  without  improving.  The 
blank  verse  is  both  cold  and  heavy,  though  occasionally  relieved 
by  fine  passages.  The  poem  is  really  Romantic  only  in  its  title. 
One  thing  is  noticeable  about  Akenside's  poetry ;  he  was  fond 
of  experimenting  in  various  forms  of  versification,  but  he  never 
used  the  Heroic  Couplet  except  once,  and  then  in  his  Re- 
monstrance of  Shakespeare  (1749),  which,  being  put  in  the  shape 
of  a  theatre  prologue,  naturally  took  the  couplet  form. 

1  With  the  exception  of  an  unimportant  elegy. 

2  Mr.  Saintsbury  notices  this  in  Ward's  English  Poets,  Vol.  HI.,  page  217 


40  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

In  the  same  year  with  the  Pleasures  of  Imagination  (1744} 
appeared  The  Art  of  Preserving  Health,  by  John  Armstrong 
(1709-1779).  This  is  a  blank-verse  poem  in  four  books, 
Armstrong  is  a  direct  imitator  of  Thomson,  and  like  Akenside, 
was  a  physician.  It  should  also  be  noted  that  he  was  a 
Scotchman,  and  showed  his  love  for  old  English  authors  by 
some  juvenile  imitations  of  Shakspere.  The  longest  of  these, 
a  poem  on  Winter,  was  written  while  the  young  man  was 
passing  the  winter  in  a  wild,  solitary  part  of  the  country,  and 
curiously  enough,  seems  to  have  been  finished  just  as  Thom- 
son's poem  on  the  same  subject  appeared.  Whether  either 
borrowed  from  the  other  or  not  is  uncertain  ;  but  when  Thom- 
son by  some  means  managed  to  read  Armstrong's  piece,  he 
showed  it  to  David  Mallet  and  others  ;  Mallet  immediately 
asked  Armstrong's  permission  to  print  it ;  the  latter,  not  unwill- 
ingly, consented.  Then  Mallet  calmly  suppressed  it  and  it 
was  not  published  till  1770.  The  poem  shows  considerable 
promise. 

Besides  these  imitations  of  Shakspere,  Armstrong,  as  is  well 
known,  contributed  a  few  Spenserian  stanzas  to  The  Castle  of 
Indolence. 

In  1757  appeared  The  Fleece,  by  John  Dyer  (died  I758).1 
This  is  a  blank-verse  poem  in  four  books.  Dyer  was  a 
Welshman  with  a  genuine  love  for  natural  scenery,  which 
came  out  plainly  in  his  early  octosyllabics,  Grongar  Hill  and 
The  Country  Walk  (1726).  He  did  not  handle  blank  verse 
with  anything  like  the  skill  he  showed  in  the  shorter  rimed 
measure  ;  perhaps  this  was  partly  owing  to  the  unpoetical 
nature  of  the  subjects  he  undertook. 

A  pronounced  imitator  of  Thomson's  blank  verse  was  his 
friend  and  fellow-countryman  David  Mallet  (1709-02 — 1765). 
He  is  chiefly  famous  for  his  connection  with  the  ballad  of 

1  The  year  of  Dyer's  birth  seems  not  to  be  known :  Dr.  Johnson  says  he  was  born 
in  1700.  Dowden  says  1698  or  1699.  Leslie  Stephen  says  "  1700  or  a  year  or  two 
previously."  Ryland  gives  1 700  with  a  question-mark. 


THE   REACTION  IN  FORM.  43 

William  and  Margaret,  which  he  seems  still  to  have  the 
credit  of  writing,  though  it  can  be  clearly  shown  that  he 
stole  it.1  Mallet  published  two  lengthy  poems  in  blank 
verse,  The  Excursion  (1728)  and  Amyntor  and  Theodora  (1747). 
The  Excursion  particularly  shows  Thomson's  influence  ;  its 
verse  has  many  similarities  to  that  of  The  Seasons,  and  it 
has  much  to  say  about  nature,  although  its  author  is  evidently 
insincere.  The  style  is  extremely  "classic"  in  its  cold, 
argumentative,  viscous  flow.  Both  poems  are  wofully  tedious, 
Joseph  Warton  said  of  Amyntor  and  Theodora,  "  The  nauseous 
affectation  of  expressing  everything  pompously  and  poetically, 
is  nowhere  more  visible  than  in  a  poem  lately  published, 
entitled  Amyntor  and  Theodora" 2 

The  next  blank-verse  poem  of  considerable  reputation  that 
followed  Dyer's  Fleece,  was  The  Sugar  Caw*  (17  64),  by  Dr.  James 
Grainger,  (1721  (?)— 1766).  This  was  of  course  in  the  didactic 
style.  Grainger  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Percy,  and  their 
correspondence  on  the  Reliques  and  on  Ossian  is  of  much 
more  value  and  importance  for  our  purposes  than  Grainger's 
blank  verse. 

The  poems  above  mentioned  are  the  chief  essays  in  blank 
verse  that  appeared  in  England  between  1700  and  1765. 
There  were,  of  course,  shorter  poems  of  importance,  such  as 
Joseph  Warton's  Enthusiast,  written  in  1740.  The  Heroic 
Couplet  was  not  abandoned  during  this  period,  but  the  more 
knowing  ones  let  it  alone,  and  many  of  the  lesser  lights  took 
to  blank  verse  because  it  was  the  fashion.  Mr.  Perry  says, 
"  Doubtless  blank  verse  was  a  reaction  against  the  couplet. 
It  was  the  first  sign  of  a  protest  against  that  rigid  form,  just 
as  in  Milton's  hands  it  was  the  last  measure  in  which  a  poet 
of  heroic  proportions  spoke  to  the  world.  Yet  the  instrument 
he  commanded  the  puny  bardlings  of  the  last  century  could 
not  handle  ;  his  cffgrft ty  was  mimicked  by  a  feeble  rumble.  .  .  . 
Yet  they  felt  the  charm  of  his  verse ;  that  was  something,  and 

1  See  Appendix.  '-'  Esjay  on  Pope,  Vol.  I.,  page  147. 


42  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

they  maintained  their  side  with  obstinacy  in  the  face  of  violent 
opposition." 1 

The  Octosyllabic  Couplet  had  not  been  entirely  neglected 
in  the  Augustan  age,  although,  of  course,  it  was  nothing  like 
so  common  as  the  prevailing  decasyllabic  measure.  I  have 
spoken  of  ParnelPs  skillful  manipulation  of  it ; 2  Dyer  used  it 
gracefully  and  won  a  wide  reputation,  which  he  still  holds 
among  students.  William  Hamilton  of  Bangour  did  excellent 
work  with  the  measure  ;  and  the  whole  Miltonic  school,  their 
heads  full  of  L?  Allegro  and  //  Penseroso,  scribbled  octosyllabics 
all  through  the  middle  of  the  century. 

SWe  have  seen  that  the  reaction  in  form  most  naturally 
took  the  shape  of  blank  verse  for  long  poems  ;  so  that  the 
sympathizers  with  the  Romantic  movement,  consciously  or- 
unconsciously,  found  themselves  defending  blank  verse,  while 
the  Classicists  attacked  it  vigorously.  Dr.  Johnson's  opinions 
on  the  subject  are  well  known ;  it  is,  however,  worth  noticing 
here  that  in  the  year  1759  two  of  the  most  celebrated  poets  of 
the  century  came  out  positively  on  opposite  sides  —  Goldsmith 
and  Young.  There  was,  so  far  as  I  know,  no  intentional 
opposition  between  them,  but  it  is  an  interesting  fact  that 
opinions  so  exactly  contrary  should  have  appeared  at  the 
same  time,  and  from  the  pens  of  so  eminent  men.  Goldsmith's 
Inquiry  into  the  Present  State  of  Polite  Learning  was  published 
in  April,  1759.  In  its  pessimistic  note,  and  contempt  for  the 
revival  of  old  English  authors,  it  is  in  even  more  striking 
contrast  with  Young's  buoyant  essay.  Chapter  XI.  of  Gold- 
smith's wail  is  particularly  interesting  —  On  the  Marks  of 
Literary  Decay  in  France  and  England.  The  present  state  of 
literature  with  the  fondness  for  blank  verse,  he  emphatically 
condemns.  "  From  this  proceeds  the  affected  security  of 
our  odes,  the  tuneless  flow  of  our  blank  verse,  the  pompous 
epithet,"  etc.3 

1  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  page  384. 

2  See  page  27. 

8  Goldsmith  was,  of  course,  largely  influenced  by  Dr.  Johnson. 


THE  REACTION  IN  FORM.  43 

Young's  Conjectures  on  Original  Composition  took  the  form 
of  an  open  letter  to  the  "author  of  Sir  Charles  Grandison.'" 
Young  was  77  years  old  when  he  wrote  this  essay,  which 
makes  all  the  more  remarkable  its  breadth  of  thought  and 
sprightliness  of  treatment.1  Young's  main  purpose  in  writing 
the  essay  was  to  stir  up  the  age  to  original  composition,  and 
its  buoyant  optimism  is  in  striking  contrast  to  Goldsmith's 
dismal  utterances ;  but  in  the  course  of  his  remarks  Young 
also  took  occasion  to  discuss  the  relative  merits  of  blank 
verse  and  rime.  He  pronounces  his  opinion  in  the  most 
emphatic  style.  Speaking  of  Pope's  translation  of  Homer, 
he  says,  "  Had  Milton  never  wrote,  Pope  would  have  been 
less  to  blame ;  but  when  in  Milton's  genius,  Homer,  as  it 
were,  personally  rose  to  forbid  Britons  doing  him  that  ignoble 
wrong,  it  is  less  pardonable,  by  that  effeminate  decoration,  to 
put  Achilles  in  petticoats  a  second  time.  How  much  nobler 
had  it  been,  if  his  numbers  had  rolled  on  in  full  flow,  thro'  the 
various  modulations  of  masculine  melody,  into  those  grandeurs 
of  solemn  sound  which  are  indispensably  demanded  by  the 
native  dignity  of  heroic  song  !  How  much  nobler  if  he  had 
resisted  the  temptations  of  that  Gothic  demon  2  which  modern 
poesy,  tasting,  became  mortal !  .  .  .  Harmony,  as  well  as 
eloquence,  is  essential  to  poesy;  and  a  murder  of  his  music 
is  putting  half  Homer  to  death.  'Blank'  is  a  term  of  dimi- 
nution ;  what  we  mean  by  *  blank  verse '  is  verse,  unfallen, 
uncursed ;  verse  reclaimed,  re-inthroned  in  the  true  language 
of  the  gods  ;  who  never  thundered,  nor  suffered  their  Homer 
to  thunder,  in  rhyme." 3  Again,  speaking  of  Dryden,  he  says, 
"The  strongest  demonstration  of  his  no-taste  for  the  buskin 
are  (sic)  his  tragedies  fringed  with  rhyme ;  which,  in  epic 
poetry  is  a  sore  disease,  in  the  tragic  absolute  death.  To 

1  It  is  rather  singular  that  this  significant  piece  of  eighteenth  century  prose  should 
be  at  present  so  neglected.     It  is  in  Vol.  II.,  of  Young's  Complete  Works,  London 
1854.     The  page  references  that  follow  are  to  this  edition. 

2  Rime. 

3  Conjectures,  page  565. 


«H  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Dryden's  enormity,  Pope's  was  a  slight  offence.  ...  *  Must 
rhyme,'  then  say  you,  '  be  banished  ? '  I  wish  the  nature 
of  our  language  could  bear  its  entire  expulsion ;  but  our 
lesser  poetry  stands  in  need  of  a  toleration  for  it ;  it  raises 
that,  but  sinks  the  great ;  as  spangles  adorn  children,  but 
expose  men."1 

Young's  preference  for  blank  verse  was  certainly  distinctly 
marked,  and  the  essay  is  especially  suggestive  coming  at  this 
time,  as  it  shows  how  the  Romantic  movement  was  having  its 
effect  on  the  poet's  mind.  He  would  not  have  written  like 
that  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  century,  when  he  was  polishing 
off  couplets  along  with  the  Augustans. 

No  discussion  of  the  Reaction  in  Form  would  be  complete 
without  noticing  the  disappearance  of  the  Sonnet,  and  its 
subsequent  revival.  The  sonnet  is  as  naturally  a  form  for 
Romantic  poetry,  as  the  couplet  was  for  Classic.  Imagine 
the  Essay  on  Man  put  into  a  sonnet  sequence,  like  Rossetti's 
House  of  Life!  Whatever  the  sonnet  may  be  best  fitted  for, 
it  is  certainly  wholly  unfit  for  wit,  satire,  and  didactic  verse. 
It  is,  therefore,  not  at  all  surprising  that  the  sonnet  should 
have  been  almost  completely  neglected  by  the  Augustans.  It 
is  fair  to  say  that  it  practically  disappeared.  The  only  sonnet 
written  in  English  between  the  performances  of  Milton,  and 
Gray's  sporadic  attempt  in  1742,  that  has  survived,  is  a  sonnet 
on  Death,  written,  curiously  enough,  by  Pope's  mentor,  William 
Walsh.  The  form  of  this  sonnet  is  extremely  irregular  ; 2  it 
has,  however,  some  excellent  lines,  though  the  sentiment  is 
Augustan.  With  the  exception  of  this  lonely  sonnet,  none 
of  the  Classicists,  so  far  as  we  know,  tried  their  hand  at  this 
form  of  verse.  They  would  undoubtedly  have  ridiculed  it. 
In  1742,  Gray  wrote  a  fine  sonnet  on  the  death  of  his  brilliant 

1  Conjectures,  page  574. 

2  The  riming  scheme  is  ab,  ab,  be,  be,  dd,  ce,  ec.     This  sonnet  was  written  before 
1708,  for  Walsh  died  in  that  year.      Mr.  Gosse  erroneously  says  (Ward's  English 
Poets,  III.,  7)  that  it  is  the  only  sonnet  written  in  English  between  Milton's  and 
Warton's! 


THE   REACTION  IN  FORM.  45 

friend,  Richard  West,  but  it  was  not  published  till  after  Gray's 
death.  This  is  also  irregular  in  form,1  and  has  a  few  classi- 
cisms, which  brought  down  a  most  unwarrantably  severe 
judgment  from  Wordsworth. 

About  the  middle  of  the  century  the  sonnet  was  revived  by 
Thomas  Edwards,  Benjamin  Stillingfleet,  Thomas  Warton,  and 
William  Mason.  No  one  of  these  men  can  . claim  the  sole 
credit  of  its  revival;2  but  Edwards  deserves  praise  for  his 
persistence  in  sonnet  composition,  and  Warton  by  his  greater 
influence  helped  to  make  the  sonnet  fashionable. 

The  sonnets  of  Benjamin  Stillingfleet  (1702-1771)  were 
great  neither  in  number  nor  in  excellence,  but  some  of  them 
were  certainly  written  before  1750,  which  gives  their  author 
a  place  among  the  pioneers.  Mason  said  that  he  himself 
wrote  a  sonnet  in  1748,  and  it  is  so  dated  in  his  works;  but 
Mason  was  so  loose  in  his  statements  that  he  cannot  always 
be  relied  upon.  However,  he  wrote  a  number  of  sonnets 
before  1750.  Thomas  Warton  wrote  nine  sonnets,  all  on 
the  Miltonic  model.3  Some  of  these  were  written  about  the 
year  1750. 

One  of  the  most  interesting,  although  almost  entirely 
neglected  men  among  the  sonnet  revivers,  was  Thomas 
Edwards  (1699-1757).  Edwards  was  famous  in  his  own 
day  for  a  bitter  controversy  with  Warburton,  over  the  latter's 
edition  of  Shakspere.  In  1747,  when  that  work  appeared, 
Edwards  came  out  with  a  Supplement.4  It  was  a  merciless 
exposure  of  Warburton's  editorial  methods.  Many  of  the 
literary  men  of  the  day  became  interested  in  the  fight  ; 
Akenside  warmly  supported  Edwards,  and  wrote  a  poem  on 

1  Rimes  ab,  al>,  ab,  ad,  cd,  cd,  cd. 

2  Mr.  Ward  says  (English  Poets,  III.,  383)  that  Warton  revived  the  sonnet,  but 
this  statement  taken  by  itself  is  not  strictly  true. 

3  The  influence  of  Milton  was  doubtless  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  sonnet 
revival.     His  minor  poetry  was  extremely  popular  about  1750. 

-  4  A  Supplement  to  Mr.  Warburton's  Edition  of  Shakespear.  Being  the  Canons  of 
Criticism,  and  Glossary.  By  another  Gentleman  of  Lincoln's  Inn.  London,  1748 
After  the  3d  edition,  the  book  was  called  The  Canons  of  Criticism. 


46  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

the  subject.1  In  the  third  edition  of  The  Canons  of  Criticism 
(1750),  Edwards  printed  two  sonnets  by  himself.  In  the  fifth 
edition  (1753)  five  sonnets  appeared;  and  along  with  the 
seventh  edition  (1765),  besides  the  five  sonnets  previously 
mentioned,  Edwards's  editor  published  forty-five  other  sonnets, 
some  of  which  Edwards  had  printed  in  Dodsley's  Miscellanies. 
Edwards  was  thus  the  author  pf  just  fifty  sonnets.  These 
are  chiefly  addressed  to  his  private  friends,  and  are  not  par- 
ticularly remarkable  for  their  literary  merit.  What  is  remark- 
able is  the  fact  that  Edwards  persistently  wrote  in  this  form 
at  a  time  when  it  was  so  unfashionable.  Forty-six  of  these 
sonnets  are  on  the  Miltonic  model,  and  the  other  four  are 
after  the  Spenserian  pattern  —  a  curious  fact,  as  the  Spenserian 
sonnet  has  never  been  at  all  popular.  Edwards's  masters  were 
Spenser  and  Milton  ;  in  one  of  his  sonnets  he  calls  Spenser 
"the  sweetest  bard  that  ever  sung";  and  there  are  many 
complimentary  allusions  to  Spenser,  Shakspere,  and  Milton. 
All  of  Edwards's  poetical  works  that  I  have  been  able  to  find, 
consist  of  these  fifty  sonnets,  and  one  epistolary  ode.  The 
sonnet  was  evidently  his  favorite  mode  of  expression,  and 
the  early  date  at  which  he  wrote  them  ought  to  give  him  a 
much  more  prominent  place  among  the  sonnet  revivers  than 
he  has  thus  far  obtained.2 

Not  long  after  1760,  when  Romanticism  was  a  living  force, 
the  sonnet  became  exceedingly  popular ;  so  that  the  century 
closed  with  the  sonnet  as  exalted  as  it  had  been  despised  among 
the  Augustans.  The  disappearance  and  revival  of  this  verse- 
form  were  certainly  outward  indications  of  the  reaction  against 
the  couplet,  and  the  general  growth  of  the  Romantic  movement. 

I  have  in  this  chapter  sketched  irt  a  necessarily  cursory 
fashion,  the  Reaction  in  Form  as  expressed  in  blank  verse, 
octosyllabics,  and  the  sonnet ;  the  Spenserian  revival  is  so 
important  as  to  deserve  a  much  more  thorough  treatment 
in  a  separate  chapter. 

1  Akenside's  Odes,  Book  II.,  Ode  X.    This  poem  appeared  in  1751,  on  Warburton't 
Edition  of  Pope. 

2  I  have  since  seen  two  sonnets  of  Edwards,  one  dated  1746,  the  other  1747. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    SPENSERIAN    REVIVAL. 

FRENCH  ROMANTICISM  in  its  early  stages  was  wonderfully 
fortunate  in  having  the  aid  of  an  original  genius  —  Victor 
Hugo.  He  had  enough  creative  power  in  his  own  intellect 
and  imagination  to  supply  the  Romantic  movement  with  all  the 
material  it  needed.  But  in  the  beginnings  of  English  Roman- 
ticism there  was  no  supreme,  dominating  figure.  Instead  of 
striking  out  into  wholly  new  paths,  the  men  who  led  the  move- 
ment naturally  looked  back  to  the  past  to  find  the  inspiration 
the  lack  of  which  was  so  plainly  evident  in  the  present. 
Among  the  old  English  poets,  it  was  Spenser  who  supplied 
them  with  just  what  they  sought.  Spenser  jvas  the  jpoet  of 
Rprnanticism_as  Pope  was  of  Classicism.  They  stand  exactly 
in  opposition  ;  the  latter  all  intellect,  didactic  and  satirical  ; 

jj"lf   pnpf    nf   town    ]iff*    anrl    nf    faghior^folfi    society  •    the  former 

the  _poej:  ^>f  _dreamland,  pf 


wqods^and  streams^  of  jairy  and^aur^ej^tuj^l^Jife,  Along 
with  the  sharp  contrast  in  substance,  there  is  also  the  pro- 
nounced difference  in  style.  Nothing  could  be  more  unlike 
the  regular  strokes  ^f  the  couplet  than  the 
^ 


Spenser  thus  played  a  most  important  part  in  the  new 
movement  —  a  part  much  greater  than  that  of  Shakspere  and 
Milton  —  although  both  these  poets  were  extreme  favorites 
with  the  Romanticists.  Spenser  had  not  been  wholly  neglected 
in  the  Augustan  age,  as  will  presently  be  shown ;  but  he  was 
known  only  to  the  scholars  and  antiquarians,  and  not  to  the 
mass  of  literary  men.  As  soon  as  he  was  really  brought 
before  the  public,  writers  and  readers  turned  to  his  pages 


48  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT 

.with  avidity  —  eager  for  that  solace  and  refreshment  which 
the  dry  bones  of  Classicism  could  no  longer  afford. 

But  there  is  one  exceedingly  important  fact  to  notice  in 
the  multitude  of  Spenserian  imitations  —  very  few  men  took 
him  seriously.  They  read  him  for  amusement,  and  they 
practised  his  versification  for  amusement ;  this  fact  explains 
why  so  many  satires  and  so  much  half-comic  poetry  were 
written  in  the  Spenserian  form.  The  spirit  of  the  Augustan 
age  lingered  long  after  the  zenith  of  its  glory  had  been 
passed  and  affected  nearly  if  not  quite  all  of  the  Spenser 
imitators.  Thomson  —  whose  Castle  of  Indolence  was  immeas- 
urably above  all  the  other  attempts  in  this  stanza  —  thought 
it  necessary  to  include  plenty  of  mild  satire  in  his  poem  ; 
and  Shenstone,  when  he  first  wrote  The  Schoolmistress,  never 
dreamed  of  taking  Spenser  seriously,  and  was  especially  anxious 
that  the  public  should  not  take  his  jest  for  earnest.  The  bulk 
of  the  Spenserian  imitations  were  used  for  satire,  parodies  and 
"  occasional "  poetry. 

But  though  this  fact  should  never  be  forgotten  by  the  literary 
student,  it  should  also  be  remembered  that  the  real  influence 
of  Spenser  during  these  years  was  strong  and  healthy.  Many 
people  read  him  and  loved  him,  who  did  not  dare  to  confess 
themselves  before  men ;  and  many  who  began  by  taking 
Spenser  as  a  joke,  were  led  to  the  serious  study  and  appre- 
ciation of  his  poetry.  To  these  he  was  the  golden  gate  to 
the  realms  of  romance  ;  the  splendors  of  chivalry,  the  military 
glory  of  the  days  of  "  ladies  dead  and  lovely  knights "  —  all 
this  was  rescued  from  oblivious  contempt  and  made  once  more 
real.  Thus  the  influence  of  Spenser,  which  after  inspiring 
Milton,  had  lain  dormant  through  the  Classical  period,  again 
asserted  itself  as  a  powerful  quickening  force.  By  the  middle 
of  the  century,  it  was  so  much  the  fashion  to  write  in  the 
stanza  and  to  use  old  English  words,  that  many  insignificant 
poetasters  dipped  into  the  Fairy  Queen  just  deep  enough  to  get 
the  swing  of  the  stanza  and  a  small  vocabulary  of  obsolete  words. 


THE   SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  49 

Towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  two  famous 
literary  men  expressed  their  opinions  of  Spenser  in  an  interest- 
ing manner.  Sir  William  Temple,  in  his  Essay  Of  Poetry,  said, 
"Spencer  endeavoured  to  make  Instruction  instead  of  Story, 
the  Subject  of  an  Epick  Poem.  His  Execution  was  excellent, 
and  his  Flights  of  Fancy  very  noble  and  high,  but  his  Design 
was  poor,  and  his  Moral  lay  so  bare,  that  it  lost  the  Effect ; 
'tis  true,  the  Pill  was  gilded,  but  so  thin,  that  the  Colour  and 
the  Taste  were  too  easily  discovered."  r 

Addison  seems  to  have  had  this  passage  of  Temple's  in 
mind,  when  he  wrote  his  lines  on  Spenser,  in  the  famous 
Account  of  the  Greatest  English  Poets  (1694): —  y.fV 

"  Old  Spenser  next,  warm'd  with  poetic  rage, 
In  ancient  tales  amus'd  a  barbarous  age  ; 
An  age  that  yet  uncultivate  and  rude, 

Where'er  the  poet's  fancy  led,  pursued  oi-^i 

Through  pathless  fields,  and  unfrequented  floods, 
To  dens  of  dragons,  and  enchanted  woods. 
But  now  the  mystic  tale,  that  pleas'd  of  yore, 
Can  charm  an  understanding  age  no  more  ; 
The  long-spun  allegories  fulsome  grow, 
While  the  dull  moral  lies  too  plain  below." 

Compare  the  last  line  quoted  with  Temple's  statement  that 
Spenser's  "moral  lay  so  bare,  that  it  lost  the  effect." 

It  is  rather  singular  that  the  Spenserian  imitations  in  the 
eighteenth  century  should  have  been  started  by  an  Augustan 
of  the  Augustans  —  the  poet  Matthew  Prior  (1664-1721).  In 
1706  appeared  his  An  Ode,  Humbly  Inscribed  to  the  Queen,  on 
the  Glorious  Success  of  Her  Majesty's  Arms.  Written  in  Imita- 
tion of  Spenser's  Style.  His  imitation  was  by  no  means  a  perfect 
one  ;  it  was  in  a  ten-lined  stanza,  riming  ab,  ab,  cd,  cd,  ee.  It 
is,  however,  an  extremely  important  poem,  being  the  prototype 
of  a  great  many  of  the  Spenserian  imitations  that  followed. 
Indeed,  it  is  probable  that  some  of  the  poetasters  learned 

1  Miscellanea,  Part  II.,  Of  Poetry. 


50  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

all  their  Spenser  through  Prior.  He  seems  to  have  been 
the  originator  of  this  pseudo-Spenserian  stanza.1  Curiously 
enough,  his  two  masters  in  this  Ode  were  the  extreme  leaders 
and  models  of  the  Classic  and  Romantic  schools  —  Horace 
and  Spenser.  It  sounds  paradoxical  to  say  that  a  poem  can 
be  written  after  the  model  of  Horace  and  Spenser,  but  that  is 
just  what  Prior  attempted  to  do.  In  his  interesting  preface, 
he  says,  "As  to  the  style,  the  choice  I  made  of  following  the 
ode  in  Latin,  determined  me  in  English  to  the  stanza;  and 
herein  it  was  impossible  not  to  have  a  mind  to  follow  our  great 
countryman  Spenser ;  which  I  have  done  (as  well,  at  least,  as 
I  could)  in  the  manner  of  my  expression,  and  the  turn  of  my 
number ;  having  only  added  one  verse  to  his  stanza,  which  I 
thought  made  the  number  more  harmonious ;  and  avoided 
such  of  his  words  as  I  found  too  obsolete.  I  have,  however, 
retained  some  few  of  them,  to  make  the  colouring  look  more 
like  Spenser's."  He  then  goes  on  to  enumerate  such  words 
as  "I  weet,"  "I  ween,"  etc.  "My  two  great  examples,  Horace 
and  Spenser,  in  many  things  resemble  each  other ;  both  have 
a  height  of  imagination,  and  a  majesty  of  expression  in  describ- 
ing the  sublime  ;  and  both  know  to  temper  those  talents,  and 
sweeten  the  description,  so  as  to  make  it  lovely  as  well  as 
pompous  ;  both  have  equally  that  agreeable  manner  of  mixing 
morality  with  their  story,  and  that  curiosa  felicitas  in  the  choice 
of  their  diction,  which  every  writer  aims  at  and  so  few  have 
reached ;  both  are  particularly  fine  in  their  images,  and  know- 
ing in  their  numbers." 

I  have  quoted  this  preface  somewhat  at  length,  because  it 
is  so  admirable  an  example  of  Queen  Anne  literary  criticism  ; 
and  exhibits  just  that  confusion  of  ideals  so  often  shown  by 
the  Augustans.  His  comparison  of  Horace  and  Spenser  was 
accepted  in  gravity  and  good  faith.  His  saying  that  by  adding 

1  Donne  and  Phineas  Fletcher  had  written  ten-lined  stanzas,  ending  with  an 
Alexandrine,  but-  not  with  this  riming  scheme.  See  Scrapper's  Englische  Metrik, 
III.,  page  775. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  51 

a  verse  to  Spenser's  stanza  he  had  made  "  the  number  more 
harmonious,"  sounds  to  us,  and  must  have  seemed  to  the 
Wartons,  like  unspeakable  audacity ;  but  Prior  did  not  think 
so,  and  he  displeased  contemporary  critics  no  more  in  this 
than  when  he  put  a  fine  old  English  ballad  into  the  Heroic 
Couplet. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  Prior's  ode  is  utterly 
destitute  of  Spenser's  spirit.  It  is  simply  the  familiar  couplet 
with  the  riming  scheme  changed,  and  is  if  anything  still  more 
monotonous.  It  shows  what  the  Augustan  ideal  of  "harmony" 
in  versification  was.  One  stanza  will  suffice  :  — 

"  When  bright  Eliza  rul'd  Britannia's  state, 
Widely  distributing  her  high  commands, 
And  boldly  wise,  and  fortunately  great, 
Freed  the  glad  nations  from  tyrannic  bands  ; 
An  equal  genius  was  in  Spenser  found  ; 
To  the  high  theme  he  match'd  his  noble  lays  ; 
He  travell'd  England  o'er  on  fairy  ground, 
In  mystic  notes  to  sing  his  monarch's  praise  ; 
Reciting  wondrous  truths  in  pleasing  dreams, 
He  deck'd  Eliza's  head  with  Gloriana's  beams." 

Dr.  Johnson's  remarks  on  this  imitation  are  well  worth 
quoting :  "  His  poem  is  necessarily  tedious  by  the  form  of 
the  stanza ;  an  uniform  mass  of  ten  lines  thirty-five  times 
repeated,  inconsequential  and  slightly  connected,  must  weary 
both  the  ear  and  the  understanding.  His  imitation  of  Spenser, 
which  consists  principally  in  I  ween  and  / '  weet,  without  exclu- 
sion of  later  modes  of  speech,  makes  his  poem  neither  ancient 
nor  modern."  Johnson  compared  a  stanza  of  Spenser's  with 
one  of  Prior's  to  show  "with  how  little  resemblance  he  has 
formed  his  new  stanza  to  that  of  his  master.  ...  By  this 
new  structure  of  his  lines  he  has  avoided  difficulties ;  nor  am 
I  sure  that  he  has  lost  any  of  the  power  of  pleasing ;  but  he 
no  longer  imitates  Spenser."  l 

1  Life  of  Prior. 


52  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Somewhere  between  1713  and  1721  another  Spenserian 
imitation  appeared,  which  I  am  almost  certain  was  written 
by  Prior.  The  poem  was  called  Colin 's  Mistakes.  In  Imitation 
of  Spenser's  Style.  It  is  in  the  ten-lined  stanza,  with  the  same 
riming  scheme  as  Prior's  Ode  to  the  Queen  in  1706.  Colin  sees 
a  maiden,  whom  he  first  supposes  to  be  Pallas,  then  Juno,  then 
Venus,  but  Clio  finally  informs  him  that  it  is  Lady  Henrietta 
Cavendish  Holles-Harley.  The  thought  is,  of  course,  typically 
Augustan ;  but  the  allusions  to  Spenser  are  interesting.  In 
the  first  stanza  occur  the  words,  — 

"And  much  he  lov'd  and  much  by  heart  he  said 
What  Father  Spenser  sung  in  British  verse. 
Who  reads  that  bard  desires  like  him  to  write, 
Still  fearful  of  success,  still  tempted  with  delight." 

Other  interesting  references  might  be  quoted.  The  exact  date 
of  this  poem  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain.1 

Some  interest  in  Spenser  on  the  Pastoral  side  was  aroused 
by  Ambrose  Philips  (1671-1749),  who  was  mainly  inspired  by 
Spenser  in  writing  his  Pastorals  (1709).  Dr.  Johnson  said  in 
his  Life  of  Philips  that  while  Pope  took  Vergil  for  his  pattern, 
Philips  took  Spenser. 

Pope  was  not  altogether  lacking  in  appreciation  of  Spenser. 
In  1715  he  wrote  to  Hughes,  the  editor  of  Spenser's  works, 

1  Lady  Henrietta  Cavendish  Holies  married  Edward  Harley,  the  son  of  the  Earl 
of  Oxford,  October  31,  1713.  The  poem  must,  therefore,  have  been  written  after  that 
event,  and  at  some  time  previous  to  1721,  the  year  of  Prior's  death.  The  poem  is 
printed  in  Nichols's  Select  Collection  of  Poems,  Vol.  7.  Nichols  adds  a  note,  in  which 
he  states  his  belief  that  the  poem  was  written  not  by  Prior,  but  by  Samuel  Croxall. 
But  it  is  extremely  unlikely  that  Croxall  should  have  written  verses  in  praise  of  the 
daughter-in-law  of  the  man  whose  administration  he  publicly  satirized ;  and  further- 
more there  are  several  strong  reasons  for  Prior's  authorship.  Prior  was  a  great  friend 
of  Edward  Harley,  spent  many  days  at  his  house,  and  died  there  in  1721 ;  in  1719 
Prior  wrote  some  Verses  addressed  to  Lady  Henrietta  Cavendish  Holles-Harley,  the 
heroine  of  the  poem  here  discussed ;  and  lastly,  Conn's  Mistakes  is  in  exactly  the 
same  measure  as  Prior's  Ode  in  1706,  a  measure  which  Croxall  to  my  knowledge 
never  handled.  These  reasons  seem  to  me  to  be  very  strong  evidence  for  Prior's 
authorship. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  53 

"  Spenser  has  been  ever  a  favorite  poet  to  me  ;  he  is  like  a 
mistress,  whose  faults  we  see,  but  love  her  with  them  all."1 
But  his  exceedingly  coarse  burlesque  of  the  old  poet  shows 
that  if  his  appreciation  was  sincere,  he  did  not  dare  to  avow 
it  publicly.  When  The  Alley  was  written  seems  difficult  to 
ascertain.  We  know  from  Spence's  Anecdotes  that  Gay  had 
some  slight  share  in  its  composition.2  The  poem  stands 
among  Pope's  imitations  of  Chaucer,  Waller,  Cowley,  and 
others,  and  we  are  told  that  they  were  "  done  by  the  Author 
in  his  Youth."  Joseph  Warton  said  that  some  of  these 
imitations  were  written  at  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age.3  In 
composing  The  Alley  Pope  was,  of  course,  not  prompted  by 
his  love  for  Spenser ;  it  was  simply  an  exercise  in  versification. 
The  piece  contains  six  stanzas,  and  is  written  in  the  regular 
stanza  of  the  Fairy  Queen. 

Public  attention  was  called  to  Spenser  by  Steele,  in  the 
Spectator  for  November  19,  17 12.4  Steele  begins  by  remarking 
on  the  recent  Miltonic  criticisms,  and  then  adds :  "  It  is  an 
honourable  and  candid  endeavour  to  set  the  works  of  our 
noble  writers  in  the  graceful  light  which  they  deserve.  You 
will  lose  much  of  my  kind  inclination  towards  you  if  you  do 
not  attempt  the  encomium  of  Spenser  also,  or  at  least  indulge 
my  passion  for  that  charming  author  so  far  as  to  print  the 
loose  hints  I  now  give  you  on  the  subject."  He  proceeds 
then  to  describe  the  general  plan  of  Spenser's  poem,  and 
says :  "  His  style  is  very  poetical ;  no  puns,  affectations  of 
wit,  forced  antitheses,  or  any  of  that  low  tribe.5  .  .  .  His 
old  words  are  all  true  English."  He  then  quotes  several 
stanzas.  How  far  Steele  was  prompted  to  all  this  by  real 

1  Works,  Vol.  X.,  page  120. 

•2  '"The  Alley'  in  imitation  of  Spenser,  was  written  by  Mr.  Pope,  with  a  line  or 
two  of  Mr.  Gay's  in  it."  —  Anecdotes.  Page  167  of  Underbill's  Selection. 

3  Essay  on  Pope,  Vol.  II.,  page  29.     London,  1782. 

4  No.  540. 

5  This  sounds  like  a  hit  at  contemporary  poetry;   but  of  course  he  really  means 
the  "Metaphysicals"  of  the  seventeenth  century. 


54  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

love  of  Spenser,  or  by  the  necessity  of  writing  his  sheet,  is 
hard  to  say;  his  remarks  at  any  rate  do  not  seem  to  have 
caused  much  discussion. 

In  1713  appeared  An  Original  Canto  of  Spencer,  designed  as 
part  of  his  Fairy  Queen,  but  never  printed,  now  made  publick  by 
Nestor  Ironside.  This  was  written  by  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Croxall, 
previously  alluded  to.1  The  Preface  contains  a  fictitious 
account  of  the  supposed  unpublished  piece  of  verse ;  the 
poem  is  in  truth  a  satire  against  the  Earl  of  Oxford's  (Harley's) 
administration.  The  next  year  (1714)  Croxall  brought  out 
Another  Original  Canto,  under  the  same  assumed  name.2 
Croxall  afterwards  acknowledged  the  authorship  of  these 
cantos,  for  his  Vision  (1715)  mentions  them  on  the  title-page. 
It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  he  employed  the  Spenserian 
stanza  for  the  purpose  of  political  satire.  In  1714  Croxall 
also  published  an  Ode  to  George  I.  on  his  arrival  in  England, 
"written  in  the  stanza  and  measure  of  Spenser." 
/  In  1715  appeared  the  first  eighteenth  century  edition  of 
v  Spenser's  works,  edited  by  John  Hughes  (1677-1720).  He 
prefixed  an  essay  on  allegorical  poetry  and  also  some  Remarks 
on  the  Faerie  Queene?  Hughes,  of  course,  assumes  the  apolo- 
getic attitude.  "That  which  seems  the  most  liable  to  excep- 
tion in  this  work  is  the  model  of  it,  and  the  choice  the  author 
has  made  of  so  romantick  a  story.  .  .  .  The  whole  frame  of 
it  (The  Fairy  Queen)  would  appear  monstrous,  if  it  were  to 
be  examined  by  the  rules  of  epick  poetry,  as  they  have  been 
drawn  from  the  practice  of  Homer  and  Virgil ;  but  as  it  is 
plain  the  Author  never  designed  it  by  those  rules,  I  think  it 
ought  rather  to  be  considered  as  a  poem  of  a  particular  kind, 
describing,  in  a  series  of  allegorical  adventures  or  episodes, 
the  most  noted  virtues  and  vices.  To  compare  it,  therefore, 
with  the  models  of  antiquity,  \vould  be  like  drawing  a  parallel 

1  See  Chapter  II.      , 

2  Two  copies  of  the  1713  Canto  (zd  and  3d  ed.)  are  in  the  Yale  Library.    They 
are  very  rare. 

8  My  quotations  from  this  are  from  the  reprint  in  Todd's  edition  of  Spenser. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  55 

between  the  Roman  and  the  Gothick  architecture.  ...  It 
ought  to  be  considered,  too,  at  the  time  when  our  author 
wrote,  the  remains  of  the  old  Gothick  chivalry  were  not  quite 
abolished ;  it  was  not  many  years  before  that  the  famous 
Earl  of  Surry,  remarkable  for  his  wit  and  poetry  in  the  reign 
of  King  Henry  VIII.,  took  a  romantick  journey  to  Florence,  the 
place  of  his  mistress's  birth,  and  published  there  a  challenge 
against  all  nations  in  defence  of  her  beauty."  l  All  this  apology 
for  Spenser's  Romanticism  —  and  that  is  just  what  he  calls  it 
—  is  interesting  and  significant.  Not  less  so  are  his  remarks 
on  Spenser's  versification.  "As  to  the  stanza  in  which  the 
Faerie  Queene  is  written,  though  the  author  cannot  be  com- 
mended in  the  choice  of  it,  yet  it  is  much  more  harmonious 
in  its  kind  than  the  heroick  verse  of  that  age.  .  .  .  The  defect 
of  it  in  long  or  narrative  poems  is  apparent ;  the  same  measure, 
closed  always  by  a  full  stop,  in  the  same  place,  by  which  every 
stanza  is  made  as  it  were  a  distinct  paragraph,  grows  tiresome 
by  continual  repetition,  and  frequently  breaks  the  sense,  when 
it  ought  to  be  carried  on  without  interruption.  With  this 
exception  the  reader  will,  however,  find  it  harmonious,  full 
of  well-sounding  epithets,  and  of  such  elegant  turns  on  the 
thought  and  words,  that  Dryden  himself  owned  he  learned 
these  graces  of  verse  chiefly  from  our  author,  and  does  not 
scruple  to  say,  that  'in  this  particular,  only  Virgil  surpassed 
him  among  the  Romans,  and  only  Mr.  Waller  among  the 
English.'"2 

In  these  remarks,  Hughes  impresses  me  as  feeling  a  great 
deal  more  than  he  dared  to*  express  ;  he  understood  the  temper 
of  the  age,  and  knew  what  he  was  about  when  he  used  Dryden 
and  Waller  to  advertise  his  poet.  But  the  fact  that  he  approv- 
ingly quoted  Dryden's  utterance  shows  once  more  how  strange 
was  the  Classicist's  notion  of  harmony.  The  ears  that  never 

1  Pages  20-23.     This  expedition  of  Surrey's  is  now  known  to  be  mythical ;  probably 
based  on  a  novel  by  Nash,  and  given  currency  by  one  of  Drayton's  epistles. 

2  Page  40. 


56  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

grew  weary  of  the  eternal  couplet,  objected  to  the  Spenserian 
stanza  because  it  was  monotonous !  It  was  many  years  before 
their  notion  lost  its  force.  It  took  a  whole  century  more  to 
bring  out  Leigh  Hunt's  frank  statement :  "  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  Pope  and  the  French  school  of  versification  have 
known  the  least  on  the  subject,  of  any  poets  perhaps  that  ever 
wrote.  They  have  mistaken  mere  smoothness  for  harmony."1 

Hughes's  edition  of  Spenser  did  not  accomplish  much 
toward  making  the  poet  popular;  it  was  1750  —  thirty-five 
years  later  —  before  an  edition  of  Spenser  again  appeared  in 
England.2 

The  next  Spenserian  imitation  to  be  considered  was  written 
by  William  Whitehead  (1715-1785),  afterwards  poet-laureate 
—  one  of  the  dullest  of  all  the  dull  poets  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  He  wrote  the  Vision  of  Solomon  when  at  school, 
probably  about  the  year  1730.  It  is  a  short  poem,  written 
in  the  ten-line  stanza,  on  Prior's  model.  It  is  not  at  all 
remarkable  for  poetic  merit.  Whitehead  also  wrote  two  odes 
to  his  friend  Charles  Townsend,  written  in  a  six-lined  stanza.3 
These  were  probably  done  at  a  comparatively  early  age. 

With  the  exception  of  Whitehead's  little  school  exercise  — 
and  the  date  of  that  is  uncertain  —  I  have  not  succeeded  in 
finding  any  imitation  of  Spenser  published  between  CroxalPs 
performances  in  1714  and  the  marriage  odes  on  Prince  Fred- 
erick in  1736.  The  first  attempts  in  Spenserianism  do  not 
seem,  therefore,  to  have  awakened  much  attention,  or  to  have 
called  out  many  imitators;  after  1736,  however,  when  the 
people  were  a  little  more  inclined  toward  Romanticism,  a 
flood  of  Spenserian  imitations  appeared. 

1  Preface  to  the  Story  of  Rimini,  page  1 3. 

2  It  may  be  worth  mentioning  in  passing  that  in  1734  the  learned  Dr.  Jortir 
published  Remarks  on  Spenser's  Poems.     They  are  of  no  special  significance,  and 
are  devoid  of  interest  from  the  literary  point  of  view. 

8  To  the  Honourable  Charles  Townsend  and  To  the  Same —  On  the  Death  of  a 
Relation.  The  riming  scheme  is  al>,  ab,  cc,  the  last  an  Alexandrine.  This  measure 
was  sometimes  used  by  the  Spenserians. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  57 

William  Thompson  is  a  poet  almost  completely  forgotten 
to-day,  but  he  was  one  of  the  best  of  the  Spenserians.  Little 
is  known  of  his  life ;  the  dates  of  his  birth  and  death  are 
uncertain  ;  but  he  was  born  in  the  early  part  of  the  century, 
and  died  before  1767.  He  was  a  careful  and  enthusiastic 
student  of  the  old  English  poets.  From  early  youth  he 
admired  Spenser  and  imitated  him  in  three  poems.  Although 
Thompson  was  really  filled  with  the  Romantic  spirit,  it  is 
worthy  of  note  that  he  was  also  extravagantly  fond  of  Pope 
—  another  instance  of  the  unconsciousness  of  English  Roman- 
ticism. 

Besides  Thompson's  Spenserian  imitations,  he  wrote  a 
number  of  graceful  songs,  and  his  Ode  Brumalis  shows  him 
to  have  been  an  intense  lover  of  Shakspere.  He  might  also 
have  been  classed  among  the  blank-verse  school,  for  he 
wrote  a  long  poem  in  that  measure,  with  the  not  particularly 
attractive  title  of  Sickness. 

In  May,  1736,  Thompson  produced  his  Epithalamium  on 
the  Royal  Nuptials.  This  is  in  the  regular  stanza  of  the 
Fairy  Queen  and  has  something  of  the  master's  spirit  in 
its  sweetness  and  melody.  One  stanza  will  suffice  to  show 
the  nature  of  the  poem  :  — 

"  Her  Thamis  (on  his  golden  urn  he  lean'd) 
Saluted  with  this  hymeneal  song, 
And  hail'd  her  safe.     Full  silent  was  the  wind, 
The  river  glided  gently  soft  along, 
Ne  whispered  the  breeze  the  leaves  among, 
Ne  love-learn'd  Philomel  out-trill'd  her  lay  ; 
A  stilness  on  the  waves  attentive  hung, 
A  brighter  gladness  blest  the  face  of  day, 
All  nature  'gan  to  smile,  her  smiles  diffused  the  May." 

In  the  same  year  (1736)  Thompson  also  wrote  The  Nativity, 
which  he  modestly  called  A  College  Exercise.  This  is  also  in 
the  regular  Spenserian  stanza,  and  has  some  beautiful  passages. 
Two  stanzas  are  worth  quoting  :  — 


58  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

"  Eftsoons  he  spy'd  a  grove,  the  Season's  pride, 
All  in  the  centre  of  a  pleasant  glade, 
Where  nature  flourish'd  like  a  virgin-bride  ; 
Mantled  with  green,  with  hyacinths  inlay 'd. 
And  crystal-rills  o'er  beds  of  lilies  stray'd  ; 
The  blue-ey'd  violet  and  king-cup  gay, 
And  new-blown  roses,  smiling  sweetly  red, 
Outglow'd  the  blushing  infancy  of  Day, 
While  amorous  west-winds  kist  their  fragrant  souls  away0 


But  hark,  the  jolly  pipe,  and  rural  lay  ! 
And  see,  the  shepherd,  clad  in  mantle  blue, 
And  shepherdess  in  russet  kirtle  gay, 
Come  dancing  on  the  shepherd-lord  to  view, 
And  pay,  in  decent-wise,  obeysance  due. 
Sweet-smelling  flow'rs  the  gentle  votaries  bring, 
Primroses,  violets,  wet  with  morning-dew, 
The  sweetest  incense  of  the  early  spring  ; 
A  humble,  yet,  I  weet,  a  grateful  offering." 

Such  verses  as  these  have  evidently  nothing  in  common 
with  the  Augustan  spirit.  They  belong  to  Romanticism  in 
substance  as  well  as  in  form.  They  display  not  only  a 
study  of  old  English  poetry,  but  a  real,  unaffected  love  of 
nature. 

In  1757  Thompson  published  a  volume  of  poems.  It 
contained  the  two  shorter  pieces  already  discussed,  and  also 
/his  Hymn  to  May.  It  is  uncertain  when  this  was  written  — 
probably  after  1750.  His  Preface  to  this  Hymn  is  suggestive. 
He  says  :  "As  Spenser  is  the  most  descriptive  and  florid  of 
all  our  English  writers,  I  attempted  to  imitate  his  manner  in 
the  following  vernal  poem.  I  have  been  very  sparing  of  the 
antiquated  words,  which  are  too  frequent  in  most  of  the 
imitations  of  this  author ;  however,  I  have  introduced  a  few 
here  and  there,  which  are  explained  at  the  bottom  of  each 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  59 

page  where  they  occur.1  Shakespeare  is  the  poet  of  Nature, 
in  adapting  the  affections  and  passions  to  his  characters ;  and 
Spenser  in  describing  her  delightful  scenes  and  rural  beauties. 
His  lines  are  most  musically  sweet ;  and  his  descriptions  most 
delicately  abundant,  even  to  a  wantonness  of  painting;  but 
still  it  is  the  music  and  painting  of  Nature.  We  find  no 
ambitious  ornaments,  or  epigrammatical  turns,  in  his  writings, 
but  a  beautiful  simplicity ;  which  pleases  far  above  the  glitter 
of  pointed  wit.  ...  A  modern  writer,  has,  I  know,  objected 
against  running  the  verse  into  alternate  and  stanza ;  but  Mr. 
Prior's  authority  is  sufficient  for  me,  who  observes  that  it  allows 
a  greater  variety,  and  still  preserves  the  dignity  of  the  verse. 
As  I  professed  myself  in  this  canto  to  take  Spenser  for 
my  model,  I  chose  the  stanza ;  which  I  think  adds  both  a 
sweetness  and  solemnity  at  the  same  time  to  subjects  of 
this  rural  and  flowery  nature.  The  most  descriptive  of  our 
old  poets  have  always  used  it.  ...  I  followed  Fletcher's 
measure  in  his  "Purple  Island."  .  .  .  The  Alexandrine  line, 
I  think,  is  peculiarly  graceful  at  the  end,  and  is  an  improve- 
ment on  Shakespeare's  Venus  and  Adonis.  ...  I  hope  I  have 
no  apology  to  make  for  describing  the  beauties,  the  pleasures, 
and  the  loves  of  the  season  in  too  tender  or  too  florid  a  manner. 
The  nature  of  the  subject  required  a  luxuriousness  of  versifica- 
tion, and  a  softness  of  sentiment." 

This  extremely  interesting  preface  has  several  points  worth 
attention.  It  shows  that  Thompson  was  in  spirit  a  thorough- 
going Romanticist,  but  that  he  was  compelled  to  assume 
the  defensive  attitude,  and  even  to  fortify  his  position  with 
the  Classic  name  of  Prior.  He  is  evidently  speaking  to  an 
audience  whose  good-will  he  has  yet  to  win ;  and  the  nature 
of  his  defense  suggests  that  he  had  some  particular  critic  in 
mind,  especially  as  he  once  speaks  of  a  "modern  writer." 

1  Some  of  the  eighteenth  century  glossaries  are  significant  as  showing  the  general 
ignorance  of  old  English;  they  often  explained  words  that  are  to-day  perfectly 
familiar. 


60  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

This  modern  writer  I  believe  to  be  Dr.  Johnson,  who  attacked 
Spenserianism  in  the  Rambler  in  May,  I75I.1  Thompson 

/comes  out  for  Romanticism  in  three  ways  :    (i)  As  a  lover  of 

i    old  English  poetry;    (2)  as  a  believer  in  " luxuriousness "  of 

versification,   which   the   couplet   could   not   afford ;    (3)   as   a 

sincere  lover  of  nature.     A  quotation  from  the  Hymn  to  May 

*  will  show  all  this  clearly  enough  :  — 

"  Her  hair  (but  rather  threads  of  light  it  seems) 
With  the  gay  honors  of  the  Spring  entwin'd, 
Copious,  unbound,  in  nectar'd  ringlets  streams, 
Floats  glittering  on  the  sun  and  scents  the  wind 
Lovesick  with  odors  !  —  now  to  order  roll'd, 
It  melts  upon  her  bosom's  dainty  mold, 
Or,  curling  round  her  waist,  disparts  its  wavy  gold. 

"  Young  circling  roses,  blushing,  round  them  throw 
The  sweet  abundance  of  their  purple  rays, 
And  lilies,  dip'd  in  fragrance,  freshly  blow, 
With  blended  beauties,  in  her  angel-face  ; 
The  humid  radiance  beaming  from  her  eyes 
The  air  and  seas  illumes,  the  earth  and  skies, 
And  open,  when  she  smiles,  the  sweets  of  Paradise."  2 

Another  stanza  is  an  apostrophe  to  beauty  :  — 

"  Where  lives  the  man  (if  such  a  man  there  be) 
In  idle  wilderness  or  desert  drear, 
To  beauty's  sacred  power  an  enemy  ? 
Let  foul  fiends  harrow  him  ;    I'll  drop  no  tear. 
I  deem  that  carl,  by  Beauty's  power  unmov'd, 
Hated  of  Heaven,  of  none  but  Hell  approv'd  ; 
O  may  he  never  love  !   O  never  be  belov'd  !  "  3 

There  is  an  additional  fact  to  be  noted  about  Thompson's 
Spenserian  imitations.     He  wrote  in  the  stanza  of  the  Fairy 

1  No.  121.     This  would  place  the" date  of  Thompson's  poem  after  1751. 

2  Stanzas  X.  and  XI. 
8  Stanza  LIV. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  61 

Queen  not  for  idle  amusement,  or  to  exercise  his  poetic  ingenuity, 
but  because  his  mind  was  richly  stored  with  the  treasures  of 
old  English  poetry.  He  was  one  of  the  few  ardent  admirers 
of  Spenser.  He  was  so  unlike  the  majority  of  his  contempo- 
raries, that  even  Chalmers  thinks  it  necessary  to  say  that 
Thompson's  style  had  unfortunately  not  been  sufficiently 
"chastened  into  simplicity  by  the  example  and  encourage- 
ment of  the  moderns." 

In  the  year  1736  appeared  another  poem  on  the  marriage  of 
Prince  Frederick  ;  this  was  also  by  a  university  man,  Richard 
Owen  Cambridge  (1717-1802).  It  was  published  among  a 
number  of  Oxford  congratulatory  verses  on  the  same  subject, 
which  calls  our  attention  for  a  moment  to  the  influences  of  the 
universities  on  the  Spenserian  movement.  Many  of  the  early 
imitations  came  from  Cambridge  and  Oxford  men,  some  of 
them  hardly  out  of  their  teens,  an  evidence  that  the  youngsters 
with  literary  ambitions  were  turning  for  inspiration  to  the  wells 
of  old  English  poetry.  This  little  ode  by  Cambridge  is  in 
the  ten-lined  stanza ;  although  imitative  of  Spenser,  it  is  not 
avowedly  so.  It  contains  nothing  worthy  of  special  remark ; 
it  is  no  better  and  no  worse  than  average  occasional  poetry. 

Some  years  later,  however,  Cambridge  published  a  much 
closer  imitation  of  the  ancient  poet.  This  is  his  Archimage' 
(I742-I750).1  The  title  is,  of  course,  borrowed  from  Spenser's/ 
famous  magician.  The  poem  is  in  the  regular  Spenserian 
stanza,  and  is  mildly  humorous  and  satirical ;  it  describes 
how  the  author  (Archimage),  with  four  of  his  boat's  crew, 
took  a  lady  for  a  ride  on  the  river.  It  is  a  rather  pretty 
bit  of  trifling,  and  the  allegory  is  well  sustained  ;  the  large 
number  of  obsolete  words  is  noticeable.  Cambridge  lived  in 
/  the  country  and  cultivated  his  quiet  tastes  for  letters  and 
\  landscape  gardening ;  he  had  also  a  wide  circle  of  literary 
friends.  In  1751  he  removed  to  Twickenham  —  and  there 
issued  his  most  pretentious  effort  in  poetry,  the  Scribleriad,  a 

1  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  precisely  the  year. 


62  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

mock-heroic  poem  in  six  books,  written  in  the  couplet.  It 
received  on  its  first  appearance  scarcely  any  recognition,  and 
has  even  less  to-day.  Although  Cambridge  lived  after  the 
close  of  the  century,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  especially 
affected  by  the  Romantic  movement.  In  his  Spenserian 
imitations,  he  simply  followed  a  literary  fashion  ;  but  it  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  writings  of  more  or  less  insignificant 
authors  show  the  course  of  a  literary  movement  better  than 
the  productions  of  great  men.  In  the  latter  there  is  always 
originality  ;  in  the  former  we  find  copying  of  popular  models. 
This  shows  the  necessity  as  well  as  the  justification  of  raking 
over  so  many  of  the  dust-heaps  of  the  past. 

In  the   Gentleman's  Magazine  for  April,  1737,  appeared  this 

little  note:  — 

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE,  April  23. 

"  I  hope,  Sir,  you'll  excuse  the  following  poem  (being  the  perform- 
ance of  one  in  his  sixteenth  year)  and  insert  it  in  your  next  magazine, 

which  will  oblige 

Yours,  etc., 

MARCUS." 

Following  the  note  was  published  the  poem,  called  The  Vir- 
tuoso ;  in  Imitation  of  Spencer's  Style  and  Stanza.  The  author 
was  a  poet  who  soon  afterward  became  famous,  Mark  Aken- 
side  (1721-1770).  The  Virtuoso  is  in  the  regular  Spenserian 
stanza,  and  is  full  of  attempts  at  old  English.  It  is  a  mild 
satire,  resembling  Spenser  only  in  form.  It  was  Akenside's 
first  and  last  essay  in  the  regular  stanza  of  the  Fairy  Queen; 
but  he  seemed  in  later  years  to  admire  Spenser,  and  wrote 
three  odes  in  a  ten-lined  pseudo-Spenserian  stanza.1 

In  1739  appeared  On  the  Abuse  of  Travelling ;  A  Canto,  In 
Imitation  of  Spenser?  This  was  by  Gilbert  West  (1700-05 — 
1756).  Very  little  is  known  of  West's  life.  He  was  a  learned 

1  Book  I.,  Ode  IX.,   To  Curio,  1744.     Book  II.,  Ode  XIII.,   To  the  Author  of 
Memoirs  of  the  House  of  Brandenburg,  1751.     Book  II.,  Ode  XI.,  To  the  Country 
Gentlemen  of  England,  1758.     All  these  have  the  rather  curious  riming  scheme, 
ab,  ab,  cc,  de,  ed,  the  last  being  an  Alexandrine. 

2  This  poem  is  in  Dodsley's  Collection  (1765),  Vol.  II.,  page  98. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  63 

man,  and  published  a  number  of  translations  of  Pindar's  odes. 
The  poem  before  us  is  a  gentle  satire  on  the  effects  of  travel- 
ling abroad,  and  the  temptations  encountered.  It  is  in  the 
allegorical  style.  Archimago  attempts  to  entice  the  Red  Cross 
Knight  from  the  love  of  fairy-land  by  showing  him  all  manner 
of  voluptuous  temptations.  The  poem  has  more  Romantic 
atmosphere  than  West's  later  work.  One  stanza  will  suffice 
to  show  its  quality  (XXII.)  :  — 

"  And  now  they  do  accord  in  wanton  daunce 
To  join  their  hands  upon  the  flow'ry  plain  ; 
The  whiles  with  amorous  leer  and  eyes  askaunce 
Each  damsel  fires  with  love  her  glowing  swain  ; 
'Till  all  impatient  of  the  tickling  pain, 
In  sudden  laughter  forth  at  once  they  break, 
And  ending  so  their  daunce,  each  tender  twain 
To  shady  bow'rs  forthwith  themselves  betake, 
Deep  hid  in  myrtle  groves,  beside  a  silver  lake." 

The  last  stanza  of  the  poem  closes  as  follows  :  — 

"  So  to  his  former  wiles  he  turns  him  soon, 
As  in  another  place  hereafter  shall  be  shown." 

But  West  never  fulfilled  this  promise. 

The  most  interesting  thing  about  this  imitation  is  the  glossary. 
He  explains  words  that  are  to-day  perfectly  clear,  thus 'showing 
the  limitations  of  the  vocabulary  in  his  time.  Such  words  as 
sooth,  guise,  hardiment,  Elfin,  prowess,  wend,  hight,  dight,  para- 
mours, behests,  caitiffs,  etc.,  West  translates  in  footnotes.  The 
prevailing  ignorance  of  Spenser  is  also  shown  by  his  careful 
explanations  of  "Una"  and  "  Paynim." 

Gray  was  much  pleased  with  this  poem.  He  wrote  from 
Florence  to  his  friend,  Richard  West,  July  16,  1740:  "Mr. 
Walpole  and  I  have  frequently  wondered  you  should  never 
mention  a  certain  imitation  of  Spenser,  published  last  year  by 
a  namesake  of  yours,  with  which  we  are  all  enraptured  and 
enmarvailed." 


64  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

In  1751  appeared  Gilbert  West's  second  imitation  —  Educa* 
tion.  A  Poem  ;  in  Two  Cantos.  Written  in  Imitation  of  the 
Style  and  Manner  of  Spenser's  Fairy  Queen.1  This  is  much 
duller  than  the  Abuse  of  Travelling.  It  narrates  the  struggles 
of  the  Knight  with  Custom  and  the  final  victory  of  the  former. 
Its  main  interest  lies  in  West's  attack  on  the  artificial  method 
of  gardening  (Stanzas  XVII.-XXIV.). 

Dr.  Johnson,  in  his  Life  of  West,  took  occasion  once  more 
to  attack  the  Spenserian  school.  He  himself  failed  altogether 
to  appreciate  the  movement,  but  some  of  his  criticisms  are 
perfectly  sound,  judged  by  the  standard  of  the  poetry  which 
the  Spenserians  produced.  Dr.  Johnson  saw  in  this  style  of 
poetry  only  the  versifying  of  the  curious  ;  he  said  the  "  effect 
was  local  and  temporary";  they  "presuppose  an  accidental 
or  artificial  state  of  mind";  they  are  "proofs  of  great  industry, 
and  great  nicety  of  observation,  but  the  highest  praise,  the 
praise  of  genius,  they  cannot  claim."  He  also  said  they  were 
"only  pretty,  the  plaything  of  fashion,  and  the  amusement  of 
a  day."  Much  of  this  is  strictly  true  ;  but  in  these  playthings 
the  Doctor  failed  to  perceive  any  significance. 

In  1739  also  appeared  A  New  Canto  of  Spenser*  s  Fairy  Queen, 
in  folio.  Perhaps  this  was  inspired  by  Croxall's  work  in 


A  curious  and  interesting  figure  in  the  group  was  Samuel 
Boyse  ^1^08-1749).  Boyse's  life  is  far  more  interesting  than 
his  poetry.  He  was  born  in  Dublin,  and  married  at  the  age  of 
twenty.  In  1731  he  published  in  Edinburgh  Translations  and 
Poems.  He  had  many  brilliant  opportunities  for  advancement, 
all  of  which  he  wasted  by  almost  inexplicable  recklessness. 
Debts  at  length  drove  him  from  Edinburgh.  He  often  had  to 
beg  for  the  smallest  coins,  and  wrote  verses  in  bed  to  obtain 
money  for  clothes  and  food.  Although  a  dissolute  vagabond, 
it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  he  published  in  1739  a  long 

1  Only  one  Canto  was  really  published. 

2  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  copy  of  this  Folio  nor  the  name  of  its  author. 


THE   SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  65 

poem  in  the  couplet  called  The  Deity,  Here  he  was  following 
in  the  wake  of  the  Essay  on  Man.  Moralizing,  didactic  poetry 
had  then  lost  little  of  its  strong  hold  on  popular  attention,  and 
Boyse,  as  Mr.  Perry  says,  wrote  "with  a  keen  eye  on  his 
market."  Boyse  also  modernized  some  of  Chaucer's  tales. 
Although  totally  destitute  of  Spenser's  spirit,  he  made  imita- 
tions at  various  times.  He  paraphrased  part  of  Psalm  XLII, 
"In  Imitation  of  the  Style  of  Spenser."  These  verses  sound 
more  like  the  couplet  than  like  the  Fairy  Queen,  being  in  six- 
lined  stanzas,  riming^,  ab,  cc.  In  1736-7  he  published  The 
Olive;  an  Heroic  Ode.  ...  In  the  Stanza  of  Spenser.  This 
was  an  "occasional"  poem,  on  the  King's  return  to  Great 
Britain.  In  the  Preface,  Boyse  says  he  modeled  his  work  on 
Prior's  ode  in  1706,  affording  still  another  instance  of  the 
long-continued  influence  of  Prior's  short  poem.  The  Olive 
is  far  better  than  Prior's  ode ;  but  it  also  illustrates  the 
unsuitableness  of  this  stanza  for  occasional  poetry;  and  to 
show  how  much  appreciation  of  Spenser  Boyse  had,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  observe  that  he  couples  Spenser  with  "  tuneful 
Waller,"  "deathless  Addison,"  and  Pope!  He  speaks  of 
Prior  in  the  highest  terms,  saying  that  he  is  "content  to 
follow  his  steps  at  a  distance."  He  also  has  one  interesting 
passage,  which  shows  some  originality :  "  Satire  is,  I  know, 
the  prevailing  taste  of  the  age,  and  for  that  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  own  I  have  neither  genius  nor  disposition." 

In  1740  he  published  an  Ode  Sacred  to  the  Birth  of  the  Mar- 
quis of  Tavistock.  This  is  in  the  same  ten-lined  stanza.  It  is 
artificial  and  lifeless. 

About  the  same  year  appeared  another  poem  from  his  pen, 
The  Vision  of  Patience.  This  was  "  sacred  to  the  memory  of 
Mr.  Alexander  Cuming,  a  Young  Gentleman  unfortunately 
lost  in  the  Northern  Ocean  on  his  return  from  China,  1740." 
This  work  has  not  much  poetic  merit,  but  is  written  in  the 
allegorical  style.  The  stanza  describing  the  abode  of  the 
Goddess  of  Silence  may  be  worth  quoting :  — 


66          .        THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

"  Here  no  invading  noise  the  Goddess  finds, 
High  as  she  sits  o'er  the  surrounding  deep  ; 
But  pleas'd  she  listens  to  the  hollow  winds, 
Or  the  shrill  mew,  that  lulls  her  evening-sleep  ; 
Deep  in  a  cleft-worn  rock  we  found  her  laid, 
Spangled  the  roof  with  many  an  artless  gem  ; 
Slowly  she  rose  and  met  us  in  the  shade, 
As  half  disturbed  that  such  intrusion  came  ; 
But  at  her  sister's  sight  with  look  discreet, 
She  better  welcome  gave,  and  pointed  each  a  seat." 

Although  it  is  quite  possible  that  Boyse  had  no  first-hand 
knowledge  of  Spenser  at  all,  that  was  not  the  case  with  his 
greater  contemporary,  William  Shenstone  (1714-1763).  The 
School-Mistress  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  Spenserian  imitations, 
and  is  often  ranked  next  to  the  Castle  of  Indolence,  though  it 
hardly  deserves  so  high  a  place.  Shenstone  published  a  first 
incomplete  form  of  this  poem  in  1737;  it  appeared  in  final 
shape  in  1742.  Fortunately,  we  are  able  to  know  exactly 
what  attitude  Shenstone  held  toward  Spenser ;  it  throws  con- 
siderable light  on  the  whole  school.  A  careful  search  of  his 
correspondence  reveals  the  fact  that  his  imitation  was  not 
written  in  any  serious  spirit,  and  his  earnest  declaration  that 
he  was  "only  in  fun,"  is  exceedingly  interesting.  But  the 
more  he  read  Spenser  the  more  he  liked  him ;  and  as  people 
persisted  in  admiring  The  School-Mistress  for  its  own  sake,  he 
finally  consented  to  agree  with  them,  and  in  later  editions 
omitted  the  commentary  explaining  that  the  whole  thing  was 
done  in  jest.  At  first  he  speaks  of  his  poem  as  a  "burlesque" 
—  a  "ludicrous  imitation."  Writing  to  his  friend  Mr.  Graves, 
January  19,  1742,  he  says:  "The  true  burlesque  of  Spenser 
(whose  characteristic  is  simplicity)  seems  to  consist  in  a  simple. 
representation  of  such  things  as  one  laughs  to  see  or  to  observe 
one's  self,  rather  than  in  any  monstrous  contrast  between 
the  thought  and  words."  ]  Again,  writing  to  the  same  man, 

l  Works,  Vol.  III.  (1769),  page  61. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  67 

December  24,  1741,  he  says  :  "Some  time  ago  I  read  Spenser's 
Fairy  Queen ;  and  when  I  had  finished,  thought  it  a  proper 
time  to  make  some  additions  and  corrections  in  my  trifling 
imitation  of  him,  The  School-Mistress. — His  subject  is  certainly 
bad,  and  his  action  inexpressibly  confused  ;  but  there  are  some 
particulars  in  him  that  charm  one.  Those  which  afford  the 
greatest  scope  for  a  ludicrous  imitation  are,  his  simplicity  and 
obsolete  phrase ;  and  yet  these  are  what  give  one  a  very 
singular  pleasure  in  the  perusal."1 

We  see  by  this  that  when  The  School-Mistress  was  first 
written,  Shenstone  knew  nothing  apparently  of  Spenser;  and 
that  when  he  did  actually  read  him,  he  was  charmed  in  spite  of 
himself.  As  he  did  not  dare  to  consider  Spenser  seriously,  he 
tries  to  point  out  certain  characteristics  to  explain  the  charm 
he  felt  in  the  Fairy  Queen,  without  seeing  that  the  real  source 
of  the  fascination  lay  in  the  beauty  of  the  poetry.  In  his 
early  years  Shenstone  was  very  much  of  an  Augustan.  The 
age  speaks  through  him  again  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Graves,  June, 
1742.  "I  am  glad  you  are  reading  Spenser;  though  his  plan 
is  detestable  and  his  invention  less  wonderful  than  most  people 
imagine,  who  do  not  much  consider  the  obviousness  of  allegory  ; 
yet,  I  think,  a  person  of  your  disposition  must  take  great  delight 
in  his  simplicity,  his  good-nature,  etc.  .  .  .  When  I  bought 
him  first,  I  read  a  page  or  two  of  the  Fairy  Queen,  and  cared 
not  to  proceed.  After  that,  Pope's  Alley  made  me  consider 
him  ludicrously ;  and  in  that  light,  I  think,  one  may  read  him 
with  pleasure.  I  am  now  .  .  .  from  trifling  and  laughing  at 
him,  really  in  love  with  him.  I  think  even  the  metre  pretty 
(though  I  shall  never  use  it  in  earnest);  and  that  the  last 
Alexandrine  has  an  extreme  majesty."2 

It  is  fortunate  that  we  have  a  letter  like  this,  so  clearly 
exhibiting  the  attitude  of  one  of  the  best-known  men  of  his 
time  toward  one  of  the  greatest  names  in  English  literature. 
The  patronizing  tone  toward  Spenser  is  extremely  suggestive  ,• 

1  Works,  Vol.  III.,  page  63.  2  ibid.,  Vol.  III.,  page  66. 


68  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC   MOVEMENT. 

and  the  fact  that  Shenstone's  gate  to  this  Romantic  field  was 
the  coarse  burlesque  of  Pope,  is  certainly  noteworthy.  When 
Pope  exercised  his  ingenuity  in  this  style  of  versification,  he 
little  dreamed  that  he  was  opening  a  new  world  even  to  the 
men  of  his  age.  Shenstone's  remark  that  he  thought  "even 
the  metre  pretty "  needs  no  comment.  His  letter,  in  all  its 
stupidity,  betrays  a  much  deeper  appreciation  of  Spenser  than 
the  writer  dared  to  show. 

One  more  letter  of  Shenstone's  must  be  quoted  ;  it  shows 
his  anxiety  that  the  people  should  not  mistake  his  burlesque  for 
a  thing  done  in  earnest.  The  letter  is  written  to  Mr.  Graves, 
but  bears  no  date  : 1  "I  have  added  a  ludicrous  index,  purely 
to  shew  (fools)  that  I  am  in  jest ;  .  .  .  You  cannot  conceive 
how  large  the  number  is  of  those  that  mistake  burlesque  for 
the  very  foolishness  it  exposes  (which  observation  I  made  once 
at  the  Rehearsal,  at  Tom  Thumb,  at  Chrononhotonthologos ; 
all  which  are  pieces  of  elegant  humour).  I  have  some  mind 
to  pursue  this  caution  further ;  and  advertise  it,  <  The  School- 
Mistress,  &c.'  A  very  childish  performance  everybody  knows 
(novorum  more).  But  if  a  person  seriously  calls  this,  or  rather, 
burlesque,  a  childish  or  low  species  of  poetry,  he  says  wrong. 
For  the  most  regular  and  formal  poetry  may  be  called  trifling, 
folly,  and  weakness,  in  comparison  of  what  is  written  with  a 
more  manly  spirit  in  ridicule  of  it."  2 

This  letter  affords  proof  positive  of  Shenstone's  lack  of 
seriousness  in  imitating  Spenser.  It  is  somewhat  surprising, 
after  approaching  the  old  poet  in  this  spirit,  that  Shenstone 
should  have  succeeded  as  well  as  he  did.  The  School-Mistress 
will  probably  always  be  known  as  his  best  production,  and  we 
are  not  surprised  to  find  Gray  saying  in  1751  or  thereabouts  : 
"'The  School-Mistress'  is  excellent  in  its  kind  and  masterly."3 

The  book-seller,  Robert  Dodsley  (1703-1764),  published  in 
1742  an  imitation  of  Spenser  called  Pain  and  Patience;  the 

1  Probably  written  in  1742.  2  Works,  Vol.  III.,  page  69. 

8  Gray's  Works,  ed.  Gosse,  Vol.  II.,  page  219. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  69 

piece  is  metrically  rough,  has  no  merit  of  any  kind,  and  bears 
no  evidence  of  being  consciously  imitative.  About  1744  he 
published  six  uninspired  six-lined  stanzas  On  the  Death  of 
Mr.  Pope.  All  the  stanzas  end  with  the  same  Alexandrine,  — 

"With  sounds  to  soothe  the  ear,  with  sense  to  warm  the  heart," 

a  sentiment  unfortunately  not  descriptive  of  Dodsley's  effort. 

In  July,  1743,  appeared  Albion's  Triumph;  An  Ode  on  the 
Success  of  His  Majesty's  Arms.  All  I  have  been  able  to 
discover  of  this  poem  is  an  extract  of  five  stanzas  printed 
in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  for  July,  1743.  The  metre  is 
fashioned  after  that  of  Prior  —  ten-lined  stanzas,  with  Prior's 
riming  scheme.  The  extract  is  guilty  of  no  poetical  beauty. 

The  poet  William  Mason  (1725-1797),  who  had  little  origi- 
nality, but  who  imitated  first  Milton  and  then  Gray  in  an  almost 
servile  fashion,  does  not  belong  to  the  regular  Spenserian  group, 
but  in  his  Musaeus  (written  1744,  published  1747),  he  intro- 
duced a  few  stanzas  in  Spenser's  style.  Musaeus  was  a  monody 
on  the  death  of  Pope,  and  written  in  imitation  of  Milton's 
Lycidas.  Different  poets  in  Musaeus  bewail  Pope's  death ; 
Chaucer  speaks  in  an  imitation  of  old  English,  and  Spenser 
speaks  two  stanzas  after  the  metre  of  the  Shepherd's  Calendar 
and  three  stanzas  in  the  style  of  the  Fairy  Queen.  There  is 
nothing  remarkable  about  these  imitations;  they^  simply 'give 
Mason  a  slight  connection  with  the  movement. "  J^e  figures 
in  another  branch  of  Romanticism. 

Thomas  Blacklock  (1721-1791)  was  blind  frcifn  early  youth. 
While  a  young  boy,  his  parents  read  the  poets  aloud  to  him, 
mainly  Spenser,  Milton,  Prior,  Addison,  Pope,  and  Ramsay. 
He  began  to  compose  rimes  at  the  age  of  twelve,  and  circulated 
his  writings  in  manuscript.  Blacklock  simply  followed  contem- 
porary fashions  in  his  compositions  ;  and  he  was  born  late 
enough  to  come  partially  under  the  influence  of  the  new  school. 
The  philosopher  Hume  was  greatly  interested  in  this  blind  man, 
and  in  a  letter  written  October  15,  1754,  he  says:  "I  have 
asked  him  whether  he  retained  any  idea  of  light  or  colors.  He 


70  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

assured  me  that  there  remained  not  the  least  trace  of  them. 
I  found,  however,  that  all  the  Poets,  even  the  most  descriptive 
ones,  such  as  Milton  and  Thompson,  were  read  by  him  with 
Pleasure.  Thomson  is  one  of  his  favorites."1 

Blacklock  wrote  verses  in  many  different  kinds  of  metres, 
but  the  poem  that  chiefly  concerns  us  here  is  his  Hymn  to 
Divine  Love ;  In  Imitation  of  Spenser.'2'  This  is  a  short  pro- 
duction in  seven-lined  stanzas,  riming  ab,  ab,  be,  c;  a  rather 
unusual  measure.  The  poem  is  absolutely  common-place.  In 
his  verses  called  PhiJantheus,  Blacklock  also  introduced  the 
same  stanzaic  form.  The  only  interesting  thing  about  Black- 
lock's  imitation  of  Spenser  is  the  evidence  which  it  gives  of 
the  strength  of  this  literary  fashion  ;  for  Blacklock  had  no 
originality ;  he  simply  followed  popular  forms. 

Christopher  Pitt  (1699-1748)  was  chiefly  celebrated  in  his 
day  and  generation  for  his  translation  of  Vergil,  which  Joseph 
Warton  in  point  of  scholarship  compared  favorably  with 
Dryden's.  Pitt  published  a  thin  volume  of  Poems  and  Trans- 
lations in  1727  ;  in  one  of  these  bits  of  verse  he  alludes  to 
Spenser,  but  his  Imitation  was  probably  not  written  till  a 
number  of  years  later.  This  is  in  the  vein  of  Pope's  Alley, 
and  may  have  been  directly  inspired  by  it.  Its  title  is  The 
Jordan,  and  the  nature  of  its  contents  may  be  guessed  by  the 
opening  line,  — 

"  A  well-known  vase  of  sov'reign  use  I  sing." 

The  poem  is  in  the  regular  Spenserian  form,  and  contains  a 
number  of  obsolete  words.  In  mechanism  it  is  not  unskilful, 
but  in  spirit  is  merely  a  coarse  burlesque. 

Gloucester  Ridley3  (1702-1774)  published  in  April,  1747, 
in  Dodsley's  Museum ,4  a  piece  called  Psyche;  or  the  Great 

1  Spence's  Anecdotes,  page  448. 

2  Probably  published  in  1746. 

8  An  interesting  account  of  Ridley  appears  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1774, 
page  505. 

4  The  Museum  lasted  from  March  29,  1746,  to  September  12,  1747,  and  was  issued 
fortnightly. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  71 

Metamorphosis.  A  Poem,  written  in  imitation  of  Spenser.  The 
history  of  this  poem  is  not  uninteresting.  "  The  origin  of  this 
is  as  follows :  his  friend,  Mr.  Spence,  having  lent  him  the 
works  of  Spencer,  which  he  had  never  read,  on  returning 
them,  our  author  sent  Mr.  Spence,  as  a  fragment,  the  fifteen 
first  stanzas  of  Psyche,  without  farther  plan  or  design,  as  an 
exercise  to  imitate  Jhat  writer.  Mr.  Spence  pressed  him  to 
finish  it ;  he  did  so,  and  completed  the  canto.  This  was  his 
excuse  for  adopting  obsolete  words." l  Afterwards,  Dodsley 
urged  him  to  continue  the  Metamorphosis ;  Ridley  rather  shrank 
from  this  task,  evidently  finding  composition  in  the  Spenserian 
stanza  desperately  hard  work.  His  plan  for  the  whole  poem 
is  interesting,  as  showing  how  he  tried  to  combine  the  moraliz- 
ing-didactic  spirit  of  the  age  with  the  Romantic  style  of  poetry. 
"As  the  first  part  of  the  Metamorphosis  in  one  canto,  was  a 
kind  of  Paradise  Lost,  this  was  to  be  a  Paradise  Regained. 
His  plan  (a  very  important  one)  was  a  view  of  the  general 
notions  of  religion,  with  respect  both  to  the  credenda  and  agenda, 
which  prevailed  in  the  world,  out  of  the  Jewish  church,  before 
the  incarnation,  cast  into  four  cantos,  under  the  general  title 
of  Melampus,  or  the  Religious  Groves.  .  .  .  The  first  canto  is 
Fear,  which  is  contrasted  by  Superstition  ;  the  second  Trust, 
which  is  opposed  by  Enthusiasm ;  the  third  Love,  with  the 
origin  of  Idolatry;  the  last  Joy.  In  the  first  canto  .  .  . 
Psyche  was  left  changed  into  a  caterpillar;  in  the  next  she 
is  married  to  Elf,  and  her  progeny  are  Elves  and  Fairies." 
Ridley  made  slow  work  with  this  titanic  task,  and  the  inspira- 
tion deserted  him  so  often  that  he  was  more  than  once  tempted 
to  throw  the  whole  thing  aside.  The  complete  poem  Melampus 
did  not  appear  until  after  his  death.  It  was  published  in 
1781. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  what  a  jumble  the  whole  plan  was  ; 
imitative  of  Spenser  in  its  stanza  and  allegory,  imitative  of 
Milton  in  its  general  plan,  and  yet  full  of  the  didactic  style 

1  Gentleman '5  Magazine,  1774,  Pa§e  5°5- 


72  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

of  the  Augustan  age.  The  canto  called  Psyche,  the  only 
portion  published  in  his  life-time,  has  little  poetic  merit. 
It  is  imitative  of  Spenser  only  externally  —  in  stanza  and 
language.  The  account  of  Ridley's  life  in  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine  ends  with  a  ludicrously  ambiguous  compliment : 
"He  exchanged  this  life,  for  a  better,  in  November  1774, 
aged  72,  leaving  a  widow  and  some  daughters.  His  works 
follow  him" 

Bishop  Robert  Lowth  (1710-1787),  the  learned  divine  and 
famous  lecturer  on  Hebrew  poetry,  made  one  slight  attempt 
at  Spenserian  verse.  His  Choice  of  Hercules  first  appeared 
in  Spenc'e's  huge  tome  Polymetis  (1747),  in  the  tenth  dialogue. 
Hercules  chooses  between  two  female  figures,  Pleasure  and 
Virtue,  hesitating  through  several  stanzas,  but,  of  course, 
eventually  taking  Virtue.  The  allegorical  scheme  of  the 
poem  is  interesting,  but  Lowth,  although  an  excellent  critic 
of  poetry,  had  no  creative  gift.  The  versification  of  this  piece 
is  modeled  after  the  Prior  pseudo-Spenserian  form. 

In  the  same  year  (1747)  appeared  an  anonymous  quarto,  A 
New  Canto  of  Spencer's  Fairy  Queen.  Now  first  published.  This 
was  by  John  Upton;  the  title,  of  course,  was  not  really  intended 
to  deceive  the  public.  The  poem  contains  forty-two  stanzas, 
ten-lined,  after  Prior's  model.  At  the  beginning  is  a  short 
quotation  in  Spenser's  style.  Obsolete  words  abound,  and 
allegorical  abstractions  are  plentiful.  Many  phrases  are  taken 
almost  bodily  from  Shakspere.1  It  may  be  worth  while  to 
quote  one  of  Upton's  stanzas,  to  show  his  style  :  — 

"  Thus  talking,  on  the  Neighbour  Beach  they  find 

A  Bark,  all  in  her  gaudy  Trim  displaid  ; 
The  silken  Sails  sung  in  the  whistling  Wind, 

Courting  the  Knight  on  Board,  who  nought  afraid 
Springs  deftly  on  the  Deck  ;  when  Archimage 

1  For  example : 

"  And  ever  and  anon  the  sheeted  Dead 
Did  squeak  and  gibber  thro'  the  myrksome  Air."  —  Stanza  VII. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  73 

A  wondrous  Pin  takes  in  his  cunning  Hand, 
That  mov'd,  as  if  instinct  with  Spirit  sage, 

The  bounding  Bark,  which  made  the  adverse  Land  ; 
Where  a  bright  bevy  stood  of  Females  fair, 

All  ready  to  receive  them,  blith  and  debonnair."  l 

In  addition  to  Lowth's,  Ridley's  and  Upton's  imitations,  the 
year  ^747  saw  still  another  from  the  pen  of  Robert  Bedingfield 
(died  1768).  It  first  appeared  in  Dodsley's  Museum  for  May, 
1747.  The  Education  of  Achilles  is  a  poem  of  fourteen  stanzas, 
in  the  regular  Spenserian  form.  It  has  more  poetic  merit  than 
the  common  run  of  contemporary  imitations.  The  fondness 
for  abstractions  —  so  common  at  this  time  —  is  very  notice- 
able. Modesty,  Temperance,  Fidelity,  Benevolence,  Exercise, 
Experience  and  Contemplation  all  take  a  hand  in  the  "  Educa- 
tion of  Achilles." 

In  1748  Joseph  Warton  published  in  a  thin  volume  the 
poetical  remains  of  his  father,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Warton,  who 
died  in  1745.  This  volume  contains  among  other  pieces 
Philander,  an  Imitation  of  Spencer.  It  was  occasioned  by  the 
death  of  Mr.  William  Levinz,  November,  1706.  At  what 
date  it  was  written  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain;  but  it  is 
interesting  as  showing  how  honestly  the  Warton  brothers  came 
by  their  fondness  for  Spenser.  The  poem  is  prefaced  by  a 
garbled  quotation  from  the  dedication  to  Spenser's  Astrophel^ 
as  follows  :  — 

"  To  You  alone  I  sing  this  mournful  Verse  — 

Made  not  to  please  the  living,  but  the  Dead  — 

To  You,  whose  soft'n'd  hearts  it  may  empierse 
With  Dolours  — (if  you  covet  It  to  read  — 

And  if  in  You  found  pittie  ever  place, 

May  You  be  mov'd  to  pittie  such  a  case." 

Philander  is  a  short  poem,  in  six-lined  stanzas,  completely 
destitute  of  poetic  merit.  It  is  interesting  simply  as  coming 
from  the  father  of  the  Warton  s,  and  because  of  its  early  date. 

1  Of  course  a  reminiscence  of  Milton's  L1  Allegro. 


74  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT, 

In  1748  appeared  by  far  the  best  poem  of  the  whole  Spen- 
serian school,  The  Castle  of  Indolence,  by  James  Thomson,  who 
died  two  months  after  its  publication.  This  poem  is  not 
simply  an  external  imitation  of  Spenser,  as  in  the  stanza,  the 
obsolete  words,  and  the  allegorical  form  of  the  story;  much 
of  it  is  genuine  poetry,  and  has  something  of  the  Romantic 
feeling  and  atmosphere  of  Spenser,  as  well  as  touches  of 
his  melodious  music.  Thomson  had  perhaps  been  partially 
inspired  by  Shenstone's  School-mistress ;  for  the  opening  words 
of  his  Advertisement  remind  one  of  Shenstone's  notions.  He 
says,  "  This  poem  being  written  in  the  manner  of  Spenser,  the 
obsolete  words,  and  a  simplicity  of  diction  in  some  of  the  lines, 
which  borders  on  the  ludicrous,  were  necessary  to  make  the 
imitation  more  perfect."  We  can  only  wish  that  Thomson  had 
seen  fit  to  give  free  expression  to  his  love  for  Spenser,  and 
omitted  from  his  poem  all  the  burlesque  element.  But  the 
fact  that  Thomson  thought  ludicrous  touches  necessary  is  a 
fact  too  suggestive  to  be  forgotten. 

How  early  Thomson  began  to  admire  Spenser  is  hard  to  say. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  allusion  to  Spenser  in  The 
Seasons  did  not  appear  in  the  first  edition  (1730),  but  was 
inserted  later.  The  allusion  referred  to  is  in  Summer  and 
runs  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  gentle  Spenser,  fancy's  pleasing  son, 
Who,  like  a  copious  river,  poured  his  song 
O'er  all  the  mazes  of  enchanted  ground." 

Perhaps  this  was  inserted  after  Thomson  had  begun  to  have 
in  mind  The  Castle  of  Indolence.  We  know  that  he  had  this 
intention  as  early  as  1733  or  1734,  for  he  writes  in  1748,  "After 
fourteen  or  fifteen  years,  The  Castle  of  Indolence  comes  abroad 
in  a  fortnight."  1  Whether  he  had  it  simply  in  mind  during 
those  years,  or  was  actually  composing  it,  is  impossible  to  say.2 

1  Letter  to  Paterson,  Thomson's  Works  (1847),  Vol.  I.,  page  ci. 

2  On  the  evidence  of  the  words  of  Thomson  quoted  above,  Mr.  Gosse  makes  the 
surprising  statement  (Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  page  225)  that  Thomson  had 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  75 

The  first  canto  of  The  Castle  of  Indolence  is  much  better  than 
the  second,  and  the  opening  stanzas  of  the  first  are  perhaps 
the  best  part  of  the  poem.  There  is  some  of  the  same 
atmosphere  that  appears  in  Tennyson's  Lotus- Eaters. 

Stanza  thirty  has  distinctly  a  Romantic  tone  :  — 

"As  when  a  shepherd  of  the  Hebrid-Isles, 

Placed  far  amid  the  melancholy  main, 
(Whether  it  be  lone  fancy  him  beguiles ; 

Or  that  aerial  beings  sometimes  deign 
To  stand,  embodied  to  our  senses  plain) 

Sees  on  the  naked  hill,  or  valley  low, 
The  whilst  in  ocean  Phoebus  dips  his  wain, 

A  vast  assembly  moving  to  and  fro  ; 

Then  all  at  once  in  air  dissolves  the  wondrous  show." 

It  is  noticeable  that  in  one  place  Thomson  speaks  of  "my 
master  Spenser."  1 

The  delicate  shading  of  humour  gives  a  certain  charm  to 
the  poem,  and  some  passages  have  an  interest  other  than 
poetical  or  Spenserian.  But  throughout  the  work  one  is 
conscious  of  an  entirely  different  atmosphere  from  that  in 
most  of  the  other  imitations;  there  are  some  genuine  touches 
of  Romanticism.  Thomson  has  always  had  full  credit  — 
perhaps  too  much  —  for  his  aid  to  nature-poetry  in  the 
Seasons ;  but  his  greater  contribution  to  Romanticism  does  not 
seem  to  have  attracted  so  much  general  attention.  Joseph 
Warton  immediately  recognized  the  value  of  the  poem.  He 
said,  "  There  are  some  who  think  it  (poetry)  has  suffered  by 
deserting  these  fields  of  fancy,  and  by  totally  laying  aside  the 
descriptions  of  magic  and  enchantment.  What  an  exquisite 
picture  has  Thomson  given  us  in  his  delightful  Castle  of  Indo- 
lence." He  then  quotes  the  stanza  beginning,  "As  when  a 
shepherd  of  the  Hebrid-Isles."  "  I  cannot  at  present  recollect 

actually  written  The  Castle  of  Indolence  by  1733.     Mr.  Gosse's  statement  is  a  whollj 

unwarrantable  inference. 
1  Canto  11.,  stanza  52. 


76  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

any  solitude  so  romantic,  or  peopled  with  beings  so  proper  to  the 
place  and  the  spectator.  The  mind  naturally  loves  to  lose  itself 
in  one  of  these  wildernesses,  and  to  forget  the  hurry,  the  noise 
and  splendor  of  more  polished  life."1  Warton  also  alluded 
to  Thomson  in  the  second  volume  of  his  Essay.  He  had  been 
speaking  of  the  fashion  of  imitating  Spenser,  and  condemning 
the  burlesque  and  comic  style.2  "  To  imitate  Spenser  on  a 
subject  that  does  not  partake  of  the  pathos,  is  not  giving  a 
true  representation  of  him.  ...  It  has  been  fashionable  of 
late  to  imitate  Spenser,  but  the  likeness  of  most  of  the  copies, 
hath  consisted  rather  in  using  a  few  of  his  ancient  expressions, 
than  in  catching  his  real  manner."  He  then  notes  some 
exceptions,  as  The  School-mistress,  the  Education  of  Achilles, 
and  says,  "To  these  must  be  added  that  exquisite  piece  of 
wild  and  romantic  imagery,  Thomson's  Castle  of  Indolence  ; 
the  first  canto  of  which,  in  particular,  is  marvellously  pleasing, 
and  the  stanzas  have  a  greater  flow  and  feeling  than  his  blank 
verse."  Shenstone  wrote  appreciatively  of  Thomson's  poem 
shortly  after  it  appeared  ; 3  and  his  verses  to  William  Lyttleton 
in  1748,  on  Thomson's  death,  speak  of  the  "  sweet  descriptive 
bard "  in  high  terms.  The  service  rendered  to  the  English 
Romantic  movement  by  the  Castle  of  Indolence  was  exceedingly 
great ;  Thomson  might  have  done  still  more  work  in  the  same 
field  had  his  life  not  been  so  suddenly  cut  short. 

In  1749  appeared  A  Farewell  Hymne  to  the  Country,  Attempted 
in  the  Manner  of  Spenser's  Epithalamion.  This  was  by  the  Rev. 
R.  Potter,  who  was  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  nature  and  a  great 
admirer  of  old  English  poetry  in  general,  and  of  Spenser  in 
particular.  The  Hymne  was  popular,  and  passed  into  a  second 
edition  the  next  year.  It  is  not  without  poetic  merit,  and  has 
a  good  musical  flow.  The  stanza  in  which  he  alludes  to  his 
master  may  be  worth  quoting.  He  has  spoken  of  three  poets, 

1  Essay  on  Pope,  Vol.  I.,  pape  366  (4th  ed.,  1782). 

2  See  Vol.  II.,  page  31. 

8  Letter  to  Mr.  Jago,  November  15,  1748. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  77 

Milton,  Chaucer,  and  "  sweet  Cowley,"  and  then  proceeds  as 
follows  :  — 

"  And  he,  forth-beaming  thro'  the  mystic  Shade 

In  all  the  Might  of  Magic  sweetly  strong  ; 
Who  steep'd  in  Teares  the  pitious  Lines  he  made, 

The  tendrest  Bard  that  ere  empassion'd  Song ; 
Or  when  of  Love's  Delights  he  cast  to  play, 
Couth  deftly  dight  the  Lay  ; 

And  with  gay  Girlonds  goodly  beautifide, 
Bound  trew  love-wise  to  grace  his  bridale  Day, 

With  daintie  Carrols  hymn'd  his  happy  Bride  ; 
Lov'd  SPENSER,  of  trew  Verse  the  Well-spring  sweet ! 
The  Footing  of  whose  Feet 

I,  paineful  Follower,  assay  to  trace. 
Bring  fayrest  Floures,  the  purest  Lillies  bring, 
With  all  the  purple  Pride  of  all  the  Spring  ; 
And  make  great  Store  of  Poses  trim,  to  grace 
The  Prince  of  Poets'  Race  ; 
And  Hymen,  Hymen,  10  Hymen  sing  ; 
The  Hills,  the  Dales,  the  Woods,  the  Fountaines  ring." 

In  1751  appeared  The  Seasons,  by  Moses  Mendez  (died 
1758).  Mendez  was  a  Jew,  who  dabbled  in  literature.  He 
was  famous  chiefly  for  his  great  wealth,  and  forms  in  this 
respect  a  curious  contrast  to  the  literary  beggars  of  the  day. 
He  was  the  richest  poet  of  his  time,  leaving  a  fortune  of 
/;£ioo,ooo  at  his  death.  Mendez  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer 
Ipf  Thomson's  poetry,  and  in  The  Seasons  he  imitated  him 
doubly,  by  writing  on  Nature  and  by  adopting  the  Spenserian 
stanza.  Mendez's  poem  is  divided  into  four  parts,  Spring, 
Summer,  Autumn,  Winter.  He  opened  with  some  prefatory 
stanzas  defying  the  critics,  and  then  goes  on  as  follows :  — 

"  Ere  yet  I  sing  the  round-revolving  year, 

And  show  the  toils  and  pastime  of  the  swain, 
At  Alcon's  grave  I  drop  a  pious  tear  ; 

Right  well  he  knew  to  raise  his  learned  strain, 
And,  like  his  Milton,  scorned  the  rhiming  chain. 


78  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC   MOVEMENT. 

Ah  !  cruel  fate,  to  tear  him  from  our  eyes  ; 

Receive  this  wreath,  albe  the  tribute's  vain, 
From  the  green  sod  may  flowers  immortal  rise, 
To  mark  the  sacred  spot  where  the  sweet  poet  lies." 

This  reference  to  Thomson  is  especially  interesting  on 
account  of  the  allusion  to  blank  verse. 

Mendez's  Seasons  contains  the  usual  amount  of  obsolete 
words,  but  has  in  its  swing  and  melody  something  of  the  real 
manner  of  the  master.  The  fourth  stanza  in  Spring  shows 
Mendez  at  his  best :  — 

"  The  balmy  cowslip  gilds  the  smiling  plain, 

The  virgin  snow-drop  boasts  her  silver  hue, 
An  hundred  tints  the  gaudy  daisy  stain, 
And  the  meek  violet,  in  amis  blue, 
Creeps  low  to  earth,  and  hides  from  public  view." 

Some  years  later  Mendez  took  the  field  again,  with  his 
Squire  of  Dames.  He  describes  the  search  of  the  Squire  of 
Dames  for  three  hundred  chaste  women,  and  his  ill  success. 
Mendez  meant  the  poem  to  be  both  an  allegory  and  a  satire. 
It  is  in  two  cantos  in  the  regular  Spenserian  stanza,  and 
shows  how  the  Squire  found  every  girl  unfaithful.  At  last 
he  goes  to  the  castle  of  Merlin,  and  gazes  in  a  magic  mirror 
which  will  reveal  anything  asked  for.  He  calls  for  his  own 
chaste  mistress,  Columbel,  and,  to  his  horror,  she  and  her 
paramour  are  represented  in  a  situation  which  is  anything 
but  chaste.  At  this  last  straw  he  swoons  and  the  poem 
closes. 

The  Squire  of  Dames  shows  careful  reading  of  Spenser,  and 
is  far  above  the  ordinary  imitations.  It  exhibits  great  metrical 
skill ;  and  some  passages  are  notably  Romantic.  The  descrip- 
tion of  Merlin's  castle  is  perhaps  the  most  Romantic  part  of 
the  poem,  and,  as  Mendez's  poetry  is  so  little  known,  I  will 
quote  this  passage  entire  :  — 


THE   SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  79 

"  Together  now  they  seek  the  hermitage 

Deep  in  the  covert  of  a  dusky  glade, 
Where  in  his  dortour  wons  the  hoary  sage. 

The  moss-grown  trees  did  form  a  gloomy  shade, 

Their  rustling  leaves  a  solemn  music  made, 
And  fairies  nightly  tripped  the  aweful  green, 

And  if  the  tongue  of  fame  hath  truth  display'd, 
Full  many  a  spectre  was  at  midnight  seen, 
Torn  from  his  earthly  grave,  a  horrid  sight !    I  ween. 

Ne  rose  ne  vi'let,  glads  the  cheerless  bow'r, 

Ne  fringed  pink  from  earth's  green  bosom  grew, 
But  hemloc  dire  and  every  baleful  flow'r 

Might  here  be  found,  and  knots  of  mystic  rue. 

Close  to  the  cell  sprong  up  an  auncient  yew, 
And  store  of  imps  were  on  its  boughs  ypight, 

At  his  behests  they  from  its  branches  flew, 
And,  in  a  thousand  various  forms  bedight, 
Frisk'd  to  the  moon's  pale  wain,  and  revell'd  all  the  night. 

Around  the  cave  a  clust'ring  ivy  spread 

In  wide  embrace  his  over-twining  arms, 
Within  the  walls  with  characters  bespread 

Declar'd  the  pow'rful  force  of  magic  charms, 

Here  drugs  were  plac'd  destructive  of  all  harms, 
And  books  that  deep  futurity  could  scan  ; 

Here  stood  a  spell  that  of  his  rage  disarms 
The  mountain  lyon  till  he  yields  to  man  ; 
With  many  secrets  more  which  scarce  repeat  I  can."  * 

This  is  neither  moralizing  nor  smutty ;  being  very  different 
poetry  from  either  Ridley's  Psyche  or  Pitt's  Jordan.  It  counts 
for  something  in  the  history  of  Romanticism.  Mendez  illus- 
trates the  two-fold  nature  of  the  movement,  in  his  love  of 
Nature,  and  love  of  the  Past ;  and  his  following  Thomson  in 
both  subject  and  form  is  note- worthy. 

Boyse  was  not  the  only  vagabond  among  the  Spenserians ; 
another  rascal  was  the  poet  Robert  Lloyd  (1733—1764).  He 

i  Canto  II.,  Stanzas  31,  32,  33. 


80  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

led  a  terribly  dissipated  life,  was  more  often  drunk  than  sober 
and  spent  a  large  portion  of  the  time  in  prison  for  debt. 
He  was  a  professed  imitator  of  Prior,  and  had  a  keen  and 
penetrating  wit,  which  he  used  unsparingly.  In  some  directions 
his  tastes  seemed  to  favor  the  new  school.  He  wrote  an 
epistle  to  Garrick,  in  which  he  praised  the  English  dramatists, 
and  Shakspere's  departure  from  Classic^  rules  of  art.  He 
satirized  the  chorus  of  the  Greek  stage. 

His  remarks  on  the  contemporary  craze  for  imitations  are 
not  bad.  He  wrote  them  in  1755  to  a  friend  who  was  about 
to  publish  a  volume  of  miscellanies.  Lloyd  warns  him  against 
too  much  imitation  :  — 

"  Let  not  your  verse,  as  verse  now  goes, 
Be  a  strange  kind  of  measur'd  prose  ; 
Nor  let  your  prose,  which  sure  is  worse, 
Want  nought  but  measure  to  be  verse. 
Write  from  your  own  imagination, 
Nor  curb  your  Muse  by  imitation  ; 
For  copies  show,  howe'er  exprest, 
A  barren  genius  at  the  best. 
—  But  imitation's  all  the  mode  — 
Yet  where  one  hits,  ten  miss  the  road." 

He  then  goes  on   to   complain   of   the    number   of   Miltonic 
imitations,  and  says  :  — 

"  Tis  by  those 

Milton's  the  model  mostly  chose 
Who  can't  write  verse,  and  won't  write  prose." 

His  remarks  on  the  Spenserian  imitations  are  interesting  :-- 

"  Others,  who  aim  at  fancy,  choose 
To  woo  the  gentle  Spenser's  muse. 
The  poet  fixes  for  his  theme 
An  allegory,  or  a  dream. 
Fiction  and  truth  together  joins 
Thro'  a  long  waste  of  flimsy  lines  ; 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  81 

Fondly  believes  his  fancy  glows, 

And  image  upon  image  grows  ; 

Thinks  his  strong  Muse  takes  wondrous  flights,     , 

Whene'er  she  sings  of  peerless  wights, 

Of  dens,  of  palfreys,  spells  and  knights, 

'Till  allegory,  Spenser's  veil, 

T'  instruct  and  please  in  moral  tale, 

With  him  's  no  veil  the  truth  to  shroud, 

But  one  impenetrable  cloud." 

These  octosyllabics  are  worth  quoting,  as  they  show  the 
popularity  that  Spenserianism  had  gained.  But  although  Lloyd 
thus  satirized  the  imitators,  he  had  already  joined  their  ranks. 
In  1751  he  published  his  Progress  of  Envy.  It  is  a  defense 
of  Milton.  Lloyd  attacks  a  disreputable  Scotchman  who  had 
made  an  onslaught  on  the  reputation  of  the  Puritan  poet. 
Besides  the  main  object  of  the  poem,  it  is  also  a  panegyric 
on  Spenser,  and  even  Shakspere  and  Chaucer  come  in  for 
praise.  It  is  allegorical  in  form,  with  the  customary  number 
of  personified  abstractions.  The  stanza  is  Spenserian,  with 
nine  lines,  but  with  a  curious  riming  scheme.1 

In  1691  Edmund  Smith  (1668-1710)  made  himself  somewhat 
famous  by  a  Latin  ode  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Pococke  ;  in  1751 
was  published  Thales,  a  Spenserian  imitation,  and  apparently  a 
translation  of  Smith's  Latin  verses.2  Who  wrote  the  English 
stanzas  is  difficult  to  ascertain.  They  are  in  eight-lines,3  still 
another  variation  on  Spenser's  original  form. 

By  1751  Dr.  Johnson  thought  it  was  about  time  to  speak 
out.  The  Spenserians  were  having  things  altogether  too  much 
their  own  way,  and  he  was  alarmed  at  such  tendencies  in  the 
direction  of  Romanticism.  He  relieved  his  mind  in  the 
Rambler,  for  May  14,  1751.  He  says,  "the  imitation  of 
Spenser  ...  by  the  influence  of  some  men  of  learning  and 
genius,  seems  likely  to  gain  upon  the  age."  To  imitate 
Spenser's  "  fictions  and  sentiments  can  incur  no  reproach, 

1  ab,  ab,  cd,  cd,  d.  2  The  English  poem  is  in  Bell's  Fugitive  Poetry. 

*  Riming  abab,  b,  c,  c,  c. 


82  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

for  allegory  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  pleasing  vehicles  of 
instruction."  So  far  as  Spenser  encourages  didactic  poetry, 
the  doctor  naturally  thinks  he  is  all  right.  "  But  I  am  very 
far  from  extending  the  same  respect  to  his  diction  or  his 
stanza.  His  style  was  in  his  own  time  allowed  to  be  vicious. 
.  .  .  His  stanza  is  at  once  difficult  and  unpleasing ;  tiresome 
to  the  ear  by  its  uniformity,  and  to  the  attention  by  its  length." 
This  is  a  strange  criticism  coming  from  an  admirer  of  long 
poems  in  the  heroic  couplet.  Johnson  closes  his  paper  with 
one  parting  shot.  "  The  style  of  Spenser  might  by  long  labour 
be  justly  copied  ;  but  life  is  surely  given  us  for  higher  purposes 
than  to  gather  what  our  ancestors  have  thrown  away,  and  to 
learn  what  is  of  no  value,  but  because  it  has  been  forgotten." 
Dr.  Johnson's  emphatic  protest  is  the  most  conclusive  evidence 
as  to  the  strength  which  the  movement  had  gained  by  the 
middle  of  the  century. 

,     In  1754  appeared  a  very  important  work  —  Thomas  Warton's 

» Observations  on  the  faery  Queen.     This  had  a  strong  influence 

in  furthering  the  serious  study  and  appreciation  of  Spenser. 

The   book  will    be   mentioned   again   in   connection  with  the 

/Critical  side  of  the  Romantic  movement.     Warton  made  some 

|  imitations  of  his  own.     Indeed  his  poetry  is  wholly  imitative, 

.his  chief  model  being  Milton,  whose  ideas  and  language  he 

*borrowed  with  a  free  hand.     His  poems  were  not  published 

collectively   till    1777,    but    a    number    of   them    appeared    at 

occasional  intervals.     His  Spenserian  imitations  are  Morning, 

written  in  1745,  published  1750,  Elegy  on  the  Death  of  Frederic, 

Prince  of  Wales  (1751),  A  Pastoral  in  the  Manner  of  Spenser 

(1753),  though  there  is  some  doubt  as  to  his  authorship  of  this  ; 

and  the  Complaint  of  Cherwell,  written   1761,  published   1777. 

It  is  curious   that   with    all   his   knowledge    of   Spenser,   his 

imitations  should  not  have  followed  the  regular  stanza  of  the 

Fairy  Queen?-     But  although  he  did  not  pay  so  close  attention 

1  The  Elegy  and  Complaint  are  six-lined,  ending  with  an  Alexandrine,  and  riming 
ab,  ab,  c,  c.  The  Pastoral  is  in  the  same  form  as  the  Shepherd's  Calendar  for 
January  and  December. 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  S3 

to  the  form,  he  was  filled  with  the  master's  spirit ;  allusions  to 
the  old  poet  constantly  occur  among  his  verses.  In  his  poem, 
The  Pleasures  of  Melancholy,  written  in  his  seventeenth  year,  he 
says  :  — 

"  Thro'  Pope's  soft  song  tho'  all  the  Graces  breathe 
And  happiest  art  adorn  his  Attic  page  ; 
Yet  does  my  mind  with  sweeter  transport  glow 
As  at  the  root  of  mossy  trunk  reclin'd, 
In  magic  Spenser's  wildly-warbled  song 
I  see  deserted  Una  wander  wide 
Thro'  wasteful  solitudes  and  lurid  heaths." 

Thomas  Warton,  like  his  brother,  was  a  conscious  Romanti- 
cist.1 

Thomas  Denton  (1724-1777),  a  minor  poet,  also  belongs  to 
the  Spenserian  school.  He  was  an  Oxford  man,  receiving  his 
M.A.  in  1752.  He  wrote  two  imitations  of  Spenser,  Immortality 
(1754)  and  The  House  of  Superstition  (1762).  Both  of  these 
are  in  ten-lined  stanzas,  and  rime  after  Prior's  model.  Immor- 
tality is  imitative  of  Spenser  only  in  form.  Its  language 
is  distinctively  that  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  exhibits 
the  contemporary  note  of  melancholy,  and  the  fascination 
of  grave-damp.  There  are,  however,  even  in  this  piece 
some  curiously  Romantic  touches,  as  in  the  eleventh  stanza, 

beginning  as  it  unfortunately  does,  with  "  Cynthia":  — 
\ 

"  Pale  Cynthia  mounted  on  her  silver  car 

O'er  heaven's  blue  concave  drives  her  nightly  round  ; 
See  a  torn  abbey,  wrapt  in  gloom,  appear 
Scatter'd  in  wild  confusion  o'er  the  ground. 

1  Some  of  his  general  publications  are  as  follows : — 

1745.   &ve  Pastoral  Eclogues. 

1747.   Pleasures  of  Melancholy. 

1749.    Triumph  of  I  sis. 

1751.    Newmarket. 

1754.   Observations,  enlarged  in  1762. 

1774.   First  vol.,  History  of  English  Poetry,  second  vol.,  1778,  third  vol.,  1781. 

1785.   Edition  of  Milton's  Juvenile  Poems. 

1777.   Collection  of  his  own  poems,  second  edition,  1778,  third,  1779,  fourth,  1789. 


84  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Here  rav'nous  Ruin  lifts  her  wasteful  hands 

O'er  briar-grown  grots  and  bramble-shaded  graves  ; 

Safe  from  her  wrath  one  weeping  marble  stands, 
O'er  which  the  mournful  yew  its  umbrage  waves: 

(Ope,  ope  thy  pond'rous  jaws,  thou  friendly  tomb, 
Close  the  sad  deathful  scene,  and  shroud  me  in  thy  womb." 

In  its  general  tone  the  poem,  of  course,  belongs  to  the  school 
of  Blair,  Young  and  Gray. 

The  House  of  Superstition  is  a  poem  in  thirteen  stanzas,  and 
has  a  closer  resemblance  to  Spenser  than  Denton's  earlier 
work,  being  arranged  in  allegorical  form.  It  describes  the 
victory  of  the  goddess  Truth  over  the  inmates  of  the  castle  of 
Superstition.  The  poem  contains  scarcely  any  obsolete  words, 
and  it  seems  doubtful  whether  Denton  had  any  first-hand 
knowledge  of  Spenser  at  all.  It  is  more  likely  that  in  writing 
in  this  form  he  was  simply  following  the  contemporary 
fashion. 

One  of  these  poets  who  is  almost  completely  forgotten  to-day, 
was  Cornelius  Arnold  (1711-1757  ?).  Very  little  is  known  of 
his  life.  His  Spenserian  imitation,  The  Mirror,  was  published 
as  a  quarto  in  1755,  and  later  in  his  Poems  (1757).  Arnold 
had  evidently  read  Shenstone's  School-mistress,  as  we  learn 
from  his  Preface.  "  The  Author  begs  leave  to  premise,  that 
in  this  essay  he  has  retained  some  few  of  the  old  words  of 
Spenser,  and  adopted  the  simplicity  of  the  diction  in  the  ludi- 
crous cast,  at  the  end  of  most  of  the  stanzas,  to  give  it  some- 
what the  exterior  air  of  that  great  original,  however  far  short 
he  may  have  fell  of  the  spirit."  Arnold's  poem  contains  forty- 
four  regular  Spenserian  stanzas;  it  is  a  satire  on  contemporary 
life  and  manners,  and  describes  how  Death  seizes  one  personage 
after  another,  the  lawyer,  knight,  actor,  etc.  The  poetry  has 
not  much  beauty,  but  exhibits  some  originality  and  considerable 
force. 

In  1756  appeared  a  very  dull  poem  by  Christopher  Smart 
(1722-1770).  The  Hymn  to  the  Supreme  Being  on  Recovery 


THE  SPENSERIAN  REVIVAL.  85 

from  a  Dangerous  Fit  of  Illness,  is  in  six-line  stanzas,1  and  is 
poor  stuff.  Its  form  alone  makes  it  necessary  to  mention  it 
here. 

William  Wilkie  (1721-1772)  is  connected  with  the  Spenserian 
school  by  his  poem,  A^JDream  —  ///  the  manner  of  Spenser, 
which  appeared  in  1759.  It  was  published  along  with  the 
second  edition  of  the  Epigoniad,  which  work  gave  Wilkie  the 
title  of  the  "  Scottish  Homer."  This  was  a  long  epic  in  nine 
books,  written  in  the  couplet.  A  Dream  is  a  regular  Spenserian 
imitation,  containing  eighteen  stanzas.  It  is  an  attack  on 
literary  critics  —  a  defense  of  nature  against  the  canons  of  the 
artificial  school  of  criticism.  One  stanza  will  suffice  to  show 
Wilkie's  style:  — 

"  Though  Shakspeare,  still  disdaining  narrow  rules, 
His  bosom  fill'd  with  Nature's  sacred  fire, 
Broke  all  the  cobweb  limits  fix'd  by  fools, 
And  left  the  world  to  blame  him  and  admire, 
Yet  his  reward  few  mortals  would  desire  ; 
For,  of  his  learned  toil,  the  only  meed  — 
That  ever  I  could  find  he  did  acquire, 
Is  that  our  dull,  degenerate,  age  of  lead, 
Says  that  he  wrote  by  chance,  and  that  he  scarce  could  read." 

In  1767  William  Junius  Mickle  (1734-1788)  published  The 
Concubine,  a  Spenserian  imitation  in  two  cantos.  In  the  second 
edition  (1778)  he  changed  the  name,  calling  it  Sir  Martyn. 
Although  this  poem  appeared  after  1765,  and  thus  strictly 
carries  us  beyond  the  limit  of  our  present  study,  The  Concubine 
deserves  a  moment's  notice,  as  it  had  been  growing  in  Mickle's 
mind  for  some  years.  In  the  Rev.  John  Sim's  Life  of  Mickle, 
we  are  told  that  about  his  thirteenth  year  (1746)  "Spenser's 
Faery  Queene  falling  accidentally  in  his  way,  he  was  immediately 
struck  with  the  picturesque  descriptions  of  that  much  admired 
ancient  bard,  and  powerfully  incited  to  imitate  his  style  and 
manner."2  In  Mickle's  preface  to  his  poem  —  printed  with 

1  Riming  ab,  ab,  cc.  2  Mickle's  Poetical  Works,  London,  1806,  page  xi. 


86  THE  ENGLISH  ROMAA^TIC  MOVEMENT. 

the  second  edition  in  1778  —  he  said  :  "  Some  reasons,  perhaps, 
may  be  expected  for  having  adopted  the  manner  of  Spenser. 
To  propose  a  general  use  of  it  were  indeed  highly  absurd; 
yet  it  may  be  presumed  there  are  some  subjects  on  which  it 
may  be  used  with  advantage.  But  not  to  enter  upon  any 
formal  defence,  the  Author  will  only  say,  that  the  fulness  and 
wantonness  of  description,  the  quaint  simplicity,  and  above  all, 
the  ludicrous,  of  which  the  antique  phraseology  and  manner  of 
Spenser  are  so  happily  and  peculiarly  susceptible,  inclined  him 
to  esteem  it  not  solely  as  the  best,  but  the  only  mode  of 
composition  adapted  to  his  subject."  Here  again  we  have 
the  familiar  emphasis  laid  on  the  "simplicity,"  and  especially 
the  "ludicrous"  element  in  Spenser. 

Mickle's  poem  is  in  the  regular  stanza,  and  shows  consider- 
able familiarity  with  Spenser ;  he  adopted  both  antiquated 
spelling,  and  obsolete  words,  the  latter  being  explained  in  a 
Glossary  which  accompanied  the  poem. 

With  this  poem  we^close  our  view  of  the  Spenserian  revival. 
Editions  of  Spenser  did  not  keep  pace  with  the  growing  number 
of  imitations ;  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  century  that 
the  demand  for  Spenser  himself  became  strong.  Hughes's 
edition  of  1715  seemed  to  satisfy  the  public  till  1750,  when 
another  edition  took  the  field.  This  was  followed  by  an  edition 
of  the  Fairy  Queen  in  1751,  and  in  1758  three  separate  editions 
of  the  same  poem  appeared.  Another  edition  of  Spenser's 
Works  was  published  in  1778. 

Little  is  needed  by  way  of  summary.  The  imitations  began 
to  be  numerous  after  1736,  and  the  movement  reached  its 
climax  about  1750.  The  unconsciousness  of  the  movement 
is  shown  by  the  powerful  influence  exercised  upon  it  by  Pope 
and  Prior.  The  significant  fact  that  Spenser  was  by  many 
apprehended  only  on  the  ludicrous  side,  was  discussed  at 

some  length  in  the  early  part  of  this  chapter.1 

% 

1  See  Appendix  for  a  list  of  Spenserian  imitations. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF    MILTON    IN    THE    ROMANTIC 

MOVEMENT.  — THE    LITERATURE    OF 

MELANCHOLY. 

WE  do  not  to-day  think  of  Milton  primarily  as  a  Romantic 
poet ;  his  great  epic  would  more  naturally  place  him  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Classicists  ;  and  his  remarkable  devotion  to  the 
study  of  Greek  and  Latin  authors,  with  the  powerful  influence 
they  had  upon  him,  would  seem  to  separate  him  widely  from 

(Romanticism.  To  the  men  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however, 
his  message  was  Romantic.  He  was  shunned  and  practically 
neglected  by  the  Augustans,  whose  Classicism  was  so  thor- 
oughly Horatian ;  and  those  who  admired  him  did  so  more  on 
account  of  the  bulk  of  his  epic  and  its  theological  theme,  than 
from  a  genuine  love  and  appreciation  of  his  poetry.  The 
young  Romanticists  claimed  Milton  for  their  own ;  his  name 
was  a  rallying  cry  ;  and  they  followed  him  in  thought,  language, 
and  versification.  His  influence  cannot  be  traced  out  in  detail 
so  clearly  as  Spenser's ;  but  it  was  a  quickening  force,  as  any 
one  who  reads  eighteenth  century  minor  poetry  may  see  for 
himself.  I  have  already  spoken  of  his  influence  on  the  Reaction 
in  Form ;  his  blank  verse  was  steadily  imitated  and  did  much 
toward  dethroning  the  couplet ;  his  octosyllabics  were  still 
more  effective,  and  his  sonnets  leavened  English  poetry  after 
(1750.  But  it  was  not  so  much  in  form  as  in  thought  that 
JMilton  affected  the  Romantic  movement ;  and  although  Para- 
\dise  Lost  was  always  reverentially  considered  his  greatest  work, 
it  was  not  at  this  time  nearly  so  effective  as  his  minor  poetry ; 
and  in  the  latter  it  was  //  Penseroso  —  the  love  of  meditatiye 
comfortable  melancholy  —  that  penetrated  most  deeply  into  the 
Romantic  soul.  Even  such  a  poem  as  Dyer's  Fleece,  although 
in  blank  verse,  is  more  reminiscent  of  the  juvenile  poems  than 


88  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

of  the  epics  ;  and  the  blank  verse  of  the  Warton  brothers  is 
charged  with  the  sentiments  and  phrases  of  Milton's  octosylla- 
bics. The  influence  of  Milton  cannot,  accordingly,  be  seen  in 
so  distinct  a  literary  fashion  as  the  Spenserian  fad  ;  it  must  be 
traced  in  a  different  way,  and  along  more  general  lines. 

It  was  in  the  Spectator  for  December  31,  1711,  that  Addison 
announced  his  intention  of  writing  a  series  of  papers  on  Milton  ; 
but  important  as  Addison's  work  was,  he  was  not  the  first  man 
to  bring  Milton  into  public  notice.  Editions  of  Milton  had 
been  regularly  supplying  a  quiet  but  steady  demand. 
"  The  well-known  men  who  show  the  influence  of  Milton  most 
^clearly  are  the  Warton  brothers,  Collins,  Mason,  and  Gray. 
But  there  were  many  lesser  lights  who  give  evidence  of  close 
study  of  the  Puritan  poet.  For  example,  William  Hamilton  of 
Bangour  imitated  Milton  in  his  octosyllabic  poem  Contemplation}- 
He  shows  this  perhaps  most  clearly  in  his  fondness  for  Ab- 
stractions ;  and  indeed  the  subsequent  fashion  of  personifying 
Abstractions  —  though  dating  back  even  much  earlier  than  the 
Morality  Plays  —  seems  in  the  new  Romantic  movement  to 
have  flowed  largely  from  Milton.  Consider  these  lines  from 
Hamilton's  poem :  — 

"  Anger,  with  wild  disorder'd  face  ; 
And  Malice  pale  of  famish'd  face  ; 
Loud-tongued  Clamour,  get  thee  far 
Hence,  to  wrangle  at  the  bar  ; 
With  opening  mouths  vain  Rumour  hung  ; 
And  falsehood  with  her  serpent  tongue ; 
Revenge,  her  blood-shot  eyes  on  fire, 
And  hissing  Envy's  snaky  tire  ; 
With  Jealousy,  the  fiend  most  fell, 
Who  bears  about  his  inmate  hell, 
Now  far  apart  with  haggard  mien 
To  lone  Suspicion  list'ning  seen,"  etc.2 

This  kind  of  thing  became  extremely  common. 

1  Written  in  or  before  1 739. 

2  Observe  the  similarity  of  all  this  to  Collins's  Ode  on  the  Passions. 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  MILTON.  89 

Joseph  Warton  (1722-1800)  is  one  of  the  most  important 
names  in  the  history  of  English  Romanticism,.1 

From  the  start  his  sympathy  was  wholly  with  the  new  move- 
ment. He  sprang  enthusiastically  into  the  ranks,  burning  his 
bridges  in  the  most  reckless  manner.  In  his  prose  writings  he 
showed  himself  to  be  what  few  men  were  at  that  time  —  a 
Romanticist,  not  by  accident,  but  with  malice  aforethought. 

In  this  chapter,  however,  we  are  concerned  not  with  his 
prose,  but  with  his  poetry,  which  sounded  some  of  the  earliest 
and  most  distinct  Romantic  tones.  He  was  a  follower  of 
Milton,  and  his  poetry  is  in  the  //  Penseroso  mood  ;  Jhe  fonjl- 
ness  for  solitude  and  twilight,  for  personal  subjective  communion t 
with  Nature  —  these  common  Romantic  qualities  are  strikingly 
characteristic  of  Warton's  poetry.  From  1740  to  176.0  Englisji 
literature  is  full  ot  the  still  music  of  sentimental  melancholy, 
with  a  burden  of  Dead  Marches.  In  1740,  when  only  eighteen, 
Joseph  Warton  wrote  The  Enthusiast;  or  the  Lover  of  Nature, 
a  poem  in  blank  verse.  It  is  in  the  minor  key,  full  of  Romantic 
feeling,  and  vibrating  with  Miltonic  echoes.  The  youth  gave 
vent  to  his  feelings  as  follows  :  — 

"  Rich  in  her  weeping  country's  spoils,  Versailles 
May  boast  a  thousand  fountains,  that  can  cast 
The  tortur'd  waters  to  the  distant  Heavn's  ; 
Yet  let  me  choose  some  pine-topt  precipice 
Abrupt  and  shaggy,  whence  a  foamy  stream, 
Like  Arno,  tumbling  roars  ;    or  some  black  heath, 
Where  straggling  stands  the  mournful  Juniper, 
Or  yew-tree  scath'd." 

1  Dates  of  his  chief  publications : 

1740.  The  Enthusiast  (written;  I  think  not  published  till  1744). 

1746.  Odes. 

1749.  Ode  to  Mr.  West. 

1749-53.  Edition  of  Vergil. 

1756.  Essay  on  Pope  —  second  volume  in  1782. 

1797.  Edition  of  Pope. 

1799.  Edition  of  Dryden. 


90  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Again  we  have  touches  akin  to  Rousseau's  "back-to-nature" 
sentiment :  — 

"  Happy  the  first  of  men,  ere  yet  confin'd 
To  smoky  cities  ;    who  in  sheltering  groves, 
Warm  caves  and  deep-sunk  vallies,  liv'd  and  lov'd, 
By  cares  unwounded." 

His  comparison  of  Addison  with  Shakspere  shows  the  defiant 
feeling  of  rebellion,  which  made  the  Wartons  the  true  leaders 
of  the  Romantic  reaction:  — 

"  What  are  the  lays  of  artful  Addison, 
Coldly  correct,  to  Shakespear's  warblings  wild  ? 
Whom  on  the  winding  Avon's  willow'd  banks 
Fair  Fancy  found,  and  bore  the  smiling  babe 
To  a  close  cavern."  l 

/*  The  "poem  concludes  with  a  passionate  cry  for  solitude  and 

I  wild  nature.     Milton  and  Thomson  were  Warton'.s  masters  in 

this    poem ;     it    is    a   remarkable    production   for    a   youth   of 

eighteen,  not  only  in  its  intrinsic  merit,  but  in  its  prophetic 

insight  of  what  was  coming.      The  Enthusiast  is  certainly  one 

_£tf  thf*  most  important  poems  in  the  Romantic  movement. 

In  December,  1746,  Joseph  Wartoji  published  a  thin  volume 
oi^jOdes.  His  advertisement  has  some  significant  remarks. 
He  says  :  "  The  Public  has  been  so  much  accustomed  of  late 
to  didactic  poetry  alone,  and  essays  on  moral  subjects,  that 
any  work  where  the  imagination  is  much  indulged,  will  perhaps 
not  be  relished  or  regarded.  The  author  therefore  of  these 
pieces  is  in  some  pain  lest  certain  austere  critics  should  think 
them  too  fanciful  or  descriptive.  But  as  he  is  convinced  that 
the  fashion  of  moralizing  in  verse  has  been  carried  too  far,  and 
as  he  looks  upon  Invention  and  imagination  to  be  the  chief 
faculties  of  a  poet,  so  he  will  be  happy  if  the  following  Odes 

1  Reminiscent,  of  course,  of  Milton's  calling  Shakspere  "Fancy's  child,"  and 
*'  Warble  his  native  wood-notes  wild."  "  Observe  also  the  studied  alliteration  of 
this  passage  from  Warton. 


THE   INFLUENCE    OF  MILTON.  91 

may  be  looked  upon  as  an  attempt  to  bring  back  Poetry  into 
its  right  channel." 

This  is  a  rap  over  the  knuckles  for  Classicism ;  in  a  crude 
and  rough  way  Warton  here  articulated  the  Romantic  doctrine. 
He  had  believed  all  this  in  1740,  and  during  his  whole  life  he 
clung  to  these  views  with  singular  tenacity. 

This  small  volume  contained  fourteen  odes,  in  various 
metres.  Some  of  the  subjects  will  give  an  idea  of  the  char- 
^acter  of  the  book  —  Fancy,  Liberty,  Health,  Superstition, 
JEvening,  The  Nightingale,  Solitude,  etc.  The  Ode  to  Fancy 
is  full  of  echoes  of  Milton:  — 

V 

f  Haste  Fancy  from  the  scenes  of  folly, 

I  To  meet  the  matron  Melancholy, 

'  Goddess  of  the  tearful  eye, 

jThat  loves  to  fold  her  arms  and  sigh  ; 
Let  us  with  silent  footsteps  go 
To  charnels  and  the  house  of  woe, 
To  Gothic  churches,  vaults  and  tombs 
Where  each  sad  night  some  virgin  comes, 
With  throbbing  breast,  and  faded  cheek, 

\Her  promis'd  bridegroom's  urn  to  seek." 

This  is  an  excellent  example  of  what  is  meant  by  the 
"literature  of  melanchojy,"  and  of  course  its  original  inspi- 
ration from  //  Penseroso  is  indisputable.  In  the  same  ode 
appears  an  allusion  to  Shakspere,  where  Warton  is  again 
thinking  of  Milton's  expression,  "  Fancy's  child."  1  Milton's 
casual  remark  that  Shakspere  was  the  child  of  Fancy  seemed 
to  produce  a  profound  impression  on  the  Romanticists. 

The  Ode  to  Health,  written  on  his  recovery  from  the  small- 
pox, is  noteworthy  for  the  opinion  expressed  of  Milton  in  the 
last  stanza  :  — 

"  O  hear  our  prayer,  O  hither  come 
From  thy  lamented  Shakespear's  tomb, 
On  which  thou  lov'st  to  sit  at  eve, 
Musing  o'er  thy  darling's  grave." 


92  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

"  Where  Maro  and  Musaeus  sit 

Listening  to  Milton's  loftier  song, 
With  sacred  silent  wonder  smit, 

While,  monarch  of  the  tuneful  throng, 
Homer  in  rapture  throws  his  trumpet  down, 
And  to  the  Briton  gives  his  amyranthine  crown." 

Homer,  and  especially  Vergil,  doing  homage  to  Milton  would 
certainly  have  been  a  sacrilegious  thought  to  Augustan  minds. 
For  Dryden's  famous  lines  were  considered  simply  as  the 
hyperbole  of  complimentary  verses. 

The  &de_to  Evening  has  some  passages  which  instantly 
suggest  Gray's  Elegy.  For  example  :  — 

"  Hail,  meek-eyed  maiden,  clad  in  sober  grey, 
Whose  soft  approach  the  weary  woodman  loves, 
As,  homeward  bent  to  kiss  his  prattling  babes, 
He  jocund  whistles  thro'  the  twilight  groves." 

And  another  stanza  has  the  line  :  — 

"  And  with  hoarse  hummings  of  unnumber'd  flies." 

The  Ode  to  Solitude  fitly  closes  this  remarkable  collection  of 
poetry.  This  ode  is  strictly  Romantic  in  tone,  and  with  the 
other  thirteen  stands  as  one  of  the  finger-posts  of  the  whole 
Romantic  movement. 

Warton's  Ode  to  West  (1749),  on  the  latter's  translation  of 
Pindar,  gives,  especially  in  the  third  stanza,  his  contemptuous 
opinion  of  Augustan  verse.1 

What  Warton  laid  down  as  principles  in  his  prose  essays, 
he  tried  to  exemplify  in  his  verse.  He  turned  directly  away 
from  Classicism,  and  drew  his  inspiration  from  fresh  out-door 
nature  and  from  meditative  melancholy.  Perhaps  he  is  the 
first  consciously  Romantic  poet  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Mr. 
Courthope  says  of  Warton's  Enthusiast:  "  It  may  certainly  be 
regarded  as  the  starting-point  of  the  romantic  revival,  as  it 
expresses  all  that  love  of  solitude  and  that  yearning  for  the 

1  The  stanza  begins : 

"  Away,  enervate  bards,  away, 
Who  spin  the  courtly,  silken  lay." 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  MILTON.  93 

spirit  of  a  by-gone  age,  which  are  especially  associated  with 
the  genius  of  the  romantic  school  of  poetry."  1  The  poem  can 
hardly  be  regarded  as  the  starting-point,  as  I  have  shown 
in  these  pages  that  the  spirit  of  Romanticism  had  appeared 
in  some  strength  earlier  than  1740  ;  but  Warton's  peculiar 
distinction  is  that  he  was  a  Romanticist  with  a  program. 

Thomas  Wartqn  (1728-1790)  was  even  a  more  direct 
follower  of  Milton  than  his  older  brother.  The  two  men  were 
from  the  start  avowed  Romanticists,  both  writing  Romantic 
poetry,  and  Joseph  helping  the  movement  by  destructive  criti- 
cism of  Pope,  while  Thomas  assisted  by  favorable  criticism  of 
Spenser.  T.  Warton's  poems  are  so  patched  with  Miltonic 
phrases,  that  when  the  quotations  are  removed  scarcely 
anything  remains.  With  his  intense  Romantic  feeling  it  is 
singular  that  he  should  also  have  written  one  long  imitation 
of  Pope  —  the  heavy  satire  Newmarket  (1751).  In  1745,  while 
still  a  boy,  he  wrote  and  in  1747  published  The  Pleasures  of 
1  ^Melancholy.  The  title  was  of  course  suggested  by  Akenside's 
o  Pleasures  of  Imagination,  in  the  wake  of  which  followed 
"Pleasures"  of  all  kinds.  In  composition  T.  Warton  had  no 
more  originality  than  his  brother,  but  he  came  out  positively 
for  Romanticism  and  his  Pleasures  of  Melancholy  is  really  a 
companion-piece  to  the  Enthusiast.  The  influence  of  Milton 
also  appears  as  plainly  :  — 

"*  "  Beneath  yon  ruin'd  abbey's  moss-grown  piles 
Oft  let  me  sit,  at  twilight  hour  of  eve, 
Where  thro'  some  western  window  the  pale  Moon 
Pours  her  long-levell'd  rule  of  streaming  light  ; 
While  sullen  sacred  silence  reigns  around, 

Save  the  lone  screech-owl's  note,2  who  builds  his  bow'r 
Amid  the  mould'ring  caverns  dark  and  damp, 
Or  the  calm  breeze,  that  rustles  in  the  leaves 
Of  flaunting  ivy,  that  with  mantle  green 
Invests  some  wasted  tow'r." 


nl.  V.,  page  365. 
2  The  screech-owl  was  a  stock  figure  in  the  "  Literature  of  Melancholy. 


94  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

He  also  compares  the  artificiality  of  court  life  with  the 
happiness  of  romantic  solitude. 

His  ode  on  the  Approach  of  Summer  is  a  close  imitation  of 
Milton.  A  specimen  will  show  how  freely  Warton  borrowed :  — 

"  Haste  thee,  nymph  !  and  hand  in  hand, 
With  thee  lead  a  buxom  band  ; 
Bring  fantastic-footed  Joy, 
With  Sport,  that  yellow-tressed  boy." 

One  of  the  most  strictly  Romantic  passages  in  this  poem  is  as 
follows  :  — 

"  Yet  still  the  sultry  noon  t'  appease 

Some  more  romantic  scene  might  please  ; 

Or  fairy  bank,  or  magic  lawn, 

By  Spenser's  lavish  pencil  drawn  ; 

On  that  hoar  hill's  aerial  light, 
In  solemn  state,  where  waving  wide, 
Thick  pines  with  darkening  umbrage  hide 
The  rugged  vaults  and  riven  tow'rs 
Of  that  proud  castle's  painted  bow'rs 
Whence  Hardy  Knute,  a  baron  bold, 
In  Scotland's  martial  days  of  old, 
Descended  from  the  stately  feast, 
Begirt  with  many  a  warrior  guest." 

/   The  Romanticists  particularly  delighted   in   "  umbrage " 
/thick  woods,   ruined    castle-towers,   twilight    coloring  and   all 
\quietistic  landscape  scenery. 

Two  of  T.  Warton's  odes  are  on  distinctly  Romantic  subjects 
— The  Crusade  and  the  Grave  of  King  Arthur  —  published  in 
1777.  They  were  both  in  octosyllabics.  His  nine  sonnets 
were  all  on  the  Miltonic  model,  and  the  three  on  Stonehenge, 
King  Arthur's  Round  Table,  and  the  river  Lodon,  are  full  of 
the  spirit  of  Romanticism.  The  very  word  "  romantic "  was 
a  favorite  with  T.  Warton  ;  he  constantly  uses  it  in  both  poetry- 
and  prose. 


THE   INFLUENCE    OF  MILTON.  95 

A  critical  estimate  of  the  poetry  of  the  Warton  brothers 
would  find  in  it  much  imitation  and  little  immortality ;  but  its 
historical  significance  is  hard  to  overestimate.  They  followed 
models,  but  their  models  were  Romantic  and  decidedly  anti- 
Classical. 

The  best  lyrical  poet  of  the  time  was  William  Collins 
(1721-1759).  In  one  sense  of  the  word  Collins  was  thoroughly 
classical ;  in  his  verses  we  find  the  perfect  finish  and  grace  of 
'Greek  form.  In  sentiment,  however,  he  was  with  the  young 
,  Romanticists,  and  was  strongly  influenced  by  Milton.  It  is 
going  a  little  too  far  to  say  that  "his  poetry  was  the  first 
distinct  utterance  of  the  school  which  uttered  in  Warton's  essay 
a  public  protest  against  the  canons  accepted  by  Pope  and  his 
followers,"  l  but  he  certainly  played  a  part  in  the  movement. 
Like  many  of  the  Romanticists,  Collins  began  to  write  poetry 
in  early  youth  ;  while  a  boy  at  school  he  published  some  verses 
to  a  lady.2  In  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  October,  1739, 
appeared  three  poems  —  written  by  Collins,  J.  Warton  his 
school-mate,  and  a  third  friend.  In  January^  174.2.  appeared 
his  fersian  Eclogues?  In  this  enterprise  Collins  pretended 
to  be  only  a  translator.  In  the  Preface  he  apologized  for  the 
"  rich  and  figurative "  style  of  the  Persians.  He  also  spoke 
of  their  "elegancy  and  wildness  of  thought,"  saying,  "our 
genius's  are  .  .  .  much  too  cold  for  the  entertainment  of  such 
sentiments."  After  reading  this  Preface,  one  expects  to  find 
verses  rather  startling ;  but  the  four  eclogues  are  really  in  no 
way  remarkable  either  for  literary  merit  or  for  Romantic  feeling  ; 
and  they  are  written  in  the  heroic  couplet.  In  December, 
1746,*  he  published  a  few  days  after  the  appearance  of  J. 
Warton's  Odes,  his  Qdes  on  Several  Descriptive  and  Allegoric 

1  Stephen's  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 
""  2  Gentleman's  Magazine,  January,  1739. 

3  Afterward  (edition  1757)  called  Oriental  Eclogues. 

4  First   edition  is  dated   1747;   but  it  was  really  published  in  December.   1746. 
Gray's  letter  on  the  odes  of  Warton  and  Collins  is  very  interesting.     (See  his  Works 
ed.  Gosse,  II.,  page  160.) 


96  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Subjects.  The  two  friends  had  intended  to  publish  their  Odes 
together  in  one  volume,  but  curiously  enough  Dodsley  wouldn't 
take  Collins's  verses ;  and  still  more  curiously,  the  immediate 
result  seemed  to  prove  Dodsley's  judgment  entirely  correct; 
for  Warton's  book  was  successful,  while  Collins's  attracted 
very  little  attention.1  This  little,  neglected  volume  contained 
twelve  odes,  among  them  some  pieces  which  are  to-day  known 
everywhere.  Collins  was  a  great  admirer  of  Shakspere  and 
Spenser,  and  though  his  love  for  Milton  was  not  so  strongly 
/avowed,  it  appears  in  his  great  fondness  for  personified 
^abstractions,  and  in  occasional  phrases.2  His  beautiful  Ode 
to  Evening  is  wholly  Romantic  in  mood,  and  the  last  part  of 
his  Ode  on  the  Poetical  Character  has  the  Romantic  flavor.  His 
Ode  on  the  Death  of  Thomson  (June,  1749)  showed  a  true 
appreciation  of  the  poet  of  nature.  His  Ode  to  Simplicity 
(1746)  is  in  the  form  which  Milton  used  for  his  Christmas 
hymn. 

The  most  significant  poem  of  Collins  —  his  Ode  on  the 
Scottish  Superstitions  —  will  be  considered  later  in  another 
connection.  Collins  was  steadily  gravitating  in  the  direction 
of  Romanticism,  and  had  his  health  lasted,  he  might  have 
played  an  important  part  in  the  movement.  Judging  by 
actual  results,  he  does  not  count  for  anything  like  so  much 
in  the  history  of  Romanticism  as  the  Warton  brothers,  although 
his  poetry  is  immeasurably  superior  in  literary  excellence. 

The  poetry  of  Gray  demands  a  separate  chapter;  he  was 
influenced,  more  perhaps  than  he  himself  thought,  by  Milton. 
is  Elegy  was  the  culmination  of  the  literature  of  melancholy, 
as  well  as  of  the  Church-yard  school.  In  its  pensive  mood  and 
love  of  twilight  it  is  in  the  regular  //  Penseroso  vein ;  in  its 
meditation  on  death  and  the  grave,  it  belongs  more  properly 
vto  the  school  of  Blair  and  Young. 

1  J.  Warton  was  really  one  of  the  first  men  tp  recognize  Collins's  lyrical  power. 
(See  his  Essay  on  Pope,  Vol.  I.,  page  69.)" 

2  Such  as  in  the  Ode  to  Liberty  : 

«  Play  with  the  tangles  of  her  hair." 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  MILTON.  97 

It  is  rather  difficult  to  classify  the  poet  William  Mason 
(1725-1797),  except  to  say  that  he  was  first,  last,  and  all  the 
time  an  imitator.  Mason's  character,  while  not  vicious,  is 
repelling  because  of  his  enormous  conceit.  It  seems  strange 
that  a  man  of  his  offensiveness  should  have  been  so  long  the 
intimate  friend  of  gentlemen  so  fastidious  as  Gray  and  Walpole. 
Gray  treated  Mason  like  an  affectionate  hound,  and  after  Gray's 
death  Walpole  seems  to  have  continued  friendly  to  Mason 
simply  because  of  the  opportunities  it  gave  him  to  talk  about 
Gray.  Walpole's  constant  affection  and  reverence  for  Gray's 
memory  are  exceedingly  beautifuL  Gray  corresponded  con- 
siderably with  Mason,  but  one  feels  that  both  men  were 
conscious  of  the  former's  intellectual  superiority.  Gray  shows 
it  by  a  mild  contempt  only  half  concealed  ;  and  Mason  shows 
it  in  his  usual  fawning  style.  No  man  ever  came  into  close 
contact  with  Gray  without  being  impressed  by  the  loftiness  of 
his  character  and  his  strong  intellectuality ;  but  Mason,  while 
giving  the  first  rank  to  the  Cambridge  recluse,  undoubtedly  felt 
that  with  this  one  exception  he  himself  was  the  poet  of  the  age. 
His  connection  with  Gray,  and  the  fact  that  he  edited  Gray's 
literary  remains  have  kept  Mason  alive  ;  his  poetry  is  not  alto- 
gether without  merit,  but  it  "smells  of  mortality."  Lowell  said 
that  Gray  and  Mason  together  could  not  make  the  latter  a  poet. 

Mason's  Musaeus  (1747),  a  poem  in  imitation  of  Milton's 
Lytidas,  has  been  already  alluded  to  ;  Milton  speaks  in  this 
poem  in  blank  verse,  although  Milton  bewailing  the  death  of 
Pope  is  not  very  easy  to  imagine,  either  from  the  literary  or 
theological  point  of  view.  Mason's  sonnets  also  show  Milton's 
influence  ;  intrinsically  they  are  of  little  value.  His  //  Pacifico 
and  //  Bellicoso *  were  perhaps  as  direct  imitations  of  Milton's 
juvenile  poetry  as  the  whole  movement  produced ;  though 
there  were  so  many  minor  versifiers  that  it  is  dangerous  to 

1  //  Bellicoso  and  //  Pacifico  were  written  a  year  or  two  before  174  7;  the  latter  was 
first  published  in  1 748,  on  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 


98  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

make  sweeping  statements.1  Mason  dabbled  to  some  extent  in 
Romanticism,  especially  after  he  came  under  Gray's  influence. 
He  wrote  two  tragedies,  Elfrida  (1751)  and  Caractacus  (1759). 
These  are  on  the  model  of  the  ancient  Greek  drama,  and 
though  they  contain  some  fine  passages,  they  lack  vitality. 
In  some  letters  published  with  Elfrida  Mason  gave  his  theories 
of  dramatic  art.  They  can  hardly  be  called  Romantic,  as  he 
stoutly  upholds  the  Unities  and  insists  on  the  retention  of  the 
Chorus.  He  was  willing,  however,  to  modify  the  severity  of 
Greek  taste  so  far  as  concerned  subject-matter,  and  pleaded 
for  the  introduction  of  bits  of  nature-description.  He  said  : 
"  I  meant  only  to  pursue  the  antient  method,  so  far  as  it  is 
probable  a  Greek  poet,  were  he  alive,  would  now  do,  in  order 
to  adapt  himself  to  the  genius  of  our  times,  and  the  character 
of  our  Tragedy.  .  .  .  for  the  sake  of  natural  embellishment, 
and  to  reconcile  mere  modern  readers  to  that  simplicity  of 
fable,  in  which  I  thought  it  necessary  to  copy  the  Antients, 
I  contrived  to  lay  the  scene  in  an  old  romantic  forest." 2 

The  subject-matter  of  Mason's  dramas,  with  all  their  iciness 
of  treatment,  is  really  Romantic.  Caractacus  is  a  story  of 
Druid  times,  in  which  Druids  play  an  important  part ;  the 
scene  is  laid  in  Mona.  The  virtuous  maiden  and  brave 
youthful  hero  are,  of  course,  sufficiently  prominent ;  but  there 
are  some  passages  that  may  be  called  strictly  Romantic.  They 
show  Gray's  influence.  Thus  :  — 

"  Mona  on  Snowdon  calls  : 

Hear,  thou  King  of  mountains,  hear  ; 

Hark,  she  speaks  from  all  her  strings  ; 

Hark,  her  loudest  echo  rings  ; 

King  of  mountains,  bend  thine  ear  ; 

Send  thy  spirits,  send  them  soon, 

Now,  when  Midnight  and  the  Moon 

Meet  upon  thy  front  of  snow  ; 
***** 

1  For  example,  another  imitation  equally  close  was  L' Amoroso,  by  the  "  Rev.  Mr.  P. 
See  Beirs  Fugitive  Poetry,  Vol.  XL 

2  Letter  L;   in  his  Works  (1764). 


THE   INFLUENCE   OF  MILTON.  99 

Snowdon  has  heard  the  strain  ; 
Hark,  amid  the  wond'ring  grove 
Other  harpings  answer  clear, 
Other  voices  meet  our  ear, 

***** 
Rustling  vestments  brush  the  ground  ; 
Round,  and  round,  and  round  they  go, 
Thro'  the  twilight,  thro'  the  shade, 
Mount  the  oak's  majestic  head, 
And  gild  the  tufted  mistletoe."  1 

Mason  also  translated  from  P.  H.  Mallet  a  "  Runic  "  poem, 
thus  touching  Romanticism  on  the  side  where  Gray  and  Percy 
were  chiefly  interested.  Mason  was  often  coupled  with  Gray 
by  contemporary  critics,  and  the  alleged  obscurity  of  their  odes 
was  freely  satirized. 

Among  the  imitators  of  Milton,  only  a  few  names  have  been 
mentioned ;  the  subject  is  too  vague  and  elusive  to  warrant  a 
rehearsal  of  the  long  list  of  poetasters  who  show  his  influence. 
Many  of  the  Spenserians  greatly  admired  Milton,  and  imitated 
him  along  with  the  Elizabethan  poet. 

/"Vibrating  with  the  literature  of  melancholy,  which  was  so 
(distinct  a  note  in  Romanticism,  there  was  a  still  deeper  under- 
tone in  the  poetry  of  the  grave-yard,  and  in  long  reflective 
verses  on  death  and  immortality.  This  strange  growth  will 
receive  only  a  passing  notice.  It  was  not  exactly  Romantic, 
though  akin  to  the  Romantic  feeling,  and  was  certainly  reac- 
tionary to  the  Augustan  spirit,  which  strove  to  taboo  both  the 
shadow  of  the  grave  and  the  mystery  of  the  future.  This 
tolling-bell  in  literature  seemed  to  the  new  school  to  give  a 
"pleasing  gloom,"  and  had  perhaps  its  most  conspicuous 
example  in  Young,  who  stimulated  his  fancy  by  composing 
under  the  light  of  a  candle  stuck  in  a  skull.  All  this  move- 

(ment  was   more  preparatory  to  Romanticism  than  actually  a 
part  of  it.    The  tones  of  despair,  the  odor  of  the  charnel-house, 

1  Works,  page  196. 


100  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

the  world-old  meditation  on  the  shortness  of  life  and  the  cer- 
tainty of  death  —  the  new  emphasis  laid  on  all  this  evidently 
contained  seeds  of  the  Romantic  movement.     The  Church-yard 
school  began  with  ParnelPs  Night-Piece  on  Death,  in  the  early 
/years  of  the  century.     Blair's  Grave  (1743)  and  Young's  Night 
Thoughts  (1742-45)  and  Gray's  Elegy  (1751)  were  the  principal 
\contributions  to  permanent  literature  that  the  school  produced. 
/Blair  and  Young,  apart  from  their  versification,  touch  Romanti- 
cism only  on  this  side  —  the  joy  of  gloom,  the  fondness  for 
bathing  one's  temples  in  the  dank  night  air  and  the  musical 
delight   of  the   screech-owl's  shriek.     Mr.    Perry  says   Young 
1    had  much  of  the  "  crude  ore  of  Romanticism,"  and  Mr.  Gosse 
^speaks  of  his  "  note  of  romantic  despair."  * 

The  elegiac  quatrain,  a  form  of  versification  naturally  suited 
to  the  literature  of  melancholy,  became  very  popular  about  the 
middle  of  the  century.  Shenstone  was  very  fond  of  the  elegy, 
and  wrote  an  interesting  essay  on  the  subject,  in  which  he 
spoke  of  the  aim  of  poetry,  discussed  different  styles  of  versifi- 
cation, etc.  Shenstone  himself  composed  a  large  number  of 
elegies,  but  in  Gray's  celebrated  poem  the  elegy  rose  to  its 
highest  perfection.  Gray  made  it  exceedingly  fashionable,  and 
swarms  of  imitations  of  his  church-yard  poem  poured  from  the 
press.2  Its  influence  was  felt  immediately,  not  only  in  England, 
but  all  over  Europe.  Mr.  Gosse  says,  "the  Elegy  has  exer- 
cised an  influence  on  all  the  poetry  of  Europe,  from  Denmark 
to  Italy,  from  France  to  Russia.  With  the  exception  of  certain 

1  These  four  lines  m  Night  Thoughts  may  have  suggested  to  Goldsmith  an  idea 
for  his  famous  passage  in  The  Deserted  Village:  — 

"  As  some  tall  tow'r,  or  lofty  mountain's  brow, 
Detains  the  sun,  illustrious  from  its  height ; 
While  rising  vapours  and  descending  shades 
With  damps,  and  darkness,  drown  the  spacious  vale." 

2  Gray's  Elegy  was  published  February  16,  1751,  and  went  through  four  editions  in 
two  months.   Then  came  editions  in  rapid  succession,  eleven  in  all.    It  was  once  more 
printed  in  1753,  and  in  that  form  had  a  second  edition.    It  also  appeared  in  Dodsley's 
Miscellany,  and  was  largely  pirated. 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  MILTON.  101 

works  of  Byron  and  Shakespeare,  no  English  poem  has  been 
so  widely  admired  and  imitated  abroad."  1 

The  church-yard  school  lasted  for  many  years.    The  aspirants 
for  prizes  in  the  universities  chose  as  subjects  "  Death,"  "  The 
Grave,"  "Immortality,"  etc.2      Even  as  late  as  1787,  Mason 
> wrote  an  elegy,  In  a  Church-yard  in  South  Wales. 

The  literature  of  melancholy  must  certainly  be  considered 
an  important  factor  in  the  beginnings  of  Romanticism.  In  its 
subjective  tone,  in  its  vague  aspiration,  fondness  for  solitude^ 
and  gloomy  meditation,  it  was  quite  different  from  the  tone^ 
of  Augustan  literature;  and  its  master  was  nonejrther  than 
Milton. 

1  Life  of  Gray,  page  97. 

2  For  example,  Porteus's  prize  poem  in  1759:  Death ;  a  Poetical  Essay. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

REVIVAL    OF    THE    PAST.  —  GOTHICISM    AND 
CHIVALRY. 

I  shall  give  only  the  briefest  notice  of  the  revival  of  Gothic 
tastes  and  of  the  renewed  interest  in  Chivalry.  It  is  well 
known  that  in  the  course  of  the  eighteenth  century  public  taste 
in  these  matters  suffered  a  complete  revolution :  for  in  the  jast 
decade  Gothicism  and  Chivalry  were  as  popular  as  they  had 
.been  unpopular  during  the  reign  of  Pope.  I  propose  In  tins 
chapter  to  point  out  the  evidences  of  the  transition  —  to  trace 
the  beginnings  of  the  new  fashion.  It  is  to  this  part  of 
the  development  of  Romanticism  that  Walter  Scott  belongs, 
_and  of  which  he  was  perhaps  the  culmination.  We  may 
conveniently  call  this  the  objective  side  of  the  movement,  as 
distinguished  from  the  subjective,  which  advanced  parallel  with 
it.  The  former  pertains  to  the  subject-matter;  the  latter  to 
the  mood  of  the  author,  as  we  say  that  Scott  was  Romantic 
because  of  his  subjects  and  Byron  because  of  his  sentimental 
mood.  Both  aspects  are  equally  important  in  English  Roman- 
ticism, but  thejobjective  side  reached  its  fullest  development 
later~  For  the  present  we  are  thus  concerned  only  with  signs 
of  the  revival  of  interest  in  what  was  "  Gothic  "  —as  it  affected 
architecture,  literature,  and  the  study  of  the  military  aspect  of 
mediaeval  life. 

Everyone  knows  how  low  the  word  "  Gothic  "  had  sunk  in 
the  Augustan  age.  In  the  pages  of  Addison  and  Pope,  the 
term  "  Gothic  "  was,  of  course,  one  of  reproach  and  contempt, 
whether  applied  to  architecture  or  to  poetry.  It  was  not  until 
.after  1750  that  Gothicism  showed  any  signs  of  coming  again 
jnto  favor.  "  If  in  the  history  of  British  art,"  says  Eastlake, 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  103 

"  there  is  one  period  more  distinguished  than  another  for  its 
neglect  of  Gothic,  it  was  certainly  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century."  But  "an  author  .  .  .  appeared  to  whose  writings 
and  to  whose  influence  as  an  admirer  of  Gothic  art  we  believe 
may  be  ascribed  one  of  the  chief  causes  which  induced  its 
present  revival."  Of  course  Eastlake  refers  to  Horace  Wal- 
pole  (1717-1797).  "It  is  impossible  to  peruse  either  the 
letters  or  the  romances  of  this  remarkable  man  without  being 
struck  by  the  unmistakable  evidence  which  they  contain  of  his 
Mediaeval  predilections.  .  .  .  The  position  which  he  occupies 
with  regard  to  art  resembles  in  many  respects  that  in  which  he 
stands  as  a  man  of  letters.  His  labours  were  not  profound  in 
either  field.  But  their  result  was  presented  to  the  public  in  a 
form  which  gained  him  rapid  popularity  both  as  an  author  and 
a  dilettante.  ^  As  a  collector  of  curiosities  he  was  probablyX 
influenced  more  by  a  love  of  old  world  associations  than  by  J 
any  sound  appreciation  of  artistic  design."  1  / 

These  words  are  a  sufficiently  accurate  and  concise  descrip- 
tion of  Walpole's   influence   on   the  Gothic  revival.     Walpole 
was  not  a  sincere  and  philosophical  Romanticist,  nor  did  he 
ever  claim  to  be  such.     He  was  a  gentleman  who  dabbled  in 
art  and  literature  and  took  up  Gothicism  as  a  new  fad ;    his    .   / 
Romanticism  was  largely  due  to  the  powerful  influence  of  his    V 
friend  Gray.     But   without   any   conscious   attempt   at  revolu- 
tionary leadership,  his  influence  on  the  Romantic  movement 
was  undoubtedly  great.     He  made  himself  felt  in  two  ways. 

1.  He  made  Gothicism  fashionable  by  his  home  and  collec-[! 
tions  at  Strawberry  Hill.  \*fe 

2.  His  Castle  of  Otranto  was  the  pioneer  of  a  long  succession^ 
of  Gothic  romances. 

Walpole's  taste  for  the  picturesque  appears  as  early  as 
Gray's,  though  -his  appreciation  was  not  so  keen  nor  his 
emotion  so  deep.  Walpole  as  well  as  Gray  described  the 
Grande  Chartreuse  excursion.  "  But  the  road,  West,  the  road  ! 

1  History  of  the  Got/tic  Revival,  page  42  et  seq. 


104  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

winding  round  a  prodigious  mountain,  and  surrounded  with 
others,  all  shagged  with  hanging  woods,  obscured  with  pines, 
or  lost  in  clouds  !  Below,  a  torrent  breaking  through  cliffs, 
and  tumbling  through  fragments  of  rocks  !  Sheets  of  cascades 
forcing  their  silver  speed  down  channelled  precipices,  and 
hasting  into  the  roughened  river  at  the  bottom  !  Now  and 
then  an  old  foot-bridge,  with  a  broken  rail,  a  leaning  cross,  a 
cottage,  or  the  ruin  of  an  hermitage  !  This  sounds  too  bombast 
and  too  romantic  to  one  that  has  not  seen  it,  too  cold  for  one 
that  has."  l 

It  was  about  1750  that  Walpole  began  to  erect  the  building 
afterward  so  famous  as  Strawberry  Hill.  He  wrote  to  Sir 
Horace  Mann,  January  10,  1750,  "I  am  going  to  build  a  little 
gothic  castle  at  Strawberry  Hill."  After  this  date  his  letters 
contain  many  references  to  the  "  castle  "  and  to  "  gothic  "  things 
in  general.  In  another  letter  to  Mann,  February  25,  1750, 
he  explained  and  defended  his  tastes.  "  I  shall  speak  much 
more  gently  to  you,  my  dear  child,  though  you  don't  like  Gothic 
architecture.  The  Grecian  is  only  proper  for  magnificent  and 
public  buildings.  Columns  and  all  their  beautiful  ornaments, 
look  ridiculous  when  crowded  into  a  closet  or  a  cheese-cake 
house.  The  variety  is  little,  and  admits  no  charming  irregu- 
larities. I  am  almost  as  fond  of  the  Sharawaggi,  or  Chinese 
want  of  symmetry,  in  buildings,  as  in  grounds  or  gardens.  I 
am  sure,  whenever  you  come  to  England,  you  will  be  pleased 
with  the  liberty  of  taste  into  which  we  are  struck,  and  of 
which  you  can  have  no  idea  !  "  The  public  taste  in  buildings 
and  in  laying  out  grounds  had  indeed  changed ;  and  the 
change  was  symptomatic  of  the  whole  Romantic  movement. 
English  gardens  about  this  time  were  relieved  of  the  artificial, 
regularly  cut  paths  and  hedges,  and  were  made  more  and  more* 
to  take  on  the  appearance  of  wild  nature. 

If  some  middle-class  wealthy  Englishman  had  for  his  own 
amusement   built    such    a    Gothic    castle    as    the    one    called 

1  Letter  to  Richard  West,  September  30,  1 739. 


REVIVAL    OF  THE  PAST.  105 

Strawberry  Hill,  he  would  probably  have  been  greeted  only 
with  ridicule.  But  when  Horace  Walpole,  the  glass  of  fashion 
and  the  mould  of  form,  drew  attention  to  his  new-fangled 
architecture,  he  carried  London  society  with  him.  The  fame 
of  Strawberry  Hill  and  its  curiosities  grew  apace  ;  and  though 
the  real  similarity  of  the  building  to  Gothic  architecture  would 
to-day  count  for  nothing,  its  effect  in  re-awakening  the  study 
and  love  of  Gothicism  counted  for  much  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  impulse  that  Walpole  gave  to  the 
Gothic  revival  on  its  architectural  side  was  probably  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  man.  Professor  Beers  remarks  that 
mediaeval  architecture  had  a  decided  advantage  in  England 
over  other  forms  of  mediaeval  art ;  for  the  latter  were  known 
only  to  a  few  scholars,  whereas  the  architecture  was  known 
to  all  in  such  buildings  as  the  Tower  of  London,  Westminster 
Abbey,  Lichfield  and  Salisbury  Cathedrals,  and  other  places. 
By  calling  public  attention  to  mediaeval  buildings  that  were 
in  advanced  stages  of  decay,  Walpole  preserved  them  from 
complete  destruction.  Before  this  time  people  had  not  thought 
them  worthy  of  especial  admiration.  They  were  used  for  all 
sorts  of  ignominious  purposes. 

The  craze  for  Gothic  architecture  that  followed  the  "ginger- 
bread "  castle  at  Strawberry  Hill  had  a  strong  side-influence 
on  the  revival  of  the  Romantic  spirit  in  literature.  Architecture 
and  literature  are  intimately  connected,  there  being  something 
of  the  same  difference  between  Greek  and  Gothic  architecture 
that  exists  between  Classic  and  Romantic  poetry.  In  fact,  it 
was  Walpole's  taste  in  architecture  that  led  directly  to  his 
second  great  service  to  the  Romantic  movement,  his  Castle  of 
Otranto.  His  own  literary  taste  was  not  Romantic,  as  will 
presently  appear ;  the  same  whim  that  created  Strawberry  Hill 
gave  birth  to  his  Gothic  romance. 

Walpole  had  not  the  slightest  idea  of  revolutionizing  public 
literary  taste  by  the  Castle  of  Otranto.  His  well-known 
description  of  the  origin  of  this  book  is  given  in  two  letters 


106  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

to  the  Rev.  W.  Cole.  Writing  February  28,  1765,  he  says, 
"Though  we  love  the  same  ages,  you  must  excuse  worldly 
me  for  preferring  the  romantic  scenes  of  antiquity.  If  you 
will  tell  me  how  to  send  it,  and  are  partial  enough  to  me  to 
read  a  profane  work  in  the  style  of  former  centuries,  I  shall 
convey  to  you  a  little  story-book,  which  I  published  some 
time  ago,  though  not  boldly  with  my  own  name  ;  but  it  has 
succeeded  so  well,  that  I  do  not  any  longer  entirely  keep  the 
secret.  Does  the  title,  '  The  Castle  of  Otranto,'  tempt  you  ?  " 
Again,  writing  March  9,  1765  :  —  "Your  partiality  to  me  and 
Strawberry  have,  I  hope,  inclined  you  to  excuse  the  wildness 
of  the  story.  .  .  .  Shall  I  ever  confess  to  you,  what  was  the 
origin  of  this  romance  ?  I  waked  one  morning,  in  the  beginning 
pf  last  June,  from  a  dream,  of  which  all  I  could  recover  was, 
that  I  had  thought  myself  in  an  ancient  castle  (a  very  natural 
ylream  for  a  head  like  mine  filled  with  Gothic  story)  and  that 
on  the  uppermost  bannister  of  a  great  staircase  I  saw  a 
gigantic  hand  in  armour.  In  the  evening  I  sat  down,  and 
began  to  write,  without  knowing  in  the  least  what  I  intended 
to  say  or  relate.  The  work  grew  on  my  hands,  and  I  grew 
fond  of  it.  ...  In  short,  I  was  .  .  .  engrossed  with  my  tale, 
which  I  completed  in  less  than  two  months." 

It  was  in  June,  1764,  that  Walpole  began  his  story,  and  he 
completed  it  August  6.  It  was  published  December  24  of  the 
same  year.  In  the  preface  he  gave  a  fictitious  account  of  the 
romance,  saying  that  he  had  found  the  work  in  the  library  of 
an  ancient  Catholic  family  in  the  North  of  England.  "  It  was 
printed  at  Naples,  in  the  black  letter,  in  the  year  1529.  .  .  . 
Some  apology  for  it  is  necessary.  Miracles,  visions,  necro- 
mancy, dreams,  and  other  preternatural  events,  are  exploded 
now,  even  from  romances.  That  was  not  the  case  when  our 
author  wrote.  .  .  .  Belief  in  every  kind  of  prodigy  was  .  .  . 
established  in  those  dark  ages." 

In  the  preface  to  the  second  edition  Walpole  begged  the 
public's  pardon  for  pretending  that  the  book  was  a  translation. 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  107 

"It  was  an  attempt,"  he  said,  "to  blend  the  two  kinds  of 
romance,  the  ancient  and  the  modern.  In  the  former,  all  was 
imagination  and  improbability  ;  in  the  latter,  nature  is  always 
intended  to  be,  and  sometimes  has  been,  copied  with  success. 
Invention  has  not  been  wanting ;  but  the  great  resources  of 
fancy  have  been  dammed  up,  by  a  strict  adherence  to  common 
life."  The  remainder  of  the  preface  is  occupied  with  a  defense 
of  Shakspere,  who  had  been  attacked  by  Voltaire  for  mingling 
the  comic  with  the  tragic  in  his  plays. 

Walpole  had  misgivings  about  the  "  wildness  "  of  the  story, 
and  rather  expected  an  outburst  of  critical  denunciation. 
Writing  to  M.  Elie  de  Beaumont,  March  18,  1765,  he  said, 
"  How  will  you  be  surprised  to  find  a  narrative  of  the  most 
improbable  and  absurd  adventures  !  How  will  you  be  amazed 
to  hear  that  a  country  of  whose  good  sense  you  have  an  opinion 
should  have  applauded  so  wild  a  tale  !  But  you  must  remem- 
ber, Sir,  that  whatever  good  sense  we  have,  we  are  not  yet  in 
any  light  chained  down  to  precepts  and  inviolable  laws.  All 
that  Aristotle  or  his  superior  commentators,  your  authors,  have 
taught  us,  has  not  yet  subdued  us  to  regularity ;  we  still  prefer 
the  extravagant  beauties  of  Shakspeare  and  Milton  to  the 
cold  and  well-disciplined  merit  of  Addison  and  even  to  the 
sober  and  correct  march  of  Pope."  It  must  be  remembered 
that  in  this  passage  Walpole  is  describing  the  taste  of  the 
English  people  rather  than  his  own  preferences  ;  and  his 
remarks  show  that  the  new  critical  school  in  England,  repre- 
sented by  the  Wartons,  Young,  and  others,  was  making  itself 
deeply  felt. 

Walpole  was  surprised  at  the  success  of  the  Castle  of  Otranto. 
The  whole  impression  was  sold  in  less  than  three  months. 
Writing  to  the  Earl  of  Hertford,  March  26,  1765,  he  says, 
"  The  success  .  .  .  has,  at  last,  brought  me  to  own  it, 
though  the  wildness  of  it  made  me  terribly  afraid ;  but  it 
was  comfortable  to  have  it  please  so  much,  before  any 
mortal  suspected  the  author  ;  indeed,  it  met  with  too  much 


108  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

honour  far,  for  at  first  it  was  universally  believed  to  be  Mr. 
Gray's." 

Mason  had  been  completely  duped  by  Walpole's  first  preface, 
and  said  that  no  man  of  the  time  had  "  imagination  enough  to 
invent  such  a  story."  Even  Gray  liked  it,  his  Romanticism 
getting  the  better  of  his  critical  faculty.  He  wrote  to  Walpole, 
December  30,  1764,  "It  engages  our  attention  here,  makes 
some  of  us  cry  a  little,  and  all  in  general  afraid  to  go  to  bed 
o'  nights."  Walpole  had  shown  his  manuscript  to  Gray,  and 
the  latter  had  recommended  publication. 

To-day  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  take  the  Castle  of  Otranto 
seriously;  to  us  it  is  ridiculous  and  bathetic.1  But  in  1764  it 
was  a  kind  of  revelation,  and  its  immense  popularity  shows 
how  hungrily  the  people  devoured  Romantic  food.  It  was  the 
pioneer  of  all  the  wild  tales  of  blood  and  ghosts  that  followed 
its  appearance,  and  thus,  in  some  sense,  it  was  an  epoch- 
making  book.  Clara  Reeve's  Old  English  Baron  professedly 
(i  imitated  in  its  general  manner  Walpole's  story,  and  the  works  of 
\Mrs.  Radcliffe  (1764-1823)  are  in  the  direct  line  of  succession. 

The    modern    romances    of    chivalry,    however,    cannot   be 

truthfully  said  to  have  originated  with  Walpole,  although  his 

book  gave  the  movement  its  greatest  impetus.     In  1762  was 

[published  Longsword;   an  Historical  Romance.     The  title-page 

I  omits  the  writer's  name,  but  the  real  author  was  the  Rev. 

Thomas  Leland,  D.D.  (1722-1785).     He  was  a  learned  divine, 

born  in  Dublin,  who  afterwards  achieved  fame  in  the  Ossianic 

controversy.      Longsword,  though  never  read  nowadays,   has 

l  The  scene  from  the  story  which  is  always  selected  for  especial  ridicule  is  where 
"three  drops  of  blood  fell  from  the  nose  of  Alfonso's  statue"  (Chapter  IV.).  But 
this  idea  did  not  originate  with  Walpole;  it  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  simply 
an  evil  omen,  and  did  not  appear  then  in  a  ludicrous  light.  In  Dryden's  play 
Amboyna  (1673),  Act  IV.,  Scene  I.,  I  ran  across  the  following  passage,  and  doubtless 
much  earlier  allusions  can  be  found  in  ballads:  — 

¥  Something  within  me  does  forbode  me  ill; 

/  I  stumbled  when  I  enter'd-  first  this  Wood ; 

I  My  Nostrils  bled  three  Drops;  then  stop'd  the  Blood, 

I  And  not  one  more  wou'd  follow." 


REVIVAL    OF   THE  PAST.  \<& 

deep  significance,  for  it  points  directly  to  Scott.  In  the 
Advertisement  the  author  said :  "The  outlines  of  the  following 
story,  and  some  of  the  incidents  and  more  minute  circum- 
stances, are  to  be  found  in  the  antient  English  historians." 
That  is,  Leland  took  his  plot  after  the  fashion  of  the  Eliza- 
bethan playwrights.  The  brave  youth  and  aggressively  virtuous 
maiden  figure  conspicuously  in  this  book,  as  they  did  in  Walpole 
and  in  the  later  romances.  One  quotation  will  suffice  to  show 
the  style  of  Longsword: —  "A  youth  who  seemed  just  rising  to 
manhood,  of  graceful  form,  tall  of  stature,  and  with  limbs  of 
perfect  shape,  lay  sorely  wounded  upon  the  ground,  languid, 
pale,  and  bloody.  Over  him  hung  one  in  the  habit  of  a  page, 
younger,  and  still  more  exquisitely  beautiful,  piercing  the  ail 
with  lamentations,  and  eagerly  employed  in  binding  up  the 
wounds  of  the  fallen  youth,  with  locks  of  comely  auburn,  torn 
from  a  fair  though  dishevelled  head."  1  No  more  of  this,  for 
Goddes  dignite  ! 

Longsword  is  tedious  to  read,  but  interesting  on  account  of 
*its  early  date  —  two  years  before  the  Castle  of  Otranto.  The 
two  stories  have  some  points  of  resemblance,  although  one*  is 
a  historical  and  the  other  a  Gothic  romance.  But  Longsword 
is  more  of  a  forerunner  of  Scott  than  the  other  ;  it  is  a  romance 
of  the  days  of  Henry  III.  and  is  crammed  full  of  the  adventures 
of  chivalry.  It  is  also  worth  notice  that  the  primary  object  of 
Longsword  was  not  to  instruct,  but  to  amuse.2  Clara  Reeve 
(1738-1803),  in  her  Progress  of  Romance  (1785),  has  in  one  of 
the  dialogues  the  following  interesting  reference  to  Longsword? 
Euphanasia  mentions  the  name  of  the  story,  and  Hortensius 
asks:  "How  is  that,  a  Romance  in  the  i8th  century?" 
Euph.  "Yes,  a  Romance  in  reality  and  not  a  Novel. — 
A  story  like  those  of  the  middle  ages,  composed  of  Chivalry, 
Love,  and  Religion."  They  then  proceed  to  discuss  the  book, 
Euphanasia  remarking:  "This  work  is  distinguished  in  my 

1  Vol.  I.,  page  102.     (First  edition.)  2  See  the  Advertisement. 

a  Vol.  II.,  page  31. 


•  110  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

list,  among  Novels  uncommon  and  Original."  Sophronia 
erroneously  gives  Longsword's  date  of  publication  as  1766 
instead  of  1762. 

/  Although  Horace  Walpole  did  so  much  for  Romanticism, 
•his  own  literary  taste  was  not  Romantic  —  in  fact  it  was  not 
good.  His  intense  admiration  for  Gray's  Odes  may  be  largely 
accounted  for  by  his  personal  attachment  to  their  author,  and 
by  the  fact  that  the  Odes  was  the  first  publication  from  his 
own  press  at  Strawberry  Hill.  Gray's  later  and  more  purely 
Romantic  work  was  disliked  and  not  appreciated  by  Walpole. 
In  a  letter  to  George  Montagu,  March  12,  1768,  he  said  : 
"Gray  has  added  to  his  poems  three  ancient  odes  from 
Norway  and  Wales.  The  subjects  of  the  two  first  are  grand 
and  picturesque,  and  there  is  his  genuine  vein  in  them ;  but 
they  are  not  interesting,  and  do  not,  like  his  other  poems, 
touch  any  passion.  .  .  .  Who  can  care  through  what  horrors 
a  Runic  savage  arrived  at  all  the  joys  and  glories  they  (sic) 
could  conceive,  the  supreme  felicity  of  boozing  ale  out  of  the 
skull  of  an  enemy  in  Odin's  hall?"  Walpole  also  took  little 
interest  in  Paul  Henri  Mallet's  epoch-making  Histoire  de 
Dannemarck.  In  a  letter  to  Montagu,  February  19,  1765, 
he  said :  "  I  cannot  say  he  has  the  art  of  making  a  very 
tiresome  subject  agreeable.  There  are  six  volumes  and  I  am 
stuck  fast  in  the  fourth."  Nor  was  Walpole  much  impressed 
by  Ossian.  At  first  he  seemed  to  think  the  poems  genuine, 
but  he  very  soon  changed  his  mind,  and  had  rio  language 
strong  enough  to  express  his  contempt  for  Macpherson  and 
his  writings  —  the  one  subject  on  which  Johnson  and  Walpole 
agreed.  He  said  :  "  It  tires  me  to  death  to  read  how  many 
ways  a  warrior  is  like  the  moon,  or  the  sun,  or  a  rock,  or  a 
lion,  or  the  ocean."  Again,  Walpole  constantly  made  fun 
of  T.  Warton's  History  of  English  Poetry.  Writing  to  Mason, 
March  9,  1781,  he  said:  "Mr.  Warton  thinks  Prior  spoiled 
his  original  in  his  imitation  of  '  Henry  and  Emma.'  Mercy 
on  us  !  what  shall  we  come  to  in  these  halcyon  days  ? " 


REVIVAL   OF   THE   PAST.  \\\ 

Walpole  was  at  heart  very  much  of  an  Augustan ;  his 
Romanticism  was  mainly  a  taste  for  novelties.  To  the  last 
his  favorite  poet  was  apparently  Pope.  His  letters  contain 
many  references  to  Thomson,  of  whom  he  spoke  with  the 
utmost  contempt ;  and  the  significance  of  Thomson's  Spen- . 
serian  and  nature  poetry  Walpole  never  seemed  to  feel.  Of 
course,  this  contemptuous  attitude  was  partly  owing  to  the 
regular  position  which  gentlemen  took  toward  professional 
men  of  letters  ;  of  most  contemporary  authors  he  spoke  with 
ridicule  and' disgust,  crying  out  in  1746,  "Pope  and  poetry 
are  dead  ! "  Nor  did  he  spare  Spenser  and  Shakspere. 
March  9,  1765,  he  wrote  to  Cole,  "I  am  almost  afraid  I 
must  go  and  read  Spenser,  and  wade  through  his  allegories, 
and  drawling  stanzas."  He  said  of  A  Midsummer  Nighfs 
Dream,  that  it  was  "forty  times  more  nonsensical  than  the 
worst  translation  of  any  Italian  opera-books." 

r  All  this,  of  course,  furnishes  still  more  evidence  to  one  of 
the  main  propositions  I  have  endeavored  to  establish  —  the 
unconsciousness  of  the  English  Romantic  movement.  Some 
of  the  men  who  did  the  most  for  Romanticism  were  really 

^opposed  to  it  in  spirit. 

Along  with  the  revival  of  Gothicism  in  literature  and  art, 
came  the  revival  of  the  love  and  study  of  Chivalry  —  indeed 
they  were  both  parts  of  the  same  movement.  Thomas  Warton,  ~v 
in  his  Observations  on  the  Faery  Queen  (1754),  made  a  strong 
plea  for  the  study  of  chivalry.  He  said  that  if  the  reader  « 
wished  to  understand  Spenser,  he  must  go  back  in  imagination 
to  the  age  in  which  Spenser  lived.  "  For  want  of  this  caution, 
too  many  readers  view  the  Knights  and  damsels,  the  tourna- 
ments and  enchantments,  of  Spenser,  with  modern  eyes  ;  never 
considering  that  the  encounters  of  chivalry  subsisted  in  our 
author's  age ;  that  romances  were  then  most  eagerly  read 
and  studied ;  and  that  consequently  Spenser,  from  the 
fashion  of  the  times,  was  induced  to  undertake  a  recital  of 
chivalrous  achievements,  and  to  become,  in  short,  a  romantic 


1]2  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

poet."  l  He  closed  his  Observations  with  a  defense  of  chivalry 
and  a  plea  for  more  study  of  mediaeval  romances  and  mediaeval 
life. 

/  In  1762  appeared  a  very  important  work,  Letters  on  Chivalry 
\nd  Romance,  by  Bishop  Richard  Kurd  (1720-1808).  These 
letters  were  meant  to  be  supplementary  to  III.  and  IV. 
of  his  Moral  and  Political  Dialogues,  published  some  years 
before.  These  two  dialogues  were  headed  On  the  Age  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  in  which  Mr.  Digby,  Dr.  Arbuthnot  and  Addison 
were  the  speakers.  Hurd  took  a  bold  position  in  the  Dialogues, 
but  he  went  still  further  in  the  Letters.  He  discussed  the 
origin  of  chivalry,  compared  Heroic  and  Gothic  manners,  and 
declared  the  latter  more  poetical ;  he  showed  their  effect  on 
Spenser  and  Milton,  criticised  the  Fairy  Queen  and  Tasso's 
epic,  and  finally  traced  the  decline  of  Gothic  poetry. 

Hurd  shows  on  every  page  the  influence  of  the  Warton 
brothers,  but  he  took  a  much  bolder  and  more  confident 
position  than  either  of  them  had  dared  to  assume.  Between 
^1756  and  1762  Romanticism  had  made  rapid  progress.  Kurd's 
purpose  was  to  vindicate  Gothic  manners  and  to  show  that 
they  were  superior  to  the  Heroic  as  subjects  for  poetry.  In 
his  first  Letter  he  said,  "  May  there  not  be  something  in  the 
Gothic  Romance  peculiarly  suited  to  the  views  of  a  genius, 
and  to  the  ends  of  poetry?  And  may  not  the  philosophic 
moderns  have  gone  too  far  in  their  perpetual  ridicule  and 
contempt  of  it? " 

The  word  "  Romantic  "  like  the  word  "  Gothic  "  was  appreci- 
ating in  value  by  being  restored  to  something  resembling  its 
proper  use.  In  Letter  III.  Hurd  says,  "feudal  service  soon 
introduced  what  may  be  truly  called  romantic,  the  going  in  quest 
of  adventures"  In  Letter  VI.  Hurd  spoke  of  Gothicism  in  a 
way  that  must  have  dumbfounded  many  of  his  contemporaries. 
He  said,  "  So  far  as  the  heroic  and  Gothic  manners  are  the 
same,  the  pictures  of  each,  if  well  taken,  must  be  equally 

l  Vol.  II.,  page  71  (1807). 


REVIVAL    OF   THE  PAST.  113 

entertaining.  But  I  go  further,  and  maintain  that  the  circum- 
stances, in  which  they  differ,  are  clearly  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Gothic  designers."  He  adds  that  if  Homer  had  seen  feudal 
manners,  he  would  certainly  have  preferred  them.  "  And  the 
grounds  of  this  preference  would,  I  suppose,  have  been,  the 
improved  gallantry  of  the  Gothic  Knights;  and  the  superior 
solemnity  of  their  superstitions"  1 

Not  satisfied  with  this,  Kurd  proceeded  to  do  something  that 
to  the  Augustan  would  have  seemed  blasphemous;  he  called  the 
Grecian  manners  barbarous,  saying  that  Gothicism  furnished 
the  poet  "  with  finer  scenes  and  subjects  .  .  .  than  the  simple 
and  uncontrolled  barbarity  of  the  Grecian.  .  .  .  For  the 
more  solemn  fancies  of  witchcraft  and  incantation,  the  Gothic 
(popular  tales)  are  above  measure  striking  and  terrible." 

The  conclusion  of  Letter  VI.  is  worth  quoting.  It  shows 
how  swiftly  Romanticism  was  advancing.  "  We  are  upon  en- 
chanted ground,  my  friend ;  and  you  are  to  think  yourself  well 
used,  that  I  detain  you  no  longer  in  this  fearful  circle.  The 
glympse,  you  have  had  of  it,  will  help  your  imagination  to  con- 
ceive the  rest.  And  without  more  words  you  will  readily 
apprehend  that  the  fancies  of  our  modern  bards  are  not  only 
more  gallant,  but,  on  a  change  of  the  scene,  more  sublime, 
more  terrible,  more  alarming,  than  those  of  the  classic  fables. 
In  a  word,  you  will  find  that  the  manners  they  paint,  and  the 
superstitions  tibKy  adopt,  are  the  more  poetical  for  being  Gothic'" 

Hurd  claimed  Spenser  and  Milton  as  witnesses  on  his  side 
of  the  case  of  Gothicism  versus  Classicism,  saying  that  Milton 
took  the  Classic  model  instead  of  the  Gothic  only  after  "  long 
hesitation ;  his  favorite  subject  was  Arthur  and  his  Knights  of 
the  Round  Table."  It  is  always  an  interesting  occupation  for 
the  imagination  to  speculate  on  the  style  and  character  of  the 
great  Romantic  poem  which  Milton  had  in  mind,  but  which  he 
finally  abandoned.  He  might  have  created  the  greatest  piece 
of  Romantic  literature  in  the  English  language. 

l  Italics  always  his  own. 


114  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Kurd's  discussion  of  the  "  Follow  Nature  "  maxim,  given  in 
Letter  X.,  is  suggestive.  "  But  the  source  of  bad  criticism,  as 
universally  of  bad  philosophy,  is  the  abuse  of  terms-.  A  poet, 
they  say,  must  follow  nature;  and  by  nature  we  are  to  suppose 
can  only  be  meant  the  known  and  experienced  course  of  affairs 
in  this  world.  JWhereas  the  poet  has  a  world  of  his  own, 
yrhere  experience  has  less  to  do,  than  consistent  imagination. 
He  has,  besides,  a  supernatural  world  to  range  in.  He  has 
Gods,  and  Fairies,  and  Witches,  at  his  command.  ...  In 
the  poet's  world,  all  is  marvellous  and  extraordinary ;  yet  not 
unnatural  in  one  sense,  as  it  agrees  to  the  conceptions  that 
are  readily  entertained  of  these  magical  and  wonder-working 
natures.  This  trite  maxim  of  following  nature  is  further  mis- 
taken, in  applying  it  indiscriminately  to  all  sorts  of  poetry," 
/He  then  proceeds  to  compare  the  poetry  of  men  and  manners 
with  the  poetry  that  is  "  sublime  and  creative." 

In  this  .eminently  sane  discussion  of  two  schools  of  poetry, 
Hurd' was  following  directly  in  the  path  marked  out  by  Joseph 
Warton  in  his  Essay  on  Pope  (1756).  The  peculiarly  interesting 
thing  about  Hurd's  tone  is  its  contrast  to  the  tone  of  criticism 
to-day,  jjurd^ freely  acknowledged  the  claim  of  the  "follow 
nature  "  poetry  ;  he  simply  wished  to  get  a  hearing  for  imagi- 
native and  Romantic  poetry — in  short,  to  persuade  the  public 
that  such  work  might  truthfully  claim  to  be  legitimate  poetry. 
He  succeeded  so  well  that  to-day  the  whole  attitude  of  criticism 
is  exactly  reversed.  Every  one  acknowledges  imaginative  and 
Romantic  poetry,  and  stray  critics  like  Mr.  Courthope  have  to 
work  harder  than  Hurd  labored  for  his  cause  to  persuade  their 
generation  that  the  poetry  of  men  and  manners  is  poetry  at  all. 

Hurd  was  not  particularly  hopeful  about  the  future  of  Ro- 
manticism. He  had  no  conception  of  the  far-reaching  effect 
of  his  own  work.  JFiis  last  Letter  discussed  the  decline  of 
Gothic  poetry,  and  the  revolution  brought  about  during  the 
Augustan  age.  He  sadly  remarked,  "  What  we  have  gotten  by 
this  revolution,  you  will  say,  is  a  great  deal  of  good  sense. 


* 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  115 

What  we  have  lost,  is  a  world  of  fine  fabling."  He  did  not 
perceive  with  what  gigantic  strides  the  counter-revolution  was 
about  to  move. 

We  must  regard  Hurd  as  a  strong  influence,  (i)  He  was  a 
follower  of  the  Warton  school  of  criticism,  and  spoke  much 
more  boldly  and  decisively  than  Warton  for  Romantic  tastes. 

(2)  Besides  helping  in  the  general  movement,  he  joined  the 
Wartons  in  dethroning  Pope  by  exalting  the  imaginative  poets. 

(3)  He  came  just  at  the  time  to  accelerate  the  speed  of  the 
Romantic  movement.     Kurd's  learning  and  authoritative  posi- 
tion counted  for  much ;  and  the  emphasis  with  which  he  spoke 
is  remarkable,  coming  so   early  as   1762.     The  critical  judg- 
ments on  poetry  made  by  Matthew  Arnold  are  really  a  simple 
;re-statement  of  what  Joseph  Warton  and  Hurd  laid  down  a 
hundred  years  before. 

From  this  time  everything  with  a  Gothic  flavor  rose  rapidly 
in  public  esteem.  The  love  of  chivalry  and  the  revival  of 
Gothic  architecture  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  tremendous 
impetus  which  Percy  gave  to  ballad  literature  on  the  other, 
formed  two  streams  that  flowed  with  increasing  size  and  speed 
until  they  finally  united  in  Walter  Scott. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

REVIVAL  OF  THE    PAST  —  BALLAD   LITERATURE 
AND    PERCY. 

It  was  natural  enough  that  the  old  English  ballads  should 
not  have  been  appreciated  in  the  Augustan  age.  There  can 
hardly  be  a  greater  contrast  in  style  and  sentiment  than  that 
between  the  freshness,  spontaneity  and  wild  music  of  the  old 
songs  of  love  and  war,  and  the  polished,  artificial,  monotonous 
strains  of  the  Queen  Anne  didactic  and  satirical  poetry.  We 
shall  find  a  few  exceptions  to  the  general  taste ;  but  the 
common  attitude  toward  ballads  was  one  of  contempt  or  idle 
curiosity.  Self-satisfied  Augustan  eyes  looked  upon  them  as 
barbarous  —  good  enough,  indeed,  for  the  childhood  of  English 
literature,  but  not  worth  the  serious  attention  of  men  who  had 
learned  the  true  art  of  poetry  from  Waller.  With  the  exception 
of  Garlands,  no  real  collection  of  ballads  appeared  in  the 
century  till  the  year  1723.  For  years  ballads  had  been 
neglected  and  scattered  about  the  country  in  loose  sheets,  many 
of  them  serving  for  mural  decorations,  or  stopping  holes  to 
expel  the  winter's  flaw.  In  the  seventeenth  century,  antiquarian 
scholars  like  Selden  and  Pepys  began  to  make  collections  of 
this  fugitive  literature,  regarding  them  of  course  in  the  light 
of  curiosities,  rather  than  as  having  any  intrinsic  literary 
value. 

Among  the  Augustans,  in  spite  of  the  general  feeling,  there 
was  an  occasional  good  word  spoken  for  the  old  English 
ballads.  In  two  numbers  of  the  Spectator,  May  21  and  May 
25,  1711,  Addison  wrote  his  critique  of  the  ballad  of  Chevy- 
Chase}  The  tone  of  Addison's  criticism  is  somewhat  suggestive; 

1  Spectator,  Nos.  70  and  74. 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  117 

he  evidently  appreciated  the  ballad,  and  at  the  same  time  was 
timid  in  avowing  his  taste,  for  he  constantly  quoted  Vergil. 
He  said  that  travelling  had  stimulated  him  to  ballad-collecting, 
and  then  in  deference  to  the  "greatest  modern  critics,"  who 
contended  that  "  an  heroic  poem  should  be  founded  upon  some 
important  precept  of  morality,"  he  labored  to  prove  that  this 
requirement  was  satisfied  in  Chevy-Chase. 

Addison  also  thought  it  necessary  to  apologize  for  the 
simplicity  of  the  ballad.  "  I  must  only  caution  the  reader  not 
to  let  the  simplicity  of  the  style,  which  one  may  well  pardon 
in  so  old  a  poet,  prejudice  him  against  the  greatness  of  the 
thought."  l  He  also  remarked,  "  I  shall  .  .  .  show  that  the 
sentiments  in  that  ballad  are  extremely  natural  and  poetical, 
£.nd  full  of  the  majestic  simplicity  which  we  admire  in  the 
greatest  of  the  ancient  poets."2  In  conclusion,  he  spoke  of 
the  newness  of  the  subject  for  his  treatment  and  of  the  necessity 
for  supporting  his  opinion  by  the  authority  of  Vergil.  "  I  shall 
only  beg  pardon  for  such  a  profusion  of  Latin  quotations  ; 
which  I  should  not  have  made  use  of,  but  that  I  feared  my 
own  judgment  would  have  looked  too  singular  on  such  a 
subject,  had  not  I  supported  it  by  the  practice  and  authority 
of  Virgil."  8  This  comparison  of  Chevy-Chase  with  Vergil  is 
akin  to  Prior's  attempt  to  serve  two  masters  —  Horace  and 
Spenser.  We  find  a  secret  love  of  the  old  English  poetry,  but 
public  opinion  demanded  that  everything  should  be  tried  by 
Classic  models. 

In  the  Spectator  for  June  7,  17 n,4  Addison  spoke  appreci- 
atively of  the  ballad  of  Two  Children  in  the  Wood,  saying  it 
gave  him  "most  exquisite  pleasure."  He  also  went  a  little 
further  in  the  defense  of  ballads  in  general,  saying  that  Lord 
Dorset  and  the  poet  Dryden  had  collections  of  ballads,  and 
were  fond  of  reading  them,  and  that  he  knew  that  "several 
of  the  most  refined  writers  of  our  present  age"  were  "of  the 
same  humour." 

l  No.  70.  *  No.  74.  3  NO.  74.  4  No.  85. 


118  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Addison's  ballad  reviews,  of  course,  attracted  some  attention, 
and  in  a  small  way  contributed  to  the  ballad  revival ; 1  but 
they  produced  no  revolution  in  the  public  taste,  nor  did 
Addison  ever  intend  that  they  should.2 

Another  Augustan  writer  did  something  for  the  ballad 
revival  —  Nicholas  Rowe,  the  dramatist  (1673-1718).  In 
1714  appeared  The  Tragedy  of  Jane  Shore.  Written  in  Imi- 
tation of  Shakespear 's  Style.  It  is  the  prologue  that  is 
especially  significant.  He  came  out  rather  boldly  for  old 
English  :  — 

"  Tonight,  if  you  have  brought  your  good  old  Taste, 
We'll  treat  you  with  a  downright  English  feast. 
A  Tale,  which  told  long  since  in  homely  wise, 
Have  never  fail'd  of  melting  gentle  Eyes. 
Let  no  nice  Sir  despise  our  hapless  Dame, 
Because  recording  ballads  chaunt  her  name  ; 
Those  venerable  ancient  song-enditers 
Soar'd  many  a  pitch  above  our  modern  writers  ; 
They  caterwaul'd  in  no  romantick  ditty, 
Sighing  for  Phillis's,  or  Chloe's  pity." 

This  use  of  the  word  romantick  is  striking.  The  old  ballads 
are  just  what  we  should  call  Romantic,  but  Rowe's  use  of  the 
word  shows  how  different  and  degraded  a  meaning  it  had 
among  the  Augustans.  This  Prologue  must  have  required 
considerable  courage  on  Rowe's  part,  as  its  tone  was  so 
exactly  contrary  to  public  taste. 

As  is  well  known,  the  poet  Prior  "versified"  the  ballad  of 
the  Not-Browne  Mayde  into  the  heroic  couplet,  under  the  title 
of  Henry  and  Emma  (1718).  Prior  undoubtedly  thought  that 
he  had  transformed  the  old  ballad  into  real  poetry,  and  the  age 
thought  so  too.  Still,  his  poem  called  attention  to  this  fine 
piece  of  old  literature,  and  in  that  way  perhaps  rendered  some 

1  They   certainly   had   some   influence   on   the  editor   of   the    Collection   of  Old 
Ballads  (1723). 

2  Dr.  Johnson  ridiculed  all  these  ballad-praises  in  the  Rambler,  No.  177. 


REVIVAL    OF   THE  PAST.  119 

service  to  the  movement.  He  published  the  ballad  itself  along 
with  his  own  version.1 

In  a  chronological  list  of  the  collections  of  ballads  and  songs 
published  between  1700  and  1765,  the  first  work  to  deserve 
notice  would  be  A  Choise  Collection  of  Comic  and  Serious  Scots 
Poems,  both  Ancient  and  Modern.  By  Several  Hands.  Printed 
by  James  Watson.  This  was  published  at  Edinburgh  in  three 
volumes,  the  first  part  appearing  in  1706,  the  second  in  1709, 
the  third  in  1711.  The  compiler  of  these  songs  is  not  known, 
but  his  name  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been  John  Spottis- 
wood.  The  Preface  was  written  by  the  publisher.  He  called 
attention  to  the  common  fashion  in  other  European  countries 
af  publishing  miscellanies,  and  said  he  hoped  this  would  justify 
his  present  enterprise.  "  'Tis  hoped,  that  this  being  the  first 
of  its  nature  which  has  been  published  in  our  own  native  Scots 
dialect,  the  candid  reader  may  be  the  more  easily  induced, 
through  the  consideration  thereof,  to  give  some  charitable 
grains  of  allowance,  if  the  performance  come  not  up  to  such 
a  point  of  exactness  as  may  please  an  over  nice  palate." 

Watson's  object  was  evidently  not  so  much  to  revive  old 
ballads  as  to  make  a  song-miscellany.  But  his  collection  was 
the  fore-runner  of  a  large  number  that  followed,  and  he  is 
chiefly  significant  as  the  main  inspiration  of  the  important 
work  ot  Allan  Ramsay.  Watson  was  a  genuine  pioneer,  and 
for  that  reason  holds  a  position  of  considerable  importance  in 
this  branch  of  the  Romantic  movement.  Minto  says  that  his 
book  was  the  great  seminal  work  of  all  the  Scotch  poetry  of 
the  century.2  His  fresh,  unaffected  songs  must  have  come 
like  a  cooling  breeze  over  the  arid  wastes  of  contemporary 
verse. 

In  1719  Ramsay  published  a  collection  of  Scots  Songs.  This 
is  not  of  much  importance,  as  it  was  so  completely  eclipsed 

1  In  this  connection,  Parnell's  Fairy  Tale  in  the  Ancient  English  Style,  already 
:>poken  of  in  Chapter  II.,  may  be  evidenced   as   another   stray  piece  of  literature 
iihowing  a  fondness  for  old  English. 

2  Ward's  English  Poets,  Vol.  III.,  page  159. 


ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 


by  his  later  work.  But  it  enjoyed  some  popularity,  and  ran 
through  two  editions. 

In  1  7  19-2  o,1  at  London,  Thomas  D'Urfey  edited  in  six 
volumes,  Wit  and  Mirth  ;  or  Pills  to  Purge  Melancholy  ;  Being 
a  Collection  of  the  Best  Merry  Ballads  and  Songs  Old  and  New. 
Pitted  to  all  Humours,  having  each  their  proper  Tune  for  either 
Voice,  or  Instrument  ;  Most  of  the  Songs  being  new  Set.  Many 
of  these  songs  were  accompanied  by  the  musical  score  ;  and 
the  principal  object  of  the  collection  was,  of  course,  not  to 
revive  old  English  literature,  but  to  make  a  popular  singing- 
book.  D'Urfey  has,  therefore,  but  little  significance  in  the 
Romantic  movement.  His  Dedication  is  curious  enough  to 
be  worth  quoting.  "  I  have  (with  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and 
pains)  made  some  part  of  this  collection,  and  render'd  ye 
many  of  the  old  pieces  which  were  thought  well  of  in  former 
days,  .  .  .  and  I  must  presume  to  say,  scarce  any  other  man 
could  have  perform'd  the  like,  my  double  genius  for  poetry 
and  musick  giving  me  still  that  ability  which  others  perhaps 
might  want."  He  then  says  he  has  performed  his  "  own 
things"  before  King  Charles  II.,  King  James,  King  William, 
Queen  Mary,  Queen  Anne,  and  Prince  George.  D'Urfey's 
dedication  is  unmodest,  and  his  songs  are  immodest.  They 
are  unspeakably  loose  and  coarse,  although  intended  for  sing- 
ing by  young  men  and  maidens.  It  is  not  strange  that  Ramsay 
thought  his  own  collections  clean,  when  the  public  tolerated 
such  abominable  stuff  as  D'Urfey  raked  together. 

We  come  now  to  something  quite  different  —  a  publication 
that  has  an  important  place  in  the  history  of  the  ballad  revival. 
This  was  an  anonymous  work  in  three  volumes,  the  full  title 
being  as  follows  :  A  Collection  of  Old  Ballads,  Corrected  from 
the  best  and  most  ancient  Copies  Extant.  With  Introductions 
Historical,  Critical  or  Humorous.  Illustrated  with  Copper 
Plates.  These  important  volumes  were  published  in  London, 
the  first  and  second  in  1723,  and  the  third  in  1725.  2  The 

1  Other  editions  came  out  earlier. 

2  The  dates  are  very  often  given  incorrectly.    I  took  them  directly  from  the  title- 
pages  of  the  original  editions 


REVIVAL    OF   THE  PAST.  121 

name  of  the  editor  has  never  been  positively  known,  but  he 
is  supposed  to  have  been  Ambrose  Philips,  who  wrote  the 
Spenserian  pastorals.  The  Prefaces  to  these  volumes  are 
significant.  Like  Addison,  the  Editor  felt  forced  to  appeal 
to  the  authority  of  the  classics.  In  the  preface  to  the  first 
volume  he  said,  "  As  the  greatest  part  of  this  book  is  not 
my  own,  and  several  things  in  it  written  ages  ago,  I  may,  I 
hope,  without  either  vanity  or  offence  enter  upon  the  praises 
of  Ballads,  and  shew  their  antiquity."  He  remarks  that 
"  old  Homer  .  .  .  was  nothing  more  than  a  blind  Ballad- 
singer.  Pindar,  Anacreon,  Horace,  Cowley,  Suckling  are 
Ballad-makers." 

The  Editor  increased  the  usefulness  of  his  volume  by  prefix- 
ing to  many  of  the  ballads  historical  and  critical  introductions. 
This  research  work  went  a  long  way  toward  disseminating 
knowledge  about  old  English  literature ;  and  the  strongest 
proof  that  this  collection  aroused  general  interest  was  its 
immediate  and  wide-spread  popularity.  Success  encouraged 
the  Editor  to  take  a  somewhat  bolder  tone.  In  the  second 
edition  of  the  first  volume  he  said,  "  The  encouragement  which 
my  design  has  met,  especially  from  people  of  the  best  taste, 
has  induced  me  to  make  a  Second  Collection,  in  which  are 
contained  a  considerable  number  of  Ballads  more  ancient  and 
upon  far  older  subjects  than  the  generality  of  these ;  and  from 
the  pains  I  have  taken  not  only  with  the  introduction,  but  also 
to  recover  the  best  and  oldest  copies  extant,  I  dare  promise 
myself  they  will  prove  a  grateful  entertainment  to  the  curious 
reader." 

Among  the  ballads  in  the  first  volume  was  Chevy-Chase,  of 
which  the  Editor  remarked,  "I  shall  not  here  point  out  the 
particular  beauties  of  this  song,  with  which  even  l  Mr.  Addison 
was  so  charm'd,  that  in  a  very  accurate  criticism  upon  it  ... 
he  proves,  that  every  line  is  written  with  a  true  spirit  of  poetry." 
This  shows  that  Addison 's  criticism  had  had  some  effect. 


1  This  "  even  "  is  suggestive. 


122  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

In  the  preface  to  the  second  volume,  published  the  same 
year  (1723),  the  Editor  congratulates  himself  on  the  popularity 
of  his  undertaking,  saying  "  though  we  printed  a  large  edition 
for  such  a  trifle,  and  in  less  than  two  months  time  put  it  to 
the  press  again,  yet  could  we  not  get  our  second  edition  out 
before  it  was  really  wanted." 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  this  Editor  in  1723  thought 
it  necessary  to  do  just  what  Percy  did  in  1765  — he  floated  the 
old  ballads  by  adding  a  number  of  modern  popular  songs. 
He  also,  again  like  Percy,  adopted  the  apologetic  tone. 
"  There  are  many  who  perhaps  will  think  it  ridiculous  enough 
to  enter  seriously  into  a  dissertation  upon  ballads  ;  and  there- 
fore I  shall  say  as  little  as  possibly  I  can."  His  defense  was 
that  although  contemporary  taste  did  condemn  the  ballads, 
they  were  not  considered  childish  by  the  age  in  which  they 
were  written,  but  that  their  authors  were  able  and  prominent 
men.  He  concluded  his  preface  by  saying  that  he  had  material 
enough  for  another  volume,  but  did  not  intend  to  let  the  world 
know  whether  or  not  he  would  publish  it  until  the  world  had 
let  him  know  whether  or  not  they  would  encourage  him.  In 
two  years  (1725)  he  published  the  third  volume,  and  said  that 
it  had  been  delayed  by  "  divers  accidents."  In  Vol.  II.  he  had 
printed  genuine  old  pieces  like  Leir  and  his  Three  Daughters, 
King  Arthur,  Robin  Hood,  and  others  ;  but  in  the  third  volume 
he  weakened.  He  gave  as  his  reason  for  omitting  many  old 
ballads,  that  they  were  "  written  in  so  old  or  obsolete  a  stile 
that  few  or  none  of  my  readers  wou'd  have  understood  'em." 
Possibly  the  world  had  not  encouraged  him  so  much  as  he 
hoped  ;  his  tone  is  that  of  a  man  whose  enthusiasm  had  been 
wet-blanketed  by  adverse  criticism.  Matters  were  different  in 
1765.  The  character  and  taste  of  the  audience  had  changed. 

Many  filthy  and  immoral  songs  appeared  in  this  early  ballad 
collection.  The  attitude  toward-old  ballads,  as  toward  Spenser, 
seems  hardly  to  have  been  one  of  sincere  admiration.  In  many 
minds  old  English  ballads  were  necessarily  associated  with 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  123 

coarseness,  and  when  imitations  of  them  were  written  people 
thought  an  alloy  of  smut  was  necessary,  just  as  was  the  case 
with  the  imitations  of  Spenser. 

Notwithstanding  these  defects,  this  collection  of  1723-25 
has  deep  significance.  Its  purpose  was  totally  different  from 
that  of  the  ordinary  song-miscellanies  ;  it  was  an  attempt  at  a 
genuine  revival  of  old  ballad  literature,  and  points  directly  to 
Percy.  Its  great  popularity  is  also  note-worthy,  even  if  it  was 
a  sudden  blaze  rather  than  a  steady  fire. 

In  1724,  Allan  Ramsay  (1686-1758)  published  two  mis- 
cellanies of  considerable  importance,  the  Tea- Table  Miscellany 
and  the  Evergreen.  These  works  are  usually  classed  together, 
as  if  they  were  entirely  similar ;  in  reality  there  is  between 
them  an  important  difference,  as  will  presently  appear.  Ramsay 
brought  out  his  miscellanies  apparently  without  any  knowledge 
of  the  Collection  of  Old  Ballads,  published  the  year  before  ;  for 
he  must  have  begun  collecting  materials  some  time  before  that 
work  appeared.  Ramsay's  inspiration  goes  back  to  James 
Watson.  The  dedication  of  the  first  volume  of  the  Tea-Table 
is  dated  January  i,  1724.  When  the  second  volume  appeared 
is  not  certainly  known.  It  is  usually  ascribed  to  the  same 
year,  1724,  but  there  is  no  real  evidence  to  support  this  date, 
as  no  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  the  second  volume  is  known 
to  be  extant.  It  seems  better  to  ascribe  it  to  the  year  1725  or 

1726,  for  Ramsay  was  also  busy  in   1724  with  the  Evergreen, 
and  good  evidence  for  the  later  date  is  furnished  by  the  ballad 
of  William  and  Margaret,  a  full  discussion  of  which  will  be 
given  later.1     The  third  volume  of  the  Tea-Table  appeared  in 

1727,  and  the  fourth  volume  with  the  tenth  edition  of  the  whole 
work  in  1740.     The  Tea-Table  was  not  exactly  an  attempt  to 
revive  old  ballads,  although  it  was  a  strong  influence  in  the 
movement ;  it  was  really  a  song  collection.     Ramsay's  object 
in  this  work  was  to  amuse  rather  than  to  instruct  the  age.     He 
included  a  number  of  modern  songs,  like  '  Twas  when  the  seas 


See  appendix. 


124  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

were  roaring,  and  other  pieces.  The  tone  of  his  preface  shows 
that  he  had  nothing  revolutionary  in  mind.  But  although 
Ramsay's  chief  object  was  amusement,  he  brought  to  public 
attention  some  remarkable  ballads,  of  which  two  may  be 
mentioned  —  Hamilton's  Braes  o1  Yarrow  and  William  and 
Margaret,  usually  erroneously  ascribed  to  David  Mallet.  The 
former  was  one  of  the  most  strictly  Romantic  productions  of 
any  author  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  ;  and  the 
latter  attracted  wide-spread  attention,  not  only  on  account  of 
its  merit,  but  because  of  Mallet's  claim  to  its  authorship. 
Ramsay  included  a  number  of  his  own  pieces,  his  Farewel  to 
Loc/iaber  being  one  of  the  few  serious  songs  he  ever  wrote,  as 
well  as  one  of  the  best.  In  the  fourth  volume  appeared  the 
old  ballad  of  Sweet  William's  Ghost,  and  curiously  enough,  a 
coarse  parody  of  William  and  Margaret,  called  Watty  and 
Madge.  The  Tea-Table  was  enormously  popular,  and  ran 
through  a  great  number  of  editions  ;  it  was  steadily  published 
till  1765. 

The  Evergreen,  which  appeared  in  two  volumes,  the  dedica- 
tion being  dated  October  15,  1724,  is  an  altogether  different 
work.  The  full  title  reads,  The  Evergreen.  Being  a  Collection 
of  Scots  Poems,  Wrote  by  the  Ingenious  before  1600.  This  was  an 
attempt  to  awaken  interest  in  old  English  poetry,  and  Ramsay's 
inspiration  in  this  was  not  Watson,  but  the  examples  of  the 
editors  of  Shakspere.  The  Dedication  is  written  somewhat 
defiantly.  "  The  Spirit  of  Freedom  that  shines  throw  both  the 
serious  and  comick  Performances  of  our  old  Poets,  appears  of 
a  Piece  with  that  Love  of  Liberty  that  our  antient  Heroes  con- 
tended for."  In  the  Preface,  he  remarked,  "  I  have  observed 
that  Readers  of  the  best  and  most  exquisite  Discernment  fre- 
quently complain  of  our  modern  Writings,  as  filled  with  affected 
Delicacies  and  studied  Refinements,  which  they  would  gladly 
exchange  for  that  natural  Strength  of  Thought  and  Simplicity 
of  Stile  our  Forefathers  practised :  To  such,  I  hope  the  follow- 
ing- Collertjnn  of  Poems  will  not  be  displeasing."  His  patriotism 


REVIVAL   OF  THE  PAST.  125 

and  love  of  nature  both  appear  in  the  following  passage : 
"  When  these  good  old  Bards  wrote,  we  had  not  yet  made  Use 
of  imported  Trimmings  upon  our  Cloaths,  nor  of  foreign  Em- 
broidery in  our  Writings.  Their  Poetry  is  the  Product  of  their 
own  Country,  not  pilfered  and  spoiled  in  the  Transportation 
from  abroad :  Their  Images  are  native,  and  their  Landskips 
domestick ;  copied  from  those  Fields  and  Meadows  we  every 
day  behold."  All  this,  of  course,  is  bold  talk  for  1724  ;  Ram- 
say is  evidently  comparing  the  rude,  natural  strength  of  old 
English  poetry  with  the  insipid  decorativeness  of  Augustan 
style.  He  also  gets  in  a  hit  at  the  couplet.  "  Besides,  the 
Numbers,  in  which  these  Images  are  conveyed,  as  they  are  not 
now  commonly  practised,  will  appear  new  and  amusing.  The 
different  Stanza  and  varied  Cadence  will  likewise  much  sooth 
and  engage  the  Ear,  which  in  Poetry  especially  must  be  always 
flattered." 

Unfortunately  the  Evergreen  was  by  no  means  such  a  success 
as  the  Tea-Table  Miscellany.  A  second  edition  did  not  appear 
till  1761.  Ramsay  meant  to  issue  a  third  and  fourth  volume, 
but  desisted,  probably  owing  to  the  lack  of  encouragement  that 
the  first  two  parts  received. 

Ramsay  was  not  a  scrupulous  or  conscientious  editor.  His 
title-page  announcement  that  the  songs  were  "wrote  before 
1600"  is  not  strictly  true.  He  palmed  off  as  old  ballads  a 
large  number  of  new  songs,  and  is  thus,  in  a  sense,  the  fore- 
runner of  Chatterton  as  well  as  of  Percy.  His  own  poem  in 
the  Evergreen,  called  the  Vision,  he  printed  as  "  compylit  in 
Latin  anno  1300"  and  translated  in  1524.  Then,  the  ballad 
Hardyknute  was,  of  course,  modern,  though  possibly  Ramsay 
himself  did  not  know  it.  This  ballad  was  an  ingenious 
imitation  of  the  old  English  style,  and  deceived  even  so  critical 
a  scholar  as  Gray,  who  said  that  he  did  "  not  at  all  believe  " 
the  report  that  it  was  modern.1  The  poem  was  really  written 
by  Lady  Wardlaw  of  Pitrevie  in  Fife  (1677-1726-7), 

1  Letter  to  Walpole,  Works  (ed.  Gosse),  Vol.  III.,  page  45. 


126  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

Ramsay  made  his  compilation  from  the  Bannatyne  MSS., 
but  omitted  and  added  stanzas,  modernized  the  versification 
and  varied  the  spelling.  He  described  the  sources  of  his 
work  in  a  poem  which  he  wrote  with  the  idea  of  prefixing  it  to 
the  Evergreen,  but  perhaps  his  courage  failed  him,  for  the  piece 
was  not  published  till  years  afterwards.  After  naming  over  a 
list  of  authors,  he  says  :  — 

"  Their  Warkis  I've  publisht,  neat,  correct,  and  fair, 
Frae  antique  manuscriptis,  with  utmost  cair." 

But  this  is  exactly  what  he  did  not  do.  At  that  time  the 
Bannatyne  MSS.  were  in  the  hands  of  William  Carmichael, 
brother  of  the  Earl  of  Hyndford ;  he  lent  them  to  Ramsay, 
who  was  neither  sufficiently  learned  nor  sufficiently  scrupulous 
to  edit  them  in  any  accurate  or  careful  way.  But  it  is  not  at 
all  surprising  that  Ramsay's  work  was  loose  ;  the  surprising 
thing  is  that  so  early  as  1724  such  an  attempt  should  have 
been  made  at  all.  The  fact  that  one  of  Ramsay's  miscellanies 
succeeded  and  the  other  failed  seems  to  show  that  the  age 
cared  more  for  pretty  songs  than  for  any  relics  of  antiquity. 
Due  credit,  however,  should  be  given  Ramsay  for  his  own 
tastes.  He  is  really  one  of  the  most  remarkable  figures  in  the 
early  history  of  Romanticism.  In  both  his  creative  and  critical 
work,  he  threw  his  influence  decidedly  against  t]ie  age.  He 
brought  before  the  public  some  thoroughly  Romantic  poetry, 
and  stands  as  one  of  the  pioneers  among  ballad  collectors. 

In  1724  appeared  The  Hh>e.  A  Collection  of  the  Most 
Celebrated  Songs.  This  was  published  anonymously,  but  was 
prefaced  by  A  Criticism  on  Song-writing.  By  Mr.  Philips ; 
in  a  letter  to  a  lady.  If  Philips  really  edited  the  Collection  of 
Old  Ballads  (1723)  he  wrote  his  prefaces  in  an  entirely  different 
style  from  the  way  he  talked  here.  In  the  Hive  he  says  the 
French  are  the  best  song-writers,  and  that  we  cannot  too 
highly  praise  the  merits  of  the  poet  Waller.  The  Hive.vtas 
popular,  as  by  1732  it  had  passed  into  a  fourth  edition.  It 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  127 

is,  however,  simply  one  of  the  numerous  group  of  song- 
miscellanies. 

In  1725  William  Thomson  edited  a  large  folio,  containing 
the  words  and  music  of  twenty-five  songs.  The  full  title  was 
Orpheus  Caledonius,  or  a  Collection  of  the  Best  Scotch  Songs  set 
to  Musick  by  IV.  Thomson.  This  book  contained  (without  any 
acknowledgment)  a  number  of  the  songs  and  poems  that  had 
appeared  in  the  Tea-Table,  and  in  later  editions  of  his  work 
Ramsay  accordingly  castigated  Thomson.  Orpheus  Caledonius 
was  but  a  slight  contribution  to  the  array  of  ballad  collections 
and  song-books,  and  has  little  significance  in  the  movement. 

In  1749  appeared  Warbling  Muses,  a  collection  of  lyrics 
edited  by  Benjamin  Wakefield.  On  the  title-page  was  printed 
the  rather  arrogant  statement,  "  Being  the  first  attempt  of  this 
Kind."  The  preface  is  very  interesting,  as  showing  the  editor's 
attitude  toward  ancient  and  modern  English  literature.  He 
says,  "  I  selected  a  Multitude  of  Pieces  from  our  most  cele- 
brated Poets,  from  Shakespear  down  to  Pope.  The  Words  of 
our  famous  modern  Poets  were  sacred  to  me  ;  for  which  Reason 
I  did  not  presume  to  alter  a  single  Letter  in  them,  except  now 
and  then  a  proper  Name;  but  I  was  far  less  scrupulous, 
with  regard  to  the  Compositions  of  such  Poets  of  Eminence, 
part  of  whose  Diction  is  grown  obsolete  ;  I  frequently  modern- 
izing many  of  their  Expressions  and  harmonizing  their  Verse." 
The  last  sentence  is  especially  good ;  we  all  know  what  was 
meant  by  the  "harmonizing"  process. 

By  the  middle  of  the  century  the  attempt  to  revive  old 
ballad  literature  had  all  the  appearance  of  being  abortive.  No 
steady  public  interest  had  been  excited.  But  only  ten  years 
later  we  find  signs  of  an  interest  in  antiquity  which  very  soon 
became  a  passion.  In  1760  appeared  one  of  the  most  scholarly 
bits  of  work  that  the  whole  century  produced.  This  was  a 
book  by  the  afterwards  famous  Shaksperian  editor,  Edward 
Capell_(  1713-1781),  called  Prolusions.;  or  select  Pieces  of  antient 
Poetry,  —  compiled  with  great  Care  from  their  several  Originals, 


128  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

and  offered  to  the  Publick  as  Specimens  of  the  Integrity  that  should 
be  found  in  the  Editions  of  worthy  Authors.  Capell  therefore 
had  a  new  aim  —  Accuracy  —  a  thing  in  his  time  almost 
unknown,  and  in  which  he  had  few  immediate  imitators.  In 
the  dedication  he  said  that  his  "honest  intention"  was  to  set 
editors  an  example  of  care  and  fidelity.  The  book  was  divided 
into  three  parts,  the  first  being  The  Notbrowne  Mayde ;  Master 
Sackvile's  Induction ;  and  Overbury's  Wife.  The  second,  Edward 
the  third,  a  Play  thought  to  be  writ  by  Shakespeare,  and  the  third 
division  contained  "Those  excellent  didactic  Poems,  intitl'd 
—  Nosce  teipsum,  written  by  Sir  John  Davis;  with  a  Preface." 
CapelFs  preface  to  the  Prolusions,  dated  July  20,  1759,  explains 
the  task  of  editing,  and  shows  a  respect  for  accuracy  and 
fidelity  that  is  almost  modern ;  he  made  some  omissions  and 
changes,  but  noted  them  all.  He  called  his  attempt  in  pub- 
lishing these  old  pieces  a  "novelty,"  which  indeed  it  was. 
This  work  of  CapelPs  gave  to  the  public  the  fine  ballad  of  the 
Notbrowne  Mayde  in  its  original,  unmutilated  and  "  unpolished  " 
form.  He  simply  ignored  Prior's  Henry  and  Emma,  treating 
it  with  silent  contempt.  He  gave  the  date  of  the  ballad  as 
early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  saying  that  what  "a  poet  of 
late  days"  (Prior)  had  said  as  to  its  age  could  not  be  true. 
In  the  revival  of  old  literature,  the  Prolusions  represents  a 
distinct  advance  on  previous  work ;  the  editor  was  thoroughly 
in  earnest,  and  assumed  toward  the  poetry  he  revived  no 
patronizing  or  apologetic  tone.  Capell  has  therefore  some 
real  significance  in  the  Romantic  movement. 

Another  indication  of  the  growth  of  interest  in  antiquities, 
and  a  first  fruit  of  CapelPs  work,  appeared  in  1764.  No  name 
is  on  the  title-page  of  this  volume,  but  its  editor  was  John 
Bowie  (1725-1788).  The  full  title  reads,  Miscellaneous  Pieces 
of  Antient  English  Poesie.  viz  The  Troublesome  Raigne  of  King 
John,  Written  by  Shakespeare,  Extant  in  no  Edition  of  his  Writ- 
ings. The  Metamorphosis  of  Pygmalion's  Image,  atid  certain 
Satyres.  By  John  Marston.  The  Scourge  of  Villanic.  By  the 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  129 

same.  All  printed  before  the  year  1600.  This  book,  of  course, 
does  not  strictly  come  under  the  head  of  ballad  collections ; 
but  it  evidenced  a  growth  of  the  same  interest,  and  belongs 
more  properly  to  this  part  of  the  general  subject  than  to  any 
other.  Bowie  was  influenced  by  Capell,  and  his  book  was 
another  example  of  accuracy  in  scholarship.  The  text  seems 
to  have  been  printed  with  great  care,  and  the  original  title- 
pages  are  reproduced.  It  is  one  of  the  best  specimens  of 
reprints  that  eighteenth  century  eyes  ever  beheld.  Bowie 
was  a  man  of  great  learning,  who  devoted  himself  to  researches 
in  obscure  and  untrodden  paths ;  his  specialty  being  Spanish 
literature. 

We  come  now  to  the  most  famous  ballad-book  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  Percy's  Reliques.  It  was  an  epoch-making 
book,  and  is  usually  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  chief  causes 
of  the  great  re-awakening  in  English  poetry.  But  the  course 
of  our  studies  in  the  ballad  revival  proves  that  Percy's  book 
was  fully  as  much  a  result  as  it  was  a  cause  of  the  Romantic 
movement.  It  is  true  that  in  the  list  of  ballad  collections 
that  preceded  Percy  only  two  had  much  significance,  the  Old 
Ballads  (1723-5)  and  Ramsay's  Evergreen  (1724).  But  the 
influence  of  these  two  was  strong,  and  after  1755  evidences  of 
'renewed  interest  in  antiquities  —  in  poetry,  chivalry,  mythology 
—  were  showing  themselves  on  every  side.  Percy's  book  came 
just  at  the  critical  time  when  the  Romantic  movement  was 
beginning  to  be  conscious  of  its  own  strength. 

Thomas  Percy  (1729-1811)  seems  to  have  been  interested 
in  antiquarian  researches  from  early  youth.  His  tastes  are 
shown  by  his  publications.  In  1761  he  published  A  Chinese 
Novel  —  Han  Kiou  Chooan,  in  four  volumes,  translated  by  him 
from  the  Portuguese.  In  1762  appeared  Miscellaneous  Pieces 
'Relating  to  the  Chinese,  in  two  volumes.  In  1763  he  edited 
Surrey's  poems,  but  with  the  exception  of  a  few  private  copies, 
the  whole  impression  was  destroyed  by  fire.  In  1763  appeared 
his  Five  Pieces  of  Runic  Poetry.  In  1764,  A  New  Translation 


130  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

of  the  Song  of  Solomon.  In  1765,  the  Reliques.  In  1770,  his 
translation  of  P.  H.  Mallet's  book,  Northern  Antiquities.  In 
1771,  his  Hermit  of  Warkworth.  In  1793,  his  Essay  on  tht 
Origin  of  the  English  Stage.  In  1782  he  was  made  Bishop  of 
Dromore  in  Ireland,  and  about  1806  he  became  blind. 

Percy's  correspondence  with  his  friend  Dr.  Grainger,  author 
of  Sugar-Cane,  also  shows  his  interest  in  antiquities.1  They 
discussed  Macpherson's  Ossian  and  similar  subjects.  Percy 
had  evidently  turned  his  inquisitive  brain  on  Caribbean  and 
American  antiquities,  for  on  July  25,  1762,  Grainger  writes: 
"  I  told  you  I  could  be  of  no  service  to  you  in  promoting  your 
intentional  publications  ;  we  have  no  old  books  of  Knight- 
errantry  in  this  island,  and  nobody  can  tell  me  anything  of 
the  Charibbean  poetry ;  indeed,  from  what  I  have  seen  of 
these  savages,  I  have  no  curiosity  to  know  ought  of  their 
compositions.  I  have,  however,  desired  a  nephew  of  mine 
.  .  .  who  goes  to-morrow  to  North  America  ...  to  make  all 
imaginable  inquiry  after  the  poetry  of  the  North  Americans. 
...  If  he  has  any  success,  you  may  depend  upon  my 
transmitting  the  effects  of  it  to  you."2  This  merely  as  a 
sample  of  Percy's  passion  for  antiquarian  bits  of  knowledge. 
His  appetite  grew  by  what  it  fed  on. 

For  a  number  of  years  previous  to  1765,  Percy  had  been 
collecting  materials  for  the  Reliques.  He  bored  his  friends  and 
acquaintances,  and  turned  his  keen  glance  in  every  direction. 
In  justice  to  Shenstone,  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  it 
was  he  who  first  proposed  the  publication,  and  that  he  was 
to  have  been  joint-editor.  March  i,  1761,  Shenstone  wrote 
to  his  friend  Graves,  "You  have  perhaps  heard  me  speak 
of  Mr.  Percy  —  he  was  in  treaty  with  Mr.  James  Dodsley, 
for  the  publication  of  our  best  old  ballads  in  three  volumes.  — 
He  has  a  large  folio  MS.  of  ballads,  which  he  shewed  me, 

1  These  letters  are  printed  in  Vols.  VH.   and  VIII.  of  Nichols's  Literary  Illus- 
trations. 

2  Nichols,  Vol.  VII.,  page  28  J. 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  131 

and  which,  with  his  own  natural  and  acquired  talents,  would 
qualify  him  for  the  purpose,  as  well  as  any  man  in  England. 
I  proposed  the  scheme  for  him  myself,  wishing  to  see  an 
elegant  edition  and  good  collection  of  this  kind,  —  I  was  also 
to  have  assisted  him  in  selecting  and  rejecting ;  and  in  fixing 
upon  the  best  readings  —  But  my  illness  broke  off  our  corre- 
spondence, the  beginning  of  winter  —  and  I  know  not  what  he 
has  done  since." 1  Since  1742  Shenstone's  taste  had  improved. 
His  connection  with  Percy  places  him  among  the  Romanticists. 

The  Reliques  appeared  in  three  volumes  in  February,  1765. 
The  full  title  reads,  Reliques  of  Ancient  English  Poetry;  Consisting 
of  Old  Heroic  Ballads,  Songs,  and  other  Pieces  of  our  Earlier  Poets, 
(chiefly  of  the  Lyric  Kind).  Together  with  some  few  of  later  Date. 

The  chief  sources  of  the  Reliques  were  as  follows : 

1.  The  Folio  MS. 

2.  Certain  other  MSS.  collections. 

3.  Scotch  ballads  sent  him  by  Sir  David  Dalrymple. 

4.  The  ordinary  printed  broadsides. 

5.  Poems  he  extracted  from  the  old  printed  collections.2 
The    MS.   was    a  "  scrubby,  shabby,  paper"  book.     Percy 

discovered  it  "  lying  dirty  on  the  floor  under  a  Bureau  in  ye 
Parlour"  of  Humphrey  Pitt  of  Shiffnal.  The  servants  had 
been  accustomed  to  use  it  in  kindling  fires.  Pitt  gave  it  to 
Percy,  who  afterwards  had  it  bound,  a  process  in  which  the 
volume  suffered  considerably,  often  losing  lines  at  the  tops  and 
bottoms  of  the  pages.  The  date  of  the  handwriting  was  prob- 
ably about  1650. 

Percy  treated  his  materials  in  a  way  which  nowadays  would 
be  considered  scandalous,  but  which  was  common  enough  a 
hundred  years  ago.  The  influence  of  Capell  and  Bowie  had 
not  been  strong  enough  to  elevate  very  much  the  ideal  of 
accuracy.  It  is  extremely  suggestive,  however,  tc  observe 
Percy's  polishing,  because  -it  shows  his  own  subservience  to 

1  Shenstone's  Works,  Vol.  III.,  page  363. 

2  This  table  is  taken  from  the  1876  edition  of  the  Reliques,  Volume  I.,  page  Ixxxi. 


132  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

the  public  opinion  which  his  book  did  so  much  to  destroy. 
"As  to  the  text,  he  looked  on  it  as  a  young  woman  from  the 
country  with  unkempt  locks,  whom  he  had  to  fit  for  fashion- 
able society.  .  .  .  All  fashionable  requirements  Percy  sup- 
plied. He  puffed  out  the  39  lines  of  the  Child  of  Ell  to 
200;  he  pomatumed  the  Heir  of  Lin  till  it  shone  again; 
he  stuffed  bits  of  wool  into  Sir  Caroline,  Sir  Aldringar;  he 
powdered  everything.  The  desired  result  was  produced  ;  his 
young  woman  was  accepted  by  polite  society,  taken  to  the 
bosom  of  a  countess,  and  rewarded  her  chaperon  with  a  mitre." 1 

We  observe,  therefore,  that  in  many  respects  Percy  was  not 
ahead  of  contemporary  taste.  This  polishing  and  pruning 
process  is  proof  sufficient;  but  the  slight  way  in  which  he 
spoke  of  his  book  is  also  testimony  to  the  point.  Writing  to 
Dr.  Birch,  February  2,  1765,  he  says,  "I  know  not  whether 
you  will  not  be  offended  to  find  your  name  mentioned  in  the 
preface  to  such  a  strange  collection  of  trash."2  In  later  years, 
also,  Percy  looked  on  the  Reliques  as  a  youthful  performance 
of  no  particular  consequence;  the  fourth  edition  (1794)  was 
edited  by  Percy's  nephew,  who  said  that  the  "  original  Editor 
had  no  desire  to  revive  it." 

But  what  is  especially  interesting  in  this  connection  is  to 
notice  in  the  original  preface  Percy's  apologetic  tone.  He  was 
evidently  very  timid  in  this  undertaking,  and  afraid  of  popular 
ridicule.  He  bolstered  himself  up  with  the  names  of  Shen- 
stone  and  Dr.  Johnson,  the  latter  of  whom  he  was  very  anxious 
to  please.  He  said,  "  This  manuscript  was  shown  to  several 
learned  and  ingenious  friends,  who  thought  the  contents  too 
curious  to  be  consigned  to  oblivion,  and  importuned  the 
possessor  to  select  some  of  them,  and  give  them  to  the  press. 
As  most  of  them  are  of  great  simplicity,  and  seem  to  have  been 
merely  written  for  the  people,  he  was  long  in  doubt  whether, 
in  the  present  state  of  improved  literature,  they  could  be 

1  Bishop  Percy's  Folio  MS.,  Vol.  I.,  page  xvi. 

2  Nichols,  Vol.  VII.,  page  577. 


REVIVAL    OF   THE  PAST.  133 

deemed  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  public.  At  length  the 
importunity  of  his  friends  prevailed,  and  he  could  refuse 
nothing  to  such  judges  as  the  author  of  The  Rambler  and  the 
late  Mr.  Shenstone."  Again  he  says,  "  In  a  polished  age  like 
the  present,  I  am  sensible  that  many  of  these  reliques  of 
antiquity  will  require  great  allowances  to  be  made  for  them." 

Percy  also  thought  it  necessary  to  do  just  what  Ramsay  and 
the  Editor  of  Old  Ballads  had  done ;  to  float  old  ballads  by 
adding  modern  lyrics.  He  says,  "  To  atone  for  the  rudeness 
of  the  more  obsolete  poems,  each  volume  concludes  with  a  few 
modern  attempts  in  the  same  kind  of  writing ;  and  to  take  off 
from  the  tediousness  of  the  longer  narratives,  they  are  every- 
where intermingled  with  little  elegant  pieces  of  the  lyric  kind." 
Then,  after  naming  a  long  list  of  eminent  men  to  whose  aid 
he  was  indebted,  Percy  added,  "The  names  of  so  many  men  of 
learning  and  character  the  Editor  hopes  will  serve  as  an  amulet, 
to  guard  him  from  every  unfavourable  censure  for  having 
bestowed  any  attention  on  a  parcel  of  Old  Ballads."  He  then 
goes  on  to  say  that  his  "little  work"  has  simply  been  the 
fruit  of  occasional  leisure  hours.  Percy  was  evidently  trying 
to  cast  anchors  to  windward.  In  studying  the  Reliques,  this 
apologetic  manner  of  the  Editor  should  never  be  forgotten,  for 
it  constitutes  further  evidence  toward  the  unconsciousness  of 
the  Romantic  movement.  Percy  had  no  idea  he  had  published 
an  epoch-maker.  The  first  edition  appeared,  as  has  been  said, 
(in  1765  ;  the  second  in  1767.  In  the  advertisement  the  editor 
\speaks  of  the  favorable  reception  given  to  his  book.  The 
second  edition  was  very  much  like  the  first,  except  that  the 
order  of  the  pieces  was  changed,  and  the  introductory  essays 
considerably  enlarged  and  improved.  This  advertisement  is 
dated  1766,  showing  that  a  second  edition  was  found  to  be 
necessary  within  a  year.  The  third  edition  appeared  in  1775. 
Further  corrections  were  made,  and  Tyrwhitt's  Chaucer  was 
praised.  The  fourth  edition  did  not  appear  till  1794*  an(^  was 
edited  by  the  Bishop's  nephew,  Thomas  Percy.  A  number  of 


134  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

corrections  and  improvements  were  made,  and  the  text  was 
emended  "by  recurring  to  the  old  copies."  The  Editor  took 
occasion  to  reply  to  those  who  had  doubted  the  existence  of 
any  original  MS.,  by  giving  a  number  of  names  as  vouchers 
and  by  describing  the  MS.  in  detail.  But  the  folio  was  really 
not  so  important  to  the  Reliques  as  was,  and  still  is,  commonly 
supposed.  Percy  said  in  his  1765  preface,  that  the  "greater 
part"  of  his  material  was  extracted  from  the  MS.,  but  this  was 
not  true  ;  out  of  176  pieces  published  in  the  Reliques,  only  45 
were  taken  from  that  source.  Another  example  of  eighteenth 
century  literary  honesty. 

In  spite  of  the  pains  Percy  had  taken  to  forestall  the  criticism 
of  men  like  Johnson,  he  met  with  disappointment.  Previously 
to  the  publication  of  the  Reliques,  Percy  and  Johnson  had 
discussed  the  matter,  and  the  Editor  naturally  thought  that  the 
Doctor  was  on  his  side.  But  he  should  have  remembered  the 
autocrat's  fixed  opinions  on  all  literature  of  this  stamp.  In  the 
Rambler  (No.  177)  for  November  26,  1751,  Johnson  had 
ridiculed  the  taste  for  ballads  and  the  black  letter,  and  he  was 
not  the  man  to  change  his  mind.  Although  Johnson's  limits 
of  appreciation  were  rather  narrow,  he  had  a  sure  nose  for 
anything  Romantic.  He  was  extremely  suspicious  of  new 
literary  fashions.  It  was  this  instinct  that  led  him  to  oppose 
the  Spenserians,  to  fight  blank  verse,  to  disparage  Gray,  and 
to  attack  the  taste  for  ballads ;  it  led  him  also  to  make  his 
fierce  onslaught  on  Macpherson.  The  Doctor  gave  the 
^Reliques  no  encouragement  at  all;  and  Warburton  and  even 
Hurd  had  also  recorded  themselves  against  this  kind  of  literary 
work. 

But  if  the  critics  looked  askance  at  this  new  departure,  the 
popular  reception  was  cordial  and  friendly  enough  to  make  all 
amends.  The  Reliques  reached  the  English  heart,  and  stirred 
up  memories  and  aspirations  that  were  full  of  promise  for  the 
literature  of  the  future.  Dr.  Grainger's  letters  to  Percy  show 
the  popularity  of  the  work.  In  February,  1766,  he  wrote,  "I 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  135 

sincerely  congratulate  you  on  the  great  success  of  your  'Ancient 
Poetry.'  The  book  deserves  all  the  applause  which  has  been 
given  it."  l  A  few  months  later  he  wrote,  "  I  congratulate  you 
again  on  the  success  of  your  'Ancient  Ballads';  though  great, 
it  is  not  more  than  they  deserve."2 

Percy's  book  makes  the  year  1765  one  of  the  most  important 
dates  in  the  history  of  English  Romanticism.  The  Reliques 
came  just  at  the  right  time.  Its  effect  on  literature,  though 
not  felt  so  immediately  as  Ossian's,  was  far  more  healthful  and 
far  more  lasting.  It  influenced  the  younger  generation  of 
readers  with  a  force  hard  to  overestimate  ;  and  men  like 
Wordsworth  and  Scott  always  gladly  acknowledged  what  they 
owed  to  it.  Scott's  eagerness  in  its  perusal  and  its  effect  on 
his  taste  are  well  known ;  and  Wordsworth's  testimony  as  to 
its  effect  on  the  language  is  worth  remembering.3 

Besides  the  direct  influence  of  the  ballads,  the  prose  matter 
Percy  published  with  the  Reliques  had  a  wide  influence.  His 
Essay  on  the  Ancient  Minstrels  inspired  Beattie  to  write  his 
Spenserian  poem  ; 4  and  the  other  essays  on  antiquarian  matters 
must  have  done  much  to  stir  up  interest  in  the  past.5 

The  best  evidence  as  to  the  effect  of  Percy's  book  on 
English  literature  may  be  obtained  by  a  glance  at  the  ballad 
bibliography  of  the  eighteenth  century.6  Before  Percy,  only 
two  important  collections  had  appeared ;  in  the  remain  ing- 
years  they  came  as  thick  as  tale.  Ritson  was  a  bitter  opponent 
of  Percy,  and  took  a  fiendish  delight  in  exhibiting  to  the  public 
the  Bishop's  loose  methods  of  editing ;  he  stoutly  denied  the 
existence  of  the  MS.,  and  was  silenced  only  by  ocular  proof. 

1  Nichols,  Vol.  VII.,  page  292. 

2  Ibid.,  page  293. 

3  In  Poetry  as  a  Study  (1815). 
*  The  Minstrel  (1771-1 774). 

6  Besides  the  Essay  already  spoken  of,  the  first  edition  of  the  Reliques  contained 
essays  on  the  "  origin  of  the  English  stage,"  on  the  "  metre  of  Pierce  Plowman's 
Vision,"  and  on  the  "ancient  metrical  romances";  and  there  were  a  great  many 
interesting  introductions  to  separate  ballads. 

«  See  list  in  Child's  Ballads  (1857),  Vol.  I.,  page  xiii. 


136  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

But  Ritson  owed  much  to  the  man  he  attacked  ;  and  the 
excellence  of  his  own  work,  and  his  important  share  in  the 
ballad  revival  —  where  would  it  all  have  been  without  Percy  ? 

In  1823  an  abridgment  of  the  Reliques  was  published,  called 
Beauties  of  Ancient  English  Poetry.  The  Preface  maybe  partly 
quoted  here,  as  showing  how  far  the  Romantic  movement  had 
progressed  by  that  time  and  how  much  it  owed  to  Percy. 
The  Editor  says,  "Mr.  Hume  has  observed  that  in  the  Fairy 
Queen  of  Spencer,  the  genius  of  the  author  is  encumbered  and 
disguised  under  the  antiquated  and  fantastical  costume  of 
chivalry,  which  he  has  chosen  to  assume.  We  believe  there 
are  few  readers  of  the  poetry  of  the  present  day  to  whom  this 
very  objection  does  not  constitute  one  essential  interest  and 
beauty  of  the  work.  .  .  .  The  feelings  with  which  our  ancient 
poetry  was  generally  regarded  at  the  beginning  and  close  of 
the  last  century,  were  essentially  different.  In  our  Augustan 
age,  as  it  has  been  termed,  we  see  the  mind  of  the  country 
tending  with  determined  force  from  that  ancient  literature,  and 
in  the  present  day  we  have  seen  its  return  upon  these  treasures 
of  the  past,  with  an  almost  passionate  admiration."  He  then 
speaks  of  Goldsmith's  ridicule  of  old  poetry,  saying,  "  No  man 
will  believe  that  Goldsmith,  now  living,  would  have  so  judged." 
All  this  is  first-rate  testimony  to  the  profound  and  permanent 
influence  of  Percy's  Reliques. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

REVIVAL    OF    THE    PAST  —  NORTHERN    MYTHOLOGY, 
WELSH    POETRY,    AND    OSSIAN. 

DURING  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  scarcely  any 
interest  seems  to  have  been  taken  either  in  native  superstitions 
or  in  Teutonic  mythology.  For  poetic  material  the  familiar 
Greek  and  Roman  myths  sufficed,  and  the  superstitions  of 
Scotland,  Ireland  and  Wales  shared  the  same  neglect  which 
had  overtaken  the  old  ballads.  The  first  important  poem  in 
this  branch  of  Romanticism  was  written  late  in  the  year  1749, 
but  the  public  had  no  chance  to  see  it  until  1788.  In  1749 
Mr.  John  Home  visited  England  to  make  some  arrangements 
with  Garrick  about  the  stage  presentation  of  the  tragedy  of 
Douglas.  While  Home  was  staying  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Barrow 
at  Winchester,  he  met  the  poet  Collins,  and  they  evidently 
conversed  on  more  or  less  Romantic  themes,  for  after  Home's 
return  to  Scotland,  Collins  sent  him  an  ode  he  had  just  written, 
with  the  title,  An  Ode  on  the  Popular  Superstitions  of  the  High- 
lands of  Scotland ;  considered  as  the  subject  of  poetry ;  mscribed 
to  Mr.  Home,  author  of  Douglas.  Strangely  enough,  neither 
Collins  nor  Home  ever  made  any  attempt  to  publish  this  Ro- 
mantic poem.  It  was  finally  printed  in  1788,  by  Dr.  Alexander 
Carlyle,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh. 
Almost  immediately  afterward  a  rival  edition  also  appeared; 
and  since  that  time  this  Ode  has  always  ranked  among  Collins's 
most  important  work.  The  poem  is  in  subject,  treatment  and 
style  distinctly  Romantic ;  and  it  struck  a  new  note  in  English 
verse.  Mr.  Lowell  says,  "  The  whole  Romantic  School,  in  its 
/germ,  no  doubt,  but  yet  unmistakably  foreshadowed,  lies  already 
\iri  the  '  Ode  on  the  Superstitions  of  the  Highlands.' " J  The 

1  Literary  Essays,  Vol.  IV.,  page  3. 


138  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

ninth  stanza  may  be  quoted,  as  an  expression  of  the  Romantic 
spirit  in  Collins  :  — 

"  Unbounded  is  thy  range  ;    with  varied  skill 
Thy  muse  may,  like  those  feathery_jtnbes  which  spring 
From  their  rude  rocks,  extend  her  skirting  wing 
Round  the  moist  marge  of  each  cold  Hebrid  isle,. 
To  that  hoar  pile,  which  still  its  ruin  shows  ; 
In  whose  small  vaults  a  £igmy_fQl^  is  found, 
Whose  bones  the  delyer  with  his  spade  upthrows,' 
And  culls  them,  wondering,  from  the  hallowed  ground ! 
Or  thither,  where,  beneath  the  showqry  wqst, 
The  mighty  kings  of  three  fair  realms  are  laid  ; 
Once  foes,  perhaps,  together  now  they  rest, 
^  No  slaves  revere  them,  and  no  wars  invade  ; 
Yet  frequent  now,  at  midnight  solemn  hour, 
The  rifted  mounds  their  yawning  cells  unfold, 
And  forth  the  monarchs  stalk  with  sovereign  power, 
In  pageant  robes,  and  wreathed  with  sheeny  gold, 
And  on  their  twilight  tombs  aerial  councils  hold." 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  a  poem  of  this  nature,  so 
different  from  the  ordinary  contemporary  style,  and  so  dis- 
tinctly fore-shadowing  later  Romantic  poetry,  should  have 
been  suffered  by  the  writer  and  by  the  one  for  whose  sake 
it  was  written  to  lie  so  long  in  neglected  manuscript.  In 
later  years  Collins  might  have  published  it,  if  his  mind  had 
not  gone  into  an  eclipse.  Perhaps  Home  thought  it  unsuitable 
for  the  taste  of  the  age.  If  it  had  been  printed  in  1750,  it 
would  doubtless  have  attracted  attention.  It  would  certainly 
have  pleased  the  Wartons  and  as  certainly  displeased  Collins's 
firm  friend,  Dr.  Johnson. 

This  Ode  cannot  be  said  to  have  done  much  for  the  Romantic 
movement,  as  it  did  not  reach  the  public ;  but  its  composition 
is  interesting  as  showing  in  what  direction  the  mind  of  Collins 
was  working,  and  that  Romantic  tastes  were  being  generally,  if 
secretly,  cultivated.  Collins,  like  the  Wartons,  was  an  enthusi- 
astic student  of  the  old  English  authors. 


REVIVAL    OF  THE  PAST.  139 

The  first  book  in  Europe  which  aroused  any  general  interest 
in  Northern  mythology  and  the  literature  of  the  Eddas,  was 
written  in  the  language  which  had  done  the  most  to  preserve 
Classic  style  and  form.  This  book  was  the  Introduction  a 
"Histoire  de  Dannemarck,  published  in  1755.  Its  author  was 
Paul  Henri  Mallet  (1730-1807),  a  native  of  Geneva.  In  1752 
he  had  been  made  professor  of  Belles  Lettres  at  Copenhagen, 
and  had  become  deeply  interested  in  Danish  literature.  His 
Introduction  treated  of  the  religion,  laws,  and  customs  of  the 
ancient  Danes,  and  was  followed  the  next  year  (1756)  by  a 
second  part,  Monuments  de  la  mythologie  et  de  la  poesie  des 
Celtes,  et  particulierement  des  anciens  Scandinaves.  In  the  same 
year  his  work  was  translated  into  Danish.  In  1760  Mallet 
returned  to  Geneva,  and  by  1777  had  completed  his  full 
Histoire  de  Dannemarck. 

Throughout  Europe  the  influence  of  Mallet's  work  was 
enormous,  and  for  many  years  his  book  was  the  standard 
authority.  Gray,  always  alert  and  watchful  for  any  new  liter- 
ary event,  was  charmed.  In  his  correspondence  with  Mason 
about  Caractacus,  in  which  Gray  kept  urging  Mason  to  be  as 
wild  and  picturesque  as  possible,  he  alluded  to  Mallet  as 
follows  (January  13,  1758)  :  "I  am  pleased  with  the  Gothic 
Elysium.  Do  you  think  I  am  ignorant  about  either  that,  or 
the  hell  before,  or  the  twilight.  I  have  been  there,  and  have 
seen  it  all  in  Mallet's  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Denmark 
(it  is  in  French),  and  many  other  places."  1  Gray  also  made' 
other  allusions  to  Mallet  from  time  to  time,  which  show  that 
he  was  reading  him  carefully. 

Mallet  made  a  strong  plea  for  the  study  of  the  customs  and 
manners  and  mythology  of  the  ancient  Danes.  He  said,  "  The 
most  affecting  and  most  striking  passages  in  the  ancient 
northern  poetry,  were  such  as  now  seem  to  us  the  most 
whimsical,  unintelligible,  and  overstrained.  So  different  are 
our  modes  of  thinking  from  theirs.  We  can  admit  of  nothing 

1  Gray's  Works,  Vol.  II.,  page  352. 


140  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

but  what  is  accurate  and  perspicuous.  They  only  required 
bold  and  astonishing  images  which  appear  to  us  hyperbolical 
and  gigantic." 1  In  the  Introduction  to  Volume  II.,  Mallet 
again  returned  to  the  charge.  "  In  fine,  do  we  not  discover 
in  these  religious  opinions,  that  source  of  the  marvellous  with 
which  our  ancestors  filled  their  Romances,  a  system  of  wonders 
unknown  to  the  ancient  Classics  and  but  little  investigated 
even  to  this  day ;  wherein  we  see  Dwarfs  and  Giants,  Fairies 
and  Demons  acting  and  directing  all  the  machinery  with  the 
most  regular  conformity  to  certain  characters  which  they  always 
sustain."2 

In  the  second  volume  Mallet  gave  a  general  description  and 
historical  sketch  of  the  Eddas ;  he  translated  a  large  portion 
of  the  Eddaic  mythology,  and  also  several  Odes.  It  was  here 
that  Gray  got  the  hint  for  his  Descent  of  Odin.  Mallet  twice 
alludes  to  the  poem,3  and  gives  a  translated  extract. 

Gray  was  not  the  only  English  man  of  letters  who  was  stirred 
up  by  Mallet ;  Percy  seems  to  have  become  interested  at  about 
the  same  time,  and  he  did  English  Romanticism  an  immense 
service  by  translating  Mallet.  Percy's  translation  appeared  in 
two  volumes  in  1770,  with  the  title,  Northern  Antiquities ;  or  a 
Description  of  the  Manners,  Customs,  Religion  and  Laws  of  the 
Ancient  Danes,  and  Other  Northern  Nations,  including  those  of 
our  own  Saxon  Ancestors,  with  a  Translation  of  the  Edda,  or 
System  of  Runic  Mythology,  and  other  Pieces,  From  the  Ancient 
Islandic  Tongue.  This  translation  included  the  first  two 
volumes  of  the  Histoire  de  Dannemarck,  viz.  —  the  Introduction, 
and  the  Edda  with  Odes.  The  first  volume  consisted  of  a 
description  of  the  arts,  government  and  customs  of  the  Danes, 
and  a  long  discussion  of  their  highly  picturesque  mythology. 
The  translation  of  the  Edda  was  given  in  the  second  volume ; 
the  first  part  being  the  system  of  mythology,  where  stories  of 

1  English  Translation  called  "  Northern  Antiquities,"  Vol.  I.,  page  394. 

2  Vol.  II.,  page  9. 

8  Vol.  I.,  page  147,  and  Vol.  II.,  page  220. 


REVIVAL    OF   THE  PAST.  141 

Odin,  Frigga,  Thor,  Balder  and  the  rest  were  told  in  dialogue ; 
then  followed  some  sketches  of  the  Elder  Edda,  and  translations 
of  Odes. 

To  the  English  mind  all  this  material  was  almost  startlingly 
new.  The  wonderful  richness  and  splendor  of  northern  my- 
thology and  poetry  were  brought  to  popular  knowledge  just  at 
the  time  when  England  was  in  a  receptive  attitude.  All 
subsequent  Norse  study  and  all  the  revival  of  the  Norse 
element  in  English  literature  may  be  traced  back  to  Mallet's 
book. 

Mallet,  like  all  other  men  of  the  new  school,  assumed  an 
apologetic  attitude.  He  said,  "  But  will  not  some  object,  To 
what  good  purpose  can  it  serve  to  revive  a  heap  of  puerile 
fables,  and  opinions,  which  time  hath  so  justly  devoted  to 
oblivion  ?  Why  take  so  much  trouble  to  dispel  the  gloom 
which  envelopes  the  infant  state  of  nations  ?  What  have  we 
to  do  with  any  but  our  own  contemporaries  ?  much  less  with 
barbarous  manners,  which  have  no  sort  of  connection  with 
our  own,  and  which  we  shall  happily  never  see  revive  again  ? 
This  is  the  language  we  now  often  hear."  *  He  then  proceeds 
to  refute  such  objections. 

In  discussing  the  new  interest  taken  at  this  time  in  "  Runic  " 
poetry,  it  is  an  interesting  fact  that  in  the  slender  volume  of 
poems  by  Thomas  Warton,  Senior,  published  in  1748,  there  are 
two  Runic  Odes.  This  strange  contribution  to  Romanticism, 
coming  years  before  Mallet,  Percy  and  Gray  drew  public 
attention  to  Northern  themes,  is  certainly  noteworthy;  and 
it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  author  of  these  two 
Runic  odes  was  the  father  of  the  Warton  brothers  —  affording 
additional  evidence  as  to  where  they  imbibed  their  Romantic 
tastes.  Almost  nothing  is  known  to-day  of  this  reverend 
gentleman ;  but  the  remarkable  ardor  for  Romanticism  which 
his  sons  exhibited  even  from  early  youth  may  be  partially 
explained  by  the  fact  that  in  their  father's  posthumous  volume 

1  Vol.  II.,  page  35. 


ind  f 
^wo 

ing; 


142  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

we  find  both  Spenserian  and  Runic  poetry.  Warton  took 
these  two  odes  from  Sir  William  Temple's  essay  Of  Heroic 
Virtue.  Temple  quotes  with  strong  approval  two  Latin  trans- 
lations of  a  portion  of  the  song  of  Regner  Lodbrog,  a  Northern 
king,  who  composed  this  poem  "  in  the  Runic  language  about 
eight  hundred  years  ago,  after  he  was  mortally  stung  by  a 
serpent,  and  before  the  venom  seized  upon  his  vitals." * 
Temple  remarked  that  in  these  verses  there  was  a  "  vein  truly 
poetical."  Warton's  odes  appear  to  be  free  translations  from 
this  Latin,  and  as  his  poetry  is  so  difficult  of  access,  it  may 
be  worth  while  to  quote  one  of  his  Odes  entire  :  — 

"  At  length  appears  the  wish'd-for  Night, 
When  my  glad  Soul  shall  take  her  Flight ; 
Tremble  my  Limbs,  my  Eye-balls  start, 
The  Venom's  busy  at  my  Heart. 
Hark  !  how  the  solemn  Sisters  call, 
And  point' aloft  to  Odin's  Hall  ! 
I  come,  I  come,  prepare  full  Bowls, 
Fit  Banquet  for  heroic  Souls  : 
What's  Life  ?  —  I  scorn  this  idle  Breath, 
I  smile  in  the  Embrace  of  Death  ! "  2 

Percy  began  his  English  translation  of  Mallet  probably 
about  the  same  time  that  his  Reliques  appeared  in  print ;  but 
he  had  been  reading  .Mallet  earlier  than  that.  In  1763 
appeared  a  small  anonymous  volume,  Five  Pieces  of  Runic 
Poetry  Translated  from  the  Islandic  Language.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  title-page  a  note  was  printed,  "N.  B. 
This  tract  was  drawn  up  for  the  press  in  the  year  1761  ;  but 
the  publication  has  been  delayed  by  an  accident."  We  see, 
then,  that  Percy  was  working  on  Runic  poetry  in  the  same 
year  that  Gray  wrote  his  two  Norse  poems. 

Percy  was,  of  course,  inspired  by  Mallet's  book ;  but  it  was 
the  success  of  the  Ossianic  fragments  (1760)  that  induced  him 

1  Temple's  Works  (1814),  Vol.  III.,  page  368.  2  Poems  (1748^,  page  159. 


REVIVAL    OF   THE  PAST.  143 

to  publish.  His  preface  is  very  interesting.  After  speaking 
of  the  roughness  of  the  manners  of  the  northern  nations,  he 
alludes  to  their  "amazing  fondness  for  poetry."  A  "few 
specimens  of  these  are  now  offered  to  the  public.  It  would 
be  as  vain  to  deny,  as  it  is  perhaps  impolitic  to  mention,  that 
this  attempt  is  owing  to  the  success  of  the  Erse  fragments. 
It  is  by  no  means  for  the  interest  of  this  little  work,  to  have 
it  brought  into  a  comparison  with  those  beautiful  pieces,  after 
which  it  must  appear  to  the  greatest  disadvantage.  And  yet 
till  the  Translator  of  those  poems  thinks  proper  to  produce 
his  originals,  it  .is  impossible  to  say  whether  they  do  not  owe 
their  superiority,  if  not  their  whole  existence,  entirely  to 
himself." 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  the  new  interest  in  Norse 
mythology,  the  study  of  superstitions,  the  fragments  of  Gaelic 
verse,  and  various  kinds  of  Romantic  lore  were  all  working 
together  in  the  great  literary  movement.  Anything  wild  and 
extravagant  was  now  becoming  as  fashionable  as  it  had  pre- 
viously been  despised.  Percy  recommended  his  little  volume 
by  saying  that  "the  poetry  of  the  Scalds  chiefly  displays  itself 
in  images  of  terror." 

The  Five  Pieces  are  prose  translations  of  five  Runic  poems, 
with  the  originals  added.  Percy  himself,  however,  had  no 
first-hand  knowledge  of  the  language  ;  the  five  poems  which 
he  gives  had  already  appeared  in  Latin  and  Swedish  versions. 
He  obtained  the  assistance  of  a  scholar,  who  compared  these 
English  versions  with  the  originals,  and  who  saw  to  it  that  the 
"  Runic  "  was  all  right.  Percy  embellished  his  title-page  with 
some  Runic  characters,  both  as  an  ornament  and  as  a  voucher 
that  his  poems  were  not  forgeries.  If  Ossian  had  not  already 
set  the  fashion  of  Romantic  names,  how  strange  must  have 
sounded  in  eighteenth  century  ears  titles  like  The  Dying  Ode 
of  Regner  Lodbrog,  The  Ransome  of  Egill  the  Scald,  The  Funeral 
Song  of  Hacon  !  The  idea  of  putting  them  in  prose  must  have 
been  suggested  to  Percy  by  the  success  of  Macpherson's 


144  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

experiment.  The  Runic  poems  just  hit  the  newly-aroused 
public  sentiment. 

A  few  quotations  will  show  the  style  of  the  literature  with 
which  Percy  fed  the  people.  "Then  the  sword  acquired 
spoils ;  the  whole  ocean  was  one  wound ;  the  earth  grew  red 
with  reeking  gore  ;  the  sword  grinned  at  the  coats  of  mail ;  the 
sword  cleft  the  shields  asunder."  * 

Then,  as  illustrative  of  the  mythology:  "We  fought  with 
swords.  .  .  .  From  my  early  youth  I  learnt  to  dye  my  sword 
in  crimson  ;  I  never  yet  could  find  a  man  more  valiant  than 
myself.  The  gods  now  invite  me  to  them.  Death  is  not  to 
be  lamented.  'Tis  with  joy  I  cease.  The  goddesses  of  destiny 
are  come  to  fetch  me.  Odin  hath  sent  them  from  the  habita- 
tion of  the  gods.  I  shall  be  joyfully  received  into  the  highest 
seat ;  I  shall  quaff  full  goblets  among  the  gods.  The  hours  of 
my  life  are  past  away.  I  die  laughing."  2 

We  can  easily  imagine  how  Pope  and  Lady  Mary  would 
have  criticised  this  style  of  poetry,  and  have  "  versified  "  it  in 
correct  couplets. 

The  Romantic  movement  was  now  making  real  progress. 
"  Wild  "  poetry  became  all  the  rage,  as  we  see  by  another  sign 
of  the  times  that  appeared  in  1764.  This  was  a  book  by  the 
Rev.  Evan  Evans  (1731-1789),  curate  of  Llanvair  Talhaiam  in 
Denbighshire.  Evans  was  born  at  Cynhawdref,  Cardiganshire, 
and  studied  at  Oxford.  From  an  early  age  he  cultivated  his 
love  of  poetry.  He  was  a  profound  student  of  Welsh  literature, 
and  spent  many  hours  transcribing  Welsh  MSS.,  and  traveling 
about  in  Wales  in  search  of  material.  He  also  composed 
Welsh  poetry  of  his  own.  His  important  contribution  to  the 
Romantic  movement  is  his  work  in  1764,  Some  Specimens  of  the 
Poetry  of  the  Antient  Welsh  Bards.  Translated  into  English, 
with  Explanatory  Notes  on  the  Historical  Passages,  and  a  short 
account  of  Men  and  Places  mentioned  by  the  Bards,  in  order  to 

l  Dying  Ode,  page  29.  2  page  41. 


REVIVAL   OF  THE  PAST.  145 

give  the  Curious  some  Idea  of  the  Taste  and  Sentiments  of  our 
Ancestors,  and  their  manner  of  Writing^ 

In  this  venture  Evans  claimed  that  he  was  not  inspired  by 
Ossian,  but  that  he  had  had  this  book  in  mind  for  years. 
Possibly  Gray's  Bard  may  have  suggested  something  to  him, 
though  he  does  not  say  so.  He  spoke  with  ardor  of  the  won- 
derful style  of  Welsh  poetry,  and  said  "  no  nation  in  Europe 
possesses  greater  remains  of  antient  and  genuine  pieces  of  this 
kind  than  the  Welsh." 

His  description  of  his  material  is  interesting.  "  The  follow- 
ing poems  .  .  .  were  taken  from  a  manuscript  of  the  learned 
Dr.  Davies,  author  of  the  Dictionary,  which  he  had  transcribed 
from  an  antient  vellum  MS.  which  was  wrote,  partly  in  Edward 
the  second  and  third's  time,  and  partly  in  Henry  the  fifth's, 
containing  the  works  of  all  the  Bards  from  the  Conquest  to  the 
death  of  Llewelyn,  the  last  prince  of  the  British  line." 

Evans  makes  no  apology  for  Welsh  poetry ;  it  is  significant 
of  the  changing  taste  that  he  regards  Extravagance  as  a  draw- 
ing card.  He  says,  "  What  was  said  of  poetry  in  general,  by 
one  of  the  wits,  that  it  is  but  Prose  run  mad,  may  very  justly  be 
applied  to  our  Bards  in  particular ;  for  there  are  not  such 
extravagant  flights  in  any  poetic  compositions,  except  it  be  in 
the  Eastern." 

Evans's  translations,  like  those  of  Macpherson  and  Percy, 
were  in  prose.  He  translated,  in  all,  ten  poems,  and  followed 
Percy's  example  in  adding  the  originals.  He  also  appended  a 
treatise  in  Latin,  De  Bardis  Dissertatio.  One  quotation  from 
Evans's  Specimens  will  suffice.  "  Llywelyn  was  our  prince  ere 
the  furious  contest  happened,  and  the  spoils  were  amassed  with 
eagerness.  The  purple  gore  ran  over  the  snow-white  breasts 
of  the  warriors,  and  there  was  an  universal  havock  and  carnage 
after  the  shout.  The  parti-coloured  waves  flowed  over  the 

1  The  copy  I  consulted  was  the  original  1764  publication,  in  the  Harvard  library; 
it  has  many   manuscript  corrections  in  Evans's  own  hand,  written   November  9( 


146  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

broken  spear,  and  the  warriors  were  silent.  The  briny  wave 
came  with  force,  and  another  met  it  mixed  with  blood,  when 
we  went  to  Porthaethwy  on  the  steeds  of  the  main  over  the 
great  roaring  of  the  floods.  The  spear  raged  with  relentless 
fury,  and  the  tide  of  blood  rushed  with  force.  Our  attack  was 
sudden  and  fierce.  Death  displayed  itself  in  all  its  horrors ; 
so  that  it  was  a  doubt  whether  anv  of  us  should  die  of  old 
age."1 

Evans's  Specimens  has  significance  not  only  in  its  own  con- 
nection with  Ossianic  poetry,  but  because  it  inspired  Gray's 
poem,  The  Triumphs  of  Owen,  published  in  1768.  Gray  also 
composed  some  shorter  Welsh  pieces. 

,  We  come  now  to  one  of  the  most  important  literary  events 
/of  the  eighteenth  century  —  the  Ossianic  poems  of  James 
\Macpherson  (1738-1796).  Macpherson  was  born  at  Ruthven, 
Inverness,  and  after  the  year  1756  taught  school  there  for  some 
time.  In  1759  he  became  acquainted  with  Home  and  Dr. 
Carlyle,  and  showed  them  some  fragments  of  Erse  poetry  in 
his  possession.  Macpherson  also  told  Dr.  Blair  that  he  was 
unwilling  to  publish  these  fragments,  because  they  were  so 
totally  unlike  the  style  of  contemporary  poetry  that  no  one 
would  pay  any  attention  to  them.  But,  emboldened  by  the 
encouragement  of  Blair,  Home  and  Carlyle,  he  did  publish,  in 
1760,  Fragments  of  Ancient  Poetry  Collected  in  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland,  and  translated  from  the  Galic  or  Erse  language.  Dr. 
Blair  wrote  a  Preface  for  the  work.  The  Fragments  is  a  small, 
thin  volume,  with  no  name  on  the  title-page  and  nothing  to 
indicate  under  whose  sponsorship  it  appeared.  In  this  unas- 
suming manner  was  published  a  book  destined  to  arouse 
universal  curiosity  and  excitement,  and  to  exert  a  most  power- 
ful if  not  perpetual  influence  on  English  and  Continental  litera- 
ture. In  the  preface  we  read,  "  The  public  may  depend  on  the 
following  fragments  as  genuine  remains  of  ancient  Scottish 
poetry.  The  date  of  their  composition  cannot  be  exactly  ascer- 

1  Page  32. 


REVIVAL    OF   THE  PAST.  147 

tained.  Tradition,  in  the  country  where  they  were  written, 
refers  them  to  an  aera  of  the  most  remote  antiquity ;  and  this 
tradition  is  supported  by  the  spirit  and  strain  of  the  poems 
themselves  ;  which  abound  with  those  ideas,  and  paint  those 
manners,  that  belong  to  the  most  early  state  of  society." 
Reference  is  then  made  to  a  supposed  epic.  "  Though  the 
poems  now  published  appear  as  detached  pieces  in  this  collec- 
tion, there  is  ground  to  believe  that  most  of  them  were  originally 
episodes  of  a  greater  work  which  related  to  the  wars  of  Fingal. 
Concerning  this  hero  innumerable  traditions  remain  to  this 
day,  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland.  The  story  of  Ossian,  his 
son,  is  so  generally  known,  that  to  describe  one  in  whom  the 
race  of  a  great  family  ends,  it  has  passed  into  a  proverb, 
'  Ossian  the  last  of  the  heroes.'  "  The  passage  just  quoted  is 
significant,  as  it  affords  either  the  excuse  or  the  justification 
for  the  publication  of  the  main  poem  in  1762.  The  preface 
also  contained  another  bid  for  public  interest.  "  It  is  believed, 
that,  by  a  careful  inquiry,  many  more  remains  of  ancient  genius, 
no  less  valuable  than  those  now  given  to  the  world,  might  be 
found  in  the  same  country  where  these  have  been  collect°d. 
In  particular  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  one  work  of  consider- 
able length  and  which  deserves  to  be  styled  an  heroick  poem, 
might  be  recovered  and  translated,  if  encouragement  were 
given  to  such  an  undertaking."  This  was  a  manifest  feeling 
of  the  popular  pulse.  It  was  hoped  that  by  printing  just 
enough  to  inflame  public  curiosity,  money  would  be  subscribed 
sufficient  to  permit  Macpherson  to  travel  about  the  Highlands 
and  collect  more  material.  The  scheme  succeeded  perfectly. 

Universal  interest  was  aroused ;  and  even  Gray's  delight  is 
not  surprising,  for  these  early  pieces  do  have  intrinsic  poetic 
merit,  and  the  dose  was  not  large  enough  to  be  nauseating. 
A  quotation  from  Fragment  VIII.  is  typical.  "  By  the  side 
of  a  rock  on  the  hill,  beneath  the  aged  trees,  old  Ossian  sat 
on  the  moss  ;  the  last  of  the  race  of  Fingal.  Sightless  are 
his  aged  eyes  ;  his  beard  is  waving  in  the  wind.  Dull  throf 


148  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

the  leafless  trees  he  heard  the  voice  of  the  north.  Sorrow 
revived  in  his  soul ;  he  began  and  lamented  the  dead.  .  .  . 
Fair  with  her  locks  of  gold,  her  smooth  neck,  and  her  breasts 
of  snow;  fair  as  the  spirits  of  the  hill  when  at  silent  noon 
they  glide  along  the  heath ;  fair,  as  the  rainbow  of  heaven ; 
came  Minvane  the  ftiaid.  Fingal !  she  softly  saith,  loose  me 
my  brother  Gaul.  Loose  me  the  hope  of  my  race,  the  terror 
of  all  but  Fingal.  Can  I,  replies  the  king,  can  I  deny  the 
lovely  daughter  of  the  hill  ?  take  thy  brother,  O  Minvane, 
thou  fairer  than  the  snow  of  the  north  ! " 

This  poetic  prose  was  unlike  anything  that  had  yet  been 
heard  in  England.  Both  scholars  and  general  readers  studied 
it  eagerly ;  and  Gray  was  fascinated.  He  immediately  inquired 
of  his  friends  on  all  sides,  to  furnish  him  further  information 
and  if  possible  to  secure  the  originals.  He  could  not  make 
up  his  mind  about  the  genuineness  of  the  authorship.  He 
corresponded  with  Macpherson,  and  said  that  the  letters  he 
received  in  return  were  "  ill  wrote,  ill  reasoned,  unsatisfactory, 
calculated  (one  would  imagine)  to  deceive  one,  and  yet  not 
cunning  enough  to  do  it  cleverly.  ...  In  short,  this  man 
is  the  very  Daemon  of  poetry,  or  he  has  lighted  on  a  treasure 
hid  for  ages."  1  But  Gray  was  more  inclined  in  this  matter 
to  faith  than  to  skepticism,  and  though  never  positive  and 
dogmatic,  he  always  favored  the  theory  of  genuine  authorship. 
Percy  was  also  deeply  interested,  and  asked  Dr.  Grainger  for 
an  opinion.  Grainger  replied,  "  Depend  upon  it,  the  *  Frag- 
ments '  are  not  translated  from  the  Erse ;  there  is  not  one 
local  or  appropriated  image  in  the  whole.  .  .  .  The  author, 
however,  is  a  man  of  genius."  2  Percy  was  not  satisfied,  and 
wrote  to  Grainger  again,  but  received  substantially  the  same 
reply.  Horace  Walpole  was  evidently  not  deeply  impressed 
with  the  poems.  On  receiving  the  first  bits,  he  wrote  to 
Dalrymple,  February  3,  1760,  "They  are  poetry,  and  resemble 

1  Grafs  Works,  Vol.  III.,  page  51. 

2  Nichols's  Lit.  Illus.,  Vol.  VII.,  page  275. 


REVIVAL    OF   THE   PAST.  149 

that  of  the  East ;  that  is,  they  contain  natural  images  and 
natural  sentiment  elevated,  before  rules  were  invented  to  make 
poetry  difficult  and  dull."  Walpole  told  Dalrymple  that  the 
poems  would  make  an  impression  on  Gray,  and  this  explains 
how  the  latter  received  specimens  so  early.  Walpole  wrote 
aga.n  to  Dalrymple,  April  4,  1760,  describing  the  effect  the 
poetry  had  produced ;  he  said  that  Gray,  Mason,  Lyttleton 
and  one  or  two  more  were  "  in  love  with  your  Erse  elegies ; 
I  cannot  say  in  general  they  are  so  much  admired."  Walpole 
grew  less  and  less  pleased  with  the  Ossianic  poetry,  and  ended 
in  complete  skepticism  and  disgust,  finally  writing  Mason 
September  17,  1776,  "Oh!  there  is  another  of  our  authors, 
Macpherson  !  when  one's  pen  can  sink  to  him,  it  is  time  to 
seal  one's  letter."  The  above  quotations  illustrate  the  various 
opinions  which  the  Fragments  brought  out.  Enough  interest 
was  aroused  to  furnish  Macpherson  with  sufficient  funds  to 
travel  in  search  of  that  epic  which  in  the  preface  to  the 
Fragments  had  been  so  mysteriously  alluded  to. 

The  Epic  seemed  easy  to  find.  The  Fragments  had  been 
published  in  Edinburgh ;  the  scene  of  the  literary  war  was 
now  boldly  transferred  to  London.  In  1762*  a  thick  quarto 
was  published  :  Fingal,  an  Ancient  Epic  Poem,  in  Six  Books : 
Together  with  several  other  Poems,  composed  by  Ossian  the  Son 
of  Fingal.  Translated  from  the  Galic  Language,  by  James  Mac- 
pherson. With  this  volume  appeared  an  Advertisement,  a 
Preface,  and  a  Dissertation  concerning  the  Antiquity,  etc.,  of  the 
Poems  of  Ossian  the  Son  of  Fingal,  all  by  Macpherson.  In 
addition  to  the  epic,  this  volume  also  contained  sixteen  short 
poems.  Macpherson's  preface  is  interesting.  He  defends 
himself  against  the  charge  of  forgery,  and  also  apologizes  for 
the  book.  He  feared  the  temper  of  the  age  would  hardly 
stand  the  Ossianic  style,  or  take  any  interest  in  the  relics  of 

1  The  date  1762  is  on  the  title-page,  and  this  is  always  given  as  the  correct  date 
It  must  have  appeared  a  little  earlier,  however,  for  Walpole  writes,  December  8, 1761, 
"  Fingal  is  come  out." 


150  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

antiquity.  He  said,  "  I  would  not  have  dwelt  so  long  upon 
this  subject,  .  .  .  were  it  not  on  account  of  the  prejudices 
of  the  present  age  against  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Britain." 
He  spoke  of  the  interest  aroused  by  the  Fragments,  and  of 
the  "  people  of  rank  and  taste  "  who  had  given  him  the  funds 
to  search  for  Fingal. 

Macpherson  did  not  stop  here.  In  1763  appeared  Temora, 
an  Ancient  Epic  Poem,  in  Eight  Books :  Together  with  several 
other  Poems,  composed  by  Ossian,  the  Son  of  Fingal.  Translated 
from  the  Galic  Language,  by  James  Macpherson.  There  were  five 
"  other  poems,"  and  a  specimen  of  the  original  "  Galic "  of 
Temora,  together  with  a  fresh  Dissertation.  He  said  of  Ossian, 
"  His  ideas,  though  remarkably  proper  for  the  times  in  which 
he  lived,  are  so  contrary  to  the  present  advanced  state  of 
society,  that  more  than  a  common  mediocrity  of  taste  is 
required,  to  relish  his  poems  as  they  deserve."  By  this  time 
Macpherson  was  thoroughly  stirred  up  by  the  attacks  of  the 
critics,  and  his  Dissertation  is  full  of  polemics.  "  I  am 
thoroughly  convinced,  that  a  few  quaint  lines  of  a  Roman  or 
Greek  epigrammatist,  if  dug  out  of  the  ruins  of  Herculaneum, 
would  meet  with  more  cordial  and  universal  applause  than  all 
the  most  beautiful  and  natural  rhapsodies  of  all  the  Celtic 
bards  and  Scandinavian  Scalders  that  ever  existed." 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  Macpherson  himself  was 

no  Romanticist.     He  never  intended  to  establish  a  Romantic 

school ;  in  fact,  his  own  taste  was  of  the  regulation  eighteenth 

century  stamp.     Some   Irish  fragments   had   been    compared 

with  Ossian,  and  Macpherson  ridiculed  them  on  the  ground 

of  their  Romanticism.     He  said,  "They  are  entirely  writ  in 

[  that  romantic  taste,  which  prevailed  two  ages  ago,  —  Giants, 

j  enchanted   castles,    dwarfs,    palfreys,   witches    and   magicians 

j  form  the  whole  circle  of  the  poet's  invention.     The  celebrated 

Fion  could  scarcely  move  from  one  hillock  to  another,  without 

encountering  a  giant,  or  being  entangled  in  the  circles  of  a 

magician.     Witches,  or  broomsticks,  were  continually  hovering 


REVIVAL    OF   THE  PAST.  151 

around  him,  like  crows  ;  and  he  had  freed  enchanted  virgins 
in  every  valley  in  Ireland.     In  short,  Fion,  great  as  he  was, 
had  but  a  bad  sort  of  life  of  it."     He  attacked  Romanticism 
again  in  a  note  to  the  poem  Cathloda,  but  here  he  was  trying 
more   to   pacify  his    critics  than  to  express  his   own  views. 
Speaking  of  the  Highland  bards  he  says,  "  They  then  launchec 
out  into  the  wildest  regions  of  fiction  and  romance.     I  firml; 
believe,   there  are  more  stories  of  giants,  enchanted  castlesj 
dwarfs,  and  palfreys,  in  the  Highlands,  than  in  any  count) 
in   Europe.1     These  tales,   it  is  certain,   like  other  romantic 
compositions,  have  many  things  in  them  unnatural,  and  conse-] 
quently,  disgustful  to  true  taste,  but,  I  know  not  how  it  happens, 
they  command  attention  more  than  any  other  fictions  I  ever1 
met  with."     Macpherson  had  no  idea  that  he  was  furthering 
a  genuine  Romantic  revolution. 

In  1763  appeared  Dr.  Hugh  Blair's  ponderous  essay,  A 
Critical  Dissertation  on  the  Poems  of  Ossian,  the  Son  of  Fingal. 
This  essay  was  bound  in  with  Fingal  faA  Temora,  and  continued 
to  appear  in  successive  editions  of  these  poems.  It  is  unspeak- 
ably dry,  and  is  written  in  the  minute  style  —  criticising  detail 
after  detail  —  so  characteristic  of  eighteenth  century  literary 
criticism.  He  discussed  at  wearisome  length  the  morality  of 
Ossian,  and  the  essay  is  chiefly  taken  up  with  a  comparison 
of  Ossian  and  Homer,  a  comparison  that  was  as  inevitable  as 
it  was  profitless.  There  are,  however,  some  points  of  interest 
in  this  wilderness,  especially  where  Blair  tried  to  defend 
Ossianic  poetry.  He  said  Ossian 's  two  great  characteristics 
were  tenderness  and  sublimity.  "  The  events  recorded  are  all 
serious  and  grave ;  the  scenery  throughout,  wild  and  romantic. 
The  extended  heath  by  the  seashore;  the  mountains  shaded 
with  mist ;  the  torrent  rushing  through  a  solitary  valley ;  the 
scattered  oaks,  and  the  tombs  of  warriors  overgrown  with  moss, 
all  produce  a  solemn  attention  in  the  mind,  and  prepare  it  for 

1  The  tone  of  this  is  hardly  consistent  with  his  remarks  on  the  Irish  fragments, 
"vhich  he  said  were  spurious  because  so  Romantic. 


152  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

great  and  extraordinary  events.  We  find  not  in  Ossian  an 
imagination  that  sports  itself,  and  dresses  out  gay  trifles  to 
please  the  fancy.  His  poetry,  more  perhaps  than  that  of  any 
other  writer,  deserves  to  be  styled,  The  poetry  of  the  heart" 
Again:  —  "We  meet  with  no  affected  ornaments;  no  forced 
refinement ;  no  marks  either  in  style  or  thought  of  a  studied 
endeavor  or  to  shine  and  sparkle.  Ossian  appears  everywhere 
to  be  prompted  by  his  feelings."  In  this  way  Blair  helped 
along  the  Ossianic  movement  of  sentimentalism,  melancholy, 
and  love  of  nature's  solitudes ;  what  was  jcalled  Werttierism 
in  Germany  might  have  been  called  Ossianism  in  England. 
It  was  along  these  lines  that  the  influence  of  Ossian  was  most 
strongly  felt  on  contemporary  literature  ;  Ossian  belongs  largely 
''to  the  subjective  side  of  Romanticism,  which  culminated  in 
England  in  the  poet  Byron. 

»  Part  of  the  Ossian  excitement  was  due  to  Scotch  patriotism 
—  newly  inflamed  both  by  these  publications  and  by  the  Eng- 
lish adverse  criticisms.  Much  of  the  opposition  to  Ossian  was 
owing,  of  course,  to  English  prejudice.  The  most  cultivated 
men  in  Edinburgh  were  up  in  arms  to  defend  their  epic ;  while 
the  London  critics,  headed  by  the  redoubtable  Johnson  — 
doubly  armed  by  national  feeling  and  literary  classicism  —  con- 
tinued to  attack  Ossian  with  argument  and  ridicule. 

In  the  1773  edition,  Macpherson  spoke  of  the  warm  welcome 
Ossian  had  received  on  the  Continent  •  he  dwelt  on  its  im- 
mense popularity  in  Europe,  the  successive  versions  that  had 
appeared  in  various  languages,  and  remarked  that  he  now 
resigned  the  poems  forever  to  their  fate.  He  also  spoke  of  the 
doubt  that  had  originally  perplexed  him  —  whether  to  translate 
Ossian  in  prose  or  in  verse  —  saying  that  he  himself  had  pre- 
ferred rime,  but  that  he  had  been  dissuaded  from  this  by  his 
friends.  He  also  gives  a  specimen  of  his  own  Ossian  couplets. 

This  point  is  certainly  significant,  as  it  shows  Macpherson's 
own  lack  of  judgment  and  inability  to  appreciate  the  signs  of 
the  times.  Ossian  in  heroic  couplets  would  almost  certainly 


REVIVAL    OF  THE  PAST.  153 

have  fallen  flat,  or  at  best  been  extremely  short-lived.  And 
the  tediousness  of  the  tropes  would  have  been  centupled  in  the 
monotony  of  the  rimes.  Ossian  certainly  had  a  narrow  escape. 
It  was  Macpherson's  embossed  and  flowing  rhetoric  that  did 
much  to  produce  the  extraordinary  effect  that  followed  his 
publications.  Fetters  both  of  thought  and  of  language  were 
everywhere  being  cast  aside  ;  and  it  was  largely  owing  to  this 
popular  weariness  of  effete  formalism  that  Ossian  was  hailed 
with  so  intense  eagerness.  Its  wildness,  melancholy,  sublimity"' 
—  entire  disregard  of  conventionality  —  these  were  the  qualities  \ 
that  gave  Ossian  its  enormous  popularity.  .Ossian  struck  ^ 
note  in  perfect  harmony  with  Rousseau's  "  Back  to  Nature  " 
cry  in  France  and  with  the  Sturm  und  Drang  in  Germany  j  in 
the  latter  country  the  poems  were  especially  influential ;  for 
the  tide  of  sentimentalism  was  beginning  to  sweep  everything 
before  it.  Werther's  fondness  for  Ossian  shows  Goethe's 
appreciation  of  its  significance ;  and  Chateaubriand  was  a  pro- 
nounced admirer  of  Ossian  —  an  important  fact,  because  in 
Chateaubriand  critics  are  usually  agreed  that  French  Romanti- 
cism had  its  primal  impulse. 

Ossian  points  as  directly  to  Byron  as  the  chivalry  and  ballad 
revivals  point  to  Scott.  ,  These  indicate  the  two  great  streams 
in  the  Romantic  movement.  In  Byron's  poetry —  sincere  or 
feigned  —  we  see  constantly  manifest  the  Ossian  feeling. 
What  Byron  himself  thought  of  Ossian  I  have  had  a  good 
opportunity  to  observe  by  perusing  Byron's  own  manuscript 
notes  in  a  copy  of  the  Ossian  poems.1  The  following  notes  I 
copied  directly  from  Byron's  hand-writing:  "The  portrait 
which  Ossian  has  drawn  of  himself  is  indeed  a  masterpiece. 
He  not  only  appears  in  the  light  of  a  distinguished  warrior  — 
generous  as  well  as  brave  —  and  possessed  of  exquisite  sensi- 
bility—  but  of  an  aged  venerable  bard  —  subjected  to  the 

1  It  is  the  second  volume  of  the  1806  edition  of  Ossian.  The  volume  contains 
Byron's  autograph  and  copious  notes  written  in  his  own  hand.  This  book  is  in  the 
Harvard  library. 


154  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

most  melancholy  vicissitudes  of  fortune  —  weak  and  blind  — 
the  sole  survivor  of  his  family  —  the  last  of  the  race  of  Fingal. 
The  character  of  Fingal  —  the  poet's  own  father  —  is  a  highly 
finished  one.  There  is  certainly  no  hero  in  the  Iliad  —  or 
the  Odyssey  —  who  is  at  once  so  brave  and  amiable  as  this 
renowned  king  of  Morven.  It  is  well  known  that  Hector  — 
whose  character  is  of  all  the  Homeric  heroes  the  most  complete 
—  greatly  sullies  the  lustre  of  his  glorious  actions  by  the  insult 
over  the  fallen  Patroclus.  On  the  other  hand  the  conduct  of 
Fingal  appears  uniformly  illustrious  and  great  —  without  one 
mean  or  inhuman  action  to  tarnish  the  splendour  of  his  fame  — 
He  is  equally  the  object  of  our  admiration  esteem  and  love." 
Speaking  of  Ossian's  skill  in  depicting  female  characters,  he 
writes,  "  How  happily,  for  instance,  has  he  characterized  his 
own  mistress  —  afterwards  his  wife  —  by  a  single  epithet  ex- 
pressive of  that  modesty  —  softness  —  and  complacency  — 
which  constitute  the  perfection  of  feminine  excellence — 'the 
---mildly  blushing  Everallin.'  ...  I  am  of  opinion  that  though 
in  sublimity  of  sentiment  —  in  vivacity  and  strength  of  descrip- 
tion —  Ossian  may  claim  a  full  equality  of  merit  with  Homer 
himself  —  yet  in  the  invention  both  of  incidents  and  character 
he  is  greatly  inferior  to  the  Grecian  bard." 

These  quotations  are  interesting  as   showing  how  seriously 

Byron  took  Ossian  and  how  carefully  and  thoughtfully  he  read 

him.     The  influence  of  Ossian  lasted  long  after  the  immediate 

excitement  caused  by  its  novelty  and  professed  antiquity  had 

.passed  away. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  GRAY. 

A  chronological  study  of  Gray's  poetry  and  of  the  imagina- 
tion and  love  of  nature  displayed  in  his  prose  remains,  is  not 
only  deeply  interesting  in  itself,  but  is  highly  important  to  the 
history  of  Romanticism.  In  him,  the  greatest  literary  man  of 
the  time,  we  find  the  best  example  of  the  steady  growth  of  the 
Romantic  movement.  But  before  proceeding  to  the  discussion 
of  this,  a  word  on  Gray's  sterility  is  necessary.  The  view 
given  by  Matthew  Arnold  in  his  famous  essay1  is  entirely  with- 
out foundation  in  fact.  The  reason  why  Gray  wrote  so  little 
was  not  because  he  was  chilled  by  the  public  taste  of  the  age; 
he  would  probably  have  written  no  more  had  he  lived  a  hun- 
dred years  before  or  since.  He  was  not  the  man  to  be  de- 
pressed by  an  unfavorable  environment;  for  his  mind  was  ever 
open  to  new  influences,  and  he  welcomed  with  the  utmost 
eagerness  all  genuine  signs  of  promise.  His  correspondence 
shows  how  closely  and  intelligently  he  followed  the  course  of 
contemporary  literature;  he  had  something  to  say  about  every 
new  important  book.  The  causes  of  his  lack  of  production 
are  simple  enough  to  those  who  start  with  no  pre-conceived 
theory,  and  who  prefer  a  commonplace  explanation  built  on 
facts  to  a  fanciful  one  built  on  phrases.  Gray  was  a  scholar,^ 
devoted  to  solitary  research,  and  severely  critical;  this  kind  of  j 
temperament  is  not  primarily  creative,  and  does  not  toss  off 
immortal  poems  every  few  weeks.  The  time  that  Mason  spent  ' 
in  production,  Gray  spent  in  acquisition,  and  when  he  did  pro- 
duce, the  critical  fastidiousness  of  the  scholar  appeared  in 

1  Ward's  English  Poets,  Vol.  III.,  p  302.     Both  Mr.  Perry  and  Mr.  Gosse  seem  to 
support  Arnold's  view,  but  I  am  unable  to  see  anything  in  it. 


156  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

every  line.  All  his  verses  bear  evidence  of  the  most  pains- 
taking labor  and  rigorous  self-criticjsjii^  Again,  during  his 
whole  life  he  was  handicapped  by*  wretched  health,  which, 
although  never  souring  him,  made  his  temperament  melan- 
choly,  and  acted  as  a  constant  check  on  what  creative  activity 
he  really  possessed.  And  finally,  he  abhorred  publicity  and 
popularity.  No  one  who  reads  his  correspondence  can  doubt 
this  fact.  He  hated  to  be  dragged  out  from  his  scholarly 
seclusion,  and  evidently  preferred  complete  obscurity  to  any 
noisy  public  reputation.  This  reserve  was  never  affected;  it 
was  uniformly  sincere,  like  everything  else  in  Gray's  character. 
His  reticence  was  indeed  extraordinary,  keeping  him  not  only 
from  writing,  but  from  publishing  what  he  did  write.1  His 
own  friends  would  have  had  no  difficulty  in  explaining  his 
scantiness  of  production.  Horace  Walpole,  writing  to  George 
Montagu,  Sept.  3,  1748,  says:  "I  agree  with  you  most  abso- 
lutely in  your  opinion  about  Gray;  he  is  the  worst  company  in 
the  world.  From  a  melancholy  turn,  from  living  reclusely, 
and  from  a  little  too  much  dignity,  he  never  converses  easily; 
all  his  words  are  measured  and  chosen,  and  formed  into  sen- 
tences; his  writings  are  admirable;  he  himself  is  not  agree- 
able." Again,  referring  to  Gray's  slowness  in  composition, 
Walpole  writes  to  Montagu,  May  5,  1761.  He  is  talking  about 
Gray's  proposed  history  of  poetry,  and  he  says:  "If  he  rides 
Pegasus  at  his  usual  foot-pace,  (he)  will  finish  the  first  page 
two  years  hence."  The  adjective  that  perhaps  best  expresses 
Gray  is  Fastidious.  He  was  as  severe  on  the  children  of  his 
own  brain  as  he  was  on  those  of  others;  he  never  let  them 
appear  in  public  until  he  was  sure  everything  was  exactly  as 
it  should  be.  Even  his  greatest  poem  pleases  more  by  its  ex- 
quisite finish  than  by  its  depth  of  feeling.  These  three 
reasons,  then,  his  scholarly  temperament,  his  bad  health,  and 
his  dignified  reserve,  account  satisfactorily  for  his  lack  of 

1  He  wrote,  in   English  and  Latin,  more  than  60  poems,  but  only  12  appeared  in 
print  during  his  lifetime ;  and  his  prose  is  all  posthumous. 


ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  GRAY.       157 

fertility.  If  we  wish  to  know  why  so  deep  and  strong  a  nature 
produced  so  little  poetry,  we  must  look  at  the  man,  and  not  at 
his  contemporaries.  So  much  for  Gray's  sterility.1 

Although  Gray's  biographers  and  critics  have  very  seldom 
spoken  of  it,  the  most  interesting  thing  in  a  study  of  his  poetry 
—  and  the  thing,  of  course,  that  exclusively  concerns  us  here  — 
is  his  steady  progress  in  the  direction  of  Romanticism.  Be- 
ginning as  a  classicist  and  disciple  of  Dryden,  he  ended  in 
thorough-going  Romanticism.2  His  early  poems  contain  noth- 
ing Romantic;  his  Elegy  has  something  of  the  Romantic 
mood,  but  shows  many  conventional  touches;  in  the  Pindaric 
Odes  the  Romantic  feeling  asserts  itself  boldly;  and  he  ends 
in  enthusiastic  study  of  Norse  and  Celtic  poetry  and  mythol- 
ogy. Such  a  steady  growth  in  the  mind  of  the  greatest  poet 
of  the  time  shows  not  only  what  he  learned  from  the  age,  but 
what  he  taught  it.  Gray  is  a  much  more  important  factor  in 
the  Romantic  movement  than  seems  to  be  commonly  sup- 
posed. This  will  appear  from  a  brief  examination  of  his 
poetry. 

While  at  Florence  in  the  summer  of  1740,  he  began  to  write 
an  epic  poem  in  Latin,  De  Principiis  CogitandL  Only  two 
fragments  were  written,3  but  they  made  a  piece  of  consider- 
able length.  This  was  an  attempt  to  put  in  poetic  form  the 
philosophy  of  Locke.  It  shows  how  little  he  at  that  time 
understood  his  own  future.  The  Gray  of  1760  could  no  more 
have  done  a  thing  of  this  sort,  than  he  could  have  written  the 
Essay  on  Man.  In  these  early  years  he  was  completely  a 
Classicist.  In  1748,  when  he  was  largely  under  Dryden's 

1  After  I  had  fully  reached  this  conclusion,  I  read  Mr.  Tovey's  recent  book,  Gray 
and  His  Friends.     The  Introduction  to  that  book  is  the  most  judicious  essay  on 
Gray  that  I  have  ever  seen  in  print,  though  Mr.  Tovey  does  not  discuss  his  connec- 
tion with  Romanticism.     I  was  pleased  to  find  that  my  view  of  Gray's  sterility  was 
very  similar  to  Mr.  Tovey's,  who  completely  disposes  of  Arnold's  theory. 

2  He  never  despised  Dryden,  however,  though  he  went  far  beyond  him.     Oct.  2, 
1765,  he  wrote  to  Beattie,  "  Remember  Dryden,  and  be  blind  to  all  his  faults/ 
Gray's  Works,Vo\.  III.,  p.  221. 

8  The  second  in  1 742. 


158  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

influence,  he  began  a  didactic  poem  in  the  heroic  couplet, 
On  the  Alliance  of  Education  and  Government.  It  is  significant 
that  he  never  finished  either  of  these  poems.  Mathias  said : 
"When  Mr.  Nichols  once  asked  Mr.  Gray,  why  he  never 
finished  that  incomparable  Fragment  on  '  The  Alliance  between 
good  Government  and  good  Education,  in  order  to  produce 
the  happiness  of  mankind,'  he  said,  he  could  not;  and  then 
explained  himself  in  words  of  this  kind,  or  to  this  effect :  '  I 
have  been  used  to  write  chiefly  lyrick  poetry,  in  which,  the 
poems  being  short,  I  have  accustomed  myself  to  polish  every 
part  of  them  with  care  ;  and  as  this  has  become  a  habit,  I 
can  scarcely  write  in  any  other  manner  ;  the  labour  of  this 
in  a  long  poem  would  hardly  be  tolerable.' " *  Gray  must 
have  perceived  early  in  this  task  that  the  game  was  not 
worth  the  candle. 

In  1742  Gray  wrote  three  Odes  :  On  the  Spring,  On  a  Distant 
Prospect  of  Eton  College,  and  To  Adversity.  These  well-known 
pieces  contain  little  intimation  of  Gray's  later  work.  They 
have  nothing  of  the  spirit  of  Romanticism,  and  might  have 
been  written  by  any  Augustan  of  sufficient  talent.  The 
moralizing  is  wholly  conventional,  and  the  abundance  of  per- 
sonified abstractions  was  in  the  height  of  fashion.  The  poems 
thus  far  mentioned  represent  Gray's  first  period.  He  was  a 
disciple  of  Dryden,  and  a  great  admirer  of  Pope,  for  writing 
to  Walpole  in  1746,  he  calls  Pope  "the  finest  writer,  one  of 
them,  we  ever  had." 2 

Gray's  second  period  is  represented  by  the  Elegy,  which 
he  began  in  1742  and  finished  in  June,  1750. 3  He  was  in  no 
haste  to  print  it ;  the  manuscript  circulated  among  his  friends, 
and  was  first  printed  anonymously,  with  a  preface  by  Horace 

1  Mathias's  Observations  (1815),  page  52.     This  passage  in  itself  goes  a  long  way 
toward  explaining  Gray's  sterility. 

2  Gray's  Works,  Vol.  II.,  page  130. 

8  Gray's  interesting  letter  to  Walpole  about  the  Elegy,  June  12,  1750,  may  be  found 
in  his  Works,  Vol.  II.,  page  209.  He  says:  "You  will,  I  hope,  look  upon  it  in  the 
light  of  a  thing  with  an  end  to  it;  a  merit  that  most  of  my  writings  have  wanted.'' 
He  evidently  felt  the  fragmentary  nature  of  his  previous  work. 


ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  GRAY.       159 

Walpole,  February  16,  1751.  How  long  Gray  meant  to  keep 
the  Elegy  from  the  public  is  uncertain ;  circumstances  com- 
pelled its  publication.  On  February  10,  1751,  the  editor  of 
the  Magazine  of  Magazines  requested  permission  to  print  it. 
This  alarmed  Gray ;  he  flatly  refused  the  editor's  request, 
and  wrote  instantly  to  Walpole,  asking  him  to  get  Dodsley 
to  print  it  as  soon  as  possible.1 

The  Elegy  is  not  a  Romantic  poem  ;  its  moralizing;  is 
conventional,  and  pleased  eighteenth  century  readers  for  that 
very  reason.  Scores  of  poems  were  written  at  that  time  in 
which  the  thought  was  neither  above  nor  below  that  of  the 
Elegy,  and  these  poems  have  nearly  all  perished.  What  has 
kept  Gray's  contribution  to  the  Church-yard  school  alive  and 
popular  through  all  changes  in  taste,  is  its  absolute  perfection 
of  language.  There  are  few  poems  in  English  literature  that 
express  the  sentiment  of  the  author  with  such  felicity  and 
beauty.  This  insures  its  immortality;  and  it  is  this  fact 
that  deservedly  gives  it  the  first  place  in  Gray's  literary 
productions. 

But    although    the    Elegy   is    not    strictly    Romantic,    it    is 
different  from   Gray's    earlier    work.     _It   is   Romantic  in   its 
mood,  jmd_  stands    as    a    transition    between    his    period   of! 
Classicism  and  his  more  highly  imaginative  poetry.      It  wa| 
the    culmination    of   the   //  Penseroso  school,   and   as   I   have 
shown,  that  school  was  in  several  ways  intimately  connected 
with  the  growth  of  the  Romantic  movement.      There  is  one 
highly  significant  fact   about   the    composition   of  the   Elegy, 
which   shows    with    perfect    distinctness    that    its    author  was 
passing   through    a   period    of   transition.       One    of   its  most 
famous  stanzas  Gray  originally  wrote  as  tollows  :  — 
"  Some  Village  Cato        with  dauntless  Breast 
The  little  Tyrant  of  his  Fields  withstood  ; 
Some  mute  inglorious  Tully  here  may  rest ; 

Some  Caesar,  guiltless  of  his  Country's  Blood." 

1  This  letter  is  in  Gray's  Works,  Vol.  II.,  page  210.  It  contains  minute  instruc- 
tions about  the  printing  of  the  poem,  and  says  it  must  be  published  anonymously. 


160  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

The  fact  that  Gray  should  originally  have  put  down  the 
Latin  names,  and  afterwards  inserted  in  their  place  the 
three  names  Hampden,  Milton,  Cromwell  —  taken  from  com- 
paratively recent  English  history  -*-  is  something  certainly 
worth  attention.  It  marks  the  transition  from  Classicism  to 
Nationalism.  In  this  stanza  he  shook  off  the  shackles  of 
pseudo-classicism;  he  made  up  his  mind  that  English  historical 
examples  were  equal  in  dignity  to  those  taken  from  Latin 
literature.  It  was  a  long  step  forward,  and  although  perhaps 
a  small  thing  in  itself,  is  an  index  to  a  profound  change  going 
on  in  Gray's  mind.1 

Gray's  next  work  shows  him  well  on  the  way  toward  Roman- 
ticism. In  1754  he  wrote  The  Progress  of  Poesy,  and  in  the 
[same  year  began  The  Bard,  which  he  finished  in  1757.  Both 
\these  Pindaric  Odes  were  first  printed  in  1757,  on  Horace 
Walpole's  press  at  Strawberry  Hill  —  the  first  and  the  best 
things  ever  published  there.  These  two  odes,  especially  the 
latter,  are  the  most  imaginative  poetry  Gray  ever  produced, 
and  were  distinctly  in  advance  of  the  age.  They  were  above 
the  popular  conception  of  poetry,  and  T  their  obscurity  was 
increased  by  their  allusiveness. _  The  public  did  not  take  to 
them  kindly  ;  many  people  regarded  them  as  we  see  Browning 
and  Wagner  regarded  to-day.  Their  obscurity  was  ridiculed, 
and  they  were  freely  parodied.2  Gray  was  a  little  hurt  by  all 
this,  but  he  had  foreseen  their  probable  reception.  He  had 
written  to  Walpole,  "  I  don't  know  but  I  may  send  him 
(Dodsley)  very  soon  ...  an  ode  to  his  own  tooth,  a  high 
Pindaric  upon  stilts,  which  one  must  be  a  better  scholar  than 
he  is  to  understand  a  line  of,  and  the  very  best  scholars  will 

1  This  point  is  fully  and  suggestively  treated  in  the  Saturday  Review  for  June  19, 
1875,  in  an  article  called  A  Lesson  from  Gray's  Elegy. 

2  Dr.  Johnson  said  they  were  "  two  compositions  at  which  the  readers  of  poetry 
were  at  first  content  to   gaze   in   mute   amazement."     In   1783,   Dr.  Johnson  was 
violently  attacked  for  this  by  the  Rev.  R.  Potter,  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Gray. 
Potter  said  that  Gray's  Bard,  with  its  "wild  and  romantic  scenery,"  etc.,  was  "the 
finest  ode  in  the  world." 


ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  GRAY.       161 

understand  but  a  little  matter  here  and  there." J  Horace 
Walpole  never  forgave  the  age  for  its  attitude  toward  Gray's 
odes.  Again  and  again  he  refers  to  it  in  his  correspondence, 
and  it  had  much  to  do  with  his  dislike  for  Dr.  Johnson.2 
Walpole  called  the  Odes -"  Shakspearian,"  "Pindaric,"  and 
"  Sublime,"  and  said  they  were  "  in  the  first  rank  of  genius 
and  poetry."  But  Walpole's  opinions  were  largely  influenced 
in  this  matter  'by  personal  pride,  for  his  own  taste  was  not  at 
all  reliable.  He  said  Gray's  Eton  Ode  was  "far  superior"  to 
the  Elegy? 

In  the  Pindaric  Odes,  Gray  ceased  to  follow  the  age  ;  he 
struck  out  ahead  of  it,  and  helped  to  mould  its  literary  taste. 
From  this  time  people  began  to  regard  him  as  a  Romanticist, 
and  to  look  for  wild  and  extravagant  productions  from  his  pen. 
When  the  Castle  of  Otranto  appeared  in  1764,  Gray  was  by 
many  believed  to  be  the  author.  The  Odes  became  much 
more  popular  after  Gray's  death  —  a  sign  of  growth  in  public 
taste.  This  made  Dr.  Johnson  angry,  and  had  much  to  do 
with  his  satirical  treatment  of  the  Odes  in  his  wretched  Life  of 
Gray.  He  did  not  like  to  think  that  Gray  had  really  taught 
the  people  anything,  and  so  he  declared  that  the  admiration  for 
Gray  was  all  hypocrisy,  just  as  many  honest  people  to-day  make 
fun  of  those  who  admire  Wagner's  music.  Johnson  said  that  in 
Gray's  Odes  "  many  were  content  to  be  shewn  beauties  which 
they  could  not  see."  Undoubtedly  Gray  and  Wagner  have 
hypocrites  among  their  admirers ;  but  the  fact  that  each 
helped  to  set  a  fashion  is  significant  of  a  change  in  taste. 

We  now  enter  upon  the  last  period  of  Gray's  literary  produc- 
tion. In  1755  Mallet's  Introduction  a  /' Histoire  de  Dannemarck 
appeared.  This  had  a  powerful  effect  on  Gray,  and  aroused 

1  Works,  Vol.  II.,  page  218. 

2  For  Walpole's  remarks  on  Gray's  Odes,  see  his  letters  to  Horace  Mann,  August  4, 
1 757,  and  to  Lyttleton,  August  25. 1757.    See  especially  his  letter  to  Mason,  January  27, 
1 78 1 ,  on  Johnson's  Life  of  Gray.    Walpole  afterward  spoke  of  Johnson  as  a  "  babbling 
old  woman."  and  a  "wight  on  stilts." 

3  Letter  to  Lyttleton,  August  25,  1757. 


162  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

his  interest  in  Northern  mythology,  which  he  studied  with  the 
utmost  enthusiasm.  In  1761,  Gray  wrote  The  Fatal  Sisters. 
From  the  Norse  Tongue;  also  The  Descent  of  Odin.  Evans's 
book  on  Welsh  poetry,  the  Specimens  (1764),  stirred  him  up 
again,  and  he  wrote  The  Triumphs  o£  Owen.  These  three 
poems  were  published  in  1768,  in  the  edition  of  his  writings 
revised  by  himself.  All  this  work,  of  course,  is  strictly 
•^Romantic.1  In  1760,  when  the  Ossianic  Fragments  appeared, 
Gray  was  wonderfully  aroused.  His  friends  knew  he  would  be 
excited,  for  Walpole,  writing  to  Dalrymple,  April  4,  1760,  said, 
"You  originally  pointed  him  out  as  a  likely  person  to  be 
charmed  with  the  old  Irish  poetry  you  sent  me."  On  receiving 
some  specimens,  Gray  immediately  wrote  to  Walpole  as  follows : 
"  I  am  so  charmed  with  the  two  specimens  of  Erse  poetry,  that 
I  cannot  help  giving  you  the  trouble  to  inquire  a  little  farther 
about  them  and  should  wish  to  see  a  few  lines  of  the  original, 
that  I  may  form  some  slight  idea  of  the  language,  the  measures, 
and  the  rhythm."  2  He  then  proceeds  to  make  further  com- 
ments. His  own  Romantic  tastes  come  out  strikingly  in  the 
following  letter  to  Stonehewer,  June,  1760.  "I  have  received 
another  Scotch  packet  writh  a  third  specimen,  inferior  in  kind 
.  .  .  but  yet  full  of  nature  and  noble  wild  feeling.  .  .  ,  The 
idea,  that  struck  and  surprised  me  most,  is  the  following.  One 
of  them  (describing  a  storm  of  wind  and  rain)  says :  — 

/*  Ghosts  ride  on  the  tempest  to-night ; 
V    Sweet  is  their  voice  between  the  gusts  of  wind  ; 
^Their  songs  are  of  other  worlds  /  ' 

Did  you  never  observe  (u>hile  rocking  winds  are  piping  loud) 
that  pause,  as  the  gust  is  recollecting  itself,  and  rising  upon  the 
ear  in  a  shrill  and  plaintive  note,  like  the  swell  of  an  Aeolian 

1  Gosse  says  in  his  Life  of  Gray,  page  163,  that  Gray  not  only  takes  precedence 
of  English  poets  in  the  revival  of  Norse  mythology,  but  even  of  the  Scandinavian 
writers.     But  this  is  going  too  far.     Mallet,  in  his  Histoire  de  Dannemarck,  Vol.  II.. 
page  309,  speaks  of  a  book  on  the  "  exploits'des  rois  et  des  heros  du  Nord ''  published 
at  Stockholm  in  1737. 

2  Works,  Vol.  III.,  page  45. 


ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  EXEMPLIFIED   IN  GRAY.       163 

. 

harp  ?  I  do  assure  you  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  so  like 
the  voice  of  a  spirit."  l  Gray  continued  to  correspond  with  his 
friends  about  Ossian,  saying  that  he  had  "  gone  mad  "  about 
it.2 

The  best  way  to  show  the  growth  toward  Romanticism  in 
Gray's  poetry  is  to  quote  successively  short  passages  from 
poems  representative  of  all  his  periods  of  production.  They 
will  explain  themselves. 

From  the  Ode  on  the  Spring,  written  1742  :  — 

"  To  Contemplation's  sober  eye 

Such  is  the  race  of  Man  ; 
And  they  that  creep,  and  they  that  fly, 

Shall  end  where  they  began. 
Alike  the  Busy  and  the  Gay 
But  flutter  thro'  life's  little  day, 

In  fortune's  varying  colours  drest ; 
Brush'd  by  the  hand  of  rough  Mischance, 
Or  chilPd  by  Age,  their  airy  dance 

They  leave,  in  dust  to  rest" 

From   The  Alliance  of  Education  and  Government,  written  in 
1748:- 

"  As  sickly  Plants  betray  a  niggard  earth, 
Whose  barren-  bosom'  starves  her  gen'rous  birth, 
Nor  genial  warmth,  nor  genial  juice  retains 
Their  roots  to  feed,  and  fill  their  verdant  veins  ; 
And  as  in  climes,  where  Winter  holds  his  reign, 
The  soil,  tho'  fertile,  will  not  teem  in  vain, 
Forbids  her  gems  to  swell,  her  shades  to  rise, 
Nor  trusts  her  blossoms  to  the  churlish  skies  ; 
So  draw  Mankind  in  vain  the  vital  airs, 
Unform'd,  unfriended,  by  those  kindly  cares, 
That  health  and  vigour  to  the  soul  impart, 
Spread  the  young  thought,  and  warm  the  opening  heart ; 
So  fond  Instruction"  etc. 

1  Gray's  Works,  Vol.  III.,  page  47. 

2  Mr.  Gosse  has  some  interesting  remarks  on  Gray  and  Ossian  in  his  Life  of  Gray^ 
page  149. 


164  THT  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

From  the  Elegy,  1742-50  :  — 

"  Now  fades  the  glimmering  landscape  on  the  sight, 

And  all  the  air  a  solemn  stillness  holds, 
Save  where  the  beetle  wheels  his  droning  flight, 
And  drowsy  tinklings  lull  the  distant  folds  ; 

Save  that  from  yonder  ivy-mantled  tow'r 

The  mopeing  owl  does  to  the  moon  complain 

Of  such,  as  wandering  near  her  secret  bow'r, 
Molest  her  ancient  solitary  reign." 

From  The  Progress  of  Poesy,  written  1754  :  — 

"  Woods,  that  wave  o'er  Delphi's  steep, 
Isles,  that  crown  th'  Aegean  deep, 
Fields,  that  cool  Ilissus  laves, 
Or  where  Maeander's  amber  waves 
In  lingering  Lab'rinths  creep, 
How  do  your  tuneful  Echos  languish, 
Mute,  but  to  the  voice  of  Anguish? 
Where  each  old  poetic  Mountain 

Inspiration  breath'd  around ; 
Ev'ry  shade  and  hallow'd  Fountain 

Murmur'd  deep  a  solemn  sound  ; 
Till  the  sad  Nine  in  Greece's  evil  hour 

Left  their  Parnassus  for  the  Latian  plains. 
Alike  they  scorn  the  pomp  of  tyrant-Power, 

And  coward  Vice,  that  revels  in  her  chains. 
When  Latium  had  her  lofty  spirit  lost, 
They  sought,  oh  Albion  !  next  thy  sea-encircled  coast." 

From  The  Bard,  written  1754-7  :  — 

On  a  rock,  whose  haughty  brow, 

Frowns  o'er  old  Conway's  foaming  flood, 
Robed  in  the  sable  garb  of  woe, 

With  haggard  eyes  the  Poet  stood ; 
(Loose  his  beard,  and  hoary  hair 
Streamed,  like  a  meteor,  to  the  troubled  air) 
And  with  a  Master's  hand,  and  Prophet's  fire, 
Struck  the  deep  sorrows  of  his  lyre. 


ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  GRAY.       165 

Hark,  how  each  giant-oak,  and  desert  cave, 
Sighs  to  the  torrent's  aweful  voice  beneath  ! 

O'er  thee,  oh  King  !  their  hundred  arms  they  wave, 
Revenge  on  thee  in  hoarser  murmurs  breath  ; 

Vocal  no  more,  since  Cambria's  fatal  day, 

To  high-born  Hoel's  harp,  or  soft  Llewellyn's  lay.'5 

From  The  Fatal  Sisters,  written  1761  :  — 

"  Now  the  storm  begins  to  lower 

(Haste,  the  loom  of  Hell  prepare), 
Iron-sleet  of  arrowy  shower 
Hurtles  in  the  darken'd  air. 

*  *  *  * 
See  the  griesly  texture  grow, 

('Tis  of  human  entrails  made,) 
And  the  weights,  that  play  below, 
Each  a  gasping  Warriour's  head. 

*  *  *  * 
Mista  black,  terrific  maid, 

Sangrida,  and  Hilda  see, 
Join  the  wayward  work  to  aid ; 
'Tis  the  woof  of  victory. 

Ere  the  ruddy  sun  be  set, 

Pikes  must  shiver,  javelins  sing, 
Blade  with  clattering  buckler  meet, 

Hauberk  crash,  and  helmet  ring." 

From  The  Descent  of  Odin,  written  1761  :  — 

"In  the  caverns  of  the  west, 
By  Odin's  fierce  embrace  comprest, 
A  wond'rous  Boy  shall  Rinda  bear, 
Who  ne'er  shall  comb  his  raven-hair. 
Nor  wash  his  visage  in  the  stream, 
Nor  see  the  sun's  departing  beam  ; 
Till  he  on  Hoder's  corse  shall  smile 
Flaming  on  the  fun'ral  pile. 
Now  my  weary  lips  I  close  : 
Leave  me,  leave  me  to  repose." 


166  THE  ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

.The  significance  of  the  above  quotations  is  apparent  at  a 
glance.  The  Descent  of  Odin  is  about  as  different  from  the 
Ode  on  the  Spring  as  can  well  be  imagined. 

As  he  advanced  in  life,  Gray's  ideas  of  poetry  grew  free 
in  theory  as  well  as  in  practise.  His  Observations  on  English 
Metre,  written  probably  in  1766—61,  and  published  in  1814, 
contains  much  interesting  matter.  Gray  had  planned  to  write 
a  History  of  English  poetry,  but  when  he  heard  that  Thomas 
Warton  was  engaged  in  that  work,  he  gave  up  the  idea,  and 
handed  over  his  material  and  general  scheme  to  Warton.  If 
Gray  had  completed  a  history  of  this  kind,  it  would  certainly 
have  been  more  accurate  than  Warton's,  and  would  probably 
have  done  as  much  service  to  Romanticism.  A  few  words 
may  be  quoted  from  the  Observations,  to  show  how  far  Gray 
had  advanced  in  his  ideas  since  1740.  Speaking  of  Milton, 
he  says,  "  The  more  we  attend  to  the  composition  of  Milton's 
harmony,  the  more  we  shall  be  sensible  how  he  loved  to 
vary  his  pauses,  his  measures  and  his  feet,  which  gives  that 
enchanting  air  of  freedom  and  wildness  to  his  versification, 
unconfined  by  any  rules  but  those  which  his  own  feeling  and 
the  nature  of  his  subject  demands."1 

/  Gray's  prose  remains  are  deeply  interesting  to  the  student 
(of  Romanticism.  He  was  one  of  the  first  men  in  Europe  who 
\Jiad  ajvy  real^  a£preciation_of_  wild  and  Romantic  scenery.  It 
has  now  become  so  fashionable  to  be  fond  of  mountains,  and 
lakes,  and  picturesque  landscapes,  that  it  seems  difficult  to 
believe  that  all  this  is  a  modern  taste.  To-day  the  average 
summer  traveler  speaks  enthusiastically  of  precipices,  mountain 
cascades  and  shaded  glens,  and  even  to  some  extent  interprets 
them  by  the  imagination  ;  but  the  average  eighteenth  century 
sojourner  neither  could  nor  would  do  anything  of  the  sort. 
This  appreciation  of  the  picturesque  in  external  nature  has  a 
close  kinship  with  the  Romantic  movement  in  literature ;  for 
the  same  emotions  are  at  the  foundation  of  each. 

g 

1  Works.  Vol.  I.,  page  332, 


ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  GKAY.       167 

The  Classicists  had  no  more  love  for  wild  nature  than  they 
had  for  Gothic  architecture  or  Romantic  poetry.  Let  us  take 
Addison  as  a  conspicuous  example.  "  In  one  of  his  letters^ 
dated  December,  1701,  he  wrote  that  he  had  reached  Geneva 
after  'a  very  troublesome  journey  over  the  Alps.  My  head 
is  still  giddy  with  mountains  and  precipices ;  and  you  can't 
imagine  how  much  I  am  pleased  with  the  sight  of  a  plain  ! ' 
This  little  phrase  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  contempt  fo? 
mountains,  of  the  way  they  were  regarded  as  wild,  barbaric, 
useless  excrescences.  .  .  .  The  love  of  mountains  is  some- 
thing really  of  modern,  very  modern,  growth,  the  first  traces 
of  which  we  shall  come  across  towards  the  middle  of  the  last 
century.  Before  that  time  we  find  mountains  spoken  of  in 
terms  of  the  severest  reprobation."1 

Mountains  and  wild  scenery  were  considered  as  objects  no  A 
of  beauty  or  grandeur,  but  of  horror.  But  in  Gray's  letters  / 
we  hear  the  modern  tone. 

In  this  respect  he  was  even  more  in  advance  of  his 
contemporaries  than  in  his  Romantic  poetry.  From  first  to  last 
he  was  always  a  lover  of  wild  nature  ;  and,  as  this  taste  was  so 
unfashionable,  we  may  be  sure  of  his  sincerity.  Toward  the 
close  of  his  life,  this  feeling  in  Gray  becomes  more  and  more 
noticeable.  His  Lake  Journal  is  a  marvel  when  we  consider 
its  date,  for  it  is  written  in  the  true  spirit  of  Wordsworth.  But 
his  early  letters  and  journals  show  that  he  knew  how  to 
appreciate  Romantic  scenery.  Take  two  extracts  from  his 
Journal  in  France  (i739).2  These  words  are  interesting  simply 
as  showing  what  attracted  Gray's  attention  :  "  Beautiful  way, 

1  Perry's  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  page  145.     But  much  of  our  modern 
love  for  mountains  and  precipices  is  doubtless  due  to  the  circumstances  in  which 
we  view  them.     Carried  to  the  top  of  the  Rigi  in  a  comfortable  car,  we  are  in  a 
condition  to  enjoy  to  the  utmost  the  glorious  view ;  but  if  the  Rigi  represented  an 
obstacle,  something  that  must  be  passed  over  with  infinite  discomfort  and  even  peril, 
in  order  to  reach  a  destination  on  the  other  side,  I  am  sure  we  should  not  appreciate 
the  view  so  keenly.     This  was  the  attitude  in  which  Addison  looked  at  the  Alps. 

2  This  was  printed  for  the  first  time  by  Mr.  Gosse  in  Vol.  I.  of  his  edition  of 
Grays  Works. 


Lj 


168  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

commonly  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  cover'd  with  woods,  the  river 
Marne  winding  in  the  vale  below,  and  Coteaux,  cover'd  with 
vines,  riseing  gently  on  the  other  side  ;  fine  prospect  of  the 
town  of  Joinville,  with  the  castle  on  the  top  of  the  mountain, 
overlooking  it.  ...  Ruins  of  an  old  castle  on  the  brow  of  a 
mountain,  whose  sides  are  cover'd  with  woods." l  Again, 
describing  the  journey  to  Geneva  :  "  The  road  runs  over  a 
Mountain,  which  gives  you  the  first  tast  of  the  Alps,  in  it's 
magnificent  rudeness,  and  steep  precipices  ;  set  out  from 
Echelles  on  horseback,  to  see  the  Grande  Chartreuse,  the  way 
to  it  up  a  vast  mountain,  in  many  places  the  road  not  2  yards 
broad  ;  on  one  side  the  rock  hanging  over  you,  &  on  the  other 
side  a  monstrous  precipice.  In  the  bottom  runs  a  torrent  .  .  . 
that  works  its  way  among  the  rocks  with  a  mighty  noise,  and 
frequent  Falls.  You  here  meet  with  all  the  beauties  so  savage 
and  horrid 2  a  place  can  present  you  with  ;  Rocks  of  various 
and  uncouth  figures,  cascades  pouring  down  from  an  immense 
height  out  of  hanging  Groves  of  Pine-Trees,  &  the  solemn 
Sound  of  the  Stream,  that  roars  below,  all  concur  to  form  one 
of  the  most  poetical  scenes  imaginable."  " 

All  this  is  remarkable  language  for  the  year  1739.  Probably 
very  few  private  journals  of  the  eighteenth  century  can  show 
anything  similar  to  it  ;  for  Gray's  feelings  were,  at  that  time, 
almost  exclusively  his  own.  One  more  remark  of  his  on  Alpine 
scenery  may  be  quoted.  He  wrote  to  Richard  West,  November 
1 6,  1739  :  "  I  own  I  have  not,  as  yet,  anywhere  met  with  those 
grand  and  simple  works  of  Art,  that  are  to  amaze  one,  and 
whose  sight  one  is  to  be  the  better  for  ;  but  those  of  Nature 
have  astonished  me  beyond  expression.  In  our  little  journey 
up  to  the  Grande  Chartreuse,  I  do  not  remember  to  have  gone 
ten  paces  without  an  exclamation,  that  there  was  no  restrain- 

1  Works,  Vol.  I.,  page  240. 

2  The  word  sounds  conventional,  more  like  Augustan  style ;  but  what  Gray  goes 
on  to  say  shows  that  it  appealed  to  his  own  feelings  in  a  very  different  way. 

8  Works,  Vol.  I.,  page  244. 


ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  GRAY.       169 

ing.  Not  a  precipice,  not  a  torrent,  not  a  cliff,  but  is  pregnant 
with  religion  and  poetry.  There  are  certain  scenes  that  would 
awe  an  atheist  into  belief,  without  the  help  of  other  argument. 
One  need  not  have  a  very  fantastic  imagination,  to  see  spirits 
there  at  noonday  ;  you  have  Death  perpetually  before  your 
eyes,  only  so  far  removed,  as  to  compose  the  mind  without 
frightening  it."  l  ** 

Just  thirty  years  later,  Gray  wrote  another  journal,  which' 
shows  that  he  had  progressed  as  rapidly  in  his  appreciation  of 
Nature  as  he  had  in  his  love  of  wild  and  passionate  poetry. 
This  is  the  Journal  in  the  Lakes,  written  in  1769,  and  published 
in  1775.  This  document  is  of  great  value,  as  throwing  light 
on  the  purely  imaginative  side  of  Gray's  nature.  He  took  this 
Lake  trip  alone,  and  wrote  the  Journal  simply  to  amuse  his 
friend,  Dr.  Wharton.  Here  we  have  a  very  different  view  of 
nature  from  that  given  by  Dyer,  Thomson  and  even  by  the 
Wartons.  This  remarkable  Journal  is  written  in  the  true 
Wordsworthian  spirit.  Gray  not  only  observes  but  spiritually 
interpret  nature.  Two  quotations  will  suffice  to  show  how 
far  Gray's  taste  had  advanced  since  1739  :  "Behind  you  are 
the  magnificent  heights  of  Walla-crag ;  opposite  lie  the  thick 
hanging  woods  of  Lord  Egremont,  and  Newland  valley,  with 
green  and  smiling  fields  embosomed  in  the  dark  cliffs  ;  to  the 
left  the  jaws  of  Borrodale,  with  that  turbulent  chaos  of 
mountain  behind  mountain,  rolled  in  confusion  ;  beneath  you, 
and  stretching  far  away  to  the  right,  the  shining  purity  of  the 
Lake,  just  ruffled  by  the  breeze,  enough  to  show  it  is  alive, 
reflecting  rocks,  woods,  fields,  and  inverted  tops  of  moun-' 
tains."2 

The  following  passage  is  perhaps  the  most  striking  thing 
Gray  ever  wrote  about  nature  :  "  In  the  evening  walked  alone 
down  to  the  Lake  by  the  side  of  Crow-Park  after  sun-set  and 
saw  the  solemn  colouring  of  night  draw  on,  the  last  gleam  of 
sunshine  fading  away  on  the  hill-tops,  the  deep  serene  of  the 

1  Works,  Vol.  II.,  page  44.          2  Works,  Vol.  I.,  page  254. 


170  THE   ENGLISH  KOMAXTIC  MOl'EMEXT. 

waters,  and  the  long  shadows  of  the  mountains  thrown  across 
them,  till  they  nearly  touched  the  hithermost  shore.  At 
distance  heard  the  murmur  of  many  water-falls  not  audible  in 
the  day-time.  Wished  for  the  Moon,  but  she  was  dark  to  nie 
and  silent,  hid  in  her  vacant  inter  lunar  cave"  1 

Mitford  said  :  "  No  man  was  a  greater  admirer  of  nature 
than  Mr.  Gray,  nor  admired  it  with  better  taste/'  Perhaps 
Walpole  had  partly  in  mind  Gray's  superior  appreciation  of 
Alpine  scenery  when  he  wrote,  in  1775:  "We  rode  over  the 
Alps  in  the  same  chaise,  but  Pegasus  drew  on  his  side,  and  a 
cart-horse  on  mine." 2  There  is  something  noble  and  truly 
beautiful  in  the  way  in  which  Walpole  always  insisted  on  his 
own  inferiority  to  Gray.  His  attitude  in  this  was  never 
cringing  ;  it  was  a  pure  tribute  of  admiration,  and  that,  too, 
from  a  sensitive  man  who  had  been  repeatedly  snubbed  by  the 
very  object  of  his  praise. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  the  strange  and  strong  contrast 
between  the  shy,  reserved  temperament  of  Gray,  and  the  pro- 
nounced radicalism   of   his   literary  tastes.     Had  he  been   a 
demonstrative  and  gushing  person  like  Mason,  his  utterances 
about  mountains  and  Ossianic  poetry  would  not  seem  so  singu- 
lar;    but  that  this  secluded  scholar,  who  spent  most  of  his 
hours  over  his  books  in  Cambridge  and  the  manuscripts  in  the 
British  Museum,  and  who  was  always  slow  to  speak,  should 
have  quietly  cultivated  tastes  so  distinctly  Romantic  —  this  is 
a  noteworthy  fact.     It  seems  to  show  that  the  one-man  power 
counts   for  something  in   literary  developments.     Gray  influ- 
enced the  age  more  than  the  age  influenced  him  ;  he  led  rather 
/than  followed.     In  addition  to  all  the  various  forces  that  we 
I  have  observed  as  silently  working  in  the  Romantic  movement, 
I  we  must  add  the  direct  influence  of  the  courage  and  genius  of 
\pray. 

1  \\'orks,  Vol.  I.,  page  258. 

2  Letter  to  Cole,  December  10,  1775. 


CHAPTER    X. 

GENERAL     SUMMARY. 

IN  the  preceding  pages,  I  hate  sketched  the  growth  of 
Romanticism  from  its  first  faint  manifestations  to  its  practi- 
cally complete  ascendancy.  It  is  evident  that  a  number  of 
various  elements  entered  into  the  movement.  There  was  the 
poetry  of  external  jiature,  which  began  with  Ramsay,  Thomson 
and  Dyer ;  although  this  was  not  necessarily  Romantic,  it  ex- 
erted a  powerful  reactionary  influence.  There  was  the  Change  ,- 
of  Form;  the  yoke  of  the  couplet  "was  slipped  off  by  the  re- 
vival of  blank  verse,  and  by  constant  experiments  in  other 
metres  ;  all  of  which  pointed  not  to  Rule,  but  to  Freedom. 
Then  came  the  extraordinary  influence,  of  Spenser,  and  the  r 
swarm  of  imitations  of  his  stanza ;  many  of  these  were  not 
serious,  but  they  helped  to  further  the  study  of  both  Spenser 
and  all  Elizabethan  poetry.  The  influence  of  Milton  was  also  /f 
a  powerful  agency  - — giving  to  literature  a  dreamy,  melancholy 
cast,  that  harmonized  with  the  Sentimentalism  on  England  and 
the  Continent.  Then  appeared  the  revival  of  mediaeval  taste, , 
in  the  rage  for  Gothic  art  and  the  love  of  chivalry.  Language 
itself  was  made  fresh  and  strong  by  the  influx  of  ballad  litera- 
ture, which  had  had  friends  all  through  the  century,  but  which 
leaped  into  enormous  popularity  through  Percy's  Reliques. 
The  final  blow  to  Augustan  taste  came  in  the  form  of  substi- 
tuting for  its  attenuated,  classic  mythology,  the  picturesque, 
Romantic  tales  of  the  gods  and  heroes  of  the  North.  Along 
with  this  revival  of  ancient  themes  appeared  the  poems  of 
Ossian,  claiming  remote  antiquity,  and  exercising  a  deep,  if 
not  formative,  influence.  Lastly,  during  the  critical  twenty 


172  THE   ENGLISH  ROMANTIC  MOVEMENT. 

years  from  1750  to  1770,  the  greatest  living  man  of  letters 
exerted  all  his  poetic  powers  in  the  direction  of  Romanticism. 
The  Romantic  school  was  aided  not  only  by  the  poets 
and  story  tellers  ;  it  had  its  critical  defenders.  A  number  of 
serious  prose  works  backed  up  the  movement  and  inspired  its 
supporters.  Hogarth's  Analysis  of  Beauty  (i  753)  had,  perhaps, 
little  to  do  with  the  literary  side  of  Romanticism,  but  as  a 
contribution  to  the  discussion  of  real  beauty  and  true  art  it 
was  certainly  influential.  Hogarth  insisted  that  true  art  should 
avoid  Regularity ;  he  also  pleaded  for  copying  and  studying 
nature  and  out-door  life.  Lowth's  lectures  on  the  Sacred 
Poetry  of  the  Hebrews  (1753)  encouraged  the  study  of  the 
Old  Testament  from  the  purely  literary  point  of  view,  and 
opened  up  anew  all  the  grandeur  and  imagery  of  Hebrew 
poetry.  The  critical  side  of  his  work  helped  also  in  forming 
true  ideas  on  the  nature  of  poetry.  His  chapter  on  Poetic 
Imagery  from  the  Objects  of  Nature  must  have  been  especially 
suggestive  in  those  days.  Again,  in  the  next  year  (1754) 
appeared  Thomas  Warton's  Observations  on  the  Faery  Queen; 
a  warm,  vigorous  defense  of  mediaeval  subject  and  Romantic 
treatment.  In  1759  Young's  Conjectures  on  Original  Compo- 
sition took  a  radical  stand.  He  declared  that  the  time  had 

-•— -^  / 

come  to  abandon  Classic  models ;  and  to  turn  directly  to 
nature  and  to  the  inspiration  of  native  genius.  He  insisted 
that  genius  was  greater  than  any  rules,  and  must  be  a  law 
unto  itself.  The  spectacle  of  this  aged  poet  boldly  flinging 
off  all  shackles  and  defiantly  supporting  the  new  school,  must 
have  been  in  itself  an  inspiration. ^^But  most  important  of  all 
the  critical  works  that  aided  the  Romantic  movement,  was 
Joseph  Warton's  Essay  on  Pope  (1756).  It  is  one  of  the  most 
significant  books  of  the  whole  century.  This  was  the  first 
open  and  serious  attack  on  Pope's  position  as  a  poet.  The 
tone  of  it  is  extraordinarily  modern  ;  much  of  it  might  have 
been  written  by  our  critics  of  to-day.,  Warton  insisted  that 
Pope  was  a  great  Wit  rather  than  'a  great  Poet ;  his  poetry 


GENERAL  SUMMARY.  173 

was  strictly  not  first-class  and  must  forever  prevent  him  from 
obtaining  a  place  among  the  highest  names.  Warton's  book 
was  both  destructive  and  constructive ;  he  successfully  assailed 
Pope's  lofty  position  and  completely  dethroned  him  and  his 
school ;  at  the  same  time  he  elaborated  his  own  theories  as 
to  the  nature  of  true  Poetry ;  —  and  these  theories  were,  of 
course,  Romantic.  Although  the  second  volume  of  Warton's 
Essay  did  not  appear  until  nearly  thirty  years  after  the  first, 
he  had  articulated  in  his  initial  publication  distinct  doctrines 
which  have  formed  the  Romantic  creed  from  that  day  to  this. 
He  was  one  of  the  few  conscious  apostles  of  the  new  school. 

On  the  whole,  however,  as  has  been  frequently  said  in  these 
pages,  the  English  Romantic  movement  was  gradual  and  largely 
unconscious;  it  originated  in  no  distinct  antagonism  to  the 
Augustans  —  for  some  of  the  most  influential  Romanticists 
were  profound  admirers  of  Pope  and  Addison  —  but  rather 
in  an  instinctive  longing  for  fresh  woods  and  pastures  new. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  French  people,  always  so  fickle,  < 
extravagant  and  violent  in  political  and  social  affairs,  should 
be  on  the  whole  so  sober  and  self-restrained  in  their  creative 
and  critical  literature  ;  while  the  English,  whose  social  history 
shows  remarkable  self-control  and  political  foresight,  have 

1  always  exhibited'  Romantic   tendencies   in  literature   and  art. 
For  this  very  reason,  the  Romantic  movement  in  France  was 
a  bitter,  desperate  fight  between  a  band  of^young  reformers^ 
and    the    national    literary   instinct ;    while  '  in    England   the 

.Romantic  movement  was  simply  the  heart  of  the  people 
asserting  itself  —  timidly  yet  instinctively  —  against  the  domi- 
,nation  of  a  critical  school.  Even  the  genius  of  a  Pope  and 
a  Swift,  backed  by  all  the  shining  talent  of  Augustan  men  of 
letters,  failed  to  hold  the  English  mind  in  any  long  bondage. 
Even  at  the  zenith  of  their  glory,  the  signs  of  revolt  were 
plainly  visible/ 


APPENDIX    I. 


A  list  of  Spenserian  imitations  published  from  1700  to  1775.     The 
dates  refer  not  to  the  composition,  but  to  the  publication. 

1706.  PRIOR.     "  Ode  to  the  Queen." 

1713-1721.     PRIOR  (?).     "  Colin's  Mistakes." 
POPE.     »  The  Alley." 

1713.  CROXALL.     "An  Original    Canto   of    Spencer's   Fairy 

Queen." 

1714.  CROXALL.     "  Another  Original  Canto." 
1730  (dr.).      WHITEHEAD.     "Vision  of  Solomon." 

WHITEHEAD.     "  Ode     to     the     Honourable     Charles 

Townsend." 

WHITEHEAD.     "  Ode  to  the  Same." 
1736.  THOMPSON.     "  Epithalamium." 

1736.  CAMBRIDGE.     "Marriage  of  Frederick." 
1736-7.  BOYSE.     "The  Olive." 

1736-7.  BOYSE.     "Psalm  XLII." 

1737.  AKENSIDE.     "  The  Virtuoso." 

1 739.  G.  WEST.     "  Abuse  of  Travelling." 

1739.  ANON.     "A  New  Canto  of  Spenser's  Fairy  Queen." 

1740.  BOYSE.     "Ode  to  Marquis  of  Tavistock." 
1741  (cir.).  BOYSE.     "Vision  of  Patience." 

1 742.  SHENSTONE.    "  The  School- Mistress  "  (incomplete  form 

published  1737). 
1742-50.         CAMBRIDGE.     "Archimage." 

1742.  R.  DODSLEY.     "Pain  and  Patience." 

1743.  ANON.     "Albion's  Triumph." 

1744  (cir.).      R.  DODSLEY.     "Death  of  Mr.  Pope." 

1744.  AKENSIDE.     "  Ode  to  Curio." 

1746.  BLACKLOCK.     "Hymn  to  Divine  Love." 

BLACKLOCK.     "  Philantheus." 


176  APPENDIX  I. 

1747.  MASON.      "  Stanzas  in  Musaeus." 

1 747.  RIDLEY.     "  Psyche." 

1747.  LOWTH.     "  Choice  of  Hercules." 

1747.  UPTON.     "  A  New  Canto  of  Spencer's  Fairy  Queen." 

1747.  BEDINGFIELD.     "  Education  of  Achilles." 
PITT.     "  The  Jordan." 

1748.  T.  WARTON,  SR.     "Philander." 

1748.  THOMSON.     "  Castle  of  Indolence." 

1749.  POTTER.     "A  Farewell  Hymne  to  the  Country." 

1750.  T.  WARTON.     "Morning." 

1751.  G.  WEST.     "Education." 

1751.  T.  WARTON.     "Elegy  on  the  Death  of  Prince  Fred 

erick." 

1751.  MENDEZ.     "  The  Seasons." 

1751.  LLOYD.     "  Progress  of  Envy." 

1751.  AKENSIDE.     "Ode." 

1751.  SMITH.     "Thales." 

1753.  T.  WARTON.     "  A  Pastoral  in  the  Manner  of  Spenser." 

1754.  DENTON.     "Immortality." 

1755.  ARNOLD.     "  The  Mirror." 
1748-58.  MENDEZ.     "  Squire  of  Dames." 

1 756.  SMART.     "  Hymn  to  the  Supreme  Being." 

1757.  THOMPSON.     "  The  Nativity." 

1757.  THOMPSON.     "Hymn  to  May." 

1758.  AKENSIDE.     "  To  Country  Gentlemen  of  England.' 

1759.  WILKIE.     "A  Dream." 
Poem  in  Ralph's  Miscellany. 

1762.  DENTON.     "  House  of  Superstition." 

1767.  MICKLE.     "  The  Concubine." 

1768.  DOWNMAN.     "  Land  of  the  Muses." 
1771-4.  BEATTIE.     "  The  Minstrel." 

1775.  ANON.     "  Land  of  Liberty." 

1775.  MICKLE.     "Stanzas  from  Introduction  to  Lusiad.'' 


APPENDIX    II. 


THE    BALLAD    OF    WILLIAM    AND    MARGARET. 

David  Mallet's  literary  reputation  is  chiefly  due  to  a  piece  of 
poetry  which  he  never  wrote.  William  and  Margaret  was  one 
of  the  most  popular  ballads  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  appeared 
in  nearly  all  the  numerous  miscellanies,  both  poetic  and  musical ;  it 
was  read,  sung,  and  recited  on  all  sides.  It  was  even  parodied. 
With  the  exception  of  a  few  skeptical  and  unimportant  personages, 
its  authorship  was  universally  attributed  to  Mallet,  and  men  like 
James  Thomson,  Dr.  Johnson,  and  Bishop  Percy  gave  him  the 
weight  of  their  authority.  The  ballad  floated  all  the  rest  of  Mallet's 
literary  performances,  and  he  died  a  famous  man. 

The  exact  date  of  Mallet's  birth  is  unknown  ;  but  he  was  born  in 
Scotland  injL£Qor  1701,  or  1702.  His  original  name  was  Malloch, 
which  he  changed  to  Mallet  somewhere  about  the  year  1728,  and  not 
on  his  first  arrival  in  London,  as  is  often  stated.  He  came  to  the 
metropolis  in  1^23,  as  private  tutor  in  the  family  of  the  Duke  of 
Montrose.  It  was  not  long  before  he  became  a  man  of  considerable 
influence,  for  it  was  owing  to  his  timely  assistance  that  Thomson  was 
able  to  get  his  WJLnter  before  the  public.  This  is  the  only  thing  for 
which  posterity  has  reason  to  be  grateful  to  Mallet ;  his  own  writings 
are  mainly  dull. 

As  has  been  said,  it  was  William  and  Margaret  that  established 
Mallet's  literary  reputation  ;  and  it  is  only  within  a  few  years  that 
his  claim  to  its  authorship  has  been  successfully  assailed.  We  shall 
see  unfolded  one  of  the  prettiest  cases  of  literary  forgery  on  record, 
as  well  as  one  of  the  meanest,  for  it  took  a  great  deal  of  deliberate 
lying  on  Mallet's  part  to  make  good  his  claim. 

The  best  accounts  of  this  ballad  are  given  by  Mr.  Frederick  Dins- 
dale,  in  his  edition  of  the  Ballads  and  Songs  of  Mallet  (London, 
1857),  and  by  Mr.  William  Chappell,  in  his  Appendix  to  the  third 


178  APPENDIX  II. 

volume  of  the  Roxburghe  Ballads  (London,  1880).  Mr.  Dinsdale 
aggressively  believed  that  Mallet  wrote  the  ballad,  but  he  did  not 
possess  the  later  and  more  damaging  evidence.  Mr.  Chappell  proves 
that  Mallet  stole  the- ballad,  but  his  own  account  contains  inaccuracies 
and  omits  some  important  facts. 

The  whole  story  is  as  follows  :  William  and  Margaret  first 
attracted  public  attention  in  a  periodical  called  The  Plain  Dealer, 
under  date  of  July  24,  1724.  Aaron  Hill,  the  editor,  added  the 
following  note  to  the  poem:  — 

"  I  am  never  more  delighted  than  when  I  meet  with  an  opportunity  to 
unveil  obscure  merit,  and  produce  it  into  notice.  .  .  .  My  having  taken 
up,  in  a  late  perambulation,  as  I  stood  upon  the  top  of  Primrose  Hill,  a 
torn  leaf  of  one  of  those  Halfpenny  Miscellanies  which  are  published  for 
the  use  and  pleasure  of  our  nymphs  of  low  degree,  and  known  by  the  name 
of  Garlands,  ...  I  fell  unexpectedly  upon  a  work,  for  so  I  have  no  scruple 
to  call  it,  which  deserves  to  live  forever  !  and  which  (notwithstanding  its 
disguise  of  coarse  brown  paper,  almost  unintelligible  corruptions  of  the 
sense  from  the  blunders  of  the  press,  with  here  and  there  an  obsolete  low 
phrase  which  I  have  altered  for  the  clearer  explanation  of  the  author's 
meaning)  is  so  powerfully  filled  throughout  with  that  blood-curdling,  chill- 
ing influence  of  Nature  working  on  our  passions  (which  Criticks  call  the 
sublime)  that  I  have  never  met  it  stronger  in  Homer  himself ;  nor  even  in 
that  prodigious  English  genius,  who  has  made  the  Greek  our  countryman. 
The  simple  title  of  this  piece  was,  William  and  Margaret,  A  Ballad.  I 
am  sorry  that  I  am  not  able  to  acquaint  my  Reader  with  his  name  to  whom 
we  owe  this  melancholy  piece  of  finished  Poetry ;  under  the  humble  title 
of  a  Ballad." 

Thus  the  poem  first  reached  the  public  attention  dressed  out  with 
Hill's  "  improvements,"  which  practically  destroyed  its  beauty  and 
strength.  They  were  all  made  after  the  pattern  of  Augustan  taste. 

The  next  we  hear  of  the  ballad  is  in  The  Plain  ^Dealer  for 
August  28  of  the  same  year  (1724).  Hill  writes  that  the  poem  which 
he  had  published  on  July  24,  he  had  supposed  to  be  the  work  of 
some  old  poet  long  since  dead,  but  that  he  had  been  "  agreeably 
undeceived  ;  the  author  of  it  is  alive,  and  a  North  Briton."  At  the 
same  time  Hill  printed  a  letter  which  he  had  received  from  the 
avowed  author  (Mallet),  though  he  did  not  as  yet  mention  Mallet's 
name.  This  letter  expressed  the  pleasure  the  writer  felt  in  having 


APPENDIX  II.  179 

his  "  simple  tale  "  published  with  so  favorable  a  comment,  and  gave 
a  detailed  and  minute  account  of  the  circumstances  which  he  said 
inspired  him  to  write  the  ballad.  He  wrote  out  a  pathetic  story  of  a 
young  girl  who  had  been  ruined  and  then  deserted  by  her  lover,  in 
consequence  of  which  she  died.  Mallet  said  that  while  meditating 
on  this  melancholy  event,  a  scene  from  the  play  of  the  Knight  of  the 
Burning  Pestle  entered  his  mind  ;  especially  the  lines  repeated  by 
old  Merrythought,  — 

"When  it  was  grown  to  dark  midnight, 

And  all  were  fast  asleep, 
In  came  Margaret's  grimly  ghost, 
And  stood  at  William's  feet." 

Mallet  said  this  stanza  was  probably  a  part  of  some  old  ballad,  all 
the  rest  of  which  was  lost;  but  these  lines  coming  to  him  while 
thinking  of  the  sad  story  of  the  dead  girl,  inspired  him  to  write  his 
own  ballad,  William  and  Margaret.  Along  with  this  letter,  Mallet 
sent  his  own  version  of  the  ballad,  which  was  the  one  Hill  had  found 
and  emended.  Hill  printed  the  letter,  but  refused  to  publish  Mallet's 
copy  of  the  ballad,  as  he  said  the  sense  of  the  two  versions  was 
the  same. 

All  this  important  matter  about  Mallet's  letter  and  Hill's  August 
number  of  The  Plain  Dealer,  Mr.  Chappell  makes  no  mention  of. 
He  must  have  been  ignorant  of  it,  for  he  says  that  Mallet  afterward 
claimed  that  he  had  founded  his  ballad  on  the  stanza  from  the  old 
drama  ;  and  Mr.  Chappell  adds  very  weakly,  that  Mallet  can  hardly 
be  supposed  to  have  read  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  as  early  as  1724, 
because  they  would  not  have  been  included  in  the  curriculum  of  a 
University  education  !  This  argument  tries  to  prove  too  much  ; 
instead  of  making  Mallet  a  blacker  villain,  it  only  weakens  the  case 
against  him  ;  because  we  know  that  Mallet  had  read  the  play  by 
1724,  and  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  the  best  English  authors 
were  at  that  time  very  widely  read  and  imitated  in  Scotland. 
Although  Mallet  did  steal  the  ballad,  there  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  not  give  the  devil  his  due. 

To  resume  ;  the  only  copy  of  William  and  Margaret  before  the 
public  thus  far  was  Hill's  mangled  version  published  in  July,  1724. 
Mr.  Chappell  says  that  its  next  appearance  was  in  Allan  Ramsay's 


180  APPENDIX  77. 

Tea-Table  Miscellany,  published  the  same  year.  It  is  true  that  the 
ballad  did  appear  in  Vol.  II.  of  this  Miscellany,  in  Mallet's  own 
version,  and  signed  "  D.  M."  But  when  Vol.  II  was  first  published, 
is  not  so  certain.  There  is  good  reason  for  assigning  its  date  to 
1725  or  1726,  rather  than  to  1724.  If  we  only  knew  exactly  when 
the  volume  was  published,  it  might  be  of  great  service  in  tracing  the 
history  of  this  ballad. 

In  1725,  William  and  Margaret  appeared  in  Vol.  Ill  of  the  Col- 
lection of  Old  Ballads,  This  version  is  neither  Aaron  Hill's  nor  the 
one  published  by  Mallet.  According  to  Mr.  Chappell,  it  must  be  a 
reprint  from  the  original  ballad  published  before  the  Knight  of  the 
Burning  Pestle.  But  as  this  copy  in  Old  Ballads  differs  from 
Mallet's  version  only  in  slight  verbal  changes,  its  publication  would 
not  have  excited  much  suspicion. 

By  1726,  at  any  rate,  Mallet  had  the  credit  of  authorship,  for 
Thomson,  in  the  Preface  to  the  second  edition  of  Winter,  alludes  to 
him  as  the  composer  of  William  and  Margaret.  In  1728  Mallet 
published  the  ballad  under  his  own  name,  along  with  his  poem,  The 
Excursion,  and  in  successive  editions  of  Mallet's  works  it  regularly 
appeared. 

The  proof  of  the  forgery  did  not  come  till  the  year  1878,  when  a 
black-letter  copy  of  the  old  ballad  of  William  and  Margaret  was 
brought  to  light.  This  copy  bears  a  Queen  Anne  stamp,  and  on  this 
stamp  rests  the  evidence  against  Mallet.  In  171 1-12  an  act  of  Parlia- 
ment was  passed  requiring  stamps  upon  newspapers.  This  Act  was 
not  meant  to  apply  to  ballads,  and,  as  Mr.  Chappell  says,  "  they  were 
speedily  excepted  from  its  operation."  This  ballad  is  exactly  the 
same  as  the  one  published  in  Mallet's  works,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  verbal  alterations.  It  could  not  have  been  written  by  Mallet, 
for  he  would  have  been  more  than  a  marvel  of  precocity  to  produce 
such  a  thing  at  the  age  of  eleven  or  twelve  years.  This  Queen  Anne 
stamp  completely  disposes  of  Mallet's  claim  ;  and  thus  it  is  altogether 
probable  that  William  and  Margaret,  as  it  stands,  is  one  of  the  old 
English  ballads,  and  not  an  eighteenth  century  production  at  all. 

In  a  case  like  this,  where  we  know  for  certain  only  a  part  of  the 
facts,  we  naturally  ask,  How  did  Mallet's  name  come  to  be  so  firmly 
joined  to  this  ballad  as  to  hold  the  credit  of  its  authorship  for  150 
years  ?  This  is  largely  a  matter  of  conjecture  ;  but  as  everybody  in 


APPENDIX  II.  181 

possession  of  the  facts  has  a  right  to  amuse  himself  in  constructing  a 
theory,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  suggest  the  following  explanation. 

We  know  that  Hill  published  his  disfigured  version  in  July,  1724. 
Mallet  saw  it  in  print  and  noticed  that  no  one  claimed  its  authorship. 
Having  the  true  copy  in  his  own  possession,  he  made  a  radical 
change  in  the  first  line,  with  trifling  verbal  alterations  in  the  other 
stanzas,  trumped  up  a  story  of  the  circumstances  that  led  him  to 
compose  the  poem  and  sent  both  story  and  poem  to  The  Plain 
Dealer,  taking  care  to  withhold  his  name  from  the  public.  With 
great  cunning  he  himself  quoted  the  passage  from  the  old  drama, 
thus  forestalling  future  criticisms  on  that  score.  Hill  published 
Mallet's  unsigned  letter,  but  refused  to  publish  the  enclosed  version 
of  the  ballad,  probably  because  he  liked  his  own  improvements  too 
well  to  have  them  superseded.  Then  Mallet,  wanting  a  publisher 
for  his  own  copy,  handed  it  over  to  Allan  Ramsay  —  who  was 
thoroughly  unscrupulous  in  matters  of  authorship  —  and  it  appeared 
in  Vol.  II  of  the  Tea-Table  Miscellany,  signed  "  D.  M."  As  no  one 
put  up  a  counter-claim  to  Mallet,  he  grew  bolder,  and  in  1728 
published  the  ballad  with  his  full  name  in  a  volume  of  his  own  verse. 
Such  seems  to  be  a  natural  and  probable  account  of  what  he  did, 
why  he  did  it,  and  what  the  results  of  his  action  were. 

Mallet  never  wrote  anything  in  his  life  that  can  compare  with  this 
ballad,  and  he  never  attempted  anything  in  the  same  manner  and 
verse-form  until  1 760,  five  years  before  his  death.  He  then  pub- 
lished an  original  ballad  in  the  same  metre,  called  Edwin  and 
Emma.  No  one  has  ever  considered  it  worth  while  to  dispute  his 
claim  to  this  poem.  It  is  indeed  a  silly  piece  of  verse.  Perhaps  he 
thought  matters  would  look  less  suspicious  if  he  had  more  than  one 
ballad  to  show  for  his  work.  But,  unhappily  for  his  reputation, 
Edwin  and  Emma  is  like  William  and  Margaret  only  in  structure. 
It  is  a  ridiculous  composition,  highly  artificial  in  sentiment  and  in 
language.  It  has  none  of  the  spirit  of  the  former  ballad.  A  few 
stanzas  quoted  from  each  will  make  further  comment  unnecessary. 
William  and  Margaret  begins  as  follows  :  — 

"  When  all  was  wrapt  in  dark  Midnight 

And  all  were  fast  asleep, 
In  glided  Margaret's  grimly  ghost, 

And  stood  at  William's  feet. 


182  APPENDIX  II. 

"  Her  face  was  like  the  April  morn, 

Clad  in  a  wintry  cloud, 
And  clay-cold  was  her  lily  hand, 

That  held  the  sable  shrowd. 

"  So  shall  the  fairest  face  appear 

When  Youth  and  Years  are  flown  ; 
Such  is  the  robe  that  Kings  must  wear 

When  Death  has  reft  their  crown." 

Compare  this  with  a  passage  taken  from  Edwin  and  Emma  :  — 

"  Long  had  she  filled  each  youth  with  love, 

Each  maiden  with  despair  ; 
And  though  by  all  a  wonder  owned, 

Yet  knew  not  she  was  fair. 

"  Till  Edwin  came,  the  pride  of  swains, 

A  soul  devoid  of  art ; 
And  from  whose  eye,  serenely  mild, 

Shone  forth  the  feeling  heart. 

"  A  mutual  flame  was  quickly  caught ; 

Was  quickly  too  revealed  ; 
For  neither  bosom  lodged  a  wish, 

That  virtue  keeps  concealed." 

William  and  Margaret  has  an  importance,  independent  of  its 
authorship,  as  contributing  to  the  early  hidden  growth  of  the  English 
Romantic  movement.  Its  great  popularity  in  "the  age  of  prose  and 
reason  "  shows  that  there  was  a  love  for  poetry  of  this  kind,  however 
much  fashion  condemned  it  in  the  abstract.  For  its  introduction  to 
the  public,  we  must  be  grateful  to  Aaron  Hill  —  a  pompous,  short- 
sighted person  —  and  Allan  Ramsay  —  a  sturdy,  unscrupulous,  half- 
vulgar  fellow.  They  builded  better  than  they  knew. 


INDEX. 


Addison,  Joseph,  his  literary  Whig- 
gism,  7  j  his  verses  on  Spenser, 
49  ;  compared  with  Shakspere  by 
J.  Warton,  90  ;  his  criticism  of 
Chevy-Chase,  116  ;  of  Two  Chil- 
dren in  the  Wood,  117;  effect  of 
his  critiques  on  Editor  of  "  Old 
Ballads,"  121;  his  appreciation  of 
natural  scenery,  167. 

Akenside,  Mark,  his  Pleasures  of 
Imagination,  39 ;  supports  Ed- 
wards, 45  ;  his  Spenserian  imita- 
tions, 62  ;  effect  of  his  Pleasures 
of  Imagination,  93. 

Armstrong,  John,  his  Art  of  Pre- 
serving Health,  40. 

Arnold,  Cornelius,  his  Spenserian 
imitation,  84. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  his  criticisms  of 
poetry  merely  a  re-statement  of 
Hurd  and  Warton,  115  ;  his  view 
of  Gray's  sterility,  155. 

Atterbury,  Francis,  his  letter  on 
Shakspere,  16  ;  on  Milton,  17; 
his  opinion  of  Pope's  Arabian 
Tales,  19. 

Beattie,  James,    inspired   by    Percy, 

T35- 
Beaumont,    M.    Elie  de,    Walpole's 

letter  to,  107. 
Bedingfield,  Robert,  his    Spenserian 

imitation,  73. 


Beers,  H.  A,,  his  remark  on  Augus 
tan  Classicism,  12;  on  Gothic 
architecture,  105. 

Blacklock,  Thomas,  his  Spenserian 
imitations,  69,  70  ;  his  blindness, 
69. 

Blair,  Hugh,  his  connection  with 
Macpherson,  146  ;  his  Ossian 
dissertation,  151. 

Blair,  Robert,  his  Grave,  39. 

Blank  Verse,  a  favorite  form  with 
the  Romanticists,  37;  its  adoption 
by  Philips,  37;  by  Thomson,  Dyer 
and  Young,  38  ;  attacked  by 
Johnson  and  Goldsmith  and  de- 
fended by  Young,  37,  42,  43,  44; 
Perry's  remarks  on,  41. 

Bowie,  John,  his  "  Miscellaneous 
Pieces,"  128  ;  his  accuracy,  129. 

Boyesen^  H.  H.,  his  definition  of 
Romanticism,  3. 

Boyse,  Samuel,  his  life,  64;  his 
religious  poetry,  65  ;  modernized 
Chaucer,  65  ;  his  Spenserian  imi- 
tations, 65,  66  ;  copied  Prior,  65  ; 
his  remark  on  Satire,  65. 

Browning,  Robert,  obscurity  of  his 
poetry  compared  to  Gray's  Odes, 
161. 

Brunetiere,  his  definitions  of  Roman- 
ticism and  Classicism,  4. 

Burns,  Robert,  admired  Ramsay, 
32. 


184 


INDEX. 


Byron,  Lord,  explained  by  early 
Romanticism,  vi ;  his  poetry 
Romantic  in  mood,  i,  2  ;  his 
manuscript  comments  on  Ossian, 
153- 

Cambridge,  R.  O.,  his  Spenserian 
imitations,  61;  his  Scribleriad, 
6r. 

Capell,  Edward,  his  Prolusions,  127; 
his  accuracy,  128  ;  his  effect  on 
Bowie,  129. 

Carlyle,  Alexander,  published  Col- 
lins's  Ode  on  Superstitions,  137. 

Chalmers,  Alexander,  his  criticism 
of  Thompson,  61. 

Chateaubriand,  his  admiration  for 
Ossian,  153. 

Chaucer,  people  ignorant  of,  15  ; 
modernized  by  Boyse,  65. 

Chivalry,  revival  of,  102,  in;  T. 
Warton's  defense  of,  112  ;  Hurd's 
letters  on,  112,  113,  114. 

Classicism,  definitions  of,  see  Intro- 
duction ;  not  merely  a  literary 
fashion,  7 ;  its  reign  not  complete, 
23  ;  its  true  poet  Pope,  47; 
attacked  by  J.  Warton,  91;  the 
Elegy  shows  Gray's  transition 
from,  1 60. 

Cole,  Rev.  W.,  Walpole's  letters  to, 
106,  in,  170. 

Collins,  William,  a  lyric  poet,  95  ;  a 
Romanticist,  95;  his  Persian 
Eclogues,  95  ;  his  Odes,  95,  96 ; 
his  Ode  on  Superstitions,  137, 

138. 

Courthope,  W.  J.,  his  analysis  of 
Pope's  Essay  on  Criticism,  n. 

Croxall,  Samuel,  a  reactionary  tend- 
ency, 23  ;  translation  of  ^Esop, 
28  ;  his  poetical  master  Spenser, 


28 ;  his  Vision,  29  ;  his  Fair  Cir- 
cassian, 29  ;  his  voluptuousness, 
30 ;  his  aim  in  poetry,  30 ;  his 
Spenserian  imitations,  54;  a  poem 
possibly  inspired  by  him,  64. 

Denton,  Thomas,  his  Spenserian 
imitations,  83,  84. 

Dodsley,  Robert,  his  Spenserian  imi- 
tations, 68. 

Donne,  John,  reaction  against  his 
school,  9. 

Dryden,  John,  Young's  remarks  on 
his  plays,  43  ;  compared  to  Spen- 
ser by  Hughes,  55  ;  his  lines  on 
Milton,  92  ;  Gray  a  disciple  of, 

157,  158- 
D'Urfey,    Thomas,    his    "Wit    and 

Mirth,"  120. 
Dyer,  John,  his  Ruins  of  Rome,  38  ; 

Grongar  Hill,  38  ;  his  Fleece,  40  ; 

his  use  of  the  octosyllabic  couplet, 

42 ;    his    Fleece    reminiscent    of 

Milton,  87;   a  pioneer  in  nature 

poetry,  171. 

Eastlake,    C.    L.,    his    remarks    on 

Gothicism,  102. 
Edwards,  Thomas,  a  reviver  of  the 

Sonnet,  45,  46. 
Evans,  Evan,  his  Welsh  specimens, 

144,  145,  146. 

Finch,  Anne,  a  reactionary  tendency, 
23  ;  Wordsworth's  complimentary 
allusion  to,  27;  her  admiration 
for  Pope,  27;  her  love  of  nature, 
28. 

Fletcher,  Phineas,  his  Purple  Island, 

-   59- 

Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  Odes  on 
his  nuptials,  56,  57,  61. 


INDEX. 


185 


Gay,  John,  his  opposition  to  the 
Classicists  not  serious,  35;  helped 
Pope  in  the  Alley,  53. 

Goethe,  his  appreciation  of  Ossian, 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  preferred  Par- 
nell's  Night-Piece  to  Gray's  Elegy, 
26  ;  attacked  blank  verse,  37,  42  ; 
his  ridicule  of  old  poetry,  136. 

Gosse,  Edmund,  his  remarks  on 
Parnell,  25;  on  Lady  Winchelsea, 
28  ;  on  Croxall,  30  ;  on  Somer- 
ville,  38  ;  on  Young,  100;  on 
Gray's  Elegy,  100. 

Gothicism,  its  unpopularity  before 
1750,  102  ;  revival  of,  103,  et  seq. 

Grainger,  James,  his  Sugar-Cane,  41 ; 
Percy's  correspondence  with,  130, 
134,  148  ;  his  attitude  toward 
Ossian,  148. 

Gray,  Thomas,  his  Elegy  compared 
to  Parnell's  Night-Piece,  26 ;  his 
sonnet,  44,  45 ;  his  remark  on 
G.  West's  Spenserian  imitation, 
63 ;  his  Elegy  compared  to  J. 
Warton's  Ode  to  Evening,  92  ; 
his  Elegy  the  culmination  of  the 
literature  of  melancholy,  96  ;  Ma- 
son's relations  with,  97 ;  popularity 
of  his  Elegy,  100;  his  remark  on 
the  Castle  of  Otranto,  108  ;  his 
Romantic  work  disliked  by  Wai- 
pole,  no  ;  deceived  by  Hardy 
Knute,  125;  his  remark  on  P.  H. 
Mallet's  Histoire,  139  ;  his  debt 
to  Mallet,  140,  161;  to  Evans,  146; 
his  enthusiasm  over  Ossianic  poe- 
try, 148,  162;  his  sterility,  155, 
156,  1 57  :.his^  admiration  for  Dry- 
den,  157,  158  ;  his  De  Principiis 
Ciogitandi,  TJJ7 ;  his  Alliance  of 
Education  and  Government,  158  ; 


his  early  Odes,  158  ;  his  Elegy, 
I58»  J59>  ID° ;  his  Pindaric  Odes, 
160,  161;  public  taste  for  com- 
pared to  that  for  Wagner  and 
Browning,  161;  his  Norse  and 
Welsh  poetry,  162  ;  his  Observa- 
tions on  English  Metre,  166  ;  his 
praise  of  Milton's  harmony,  166  ; 
his  proposed  History  of  English 
Poetry,  166 ;  his  prose  remains^ 
their  importance  to  RomanticismV 
and  to  the  love  of  nature,  166,  \ 
167,  168,  169,  170.  f 

Hamilton,  William,  his  versification 
of  Shakspere,  16;  a  reactionary 
tendency,  23  ;  editions  of  his 
poems,  33  ;  his  temperament  like 
Gray's,  33 ;  influenced  by  Ramsay, 
34  ;  his  Braes  o'  Yarrow,  33,  34  ; 
his  Wordsworthian  spirit,  34  ;  his 
repression  of  passion,  35;  sum- 
mary of  his  poetical  significance, 
35;  his  use  of  the  octosyllabic 
couplet,  42  ;  his  "  Contemplation  " 
imitative  of  Milton,  88. 

Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  his  admin- 
istration satirized,  54. 

Harley,  Edward,  his  connection  with 
Prior,  52. 

Harley,  Lady  Henrietta,  inspired  a 
poem  by  Prior,  52. 

Hedge,  F.  H.,  his  definition  of 
Romanticism,  3. 

Heine,  his  definition  of  Romanti- 
cism, I,  2. 

Hernani,  quotation  from  Preface  to, 

3- 

Heroic  Couplet,  its  tyranny,  36  ;  the 
early  Romanticists  not  directly 
opposed  to,  36  ;  the  Spenserian 
stanza  its  opposite,  47. 


186 


INDEX. 


Hertford,  Earl  of,  Walpole's  letter 

to,  107. 
Hogarth,  his   Analysis    of   Beauty, 

172. 
Home,  John,  his  Douglas,  137;   his 

connection  with  Collins,  137. 
J7omer,Youngs  remarks  on  translat- 
ing, 43  ;  does  homage  to  Milton, 

92. 
Horace,  the  real  master  of  English 

Classicism,    13  ;    Prior's   remarks 

on,  50. 
Hughes,  John,  edited  the  first  i8th- 

century  edition  of  Spenser,  54, 86; 

his  remarks  on  same,  54,  55,  56. 
Hugo,  Victor,  a  Romantic  poet,  i; 

his  definition  of  Romanticism,  2  ; 

his  aid  in  French  Romanticism, 

47- 

Hume,  David,  his  letter  about  Black- 
lock,  70. 

Hunt,  Leigh,  his  remarks  on  versifi- 
cation, 56. 

Hurd,  Richard,  his  Letters  on 
Chivalry,  112,  113,  114;  his  oppo- 
sition to  ballads,  134. 

Johnson,  Samuel,  his  love  for  town 
life,  13  ;  hostility  to  blank  verse, 
37,  42  ;  his  remarks  on  Prior,  51; 
on  A.  Philips,  52  ;  attacks  Spen- 
serianism,  60,  64,  81,  82  ;  attacks 
ballads,  134;  attacks  Ossian,  152; 
Walpole's  dislike  of,  161;  attacks 
Gray's  Odes,  161. 

Keats,  John,  his  Romantic  couplets, 
1,36- 

Leland,  Thomas,  his  "  Longsword," 

1 08,  109. 
Lloyd,  Robert,  his  life,  80;    an  imi- 


tator of  Prior,  80;  his  remarks  on 
contemporary   fashions,   80 ;    his 
Spenserian  imitation,  81. 
Lowell,  J.  R.,  his  remark  on  Collins, 

137- 

Lowth,  Robert,  his  Spenserian  imita- 
tion, 72  ;  his  lectures  on  Hebrew 
poetry,  172. 

Macpherson,  James,  his  intention  to 
put  Ossian  into  the  heroic  coup- 
let, 22,  152  ;  his  life,  146;  his 
"Fragments,"  146,  147,  148,  149; 
Gray's  correspondence  with,  148  ; 
Walpole's  opinion  of,  149 ;  his 
"Ossian,"  149,  150,  151,  152,  153, 
154;  was  no  Romanticist  himself, 
150. 

Mallet,  David,  his  opinion  of  Ham- 
let, 17;  his  connection  with  Arm- 
strong, 40;  with  Thomson,  177; 
an  imitator  of  Thomson,  40,  41; 
ballad  of  William  and  Margaret, 
see  Appendix  II. 

Mallet,  P.  H.,  his  Histoire  de 
Dannemarck,  no,  139,  140,  141, 
161;  Percy's  translation  of,  140; 
his  apologetic  attitude,  141;  in- 
spired Percy,  142  ;  inspired  Gray, 
161. 

Mann,  Horace,  Walpole's  letters  to, 
104. 

Mason,  William,  a  reviver  of  the 
Sonnet,  45  ;  his  Musaeus,  69,  97 ; 
his  character  and  relations  with 
Gray,  97;  his  sonnets  and  imita- 
tions of  Milton,  97;  his  tragedies, 
98  ;  his  Runic  poem,  98  ;  his  Ele- 
gy, 101;  duped  by  Walpole,  108. 

Mendez,  Moses,  his  Spenserian  imi- 
tations, 77,  78,  79  ;  his  wealth,  77; 
his  admiration  for  Thomson,  77. 


INDEX. 


187 


Mickle,  W.  J.,  his  Spenserian  imita- 
tion, 85,  86  ;  his  remarks  on 
Spenser,  86. 

Milton,  Atterbury's  remarks  on  Sam- 
son Agonistes,  17;  imitated  by  J. 
Philips,  37;  his  sonnets,  44  ;  his 
influence  on  sonnet  revival,  45, 46; 
a  favorite  poet  with  the  Romanti- 
cists, 47;  imitated  by  Mason,  69, 
97,  98  ;  his  influence  on  Ridley, 
71;  defended  by  Lloyd,  81;  the 
model  for  T.  Warton,  82,  93  ;  one 
of  the  great  names  in  English 
Romanticism,  87 ;  his  II  Penseroso 
most  effective,  87;  Addison's 
papers  on,  88  ;  imitated  by  Ham- 
ilton, 88  ;  by  J.  Warton,  89  ;  effect 
of  his  remark  that  Shakspere  was 
Fancy's  child,  91;  declared  to  be 
superior  to  Homer  and  Vergil,  92; 
imitated  by  T.  Warton,  94  ;  by 
Collins,  96  ;  his  freedom  of  versi- 
fication praised  by  Gray,  166. 

Minto,  William,  his  remark  on  Wat- 
son's Song-collection,  119. 

Mitford,John,  his  remark  on  Gray's 
love  of  nature,  170. 

Montagu,  George,  Walpole's  letters 
to,  no,  156. 

Montagu,  Lady  Mary,  her  opinions 
of  Achilles  and  Ulysses,  n;  her 
Town  Eclogues,  12  ;  a  thorough 
representative  of  Augustan  feel- 
ing, 1 5  ;  her  views  on  Theocritus, 
1 8  ;  her  Turkish  verses,  19,  20,  21, 
22  ;  her  mental  limitations,  22  ; 
her  connection  with  Pope's 
Eloisa,  24. 

Musset,  Alfred  de,  his  definition  of 
Romanticism,  4. 

Ossian,  see  Macpherson. 


Parnell,  Thomas,  a  reactionary  tend- 
ency, 23  ;  his  Hermit  and  Satires, 
25  ;  has  real  significance  in  the 
history  of  Romanticism,  25  ;  his 
Night -Piece  the  forerunner  of 
Graveyard  school,  26;  his  genuine 
feeling  for  nature,  26  ;  his  Hymn 
to  Contentment,  26  ;  his  use  of 
the  octosyllabic  couplet,  27;  his 
Fairy  Tale,  27. 

Pastoral  Poetry,  insipid  in  England, 
13.  Ramsay's  remark  on,  31. 

Pater,  Walter,  his  definition  of 
Romanticism,  2. 

Pepys,  Samuel,  a  collector  of  ballads, 
1 1 6. 

Percy,  Thomas,  his  friendship  with 
Grainger,  41;  similarity  of  his 
editing  to  that  of  "  Old  Ballads," 
122,  133  ;  his  Reliques,  129,  130, 
131,  132,  133,  134,  135,  136;  his 
publications,  129,  130;  his  treat- 
ment of  material  for  Reliques, 
131;  his  tone  toward  the  Reliques 
in  later  life,  132  ;  his  apologetic 
attitude  toward  ballads,  132  ;  his 
Essay  on  the  Ancient  Minstrels, 
135;  his  translation  of  Mallet,  140; 
his  Five  Pieces  of  Runic  Poetry, 
142,  143,  144 ;  his  interest  in 
Ossian,  148. 

Perry,  T.  S.,  remarks  on  blank  verse, 
41;  on  Boyse,  65;  on  Young,  100; 
on  Addison's  appreciation  of 
nature,  167. 

Philips,  Ambrose,  his  Pastorals,  52  ; 
supposed  to  be  Editor  of  "  Old 
Ballads,"  121;  his  Hive,  126. 

Philips,  John,  his  Splendid  Shilling 
and  Cyder,  37 ;  his  influence,  37,  38. 

Pitt,  Christopher,  his  Spenserian 
imitation,  70. 


188 


INDEX. 


Pope,  Alexander,  his  view  of  the 
Metaphysicals,  9  ;  his  doctrine  of 
following  nature,  1 1 ;  his  dislike 
for  the  country,  13  ;  his  remark 
on  the  taste  of  the  age,  14  ;  his 
Shakspere  preface,  17;  calls  him- 
self Romantic,  18  ;  sends  Arabian 
Tales  to  Atterbury,  18  ;  his  lines 
in  Thomson's  Seasons,  23  ;  his 
work  not  wholly  Augustan,  24  ; 
his  Windsor  Forest,  24  ;  his 
Eloisa  and  Unfortunate  Lady, 

24  ;  his  desire  to  tell  a  fairy  tale, 

25  ;  editor  of  Parnell's  works,  25  ; 
Lady  Winchelsea's  admiration  for, 
27;    his    Homer    Condemned    by 
Young,    43  ;      representative    of 
Classicism,   47;    his    letter   to 
Hughes     on     Spenser,    52  ;     his 
Alley,  53  ;  admired  by  Thompson, 
57;    influence    of    his    Alley    on 
Shenstone,    67,    68  ;      Dodsley's 
lines   on   death    of,   69 ;    Mason 
on     same,     69;     influence    of 
Alley  on   Pitt,  70;    his  influence 
on  Spenserianism  powerful,  86  ; 
admired  by  Walpole,   in;   Hurd 
joined   the  Wartons  in  dethron- 
ing, 115;   Gray's  admiration  for, 
158. 

Potter,  R.,  his  Spenserian  imitation, 
76,  77- 

Prior,  Matthew,  his  Spenserian  imi- 
tation and  Preface,  49,  50,  51;  Dr. 
Johnson's  criticism  of  same,  51; 
probable  author  of  Colin's  Mis- 
takes, 52  ;  his  influence  on 
Thompson,  59  ;  his  metre  copied 
in  "  Albion's  Triumph,"  69  ;  imi- 
tated by  Lloyd,  80;  his  influence 
on  Spenserianism  powerful,  86 ; 
his  version  of  the  Not  Browne 


Mayde,  118  ;  the  same  ignored  by 
Capell,  128 

Radcliffe,  Mrs.,  her  novels,  108. 

Ramsay,  Allan,  a  reactionary 
tendency,  23;  an  editor  of 
Miscellanies,  31;  his  remarks  on 
Pastoral  poetry,  31;  his  Gentle 
Shepherd,  31;  his  originality,  32  ; 
his  Classicism,  32  ;  his  Songs,  32  ; 
his  influence  on  Hamilton,  33 ; 
inspired  by  Watson,  119;  his 
Scots  Songs,  119;  his  Tea-Table 
and  Evergreen,  123,  124,  125  ;  his 
editorial  methods,  125,  126  ;  casti- 
gates W.  Thomson,  127. 

Reeve,  Clara,  her  imitation  of 
Walpole,  1 08  ;  her  Progress  of 
Romance,  109. 

Ridley,  Gloucester,  his  Psyche,  70, 
71,  72. 

Ritson,  Joseph,  his  attacks  on  Percy, 

!35- 

Romanticism,  history  of  never  been 
written,  v  ;  spirit  of  never  been 
extinct  in  English  literature,  vi, 
23  ;  definitions  of,  see  introduc- 
tion ;  its  three  main  elements,  5; 
wider  in  connotation  than  Mediae 
valism,  5  ;  i7th  century  traditions 
of,  23  ;  Pope's  sympathy  with, 
25  ;  has  two  aspects,  36  ;  a  living 
force  after  1760,  46  ;  French  R. 
fortunate  in  having  Victor  Hugo, 
47;  had  no  real  leader  in  England, 
47;  its  true  poet  Spenser,  47; 
Thompson  filled  with,  57,  58,  59, 
60;  Mendez  poetry  full  of,  78,  79  ; 
T.  Warton's  sonnets  full  of  the 
spirit  of,  94  ;  the  literature  of 
melancholy  a  distinct  note  in, 
99  ;  Walpole's,  103  ;  its  progress 


INDEX. 


189 


shown  by  Kurd's  Letters,  112,  et 
seq. ;  Hurd  not  hopeful  about  its 
future,  114;  Ramsay  a  remarkable 
figure  in,  126  ;  the  year  1765  an 
important  date  in  history  of,  135; 
importance  of  Collins's  Ode  on 
Superstitions  in,  137;  Macpher- 
son?s  attitude  toward,  150;  Ossian 
belongs  to  subjective  side  of, 
152;  Gray's  movement  toward, 
1 57 ;  Gray's  early  odes  have  noth- 
ing of  the  spirit  of,  1 58  ;  import- 
ance of  Gray's  prose  in  history 
of,  1 66. 

Romantic  Movement,  a  real  force 
between  1725  and  1765,  vi  ;  in- 
stinctive in  England  and  conscious 
in  France,  5,  173  ;  its  effect  on 
Young,  44  ;  its  influence  on  the 
sonnet,  46  ;  Cambridge  not 
affected  by,  62  ;  Thomson's  influ- 
ence on,  76  ;  its  strength  in  1750, 
82  ;  its  critical  side,  82  ;  the 
fondness  for  abstractions  common 
in,  88  ;  the  Enthusiast  one  of  the 
most  important  poems  in,  90;  has 
objective  and  subjective  sides, 
102  ;  Walpole's  services  to,  103, 
105  ;  Watson  holds  an  important 
place  in,  119;  D'Urfey  has  little 
significance  in,  120;  Capell  has 
real  significance  in,  128  ;  Percy's 
Reliques  shows  its  unconscious- 
ness, 133  ;  importance  of  Collins 
in,  138  ;  Gray's  connection  with, 
see  Chapter  IX;  the  picturesque 
in  nature  has  close  connection 
with,  1 66  ;  J.  War  ton's  Essay  on 
Pope  most  important  critical  work 
in,  172  ;  unconsciousness  of  sum- 
marized, 173 ;  the  French  com- 
pared with  English,  173. 


Romantic    School,   said    to   contain 

Scott,    Byron,    Wordsworth,     i  ; 

foreshadowed    in    Collins's    Ode 

on  Superstitions,  137;  its  critical 

defenders,  172. 
Rossetti,  D.  G.,  his  House  of  Life, 

44. 
Rowe,  Nicholas,  his  service  to   the 

ballad  revival,  1 18  ;  his  use  of  the 

word  Romantic,  1 18. 

Saintsbury,  George,  his  definition  of 
Romanticism,  3. 

Scott,  Walter,  explained  by  early 
Romanticism,  vi ;  his  classic  coup- 
let, i  ;  a  prominent  figure  in 
Romanticism,  i ;  belongs  to  objecA 
tive  side  of  same,  102  ;  inspired 
by  Percy's  Reliques,  135. 

Selden,  John,  a  collector  of  ballads, 
116. 

Shairp,J.  C.,  his  remarks  on  Ram- 
say, 32. 

Shakspere,  his  "  monstrous  irregu- 
larities," 10;  regarded  as  greatest 
writer,  but  not  understood,  1 5  ; 
Atterbury's  complaint  of,  16;  ver- 
sified by  Hamilton,  16  ;  criticized 
by  Mallet,  17;  apologized  for  by 
Pope,  17;  Warburton's  edition  of, 
45 ;  praised  by  Edwards,  46  ;  a 
favorite  poet  with  Romanticists, 
47  ;  admired  by  Thompson,  57  ; 
copied  by  Upton,  72  ;  compared 
with  Addison  by  J.  Warton,  90  ; 
alluded  to  in  J.  Warton's  Ode  to 
Fancy,  91;  defended  by  Walpole, 
107;  his  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream  ridiculed  by  same,  in. 

Shenstone,  William,  his  School-mis- 
tress, 48,  74,  84  ;  his  influence  on 
Thomson,  74  ;  on  Arnold,  84  ; 


190 


INDEX. 


his  fondness  for  elegiac  writing, 
100;  his  connection  with  Percy's 
Reliques,  130. 

Smart,  Christopher,  his  Spenserian 
imitation,  85. 

Smith,  Adam,  wrote  preface  to 
Hamilton's  poems,  33. 

Smith,  Edmund,  his  Latin  ode,  81. 

Somerville,  William,  his  Chase,  38. 

Sonnet,  disappearance  and  revival 
of,  44,  45,  46. 

Spence,  Joseph,  his  remark  on  Pope's 
Alley,  53  ;  his  Polymetis,  72. 

Spenser,  Edmund,  not  taken  seri- 
ously, 15,  48,  66;  his  influence 
on  Edwards,  46  ;  the  great  poet 
of  English  Romanticism,  47,  48  ; 
his  influence  strong  and  healthy, 
48  ;  Prior's  remarks  on,  50,  51; 
influenced  A.  Philips,  52  ;  Steele 
calls  public  attention  to,  53  ; 
praised  by  Hughes,  54,  55,  56 ; 
editions  of,  54,  56,  86  ;  Thomp- 
son's remarks  on,  58,  59  ;  ignor- 
ance of  shown  by  glossaries,  63  ; 
Shenstone's  attitude  toward,  66, 
67,  68  ;  his  influence  on  Ridley, 
71;  on  the  Wartons,  73  ;  Thom- 
son's allusion  to  in  Seasons,  74  ; 
in  Castle  of  Indolence,  75; 
admired  by  Potter,  76;  his 
influence  on  T.  Warton,  82,  83  ; 
D  e  n  t  o  n  '  s  knowledge  of,  84  ; 
Mickle's  remarks  on,  86  ;  ridiculed 
by  Walpole,  ill;  T.  Warton's 
Observations  on  Fairy  Queen, 
in,  172. 

Spenserian  Imitations,  very  popular 
in  Romantic  movement,  48; 
Prior's,  49,  50,  51;  really  started 
by  Prior,  49 ;  Pope's,  53  ;  Crox- 
all's,  54  ;  W  h  i  t  e  h  e  a  d  '  s,  56  ; 


Thompson's,  55,  58,  59,  60  ; 
Cambridge's,  61;  Akenside's,  62  : 
West's,  62,  63  ;  Boyse's,  65,  66  : 
Shenstone's,  66,  67,  68  ;  Dods 
ley's,  68  ;  an  anonymous  ode,  69 ; 
Mason's,  69 ;  Blacklock's,  70 ; 
Pitt's,  70;  Ridley's,  70,  71,  72  ; 
Lowth's,  72  ;  Upton's,  72  ;  Bed 
ingfield's,  73  ;  Rev.  T.  Warton's, 
73;  Thomson's,  74,  75,76; 
PotFeVs,  .76;  Mendez's,  77; 
Lloyd's  remarks  on,  80 ;  his  own, 
8 1 ;  Smith's  ode  translated  as,  81 ; 
Johnson's  remarks  on,  82  ;  T. 
Warton's,  82  ;  Denton's,  83,  84  ; 
Arnold's,  84  ;  Smart's,  84  ;  Wil- 
kie's,  85  ;  Mickle's,  86  ;  summary 
of,  86  ;  list  of,  see  Appendix  I. 

Spenserian  Stanza,  a  favorite  verse- 
form  with  the  Romanticists,  37; 
unlike  the  couplet,  47;  used  for 
satires  and  comic  poetry,  48  ;  a 
pseudo-form  originated  by  Prior, 
50 ;  discussed  by  Hughes,  55 ; 
Dr.  Johnson's  remarks  on,  82. 

Stael,  Madame  de,  her  definition  of 
Romanticism,  2. 

Steele,  Richard,  his  remarks  on 
Spenser,  53,  54. 

Stephen,  Leslie,  his  comparison  of 
relations  between  Milton,  Spenser 
and  Pope,  8. 

Stillingjleet,  Benjamin,  a  reviver  of 
the  sonnet,  45. 

Surrey,  Earl,  his  mythical  expedi- 
tion, 55. 

Swift,  Jonathan,  his  religious  atti- 
tude, 8. 

Temple,  William,  his  remarks  on 
Spenser,  49 ;  on  a  Runic  ode, 
142. 


INDEX. 


191 


Tennyson,  Alfred,  his  Lotus  Eaters, 

75- 

Thompson,  William,  his  Romanti- 
cism, 57,  58,  59,  60  ;  his  Spenser- 
ian imitations,  57,  58,  59,  60  ;  a 
lover  of  Shakspere,  57 ;  his  blank- 
verse  poem,  57;  his  fondness  for 
Pope,  57. 

Thomson,  James,  a  powerful  force, 
23  ;  his  preference  for  blank 
verse,  37,  38  ;  his  influence  on 
verse-form,  37,  38  ;  shows  classic 
influence,  39;  imitated  by 
Armstrong,  40  ;  his  Castle  of 
Indolence,  48,  74,  75,  76  ;  his 
allusion  to  Spenser,  74  ;  imitated 
by  Mendez,  77;  despised  by  Wai- 
pole,  in. 

Thomson,  William,  his  Orpheus 
Caledonius,  127. 

Toreinx,  his  definition  of  Romanti- 
cism, 4. 

Townsend,  Charles,  a  friend  of 
Whitehead's,  56. 

Tovey,  D.  C.,  his  essay  on  Gray,  1 57, 
Note. 

Upton,  John,  his  Spenserian  imita- 
tion, 72. 

\rergil,  does  homage  to  Milton,  92  ; 

his  style  compared  with  that  of 

Chevy-Chase,  117. 
Voltaire,  his   letter  on    the  Queen 

Anne  School,  10. 

Wagner,  Richard,  obscurity  of  his 
music  compared  to  Gray's  odes, 
161. 

Wakefield,  Benjamin,  his  Warbling 
Muses,  127. 

Waller,     Edmund,     compared     to 


Spenser  by  Hughes,  55  ;  Augus- 
tans  learned  art  of  poetry  from, 
116  ;  praised  by  A.  Philips,  126. 

Walpole,  Horace,  his  relations  with 
Gray  and  Mason,  97 ;  his  import- 
ance in  Gothic  revival,  103  ;  his 
description  of  Grande  Chartreuse, 
104;  Strawberry  Hill,  104,  105; 
his  Castle  of  Otranto,  105,  106, 
107,  1 08  ;  his  own  literary  taste 
not  Romantic,  no;  makes  fun 
of  T.  Warton,  no;  at  heart  an 
Augustan,  111;  his  contempt  for 
Thomson  and  fondness  for  Pope, 
in;  criticises  Spenser  and  Shaks- 
pere, 111;  his  attitude  toward 
Ossian,  148,  149 ;  his  view  of 
Gray's  sterility,  156  ;  his  connec- 
tion with  the  publication  of  Gray's 
Elegy,  1 59  ;  with  Gray's  Pindaric 
Odes,  1 60  ;  his  dislike  for  Dr. 
Johnson,  161  ;  his  remark  on 
Gray's  fondness  for  Ossian,  162  ; 
his  beautiful  attitude  toward 
Gray,  170. 

Walsh,  William,  his  advice  to  Pope, 
13  ;  his  sonnet,  44. 

Warbtirton,  William,  his  edition  of 
Shckspere,  45  ;  his  opposition  to 
ballads,  134. 

Wardlaw,  Lady,  author  of  Hardy- 
Knute,  125. 

Warton,  Joseph,  his  Enthusiast,  12, 
41,  89  ;  his  remark  on  Pope's 
imitations,  53  ;  his  praise  of  Pitt's 
Virgil,  70  ;  publishes  his  father's 
poems,  73  ;  his  praise  of  the 
Castle  of  Indolence,  75,  76  ;  a 
leader  of  Romanticism,  89;  his 
imitations  of  Milton,  89,  90  ;  his 
comparison  of  Addison  and 
Shakspere,  90  ;  his  Odes,  oo,  91, 


192 


INDEX. 


92  ;  the  first  consciously  romantic 
poet,  92  ;  Kurd  a  follower  of,  1 14  ; 
his  Essay  on  Pope  most  import- 
ant work  in  movement,  172. 

Warton,  Thomas  (Senior),  his  Spen- 
serian imitation,  73  ;  his  Runic 
odes,  141. 

Warton,  Thomas,  a  reviver  of  the 
sonnet,  45  ;  his  Observations  on 
the  Faery  Queen,  82,  in,  172  ; 
his  Spenserian  imitations,  82  ;  his 
Pleasures  of  Melancholy,  83,  93  ; 
a  more  direct  follower  of  Milton 
than  his  brother,  93  ;  his  New- 
market, 93  ;  his  odes  and  sonnets, 
94 ;  his  History  of  English  Poetry 
ridiculed  by  Walpole,  no;  his 
plea  for  study  of  chivalry,  in, 
112  ;  Gray  gives  historical  mate- 
rials to,  1 66. 

Watson,  James,  his  Song-collection, 
119. 

West,  Gilbert,  his  Spenserian  imita- 
tions, 62,  63,  64  ;  his  attack  on 
artificial  gardening,  64. 


West,  Richard,  sonnet  on  death  of, 

45- 

Whitehead,  William,  his  Spenserian 
imitations,  56. 

Wilkie,  William,  his  Epigoniad,  85; 
his  Spenserian  imitation,  85. 

Winchelsea,  Lady,  see  Anne  Finch. 

Wordsworth,  William,  his  compli- 
mentary allusion  to  Windsor 
Forest,  24  ;  to  Lady  Winchelsea, 
27;  his  condemnation  of  Gray, 
45  ;  his  praise  of  Percy's  Reliques, 
135  ;  Gray's  Lake  Journal  written 
in  the  true  spirit  of,  167,  169. 

Young,  Edward,  a  composer  of 
satires,  14  ;  his  defense  of  blank 
verse,  37,  42,  43,  44  ;  his  Night 
Thoughts,  38  ;  shows  classic 
influence,  39 ;  most  conspicuous 
exemplar  of  Graveyard  school, 
99  ;  Perry's  and  Gosse's  remarks 
on,  100  ;  his  radicalism  in  poetry, 
172. 


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