A History of English Literature |
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Page 41
... lift his words above mere preaching and controversy into the sphere of literature . With him begins the use of imaginative literature for social reformation . Wyclif . The need for social and religious reform is THE AGE OF CHAUCER 41.
... lift his words above mere preaching and controversy into the sphere of literature . With him begins the use of imaginative literature for social reformation . Wyclif . The need for social and religious reform is THE AGE OF CHAUCER 41.
Page 42
... reform is shown also in the tracts and sermons of the great reformer , John Wyclif , whose followers , the Lollards , may be regarded as a kind of Protestants before the Reformation . But Wyclif's greatest service to literature was his ...
... reform is shown also in the tracts and sermons of the great reformer , John Wyclif , whose followers , the Lollards , may be regarded as a kind of Protestants before the Reformation . But Wyclif's greatest service to literature was his ...
Page 55
... reforms . The new king as he grew up showed himself a weakling , and the house of York took the opportunity to push its claims against the reigning house of Lancaster . From 1450 till 1485 the country was convulsed by the wars between ...
... reforms . The new king as he grew up showed himself a weakling , and the house of York took the opportunity to push its claims against the reigning house of Lancaster . From 1450 till 1485 the country was convulsed by the wars between ...
Page 81
... himself said of his poetry , Though my rhyme be ragged , Tattered and jagged , It hath in it some pith . 1 I lifted mine eyes unto the mountains . THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION The Reformers . The cry for reform THE RENAISSANCE 81.
... himself said of his poetry , Though my rhyme be ragged , Tattered and jagged , It hath in it some pith . 1 I lifted mine eyes unto the mountains . THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION The Reformers . The cry for reform THE RENAISSANCE 81.
Page 82
... reform was resounding through- out Europe . With the new ideas and opportunities opened by the Renaissance , it was inevitable that men should desire to free themselves from evils that hampered their development . But , as always during ...
... reform was resounding through- out Europe . With the new ideas and opportunities opened by the Renaissance , it was inevitable that men should desire to free themselves from evils that hampered their development . But , as always during ...
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admiration ballads Battle beauty Beowulf born Browning Byron Cædmon Carlyle century character Chaucer chief church classical Coleridge comedy criticism death Dickens died drama dramatists Dryden Elizabethan England English literature English poetry essays Europe expression Faerie Queene fiction France French French Revolution Gawain George George Eliot give Gulliver's Travels Henry hero human humor imagination influence interest invention J. S. Mill Jane Austen John Johnson Julius Cæsar King Lamb language later literary lived London Macaulay medieval ment Middle Ages Milton modern Molière moral narrative nature novelists novels period persons Piers Plowman plays poems poet political Pope popular prose Puritan Queen readers reform religious Revolution romance Ruskin Sartor Resartus satire scenes Scott sentiment Shakespeare Shelley songs Spenser spirit story Tell Tennyson Thackeray theaters themes Thomas thought tion to-day tragedy translation verse William women Wordsworth writing written wrote
Popular passages
Page 260 - Among the farthest Hebrides. Will no one tell me what she sings?— Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow For old, unhappy, far-off things, And battles long ago: Or is it some more humble lay, Familiar matter of to-day? Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain, That has been, and may be again?
Page 199 - Peace to all such ! but were there one whose fires True genius kindles, and fair fame inspires; Blest with each talent and each art to please, And born to write, converse, and live with ease; Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne...
Page 160 - Ah ! who hath reft,' quoth he, ' my dearest pledge ? ' Last came, and last did go, The Pilot of the Galilean Lake ; Two massy keys he bore of metals twain (The golden opes, the iron shuts amain). He shook his mitred locks, and stern bespake : ' How well could I have spared for thee, young swain, Enow of such as for their bellies...
Page 359 - But such a tide as, moving, seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark ! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark ; For tho...
Page 228 - Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind ; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it.
Page 153 - Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, The bridal of the earth and sky, The dew shall weep thy fall to-night ; For thou must die. " Sweet rose, whose hue angry and brave, Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye, Thy root is ever in its grave, And thou must die. " Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses, A box where sweets compacted lie, My music shows ye have your closes, And all must die.
Page 271 - Proud Maisie is in the wood, Walking so early; Sweet Robin sits on the bush, Singing so rarely. '"Tell me, thou bonny bird. When shall I marry me?' 'When six braw gentlemen Kirkward shall carry ye.' '"Who makes the bridal bed, Birdie, say truly?' — 'The grey-headed sexton, That delves the grave duly. "The glow-worm o'er grave and stone Shall light thee steady; The owl from the steeple sing, 'Welcome, proud lady.
Page 274 - She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellow'd to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
Page 264 - Sometimes a-dropping from the sky I heard the sky-lark sing; sometimes all little birds that are, how they seemed to fill the sea and air with their sweet jargoning! And now 'twas like all instruments, now like a lonely flute; and now it is an angel's song, that makes the heavens be mute.
Page 180 - Was everything by starts, and nothing long; But, in the course of one revolving moon, Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon ; Then all for women, painting, rhyming, drinking, Besides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking.