A History of English LiteratureJ. Murray, 1876 - 550 pages |
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Page 5
... civilization to become a noble vehicle for reasoning , for eloquence , and for the expression of the social and domestic feelings . In the modern English , the ideas which address themselves to the A.D. 450-550 . 5 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE .
... civilization to become a noble vehicle for reasoning , for eloquence , and for the expression of the social and domestic feelings . In the modern English , the ideas which address themselves to the A.D. 450-550 . 5 LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE .
Page 22
... expressions of thought , not necessarily corresponding to real ex- istences . At Oxford , the Franciscan friar , ROGER BACON ( about A.D. 1214-1292 ) , by his devotion to physical science , gained the reputation of a sorcerer , while ...
... expressions of thought , not necessarily corresponding to real ex- istences . At Oxford , the Franciscan friar , ROGER BACON ( about A.D. 1214-1292 ) , by his devotion to physical science , gained the reputation of a sorcerer , while ...
Page 29
... expression ; for , like all men of the highest order of genius , he at once followed and directed the in- tellectual tendencies of his age , and is himself the " abstract and brief chronicle " of the spirit of his time . Dante is not ...
... expression ; for , like all men of the highest order of genius , he at once followed and directed the in- tellectual tendencies of his age , and is himself the " abstract and brief chronicle " of the spirit of his time . Dante is not ...
Page 30
... expressions ; his versifica- tion is extremely regular , and he runs on in a full and flowing , if commonplace and unpoetical , stream of disquisition . It is very curious , as an example of the contemporary existence of the French ...
... expressions ; his versifica- tion is extremely regular , and he runs on in a full and flowing , if commonplace and unpoetical , stream of disquisition . It is very curious , as an example of the contemporary existence of the French ...
Page 46
... expression of the inexhaustible goodness of the female heart . The finest of Chaucer's comic and humorous stories are those of the Miller , the Reeve , the Sompnour , the Canon's Yeoman , and the Nun's Priest . Though all of these are ...
... expression of the inexhaustible goodness of the female heart . The finest of Chaucer's comic and humorous stories are those of the Miller , the Reeve , the Sompnour , the Canon's Yeoman , and the Nun's Priest . Though all of these are ...
Common terms and phrases
admirable afterwards allusions ancient Anglo-Saxon appeared ballads beautiful Ben Jonson blank verse Boccacio Canterbury Tales career celebrated century character Chaucer Chronicle Church comedy comic composition court death dramatic dramatists Dryden England English English language entitled exhibit exquisite favour fiction French genius GILES FLETCHER graceful Henry Henry VIII Hudibras human humour illustrations inimitable intellectual intense JOHN Johnson Julius Cæsar King Lady language Latin latter learning legends literary literature London Lord manner merit Milton Molière moral narrative nature noble original Oxford Paradise Regained passion peculiar period personages persons philosophical picturesque pieces plays poem poet poetical poetry political Pope popular possessed principal produced prose published racter reader reign religious remarkable Richard II Roman satire scenes sentiment Shakspeare Shakspeare's society spirit story style Swift taste THOMAS tion tone tragedy translation Trouvère verse versification vigorous Wicliffe WILLIAM writings written wrote
Popular passages
Page 360 - It was at Rome, on the 15th of October 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the bare-footed friars were singing vespers in the Temple of Jupiter, that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind.
Page 482 - For over all there hung a cloud of fear; A sense of mystery the spirit daunted, And said, as plain as whisper in the ear, The place is haunted!
Page 45 - Such notes as warbled to the string, Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek, And made Hell grant what love did seek. Or call up him that left half told The story of Cambuscan bold, Of Camball, and of Algarsife, And who had Canace to wife, That owned the virtuous ring and glass, And of the wondrous horse of brass, On which the Tartar king did ride...
Page 140 - Yes, trust them not: for there is an upstart crow beautified with our feathers, that with his tiger's heart, wrapt in a player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you; and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country.
Page 228 - ... sometimes it is couched in a bold scheme of speech, in a tart irony, in a lusty hyperbole, in a startling metaphor, in a plausible reconciling of contradictions, or in acute nonsense ; sometimes...
Page 500 - ... by night in places of interment. Some stalked slowly on, absorbed in profound reverie ; some, shrieking with agony, ran furiously about like tigers wounded with poisoned arrows ; whilst others, grinding their teeth in rage, foamed along more frantic than the wildest maniac. They all avoided each other; and, though surrounded by a multitude that no one could number, each wandered at random unheedful of the rest, as if alone on a desert where no foot had trodden.
Page 289 - Pope's translation is far from unfaithful; but in the spirit, the atmosphere, so to say, of the original, the ballad-like version of Chapman is far superior. Bentley's criticism is, after all, the best and most comprehensive that has yet been made on this work: "It is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer.
Page ii - History of Rome. From the Earliest Times to the Establishment of the Empire. With the History of Literature and Art.
Page 419 - The greatest of these poems are unquestionably the three first — the Lay of the Last Minstrel, Marmion, and the Lady of the Lake.
Page 510 - We find in it the diligence, the accuracy, and the judgment of Hallam, united to the vivacity and the colouring of Southey. A history of England, written throughout in this manner, would be the most fascinating book in the language. It would be more in request at the circulating libraries than the last novel.