A History of English LiteratureJ. Murray, 1876 - 550 pages |
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Page iii
... give prominence to those writers and those subjects which ought to occupy the main attention of the Student . Considering the size of the book , the amount of information which it conveys is really remarkable , while the space devoted ...
... give prominence to those writers and those subjects which ought to occupy the main attention of the Student . Considering the size of the book , the amount of information which it conveys is really remarkable , while the space devoted ...
Page 3
... give , they found themselves exposed to the furious incursions of hungry bar- barians , eager to reconquer what they considered as their birthright ; and who , intense as was their hatred of the victorious Romans , must have looked with ...
... give , they found themselves exposed to the furious incursions of hungry bar- barians , eager to reconquer what they considered as their birthright ; and who , intense as was their hatred of the victorious Romans , must have looked with ...
Page 17
... English , the Semi - Saxon Second English , and give the name of Third English to the remaining periods . " Continet haec theca Bedae venerabilis ossa , " was CHAP . I. 17 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS . A Anglo-Saxon Literature.
... English , the Semi - Saxon Second English , and give the name of Third English to the remaining periods . " Continet haec theca Bedae venerabilis ossa , " was CHAP . I. 17 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS . A Anglo-Saxon Literature.
Page 36
... gives incessant proof of Chaucer's remarkable ear for metrical harmony , and also of his picturesque imagination ... give a description of the Castle of Love , where Admetus and Alcestis preside as king and queen . Philogenet is then ...
... gives incessant proof of Chaucer's remarkable ear for metrical harmony , and also of his picturesque imagination ... give a description of the Castle of Love , where Admetus and Alcestis preside as king and queen . Philogenet is then ...
Page 41
... give us , first , a collection of admirable daguerreotypes of the various classes of English society , and then to place in the mouths of these persons a series of separate tales highly beautiful when regarded as compositions and judged ...
... give us , first , a collection of admirable daguerreotypes of the various classes of English society , and then to place in the mouths of these persons a series of separate tales highly beautiful when regarded as compositions and judged ...
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.