Forms of English Poetry - Forgotten Books

FORM S OF

ENGL ISH POETRY

CHARLES F . JOHNSON , L.H .D .

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN TR INITY COLLEGE,HARTFORD

Autlzor of“E lements ofLiterary Critic ism ,

"“Outline H istoryofE nglisiz and American Literature,"etc.

NEW YORK C INC INN AT I CH ICAGO

AM E R ICA N BOOK COM PANY

COPYRIGHT ,1904, BY

CHA R LES F. JOHNSON .

ENTERED AT STAT IONERS’ HALL, LONDON.

FORM S OF ENG . POETRY.

w . P . 3

PREFACE

TH I S book con ta in s noth ing more than everyyoung person shou ld know about the constructionof English verse, and its main d ivi s ions both byforms and by sub ject-matter . The h is torica l development of eight of these divi sion s i s sketchedand br iefly i l lustrated by examp les , but the trueCharacter of poetry a s an art and a socia l fo rcehas a lways been in the wri ter ’ s mind . The studyof p rosody pure and simp le i s to most s tudents ofan average c l ass weari some and f ruit less , thoughthere are but few who do not become i nterestedin poetry if the technica l s ide i s not exclus ivelyregarded by the teacher .Such an Interest n atural ly acquired in youth

i s of g rea t va lue. I t becomes part of character .Therefore, i n th i s book , on ly the e lements of prosody are given , fo r i t i s addressed to young peopleand to genera l readers . Sti l l the outl i ne view ofsevera l departments that may be obtai ned from i tm ay serve to render subsequent m inute h i stori c als tudy of some one form more fruitfu l in coOrdi

na ted ideas and less apt to resu l t in par tial conceptions . The wri ter has reason to th ink thatthere i s room fo r a book of thi s character even inthese days of carefu l spec ia lization .

The autho r ’ s thanks are due to Mes s rs . H oughton , Mitflin, and Co . for perm ission to p rin t i l lustrative extracts from Mr . Lowel l ’ s odes , and toMessrs . Char les Scribner ’s Sons for sim il a r courtesy in the case of passages from S idney Lanier ’ sCentennial Cantafa

,and M i ss H apgood

’

s Ep icS ongs ofRuss ia .

C , F , J .

CONTENTS

PAGE

VOCABULA R Y

I . THE FOOT, THE LINE, AND THE STANZA

I I . THE BALLAD

THE SONNET

THE ODE

D I RGES AND MEMO R IAL VE RSE

THE LYR IC AND SONG

SOC I ETY VERSE AND THE VERSE CULTURE

VI I I . THE FR ENCH FO R MS

THE EP IC AND THE ROMANCE

VOCABULARY

THOUGH technical terms have been avo ided as far as po ssible inthis boo k , a short vo cabulary of the words of this character notre ferred to in the index may prove help ful to the understand ing ofo ther bo o ks

,in wh ich the student may enco unter them .

Accent. Prono uncing a syllable w ith more force—sl ightlylouder, and al low ing sl ightly more time to the vowel sound than isgiven to an unaccented syllable.

Alliterat ion. Identity ofconsonant sounds, usual ly butwronglyrestricted to the Opening consonants oftwo words. I t may refer tothe sim i larity between the consonant sounds ofsyl lables.

Anacrusis. An unemphatic syl lable preced ing the regularrhythm of the verse. Frequentl y this syl lable seems to belong tothe final fo o t ofthe preced ing l ine. See p . 36.

Assonance. I dentity of accented vowel so unds in two wordswhich do not rhym e, as the term inal consonants are unl ike, eg. air—day.

Ca sura o r Cesura. A pause near the m idd le of a l ine causedby the term inatio n ofa phrase. This canno t wel l apply to l ines of

less than five feet, and is cal led the caesural pause. A caesura isalso the cutting o fa word so that part ofit belo ngs to o ne fo o t andpart to the next one. In blank verse o r hexam eters the po sition of

caesural pause m ust be varied in successive l ines .

Cata lect ic. Lack ing one or two syllables to complete the verse.

The time can frequently be fi l led up by a pause or by stress on the

last syl lable ofthe l ine.

Choriambus . A fo o t in Greek pro sody consisting of a long,two short, and a lo ng syl lable.

Chor ic and Choral. Lyrical but adapted to be sung by a chorus.Dia resis . Substantial ly the o pposite of El is ion.

” A syl lable isso lengthened as to take the m etrical value of two , as when y ouris pronounced y oz

’

e erorfi re fz'

er. The two do ts o ver the vowelsare the marks ofd iaeresis, o r, m ore simp ly, the d iaeresis.D ict ion. The general style o r character of the words used by

an author or in a composition withoutmuch reference to phraseo logyo r sentence formation. D iction is affected also by the figurativeuse ofwords.

D ist ich . Two l ines connected in sense and quo ted together.When rhymed, they are cal led a co uplet.E l is ion . Pronouncing two syllables as one for the sake ofthe

metre, as t/z’ esta te fo r t/ze esta te orfaw’r forpower.

End- stopping . A d ivisio n of l ines ofverse such that they endwith a sto p o r a mark ofpunctuat ion . See p . 49.

Harmony . The agreement of coex isting sounds or things, asthe harmo ny oftwo vo ices o r the harmony between the words and

thought ofa po em . A lso app l ied to the relation between separated

6 VOCABULARY

parts. A l ine of po etry harm oni zes w ith ano ther when there isan essential s imilarity ofm ovement and yet suffic ient d ifference to

ind ividual ize each one.

Hovering Accent. When two accented syl lables form a fo o t anf

it is evident that a spondee is no t intended, the accent is sa id tohover over bo th. When two unaccented syllables form a fo o t thesam e term is appl ied , or it

/may be called a fo o t w ith a deferred

accent. Take the l ine fromc zo’as

“Yet o nce more 0 l ye Lau l rels and I once m ore,more 0and once m ore may be said to have/ a hovering accent, andrels a nd the hovering or deferred accent.Melody . A success ion ofagreeable and agreeably related sounds,

espec ia l ly vow el sounds or musical no tes.

Metre o rMeter. The arrangem ent of feet in l ines of definitelength. Thus, iamb ic trimeter m eans a l ine ofthree iamb ic feet.M id- stopt . See Over-flow .

”

Onomatopceia . Im itation ofnatural sounds. App l ied to wordsand to verses and even to stanzas .

Over-flow . A style ofverse in which the grammaticalstructureis independent ofthe rhythm ical structure. See p . 49.

Pe on. A foo t in Greek pro so dy consisting ofa long and threeshort syllables.

Pyrrhic. A fo o t in Greek pro so dy oftwo sho rt sy l lab les.Quantity . The time o ccup ied in prono unc ing e. syllable. Greek

verse was based o n the theory that a lo ng syl lable was equivalentto two short syl lables. W ith us accent o r stress marks the beatinstead ofquantity, strictly speak ing.

Quatrain. A stanza o ffo ur l ines o r verses.Refra in. The repetition at fixed intervals of certain words o r

ofone o r mo re l ines.

Repetend . The repetition of a word o r words in immed iatesequence, a device frequentl y emplo yed by Po e as in Tne H aunted

Palace or Tne Bel/s. Sometimes the noun is repeated w ith an adjective. H ear the to l l ing ofthe bells, iro n bells,"etc.

Shirring. M uch the sam e as El ision,

”

Techn ic or Technique. M echanical sk i l l in the details of anyartistic work .

Theme. Subject-matter hand led in any compositio n. M oreindefinitely the underly ing o r inform ing tho ught, as the theme of

M acbeth is amb ition o rvio lated loyalty, o rwhatever the critic thinks.Wrenched Accent . When the accent is thrown purpo sely o n the

wrong syl lable of a word , as when country is prono unced countree,

the accent is sa id to be wrenched. I n M ilton’s Cam us it is almost

necessary at times to pronounce the words serene, supreme, extreme,complete, w ith the accent on the first syl lable.

FORMS OF ENGLISH POETRY

CHAPTER I

THE FOOT, THE L INE , AND THE STANZA

THE worth of poetry depends on the fact th ati t gives p leasure to those who hear o r read it . Togive pleasu re i s the j u stification for the ex istenceof any art, i f we g ive to the term

“ pleasu re an

extended signifi cation . I n the case of poetry thep leasure i s very complex, as may be readi ly inferredfrom the truth that di fferent kinds of versified

language, di fferent in subj ect-matter and fo rm,

please men of very di stinct menta l and emotion a lcon sti tu tion

,and in d i fferen t stages of deve lopment .

That the capacity o f receiving some p leasure frompoetry i s a lmost un iversa l m ay be gathered fromthe fact that i n every age and in every cond itionof human society, poetic exp ress ion somet imes,as i t appears to u s

,qu i te rudimenta ry—h as been

cu ltivated , and frequently with great in terest andfervor . Often we find the function of the poetregarded as of great importance . U lysses saysin the palace of A l c inous ,

“By al l mortal men

7

8 THE FOOT,THE L INE

,AND THE STANZA

bards are a l lotted honor and respect, because,indeed , the Muse has taught them songs andloves the t ribe of singers .

”

The complex p leasure or conger ies of pleasurab le emotions of which poetry i s the cause maybe ana lyz ed with great m inuteness , because humansusceptibi l i ties cover a wide range . A rough basiccl ass ifi cation wou ld be : fi rst, the physica l pleasurewe receive from a rudimen tary form of music ;t ime-beats, echoes, and success ive notes rel ated toeach other so as to form a melody ; in a word thep leasure received from sound without much regardto definite i ntel lectua l impressions . A ch i ld li stensattentively to the recitation of a bal l ad , the wordso f wh ich i t comprehends very imperfect ly

,to

which indeed i t may attach erroneous concep

t ions . Some poetry i s enj oyed by mature per

sons ih the same way very much as m us ic i s .

Notions o f beau ty and symmetryi

are d im ly sugges ted , with li tt le regard to the meaning o f thewords . Conscious thought i s not appealed to, bu tthe subcon sciou sness i s vaguely but pleasurablysti rred . The capaci ty for th i s e lement of p leasurei s substanti a l ly universa l . The ch ild in the c rad lei s soothed by the croon ing o f a s imple melody

,the

s a i lors are cheered by shouting in t ime some meaningless

“ chan ty, the schoolboy decl aim s h i s

H omer,and the studen t h is Swinburne, withou t

m uch though t of the sense o r the syn tax . The

words are l i tt le more th an sounds, though that

THE FOOT, THE L INE,AND THE STANZA 9

l i tt le may be of considerab le im portance. I t i sth is element of the pleasure-g iv ing power ofpoetry, akin as i t i s to music, wh ich l ifts the artout of the rank of cu l tivated diversion s and putsi t among the great motive forces of the world

,

f rom the operation o f which no one i s exempt . I tmay be radic a l ly based on the fact tha t the constitution of the m a terial un iverse i s harmoniousatomic vibration .

The second reason for the p leasure taken inpoetry i s th at the words h ave significance . Takenseparate ly they have mean ing,

they symboliz eth ings and ab stractions ; taken together they convey ideas, rel ation s of th ings

,reactions of the

human m ind on experiences ; taken in comb ination with measure and melody the i r significanceand power are wonderfu l ly reen fo rced ; they h avethe power of mak ing us conceive th ings emotional ly and vivid ly . N o man ever reads poetry in alanguage he cannot unders tand , however melod iou si t may be. But th ose who read poetry in a language they do understand , even imperfectly , see

the world and life i n a new l ight, because theycatch gl impses o f them th rough the eyes of a poet .Unsuspected beauty i n th e flower or the l andscapei s revea led . They come in con tact fo r the momentwith an illuminated inte l lect . H onor and chastityand cou rage and love, a l l the virtues wh ich theyh ave been taugh t to respect as abstractions , are

seen to be divine and to be active and permanen t

I O THE FOOT, THE L I NE , AND THE STANZA

forces in li fe. Th is emotional and spi ri tua l widening of the intel lectua l ou tlook is a source of p leasure to the reader of true poet ry , a p leasu re boundu p with the other and inferior p leasure he receivesfrom the regu lated succession of me lod ious o rsonorous sounds .

A third p leasure we receive from poetry comesfrom the perception of arti sti c work . We admireany beautifu l th ing produced by a man not only because i t i s beauti fu l , but becau se it i s a work ofhuman sk i ll . Sympathy with our k i nd causes u sto take del ight in the earl iest and crudest attemptsat a rti sti c embodiment in w h ich ,

indeed, patienceand simp le-minded devotion to the idea of beautyare somet imes striking ly evident . A very s lightknowledge of techn ical art in creases our admirationof i ts mani festations . Poetry h as taken many forms ,—the heroic epic, the popu lar bal l ad , the romance,

the short lyri c , the lament,and many others, each

of wh ich expresses a distinct ph ase of poet ic develo pment. I n m any c ases they correspond more orless exactly to period s of social h i story . They are

combined and again dissoci ated . A knowledge ofsome of these fo rm s adds great ly to our appreciat ion of poetry . I t wou ld not consti tute an understanding of the rea l n ature of poetry, but only ofthe construction of verse and of the ch aracter i sticforms in wh ich poetry h as found exp ression . I nth i s book a cl ass ificat ion of the principa l forms wi l l

be g iven and the discussion wi l l be restr ic ted to

THE FOOT,THE L I NE

,AND THE STANZA

those which have been used in Eng l i sh literatu re .

No minute subclassifications wi l l be a ttempted .

Admitting th at the pleasu re which a knowledgeof technica l fo rms o f verse add s to the reading ofpoetry is o f an inferi o r, poss ib ly a rtifici a l

,nature,

there i s no reason to suppose i t incompatible withthe more elevated p leasure derived from aestheti capprec iation . On the contrary , a genera l knowledge of construction resu lts not in less l ove but in .

a more i n te l ligent love of art . Cri tici sm , i t i s t rue,

i s somet imes vitiated by exc lusive attention tomerely forma l matters, but th at is not because thewri ter h as learned the ar tificia l rules deduced f romthe practice of poets , but because he i s b l i nd to thevital qua l i ties o f verse which are the only justificat ion for the ru les . Those who natura l ly and unconsciously love poetry in some fo rm and theyconst itute the maj or i ty of the human race—wi l lfind their ap preciation enhanced and cl arified bysome comprehens ion of poeti c fo rms .

I t i s neces sary fi rs t to define and discuss b rieflythebasic elements of verse— the foo t, the line, andthe stanza befo re con sidering

—“the l arger uni t, the

poem.

Tlze Foot

I n verse, speech i s arranged in units of one o rmore sy llab les

,which d ivide tt time of u tterance

into equa l parts . These speech - time un its, cal ledfeet, are marked by the p resence of an accented

12 THE FOOT, THE L INE,AND THE STANZA

syllab le wh ich serves to individualiz e them . The

succession of nearly equa l and near ly equidistantstresses or accents i s the fi rs t element in the

structu re of the audib le symmetry , ca l led ver se.

J udg ing from the ana logy of mu sic, i t seems highlyprobable that the time-bea t of the accented syl lab lesin a l ine of Eng li sh poetry i s exact . That is , th ati f in n ormal reading we str ike twenty accents in aminute, each wou ld be one twentieth of a minuteapart— a l l wou ld be equa l ly spaced ; and i f weshou ld continue reading, we shou ld strike twentymore accents in the next minute. There i s, however, no physica l p roof of th is, and i t wou ld seemprobab le that wh i le the norm or i dea l i s abso lutelyequidis tan t time-beats, asymmetry or a d ivergencef rom and constant recurrence to the norm marksuccessive l ines o f verse. Again

,sin ce the l ine

has mean ing, rhetor ica l considerat ions require va

riations of rapidity of the t ime-beats corresponding to the emphas i s la id on the sentiment . But

undoubtedly at the foundation of the poetic structu rel ies the equa l time-beat, h owever i t may bemodifiedby someth ing higher than mere mechanica l acou st icregulari ty . I n fact, to mark a l l the accents equal lyi n reading wou ld be to scan the l ine, which wouldbe bad art . But the stresses must be so arrangedtha t the normal

, equidistant tempora l beat of theverse structu re continua l ly suggests i tsel f. H owabsu rd i t wou ld be to read the Shakespeareanb lank verse

THE FOOT, THE L INE,AND THE STANZA 13

To mOr row and to mOr row and to morrow

Creeps In th is pet ty pace from day to day

To the last syl—lable of recor ded time,

And all our yes ter days have ligh ted fools

The way to dus ty death .

But the five accents are there, and make the l inesverse. All good readers suggest the scansion inreading, some much more than others

,and none

ignore i t enti re ly . Scann ing is simply pronouncing the accents at i sochronous in terval s .

The foot marked by i ts accented time-beats fa l l sunder . severa l heads d i stinguished by the numberof syl lab les and the posit ion of the accented syllable with reference to the others . These are sti l ld istinguished by the Greek names, which werebased on the theory that qu an tit o r time occupiedin pronouncing the vowel , nd ccent, marked thepronunciation un its . Even now in reading poetrywe sometimes d rawl or pro long the accented sy l lab les as wel l a s s tress them . We read

The spfen dor falls on caf

s tle walls

And snow y sum m its old in sto ry,

and the unaided ear detects that the vowel s in“ snow

,

” “ o ld , and sto are leng thened . Shouldwe p rolong them unduly

,we should fa l l into chant

ing ; but should we read the l ines with the o rdin aryconversationa l p ronunciation , they wou ld hard ly be

I 4 THE FOOT, THE L INE,AND THE STANZA

recogn ized as poetry even if we had accu ratelystressed the accents . There i s

,therefore, some

reason for continuing to use the terms iambus ,t rochee, d actyl , amph ib rach , and anapest, a lthoughthe accen t is the dom inating characteristic of Engl i sh verse

,and they referred to quant i ty . The

term s are almost too wel l known to need definit ion,

and we wi l l confine ourselves to the s tatementthat an i ambus consists of an unaccented syll ab lefol lowed by an accented one ; a trochee the reverse ;an am phibrach of an accented syl l able between twounaccented syllablesfan anapes t o f two unaccentedsyl l ab les fol lowed by an accented one ; and a d acty lthe reverse ; and that an accented syl l ab le followedby a pause sometimes fi l l s out thet ime th at a footmust occupy ,

though quanti ty i s no longer the con

trol ling c ri terion . The ana logue of the spondeeo r foot consi sting long sy l l ab les i s very rarein the Engl i sh l an being confined a lmost exclusivelyto hyphenated d i ssy l lab les both o f wh ichare accented, l i ke “

red- hot . But an iambus ora trochee i s frequen tly used in imitation s of c las sicmeters

i

t'

o take the p lace of a spondee.

Tno Line, or Verse

The l ine I_s_a group of feet wh ich belong together

and are ind ividual iz ed in printing and In p ronunciation. ItShou ld not con sist of more than eigh t feet,

"

ae except in very ra re in stances does not terminate

THE FOOT , THE L I NE,AN D THE STANZA I S

i n the middle of a wo rd . In reading i t i s markedby a sl igh t, a lmost impercept ible pause at the end ,

and by stress ing the la st accented sy l lable with al i tt le more fo

'

rCC th an t e precedffig ones Origin a l ly poetry was ch an ted o r reci ted in a mod ifiedform of singing , not infrequently with a s imp le instrumentalaccompan iment . Coleridge and Wordsworth read thei r own bl ank verse in the ch an tingmanner , and so d id Tennyson , but the method i santiqua ted , and there i s now on ly the faintest suggestion of chanting on a key d i fferen t from thatof ordinary conversation left in the reading ofpoetry . The l ine s tructu re i s marked more del icately, but it must sti l l be marked d i st inctly . Otherwi se the poem fal l s to p ieces .

I n near ly a l l modern poet ry the ends of the l inesare marked by rhyme

,and the danger i s that the

l ines become individualiz ed too completely andtheir mutua l interdependence be lo st sight of bythe too great emphasis on the rhyming syl lab les .

I n b lank verse, on the contrary ,the—l ine structure

may be lost when the grammatica l pause does notfa l l at the end of the l ine, un less ca re i s taken toemphasize the fina l accen t del i catelyTerm ina l rhyme, or the ec

Ho betw the sounds

at the ends of two or more ines , sometimes suc

cessive, sometimes separated by interven ing l ines ,i s sub ject to certain arb i trary ru les . I t i s nei theridentity nor mere sim il a ri ty or a ssonance . The

ru les are : I st . Perfect o rexact rhymes must coup le

16 THE FOOT, THE L I NE,AND THE STANZA

the syl lab les on which the rhythmica l accen t fa l ls .

2d . The vowe l sounds of the rhyming sy l l ablesmust be identi ca l . 3d . The conso’ nant sound swh ich precede the vowe l sounds must be di fferent,and those wh ich fo l low or c lose i t must be identica l .Perfect rhymes, then , would be roam and /zo!ne, a

’o

'

o e

and love,j nne and tune. Imperfect rhymeswould

be j nne, and m oon, /zeine and come, love and prove.

Where the rhym ing accented syll ab les are fo l lowedby unaccented ones , the unaccented ones must beiden tica l , l ike idly and w idely ,

people and s teeple,

c/zarm ing and flarin ing, morrow and sorrow andborrow . These are

” cal led doub le o r femininerhymes . Trip le rhymes, where the rhym ing ac

cented sy ll ab les are fo l lowed by identica l pai rs ofunaccented syl lab les , l ike tenderly and slenderly ,

futurity and purity , are rare.

Termina l rhyme subject to these arb itrary ru lesi s a comparatively modern invention . I t i s foundi n the Lati n hymns of the church in the twelf thcentury, a s

D ies irae, d ies illo ,Solvet saeclum in favilla ,

‘ ste Davi d cum Syoz'

lliz .

Tuba mirfln smrgens sonnm,

Per sepulcra regionnm,

Coget omnes ante tlzronnm.

I t h as been conjectured th at term inal rhyme wassugges ted by the usage of Moorish writers in Spain,

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18 THE FOOT,THE L I NE

,AND THE STANZA

A question ari ses whether imperfect rhymes, inwh ich the vowe l sounds are s imi la r but not identica l, li ke wea t/zer and nit/zer

,mar the beauty of

verse. The answer to th is must depend theoreti

cal ly on what i s the rea l funct ion of termina lrhyme, and p ractical ly on the usage of poet sadmitted to be masters o f mus i ca l verse .

The function of term inal rhyme i s twofold : fi rst,

to mark the l ines and thereby to'

emphaSIz e the

structu re of the poem as band courses emphasiz ethe sto ries of a bui ld ing . We thereby perceivemore readi ly the in terdependence of the parts andthe un i ty of the whole. For th is purpose i t i seviden t that the rhymes need not be exact anymore th an the band courses need be exactly a l ike .

The second function o f the rhyme i s to give the

pleasure which comes from l inked sound s o r echoes .The l ines m igh t be ind ividua l iz ed by pauses o rstresses, but the echo individua l i z es by a devicewhich i s beautifu l in itsel f . Now, an echo is nevera perfect reproduction of the orig ina l sound . I treca ll s i t i n a mod ified form ,

and, therefore, addsvariety to what otherwise wou ld be mech an i ca l lyregu lar, A stroke on the ba ss d rum mark s the

t ime very perfectly , but i ts un i formity i s i rritatinga fter a few repetit ion s . I f the p leasu re i n read ingpoetry con sisted only in a perception

“

of pain staking workmansh ip and difficul ties overcome , per

fect rhymes would be ind i spensab le. But the

pleasu re we take i n poetry ra rely rests on the con

THE FOOT, THE L INE, AND THE STANZA 19

sc iou s perceptio n of techn ica l sk i l l, but u sua l ly onan unconsciou s perception o f order l ike that ofnatu re in which the rig id l aw of un ifo rmity is modified by variations which suggest the l aw withoutfol lowing i t s l avi sh ly , and g ive i nd ividual ity toa l l the pines in the fo rest , yet mold them in toa sy lvan who le. I n fact, the function of rhyme

does not require tha t the assonances shou ld al l fi l lthe requi rements o f the rules any more th an itrequ ires that they should al l be on the s ame vowel ,which, i ndeed , i s , save i n exceptiona l c ases, considered a b lemish . To bring with in the range overwhich ou r memory fo r sounds extends two suchrhyming pai rs a s moans , groans , and stove, for/e,g ives an unp leasan t effect from too frequent repeti tion of the sound o f the open 0.

The question must, however, be settled by the

p ractice of poets, to whom i s given the power ofbui lding musica l word structu res . Th is power,though large ly increased by the reading not bythe s tudy of poetry , i s instinctive and unaccountab le. Shakespeare, M i l ton, Shel ley , Keats , andSwinburne are admittedly masters of mus ica l verse .

From a page of Shakespeare ’ s Venus and Adonis,

out of one hundred and twenty lines we gather thefo l lowing eleven imperfect pai rs : wear, y ear

imprinted , contented —one, gone y ears , bears

fast,taste—kiss

,is drong/zt, moa t/z forage,

courage—taste

, las t— qnest, feas t near/en,even .

M i l ton is a fa r more ca refu l workman , but in the


three hundred and twenty- five l ines of L ’

Allegro

and [l P enseroso we find the fo l lowing pa irsmelanc/i oly , boly tnee

, j ollity t/zee,L iberty

dne, crew blit/ze, scy t/ze end , fi end verse,

pierce tie, narm ony s trove, above t/irone,

contemplation — a 7nong,song bear

,inspnere

tragedy , by—wont, aunt—brea the, underneatn

ecstacies , ey es , o r sixteen imperfect pa irs in threehundred and twenty- five l ines, a s ligh tly less p roportion than in Shakespea re ’ s poem . I t m igh t beurged that in the pronunciation of the time someof the above rhymed more perfect ly than they doin our modern p ronunc iation . M elanc/zoly mighthave had the long 0. I n the same poem ,

however,i t rhymes to folly . But the rhymes are qu ite as

agreeab le in the modern pronunciation as i f theywere perfect .I n Shel ley ’ s Sby larb , one hundred and five l ines,

we find twelve imperfect pa i r s : spirit, near it

wert,neart—even,

beaven— clear, t/zere clond ,

overflowed —see,mel ody ibongni, not leaves ,

gives grass, was not, frangbt—flow , now

ibee, satiety Hymeneal, be all.

In the fi rst two hundred and sixty lines of T/16E ve of S t. Agnes we find sixteen imperfect couplets and tri p lets : was , gra ss—man

,wan freez e,

oratories door, poor cava lier,other wnere

moors , doors , nonrs—fonl, soul—m orn, crone

ears,bears secrecy ;privacy las t, cnaste device,

ey es , hera ldries —amet/zy st, pres t—weed, bed

THE FOOT,THE L INE

,AND THE STANZA 2 I

moon, thereon—c larion, tone, begone. I n some ofthe above the rhyming vowel s do not agree, inothers one of the rhym ing syl l ables i s unaccented,and in a few the fina l consonan ts are unl ike.

F rom thi s we may conc lude that fou rteen percent of imper fect rhymes in no way impa irs themusica l effect of su sta ined verse. M r . S idneyLan ier s ay s in Science of E nglish Verse : “ The

resources o f the Eng l i sh tongue are such as tohold the poet a lways down to the rig id mark ofperfection . I f the rhyme i s not per fect

,i f i t

demands the least al lowance, th row it away .

The student may rest with confidence i n the bel iefth at no rhyme but a perfect rhyme i s ever worth apoet ’ s wh ile .

”

That is the c reed of most verse wr iters at p resent, and the pain s taken in h unting the rhyme i sone of the reasons why thei r verses h ave a me

chamica l effect and they are restr ic ted to s hortpoems . One of the most musica l of the poems ofthe n ineteenth century was Rossetti

’

s T/Z£’ BurdenofNineve/i . This i s wri tten in ten- l ine, four- accentstanzas

, the fi rst four rhyming , the next endingin the obscu re e sound

,the next fou r rhyming ,

and the ‘

tenth ending i n the word N ineve/z. I t isfu l l of imperfect rhymes necessitated by the fou rrhyming termina l s . Possib ly N ineve/z can hard lybe said to be even an imperfect rhyme to des tinyand lzistory and the eighteen others, but the re

peated remote a ssonance i s very beautifu l , and a

22 THE FOOT , THE L INE,AND THE STANZA

l a rge part o f the acoust ic beauty is lost by changing N ineven to some other word — Babylon,

forin stance . This would go to Show that a veryremote echo at the end of a l ine may be veryp leasant if the l ines are not too near together. I ti s necessary to read aloud th ree or four stanzas atleast to perceive th at the fifth and tenth l ines ofthe stanzas are connected

In our museum galleriesTo - day I l ingered o

’

er the priz eDead Greece vouchsafes to l iv ing eyesH er art fo rever in fresh wise

From hour to hour rejo ic ing me.

S igh ing,I turned at last to win

Once mo re the London dirt and din,

And as I made the swing door sp inAnd issued, they were ho isting in

A w inged beast from Nineveh

A human face the creature wore,And hoofs behind and hoofs befo re,And flanks wi th dark runes fretted o

’

er

’Twas bull,

’twas m itered Mino taur.

A dead d isboweled mysteryThe mummy ofa buried fai thStark from the charnel wi thout scathe ;I ts wings stood fo r the l igh t to batheSuch fo ssi l cerements as m ight swathe

The very corpse ofNineveh .

The pr int ofits first rush wrapping,Wound ere it dr ied, still r ibbed the thing

THE FOOT, THE L I NE, AND THE STANZA 23

What song d id the brown maidens sing,From purple mouths alternating

,

When that was wo ven langu id ly ?What vows

,what ri tes

,what prayers preferred,

What songs has the strange image heard ?In what bl ind v igi l stoo d interredFor ages

,ti ll an English word

Broke s i lence first,at Nineveh ?

The extract is long enough to exempl ify the imperfect rhymes , but not long enough to b ring outthe beauty of the composition .

M r. Swinburne i s con fessedly one of the mostmusica l of the modern poets , or of the poets of al lages . A s tan z a or two from h i s vigorous poem ,

A Watc/i in tbe N zg/zt, i s enough to prove the truthof the statement

Watchman,what of the night ?

Sto rm and thunder and ra in,

Lights that waver and wane,Leaving the watch fires unl it

,

Only the bale fires are bright,

And the flash of the lamps now and thenFrom a palace where spo i lers s i t,

Trampl ing the ch i ldren of men.

”

it

Italy,what ofthe night ?Oh Ch ild

,Ch ild

,it is long ;

Moonbeam and starbeam and songLeave it dumb now and dark .

24 THE FOOT , THE L I NE , AND THE STANZA

Yet I perceive on the heightEastward not now very far

,

A song too loud for the lark,

A light too strong fo r a star.”

All the stanzas of th i s nob le poem are equa l lymusica l, and it does not conta in an imperfectrhyme. S ti l l, a compari son with the poems beforementioned wi l l show that it s music i s of an inferiororder. The a l l iteration i s too insi stent and the

t ime-beat too emphat ic fo r subtle effects . The

others are more free, varied, and natura l . Thi sseems less spontaneous . I t wou ld be saying a l together too much to ca l l i t machine-made,

” but theta int of artificiality hangs abou t i t . M ach ine-madeth ings are techn ica l ly regu lar and perfec t, and h andmade th ings are ful l of l ittle imperfection s of detai l wh ich give the ch arm of individual i ty . The

a l l i teration i s a l itt le overdone, though nowhere socacophonous as in the l i ne

A mounta in stream that ends in mud,Meth inks is melancholy,

an admirab le figure spoi led in form by an inartistic vowel sequence.

M acaul ay ’ s Ba ttle of [my i s a spiri ted battle ode,

and the rhymes are all unimpeachab le, but theysuggest in tel l igen t labor rather than spontanei ty .

The rhymes fa l l wi th the un i fo rm ity of the strokeso f the metronome, and the vowel sequences thoughvigorous are harsh ,

and show tha t the writer lacked



,AND THE STANZA

th at metri ca l feet have other acoustic rel at ion s thanth of s tresses equa lly p laced in time. Each foot is

sy l l ab les in wh ich the vowel sound s aremusical‘ xnotes, produced by a musical instrument,the human o rgan of speech . The comb ination s ofthese sound s i n the l ine are harmoniou s if the orderin wh ich they fo l low accords with thei r acousticrel at ions to each other, rel ations fa r more del icatethan the exact vib rato ry equiva lents of musica lp itch , though based on the same physical l aw .

The con sonants!, too, which open or c lose the

vowe l sounds of words vary great ly in musica lqual ity and can be arranged in sequences wh ichare p leasing o r the reverse, the most obviousarrangement being al l i teration o r the l ink ing together of words beginn ing with the same consonant . I nterna l a l l iterat ion o r bring ing togethersy l lab les of

“

re l ated Con sonant sounds i s more del ic ate and arti st ic

,I t i s these melodic sequences of

sound which g ive them poetic l ine vigor, l i fe, and

indefinable s ignificance, and to impart to i t thesequal i ties I s the essence of arti stry . As the notes inhuman speech are very numerous , each of ourwritten vowe l s representing from th ree to n inesounds, the possib le modulated combination s of tensy l lab les are countless even if restricted to thosewhich have i ntel l ig ib le meaning . The poet i s en

dowed with the power of in stinct ively selecting thosewhich are melodious, and th i s power i s an intimatequa l i ty of h is natu re. Th i s sk i l l i s inborn and rare ;

THE FOOT , THE L INE,AND THE STANZA 27

there l ies deep in the man a sympathy with me lodious sound combination s, and h is word s assumethem read i ly . To other men who have not thepower of c reating them they gi ve a lmost as muchp leasure as they do to h im . I f th is power i s unitedwith intel lec tua l ab i l i ty and keen perception of theemotion al suggestivenes s of th ings , we have a poetof the higher rank .

The tone-co lor sense i s l ike the colo r sense whichcon sti tutes the i rreducible ch arm of some painters .

I t i s a transcendenta l techn ic wh ich cannot beb rough t with in a set of sc ientifi c categories . We

know that some words flow together and some donot. For instance, the name

“

phoneti c syzygythat has been invented for th i s poet ic elerrient i s ascacophonou s a comb inat ion as can be imagined ,wherea s the compound tone- co lo r i s in itselfagreeab le . The comp licated music of a poeticph rase can be i ll u strated by few examples . As fara s possib le d i fferent vowe l co

'

mbin ations have beenselected and al l i teration has been avoided

Good night,sweet prince

And fl ights ofangels s ing thee to thy rest.SHAKESPEARE.

O del ight of the head lands and beaches.SWINBURNE.

C lad in the beauty ofa thousand stars .

MARLOWE.


,AND THE STANZA

Thaer com flowende, flod aefter ebban .

BATT LE OF MALDON.

Envy and calumny and hate and pa in. SHELLEY.

Ah I What a sound will rise, how wi ld and dreary .

—LoNGFELLow.

I t wil l be observed that i n most of the above l inesthere i s one key word which if ch anged takes wi thi t the beauty of the phrase. I f i n the fi rst one forin stance, we substitute sp ir its ” fo r ange l s, we

lose the modulat ion between the fi rst and secondgroups of vowel s made by the successive ng soundsin “

ange ls ” and sing . The fo l lowing comb in at ions have no music i n them ,

though in a l l theaccents are correct ly arranged

The babe,she thought, would surely bring him back .

H is crime complete, scarce knowingwhat he d id .

Brief t ime had Conrad now to’

greet Gulnare.

She Clasps a babe to whom her breast brings no rel ief.BYRON.

Give yourselfno unnecessary pa in,My dear S ir Cardinal. SHELLEY.

Wide smi l ing skies sh ine bright.

The mel od ic comb inations of words Should becontinua lly varied , not to avoid monotony , thoughnoth ing i s more ti resome than continua l recur renceof sim i l ar cadences, but because they exp ress

emotion wh ich r i ses and fa l l s as d i fferent images

THE FOOT, THE L INE, AND THE STANZA 29

are presented to the mind . Even harsh col locations are somet imes emphat ic and rhetori ca l andare effective i n d ramatic s ituations when passion isbroken and inart icu late. But every feeling in theordinary range of exper ience, every emotion wh ichi s rela ted to the beauty and order and pathos of l i fe,i s reflected in some of the unob trusive forms ofverbal music, and we rank a poet as artistLargely

!bl ips power to linm

'

that the sound sugf-~M _fl fl

0 O nt

gests unformulated thought . Among the poets

whose l ines are marked by refined me lod ic assonances are Chaucer, Shakespeare, M i l ton , Gray ,Go ldsmith ,Co ler idge, Shel ley ,Tennyson , Poe, Longfe l low, and others of less note. The music of eachi s individua l l ike the tones of the voice. Allare

musica l,though they vary widely in emotiona l

range and interpretative in s ight .

Tbe Raziam or M ovement of t/ze Line

The sequence of s tressed sy l lab les or the rhythmof the l ine i s another musi ca l element ha rd ly lessimportan t though les s del icate th an the concourseo f sweet sounds of wh ich we have spoken . The

rhythm depends on the posit ion and emph asis ofthe accented syl lab les and the number of unaccented sy l lab les between them ; that i s to say, onthe scansion of the l ine. This i s u sua l ly to bedetected by the opening and ending words , buti t may sometimes be necessary to glance over twoo r th ree l ines before we perceive the norm or con


tro l l ing scansion if i t i s a t a l l nove l or in tr icate. I nordinary b lank verse or the heroic coup let thescheme disc loses itself a t a glance, but in meterswhere var iety i s al lowed it i s not so easy , and an

“ear fo r verse or considerab le p ractice in readingverse i s necessary to determ ine where the l ines ofdivision between the feet should be p laced . Me

thodical scansion is fo rtunately not necessary tointel l igent reading or enj oymen t of verse, and usua l ly a reader h i ts on the norm or genera l schemein stinctively . The prevai ling foo t g ives the rhyth

mica l movement of the line and infl uences its ex

pressiveness . Co ler idge was one of the fi rs t tonotice tha t the number o f accents and not thenumber of syl lab les was the important matter in

.

Engl i sh verse, and that l ines composed of di fferentfeet co rrespond to d i fferent phases of emotion . I nthe introduction to Cbristabel, i n wh ich anapes ts,dactyl s , and two- sy llab le feet are all used with an

in stinctive recognition of fi tness,he says

The meter ’ of the Cbris tabel i s not, properlyspeaking, i rregu lar , though it m ay seem so frombeing founded on a new princip le, namely that ofcounting in each line the accents, not the sy l lab les .

Though the l atter may vary from seven to twelve,

yet in each line the accents wil l be found to be

only four . Nevertheless , the occasiona l vari a tioni n number of sy l lab les i s not introduced wanton ly ,

but in correspondence with some transit ion in the

natu re of the imagery or passion .

”

THE FOOT, THE L I NE,AND THE STAN ZA 3 I

P

There is no t wind e nough to twirlThe one red leaf

,the last of its C lan

,

That dances 'as often as dance it can,Hanging so l ight and hanging so h ighOn the topmost

'

twig that looks up at the Sky

I t has been said that the slow iambic s in the fi rstl ine suggest qu iet n ight .The second l ine i s more drowsy . The spondee,red leaf ,

"makes the movement s low and h alts thel ine.

“ Of it s c lan ,”

anapest, however , impartsmovement .In the th ird line

,the iambic s and anapests give

more l ivel ines s .

The fourth l ine i s more rapid sti l l,and in the

fi fth the i ambus and th ree anapests correspond tothe idea o f restless movement .M r . Yeat s ’s poem ,

T/ze Lobe I sle oflnnisfall, i s a s

wonderfulfor subdued tone- colo r as fo r expres siverhythm

I wi ll arise and go now,

‘

and go to Innisfall,And a small cab in bui ld there ofclay and wattles made

Nine bean rows wil l I have there,a hive fo r the honey

bee

And l ive alone in the bee- loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there,for peace comes

dro pping slow,

Dropping from the vei ls of the morning to where the

cr icket sings .

"

Then m idnigh t’s all a gl immer and noon a purple glowAnd evening full of the l innet’s wings.


I wi ll arise and go now,for always night and day

I hear lake water lappingwith low sounds by the shore,

Wh i le I stand on the roadway or on the pavements gray,I hear i t in the deep heart’s core.

Mr. Yeats ’ s poem is a poetic embodiment of thehomes ickness of the exi le o r c ity dwel ler for h islone ly b i rthplace, and the pla i ntive Cel tic melancholy pervades it ; but i t i s d iffi cu lt to scan , and iti s not improbab le that i f any one should constructthe formula , the author would say noth ing of thekind was in h i s m ind . The beauty o f the verse i sa lmost a s el usive a s the form . Possib ly there i s asubtle connection between sentiment and embodi

ment wh ich we cannot’

analyz e. Possib ly regulart ime-beats wou ld not harmon ize at a l l with the

s ti fled sob in the speaker’

s heart . But the poemis a t leas t an i l lus tration of the connection betweenfo rm and sentiment . The two accents on consecutive sy l lab les in the midd le of the verse,“

gd nO/

w” some pea

/

ce ”—build ther ’ , and

so forth , give the l i nes a s low movement wonderful ly express ive of p la in tive memories .The genera l p rincip les relat ing to the effect of

the different feet areI st . I amb ic s a l one give dignity and weigh t to

the movement . For example

The curfew tolls the knell of part ing day,

The lowing herd wind slowly o ’er the lea,

The plowman homeward p lods his weary wayAnd leaves the world to darkness-

afid to me.


34 THE FOOT, TH E L I NE,AND THE STANZA

variety . As a rule they are used in combinationwith two - sy ll able feet and monosy l l ab ic feet wherethe t ime i s made equa l by a p ause after the

accented syl lable , which fal l s u sua lly at the end ofthe l ine. Such monosyll ab ic feet occur in the

extract from Keats g iven above. The th ree- sy l lablefoot was u sed in popu la r poetry l ike the balladfrom the ea rl ies t times , but was not much recogniz ed in the poetry of cultu re ti l l a l ater date. The

E l iz abethan M ich ae l D rayton used three- syl lab lefeet i n h i s Spi r i ted bal lad , T/ze Ba ttle of Agin

court

Fa ir sto od the w ind from FranceWhen we our sai ls advance,Nor now to prove our chance,

Longer w il l tarryBut putting to the main,At Kaux the mouth of Seine

,

With all his martial tra in,

Landed King Harry .

The th ree- syl lab le foot lend s i tsel f very n atural lyto poems of comedy . This may be seen in Go ldsmith ’ s Retalia tion

Who born fo r the universe narrowed his m indAnd to party gave up what was meant for mankind,

and in the Haunc/i of Venison,conceived and ex

pressed in the true comic spi rit .

H ood ’ s Y’Wiss K ilmansegg i s another example of

THE FOOT,THE L I NE

,AND THE STANZA 35

the adaptab i l i ty of the th ree- syl lab le foot, espec ial lythe anapest, to l ively n arration

Of “ making a book, how he made a st ir,But never had written a l ine to her,Once his ido l and Cara Sposa

,

”

And how he had sto rmed and treated her illBecause she refused to go down to a m il lShe didn’

t know where,but remembered st ill

That the m i ller’s name was Mendoz a .

H ow oft,instead ofotto of rose

,

With vulgar smells he offended her nose,From gin,

tobacco,and onion.

And then, how wi ldly he used to stare,And shake his fist at noth ing and swear

,

And pluck by the handful his shaggy hair,

Till he lo oked l ike a study of Giant Despa irFor a new ed ition of Bunyan.

The th ree- syl l ab le foot i s , however , not a lwayscomic , as witness the solemnity of H ood ’ s Bridgeof S ig/is , where the repeated dacty ls and the fina laccented syll ab le lend themselves to the dirgel ikeeffect ca l led for by the si tuation

One mo re unfo rtunate,Weary Ofbreath,

Rash ly importunate,Gone to her death .

This,however, i s a tour de fo rce. Trip le rhymes

have usua l ly a j ing l ing character th at i s we l l exem

plified i n Gi lbert’ s songs . The grea t master o f the

36 THE FOOT, THE L INE, AND THE STANZA

music of the three- syl lab le foot i s Swinburne, thefirst metr ica l artist of our day . The anapesticmovement of the fol lowing i s fu l l o f poet icenergy

I would that with feetUnsandalled

,unshod

,

Over- bo ld,over- fleet

,

I had swum no t nor trodFrom Arcad ia to Calydon northward

,

A blast of the envy of God .

But the same measu re renders a humorous themevery approp riately in Bret Harte ’ s H eat/zen

C/zinee

It was August the thirdAnd quite soft was the skies

Wh ich i t m ight be inferredThat Ah Sin was l ikewise

,

Yet he played it that day upon Wi ll iamAnd me in a way I despise.

I t i s wo rth notic ing that the last sy l lab le of thefi fth l ine in the above stanz as is n atu ral ly transferred to the beginning of the s ixth line to keep upthe anapes ti c movement .The genera l conc lusion s are th at the preva i l ing

foot gives the l i l t or tune to the l ine ; and assonanceor vowel sequence gives the melody .

Change of the typica l foo t used so as to givevariety of movement in success ive l i nes corresponding to changes in the though t exp ressed is i llus

THE FOOT,THE L INE, AND THE STANZA 37

trated by the extract given above from Coler idge’ sC/zristabel. To make a trochee take the place ofan iambus

,and vice versa , without ever giving the

effect of a misp laced accent, i s the mark of poeticpower o f the fi rst rank—of poets l ike M i l ton

,

Shakespeare, and Coler idge.

I n M i l ton ’ s L ’

Allegro trocha ic lines are largelypreponderant, for the theme i s the cheerfu lness ofthe cul tured man . Nevertheles s, after the t rochai clines

Haste thee, nymph , and bring with theeJest and youth ful joll ity

down to,

Come and tri p it as you goOn the l ight fantastic toe,

we find the i amb ic l ines

And in thy r ight hand lead with theeThe mountain nymph

,sweet l iberty.

I n the same way the l i nes

Towered c ities plea'

se us thenAnd the busy hum of men

,

are fo l lowed by

Where throngs ofknights and barons bo ldIn weeds ofpeace h igh tr iumphs hold .

The verse of our day i s no t marked by th i s freeand varied music . Many passages of Shakespeare


,AND THE STANZA

could be cited where he passes from grave togay with the s ame spo ntane i ty and imparts tohis words the same indefinable ch arm .

We see the'

lines can be i ndefinitely varied instructu re and me lod i c e ffect . L ines ra rely containmore th an six accent beats . I f they do containmore, they sp li t themse lves into two parts . The

o ld septenarius or seven - accent verse of the“ c lerk ly rhymers in La tin of the twe lfth cen

tury i s supposed to be the orig ina l of the standardbal lad measu re ; a four-accent l ine fo l lowed bya th ree- accent l ine The eigh t - accent l ines ofTennyson ’ s Locksley H all d ivide n atura l ly in reading i nto two of four accents each

Comrades,leave me here a l ittle,

Whi le as yet’tis early mo rn.

The standard l ine fo r sustained poems in the

Eng l i sh language has five beats or accents . W i thadj acent rhymes i t consti tutes heroic verse o r thepentameter coup let . Norma l ly i t consists of tensyl l ab les and therefo re conta ins i ambuses and trochees only

,but occasional ly the l a st foot ha s th ree

sy ll ab les and i s vi rtual ly an am phibrach . Th i slas t form was used by Shakespeare in h is laterp lays and by h is successors .

A good ex am p le of th i s eleven - syl lab le b lankverse

,i s the speech of Cardina l Wo lsey in H enry

VI I I , beginn ing

Farewell,a long farewell to al l my greatness

,

THE FOOT,THE L I NE

, AND THE STANZA 39

in wh ich more than h alf the l ines con tain elevensyl l ab les . The rhymed pentameter is exemplifiedby Chaucer i n the prologue to the CanterbmyTales

, and in severa l o f the ta les themselves , byPope in nearly everyth ing he wrote, and by Dryden in much of h i s verse . I t i s conj ectu red thatthe five- accen t verse owes its popul arity to the factthat i t i s j us t about long enough for utterance ina s ing le expiration of the b reath . I f th is i s true,the Greeks must h ave possessed more capaciouslung s than we, as their standa rd l ine was the

hexameter.The next most popu la r l ine i s the fou r-accent ,

eight- sy ll ab le . W i th adj acent rhymes i t fo rmsthe octosy ll ab ic couplet . The ease with whichth is is wri tten has g iven ri se to the exp res s ion

,

“the fata l fac il i ty of the octosy l lab i c .

” I t wasused by Chaucer or the unknown author of theRomaunt of tbe Rose

,by W alter Scott in h is longer

poems , and by W i l l i am M orri s i n severa l of theta les in T/ze Eart/zly P aradise. I t was der ived by

Chaucer from the meter of the French romances .

I ts “ fata l faci lity ” probab ly depends on the factthat i t i s about long enough for the ordinary grammatical c lause to fi t into i t . Both of these couplets are apt to become monotonous unless the

movemen t i s va ried by the use of trochees w i ththe prevai ling iambuses , and such variation can

be accom p l i shed on ly by a poet of refined ear.

Burns’

s Tam O’

S/zanter i s a good example of th i s


form , rel ieved occas iona l ly by extra syl lab le end

ings making a femin ine rhyme

But pleasures are l ike poppies spread,

You seiz e the flower,its bloom is shed

Or l ike the snow-falls in the ri ver,A moment wh ite then melts forever ;Or l ike the boreal is raceThat fl it ere you can po int their placeOr l ike the rainbow’s lovely formEvanishing am id the storm.

Nae man can tether t ime or t ide,The hour approaches Tarn maun r ide,That hour 0’

night’s black arch the keystane,That dreary hour he mounts h is beast in.

Tbe S tanea

The next verse un it i s the stanza or group ofl ines . I t may va ry in length from the tr ip let tothe seventeen- l ine s tanzas of Spenser ’ s Ep itnalam ion, the length s and arrangement of the l inesmay be permuted, and the arrangement of the

rhymes, whether doub le o r s ing le, may a lso be permuted . The comb ination s of all these e lementsgive a great number of poss ib le stanzaic formseven of the S imp ler varieties . Near ly every poetinvents some new ones, and M r . Swinburne ’ sfert i lity in p roducing new measures i s unri va led .

The number of stanz as ordinarily used i s , however, l imi ted . The coup let can hard ly be cal led astanza, though sometimes, as in Rossetti ’ s W/i ite



Wes t Wind . H e, however, g roups them into fourteen- l ine stanza s end ing each wi th a coup let . Thisterz a rima , though not very compl icated , i s veryd iffi cu l t to write, s ince the stan z as are nei theren t i rely detached nor c losely connected .

The elements of variation make quatra in s o r fourl ine stanz as so numerou s as to defy cl assification .

Among the better known are ba l l ad measu re or the“ common meter of our hymnal

,—l ines of fou r

accents and th ree accents a l tern ately, the fou raccent being the fi rst and th i rd of each stanz a

,and

the rhyme being usual ly confined to the second and

fourth term inals . The movement i s usual ly i ambic ,some variety bei ng ob tained by the occasion al useof doub le rhymes .

The Ballad of C/zevy C/zase, quoted here in amodernized version , i s an example

God pro sper long our noble king,

Our l i ves and safeties all ;A woeful hunting once there d id011 Chevy Chase befal.

The stout earl ofNorthumberlandA vow to God d id make

H is pleasure in the Scottish woodsThree summer ’s days to take.

Cowper ’ s com ic bal l ad, j o/zn Gilpin’

s R ide,i s in

the same meter . I t has a popu lar, homely character, and is one of the easiest of a l l meters towrite.

THE FOOT, THE L I NE , AND THE STANZA 43

Tennyson’ s quatra in in I n Memoriam con sists o f

octosy l l ab ic l ines,the fi rst rhyming to the fourth

,

and the second to the th i rd . The echoing pai rinclo sed in another rhym ing pai r g ives a beautifu l

effect, d ignified and musica l without monotony .

F i tzgerald's quat rain used i n h is renderings o f the

Ruba iy a t of Omar K/zayy am ,i n wh ich lines one,

two,and four rhyme, and the th ird i s independent ,

i s we l l adapted to brief sententious exp res sion .

Stanzas of five l i nes and more are very numerous .

We will refer to a few of them which have h istoric in terest o r are associated with the namesof certain poets. Burns wrote many of h is bestknown and wittiest verses i n a meter tha t he madepecu lia r ly h is own, consisting of th ree four-accen ti amb i c lines, then a two - accent l ine, another fouraccent l ine, and a c losing two -accent l ine, the fouraccen t l ines a l l rhyming and the two short l inesrhym ing together :

Had I to gui d advice but harkit,I m ight by this hae led a market

,

Or strutted in a bank and clarkit

My cash account.While here, half-mad , half-fed, half- sarkit

’

,

Is a’ th’ amount.

I saw thy pulse’s maddening playWild send thee pleasure’s devious way,Misled by fancy ’s meteor ray,

By pass ion driven

44 THE FOOT,THE L I NE

,AND THE STANZA

But yet the l ight that led astrayWas l ight from heaven.

The great metrica l a rtist, Chaucer, adapted fromI ta lian and French form s the seven - l ine stanz awhich he used in Traila s and Crisey de, i n wh ichthe rhymes run a -b-a—b-b-c-c

,a very beautifu l form ,

as i s evident from the fo llowing extract

Criseyde was this lady name arigh tAs to my dome in alTroyes c i tee

Nas noon so fair,for, pass ing every W ight

SO aungellyk, was her natyfbeautee,

That lyk a th ing inmortal semed she,

As doth an hevenish parfit creatureThat doun were sent in scorning of nature.

Tasso used the“ ottava r ima i n j er usalem

D elivered, and Fairfax the Eng l ishman translatedi t in the same -meter in the seventeen th centu ry .

The rhyme scheme here i s a -b—a -b-a -b-c-c. Byronused i t in D on j uan,

the Vis ion of j udgment,and

several other poems , _writing over e ighteen thousand verses in th is d iffi cu lt fo rm diffi cu lt becauseeach stanza requ i res two pai rs o f trip le rhymes,a feat suffi cient to es tab li sh h is reputation a s atechnical arti s t . He uses many ingenious and

unexpected doub le rhymes wh ich g ive an a ir ofwhimsicali ty to the lighter passages .

Sweet is a legacy,and pass ing sweet

The unexpected death of some old lady

THE FOOT,THE L I NE

,AND THE STAN ZA 4 5

Or gentleman of seventy years completeWho ’

s made us youth wa it to o,to o long already

For an estate,or cash

,o r country seat

,

Sti ll hold ing out with stam ina so steady,

That all the I sraelities are fi t to mo b its

Next owner for the ir double damned post-Ob its.

I n h is M onk'

s Tale Chaucer u sed an eight- l i nes tanz a with one les s rhyme on the fi rst termina land one more on the second , the scheme beingrepresented by a -b-a -b—b-c-b-c

,which would seem

to be a suffi c iently diffi cu l t structu re. All theseare in the five- accent pentameter l ine

,bu t Speu

ser added to the l as t an A lexandrine rhyming ODNc, mak ing the famous Spenserian stanza of n inel ines . The clos ing l ine has great in fl uence on themusica l expression , giving it a stately

,dign ified ,

b rocaded effect . Spenser wrote the Faerie Queenei n th i s stanza

,an enterprise cal l ing fo r a v ast fund

of poeti c energy even/ i n i ts unfinished cond ition .

Thomson ’ s Castle of [ndolence i s in Spenserian s .

Shel ley used i t in me Revolt of I slam and in h i slo fty elegy, the Adona is , to the memory of J ohnKeats . H e call s i t a measure inexpressib ly beautifu l

,and says he was enticed

'

by the br i l li ancy andmagnificence of sound which a mind that h as beennouri shed upon musica l though ts can produce bya j ust and h armonious a rrangement o f the pauses

of th is measure .

”

Keats ’ s E ve of S t. Agnes wel li l lustrates the d ignified harmony of which the

Spenserian i s capab le . I n C/zilde H arold Byron


,AND THE STANZA

worked into it ph rases of great power and rhetor ica lmagnifi cence. I t seems best adap ted to exp ressthe spiri t of an age of romance o r at least of an

age when the aroma of ch ivalry sti ll l ingered in thea ir and befo re the cr itic al feel ing of d i strus t h adch i l led generous enthusiasms. Tennyson used i twith beaut ifu l e ffect in a few stanz as in the opening of Tae Lotus E a ters , and as he d id not con tinueto use i t, i t m ay safely be assumed th at no one

wi l l write an extended poem in the Spenser ianstanz a hereafter . The stately arch itecture of thepast can be reproduced , bu t its g reat poeti c struc

tures cannot . The exam p les wh ich fo l low i llustrateits

“ l inked sweetnes s ” and structura l decorativecharacter

A l itle lowly H erm I tage it was,

Downe in a dale,hard by a fo rest’s s ide,

Far from resort of peo ple that d id pasIn traveill to and fro e a l itle wydeThere was an holy chappell edifyde

Wherein the Herm ite dewly wont to say

H is ho ly thinges each morne and eventyde

Thereby a christall streame

‘

did gently play,

Which from a sacred founta ine welled fo rth alway .

SPENSER , Faerie Queene.

H e hath outsoared the shadow of our nightEnvy and calumny and hate and pain

,

And that unrest wh ich men m iscall delightCan touch him no t and torture no t aga inFrom the contagion of the world ’

s slow sta in

THE FOOT,THE L INE

,AND THE STA NZA 47

H e is secure, and now can never mournA heart grown co ld

,a head grown gray in va in,

Nor when the spir it’s self hath ceased to burn,

With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn.

—SHELLEY,Adonais .

St. Agnes’ eve—Ah,b itter ch il l it was ;

The owl,for all his feathers

,was a-co ld

,

The hare l imped trembl ing through the froz en grass,And silent was the flock in woolly fo ld

,

Numb were the beadsman’

s fingers whi le he toldH is ro sary

,and wh i le his frosted breath,

Like pious incense from a censer old ,Seemed taking fl ight for heaven w ithout a death

,

Past the sweet Virgin’s picture,whi le his prayer he sa i th .

KEATS,E ve ofSt. Agnes .

The Niobe of nations there she standsChildless and crownless, in her vo iceless woe

An empty urn within her withered hands,Whose ho ly dust was scattered long agoThe Sc i p ios’ tomb conta ins no ashes now

,

The very sepulchers lie tenantlessOf thei r hero ic dwellers do st thou flow

,

Old Tiber,through a marble wi lderness

R ise with thy yellow waves and mantle her d istress .BYRON

,C/zi/de H arold.

Courage,he sa id

,and po inted toward the land,

“This mount ing wave wi ll roll us shoreward soon.

In the afternoon they came unto a landIn which it seemed always afternoon,All round the coast the langui d air d id swoon,

48 THE ‘FOOT, THE L INE,AND THE STANZA

Breathing l ike one that hath a weary dream .

Ful l -faced abo ve the valley stood the moon,

And li ke a downward smoke,the slender stream

Along the cl iff to fall and pause and fall d id seem .

TENNYSON,T/ze Lotus E aters .

These extended examples are given because theSpenserian is our most importan t ancestra l s tanzai cfo rm . I ts d ay i s evident ly p ast . I f no deeperreason m i li t ated again st i ts use, the modern re

quirement of perfect rhymes wou ld exclude i t . In

i t are embod ied some of the grea t poeti c ach ievements of the pa st .

P oetic Sy ntax

S ince Engl ish poetry i s wr i tten in sentences,though wi th con siderab le freedom from the ordinary ‘l imitati on s of prose syntax, the relation of thegrammatica l stru ctu re i s a matter of no sma l l importance The mean ing determ ines the rhetori ca lemphases and pauses, and i t i s necessary that theseemphases shou ld strengthen the metr ica l accentsand the pauses help fi l l up the interva l s betweenthe time-beats . I f the grammat i ca l ph rase o rc lause term inates with the l ine, one kind of effecti s produced ; i f, on the contrary, these term ination sare p laced in the middle of the l ine, another kindof effect i s produced . The art of the poet i s asevident in the manner he super induces h i s grammaticalunits on h i s metri ca l un its as in h i s arrange


50 THE FOOT, THE L INE

,AND THE STANZA

A flowery band to b ind us to the earth,

Spite of despondence,ofthe inhuman dearth

Of noble natures,of the gloomy days

,

Of all the unhealthy and o’

er- darkened waysMade for our searching. Yes, in spite ofall

Some shape ofbeauty moves away the pallFrom our dark sp irits.

KEATS,E ndymion.

I n the fi rst th i rty -five coup lets of Pope ’ s I liada l l but six contain a l ine ending with the verb . I nE ndym ion an equal number of coup lets h ave the

verb ending i n th irteen on ly . I n Endym ion aboutone hal f of the l ines end with a mark of punctuation

,in Pope'

s translat ion about n ine tenths . The

difference of movement depends in part on the

greater regular ity of the accen ts in the extractfrom Pope, who adheres str ictly to the iambi c beat,while Keats uses trochees wi th great freedom .

But the difference i n the relation of the grammati

ca l ph ras ing to the l ine or metri cal ph rasing i sevident . The di fference in effect i s so p alp ab le th ati t i s d ifficu lt to real iz e th at the two poems are

written in the same form .

The d i stinction between overflow and end- stopti s marked in b lank verse . I t constitutes the d i fference between Shakespeare ’ s earl ier manner as seeni n Love’

s Labor’

s Los t, and h is later manner exem

plified i n Cymbeline . M i lton ’s bl ank verse i s in

the overflow manner and influenced his successors ,Wordsworth and Tennyson . The d istinction i s not

THE FOOT, THE L INE, AND THE STANZA SI

enti rely confined to the pentameter, rhymed andunrhymed , but runs through al l meters . I n the

rhymed pentameter the end- stopt manner is evi

dently monotonous and tends to b ring the metr ica lframework too much into evidence, and to restrictthe express iveness of the verse to in te l lectua l p resentation . Such p resentat ion becomes commonp lace in a few years, but the sugges tiveness of amusical embodimen t i s interpreted anew by eachgeneration . Pope l ives by reason o f a few wi ttyand pithy coup lets ; Shakespeare through wholepassages and poems into wh ich we read a differen tmean ing from that wh ich appea led to h is contem

poraries . I n opposition to this i t must be con fessedthat Homer ’ s hexameters are fa r more frequentlyend- stop t th an are those of Virg il , and yet the Greekpoem is more musica l than the Latin one i s . I n th i scase the inferio rity of the end-stop t method is overbalanced by the super io r musica l qua l ity of theGreek tongue. No r does H omer use the end-stoptmanner to excess, about every fourth l ine overflow

i ng in to the next one.

I t i s only the great excess of end- stopt l ines th atdet racts from the express iveness o f verse, no r musti t be supposed th at thei r use i s restricted to the

pentameter. I n short lyrics the metrica l andg rammatica l ph rases are usual ly conterminou s .Short termina l l ines in a stan z a a lmost un iversa l lycon stitute a ph rase. I n Longfel l ow

’

s Skeleton inArmor nearly every l ine i s a phrase i f not a c lause :


Speak,speak

,thou fearful guest,

Who with thy hollow breast,St i ll in rude armor drest,

Comest to daunt m e

Wrapt not in Eastern balms,But with thy fleshless palms,Stretched as ifasking alms

,

Why dost thou haunt me ?

I n the above the emphasis of the rhyme and ofthe syntax a lmost invariab ly fal l on the same word .

The same th ing may be said of the l ines of Burns,especia l ly of the four- sy llab le l ines of h is stanzalike : “ Thy s lender s tem

,

” “ Thou bonnie gem ,

W i th speck led beast,

” “ The purp l ing east ,Amid the storm ,

” “ Thy tender fo rm ,

”

etc. The

same may be sa id, too,of the short lines in

H olmes’ s Last Leaf and of many other ly r ical

poems . We must conc lude that the painfu l i teration of the D unciad depends upon the fact thatPope so frequent ly makes the coup let a completestatement and adheres so c lose ly to the iambicbea t, and not to the fact that the rhyme i s so frequent ly on an emphat ic word . There being nostructura l in tr icacy in the heroic coup let, as therei s in the Spenser ian, for in stance, variety must besought by over laying the grammar with the rhythm .

Va riety i s of no value except as the fo rm corresponds to the thought . Keats s tigmatiz ed the

coup lets o f the im itators of Pope as “ swayingabout upon a rocking-horse and say s th at they

THE FOOT , THE L INE,AND THE STANZA 5 3

Were closely wedTo musty laws l ined out w ith wretched ruleAnd compass vi le.

Co leridge and Wordsworth led the revol t aga in stthe decasyl lab ic coup let u sed in the o ld manner ,and She l ley and Keats kep t i t up . I t was a re

volt, however , as much aga inst the Sp i ri t as again stthe method of the eigh teenth centu ry , fo r mannerand significance are c lose ly connected . Chaucer,who fi rs t used the decasy l l ab i c coup let i n ou r language, comb ines end- stop t and overflow lines intoa flowing narrative unequaled by any successor

Whan that Apr ille with h is shoures soteThe droghte ofMarch hath perced to the roteAnd bathed every veyne in swich licourOfwhich vertue engendred is the flour.

The very b reath of the sp ring i s in the movement of the verse. B rowning u ses the pentameterwith g reat f reedom , but d i s regards the coup letfo rmation enti rely, and h i s emphatic syntax min im izes the metr ica l effect :

The woods were long austere w i th snow at lastP ink leaflets budded on the beech , and fastLarches, scattered through p ine- tree sol itudes,Br igh tened, as in the slumbrous heart 0

’

the woodsOur buried year, a witch , grew young aga inTo plac i d incantat ions

,and that sta in

About were from her cauldron, green smoke blent


With these black pines So Eglamor gave ventTo a Chance fancy. BROWN ING

, Sordello .

Running down a page of Sordello of fo rty- threel ines, twenty- four have no mark of punctuation atthe end , and on ly one ends with a period .

I n the hands of a master the overflow rhymedpentameter i s wel l fi tted to fami li a r verse whenthe poet passes from fancy to fancy without design or effort . Shel ley writes

Upon the tableMore knacks and qu ips there be than I am ableTo catalogiz e in this verse ofm ine,A pretty bowl of wood—no t full of wineBut quicksi lver that dew wh ich the gnomes drinkWhen at their subterranean to i l they swink,Pledging the demons of the Earthquake, whoReply to them in lava—cry HallooAnd call out to the c ities o ’

er their headRoofs

,towers, and shrines, the dying and the dead

Crash through the chinks of earth and then all quafi'

,

Another rouse, and hold their si des, and laugh .

SHELLEY, Letter to M aria Gisborne.

j ulian and Maddalo i s a l so wr itten in the overflow

manner which di stinguished She l ley and Keats .

I rregular Meters

Some verse i s wr i tten with no obedience to anyrhyming or stanza ic formu la . The length s o f thel ines and the position of the rhymes vary appar

THE FOOT, THE L I NE,AND THE STANZA 5 5

ently at random . We s ay apparent ly , fo r no workof ar t i s p roduced at random . I f it i s not bu i lt onsome plan th at can be defini tely expressed , i t follows a law of wh ich the poet i s unconscious ; theshort l ines , the long l ines , the mascul ine and femin ine rhymes h ave taken their places in accordancewith the feel ing to be exp ressed ,

and under thecompu lsion o f the creat ive genius of the writer,otherwise they are i norgan ic and have no morebeauty than a stone heap h as . A heap o f jewel s ,i t i s true, has beauty , but i t i s the beauty o f thejewe ls and no t of the heap . F ine l ines wil l gofar toward making a poem beauti fu l , but after all ,they shou ld be fine l ines in their p roper pl aces, andthe p lace for a certa in l ine may be fi xed by stan :

zai c formu la or i t may be fixed by arti st ic p rop riety .

A predetermined scheme of rhyme succession i snot an ab solu te necess i ty to the product io n of abeautifu l poem ,

as is seen in M i l ton ’s Ly cidas ,Wordsworth ’ s ode on I ntima tions of Immortality

from Recollections of Early Clzild/zood , and manyother “ irregular odes . Lowel l

’

s great Commem

ora tion Ode changes in structure, fo l lowing the

form most expressive of the feel ing as the theme i sdeveloped . The opening l ines of Ly cid as are :

Yet once mo re, 0 ye laurels, and once more,

Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere,I come to pluck your berr ies harsh and crude,And wi th forced fingers rudeShatter your leaves befo re the m ellowing year ;

56 THE FOOT, THE L I NE , AND THE STANZA

Bitter constra int and sad occasion dearCompels me to disturb your season due ;For Lyc idas is dead

,dead ere his prime

Young Lyc idas ; and has no t left his peer ;Who would no t sing for Lyc i das ? He knewH imself to s ing and bu i ld the lofty rhyme.

H e must no t float upon his watery b ierUnwept, and welter to the parching w ind,Without the meed of some melod ious tear.

The l ines h ave five accents with the exception ofthe fourth . I n the next paragrap h there are twoshort l ines

,and in the entire poem fourteen

,th rown

in a t irregular interval s, somet imes a s in the case ofthe l ine,

“ The g lowing vio let,” giving a beaut ifu l

effect . The rhyme in the open ing run s, a -b-c-c-b-b

d -e-b-d -e-b-f-b,i n which no order can be found on ly

the genera l idea of binding the whole by the rhymeson b : Sear , yea r, dear, peer , bier , tear . The

last eigh t l i nes of the poem fol low the rhyme l awof the ottava r ima .

” N owhere el se i s the rhymerepeated SO often as i t is in the opening i nvocation .

The i rregula r featu res o f the poem are s im i l ar tothe I ta l ian canzone.

Word sworth ’ s ode on Intima tions of Immortality

from R ecollections of Ea rly C/zild/zood i s in elevenstanzas

,varying in length from e ight to th i rty-nine

l ines , each of wh ich treats a subdivision of the maintheme. Of the two hundred and three l ines, near lyo ne half are i amb ic pentameters . The others va ryfrom six- accent to two- accent l ines, th i rty-n ine being


5 8 THE FOOT, THE L INE , AND THE STANZA

duces no ab solu tely symmetrica l trees o r mountains .Modu lated variety on a basi s of un iform ity is thesecret of beauty in music, arch itecture, and poetry .

Lawless variety i s not expressive of anyth ing bu t awealth of materia l . The arti st has the power tocombine stra in s of sound so as to be infini tely sug

gestive of thought—thought of wh ich very l ikely bewa s not himsel f conscious . We can on ly point outa few of the elements wh ich he does comb ine tomake an [1 P enseroso or an ode on I ntima tions

of Immortality . We recognize the product as

someth ing germane to the Sp ir it of man , whetheror not it i s regu lar in form and conforms to lawscritic s have deduced or invented . I t may fol lowprecedent or i t may not . Possibly the sp iri t ofan age may demand a new fo rm for the exp ression of though t moods that are pecul iar to it .But the new form i s on ly a comb ination of theold elements , emphasizing some and min imizingothers according to the poet ’ s pecul iar powers .

H e may even neglect the underly ing e lement, themetrical accent beat , as Whitman did , and p roducesometh ing that wi l l appeal t o a few by virtue ofthe p resence of o ther e lements . The regular met

rical b’

eat a lone i s ineffectua l because i t may bemechanica l . Vowel assonance o r tone- color a lonei s tiresome, and stanza ic fo rm alone would be valueless . I t i s the individua l combin at ion , differentperhaps for each singer, th at i s expressive of acertain mood , of a certain atti tude toward the wor ld,

THE FOOT, THE L INE , AND THE STANZA 59

which cou ld be exactly embodied in no otherform .

The poem as a whole fa l l s under one o f a num

ber o f d i fferent heads distingui shed by tenor andscope, as the ep ic , the ba l lad , the ode or by form

,

as the sonnet and the bal lade . A ful l examinationof any of these would involve a study of compara tive l iteratu re and of li terary hi story . I n the

fol lowing chap ters b rief definition s and a few

i l lustrat ions wil l give a genera l idea of the meanings and l im itation s of these word s . What h asbeen sa id wil l g ive the student some idea of themany e lements that are combined to make a poem ,

and of the complicated and d ifficu lt n ature of theart of verse even on i ts technica l s ide.

CHAPTER I I

THE BAL LAD

THE word “ ba l lad is derived from the root bal,meaning to dance

,which is al so seen in the words

“ bal let and “ ba l l .” The derivation takes us back toa time when the publ ic s inging or recitation of versewas accompanied by rhythmica l movements of thebody

,but i t does not th row any ligh t on the modern

meaning of the word no r upon the orig in o r h is toryof the ear ly Engli sh b al l ad . D anc ing in the form ofprocess iona l maneuvers o r gracefu l movements ofthe l imbs was a part o f ancient worshi p and of theexpression of grief or exu ltat ion . D avid “ dancedand sang befo re the Lord .

”

The Greek process ionalo de was accompan ied with rhythmica l movementsof the s ingers . Our own Ind i ans h ave their ghostdances

,their sn ake dances , and the like, in wh ich

howling and j umping and gesticu l ation have aboutequal p arts . The negroes of the South sway thebody from side to S ide and stam p i n accurate t ime

when sing ing hymns . A su rviva l of th i s o rig i na lhabi t i s seen in the games of ch ild ren when theysing Round t/ze M ulberry Tree and the l ike .

Possibly the exp ression “ gave h im a song and60

THE BALLAD

dance refers remotely to th i s o rig ina l hab i t . Nomore than th i rty yea rs ago i t was possib le to hearin parts o f th i s country a ba l l ad sung with a danceor walk a round by the singer at the end of eachstanz a . So the der ivation of the word “ bal l ad restson a deep - rooted sympathy between means ofrhythmica l expres s ion , but does not p rove the

antiq‘

uitym ent form , since the dirge andthe t riumpha l war song, a s wel l a s the popu larsong

,were a l so or ig inal ly accompanied by dancing .

St i l l,i t i s evidence th at the bal l ad was always a folk.

song not a li terary form , a lthough the originalay be a s d i fferent from a ball ad of the

fifteenth century as Lead, K indly n /zt i s f rom

the origina l triba l lamen t for a dead warrior ch ief .

Aga in , the French form ,

“ ba l lade,has the same

derivation,but i s entirely un l ike a fo lk song

,being

extremely artific ia l and fini shed in character . We

take the connection between bal l,

”

bal let, and“ ba l lad ” as an interesting b it of the “ fossi l h is toryembedded in words, but without much evidentia lva l ue as to the nature of the bal l ad composed i n theEng l i sh l anguage.

The most genera l defini tion of a bal lad i s tha t i ti s a short na rrative poem in a simp le meter, to ld inan unaffected , uno rnamented manner, with veryl itt le express ion of subjective emotion . I t i s lyr ical in the sense th at i t i s fi tted to be recited to as imp le

,monotonous music al accompan iment , but

there i s very l ittle ly ri sm or rapturous , excited

62 THE BALLAD

feeling in i t . Professor Chi ld , i t i s true, inc ludesi n h is great co l lection , E ng/isle and Scottis/z

P opular Ballads, some metric a l r iddles which are

not narratives, but as a rule the word i s restr ictedto nar rative poems . Ridd les , the answer to wh ichga ins a reward if correc t, or invo lves the paymentof a forfei t i f incorrect, are, however , found in al lancient popul ar literature, and if in the form of a

song,may, without undue stretch ing of the defini

t ion , be cal led bal lads . R idd le bal lads are com

paratively modern in the form we h ave them ,as

they are on broadsides or printed sheets belong ingto the seventeenth century . The fo l lowing ex

ample has the bal lad manner

I f thou canst answer me questions three,Th is very day wi ll I marry thee .

”

Kind Sir, in love, 0 then,quoth she

,

Tell me what your three quest ions be.

0 what is longer than the way,Or what is deeper than the sea ?

Or what is louder than the horn,

Or what is sharper than the thorn ?

Or what is greener than the grass,Or what is worse than a woman was ?

0 love is longer than the way,And hell is deeper than the sea.

THE BALLAD 63

And thunder’s louder than the horn,And hunger’s sharper than the thorn.

And po ison’s greener than the grass,

And the dev il’s worse than woman was.

When she these questions answered had,

The knight became exceed ing glad .

And having truly tried herwit,

H e much commended her for it.

And after, as it’

s vérified,H e made ofher his lovely bri de.

So now,fair ma idens all

,adieu

,

This song I ded icate to you .

I wish that you may constant proveUnto the man that you do love.

K ing j o/zn and the Abbot contain s a less p rimitive humor th an the above. I t a lso fu lfi l ls the

requis ite o f embodying a narrat ive . King J ohnhearing that the abbot of Canterbury “ kep t afar better house th an the king cou ld a fford, pro

pound s th ree questions which the abbot mustanswer i n th ree weeks or lose h i s head . The

abbot goes to Camb ridge and Oxford, but none ofthe learned doctors can sugges t proper answers .

Return ing home, he meets h is shepherd , who , as heresemb les h is master, undertakes to go before theking with crozier , and

‘

mitre, and rochet, and

64 THE BALLAD

cope and answer the questions . The kingthe questions to him :

F irst, when thou seest me here in th is stead,

With my crown of go ld so fa ir on my head,Among all my l iege men so noble of b irth

,

Tel l me to one pennywhat I am worth .

”

The supposed abbot answers

For thirty pence our Sav iour was soldAmong the false Jews as I have been told

,

And twenty and n ine is the worth ofthee,

For I th ink thou art one penny worser than he.

The King he laughed and swore by St. Bittell

I d id no t th ink I had been worth so l ittle.

Now,secondly tell me w ithout any doubt,

H ow soon I may r ide this whole world about.

You must r ise with the sun and r ide with the same,Unti l the next morning he r iseth aga in,And then your Grace need no t make any doubtBut in twenty- four hours you’ ll r ide it about.”

The King he laughed and he swore by St. JoneI d id no t think i t could be gone so soon.

Now from the th ird question thou must no t shr inkBut tell me here truly what I do th ink .

Yea, that shall I do and make your Grace merryYou think I ’m theAbbot of Canterbury,But I

’

m his poor Shepherd as plain you may seeThat am come to beg pardon for h im and forme.


66 THE BALLAD

Mihi est propositumIn taberna mor i

,

V inum sit appositum

Movientis ori,

i s made up of l ines o f four and three accents, buthard ly seems like the model o f the ba l l ad measure.

The F rench romances in troduced into Eng land bythe Normans were usua l ly in coup lets . They weretranslated into Eng l i sh in stanza s of variouslength s . How far the bal lad measu re resul tedfrom a break ing down and simpl ification of thel i terary form of the F rench romances in becoming

the metrica l romances of Eng land , or whether thebal lad measu re i s a popu lar ind i genous product ion ,can hard ly be determ ined . The interaction be

tween cu ltivated li teratu re and popu lar l iterature i sobscure because popular l iteratu re i n it s ear l ieststages i s not preserved , since as a ru le i t i s tran smitted by memory and changes as the languagechanges . The o ld Engl i sh bal lads as we havethem do not date from ear l ier than the fi fteenth ors ixteenth centu ries . But bal lads exi sted amongthe people and were sung ei ther by profession alor semi-professiona l m in strel s at gatherings o r inhouseho lds in the time of Chaucer, for he i ntroduces a mock -heroic ba l lad at which the marsha lof the par ty scoffs . The Ryme of S ir Tnopas

i s told by Chaucer himsel f, who i s represented asone of the party . The H ost says to h im

THE BALLAD 67

Sey now somewhat sin other folk han sayd,Tell us a tale ofmirthe and that anoon.

Ho ste quod I ne beth nat yvel apayd,For other tale certes can I noonBut of a ryme I lerned long agoon.

He begins ,

Listeth Lordes in good entent,

And I woltel le verrayment

Ofmirthe and ofsolas ;AlOf_a knyght was fa ir and gentIn bata ille and in tourneyment

H is name was S ir Thopas.

”

So he runs on in bal lad measure for some twohundred lines , exaggerating a bal lad motif ; the

ques t for the love of the fairie queene. He refersto the metrica l romances in ba l lad form

Men speke of romances of prys,Of Horn Chi ld and of YpotysOfBev is and Si r Guy,

OfSir Libeux and Pleyn- damour,But S ir Thopas he hereth the flourOfroyal ch i valry .

”

H arry Bai ley then interrupts h im and begs h imto relate someth ing in p rose if that is the best hecan do in rhyme

No more of th is for C oddes digniteeQuod oure hoste

,for thou makest me

68 THE BALLAD

So wery of thy verray lewdnesse,1

That also wisly God my soule blesse,Myn eres aken of thy drasty

2speche,

Now swiche a rym the devel I b iteche,Th is may well be rym dogerel,

” quod he.

Chaucer then relates the prose tale of Meliboeus,

wh ich is certa in ly,

“ drasty ”

enough . Th is ep isodeshows th at ' in the latter part of the fourteenthcentury ba ll ads were considered un literary andunworthy

'

of a poet of Chaucer ’ s powers . The

difference between literary l i teratu re and popularl iteratu re i s in the tone and manner, for bothhandle the same mater ial . Chaucer tel l s the

tale of H ug/z of Lincoln and there are severa lba l l ads on the same s tory . L i terary li terature i sconscious of its dignity as art

,i t respects the

l i terary t radition s, i t bears the burden of a mora l,i t i s written large ly for the educated and the

powerfu l ; in the M idd leAges it was an express ionof the sentiments of ch iva lry . Chaucer was a manof wide human sympath ies, but he i s a man ofbooks . He wrote at the end of Troilus and

Go l itel book,go l itel myn tragedie,

Ther 3 God,thy maker, er that he dye

So sende m ight to make in som comed icBut l itel book

,no maken thou n

’

envye,

1 Lewdnesse, ignorance, unculture.

2 D rasty ,worthless, empty. 3 Titer, wo uld that.

THE BALLAD 69

But subgit be to alle poesyeAnd kis the steppes whereas thou seest paceVirgile, Ovyde, Omer, Lucan and Stace.

l

Noth ing of th i s k ind int rudes into popular l iterature. The ba l l ad ist is intent on h is story and h isaudience and brings in no persona l reflection s .

Bal lads con tinued to be rega rded as hard lyworth noticing ti l l the ear ly part of the nineteenth century . S i r Ph i lip S idney expresses h iswonder that he l ikes the ball ad of Percy andD oug la s (the Batt le of Otterbourne, p robab ly ) i nthe often quoted passage from the D efence ofP oes ie ( 158 1)

“Certainly I must con fess my own barbarou sness,

I never heard the o lde song of Percy and D oug la sthat I found not my heart moved more than witha Trumpet : and yet i t i s sung but by some b l indeCrouder, with no rougher vo i ce than rude sti le,which being so evill apparel led in the dust and

cobwebbs of that uncivi l age, what wou ld it worketrymmed in the gorgeous e loquence of Pindar ?

Before the i ntroduct ion of the art of pr inting ,

after wh ich we may assume th at the abi li ty to readbecame more general , bal lad s were t ransm ittedora l ly and were of cou rse subject to more or lesschange in transmiss ion . I t was necessary thatthey shou ld be p leasing to an ordinary audience,and each repetition may be regarded in a sense as

1 Stace, Statius.

THE BALLAD

an editing . There i s a tendency, however, torepeat poetry exact ly as i t i s learned even if i t i snot understood, and th is wou ld Operate to preventch ange As the language developed , obsoletewords

,o r a t leas t obso lete p ronunciations, wou ld

be dropped . The confl ict between these twotendencies, one toward conservatism and one

toward innovation , has resul ted in many var iantsof the o lder ba l lads . N o doub t, too , the reciterwou ld d rop many stanzas from time to t ime andin sert others of h is own invention to p lease h i saudience . We may readily conceive a popu lar

entertainer, professiona l o r semi- professional , gett ing up hi s own versio n o f a ba l lad learned fromsome older person . Hence an o ld Engl i sh bal ladi s not on ly popul ar poetry in fo rm ,

but i t i s popu larpoetry in the sense that i t h a s been molded bypopular sentiment after it s fi rst composition . Noauthor ’ s name

.

is attached to the o ld ba l lads .

N atura l ly, th i s must be the case with a song published ora l ly and subject to a sort of evo lut ion intransmission .

I n the sixteenth century , after the art of printingwas we l l i ntroduced , popu lar ba l lad s were printedon a sheet of pa per ca l led a b roadside and so ld inmany cases by the person who sang them in thes treets o r a t fai rs . Thi s i s the kind of ba lladthat Auto lycu s

, the knavish peddler, has fo r salein the Winter’

s Tale. The one he repeats i s , however, more of a song than a bal lad

THE BALLAD 7 1

Clown. What hast here ? ballads ?M opsa . Pray now, buy some. I love a ballad in p rint

,

0’ l ife

,fo r then we are sure they are true.

Autolycus . Here ’

s one to a very doleful tune.

ik 4“

M opsa . Let’s have some merry ones .

Autolycus . Why, this is a passing merry one, and goesto the tune of Two M a ids wooing a M an. There’

s

scarce a maid westward but she s ings it ’tis in request I

can tell you.

Fal staff i s th ink ing of a bal lad of th is kindwhen he says ,

“ An I have not bal lads m ade onyou al l and sung to fi l thy tunes, let a cup of sack

be my poison .

”

Current happenings tha t were ofgenera l interest were made the subjects of ba l lads .

The story of Othel lo form s the sub ject of one

which M r . Co ll ier states that he found among thepapers of Lord Ellsmere, chancel lor to James I , i na volume o f manuscript ba l l ads probab ly Cop iedfrom old b roadsides . I t c lo ses

Then wi th the dagger that was wetWith his deare lad ies blood ,

He stabbed h imselfand thus out letH is soule in gory flood .

Th is story true, you oftimes knew,

By actors played formeedeBut sti ll so well ’

twas hard to tellIf

’twas no t truth in deede.

D ick Burb idge that mo st famous man,

That actor without peere,

72 THE BAL LAD

With this same part h is course beganAnd kept it many a yeare .

Shakespeare was fo rtunate I trowThat such an acto r bad,

If we had but his equale now,

For one I Should be glad .

”

The date of thi s cannot be fixed with preci sion ,but i t i l lustrates very we l l the ch aracter of the

broadside ba l lads . I t wi l l be noticed that i t i sba l lad measure with the addition of rhyme i n the

first and thi rd l ines and occasion al interna l rhymein the same li nes . That th i s measure had a securelodgment in the popu la r ear i s shown by the factthat the Bay P salm B oob

, the fi rst p ub l ication inAmerica , about 1640,

i s in th i s same measu re, as i sa l so M ichael W igg lesworth ’ s Day of D oom

,pub

lished i n th is country in 1662 . Some of the Puritanmin isters, i t i s true, were universi ty men, but insp irit they belonged to the peop le ra ther than tothe aristocratic li terary c lass . The 138th Psa lmwas rendered as fo l lows

The waters on—ofBabylonThere where we d id sit down

Yea even then we mourned whenWe remembered Z ion.

The use of th is meter mus t be held to prove thatba l l ads in th i s form were very genera l ly known andrecited in the ea rly seventeenth century even bysober-minded persons .


74 THE BALLAD

conta ined in the ba l lad on a supernatura l subjectcou ld be comb ined by geniu s into an extraordinaryand powerfu l art p roduction. The old bal l ad ex

erted a grea t influence on letter s, an influencetoward s s imp li c ity and interest in poetic na rrat ivewhich later poets h ave fel t in greater or les s degree .

Scott from youth loved the Border ba l l ads of h iscoun try

,and made a co llection taken pr incipal ly

from the recitat ions of men and women who preserved ancestra l songs in memory . H is own poemslike Lay of tae Last M instrel and M arm ion are

l argely extension s of traditionary bal lads , and hewas of course an enth usiastic lover

‘

ofthe poet ry ofBurns . Burns i s, however, a writer of songs ratherthan o f ba l lad s in the s trict sense, but h is verse i sful l of the popular element . D uring the nineteenthcentury nearly every poet wrote some bal l ads , notab ly : M rs . Browning Tbe Song of t/ze Brown

Rosa iy and the Rime of tbe D ue/less IfIay ; RobertBrowning

—H erve’

R ielandH ow Tney broug/zt Good

News from Client to Air ; Tennyson—Lord Bur

lezg/z Rossett i Tbe W/i ite S/zip ,Rosemary ,

Troy

Town, etc . Thus the o ld bal l ad sp i rit,so long

submerged but vigorou s,b rough t to l i terature an

e lement of interest and ob jective directness whichit sadly needed

,and en ri ched i t with many poems

of perennia l attraction . These “ l i terary ba ll ad sof the n ineteenth centu ry must not be confoundedwith genuine o ld ba l lad s . They are of cou rse morefinished , far more artisti c , and they h ave a far w ider

THE BALLAD 7 5

outlook on the world , they embody more though tand plan

,but they l ack the del i ghtful f resh ness and

spon tanei ty and democ ratic qual i ty of thei r p ro totypes . A wayside flower may grow la rger andmore l uxuriant under cul tivation

,but part of i ts

orig ina l beau ty came from our consciousness o fits homely , na tura l surroundings . I f the o ldEng l ish bal lad owed anyth i ng to the cou rt ly m instrelsy of the fourteenth century ,

”the deb t i s amply

repaid .

The old Engl i sh ba l lads are anonymous . The

authors of C/i evy C/zase, Tbe N ut-brown Ma id,and

Bew ick and Gra/zame are unknown . C/zevy C/zase,

doubtless, owes someth ing of its p resent fo rm tosuccess ive rec iters, but even if i t does, the orig ina lcomposer possessed no sl igh t ti t le to recognitionand rememb rance The others may be more near lyin t he form in wh ich they were composed , and eveni f they are bu il t upon former poem s,

‘

are poet ica lworks of a h igh order to wh ich any man might beproud to Sign h is name as author . The persona l i tyof the author o f popular literatu re i s a lways in thebackground . H i s name i s not signed to hi s workbefore the age of p rinting,

and not a lways in latercenturies . He did not bel ong to the l i terary gui ld .

There was no copyright . H i s p roduct ion bel ongedto the people, to any one who could learn and S ing i t .Possib ly in many cases h is soc ia l s tat ion was nohigher th an that of the b l ind c rowder who sangh is bal lad . Whether he was a pro fessiona l enter

76 THE BAL LAD

tainer, a wandering minstrel who went frommarket p lace to market p lace and p layed and sangfor hi s lodging and such reward as he migh t pickup

,or whether hewas an honest t radesman who

had the g i f t, and sang at soc i a l gatherings amonghi s friends, h is name i s fo rgotten in the n aturalcourse of even ts . H e was not the inventor of astyle nor a “ leader of thought, but s imp ly the

mouthp iece of h i s coun trymen in a matter o f traditional vogue, and he was one of a great number .

H e cooperated with hi s aud ience,who in a sense

were quite as necessary to the p roduction of h i ssong as he was h imself . He was not an extraordi

nary phenomenon as a modern poet takes h imsel fto be

,and took no pa in s to perpetuate h is name.

And so , the men or success ion of men who composed the Rob in H ood bal lads h ave passed intoob livion with the man who copied them into the

manuscript book happi ly found by Percy and the

cook who tore out some of the pages to l ight h i s fi res .

The fact th at the old ba l lads are anonymous,

coup led with the fact that traditiona l version sh anded down in different p laces vary so g reat ly

,

has g iven ri se to the theory that the o ld ba lladswere not composed but g rew, and thu s are a po pular product in a pecu li ar sense as much as a t riba llanguage i s . Accord ing to th i s theory ear ly singing is a communa l matter . A crowd

, engaged perhaps in some occupation like beating out the headsof gra in, i s gathered . One or another sings a

THE BALLAD

verse of the traditiona l song, and the crowd unitesin the chorus . Verses are extemporiz ed to the

tune, and in the course of years a ball ad is developed . That there was a t ime when language andpoetry were in a fluent and undeveloped state andrhythmical utterance was unmeaning l ike a modernco llege yel l—which a lso i s anonymous—no one

can doub t. An ear ly stage of th is th rongpoetry ” can be observed among the countrynegroes of the South , who sometimes accompanywork done i n common with a very p rim itive songand an unmean ing chorus or refrain . But evenhere there i s a lways a leader who does the extem

poriz ing and has a reputation among h is com radesfor th is sort of abi l ity . The Engli shmen of the

fi fteenth century whose ba l lads have come downto us were fa r beyond th is l ingui stic stage, anddoubt les s some o ne man m ade up the ba l lads ,though h i s song kept g rowing and changing wi thsub sequent repetiti ons . Some of the fl avor of thevery ear l iest rhythmica l utterance hangs about theold ba l l ad s in the d irectness of the ph rases andthe s imp lici ty of the tunes . Granting that they

borrowed materi a l f rom the court ly romances aboutthe Round Tab le Kn ights and possibly adopted inpart the m anner of the courtly minstrels , the fol kqual i ty is eviden t, and in large measure they mustbe regarded as fo lk l iteratu re

,natura l and indig

enons poet ry , - but sti l l as the products o f i ndividual authors . No rman cul ture was gra fted on the

78 THE BALLAD

Eng l i sh stock , but in the ba l lads the stock determined the ch aracter i stic s of the flower .

C losely re lated to the anonymity of the bal l ad si s their ob jectivity . The narrato r tel l s h i s storysimply

,and in terj ec ts no sub jective emotion

,very

much as i f a bystander of the occurrences shou ldreca l l them to o ther bystanders . H e assumes thatthey are fami liar with the sto ry , and his narrativei s abrupt and disconnec ted and a l lusive. At mosthe may c lose with the remark ,

“ And when theyfight another time may I be there to see,

” o r in theadmirab le ba l lad of B ew ick and Ora/lame he maysay

,

“ I fo r one th ink these o ld men to b lame,otherwise the pronoun I i s never used nor i s thereany of the ly rica l attempt to impart to the hearersthe singer ’ s persona l emotion . Broad communalo r nationa l or human fee l ings on ly are appea ledto

,and appea led to by narrat ive and not by

desc rip tion .

Wha t we ca l l l i terary meri t in the special izedsense i s no t to be looked for in the ba l lads .

Occasiona l ly there i s a ph rase or two of reachand power, a s when the s inger in C/zevy C/zase descr ibes the death of H ugh Montgomery in twolines :

An arrow that a cloth - yard was longTo the harde steel ha i led he,

A dynt it was both sad and soreHe set .on S ir Hugh the Montgomery.

alt if

THE BALLAD 79

The dynt it was bo th sad and soreThat he ofMontgomery set,

Tbe swan’sfea t/zers t/zat Ii is arrow bore

I/Vit/z lu'

s Izeart’

s blood t/zey were wet;

or the great stan z a C lo sing S ir P a trick Spens

Half ower,half ower to Aberdour

,

’

Tis fifty fathoms deep ;And there l ies good S ir Patr ick SpensWi’ the Scots lords at his feet .

o r a beautiful , fresh ph rase o r two in the Rob inHood bal l ads describ i ng some featu re of the goodgreen wood ” but as a ’ rule the s inger i s intent onh is story . He uses no sim i les and indulges in few ,

and they the most obviou s , reflection s . He u sesconventiona l ep i thets to wh ich h is hearers are

accustomed . Go ld is a lways red, the l ad ies“ fa ir .” Certain numbers , as

“ th ree ” 1 and seven ,

”

recur withou t definite meaning .

“ A league, aleague, but barely th ree ”

means merely a shortdi stance, o r more than two leagues .

“ Three timesround went ou r gal lan t sh ip , three t imes roundwent she,

” i s p robably a conventionalized expression dating from befo re the conquest of B r itai n ,and means merely that the sh i p fel l o ff into thet rough of thesea and sank . The eth ica l tone ofthe bal lads i s man ly ; the fantastic notions o fch iva l ry do not an imate the personages so much as

1 The expression Three times and out is very l ikely a survivalof the anc ient regard for the number three.

80 THE BALLAD

the human cha racteri sti cs of c onstancy and loya lty.

The qua l ity of genuineness be longs to them inform and substance . There i s no pretense, nofa l se standard , no striving fo r effect . The ba ll ad sare germane to us as early Teutonic express ion

,

no t merely entertain ing as antique bric-a-brac .

They give u s g l impses of the inheri ted supersti

t ions of our forefathers wh ich antedate Puritanism . We can see i n a genera l way what theyconsidered right and honorable and how l ife and

mystery appeared to them,for we have in the

ba l lads someth ing tha t they li ked and handeddown in memory and in fact created without muchinfluence from F rench or Lat in l iterary traditions .

The“

old English and Scotch bal lads h ave notcome down to us th rough the medium of ca refu l lyw ri t ten manuscript p reserved i n libraries northrough the medium of printed books . I f theywere prin ted

,i t u sua l ly was on a Sheet of paper

and not in book form . Here and there a personwould wr i te Copies i n a manuscript book , verymuch as one nowadays col lects ephemera l versef rom the newspapers in a scrap-book . There wasno such th ing as a standard text

,and when the

same bal lad h as been written down more thanonce, the version s vary materia l ly . The mostimportant of the old manuscrip ts i s the Percy bookbefore mentioned . Some of the b roadsides orprinted ba l l ad s were co l lected and preserved bythose who had a taste for such th ings

,and these


82 THE BALLAD

her. Some o f these s tories are very old and are

found in various fo rm s in a l l l anguages and un

doub tedly formed part of the fol k lore of the earl iestpeoples . I t i s easy for us to read a moral intomany of them ,

but of course none was consciouslyin tended . Of the lady who sai l s away with a

demon who begui les her i n the form of her earlylover, we are to ld

She hadna sa i led a league, a league,A league but barely twa,

Ti ll she d id m ind on the husband she left,And herwee young son alsua.

i t -I i

0 hand your tongue, my dearest dear,Let all your fo ll ies abee

I ’l l show you where the white lil ies growOn the banks of I tal ie.

”

She hadna sa i led a league,a league,

A league but barely three,

Ti ll,grim

,gr im grew h is countenance,

And gurly grew the sea .

0 hand your tongue,my dearest dear,

Let all your fo ll ies abeeI ’l l show you where the wh ite l i l ies grow,In the bottom ofthe sea .

”

Which he proceeds to do . In some of the variantsof th i s bal lad the p ictu re of domestic happinessdestroyed is simply and touch ing ly p resented .

THE BALLAD 83

Tnomas tlze R/iymer i s a good i l lu stration o f themodified race legend . I n Germany i t appears a sthe story of Tannhauser in wh ich the queen o f thee lves i s made over i nto the Roman goddes s Venus .

I t i s g iven here in a modern ized North of Englandform from Sco tt

’

s M instrelsy of t/ze B order

True Thomas lay on Huntley bankA ferl ie 1 he spied wi th his ee

And there he saw a lady brightCorning r id ing down by the E i ldon 2 Tree.

H er shirt was 0’the grass-green silk

,

Hermantle o ’

the velvet fine ;At i lka tett 3 of her horse’s maneHung fifty si ller bel ls and nine.

True Thomas he pulled affhis cap,

And louted low down to h is knee,Allhai l thou m ighty Queen ofHeaven,For thy peer on earth I never d id see.

0 no, 0 no,Thomas

,

”she sa id,

That name do es no t belang to meI am but the Queen offa ir Elf- landThat am hither come to visit thee.

Harp, and carp,‘ Thomas

,

”she sai d,

Harp and carp along wi me ;And i f ye dare to kiss my l ips,Sure ofyour bodie I will be.

1Ferlie, a wonder. 2 E ildon Tree, Ercildown tree.

8 Telt, a braid or lo ck .1Harp and carp, p lay and s ing.

84 THE BALLAD

Betide me weal , betide me wo eThat weird 1

shall never daunton me.

Syne he has kissed her rosy l ips,Allunderneath the E i ldon Tree.

Now ye maun go wi me, she sa id,

True Thomas ; ye maun go wi me.

And ye maun serve me seven yearsThrough weal or wo e as may chance to be.

’

She mounted on herm i lk- wh ite steed ,She’s ta’en True Thomas up behind

And aye whenever her brid le rung,The steed flew swifter than the wind .

0,they rade on and farther on,The steed gaed swifter than the wind,

Unt i l they reached a desert wide,And l iv ing land was left beh ind .

Light down,l ight down

,now

,True Thomas,

And lean your head upon my knee,Ab ide and rest a l ittle space,And I wi ll Show you ferl ies three.

0, see ye no t you narrow road,

So th ick beset wi th thorns and br iarsThat is the path ofR ighteousness,Though after it but few enqu ires.

And see ye not that bra id , bra id roadThat l ies across that l ily leven ? 2

1 Weird, fatal consequence .2 Leven , a lawn o r meadow.

THE BALLAD 8 5

That is the path ofwickedness,

Though some call it the road to heaven.

And see ye no t that bonnie roadThat winds around the ferny brae ?

That is the road to fa ir Elf- land,

Where thou and I this night maun gae.

But, Thomas, ye Inaun hold your tongueWhatever ye may hear o r see,

For ifyou speak word in Elfyn- landYe

’ llne’er get back to your ain countr ie.

0,they rode on and farther on,And they waded through ri vers aboon the knee,

And they saw neither sun normoon,

But they heard the roar ing ofthe sea .

It was m irk,m irk night

,there was nae sternl- l ight

,

And they waded through red blude to the knee,

For a’ the blude that’s shed on earthR ins through the springs 0’ that countr ie.

Thi s i s one of the best examp les of the ba llad of

supernatura l incident . The conception that a l l theb lood th at ’ s shed on earth run s th rough the sp ringsof the underworld i s certain ly a powerful one .

The two roads—the straight and narrow path ofrighteou sness and the broad road of world ly pleasu re—are supp lemented by the pleasant path of fancywinding around the ferny h il l side. Does not th i ssuggest a ful ler correspondence to rea l condition s ?

1 Stern, star.

86 THE BA LLAD

We may fol low duty , we may fol low pleasure,or

we m ay l ive the l i fe of the imag ination .

The ba l lad with a supern atu ral motive has g ivenr i se to a number of l i terary bal lad s of the h ighestcl as s : Scott ’ s Lay of ,

t/ze Last Ilfz'

nstrel, Co le

ridge ’ s Ancient M ariner,Keats ’ s La Belle Dame

sans Merci , Rossetti’ s K ing

’

s Tragedy , R osemary ,

and S is ter H elen,Buchanan ’s j udas I scariot, and

many others .

The second clas s cover s ba ll ads on h is torica lsub jects wh ich may be subd ivided into those ontraditionary , semi-myth ica l h i sto ry , and those onh istorica l events wh ich took place with in the memo ry of men for whom the ba l lad was fi rst wr it ten .

Ofthe fi rs t d ivi s ion those celebra ting the deeds ofRobin H ood and hi s “ merry men are representa tive. They fi l l entirely one of Professor Ch i ld ’ svolumes . Some attempts have been made to p roveth at the hero was a l iving person , but without muchsucces s . H e is p robably a t raditionary characterof the imag ination , and became an embodiment ofthe l ove o f the Ang l ican race fo r outdoor l i fe,hunting , and fighting . As he i s t reated as a rea lperson and hi s adventures are a l l with in the

bounds o f actual ity,much more so than those of

U lysses o r of A rthu r, we may ca l l h im,withou t

doing vio lence to words,a semi - hi s tor ical person

age, although he never exi sted outside o f the ba llads and Scott ’ s I van/toe. H e l ived in the mindsof the peop le at least .

THE BALLAD 87

The bal lad of traditiona l h i sto ry occup ies a

midd le p lace between the ba l lad o f myth ical h i story and the true h istori ca l bal l ad . I ts subj ect ish i stor ica l i ncident so far removed in time as to beuncertain i n its outl ines . The “ g rand o ld ba l l adof S ir Patr ick Spens,

” as Coleridge j u st ly ca l led i t,i s a fair representative of th i s subdivi sion

,and

there i s no p reci se l ine of demarcat ion betweenit and the true h istorica l bal l ad, as the proportionof fact and imaginative accretion ranges betweenwide l im its , and the basis o f fact i s never entirelyabsent i n tradition , nor i s imag i nation ever entirelyab sent from histor ical songs even if composed soonafter the event . The t rue hi stori ca l bal lads are

those l ike C/zevy Obase o r Flodden Field o r the

the Ba ttle cf Pnz'

lzpsburgn, a l l on events wh ich are

recorded in h i story . M any of these are veryimper fect as they have come down to u s . The

best l i terary ba l l ad founded on th is form is Scott ’sM arm ion, which i s a lmost epica l in d ign i ty andbreadth . Many of them are founded on m inorh isto rica l epi sodes . A sp lendid modern repre

sentative i s Rossett i s Waite S/zip . Longfel low ’ sP aul Revere

’

s Ride, Whittier’

s M ogg M egone

and Barbara Frietc/zie are fine b al lads foundedon minor h istorica l incidents .

The th i rd c lass covers a wide range of sub jects ,usual ly trag ic o r pathetic . Lovers are separatedby adverse ci rcum stances and exhib i t admirab leconstancy . A j ea lous si ster, a s in the str ik ingly

88 THE BALLAD

poetic ba l lad of B innorie, compasses the death ofthe younger i n a very co ld-b looded and unre lenting manner. I n the admirab le bal lad of Bew icband Graname two “ bul lys ” sworn friendsare induced to figh t by thei r fathers . One k i l l sthe other a nd then ki l l s h imsel f . As i n the h i storical ba l lads, the motives of the characters are

of primitive simp lici ty and their action is directthere i s no H am let- l ike hesita tion in love or jealonsy . Hynde E tin i s a bal lad wh ich , in one ver

sion— probab ly the o ldest one— rep resents E tinas a forest demon , who ob ta in s possession of theLady Margaret by magic . I n E tin t/i e Forester hei s represented as an outlaw, and the story turns onlove and constancy . The ba ll ad is then of the th irdc lass, the supernatura l element having been di sp laced by the romantic .

ETIN THE FORESTER

Lady Margaret sits in her bower doorSewing the s i lken seam.

She heard a no t 1 in Elmond ’

s woodAnd wished she there had been.

She let the si lk fall to herfootThe needle to her tae,

And she is affto Elmond’s wood

As fas t as she could gae.

She hadna pulled a nut, a nut,Nor broken a branch but ane,1 N ot, a note ofthe forester’s horn.


THE BALLAD

When they were up aboon the braeThey heard the kirk bells r ing,

0 I wad ask ye something fatherAn ye wadna angry be.

”

Say on,say on my bonny boy

Ye’se nae be quarrelled by me.

My mother ’s checks are oftimes weetIt’s seldom they are dry .

What is it gars my m ither greetAnd sob sae bitterlie ?

”

Nae wonder she suld greet my boyNae wonder she suld pine,

For i t’s twelve lang years and ma irShe’s seen nor kith nor kin.

And it ’s twelve lang years and mairSince to the kirk she’s been.

Your m ither was an Earl ’s daughter,And cam

’

0’ high degree

,

And she m igh t hae wedded the first in the landHad she nae been stown by me.

For I was but her father’s pageAnd served him on my knee,

And yet my love was great for herAnd sae was hers for me.

”

I ’ll shoot the lavero ck i ’ the l iftThe buntin on the tree

And br ing them to my m ither hameSee i f she ’ ll merr ier be.

THE BALLAD

It fell upon anither dayThis fo rester thought lang

And he is to the hunting ganeThe forest leaves amang.

Wi bow and arrow by h is s ideH e took his path alane

And left his seven young ch ildrenTo hide wi their m i ther at hame.

O I wad ask ye someth ing m itherAnye wadna angry be.

”

Ask on,ask on my eldest son

Ask onything at me.

Your cheeks are aft- times weet mither ;You ’re greetin

’ as I can see.

”

Nae wonder, nae wonder, my l ittle son,

Nae wonder though I should dee.

For I was ance an Earl ’s daugh terOfnoble b irth and fame

And now I ’m the m ither ofseven sonsWha ne ’

er gut christendame.

”

H e has ta ’en h is m ither by the handH is s ix brithers also,

And they are on through Elmond woodAS fast as they could go .

They wistna well wha they were gaenAnd weary were their feet ;

They wistna well where they were gaenTi ll they stopped at her father ’s gate.

92 THE BALLAD

I hae nae money in my pocketBut jewel - rings I hae three,

I ’ll gie them to you, my l ittle son,

And ye’ ll enter there for me.

Ye’ ll gie the first to the proud porter

And he wil l lat you in,Ye’ll gie the next to the butler-boyAnd he wi ll show you ben.

Ye’ll gie the third to the m instrelThat’s harping in the ha ’

,

And he’l l play good luck to the bonny boyThat comes frae the greenwood Shaw.

”

He gied the first to the proud po rter,And he opened and lat him in

,

He gied the next to the butler-boy,And he has shown him ben.

if it 919

Now when he cam before the EarlH e louted on h is knee.

The Earl he turned him round aboutAnd the salt tear bl int his e’

e.

Win up,win up

,thou bonny boy

,

Gang frae my companie,

Ye look sae l ike my dear daughter,My heart wi ll burst in three.

An ifI look l i ke your dear daughter,

A wonder it is none,If I look l ike your dear daughter

,

I am her eldest son.

”

THE BALLAD

0 tel l me soon, ye l ittle wee boy,Where may my Margaret be ?She’

s e’en now standing at your gates

And my s ix brothers herWI .”

0 where are all my porter-boysThat I pay meat and fee

,

To open my gates ba ith braid and wide,And let her come in to me.

”

When she cam in befo re the EarlShe fell doun low on her knee.

Win up,win up, my daughter dear,

Th is day ye’se d ine wi me.

”

Ae b i t I canna eat father,Ae drop I canna d rink ,

Till I see Et in my husband dear,Sae lang for him I think .

0 where are a ’ my rangers bo ldThat I pay meat and fee,

To search the forest far and wide,And br ing Hynd Etin to me.

”

Out i t speaks the l ittle wee boyNa

,na

,this maunna be,

Without ye grant a free pardonI hope ye’ll na him see.

”

0 here I grant a free pardon,Well sealed wi my ain hand,

And mak ye search fo r Hynd EtinAs sune as ever ye can.

”

93

THE BALLAD

They searched the country bra id and wide,The forest far and near,

And they found him into Elmond-wood,

Tear ing his yellow ha ir.

Win up,win up now, Hynd E tin,

Win up , and boun wi me,

Forwe are come frae the Castle,And the Earl would fa in you see.

0 lat him tak my head, he says,Or hang me o n a tree

,

For sin’I’ve lost my dear lady

My l ife’

s nae worth to me.

Your head wi ll no t be touched Etin,Nor sall you hang on tree,

Your lady ’s in her father’s court,

And all he wants is thee.

”

When he cam’in before the Earl

H e louted on h is knee.

Win up,win up, now Hynd Etin

This day ye’

se dine wi me.

As they were at their dinner setThe boy he asked a boon.

I wold we were in holy kirkTo get our christendoun.

“Forwe hae l ived in the good greenwoodThese twelve lang years and ane,

But a ’ this time s ince e’

er I m indWas never a kirk with in.

THE BALLAD 95

Your asking ’

s na sae great my boyBut granted it sall be,

Th is day to holy kirk sall ye gangAnd your m ither sall gang you wi.

When she cam to the holy kirkShe at the doo r d id stan’

She was sae sunken doun wi shameShe couldna come further ben.

Then out it spak ’ the haly pr iest,Wi a kindly word spak he,Com ben, come ben, my l i ly-flower,And bring your babes to me.

”

Ba l lads of th i s class, when short , d iffer but l i tt lefrom songs . As long as there i s a narrative contained i n them , even though it i s no t di rectly told ,but poetica l ly embodied , they are, however, proper ly ball ads . Two very fine short ba l lads are

Edward and l e M ill Dams of B innorie. TIie

Twa Corbies has but l itt le of the ba l lad characterexcept that, l ike the two others, i t is a productionof true poet ic in sp iration . Tbe Lam

’

ent of tile

B order Widow given below can hard ly be ca l leda ba l lad though an inciden t i s touch ing ly pre

sented . At a l l events i t i s c lo se to the defin ing line.

THE LAMENT OF THE BORDER WIDOW

My Love he bui lt me a bonnie bower,“

And clad it a ’ wi’ the l ily flower ;A brawer bower ye ne

’er did see

Than my trueLove he bu i lt forme.

96 THE BA LLAD

There came a man by mi ddle day,

H e spied h is spo rt and went away,

And brought the king that very night,Who brake my bower and slewmy knigh t.

H e slew my knight to me sae dear,He slew my knight and po in’d his gear ;My servants all fo r l i fe did flee

,

And left me in extrem ity .

I sew’d h is sheet making my mane

,

I watch ’d the corpse

,myself alane

,

I watched his body nigh t and day,No l iving creature came that way.

I took his body on my back,

And whi les I gaed and whi les I sat ;I digg

’

d a grave and la id h im in,

And happ’

d h im wi’the sod sae green.

But think naye my heart was sairWhen I lai d the moul ’ on his yellow hair ?0,

think na ye my heart was waeWhen I turned about, away to gae ?

Nae l iving man I ’ll love again,

S ince that my lovely knight is sla inWi’ ae lock 0’ his yellow hairI’

llcha in my heart forevermair.

I t is qui te evident that th i s i s a comparativelymodern p roduction . The last l ine a l one i s enough

to prove it so . B innorie, on the contrary , bears thehall mark . of antiquity . I t was pr inted in 16 56 ,


98 THE BALLAD

0 S ister, reach me but your glove,And sweet Wi ll iam shall be your love.

S ink on,nor hope for hand or glove,

And sweet Wi ll iam shall better be my love.

Your cherry l i ps and your yellow hairGarred me gang ma iden ever mair.

Sometimes she sunk and sometimes she swamUnti l she came to the m i ller ’s dam.

O father, father, draw your damThere’s either a mermaid or a m i lk-white swan .

The m i ller hasted and drew his damAnd there he found a drowned woman.

I n a l l the version s harp strings or fiddle s tr ingsare made from the drowned g i r l ’ s hai r, which disclose the e lder s i ster ’ s guil t when used . The

refra in wh ich shou ld be repeated with every stanzaadds much to the effect of th i s interesting ballad .

Coler idge’ s Ancient M ariner i s the best example

of the regenerat ive effect of the popu lar ba ll adspi ri t when infused into a modern poem

,and

Buchanan ’ s j udas [scarz'

ol has caught the notewith hardly les s success .

THE BALLAD OF JuDAs ISCARIOT’Twas the body ofJudas IscariotLay in the field ofblood

’Twas the soul of Judas Iscar iotBeside the body stood .

THE BALLAD

Black was the earth by night,

And black was the sky ;

Black,black were the broken clouds

Though the red moon went by.

’Twas the body of Judas IscariotStrangled and dead lay there;

’Twas the soul ofJudas IscariotLooked on it in despa ir.

The breath ofthe world came and wentLike a s ick man’

s in restDrop by drop on the world 5 eyesThe dews fell cool and blest.

Then the soul of Judas IscariotD id make a gentle moan ;I wi ll bury beneath the groundMy flesh and blood and bone.

I wi ll bury deep beneath the soilLest mortals look thereon,

And when the wolfand raven comeThe body wi ll be gone.

The stones o fthe field are sharp as steelAnd hard and co ld God wot,

And I must bear my body henceUntil I find a spot.

’Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot,

So gr im and gaunt and gray,

Ra ised the body ofJudas Iscar iotAnd carried it away .

100 THE BALLAD

And as he bare it from the fieldIts touch was cold as ice,

And the ivory teeth with in the jaw

Rattled aloud l ike dice.

As the soul of Judas Iscar iotCarr ied its load wi th pain,

The Eye ofHeaven l ike a lantern’sOpened and shut aga in.

Halfhe walked and half he seemedLifted on the cold w ind

H e d id not turn, for ch i lly handsWere pushing from beh ind .

The first place that he came untoI t was the open wold

,

And underneath were pr ickly whinsAnd a wind that blew so cold .

The next place that he came untoI t was a stagnant pool

,

And when he threw the body inI t floated l ight as wool .

He drew the body on his backAnd it was dr ipping ch ill,

And the next place that he came untoWas a cross upon a hi ll .

A cross upon the windy h ill,And a cross on either s ide

,

Three skeletons that swing thereonWho had been cruc ified .


102 THE BALLAD

H e wandered east,he wandered west

And heard no human sound ;For months and years

,in gr iefand tears

,

H e wandered round and round .

For months and years in grief and tearsHe walked the s i lent night.

Then the soul ofJudas IscariotPerceived a far- off l ight.

A far- off l ight across the waste,

As d im as dim m ight be,

That came and went l ike a l ighthouse gleamOn a black n ight at sea.

’Twas the soul of Judas Iscar iotCrawled to the distant gleam,

And the rain came down,and the ra in was blown

Against him with a scream .

3! iii

’Twas the soul ofJudas IscariotStrange

,and sad, and tall,

Stood all alone at dead of nightBefore a l ighted hall .

And the wo ld was white with snow,

And his footmarks black and damp ;And the gho st ofthe si lver moon arose,Holding his yellow lamp .

The shadows ofthe wedd ing guestsD id strangely come and go

And the bo dy of Judas Iscar io tLay stretched along the snow.

THE BALLAD 103

The body of Judas IscariotLay stretched along the snow ;

’Twas the soul ofJudas Iscar iotRan swiftly to and fro .

To and fro , and up and downH e ran so swiftly there

,

As round and round the froz en poleGlideth the lean wh ite bear.

'Twas the Br idegroom sat at the table-head,And the l ights burned brigh t and c lear,0, who is that ? the Bridegroom sa id“Whose weary feet I hear ?

'Twas one looked from the l ighted hall,And answered soft and slowIt is a wolf runs up and downWith a black track in the snow.

The Br idegroom in his robe of whi te,Sat at the table- head .

0who is that who moans without ?The blessed Bridegroom sa id .

’Twas one looked from the l ighted hall,And answered fierce and low

,

’Tis the soul ofJudas IscariotGl id ing to and fro

’Twas the soul of Judas Iscar iotD id hush i tselfand stand ,

And saw the Bridegroom at the door,W ith a l ight in h is hand .

104 THE BALLAD

The Bridegroom stood in the open door,And he was clad in white

,

And farwithin the Lord ’s supperWas spread so long and bright.

The Br idegroom shaded h is eyes and looked,And h is face was bright to see

What dost thou here at the Lord ’s supperWith thy body ’s s ins ? sa i d he.

’Twas the soul of Judas Iscar iotStood black , and sad, and bare,I have wandered many nights and days,There is no l ight elsewhere.

”

’Twas the wedd ing guests cr ied out with in,

And the ir eyes were fierce and brightScourge the soul ofJudas IscariotAway into the night.”

'fi 3&

'Twas the Bridegroom stood at the openAnd beckoned sm il ing sweet

’Twas the soul of Judas Iscar iotStole in,

and fell at h is feet.

The‘

H oly supper is spread within,And the many candles shine,

And I have waited long for theeBefore I

,poured the wine.

The supper wine is poured at last,The l ights burn br ight and fa ir;

Iscariot washes the Br idegroom ’

s feet,And dr ies them wi th his hair.


106 THE BALLAD

Or could I ease the labor ing heart o ’

erfraught

With passionate truths for wh ich the m ind untaughtLacks form and utterance

,w ith a single l ine

Might rustic lovers woo in phrase of m ine,

I should no t deem that I had l ived for naught.The world were welcome to forget my name

,

Could I bequeath a few remembered wordsLike his

,the bard that never dreamed offame

Whose rhymes preserve from harm the pious b irds,

Or his, that dim full many a star- bright eyeWith woe for Barbara Allen’s cruelty.

CHAPTER I I I

THE SONNET

THE sonnet i s in every regard di fferent from the

ba l l ad . I t i s of a fixed length and meter,— fourteen iambic pentameters . I t i s a fo reign importat ion anw egn used exclt_i_s~iyelyn

byc lass ; the ba l l ad i s ind i genous and belongs p rirTia

'

iily to the people. T he sonnet i s never reci ted(Sr

-

sung,though i ts I ta l ian o rigina l ,

“ sonnetto,‘

means~

l itt le song, and there are no anonymoussonnets . But as the sonnet form has been usedwith brief in term ission s in ou r language since thesixteenth cen tu ry and since the th i rteenth centuryin I ta ly

,it,too

,has stood the test of time, and i f

i t does no t containfl

any n popular quality , must h avein i tsel f an element of arti stic perfection .

I

Th‘

e‘

rules of the construction of a pure or I ta l iansonnet are : I st . As sa id above, i t must con sist offourteen five- accent l ines of ten syllaBIE

‘

s

W

e-

a—c-

h .

m y ” —v2d . It must be d ivided metr ica l ly in to two parts ;

“ a n“

the fi rst or octave - or octette—i s made of eight_l ines, rhyming a -b-b—a -a -b-b-a

, the rema in ing six lines,thesextet te,

rhyming in any fash ion on ei ther twoor th ree terminal s

,as, c-d -c-d-c-a

’

,or c-d -e-e-d -c.

107

108 THE SONNET

There are severa l o ther admiss ib le a rrangements i nthe octave, but the pure sonnet must be as above.

The ru les for the logica l construction are les spositive. They are : The octave shou ld terminatewith a period . I t shou ld make the s tatement orcontain the description from which the sextettedraws the conclusion or reflection . M any of M i lton ’ s and Word sworth ’ s sonnets do not observeth i s last ru le ; the conc lusion is sometimes confined to the two or th ree closing l ines o r left to thereader . But the best e ffect i s a ttained when the

logica l divis ion s co rrespond near ly to the metrica ld ivision s . The fo l lowing sonnet by B lan co Whi tei l lustrates the princ iple, and was ranked very h ighby Co leridge :

N IGHT

Mysterious Night when our first parent knewThee from report divine and heard thy name,D id he no t tremble for this lovely frame,

Th is glor ious canopy ofl ight and blue ?Yet

’neath a curta in of translucent dew,

Bathed in the rays ofthe great sett ing flame,Hesperus w ith the host ofheaven came,

And,10 creat ion wi dened in man’s v iew.

Who could have thought such darkness lay concealedWithin thy beams

,0 Sun or who could find

Wh ilst flower and leaf and insect stood revealedThat to such countless orbs thou mad

’

st us bl indWhy do we then shun death with anx ious strife ?I f Light can thus deceive, wherefore no t Life ?


I IO THE SONNET

emotion and compares i t to that of Cortez whenhe fi rst looked on a new ocean . I t was in rea li tyBalboa who d iscovered the Pacific, but the mistakedoes not affect the beauty of the sonnet .

Much have I traveled in the realms ofgold,And many goodly states and kingdoms seen ;Round many western islands have I been

Wh ich bards in fealty to Apo llo hold .

Oft ofone wide expanse had I been toldThat deep - browed Homer ruled as h is demesneYet never d id I breathe its pure serene

Ti ll I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold .

Then felt I l ike some watcher ofthe skiesWhen a new planet swims into his ken,

Or l ike stout Cortez when with eagle eyesH e stared at the Pacific and all his men

Looked at each other with a wi ld surm iseS ilent, upon a peak in Dar ien.

M il ton ’ s sonnet on T/ze La z‘e M assacre in P ied

mont i s a t remendous invocation for vengeance,without a b reak from the fi rst line to the last.

Avenge,O Lord

,

’

thy slaugh tered sa ints, whose bonesLie scattered on the Alpine mounta ins coldEven them who kept thy truth so pure of old,

When all our fathers wo rsh iped stocks and stones,

Forget no t. In thy bo o k record their groansWho were thy sheep and in their anc ient foldSla in by the bloody Piedmontese that rolled

Mother w ith infant down the rock . Their moans

THE SONNET I I l

The vales redoubled to the h ills and theyTo heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow

O’

er all the Ital ian folds where still doth swayThe triple tyrant ; that from these may grow

A hundredfo ld , who hav ing learnt thy wayEarly may fly the Babylonian woe.

There i s a metr ica l rule that al l the rhymes inthe octave should not be the same vowe l . Thati s broken in the above, the 0 sound runningth rough the octave and th rough ha l f the sextette .

I t may be questioned , however , whether the em

phasis of the curse i s not strengthened by the

monotonou s repet i tion . There i s another ru le th ata sonnet shou ld not end with a coup let . The fi rstexample b reak s th i s rule, and so do many of thestrongest sonnets i n the l anguage. The earlyI tal i ans laid down a number of m inor regulation s

,

requiring, for in stance, th at the octave should begrammatica l ly d ivided into two quatrain s, and the

sextette i nto two terz ettes. These are an outcome

o f the disposition of the Lat in mind to codify— tomake minute regu lation s and ignore the princip leof l iberty under the l aw which g ives l ife to a ll artproducts . Technica l ru les are necess a ry , but theyhave thei r l im itations, and gen ius interprets thembetter th an pedantry can . The sonnet, i t i s true,i s an a rtifi cial poem and therefore subject to rig idstructu ral law

,but these laws are not a p rz

'

orz

'

andmust be deduced from the practice of the g rea tpoets . The on ly rig id ru les are question s of defi

I I 2 THE SONNET

nition,and determine the length—fourteen l ines

and the metri ca l divi s ion in to octave and sextette .

There i s a variant of the pure or I ta l ian sonnetin wh ich the rhymes i n the octave are a l ternateab, abb, aba ,

and fo l low the same order backwardand forward Th is does not d iffer much in melod ic effect f rom the regular arrangement, and re

tain s the advantage of unequa l paragraph ing inthe i ndependence of the octave and sextette. An

example i s Andrew Lang ’ s sonnet on the thoughtth at al though antiquarian research violates the

tombs of Cassandra and Agamemnon , sti l l Homerremain s an idea l sou rce of a great poeti c unity notana lyzed in to a set of minor balladi sts .

H omERIc UNITY 1

The Sacred so i l of Ilio s is rentW ith shaft and pit fo i led waters wander slow

Through p la ins where S imo is and Scamander wentTo war with gods and heroes long ago .

Nor yet to dark Cassandra lying lowIn r ich Mycenae do the Fates relentThe bones of Agamemnon are a show

,

And ru ined is h is royal monument.The dust and awful treasures of the dead

Hath learning scattered wide, but va inly thee,Homer

,she measures with her Lesb ian lead,

And strives to rend thy songs, too bl ind is sheTo know the crown on thine immortal head

O f indiv is ible supremacy .

1 Prefixed to the translation ofthe I liad. London, 1883.


I I 4 THE SONNET

From gluttons’ feasts to soldiers’ fare a change,

H is helmet, far above a garland’

s chargeWho scarce the name ofmanhood d id reta inDrenched in sloth and womanish del ight

,

Feeble ofspirit,impatient ofpain,

When he had lost his honor and his r ightProud time of wealth , in sto rms appalled with dread,Murdered h imself to show some manful deed .

Surrey was executed in h is th irtieth yea r on acharge of h igh treason against Hen ry VI I I , andit has been conjectu red that the foregoing sonneti s a covert satire on the k ing , and that the k ing

’ sresentment influenced the sentence to death . As

,

however , the young man and h is father, the powerfu l D uke of Norfo lk , h ad been gui l ty of construetive treason ,

and favored the Cathol ic party, theconjecture finds l itt le support . Neither from the

po li ti ca l nor from the l i terary standpoint i s the sonnet quite bad enough to j usti fy a resort to extrememeasures .

I n the latter ha l f of the s ixteenth century thesonnet became very popu lar . I t was the recogniz ed veh ic le fo r both court ly compl iments and

p h i losoph ical thought . Severa l of the E l i zabeth anpoets wrote sonnet sequences, or a number ofthese sh ort poems on the same genera l theme .

S i r Phi lip S idney wrote a ser ies ent it led As trop/zel.

and S tella (Star- lover and S tar ), in honor of thebeauti fu l Penelope Devereux, Lady R ich . H e

uses both forms ind i fferent ly, but, i n common

THE SONNET I 15

with all the sonnet wri ters of the period , c loseswith a couplet . H i s are far better finished thanthose of Surrey and Wyatt. AII example of eachform is appended :

Because I breathe not love to every oneNor do no t use set colors fo r to wear,

“

Nor nourish spec ial locks ofvowed hair,

Nor give each speech a full po int of a groan,

The courtly nymphs acqua inted with the moanOfthem who in their l i ps Love ’s standard bear ;What he say they of me. Now I dare swear

He cannot love no,no, let h im alone.

”

And th ink so sti ll, so Stella know my m indPro fess, indeed , I do no t Cupid ’s art

But you fair maids, at length this true shall find,

That h is righ t badge is worn but in the heartDumb swans

,no t chatt

’

ringpies, do lovers prove,They love indeed who quake to say they love.

DEATH AN ORD INANCE OF NATURE AND THEREFORE GOOD

S ince Nature’s works be good, and death do th serveAs Nature’

swork,why should we fear to die ?

Since fear is va in but when it may preserve,Why should we fear thatwh ich we cannot fly ?

Fear is more pain than is the pa in it fears,D isarm ing human m inds of native m ight,

Whi le each conceit an ugly figure wearsWhich were no t evi l viewed in reason’s l ight.

Our owly eyes which d immed with pass ions be,And scarce d iscern the dawn of com ing day,

Let them be cleared and now begin to see

1 16 THE SONNET

Our l ife is but a step in dusty way .

Then let us hold the bl iss ofpeaceful m ind,

S ince th is we feel, great loss we cannot find .

- From theArcadia .

Edmund Spenser wrote a large number o f sonnets

,most of '

Wt h are addressed to h i s l ady andentitled Ammorettz

'

. He wrote the th ree- qua tra in form with c losing coup let, but devised the

p lan of l inking the quatra in s together by a commonrhyme ending, h i s scheme being abab

,bcbc, ca

’ca

’

ee, th us making a metrica l unit of twe lve l i nes,fo l lowed by a uni t of two lines , an ar rangementnot much super io r in me lod ic effect to th ree quatrain s and a coup let . H is thought construction ,however, almost invari ab ly i s paragraphed intoeigh t l ines and s ix . The form he invented is evenmore artificia l and quite as hard to compose as thepure I ta l i an, s1nce i t requi res four rhymes on eachof two term ina l s . M any of h is sonnets are ex

tremely beautifu l in language and though t .

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,

But came the waves and washed it awayAga in I wro te it with a second hand,But came the t ide and made my pa ins h is prey.

Va in man,

”said she

,

“that dost in vain assay

Amortal th ing so to immortal iz eFor I myselfs hall l ike to this decay,

And eke my name be wiped out l ikewise.

Not so,

” quo th I “ let baser th ings deviseTo d ie in dust, but you shall l ive by fame


I 18 THE SONNET

Among the numerous sonnets of thi s period

those by D rummond,D rayton

,and Daniel may be

i n stanced . The fo l lowing by M ichael D rayton i s

in every way admirab le'

and il lustrates the impor

tance of divid i ng the thought logica l ly at the end

of the eighth l ine as Spenser usua l ly does .

S ince there’

s no help,come let us kiss and part

,

Nay I have done, you get no more of me

And I am glad, yea glad with all my heart

That thus so cleanly I myself can freeShake hands forever cancelall our vows,And, when we meet at any t ime aga in

,

Be it no t seen in e ither of our browsThat we one j o t of former love reta in.

Now at the last gasp of Lo ve ’s latest breath,

When,his pulse fa i l ing

,Pass ion speechless l ies

,

When Faith is kneel ing by his bed of death ,And Innocence is c los ing up his eyes

Now if thou would ’st,when all have given h im over,

From death to l ife thou m ight’st him yet recover.

The genius of the dramatic poet,W i l l i am Shake

speare, took up the p reva len t ph i losoph ica l thought

of the day and molded it into the fo rms in wh ichthe writers of h is time expressed themselves . As

ear ly as I 598 , F ranci s Meres i n a short l iterary

sketch o f the period mention s hi s “suggard so n

nets among h i s p rivate friends . Pub l ication wasa very di fferent matter then from what i t i s now .

I t was u sua l ly effected through the help o f a

THE SONNET 1 19

wealthy or social ly powerfu l nob le, a Macaenas, towhom the work was dedicated and to whom the

writer looked for h i s “ honora ri um either in ag i ft of money or an appointmen t to some sa lariedposition in the gift o f the patron . Li terature re

ceived some of the rewards that now go to po l itica lserv ices . Chaucer was made col lector of custom s,and Spenser secretary to the V iceroy of I rel and .

The two poems Shakespeare wrote fo r publ icationare dedicated to powerfu l nob lemen . In 1600,

printing estab l ishments were beginning to bringout sma l l ventures on their own account, plays ,bal l ads

,and the l ike i n pamph let form , and to

th i s we owe the quarto ed ition s of about hal f o fShakespeare

’ s p lays . I n 1609, Thomas Thorpe, apetty London pub l isher , got hold of a number ofmanuscri p t copies of sonnets by the g reat dramatist. H e p rinted them and prefi xed an enigmatica ldedication , the most en igmat ical , indeed, that everprefaced any book :

THE SoNNETs OF SHAKESPEARTO THE

ONLIE BEGETTER OF THESE ENSUING SONNETSMR . W . H .

ALL HAPP INESSAND THAT ETERN ITY

PROM ISED BY OUR EVER-L IVING POETW ISHETH

THE WELL-W ISH ING ADVENTURERIN SETTING FORTH .

T . T .

20 THE SONNET

The ever- l iving poet i s , of cou rse, Shakespeare, who in severa l sonnets p redicts immortal i tyfo r the subj ect of h is verse. There seems noreason for imag in ing th at W . H . was the personto whom the author add ressed any of the poems

,

and it cannot reasonab ly be conj ectured who hewas . The

“onlie begetter must mean co l lecto r,

and not in spirer . W . H . must h ave gathered insome way a number of sonnets by Sh akespeare.

Possib ly he had them on loose leaves, possib ly i n

manuscript books such as were f requently used inth at day . They must have been “ c lean copy

,

for there are very few typograph ica l erro rs in the

printed page, which makes a remarkab le contrast

to the'

folio of Shakespeare’ s p lays . Possib ly some

Of them were in the h andwriting of the author,

but he evidently h ad noth ing to do with the pub lication

,since the arrangemen t in groups i s very

imperfect and i s p art ly in tel l igent and part ly fo rtuitous . The common law at th is time gave theauthor no contro l over h is m atter after the manuscrip t had lef t h i s h ands . We have no means ofknowing how Shakespeare took the (doubtless )unauthor iz ed printing of hi s work

,and we can

on ly feel th ankful to the enterpri sing and un

scrupulou s T . T .

The subj ect—matter of these sonnets ha s a widerange . The fi rs t seventeen are exh ortations to ayoung man to marry

,s ince man ’s l i fe i s short and

the race eternal . A number are on the enduring


122 THE SONNET

Let me not to the marriage oftrue m indsAdm i t impediments

,

the m’

s and the abrupt vowe l s are l ike a trumpetca l l , and the beautifu l 1 sequence and the o

’

s anda

’

s i n the next l ine,Love is no t love

Which alters when it alteration findsOr bends with the remover to remove

,

an swer i t l ike a bug le. Nowhere can more beauti fu l i l lustrations of tone- color and of al li teration ,not in the in itia l letters of words only bu t in the

body and substan ce of the music , be found . The

s’

s fol lowed by 70’

s in the fi rst quatra in of No . 30

are no more th an a fair examp le, fo r a s a ru le the

music i s more sub tle

When to the sessions ofsweet si lent thoughtI summon up remembrance o fth ings past

,

I sigh the lack ofmany a thing I so ught,And with old woes new wai l my dear times

’ waste.

The eth ica l subt lety of the thought, sometimesnot to be understood without paraphrasing

,but

not to be comprehended except in the originalfo rm , and the j ustness of the ph rases are no lessremarkab le than the verbal music of the sonnets .

I t is impossib le to ch aracteriz e the bal lad betterth an in the l ine “ The stretched meter of anantique song,

” or the winter fo rest better than inthe l ines :

THE SONNET 123

those boughs wh ich shake against the cold ,Bare ru ined cho irs where late the sweet b irds sang.

The images are occasional ly of great force andsuggestiveness , as

Like as the waves make toward the pebbled shore,So do ourm inutes hasten to the ir end

,

Each changing place with that which go es before,In sequent to i l all forwards do contend .

Almost my nature is subduedTo what it works in

,like Me a

’

yer’

s band.

I t must be confessed that some of Shakespeare’ssonnets are d iffi cul t to understand . They dealwith very perplexing and obscure matters . Theyp rove, however, th at the sonnet

’ s “ scanty plot ofg round , of whose l im i ts Wo rdsworth com p l ai ned ,

was broad enough for the intim ate expression ofa great poet . The fi rs t of those sub j oined i s thevery apotheosi s of the sel f- abnegat ion of sp iritua llove . The second , wri tten as i t was by a man inthe prime of l i fe

,di sp roves the autob iograph ic

theory .

NO longer mourn fo r me when I am deadThan you shall hear the surly sullen bel l

Give warning to the wo rld that I am fled

From th is v ile world wi th vi lest worms to dwell .Nay

,i f you read th is l ine remember no t

The hand that writ i t ; for I love you so

124 THE SONNET

That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgotIf thinking on me then should make you woe.

O if I say you loo k upon this verseWhen I perhaps compounded am w ith c lay

Do nOt so much as my po o r name rehearseBut let your love even w i th my l ife decay .

Lest the wise world should look into your moan,

And mock you w ith me after I am gone.

That t ime of year thou mayst in me beholdWhen yellow leaves, or none, or few,

do hangUpon those boughs wh ich shake aga inst the cold

,

Bare ru ined cho irs where late the sweet b irds sang.

In me thou seest the twi light Ofsuch dayAs after sunset fadeth in the west,

Which by and by black nigh t doth take away,Death ’s second self that seals up all in rest.

In me thou seest the glowing ofsuch fireThat on the ashes ofhis youth doth lie

,

As the death -bed whereon it must expire,

Consumed w ith that wh ich it was nour ished by.

Th is thou perce i vest wh ich makes thy lo ve more strongTO love that well wh ich thou must leave ere long.

John M i lton wrote but seventeen sonnets . H i sknowledge of I tal ian l iterature prompted h im touse the pure I ta l ia n rhyme scheme

,but u sual ly

he di sregarded the ru le to make the division s o fthe though t correspond to the metri ca l d ivisions .

H i s sonnets are the work of a fini shed art ist, and wecannot but regret th at he d id no t find more le i surehours

,when he was busi ly engaged as Latin secre


126 THE SONNET

The l ily and rose, that neither sowed nor spun.

What neat repast shall feast us, l ight and cho ice,OfAttic taste, with w ine, whence We may r ise

To hear the lute well touched , or artful vo iceWarble immortal notes and Tuscan a ir ?He who Of these del ights can judge, and spareTo interpose them oft, is no t unwise.

The resemb l ance to an ode of H orace is eviden t .M i lton died in 1674 , and fo r a century thereafter

no sonnets were written . Nei ther the bri l l iant persiflage of the Restoration nor the serious undertoneof the eigh teenth century nor its d ign ified classica lcul ture were favorab le to the product ion of del ic ate and highly artificia l forms of art . Dr. J ohnson compared M i lton ’ s work Ou sonnets to th atof a man who “ carved heads on cher ry - stones .

Toward the end of the centu ry Thomas Gray ( 17 16—I 77 1), whose conception of art and cu lture wasmuch finer than th at of Dr. J ohn son and the pre

vai l ing schoo l of wri ters, wrote sonnets . H is ex

ample was fo llowed by Thomas Warton ( 1728professor of poetry at Oxford , and by Anna

Seward ( 174 7 a l ady of graceful l itera rypowers . W i l l i am Li sle Bowle s ( 1762—18 50) wrotea number wh ich attracted the attention of Co leridge ( 1772 Younger writers were excitedwith the idea that verse should be more va ried,natura l, and musica l than tha t of the s tately eighteenth - centu ry school , and the pub l ication of. the

an cient ba l lads has widened thei r conception of the

THE SONNET 127

function of poetry . Coleridge wrote a few sonnets,but he never h it on the true mel odic sonnet wave.

Wordsworth ,however, took up the sonnet form

with a fu l ler comprehension of its natu re. He

wrote over four hundred sonnets, and though h i sfata l faci lity of rhyming makes some of themcommonp lace

,a number are so di stingui shed by

l impidity as to rank among the finest specimens inthe language. He was no doubt profound ly influenced by M i l ton . I n most i nstances he fol lowspretty c lo sely the pure I tal ian form

,and he must

be he ld to have g iven the sonnet it s g reat vogue i nthe n ineteenth century . Fol lowing the example ofthe s ixteenth -century poets , he composed several“ sonnet sequences, the most important o f wh ichi s th at on the ecc lesiast ica l h i story of Eng land

entitled E ccles ias tical Sbetc/zes , one hundred andfourteen in number . Another ser ies, of th irty- fourha s fo r a subject various aspects o f the RiverD uddon in Westmoreland, and another, a trip toScotl and . Sonnets written in such numbers canhard ly avoid a mechanica l, profess iona l tone.

Among the best known of Wordsworth ’ s sonnetsare the one wr i tten on Westm in ster Bridge, al readyci ted , the one on M i lton ,

and the one beg inn ing“ The world is too much with us the Ones onVen ice, on Toussa in t L

’

Ouverture, and on a“ ca lm

evening ,” but many other s are far above mediocri ty .

I n d iction a l l are s imp le and transparent , and someof the phrases are of admirab le force and beau ty .

128 THE SONNET

VEN I CE

Once d id she hold the go rgeous East in fee ,And was the safeguard of the West ; the worthOf Ven ice d id no t fal l below her b irth

Ven ice the eldest ch i ld of L iberty .

She was a ma iden c ity , br igh t and free ;NO gu i le seduced , no fo rce could Violate ;And when she took unto herself a mate

She must espouse the E verlast ing Sea .

And what if she had seen tho se glo r ies fade,Those t itles van ish and that strength decay ,

Yet shal l some tr ibute of regret be pa i dWhen her long l ife hath reached its final day

Men are we and must gr ieve when even the shadeOf that wh ich once was great is passed away .

M ILTON

Mi lton l thou shouldst be l iv ing at th is hour ;England hath need of thee : she i s a fenOf stagnant waters : altar , swo rd , and pen,

F ires ide, the hero ic wealth of hall and bower,Have forfe ited their anc ient Engl ish dowerOf inward happiness . We are selfish men ;

Oh,ra ise us up ,

return to us aga in ;And give us manners , Virtue, freedom , power .Thy soul was l i ke a star and dwelt apart ;Thou hadst a vo ice whose sound was l ike thePure as the naked heavens , majestic free,So d idst thou travel on l ife ’

s common wayIn cheerful god l iness and yet thy heart

The lowl iest dut ies on herself d id lay.


130 THE SONNET

Where a few v i l lagers on bended kneesF ind solace wh ich a busy world d isda ins .

E cclesiastical Sbetclzes .

I t wi l l be observed that Word sworth very rare lyc loses the sonnet wi th a coup let and that he occasionally in serts an extra rhyme i nto the octave as inth ree of those quoted . H e observes the though tdivi s ion i n more than ha lf of h is sonnets a s in a l l ofthe above . The though t divi s ion i s evidently moreimportan t than the metr ica l requirement

,but few

wi ll be i nc l ined to find fault with the sonnet onK ing

’

s College C/zapel though it conta in s bothdefects : the second rhyme i s not ca rried th roughthe octave, and the logica l d ivision fa l l s at the end

of the fi fth l ine. Technica l rules are rel axed forthose whose abili ties are not l im i ted to obed ience.

Among Wordsworth ’ s immed ia te succes sors,

Byron and Shel ley made few essay s in the sonneta l though masters of the Spenserian stan z a

,a form

kindred to i t. That thei r vigorous and generou ssentiments would not have been cramped by it sforma l i ty i s shown by Byron ’s sonnet on Ch i l lon

Eternal sp ir i t of the cha inless m ind ,Br igh test in dungeons , L iberty , thou art,For there thy hab itat ion is the heart ,

The heart wh ich love Of thee alone can b ind ;And when thy sons to fetters are cons igned

,

To fetters and the damp vault ’s day less gloom,

Thei r country conquers w ith thei r martyrdom ,

And Freedom ’s fame finds wings on every w ind .

THE SONNET 13 1

Ch i l lon thy prison is a holy place,And thy sad floor an altar, for

’twas trod,Unt i l h is very steps have left a traceWorn as if thy cold pavement were a sod

By Bonnivard 1 May none those marks efface,For they appeal from ty ranny to God .

Shel ley ’ s fourteen - l i ne poem , Ozymandias , vio

lates a l l the l aws of the sonnet except the first .I t contains a magnificen t image, but on reading i t,the fa l l o f the rhymes wi l l be found disap point ing ,Showing that there i s someth ing abso lute in the

regular form .

OZYMAND IAS

I met a traveler from an ant ique landWho sa id , Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert . Near them on the sandHalf sunk , a Shattered v isage l ies whose frown

And wr inkled l i p and sneer of cold commandTel l that its sculptor wel l those pass ions read

Wh ich yet surv ive, stamped on these l ifeless th ings ,The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed

And on the pedestal these words appear :My name is Oz ymand ias , K ing of K ings ;

Loo k on my works , ye m igh ty , and despa i r lNoth ing bes ide rema ins . Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck , bound less and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.

J ohn Keats had al l the requi remen ts of a sonnetwr i ter : passionate love of mel ody and beauty, asense of fo rm which strengthened with each suc

132 THE SONNET

cessive product ion , and the power o f strik ing outthe fi tt ing and sugges tive ph rase wh ich grip s thereader and seems someth ing absol ute and fina l .H i s sonnets mu st be regarded as p re l udes to a l i fework which h i s genius was not a l lowed to finish .

The fi rst o f the two fo l lowing i s evident ly youthfu lwork

WR ITTEN ON THE DAY MR . LE IGH HUNT LE FT PR ISON

What though for show ing truth to flattered stateK ind Hunt was shut in pr ison

, yet has heI n h is immortal sp i r it been as free

As the sky-search ing lark , and as elate.

Min ion of grandeur ! th ink you he d id wa i t ?

Th ink you he naugh t but pr i son walls d id see

T i l l so unw i ll ing thou unturnd’

st the key?

Ah no ! far happ ier, nobler was h is fate !

In Spenser ’s halls he strayed , and bowers fa ir,Cull ing enchanted flowers ; and he flew

W i th dar ing Mi lton th rough the fields of a ir ;To regions of h is own h is gen ius true

Took happy fl igh ts . Who shall h is fame impa i rWhen thou art dead and all thy wretched crew ?

How many bards gi ld the lapses of time !

A few of them have ever been the foodOf my del ighted fancy I could brood

Over the ir beaut ies , earth ly o r subl ime ;And Often when I s it me down to rhyme ,

These w i l l in th rongs befo re my m ind intrude,


I 34 THE SONNET

ing used the expression “ F rom the Portuguese todisguise

,as i f t ranslation s

, the poems in which she

embodied the exa lted mood of a refined woman towhom the pass ion of love came fo r the fi rst timea fter youth was past . The passion i s so pure th ati t seems disembodied . I t i s of the soul , ecstati c,or standing out of the body . The range of emotionof these sonnets i s l imi ted and feminine . Not on lydoes Shakespeare cover a wider scope of sentimentin h is love sonnets, but he stands on the border between the two world s of sense and sp i rit as mandoes, and in consequence his sentiment i s j u sterand more universa l . The etherea l medium Of the

idea l world may be“ purer than the si n- l aden

atmosphere of rea l i ty in one sense and “ h igherin one sense, but the c louds and storms of th isearth are to us of more interest than the serenersky of an imag ined heaven , and properer subjectsof art . Having said th is

,we admi t the sp iri tua l

and arti stic beauty of M rs . Browning ’ s sonnets andthat they are showered from an atmosphere “ h igherand purer in the conventional sense than those ofthe “ Swan of Avon . She hersel f wou ld h avebeen the l ast to c la im for them the reach

, e levation ,

and insight or the ph rase power of the Shakespearean sonnets .The Sonnets from fire P ortuguese number forty

four . The sonnets of M rs . B rowning are almostinvar iab ly subjec tive and many of them are mark edby a profound rel igiou s feel ing. Technicalh ,

h i s .

THE SONNET 135

Browning was a ca reless arti st, or, rather, she caredfo r expression more than for form . She does notregard the divis ion between the octave and the sex

tette suffi ciently to b ring out the fu l l beauty of thesonnet structu re, no r wil l

.

she ever reject a rhymebecause i t i s imperfect . The beauty of her poetryis largely ph rasa l and rhythmica l, and , in the ful lerbut not in the forma l sense, structu ra l . Of the

Sonnetsfrom t/ze P ortuguese perhaps the most characteristic one i s the twenty- second

When our two souls stand up erect and strong,Face to face, s i lent ; d rawing n igh and n igher,Unt i l the lengthening w ings break into fire

At e ither curved po int—what b itter wrongCan the earth do to us that we should not longBe here contented ? Th ink ! In mount ing h igherThe angels would press on us and aspi re

To d rop some golden orb of perfect songInto our deep , dear s i lence . Let us stayRather on Earth , Beloved , where the unflt

Contrar ious moods of men reco i l awayAnd isolate pure spi r its , and perm i t

A place to stand and love in for a dayWith darkness and the death - hour round ing it.

The close of th is i s undoubted ly very beautifu l ,and the tone of the poem I s sp IrItual and elevated .

Of the other sonnets of M r s . Browning, some

th irty in number, we t ranscr ibe as an example o fher rel ig iou s sentimen t, the one enti tled the Two

Say ings :

136 THE SONNET

Two say ings of the Holy Scr i ptures beatL ike pulses in the Church ’s brow and breast ;And by them we find rest in our unrest,

And heart deep in salt tears do yet entreatGod ’s fel lowsh ip as if on Heavenly seat.The fi rst i s “ Jesus wept,

”—whereon i s prestFull many a sobb ing face, that drops its best

And sweetest waters on the record sweetAnd one is where the Chr ist , den ied and scorned ,

“ Looked upon,

Peter . Oh , to render p la inBy help of hav ing loved a l ittle and mournedThat look of sovran love and sovran pa in

Wh ich H e who could not sin, yet suffered , turnedOn h im who could reject but not susta in .

The poet-painter, Dante Gab riel Rossett i , wroteone hundred and fi fty sonnets . As he was quite as

much at home in the I ta lian language and literatu reas i n Engli sh

,and was

,in common with h is friends

of the Pre-Raphae l i te Brotherhood , enthusiasticover the art o f the th irteen th and fourteenth cen

turies , i t was natu ra l th at he should cu ltivate the

measures o f D an te and Petra rch . He obeys theI ta l ian rules , making , except in few i n stances, afu l l stop at the end of the eighth l ine and separatingthe octave and the sextette by a space on the page.

Often he obeys the subordinate ru le to divide the

octave in to two quatrain s and the sextette into twoterz ettes by a period . He rarely closes a sonnetwi th a coup let . Painstaking ,

loving workmansh ip asif on the cutt ing of a gem i s evident in the ph rasing.


I 38 THE SONNET

sonorousness tha t emphasiz es the l o ft iness of theidea . The fo l lowing magnificent one i s incomprehensible without a visua l image of the p i cture i nquestion . The first th ree l ines are unsurpassab le.

FOR OUR LAD Y OF THE Ro cxs

(by Leonardo da Vinci)

Mother, is th is the darkness of the end ,

The Shadow of Death ? and is that outer seaInfini te, imm inent etern ity ?

And does the death -pang by man ’s seed susta inedIn T ime

’s each instant cause thy face to bendIts s i lent prayer upon the Son, wh i le heBlesses the dead w ith h i s hand s i lently ,

To H i s long day wh ich hours no more offend

Mother of grace, the pass is d ifficult,Keen as these rocks , and the bew i ldered souls

Th rong it l i ke echoes bl ind ly shudder ing through .

Thy name, O Lo rd, each Spi r it ’s vo ice extolsWhose peace ab i des in the dark avenueAmid the b itterness of th ings occult.

THE B I RTH BOND

H ave you no t noted in some fam i lyWhere two were bo rn of a fi rst marr iage bed ,How st i l l they own the i r grac ious bond though fed

And nursed on the forgotten breast and kneeHow to the i r father ’s ch i ldren they shal l beI n act and though t of one goo d w i l l ; but each

THE SONNET 139

Shal l for the other have in s i lence, speech ,And in a word , comp lete commun ity .

Even so when fi rst I saw you seemed i t love,That among soul s all ied to m ine was yet

One nearer kindred than l ife h inted of.O born w ith me somewhere that men forget,And though for years of s ightand sound unmet,

Known formy soul ’s b i rth partner wel l enough !H ouse of Life.

Both o f these are weakened by the c losingline, and the second i s one of a number of ins tances when Rossetti uses the th i rd rhyme in theoctave.

THE DARK GLASS

Not I myself know al l my love for theeHow should I reach so far , who cannot we ighTo-morrow ’s dower by gage of yesterday ?

Shall b irth and death and all dark names that beAs doors and w indows bared to some loud sea

Lash deaf m ine ears and bl ind my facew ith spray ;And shall my sense pierce love, the last re lay

And ult imate outpo st of Eternity ?

Lo ! what am I to love, the lord of al l ?One murmur ing shel l he gathers from the sand ,One l ittle heart-flame sheltered in h is hand .

Yet th rough th ine eyes he grants me clearest cal lAnd ver iest touch of ‘ powers pr imord ialThat any hour-gi rt l ife may understand .

140 THE SONNET

The fo l lowing sonnet wi l l repay study,and the

close of the o ctave'

is an examp le of Rossetti’ soccasiona l great phrasa l power.

TH INK AND ACT

Th ink thou and act ; to-morrow thou shalt die.

Outstretched in the sun ’s warmth upon the shoreThou sayst , Man ’s measured path is all gone o

’er ;

Up all his years , steeply , w ith stra in and s ighMan clomb unt i l he touched the truth ; and 1Even I am he whom i t was destined for .How Should th is be ? Art thou then so much more

Than they who sowed that thou shoulds t reap thereby P

Nay , come up h ither. From th is wave-washed moundUnto the furthest flood-br im look with me ;

Then reach on w ith thy though t t i l l it be d rowned ,Mi les and m i les d istant though the last l ine be,

And though thy soul sa i l leagues and leagues beyond ,St i l l , leagues beyond those leagues there i s more sea.

The impl ied contrast between the man com fortab le at the sea- level of though t

,who th inks th at

the present i s the hei r of the p ast and has reachedthe abso lute goa l , and so takes h is ease

,and the

speaker, who from a sligh t eminence look s ou t onthe i l l imitab le area of the future sou l developmentof the race, i s of far- reach ing s ignificance. I nthe fol lowing the evi l effect of the growth of modern individual ism in chi l l ing generous sentiment i s


142 THE SONNET

To AGASSI z

I stand aga in on the fam i l iar shoreAnd hear the waves of the d istracted sea

P iteously cal l ing and lament ing thee,And wa it ing restless at thy cottage doo r .The rocks , the seaweed on the ocean floor ,The wi l lows inthe meadow, and the freeW i ld w inds of the Atlant ic welcome me ;

Then why shouldst thou be dead and come more ?

Ah , Why shouldst thou be dead when common men

Are busy w ith the i r tr iv ial affa i rs ,Hav ing and hold ing Why, when thou hadst read

Nature ’s myster ious manuscr i pt, and thenWast ready to reveal the truth i t bears ,Why art thou s i lent ? Why shouldst thou be dead ?

The fo l lowing,too , beautiful ly embod ies emo

t ion which l ies w ith in the exper ience of every0116

THE NAMELESS GRAVE

A sold ier of the Un ion mustered out,I s the inscr i pt ion on an unknown graveAt Newport News bes ide the salt- sea wave,

N ameless and dateless ; sent inel or scoutShot down in skirm ish , or d isas trous routOf battle, when the loud art i l lery d raveI ts iron wedges thro ugh the ranks of brave

And doomed battal ions storm ing the redoubt.

Thou unknown hero sleep ing by the sea

In thy forgotten grave w ith secret Shame

THE SONNET 14 3

I feel my pulses beat, my forehead burnWhen I remember thou hast given for meAllthat thou hadst, thy l ife, thy very name,And I can give thee noth ing in return.

Among those of more recent writers the sonnetso f Ed ith‘ Thomas

,Emma Lazarus, and Lloyd M ifflin

are especi al ly noteworthy . There are many othersporadic sonnets of admirab le qual i ty scattered hereand there i n our l iteratu re. The few of Parson s makeu s regret that the autho r d id not more frequentlyes say th i s diffi cul t form . The modern tendency toavoid sonorousness and vol ume of sound, to repressthe fo rce of the accent bea t in any one l i ne, toreduce poeti c d iction to the s impl ic ity of prose,and to keep emotiona l expression with in deco rous ,conventiona l bounds seems to p revent the p roduct ion of sonnets of the highest c lass . The sonneti s wel l adapted to the presentat ion of two rel atedthoughts

,whether the rel ation be that of contrast

o r of paral lel ism , bu t i t i s so Short that the bodyof thought must be very condensed and striking,

l uc idly presented and yet of far- reach ing sugges

tiveness . The techn ica l d iffi cu lties of the fo rmare also very great , which , indeed , makes the perfect ones the more satis fying . Sonnet beautydepends on symmet ry and asymmetry both , forthe parts are unequal in length and different inform and mel ody . I n th i s i t resemb les th ings oforganic beauty as opposed to th ings of geomet ric

144 THE SONNET

beauty . I t i nvo lves the princip le of b alanced yetdissim ilar mas ses, of fo rma l i ty and freedom ,

l ike atree which has deve loped under the rigorous lawof i ts growth and yet i s sh aped

.

by the ch anceof wind and sun sh ine in to someth ing i ndividua l .The sonnet fo rm cou ld not have endured the testof t ime for so m any year s did i t not embody someof the underly ing p rinc ip les of beauty .

The fo l lowing sonnets on the sonnet wil l sh owhow it has been regarded by th ree poets

Scorn no t the sonnet ; Cr it ic, you have frownedMind less of its just honors ; w ith th is keyShakespeare unlocked h is heart ; the melody

Of th is smal l lute gave ease to Petrarch ’s woundA tho usand t imes th is pipe d id Tasso sound ;W ith it Camo é ns soothed an ex i le ’s gr iefThe sonnet gl ittered a gay myrtle leaf

Am id the cypress with wh ich Dante crownedH is v is ionary brow ; a glow-wo rm lampI t cheered m i ld Spenser , called from Faery—land

TO struggle th rough dark ways and when a dampFel l round the path of Mi lton ,

in h is handThe th ing became a trumpet, whence he blewSoul- animat ing stra ins alas too few.

WORDSWORTH .

A sonnet is a moment ’s monument,Memor ial from the soul ’s etern ityTo one dead death less hour . Loo k that it be

Whether for lustral r ite or d ire portentOf its own arduous fullness reverent ;


CHAPTER IV

THE ODE

THE ba l lad is a popular form ,a medieva l herit

age ; the sonnet be longs to the poet ry of cultu re,is of I tal ian orig in

,and a part Of the fru it of the

Engl ish rena i ssance of the sixteenth century . The

Engl ish ode though having a l so an I ta l ian root i sp r imari ly a reviva l of a classi c form of . verse. I tdates from the seventeenth century though the

I tal ian canz one had been used as a mode l bySpenser at a s l ight ly earl ier period . The wordOde,

” derived from the Greek word meaning asong, has someth ing of the i ndefinite range ofmean ing that attaches to the word “ ba l l ad .

” I tcovers : fi rst, lyr ic s of some dign i ty and lengthintended to be sung by a trained chorus

,l ike

Dryd’

en ’ s Ode on S t. Cecilia’

s Day ,and Alexana’er’

s

Feas t, or S idney Lan ier’s ode on the Opening of

the Centennia l Exposition in Ph i ladel phia ; second ,poems read at some important occas ion but notintended to be sung , l ike Lowel l

’ s Comm emora tion

Oa’e ; th i rd, poems intended to be read in p rivate,l ike Wordsworth ’ s Ode to D uty ,

or Keats ’ s Ode toa N zg/ztingale. We a l so speak hab i tu al ly of the

146

THE ODE 147

Odes of H orace, though h is Carm ina ,W ith the

exception of the Ca rmen Seculare, were not wri ttenfor a chorus of singers and are l a rgely of the nature of soc iety verse. I n the same way we speakof the Odes of Anacreon,

th ough these are C lea r lysongs and intended for the s ing le voice. Takingthese two la st usages a s exceptional and traditional, there are nevertheles s some common characteristics in the th ree fi rst mentioned c lasses . M r .Gosse s ay s (Englis/c Odes, I ntroduct ion , p .

We take a s an ode any strai n of enthusiasticand exal ted ly ri cal verse, di rected to a fixed purpose and dea l ing progress ively with one dign ifiedtheme. The defini tion , though wordy and notinsi st ing on any one mark as absolutely requ is ite,i s perh aps a s good a one as can be found , thoughit would seem to app ly to good odes rather th an tothe species in genera l . I t leaves the question OpenW hether some of the requirements cannot be wanting and yet, the

‘

product ion fa l l W ith in the category , and i t does not notice the spec ia l ized uses ofthe word , as in the H oratian ode .

”But i t wil l

ai d u s in forming,from the examination of spec i

mens, a conception of the content of the term andof the difference between its genera l iz ed and itsspecia l ized u ses .

The o de, then, deal s with a“ theme. I t i s not

nar ration , but poeti ca l expos ition ,and i f some nar

rative i s found in it,the sto ry serves as the ba sis

for exho rt ation o r reflection it i s not b rought in for

148 THE ODE

i ts p roper interest . The theme i s “ dign ified ,therefore the tone i s serious . I t deals p rogressively, therefore an ode must h ave some extension ,

otherw i se i t i s a song o r a b it Of verse. I t is astrain

,

” therefore a lyrical uni ty not made up ofch ap ters on d i fferent parts of the theme and notof excess ive length . I t i s “

exal ted and “enthu

siastic, not d idacti c— a poet i c oration ratherth an an es say in verse . I t i s “ lyri cal th a ti s

,adap ted to s ing ing o r oral recitation . I t is

d irected to a fi xed purpose,” not made of wander

ing or semi- detached reflect ion s . Allthe essentia lcharacteri stic s are summed up when we say th atan Ode i s a d ign ified lyric of some length . The

elegy or funeral Ode must be exc luded unles s thet reatmen t i s encom iast i c, no t eleg iac . Tennyson ’ sOde on tbc D ea tb of tbe D uke of Wellington

i s encomiastic . Laments cannot we l l be enthusi

astic, and funera l Odes, i f laments,come under

the head of th renod ies o r d i rges . Gray ’ s E legywritten in a Country C/zurc/ty ard wou ld be exc ludedfrom the l i st of odes as general reflection s

, de

pressed rather than “exalted , on the t ran s itori

nes s of th ings,and as not lyr ica l i n tone . p A poet

h as a right to assign h i s prOdfiC’

ion to any c las s hel ikes, otherwise we migh t doubt whether Keats ’ sbeautifu l Ode on a Grecian Urn was not tOO re

flective and pathetic for a true Ode . I t has toomuch the romantic color . Word sworth ’ s ode onthe I ntima tions of Immortality i s

“exal ted , and is


150 THE ODE

six teen or seventeen l ines each w i th a refrain of twol ines . A short envoi o r stanz a of seven l ines c losesthe poem . The stanz as are a l l on nearly the same

model, and i n th is and the presence of the refrainthe poem i s un-Pindari c in form . I t i s full‘

of the

fervor of the ea rly Renaissance and must be re

ferred part ly to Latin and part ly to I tal ian orig ina l s .

This Ode,the fi rst in the Engl i sh language

,was

unequa led among marri age hymns in beauty anddel icacy of expression t il l Tennyson wrote the

marriage song in I n M emoriam . The e leventhand two fol lowing stanzas g ive an idea of the formand lyri ca l qual ity of the whole. Very greattechnical sk i lli s imp l ied in making so compl icateda meter seem una ffected .

X1

But if ye saw that wh ich no eyes can see,

The inward beauty of her l ively spr igh tGarnisht w ith heavenly gifts of h igh degree ,Much more then would ye wonder at that s ight

And stand astonisht l ike to those wh ich red

Medusa ’s maz eful head .

There dwel ls sweet love and constant chast ity ,Unspotted fa ith and comely womanhood

,

Regard of honor and m i ld modesty ,There v i rtue reigns as queen in royal th rone,And giveth laws alone,

The wh ich the base affect ions do Obey ,And y ield the i r serv ices unto her w i l l ;

Ne thought of th ing uncomely ever may

THE ODE 15 1

Thereto appro ach to tempt herm ind to i l l .Had ye once seen these , her celestial treasuresAnd unrevealed pleasures ,Then would ye wonder and her praises singThat al l the woods should answer and your echo ring.

Open the temple gates unto my love ;Open them W ide that she may enter in ;

And all the posts adorn as doth behove,And al l the pi llars deck w ith girlands tr im,

For to receive th is sa int w ith honor dueThat cometh in to you.

W ith trembl ing steps , and humble reverence,She cometh in before th ’ Alm igh ty ’s View.

Of her, ye v i rgins , learn Obed ience,Whenso ye come into those holy p laces,To humble your proud faces .

Br ing her up to th’ h igh altar

,that she may

The sacred ceremon ies there partakeThe wh ich do end less matr imony make ;

And let the roar ing organs loud ly playThe pra ises of the Lord in l ively notesThe wh i les w ith hollow throats ,The chor isters the joyous anthem s ing

,

That all the woods may answer and thei r echo ring.

X I I I

Behold wh i le she before the altar stands ,Hearing the holy pr iest that to h er speaks,

And blesseth herw ith h is two happy hands ,H ow the red roses flush up in her cheeks ,

15 2 THE ODE

And the pure snow,w ith good ly vermei l s ta in,

L i ke cr imson dyed in gra inThat even the angels wh ich cont inually

About the sacred altar do rema in,

Forget thei r serv ice and about her fly,

Oft peep ing in her face , that seems more fairThe more they on it stare.

But her sad eyes , st i l l fastened on the ground ,Are governed w ith good ly modestyThat suffers no t o ne look to glance awry ,

Wh ich may let in a l ittle thought unsound .

Why blush ye , love , to gi ve to me your handThe pledge of al l o ur band ?

S ing, ye sweet angels , Al leluia s ing !

That al l the woods may answer and your echo r ing .

I n 1629, Ben J onson wrote an ode i n the H oratian manner on the fa i lure o f h i s comedy T/ze N ew

I nn, wh ich he say s was “ never p l ayed but mostnegl igently acted . I t i s addressed “ to h imself,and i s made up of six s tanz as of ten l ines with adj acent rhymes . I t i s vigorou s and ingenious ly constructed ,

but i s hardlylongenough ,nor i s the sub ject

Of suffi cient d ign i ty , to entitle i t strictly to the nameof ode except in the Horatian sense. The fi rststanza runs

TO H IMSEL F

Come leave the loathed stageAnd the more loathsome age,

Where pr i de and impudence in faction knit,Usurp the Cha ir ofWit ;


154 THE ODE

Nor called the gods w ith vulgar spi teTo v ind icate h is help less r igh t ;But bowed h is comely headDown as upon a bed .

Up to thi s time odes had been written in regu larthough comp licated stanzas, but with the restora

tion a form was introduced wh ich was used exclusively fo r h a lf a centu ry, and has ever since hadgreat influence on the form of the Ode and, th rough V

i t, on m inor verse. I t orig in ated in a mistakenconcep tion of the construction of the Greek ode.

About the middle of the seventeenth century, thescholar, poet, and loyalist, Ab raham Cowley , whohad fol lowed the fortunes of the widow of Char lesI and her son, afterwards Ch arles I I , i n F rance,came ac ross a Copy of the Odes of the Greek Pindar,apparent ly no t divided into the regular s tan z as ;strophe, antistrophe, and epode . At a l l events, heover looked the fact that he had befo re him one of themost rigorous ly exact forms of verse ever written .

Ofthe fi rst th ree s tanz as in a typ ica l ode of Pindarthe last is d i fferent f rom the fi rst two in measu reand rhythm

,and corresponds to a different musica l

accom paniment, and in many cases to an i ntri cateevolution of the chorus or of separate groups ofthe singers, but in the succeeding g roups of th reethe forms of the fi rst are repeated . This combined dance

,s ing ing

,and music must have har

moniz ed into a beauti fu l ar t form now entirely

THE ODE 15 5

lost, though sometimes remote ly suggested on the

o peratic stage . Cowley was much impressed withthe fire and rush of the verse of P inda r , and undertook to im itate i t in Eng l i sh . H e wrote a numberof odes in what he supposed was the Pindari cmanner ; th at i s to say, with stanzas of unequallength s consi sting of l ong and sho rt lines in fortuitous succession , and rhymes where they conveniently fel l . This con sti tutes the i rregul a r formwhich has been mentioned befo re . Abso lute sim ilarity of parts i s not necessary to fine poetry , andwhen the li nes are varied ei ther in length or rhythmso as to inc rease the force with which the idea i sborne on the mind , when met rical Changes correspond to and reenforce the thought movement, a sthey do for the most p art in Wordsworth ’ s ode onthe I ntima tions of Immortality ,

o r Tennyson ’ s Odeon t/ze D ea t/t of tbe D uke of lVellington,

i rregularmeter i s a leg it imate and effective fo rm . Again ,where the phrases are very powerfu l , forma l symmetry may be dispensed with . But i t requ ires avery del icate ear l ike th at o f M i lton or Co leridgeto modulate l aw less o r i r regu lar verse, and evenin Ly cidas and C/tristabel or Kabla K/tan the i rregu lari ties are but s l i ght vari ations from a fixednorm . Most verse writers , however, need a fo rmu la to guide them

,and find it safest to im itate a

model which experience ha s tested , and thereforeof the hundred or so odes between Cowley andWordsworth wr i tten in i rregul ar meter, a ll but two

15 6 THE ODE

or th ree are extremely un in teresting and unmusical .I t i s poss ible, of course, th at they would h ave beenno less so h ad they been written in stri ctest form ,

but then they would at least have been leg it imate .

Cowley i s spoken o f by S i r J ohn Denham aswearing the garb but no t the clo thes o f the an

c ients,” th at i s, as catch ing the spi ri t but no t u sing

the form of Pindar, which i s p recisely what he didnot do

,since he attempted to im i ta te the form and

succeeded in h itt ing nei ther the form nor the spi rito f the Greek poet . S i r J ohn says of Cowley that

Ho race ’s wi t and V irgi l ’s stateH e d id not steal but emulateAnd when he would l ike them appear,The ir garb but no t the i r clo thes d id wear.H e no t from Rome alone, but G reece,L i ke Jason ,

brough t the golden fleeceTo h im that language though to noneOf th ’ others as h is own was known.

On a st iff gale— as Flaccus s ingsThe Theban swan extends h is w ings ,When through th ’

ethereal cloud he fl iesTo the same p itch o ur swan do th r ise.

O ld P indar ’s fl ights by h im are reached ,When on that gale h is w ings are stretched .

Ob i tua ry notices are perhaps not to be takenvery li teral ly, especial ly when in verse, but if

Cowley d id “ know Greek as h i s own language,

”

i t i s o ne Ofthe strangest th ings in l iterary h isto rythat he sh ould h ave taken finely w rough t and pre


15 8 THE ODE

vast ly ove restimated by the writer . H owever, theform

,or rather the formlessness, was new and be

came very popular, part ly no doubt becau se i t waseasy . I t i s unnecessa ry to cite the

“ P indar iqueodes of the offi ci a l poets l aureate of the seventeenth and early eigh teenth centuries , becau se theyare worth less . J ohn D ryden , toward the close ofthe seventeenth cen tu ry ,

paraph rased the twentyn inth ode of the fi rst book of Horace i n Pindaricverse H i s work is les s r amb l ing in constru ctionthan Cowley

’

s and the short l ines fa l l more natura l ly in thei r p laces . The poem contain s, however ,the extraord in ary al lusion to S i r ius the D og

S tar

The sun is in the L ion mounted h igh ,The Syr ian S tarB arksfrom afar,

And w ith h is su ltry breath infects the Sky .

D ryden ’ s Ode for S t . Cec i l i a ’ s Day i s , however,an admirab le Ode and we l l adapted to be set tomus ic . Alexander

’

s Fea st, also, shows th at a mastercan produce a un ified poem in the i rregula r formand make the divergencies add great ly to the

musical e ffect,I t i s an ode in the fu l lest sense

and the fi rs t fine poem of cons iderab le length inthe language not written i n uniform stan z as . Schol

ars soon perceived tha t the d i s tingu i sh ing Ch aracteristics of the so - cal led P indari c ode were not tobe found in the o riginal . I n 1701, W i l l iam Con

THE ODE 159

greve the d ramati st, who had a lready p roduced aHymn to S t. Cecilia i n c lo se im itation o f D ryden ,

wrote an ode 011 the victories of the D uke o f M ar lborough to wh ich he prefixed a D iscourse on t/ze

P indaric Ode. H e say s : There i s noth ing moref requent among u s th an a sor t o f poems in ti tu ledPindari c Odes, pretending to be written in im itationof the sty le and manner o f Pindar , and yet I donot know that there i s to thi s day extant i n ourl anguage one Ode contrived after h i s model .There i s nothing more regu lar th an the Odes ofPindar The l iberty which he took in h i snumbers and which has been so m isunderstood and

misapp lied by h is pretended imitato rs was on ly invary ing the s tanzas i n di fferent odes , but in eachpartic ular ode they are ever correspondent one toanother in their tu rns. They were sung by achorus , and adapted to the lyre and sometimes tothe lyre and p ipe ; the fi rst was cal led the strophe,from the version or c i rcular motion of the singersin th at stanza f rom the righ t hand to the lef t. The

second stan z a was cal led the anti st rophe, f romthe controvers ion of the choru s . The th irdstanza was ca l led the epode, which they sung inthe middle nei ther turning to o ne hand no r theother. The poet having made choice of acerta in n umber of verses to con stitute h i s s tropheor fi rst stanza was ob l iged to Observe the samei n h is an ti st rophe o r second stan z a

,and wh ich

according ly agreed , whenever repeated , both i n

160 THE ODE

number of verses and quant ity Of feet ; (

he wasthen again at l iberty to make a new Choice forh is th i rd s tanz a or epode. Every epode i nthe s ame o de i s eternally the same in measu reand quan tity in respect to i tsel f, as i s al soevery strophe and anti strophe in respect to eachother . However , though there be no neces

sity that our triumph a l odes sh ou ld con si st of thethree aforementioned stan z as , yet i f the reader canObserve th at the great var iation of the numbers inthe th i rd stan z a h as a p leas ing effect in the ode, Icannot see why some use may not be made of P indar ’ s example to the great im p rovement of theEng l i sh ode. There i s certain ly a p leasu rein behold ing anyth ing th at has art and d iffi cu lty inthe con triv ing , especial ly i f it appears so ca refu llyexecuted th at the diffi cu lty does not show itsel f ti l li t i s sough t for . Noth ing can be called beautifu l wi thout proportion . When symmetry and h armony are wan ting neither the eye nor the ear canbe p leased . Therefo re, certain ly , poetry shouldnot be destitute of them ; and of al l poet ryespecia l ly the ode, whose end and essence i sharmony . I must beg leave to add that Ibel ieve those i rregu lar odes o f M r . Cowley mayhave been the principa l though innocent cause ofso many deformed poems s ince . For myown pa rt I frank ly own my erro r in having hitherto misca l led a few i r regu lar stanzas a P indaricode,

and possib ly i f others, who have been under


162 THE ODE

the imagin ative and musica l . H i s verse ,i t i s true,

i s rather h ard and meta l l ic in tone, and h i s concep

tion o f an o de was so e l astic th at he prefixes theti tle to a poem s horter th an a sonnet. Some ofhis odes are in regu lar and some in i r regu la r verse .

H e divides h i s Ode to Liberty into stro phe, epode,ant istrophe, second epode, using the Greek termsW ithout any reference to structural significance .

H i s Ode to Evening i s i n un rhymed quatra in s andh i s P ass ions , an Ode for M us ic

,i s in irregul ar

rhyme. All of them are addresses and are ful l ofvigor. The add ress impl ies personificat ion of thesubj ect

,and, un les s the subj ect i s unp reten tious as

in Burns ’

s Field M ouse and M ounta in Da isy , compel s the d i rectness and fo rce that i s p roperly ch aracteristic o f the Ode . The poems which Col l insso designates are

,therefore, odes i n the importan t

matter of sp iri t and' tone, though they are so l awless in fo rm

,and the i r f ree and ring ing , i f rather

harsh,music is in a remote sen se the p recursor o f

the odes of the ear ly n ineteenth century . The

Odes of h i s contemporary Akenside, written in

regula r stanz as , one of them in Spenseri ans , are

odes in the sense of Horace ’s Ca rm ina , and mostof them famil ia r verse on everyday subj ects . One

i s a Remonstrance supposed to lea ve been spoben byS/zabespeare w/zen Frenc/i comed ians were acting by

subscription a t tbc T/zea tre Roy al. NO subj ect cou ldbe more unodelike.

Thomas Gray, Greek scho la r and poet , under

THE ODE 163

stood the meters of P ind a r a s exact ly a s any one

could at th a t time. I n the yea r 177 5 , he com

pleted an e l aborate ly ric ca l led T/ze P rogress ofP oesy . Th i s poem cons ist s o f n ine stanzas d ividedinto th ree group s of th ree s tanz a s each

,in exact

im itation of the P indaric model . The groups are

al l made up of a strophe of twelve l ines,an a nti s

trOphe of twelve l ines , and an epode o f seven teenlines . The st rophes and anti strophes are al l identica l in structure

,and the th ree epodes are a lso pre

cisely a l i ke ; th at i s , the pos i tion o f the rhymes andthe length of correspond ing l ines are the same in all

o f the th ree. Both these stru ctu res are ve ry com

p licated,the genera l l aw being th at the stan z as

,

espec ia l ly the epodes , beg in with short l ines of th reeo r fou r feet, and that the l ines in crease in lengthtowards the clo se,

'

which i s m arked by a l ine Of s ixfeet . The rhymes are sometimes in couplets and

sometimes a l ternate .

I t i s evident th at very g reat labor must h avebeen expended to produce a poem in so r i g id andel abo rate a form , and i t i s safe to say that it wasl abor th rown away a s far as the natura li z ation of anew verse form was the object . Of cou rse painstaking work even o u some l itera ry t rifle i s neverenti rely th rown away

,but G ray ’ s l abor on th is ode

and on I lze Ba rd,two yea rs l ater, and sti l l more

el aborate in structu re,did no t result in the p roduc

tion of a poem espec ially de l igh tfu l to the arti sticsense . The correspondencies are too fa r apart to

164 THE ODE

be fel t as symmetries . The orig ina l Grecian ode

was chanted with the accompan iment of a gracefu l and symmetri ca l dance. Thus the ear a idedby the eye could take cognizance of and the bearerand onlooker receive pleasure from the finely gradedrecurrences o f meter, some of wh ich marked interva l s of th irty l ines of the song . But the ear a lonecannot remember coordination separated by so

.

longan interva l . I t g ives no p leasure to know that thel ine Lance to lance and horse t o horse echoesthe l ine “ Smeared with go re and gh astly pale ”

forty-eigh t l ines before, and i s aga in echoed by thel ine “ Gales f rom b loom ing Eden bear, forty-eigh tlines after. We cannot perceive the symmetryby reading . But i f these li nes corresponded to therecurrence of a str ik ing movement in a d ign ified ,stately minuet wh ich accompanied thei r del ivery ,

doub t less their recurrence wou ld a rouse an emo

t ion of the keenest arti st i c de l ight . Deprived oftheir handma ids , the chora l dance and the music,they are poetica l ly valueless as co rrespondencies .

Both of these admirab le poems are,however,

odes in the fu l lest sense. The determinate p rogress o f the thought from beg i nning to end isespecia l ly noticeab le . I t i s true that the comp licated stanz a ic structure i s not easi ly perceived ,and that the poet labored too h ard to atta in i t, butthey are su sta ined and impersona l lyr ics on a dignified subject

,at once vigorous and finished . I t

i s said that Byron was much influenced by them .


166 THE ODE

mind were we l l fi tted fo r emotiona l expression inthe Ode form , fo r they were based on generoussympathy for human i ty

,.and a much more p ro

found fee l ing fo r the beauty Of nature and artthan had marked the age of Dr. J ohnson and S i rJoshua Reynolds . Coleridge and Wordsworthembod ied th i s feel ing in Odes to Freedom

,to

Duty , to France, and to [Wont Blane. Later,She l ley did much the same i n h i s Odes to

‘

N aples,

to L iberty ,and to the West Wind . M any l ines of

Byron ’ s Cbilde H arold are Odelike in structure, asare the addresses to the Ocean,

to Venice, and onthe Colosseum . Keats, too, exp ressed passionatel ove fo r the beautifu l in two wel l- known Odes whichare the bes t muniments to h i s t it le a s poet .Ten of Wordsworth ’s compositions are en ti tled

odes by thei r au th or, but several others, even someof h is sonnets, h ave the ode ch aracter . The greatOde on the Intima tions of I nunortality has been re

ferred to before as j u st i fy ing irregu lar versification .

I t embodies thought, wh ich every one who hasreached matu rity recogn iz es more or less d istinctlyas having come to h imsel f at t imes . I ts populari tydepends on its adm irable phrasing from both theintel lectua l and the musica l standpoin t . The fi fthstanz a exempl ifies these qua l it ies , but no betterth an do the firSt, second , and eleventh .

Our b irth is but a sleep and a fo rgett ingThe soul that r ises with us

,our l ife ’

s S tar,H ath had elsewhere its sett ing,

THE ODE 167

And cometh from afar ;Not in ent ire fo rgetfulness ,And no t in utter nakedness ,

But tra i l ing clouds of glory do we comeFrom God who is our home ;

Heaven l ies about us in o ur infancy ;Shades of the pr ison-house begin to closeUpon the grow ing Boy,

But he beho lds the l ight, and whence i t flows,

H e sees it in his joy ;The youth , who da i ly further from the eastMust travel , st i l l is nature

’

s pr iest,And by the v is ion splendidIs on h is way attended ;

At length the man perceives it die away ,And fade into the l igh t of common day .

The Ode to D uty i s a succinct embodiment ofmanly Puritanism . These were written in 1806

and 1804 respectively , in the poet ’ s early manhood . The choral ode written in 184 7 as p art ofh is duty as poet laureate, in h i s seventy - seventhyear, i s natu ra lly perfuncto ry . I t m ay be doubtedwhether Wordsworth fe l t enough sympathy withmusic to enab le h im to compose an ode for singingvoi ces . The occasion was the in sta llation of PrinceA lbert as Chancel lor o f the Un iversi ty of Cambridge. The Ode i s d ivided into parts fo r the cho

rus, the tenor, the bass, the al to , and the Sop rano

,

and al l are equal ly f rig id , though less pompous and

empty than some seventeenth - cen tury laureate Odes .

168 THE ODE

I ntroduction and G low s

For th irst of power that heaven d isowns ,For temp les , towers , and th rones

Too long insulted by the spo i ler ’s shock ,Ind ignant Europe castH er stormy foe at last

TO reap the Wh irlw ind on a L ibyan rock .

Solo (Tenor)War is pass ion’s basest gameMadly played to win a name ;

Up starts some tyrant , Earth and Heaven to dare,The serv i le m i ll ion bow ;

But wi ll the l ightn ing glance as i de to spareThe Despot ’s laureled brow ?

C/zorus

War is mercy , glory , fame,Waged in Freedom ’s holy cause ;

Freedom such as man may cla imUnder God ’

s restra in ing laws .Such is Alb ion ’s fame and glo ry ;Let rescued Europe tel l the story .

The other stanzas rise to n o h igher level ofthought or d iction . Of the Odes of Coleridge thefi rs t

,Tbe D eparting Year

,wr i tten in I 796 , in h i s

twenty- fourth year, fol lows p retty closely the Pindaric d ivisions of strophe,

ant i strophe,and epode.

I t i s characteristi c of the author that after the sec


THE ODE

e ighteenth century was chi l led by the l awless outrages of the “Reign of Terror, and the subsequentmil ita ry dictato rship of N apoleon . Enthus i asmfor freedom and liberty— vague but insp i r ingwords finds its p roper embod iment in dithyramb i c song . Co leridge and Wo rdsw orth

'

were at fi rs tth ri lled with the idea th at mankind was mak i ng anab rup t advance toward social eman cipation frominj usti ce, and then they were disappointed to findthat centu ries of opp ress ion unfi t both the opp ressOrs and the oppres sed for f reedom . But after thebatt le of Waterloo and the restoration o f the Bourbons it soon became evident th at the Revo lutionwas j ustified by precedent condi tion s and th atLiberty, Equa lity , an d Fra tern i ty were not a lto

gether unmean ing words . The ca reer of N apoleon appea led powerfu l ly to the imag ination, and

Shel ley , p rofound ly impressed with the idea th atpo lit ica l f reedom was the d i rect agent to e ffect

the h ap p iness o f mankind , and hating in j u sticewith a fierce persona l fee l ing , made the ode as wel las the semi- a llego rica l poem a vehic le fo r his passionate bel ief i n progress and perfectib il i ty . By ron,

whose energetic power of exp ression makes manypassages in h is longer work s detach ab le and ode

l ike, designates but two o f hi s poems “ odes .

Keats l oved concrete beau ty more th an moralbeauty or abstract principle, but h i s odes are

among the most prec iou s possessions o f the Engl ish - speak ing race.

THE ODE 17 1

The ly ric impulse combined with enth usiasm fo r

hopeless causes makes Shel ley’

s po et ry and evenh is l ife an Ode to h umani ty . T/tc Revolt of I slam ,

though an al lego ry,idea liz es the strugg le of a

people aga inst se lfi sh power acknowledg ing noresponsibi l ity excep t its own vic ious natu re. Pa ssionate scorn for inj u stice and pass ionate love fo rthe beautifu l and the righ teous fi l led h is hea rt ando verflowed i n h is verse. H e says , I have writtenfear less ly . He entit les but few of h i s poems“Odes, among them the Ode to tbe Wes t Wind ,

Ode to H eaven,and Ode to L iberty ,

but the Hymnto I ntellectualBeauty and the verses to M ont Blanc

are as truly Odes as any i n Eng l i sh l i tera ture .

Adona is i s designated an “elegy ” and has more

the natu re o f a lament th an of a funera l ode o rencomium . The Ode to Liberty has the rapid ityand the sustained vigor wh ich we associate withthe word “ Pindaric .

A glor ious people v ibrated aga inThe l igh tning of the Nat ions : L iberty

From heart to heart, from tower to tower, o’

er Spa in,

Scatter ing contagious fire into the skyG leamed . My soul spurned the cha ins of its d ismay ,

And in the rapid p lumes of song,C lothed itself subl ime and strong ;

As a young eagle soars the morn ing clouds among,Hover ing in verse o

’

er its accustomed prey ,T i l l from its stat ion in the heaven Offame

The Sp ir it ’s wh irlwind rapt it, and the ray

172 THE ODE

Of the remotest Sphere of l iv ing flameWh ich paves the vo i d was from beh ind it flungAs foam from a Sh ip ’s sw iftness , when there cameA vo ice from out the deep : I w i l l record the same.

The ri se and fal l o f l iberty in Greece, Rome,I ta ly

,

and Germany i s deta i led and the fate of Saxon England and of the Commonweal th sketched when

England ’s prophets ha i led thee [L iberty! as the irqueen

In songs whose mus ic canno t pass awayThough i t must flow forever : not unseenBefore the Spi r it- s ighted countenance

Of Mi lton d idst thou pass from the sad sceneBeyond whose n igh t he saw w ith a dejected m ien .

The fi fteenth stan z a exp resses v igorously the

hat red Shel ley fe l t fo r the word “ king and a l lthat i t represented to h im

Oh,that the free would stamp the imp ious name

Of K ing into the dust or Wr ite i t thereSO that th is~blot upon the page of fame

Were as a serpent ’s path wh ich the l igh t a irErases and the flat sands close beh ind !

Ye the oracle have heardL ift the v ictory-flash ing sword ,

And cut the snaky knots Ofth is foul Gord ian word ,Wh ich

,weak itself as stubble, yet can b ind

Into a mass i rrefragably firmThe axes and the rods wh ich awe mankind ;


174 THE ODE

H i s c losing stanza , however, i s more generoustone, possib ly no less j ust :

Where may the wear ied eye reposeWhen gaz ing on the great ,

Where ne ither gu i lty glory glowsNor desp icable state ?

Yes one the fi rst the last the bestThe C inc innatus of the West ,Whom envy dared no t hate,

Bequeathed the name of Wash ingtonTo make man blush there was but one

The stanzaic fo rm of the above is a l together tootri pping and songl ike fo r an Ode, even for aH oratian ode, and the sati re i s th roughout toodi rect and persona l . I ndignation like Shel ley ’ sm ay find i ts proper exp ression in an Ode, butByron ’ s Ode to N apoleon B onaparte i s hardly betterentit led to the name th an i s h i s b r i l l iant and wittysati re T/ze Vis ion of j udgment. Nevertheles s , Byron migh t h ave written some great odes if he hadbel ieved in humanity .

Keats entitled six of hi s poems Odes . Two ofthem , the Ode on a Grecian Urn and the Ode to a

N zg/ttingale, are sup remely beau tifu l in expression .

The sentiment in each i s fa r more subtle and del icate than th at w h ich ord inar i ly finds expression inthe Ode form

,but the phrase g ives the sentiment

rea l i ty with beauty and p rec i sion . We fee l wi th

the poet th at materi a l th ings are unreal and tran

THE ODE 17 5

sient compared with the th ri l l ing song of the b i rdheard in darkness , which l in k s i tsel f with the everlasting in natu re, and is , indeed , eterna l since i tsessence is the beau ti ful which ex ists unchangedfrom the beginning . We have a perception thatu ltimate t ruth is expressed in the seventh stanza

Thou wast not born for death , immortal b ird ;No hungry generations tread thee down

The vo ice I hear th is pass ing n igh t was heardIn anc ient days by emperor and clown :

Perhaps the selfsame song that found a pathTh rough the sad heart of Ruth , when, s ick for home,She stood in tears am i d the al ien corn ;The same that oft- t imes hath

Charmed magic easements open ing on the foamOf per i lous seas, in fa i ry lands forlorn.

The word for lorn b rings him back from a perception of the etern a l and sp i ritua l in n ature, whichthe beau tiful d im ly evokes , to h i s

“ sole sel f , nolonger a part of the un iversal , but an individual ,pathetica l ly tran sient , the hei r to suffering anddeath ,

“ c lothed in the muddy vestu re of decayand the song of the b i rd p asses away leaving h imuncertain whether i t or the world of rea l ity i s ad ream . The though t is so d ifferent from the vigorou s everyday ideas , understanded of the peop le,

”

wh i ch we as soci ate with the word “ode as to tempt

u s to cal l the ti tle i n th i s case a m isnomer .In the Ode on a Grecian Urn , the sentiment isno

176 THE ODE

less poetic .. The urn i tsel f i s a sylvan h isto ri an ,

who canst thu s expres s a flowery ta le more sweet lythan our rhyme The figu res on i t are fi xed in anever l asting attitude of beauty and expectat ion . I ti s the pursu i t, not the fru i ti on , that makes happ iness . This co ld pastora l, with its move less andsi lent figures of youth s andmaidens and singers, i san arrested bit of l i fe, and

When Old age shall th is generat ion waste,Thou shalt rema in

,in m i dst of other woe

Than ours , a fr iend to man,to whom thou sayest

Beauty is truth , truth beauty that is al lYe know on earth , and al l ye need to know.

These two odes contain a happy comb in ation ofend- stopt and overflow lines . Both are writteni n ten l ine stanz as with five beats to the l ine, andthe rhyme scheme In both 18 a quat rain with a lternate rhymes and then a sextette in which the ter

m inals of the fi rst three l ines are echoed by thelas t three . There i s , however, a sl igh t di fferencei n the versification . In the five stanzas o f the

Ode on a Grecian Urn,the ten lines are a l l o f

equa l length and the sextette rhymes run abe

abc i n two cases on ly , the others being abc-bac

or abe-acb. I n the Ode to a N zg/ztingalg the

eighth line i s sho rt— th ree accents on ly : “ Insome melod ious p lo t, o r But here there i s nolight. I n th i s the sextette rhymes are invariab lyabc-abc. Possib ly Keats ’s poetic ear perceived


178 THE ODE

Through delicatest ether I feather ing soft the ir sol itarybeau

With ne ’er a l ight plume d ropped no r any trace

To speak of whence they came, or wh ither they depart

Thi s i s work Of the fancy,not of the imag

ination,and the lawlessness o f the meter has no

j ustification in any higher law of harmony . The

metr ica l construct ion m ay p rofi tably be comparedwith that of Wordsworth ’ s ode.

M r . Swinburne possesses some of the powers necessary to a wri ter of odes . H i s music i s strik ingand insi stent though lacking in al l the p rofounderqua l i ties . H e i s, however , a lways in earnest o rforces h imself to th ink that he i s . H is verses toLandor are every way beauti fu l, and the stanz a

I came as one whose thoughts half l inger,Half run before,

The youngest to the oldest s ingerThat England bore

i s of ab solu te perfection . A Wa tele in tbe N zg/ztwhich was referred to in the fi rs t chapter m ighthave been entit led “ An Ode to the N ations .

” I tis marred, as i s much of Swinburne

’

s work , bylack of con structive power. Stanz a i s added tostanza

,a l l of monotonou s me lody, but not definite

steps i n the unfolding and conc l uding of the centra l

1 Delicatest ether ” is probably the mo st cacophonous comb inat ion to be found in allpo etry .

TH E ODE 9

theme. The poem migh t h ave been closed at anypoint after the eighth stanz afi M uch the same

strictu re ap p l ies to the s tanz as of the fine Ode to

Victor H ugo in Exile,an even ly sustained dithy

rambic Of unqua l ified p raise. A brief excerpt wi l l

exempli fy the energetic sty le of the encomium

Thou art ch ief of us and lord ;Thy song is as a sword

Keen- edged and scented in the blade from flowers ;Thou art lord and k ing ; but weL ift younger eyes and see

Less of h igh hope , less l ight on wandering hours ;Hours that have borne men down s o long,

Seen the r igh t fa i l , and watched up lift the wrong.

But th ine imper ial soul ,As years and ru ins rol l

To the same end , and al l th ings and all d reamsW ith the same w reck and roarD r ift on the d im same shore,

S t i l l in the b itter foam and'

brackish streamsTracks the fresh water- spr ing to be

And sudden sweeter fountains in the sea.

Tennyson ’s Ode to M emory was wri tten befo rehe had reached h is twenty-first year . I t i s a re

flective poem ,but in form and structu re a t rue o de

,

nor i s i ts beauty a l together that o f p romi se. H i sOde on Me D ea l/t oftbc D uke of Wellington,

twentytwo yea rs later, i s a l l th at the occasion demanded,

180 THE ODE

a music al , dign ified , and p atriotic encom ium . I ti s i rregul a r in stanz aic construction ; the movemen tchanges from the open ing

Bury the Great DukeW ith an Emp ire ’

s lamentation,

th rough the so lemn funera l march

Lead out the pageant sad and Slow,

and the sober, exu ltant ment ion of hi s victor ies,the confident p rophecy of h is future fame :

Peace, h is tr iumph w i l l be sungBy some yet unmo lded tongue,

to the final requiem and farewe l l :

Lay your earth ly fanc ies down,

And in the vast cathedral leave h imGod accept h im

,Ch r ist rece ive h im .

These ch anges are but sl igh t and consist ch ieflyin shortening the l ines, but they are beautifu l lyaccordant with the sentiment embodied in eachd ivisi on Of the ode . The rhymes are fo r the mostpart in coup lets o r a l ternate

,and i n the fi fth

stanza, the commitment, the repeated sound old

has a dirgel ike effect

All is over and done ;Render thanks to the Giver,England ,

fo r thy son .


182 THE ODE

The poem is a thorough ly worthy nationa l express ion and is arti stic i n a high sense . Tennyson ’ schora l ode sung at the Open ing of the In ternationalExhibi tion in 1863 as wel l as h i s

“ we lcomes ” toA lexandra and to A lexand rovna are the work of a

poet so ski l l fu l in h is art a s to be unab le to perfo rm a perfunctory task in a commonplace manner,but they are far “f rom being such g rea t monumentsof poetry as the Ode on Me D ent/t of !Ice D uke.

I n our own country Lowel l ’ s Commemora tion

Ode stands fi rs t among a number of occasiona lpoems, some of wh ich , l ike Stedman

’ s ode at theYa le B icentennia l , fi l led a l l the requirements ofd ignified occasiona l verse . M r . Lowe l l h ad the

advantage of a very “ great occas ion .

”

The warwa s over and time enough had el apsed to dril l thepoignancy of gr ief and the keenness of persona lresentment. Men could now beg in to view the

C ivi l War in i ts mora l aspects as a pa rt of humandevelopment, not simply a c lash of physical forceswhere the resul t might be mere ly a change in c ivi lgeography . A true conception of the ch aracter ofP resident Li ncol n had grown up in the publ icmind and h is death was as yesterday . The poeth imsel f was among those bereaved by the war .All these th ings combined to ch arge the day withemotion , and Mr. Lowell could say with absolute

certainty of response, In my b reast , thoughts beatand burn The death of the D uke of Wel l ington

THE ODE 183

ca l led forth national emotion , but in a very d i fferentsense. American s regarded their President withpersona l a ffection and fel t fo r h im as tribesmenmigh t fo r

‘

a Chieftain who had been treacherous lydone to death when engaged i n thei r service. The

D uke of Wel l ing ton had been a n ational figure fora generation , but nei ther wrath no r g rief fol low one

however di stinguished who dies i n the ful lness oftime. Nor was the duke in the least a leader ofthe peop le i n the sense that Linco ln was . Lowel lcou ld appea l to a fa r deeper and higher range ofemotion th an cou ld Tennyson, for there i s such ath ing as nat ion al love compared to which n ationa lp ride i s but Cheap and thin and commonplace .

Tennyson could d raw on the fu l l , rich h i story ofEngl and for color ; he was , too , a f a r better melod icword artist th an Lowel l, but h is subject wa s fa r inferior i n d ignity and scope. The odes are as different as poss ib le, as different a s are Amer ica andEngland . The most th at Tennyson can say fo rthe Duke of Wel l ington i s th at he was a steadysuccessfu l so ld ier th at never lost an Eng l ish gun ,

and th at he to ld the t ruth 3 qualities not so rare asto deserve enthus iastic celeb ration . Thi s Lowel lm igh t h ave sa id of Genera l Grant, bu t the thoughtof Lincoln li fts h im at once to a h igher plane

Such was he our marty r ch iefWhom late the Nat ion he had led,W ith ashes on her head ,

Wept w ith the pass ion of an angry gr ief

184 THE ODE

Forgive me if from present th ings I turnTo speak what in my heart w i l l beat and burn,

And hang my wreath on his wo rld—honored urn.

Nature they say doth dote,And cannot m ake a man

Save on some worn-o ut p lan,

Repeat ing as by rote.

For him her O ld World molds as ide she th rew,

And , choos ing sweet c lay from the breastOf the unexhausted West,

W ith stuff unta inted shaped a hero new ;

Wise, steadfast in the strength of God , and true.

How beaut iful to see

Once more a shepherd of mank ind ,indeed ,

Who loved h is charge but never loved to leadOne whose meek flock the people joyed to be,

Not lured by any cheat of b irth ,But by h is clear-gra ined human worth ,

And brave Old w isdom of s incer ity .

Noth ing ofEurope here ;O r then

,ofEurope front ing mo rnward st i l l ,

Ere any ,names OfSerf and Peer

Could Nature ’s equal scheme deface ;And thwart her gen ial w i l l ;Here was a type of the true elder raceone of P lutarch ’s men talked w ith us face to face .

9k 9k alt

G reat capta ins w ith thei r guns and d rumsD isturb our judgment for the hour,


186 THE ODE

The boon thou wouldst have snatched from us again,

Sh ines as before w ith no abatement d im.

We from th is consecrated p la in stretch out

Our hands as free from afterthought or doubt,

As here the un ited NorthPoured her embrowned manhood fo . .h

In we lcome of mu sav ior and thy son.

Through battle we have better learned thy worthThe long-breathed valor and undaunted w i ll ,

Wh ich , l i ke h is own, the day’s d isaster done,

Could , safe in manhood , suffer and be sti l lBoth th ine and ours the v ictory hard ly wonIf ever w i th d istempered vo ice o r pen

We have m isdeemed thee, here we take it back ,And for the dead of both don common black .

Be to us evermore as thou wast then .

The gent le verse of Longfel low accorded betterwith the flute th an with the trumpet or the bug le.

The Ode form d id no t attract h im,app arently

,

though the Building of Me 5 p has more vigorand rapidity of movement th an some so—ca lled odes .

I t i s, however, narrat ive and descrip tive and i s moreof a ball ad than an ode. Wh ittier adhered p rettyc losely to s imp le stanzai c model s and to short compositions . I II consequence h is n ational lyrics ”

with the possible excep t ion o f Laus D eo are no t

strictly odes . When he wrote verses fo r a publi coccasion or for singing

,they natura lly took the

formOf hymns . The poet ic addres ses on pub l ic

THE ODE 187

occasions del ivered by Dr. H o lmes were writtenin the heroic coup let and were at once W i tty andacademic . S idney Lanier ’ s chora l ode, the Cen

tennialCanta ta ,for the Opening of the Exposi tion

in Ph il adelph ia in 1876, fo r which D ud ley Buckwrote the musi c, though written enti rely wi th a

view to mus ica l rendition , treats the topic s natural ly suggested with b readth and vigor. HarrietMonroe ’ s ode for the World

’

s Fair at Ch icago,1893, i s a dignified com position worthy of the

occasion . S idney Lanier ’ s cho ra l ode, the opening stanz a of which fo llows, p roduced a great e ffectwhen given by the tra ined chorus of two hundredvoices

CENTENN IAL CANTATA

From th is hund red—terraced height,S ight more large w ith nobler l igh tRanges down yon tower ing years .Humbler sm i les and lord l ier tearsSh ine and fall , sh ine and fal l ,Wh i le old vo ices r ise and callYonder where the to -and- froWelter ing of my Long-Ago

Moves about the moveless baseFar below my rest ing place.

Mayflower , Mayflower , slowly h ither flying,Trembl ing westward o

’

er yon balking sea ,

Hearts w ith in,Farewel l , dear England ,

” s igh ing ,W inds W ithout, “ But dear in va in,

” rep ly ing,

188 THE ODE

Gray- l i pped waves about thee shouted,cry ing

,

No,it shall no t be

Lan ier ’ s P salm of tbe West, wri tten in the same

year as the Centennial Canta ta ,i s a poeti c a l rev iew

of our h istory in ode form and movement,but long

enough to be d ivided into th ree odes on d ifferen th i storical epoch s . H is Ode to j oans H opkins Uni

vers ity i s one Oi the many excellent “ poems foroccas ions bu ried here and there in our l i terature,the interest of which was heightened by the o ccasion but by no mean s enti rely dependent on i t.The Odes by W i l l iam Vaugh n M oody and Owen'

Wi ster , publi shed in the Atlantic go toshow that vigorous poeti c exp ress ion i s not a lostart in Amer ica, and th at the ode fo rm is we l ladap ted to the mul t ifarious thought and broadsocia l emotion s of our age.


D IRGES AND MEMOR IAL VERSE

orates eminent character and serv ices . I n some ofthem persona l feel i ng is dom inant, i n others , whenthe loss is p ub l i c or n ational , the fee l ings of thecommunity are embod ied . I f persona l feel ing i sentire ly absent and the poet i s mere ly the spokesman of the community

, the poem is an ode, l ikeTennyson ’ s Ode on tbe Dea t/c of t/ee Duke of Wel

lington. Persona l feel ing , however, i s rarely en

tirely absent, for the poet feel s the loss of the

community as if i t were h is own, the s ituation

reproduces i tsel f in h is m ind as viv idly as a persona l experience could , he sympath iz es with the

nation or with human ity in an untimely loss asShel ley does in h is l ament fo r Keats . Memor i a lverse i s essentia l ly emotiona l except in some ofthe odes of the Official poets l aureate on the deathof the sovereign ,

in wh ich the dictio n and the

sentimen t are a l ike professiona l .The fi rst l ament in our l anguage i n poin t Of

time i s Chaucer ’ s Babe of t/ee D uclzesse. Th i swas written in commemoration of B l anche o fCasti le, wife of J ohn of Gaunt, fi rst D uke ofLancaster. I t i s romanti c in construction and

hints only remotely at actual l i fe. The poet, beingunab le to sleep , promises Morpheus a feather bedand pil lows i f he wil l re lieve h im ,

whereupon henot on ly fa l l s asleep ,

but i s v isited by a d ream inwh ich a kn ight celebrates the beauty of hi s l adyand lamentS ' her death . The on ly reference to theLady B lanche i s in the l ines :

D IRGES AND MEMOR IAL VERSE 191

And gode fa i re Whyte she hete,1

That was my lady name r igh t,She was bo the fa i r and br igh t,She hadde no t h i r name wrong.

The roman tic allegory i s far removed from ou rmethod s of expres sion , but we can sti l l admi re thepoet ’ s conception of a fai r and grac iou s lady, ofWhom the knigh t says :

I saw h i r daunce so comlily,

Carole and s ing so swetely

Laugh and pleye SO womanly,

And loke so debona irly ,So good ly speke and so frendly,That certes , I trow ,

that evermore,2

Nas seyn so bl issful a tresor.

The memorial verses so f requently p refixed to thecol lected works of dead authors are usua l ly n otmuch more than compl imentary notices of the

book . Ben J onson ’ s wel l-known verses to the

memory of “ My beloved, the Author, MasterW i l l iam Shakespeare and what be

'

bas left u s,”

evince generou s app reciation of the poet ’s’

pre

eminence and enthusiastic f riendsh ip as wel l . H e

decl ines to rank h im with h is contempo rar ies,g reat, but disproportioned muses,

” and bold lyc laims for h im a place with the g reatest of al l ages .I t i s the fi rs t recognition of the rea l character of

1 H ete, was cal led .

3 E vermore nas seen, never was seen.

192 D IRGES AND ME MOR IAL VERSE

Shakespeare ’ s geniu s . H e speak s of h i s Shakespea re ’ s ch aracter in the l ines

Look how the father ’s faceL ives in h is issue . Even so the raceOf Shakespeare ’s m ind and manners br ightly sh inesI n

,h is wel l- turned and true-filed l ines ,

as if h is friend ’ s n atu re was as harmoniou s and

wel l b al anced as h is verses are . We must regretth at the eulog i s t d id not go more into detai l andexp ress hi s fee l ings fo r the author a s fu l ly a s hed id h is admiration of h i s book , but we are thankfu lhe said a s much as he d id . The other verses in thefo l ios are confined to p rai se of the poet ry and the

acting qual i t ies of the p lays . The fines t werep refixed to the second fol io ( 1632 ) and are signed1. M . S . They recogniz e the vita l quality ofShakespeare ’ s h i sto rica l ch aracters qu ite as distinctly as modern cr it ics h ave done

A m ind reflect ing ages past , whose clearAnd equal surface can make th ings appearD istant a thousand years , and representThem in the ir l i vely colours , just extentTo outrun hasty T ime ,

retr ieve the Fates ,Ro l l back the heavens , blow ope the i ron gatesOf Death and Lethe ,

where co nfused lieG reat heaps of ru inous mortal ityIn that deep dusky dungeon to d iscernA royal ghost from churls by art to learnThe phys iognomy Of_shades, and gi ve


194 D IRGES AND MEMOR IAL VERSE

years of age, i n a volume of verses commemorativeOf Edward K ing , a young man of p rom ise and a

fe llow col legian with M i l ton at C amb ridge, whohad been lost at sea crossing to I rel and the yearbefo re. The verses in the volume are partly inthe c lassi c languages and partly in Eng l i sh

,and

M i l ton ’s appears l ast . I ts construction is in im itation of the pastora l lament as used by Theocri tu s and im itated by Vi rg i l , but the form is usedwi th great freedom and boldness . I t was th reeyears s ince the poet wrote Comus , and he preludesthe lamen t with the l ines

Yet once more, 0 ye laurels , and once more,Ye my rtles brown,

w ith ivy never sere,I come to p luck your berr ies harsh and crude,And with forced fingers rudeShatter your leaves before the mellowmg year.Bitter constra int and sad o ccas ion dearCompels me to d isturb your season due ;For Lyc idas i s dead , dead ere h is pr ime,Young Lyc idas , and hath no t left h is peer.Who would no t s ing for Lyc idas ? he knewH imself to s ing, and bu i ld the lofty rhyme.

H e must not float upon h is watery b ierUnwept, and welter to the parch ing w indW ithout the meed of some melod ious tear.

I t i s possib le th at M i l ton fel t th at h is edu

cation in poetry was not comp lete, th at i t waswith forced fingers rude that he must weave


the wreath of laurel and myrtle . H owever thatmay be, he p roduced a wonderfu l poem com

pounded of incongruous elements , using the pa sto ral fiction , yet ri sing in to lofty denunciation ,not unworthy of the Apoca lypse. Even the di ction is ful l of incong ruous images , l ike the

“ parching wind in conj unction with the “ watery bier,the melod ious tear,

” “ b l ind mouth s ,"al l of them

bold wrench ings of language to poetic effect . The

sweet p astora l tone of the opening with its cl assical figures passes i nto the terrib le arra ignment ofworld ly ecc lesiastic s pu t i nto the mouth of St .Peter, a s train entirely foreign to the pensivedel icacy of the fi rst S ix ty l ines . The poet h imsel fseems to be con scious of th is, for he Opens the

next paragraph

Return, Alpheus the d read voice i s pastThat sh runk thy streams ; return, S ic i l ian muse,

and resumes the pastora l stra i n in the i nvocationto the flowers to strew the lau reate hea rse whereLycid l ies . I n the next paragraph he passes tothe Ch ri stian standpoint and declares tha t Lycidasi s in heaven

I n the blest k ingdoms meek of joy and love.

There enterta in h im al l the sa ints aboveIn solemn troo ps , and sweet soc ieties ,That sing , and s inging in the i r glory move,And wipe the tears forever from h is eyes .

196 D IRGES AND M EMOR IAL VERSE

The poem beg ins in the fi rst person and C loseswith an ottava r ima in the th i rd :

Thus sang the uncouth swa in to the o aks and r i l lsWh i le the s t i l l morn went out w ith sandals grey .

The very beauti fu l lines exp res sing the t rue worthof the studious l ife of the poet scholar seem likepersona l reflections interjected in to the pastora llament and are apolog ized for in the l ines wh ichfol low

0 founta in Arethuse, and tho u hono red flood,

Smooth - s l id ing M incius , crowned w ith vocal reeds,That stra in I heard was ofa h igher mood .

But now my oat proceeds .

The images

That fatal and perfid ious barkBu i lt in the ecl i pse and r igged w ith curses dark,

That two - handed engine at the doo rStands ready to sm ite once and sm ite no more,

Beyond the stormy Hebr ides ,Where thou perhaps under the whelm ing t ideVisit

’st the bottom Ofthe monstrous world ,

are o f tremendous power, untransl atable and un

fo rgettable . The bottom Ofthe m ons trous worldfigures the dark , unsounded depth s of the ocean



0 Proserpina ;For the flowers now, that , fr ighted thou let’st fal lFrom D is ’s wagon ! Daffod i ls ,That come before the swallow dares , and takeThe winds of March w ith beauty . V iolets dim ,

But sweeter than the l i ds ofJuno ’s eyes01 Cytherea ’s breath ; pale pr im rosesThat d ie unmarr ied , ere they can beholdBr ight Ph oebus in h is strength , a maladyMost inc ident to ma ids .

M i l ton , on the other hand, th inks of flowers,not as beautifu l in themselves, but as emblems ofnature’ s mourning .

Return ,S ic i l ian muse,

And call the vales and b i d them h ither castThe ir bel ls and flow ’

rets of a thousand hues .Ye valleys low,

where the m i ld wh ispers useOf shades , and wanton w inds , and gush ing brooks ,On whose fresh lap the swart star sparely looks ,Th row h ither al l your qua int enamel led eyes ,That on the green turf suck the honied showers,And purple all the ground w ith vernal flowers .

Br ing the rathe pr imrose that forsaken d ies ,The tufted crow- toe and pale jessam ine,The wh ite p ink and the pansy freaked w ith jet,The glowing v iolet,The musk rose and the wel l—atti red woo db ine,W i th cowsl i ps wan that hang the pens i ve head ,And every flower that sad embro idery wears ;Bid amaranthus al l h i s beauty shed ,


And daffod i l l ies fi l l their cups with tears ,To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid l ies .

For, so to interpose a l ittle ease,Let our fra i l though ts dally with false surmise.

Ay me, wh i lst thee the shores and sound ing seasWash far away , where

’er thy bones are hurled ;

Whether beyond the stormy Hebr ides ,Where thou perhaps under the whelm ing t ideVisit

’

st the bottom of the monstrous world .

I t would seem at fi rs t glance that to br ing insuccessively , nymphs, the god Apollo , the Hera ldof the Sea, the god Eo lus , the r iver god of anEng l i sh stream ,

and the Chr i s ti an S t. Peter, andto close the scene i n the Chris tian heaven mustresu lt i n a s trange ph antasmagoria

,but i n M i lton ’ s

poem al l con tribute to the appea l to the imagination l ike the figures on a Grecian frieze. The

transition s are so happi ly managed tha t one topicsuggests another , and al l i s movement from begining to end . The poet touches the tender stopsof various qui l ls , with eager thought warb l ing h i sDor ic lay . Though the fo rm i s art ificia l , the“eager

'

thought i s earnest and sin cere . Thispoem alone i s enough to prove the fa l lacy of theassertion tha t the Engli sh Refo rmation was l i ttlebut a ch ange i n the personnel o f eccles ias ticalauthority , for a poet schol ar o f the rank of M i l tonin teg rates the deepest feel ing and though t of theage i n which he l ives ,

The very fac t that he putsthe denunc iation of the Eng l is h church into the


mouth o f S t . Peter, the founder of the RomanChurch

,shows how fi rm a stand fo r radical righ t

eousness M i l ton and men Of h is p ar ty took in theseventeenth century .

For the next two centuries there i s no lack offunera l odes , eulogies o f the dead , poeti c ep itaphs ,and the l ike. M ost o f them are p rofess ional andperfuncto ry . D ryden ’s Ode To tbe P ious M emory

ofM rs . Anne K illigrew ,1686 ,

i s one Of the beart iest and honestes t of these poetica l tributes, andContain s in the fourth stanz a an exp ress ion of thesh ame wh ich must come over a writer of pl ays, i fhe h as any e levation of soul , when he reflects i nmiddle age how he “ profaned the heavenly giftof Poesy, and added “ fat pol lutions of h is own“ to increase the steam ing ordures of the s tage .

Th is stanz a goes fa r to redeem the memory ofD ryden .

“ I nsincere adu lation reaches i ts absu rdest height and artificia l poet ic construction i tslowest depth in Southey ’ s Ode on the death ofGeorge I I I . A reading of poet ry of th is c la ssth rows some l ight on socia l conven tional i ties, butnone on poetic exposition of a seriou s theine. I tis interesting to see how far the expression of one

Of the profoundest emot ions can be warped bykeep ing with in the l im its of an unrea l treatment ,but the examination is depress ing in the extreme .

I t i s not ti l l 18 2 1 th at we fi nd in Shel ley ’ s Adona isa poet med i tating on the awful but ever- p resentso lemnity of death in a manner worthy of h is



Adon is ” was the representative of fleet ing youthand o f Sp ring, so

“ Adonai s ” i s the emb lematicname of the eterna l lover of sp ir itua l beauty . The

opening stanza reca l ls di stantly the hymn of B ionto Adonis, the name

“Adonais being chosen be‘

cause i t fi ts wel l i n to the iambic line. The Greekpoet begin s : “Weep for Adoni s he hath perished,the beauteous Adon is, dead is the beauteous Adonis,the Loves j o in in the lament . No more i n thy pure

ple ra iment, Cypri s, do thou s leep . A rise, thouwretched one, and beat thy breast and say, Adonisi s dead .

’

Shel ley ’ s lament begins

I weep for Adona i s—he is deadO weep for Adona is , though our tears

Thaw not the frost that b inds so dear a head !And thou,

sad hour, selected from all yearsTo mourn our loss

,rouse thy obscure compeers

And teach them th ine own sorrow ! Say : W ith meD ied Adona i s ; t i l l the Future dares

Forget the past , h is fate and fame shal l beAn echo and a l ight unto Etern i ty .

”

The scene i s then removed into the vague, infinite,shadowy realm of the Spiri tu a l imag in ation , whereU rania , the nu rse of divine wisdom ,

the “ mightymother of the mystic world

,presides . Shel ley

invented th is figurative being, a medi ator betweenmort als and the underly ing princip les of love and

beauty , from the merest h in t in Greek mythology.


The i nvocation to her to grieve fo r her son , her

youngest, dearest one,” occup ies twenty o one stanzas .

I t begins

Where wert thou , m igh ty mother , when he lay ,When thy son lay , p ierced by the shaft wh ich fl ies

In darkness ? Where was lorn UraniaWhen Adona is d ied ? W ith vei led eyes ,’Mid l istening echoes in her Parad ise

She sate, wh i le one , w ith soft enamored breath ,Rek ind led all the fad ing melod ies

W ith wh ich l i ke flowers that mock the corse beneathH e had adorned and h id the com ing bulk of death .

The poet refers to M i l to n as sacr ificed to the

powers of evi l dom inan t among men

Most mus ical ofmourners , weep aga inLament anew, Uran ia H e d ied

Who was the S ire Ofan immortal stra in,

Bl ind, old , and lonely , when h is country

’s pride,The pr iest, the slave, and the l ibert ic ide,

Tramp led and mocked with many a loathed r iteOf lust and blood ; he went unterrified

Into the gulf ofdeath but h is clear spr iteYet reigns on earth , the th ird among the sons of light .

The announcement of the death of Keats fol lows ,and the reference to “ I nvisib le corruption a t thedoor

,wai ting for the darkness , i s one of the

strongest imag in ative exp ressions in poetry :

204 D IRGE S AND M EMOR IAL VERSE

TO that h igh capital where k ingly DeathKeeps h is pale co urt in beauty and decay

H e came ; and bought w ith pr ice ofpurest breathA grave among the eternal . Come away ;H aste wh i le the vaul t of blue I tal ian day

I s yet h i s fitting charnel roof ; wh i le sti l lH e l ies as if in dewy s leep he lay ;

Awake h im no t ! surely he takes h is fi llOf deep and l iqu id rest, forgetful of al l i l l .

H e w i l l awake no more, Oh ,never more !

W ith in the tw i l ight chamber Spreads apaceThe shadow ofwh ite Death , and at the doorInv is ible Co rrupt ion wa its to traceH is extreme way to her d im dwel l ing place ;

The eternal Hunger s its , but p ity and awe

Soothe her pale rage nor dares she to defaceSo fa i r a prey t i l l darkness and the lawOf change shall O ’

er h is sleep themortal curta in d raw.

The pa ssage wh ich fol lows,where the “

QuickD reams

,

”

the thoughts that had sp rung f rom the

l iving sou l : “ D esi res and Adorations, wingedPersuasions and vei led Destinies

,Splendors and

G looms and g l immering Inca rn ations of hopes andfears and twi l igh t Fantas ies

,

”

are represented ascoming to lament thei r “ father and creator , i sconceived and wrough t with the poet ic power ofthe seer Of Vi sions . The l ament of the goddessU ran i a fi l l s fou r stan z as

,and in i t Shel ley castigates

the reviewers as



G irt round with weakness ; it can scarce up l iftThe we igh t of the super incumbent hour ;I t is a dy ing lamp

,a fall ing shower,

A breaking b i l low, even wh i lst we speakI s i t not broken On the w ither ing flower

The ki l l ing sun sm i les br ightly ; on a cheekThe l ife can burn in blood even wh i le the heart may

break .

The twenty stanzas from the th irty - sixth to theclose may be regarded as uttered by Shel ley forthe lament of the poets . The th i rty- seventh stan z ai s an arraignment of the reviewer, probab ly Giffordof the Quarterly

L ive thou, whose infamy is not thy fame !L ive : fear no heav ier chast isement from me,

Thou noteless blot on a remembered name i

The concluding lament con tain s the fo l lowingbeautifu l stanza now inscr ibed on the monumentto Shel ley in Surrey

H e has outsoared the shadow of our n ight ;Envy and calumny and hate and pa in,

And that unrest wh ich men m iscal l del igh t,Can touch h im no t and torture no t aga inFrom the contagion of the world ’s S low stain

H e i s secure , and now can never mournA heart grown cold , a head grown gray in vain ;

Nor,when the Spir i t ’s self has ceased to burn

W ith spark less ashes load an unlamented urn .


The panthei st i c theory that al l nature i s a manifestation of a pervasive ( impersonal d ivine spiritf rom which the personal sou l i s derived and intowh ich it s inks at death , as a drop of water l osesits identity in the ocean , i s put in to b ri l l i ant andforc ib le words

H e i s a port ion of the lovel inessWh ich once he made more lovely . H e doth bear

H is part,wh i le the one Spir it ’s plastic stress

Sweeps through the dul l dense world , compell ingthere

Allnew success ions to the forms they wearTortur ing th ’ unw i l l ing d ross , that checks its fl ight

,

To its own l i keness , as each mass may bear ,And bursting in i ts beauty and its m ightFrom trees and beasts and men into the Heaven ’s l igh t

H e i s made one with Nature, there is heardH is vo ice in al l hermus ic

,from the moan

Of thunder to the song of N igh t ’s sweet b ird ,H e is a presence to be felt and knownIn darkness and in l ight , from herb and stone

Spread ing itself where’er that Power may move

Wh ich has w ithd rawn h is be ing to its own ;

Wh ich wields the world w ith never-wear ied loveSusta ins i t from beneath and kind les i t above.

The Splendors of the firmament of t ime

May be ecl i psed , but are ext ingu ished no t,

L i ke stars to thei r appo inted he ight they cl imbAnd death is a low m ist wh ich cannot blot

The br igh tness it may ve i l .


The“ inheri tors o f unfu lfi l led renown , the

poets who d ied in youth,we lcome thei r b rother to

the abode of the immorta ls . App arently Shel leyd id not perceive the contrad ic tion between the

surviva l o f person al ity wh ich th i s im p l ies and the

pan thei st i c idea of the m ing l ing o f the sou l inthe un iversa l reservo i r of Spirit embodied in the preced i ng stan z as . The conc luding stanz as are analmost hyster ica l ly rica l outburst of persona l emo

tion cal led up by the th ought Of death . Shel ley ’ spoem is anchored in no such reasoned certa inty ofthe futu re l i fe as M i lton ’ s is

,and death i s fo r h im

a mystery wh ich he passionately longs to solve.

H e s ay s

Go thou to Rome at once the Parad ise,The grave , the c ity , and the w i lderness .

F ind the grave marked by the Pyramid ofCestu s :

Where l i ke an infant ’s sm i le over the deadA l ight of laugh ing flowers along the grass is spread .

D ie,

If thou wouldst be w ith that wh ich thou dost seekFollow where al l is fled

H e imag ines h i s sp i rit d i sembodied

That L ight whose sm i le kind les the Un iverse,That Beauty in wh ich all th ings work and move,

That Bened iction wh ich the ec l i ps ing curseOf b irth can quench not, that susta in ing Love


2 10 D IRGES AND MEMOR IAL VERSE

Shel ley ’ s an air of unrea li ty . The emotion istenser, but the cause i s not one which we canso readily understand . I t is less concrete, lesspart of our everyday experience . The only ad

vantage which Shel ley had over M i l ton lay in hissubj ec t, fo r Keats was a poet and Edward K ingon ly a young man of p romise, and Of th i s advan

tage he avail s h imsel f fu l ly . Wh ich of these greatpoems is p referred wil l depend on the menta l constitution of the reader .Twenty- seven year s later appeared Tennyson ’ s

I n M emoriam,in sp i red by sorrow for the lo ss of

h is f riend Arthu r Hen ry Hal lam . The construet ion and the though t are much more modern . The

form is verv s im p le, octosy l lab ic quatra in s ingroups of fou r or more stan z as constitut ing poet icparagraph s

,o r, i f we m ay use the term ,

strophes .

The c lassica l imagery i s entirely discarded, andthe poet ca l l s h i s fr iend simp ly Arthu r . Eventhe word “ Muse i s used but th ree times . The

thought i s th at of the man of to-day, profound lymoved by personal grief and reflecting on the

mystery of death ,the question of personal im

mortal ity,and the prob lems of the fu ture l i fe, con

tent with no bel ief that i s not reasonab le and morewil l ing to rema in in uncertainty than to cheat h imsel f by assuming th at he i s certain without evi

dence. The poem contain s about th ree thousandl ines and i s d ivided in to one hundred and thi rty-one

strophes, being thus more than twe lve times as

D IRGES AND MEMOR IAL VERSE 2 1 1

long as Ly cida s and five t imes as long as Adona is .

I t i s the on ly long poem in our language th at doesnot conta in some level stretches of commonplace,and were i t not d ivided into shorter poems, i tsun iform excel lence wou ld be t i resome. I t d iffersfrom the poems of M i l to n and She l ley in that i ti s in spi red , not by indignation , but by persona la ffection .

I nM emoriam i s the j ou rna l o f a bereaved man

extending over th ree years . I n i t he records h i smoods

,his reflections , hi s question ings of l ife, as

he passed from blank despa i r to serious and hopefu l l ife. I t is divided by the ~reCurrence of thefestiva l of Chri stmas in to fou r parts . The innerun ity of the whole i s attained because the evolu

tion of the mind of the wri ter under one dominantemotion , grief, modified by the passage of time, i sportrayed with truth and sincerity . The development and progression of the though t can be presen ted by paraph rasing better th an by citationbecause the beauty of the exp ression takes attention away from the ideas . The fu l l force of thei deas can , however, not be perceived apart fromthe origina l form . The i ntroductory invocation ,

beginn ing,“ S trong Son of God, immorta l Love,

”

i s in the form of a prayer . I t was evidently writtenafter the poem was finished . I t dedicates the

enti re work,as a worsh iper m igh t consecrate

the Offering he l aid on the alta r,by an appeal to

the Dei ty . St rictly speaking , i t i s no t a component


part of the poem , al though i t strikes the keynoteby being addressed to the divine Love wh ich rules

the un iverse, and is the creat ive power which gavemen the capacity for the f a i r earth ly fel lowsh ipthe poem is to embody and immortal iz e.

I n the fi rst s trophe of fou r stanzas the poetsays : “ I used to th ink th at grief might in timeg row incorporate and streng then ch aracter, butnow it seems impossib le to look forward far enough .

to see th at such an effect can be realized . I t isbetter to cheri sh a grief, to be hel p less and b rokenrather th an to fee l th at time shou ld have a righ tto say

,

‘ Th is man ’ s acute feel i ng was but tempora ry .

The second strophe i s addressed to the yew treeth at sh adows a grave : I t seems to draw its nourishment f rom the dead . I t i s penet rated with a

su llen gloom— looking on i t, I feel a fel lowsh ipwith it . I belong to the dead as i t does . I ampart Of the tree.

I n the th ird strophe the poet rebel s again st thedeadening effec t of sorrow :

“ Sorrow,priestess o f

death , tel l s me there i s no hope nor rel ief. Fatei s too strong . Natu re hersel f i s a power less agencyrehearsing the behests of Death . Must I theng ive mysel f up to such a creed ? I s i t not weakand wrong ?

The fourth strophe i s a lso an exp ression of theresistance of the wil l again st the benumbing effectof grief : “When sleeping my wil l i s dormant . I



please her lover . Wh i le she i s do ing so he i sd rowned c rossing the ford . I s her g rief o r m ineany the les s because others h ave su ffered befo re ?

Commonp lace con solation fai ls u tter ly .

The seventh and eigh th strophes conta in but oneth ought

,o r rather one springs natura l ly out Of the

other .“ I go to h is house i n the ear ly dawn ,

fo r I cannot s leep . I steal away to the door l ike a guil tyth ing as the day break s . The noi ses of human l ifeth at beg in to be heard are dis tastefu l and inharmonious .

“ A lover comes a long d is tance with exul tan tfondness to see hi s prom i sed wife . H e lea rn s onarriv ing that she i s far away from home . At oncethe place seems em p ty of a l l p leasu re and brigh tnes s . The world seems so to me. Yet

,as the

other , walk ing discon solate in the garden , mayCh ance to fin d a flower she once ca red fo r, so th i sl ittle flower of poetry he once loved i s cheri shedby me.

”

The ninth and tenth strophes are i n a more subdued tone . They are add res sed to the sh ip whichi s b ri ng ing home the body of A rthu r H al lam .

Bring h im safely home, b r ing my A rthur , dearto me as the mother to the son , more than mybrothers are to me, th at he may rest i n con sec ratedg round . We are soothed by the though t th at hewil l lie beneath the sod of h is own vil lage in the

rel ig ious center and heart of it.

D IRGES AND MEMOR IAL VERSE 2 15

Numbers 1 1, 12 , 13, and are very c losely connected . The leading idea is the sense of infinitythat i s borne in on a sad heart by a ca lm morning

,

the feel ing that the soul cou ld go ou t of the bodyand traverse vast spaces , the un real ity, and st rangeness , and ever recurr ing newness of bereavement .They mark wel l one of the earl ier phases of grief ,a phase of exa ltation c losely connected with al lperiod s o f h igh -wrought feel ing : ‘ f I t i s a peacefu lmorning, N ature exp resses ca lm and peace, on thisgreen plain , in the wide a i r

,on the si lver sea .

There i s dead ca lm,too

,in that nob le heart of h is .

I seem to be taken up by the g reat peacefu l sp iri tof Nature. My sp i rit seems to leave the body andsweep over the rounded ocean to where the shipbringing h im moves s lowly forward , then to retu rnhere to the body . All th ings seem strange and unreal . D eath and l i fe are confused . I f I shou ld hearth at you had arrived , and go to the wharf and findyou unchanged and eager to hea r about home, Ishou ld accept it ca lmly as we do th ings in a dream .

This state o f tension induced by the expectationo f receiving the body of h i s friend ; th is sympathywith the wider influences o f N ature the sun ligh t ,the sto rm cloud , the wind s ; th is d i sposition of themind when under h igh -wrought expectation tooverrun g reat spaces i n imag inat ion , to wi sh to goout of the body ,

th i s subl imated im p atience, i s one

of the most vivid and one of the most true th ingsin the poem . The poem is all true and the record

2 16 D IRGES AND MEMOR IA L VERSE

of actua l menta l experience. This rest lessness notinf requently finds vent in exagger ated physic a lactivity ; i t i s a species of ecstatic de l ir ium inwh ich wild and whirl ing words come to the surface. Tennyson is too se lf- restrained and bal ancedan arti st in temperament to utter the w i ld ly rica lcry which would be the rel ief of the a rdent spir i t.H e i s the sel f- cul tu red modern man .

N os . 15 and 16 : Toward n igh t the sto rm comes .

W i th i t gr ief assumes energy . I can imagineyour Sp i r i t fleeing before the storm cloud . How i si t th at sorrow is so di fferent at di fferent times ?

I s the so rrow in my heart a mere reflex of themoods of n ature, o r i s my self - poise b roken by theshock of g rief so th at any wind hurr ies me to andfro li ke a wreck obeying no rudder ?

Nos . 17 , 18 , 19, and 20 :“ The sh ip has a rrived .

M ay i t be blest and fo rtun ate forever . I t h asb rought the p recious dust . Henceforth let i t besacred . I t i s someth ing th at he i s home . Let ushear the r i tual . Wou ld that I cou ld give h im myl ife. The D anube has g iven h im to the Severn .

D ai ly the l i ttle bed of the Wye i s fi l led and madequ iet by the tide from the Severn . I t i s h ushed ,

as my angu ish i s ; then i t flows out and the streamruns in i ts fo rmerch anne l . The flood of g riefsometimes flows from my heart, and I can speak al i ttle. J ust a s in a house when the head i s dead ,the servants can talk , but the ch i ld ren are s i lent,fo r thei r hea rts are fu l l .



of it is very diffi cu lt to understand . I t sounds likethe pessimistic, settled mel ancholy of an olderman . The cheerfu l o r the somber aspects of nature are not a l luded to . The man seems to l ive i nthe past . Grief i s not so poignant, but it i s moreunrel ieved . The poet begins by speaking of thereturn of Laz a ru s .

“ H i s s ister i s so h appy th atshe never asks

,

‘Where wer t thou , b ro ther ?’ No

subtle though t, no curious fea rs, intrude .

‘ Thouwho h ast been th rough the hel l o f doubts and hastcome to h ave a shadowy vague trust in the Universa l, do not dis tu rb the ch i ldl ike fai th of your sisterwhich rests in what seem to you to be unmeaningforms

,but wh ich to her have a divine signifi cance .

’

I ough t to be su re th at there i s such a th ing as theimmorta l l ife, fo r otherw i se there i s no reasonab leexp lanation of th is world

,there would be no choice

or moral d i fferences in th i s wor ld . But, even putthe case that we had positive evidence that deathis the end-a l l o f the person

,cou ld I not even then

hug the delu sion th at love i s true, or would the

moanings of the endless sea of ob l ivion fi l l me withdespondency ? But why make a useless hypothes is ? Ifwe regarded death as fina l, sp i ri tua l lovewould never h ave existed, love would have beenmere fel lowsh ip

,or at best the anima l element

would h ave been the exclusive one. I f there wereno soul , there wou ld have been no communion ofsoul s

,no yearnmg for the high friendshi p .

Now, a l though these sp i ri tual truths are a part

D IRGES AND MEMOR IAL VERSE 2 19

of our being, and therefore man unaided mighth ave found them out

,b less Ch r i s t who not on ly

realiz ed the sp i ritu al l i fe but embodied ou r spi ri tua lneeds in simp le ta les that the lowest may appre

hend,so that the great c reed is put in human ex

pression, and touches even the savage man .

“ Does the muse o f d ivine wisdom reprove mefor dwel l ing on these matters o f deep import ? Ican on ly say tha t I am unworthy with my li ttle artto speak o f the great mysteries, but b rood ing overmy friend

’

s memory and over wha t he said of spi ritualmatters, I repeat, murmuring , some of h i s suggestions . I am under the dominion o f a dumb ,benumb ing sor row . H ow can I sing of ligh t matter s ? And i f the emancipated spi rits care for therememb rance of the l iving, he wil l j oy to know thatI put in verse some of the thoughts he uttered .

I t would be better i f we could look on the dead aswe look on a s is ter who leaves home as a bride andgoes to a new and wider l ife, whom we take leaveof with seri ousnessyet w i thout sorrow,

who,though

severed from her fami ly , wi l l renew her relation s tohumani ty in the h igher ch aracter and nobler digni tyof m atron and mother . But th i s may not be. You

and I h ave parted in a di fferent sense. I wanderabout the old places . You are i n a strange country . Yo u are in some undi scovered country .

”

The rema in ing poems of thi s year are of thesame n ature ; ques tion ings, unsett led specul ationsas to the futu re, sub t le i n thought, suggestive and

220 D IRGES AND MEMOR IAL VE RSE

del icate i n expression . The heading lines of some

of the strophes may serve to i ndicate the nature ofthe thought

If sleep and death he truly one.

How fares i t w ith the happy dead ?

Be near me when my l ight i s low.

DO we indeed des ire the deadShould st i l l be near us at our s i de ?

Oh yet we trust that, somehow,good

W i l l be the final goal of i l l .

Dost thoulook back on what hath been ?

For an instant he admits tha t h is grief has madeh im kindly

, as one who has lost h i s sight takes upharmless d iversion s, l i stens with a patient smi le tothe p ratt le of his ch i ldren ,

but in h is mind evermorerecal l s the l ight he has los t . Toward the end o fth is yea r he turn s to th i s world aga i n and to sub

jective feel ing . The reflective ph ase i s more Cheerfu l , and the mourner

’ s hea rt goes out to others morethan it d id a twelvemonth ago . The Chri stmasstrophe i s quite d i fferent , grief i s not expressed ,

tears are d ry though the reg ret i s even deeper .

Sorrow has receded into the past . I t has beentransmuted into a part of character . I t is morepermanent than i t was when i t was a feel ing ofever present pa in .

The poems Of the next year, wh ich run fromNos . 77 to 104 , are marked by the sentiment ex



Th is beau tifu l ode fi tly c loses the di rge by linking it to the hope th at i s i nfo lded in the futu re forthe lovers .

I n M emoriam i s by no mean s merely a series ofbeautifu l , detached poems on the same genera l sub

ject, but each s trophe has its p lace in the completes tructure . I t i s a psychologica l j ourna l reco rdingthe moods of a definite, Spi ri tu a l experience, and i tmoves from poin t to po in t by del i cate gradations .

I t Opens with a presentation of the stunned ,dazed

feel i ng that fol lows bereavement When the menta lshock distor ts the mourner ’ s V iew of nature, causing th ing s to assume a st range aspect, the sunshineto seem cold and unfee l ing, and al l n atu re to seemhard and indi fferent and un real . The perceptionsare at fi rst sh arpened , and take in many th ingsover looked before. Death h as widened the un iverse. Then comes the period of s adnes s andlonel iness when the sp iri t b roods over the past,question s destiny , rebel s again st the lords of l i fe,i s in trospective and retrospective. Then

,as i n

hea l thy m inds , comes the period when sorrow sinksin to the character and i s mo lded in co lossa lcalm and tran smuted into a cheerful seriousness,and i t i s no longer a p ain to talk of the lost friend .

The exper ience i s in no way exceptional excepttha t friendsh ip l ike that between Tennyson andH al lam is rare, and the sympathy of l iving friend su sua l ly lightens or d ivides the bu rden of sorrow .

The theme of In tlIemoriam has a c lose rel at ion


to l ife,fa r c loser than the genera l theme of

Lycidas or Adona is .

These th ree di rges are al l wri tten by young menand a l l inspi red by the death s o f young men . I nnone of the th ree cases was there anyth ing to re

l ieve the sense o f an irrepa rab le loss of a brightinte l l igence ca lled away in ear ly l ife befo re i t hadg iven the world more th an prom ise. The wastefu lnes s of p remature death , the pit iableness Of it, impresses the mind in al l . The world i s fortunatethat in each case a poet could exp ress in di fferentst ra in s a part of what human ity must feel fo r theprematu re death of a young man . That Tennyson

’

s poem is more intimate and sea rch ing in itsappea l

,results from the fact th at he i s so much

nearer to us . I n no other modern l anguage i sthere anyth ing to compare to the th ree great Engli sh di rges . We may receive a reasonab le encour

agement from the fac t that the la st expresses theb roadest and most tru ly Ch ri stian ph ilosophy .

In M emoriam was the task of severa l years, andwhat Rossett i ca ll s “ fundamental brainwork i sevident in it . Shorter commemorative poemsca l led out by the death of some one whose ch aracter o r publ ic Services h ad made h im eminentsome “ sh in ing mark loved by death—are numerous . Ma tthew Arnold ’ s T/zy rs is , the lamentfor his friend the young poet, C lough , i s m arkedby genuine feel ing to wh ich al l can readily respond .

Swinburne’

s Ave a tquc Vale, on the death of the

224 D IRGE S AND MEMOR IAL VE RSE

French poet, Ch arles Baudel ai re, i s an app rec iationof a perverted ta lent which in sp i te of i ts -musica lqual i t ies and fine poetry does no t appea l to the

under ly ing inst incts Of humani ty . H i s th i rteenshort stanzas I n M emory of Walter Savage Landorare of exqu isite construction

Back to the flower- town,s i de by s ide,

The br igh t months br ing,Newborn , the br idegroom and the br ide,Freedom and spr ing.

The sweet land laughs from sea to sea,

F i l led ful l of sun ;Allth ings come back to her, be ing free ;All th ings but one.

In many a tender Wheaten plotFlowe

'

rs that were deadL ive, and old suns rev ive ; but notThat hol ier head .

By th is wh ite wander ing waste of Sea,Far North I hear

One face shal l never turn to meAs once th i s year ;

Shal l never sm i le and turn and restOn m ine as there,

Nor one mos t sacred hand be prestUpon my ha ir.



So shall thy lovers , come from far,Mix w ith thy name

As morn ing s ta r w ith even ing starH is faultless fame.

I t i s impossib le to pu t in more perfect languagethe ordinary reflec tion s th at a r i se on the deathof a d i st ingui shed man . But the great mysterydoes not r ise on the im ag in at ion as i t does inreading Ly cidas or Adona is o r In M emoriam .

The thought i s not carried over in to the possib i lities of the future, the tremendous import of l i fei s not suggested by the tense l ines , seen only inthe shadow of death , th at run from one world intoanother. Everyth ing i s on the scale with wh ichwe measure da i ly experience, and th i s seems toindica te the dist inction between the great di rgeand memoria l verse .

I n ou r country,memoria l verse has never ri sen

to the great height though the serious expressionof sorrow ha s in spired our poets to the utteranceof many exquisite laments . S tedman ’ s sonnet onL i nco ln ,

A ld rich ’ s verses on Ralph Kee ler, Longfel low ’ s farewe l l to H awthorne and h i s sonnets toth ree friends, and many others wi l l come to the

mind of the reader. Emerson ’ s T/zrenody , the l ament fo r h i s young son , i s so real i sti c as to be pai nfu l . The father says

The south w ind bringsL ife, sunsh ine, and des ire,

D IRGE S AND MEMOR IAL VERSE 227

And on every mount and meadowBreathes aromat ic fire ;But over the dead he has no power,The lost, the lost, he cannot restore ;And looking over the h i l ls I mournThe darl ing who shal l not return .

I see my empty house ,I see my trees repa ir the ir bough s ;And he , the wond rous ch i ld ,Whose s i lver warble w i ldOutvalued every puls ing soundW ith in the a i r ’s cerulean ro und ,The hyac inth ine boy for whomMorn m igh t wel l break and Apr i l b loom ,

The grac ious boy , who d id adornThe world where into he was born,And by h i s countenance repayThe favor of the lov ing Day ,Has d isappeared from the Day ’s eye.

ii i

And wh ither now,my truant w ise and sweet,

0, wh ither tend thy feetI had the r igh t, few days ago ,Thy steps to watch , thy p lace to know ;H ow have I forfei ted that r ight ?

Hast thou forgot me in a new del igh t ?'K it

On that shaded dayDark w ith more clouds than tempests are,When thou d idst y ield thy innocent breathIn b ird~l i ke heav ings unto death ,


N igh t came and Nature had no t thee,I sa i d “ we are mates in m isery .

The morrow dawned w ith need less glowEach snow b i rd ch i rped , each fowl must crow ;Each tramper started but the feetOf the most beaut iful and sweetOf human youth had left the h i l lAnd garden.

After the fa ther ’ s lament the “ deep heart (ofthe un iverse) answers, g iving such comfort as ph ilo sophy affords, wh ich seems only to in tensi fy ou rsense of the indifference o f n ature to h uman sorrow and o f the useless waste and crue l wrong tohumanity invo lved in the death of a ch i ld . Nori s the artis tic form of the poem so beautiful as tobe consoling s imply by its beauty .

Nevertheles s Emerson ’ s T/zrenody ,l ike all the

poetry of sorrow, i s educative in the highes t sense,S ince i t ca l l s u s away from our preoccupation withforms and appearances to ser iou s reflection on theunknown real i ty .


230 THE LYR IC AND SONG

adventure a bal l ad . The lyrica l elemen t appearsi n passages o f the D rama o r E p ic when personalfeel ing i s exp ressed in musica l words

,as in J u liet ’ s

hymn to love i n Romeo and j ulzet, o r the morn inghymn of the l overs in the same pl ay , o r the partingof Hecto r and Andromache in the I liad . We can

speak of the hymn as a sacred lyric , the ode a s adign ified and extended lyr i c

, the ba l l ad as a narrative lyr ic or popu lar ly ric , the short e legy as thely ric Of g rief, and yet retain the word

“ lyr ic un

suppo rted by any adjective to mean a short poem1of j oyous personal emotion exp ressed in musi

ca l form and usua l ly adapted to the s ing ing voice.

I n many cases the sonnet i s ly rical i n tone ; Shakespeare ’ s love sonnets are notab ly so, bu t a sonneti s a sonnet though frequently belong ing to the

genera l c l a ss of ly rica l poetry and sometimes toth at of reflective

’

poetry.

The t rue ly ric o r song , in the modern sense, i sIthe brief express ion of subjective emotion : path os

,

love, exul tation ,patr iotism , o r any feel ing up per

most in the mind of the singer . I t shou ld havesome energy and variety of movement though notnecessari ly of form

,fo r the emotion proper to the

ly ric is not stationary —it has l i fe and flow . The

ly ri c arouses the emotion a l facu lt ies, whether i t beread or sung

,by b ring ing us in contact with the fee l

ing of the poet, and thereby conduces to psych ica l

hea lth,quite as important a matter as phys ica l

health . I t may appea l to the under ly ing racia l

THE LYR IC AND SONG 23 1

sympath ies o f the i ndividual o r on ly to thoseshared by the more reflective and imag inative, fori ts range of emot iona l expression is very wide, buti t should a lways ap peal to natu ral and hea lthysentiment, though i t may be admitted that a fewlyrics of remarkable a rtistic qua l ity dea l with morb id and perverted themes . The lyri c must be b rief,or i t arouses feel ing by the presentation in poeticorm of a s imple idea without argument or nar

ative. I t leaves to more ambitious fo rms the

assembling of multifariou s deta i l s i nto a unity .

I t i s song l ike in s tructu re even when not spec i fically adapted to the sing i ng voice . The ly ric cal lsthe soul from its so l itude to tha t commun ion wh ichi s p sych ica l l ife, but each soul respond s with itsown individua l voice though each feel s the del ightof sympathy .

The lyric, therefore,i s m arked organica lly

,by

musica l movement ; rhetor ic al ly ,by the personal

figures , apostrophe and interrogation ; grammati

ca l ly , by the use of the personal pronouns ; andmetrica l ly, by end - stop t lines and by the refra in .

I t beg in s,“ Scots wha hae w i Wal lace b led ,

” o rRock of Ages , c left fo r me,

” or Farewel l,thou

art too dear for my possessing, or “ Never mel taway

,thou wreath Of snow, th at art so kind in g rav

ing me i ts burden is ,“ I feel , not “ I th ink .

I t h as some of the qua l i ties o f the human voi ce ;i t penet rates , arouses, or ch arms . The lyricalqual ity i s of the very essence of poetry , since i t


transfers emotion from the s inger to the bearer.

The lyri c i s vivified by the personal note,“the

keen lyri ca l c ry, as M atthew A rnold ca l led i t . I tmust be written under excitement ; f rig idity i sfatal to it . Except in those rare cases where men

of great poetic powers have written song s wh ichwere the in sp i ration of a moment, though the

result of years of though t and experience of l i fe,i t must be l abored over, fo r no b irth i s withoutp ain . I t must be wr itten under excitement, butmust have the a i r of spontaneity . I f to a sympatheti c nature some power of musica l exp ress ionin words i s g iven , then we h ave the lyrica l poet .That part of the world is h i s aud ience which sym

pathiz es with his fee l ings . I f, as in the case Of

Robert Burns, he appea l s to the . broad, genia lemotions wh ich are shared by al l human ity

,and

h i s power of musica l exp ress ion i s o f a high order,then the whole world i s h is aud ience . I f, l ikeH errick ,

his feel ings are bounded by a narrowhoriz on

,h is lovers wi l l be fewer—perh aps on ly

men of a certa in amount of cu lt ivation o r knowledge of ar t wi l l find p leasu re i n reading h i s verse .

I n a b road sense al l lyrics are songs ; in a spec ializ ed sense, only those lyr ics wh ich are set to musicare songs . For a popu lar song the tune must benot diffi cu lt to ca tch

,and not com p l icated , and

accordan t with the sentiment which , too , must no t

be subtle nor complicated . The time-beat mustbe emphatica lly marked , and the range within the



mouth , and few sib i lants,and to ch oose words with

Open vowel s wherever poss ible . I t may be questioned whether a fine musica l ear i s necess ary to asong wri ter . An ear fo r time and for vocal melodiceffects is necessary , but th at i s qu ite a d ifferen tth ing . Shel ley rather d is l iked music

,and nei ther

Coleridge nor Scott could catch a tune. Yet Scottwrote many fine songs Shel ley and Coleridge weremasters of verba l melody, and some of Shelley ’ slyrics are wel l adapted for sing ing .

The true song writer needs someth ing besides apoetica l temperament and a musical ear,

”

and

th at someth ing is the very th ing which makes h ima song wri ter . Brown ing knew much more aboutmusic th an did Tennyson or Charles K ingsley , andwas a lyric poet, but Break, B reak

,B reak

,and

I ke Tkree Fiskers are songs i n a ful ler sense th anany of Browning ’ s Spi rited ly ric s are. I t wou ldseem as i f the Successfu l song writer must posses sin addition to h i s o ther g i fts, a certain folk ele

ment or instinctive knowledge of the heart ofhuman i ty

,and a des i re to appea l to it .

As a proof of the'

rarity of the song writer’s g i ft

it m ay be mentioned that during the C ivi l War,

when the pub li c mind was in a state of ten se ex

citement, allour verse-writers natura l ly were desi rous of writing a patrioti c song . M any good lyri cswere written fu l l of patr iotic energy , but exceptTramp

, tramp,tramp

,tbc B oy s a re M areking, no

one succeeded in embodying any one of the fea

THE LYR IC AND SONG 235

tures of the war the march , the bivouac , the campfire, the fight

— in a song th at exp ressed what thesoldiers wished to sing . A song a s fine as theMa r

seilla ise would have been worth many reg iments .

l

Song writing,principa l ly of a gay and amatory

character,was much cult ivated in the south of

F rance as early as the tenth centu ry, when the

poetry of the North or F rankish part of the country

1 In the end the so ld iers of the 12th Massachusetts Regimentimprovised a rude chorus,

“John Brown

’s bo dy l ies mo ldering in the grave.

H is so ul go es marching on.

Glory ! glory ! hallelujah, his soul go es marching on.

This goes to a camp-meeting tune. Unmeaning verses wereextempori zed , and sho uting this prim itive war pman was Of

great effect in keep ing up the sp irits and morale of the tro o ps.

Harry Brownel l a fterwards wro te some wo rds to the air, and Mrs .

H owe’s fine B attle I Iymn of tlze Republic go es to the same tune.

j ust before t/ze B attle, lilot/zer, Tramp, tramp, tramp , and the

B attle Cry ofFreedonz were written and the music to them com

po sed by George F. Ro o t ofChicago . The last comes near to po ssessing the qual ities of a great battle song. M arc/t ing t/troug/z

Georgia was composed by H enry C . Work of Chicago , who is the

author also ofWake N ieodemus, T/te K ingdom’s Com ing, and B alm

lon’s Fallen , the first the finest song produced in America . John S .

G ibbons wro te We are com ing,F at/ier Abra/tam ,t/zree bundred

sa nd more,which, as sung by the Hutchinson fam i ly, was wo nderful lyeffective. In the South, D ixie, set to a stirring tune, and M aryland,

my M aryland, to the noble air ofLa urzger [fora/ins , were effective So ngs. General A lbert Pike o fArkansas wro te the best wordsto the former. The great power of so ngs in concentrating and

intensi fy ing sentiment was never better exem pl ified . The Northernsongs had more the qual ity offo l k l iterature than the So uthern o nes,

and perhaps it is as well that none are so go o d as to be immortal .


was largely ep ica l in ch aracter, passing over in thecourse of time into the romant ic . These influencesextended to Eng land , but lyr ica l p oetry did notdevelop there t i l l the sixteenth century, and it scu lmination coincides l argely with that of the g reatdramatic period . I t was governed a lmost enti relyby I ta l ian models

,fo r song i s indigenous and per

m anent in I ta ly . Wyatt and Surrey introducednot on ly the sonnet but the song into thei r country.

The sonnet h ad much more of a lyrica l characteri n England in the E l iz abethan age than i t ha s nowThe form then embod ied an energeti c emotion andnot merely a descr ipt ion o r some quiet moral iz ingas is so frequently the ca se a t p resent . Spenser

’ s,S idney ’ s

,and Shakespeare ’ s sonnets are a lmost in

variab ly lyric a l in exp ress ion . The Singing voice,too

,seems to have been a more genera l gi ft th an

it i s now. The E l iz abethan age was lyri ca l as wel las dramat ic, and the ly ri ca l impul se persisted afterthe drama ti c impu lse was exhausted in the seventeenth century . Songs, some of them of great music al beauty, were in serted in many of the p lays as thenatura l cu lmination of the dialogue. The ly ricsof the t ime, seen in Professor Arber

’ s reprin ts andM r. Bul len ’ s two volumes enti t led Ly rics from tlze

Song B ooks of tbc E liz abet/zan Age are nearly a ll ofsonglike qua l i ty . M r . Symonds says of them :

“ For

the purposes o f Singing they are exactly adequate,bein

'

g sub stantia l enough to sustain and animatethe notes , and yet so s ligh t as not to overburden


238 THE LYR IC AND SON G

I touched her no t, alas no t I ,And yet I love her t i l l I die.

Cupid is winged and doth rangeH er country so my love doth change,But change she earth or change she sky ,Yet w i l l I love her t i l l I die.

The expression “ free behavior i s used in theOld sen se, and means a k ind , genia l manner .SO, the knight in Chaucer “ loved P redom and

Curteisye.

”

The fo l lowing based upon H orace ’s o'

de, Justum

et tenacem propositi v irum,

” i s genera lly ascribedto Francis Bacon ; i f with j u st ice, the ShakespeareBacon p roposi tion needs no fu rther refutation

The man of l ife upr igh t,Whose gu i ltless heart is free

From all d ishonest deedsOr thought OfVan ity ,

The man whose s i lent daysI n harmless joys are spent,

Whom hopes cannot deludeNor sorrow d iscontent,

That man needs ne ither towersNor armor fo r defense,

Nor secret vaults to flyFrom thunder ’s violence.


H e only , can beho ldW ith unaffr ighted eyes

The ho rrors of the deepAnd terrors of the skies.

Thus scorning all the caresThat fa ith or fo rtune br ings

,

H e makes the heaven h is book,

H is w isdom heavenly th ings.

Good thoughts his only fr iends,H is wealth a wel l- spent age,

The Earth h is sober inn,

And qu iet p i lgr image.

The songs i n the dramas of the per iod and manyof those printed in volumes o f poet ry h ave the

same ease and natu ra lnes s a s these, but u su al lymuch more rhythm ic and emotiona l l i fe . The

songs in Shakespeare’ s p lays i ll ustrate the qua l ities of the true lyr ic . Among the best known isthe song of Amien s in As You Like I t

Under the greenwood tree,Who loves to lie with me,And tune h is merry noteUnto the sweet b ird ’s throat

Come h ither , come h ither, come h ither !Here sh al l he see

No enemyBut w inter and rough weather.


Who doth amb it ion Shun,

And loves to l i ve i ’ the sun,

Seeking the fo od he eatsAnd p leased w ith what he gets,

Come h ither, come h ither, come h ither !Here shall he see

No enemyBut winter and rough weather.

The other song of the same actor 15

B low, blow, thou w inter wind ;Thou art not so unkindAs man ’

s ingrat itude.

Thy tooth is no t so keen,Because thou art not seen ,

Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh ho ! s ing he igh ho ! unto the green holly !Most fr iendsh ip is feign ing, most loving mere follyThen heigh ho the holly !Th i s l ife is most jolly

Freez e, freez e, thou b itter sky ;That dost no t b ite so nighAS benefits forgot

Though thou the waters warp ,Thy st ing is no t SO SharpAs fr iend remembered not.

He igh ho ! s ing heigh ho ! unto the green hollyMost fr iendsh ip is feign ing,most lov ing mere folly , etc .

Ariel ’ s songs in the Tempest, Full Fa tkom'

fi ve tky

Fa tker lies and W/zere tke B ee sucks,t/zere suck I

are as dai n ty and spr itel i ke as the fairy h imsel f,


242 THE LYR I C AND SONG

My part of death , no one so true,D id share it.

But the real feel ing and sim p l ici ty of the dirgein Cymbeline i s fa r above M r . Collin s ’ s verses,smooth and musica l a s they are . H e wrote i n theeighteenth century :

To fa i r F idele ’s grassy tombSoft ma i ds and v i l lage h inds Shall br ing

Each Open ing sweet of earl iest bloom ,

And r ifle all the breath ing spr ing.

No wa i l ing ghost shal l dare appearTo vex with sh r ieks th is qu iet grove,

But shepherd lads assemble hereAnd melt ing v i rgins own thei r love.

Each lonely scene shall thee restore,For thee the tear be duly shed

,

Beloved t i l l l ife could Charm no more,And mourned t i l l pity ’s self be dead .

These are very beautifu l verses, but comparedto the orig ina l they i l lustrate the di fference betweenthe rea l and the simu lated in art . One of theyoung men i n Cymbeline

— p rinces ignorant o fthei r b i rth—says

,

w ith fa irest flowers ,Wh i lst summer lasts , and I l ive here, F i dele,I’llsweeten thy sad grave : Thou shalt no t lackThe flower that ’s l ike thy face, pale pr imro se ; nor

THE LY R IC AND SONG 243

The az ured harebel l l i ke thy ve ins , no , norThe leaf of eglant ine, whom no t to slanderOut- sweetened no t thy breath the ruddock wouldWith char itable b i l l

br ing thee al l th isYea , and furred moss bes i des , when flowers are none,To w inter-ground thy corse.

The other answers

Pr ithee, have done ;And do not p lay in wench- l ike words withWh ich is so ser ious . Let us bury h imAnd not protract w ith admirat ionwhatI s now due debt.

M r. W i l l iam Col l ins must h ave read these words ,

yet he proceeds to do exact ly what Guiderius warnsh im not to do

p lay in wench- like words with thatWh ich is so ser ious.

Again , when Arviragus p roposes to sing the dirge,Guiderius says

I cannot sing : I ’l l weep , and word i t w ith thee,For notes of sorrow out Of tune are worseThan pr iests and fanes that lie.

This, too, might'

have arrested the pen of the

redacteur, h imself a protestant again st the conven

tionalmanner of the followers o f Pope. There are

many who do'

not l ike the who le truth, and noth ing

244 THE LYR I C AND SONG

but the truth ,in art . They love the parti a l t ruth

the truth p lus so many fash ionable o rnaments th atthey do not feel the rebuke which s inceri ty a lwaysgives to a ffectation . For them the statement

Golden lads and gi rls all must,As ch imney- sweepers , come to dust,

i s a l together too b rutal and democratic ; but

Beloved t i l l l ife could charm no moreAnd mourned t i l l pity ’

s self be dead,

i s charming ly pathetic . I t must be admitted thatthere i s someth ing very tak ing i n ins incerity anda ffectation if i t i s n ot com p ared with truth . SO

powerfu l i s art that it j ustifies itself and sometimes

excuses deceit . But when based on real i ty i t i sthe g reat in terp reter, i ts beauty inten sified andits s ign ificance deepened by s incer ity, earnestness ,vis ion .

The dramatis ts of the E l izabeth an period treatedcla ssic themes with lyrica l freedomf The fol lowing i s f rom the p lay , Alexander and Campaspe, by

John Ly ly

Cup id and my Campaspe p layedAt cards for k isses ; Cupid pa id .

H e stakes h is quiver , bows , and arrows ,H is mo ther ’s doves and team of Sparrows ;Loses them , too ; then down he th rowsThe coral ofh is l i p—the roseGrow ing on

’s cheek (but none knows how)

W ith these the crystal of h is brow,



Thou that mak’

st a day of m igh t,

Goddess excel lently br ight .

Perhaps his most attrac tive song i s the wel l-knownone

D r ink to me only w ith th ine eyes,And I w i l l p ledge w ith m ine,

O r leave a kiss but in the cup

And I ’ l l no t look for w ine.

The th irst that from the soul doth riseDoth ask a cup d iv ine,

But m igh t I of Jove ’s nectar supI would not change for th ine.

The verses on Mary S idney, Lady Pembroke,the mother of Will iam Herbert, Shakespeare

’ spatron , to whom some of the sonnet s were oncesupposed to be addres sed , were erroneou sly at

tributed to Ben J on son , but are byW i l l iam Browne.

They are wel l known , but the tu rn of the last th reel ines o f the fi rst stan z a i s so perfect that no excuseneed be made for quoting them

Underneath th is marble hearseL ies the subject of al l verse ;S i dney ’s s ister, Pembro ke ’s mother.Death , ere thou hast sla in another,W ise and good and fa i r as she,T ime Shall throw h is dart at thee.

All the devices Of the art, the refrain , the repe

tend , and the chorus, were cha rming ly employed


i n the songs of the per iod . The refra in con sists o fwords repeated at interval s, but h aving a grammati

ca l connection with the context. The repetend consi sts of words repea ted in immediate sequence foremotiona l o r musica l emphasis, and the chorus ofwords—sometimes unmeaning ones—repeated atthe end of the stanza . Thus Dekker sings

Art thou poor yet hast thou golden slumbers ?0 sweet content !

Art thou rich yet is thy m ind perplexed ?

O pun ishment !Dost laugh to see how fools are vexedTo add to golden numbers , golden numbers ?0 sweet content, 0 sweet, 0 sweet, content !Work apace, apace, apace,Honest labor bears a lovely face .

Then hey, noney, noney ! hey noney, noney.

Canst drink the waters of the crisped spring ?0 sweet content !

Swim’st thou inwealth , yet s ink

’st in th ine own tears ?O pun ishment !

Then he that pat iently Want ’s burden bears ,No burden bears, but is a k ing, a k ing .

0 sweet content, 0 sweet , O sweet, content !Work apace, apace, apace,Honest labor wears a lovely face.

Then hey noney , noney ! hey noney, noney.

The words Golden numbers, golden numbers,are a repetend . 0 sweet content and O pun


ishment are refra ins , and the words “ Then heyh oney, noney !

”

are r ather a poor chorus . S i rThomas Wyatt uses the refra in very sk i l l fu lly inh is verses Forget N ot Yet

,and in the fo l lowing

add ressed to a lady :

And wi lt thou leave me thusSay nay, say nay for shameTo save thee from the blameOf al l my gr ief and grame,

And w i lt thou leave me thus ?Say nay say nay.

And w i lt thou leave me thusThat hath loved thee so longI n wealth and woe among

,

And is thy heart SO strongAs for to leave me thus

Say nay— say nay.

The lyri c poetry of the E l iz abethan age d rew itsin sp iration from I ta ly

,but at once began to develop

in a free and natura l manner . Wyatt and Su rreywere the fi rst to echo I ta l ian song in Eng l and .

Among the fo rms introd uced were the madr i ga l ,the canz one or ode

,and the sonnet . A l though the

writers were scholars and the ly ric is the poetry ofcultu re

, the techn ica l names were used with l i ttled is crim inat ion

,and a poem was ca lled a song

,

an ode, a m adriga l , or a sonnet, with l i ttle reference to the orig ina l significance of the t i t le . A

madrigal,fo r ins tance, i s an epigrammatic lyri c


2 50 THE LYR IC AND SONG

Some idea of the variety and melody o f the

meters may be gathered f rom the songs alreadyci ted . The impression would be strengthened byreading more, especia l ly those of Shakespeare.

The meters seem to have been h it upon in a fortunate moment and not studious ly invented . Whatcou ld be happier th an the movement of the fo l lowing from a p lay of Robert Greene

’ s,about 1590

Ah , what is love I t is a p retty th ing ,As sweet unto a Shepherd as a king ;

And sweeter tooFor k ings have cares that wa i t upon a crown,

And cares can make the sweetest love to frown.

Ah then ,ah then !

If country loves such sweet des ires ga in ,

What lady would no t love a Shepherd swa in ?

H is flocks are folded , he comes home at n ight,As merry as a king in h is del igh t,

And merr ier too :For kings beth ink them what the state require,Where shepherds careless carol by the fire.

Ah then, ah then !If country loves such sweet des i res ga in,

What lady would not love a shepherd swa in ?

Frequently , however, the E l izabeth ans held ac loser and more persona l rel a tion to nature th anthe pastora l fi ction admits . The fo l lowing sungby Thomas Heywood , from a p lay acted about1605 , has the merit of simpl ici ty and d irectness :

THE LYR IC AND SONG 25 1

Pack c louds away , and welcome day ;W ith nigh t we ban ish sorrow :

Sweet a i r, blow soft, mount, larks , aloft,To give my love good-morrow !

W ings from the wind to p lease her m ind ,Notes from the lark I ’l l borrow.

Bird,prune thy w ing—n ight ingale, S ing

To give my love good-morrow ;T0 give my love good -morrow,

Notes from them al l I ’l l borrow.

Wake from thy nest, rob in red-breast,S ing

,b irds

,in every furrow,

And from each h i l l let mus ic sh r i l lGive my fa i r love good-morrow !

Blackb i rd and th rush in every bush ,Stare, l innet , and cock- sparrow

,

You pretty elves , amongst yourselvesS ing my fa i r love good-morrow.

To give my love good -morrow,

S ing,b i rds

,in every furrow.

The “ shepherd swa i n referred to in Greene’ ssong i s no t a real shepherd l ike those tha t “ fed

thei r flocks by n igh t ,” but the conventiona l iz ed

shepherd of “ pastoral poet ry dating from the

days o f V i rg il , i f no t from a much ear l ier period .

The “ pastora l fiction in wh ich men and womenappear as impossible shepherds and shepherdessesfeeding impossib le flocks in artific ia l meadows orshel tering them in artificia l groves, has co lored

THE LYR IC AND SONG

poet ry , p rose, and the d rama , g iving us somecharming p ictures w i th a very remote but verydel ica te re l at ion to rea l l ife. To say noth ing oflyr ics l ike M arlowe ’ s Come live w it/c me and be myLove

,Spenser ’ s S/tepkearde

’

s Calendar,or F letcher ’s

d rama; Tbe Fa itkful S/zep/terdess , and many otherpoems where the mach inery is of strict p astora lconstruction

, the pastora l tone, here and there,

gives Charm to As You Like I t,M i l ton ’ s Comus

,

and S idney ’s Arcadia . The pastora l fiction andthe romantic , ch iva l ric fiction were two l iterarymodes of representing l i fe i n beautifu l and fancifu l forms

'

nowlos t . The pasto ra l fi ction appearedoccasiona l ly i n songs for near ly two centuries andwas not enti re ly d i sused ti l l after the F renchRevolution .

After we leave the s ixteenth century , the character of the ly ric as wel l as th a t of the dramagradual ly ch anges . There i s o f course continuity ;we cannot say that at any one po int the sixteenthcentury song becomes the seventeenth centurylyric . The song from M i l ton ’ s pastora l mask

,

Arcades , i s as fresh and musica l a s any of the

songs of the E l iz abethans , and i t was not wr ittenti l l the secOnd quarter of the century was wel lunder way

O’er the smooth enameled green,

Where no pr int of step hath been,Follow me as I s ing,And touch the warbled str ing,



For these genera l reasons we find the E l izabethan lyric los ing its early spontanei ty in the

latter part of the seventeenth century . I n technica l variety and perfection of workmansh ip

,there

i s no fa l l ing off fo r many years , but the thoughtis more epigrammati c and mature, and pain stakingi s more evident. Herrick , 159 1

—1674 , i s unr iva led in the construction of lyrica l meters, butthe singing qual ity i s less evident in his l ines thanin those that have been quoted from his p redecessors . The qual i ty of dain ty p recis ion begin sto take the p lace of the qual ity of spontanei ty .

H e sings les s l ike a b ird and more l ike a tra inedvoca list

,there i s more i ntel lectua l i ty and less sym

bolism or musica l meaning in h i s verse. The

fo l lowing extracts from Herric k ’s H esperides wil li l lustrate the gradual ch ange of tone :

1CHERRY R I PE

Cherry- r ipe, r i pe, r i pe, I cryFul l and fa i r ones ; come and buy ;If so be you ask me whereThey do grow ? I answer thereWhere my Jul ia ’s l i ps do sm i le ;There’s the land or cherry i sle,Whose p lantat ions ful ly showAllthe year Where cherr ies grow.

UPON JuLIA’s HA I R F ILLED W ITH DEW

D ew sat on Jul ia ’s ha i r,And Spangled to o ,

THE LYR IC AND SONG 2 5 5

L ike leaves that laden are

W ith trembl ing dew,

Or gl ittered to my s igh tAs when the beams

H ave the i r reflected l ightDanced by the streams .

These are a s j oyous and unpremeditated a s anyof Greene

’s o r Dekker’

s or Shakespeare ’ s songs .

Gatlter y e Rosebuds wki/e y e may has, too, a l l themelody of the early E l iz abethan s . The fol lowing ,

however, contain a neat l i tt le sentiment in da in tyformi Their note i s more modern , the wr i ter hasfel t more high ly developed literary impulses thanthose wh ich m

’

olded hi s predecessors in the sixteenth century

H IS PRAYER TO BEN JONSON

When I a verse shall make,Know I have prayed thee,

For Old rel igion’s sake,Sa int Ben, to a id me.

Make the way smooth for me,When I , thy Herr ick

Honor ing thee , on my kneeOffer my lyr ic .

Cand les I ’l l give to theeAnd a new altar ;

And thou,Sa int Ben,

shalt beWrit in my psalter.

2 56 THE L Y R IC AND SONG

H I S LACHRIMZE

Call me no more ,As heretofo re

,

The mus ic ofa feast ;S ince now ,

alasThe m i rth that was

In me is dead or ceased .

Before I wentTo ban ishment

Into the loathed West,I could rehearseA lyr ic verse ,

And speak it with the best.

But t ime, Ai me !Has la i d I see

My organ fast asleep ,And turned my vo iceInto the no ise

Of those that s it and weep.

Herr ick i s so consummate a ly ric arti st that iti s h ardly fair to quote only ver ses wh ich i l lustratehi s w i t and met rica l ingenuity . Corinna

’

s Go ingA-M ay ing,

or To Dafi'

odils, or To Me Virgins , i ll us

trate hi s del ightful ta lent more fu lly . The lastruns

Gather ye rosebud s wh i le ye may ,O ld T ime is st i l l a-flying,

And th is same flower that sm i les to—d ay,TO-morrow w i l l be dy ing.



of prosody as examples o f odd ingenuity,—metr i

ca l sc ience gone mad .

I t must be stead i ly borne in mind that the changein lyrica l tone during the seventeenth century wasvery gradua l . We continua l ly hear echoes of theE l izabethan lyric tha t sound as fresh and natura las the orig ina l song unti l we reach the age ofD ryden . The decl ine of the d rama was muchmore rap id . From Shakespeare through F letcher,M idd leton , Tourneur, and the rest, to Sh irley, thedescen t occup ied at most but forty years, and thedrama o f the Restoration i s separated from thatof 1600 by a greater gulf th an separates the lyrico f tod ay from that contemporary with As You

L ike I t. One reason for th is is that a drama i sdependent for success on a numerous c l ientelewhose taste changes every generation , and ly ricsmay p lease on ly a select and scattered few whosel i terary standard remain s h igh and unchanged .

Another reason , no doubt, i s th at the disfavor in towhich the acting o f p lays fel l led to a temporary

lega l in terdiction . Again ,a lyr ic i s a s l igh t th ing

,

the coming to the su rface of a musical thoughtfrom the heart o f an ind ividual , whereas a dramai s p roduced on ly in a dramatic age . Through theseventeenth century, verses of true lyrical cha rmcontinued to appear. We find lyrical music i nEdmund Wa ller ’ s On a Girdle and Go , Lovely Rose

,

Lovel ace ’ s To Luca sta on going to flee Wars, Cra

Shaw ’ s Wiskes to bis Supposed M istress, S ir J ohn

THE LY R IC AND SONG 2 59

Suckl ing ’ s Constancy , George Herbert ’ s Virtue, andmany others . But at the end we are landed i n theeigh teenth centu ry , when ,

i n 1780, B l ake cou ldwri te with no cynica l undervalu ing of the song ofh is day in Songs addressed to tke M uses .

How have you left the anc ient loveThat bards of old enjoyed inyou !

The langu id str ings do scarcely move,The Sound is forced , the notes are few.

I n the seventeenth - century ly ric verse, the noteof the “

vers de socie'

t gall ant and courtlycompliment not unm ixed with persiflage from some

gay and witty gentleman to a radian t beauty , aqueen of soc iety and temporary queen of h is heart,beg ins to be heard . Society verse, though of coursely rica l, has a di stinc tive tone of i ts own ,

enoughso to warrant mak ing i t the subject of a separatech apter . The sound of th i s note, no t as yet veryd istinct, heard in the verse of Love lace and Suckl ing

, ia whom much of the s inceri ty o f the E l izabethans survives, and quite distinctly in Prio r ’ sP oems on Several Occas ions i n the las t decade ofthe century , i s one o f the ind ications of the wearing ou t of the origina l lyric al impul se.

I n the eighteenth century en thusiasm was considered an undesi rab le and dangerou s qua li ty . Goodsense and moderation were esteemed in l itera tu reand character . The cl assics,

“the anc ients,

” as they


were cal led , were regarded as standard models, notas sources of in sp iration free to express itsel f innovel and luxuriant forms . Rel ig ious belief wa sa good- natured acquiescence in an inst i tution ofrespectab le antiquity or a yielding to a somberCalvin ism , or , sometimes

,a comb ination of both .

Co l latera l with these was a very unatt ractive formof cynici sm , not earnest enough to be nob ly pess im istic nor imag in ative enough to be mystica l . All

these characteri sti c s are hosti le to the free and

j oyous abandon of ly rical song and hardly less soto the in timate self-disclosure of the reflective lyri c ,and we find l ittle of ei ther in the age when Popeand Dr. Johnson are the admired authori ties inpoetry . The songs in Gay ’ s Tlee B eggar

’

s Opera are

too trifl ing to be dignified as lyr ics though they are

les s coarse than those in D ryden ’ s p lays . They r isebut litt le above the ordinary music- ha l l or varietyshow song

,and lack the popular element wh ich

g ives some.o f the l atter heartiness and signifi

cance. Goldsmith , a ba lladist from his boyhood ,puts a coup le of pretty ver ses in to the Vicar ofWakefi eld, and some of Sheridan ’ s i n the Duenna

are sprigh tly and,i n their place, amusing . Gold

smith ’ s l ines contrasted with some of the Scotchbal lads on the same situation Show the differencebetween sentimenta l i sm , or a fanciful t reatmen tof a pathet ic subject, and V igorous, imag inativerea l ization

.He t reats the most tragic motif with

no dramat ic s in ceri ty



OWaly , waly , but love be bonn ieA l ittle t ime wh i le it is new

But when ’tis auld i t waxeth cauld

And fades awa l i ke morn ing dew.

O wherefore should I busk my head ?

Or wherefore Should I kame my hair ?For my true love has me forsook ,And says he ’llnever love me ma ir.

Now Arthur ’s seat shall be my bed,The sheets sh al l ne ’

er be fy led by me,Sa int Anton ’s wel l shal l be my dr ink ,S ince my true love has forsaken me.

Mart inmas w ind when w i lt thou blaw,

And Shake the green leaves offthe tree ?0 gentle death when w i lt thou come ?For of my l ife I am wearie.

’T is not the frost that freez es fel l ,Nor blaw ing snaws inclemencie,

’T is nae s ic cauld that makes me cry ,But my love ’s heart grown cauld to me.

When we came in by G lasgow town,

We were a comely s igh t to see,

My love was clad in the black velvet,And I mysel in cramas ie.

But had I w ist before I k issed ,That love had been sae i l l to win,

I ’d locked my heart in a case of goldAnd p inned i t with a s i lver pin.

THE LY R IC AND SONG 263

Oh,oh ! if my young babe were bo rn

And set upo n the nurse’s knee,And I myself were dead and gone !And the green grass growin

’ over me.

Dr. J ohnson’ s manner was conventional and

hi s ph i lo sophy p ractica l and lim ited . But h isgenuine sympathy with unpretentious wo rth makesh i s verses on Dr. Levett, the

“ friend of the poor,true poet ry , though a lament rather than a lyric .

Wel l tr ied th rough many a vary ing year,See Levett to the grave descend ,

Officious , innocent, s incere ,

Of every fr iend less name the friend .

Yet st i l l he fi l ls Affect ion ’s eye,

Obscurely w ise and coarsely kind ,Nor, lettered Arrogance, denyThy pra ise to mer it unrefined !

When fa int ing nature cal led for aid ,And hover ing death p repared the blow,

H is v igorous remedy d isplayedThe power of art w ithout the show.

I n m isery ’s darkest cavern known ,

H is useful care was ever n igh ,Where hopeless angu i sh poured h is groan,And lonely want ret ired to die.

No summons mocked by ch i l l delay ,No petty ga in d isda ined by pr ide

The modest wants of every dayThe to i l of every day suppl ied .


H i s v irtues walked the ir narrow round ,Nor made a pause, nor left a vo i d ,

And sure the Eternal Master foundH is s ingle talent wel l emp loyed .

The busy day the peaceful n igh t,Unfelt , uncounted , gl ided by ;

H is frame was fi rm h is powers were br igh tThough now his e ight ieth year was nigh .

Then w ith no fiery th robb ing pa inNO cold gradat ions of decay ,

Death broke at once the v ital chainAnd freed h is soul the nearest way.

I n sp ite of some artificialities of diction l ikecold gradations of decay ,

” “ hovering death prepared the blow, the writer ’ s grand Old wisdomOf s incer ity makes the figure of the humb lepracti t ioner distinct and sign ificant as much so asthat of Dr. Prim rose. The ph rase no co ld g radations of decay ” i s i n the h appiest form of Joh nsonese and fi l l s the l i ne admirab ly .

Even to enumerate the songs of Scotl and wou ldrequire many pages . That in a narrow strip ofland , less than one hundred and fi fty mi les widefrom sea to sea

,men and women shou ld for at

least two hund red years compose songs and tunesi n profusion

,a l arge proportion of wh i ch are

marked by lyrica l beauty and are at once popularand poet ic

,i s a remarkab le phenomenon . The


266 THE LYR IC AND SONGC

as a rea li stic sa ti ri st, i t is as a song writer that hei s supreme. I t i s necessary to mention on ly the

names of Duncan Gray came leere to Woo,Tbc

Bruce of Bannockburn,Tbe Banks 0

’

D oon,H zg/z

land M ary ,Farewell to N ancy , o r in fact of any

but th ree or four among h i s two hundred songs,to

cer tify h is p reeminence. H is lyr ic s not wr i tten fors inging, l ike the Address to tbc D eil

,D ea t/z and

D r. H ornbook,To a M ounta in Da isy , To a M ouse

,

are no less admirab le. The form and the phrasecorrespond to the sen timent “ whether tears o rlaughter are to be moved . A generous loveof humani ty

,unknown to academic letters, and of

nature, unknown to the poets of the eighteenth cen

tury, with the possib le exception o f Cowper, l ies inh is heart and in forms h i s verse. H i s humor ifsometimes b road is never unwholesome, and h is w i tfind s the fi tt ing phrase with unerr ing tact . Afterthe lapse of a century and a quarter h is songs aresung oftener than are those of any other poet.W a lter Scott loved the loca l songs o f h is country

men as much as Burn s did and t ransc ribed themin the sp iri t Of the l i terary man . Bonnie D undee,

Lockinvar,P ibroclz of D ona il Dku, the Hunting

S ong, and the Lament of Duncan,as wel l as his

more extended ba l l ad s, testi fy to h i s love fo r thesongs of h i s count ryside, though he could not,l ike Burns , give them immortal ity by the incommu

nicable touch of genius wh i le retain ing unimpai redthei r D oric Simpl ic ity and V igo r. B onnie Dundee

THE LYR IC AN D SONG 267

might have been written by Burn s, but Scott’

sother songs are of a d ifferent c lass from those of

the untaugh t poet , whose music was echoed moret ru ly by the writer of Annie Laurie fi fty yearsl ater . Another Scotsm an , Thomas Campbel l , gaveevidence of the lyric gi f t i n the Ba ttle of tbe Baltic

and H okenlinden . These are Engl ish poems,but

Scotti sh song has never been si lent in its nativecountry .

I n the n ineteenth century the lyri ca l elementwas dom inant in Eng li sh poetry . The exc i tementof feel ing which was a roused by the F rench Revolution natura l ly sought a more persona l manner o fexp ression than the fo rmali sm of the eighteenthcentury a fforded . A b roader humani ty and a

more sin cere and simple relat ion to nature ch arac

teriz ed the th inking of educated men . Wordsworth,

though a didactic and reflective poet , cu ltivated thesimp le and popul ar measu res of the bal lads andfo lk songs . To disclose intimate and individu al

emotion and the world as i t appeared from the

person al point of V iew was fel t to be the functionof poetry, and th is feel ing at once gives verse the

lyrica l tone. M oore, whose songs were such favo ri tes with our grandmothers , i s lyrica l bu t not sincere ; the sen timent of h is verse i s a rtifici al . I n h i sl ines on the death of Sheridan ,

the b ril l iant witand orator abandoned by hi s ari stoc ratic friendson h i s squalid deathbed , h is bedclothes and evenh i s corpse seiz ed by the hounds of the law, hot


indignation makes the l ines of the petted parlorsinger th ri ll with genuine feel ing :

0, it s ickens the heart to see bo soms so hollow,

And friendsh i p so false in the great and h igh born,

To th ink what a long l ine Oft itles may followThe rel ics of h im who d ied fr iend less and lorn.

How proud they can press to the funeral arrayOf h imwhom they shunned in h is s ickness and sorrow,

How ba i l iffs shal l take h is last blanket to -day

Whose pall shal l be held up by nobles to—morrow.

Was th is then the fate of that h igh -gifted man,

The pr ide ofthe palace, the bower, and the hall,The orator , dramat ist, m instrel who ran

Th rough each mode of the lyre and was master of all ?

Whose m ind was an essence compounded w ith artFrom the finest and best of al l other men ’s powers,

Who ruled l i ke a w i z ard the world ofthe heartAnd could call up i ts sunsh ine or br ing down its

showers !

Whose humor as gay as the fire-fly’s l igh t

P layed round every sub ject and shone as i t played ,Whose w it in the combat as gentle as br igh tNe’

er carr ied a heart- sta in away o n its blade.

Whose eloquence br igh ten ing whatever it tried ,Whether reason or fancy , the gay or the grave,

Was as rap id , as deep , and as br i l l iant a t ideAs ever bore freedom aloft on its wave.


70 THE LYRIC AND SONG

H i s verse b rings u s in to the p resence of an lnten se personal ity , spri tel ike, unreasonab le, wayward

,imparting to every thing the colo r o f a mood

,

and impel led to revea l i tsel f in rhythm icalwords .

The mood i s 'not j oyous , sometimes not a l togetherwholesome and reason ab le, but it i s disclosed inpoeti c fo rm , the more i nteres ting because el usive.

For these reasons Shel ley’

s shorter poems are

typ ical o f lyri c verse.

The lyrica l note i s heard in nearly allthe poetryof the nineteenth century . Tennyson ’s M aud

attempts the diffi cu lt task of p resenting a l l theph ases of a tragedy in a sequence of short poems .

The motive of the t ragic h i story may l ack depthand nob il ity

,but Come into t/ze Garden,

M aud , andI lzave led ker H ome are songs of exquisite beauty .

The songs in the P rincess and B reak,Break

, Break,

and many other of Tennyson ’ s shorter poemsdown to Cross ing t/ze Bar are permanent addition sto the go lden treasury of Eng l i sh verse, th oughi t m igh t be objected that the poet seems too detached from h i s work for the persona l appea l ofthe lyr ic . B rowning “ th ink s too much ”

and toosubtly

,but is lyrica l in attitude, so th at h is m anly

persona lity is evident, even in h is most unsongl ike verse, and many of h is shorter poems are ly rical in directnes s of address , though as far removedfrom the ordina ry song as i t i s po ssib le to conceive.

In ll/I andalay Rudyard Kip l ing has g iven the wor lda new love song not soon to be forgotten .

THE LYR IC AN D SONG 2 7 1

Ofour American poets , Poe i s the most ly r ica l,

but his predisposit ion to the abnorma l and semiin sane renders h is verse almost too exceptiona lto be c lass ified . T/te H aunted P alace appea l s sostrong ly to the horrified sympathy with wh ich weregard a ruined mind , and uses musical effects sowonderfu l ly that it must be r anked as a g reat ly rici n sp ite of a suggestion of insincer i ty . I n fact

,i ts

excel lence i s rather musica l than poeti c .

THE HAUNTED PALACE

In the greenest Ofour valleysBy good angels tenanted ,

Once a fa i r and stately palaceRad iant palace reared its head .

In the monarch Thought ’s dom inionI t stood there ;

Never seraph waved a p inionOver fabr ic h alf so fa i r .

Banners , yel low , glor ious , golden,

On i ts roof d id float and flow,

Th is—all th is—was in the OldenT ime long ago !

And every gentle a i r that dall iedI n that sweet day

Along the ramparts , p lumed and pal lid,A w inged odor went away .

Wanderers in that happy val leyThrough two luminous windows saw

THE LYR IC AND SONG

Spir its mov ing mus ical lyTo a lute’s wel l- tuned law,

Round about a throne, ' where s itt ing,

Porphyrogene,I n state h is glory wel l befitting,The ruler of the realm was seen.

And all w ith pearl and ruby glowingWas the fa ir palace door,

Th rough wh ich came flowing , flow ing,flowing

,

And Sparkl ing evermo re,A troop of echoes whose sweet dutyWas but to s ing

In vo ices of surpass ing beautyThe w it and w isdom of thei r k ing.

But ev i l th ings in robes of sorrowAssa i led the monarch ’s h igh estate,

Ah,let us m ourn,

for never morrowShall dawn upon him

,desolate,

And round about h is home the gloryThat blushed and bloomed ,

15 but a d im- remembered storyOf the old t ime entombed .

And travelers now w ith in that valley ,Th rough the red- l itten w indows see

Vast forms that m o ve fantast icallyTO a d iscordant melody ,

Wh i le l i ke a ghastly , rapid r iver,Through the pale door,

A h ideous th rong rush out forever,

And laugh , but sm i le no more.



the psa l ter or the hymna l . The encou ragementwe can gather from them is confi rmed by M i s sMarguer ite Merington

’

s verse

There is a race from eld descent,Of heaven by earth in joyous moo d ,

Before the world grew w ise and bentIn sad , decadent att itude .

To these each waking is a birthThat makes them hei r to all the earth ,S inging for pure abandoned m irth ,Non nonny , non, hey nonny no .

it

Successful ones w i l l brush these by,Call ing them fa i lures as they pass .

What reck they th is who cla im the skyFor roof, for bed the cosm ic grass 1When fa i lures al l we come to lie,The grass betwixt us and the sky ,The gift of gladness w i l l no t die !Sing nonny , non,

hey nonny no .

CHAPTER VI I

SOC IETY VERSE AND THE VERSE OF GULTURE

THE poems which come under the head of SocietyVerse or Vers de Socie’te

’

are di stingu ished by subjectmatter -and standpoin t rather than by fo rm . Theyare ly rica l, but the mood they embody i s not earnestnor pathetic nor gay with the true lyrica l feel ing,nor have they the pecul iar musical character ofsongs . They are of no great leng th , fo r to be inthe least tedious i s fata l to the wr iter ’s a im . Theyare good-humored in tone, and have the unmistak

ab le note of good soc iety ; an intel ligent interesti n trifles, a con tent with the su rface of th ings, anignoring of the rea l nature and meaning of appearauces

,and an equal avoidance of the seriou s and

Of the ti resome. A large part o f l ife i s concernedwith things as they seem ,

not with th ings as theyrea l ly are or as they ough t to be. And soc iety ,using the word in its narrow sense for peop le whosema in occupation i s to find means of entertainment ,has at i ts best the charm of elegance, gayety, andsuperficial p ropriety . I f i t i s looked at with seriousness, i t may become the theme of the sat i ri st .But i ts p leasing su rface does not necessari ly conceal

2 75

276 SOC IETY VERSE

corruption , vu lgarity, and sordid amb i tion s . I t i scomposed of men and women ; and men and women ,

even under the domin ion of conventional law,wh ich

regu lates manners without regard to u l timate p rinciples, presen t some ch arm ing and kind ly aspects,Society verse dwells in a l igh t and ai ry manner onthese agre eable aspects , especial ly a s they are

brought out by the relations between the sexes . I tignores what may lie behind or beyond . I t is written by men

'

of a happy mood who enj oy to -day, areca reless of to morrow,

and do not regard yesterdayas wasted because i t i s a day of p leasure p ast . I trequ ires in those who write i t l iterary culture, o r atleast del icate l i terary feel ing, l ive ly susceptib i l ityto impress ions from the soci a l wor ld, and the powerof fixing those impressions in fini shed verse. I tmust not be t inctured by cynici sm nor by any butthe most s ubacid and sm il ing sati re . I ts sp i ri t i stha t of refined comedy, free from a l l exaggera tionor burlesque, and restricted to a l im ited field of gayand gracefu l sentiment . Had Mercu tio been a poet,he wou ld have wri tten society verse.

The art neces sary to g ive distinction to societyverse cannot be regarded as inferior because i tssubject-matter i s a high ly artific ia l condition . Art

i s a rea l iz ation of the es sence of anyth ing, a striving for perfection , and perfection is ab solute. The

subject -matter of an epic may be greater i n interes t,weight, and dignity than the subject-matter ofsociety verse. The thought may range over wider


278 SOC IETY VERSE

The tone of soc iety verse may safe ly be re

garded as derived or iginal ly from the odes o fHo race, though the c ivil i z ation of Rome was soradica l ly d ifferent from th at of modern Chri stendom . The odes and epist les o f the Latin poet aredistinguished by the charm of u rbanity

, the ap

pearance of care less ease the curiosa fel i c itas—~the menta l a lertness and poli te genial ity whichdistingui sh the bes t spec imen s of the type, soc ietyverse . H i s Vi rtues are the convent iona l vi rtues o ftheman of the world pat rio tism , friend l iness,decorum , courage. H i s p leasures are the soci al pleasures—good fel lowsh ip , intel l igen t and spright lyconversation whi le a flask of F alern ian coo ls in theshade hi s love, a f rank admiratio n of beauty , andhearty sympathy with frol icsome youth . Wherever he i s he wil l love “Lalagen,

dulee ridentem ,

dulee loguentem ,

” but not with the ly ri c in tensityof the love of Ca tul lu s for Lesb ia . H e is the

Roman gentleman and man of letters, respons ive tothe soci al instincts with in the limits of good formand gifted with the l ight and spi ri ted touch of thearti st. H is odes attai n a l l the excel lencies o fsociety verse, an d to tran sl ate and paraph rase themhas been a favorite exerc i se with Englishmen s incethe seventeen th century . H i s m anner has beencopied and h is a t ti tude to l i fe assumed as far a spossib le by many modern wri ters .

Though Horace i s the fi rst exemplar of a poetwriting finished verse fu l l of good sense and wit

SOC IETY VERSE 279

applied to matters in wh ich cul tu red people wereinterested , there i s a note i n modern society versenot heard in h is Carm ina . The soc ia l insti tution o fch iva lry domin ated Europe f rom the th i rteenth to theseventeenth century . One of i ts tenet s was an exaggerated , fantastic, artificia l worsh i p of woman , based ,l ike a l l the conception s of ch iva l ry , on a nob le idea lbut degenerating in t ime into a set of a ffected andri d icu lous expres s ions .

‘

The theory had immenseeffect on manners and literatu re from Ch aucer’ sTroilus and Crisey de down to S idney

’ s Arcadia andlater. Indeed, exaggerated and formal cou rtesyand theoretica l devotion to woman i s, i n a s ubduedand modified form , part of the in heri ted menta l constitution of the modern gentleman . The note ofch iva lric and deferential gal lantry , ha l f whimsica land hal f genuine, i s st il l heard perhaps on lyh in ted— in modern society verse, and i s o f coursenot to be found i n the odes o f H orace.

The nimbler wits ” of England h ave fo r n inecenturies d rawn much from F rance, the

“ sweetenemy ” of Ph il ip S idney

,and the arb i ter of t aste

for Po loniu s . Engl and learned the soc iety dramafrom the comedy of M oliere and epigr ammati ccomment on manners from the wri ters of the courtof Louis X IV. The flippant and cyn ica l ga l lantryof pre-Revolutionary F rance influenced the l ightverse of the Resto ration and Augustan periods inEngland . Prior ( 1664 the fi rs t writer ofsociety verse in Eng l i sh , resided fo r some years in

280 SOC IETY VERSE

Paris and was famil iar with the F rench language.

S til l, even in h is case, the influence of F rench

l iteratu re wa s coexis tent with love fo r the odes of

H orace, and we must regard the Eng l i sh famil iari tywith the Latin author and unbounded admirationfor hi s verse as the root o f nineteenth - centurysociety verse, even though we admit th at i t wouldnot be preci sely wh at it; i s had not F rance furnishedin the ear ly eighteenth Century the model o felegance i n socia l and li terary culture. There i san element of heart iness in the Eng l ish characterwh ich prevented Eng l i sh writers from taking upexcept sporadica lly the F rench tone of cyn ica l persiflage. Ofthe exam p les cited it wi l l be noticed th atthe one from Owen Meredith i s the on ly one th ati s entirely French in tone, and that i s worthy ofLa Rochefoucauld h imsel f . As a ru le the mockinggal lantry of the Frenchman becomes good-humoredbanter in hi s Engl i sh imitator

,and to th is Prior i s

no except ion . No doub t Eng l i sh poets m i ssed bythe change an opportun ity fo r some b i ting sarcasm ,

but sarcasm , except in the mildest suggestion , hasno proper p lace in soc iety verse.

The E l izabeth an s were at once too enthu siastic,too romantic, and too much in terested in seriousquestions to write with the moderat ion and deco rumof modern society verse. Some of the mad rigalsof the period have the gayety and h igh spi ritsrequisite to b ring them with in the defini t ion , butthey are songs o r perhaps lyrics in the pastora l


282 SOC IETY VERSE

O r a wel l d ispo sed nature

Joyned w ith a lovely feature ?

Be she meeker , -kinder thanTurtle-dove or pellican ;If she be no t so to me,What care I how kind She be!

Shall a woman’s v i rtues moveMe to per ish for her love,Or her wel l deservings known,Make me qu ite forget m ine own ?

Be She with that goo dness blestWh ich may mer it name of best,If she be no t such to me ,

What care I how goo d she be !

Cause her Fortune seems too h ighShall I play the fool and dieShe that bears a noble m ind ,Ifnot outward helps she find ,

Th inks what w ith them he would do,That w ithout them dares herwoo .

And un less that m inde I see,What care I how great She be !

Great or Good or K inde or Fai re,I wi l l ne’

er the more despa i r,If she love me (th is bel ieve)I wi l l die ere she shall gr ieve.

If she sl ight me when I woo ,I can scorn and let her go ,For ifshe be no t fo r me

What care I for whom she be ?

SOC IETY VERSE 283

Robert Herrick was amply endowed with the

power o f fel ic i tou s poet ic ph rasing, but h is subj ectmatter is the simp le and natura l rel a t ions o f l ife.

’

He says in the introduction to H esperides

I sing of brooks , of blossoms, b i rds and bowers ,Of Apr i l , May , OfJune and July flowCrs .

I s ing OfMay-poles , hock-carts , wassa i ls , wakes,Of br idegrooms , br i des , and of the i r br idal cakes .

H i s workmansh ip i s exquis ite, bu t h i s sub ject i snot the sub ject-matter o f soc iety verse. The l i tt leodes to B l os soms and to Da ffodil s are very neatlytu rned, and he i nvented many ch arming and in

genious verse form s, and ho lds a very h igh rankin h is l ine a s a

,

wri ter of b its o f verse.

Edmund Wal ler ( 1605 the cousin of thepatrio t H ampden , celebrated the ch arms Of the

Lady Dorothy S idney , under the name of Sacharissa .

”

He i s known as the first writer Of the

heroic couplet in wh ich the grammatical pausesco rrespond with the end of the l ine—the mannerafterward b rought to such perfection by Popebut as a l ove poet seems rather tame. H i s versesOn a Girdle, and those entit led Go , Lovely Rose, areto be found in every anthology . The latter hasa l l the charm possib le to l ight amato ry poetry inwh ich dainty sentiment fo rb id s u s to bel ieve the

passion very sincere or profound

GO,lovely Rose,

Tel l her that wastes her t ime and me,

284 SOC IETY VERSE

That now she knows,

When I resemble her to thee,How sweet and fa i r she seems to be.

Tel l her that ’s youngAnd shuns to have her graces spied ,

That had ’st tho u SprungIn deserts where no men ab ide ,Thou must have uncommended d ied.

Smal l is the worthOf beauty from the l ight ret ired ,

Bid her come forth ,Suffer herself to be des i red ,And no t blush so to be adm ired .

Then die , that sheThe common fate of all th ings rare

May read in thee,How small a part of t ime they shareWho are SO wondrous sweet and fa ir.

The foregoing i s marked by gracefu l poeticfancy . The tone Of the vers de socie

’

te’

, however,has a certa in gay carelessnes s and rather less o fthe imaginat ive element , a more persona l andreal istic attitude and a dic tion more l ike th at ofordina ry conversation and a very s ligh t sub acidflavor of good -humored irony . This i s a modernnote

,and one must get rather farther from the

E l izabeth an age, which i s too in tense and highspir ited and romantic, befo re one find s i t.


286 SOC IETY VERSE

But should I now to you relate,The strength and r iches of their state,The powder, patches , and the p ins,

The r ibbands , jewels , and the r ings ,The lace, the pa int and warl i ke th ings,That make up al l their magaz ines ;

If I should tel l the politic artsTo take and keep men ’s hearts,The letters , embass ies , and sp ies,

The frowns and sm i les and flatteries,The quarrels , tears , and perjuriesNumberless , nameless mysteries !

And all the l ittle l ime- tw igs laidBy Matchavil, the wa it ing ma i d,I more volum inous should grow

,

(Ch iefly if I l ike them Should tel lAllchange of weather that befel l)Than Hol inshed or S tow.

But I w i l l br iefer w ith them be,S ince few of them were long w ith me.

An h igher and a nobler strainMy p resent Empress doth cla im ,

H eleonora , first 0’th

’name ;

Whom God grant long to reign .

These are unimportant verses Certa in ly, butenough to show the gradua l change of the lyri csp i r i t in the seventeen th century .

M r . Gosse considers the Song written at Sea byCharles Sackvi l le, Ear l of Dorset, in 166 5 , the fi rst

SOC IETY VERSE 287

specimen of vcrs de socie’

te’ in the Engl i sh l an

guage . The wri ter was with the fleet sent agai n stH o l l and by Char les I I '

To all you lad ies now at land ,We men at sea ind ite,

But fi rst would have you understandHow hard i t is to wr ite

The muses now and Neptune , too ,We must implore to wr ite to you.

For though the muses should prove k indAnd fi ll our empty bra in,

Yet, if rough Neptune rouse the wind,To wave the az ure ma in,

Our paper , pen ,and ink and we

Rol l up and down, our sh ips at sea.

Then, if we wr ite not by each post,Th ink not we are unk ind ,

Nor yet conclude our sh i ps are lostBy Dutchmen or by w ind ,

Our tears we’l l send a speed ier way,The tide shall waft them twice a day.

And so he runs on in the best of good Sp ir it s, butnot boisterous, a certa in elegant decorum moldingh is gay utterance, and ends

But now our fears tempestuous grow,And cast our hopes away ;

Wh i lst you regard less OfourwoeS it careless at a play ;

288 SOC IETY VERSE

Perhaps perm it some happ ier manTo kiss your hand or fl irt your fan.

When any mournful tune you hearTh at d ies in every note,

As if it s ighed with each man ’s careFor be ing so remo te

Th ink , then , how often love we ’ve madeTo you when al l those tunes were p layed .

=Il= >X< >Il= >X=

And now we ’ve told you all our lovesAnd l i kew ise al l our fears ,

In hopes th is declarat ion movesSome p ity from your tears ;

Let ’s hear of no inconstancy ,We have too much of that at sea.

Mathew Prior, of the early eighteenth century,comb ines wi t and metrica l sk i l l with an indescribab le a i r of wel l-bred impudence in a way that givesh im

,when at h i s best, a very h igh rank among

wr i ters of ligh t verse

Dear Ch loe, how blubbered is that pretty face,Thy cheek al l on fire and thy ha ir al l uncurled ;

Prythee qu it th is capr ice ; and as old Falstaff says ,Let us e

’

en talk a l ittle l i ke folks of th is world .

How canst thou presume thou hast leave to destroyThe beaut ies wh ich Venus but lent to thy keeping ?

Those looks were des igned to insp i re lo ve and joy ;More ord inary eyes may serve people for weeping.


290 SOC IETY VERSE

than me, the verses m igh t h ave appeared in thelast issue of one of our magazines i f we h ad a poeto f the good -humored vivacity and easy grace ofM athew P rior . Sublime i s a strange adjectiveto apply to H orace , but the use of i t suggests thec r i tical s tandpoint of the writer.The eigh teenth century p roduced l ittle l igh t verse

of a high order. The essays of Add i son and S teeleabound in good- tempered ra i l lery at the foibles offash i on,but they are prose. Pope ’ s epis tles are

acr id whenever women are the subject . The poetwho he ld that women are ch aracter less could neverwrite society verse, for i ts finest essence i s due toa percep tion, at once h umorous and ga l l an t, thatthe feminine character i s fa r more interesting andentertain ing th an the mascu line . Pope ’ s Rape oftbe Lock dea l s with some of the mater ia l of societyverse, but i t i s a burlesque o r mock-heroic, and notbased on the essentia l but on the remote ana log ieso f the si tuation , in which case the wit of a mockhero ic i s apt to be shal low and artificia l .W in th ro p M ackworth Praed ( 1802—1839) i s one

of the most del ightfu l of the poets of l i fe andmanners . I n wisdom th at wears the mask offun

,

” i n wi t so spontaneous as to appear instruct ive, i n a vei led gayety with j us t a hint of ser iousness

,i n po l ite suppress ion of everyth ing that might

p rove ti resome or rouse unp leasantly serious re

flections, he i s un rivaled . The double rhyme whichhe habitua lly uses presents no ob stac les to an ex

SOC IETY VERSE 291

pres sion as lim pid and effort less as prose. An

Eton boy,a Camb ridge s tudent, and a young

member of Par li ament, he was o f course to the

manner born ,” and h is verse reflects a sunny and

cheerfu l temperamen t and evinces perfect fami lia rity with the society he sketches . H i s muse i sbusied with trifles, but she i s fa r from being a gossip Or a newspaper reporter ; her tac t i s del icateand hervision keen and her good humor i nexhaustib le. Praed has one of the marks of the truehumoristy he can be greatly amused with h i s ownfoib les . Of h is boyish pass ion for the charmingLaura L i l ly , he writes

She sketched ; the vale, the wood , the beach ,Grew lovel ier from her penc i l ’s shad ing

She botan i z ed ; I env ied eachYoung blossom in her boudo i r fad ing

She warbled Handel ; it was grand ;She made the Catal ina jealous

She touched the organ ; I could standFor hours and hours to blow the bel lows .

She smi led on many , just for funI knew that there was noth ing in i t ;

I was the fi rst—the only oneH er heart had though t of for a minute.

I knew i t, for she told me so ,I n ph rase wh ich was d iv inely molded

She wrote a charm ing h and , and oh IHow sweetly al l her notes were folded .

292 SOC IETY VERSE

Our love was l i ke most other loves,A l ittle glow, a l ittle sh iver,

A ro sebud , and a pa ir of gloves ,And Fly not yet,

”upon the r iver,

Some jealousy of some one ’s he i r,Some hopes of dy ing bro ken- hearted ,

A m in iature , a lock of ha i r ,The usual vows , and then, we parted .

We parted ; months and years rolled by ;We met aga in four summers after ;

Our part ing was all sob and s igh ;Our meet ing was all m irth and laughter

For in my heart’s mo st secret cel l

There had been many other lodgers ,And she was no t the ball- room bel leBut only Mrs . Someth ing Rogers .

M r . Locker-Lampson , one of the most finishedwriters of l igh t verse of the modern s

,s ays that

Praed“ has p lenty of wit and a h igh ly id iomatic

,

in cis ive, and most fini shed style and ,in h is pecul i ar

vein, has never been equa led,and i t m ay safely be

affi rmed can never be excel led . All of Praed ’

s

poems are marked with h i s pecul iar fel ici ty . MyP artner, TIce Ball-room B elle

,Good -nigbt to flee

Season,Tbe Fancy Ball, Se/zool and Sckoolfellows,

are among the most ch aracteri stic .

M r . Austin D obson , the Eng l ish Horace, i s morea man of letters than Praed , and much of hi s versei s reminiscent of the eighteenth century . H e


294 SOC IETY VERSE

On her cold dead bosom my portra it l ies ,Wh ich next to her heart she used to wear,

Haunt ing it o ’er w ith tender eyes

When my own face was not there.

And I sa id , The th ing is prec ious to me,They wi l l bury her soon in the churchyard clay ;

I t l ies on her heart and lost must beIf I do not take it away .

”

I l ighted my lamp at the dy ing flame,And crept up the sta irs that creaked for fr ight,

T i l l into the chamber of death I cameWhere she lay all in wh ite.

As I stretched my hand , I held my breathI turned as I d rew the curta ins apart

I dared not look on the face of the dead,I knew where to find her heart.

I thought, at first , as my touch fel l there,I t had warmed that heart to l ife w ith love ;

For the th ing I touched was warm I swear,And I could feel it move.

’Twas the hand of a man that was mov ing s lowO

’

er the heart of the dead— from the other s ideAnd at once the sweat broke over my brow,

Who is robb ing the corpse ? ” I cried .

Oppos ite me by the taper ’s l ight,The fr iend of my bosom , the man I loved ,

Stood over the co rpse, and al l as wh ite,And ne ither of us moved .

SOC IETY VERSE 295

What do you here, my friend The man

Looked fi rst at me and then at the dead .

There is a portra i t here, he began,

There is ; i t is m ine,” I sa id .

Sa id the friend of my bosom ,

“ Yours no doubtThe portra i t was t i l l a month ago ,

When th is suffer ing angel took that out,And p laced m ine there, I know.

”

Th is woman, She loved me wel l ,” sa id I .

A month ago ,” sa i d my fr iend to me

And in your th roat,” I groaned , “

you lie

H e answered , “ Let us see.

”

We found the po rtra i t there in its p lace ;We Opened it by the taper ’s Sh ine

The gems were all unchanged ; the faceWas neither h is nor m ine.

One na i l dr ives out another, at least ;The face of the po rtra it there, I cr ied ,Is Our fr iend ’s , the Raphael- faced young pr iestWho confessed herwhen she d ied .

”

The poet Rossett i sai d that “ fundamenta l brainwork ” was what distingu ished good poetry frominfer ior work . Poetry i s i l lum inated good sense,and even when the subj ect-matter i s the meresttrifle, a sound rela tion to fact i s necessary . Gro

tesqueness h as no p lace in society verse.

296 SOC IETY VERSE

M r . Locker-Lampson says Suck ling and H er

rick, Swift and P rior, Cowper, Lando r, and ThomasM oore, and Praed and Thackeray may be consid

ered the rep resentative men in thi s b ranch of ourl iterature .

”

H errick seems rather too p o et ic andSwift too intense to be fai r ly included

,but M r .

Locker-Lampson’

s definition of society verse i sb road enough to inc lude a l l the verse of w it andcul ture ,

H i s Ly ra Elegantium i s the only co l leet ion of l igh t, ly ri cal verse in ou r language, and inthe notes he says that poems of th is class “ shou ldbe short, elegant , refined and fancifu l, not seldomdistinguished by chastened sentiment, and oftenplayfu l

,and shou ld have one unifo rm and simp le

design . The tone shou ld not be pitched high ,and

the language shou ld be idiom at ic, the rhythm crispand sparkl ing , the rhyme f requent and never fo rced

,

while the enti re poem should be marked by tastefu l moderation,

h i gh fini sh and completeness , forhowever tr ivia l the subj ect-matter may be, subordination to the ru les of composition and perfect ionof execution shou ld be strictly enforced . Eachpiece cannot be expected to exh ib it a ll these characteristics

,but the qual ities of brevity and buoy

ancy are essent ial .The examples in th i s Ch apter thu s far h ave been

restricted to l ight verse of ga ll an try, but M r .

Locker-Lampson’

s definition wou ld cover a llpoems of marked elegance and desti tute of intenseimag in ative fervor . In particu lar , i t would cover


298 SOC IETY VERSE

manners of the Augustan age with scrupu lou s anda ffectiona te exactness . Austin Dobson i s one ofmany who have emba lmed in verse the mannersof the pas t ;

“the assemb ly ,

” “the rout

, the

l i tera ry coterie, the“ form and p ressure of

“ Anna ’ s or of George’ s day . Poems on such

top ics may wel l be ca l led the verse of cul tu re, oreven society verse, though they h ave to do with avanished society . Austin D obson

’ s To n M issal oftke Tlzirteent/z Century embod ies reg ret fo r an aspectof the past interesting to the l i terary man . T/ze Old

Sedan Cka ir and M olly Trefus is are society ver sefrom the standpoint of the l over of the e i gh teenth centu ry . FitzGerald

’

s C/zivalry a t a D is

count, Praed’

s Tbc Vicar, Locker-Lampson’

s T/ze

Old Oak Tree come with in h is category . D ob

son ’ s To a M issal ends

Not as ours the books of oldTh ings that steam can stamp and fold ;Not as ours the books of yoreRows of type and noth ing more.

Then a book was st i l l a Book ,Where a wistful man m igh t look,F ind ing someth ing th rough the wholeBeat ing l i ke a human soul .

In that growth of day by day,When to labor was to pray ,Surely someth ing v ital passedTo the pat ient page at last.

SOC IETY VERSE 299

Someth ing that one st i l l perce ivesVaguely present in the leavesSometh ing from the worker lent,Someth ing mute but eloquent.

I n ou r country poets have con tributed not al i ttle to the gracefu l and spiri ted verse of cu ltu re.

The wit of Dr. H olmes frequently p layed aboutsocial themes with good -humored sprigh tl iness .

T/ze Last Leaf and D orot/zy Q are a l l th at societyverse should be, and the Autocra t a t Me BreakfastTable i s society verse in prose, i f such a contradic

tion i s admiss ible. M r . W i l l iam A l len Butler ’ sN ot/ting to I'Vear i s such kind ly satire th at, insp ite of the mora l earnestnes s of the close, i t fa l l sw ith i n the genera l definition . The autho r, too ,seems thorough ly at home in the world he de

scr ibes . M r . A ldrich ’ s poet ry i s a lways m arkedwith distinction , poli sh , and u rbanity . H i s T/zaliai s absolutely perfect, the acme of the poetry ofcu lture There i s no poem in the language i nwhich the con trast between wor ld liness and un

Soph isticated nature’

i s more fel ic itously p resentedth an in M r . Stedman ’ s P an in Wall S treet. Praed

h imsel f cou ld not h ave touched the chord withmore unerring perception ,

nor have put h is rhymestogether with more del i cate ski l l, a lbei t the meteri s one which the Eng l i sh poet has made pecu l ia rlyh i s own . This and Dr. H olmes ’ s Last Leaf tou chh igh -water mark . Our tendency to grotesque, ex

300 SOC IETY VERSE

aggerated humor carries m any of our l igh terrhymes outs ide of the definition of society verse .

Good humored toleration of fo l ly and readiness tocatch the human featu res beh ind the mask ofaffectation and conven t iona li sm i s not a d is tinctivet rai t o f men descended from Puritan ancesto rs .

Consequent ly ,the note of r id i cu le or of sat i re i s

sometimes heard in stead of the k indly cyn ici sm ofo ne fami l i ar with a l l the phases of soc iety . Again

,

our past i s not so pictu resque as i s th a t of England,and our socia l l i fe lack s m any of the c lass trad itions that g ive perspective and colo r to an oldc ivi l iz ation . Our “ pass ing show ” lacks long

estab lished assoc iations , and i t must be confes sedi s not so interesting and thought - p rovoking, noramusing as i s that of the mother country . A

peo p le which h as orig inated the phrase the strennous l ife and p ronounces the word “ hust le withre l i g ious fervor, does no t breathe the atmosphereof cultivated leisu re in which del icate l iteraryflowers b loom .

Nevertheless , an American an tho logy of fug i tiveverse might be com p i led - in which wit

,s inceri ty ,

p l ayfu lnes s,and p athos should be comming led in

j ust p ropo rtions . The comp i ler wou ld draw on thework of C l inton Scol l ard and Wa lter Lea rned andGeorge A . Baker and many others of less note,and cou ld easi ly Show th at we are no t unapt d i sciples of P rio r and Praed and Austin D ob son .


302 THE FRENCH FORMS

words ending in te’

, l ike beaute'

, bonte’

, na ivete’

,

etc., reduces materia l ly the diffi cul ty of find ing the

si x or eigh t rhymes w h i ch severa l of the F renchforms requi re . All of these fo rms , especi ally therondel , are wel l fi tted to be

.the mold fo r l ight

,gay

sentiment . All of them are essentia l ly F rench inCharacter

,artificia l but not cumbrous, fo rmal, bu t

not sti ff,gracefu l but not with the free unstud ied

grace of nature . All have the note of l iteraryd istinction , and are usual ly the vehic le of sentiment appropriate to vers de socie

’

te’ or to the verse

of cul ture.

The fi rst mentioned , the ronde l, contain s l ikethe sonnet

,fou rteen lines . On ly two rhyming

sounds are a l lowed,but as the fi rs t and second

lines are used as a refra in , and repeated in the

eigh th and n inth and in the th i rteenth and fourteenth , i t i s necessa ry to find two sets of five

rhyming words on ly . Even thi s restricts the

Engl i sh wr iter to certain wel l- known groups . The

refrain, which shou ld be welded into the s tructureOfthe sentence, or at leas t not b reak the contin uityof the though t, i s a feature Of a l l but one of theF rench forms, and f requently g ives a very p leasing effect. The norma l recu rrence of the rhymesin the rondel i s a - b- b-a -a -b-a - b-a -b-b-a -a -b

, the fi rst,

the fourth,and the seventh a rep resenting the

same word , and the fi rst,the fourth , and the

seventh b,a l so s tanding for the s ame word , to

wh ich the others, represented by b, rhyme. Mr.

THE FRE NCH FORMS O3

D obson , who has succeeded better than any othermodern in rendering these de l icate form s in ourlanguage, deviates sl i ghtly from the F rench tradition in the arrangement of the rhymes , whi lereta ining the refra in in the midd le and end .

H i s rhyme scheme i s a - b-a - b-b-a -a -b-a -b-a - b-a -b,

involving two coup lets less and more a l ternaterhymes . One of h i s rondel s wi l l serve for anexample

Too hard it is to s ingI n these untuneful t imes ,

When only co in can r ing,And no one cares for rhymes.Alas for h im Who cl imbs

To Agan i ppe’s Spr ing

TOO hard i t is to S ingIn these untuneful t imes.

H is kindred cl i p h i s w ing,

H is feet the cr it ic l imes ;If fame her laurel br ing,O ld age h i s forehead r imes

Too hard i t is to s ingI n these untuneful t imes .

In some cases the fi rst l ine on ly i s repeated inthe refrain i n the midd le o r even in both places ,thus b ringing the rondel down to thirteen or evento twe lve l ines . M r . Swinburne’ s “ roundel i snearer to a rondeau than to a ronde l . I t consi stsof eleven l ines rhyming a -b-a -b-b-a -b-a -b-a -b

,l ines

304 THE FREN CH FORMS

four and e leven being the fi rst ph rase or eventhe fi rs t word of the fi rs t l ine repeated . The re

fra in i s sometimes om itted ent i rely . M . . Swimbu rne wrote a century of poems in th i s fo rm

,and

they show h is aston i sh ing fac i l i ty in rhym ing,but

l ack of power i n deft and dexterous p h ra sing . The

fo l lowing i s one of the most p leasing :

Far—fetched and dear-bough t, as the proverb re

hearses ,I s good ,

or was held SO,for lad ies ; but nough t

In a song can be go od if the turn of the verse isFar- fetched and dear—bought.

As the turn of a wave should i t sound , and the thoughtR ing smooth and as l igh t as the spray that d isperses

Be the gleam of the words fo r the garb thereo f wrought .

Let the soul in i t sh ine through the sound as it p iercesMen

’s hearts w ith possess ion of mus ic unsought ,For the bount ies of song are no jealous god ’s merc ies ,

Far- fetched and dear-bought.

The rondolet i s a pretty d im inutive of the rondel .I t consi sts of seven l ines only, two of which are

the fi rs t repeated .

Say what you please,But know

,I shall no t change my m ind ISay what you please,

Even,if yo u w i sh it, on your knees

And when you hear me next definedAs someth ing l ighter than the w ind ,

Say what yo u p lease.



They meted o ut both blame and praiseW ith slower pen.

Too sw iftly now the hours take fl igh t,

What ’s read at morn is dead at n ight ;Scant space have we for Art ’s delaysWhose breath less though t so br iefly stays ;

We may no t work—ah , would we m ight !With slower pen.

Mr. Dobson’ s ten - l ine rondeau requ ires but five

rhymes to each term in a l , which b rings i t wi th inthe reach of o rdinary perseverance and ingenuity .

I n M r . D obson’ s h ands it loses l itt le of i ts da in ty

p rec ision by being sho rtened , as i s eviden t fromthe fol lowing one addressed to the Amer ican arti s t,Bough ton

Spr ing st i rs and wakes by holt and h i l l ;In barren copse and bloomless closeRev ives the memory of the rose,

And breaks the yel low daffod i l ;Loo k how the Spears of crocus fi l lThe anc ient hollows of the snows

Spr ing st irs and wakes

Yet what to you are months ! At willFor you the season comes or goesWewatch the flower that fades and blows

But on your happy canvas st i l l ,Spr ing st i rs and wakes .

The French poet Voi ture, of the age of Lou isXIV,

some th ir ty of whose rondeaux have been

THE FRENCH FORMS 7

preserved, was mas ter of th i s form . Mr. Dobsonapproximates as near ly as i s poss ib le i n Engli sh toh i s da inty

,gracefu l p reci sion , but there i s a qua lity

of gayety in some of the French ones that cannotqu ite be caught in a foreign language .

The trio let i s a charagteristically French measure,and is one of the o ldest, though a l l of them havebeen in use for five or s ix centuries . The trio letcon sists of eigh t l ines , usua l ly short ones , of ananapestic movement . I n rea l i ty there are but fivel ines in th is trip p ing stanza, s in ce the fi rs t i s repeateda s the fourth and the firs t and second as the seventhand eighth . The rhymes run a -b-a -a -a - b-a b

,and

the rhyme on b is preferab ly doub le or tr ip le. Thisquaint l itt le verse has much of the vivacity andapparent artlessnes s o f a b ird

’ s song . The fol lowing examples i l lustrate the structu re and the qua li ty . The fi rs t i s from Mr . Dobson ’s l ines entit ledRose Leaves

I intended an ode

And it turned into tr iolets ;I t began a- la-mode,

I intended an ode,

But Rose crossed the roadWith a bunch of fresh Violets

I intended an ode,

But it turned into tr iolets .

One of the p rett ies t sets i s M r. Dobson’ s

of a H oneymoon i n h is volume At tbc S ign


The bride d iscovers the marr iage noticea bookstal l .”

Here it is in the T imes ;Dear Charl ie, how funny

’Tw ixt a Sm ith and a Symes . ’

Here it is in the T imesAnd it

’s not w ith the cr imes !

You must pay , I’

ve no money .

Here it is in the T imes ,Dear Charl ie, how funny !

Poor papa , he ’

s alone !She is sure he must m iss her,

There ’s a tear in'

the toneP oor papa ! Ite’s aloneAt th is po int I OwnThere i s naugh t but to k iss her.Poo r papa— ke

’s alone

She is s ure he must m iss her.

By- p lay as beforeThen you ’l l love me forever ?

Forever and more

(By-play as before)Never th ink me a boreNever laugh at me ? ” Never !

(By- play as befo re)Then you ’ l l love me forever ?


3 10 THE FRENCH FORMS

Though it may be above the p lotThat h id your once imper ial clay,

No greener than o’er men forget,

The unregard ing grasses sway,

Though there no sweeter is the layOf careless b ird —though you remainWithout d ist inct ion of decay ;

The deeds you wrought are not in vain.

No , for wh i le yet, in town or cot,Your story st irs the pulse ’s p lay

,

And men forget the sord id lot,The sord id care of c it ies gray,Wh i le yet beset in homel ier fray,

They learn from you the lesson p lain,

' That l ife may go so honor stay ,The deeds you wrough t are no t in vain.

Heroes of old I humbly layThe laurel on your graves aga in

Whatever men have done men may,The deeds you wrough t are not in va in.

The name of the graceles s scamp , Frango is Villon, who was condemned to be h anged in 146 1, i sidentified with the bal lade as much as th at ofPetrarch i s with the sonnet . Rossett i ’ s transl ationof Vi ll on ’ s Ballade of D ead Women i s j ustly celebrated,

and the one to h i s comrades who werehanged i s a Singul ar and powerfu l compound ofmel ancho ly and di ab ler ie.

The vi l lanel le i s a quai nt and p leasing form

THE FRENCH FORMS 3 1 1

marked by repetitions, o r a lternate refra in s . I t i smade up of th ree- l ine s tan z as, the midd le l ines ofa l l the stanzas rhyming as wel l a s the first andth i rd

,the scheme being a -b—a —a -b-a . But the

fi rs t l ine of the firs t stanza i s repeated as the l as to f a l l the even numbered stanzas , and the last l ineof the fi rst stanza i s repeated as the las t li ne of theodd numbered stanz as . An exam ination o f the fo llowing spec imen by M r . Gosse wil l m ake the met ricalcon struction clear . I t wi ll be observed tha t inthe l a st stan z a both of the repetend s are inc luded ,

making a four- l ine stanza, and that the repeatedli nes are b rough t logica l ly into the context thoughslight verbal changes are permitted if the termina lwo rd is a lways retained . Normally, the l ines are

repeated without change.

Would ’st thou no t be content to die,When low-hung fru i t is hard ly clinging,And golden Autumn passes by ?

If we could van ish , you and 1,

Wh i le the last wood land b ird is singing,Would ’st thou no t be content to die ?

Deep dr ifts of leaves in the forest lie,Red v intage that the frost is fl inging,And golden Autumn passes by

Beneath th is del icate rose-gray sky,Wh i le sunset bel ls are fa intly r inging,Would ’st thou no t be content to die

3 I 2 THE FRENCH FORMS

For wintry webs of mist on h ighOut of the muffled earth are spr inging

,

And go lden Autumn passes by

0 now, when p leasures fade and fly,

And Hope her southward fl igh t i s w ingingWould ’st thou no t be content to die ?

Lest winter come w ith wa i l ing cry ,H is cruel icy bondage br ingingWhen golden Autumn hath passed by ;

And thou with many a tear and s igh ,Wh i le l ife her wasted hands is wr inging,Shall pray in va in for leave to dieWhen golden Autumn hath passed by .

The chant roya l i s an extended bal lade madeup of five in stead of three s tanz as, each of elevenlines, with an envoi o f five l ines . The l ast l ine ofthe fi rst stanza i s repeated a s the last of the fourothers and a lso of the envoi . As five rhymes on lyare a l l owed , one of them must be repeated threetimes and the others twice in each stanza, to saynoth ing of the envoi . As th i s implies fi fteenrhymes on one termina l and ten on each of thetwo others, the chant roya l i s V i rtua l ly impossib lei n Eng l ish under ou r restr ictions , wh ich exc ludeidentica l term ina l s . M r . D obson h as succeededin p roducing one, but i t must be rega rded as a tourdeforce

,a techn ica l rather th an an a rtistic t riumph .

There are some fine poems in F rench on th is pat



O lovers , whom the wings of love enfold ,For whom have come the g lor ies that requite

All toi ls and pa ins , and cas t in earth ly moldThe fai r ideals of the true and br ight

,

Whose sp ir its to the golden realm ascend ,Where love h is fa ithful servants doth commend ,The hours of youth and joy before you lie,When heart responds to heart in low rep lyWhen lovers gl impse the l igh t beyond the spheres ,

And th rough the m ist of mortal l ife espyThe watchlights burn ing through the end less years .

And you whom grief in slavery hath soldTo bitter pa ins that in your Vitals b ite,

O’erwhom the Clouds of sorrow dark have rolled ,And whom the world hath trodden down, despite

Your weary struggles , you who have no fr iendTo sh ield you from the storm, from foes defend ,Who know the depths of sorrow’s mystery ,Be brave in doleful lot, but ask notwhyYour hearts are fuel for the fire that sears

You now. In faith rekind le w ith your s ighThe watchlights burn ing through the end less years .

And you for whom the requ iem is tolled ,For whom a peop le sa id the bur ial r ite,

Fa i r freedom ’s sold iers , steadfast, true, and boldBeh ind the pennon of the red-cross Kn ight,

Who never feared for men your bloo d to Spend,And trod the thorny paths wh ich upward trendAbove the world , above th is fi lthy sty ,0 brothers gone before, our tears are d ry ,

THE FRENCH FORMS 3 15

Your death less names human ity reveres ,And in your l ives we ha i l w ith joyful c ryThe watchlights burn ing th rough the end less years .

Alas , alas , my hand is faint and cold ;Nor is there strength suffi c ient in my m igh t

To grave in characters of fluent goldThe fame of those who fough t the noble figh t ;

If Mi lton ’s , Shel ley ’s , Hugo ’s soul would lendSome force , my verse a loft ier way m ight wend .

I t matters no t how long in va in I trySong ’s tangled skein of beauty to unt ie,If he perchancewho on these pages peers

May see as fa int reflect ions fl icker ing h ighThe watchlights burn ing through the end less years .

E nvoi

Pr ince, take my humble song, and so good-bySong’s b ird of parad ise from me doth fly .

But yet the heart of man d iscerns th rough tearsFlam ing in sp lendor that can never dieThe watchlights burn ing th rough the end less years.

There are many other subordinate French formsof respectab le antiqui ty ; as la Ky rielle, la Ba

tele’

c,and la Brise’e, wh ich are short stanzas wi th

interna l rhymes . Le La i i s a series of shortcoup lets, a l l rhyming, separated by sti l l sho rterl ines a l so rhyming, for example

La grandeur humaineEst une ombre va ine

Qui fui t


Une zime monda ine,A perte d ’

haleine,

La su it .

The virelai i s much the same . A modified formof th i s meter i s used by Calverley in two of thepoems in Fly Leaves , with h appy effect .The south of F rance, including the provinces

of Languedoc , Provence, Gascony , Guienne, Dau

phiny, Lyonnais , and Limousin,was once l a rgely

independen t of the l iterary cu ltu re of F rancep roper . I ts affi l i ations in language, race, andpoet ic exp ress ion were quite as much with northern Sp ain and northern I ta ly as with Pari s . I nthe th i rteenth century lyric poetry was developedin the P rovencal language i n m any ingen iousforms . The sestina was a curious metrica l f reaknot without beauty in spite of i ts mathematicalr ig id i ty . The other Provengal fo rms, the can z oneor ode, the serena or even ing song , the aube (o ra lb ), the morni ng song, the tense or d ia logue, andthe serviente have much more flexib i l ity

,and are

usu al ly class ic der ivatives . Our word serenadei s derived from the P rovencal serena , and Sh akespeare used the trad it iona l materi a l o f the aube,

ormorning hymn

,with beautifu l effect in the parting

of Romeo and Ju liet :

j uliet. Wi l t thou be gone ? It is not yet near dayIt was the n ight ingale ,

and no t the larkThat pierced the fearful hollow of th ine ear ;



tion between England and southwestern F rancewas close. Richard I of England, i t wi l l be re

membered , was the son of E leanor, D uches s o fAquitaine, and h Im selfa troubadour of repute.

The sestina , the on ly Provencal form we sha l lconsider, has been but l ittle cu ltivated in the Engl ish language on account of the difficul ties i t presents, and on account of i ts extreme artificiality,

which gives i t the character of a mathemati ca lpuz z le rather than a poetica l s tructure. I t i s

,

however, i nteresting, not only as the very acmeof metrica l ingenuity , but as a musica l compo.

sitiou,mechanica l in the extreme, but harmon iou s

in the regular variations in the posit ion of i tsrhymes, whi le the rhyming words themselves re

ma in unchanged in the s i x s tanzas .

I t i s a poem of six stanzas of s ix l ines eachconc luded with a tornada or short stanza of threel ines . Whether wri tten in rhyme or b lank verse,the si x termina l word s of the l ines are the samein al l the s tanzas, but their order i s cu riouslypermuted . I n the standard sestina the rhymesrun a -b-a -a -b-b i n the odd-numbered stanz as

,and

b-a -b-b-a -a in the even - numbered stanzas, andwhenever a couplet is repeated the order of therhyming words must be inverted . Further, thefina l wo rd of each stanza i s repeated as the finalword of the fi rst line of the next s tanza, and thesecond l ine of each stanza c loses with the sameword as the fi rst l ine of the preceding stanza . I n

THE FRENCH FORMS 3 19

the to rnada,which cap s th is curious and com

pl icated metr ica l edifice, each l i ne of the th reemust beg in with a certain one o f the orig i na ltermina ls, and end with another one, o r el se the

fi rst mentioned prescribed words must fa ll i n thei rorder i n the middle of the l ines , the position of

the th ree termina l words being the same a s befo re. I n order to fu lfi l l a l l these conditions a“ mag ic square was devised . Representing the

termina l words o f the fi rst stanza by the digi tsup to six

, the arrangement runs

F irst Stanz aSecond StanzaThird Stanz aFourth Stanz aF ifth Stanz aS ixth Stanz a

I n the tornada the words represented by 1, 3,

and 5 , must occu r a t the beg inn ing o r m iddle ofthe l ines, and the words represented by 2

, 4 ,and

6 at the ends . The words represented by I, 3,

and 4 rhyme together, and so do the words represented by 2 , 5 , and 6 .

An exam ination of the above arrangement wi l ldi s clo se many s ingu lar m athematica l p roperties .

Some of the simplest are : that the vert ica l col

umu s i f added give the same sum as the horiz on ta lrows ; that any horizonta l l ine can be deducedfrom the row above i t by taking the figures in the

1—2—3—4—5—66—1—5 - 2—4—33—6—4—1—2—55

-

3—2—6—1—4

4—5—1 -

3- 6—2

2—4—6—5—3—1


upper row in the order ind icated by the figures inrow N o . 2

° th at the fi rst rhyming coup let in anystanz a i s repeated i n an inverse order a s the l as tcou p let in the next stan z a ; th at the non- rhymingwords at the ends of any fi rs t two l ines are re

peated i n order at the ends of the fourth and fi fthl ines in every second stanz a below . There are

many more com p l icated sequences,al l of wh ich flow

from the law of formation,w h ich do no t ap p ly to

the pos ition of the rhymes, an d therefore do no t d irectly a ffect the poem . The fi rst figures in column1 are the same as the second figures in column 2

,

and the same pecul ia ri ty appears in columns 4 and

5 and in co lumns 3 and 6 . Beg inn ing with figure1 and read ing downward to the bottom , and thengoing to the top we find the invari able order

,

1—6—3—5—4—2 . The resu l t i s to g ive variety underun ifo rm law .

The fo l lowing sestin a fo llows the Provengal

standard with str ictness :

N Ew HOPE

(A Sestina)

December comes w ith b i tter blast,The cruel , ruth less w inter w ind ,

And all sweet summer ’s bloom is pastBut summer ’s ho pe w i ll ever last,Although the icy sh roud may b indThe earth whose heart it cannot find . .



December ’s wo rld , it soon is past,And we forget the w inter ’s blast.

B low then, 0 blast of polar w ind II n days soon past, ch i l l wh i le they last

And black frosts b ind , new hope we find .

Many sestinas are not written under the standard fo rmula . M r . Swinburne h as wri tten one inwhich the rhymes run a -b-a - b-a -b. H e observesthe rule to make the terminal s of the second l inesthe same as the term inal s of the fi rst lines of thepreceding stanz as, and the terminal s of the fi rstl ines the same as the terminals of the l ast l ines ofthe p receding stan z as , and to use a l l the termina lssuccess ive ly in these pos i tions . H aving no fu rtherdefin ite formu la , h is rhyme- scheme i s ch aot ic

, the

only regu lating princ iple being the avoidance ofcouplets so th at in every stanz a we find a - b-a

b- a -b. But the a’

s are repeated in the same ordertwice and so are the b

’

s . This i s a matter of l itt leartis ti c moment, but the es sence of the sestina i suniformity of term inal s w i th variety of position .

M r . Swinburne wrote also a doub le sestina , theComplaint of Lis a

,in wh ich there are twel ve

stanz as of twel ve l ines each , the twel ve term inal sbeing the same i n all the stanz as . There are s ixrhyming pairs i n the twelve end words

,bu t they

are distr ibu ted at random at in terva ls o f fromth ree to n ine l ines, so that in many cases the echo

THE F RE NC H FORMS 323

i s lost . The end word o f each stanz a i s as befo re

the end word of the fi rs t l i ne of the next, thesecond l ine having the same termina l a s the fi rsto f the p receding stanz a . H e i s l imited to the ob

servance o f th i s ru le, and the avoidance of ad

j acent rhymes so th at h is task i s comparat ivelyeasy, for h aving written h is fi rst two lines in the

p rescr ibed order he has h i s choice of n ine word sto end h i s next l ine, of eigh t to end the next, andso on , so th at no rea l d ifficulty i s encountered til lhe reaches the eleventh l ine

,when he has but one

word to use to c lose hi s l ine . But he has notobeyed the fi rst law imp l ic itly

,for i n the tenth

stanza he uses the word “ me” as a clos ing word

which has a l ready been used in the fi rst stanza .

H e should have used the word “ dead .

The on ly way to construct a sestina i s, fi rst, towrite down the

.

termina l word s chosen , in the orderprescr ibed by the fo rmu la for a l l the s tan z as , andthen fi l l in . This i s , of cou rse, a mechanica l wayof writing verse, but, after a l l , the sestina i s moreingen ious than poetic . The rhyming words mustbe chosen with some reference to the sentiment intended to be developed , and i t i s best to b r ing insome word s which can be used as verb s and substantives both

,l ike “ c rown

,or “ b last .” Or the

fi rs t stanz a may be written , and then the term inal sfor the five others wr itten in the order p rescribed bythe formu la . I t wi l l be in ei ther case an exerci sein verba l acrobatics

,but not nearly so d iffi cul t a s

324 THE F RENCH FORMS

i t seems, and the resu lt, i f mechan ica l,wil l h ave, at

least , the merit of s tructura l un i ty . M r . Kip l ing ’ sunrhymed poem , the Ses tina of t/ze Tramp Roy al,

i s fu l l of vigo r, and Shows th at the ex igencies ofthe form do not p revent the arti sti c p resentationof a conception .

The fanci fu l forms of French ver se,with thei r

charm ing repetition s and artific ia l echoes , are notadapted to serious poet i c exp ression . The greatestof ou r poetry i s in simple forms

,much of i t

,in

deed , in b l ank verse, where form i s reduced to thesimp les t elements . But c ivil iz ed man i s subj ect tomany moods

,and the ingenious , artificia l structu res

of ol d French poetry are not a ltogether fo reign tomost of us

,and to peop le o f the righ t temperament

are extremely delightful . Formali ty has its own

charm when i t i s the mask of wit and sense andgood humor . Even the sestina, techn ica l and me

chanical as i t is,has an attraction tha t i s not

entirely due to it s antiqui ty . I ts odd i ty largely d i sappea rs after examination , and the subtle changesin position p revent the repet ition of the rhym ingword s from becom ing monotonou s . A normalsestina composed in English by a poet wou ld ,doub t less, be poetry.


326 THE EP I C AND THE ROMANCE

F rank s and Saxon s in the t ime of Charlemagne,

by the German i c tribes who invaded B ritain,and

by the Scand inavian s who sett led I cel and i n the

ninth century .

The poetry in wh ich a peop le passing th roughth is stage exp resses i tsel f i s said to have the ep ictone. Ofcourse the l i terary qual i ty of ep ic songsis determined by the artistic capabil it ies of eachrace and by thei r su rround ings ; B eowulf or the

N ibelungenlied are vastly infer ior to the I liad ,but

the genera l Character of the society representedin al l i s simil ar. There i s the s ame sim p l ic ity ofV i sion , the same realism , the same g lorification ofpersonal confl i ct

,the supernatu ra l int rude s into

the natura l in the same p rimi tive and unsp i ri tualmanner . M r . Ker, whose Epic and Romance d i scusses the subject at length , says that there i snoth ing in the who le range of Engl i sh l i teratu reso l ike a scene from the I liad as the Ba ttle of/lI aldon in Ang lo- Saxon . In epic poetry personal i tyor ch aracter i s fine ly conceived , the narrato r lovesand app reciates the hero as a man . In the l aterromant ic poems , however, the characters are

vaguely portrayed ; the knigh ts are abstract em

bodim ents of the ch ival ric ideal . Odysseus and

Birhtnoth ,on the contrary ,

are d i st inct figures, and

even Ach il les , the ideali z ed heroic type of the H el

lenie race, i s h imse l f ,— energet ic , passionate,and

prim i tive . I t i s an ep ic featu re of the [Worte Da rt/nu ;

a fifteenth- centu ry recast of mediaeva l romances

THE E P IC AND THE ROMANCE 27

that Gawa in , Lancelot, and Arthur are markedpersonal ities , whereas the subord inate Charactersl ike Bal in ,

and King M a rk , and Mer li n have the

true romant ic indefiniteness .

I t is possible to conceive th at the great epicnarratives grew out of historic narrat ive ball ads ,which were added to , welded together, and wid

ened in scope by success ive genera tion s of bard s,and fin a lly recas t by some one ind ividua l of ele

vated poet ic genius . There i s no h isto ric p roof ofsuch a p rocess . M r . Ker says th at the epicalmateria l o f I celand was left in a ch aotic state , andth at an age of more artificiality and l i terary sel fconsc iousnes s fol lowed the hero ic age before anyunification of the fragmen ta ry songs or selectiono f any one hero as rep resentative was m ade .

Whether th i s would h ave taken place under anyci rcumstances we cannot tel l ; we on ly know th atin Greece two long narrative poems embody inglife in the hero ic age were p reserved , and that inthe Germ ani c and Scand inavi an countries a bodyof poetry was p roduced h aving the same l itera ryCh aracteri stic s , but of fa r lower l iterary qual ity , because it never c rystal liz ed i n to one supreme epic .

I t seems almost imposs ible th at the I liad andOdy ssey could have received thei r un ity from any

source but the gen ius of an i nd ividua l n amedHomer, though doubtless that excep tiona l gen i usworked on a la rge amount of materia l gathered bygenerations of p redecessors , and inheri ted the use

328 THE EP IC AND THE ROMANCE

of a h igh ly developed musica l l anguage i n a commun ity accustomed to poetica l exp ression . Evenif Homer ’ s materia l was o ld poetry , as Shakespeare

’ smateria l was o ld p lays and sto ries

,the making of

an I liad or a K ing j o/zn out of the old materi a lwas the work of an individual . We may evenadmit that severa l ear lier epica l nar rat ives havebeen used to fo rm the I liad without lessen ing i tsc laims to be Homer ’ s work and not an agg l utination of bal l ads .

”

The sub ject-matter of epica l poetry is someth ingof nation al interest , and the leading characters tendto become representative of b road nationa l trai ts ,and th is

, even before a pol itic a l nation al i ty in the

modern sense i s developed . The Greek tr ibes uniteto rescue a woman stolen from the househo ld ofone of the great famil ies . A long desu lto ry warfol lows

,t i l l the fami ly of the ravisher in Asia i s

exterminated . One of the Ch ieftai ns , prince of apetty i sland in the Mediter ranean , encounters manydel ays and difficul ties on hi s return . Songs aboutAchil les and Odysseus become favori tes, and are

repeated and expanded ti l l , i n the hands of an ex

ceptionalpoet, they become the exp ression of theHel len i c sense of race ; and the men and thei r associ ates are typ ica l, not merely of the warrior andadventurer, but of the Greek sp iri t of war and ad

venture. The struggle between the Moors of Spainand the Germanic tribes of Europe h as the same

ethn ical interest and epical b readth , and is a proper



out as race heroes, and certa i n stories are singledout to be h anded down

,though others wh ich are

neg lected migh t i llustrate the fortunes of the racebetter. The imag i na ti on seems to work quite arb itrarily i n th i s se lection , but doubtles s i t fo l lowscertain attractions . Why shou ld Arthu r be chosenfrom many Bri tish Chieftain s to be the centra l figurei n so many stories, and be the one to be made aking of romance The ep ic poem is not a “ rhymedch ron icle,

” and i ts story may magnify a comparatively unimportant h i stor ica l ep i sode. But i t i s anepisode wh i ch appeal s powerful ly to the imagin ation of the people, and represents i n thei r consciousness the bond which un i tes them .

But the word epic ,” i s not restricted to the dig

nifi ed narrative of the heroic age . The term i shabitual ly app lied toVi rgi l ’ s [E neiafiT asso

’

s j erusalem D elivered ,

and M i l ton ’ s P aradise Lost. Theseare clearly not growths nor d irect outcomes of thehero ic age. They are produced by the poets of alater age and are each the work of an individual .The subjects are of national, or of b road humaninterest ; the founding of Rome, the Crusade when

Christianity and Mohammedan ism st rove fo r thepossession of the sacred ci ty , or the contest of theembodiments of the spi ri tua l forces of good and

evi l for dominion over the race of man . These are

rightly cal led epics on account of the fa r- reach ingimportance of the events narrated ,

and the dignityof the sty le . We are, therefore, forced, as M r.

THE EP IC AND THE ROMANCE 33 1

TheodoreWatts says in the a rtic le on poetry i n theE ncy clopa

'd ia Britannica ,to recognize two classes

of ep ica l poems— “epic s o f g rowth and epics

o f a rt the one being the race epic , origina l ly the'

o ra l song of the heroi c age, and the other, thewritten ep i c, the work of a scholar-poet in an age

of reflection and cu lture . But the ra ce epic i s themore typ ical since i t i s the outcome of a cond i tionof society . The ep i c of cul tu re i s an attempt toimitate the true epic . Homer sets the pattern forVi rgi l . There are, then , two d i stinct uses of theword “

epic .

”

The romance, or romanti c narrative poem ,d i ffers

from the ep i c in tone and atmosphere . The

Chri sti an rel ig ion , the feudal sy stem ,and the in

stitution of ch ival ry were al l powerfu l elements inthe formation of character and manners . The

Teuton ic and the Latin races fused , and in fusingreacted on one another, in F rance . A communitymarked by sh arp c lass d istinct ions between lo rd andserf with graded dis t inction s from top to bottom ,

i n which certain occu pations are reserved fo r thearis tocracy and the l abor o f the common people i sdesp ised , l ives in an atmosphere very di fferentfrom th at of the ear lier heroi c age. The in tellectu a l activi ty and curiosi ty of the aristocracy i sg reater th an before and finds expression in manyfantastic and ingenious fo rms . The conventiona lcode of mora l s and conduct i s vastly more complexand artificia l . Li terary express ion seeks new

332 THE E P IC AND THE ROMANCE

forms . The old - fash ioned , direct, reali sti c narrat ivei s over laid with concei ts and ornaments . The per

sonages, instead of being definite men and womenfrom whose characters the ac tion d i rectly flows

,

become a l legorica l ch aracters o r names d ivestedof any defini te re l ation to humani ty . They movein a wor ld of superstition and odd i ties . A knightputs on h is armor, sadd les h is horse and r ides inany direction i t happens . I n the afternoon he

comes on an unknown country where there i s“ a fa ir cast le in a wood ” wh ich he has neverheard of before though i t l ies with in eigh teen o rtwenty m i les o f h i s home. Here he meets aknigh t “ wel l mounted , c lad in black a rmor whoch al lenges h im

-

to fight . They fight th ree or fourhou rs acco rding

'

to the rules,and the stranger

yield s . I n yield ing he p asses the ti tle to h is real

estate, and the newcomer takes possession of thehouse without any resi stance on the part of thegarri son . The castle tu rns o ut to contain some

hundred odd young women , to whom the conquero rprudently g ives their freedom . The deta i l o f th i smatter i s sp un ou t for some th ree, s ix , ten,

o r i t maybe th i r ty thousand l ines . The whole story i s nu

rea l , impossib le, and unrepresentative of anyth ingexcept some fanc i fu l ideals o f ch ival ry . Con siderthe opening of the Faerie Queene A gentleKnigh t was pricking on the plaine . W i th h imwas a fai r damsel . We are no t told where theycame from nor Where they were going . I t i s not


334 THE E P I C AND THE ROMANCE

of the subordinate and the im per iousness o f thehead are rap id ly deta i led , and one effect natu rallyfo l lows another up to the reconc i l i ation and the

death of the chief o f the Troj ans,and th rough it

a l l men ta lk natura l ly . The p h i losophy of l i feoccasiona l ly di sc losed by the author i s p rofound lyt rue and sim p le, and as readi ly app rec iated by u s asi t wa s by h i s contem pora ries .

The above considerations may serve to outl inethe d ifferen ce between the ep ica l and romant ic n arrative poem . Of course, the ep ica l poem has itsown supersti tio ns and impossib i l it ies, but they are

not “enchan tments drea r .

”

U ly sses has aboutas much trouble with the gods as the Red C rossKnigh t h as with dwarfs

,demons , and g i ants, but

the god s themselves act f rom mot ives and the heroi s a lways on the rea l earth or sea . The ch aracters are men and women

,not abstractions

,and we

find dramatic or idyl l ic passages resu lt ing fromthe s ituat ions and the charac ters , no t forced fo robscure al legori ca l lessons . The romance has i tsown beauty, though from the f act that the characters are l i tt le influenced by h uman motives o r, i fso influenced , do not respond in an intel l ig ib lemanner, i t i s ap t to lac k interest .

Chaucer’ s R omaunt of tbc Rose

,the o rig ina l of

wh ich was immensely popu la r,i s an examp le of

an al legorica l romance . P alamon and Arcite andTro ilus and Crisey de are rom ances based onc lassical ta les . In the l a st the characters are far

THE E P IC AND THE ROMANCE 33 5

more d i stinctly d rawn th an is u sua l in romances,

but the atmosphere i s ent i re ly ch iva l ric , and the

utter d i sregard of the natu ra l conclus ion that thelovers wou ld h ave married rather than have al lowedthemselves to be separa ted i s one of the absurdi

t ies of romance. Severa l o thers of Chaucer’ s

Tales are romantic , though he was by natu re agreat rea l i st .The roman tic spi ri t h a s persi sted i n l iterature,

though observation and common sense i s continually pruning i ts extravagances . Shakespeare ’ sLove

’

s Labor’

s Los t i s romantic in plo t and concep

tion . The d rama demand s real cha racters and

Shakespea re ’ s perception of individua li ty made i timpossible for h im to write a p lay withou t d i rect reference to human l ife ; so even in the Winter’

s Tale,

Cymbeline, and the Tempest, romanti cism i s subord inated to truth . A M idsummer-N zg/zt

’

s D ream

i s romanti c both in language and mach inery , butTheseus and H ippo lyta are so lid and dignified personalities , and the c lowns who p resent the p lay ofPyramus and Thisbe are no doubt real is ti c Copiesof W arwick sh i re carpen ters and weavers . I nScott ’ s I van/toe and Tbe Talisman the romantic element p reponderates , though there i s a leaven ofhuman natu re in the ch aracters . Coleridge ’ sC/zris tabel i s a beautifu l romance

,and the fact that

i t i s unfinished does not detract from its va lue,for

a romance never has the absol ute completeness ofa real istic p lot . The beauty of the poetry of Kea ts


i s largely the beauty of the romance , and in Endymion the inc idents fo l low one another with muchof the l ack o f in terdependence th at cha racteriz esthe older rom antici sts . H awthorne viewed the

world from the standpoint of the romantic i st as'

a

stage where obscure influences con trol led action ,

and the spiri tua l and occu lt molded the destin iesof men and women , and the power of experienceand reason and wil l were minim i z ed . The p lotsof h i s stor ies are shaped by fo rces of the world ofthe imag inat ion and the concatenation of events i sun like that wh ich un ites the events of to-day tothose of yesterday in the world made fami l iar tou s by observation . But the law of causation

,as

he conceives it, i s r ig id ly fo llowed out, and in thi she i s mo re modern than the early romantici sts l ikeSpenser o r S idney , who con struct a ser ies of tableaux, and trouble themselves li ttle about any connection between causes and effects . H i s peop leand thei r su r roundings , too , are striking ly natu ra lin a l l exterior matters . They are romantic in the

fac t that thei r conduct i s regulated by extern a lfo rces reach ing thei r inner natu res f rom a worldoutside of them . There i s no reason that romanticism shou ld not be true, because i t p resents theexceptiona l in character and conduct . We nowexplain the except ional by assuming exceptionalanteceden t materia l causes , heredity ,

malforma

tion of the brain,and the l i ke. Romantic ism simply

present s i t and indirectly refers the exp lanation to


338 TH'

E EP IC AND THE ROMANCE

tran smission poss ib le a fter the invention of p rinting . I n a remote d i strict of northernRussi a ea r lycond i t ion s h ave been p reserved , but the country i stoo cold and too poor for the deve lopment o f a raceepic . Nevertheless , the peop le bf a d i strict ly ingon the north shores of Lake Onega h ave preservedi n memory songs which date from the hero i c age ofRussia . The poverty wh ich has a rrested developmen t and p revented the in trusion of modern ideas ,has a l lowed an iso lation in wh ich much of the

freedom of early times h as su rvived . Serfdomwas never estab l i shed , the country i s too unpro

ductive to be taxed ,and the so ld iers th at are an

nually d rafted in to the Russi an army h ave beentoo few in number to a ffect the cha racter of thecommunity . Few of the people are able to read ,and though Christianity became the offi c ia l rel ig i on of Russia in the ninth centu ry, the concep

t ion s of the orig in a l cu ltus are sti l l reta ined . The

community lack s the energy of the hero ic age, buth as p reserved many of the condition s of th at age,

dwarfed an d thwarted by centu ries of sol itude, butnot modified by outside civi l iz at ion .

I n th is vas t and lonely reg ion of swamps andforests

,the trad it ionary song s of the S lavi c race

have been handed down unch anged th rough twentygenerat ion s o r more by singers corresponding tothe Greek rh apsod i sts w ho dec laimed the Odysseyin the h a ll s of Chieftain s or at the market pl acesof the li tt le towns . But c reative power has eu

THE EP IC AND THE ROMANCE 39

tirely departed from the Russian s who repeat theby linas by rote, using , indeed , many obsolete word s ,the mean ing of w h ich i s unknown to them andto thei r aud itors , l ike the word “ au roch s

,

”

the

name of a species of wi ld cattle long ext inct i nthat part of the wor ld . Attention was ca l led tothi s surviva l o f ancient song by the publi cation o fa number o f fragments col lected by a governmen tofficia l named Rybnikof in 186 1. H e was stationed on the wes tern sh ore of Lake Onega .

Fo rtunately he took a genuine interes t in the an

cient poetry of h is countrymen and made longj ou rneys d ressed in the garb of a peasant to hea rthe rec itations of celeb rated minstrel s . On o ne

of h i s voyages ac ross Lake Onega he was fo rcedby contra ry winds to land on an i sl and where hefound a number of peasants

,weatherbound like

himsel f . Among them was a ta i lo r, Leonty Bog

danovich , who in the p rimit ive fash ion j ou rneyedwidely in the Tran s-Onega region , work ing a t h istrade i n the houses where he was needed . He hada great reputa tion as a reciter of the t raditiona lsongs , and Rybnikofwas so fortunate as to hearthe Lay of Sadko

, the Russian U lysses , f rom h i sl ips . A l though the o ld min stre l

' s voice was th inand cracked , Rybnikofdeclares the impression hemade, not on ly on the peasan ts a s they sat roundthe outdoor fi res in the sp ring n ight, but on h i scultured l istener wa s very remarkab le . The peasants apparently, l ike ch ild ren , bel ieved every word,


but to h im it was someth ing coming out of remoteantiquity but sti l l f resh and poet ic in a novel sense.

The fol lowing is paraph rased from M iss H apgo od’

s

Epic Songs of Russia . The fi rst i s from the l ayof Sadko , the merchant of Novgorod, the RussianU ly sses .

I n the glori ou s ci ty of Novgorod dwel t Sadkothe gusly

1 pl ayer . N0 go lden treasure d id he possess ; he went about to the m agn ificen t feasts ofthe merch ants and nob les and made a l l merry withh is p laying . I t ch anced th at one day he was noti nvited to any feast, and , being ra ther cast downat th i s evidence of waning popu larity , he went tothe shore of Lake I lmen and sat down on a b luestone and played on h is harp of maple wood . The

waves rose, and the waters were cl ouded with sandunti l Sadko , becom ing a larmed by the effect

"

ofh i s music

,returned to Novgorod . This h appened

for th ree success ive days . On the th i rd d ay theTzar Vodyano i theWater King emerged fromthe lake and told h im that he had been holdinga banquet , and that a l l h i s guests had been de

l igh ted with the music . I n fact it was thei r energeti c dancing tha t had caused the disturbance onthe surface. I n grat itude for h i s enterta inmentthe Wa ter K ing tel l s h im that next day he wi ll beinvited to a banquet

,and that after the guests h ave

eaten and drunk they wi l l wax boastfu l . One wil lboast of h i s h orse

, one of the prowess of h is youth ,1 Gusly (goo zly) , an early Russian harp .



the sea , and I am not ab le to buy a ll the wares ofthe whole white world . Sadko i s rich ,

but g loriou sNovgorod is sti l l r icher . I t is better to yield mygreat wager .

’ This he wisely d id , but, be ing nowoverstocked , he bui lt th i rty ships , th i rty dark red

ships and th ree . W ith these he sai led into the

N eva , and on into the b lue sea, di recting h i s courseto Con stantinople . H ere he so ld out to very goodadvantage for go ld and si lver and pearls . On the

return the sh ips h al ted , the waves d ashed , thebreez e whi stled, the cordage strained , bu t they .

cou ld not move the Ship s from that p l ace. The

sound ing lead showed deep water, and there wasno exp lanation except th at the Sea K ing, the Tz a rMorsko i, was detaining them . Af ter various at

tempts to prop i tiate h im by casting into the sea

gold and s i lver and pear l s, then spake Sadko Myb rave beloved bodyguard , i t i s p la in that the Tz arMorsko i cal leth a l iving man from among us intoh is b lue sea. M ake ye therefore lots o f a lderwood and let each man wri te hi s name upon themand the lots of a l l j ust sou ls sh a l l float, but thatman among us whose lo t sinketh, he al so sha l l gofrom among us into the b lue sea .

’ This wasdone and repeated th ree t imes, but a lways Sadko ’ s lot sank . Then said Sadko , the rich mer

chant,

"T i s pla in that Sadko can do noth ing. The

Tz ar Morsko i demandeth Sadko h imse l f in the

b lue sea . Then , ho !my brave bel oved guard s, fetchme my massive inkstand

,my swan -qu i ll pen, and

THE EP IC AND THE ROMANCE 343

9my paper . H i s brave be loved men brough t h imh is inkstand

, pen, and paper ; and Sadko ,the rich

merch ant of Novgorod , sat in his fo ld ing chair ath is oaken table and began to write away h i s possessions . M uch gave he to God ’ s churches, muchto hi s young wife, much to the poor breth ren ,

and

the remainder of h is po ssess ions he bes towed uponhi s bodyguard .

“ After that he wept and spake to h i s men, Ai,

my men, wel l loved and brave, place ye an oakenp lank on the b lue sea, so th at I Sadko may th rowmysel f upon the plank

,so that i t sh al l not be

terrib le to me to take my death on the b lue sea .

And fi l l ye,brothers, a bowl with red go ld , anotherwith si lver

,another with seed pear l s, and place

them on the plank .

’ Then took he in h is righ th and an image of S t . M ichae l , and i n his left h i sh arp of maple wood with its fine str ings of gold ,and put on h im a rich c loak of sab les, and bitterlyhe wept as he bade farewe l l to h i s b rave company,to the white world , and to Novgorod the glorious .

He descended upon the oaken plank and wasborne upon the b lue sea, and h is dark red sh ipssped on and flew as i f they had been black ravens .

Then was Sadko , the r ich merchan t of Novgorod ,g reat ly terr ified as he floated over the blue sea onh is p lank of oak

, and he fel l as leep , and 10 !whenhe awoke i t was at the very bottom Of the oceansea . H e beheld the red sun Sh ining th rough thec lear waves, and he was standing beside a pa lace


o f wh ite stone, where sa t the Tz ar Morskoi withhead l ike a heap of hay on hi s royal th rone.

”

The account of Sadko’

s adventures in the sea, andh is fina l return to the uppe r world are more poeti c al

,or rather handled more imaginatively, than

what h as gone befo re , and i t i s d i stantly suggestive of the vi si ts to the under wor ld o f Orpheusand U lysses .

The ta le of Svyatogor, the Russian Hercules, i smore eleva ted in tone, but not on th at accountmo re epica l than the former . Svyatogor, whobe longs to the o lder mytho logica l cyc le, meetsI lya of M urom , the

“ peasant hero , the poeticembodiment of the S l avi c race . After a serieso f adventu res in which the superh uman giganticch a racter of Svyatogor i s portr ayed , they swearbrotherhood and exchange c rosses in token offriends hip .

Then they rode together and Svyatogor taughtI lya al l hero ic custom s and tradition s . Svyatogor

said to I lya, When we shal l come to my dwel ling ,and I sha ll lead thee to my b lind father, hea t ab i t of iron

,but give h im not thy hand .

’

So when they came to the H oly Mounta in s , to

the palace of white stone, Svyatogor'

s father

c ried :

“ ‘Ai, my dear child ! Hast thou been farafield ? ’

‘ I h ave been in Holy Russ ia , father .’

What has t thou seen and heard there ?’



could not. Sa id hero Svyatogor, Take my greatbatt le sword , and sm ite athwart the l id .

’

But I lya ’sstrength wa s not enough to l ift the sword and Svyatogor ca l led to h im

Bend down to the ri ft i n the coffin that I maybreathe upon you with my heroic b reath .

’ W henI lya had done th i s, he fel t st rength with in h imth rice as much as befo re. H e l i fted the greatbattle sword , and smote athwart the l id . Sparksflashed from th at b low

,but where the great b rand

struck,an i ron ridge sprang forth . Again spoke

Svyatogor

I stifle, younger b rother ; essay yet one moreb low upon the l id with my huge sword .

’ ThenI lya smote a long the l id— and a r idge of ironsprang forth . Yet agai n spake Svyatogor

I die, 0 younger brother . Bend down now tothe crevice . Yet once again wi l l I b reathe uponthee, and give thee al l my vast strength .

’

But I lya made answer, My strength suffi ceth

m e, e lder brother ; had I more, the earth cou ld notbear me.

’

“ ‘ Thou h ast done wel l , younger b rother ,’ said

Svyatogo r, in th at thou h ast not obeyed my last request . I shou ld h ave breathed u pon thee the breathof death ,

and thou wouldst h ave l ain dead besideme. But now ,

farewel l . Possess thou my g reat battle sword , but b ind my good , heroic steed to my eof

fin ; none save Svyatogo r may possess tha t horse .

’

Then a dying breath fluttered th rough the erev

THE E P I C AND THE ROMANCE 347

ice. I lya took leave OfHero Svyatogor, bound thegood

,heroic steed to the coffin , put the great battle

sword about h is waist,and rode forth in to the Open

plain .

“ And Svyatogor’

s burning tears flow th roughthat c revice evermore.

We migh t regard th is fragment as “ nature re

l igion ,

”an e ffo rt to exp la in imag inat ively the gush

ing Of a hot Sp ring as the tears Of the dem igod .

Or we m i gh t interpret the death Of the Older heroas figur ing the passing of the heathen cu ltus

, the

i ron cross seal i ng its coffin i rrevocably . The newercu ltu s inherits pa rt of the spiri t of the ear l ier asI lya i s strengthened by the b reath Of Svyatogor ;

but if i t should receive more than i t could assim ila te Of the o ld ph i losophy

, the inheri tance wouldprove fatal . Chri sti ani ty can take over part Ofthel i turgy and fo rma l worsh ip of Rome, and much ofthe though t OfP la to with safety but should it takeboth w ithout reservation , i t wou ld be breathed onby the b reath of death .

” Not much ingenuity i sneeded to in terp ret mythologica l stories, as therei s no way to test the in terpreta tion . To assumeth at any occul t reference to inner significance wasconsciously made by the orig inators Of archai cpoetry would be as i rrational as to find a ci pheri n the mispunctuation s Ofthe text OfShakespeare ’ sp lays, or a solu tion of soc ia l p roblems in the conduct of the plots . Nevertheless , natu ral poetry hasa connection with al l the socia l devel opments Ofthe


ear l ier times , especia l ly w ith rel igi ous thought ; anda symbo li sm , due to an unconscious reaction in thepoet ’ s m ind of different phases th rough wh ich therace i s p assing, may find exp ress ion i n verse, or ,indeed , in any a rt . This i s especi a ll y true of thenorthern races . The symbol ica l interp retation

,

though conjec tu ra l, i s no t enti rely unj ust ifiab le .

These Russi an tales, though contain ing a m

mantic element, are essenti al ly ep i c in thei r s im

plicity, and in th at they are evident ly written forthe peop le, th at i s, not for a segregated ari stocraticclass . Though not based on n ationa l events l ikethe epics of war, they are entirely rac ial . I n thefi rst the “ bodyguard ” i s at once an a rmed retinueand a set of business associates and Ofconfidentialfriends . Trade has none of the stigma which Chivalry, the parent of romance, puts upon i t. The

songs are essenti al ly nation a l and Russ ian in thefata l istic attitude of the heroes . The death s Ofboth

Sadko and Svyatogor are suicides . Neither meetsdeath in the defian t manner of the Teuton . Sadko

does not leap into the water i n an exalted mood .

He bows passively to fate in the dumb ,uncom

plaining S l avic m anner Of one Of Tolsto i ’ s peasan ts

,sing ing no tr ium phant death song , weeping ,

but not fa ltering . H i s com rades do not Offer toaccompany h im

,fo r thei r t ime has not come.

When Svyatogor find s th at the stone cohi n fi tsh im

,he says , I t i s p lain th at my fate h as found

me out ; and his com rade rides away after the



the pirates . Birh tnoth i s k il led ,some of hi s men

fly,but the “

Old compan ion ,

”

Birh twolf, prefers todie by the body of h is ch ief . H is defiance ofdeath embod ies the unconquerable temper Of ourrace . H i s eth ica l vis ion i s unc louded by anysel f- consciousness o r thought of theatrica l effect.

Then spoke Birhtwolf,Ra is ing h is sh ield

,

H e was an Old comrade.

H e shook h is javel in .

W ith firm wordsH e adv ised the fight ing men

Mind shall be the harder,Heart the more resolute,Our mo o d shal l be the fi rmerThe more our strength lessens .

Here l ies our leaderS la in in the contest ,A true man in the dust.May he be accursedWho has a m ind to leaveTh is war- play .

I am Old Ofyears ,But I w i ll no t st i rFrom th is spot .I am w i l l ing to lieBy the s i de ofmy ch ief,The man I loved .

”

I t i s imposs ib le to g ive in any other medium but

Old Engli sh the sp i ri t Of the poem and the impres

THE EP IC AND THE ROMANCE 35 I

s ion of actual ly hea ring the c rash o f the sword sand s pears on the wooden sh ields .

Thi s poem i s but a f ragment , a desc rip tion of afight without int roduction or conc lusion . B eowulfi s not on ly many times as long , but it i s much m orecomprehensive. I t embodies the famil ia ri ty of theOld Eng l ish race with the sea as wel l a s i ts courageand love of confl i ct

,and its conception s of fea l ty

and duty . I t reflects the character of a race lacking in the a rti stic power of the Greeks , but superiorto them in di rectness and simplic i ty Of mora l visi on and more capab le of hero ic sacr ifice. The rea lva lue Ofear ly epic poet ry i s th at i t shows us whatthe orig ina l ideal s o f a peop le were and g ives us aglimpse Of fundamen ta l qual i ties wh ich sti l l persi stin thei r descendants and come to the su rface whenci rcum stances h ave removed the techn ica l restra intsof c ivi l iz ation and men Of ou r race appea l to the

wager of battle . The Old compan ion sti l l standsby h is comrade i n frontier warfare as stead fastly a sBirhtwolfdid by Birhtno th on the shore of the riverPanta , and dies i n much the same matter- of—courseway . The defense Of the A lamo was as ep icala s the battle Of M aldon

,though ch ron ic led in a

di fferent fash ion . Fundamenta l race temper i snot eas ily extinguished except by long - continuednationa l corruption of l aw and moral s

,and is even

taken up by fo reigners amalgamated with the

dominant race unless the proportion of the al ien sbe so great tha t they retain thei r own language


th rough severa l generation s . Th is race temperwe can see bes t in the poetry of a race before i ttakes on the a rtific ia l conditions Ofmodern civi lizat ion , modern , th at is , i n the sense of being l aterthan the twel fth century .

I n the northern o r Scandinavian b ranch o f theGermanic race the heroi c age was productive i nmytho log ica l legends Of a vague magn ificence.

The story OfB runh ild and S igurd , b road and powerful ly conce ived, i s to ld in fragments never reducedto a coherent systematic poem by a great epicsinger. Anoth er portion Of the same

'bOdy Of

material; the revenge of Kr iemhild , fo rms the sub

ject of the Old German ep ic the Nibelungenlied .

I s i s not to be expected th at the heroic age of everypeop le should p roduce ep ical poems Of the beautyof the I liad ,

the arti st ic sen se is not granted to all

in the same measure, and the capac ity of northernand southern l anguages for poeti c express ion iswidely d ifferent— but simpl icity and elementa lforce are Characteri sti c of the ear ly poems of theGermanic races . A wild

,free del igh t in figh t ing i s

emphasiz ed in them and they are marked by'

ah

absence Of l i terary a ffectation and Of fanci fu lo rnamen t . The characters are great ly conceivedand occasiona l passages are Ofthe highest force aspoetry . The subjects are of b road n ational o rrather rac ia l i nterest . I n none of the Teutoni cfragmentary ta les , un les s i t be i n the Ba ttle ofMaldon i s any effort made to attain hi stori ca l



essential ly romantic. The centra l theme, the

downfal l of the Cel tic power i n Brita in i s of epica ld ignity , but the ques t o f the H o ly Gra i l i s an em

tirely romantic motif. The comp i lation , made i nthe fi fteen th century , long a fter the heroic age, i sco lored th roughout by romantic symbol ism

,and

i ts beauty is the unsubstanti a l beauty Of the

romance. I t i s the uncompleted ep ic Ofthe Celti crace transmuted by the mediaeva l imag inat ion o fthe ages of chiva l ry in to someth ing rich and strange,not a reflection Of

‘human l ife as the hero ic epicsare, but a reflection of a dream of li fe.

The purest romantic narrat ive i s Spenser ’ s Faerie

Queene. I ts symbolism and languorou s h armonyca rry -as a t once into a wor ld where the ord inarymotives of human beings— love, jea lousy, ambition , and anger, to say noth ing of o rdinary everyday hunger, have no part . At the foundation ofthe poem lies a Puri tanic regard for ch astity

,

honor,and unselfi sh devotion not unworthy OfM i l

ton h imself , but the virtues are possessed by one

set of characters and the vices by another, and thenarrative i s largely independent Of both . Thingshappen because the n arrator wil l s them to, notbecause the peop le act. I t i s p leasant to get intoa country where “

the perverse contrarious wil ls ofmen recede and leave a “ l i ttle isle Of peace nu

vexed by human natu re,”and there i s no reason

to bel ieve that romantic l i teratu re i s, i n any way,weakening to the pract ical intel lect . Eng land was

THE E P IC AND THE ROMANCE 35 5

never more obstinately p ractica l th an a t the timewhen romanti c fiction was the admired method ofdep icting l i fe imaginative ly . Spenser himsel f wa sa method ica l c lerk of the Counc il and d id not lh i s d reams and h is dut ies . Romance i s a legitimate department Of li terature. The ch iva l ri c ro

mance'

is antiquated ,no doubt

,but there i s much

in modern li tera tu re, even when it assumes to berea l i stic , th at i s as imposs ible as Una and her l ion ,and not nearly as suggest ive of radica l t ruth .

The romance and the epic are modes Of poeti crepresentations Of l i fe adapted to di fferent phasesOf the human consciousness . I n a genera l way,these phases distingu ish different periods of h istorical development . I t i s on ly in a b road sensethat they can be c al led poetic forms since they are

not a t a l l d ist inguished by verba l embod iment.Shakespeare i s the only man who cou ld exp ressh im sel f at wil l i n ei ther mode. R z

'

e/i ard [I!,Lea r

,

and M aebet/z are in stinct wi th the energy of thehuman wi l l

, Cymbeline and Tlie Tempest and AWinter

’

s Tale are romances . I n the latter groupthe female ch aracters are tenderly and del ic atelyd rawn , in the fo rmer the ma le ch aracters are ofTitanic energy . Bo th are muniments to h is ti tleof supreme poet .D ante ’ s great poem is certa in ly not epica l ex

cept in the s impl ic i ty and homel iness of the similes . Nor i s i t a romance ; the pass ion is toointense and earnest. Rapturous adoration of an

2 56 THE E P IC AND THE ROMANCEJ

ideal Of pur i ty, and subjective rel ig iou s mystic ismare elements o f the romantic Spiri t, but the g reatvis ion Ofheaven and hel l i s seen too d istinctly and

described too rea l i s t ica l ly to be ca l led a romance.

I t must be c lass ified apart.Other divis ions Of poetry as didactic poetry ,

which , strictly speaking, i s not poetry at all, buton ly rhymed sermonizing, wil l not be considered .

The function Ofpoetry i s not to argue or expound ,but to teach indi rectly and not th rough an appealto the in tel lect but to the aesthetic sense. The

finest poetry in our language i s dramatic, but thedrama i s too large and distinct a subject to comeunder the genera l head Of forms of verse. The

drama,too

,i s a mixed form and appea l s quite as

much to the eye as to the ear we form a visua limage of the speakers and scene even i n reading aplay . Satir ic and humorous verse might form the

subj ect Of chapters, but no attempt i s made atexhaustive treatment or even exhaustive classifica

tion in th i s book . I f enough has been said toarouse interest in poetry and to sh ow that art,

even technica l art, is a serious and worthy subject,the author ’s Object i s accompl i shed.


3 58 INDEX

Ba l lad Continued

Thomas the Rhymer, 83.

Throng, Theory o f, 7 6 .

Twa Sisters , The, 97 .

Ba l lade, 6 1 , 309.

Ba l lade ofDead W omen, 3 10.

Ba l lade OfH ero es, 309.

Ba l l-room Bel le,The , 292.

Banks 0’ Do on, The, 266 .

Barbara Frietchie, 87 , 105 .

Bard , The, 163 , 165 .

Batelé e, La , 315 .

Battle ofAginco urt, 34.

Battle OfIvry,24.

Battle OfMa ldon, The , 28 , 326 , 333 ,

Battle OfPhilipsburgh , 87 .

Battle ofthe Ba ltic, 267 .

Baude la ire, Charles , Verses on,

224 .

Bay Psa lm Bo ok , 7 2 .

Beacon-Lights, The , 313.

Beggar’s Opera , The, 260.

Beowul f, 326 , 349, 35 1.Bewick and Grahame , 7 5 , 7 8 , 88 .

Binno rie, 88, 95 , 96.

Birth Bond , The, 138.B lake , W i l l iam ,

25 9.

B lank verse,

B lo ssoms, Ode to , 283 .

Bogdanovich, Leonty, 339.

Bo ke ofthe Duchesse , 190.

Bonaparte, Ode to , 17 3 , 174 .

Bonnie Dundee ,266 .

Bo rder W idow ’

s Lament, The , 95 .

Bo ughton, 306 .

Bowles, W i l l iam L 126 .

Break,Break , Break , 234 , 270.

Bridge ofS ighs , 35 .

Brisé e , La , 315 .

Browne ,W i l l iam

,246.

Browning,El i zabeth Barrett, Bal

lads Of, 74 .

Sonnets of, 133.

Browning , Robert, 53 , 234,

270.

Ba l lads of, 74.

Bruce ofBanno ckburn , 266 .

Brunh i ld and S igurd , Story Of, 35 2.

Buchanan,Robert, 98.

Buck , Dud ley, 187 .

Bui lding Ofthe Ship, 186.Bul len, Arthur H . , 236.

Bunner, H enry C . , 301.

Burden ofN ineveh ,2 1.

Burns, Ro bert, 5 2 , 73 , 74 . 232.

Meter of, 43.

Songs of, 265 .

Tam O’

Shanter, 39.

Butler, W i l l iam A., 299.

Bylinas, Russian, 339,

Byrd, W i l l iam ,

237 .

Byro n, Lord George G .,28

, 44 , 45 ,170.

Childe H aro ld , 47 , 166 .

Description of, in Adonais , 205 .

Ode to Napo leon Bonaparte, 173 ,

174 .

Sonnet on Chil lon ,130.

C

Calverley, Charles S ., 316.

Campbe l l,Thomas , 267 .

Canterbury Ta les , 39, 335 .

Canzone ,I ta l ian, 5 6 , 3 16.

Carmen Seculare , 147 .

Castle ofIndo lence, 45 .

Catul lus , 27 8 .

Centennia l Cantata, 187 .

Chant roya l , 3 12 .

Chanting, 15 .

Chapman’

s H omer, Sonnet on 110.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, 17 ,29 , 39, 44 ,

45 . 53 . 68 . H 9. 15 3. 238. 297 .

334 i 335 '

Ba l lad Of, 66 .

Bo ke Ofthe Duchesse , 190.

Tro i lus and Criseyde, 68 , 279.

iNDEx 359

Cherry R ipe, 254.

Chevy Chase, 42 , 87Child

,Pro fessor, 62 , 81, 86 .

Childe Haro ld, 45 , 47 , 166.

Chil lon,Sonnet on, 130.

Chivalry at a D iscount, 298.Christabel . 30. 37 . I SS. 169. 335Chronic le

,The, 285 .

Co leridge, Hartley, Sonnet o t, 105 .

Co leridge, Samuel , 15 , 29, 30, 37 ,

5 3. 73 , 86 , 87 , 98 , 108 , 126 , 15 5 ,

Sonnets of, 127 .

C o l l ier, j eremy, 7 1.

Co l l ins,W i l l iam , Odes of,Version of d irge in Cymbel ine241, 242 , 261.

Co losseum ,Lines on, 166 .

Come l ive with Me, 25 2 .

C ommemoration Ode, 5 5 , 146 ,161,

C omp la int ofLiza , 322 .

Comus,25 2.

Congreve,W i l l iam , on the Ode, 161

Constancy , 259, 285 .

Corinna '

s Go ing A-Maying, 256 .

Cornwa l l , Barry , 233 .

Cowley , Abraham , 154 , 285 .

Pindaric o de, 15 5 , 15 7 .

Cowper, W il l iam , 42 , 73 , 266 , 296 .

Crashaw,R ichard , 25 8 .

Cromwel l ’s Return from Ireland ,15 3 .

Crossing the Bar, 270.

Cu lture, Verse of, 297 .

Cymbel ine, 50, 35 5 .

D irge in, 24 1 , 242 , 261, 335 .

Cynthia's Revels , Song from , 245 . Dunc iad , 5 2.

Duty, Ode to , 146 , 166 , 167 .

DDaffo d i ls , To , 256 , 283 .

E

Danc ing, 60. Earth ly Paradise, The , 39.

Daniel , Samuel , Sonnets of, 118. EasterW ings , 25 7 .

Dante A l ighieri , 17 , 41, 136 , 35 5 . Ecc lesiastica l Sketches,127 , 129 .

Dark G lass, The, 139.

Davison, Francis , Poetica l Rhapso dy , 281 .

Day ofDo om , The, 7 2.

Dea th and Dr. H o rnbo ok , 266 .

Death,Sonnet on, 115 .

Defence ofPoesie, 69.

Dejection, Ode to , 169.

Dekker, Thomas , 247 , 25 5 .Demon Lo ver, 82 .

Denham,Sir John, 156.

Departing Year, The, 168 .

Detraction, M i lton'

s sonnet on, 125 .

Devereux,Penelope, 114.

D irges, 189—228.Dobson,

Austin, 292, 298, 300, 301,

312 .

Bal lade ofH eroes , 309.

Rondeau of, 305 , 306.

Rondel of, 303.

To a M issal , 298.Trio let of, 307 .

Don Juan, 44 .

Doro thy Q ., 299.

Dorset, Earl of, 286 .

Drayton, M ichael , Bal lad Of, 34 .

Sonnet of,118 .

Drink to me only with thine Eyes,246.

Dromore,Bishop of, 73 .

Drummond, W i l l iam , 118 .

Dryden, John, 39, 146 , 200, 25 8 , 260.

Odes of, 15 8 .

Duddon,Sonnets on , 127.

Duenna, The, 260.

Duncan Grey came here to WOO,

360 i NDEx

Edward,ba l lad

, 95 . French form s , 301-

324.

Ellsmere , Lo rd , 7 1 . French rom ances, 39 , 66 .

Emerso n,Ra lph W a ldo , 226.

End- sto pt l ines , 5 1.

Endym ion , 50.

Ep ic , The, 325-

35 6.

C lasses Of, 330, 331 .

Early Russian , 338.

Germanic , 35 2 .

H istoric qua l ity Of, 329.

Ora l transm iss ion of, 337 .

Scand inavian, 35 2.

Epic poetry , So urce of, 327 .

Subject matter of, 328 .

Ep ic Songs ofRussia , 340.

Epic tone, The, 326 .

Ep istles ofW a l ler,15 3 .

Ep itha lam ion , 40,149, 150,

169.

Etin the Fo rester, 88. Odes of, 162 .

Eve ofSt. Agnes, 45 , 47 . Greek pro cess ionalOde , 60.

Evening, Ode to , 162. Greene, Robert, Songs of, 250, 25 5 .

F

Faerie Queene, 45 , 46, 332 , 354.Fairfax , Edward , 44 .

Fa ith fu l Shepherdess,25 2 .

Fa lstaff, 7 1.

Fancy Bal l , The, 292 .

Farewe l l to N ancy, 266.

Field Mouse, Lines to a ,162 .

FitzGerald , Edward, 298 .

Fletcher, John, 25 2 ,253 , 25 8.

Flo dden,Battle of, 353 .

Flo dden Field,87 .

Fly Leaves , 316 .

Fo o t, The, 11—14 .

Change Of, 36 .

Greek names of, 14.

Kinds of, 13.

Fo r Our Lady of th e Rocks, sonnet, 138 .

Forget N o t Yet, 248 .

France, Ode to , 166 .

Freedom , Ode to , 166 .

GGather Ye Ro sebuds, 25 5 .

Gay, John , 260.

George I I I , Ode to , 200.

G ifford, W i l l iam ,206 .

Gi lbert, W i l l iam S ., 35 .

Go , Lo vely Ro se , 25 8 , 283 .

Go ldsm ith , O l iver, 29, 34 , 73 ,

260.

Song of, 261.Goo d-night to the Season , 292 .

Goo dy B lake, 7 3 .

Go sse, Edmund, 147 , 2 86 , 3 11.

firay, Thomas

,29, 73 , 126 , 148 ,

H

Habington,W i l l iam ,285 .

H a i l C o lumbia, 233 .

Ha l lam , Arthur, 2 10,2 14.

H apgo o d,Isabella , 340.

Happy Return, 15 3 .

Harte, Francis Bret, 36 , 105 .

Haunch ofVenison, 34.

Haunted Pa lace, The , 27 1 .

Hawtho rne,Nathaniel , 336.

Verses to , 226.

Hazl itt,W i l l iam , 193 .

Heathen Chinee, 36 .

Heaven, Ode to , 17 1.

Henry V I I I , 38.Herbert, George, 257 , 259.

H erbert, W i l l iam , 246 .

H ero ic songs , Russian, 339.

H ero ic verse, 38 .

Anglo -Saxon, 349.

Germanic , 35 2 .

Scand inavian, 35 2 .


362 INDEx

King John, 328 .

King John and the Abbo t, 63—65 .

King Lear, 35 5 .

King’

s Co l lege Chapel, Sonnet on,

129, 130.

Kings ley, Charles, Songs of, 234 .

King’

s Tragedy, 86.

Kip l ing,Rudyard , 270, 324.

Kriemhild, Story of, 35 2.Kyrie l le , La , 315 .

Kubla Khan, 15 5 , 169.

LL

’

Allegro , 37 .

La Bel le Dame sans Merci , 86 .

La Ro chefoucauld, Franco is, 280.

Ladder ofthe Heart,257 .

Lai, Le , 315 .

Lake Isle ofInnisfall, 31.

Lament ofDuncan, 266 .

Lament Ofthe BorderW idow,The

95 0

Landor, Walter S 296.

Verses on, 17 8 , 224 .

Lang, Andrew, Sonnet of, 112 .

Lanier, S idney, 2 1.Ode of, 146 , 187 , 188.

Last Leaf, 5 2 , 299.

Late M assacre in Piedmont, 110.

Laus D eo , 186.

Lawrence,M i lton'

s sonnet to , 125 .

Lay ofSadko , 340.

Lay ofthe Last M instrel , 74 , 86.

Lazarus , Emma, Sonnets of, 143.

Lead,Kind ly Light, 33 ,

6 1.

Learned , Wa lter, 300.

Letter to Maria Gisborne, 5 4 .

Levett, Dr. , Verses on , 263 .

Liberty, Ode to , 162 ,

166 , 17 1 .

Life and Death of Sardanapa lusSonnet on, 113 .

Li l ly, Laura ,Verses to , 291.

Linco ln, Ode o n

,183 , 184 , 185 .

Lindsay, Lady, 265 .

Line, The, 14- 25 .

Lines on the Mermaid Tavern, 33.

Lo chinvar, 266 .

Lo cker-Lampson, Frederick , 292,296 , 298.

Lo cks ley H a l l, 38.Longfel low, H enry W 28

, 29, 87 ,226 , 273.

Ode, 186 .

Skeleton in Armor, 5 1.

Sonnets Of, 141.

Lord Burleigh , ballad, 74 .

Lo tus Eaters , The, 46 , 47 , 48 .

Lovelace, R ichard, 25 8, 259.

Verses Of, 285 .

Lo ve’

s Labor's Lo st, 50, 335 .

Lowel l , James Russel l, 5 5 , 161, 273 .

Commemoration Ode, 182, 183 .

Under the Old Elm , 185 .

Lucasta , To ,25 8 .

Luci le, 293 .

Lycidas. 5 5 . I S3. 15 5 . 193. I 94 . 223.226 .

Lyly , John, song, 244 .

Lyra Elegantium , 296 .

Lyric,The, 229

—274 .

American, 273 .

Bacon,238 .

Definitio n Of, 229.

El izabethan, 236 , 254 .

N ineteenth century, 270.

Po e, 27 1 .

Provenca l , 3 17 .

Seventeenth century , 254 .

Shel ley, 269 .

Lyrica l tone, Change in , 25 8 .

MMacaulay , Thomas B., 24 .

Macbeth , 329 , 35 5 .

Madrigal , 249.

Ma lo ry , Thomas , 329, 35 3 .

Manda lay, 270.

Marlowe,Christo pher, 27 , 25 2 .

INDEX

Marm ion , 74 , 87 . 353 .

Maro t, C lement, 313 .

Marriage Hymn,22 1 .

Marse i l laise, La , 235 .

Marvel,Andrew, 15 3 .

Maud , 270.

Meliboeus , Tale of, 68 .

Memory , Ode to ,179.

M ered ith, Owen, 280.

The Portrait, 293 .

Meres , Francis , 118 .

Merington, Marguerite, 274 .

Meter, 25 .

M eum est pro po situm , 66 .

M idd leton,Thomas

,25 8 .

M idsummer-N ight's Dream , A335

M iffi in,Lloyd , Sonnets of, 143 .

M i l l Dams ofBinno rie, 95 .

M i lton, John,19, 29, 37 , 50, 5 5 , 108

Hymn o n the Nativny,15 3 .

I I Pensero so , 20.

L’

Allegro ,20

, 37 .

Lyc idas , 193 , 194 .

Shel ley 's verse o n, 203 .

Song of, 25 2 .

Sonnets Of, 110, 124 .

M i lton, So nnet o n, 128 .

M instrelsy ofthe Border, 83 .

M iss Kilmansegg, 34 , 35 .

M istress Flo uted ,285 .

M o dulated variety , 5 8 .

M ogg Megone ,87 .

M o l iere,Jean Baptiste, 279.

M o l ly Trefusis ,298 .

M onk ’

s Ta le, 45 .

M onro e , H arriet, Ode Of,187 .

M ont B lanc , Ode to 166 , 17 1 .

M o o dy;W i l l iam V Odes of, 188 .

M o ore, Thomas , Songs of, 267 , 296 .

Verse on,205 .

Verses on Death of Sheridan,

M orris , W i l l iam , 39.

M o rte Darthur, 326 , 329.

Mounta in Daisy, To a , 266 .

Mouse, To a , 266 .

My Love is l ike a Red , Red

265 .

My Partner, 292 .

Nairn, Lady , 265 .

Nameless Grave, The, 142 .

N ap les , Ode to , 166 , 173.

New H o pe, a sestina , 320.

N ew Inn , The , 15 2 .

Newman, John, 33 .

N ibelungenl ied, 326 , 35 2 .

N ightingale, Ode to , 146 , 174, 175 ,176.

N ight,Sonnet on

,108.

NOrmans, 66 .

N o tes ofa H oneymo on, 307 .

N o thing to W ear, 299.

0

Ocean, Address to , 166 .

Ode , The, 146—188 .

Anacreo n'

s , 149.

Byron'

s , 173 .

Centennial Cantata, 187 .Choral

,167 .

Co leridge'

s. 168.

Co l l ins ’

s , 161 .

Commemoration, 182.

Cowley '

s , 15 7 , 161.

D efinition of,147 .

Derivation of, 146.

Dryden'

s , 15 8 , 200.

Eighteenth century , 166.

Gray ’s , 163 .

Greek pro cess ional , 60, 164.

H oratian, 17 , 147 .

H ymn o n the Nativity , 15 3 .

Intimations of Immorta l ity , 5 5 ,5 6 , 5 8 , 15 5 , 166 , 167 .

364 INDEX

Ode Continued

Irregular, 15 5 .

Ita l ian, 149.

Jonson ’

s, 15 2 .

Keats ’

s , 174.

Kinds of, 146.Lanier’

s , 187 .

Longfe l low’

s, 186.

Lowel l ’s C ommemoration, 182.

Marve l ’s , 15 3.

M ilton’

s , 15 3 .

On S t. Cec i lia '

s Day, 146 .

On the Duke OfW e l lington, 148 ,

179, 190.

Patmore’

s , 177 .

Pindaric , 5 7 , 157 .

Sappho '

s, 149.

She l ley's , 17 1 .

Spenser’s , 150.

Swinburne'

s, 178.

Tennyson ’

s , 179.

To a N ightingale, 175 .TO Duty , 167 .

To Liberty, 17 1, 173.

To Nap les , 166 , 173 .

TO N apo leon Bo naparte, 173.

To the Unknown Ero s , 17 7 .

To the W est W ind, 4 1, 42 , 166 ,

269.

To V ictor Hugo , 179.

Under the Old Elm ,185 .

W ordsworth ’

s , 5 5 , 5 6, 167 .

Odyssey, 327 , 338 .

Old Sedan Cha ir,Omar Khayyam , 43.

On a G ird le ,25 8 , 283 .

On the Morning OfChrist's Nativity ,153 .

Othe l lo ,Story of, ba l lad , 7 1.

Ottava rima , 44 .

Our Lady of the Ro cks , sonnet

138 .

O W a ly, W a ly,26 1 .

Ozymand ias, Sonnet o n, 131.

PPalamon and Arcite, 334.

Pan inW a l l Street, 299 .

Panegyric o n the Lo rd Pro tector,153 .

Parad ise Lo st, 169 , 27 7 , 330, 353.

Parsons , Thomas W ., 143 .

Passio ns , Ode , 162 .

Pastora l po etry , 25 1.

Patmore,Coventry

, 177 .

Pau l Revere ’

s R ide,87 .

Pembroke, Lady , Verses o n, 246 .

Percy and D oug las,Battle of

, 69.

Percy , Thomas , 73 , 7 6 .

Peter Be l l, 73.

Petrarch,Francis , 17 , 117 , 136, 310.

Pho netic syzygy , 27 .

Pibro ch ofD onuilDhu, 266 .

Pindar, 69, 163 .

Odes of, 149, 154 .

Places ofWorsh ip , Sonnet on, 129.

Poe, Edgar A l lan, 29.

The Haunted Pa lace, 27 1 .

Poem s on Severa l Occas ions , 259.

Po etic Syntax , 48—5 4.Poetica l Rhapsody , 281 .

Po etry, Justification of, 7 .

Pasto ra l , 25 1 .

Pleasure from , 8 .

Pope,A lexander, 39, 50, 5 1 , 5 2 , 73 ,

243. 29°

Trans lation Of I l iad , 49.

Portra it, The , 293 .

Portuguese,Sonnets from the, 133 ,

I 34 ,135 '

Praed,W inthro p M . . 290, 291 , 296 ,

298 , 300.

Prayer to Ben Jonso n, H is, 25 5 .

Pre-Raphae l ite Bro therho o d , 136.Princess , The, 270.

Prio r, M atthew, 259, 288 , 296 , 300.

Verses , 288 .

Pro cter,Bryan Wa l ler, on Songs.

233 .


366 INDEx

Shakespeare Continued

Romeo and Jul iet, 316.

Sonnets of, 236.

Twel fth N ight, 24 1.

Venus and Adonis , 19.

W inter’s Ta le, 197 .Shakespeare-Bacon propo sition,

238 .

Shel ley , Percy B. , 19, 20, 28 , 29, 41,

45 » 47 . 170.I 74 . 234~

Ado nais , 193 , 200, 202.

Epitaph of,206.

Letter to Maria G isbo rne, 54.

Lyric , 269 .

Ode to Liberty , 166 , 17 1 , 173 .

Ode to N ap les , 166 , 173 .

Ode to the W estW ind, 4 1 , 166 ,269 .

Skylark , 20.

Sonnet of,131.

Shephearde’

s Ca lendar, 25 2.Sheridan , R ichard B ., 260.

Verses on death of, 267 ,268 .

Shirley,James , 25 8 .

S idney , Lady Dorothy, 283.

S idney,M ary , Verses o n, 246 .

S idney , SirPhilip , 114 ,

Defence ofPo es ie , 69 .

Sonnets of, 1 15 , 236 .

Sir Patrick Spens, 79, 87 .

S ister H elen, 86 .

Ske leton in Armor, 5 1.

Skylark , 173 .

S lavic Songs, 338.

So ciety verse, 27 5—300.

Art in, 27 6.

Definition of, 27 5 .

Derivation from H orace, 27 8.

Indebtedness to chiva lry , 279.

Indebtedness to France, 279.

Origin of, 27 8 .

Tone of, 27 8 .

Song, The,229

- 274 .

Arcades , 25 2 .

Song Continued

Byrd ’

s, 237 .

Burns'

s, 265 ,Cherry R ipe , 254.

Definition of, 232 .

Dekker’

s,247 .

Eighteenth century, 259.

E li zabethan,236 .

Go ldsm ith’

s , 261 .

Greene ’

s , 250.

H aunted Palace, 271.

H errick ’

s , 254.

H eywo o d ’

s , 250.

in dramas , 253 .

Intro duction of, 236,

Jonson'

s , 245 .

Lyly’

s , 244.

M i lton'

s,25 2.

M oore ’

s , 267 .

ofthe C ivi l W ar, 234 .

O W a ly,Wa ly

, 261.

Scotch,264 .

Sco tt’s , 266 .

Tennyson ’

s, 270.

Upon Jul ia ’

s Hair, 254.Written at Sea , 286 .

W yatt’s , 248.

Song ofthe Brown Ro sary, 74.

Songs to the Muses , 25 9.

Sonnet, The,107—145 .

Astrophel and Stel la, 114.Beauty of, 144 .

Byron’

s , 130.

Chapman’

s H omer, 110.

Definition Of, 107 .

B rayton’

s , 118 .

From the Po rtuguese, 133 ,135 .

H artley Co leridge'

s , 105 .

H omeric Unity , 1 12 .

Ho use ofLife,137 .

Intro duction, 113.

I ta l ian, 111 .

Ital ian variant, 112.

INDEX

Sonnet Continued

Keats ’

s,110, 132 , 133.

Lang '

s , 112 .

Late Massacre in Piedmont, 110.

Life and Death ofSardanapalus ,113 .

Lo ngfe l low’

s , 141.

Lyrica l character of, 236 .

M etrical r ule,111 .

M i lton'

s , 110.

Nameless Grave, The, 142.

N ight,108 .

on M i lton, 128.

on the sonnet, 144 , 145 .

Raleigh'

s, 117 .

Rossetti 's , 136 , 144 , 145 .

Rules Of, 107 .

Sequences , 114 .

Shakespeare'

s, 113 , 118 , 119.

She l ley ’

s, 131.

S idney ’s , 115 .

Spenser’s, 116 .

Symmetry and asymmetry of,143 .

To Agassi z, 142 .

Venice, 128.

W atts'

s , 145 .

W estm inster Bridge, 109.

White'

s , 108 .

W ordsworth'

s , 109, 127 , 144.

Sonnetto,107 .

Sordel lo , 5 3 , 54 .

Southey, Robert, 5 7 , 200.

Spenser,Edmund

,119, 149,

-35 5Ep ithalam ion

, 40, 150, 169.

Faerie Queene, 4 5 , 46 , 35 4 .

Sonnets Of, 116 ,117 , 236 .

Stanza , The, 40—48 .

Seven- l ine, 44 .

Spenserian, 45 , 46 .

Star-Spangled Banner, 233 .

Stedman, Edmund C . ,

American Antho logy , 27 3—274 .

Ode of, 182 .

Steele , R ichard , 290.

Suck l ing, John, 259, 285 , 296 .

Surrey,Earl of, 113 , 114 , 149,

236

£48.

Svyatogor, Tale of, 344-

347 .

Swi ft, Jonathan,296 .

Swinburne, A lgernon C . , 19, 27 , 36 ,

40, 223 , 301.

A Watch in the N ight, 23.

In M emory OfLandor, 17 8 , 224 .

Ode of, 17 8 .

Ode to Victor Hugo , 179.

Roundel of, 303 , 304 .

Symonds, J. A .,236 .

T

Tal isman, The, 335 .

Tam O’

Shanter, 39.

Tasso,Torquato , 44 , 330.

Tempest, The, 335 , 35 5 .

Song in, 240.

Tennyson , A lfred , 15 ,

133. 148. 150.15 5 . 234 .

Bal lads of, 74 .

In Memoriam, 43 , 193 , 2 10

- 223 .

Lo cks ley Hal l , 38.

Marriage Hym’

n, 22 1 .

Ode, 179, 180, 183 , 190.

Two Vo ices , 41.

Tenso , 3 16.

Terza rima, 4 1.Teutonic tales , 35 2.

Thackeray, W . M 296, 297 .

Tha laba, 5 7 .

The world is to o much with us ,

sonnet, 127 .

Th ink and Act, sonnet, 140.

Thomas , Ed ith , Sonnets of, 143 .

Thomas the Rhymer, 83 .

Thomson, James , 45 .

Tho rpe,Thomas

,119.

Three Fishers, The, 234.

Three Friends ofM ine , sonnet, 141.

Three-sy l lab le feet, 33.

368 INDEx

Threno dy,226. V i l lon, Franco is , 3 10.

Thyrsis , 223 . Virgi l, 5 1, 25 1 , 330.

T ime beat, N ormal,12. Virgins

, TO the, 25 6 .

TO Agass iz, sonnet, 142. Virtue , 259.

To A lthea from Prison, 285 . Vision OfJudgment, 44 , 174 .

To a M issa l , 298.

To Chlo e, 288 .

To Lucasta , 25 8.

To Victo r Hugo in Exi le, 179.

To lsto i , Count, 348 .

Tornada , 319.

Tourneur, Cyri l, 25 8 .

Toussa intL’

Ouverture, sonnet, 127 .

Tramp, Tramp , Tramp, 234 .

Trio let, 307 .

Tro i lus and Criseyde, 44 , 68 , 15 3 ,

279, 3%Tro y Town, 74.

Twa Corbies , The, 95 .

Twa S isters , The, 97 .

Twel fth N ight, song, 24 1.

Two Say ings , Sonnet o n, 136.

Two Vo ices, The, 4 1 .

Ulysses , 7 .

Under the Old Elm , 185 .

Unknown E i o s, Ode to , 177 .

Upon Ju l ia ’

s H a ir, 254 .

Usage ofPoets , 19.

V

Vanderbogart, H . B . , 313.

Variety,M o du lated , 5 8.

Venice,Sonnet o n, 127 ,

128 .

Vers de So cié té , 27 5 .

Verse, American so ciety, 299.

End—stOpt, 50.

ofcu lture, 297 .

Overflow, 50.

So ciety , 27 5 .

V icar, The, 298 .Y

V icar CfW akefield, 260. Ya le B icentennia l , Ode at, 182.Vil lanel le, 31 1. Yeats

,W i l l iam B . , 3 1 .

W

Wa ller, Edmund , 15 3 , 25 8, 283 .

Warton, Thomas , 126.

Watch in the N ight,A

, 23 , 178 .

Watts,Theodo re ,

145 , 331.

Wel l ington , Ode o n,148 , 15 5 , 179,

182 , 190.

W estm inster Bridge,Sonnet on,

109,127 .

W est W ind, Ode to , 166 , 17 1, 173 .

W . H . ,120.

W h ite, B lanco , Sonnet by, 108.

Wh ite Sh ip , 74 ,87 .

Whitman,W a lt, 5 8 .

Wh ittier, John G ., 87 , 105 , 186,

273W iggleswo rth, M ichae l , 7 2 .

W inter's Ta le, A , 70, 198, 335 , 35 5 .

W ishes to H is Supposed M istress ,25 8.

W ister, Owen, Odes Of, 188.W ither

,George , 281.

W orld ’

s Fa ir, Ode at, 187 .

W ordsworth, W i l l iam , 15 , 50, 5 3 ,

5 5 . 5 6. 5 7 . 73 . 108.12 1. 123 .

127 ,130, 148 , 15 5 , 16 1 , 165 ,

166 , 17 8.

Intimations of Immorta l ity, 166,169.

Odes of, 166 .

Ode to Duty, 167 , 168.

Sonnets of,109 , 127 ,

144.

Wyatt, Thomas,1 13 , 115 , 149.

Song of, 236 , 248.

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