In his deportment, shape, and mien, appear'd Brought from a pensive though a happy place. He spake of love, such love as spirits feel Of all that is most beauteous imaged there In happier beauty, more pellucid streams, An ampler ether, a diviner air, And fields invested with purpureal gleams, Climes which the sun, who sheds the brightest day Yet there the soul shall enter which hath earned That privilege by virtue." Ill," said he, Could draw, when we had parted, vain delight, "And while my youthful peers, before my eyes, "The wished-for wind was given : I then revolved That of a thousand vessels, mine should be "Yet bitter, ofttimes bitter, was the pang When of thy loss I thought, beloved wife ; On thee too fondly did my memory hang, And on the joys we shared in mortal life, The paths which we had trod - these fountains, flowers; My new-planned cities, and unfinished towers. 125 130 "But should suspense permit the soul to cry, 'Behold, they tremble ! — haughty their array, Yet of their number no one dares to die'? 135 Old frailties then recurred: - but lofty thought, "And thou, though strong in love, art all too weak In reason, in self-government too slow; 140 I counsel thee by fortitude to seek Our blest reunion in the shades below. The invisible world with thee hath sympathized; "Learn by a mortal yearning to ascend Aloud she shrieked! for Hermes reappears! Round the dear shade she would have clung - 'tis vain : 145 150 And him no mortal effort can detain : Swift, toward the realms that know not earthly day Thus, all in vain exhorted and reproved, 155 160 Yet tears to human suffering are due; 165 From out the tomb of him for whom she died; 170 CHAPTER XXIV MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE I. MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS THE following topics are intended to be used for examination and review questions; also as subjects for essays, discussions, and familiar talks.1 I. Mention and describe three English literary productions previous to the time of Chaucer. 2. When did Chaucer live? Name his greatest work, and give an analysis of its plan. 3. Sketch briefly the plan of the Canterbury Tales. What eminent literary men were living in England at the time of Chaucer? 4. Give a brief outline of the rise and progress of the English drama previous to Shakspeare. 5. Tell the chief facts in the life of Shakespeare. Name ten of his dramas. 6. Give a brief account of the development of the drama, from its most primitive form to the time of Shakespeare. 7. Name three great writers of the age of Queen Elizabeth; also one of the leading works of each. 8. Of whom was it said, "The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind," and who said it? 9. Mention three leading works of the author of the above quotation. 10. Name the novelists and historians of Dr. Johnson's time, with their works. 1 For a most complete series of review questions on English and American literature, see Stopford Brooke's "Primer of English Literature," pp. 221-240. II. Give an account of Goldsmith and his works, particularly The Deserted Village. 12. Peculiarities of Cowper as a man and a writer. 13. Name the principal writers contemporary with Scott, and their works. 14. Name the author of each of the following works, and mention another work by each author: Areopagitica, Annus Mirabilis, The Tale of a Tub, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, Lay of the Last Minstrel, Rasselas, Essays of Elia, Sketch Book, Marble Faun, American Flag, Evangeline, Biglow Papers, The Task, The Rivals, Tam O'Shanter, Marmion, The Giaour. 15. Quote from each of the following works, naming the authors: Deserted Village, Essay on Man, Bard, Lady of the Lake. 16. When, and by whom, were the following books written: Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, Pickwick Papers, Faery Queen, In Memoriam? 17. Quote a passage from each of the following works, name the author, point out some of his characteristics as a writer, and tell how this work ranks among the author's other writings: Lady of the Lake, Locksley Hall, We are Seven, Elegy in a Country Churchyard. 18. Mention three additional works by the author of Marmion, and two by the author of The Giaour. 19. Who were the great literary impostors of the latter half of the eighteenth century? 20. Give an account of the life of the greatest Scotch poet, and mention two of his poems. 21. Who were the so-called "Lake School" poets? Mention an important poem by each. 22. Mention three leading English historians and two American historians of the nineteenth century; also the leading work of each. 23. Mention five modern English novelists, also one novel written by each. 24. It is said that Goldsmith might with propriety be called a novelist, a poet, and an historian. Mention a work written by him in each of these departments. 25. Mention the five first great English novelists; name one work of each. 26. Name the three historical writers of the eighteenth century, the leading work of each, and the defects of these historians. 27. Give a brief account of Coleridge's life. Quote from his works. 28. State fully the incidents and peculiarities of style of The Ancient Mariner. 29. Give your own impressions of the poetry of Scott, as compared with that of other poets of about the same period. |