A history of English literature : $b A practical text-book

Name: A history of English literature : $b A practical text-book
Author: Albert, Edward

Albert, Edward

English literature -- History and criticism

And about the space of one hour after, another confidently
   affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him; for
   he is a Galilean.

   And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And
   immediately, when he yet spake, the cock crew.

   And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered
   the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock
   crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

   And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
                                                         _St. Luke_


=6. The Lyrical Portions.= These (which include the Psalms, the
Song of Solomon, much of the Book of Job, and the frequent passages,
such as the song of Sisera, which occur in the narrative books) are
perhaps the most important as literature. In addition to their native
shrewdness and persistence, the Jews had a strongly emotional strain,
which finds wide expression in the Bible. Their poetry, like that
of the Old English, was rhythmic; it went by irregularly distributed
beats or accents. The English translators to a large extent preserved
the Jewish rhythms, adding to them the music, the cadence, the soar
and the swing of ecstatic English prose. In theme Jewish poetry is
the primitive expression of simple people regarding the relations of
man and God and the universe. Its similes and metaphors are based
upon simple elemental things--the heavens, the running water, and
the congregations of wild beasts. The emotions are mystically and
rapturously expressed, and convey the impression of much earnestness.
The following extract is fairly typical of its kind:

   As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul
   after thee, O God.

   My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come
   and appear before God?

   My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually
   say unto me, Where is thy God?

   When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I
   had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of
   God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that
   kept holyday.

   Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted
   in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help
   of his countenance.
                                                   _The Book of Psalms_

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

A history of English literature : $b A practical text-bookAlbert, Edward

History

A history of English literature : $b A practical text-book

Albert, Edward

English literature -- History and criticism

And about the space of one hour after, another confidently
   affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him; for
   he is a Galilean.

   And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And
   immediately, when he yet spake, the cock crew.

   And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered
   the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock
   crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

   And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
                                                         _St. Luke_


=6. The Lyrical Portions.= These (which include the Psalms, the
Song of Solomon, much of the Book of Job, and the frequent passages,
such as the song of Sisera, which occur in the narrative books) are
perhaps the most important as literature. In addition to their native
shrewdness and persistence, the Jews had a strongly emotional strain,
which finds wide expression in the Bible. Their poetry, like that
of the Old English, was rhythmic; it went by irregularly distributed
beats or accents. The English translators to a large extent preserved
the Jewish rhythms, adding to them the music, the cadence, the soar
and the swing of ecstatic English prose. In theme Jewish poetry is
the primitive expression of simple people regarding the relations of
man and God and the universe. Its similes and metaphors are based
upon simple elemental things--the heavens, the running water, and
the congregations of wild beasts. The emotions are mystically and
rapturously expressed, and convey the impression of much earnestness.
The following extract is fairly typical of its kind:

   As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul
   after thee, O God.

   My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come
   and appear before God?

   My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually
   say unto me, Where is thy God?

   When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I
   had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of
   God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that
   kept holyday.

   Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted
   in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help
   of his countenance.
                                                   _The Book of Psalms_

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

A history of English literature : $b A practical text-book

A history of English literature : $b A practical text-book

No reviews yet