(2) Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour.[131] England hath need of thee: she is a fen Of stagnant waters; altar, sword, and pen, Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower, Have forfeited their ancient English dower Of inward happiness. We are selfish men; Oh! raise us up, return to us again; And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart; Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free, So didst thou travel on life’s common way, In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay. WORDSWORTH, _To Milton_ (3) He left the upland lawns and serene air Wherefrom his soul her noble nurture drew, And reared his helm among the unquiet crew Battling beneath; the morning radiance rare Of his young brow amid the tumult there Grew grim with sulphurous heat and sanguine dew: Yet through all soilure they who marked him knew The sign of his life’s dayspring, calm and fair. But when peace came, peace fouler far than war, And mirth more dissonant than battle’s tone, He, with a scornful sigh of that clear soul, Back to his mountain clomb, now bleak and frore, And with the awful night he dwelt alone, In darkness, listening to the thunder’s roll. ERNEST MYERS, _Milton_ 5. “Milton neither belonged to nor founded a school.” Expand this statement, and try to account for the truth of it. 6. Point out the effects, good and bad, of the civil and religious strife upon the literature of the time. 7. “Both in prose and poetry the period is a turning-point in the history of English literature.” Discuss this statement. 8. Write a brief essay on “The Poetry of Puritanism.” CHAPTER VII THE AGE OF DRYDEN TIME-CHART OF THE CHIEF AUTHORS _The thick line shows the period of active literary work._