While he has never neglected the practical aspect of his task, the writer of the present work has never been content with a bleak summary of our literary history. It has been his ambition to set out the facts with clearness, vivacity, and some kind of literary elegance. How far he has succeeded the reader must judge. The use of the Bibliography (Appendix II) is strongly urged upon all readers. Such a book as the present cannot avoid being fragmentary and incomplete. The student should therefore pursue his inquiries into the volumes mentioned in the Appendix. Owing to the restrictions of space, the Bibliography is small. But all the books given are of moderate price or easily accessible. Moreover, they have been tested by repeated personal use, and can be recommended with some confidence. There remains to set on record the author’s gratitude to his colleagues and good friends, for their skill and good-nature in revising the manuscript and in making many excellent suggestions. E. A. EDINBURGH CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 1 II. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 15 III. THE AGE OF CHAUCER 32 IV. FROM CHAUCER TO SPENSER 57 V. THE AGE OF ELIZABETH 87 VI. THE AGE OF MILTON 159 VII. THE AGE OF DRYDEN 190 VIII. THE AGE OF POPE 231 IX. THE AGE OF TRANSITION 281 X. THE RETURN TO NATURE 362 XI. THE VICTORIAN AGE 451 XII. THE POST-VICTORIAN AGE 518 GENERAL QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 562 APPENDIX I: GENERAL TABLES 581 APPENDIX II: BIBLIOGRAPHY 591 INDEX TO EXTRACTS 601 GENERAL INDEX 607 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Permissions to use copyrighted material have been courteously granted by the following American publishers: _Brentano’s, Inc._ for the right to print extracts from the works of Bernard Shaw; _E. P. Dutton & Company_ for Siegfried Sassoon; _Duffield & Company_ for H. G. Wells; _Dodd Mead & Company_ for Rupert Brooke; _Harper & Brothers_ for Thomas Hardy; _John W. Luce & Company_ for J. M. Synge; and _Charles Scribner’s Sons_ for John Galsworthy, and R. L. Stevenson.