By-ways in Book-land: Short Essays on Literary Subjects — John Shaqi
By-ways in Book-land: Short Essays on Literary SubjectsAdams, W. H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport)
History
By-ways in Book-land: Short Essays on Literary Subjects
Adams, W. H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport)
English literature -- History and criticism
In the couplet and quatrain of pure sentiment and reflection, some of
the most delightful of our poetry is embodied. Herrick was conspicuously
fond of this species of verse, and his works abound in gems of style and
fancy, the difficulty being, not to find them, but to select from them.
The beauty of one is apt to be rivalled by that of its neighbour. Thus
we find on one page:
'When words we want, Love teaches to indite;
And what we blush to speak, she bids us write.'
And on another:
'Love's of itself too sweet; the best of all
Is when love's honey has a dash of gall.'
Then there is Lord Lyttelton's distich about 'Love can hope when reason
would despair;' there are Aaron Hill's famous lines on 'modest ease in
beauty,' which, though it 'means no mischief, does it all.' There are
Sir William Jones's 'To an Infant Newly Born;' Wolcot's 'To Sleep;'
Luttrell's 'On Death;' and many, many others.
Of nineteenth-century writers, the most admirable composer of the
epigraph has been Landor, who in this, as in some other respects, may be
placed in the same category with Herrick. What, for instance, could be
prettier than this?
'Your pleasures spring like daisies in the grass,
Cut down, and up again as blithe as ever;
From you, Ianthe, little troubles pass
Like little ripples in a sunny river.'
How well-phrased, again, is this:
'Various the roads of life; in one
All terminate, one lonely way.
We go; and "Is he gone?"
Is all our best friends say.'
Among living authors, Mr. Aubrey de Vere can lay claim to a quatrain
which is entirely faultless:
'For me no roseate garlands twine,
But wear them, dearest, in my stead;
Time has a whiter hand than thine,
And lays it on my head.'
To this, Sir Henry Taylor wrote a pendant scarcely less fortunate in
idea and wording. Lord Tennyson has in his day written several epitaphs,
inscriptions, and other trifles; but none of them have quite the
perfection which might have been looked for from so great a master of
poetic form. Mr. Matthew Arnold produced, with others, this excellent
epigraph:
'Though the Muse be gone away,
Though she move not earth to-day,
Souls erewhile who caught her word,
Ah! still harp on what they heard.'
Finally, the reader may be recommended to glance at Mr. William
Allingham's little book of 'Blackberries,' in which they will find a
large number of such 'snatches of song,' many of them fresh in
conception and finished in execution.
THE 'SEASON' IN SONG.
'To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die,' and the Season, when
'dead,' yet speaks to many through the mouths of the men who have given
it perennial life in verse. Its first laureate, one may say, was
Mackworth Praed, whose 'Good-night' to it still remains the most
brilliant epitome of its characteristics ever written. Nothing was
omitted from that remarkable series of coruscating epigrams. From
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account