#THE WORLD'S# GREAT CLASSICS LIBRARY COMM1TTEE Timothy Dwight, D.D. LLD. Richard Henry Stoddard Arthur Richmond Marsh. A.B. Paul van Dyke, D.D. Albert Ellery Bergh •ILLUSTRATED•WITH•NEARLY•TWO •HUNDRED•PHOTOGRAVURES•ETCHINGS •COLORED•PLATES•AND•FULL• •PAGE•PORTRAITS•OF•GREAT•AUTHORS• Clarence Cook--Art Editor. •THE•COLONIAL•PRESS• •NEW•YORK•MDCCCXCIX [Illustration: Robert Burns] HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE HIPPOLYTE ADOLPHE TAINE TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY HENRY VAN LAUN WITH A SPECIAL INTRODUCTION BY J. SCOTT CLARK, A. M. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY REVISED EDITION VOLUME III CONTENTS BOOK III.--THE CLASSIC AGE (_Continued_) CHAPTER SEVENTH The Poets Section I.--The Domination of the Classical Spirit Section II.--Alexander Pope.--His Education and Mode of Life Section III.--Eloisa to Abelard.--The Rape of the Lock.--The Dunciad Section IV.--Pope's Descriptive Talent.--His Didactic Poems Section V.--The Poets Prior, Gay, and Thomson Section VI.--The Beginnings of the Modern Age BOOK IV.--MODERN LIFE CHAPTER FIRST Ideas and Productions Section I.--Rise of Democracy Section II.--Robert Burns Section III.--Conservative rule in England.--Cowper's Poetry Section IV.--The Romantic School Section V.--Philosophy Enters into Literature.--Wordsworth.--Shelley CHAPTER SECOND Lord Byron Section I.--His Life and Character Section II.--The Style of Byron's Poetry Section III.--Byron's Short Poems Section IV.--Manfred Section V.--What Byron's Contemporaries Thought of Him.--His Morals Section VI.--The Malady of the Age CHAPTER THIRD The Past and Present _Part I.--The Past_ Section I.--The Saxon Invasion--The Norman Conquest Section II.--Formative Periods Section III.--The Broadening of Ideas _Part II.--The Present_ Section I.--Effects of the Saxon Invasion and the Norman Conquest Section II.--English Commerce and Industry Section III.--Agriculture Section IV.--English Society.--Philosophy.--Religion Section V.--What Forces Have Produced the Present Civilization BOOK V.--MODERN AUTHORS Introductory Note CHAPTER FIRST The Novel.--Dickens _Part I.--The Author_ Section I.--Importance of the Imaginative Faculty Section II.--Boldness of Dickens's Imagination Section III.--His Trivialities.--His Minuteness Section IV.--His Emotions.--His Pathos.--His Humor _Part II.--The Public_ Section I.--The Morality of English Novels _Part III.--The Characters_ Section I.--Dickens's Love for Natural Characters Section II.--The Hypocrite.--The Positive Man.--The Proud Man Section III.--Children Section IV.--The Ideal Man CHAPTER SECOND The Novel (Continued)--Thackeray Comparison between Dickens and Thackeray _Part I.--The Satirist_ Section I.--The English Satirist Section II.--The English Temperament Section III.--Superiority of Thackeray as a Satirist.--Literary Snobs Section IV.--Resemblance of Thackeray to Swift Section V.--Thackeray's Misanthropy Section VI.--His Characters _Part II.--The Artist_