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Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They LivedLong, William J. (William Joseph)

History

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Name: Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived
Author: Long, William J. (William Joseph)

Long, William J. (William Joseph)

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism

When I consider how my light is spent
      Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
      And that one talent, which is death to hide,
      Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
      To serve therewith my Maker, and present
      My true account, lest he returning chide;
      "Doth God exact day labour, light denied?"
      I fondly ask; but Patience, to prevent
      That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
      Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best
      Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
      Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
      And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
      They also serve who only stand and wait."

    With the Restoration (1660) came disaster to the blind Puritan
    poet, who had written too harshly against Charles I to be forgiven
    by Charles II. He was forced to hide; his property was confiscated;
    his works were burned in public by the hangman; had not his fame as
    a writer raised up powerful friends, he would have gone to the
    scaffold when Cromwell's bones were taken from the grave and hanged
    in impotent revenge. He was finally allowed to settle in a modest
    house, and to be in peace so long as he remained in obscurity. So
    the pen was silenced that had long been a scourge to the enemies of
    England.

    [Sidenote: HIS LONELINESS]

    His home life for the remainder of his years impresses us by its
    loneliness and grandeur. He who had delighted as a poet in the
    English country, and more delighted as a Puritan in the fierce
    struggle for liberty, was now confined to a small house, going from
    study to porch, and finding both in equal darkness. He who had
    roamed as a master through the wide fields of literature was now
    dependent on a chance reader. His soul also was afflicted by the
    apparent loss of all that Puritanism had so hardly won, by the
    degradation of his country, by family troubles; for his daughters
    often rebelled at the task of taking his dictation, and left him
    helpless. Saddest of all, there was no love in the house, for with
    all his genius Milton could not inspire affection in his own
    people; nor does he ever reach the heart of his readers.

    [Sidenote: HIS MASTERPIECE]

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

Opening the text

History

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Long, William J. (William Joseph)

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism

When I consider how my light is spent
      Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
      And that one talent, which is death to hide,
      Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
      To serve therewith my Maker, and present
      My true account, lest he returning chide;
      "Doth God exact day labour, light denied?"
      I fondly ask; but Patience, to prevent
      That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
      Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best
      Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
      Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
      And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
      They also serve who only stand and wait."

    With the Restoration (1660) came disaster to the blind Puritan
    poet, who had written too harshly against Charles I to be forgiven
    by Charles II. He was forced to hide; his property was confiscated;
    his works were burned in public by the hangman; had not his fame as
    a writer raised up powerful friends, he would have gone to the
    scaffold when Cromwell's bones were taken from the grave and hanged
    in impotent revenge. He was finally allowed to settle in a modest
    house, and to be in peace so long as he remained in obscurity. So
    the pen was silenced that had long been a scourge to the enemies of
    England.

    [Sidenote: HIS LONELINESS]

    His home life for the remainder of his years impresses us by its
    loneliness and grandeur. He who had delighted as a poet in the
    English country, and more delighted as a Puritan in the fierce
    struggle for liberty, was now confined to a small house, going from
    study to porch, and finding both in equal darkness. He who had
    roamed as a master through the wide fields of literature was now
    dependent on a chance reader. His soul also was afflicted by the
    apparent loss of all that Puritanism had so hardly won, by the
    degradation of his country, by family troubles; for his daughters
    often rebelled at the task of taking his dictation, and left him
    helpless. Saddest of all, there was no love in the house, for with
    all his genius Milton could not inspire affection in his own
    people; nor does he ever reach the heart of his readers.

    [Sidenote: HIS MASTERPIECE]

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

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

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