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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

WHAT TO READ. One should begin with the simplest of Browning's works, and
preferably with those in which he shows some regard for verbal melody. As
romantic love is his favorite theme, it is perhaps well to begin with a few
of the love lyrics "My Star," "By the Fireside," "Evelyn Hope," and
especially "The Last Ride Together". To these may be added some of the
songs that brighten the obscurity of his longer pieces, such as "I Send my
Heart," "Oh Love--No Love" and "There's a Woman Like a Dewdrop". Next in
order are the ballads, "The Pied Piper," "Hervé Riel" and "How they Brought
the Good News"; and then a few miscellaneous short poems, such as "Home
Thoughts from Abroad," "Prospice," "The Boy and the Angel" and "Up at a
Villa--Down in the City."

[Sidenote: DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES]

The above poems are named not because they are particularly fine examples
of their kind, but by way of introduction to a poet who is rather hard to
read. When these are known, and are found not so obscure as we feared, then
will be the time to attempt some of Browning's dramatic monologues. Of
these there is a large variety, portraying many different types of
character, but we shall name only a few. "Andrea del Sarto" is a study of
the great Italian painter, "the perfect painter," whose love for a pretty
but shallow woman was as a millstone about his neck. "My Last Duchess" is a
powerfully drawn outline of a vain and selfish nobleman. "Abt Vogler" is a
study of the soul of a musician. "Rabbi ben Ezra," one of the most typical
of Browning's works, is the word of an old man who faces death, as he had
faced life, with magnificent courage. "An Epistle" relates the strange
experience of Karshish, an Arab physician, as recorded in a letter to his
master Abib. Karshish meets Lazarus (him who was raised from the dead) and,
regarding him as a patient, describes his symptoms,--such symptoms as a man
might have who must live on earth after having looked on heaven. The
physician's half-scoffing words show how his habitual skepticism is shaken
by a glimpse of the unseen world. He concludes, but his doubt is stronger
than his conclusion, that Lazarus must be a madman:

  "And thou must love me who have died for thee."
  The madman saith He said so: it is strange!

[Sidenote: SAUL]

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

WHAT TO READ. One should begin with the simplest of Browning's works, and
preferably with those in which he shows some regard for verbal melody. As
romantic love is his favorite theme, it is perhaps well to begin with a few
of the love lyrics "My Star," "By the Fireside," "Evelyn Hope," and
especially "The Last Ride Together". To these may be added some of the
songs that brighten the obscurity of his longer pieces, such as "I Send my
Heart," "Oh Love--No Love" and "There's a Woman Like a Dewdrop". Next in
order are the ballads, "The Pied Piper," "Hervé Riel" and "How they Brought
the Good News"; and then a few miscellaneous short poems, such as "Home
Thoughts from Abroad," "Prospice," "The Boy and the Angel" and "Up at a
Villa--Down in the City."

[Sidenote: DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES]

The above poems are named not because they are particularly fine examples
of their kind, but by way of introduction to a poet who is rather hard to
read. When these are known, and are found not so obscure as we feared, then
will be the time to attempt some of Browning's dramatic monologues. Of
these there is a large variety, portraying many different types of
character, but we shall name only a few. "Andrea del Sarto" is a study of
the great Italian painter, "the perfect painter," whose love for a pretty
but shallow woman was as a millstone about his neck. "My Last Duchess" is a
powerfully drawn outline of a vain and selfish nobleman. "Abt Vogler" is a
study of the soul of a musician. "Rabbi ben Ezra," one of the most typical
of Browning's works, is the word of an old man who faces death, as he had
faced life, with magnificent courage. "An Epistle" relates the strange
experience of Karshish, an Arab physician, as recorded in a letter to his
master Abib. Karshish meets Lazarus (him who was raised from the dead) and,
regarding him as a patient, describes his symptoms,--such symptoms as a man
might have who must live on earth after having looked on heaven. The
physician's half-scoffing words show how his habitual skepticism is shaken
by a glimpse of the unseen world. He concludes, but his doubt is stronger
than his conclusion, that Lazarus must be a madman:

  "And thou must love me who have died for thee."
  The madman saith He said so: it is strange!

[Sidenote: SAUL]

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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