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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

Of the work of these scientific heroes Bacon had little knowledge, and for
their plodding methods he had no sympathy. He was Viscount, Lord
Chancellor, "high-browed Verulam," and his heaven-scaling
_Instauratio_ which, as he said, was "for the glory of the Creator and
for the relief of man's estate" must have something stupendous,
Elizabethan, about it, like the victory over the Armada. In his plans there
was always an impression of vastness; his miscellaneous works were like the
strange maps that geographers made when the wonders of a new world opened
upon their vision. Though he never made an important discovery, his
conviction that knowledge is power and that there are no metes or bounds to
knowledge, his belief that the mighty forces of nature are waiting to do
man's bidding, his thought of ships that navigate the air as easily as the
sea,--all this Baconian dream of mental empire inspired the scientific
world for three centuries. It was as thoroughly Elizabethan in its way as
the voyage of Drake or the plays of Shakespeare.

       *       *       *       *       *

    SUMMARY. The most remarkable feature of the Elizabethan age was its
    patriotic enthusiasm. This enthusiasm found its best expression on
    the stage, in the portrayal of life in vigorous action; and dramas
    were produced in such number and of such quality that the whole
    period is sometimes called the age of the play. It was a time of
    poetry rather than of prose, and nearly all of the poetry is
    characterized by its emotional quality, by youthful freshness of
    feeling, by quickened imagination, and by an extravagance of
    language which overflows, even in Shakespeare, in a kind of
    glorious bombast.

    Our study of the literature of the age includes: (1) The outburst
    of lyric poetry. (2) The life and works of Spenser, second in time
    of the great English poets. (3) A review of the long history of the
    drama, from the earliest church spectacle, through miracle,
    morality, interlude, pageant and masque to the Elizabethan drama.
    (4) The immediate forerunners of Shakespeare, of whom the most
    notable was Marlowe. (5) The life and work of Shakespeare. (6) Ben
    Jonson, the successors of Shakespeare, and the rapid decline of the
    drama. (7) Elizabethan prose; the appearance of euphuism; Sidney's
    _Apologie for Poetrie_; the Authorized Version of the
    Scriptures; and the life and work of Francis Bacon.

    SELECTIONS FOR READING. Selected lyrics in Manly, English Poetry;
    Newcomer, Twelve Centuries of English Poetry and Prose; Palgrave,
    Golden Treasury; Schilling, Elizabethan Lyrics; Ward, English
    Poets.

    _Spenser_. Selected poems in Temple Classics, Cambridge Poets
    Series. Selections from The Faery Queen in Standard English
    Classics and other school editions. (See Texts, in General
    Bibliography.)

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

Of the work of these scientific heroes Bacon had little knowledge, and for
their plodding methods he had no sympathy. He was Viscount, Lord
Chancellor, "high-browed Verulam," and his heaven-scaling
_Instauratio_ which, as he said, was "for the glory of the Creator and
for the relief of man's estate" must have something stupendous,
Elizabethan, about it, like the victory over the Armada. In his plans there
was always an impression of vastness; his miscellaneous works were like the
strange maps that geographers made when the wonders of a new world opened
upon their vision. Though he never made an important discovery, his
conviction that knowledge is power and that there are no metes or bounds to
knowledge, his belief that the mighty forces of nature are waiting to do
man's bidding, his thought of ships that navigate the air as easily as the
sea,--all this Baconian dream of mental empire inspired the scientific
world for three centuries. It was as thoroughly Elizabethan in its way as
the voyage of Drake or the plays of Shakespeare.

       *       *       *       *       *

    SUMMARY. The most remarkable feature of the Elizabethan age was its
    patriotic enthusiasm. This enthusiasm found its best expression on
    the stage, in the portrayal of life in vigorous action; and dramas
    were produced in such number and of such quality that the whole
    period is sometimes called the age of the play. It was a time of
    poetry rather than of prose, and nearly all of the poetry is
    characterized by its emotional quality, by youthful freshness of
    feeling, by quickened imagination, and by an extravagance of
    language which overflows, even in Shakespeare, in a kind of
    glorious bombast.

    Our study of the literature of the age includes: (1) The outburst
    of lyric poetry. (2) The life and works of Spenser, second in time
    of the great English poets. (3) A review of the long history of the
    drama, from the earliest church spectacle, through miracle,
    morality, interlude, pageant and masque to the Elizabethan drama.
    (4) The immediate forerunners of Shakespeare, of whom the most
    notable was Marlowe. (5) The life and work of Shakespeare. (6) Ben
    Jonson, the successors of Shakespeare, and the rapid decline of the
    drama. (7) Elizabethan prose; the appearance of euphuism; Sidney's
    _Apologie for Poetrie_; the Authorized Version of the
    Scriptures; and the life and work of Francis Bacon.

    SELECTIONS FOR READING. Selected lyrics in Manly, English Poetry;
    Newcomer, Twelve Centuries of English Poetry and Prose; Palgrave,
    Golden Treasury; Schilling, Elizabethan Lyrics; Ward, English
    Poets.

    _Spenser_. Selected poems in Temple Classics, Cambridge Poets
    Series. Selections from The Faery Queen in Standard English
    Classics and other school editions. (See Texts, in General
    Bibliography.)

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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