THE COLLECTED WORKS OF WILLIAM HAZLITT IN TWELVE VOLUMES VOLUME FIVE _All rights reserved_ [Illustration: _William Hazlitt._ _From a miniature by John Hazlitt, executed about 1808._ ] THE COLLECTED WORKS OF WILLIAM HAZLITT EDITED BY A. R. WALLER AND ARNOLD GLOVER WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY W. E. HENLEY ❦ Lectures on the English Poets and on the Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth Etc. ❦ 1902 LONDON: J. M. DENT & CO. McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO.: NEW YORK Edinburgh: Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE CONTENTS PAGE LECTURES ON THE ENGLISH POETS ix LECTURES ON THE DRAMATIC LITERATURE OF THE AGE OF ELIZABETH 169 PREFACE AND CRITICAL LIST OF AUTHORS FROM SELECT BRITISH POETS 365 NOTES 381 LECTURES ON THE ENGLISH POETS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE The _Lectures on The English Poets._ _Delivered at the Surrey Institution. By William Hazlitt_, were published in 8vo. (8¾ × 5¼), in the year of their delivery, 1818; a second edition was published in 1819, of which the present issue is a reprint. The imprint reads, ‘London: Printed for Taylor and Hessey, 93, Fleet Street. 1819,’ and the volume was printed by ‘T. Miller, Printer, Noble Street, Cheapside.’ Behind the half-title appears the following advertisement: ‘This day is published, Characters of Shakespear’s Plays, by William Hazlitt. Second Edition, 8vo. price 10s. 6d. boards.’ A four-page advertisement of ‘Books just published by Taylor and Hessey’ ends the volume, with ‘Characters of Shakspeare’s Plays’ at the top, and a notice of it from the _Edinburgh Review_. CONTENTS LECTURE I. PAGE Introductory.—On Poetry in General 1 LECTURE II. On Chaucer and Spenser 19 LECTURE III. On Shakspeare and Milton 44 LECTURE IV. On Dryden and Pope 68 LECTURE V. On Thomson and Cowper 85 LECTURE VI. On Swift, Young, Gray, Collins, etc. 104 LECTURE VII.