7. Name three of his works in different departments of literature, any one of which would have served to establish his reputation. 8. What poem brought him into public notice? "THE DESERTED VILLAGE" 1. What is the economic effect on a community when one large landholder possesses the entire land? 2. The "bold peasantry" of England are similar to what class in America? 3. What was Goldsmith's ideal of a happy old age? 4. To what qualities of character was the attracting power of the village preacher due? 5. What were the qualifications of a rustic school teacher in Goldsmith's time? 6. Why is wealth a barren possession? 7. Name some of the disagreeable surroundings of a life in the tropics. 8. What plan does Goldsmith recommend to remedy the evils of the present social system? 9. What is your judgment of the style of this poem? 10. Does Goldsmith's description ring true? 11. As an example of the influence of Classicism, compare it with Milton's "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso," IX, 110, of the Renaissance, and "The Cotter's Saturday Night," II, 343, of the Romantic Period. FOR REFERENCE "Goldsmith" ("English Men of Letters").--BLACK. "Oliver Goldsmith" ("Bell's Miniature Series").--BUCKLAND. "Biographical Essays."--MACAULAY. "Story-Lives of Great Authors."--ROWBOTHAM. "Essays on the Poets."--DE QUINCEY. "A Paladin of Philanthropy."--DOBSON. THOMAS GRAY (1716-1771) After studying at Eton and at Cambridge University, Gray made the customary tour of the Continent and then settled down to a retired life among his books. His circle of friends was small but intellectual. He spent most of his life at Cambridge, reading and thinking. In disposition he was very reserved, seldom revealing his feelings. As he was sensitive and also rather melancholy it was natural that he should find few intimates. Always a student, he none the less applied himself to those topics only which attracted him, neglecting such portions of the subject as did not appeal to him, so that although one of the most learned men of his time he did not receive public recognition until his appointment as regius professor of history and modern languages at Cambridge, three years before his death. The Age of Classicism, in which he lived, was repugnant to him; its formal standards, as expressed especially by the poetry of Pope, offended his fastidious taste, which was charmed by the wild beauty of nature and longed for freedom of expression and avoidance of convention in literary art. He was the forerunner of the Romantic spirit. Had he lived forty years later he would have been far more productive; the poetry of Wordsworth, Byron, and the rest of that dazzling group of poets would have strengthened and enthused him.