Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-06-13
WHIPPLErS "LII,ERATURE OF THE
AGE OF ELIZABETH"

Mr.. Whipple is one of the few living writers
to whom the word brilliant can truthfully be
applied His pages fairly sparkle with CLEANS
of sprightlness and wit. Without extraor-
binary depth of thought, he has an energy
and felicity of expression that, to an idle or
dcsultory reader, render his productions still
more attractive. As an essayist, he is truth
full, spirited and agreeable. Among the Pc
culiarities Of his style, may be mentioned the
habit of concluding his remarks on any sub
ject with q startling and polished epigram,
like a skillfi,l boxer who deals a few delicate
and graceful thrusts and then follows with
tremendous blow.
For the task of criticism he is especially
adapted. The slightest flaw or the tenderest
touch of beauty never fails to catch his eye.
His is the rare ability Of detecting what is
most pleasing or beautiful in book or in q lit
erature, and conveying it through such
medium that it never loses its freshness or its
power. Joined to this are an honest desire to
get at the true spirit of writer's utterances,
and taste so highly cultivated that it rarely
leads him astray.
In the survey of the Literature of the Age
of Elizabeth" Mr.. Whipple has performed an
inestimable service. The accumulation of
literary material has become SO great, and
human life is so multiform in its aims and so
pressing in its duties, that every one is obliged
to neglect many books in which he might find
nourishment for mind and soul. At most, we
A. 4 l.: rt,. &c
and we should feel thankful to one who is
willing to out ON into the bye-ways and Irvine
q garland for us from rustic hedge and bower.
Foremost among the poets of this age, Of
course, stands Shakespeare. We do not pur-
pose to attempt an analysis Of the character
of this wonderful man. All the epithets that
are applicable to him, and more too, were ex-
hausted long ago. The secret of his marvel
lous power remains as much mystery as be-
fore the annotations of Johnson or the specu-
lations of Schlegel and Goethe. Genius is
always mystery which nothing but genius
can understand. The existence of such a
man as Shakespeare is miracle, and we
might as well attempt to explain how water
could be turned into wine, as how SO many
creations, king and slave, hero and coward,
lover and tyrant, spirit and goblin, Hamlet,
Othello, Lear, Cymbeline, Juliet, Falstaff,
each perfect in its sphere, could be evolved
from the consciousness of a single mind.
Here is the province of admiration and de-
light, not of reason and speculation. As Mr..
Whipple well observes: "The greatest and
most interpretative minds which have made
him their study, though they may have COM
menced with welding the rod, soon found
themselves reduced into taking seats upon
the benches, anxious to learn rather than inn
patient to teach; and have been compelled to
admit that the poet who is the delight of the
rudest urchin in the pit of the playhouse, is
also the poet whose works defy the highest
faculties of the philosopher thoroughly &c
comprehend" Wf
The powers of Shakespeare can best be ap-
preciated by comparing him with his contem-
poraries. His was an age in which the drama
presented the only feasible means of address,
ing the people, and to the drama, accordingly,
We find most of the learning and talent of his
times directed. Mr.. Whipple mentions thir-
teen dramatists to whom the possession of
genius-not talent merely, but genius-can-
not be denied. But each one Of these is
dwarfed into insignificance by the side Of
Shakespeare. They have shown us but one
aspect of human character, while he displays
the whole 1t is doubtful whether the two
hundred poets who flourished or famished dur
ing the reign of Elizabeth, can all combined
exhibit SO much of any one quality Of the true
poet as may be foundin one production Of his
immortal genius. johnson is bold, vigorous,
and laborious, but he is destitute of mild and
gentle traits, and his best characters are indi-
vidualized eccentricities.. Fletcher 10 spirited
and imaginative, of delightful descriptive pow
ers but lacking insight into human character.
Webster delights only when he terrifes.
Massinger was a dramatist, but not poet.
Ford is superior only in one domain, that Of
sorrow and despair. But in Shakespeare we
have the individualizing power of Johnson,
the imagination Of Fletcher, the gloom Of
Webster, the skill of Massinger and the pa
lhos Of Ford, and all NJ ..s,
$50 delightful mixed, with such kind art
Such beauty and beneficence combined,
shade, impoverished, SO softening into shade,
And all so forming an harmonious whole,
That, as they still succeed, they ravish STILL"