The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1882-1884, 1883-04-12

|
history of English poetry The age
of fame anil fashion was passing
away that of reality. of nature, of
human sentiment. was advancing to
take its place. Dryden ami Pope.
who had so long held sway in the
realm of letters. were to pass the
scepter to Goldsmith. Cowper, and
Wordsworth. Gray s. an Is on tile
line separating these NOV -lnents He
holds much in common with each If
his sympathies move warmly toward
the culture the elegance, the classism
of the past, he also gives Us prophet
ic glances iuto the new era In this
mediator OF cur literature, as In the
Image seen by the prophe,, were min
gled gold, silver, iron, and clay. The
baser materials were to perish, while
the gold would brighten in the ordeal.
Let us glance first at this poetic
past, with which GRAY was SO intimate
iy associated. he Ktsto alton PERIOD
here TO be considered. exten.ls from
1860 to 1744. The great names in it
are Dryden an I Pope. II it's gener-
al charact er tt e movement is violent
reaction sainst he .siiedness of
/ Puritanism.
| The great Puritan outbreal forms
kind OF drift period in our litera-
ture. While it did SD much to quick
en- the national life and to cultivate
in the people sense of liberty, it
was destructive OF all the more e!e.
CANT forms of literature and art. In
place OF them, cant phras IS, uncouth
words, and unw.eldy sentences, which
Butler sLlSmatized as "a BapylOnish
dialect,a party-colored dress ofpatch-
esi and piebald languages" over
spread the land like rough boullers,
dry sand-reaches. and hard gravel
beds. With Oliver and his Parlia-
ment men, arude barbarism. unmind.
full OF the amenities of literature or
the decs lOgue NRsthetics, had taken
possession of the soil. In a period OF
intense earnestness, when the gravest
questions were in debate, and human
liberty was at stake, strength aud di-
rectness, rather than beauty and ele.
gance, We're coveted. The tenderness,
sweetness. and homel;keLess of the
obi English was abandoned for an
"English cut on Greek and Latin"
The only type. retaining the root ald
sweetness OF our mother tongue, which
survived the catastrophe Was King
James Bible. "a book" as MacauIay
says, which, if every thing else in
our language should perish, would
alone suffice - show the whole extent
OF its beauty and power" This mar
velous work, the product in part of
the genius OF Wiclif and Tyndale,
was the seed from which was 70
spring, III course of time, our vulgar
English. But while the divine seed
lay in the soil awaiting termination,
a rank and forei yn growth was to
Overspread the ground.
). At the fall of the common wealth
Charles IL. and his gay and dissolute
lords and cOurtiers came to occupy
the foremost place in the English ma
ton. They hateG Puritanisn, and
hell it to be an act of piety, as we'll
as OF pru ience, 10 exterminate the
last vestiges of the iconoclastic fanat-
icism from the county. 10 avolu the
seriousness Of these sectaries, they
verged upon the extreme of license.
, England was given up 10 revelry and
iebauch; the Coult formed grand
tournaments, and the ruling classes
were intoxicated with their success.
In the height of their exultation they
yloried in their shame, Fastening. as
it were, to fill up the emeasure OF their
iniquty, and to convince the nation.
,, by unmistak able evidence. how total
r lv unfit they were to rule. Repudi-
ating the manners and morals of
their native country. tliey initiated
y the Court of Louis XIV. They trick.
> ell themselves out in gay attire, put
:. ting Al ''s;atin doublets with slashe |
, sleeves, rich point lace collars. short t
cloak carelessly thrown over one
shoulder. and low. crowned Flemish
beaver hat with graceful plumes on
| their heads;' = they opened the thea
tels, long ago closed by the Puritans,
;. ana introduced upon the boards the
, most dissolute females, vino exposed
. their shame, and jeered at virtue,
. truth, and ~ ,desty in word, they
, feasted. drank, and reveled more
like maniacs or demons. than men
! 1ntrusted with the government Of a
great and serious people.
/ The Court impressed its peculiar
e tiles upon literature. In place OF the
$ old, idiomatic English, it gave us a
: stilted and flippant st, lie, an elegant
e form, an affected manner, entirely
f ou5 of harmony with the character
t and genius of the people. 1t was a
+ foreign islom engratte.i on the native
| stock, but never destined to pc ma
s nently flourish. inasmuch as its juices
8 were not drawn from the great cur
: rents at the root. Alien from the
t hea Of the people. it could not last ;
D and as a usurper, it was destined to
G Weld. in course of time. to legitimate
J., authority But the ursnfper could
e not be instantly 6epos,d. His reign
e extends ON far beyond the date 1T
!. which the Stuarts Left England.
e OF the Restoration poets. Dryden