The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1891-08-20
OHAUTAUQUA.
THE ELIZABETHAN ERA OF ENGLISH
LITERATURE.
(Report for Glass B. by ]. j. b.

(Report for Glass B. by ]. ]. b.
The Elizabethan era is unquestonably the great
est epoch of modern English literature and to my
mind it stands without equal to the present
day. In order to fully appreciate the sudden out
burst of the hidden treasures of the great intel
ects of that period. it is necessary for to IA
mliarize himself with the historical features Of
preceding reigns. 1t was not until Elizabeth be-.
came queen of England that the religious charac-
ter of the nation was permanently established
One of the direct results of this important step
was the growth of political freedom. 1t is not sur
prisng, therefore. to the careful reader the
vast amount of good that accomplished
through the establishment of religious liberty and
political freedom. Strong the influence of
these two great reforms, there yet another, if
not the most potent factor-namely, the breaking
asunder of the narrow limits of formality in the
uses of the nine parts of speech of English Ian
guage. The very genius of the English language
was born and by this freedom from rigid formal
ity it became possible for the great writer's of the
10th century to give to the world the earliest liter
AZURE that can be read and appreciated simply as
English literature, without it becoming necessary
for the ordinary reader to be graduate in philol.
ogy.
Let take a rapid glance down the long gal.
axy of the great writers of this period The al.
lotted time for class report permits me to men
poets and prose writers.
SHAKESPEARE the greatest poet, the greatest dram.
atist. and the brightest intellect of recorded tme
stands pre.eminently at the head. and but two
others of the worlds poets be placed beside
him-Homer and Dante. Sir Philip Sidney, whom
Elizabeth called 1.-The jewel of her time" and
xuhn
example of the freedom of the English language
from formal grammar, and to whom has been given
the credit of having made possible the poetical
career Of Spenser. Sir Walter Raleigh, a man COM
prising the genius of poet. diseoverer. historian
and politician, ard who left to that great work.
1.-THE History of the World" Edmund Spenser,
second only to Shakespeare and Milton, whose
great work. 1.-THE Faerie Queene." stands pre.emi.
nently in the front rank of poetry pure and sim.
pie. Francis Bacon, the greatest philosopher of
modern times, whose wisdom has never been
equaed in the worlds history of literature. Ben.
jamin Johnson the poet who depicts so graphic.
ally. persons and manners that passed before his
eyes, and by some critics of his time regarded as
the equal of Shakespeare. Beaumont and Fletcher.
the gifted writer's of comedy. George Chapman,
who gave us the first translation into English of
.Homer's poems. John Lyly, whose "Euphues and
His England" wrought such great change in the
character of English prose. and which if carefully
studied would improve the English language as it
is co mmonly spoken in America to-day. Richard
Hooker, the theologian. who was in his time sur
named 1.-The judcious.''
To the great uplifting of literature in the Eliza
bethan era, is the English speaking world of to.
day indebted for the King James version of the
Bible; for while it is known to US as the King
James version. it must be borne in mind that the
forty.seven picked scholars of the English lam
guage who completed the work were men who
lived in and mbibed of the fervor of the remarka.
BILE epoch of Queen Elizabeth.
English literature of to-day cannot be consid-
cred in the same class as that of the Elizabethan
era. That it has made wonderful progress no one
will deny, but there is vast difference between
the two. The literature of the former is purely
classical and to it we look for the early recogni.
ton of ancient writer's while the literature of the
present time tends more to journalism and prose
fiction that characterzes human life of our own
times.