New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-26
MODERN ENGLISH POETS.
AN EVOLUTIONARY STUDY IN VICTORIAN
LITERATURE.
THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT ~ THE MoDER:
ENGLISH POETS: Ey. .ida d. scudde'' ~
v $40 Houghton. Mfin Co.

THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT IN THE MODERN
ENGLISH POETS. BY Vida D. Scudder PIP.
v $40. Houghton. Miffiin Co
Tho device Of arranging the literary history Of
given period from some inner po!n, OF view can
easily be overdone. In the first place, no single
point Of view can be taken so that the whole heid
NAV be viewed at once. and the inevitable neces-
slty is a choice among authors and classihcauoh
which may be natural or may be the historians
own invention. In the second place some princi-
ple OF unity mus. be chosen. string for the facts
which the author proposes to hang together, and
this principle may be the life Of the times. or 1t
may be some mental preconception. The author
OF the book in hand has chosen the principle Of
evolution and hence Is safe from the censure OF
the majority. II one cannot make fragments Of
history fit In any other way. one can always IN
the present state OF popular thought work them
into a scheme Of development People who find
the scheme well contrived will forge: to ask about
the thousand and one facts which have been
omitted the failure Of any Of which 10 Mt into
Tho new system would destroy IT. For example.
the slrnp,e effort to account for SOuthey would
nrobablv oblige the author to rccast her whole
work Yet nc was a more potent factor than
Wordsworth in the literary life OF England at the
close Of the Georgian era and he showed In an ex-
aggerated way the reaction from the imaginary
atheism and democracy Of his youth to the con
sentative churchmanship Of his later lfe when
has to be accounted for also in the case OF Cole
ridge and Wordsworth. or the three. Words
worth kept nearest to the line % consistency. He
never pretended to extreme democracy. and he
never became a thorough conservative 1t can be
claimed for him, and 1t Is claimed for him here
that his Views did not change. that the real
change was in the world about him. IL this claim
be considered without any additions from the
wordbooks OF modern science, or any subtle Inter
pretations from the spiritual life OF humanity. 1t
will be found quite in accordance with the general
experience of men. Wordsworth. rather testy
man. both In youth and age found himself at the
outset ahead Of his times. and toward the close
somewhat behind His poetry reflects success
sion Of feelings which every man Is sure to pass
through between youth and age. But II is surely
not this common defect OF humanity which marks
the utility Of his genius to the world. Every man
is a reformer and friend Of liberty up to GER
tain point. At that point he would like to exercise
a divine prerogative and say to the universe,
Thus far and no further" But the tide OF public
opinion yields as little to him as the ocean did 10
Mrs. Partington's mop. Wordsworth wanted
England to stop on the other side OF the Reform
bill OF 1882. From the vantage ground Of the
present day people look back 10 that legislation
as a mere suggestion OF what 10 come. and n
century or hence. when the historical per-
spectlvc Is better. the whole movement Of the
nineteenth century, French Revolution and all.
will not seem 80 immense as 1t docs to us who are
In the midst OF It and talk sometimes as IL the
world had been wholly renovated In the last go
years.
Undoubtedly. however. tho author Of this book
Is right when she announces science ard democ-
racy ms the two potent words in the poetry OF
the Victorian era. II she had conceived science