The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-08-19
GOLDEN AGES OF LITERATURE
NvH.-THE ELizAprruAN AGE
tconcluded.)
BY VIDA d. sCuDDER.

lyrics, inevitable and careless MS they seem,
nave not the wilding charm OF ballad or
ioik-song Theirs is no "unpremedltated
art They are the product Of culture;
though culture. 10 be sure. would avail tile
We're they not rooted in the warm earth Of
s nuinHn experience and no-rlhsed bv the free
sunshine OF the imagnation. Their art Is
OF that best kind which Is adopted by nature
rose.
This lyrical ouipouring. espec,aliv in its
earlier portion. Is full OF Joy. The lyrlcs
slug OF love. of sprugtlme. OF blossom; they
voice me rapturous praise OF beauty and
again return ever to their retain, youth and
love. love aud youth. All delicate moods "
eourtshp are in them-gay. tender. plant va
troliosome-only the depths OF passion they
never sound. The ecstasy Of youth IS heirs
the reign OF King ] ms; only. the mood
changes and q more serious note makes H.
self heard. Meanwhile. thoush lyrics we're
the most characteristic product OF the rlst
Elisabethan period many other literary
forms were developing.
~
They were all marked with the same
strange mixture Of experiment and inspra-
ton. Criticism in prose- suranr up in books
like Sldney's Apologize for poetrle' itself
u splendid prose poem. and webbe's "Dis-
course OF English Poetrie." Il was chiidiah
enough. but It's existence was significant
Art prose was feeling its way. getting lost
sometimes in maze OF aitoeCations as In
l-yly "Euphues. and sometimes, as Ia
sidneys Arcadia reaching under Span
lsh and Italian guidance a land OF pure ro-
nance, The great Elizabethan TRANSACTIONS
were beginn' and turning a stream of
foreign and classical influence from the La In
races upon ENGLAND. Prose of adventure like
Hakluyts famous "Voy" ~es.' was getting
under way. But. In one sense. II is all
prose OF adventure which the Young nation
NhatiaF aFa
shaping the new language 10 del ghtful un-
wonted uses or recording their explorations Of
distant seas.
This period of romance Of poetic expert
ment. of keen enthusiasm for adventure and
learning moved 10 n climax In great ro-
mantle epic-Spensers 'Faerle Queen"
Chaucers Canterbury Tales" expressed
with charming ease and transforming grace
the WHILE imaginative life Of the middle ages.
Just so the "Faerie Queen" gathers into IT.
self the imaginative life of the central rem,
forms and hues Of beauty The poem is an
nllegory dream; vet It is filed as no ro.
nance of the middle ages with he sense OF
reality and of manhood ITO fashion q gem
tleman or noble person In v'rtuols and gen tla
d scipline" is Spenser tells U.S. his object.
and this end. so characteristic of the new
nation, he achieves through n bewildering
wealth of inventions and images in which
all civilizations known to him are laid under
| contribution The nfterglow OF chivalrv is
| In the poem but ar NY o. "frui0ullest
| virginia mas WlQcne0 SneuSer 8 KnONleuNb
of fairy land. and so have his travels il Me
worlds of the classic poets and Of Tasso
ard Arioso With the frank eclectic ifm OF
the renaissance, these diferert influences
| blend in his work. Yet one I els no in
congruity in the poem, rather perfect her
mony One Yields enchanted, to the opu-
ence OF beauty to the wealth Of exquisite
nctures presented to the Inner eye,
Best of all this seemingly unrestraineh
/ lovelness can DO enjoyed without dualm or
scruple Often the beauty of this Wis BILE
world has inspired good men with terror. II
terrified the monk before Sponsors day aud
the Puritan after him In q wav monk and
| Puritan are right That the world OF sense
! is fraught with danger to the spirit, 10 one
can watch the literary DEVELOPMENT that fol-
| lowed Spenser and deny, Spenser knows
| this WE'LL his knights are ever on LhSli
| guard. and fairyland is one great battleheiu
Yet his imagination. pure and healthtul rs
1t Is sensitive, revels in the beauty OF nature
art and humanity, unchecked by fear. Thl'
lie can do. because. filled. Ike all men OF ms
day with devotion 10 'all that can maxi
the TOO much loved earth more lovely.' he Il
yet more impassioned lover OF that unseei
and everlasting beauty to be seen by IN
eyes OF the mind onlv cleared by faith. INT
"Faerie Queen" with all Its classic adorn
ments Is profoundly Christ an, and Spe SO
is son of tho reformation as well as o
the renaissance Perhacs this hapnv synthe
sis could not long endure. On the one hand
the Jacobean drama was to follow. with u
sad revel OF the senses; or the other' IN
harsh literature Of Puritanism, But We MAJ
at least rejoice that before tn parting o
the ways we POSSESS one great poem IN wh'cf
we find the free and fearless union on sen
suous charm with perfect purity and m
| nassonate love OF q visible and an tnvis' Di
beauty are blended for once without strife
The mood of the nation was 10 alter i
was to dream no more OF falfyiand; IL wa
to play with life TO longer. 7 Joyous
l., 81 nrf n
| abethan period. with It's unforgettable natu
raj magic was To DO followed by litera
ture that expressed an overwhelming reait
of experience and OF passion ~ four
the first three books OF the 'FpeTie Queen
will be acted "Romeo and Juliet" ana WA
means that one poet ut least knows me s9r
rowful depths Of the human heart Already
in 1887 Marlowe's CDR. Faustus" has s'ruc
solemn note ike warning bell. the IA
Is to a new art: and during MI the rest q
Ezabeths reign and through H., 1ae t,, reign IN 90
aies Of the English race are absorbed IN th9
supremelv great creation, the romanti
drama. Not that other literary forms wer
and romantic prose went on uncneckeS
While n noble rohective prose arose In Hooke
and Bacon. But the drama overshadowc
: oil because 1t was the fullest expression
: life
There we're two currents In this great dra
> ,rntic tide that rose so high in Elizabetha
literature The first was represented b
a Shakespeare and his CONTEMPORARIES aud 10
1 lowers-Marlowe, Greene. Dekker. Middle
ster. Heywood. Beaumont and Fletcher, Wei
ster. Tourneur Massnger and Ford. II wa
frankly romantic. II disregarded the unite
T. of time and place. 1t was q law, ana
noble law unto itself: i yielded l'a lmagih,
tIon 10 the fullness Of life. The counter cui
! rant led by rare Ben Jonson Shakespeare
? CONTEMPORARY, chung to the classic tradluol
: II emphasized form and rule. 1t looked at u
! rather in the abstract than in the eohcTe
i we know we'll enough now which was u
J. Greater artist Shakespeare or Jonson; b'
= tbair contemporaries did not know. aud I
. dced n was no easy aesthetic question to d
! Nd between their theories. Tine has d.
! cided and we do not here need 10 folio
8 the DRAMA Of the Jonsonian tradit on. whio
> With All its power and energy, proved
!. VA After 1890. while the drama was FREEDOM
. rant the nation was uassing through var
. ms eypereDces and the drama reflects the
= all It was the most democratic form Of a
. tbat had vet been found. It was not WRITE
!, , Of necessity for gentlemen nor by genti
:, men. IL came straight from the great. con
,. mon heart and TO that heart u appealed
y was not written necessarily by sood men ~
Nv men who had clear vision in matte
q sn,rit,ai indeed, there Is not much that
!, snirituaI IN the literature OF the last deca
y ~ tbe .slxteenth century and the followii
!, years, II is human. and its direct natura
~ ism Is it's strength.
At Nrst the drama took up the eaietv al
,.s,si,s, continent and romantic temncr