Thomas Chatterton.
The name of Thomas Chatterton, the youngest and most short-lived of English poets, is curiously1 connected with that of Horace Walpole. Born, at Bristol, on 20 November, 1752, under the shadow of the beautiful old church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Chatterton from infancy2 became, as it were, possessed3 by the charm of the edifice4 and of the Middle Ages. Members of Chatterton's family had for more than a century been associated with the church as sextons; probably they had never given a thought to its beauty and historical associations, but these haunted their descendant, and the story of his childhood reads like a fantasy by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Among the clergy5 and people of Bristol the spirit of the eighteenth century, indeed the natural, usual contempt for things old, beautiful, and not understood, was complacently6 active. The chests which contained the archives of the church had been broken into by the Vestry, and quantities of old parchment documents, some of them illuminated7, had been thrown about. Chatterton's father (died 1752), a schoolmaster, had taken as much of the stuff as he chose, and manuscripts in the house of the boy's mother were used for domestic purposes. The little boy, till the age of 6, had been curiously lethargic8 (and far from truthful); the sight of the illuminated parchments awakened9 his intellect; he stored all that he could find in a den10 of his own, and became a voracious11 reader. In 1760 he was sent to Colston's Hospital, a school resembling Christ's Hospital in London. He was soon, at the age[Pg 435] of 10, a versifier, his Muse12 was first the sacred, then the satiric13; but already, by the age of 11, he had made for himself, as some children do, a society of "invisible playmates," notably14 "T. Rowlie, a secular15 priest," of the age of Henry VI and Edward IV, and already he was writing, in a kind of old English made up out of glossaries16, poems which he passed off as Rowlie's, found by himself in the derelict archives of the church.
In short, Chatterton might have seemed to be a victim of "split personality," and to be now Rowlie, and a number of other secondary selves, now the actual Chatterton, apprentice18 to an attorney. His conduct was almost as abnormal as his genius was precocious19, and his passion for fame or notoriety was not quite sane20. But, in fact, he knew very well what he was about, and, in December, 1768, attempted to dispose of "Rowley's ancient poems," including "The Tragedy of Aella," to Dodsley, the publisher. The success of Percy's ballads23 from the Old Folio (1765) may have suggested his scheme to the boy, but Dodsley was not tempted21. Horace Walpole had published the first edition of "The Castle of Otranto" at the end of 1764. He used the conventional device (already familiar to the Greek romancers in the third century a.d.) of pretending to have found the tale in an ancient manuscript. Chatterton had proclaimed his discoveries in manuscripts in the summer of 1764, when he was 12 years old; in Horace Walpole he recognized, in 1769, a kindred spirit, and offered to show Walpole not only poems by Rowlie, but a history of English painters by the same learned divine. Walpole replied very courteously25 and gratefully, but "I have not the happiness of understanding the Saxon language". In a reply Chatterton explained his circumstances; his youth and position; and Gray had assured Walpole that the manuscripts sent were forgeries27. Walpole therefore advised Chatterton to adhere to his profession, adding that experts were not convinced of the genuineness of the papers. He took no notice of several letters from Chatterton, and, after receiving a curt28 and angry note (24 July, 1769), sent back the manuscripts without further comment, and thought no more of the matter till he heard from Goldsmith, at a dinner of the Royal Academy, that Chatterton had committed suicide in[Pg 436] London. After an attempt to support himself by hackwork, political and other, the poor boy, whose pride could not stoop to soliciting29 charity, had poisoned himself on the night of 24 August, 1770. Six weeks earlier he had been buying and sending presents of porcelain30, fans, and snuff, to his mother and sister; twelve days before his death he had written that he intended to go abroad as a surgeon's mate.
Even when he wrote in ordinary English, Chatterton showed rare precocity31. When he wrote in "Rowleian," in an invented dialect as remote from real English of any day as the language of the planet Mars, evolved by Mlle. Hélène Smith, is remote from French, Chatterton often produced lyrics33 of great charm as in "The Tragedy of Aella," and he invented a curious form of the Spenserian stanza34. His touches in descriptions of Nature are sometimes charming. But he never quite escapes, as is natural, from the conventions of the eighteenth century; and his best inspiration is derived35 from Percy's "Reliques". What he might have been and might have done, in happier circumstances, it is impossible to conjecture36. Genius he had, with more than the wonted abnormality of genius.
William Cowper.
The overlapping37 of styles in poetry and of tastes in poetry is pleasantly illustrated38 in the case of Cowper. He was born in 1731, Scott was born in 1771, and in Miss Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" we find the sensible Marianne Dashwood hesitating between the rival charms of Cowper and Scott; Byron, it appears, had not yet reached her fair hands. Cowper is a bridge between Thomson and Wordsworth. He was averse39 to the Popeian couplet; in his translation of Homer he preferred a blank verse which, at best, is not rapid. In writing of Nature he "had his eye on the object". His exit from the triumphant40 common sense of the eighteenth century was by way of spiritual religion, the Evangelical Revival41 promoted by Wesley, Whitefield, and their followers44. They made appeal to the souls, not to the passions, of the populace; and Cowper's own sympathy with their bodies, with their[Pg 437] poverty, like his love of retirement45, and of newspapers, makes him akin46 to Wordsworth.
Born of the powerful Whig family of Cowper, the poet was the son of the rector of Great Berkhampstead; his mother, whom he lost when he was 6 years of age, yet ever remembered daily with intense affection, was of the name and lineage of Donne. He was cruelly bullied47 in childhood at a preparatory school. The innate48 savagery49 of boys of fifteen sometimes wreaks50 itself on a single small child, and we might think that his sufferings had their share in depressing the spirits of Cowper, did he not tell us that, at his public school, Westminster, he was eminent51 in cricket, which Horace Walpole and Gray despised at Eton. His master, "Vinny" Bourne, a Latin poet, was dear to him; he made many clever and lively friends, and, despite his attack on public schools in "Tirocinium" (1784), he seems to have been reasonably happy at Westminster, though he learned no more in one way than to write "lady's Greek without the accents
"Tirocinium" is a vigorous satire52 in Pope's metre. But Cowper, despite the vices53 and brutalities of school life, confesses his affection for the old place. The clergy at large come under Cowper's birch,
The parson knows enough who knows a Duke!
Behold54 your Bishop55 I well he plays his part,
Christian56 in name and infidel in heart.
In denouncing emulation57 for prizes, Cowper hit a blot58 that seems to have vanished, for anything like ungenerous emulation of this kind appears to be a lost vice24. No boy studies
Less for improvement than to tickle59 spite.
Macaulay's victims, Warren Hastings and Elijah Impey, were at school with Cowper. He went to no University, but was articled to a solicitor60; and idly "giggled62 and made giggle61" with his cousins, Theodora and Harriet. He was in love with Theodora, but was disappointed, Harriet (Lady Hesketh) was one of his best friends. At the age of 32 (1763) hypochondria or hysteria shattered' his life; in a private asylum63 he was suddenly converted, and recovered, and religion was henceforth, now his joy and happiness,[Pg 438] now, when the black cloud came over him, the cause of his despair. At Huntingdon, and later, at the uninviting village of Olney, he lived retired66, the friend of Mrs. Unwin ("My Mary") and of a clerical ex-slave-trader, the Rev42. John Newton. With Newton, Cowper wrote hymns67, the ladies encouraged him to occupy himself with moral poems, "Table Talk," "Truth," "The Progress of Error," "Retirement," "Charity," "Hope," all in the metre of Pope; and all more or less satirical. Kings, in "Table Talk," are the first to suffer: one of the speakers in the dialogue is rather revolutionary. Indeed the mild tea-drinking Cowper, with his denunciations of "the great," the clergy, and the unthinking squires69, preludes70 to the French Revolution, which he took very calmly. After politics comes talk of poetry: and the well-known lines on Pope occur; he
Made poetry a mere71 mechanic art,
And every warbler has his tune72 by heart.
Of poets in his own age Cowper prefers the reckless satirist73, Churchill; of Gray and Collins nothing is said. In "The Progress of Error" the much-enduring Nimrod is attacked, in company with the well-graced popular preacher; and novelists are assailed74 as "flesh-flies of the land," while men who study art in Italy come home worse dunces than they went, and finally the deist and atheist76 are publicly birched.
It is not for his satires77 that Cowper is remembered: they were suggested to him, in the interests of religion and morals, by Mrs. Unwin, while Lady Austen, a lively person of quality, appointed to Cowper "The Task," or rather gave him the subject of "The Sofa," out of which grew "The Task". The poet ambles78, in an essay in blank verse, as much at his ease and as fond of digressions as Montaigne, from the days when man squatted79 on the ground, to his invention of a three-legged stool, the addition of a fourth leg, cushions, arm-chairs, the settee, finally the sofa. The sofa pleases the gouty; never may the poet have gout; he has done nothing to deserve it; in boyhood he
Has fed on scarlet80 and strong haws,
The bramble, black as jet, and sloes austere81.
[Pg 439]
This introduces a rural digression.
Here Ouse, slow winding82 through a level plain
Of spacious83 meads with cattle sprinkled o'er,
Conducts the eye along his sinuous84 course,
Delighted.
We think of
a river winding slow
By cattle, on an endless plain;
The ragged85 rims86 of thunder brooding low
With shadow streaks87 of rain.
How different are the methods of the two painters in words! The poet, finding geologists88 in the course of his wanderings, pities them, truth disclaiming89 them. Like Wordsworth he praises "retirement," welcomes the newspaper, and welcomes tea. In the charming lines, "The Retired Cat," temporarily shut up in a drawer lined "with linen90 of the softest kind," he seems to smile at his own cosy91 retirement; the teacups, the happy listening ladies. He is full of human kindness, of love for children, cats, and his own tame hares; he sets out to gather flowers, he says, and comes home laden92 with moral fruits, and religious reflections, and with his sketch93 book full of landscapes like Gainsborough's, and studies of cattle like Morland's. "The Task" won for the poet countless94 friends who never saw his face; and, though we have become attuned95 to blank verse of many beautiful modulations which he never dreamed of (though now and then they were attained97 by Thomson), "The Task" may still be read with sympathy and pleasure.
Many of Cowper's shorter poems, grave or gay, are in all memories: "The Wreck98 of the Royal George," as spirited and sad as a ballad22; the ringing notes of "Boadicea"; the idyllic99 sweetness of
The poplars are felled, farewell to the shade
And the whispering sound of the cool colonnade100;
the lines, "Addressed to a Young Lady," brief and beautiful as the most tender epigrams of "The Greek Anthology," from which Cowper's translating hand gathered a little garland. Of these "The Swallow," "Attic101 Maid with Honey Fed," are worthy102 of the[Pg 440] original, as is "The Grass-hopper". Cowper shone in occasional verses on trifling103 matters such as "The Dog and the Water-lily"; and pretty kindly104 compliments, such as "Gratitude105" (to his cousin, Lady Hesketh), and things tender and touched with the sense of tears in mortal things, as in the "Epitaph on a Hare," and the "To Mary" (of 1793). His "John Gilpin" is an unusual frolic.
The translations, in blank verse, of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey106" could not displace those of Pope, who, in Cowper's opinion, had done all that could be done in rhyme. Blank verse, especially that of Cowper, cannot convey, as Pope does, the sense of the speed of the great epic107; nor was Cowper's scholarship exempt108 from curious errors. He was overworked; Mrs. Unwin fell into the condition described in "To Mary," his terrible melancholy109 returned, but his last original verses, "The Cast-away" (1798), are penned by no "maniac's hand," nor can a poet have written them without pleasure in his own genius. Cowper died in 1800.
His letters are reckoned among the best in our language, and their delightful110 wit and gaiety fortunately assure us that there was much happiness in a life so blameless.
Literature in Scotland (1550-1790).
Before approaching the great northern contemporary of Cowper, Robert Burns, it is necessary to cast a backward glance at his predecessors112 in Scottish letters. We left them in the reign113 of James V, when Sir David Lyndsay was the reigning114 poet of the Court and of the people. It is not easy to fit some remarks on Scottish literature after Sir David Lyndsay into a chronological115 sequence parallel with the development of literature in England. The Scottish writers under James VI and I produced no effect on their English contemporaries: the King's "Reulis and Cautelis" in poetical117 criticism, and his "Basilikon Doron," a treatise118 on king-craft, with his "Counterblast to Tobacco," and his "Demonology" are the work of a clever general writer, but now only interest the curious. Alexander Scott and Alexander Montgomery continued to practise in Scots, the style of Dunbar,[Pg 441] though Scott shone most in love lyrics, often musical, while Montgomery survives in an allegory of the old sort, "The Cherry and the Slae"; and an old-fashioned "flyting". Sir Robert Ayton (1570-1638) lived in London with the wits of the time, and, like the Earl of Stirling (died in 1640) and William Drummond of Hawthornden, deserted120 for English the Scots vernacular121. The most distinguished122 of these poets William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585-1649) entertained Ben Jonson at his beautiful house, and has left brief notes of Ben's rather crabbed123 criticisms of his great contemporaries. In the previous year, when James, "with a salmonlike instinct" (1617) revisited his native country, Drummond celebrated124 the event in "Forth64 Feasting," a panegyric125 in fairly regular rhymed heroic couplets. Some of his sonnets126 have charm and are not forgotten; but the times darkened, and Drummond (who showed common sense and public spirit when Charles I unjustly persecuted127 Lord Balmerino (1633), advising the King to read George Buchanan's book on the Royal power in Scotland), was unlikely to find an audience for his learned verse during the subsequent troubles. His "Cypress128 Grove," a meditation129 in prose on death, is poetic116 in phrasing and cadences130, while the periods are not over-long and over burdened. But the brief years in which Scottish wits might have learned many lessons from the great contemporary literature of England soon went by; and Scottish writers for nearly a century were confined to wranglings over theology and sermons, and to bitter tracts131 and pamphlets, valuable to the historical but not to the literary student.
The great Marquis of Montrose is credited with one charming Cavalier lyric32, "My dear and only love, I pray," and with verses sincere but rugged132 and full of conceits134 on his own death and his King's, but he "tuned96 his elegies135 to trumpet136 sounds". The favourite measure of Burns was kept alive by Sempill of Beltrees, in his vernacular elegy137 over a piper,
On bagpipes138 now no body blaws
Sen Habbie's dead.
The translation of Rabelais (1653) by the learned, militant139, and eccentric Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty (1611?-1660) is an imperishable monument of the author's amazing wealth of strange[Pg 442] vocabularies, and vigour140 of appropriate style. The task of making Rabelais talk in English seemed little fit for a Scottish Cavalier who fought at Worcester, but Urquhart, aided by Rabelais, won a kind of immortality141 by his success. His translation is final and decisive; in which it stands alone. Of the preachers and controversialists, bitter or humorous, there is no space to speak, but the saintly character and gentle eloquence142 of Archbishop Leighton (1611-1684) live in his Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Peter and his other expository writings. The historical works of Gilbert Burnet (1643-1715), Bishop of Salisbury, are English, except in their occasional Scotticisms, as much of his life was spent in England. He had seen much of the inner wheels and springs of politics, was fond of talking of himself and of his part in great affairs, and, like Leighton, represents the Scottish divine, politician, and author, who has been Anglicized out of the Presbyterian precision and acerbity143, and is as English as he can make himself.
His very conceit133, and his almost incredible want of tact144, make this "Scotch145 dog," as Swift loves to call him, a most entertaining gossip. His "History of My Own Times" was judiciously146 kept from publication till after his death. Burnet cannot be relied on as a safe authority either in what he insinuates147 most basely, against William III, or states, without an atom of corroboration148, against James II. In the latter case, however, Macaulay has accepted and given circulation to Burnet's narrative149.
By far the greatest man of letters of the Restoration, north of Tweed, is "that noble wit of Scotland," in Dryden's phrase, Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh (1636?-1691). Beginning with a "heroic romance," "Aretina," influenced by Sidney's "Arcadia" (1660), and the French school of heroic romances, and with verses, in which he did not shine, Mackenzie, in the "Religio Stoici" (1663) shows that he, like R. L. Stevenson, has been "the sedulous150 ape" of Sir Thomas Browne. He has many admirably harmonious151 sentences, a very lively wit, and a becomingly pensive152 air of disenchantment. "The scuffle of drunken men in the dark," the bloodshed and bitterness of the wars of the Covenant153, have saddened him, and left him an enthusiast154 for Montrose,
At once his country's glory and her shame.
[Pg 443]
But political and professional ambitions carried Mackenzie away from pure literature into dark and tortuous155 paths. His work on the Criminal Law of Scotland has considerable literary as well as great legal merit; his observations on the persecution156 of witches are of great interest; and the worst of his "Memoirs157 of the Affairs of Scotland" is the fragmentary condition of the manuscript. Mackenzie was the cause of the foundation of the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh: after the Revolution of 1688 he retired to Oxford158, where he was hospitably159 welcomed.
The Rev. Robert Wodrow (1679-1734) a country clergyman, would gladly have taken all knowledge for his province; his was a most inquiring mind, and perhaps no man so assiduous in his parochial duties ever left behind him so huge a mass of unpublished manuscript. His great work is "The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution". He was, of course, a partisan160, but an honest partisan; he consulted all accessible documents, and often printed them at full length; he occasionally makes errors in the direction of his bias161, but never makes them consciously. He neglects not one of the humblest of the sufferers, and, as he did not belong to the extreme left of the Covenanting163 party, he was savagely164 criticized by its members. He is a most serviceable writer, and his "Analecta, or Materials for a History of Remarkable165 Providences" (published long after his death), is a delightful collection of ghost-stories, and tales of witches. The evidence for the ghosts is extremely frail166. Wodrow was in frequent correspondence with an American divine, as simple, learned, and credulous167 as himself, the Rev. Cotton Mather. Wodrow, after 1714, saw the beginnings of "Latitudinarianism," or "Moderatism," in the Kirk: young ministers began to study the "Characteristics" of that polite philosopher, the third Earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713); to doubt whether virtuous168 heathens and Catholics must inevitably169 be excluded from salvation170; to wander from the Calvinism of John Knox; to aim at rhetorical airs and graces; and to regard the chief end of religion as the promotion171 of virtue172. These Moderates despised "enthusiasm," and while the fiercer Presbyterian leaders separated themselves from the Kirk, the abler Moderates[Pg 444] attempted, sometimes with much success, to distinguish themselves in secular studies, and took part in secular amusements, being patrons of the stage.
To understand the new Georgian revival of polite letters among the clergy and laity173 of Scotland, we should study the writings and life of Professor Francis Hutcheson of Glasgow University (1694-1746) a follower43 of Shaftesbury, and a writer on ?sthetics and on moral philosophy. But for a true, lively, and Humorous picture of ministers who loved society, the stage, and the company of the wits, in London and in Edinburgh, we should read the autobiography174, posthumously175 published, of the Rev. Dr. Alexander Carlyle, minister of Inveresk (1722-1805). In youth he had revelled176 and drunk deep with the wicked Lord Lovat, and that stern Presbyterian, dear to Wodrow, Lord Grange, well remembered for his energy in packing off his termagant wife to seclusion177 on the Isle178 of St. Kilda. Carlyle had seen the rout179 of Sir John Cope at Prestonpans; he had amazed Garrick, at his villa65 on the Thames, by the accuracy of his driving at golf; he had championed his brother minister, John Home, when Home offended the Kirk by writing the once famous play of "Douglas"; and he lived to be the acquaintance of Sir Walter Scott. Carlyle, called "Jupiter Carlyle" from his noble presence, knew every one worth knowing in Scotland; and if we think him a kind of good-humoured pagan, he is nevertheless reported to have been an excellent parish minister. "For human pleasure" in the reading, the memoirs of this most unspiritual of divines are the best thing that the literary revival in Scotland has bequeathed to us. Very few Scottish writers had paid attention to the graces of composition, except in the period of the tenure180 by James I of the English Crown, and in the cases of Sir George Mackenzie and Archbishop Leighton during the Restoration. But the papers of Addison and Steele, "The Tatler" and "The Spectator," went everywhere, were eagerly read in Scotland, and provoked imitation in the matter of style. Literary clubs met in Edinburgh taverns181: and men corresponded with Berkeley on philosophical183 subjects, as Mackenzie had corresponded on literature with John Evelyn. In addition to the literary clubs a centre of interest in poetry and prose was the shop[Pg 445] of Allan Ramsay (1686-1758) who passed from the trade of a wigmaker to that of a bookseller. In 1724 he published "The Evergreen," a collection of old Scots verses from the manuscript made by George Bannatyne (1545-1608) during a visitation of the plague (1568).[1] Ramsay's "Tea-table Miscellany" (1724-1727) was a medley184 of old Scots and new songs and lyrics: the new made by Ramsay and his disciples185 to be sung to the old Scots tunes186. The old verses were the basis of the new, which are a mixture of the simple ancient matter with that of the eighteenth century. Hamilton of Gilbertfield, who, by modernizing187 Blind Harry188's "Wallace," produced a book very inspiring to Burns, was a contemporary of Ramsay: they wrote to each other "epistles" in verse, in the manner continued by Burns. Ramsay's "Gentle Shepherd" (1725) contains matter more true to Scottish shepherd life than is common in pastoral poetry: and Ramsay's elegies, in Burns's favourite metre, on such personages as Maggy Johnstoun, an ale-wife, were models for Fergusson and Burns. Allan was no friend of the more rigid189 Presbyterian party, and once, at least, in the pretty song of "The Blackbird," he showed the colours of the Jacobite. Another poet, Hamilton of Bangour (1704-1754) was actually out with Prince Charles in 1745; his slim volume of 1744, "Poems on Several Occasions," contains little that dwells in the memory except the beautiful and melancholy song of Yarrow,
Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny Bride.
In this little renaissance190, whose poets always had their eyes on the romantic past, Lady Wardlaw (1677-1727) produced what was taken for an old ballad, "Hardyknute," the first, Scott said, that he ever learned, the last that he would ever forget. But it needed "a poetic child" to find so much merit in "Hardyknute". Ladies like Lady Grizel Baillie (1665-1746) with "Were na my heart licht I wad dee," and Miss Jean Elliot of Minto, with "The Flowers of the Forest," a lament191 for Flodden, were surpassed in the number, and equalled in the merit of their songs by Lady[Pg 446] Nairne (an Oliphant of Gask, and a hereditary192 Jacobite) (1766-1845). She was the best of the known and named poets of the Cause which has had so many singers; and her strains were continued by the last of these lady minstrels and musicians, Lady John Scott, a Spottiswoode (1810-1900). The new day was dawning in Scotland, thus early in the eighteenth century, and the birds were singing prelusive to Burns, Scott, and Hogg. Indeed, Lady Nairne's "Will ye no come back again?" and "The Auld193 House," and "Wi' a Hundred Pipers and a,'" and "The Land o' the Leal," are far better remembered than the poems of Robert Fergusson (1750-1774) who died so young, the harmless, hapless Villon of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and, in certain poems, the model of Burns.
These poets were not more determined194 to be Scots (though Ramsay and Fergusson also wrote in English) than the wits who attempted prose were set on speaking English with the English accent, and on avoiding Scotticisms. The select Society (1754) was a debating society whose members were taught to speak English by an Irishman, the father of the famous author of "The School for Scandal". The results were matter of admiration195. They produced an "Edinburgh Review" which survived into two numbers: it had intended to appear every six months, but expired, though Edinburgh was full of literati, including the Rev. Hugh Blair, a once celebrated preacher, and Hume's friend, the Rev. John Home (1722-1808) whose tragedy, "Douglas," "gave the clergy cause for speculation196". Hume declared that Home possessed "the true theatric genius of Shakespeare and Otway, refined from the unhappy barbarism of the one, and licentiousness197 of the other". Posterity198 has not confirmed Hume's verdict, but Home is the one "mellow199 glory" of the Scottish stage.
The Rev. Adam Ferguson (1723-1816), as chaplain of the Black Watch, went in at Fontenoy with the claymore. "Remember your commission, Sir," shouted his colonel. "D— my commission, Sir!" shouted the chaplain. His "History of Margaret, otherwise called Sister Peg200" (1760), is a humorous and valuable sketch of the antipathy201 between England and Scotland in 1760-1770. These men, and many others,—Lord Kames,[Pg 447] Lord Monboddo, Lord Hailes, a serviceable critical historian, Beattie, the poet of "The Minstrel," and the satirist of the dead Churchill,—kept alive the interest in all forms of literature. The great men of the time, to be treated in a later chapter, alas202! fall under the censure203 of Charles Lamb, that their "books are no books," but Charles's sympathy with Scotland was confessedly imperfect.
Out of this medley of new and old, of the vernacular Scots with the affected204 English of Edinburgh, out of the ancient ballads and old frolicsome205 rural ditties, arose the style of Burns.
Robert Burns.
The place of Burns in poetry may be called unique. His genius was the incarnation, as it were, of his country people's through many centuries, generations, from the one musical stanza on the death of Alexander III (1285) to the simplest song that the milkmaids crooned at their work. In literary poetry, as we have seen, the part played by Scotland had been partly derivative206. The greatest poets, those of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, were professed207 followers of Chaucer: Drummond of Hawthornden was a lyrist and sonneteer under Italian and Elizabethan influences. Of Barbour and Blind Harry, Burns had little but the burning patriotism208: his real predecessors were the many named or nameless popular song-makers209, and makers of lays of rural merriment; and the music of the Scottish tunes to which their words were wedded210. Of the popular ballads, romantic or historical, he professed no high esteem211: no "white plumes212 were dancing in his eye," chivalry213 was not his subject: his matter was rural life and Nature; and he had the true Scottish love of the rivers and burns of his country. In the furnace of his genius all the ancient poetic material, all the folk-song (but not "the fairy way of writing") was recast and refashioned in forms singularly varied214, vivid, and real: while, to pursue the metaphor215, the furnace was fanned by all the winds of his age—now of democracy; now of loyalty216 to "a man undone," and a dying dynasty; now of patriotic217 resistance to "haughty218 Gaul," and her threats of invasion.
In the fire of his nature and of his passions Burns resembled Byron, but his humour was kindlier, his ear more tuneful, and his[Pg 448] gift of creating character was infinitely219 more varied. He had the eye of Molière or of Fielding for a hypocrite; and combined the delusion220 that the Covenanters were the friends of freedom, with a scornful contempt of the discipline and doctrines221 of the successors of the Covenanters. In affairs of the heart he exhibits the usual pastoral morality, that of the shepherds and goatherds of Theocritus, with little of the Sicilian grace and charm.
The life of Burns is so familiarly known that the briefest survey must suffice. Born on 25 January, 1759, in a clay bigging in the parish of Alloway, in Ayrshire, he was the son of a small labouring farmer of the class whence so many of the martyrs222 and stout223 fighting men of the Covenant sprang. His father, a "grave liver" and devout224, like them, managed to obtain for Burns, and out of every book which came in his way Burns picked-up for himself, a fair literary education. He owed much, especially many opportunities of reading, to a young tutor, Mr. Murdoch. He never was such a bookish man as Hogg, neglected as Hogg's education was in youth, but he acquired a knowledge of French, and studied Molière. The hardships of a poor farmer, in a cold soil, under a heartless "factor," the severest struggles for existence were known to Burns, but he also had his fill of dancing and "daffing," and the consequent "Kirk discipline". On this aspect of his life and adventures what is best to say has been said by Keats, in a letter written from Burns's country.
Entanglements225 of love affairs, and despair of success in life, caused Burns to contemplate226 emigration to the West Indies, but first he published at Kilmarnock (July, 1786), a collection of his songs and verses which instantly made him famous. Invited to Edinburgh, he passed a winter there in learned, noble, and festive227 society, carrying the celebrated Duchess of Gordon "off her feet," as she said, but winning far more admirers and boon228 companions than serviceable friends.
The Earl of Glencairn, whom Burns immortalized in sincere and glowing verse, died young; the age of Harley and Bolingbroke, of pensions and places for poets, was long dead. Burns met Scott, then a boy of 15; Scott later said that he was unworthy to tie Burns's shoes, but had the men been of equal age, better work[Pg 449] would have been found for Burns than the perilous229 and bitterly uncongenial task of the exciseman (1789).
Not successful as a farmer at Ellisland (his capital was no more than the scanty230 profits of his poems), Burns settled in the pretty little town of Dumfries. Here his wit and genius made him the guest of the town and country, of lairds and tourists, and tradesmen. A constitution naturally robust231, though injured by early privation, broke down; he had not the energy to continue in the vein232 of "Tam o' Shanter"; but poured out his songs, original, or re-creations of old popular ditties, till his death on 21 July, 1796.
Burns was singular as a poet, in one point: he needed, as it were, to have a key-note struck for him, and he prolonged and glorified233 the note which had inspired him. Far from concealing235 the fact, he acknowledged, with perfect candour and generosity236, his debt to Robert Fergusson. This poet, born in Edinburgh (1750), and educated at the University of St. Andrews, died, after an interval237 of madness, in 1774. He, like Burns, had been too welcome a guest of more seasoned convivialists for the sake of his wit. His verses in English are commonplace, but his lyrics, in Burns's favourite measure, on the rude pleasures of Edinburgh tavern182 life, his "Leith Races," "The Farmer's Ingle," "Ode to the Gowdspink," and other pieces, gave Burns the needed key-note for "The Cottar's Saturday Night," "The Holy Fair" (the sacramental meeting in the open air, a relic17 of Covenanting days), and, perhaps, for the poems on "The Mouse," and "The Mountain Daisy". Burns has so entirely238 eclipsed Fergusson that he is scarcely remembered, even in Scotland.
"Poor Mailie's Elegy" had a much older predecessor111; and, generally, Burns's songs start from an old tune, to which, through the ages, new verses had been set in new generations. There was a Jacobite "Auld Lang Syne," there was a Jacobite "For a' that," there was a very improper239 "Green grows the Rashes, o'" and so on, endlessly. But Burns, in many cases, transfigured his original. That he shone more in Scots than in English is admitted—but the best verses in his "Jolly Beggars" are in English, and there is only one word spelled in the Scots fashion in
[Pg 450]
Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met or never parted—
We had ne'er been broken hearted.
The same song contains the conventional lines—
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans240 I'll wage thee.
The vigour and variety, the humour, the pity, the scorn, and the sentiment of Burns were all entirely new when he wrote, and his variety enabled him to please the most widely different tastes. Critics who were horrified241 by "The Jolly Beggars," and "The Holy Fair," and the reckless song to Anna found consolation242 in "The Cottar's Saturday Night," and the lament for "Highland243 Mary"
Thou ling'ring star with lessening244 ray,
in English. Poems in the manner of these two last are sometimes spoken of as "sentimental," but the sentiment was as real a mood, while it lasted, as the scorn, or the revelry.
Of Burns it may be said that, beloved as he has been, not always for his best qualities, by the uncritical, he has been no less admired by the greatest poets of the age that followed his own, Keats, Scott, and Wordsworth. No poet ever was more truly national; none had more of the genius of the popular past, and the aspirations245 of the popular future; none was more essentially246 and spontaneously lyrical; none was more at home with Mature, with human society (with the life of the animal world, too, as in "The Twa Dogs"), and, in the humorous tale, none has excelled "Tam o'Shanter". No poet wears better in the changes of circumstance and taste. His letters, though of capital biographical interest, are sometimes of a comic complexion247; "the style of the Bird of Paradise" prevails, now and then, in his English prose. But his English verse, as Scott found to be the way with his countrymen when they had, in passionate248 moments, "gotten to their English," is sometimes the natural vehicle of high reflection or of sincere grief.
[Pg 451]
Charles Churchill.
Satire is the least worthy kind of poetry; for it is almost never sincere. The writer is always in a fatiguing249 state of virtuous indignation about matters for which he really cares very little, except when his virulence250 is brewed251 out of personal spite. Satire, in fact, is only tolerable when combined with the smiling humour of Horace, the occasional majesty252 of Juvenal, the grace, wit, and finish of Pope, or the airy contempt and sonorous254 lines of Dryden. Charles Churchill had little of the qualities of these poets, yet was, no doubt, the most popular writer of satire in the rhymed heroic couplet between Pope and Byron. He was born in 1731, the son of the Rector at Rainham; was at Westminster School a contemporary of Cowper and Warren Hastings; did not study at either University, though he was admitted to Trinity, Cambridge; married at 18, and married unwisely; took orders, and returned to lay costume and pursuits, and in 1761, looking about for a theme of satire that promised notoriety, had the happy thought of attacking the actors and actresses of the day in "The Rosciad". "The profession" is sensitive; the actors were not silent about their wrongs; there was plenty of hubbub255, and the satire was remunerative256. Any man who stoops to taunt257 actors, and even actresses, by personal attacks in rhyme, can make himself notorious. Perhaps the best-known rhymes of Churchill are
On my life
That Davies hath a very pretty wife.
There were replies and hostile reviews, and Churchill, in "The Apology," assailed Garrick as "the vain tyrant258" with
His puny259 green-room wits and venal253 bards260.
Garrick is said not to have dared to contemn261 things contemptible262, and to have propitiated263 Churchill. As ally of Jack264 Wilkes, he "took the Wilkes and Liberty" to assail75 Scotland in "The Prophecy of Famine".
Waft265 me, some Muse, to Tweed's inspiring stream
. . . . . . . . . .
Where, slowly winding the dull waters creep
And seem themselves to own the power of sleep.
[Pg 452]
In fact, "the glittering and resolute266 streams of Tweed," as the old Cromwellian angler, Richard Franck, styles them, are only dull and sleepy in the "dubs267" where England provides their flat southern bank.
In 1763 Churchill assailed Hogarth in an epistle, and Hogarth replied in kind with a truly English caricature. He wrote several other satires and a Hudibrastic skit268, in Four Books, on Dr. Johnson's incursion into psychical269 research, in the matter of the famous Cock Lane Ghost. Churchill died at Boulogne, in November, 1764, and is buried at Dover. In private life he displayed some kindly and honourable270 qualities, and Byron, before leaving England for ever, in 1816, consecrated271 a poem to his grave. To the discredit272 of Scotland, Dr. Beattie lampooned273 Churchill—after he was dead!
George Crabbe.
Born more than twenty years after Cowper, but making his first noticeable entry into literature at the same time as he, Crabbe belongs in curious ways to different schools and different ages. In verse he follows the tradition of Pope and Goldsmith; writing, in his best-known works, in the rhymed ten syllables274, and much influenced by Goldsmith's "Deserted Village," and by reaction against the smiling conventional "pastorals", But perhaps Crabbe's genius, stern and almost grim, was unfortunate in finding no other vendible275 vehicle of his thought than verse, for his natural bent276 was to the modern "realistic" novel on the squalor, sufferings and sins of the neglected rural poor. He had a genius like that of several modern novelists, for painting all that in nature or human nature is dark, lowering, and sullen277; he is unsparingly devoted278 to actual study from the life; and yet he has a peculiar279 humour of his own. His later works were "Tales," short stories in the measure of Pope, but destitute280 of brilliance281, and extremely prolix282, so that, though these narratives283 in verse were apparently284 more popular than the contemporary novels of Miss Austen, the rapid rise and universal popularity of the prose novel began to deprive Crabbe of readers even in his own later years. Crabbe, who had been praised by Dr. Johnson, lived to enjoy the generous applause of Scott, Byron, Miss Austen, and, what was more rare, the approval of Wordsworth.[Pg 453] But as, in the beginning of his career, he censured285 the Newspaper as the supplanter286 of poetry, so, before his death in 1832, he found that the world preferred novels in prose to short tales of modern life in verse. He profited by the brief period of the bloom of poetry, but his biographer, Canon Ainger, observes that "Crabbe is practically unknown to the readers of the present day". The gaiety and grace which in Cowper alternate with gloom, and make many of his poems so generally familiar, were not elements in the genius of Crabbe.
He was born at Aldeburgh, on the coast of Suffolk, on Christmas Eve, 1754, the son of a man who had been a schoolmaster, but later obtained a small post in the Customs. In Crabbe's day Aldeburgh was not, as now, a watering-place, but through the inroads of the sea, was become a squalid smuggling287 village with a desolate288 background of poor and ill-cultivated land: as described in "The Village". Crabbe was from childhood a great devourer289 of books, and at the second of his two country schools acquired Latin enough for his later purposes. He was apprenticed290 to a surgeon, fell early in love, at 18 won a prize for a magazine poem, "Hope," made songs to his mistress's eyebrow291, printed (1775) a moral poem ("Inebriety"), at Ipswich practised medicine in a humble162 way, and in April, 1780, went to London with his surgical292 instruments and three pounds in his pocket. He wrote poems which were declined by publishers; though there was an opening for a poet—
When Verse her wintry prospect293 weeps,
When Pope is gone, and mighty294 Milton sleeps,
When Gray in lofty lines has ceased to soar,
And gentle Goldsmith charms the Town no more.
(Lines of 1780.) But the opening was occupied by Cowper, and Crabbe was as destitute as Chatterton, when a letter written by him to Burke excited the sympathy of that generous heart in 1781. Burke offered encouragement and hospitality, Thurlow gave money; Crabbe was introduced to Fox, Reynolds and Dr. Johnson, took orders, was made curate of his native village, liked it not, and became chaplain of the Duke of Rutland at Belvoir. Later he held a variety of livings, and, for a poet so satirical about[Pg 454] clerical neglect of the poor, was, inconsistently, a pluralist and an absentee, till his Bishop made him mend his ways.
His first poem of any note, "The Library" (1781-2) has no great merit: we see that the novel, to Crabbe's mind, was represented by the old heroic romance,
bloody295 deeds
Black suits of armour296, masks, and foaming297 steeds.
In "The Village" (1783) Crabbe showed his true self in realistic descriptions of wretchedness. He first tells the Pastoral Muse that her day is over:—
I paint the cot,
As Truth will paint it, and as bards will not.
There follows a perfect masterpiece of landscape in his manner, "the thin harvest with its withered298 ears" beyond the "burning sands"; the blighted299 rye, the thistles, poppies, blue bugloss, slimy mallow, the tares300, the charlock. The peasants are "a wild amphibious race" of smugglers and fishers; the farm-labourers
hoard301 up aches and agues for their age,
and
mend the broken hedge with icy thorn.
In the poorhouse, amidst unspeakable filth302, the dying are neglected by the doctor and the sporting curate, and the dead are buried without rites303. There is not a gleam of hope or sunshine, except in the accidental mention of "the flying ball, the bat, the wicket". The poet ends with applause of the heroic death in action of Lord Robert Manners, and with consolatory304 remarks to the Duke of Rutland.
The poem was successful and was admired by Scott, then a lad of 18: a few lines had been contributed by Dr. Johnson.
Deserting the topics in which he was strongest, Crabbe (1785) published "The Newspaper"; the papers are
A daily swarm305 that banish306 every Muse,
For these unread the noblest volumes lie,
For these unsoiled in sheets the Muses307 die....
For daily bread the dirty trade they ply26,
Coin their fresh tales and live upon the lie.
"The puffing308 poet" is also censured.
[Pg 455]
Crabbe continued to write, but not till 1807 did he publish "The Parish Register," which returns to the theme of "The Village". He was now doing duty at his parish, Muston, and, not unnaturally309, found that, in various forms, the people had become Nonconformists. He now took a much more cheerful view of "the cot," and found its book-shelf well occupied by the Bible, Bunyan, and old English fairy tales; while the garden was rich in salads, carnations310, hyacinths, and tulips. But Crabbe turns with more zest311
To this infected row we term our street,
he enumerates312 the smells, and describes the horrible results of overcrowded dwellings313; and catalogues the disguises, the weapons, and the implements314 of the poacher. There follows the sad story of "The Miller's Daughter"; and another girl who thus addresses her clerical rebuker315,
Alas! your Reverence316, wanton thoughts, I grant,
Were once my motive317, now the thoughts of want.
This is a fair example of Crabbe's favourite punning antitheses318, like
loose in his gaiters, looser in his gait.
In "The Parish Register" Crabbe reduces the story of a life to the brevity of an anecdote319, and in the dearth320 of novels his book was very popular. A better book of a similar scope and aim, in prose, Galt's "Annals of the Parish," was being written, but, taking time by the forelock, Crabbe, in 1810, produced "The Borough," descriptions of a large country town, including tales in verse of more considerable length. But, in 1804-1805, he had written a poem which is strange in his work, "Sir Eustace Grey," a tale told by a madman, a record of the dreams of madness, closely resembling De Quincey's account of the visions begotten321 by opium322, and, in essence, not unlike Coleridge's "Pains of Sleep". The metre is that of the French ballade, and of the oldest Scottish ditty on the death of Alexander III. Thus
They hung me on a bough323 so small,
The rook could build her nest no higher,
They fixed324 me on the trembling ball
[Pg 456]That crowns the steeple's quivering spire234;
They set me where the seas retire,
But drown with their returning tide;
And made me flee the mountain's fire
When rolling from its burning side.
This adventure into romance has imaginative merits, and a speed of movement elsewhere unexampled in the work of Crabbe. The hymn68 with which poor Sir Eustace consoles himself might have been written by Cowper when first converted and "from cells of madness unconfined":—
Pilgrim, burdened with thy sin,
Come the way to Zion's gate;
There, till Mercy let thee in,
Knock and weep, and watch and wait.
Knock! He knows the sinner's cry:
Weep! He loves the mourner's tears:
Watch! for saving grace is nigh:
Wait! till heavenly light appears.
Crabbe thought it necessary to apologize for the "enthusiasm" of the hymn, and to point out that Sir Eustace, had he been sane, would not have been converted by "a methodistic call". "The World of Dreams," in the same stanza, might take its place in "Sir Eustace Grey," so similar are the processions of terrible fantastic visions. These things are very strange among the vigorous but heavy-footed marches of Crabbe's habitual325 style.
To return to "The Borough," Crabbe paints its very aspect with his Dutch precision; and, incidentally, strikes at his rivals, the enthusiasts326 of various sects327, who were much more popular preachers than himself.
Their, earth is crazy and their heaven is base,
he says of the followers of Swedenborg. As for the Jews,
They will not study and they dare not fight,
he exclaims; making an exception for Mendoza and other famed Semitic bruisers. The poem is of some value to the social historian, and the tales of the country coquette, and the horrible and haunted Peter Grimes, have a gloomy vigour, and somewhat resemble, in poetry, the moral pictures of Hogarth.
[Pg 457]
Crabbe's later works were collections of tales in verse, and with all their merits their versification condemns328 them to general neglect. His "Lady Barbara, or the Ghost" is not so successful in rendering329 the well-known story of "The Beresford Ghost" as is Scott's early ballad "The Eve of St John". To read with attention novels of everyday life narrated330 in the metre of Pope, without the skill of Pope, requires a vigorous effort.
In his Tales (as when a sturdy orthodox farmer expels the demon119 of scepticism from his son by a sound trouncing) Crabbe is often somewhat remote from our sympathetic modern tolerance331 of honest doubt. His method of narration332 is obsolete333. In "The Patron," the patronized youth of humble birth, who has loved the Squire's daughter, is neglected,
And in the bed of death the youth reposed334.
The nymph of his adoration335 is thus corrected by her mother:—
"Emma," the lady cried, "my words attend,
Your syren-smiles have killed your humble friend;
The hopes you raised can now delude336 no more,
Nor charms, that once inspired, can now restore."
People did not speak in that style in Miss Austen's day; or in any other day.
Crabbe died in the same year as Sir Walter Scott, who, like Byron, Wordsworth, and Tennyson, appreciated that in him which was rare, excellent, and original.
[1] The Bannatyne Club, for the printing and preservation337 of old manuscripts, a kind of Scottish Roxburghe Club, was founded by Sir Walter Scott in memory of the old lover of poetry.
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1
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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lethargic
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| adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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voracious
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| adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的 | |
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muse
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| n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感 | |
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satiric
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| adj.讽刺的，挖苦的 | |
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notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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secular
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| n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的 | |
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glossaries
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| （书尾的）词汇表，难词汇编( glossary的名词复数 ) | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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ballads
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| 民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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25
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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ply
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| v.(搬运工等)等候顾客，弯曲 | |
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forgeries
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| 伪造( forgery的名词复数 )； 伪造的文件、签名等 | |
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curt
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soliciting
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| v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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porcelain
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precocity
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lyric
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| n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的 | |
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lyrics
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stanza
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| n.（诗）节，段 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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conjecture
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overlapping
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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rev
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follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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bullied
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| adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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innate
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savagery
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wreaks
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| 诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的第三人称单数 ) | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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57
emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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58
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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59
tickle
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| v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒 | |
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60
solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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61
giggle
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| n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说 | |
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62
giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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64
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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65
villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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66
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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67
hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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68
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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69
squires
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| n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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70
preludes
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| n.开端( prelude的名词复数 )；序幕；序曲；短篇作品 | |
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71
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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72
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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73
satirist
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| n.讽刺诗作者，讽刺家，爱挖苦别人的人 | |
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74
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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75
assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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76
atheist
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| n.无神论者 | |
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77
satires
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| 讽刺，讥讽( satire的名词复数 )； 讽刺作品 | |
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78
ambles
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的第三人称单数 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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79
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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80
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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81
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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82
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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83
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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84
sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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85
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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86
rims
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| n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈 | |
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87
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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88
geologists
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| 地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 ) | |
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89
disclaiming
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| v.否认( disclaim的现在分词 ) | |
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90
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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91
cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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92
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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93
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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94
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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95
attuned
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| v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 )；调音 | |
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96
tuned
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| adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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97
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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98
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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99
idyllic
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| adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的 | |
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100
colonnade
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| n.柱廊 | |
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101
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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102
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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103
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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104
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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105
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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106
odyssey
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| n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险 | |
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107
epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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108
exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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109
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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110
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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111
predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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112
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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113
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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114
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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115
chronological
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| adj.按年月顺序排列的，年代学的 | |
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116
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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117
poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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118
treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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119
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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120
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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121
vernacular
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| adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名 | |
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122
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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123
crabbed
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| adj.脾气坏的；易怒的；（指字迹）难辨认的；（字迹等）难辨认的v.捕蟹( crab的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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125
panegyric
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| n.颂词，颂扬 | |
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126
sonnets
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| n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 ) | |
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127
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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128
cypress
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| n.柏树 | |
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129
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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130
cadences
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| n.（声音的）抑扬顿挫( cadence的名词复数 )；节奏；韵律；调子 | |
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131
tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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132
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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133
conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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134
conceits
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| 高傲( conceit的名词复数 )； 自以为； 巧妙的词语； 别出心裁的比喻 | |
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135
elegies
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| n.哀歌，挽歌( elegy的名词复数 ) | |
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136
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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137
elegy
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| n.哀歌，挽歌 | |
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138
bagpipes
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| n.风笛；风笛( bagpipe的名词复数 ) | |
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139
militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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140
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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141
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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142
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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143
acerbity
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| n.涩，酸，刻薄 | |
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144
tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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145
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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146
judiciously
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| adv.明断地，明智而审慎地 | |
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147
insinuates
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| n.暗示( insinuate的名词复数 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入v.暗示( insinuate的第三人称单数 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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148
corroboration
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| n.进一步的证实，进一步的证据 | |
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149
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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150
sedulous
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| adj.勤勉的，努力的 | |
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151
harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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152
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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153
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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154
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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155
tortuous
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| adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的 | |
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156
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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157
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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158
Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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159
hospitably
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| 亲切地，招待周到地，善于款待地 | |
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160
partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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161
bias
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| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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162
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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163
covenanting
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| v.立约，立誓( covenant的现在分词 ) | |
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164
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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165
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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166
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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167
credulous
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| adj.轻信的，易信的 | |
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168
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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169
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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170
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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171
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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172
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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173
laity
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| n.俗人；门外汉 | |
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174
autobiography
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| n.自传 | |
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175
posthumously
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| adv.于死后，于身后；于著作者死后出版地 | |
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176
revelled
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| v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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177
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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178
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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179
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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180
tenure
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| n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期 | |
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181
taverns
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| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
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182
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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183
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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184
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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185
disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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186
tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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187
modernizing
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| 使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法 | |
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188
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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189
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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190
renaissance
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| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
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191
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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192
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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193
auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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194
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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195
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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196
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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197
licentiousness
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| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
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198
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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199
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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200
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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201
antipathy
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| n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物 | |
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202
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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203
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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204
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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205
frolicsome
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| adj.嬉戏的，闹着玩的 | |
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206
derivative
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| n.派(衍)生物；adj.非独创性的，模仿他人的 | |
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207
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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208
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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209
makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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210
wedded
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|
| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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211
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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212
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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213
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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214
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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215
metaphor
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| n.隐喻，暗喻 | |
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216
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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217
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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218
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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219
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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220
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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221
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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222
martyrs
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|
| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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224
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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225
entanglements
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| n.瓜葛( entanglement的名词复数 )；牵连；纠缠；缠住 | |
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226
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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227
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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228
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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229
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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230
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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231
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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232
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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233
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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234
spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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235
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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236
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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237
interval
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|
| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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238
entirely
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|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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239
improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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240
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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241
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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242
consolation
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|
| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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243
highland
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|
| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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244
lessening
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| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
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245
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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246
essentially
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|
| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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247
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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248
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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249
fatiguing
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| a.使人劳累的 | |
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250
virulence
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| n.毒力，毒性；病毒性；致病力 | |
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251
brewed
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| 调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡） | |
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252
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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253
venal
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| adj.唯利是图的，贪脏枉法的 | |
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254
sonorous
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|
| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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255
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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256
remunerative
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| adj.有报酬的 | |
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257
taunt
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| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
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258
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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259
puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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260
bards
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| n.诗人( bard的名词复数 ) | |
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261
contemn
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| v.蔑视 | |
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262
contemptible
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|
| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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263
propitiated
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| v.劝解，抚慰，使息怒( propitiate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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264
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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265
waft
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| v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡 | |
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266
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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267
dubs
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| v.给…起绰号( dub的第三人称单数 )；把…称为；配音；复制 | |
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268
skit
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| n.滑稽短剧；一群 | |
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269
psychical
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| adj.有关特异功能现象的；有关特异功能官能的；灵魂的；心灵的 | |
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270
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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271
consecrated
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|
| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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272
discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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273
lampooned
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| v.冷嘲热讽，奚落( lampoon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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274
syllables
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| n.音节( syllable的名词复数 ) | |
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275
vendible
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| adj.可销售的，可被普遍接受的n.可销售物 | |
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276
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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277
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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278
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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279
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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280
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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281
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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282
prolix
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| adj.罗嗦的；冗长的 | |
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283
narratives
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| 记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分 | |
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284
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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285
censured
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| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
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286
supplanter
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| 排挤者，取代者 | |
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287
smuggling
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| n.走私 | |
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288
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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289
devourer
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| 吞噬者 | |
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290
apprenticed
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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291
eyebrow
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| n.眉毛，眉 | |
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292
surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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293
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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294
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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295
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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296
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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297
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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298
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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299
blighted
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| adj.枯萎的，摧毁的 | |
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300
tares
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| 荑；稂莠；稗 | |
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301
hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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302
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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303
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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304
consolatory
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| adj.慰问的，可藉慰的 | |
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305
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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306
banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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307
muses
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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308
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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309
unnaturally
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| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
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310
carnations
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| n.麝香石竹，康乃馨( carnation的名词复数 ) | |
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311
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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312
enumerates
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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313
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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rebuker
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316
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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317
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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318
antitheses
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| n.对照，对立的，对比法；对立( antithesis的名词复数 )；对立面；对照；对偶 | |
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319
anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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320
dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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321
begotten
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
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opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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324
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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326
enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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sects
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| n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 ) | |
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328
condemns
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| v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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329
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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330
narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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331
tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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narration
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| n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体 | |
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333
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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delude
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| vt.欺骗；哄骗 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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