-Rogers's "Italy"— Galileo and Milton-Moore's Songs- Irish patriotism-The true question respecting poetical com- position-Lamb's lines on the "Old Familiar Faces"-Scott's career of authorship-Scott the second in rank of Scottish poets-His childhood at Sandy Knowe-His early reading- His interview with Burns-Influence of the Story of the Rebellion of 1745 on his genius-His love of natural scenery -The minstrelsy of the Scottish border-Hallam's remark on the Scottish ballads-Story of "Christie's Will"-"The Lay of the Last Minstrel"-Scott's merit as a poet-In- fluence of the French Revolution on his mind-" Marmion" "The Lady of the Lake"-Decline of his poetical powers- Advantage of connecting critical with historical considerations --Spenser and his age-Spirit of the French Revolution- Contrast between the American and the French Revolutions- Its influence over thought and action-Coleridge's "France" -Nature of lyrical poetry-Early developments of Cole- ridge's genius- His philosophy-His critical papers-His consciousness of his own poetical endowment-His boyhood at Christ Church Hospital-Monody on Chatterton-His love of nature-Ode on Dejection-Translations of Schiller's trage- CONTENTS. -"Wat Tyler"-" Joan of Arc"-The product of imagination is often truth" Madoc"-" Roderic"-"Thalaba"-"The Curse of Kehama"- Scriptural character of "Thalaaba"- Keble's "Christian Year"-Story of "Thalaba and Oneiza" -Southey's Odes-"The Retreat from Moscow"-" The Tale critical lectures-Southey and Byron-The spirit of criticism the spirit of charity-Rogers's plea for Byron's memory- Popularity of his poetry-"English Bards and Scotch Reviewers"- "Childe Harold"- His love of external nature -Formation of his literary character-Admiration for Pope- Success of "Childe Harold"- His Oriental tales - Literature of the last century - Story of Byron's marriage - Noctes Ambrosianæ - Contrast between the "Corsair" and the "Prisoner of Chillon"-"The Dream"- Materialism in his poetry-Manfred -Venice -The Dying Gladiator - Strains for liberty- Beauty of womanly humanity-"Sardanapalus" -Byron's selfishness-His infidelity......................... Difficulties in the way of a proper appreciation of contem- porary genius-Candour rare in criticism-Controversy in regard to Wordsworth's school of poetry-Comparative criti- cism between the poetry of Wordsworth and Byron-Cor- respondence of Wordsworth's life with the spirit of true poetry-Continuity of his moral life-Recollections of his childhood-His love of nature and of man-His sympathy LECTURES ON ENGLISH POETRY. LECTURE X. Burns. (WITH NOTICES OF JOHNSON'S LIVES OF THE POETS.) Monotony of Pope's verse-The revival of a truer spirit of PoetryChatterton-Merit of Cowper-Dr. Johnson's literary dictatorshipHis "Lives of the Poets"-Sir Egerton Brydges's criticism on them -Cowper's judgment of them-Johnson's incapacity for poetical criticism-Johnson's judgments on Gray-"London"-" Vanity of Human Wishes"-Percy's "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry"— The character of this poetry-Robert Burns-His boyhood-Early trials-Mossgeil Farm-The freshness of his poetry-Its universality -Wordsworth's lines-The Mountain-Daisy-The Field-mouse— Cotter's Saturday Night-Tam O'Shanter-Mary Campbell-Morality of Burns's poetry-The bard's epitaph-Wordsworth's Lines to the Sons of Burns. In my last lecture I was constrained to pass, somewhat too hastily, from the poetry of Pope to that of Cowper, thus bringing the earlier portion of the eighteenth century in too close contact with its later period. It has been my aim, throughout this course of lectures, to make it, as far as possible, comprehensive not only of the exposition of the individual poets selected, but of the progress of English poetry in its successive ages, as it has been modified by the influence of genius and the spirit of the times. I propose, therefore, in order not to deviate now from the plan as presented to my own mind at the outset, to endea 9 vour to supply, in a very general way, the chasm in my last lecture between Pope and Cowper. Before proceeding to the chief subject of the present lecture, I wish to dispose in as short a space of some of the omitted subjects. The influence of Pope's poetry, or rather that school of poetry which began with Dryden and was completed by Pope, was unquestionably injurious on all the writers who came within its reach. It reduced poetry to mere versification, and thus, in the hands of pupils who were deficient in the natural powers of the masters, it became mechanical, a thing of sound, and little else. Besides, the ear was habituated but to one fashion of sound; for Dryden and Pope had spent almost their whole effort upon one form of verse,-the rhyming couplet of the ten-syllable line. They had set English poetry to one tune in the position of its pauses and the balanced succession of the notes, so that every puny versifier could give, if not the same music, at least a very good echo of it. It became a kind of hand-organ operation, in which one hand could grind out the sounds nigh as well as another. Besides this levelling faculty, listening almost exclusively to one fashion of metrical sounds, the ear lost its power of receiving other metres. With the incessant, unrelieved tinkling of the heroic rhyming couplet, the sense of poetical music grew deaf to the richer and varied harmonies in which the elder poets had taken such delight and exhibited such manifold power both in the language and in themselves. The melody of Shakspeare's admirable dramatic blank verse, and the equally appropriate epic blank verse, and the variety of versifications in his smaller poems, ceased to be appreciated; and, when Pope is extolled as having brought verse to perfection, it is forgotten |