A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century Part 23

"When the long-sounding curfew from afar Loaded with loud lament the lonely gale, Young Edwin, lighted by the evening star, Lingering and listening, wandered down the vale.

There would he dream of graves and corses pale, And ghosts that to the charnel-dungeon throng, And drag a length of clanking chain, and wail, Till silenced by the owl's terrific song, Or blast that shrieks by fits the shuddering aisles along.

"Or when the settling moon, in crimson dyed, Hung o'er the dark and melancholy deep, To haunted stream, remote from man, he hied, Where fays of yore their revels wont to keep; And there let Fancy rove at large, till sleep A vision brought to his entranced sight.

And first a wildly murmuring wind gan creep Shrill to his ringing ear; then tapers bright, With instantaneous gleam, illumed the vault of night.

"Anon in view a portal's blazing arch Arose; the trumpet bids the valves unfold; And forth a host of little warriors march, Grasping the diamond lance and targe of gold.

Their look was gentle, their demeanor bold, And green their helms, and green their silk attire; And here and there, right venerably old, The long-robed minstrels wake the warbling wire, And some with mellow breath the martial pipe inspire."[53]

The influence of Thomson is clearly perceptible in these stanzas. "The Minstrel," like "The Seasons," abounds in insipid morality, the commonplaces of denunciation against luxury and ambition, and the praise of simplicity and innocence. The t.i.tles alone of Beattie's minor poems are enough to show in what school he was a scholar: "The Hermit," "Ode to Peace," "The Triumph of Melancholy," "Retirement," etc., etc. "The Minstrel" ran through four editions before the publication of its second book in 1774.

[1] Svend Grundtvig's great collection, "Danmarks Gamle Folkeviser," was published in five volumes in 1853-90.

[2] Francis James Child's "English and Scottish Popular Ballads," issued in ten parts in 1882-98 is one of the glories of American scholarship.

[3] _Cf._ The Tannhauser legend and the Venusberg.

[4] "The Wife of Usher's Well."

[5] It should never be forgotten that the ballad (derived from _ballare--to dance)_ was originally not a written poem, but a song and dance. Many of the old tunes are preserved. A number are given in Chappell's "Popular Music of the Olden Time," and in the appendix to Motherwell's "Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern" (1827).

[6] "A Ballad." One theory explains these meaningless refrains as remembered fragments of older ballads.

[7] Reproduced by Rossetti and other moderns. See them parodied in Robert Buchanan's "Fleshly School of Poets":

"When seas do roar and skies do pour, Hard is the lot of the sailor Who scarcely, as he reels, can tell The sidelights from the binnacle."

[8] "I never heard the old song of Percie and Douglas that I found not my heart moved more than with a trumpet; and yet it is sung but by some blind crouder, with no rougher voice than rude style; which being so evil apparelled in the dust and cobwebs of that uncivil age, what would it work, trimmed in the gorgeous eloquence of Pindar!"

[9] Empty: "Bonnie George Campbell."

[10] "Lord Randall."

[11] Turf: "The Twa Corbies."

[12] I use this phrase without any polemic purpose. The question of origins is not here under discussion. Of course at some stage in the history of any ballad the poet, the individual artist, is present, though the precise ration of his agency to the communal element in the work is obscure. For an acute and learned view of this topic, see the Introduction to "Old English Ballads," by Professor Francis B. Gummere (Atheneum Press Series), Boston, 1894.

[13] From "Jock o' Hazel Green." "Young Lochinvar" is derived from "Katherine Janfarie" in the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border."

[14] "Scott has given us nothing more complete and lovely than this little song, which unites simplicity and dramatic power to a wildwood music of the rarest quality. No moral is drawn, far less any conscious a.n.a.lysis of feeling attempted: the pathetic meaning is left to be suggested by the mere presentment of the situation. Inexperienced critics have often named this, which may be called the Homeric manner, superficial from its apparent simple facility."--_Palgrave: "Golden Treasury"_ (Edition of 1866), p. 392.

[15] "Brown Robyn's Confession." Robin Hood risks his life to take the sacrament. "Robin Hood and the Monk."

[16] "Sir Hugh." _Cf._ Chaucer's "Prioresse Tale."

[17] "The Gay Goshawk."

[18] "Johnnie c.o.c.k."

[19] "Young Hunting."

[20] "The Twa Sisters."

[21] "The Wife of Usher's Well."

[22] "Fair Margaret and Sweet William."

[23] "Sweet William's Ghost."

[24] "Clerk Colven."

[25] "Willie's Lady."

[26] "Kemp Owyne" and "Tam Lin."

[27] "King Estmere."

[28] "Johnnie c.o.c.k."

[29] "Mary Hamilton."

[30] "Sweet William's Ghost."

[31] "The Forsaken Bride." _Cf._ Chaucer:

"Love is noght old as when that it is newe."

--_Clerkes Tale._

[32] What character so popular as a wild prince--like Prince Hal--who breaks his own laws, and the heads of his own people, in a democratic way?

[33] "Robin Hood and the Monk."

[34] For a complete exposure of David Mallet's impudent claim to the authorship of this ballad, see Appendix II. to Professor Phelps' "English Romantic Movement."

[35] "Life of Addison."

[36] Preface to second edition of the "Lyrical Ballads."

[37] "Bishop Percy's Folio Ma.n.u.script" (1867), Vol. II. Introductory Essay by J. W. Hales on "The Revival of Ballad Poetry in the Eighteenth Century."

[38] _Ibid._

[39] "Advertis.e.m.e.nt to the Fourth Edition."

[40] In four volumes, 1867-68.

[41] Spelling reform has been a favorite field for cranks to disport themselves upon. Ritson's particular vanity was the past participle of verbs ending in _e; e.g., perceiveed._ _Cf._ Landor's notions of a similar kind.

[42] "The Hunting of the Cheviot."