Halleck's New English Literature Part 70

Brooke's _Tennyson: His Art and Relation to Modern Life_.

Van d.y.k.e's _The Poetry of Tennyson_.

Gordon's _The Social Ideals of Alfred Tennyson_.

Lackyer's _Tennyson as a Student and Poet of Nature_.

Luce's _Handbook to the Works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson_.

Woodberry's _Swinburne_.

Thomas's _Algernon Charles Swinburne: A Critical Study_.

Knowles's _Kipling Primer_.

Le Galliene's _Rudyard Kipling, A Criticism_.

Clemens's _A Ken of Kipling_.

Young's _Dictionary of the Characters and Scenes in the Stories and Poems of Rudyard Kipling_.

Canby's _The Short Story in English_ (Kipling).

Cooper's _Some English Story Tellers_ (Kipling).

Leeb-Lundberg's _Word Formation in Kipling_ (excellent).

SUGGESTED READINGS WITH QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

The Pre-Raphaelites.--Read Rossetti's _The Blessed Damozel_, _Sister Helen_, _The King's Tragedy_, _Love's Nocturne_, and _Mary's Girlhood_. All of these are given in Page's _British Poets of the Nineteenth Century_. Selections may be found in Bronson,[19] IV., _Century_, _Oxford Book of Victorian verse_, and Manly, I. Selections from Christina Rossetti's Pre-Raphaelite verse are given in all except Page.

From William Morris, read _Two Red Roses Across the Moon_, _The_ _Defence of Guenevere_ (Page's _British Poets_), and the selections from _The Earthly Paradise_ in either Page, _Century_, Bronson, IV., or Manly, I.

What part did Ruskin play in this new movement? Point out the simplest, the most affecting, and the most pleasing stanza in _The Blessed Damozel_. What Pre-Raphaelite qualities in this poem have made it such a favorite? What are the chief characteristics of Rossetti's other verse? Note specially Miss Rossetti's religious verse.

What Pre-Raphaelite qualities do Morris's _Two Red Roses across the Moon_ (1858) and _The Defence of Guenevere_ (1858) show? Compare this early verse with the selections from _The Earthly Paradise_ (1868-1870).

Macaulay.--Read either the _Essay on Milton_ or the _Essay on Addison_ (_Eclectic English Cla.s.sics_ or _Gateway Series_) or the selections in Craik, V., Manly, II., _Century_, or d.i.c.kinson and Roe's _Nineteenth Century Prose_.

Read _History of England_, Chap. IX., or the selections in Craik V., or _Century_, or Manly, II.

What are some of the qualities that cause Macaulay's writings to outstrip in popularity other works of a similar nature? What qualities in his style may be commended to young writers? What are his special defects? Contrast his narrative style in Chap. IX. of the _History_ with Carlyle's in _The French Revolution_, Vol. I., Book V., Chap. VI.

Newman.--The best volume of selections is edited by Lewis E. Gates (228 pages, 75 cents). d.i.c.kinson and Roe's _Nineteenth Century English Prose_ contains Newman's essay on _Literature_. Selections are given in Craik V., _Century_, and Manly, II.

Compare his style with Macaulay's and note the resemblance and the difference. Why did Newman call himself a rhetorician? What qualities does he add to those of a rhetorician? Select pa.s.sages that show his special clearness, concreteness, also his rhetorical and argumentative power.

Carlyle.--Read the _Essay on Robert Burns_ (_Eclectic English Cla.s.sics_ or _Gateway Series_); _Sartor Resartus_, Book III., Chap.

VI. (_Everyman's Library_); _The French Revolution_, Vol. I., Book V., Chap. VI. (_Everyman's Library_). Selections may be found in Craik, V., _Century_, Manly, II., and Evans's Carlyle (_Masters of Literature_).

What marked difference in manner of treatment is shown in Macaulay's _Milton_ or _Addison_ and Carlyle's _Burns_? What was Carlyle's message in _Sartor Resartus_? What did Huxley and Tyndale say of his influence? What are the most noteworthy qualities of _The French Revolution_? What are the chief characteristics of Carlyle's style?

Ruskin.--In Vol. I., Part II., of _Modern Painters_, read the first part of Chap. I. of Sec. III., Chap. I. of Sec. IV., and Chap. I. of Sec. V., and note Ruskin's surprising accuracy of knowledge in dealing with aspects of the natural world. _The Stones of Venice_, Vol. III., Chap. IV., states Ruskin's theory of art and its close relation to morality. Excellent selections from the various works of Ruskin will be found in _An Introduction to the Writings of John Ruskin_, by Vida D. Scudder. Selections are also given in _Century_, Manly, II., _Riverside Literature Series_, and Bronson's _English Essays (Modern Painters and Fors Clavigera). Sesame and lilies, The King of the Golden River_, and _The Stones of Venice_ are published in _Everyman's Library_.

What was the message of _Modern Painters_? of _The Stones of Venice_?

of _Fors Clavigera_? Why is Ruskin called a disciple of Carlyle?

Select a pa.s.sage from Ruskin's descriptive prose and indicate its chief qualities.

Bronte, Bulwer Lytton, Gaskell, Trollope, Kingsley, Reade, Blackmore, and Barrie.--_Jane Eyre_ (Charlotte Bronte), _Wuthering Heights_ (Emily Bronte), _Last Days of Pompeii_ (Lytton), _Cranford_ (Gaskell), _Barchester Towers_ (Trollope), _Westward Ho!_ (Kingsley), _The Cloister and the Hearth_ (Reade), and _Lorna Doone_ (Blackmore) are all published in _Everyman's Library_. Barrie's _The Little Minister_ is included in Burt's _Home Library_. The works of the Bronte sisters will be much more appreciated if Mrs. Gaskell's _Life of Charlotte Bronte (Everyman's Library)_ is read first. The novels by the Bronte sisters, Mrs. Gaskell, Trollope, and Barrie record their impressions of contemporary life. The other novels are historical. Lytton gives a vivid account of the last days of Pompeii. Kingsley thrills with his story of the sailors of Elizabeth's time. Reade, who studied libraries to insure the accuracy of _The Cloister and the Hearth_, portrays vividly the oncoming of the Renaissance in he fifteenth century.

Blackmore's great story, which records some incidents of the Monmouth rebellion (1685), is written more to interest than to throw light on history.

d.i.c.kens.--The first works of d.i.c.kens to be read are _Pickwick Papers, A Christmas Carol, and David Copperfield_. These are all published in _Everyman's Library_. Craik, V., gives "Mr. Pickwick on the Ice," "Christmas at the Cratchit's," and two scenes from _David Copperfield_.

Select pa.s.sages that show (a) humor, (b) pathos, (c) sympathy with children, (d) optimism. Describe some one of the characters. Can you instance a case here a mannerism is made to take the place of other characterization? Is d.i.c.kens a master of plot? of style?

Thackeray.--Read _Henry Esmond (Eclectic English Cla.s.sics)_ and _The English Humorists of the Fifteenth Century_ (Macmillan's _Pocket Cla.s.sics_). Craik, V., and Manly, II. give selections.

Contrast the manner of treatment in Thackeray's historical novel, _Henry Esmond_, and in Scott's historical romance, _Ivanhoe_.

Thackeray says: "The best humor is that which contains most humanity--that which is flavored throughout with tenderness and kindness." Would this serve as a definition of Thackeray's own style of humor? State definitely how he differs from d.i.c.kens in portraying character. Compare Thackeray's _English Humorists_ with Macaulay's _Milton_ and Carlyle's _Burns_. Which essay leaves the most definite ideas? Which is the most interesting? Which has the most atmosphere?

How should you characterize Thackeray's style?

George Eliot.--Read _Silas Marner_ (_Eclectic English Cla.s.sics_ or _Gateway Series_), or selections in Craik, V., or Manly, II. In what does the chief strength of _Silas Marner_ consist,--in the plot, the characters, or the description? Does the ethical purpose of this novel grow naturally out of the story? Is the inner life or only the outward appearance of the characters revealed? Wherein do they show growth?

Stevenson.--Read _Treasure Island_ (_Eclectic English Cla.s.sics_ or _Gateway Series_), _Inland Voyage_, and _Travels with a Donkey_ (_Gateway Series_). From the essays read _Child's Play, Aes Triplex_ (both in _Virginibus Puerisque_). Some of the essays and best short stories (including _Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_) are given in Canby and Pierce's _Selections from Robert Louis Stevenson_. From the volume of poems called _Underwoods_, read _The Celestial Surgeon and Requiem. A Child's Garden of Verse_ may be read entire in an hour.

_Compare Treasure Island_ with _Robinson Crusoe_. What are the chief characteristics of _An Inland Voyage_ and _Travels with a Donkey_? Why is he called a romantic writer? As an essayist, compare him with Thackeray. What are the special qualities of his style?

George Meredith.--_The Egoist_ is Meredith's most representative novel. _The Ordeal of Richard Feverel_ and _Diana of the Crossways_ are also masterpieces. From the _Poems_ read _Love in the Valley, The Lark Ascending, Melanthus, Jump-to-Glory Jane_.

What is the central purpose of The Egoist? Select specially Meredithian pa.s.sages which show his general characteristics. Can you find any other author whose humor resembles Meredith's? Would he naturally be more popular with men or with women?

Hardy.--Hardy's most enjoyable novel is _Far from the Madding Crowd.

The Return of the Native_ is one of his strongest works.

What are some of the most striking differences between him and Meredith? Which one is naturally the better story-teller? Where are the scenes of most of Hardy's novels laid? What is his theory of life?

Arnold.--Read _Dover Beach, Memorial Verses, Stanzas in Memory of the Author of "Obermann" and Sohrab and Rustum_ (Page's _British Poets of the Nineteenth Century_, Bronson, IV., Manly, I.).

Is Arnold the poet of fancy or of reflection? How does his poetry show one phase of nineteenth-century thought?

Arnold's _Essays, Literary and Critical_ are published in _Everyman's Library_. The best volume of selections from the prose writings of Arnold is the one edited by Lewis E. Gates (348 pages, 75 cents). Good selections are given in Craik, V., Manly, I. (_Sweetness and light_), _Century_ (_The Study of Poetry_). Arnold's _Introduction_ to Ward, I., is well worth reading.

What quality specially marks Arnold's criticism? Compare him as a critic with Coleridge, Macaulay, Carlyle, and Thackeray. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a style like Arnold's?

Pater.--Read the essay, _Leonardo da Vinci_ (d.i.c.kinson and Roe's _Nineteenth Century Prose_, pp. 338-368), from Pater's "golden book,"

_The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Literature_. E.E. Hale's _Selections from Walter Pater_ (268 pages, 75 cents) gives representative selections. Manly, II., and _Century_ give the essay on _Style_.

What are the chief characteristics of Pater's style? Compare it with Macaulay's, Newman's, Ruskin's, and Matthew Arnold's. Has Pater a message? Does he show the spirit of the time?