A history of English literature, in a series of biographical sketches |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 84
Page 19
... noble simplicity , such as , " They lay aloft , put to sleep with gwords ; " but in all this long poem there are only five similes . This scarcity of similes is a characteristic of all Anglo - Saxon verse . CAEDMON , the author of the ...
... noble simplicity , such as , " They lay aloft , put to sleep with gwords ; " but in all this long poem there are only five similes . This scarcity of similes is a characteristic of all Anglo - Saxon verse . CAEDMON , the author of the ...
Page 31
... noble works of our literature have been composed . The charm of such a book must necessarily be fatal to its value as a history ; for the writer , letting his fancy play upon the adornment of these dim legends , mixes fact with fiction ...
... noble works of our literature have been composed . The charm of such a book must necessarily be fatal to its value as a history ; for the writer , letting his fancy play upon the adornment of these dim legends , mixes fact with fiction ...
Page 34
... Noble Authors , " a Provençal form , which he took from a manuscript in the library of San Lorenzo at Florence . SEMI - SAXON WRITERS . As was natural from the miserable state of the Saxon nation immediately after the Conquest - her ...
... Noble Authors , " a Provençal form , which he took from a manuscript in the library of San Lorenzo at Florence . SEMI - SAXON WRITERS . As was natural from the miserable state of the Saxon nation immediately after the Conquest - her ...
Page 36
... c . Those attached to noble houses wore the arms of their patron , hung round the neck by a silver chain . The distinc- tive badge of the profession was the wrest or tuning - key . Many THE PICTURE OF A MINSTREL . 37 minstrels carried a.
... c . Those attached to noble houses wore the arms of their patron , hung round the neck by a silver chain . The distinc- tive badge of the profession was the wrest or tuning - key . Many THE PICTURE OF A MINSTREL . 37 minstrels carried a.
Page 45
... noble old speech in its infancy , and as a specimen of the style of thought common in an unripe age . Mandeville , roving again from England , died and was buried at Liège in 1372 . The following extract is from the seventh chapter of ...
... noble old speech in its infancy , and as a specimen of the style of thought common in an unripe age . Mandeville , roving again from England , died and was buried at Liège in 1372 . The following extract is from the seventh chapter of ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Addison Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury beauty became Bible born brilliant Bruges called Cambridge Canterbury Canterbury Tales CHAPTER Charles Chaucer chief chiefly Church College coloured Confessio Amantis Court death died Dublin early Edinburgh England English English Reformation Essays Faerie Queene fame father favour finest France genius heart Henry History honour Illustrative extract James John John Gower John Wycliffe King lady land Latin learned Leicestershire letters literary literature lived London Lord Lutterworth Miles Coverdale Milton mind minstrels monk night noble Oxford pension picture play poem poet poet's poetic poetry poor Pope prose published Puritan Queen Raleigh reign Richard Richard Hooker ROGER ASCHAM romance round royal scenes Scottish Shakspere Shakspere's song SPECIMEN Spenser spent story style Supplementary List sweet Swift Thomas thought took tragedy translation Twickenham verse Westminster William words writer written wrote Wycliffe young
Popular passages
Page 312 - twas a pleasing fear, For I was as it were a child of thee, And trusted to thy billows far and near, And laid my hand upon thy mane— as I do here.
Page 385 - Kent. Vex not his ghost. O, let him pass! He hates him That would upon the rack of this tough world Stretch him out longer.
Page 311 - His steps are not upon thy paths, — thy fields Are not a spoil for him, — thou dost arise And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields For earth's destruction thou dost all despise, Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, And send'st him, shivering in thy playful spray And howling to his Gods, where haply lies His petty hope in some near port or bay, And dashest him again to earth : — there let him lay.
Page 374 - All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still A lover of the meadows and the woods, ' And mountains ; and of all that we behold From this green earth; of all the mighty world Of eye and ear, both what they half create *, And what perceive...
Page 377 - I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.
Page 121 - Fairies' coach-makers. And in this state she gallops night by night Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love : On courtiers' knees, that dream on court'sies straight : O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees : O'er ladies...
Page 169 - The other Shape — If shape it might be called that shape had none Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb ; Or substance might be called that shadow seemed, For each seemed either — black it stood as Night, 670 Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell, And shook a dreadful dart : what seemed his head The likeness of a kingly crown had on.
Page 284 - Having carried on my work thus far with so little obligation to any favourer of learning, I shall not be disappointed, though I should conclude it, if less be possible, with less ; for I have been long wakened from that dream of hope, in which I once boasted myself with so much exultation, My lord, Your lordship's most humble, Most obedient servant, SAM. JOHNSON.
Page 169 - No sooner had the Almighty ceased but — all The multitude of Angels, with a shout Loud as from numbers without number, sweet As from blest voices, uttering joy — Heaven rung With jubilee, and loud hosannas filled The eternal regions.
Page 169 - Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence : Here we may reign secure, and, in my choice To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell : Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven...