CHAPTER VITHE AGE OF MILTON

The thick line indicates approximately the period of active literary production.

1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 1670 1680 | | ║[116]| | | ║ | | Cowley |........|.║==============================║ | | (1618–67) | | | | | | | | ║ | ║ | | | | | Herbert |.║=========║ | | | | | (1593–1633) | | | | | | | | | | ║[117]║ | | ║ | Herrick |........|........|..║=====║........|........|.║ | (1591–1674) | | | | | | | | ║ |[118]| | ║[119]| ║ | Milton |......║=========================║=============║ | (1608–74) | | | | ║ | | | | | | ║[120]| ║ | | | Browne |........|........|.║============║..|........|........| (1605–82) | | | | | | | | | | ║[121]| | ║ | Clarendon |........|........|....║=======================║ | (1609–74) | | | | | | | | | |║ ║[122]| ║ | | Taylor |........|........|║=======║==============║ | | (1613–67) | | | ║ | | | | ║ | | | ║[123]| | ║ | Hobbes |.....║======================║=====================║ | (1588–1679) | | | | ║ | | | | | | | | | |

The entire period covered by this chapter is dominated by the Civil War. The earlier years are marked by the quarrels and alarms which led up to actual hostilities in 1642; the middle of the period is occupied with the spasmodic fighting that lasted till the execution of Charles I in 1649; and the last portion covers the establishment ofthe Commonwealth, the rise and disappearance of Cromwell (1654–58), the confusion following upon his death, and the final restoration of the monarchy in 1660.

1. The Reaction.During this period the decline from the high Elizabethan standard is apparent in several ways. (a) The output, especially of poetry, is much smaller, and the fashion is toward shorter poems, especially the lyric of a peculiar type. (b) There is a marked decay in the exalted poetical fervor of the previous age. In the new poetry there is more of the intellectual play of fancy than of passion and profundity. And, especially in prose, there is a matured melancholy that one is apt to associate with advancing years. (c) In prose there is a marked increase in activity, which is an almost invariable accompaniment of a decline in poetry.

2. The Pressure of Historical Events.Viewed from a broad aspect, the Civil War was only a domestic incident in English history; but the very narrowness of the issue intensified the bitterness of the contest. It divided the people into two factions, and among other things vitally affected the literature of the time. Poetry was benumbed and lifeless, and prose assumed a fierce and disputatious character.

3. The Dominance of Milton.The age is distinguished by the efforts of Milton to keep literature alive. Upon his “Atlantean shoulders” he bears its reputation. Other poets were scrappy and uneven, like the “Metaphysicals”; or flat and uninspired, like Cowley; or shallow and trivial, like Denham. In Milton alone, and even in the prose of Milton to a considerable extent, we find satisfying quantity and quality.

4. The Metaphysical Poets.This term was first used by Johnson, who applied it to Donne and Cowley. It was applied to a kind of poetry, usually lyrical poetry, that often startled the reader by the sudden leaps of its fancy into remoteness and (in exaggerated instances) absurdity.The fashion was popular just before the Civil War broke out, and it can be seen in the works of Herrick, Crashaw, Herbert, Vaughan, and others. More detailed examination of this curious poetical mode will be found in the notices of these poets.

5. The Cavalier Poets.This name is often loosely applied to the Metaphysical poets; but the latter were usually of a religious and mystical cast, whereas the Cavalier poets were military and swashbuckling in disposition. They were well represented by Lovelace and Suckling.

6. The Expansion of Prose.The development of prose is carried on from the previous age. In spite of the hampering effects of the civil strife, the prose output was copious and excellent in kind. There was a notable advance in the sermon; pamphlets were abundant; and history, politics, philosophy, and miscellaneous kinds were well represented. In addition, there was a remarkable advance in prose style.

7. The Collapse of the Drama.Many things combined to oppress the drama at this time. Chief among these were the civil disturbances and the strong opposition of the Puritans. In temper the age was not dramatic. It is curious to note that Milton’s greatest work, which in the Elizabethan age would probably have been dramatic in form, took on the shape of the epic. The actual dramatic work of the period was small and unimportant; and the unequal struggle was terminated by the closing of the theaters in 1642.

1. His Life.Milton was born in Bread Street, Cheapside, London. His father was a money-scrivener, an occupation that combined the duties of the modern banker and lawyer. Milton was educated at St. Paul’s School, London, and at Cambridge. At the university his stubborn and irascible nature declared itself, and owing to insubordination he was “sent down” for a term. On taking his final degree (1632) he abandoned his intention of enteringthe Church and retired to Horton, a small village in Buckinghamshire, some seventeen miles from London, whither his father had withdrawn from business.

Milton’s next few years were those of a sequestered man of letters. Poetry, mathematics, and music were his main studies. In 1638 he left for a tour on the Continent, staying some months in Italy, where he met many scholars and literary men. He was recalled to England by the news that civil war was imminent. He settled down in London and set up a small private school, and when hostilities broke out a year or two later he took no part in the fighting. His pen, however, was active in support of the Parliamentary cause, to which he was passionately attached.

In 1643 he married a woman much younger than himself, and almost immediately his wife left him, and did not return for two years. This unfortunate circumstance led Milton to write two strong pamphlets on divorce, which caused a great scandal at the time. Then in 1649, after the execution of the King, he was appointed by the Commonwealth Government Secretary for Foreign Tongues. In this capacity he became secretary to the Council of State, and drafted Latin documents for transmission to foreign Powers. In addition, he wrote numerous pamphlets in support of the republican cause. By this time his eyesight was failing; and when the Restoration came in 1660 to ruin his hopes, it found him blind, poor, and alone. He escaped, however, from the severe punishments that were inflicted upon many prominent Roundheads. He was slightly punished by a nominal imprisonment; retired to an obscure village in Buckinghamshire to write poetry; and died in London, where he was buried.

2. His Prose.Most of Milton’s prose was written during the middle period of his life (1640–60), when he was busy with public affairs. The prose works have an unusual interest, because as a rule they have a direct bearing on either his personal business or public interests. In all they amount to twenty-five pamphlets, of which twenty-one are in English and the remaining four in Latin.

He began pamphleteering quite early (1641), when he engaged in a lively controversy with Bishop Hall over episcopacy. Then, while teaching, he wrote a rather poor tract,Of Education(1644). When his wife deserted him he composed two pamphlets on divorce (1643–4), which scandalized the public by the freedom of their opinions and the slashing nature of their style. The critics of the pamphlets sought to confound Milton on a technical matter by pointing out that he had not licensed the books, as required by law. To this Milton retorted with the greatest of all his tracts,Areopagitica(1644), a noble and impassioned plea for the liberty of the Press. Later works include a defense (in Latin) of the execution of Charles I and of other actions of the Commonwealth Government. During the last years of his life Milton partly completed aHistory of Britainand other scholastic works.

When we consider the style of Milton’s prose we must keep in mind how it was occasioned. His pamphlets were cast off at white heat and precipitated into print while some topic was in urgent debate either in Milton’s or the public mind. Hence in method they are tempestuous and disordered; voluble, violent, and lax in style. They reveal intense zeal and pugnacity, a mind at once spacious in ideals and intolerant in application, a rich fancy, and a capacious scholarship. They lack humor, proportion, and restraint; but in spite of these defects they are among the greatest controversial compositions in the language. A short extract will illustrate some of the Miltonic features:

I deny not but that it is of greatest concernment in the Church and Commonwealth, to have a vigilant eye how books demean themselves as well as men; and thereafter to confine, imprison, and do sharpest justice on them as malefactors: for books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. I know they are as lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous dragons’ teeth; and being sown up and down, may chance to spring up armed men. And yet on the other hand, unless wariness be used,as good almost kill a man as kill a good book; who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God as it were in the eye. Many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.Areopagitica

Areopagitica

3. His Poetry.The great bulk of Milton’s poetry was written during two periods separated from each other by twenty years: (a) the period of his university career and his stay at Horton, from 1629 to 1640; and (b) the last years of his life, from about 1660 to 1674. The years between were filled by a few sonnets.

(a) While still an undergraduate Milton began to compose poems of remarkable maturity and promise. They include the fine and statelyOde on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity(1629), and the poemsOn Shakespeare(1630) andOn Arriving at the Age of Twenty-three(1631). These poems show Milton’s command of impressive diction and his high ideals, both literary and religious. While at Horton (1634) he composedL’AllegroandIl Penseroso, two longish poems in octosyllabic couplets dealing with the respective experiences of the gay and thoughtful man. The pieces are decorative rather than descriptive, artificial rather than natural, but they are full of scholarly fancy and adroit poetical phrasing.Comus(1637) belongs to this period, and is a masque containing some stiff but beautiful blank verse and some quite charming lyrical measures.Lycidas(1637) is an elegy on his friend Edward King, who was drowned on a voyage to Ireland.

Lycidas, which is to be reckoned as among the highest of Milton’s achievements, is something quite new in English poetry. In form it is pastoral, but this artificial medium serves only to show the power of Milton’s grip, which can wring from intractable material the very essence of poetry. The elegy has the color and music of the best Spenserian verse; but it has a climbing majesty of epithet and a dignified intensity of passion that Spenser does not possess.Its meter is an irregular stanza-sequence and rhyme-sequence of a peculiar haunting beauty.

For, so to interpose a little ease,Let our frail thoughts dally with false surmise;Ay me! whilst thee the shores and sounding seasWash far away,—where’er thy bones are hurled,Whether beyond the stormy HebridesWhere thou perhaps, under the whelming tide,Visitest the bottom of the monstrous world;Or whether thou, to our moist vows denied,Sleep’st by the fable of Bellerus old,Where the great Vision of the guarded mountLooks towards Namancos and Bayona’s hold....

For, so to interpose a little ease,

Let our frail thoughts dally with false surmise;

Ay me! whilst thee the shores and sounding seas

Wash far away,—where’er thy bones are hurled,

Whether beyond the stormy Hebrides

Where thou perhaps, under the whelming tide,

Visitest the bottom of the monstrous world;

Or whether thou, to our moist vows denied,

Sleep’st by the fable of Bellerus old,

Where the great Vision of the guarded mount

Looks towards Namancos and Bayona’s hold....

(b) This period (1660–74) gives us the poetry of the matured Milton. The work of the middle years is composed of a few sonnets. These, with some others written at different times, sufficiently show Milton’s command of the Italian form, which he uses throughout. He gives it a sweep and sonorous impressiveness that set him alone beside Wordsworth, who in this respect is his poetical successor. The best of Milton’s sonnets areOn his BlindnessandOn the Late Massacre in Piedmont.

The great work of this time isParadise Lost. It was begun as early as 1658, and issued in 1667. At first it was divided into ten books or parts, but in the second edition it was redivided into twelve. In form it follows the strict unity of the classical epic; in theme it deals with the fall of man; but by means of introduced narratives it covers the rebellion of Lucifer in heaven, the celestial warfare, and the expulsion of the rebels. In conception the poem is spacious and commanding; it is sumptuously adorned with all the detail that Milton’s rich imagination, fed with classical and Biblical lore, can suggest; the characters, especially that of Lucifer, are drawn on a gigantic scale, and do not lack a certain tragic immensity; and the blank verse in which the work is composed is new and wonderful. This type of blank verse has founded a tradition in English; it has often been imitated and modified, but neverparalleled. It lacks the suppleness of the Shakespearian measure; but it is instinct with beauty and scholarly care. It is almost infinite in modulation; varied cunningly in scansion, in pause, in cadence, and in sonorous dignity of music. It has its lapses into wordiness and bombast, but the lapses are few indeed.

In the following extract the construction of the blank verse should be carefully observed. The variation of foot, pause, and melody is worthy of the closest study.

No sooner had the Almighty ceased, but allThe multitude of angels, with a shoutLoud as from numbers without number, sweetAs from blest voices, uttering joy, Heaven rungWith jubilee, and loud hosannas filledThe eternal regions. Lowly reverentTowards either throne they bow, and to the ground,With solemn adoration, down they castTheir crowns inwove with amarant and gold—Immortal amarant, a flower which onceIn Paradise, fast by the tree of life,Began to bloom; but soon for man’s offenceTo Heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows,And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life,And where the river of bliss, through midst of Heaven,Rolls o’er Elysian flowers her amber stream.

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. Lowly reverent

Towards either throne they bow, and to the ground,

With solemn adoration, down they cast

Their crowns inwove with amarant and gold—

Immortal amarant, a flower which once

In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,

Began to bloom; but soon for man’s offence

To Heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows,

And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life,

And where the river of bliss, through midst of Heaven,

Rolls o’er Elysian flowers her amber stream.

In 1671 Milton issued his last volume of poetry, which containedParadise RegainedandSamson Agonistes. The former poem, which tells of Christ’s temptation and victory, is complementary to the earlier epic, and Milton hoped that it would surpass its predecessor. In this his hopes were dashed. It is briefer and poorer thanParadise Lost; it lacks the exalted imagination, the adornment, and the ornate rhythms of the earlier poem. There is little action, the characters are uninteresting, and the work approachesParadise Lostonly in a few outstanding passages.

Samson Agonistes, which tells of Samson’s death while a prisoner of the Philistines, has a curious interest, for in the Biblical hero Milton saw more than one resemblance to himself. In form the work has the strict unity of time,place, and action universal in Greek tragedy. In style it is bleak and bare, in places harsh and forbidding; but in several places Milton’s stubborn soul is wrung with pity and exalted by the hope that looks beyond. The speech of Samson’s father over his dead son is no inappropriate epitaph for Milton himself:

Come, come, no time for lamentation now,Nor much more cause; Samson hath quit himselfLike Samson, and heroically hath finishedA life heroic, on his enemiesFully revenged, hath left them years of mourning,To himself and father’s house eternal fame;And, which is best and happiest yet, all thisWith God not parted from him, as was feared,But favouring and assisting to the end.Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wailOr knock the breast, no weakness, no contempt,Dispraise, or blame, nothing but well and fair,And what may quiet us in a death so noble.

Come, come, no time for lamentation now,

Nor much more cause; Samson hath quit himself

Like Samson, and heroically hath finished

A life heroic, on his enemies

Fully revenged, hath left them years of mourning,

To himself and father’s house eternal fame;

And, which is best and happiest yet, all this

With God not parted from him, as was feared,

But favouring and assisting to the end.

Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail

Or knock the breast, no weakness, no contempt,

Dispraise, or blame, nothing but well and fair,

And what may quiet us in a death so noble.

4. Features of his Poetry.(a)The Puritan Strain.All through his life Milton’s religious fervor was unshaken. Even his enemies did not deny his sincerity. It is seen even in one of his earliest sonnets:

All is, if I have grace to use it so,As ever in my great Taskmaster’s eye.

All is, if I have grace to use it so,

As ever in my great Taskmaster’s eye.

It persists even to the end, when it runs deeper and darker. InParadise Lost, for example, his chief motive is to “justify the ways of God to men.”

This religious tendency is apparent in (1) the choice of religious subjects, especially in the later poems; (2) the sense of responsibility and moral exaltation; (3) the fondness for preaching and lecturing, which inParadise Lostis a positive weakness; (4) the narrowness of outlook, strongly Puritanical, seen in his outbursts against his opponents (as inLycidas), in his belief regarding the inferiority of women, and in his scorn for the “miscellaneous rabble.”

(b)The Classical Strain.Curiously interwoven with the severity of his religious nature is a strong bent for the classics, which is pagan and sensuous. His learning was wide and matured; he wrote Latin prose and verse as freely as he wrote English. His classical bent is apparent in (1) his choice of classical and semi-classical forms—the epic, the Greek tragedy, the pastoral, and the sonnet; (2) the elaborate descriptions and enormous similes inParadise Lost; (3) the fondness for classical allusion, which runs riot through all his poetry; (4) the dignity of his style, and its precision and care. His very egoism takes a high classical turn. In his blindness he compares himself with

Blind Thamyris and blind Mæonides,And Tiresias and Phineus, prophets old.

Blind Thamyris and blind Mæonides,

And Tiresias and Phineus, prophets old.

In his choice of diction we have the classical element abundantly apparent; and, lastly, the same element appears in the typical Miltonic grandeur and frigidity, the arrogant aloofness from men and mortals.

(c)His Poetical Genius.As a poet Milton is not a great innovator; his function is rather to refine and make perfect. Every form he touches acquires a finality of grace and dignity. The epic, the ode, the classical drama, the sonnet, the masque, and the elegy—his achievements in these have never been bettered and seldom approached. As a metrist he stands almost alone. In all his meters we observe the same ease, sureness, and success.

(d)His Position in Literature.In literature Milton occupies an important central or transitional position. He came immediately after the Elizabethan epoch, when the Elizabethan methods were crumbling into chaos. His hand and temper were firm enough to gather into one system the wavering tendencies of poetry, and to give them sureness, accuracy, and variety. The next generation, lacking the inspiration of the Elizabethans, found in him the necessary stimulus to order and accuracy; and from him, to a greatextent, sprang the new “classicism” that was to be the rule for more than a century.

1. Abraham Cowley (1618–67)was born in London, the son of a wealthy citizen. He was educated at Westminster School and at Cambridge, where he distinguished himself as a classical scholar. In the Civil War he warmly supported the King; followed the royal family into exile, where he performed valuable services; returned to England at the Restoration; and for the remainder of his life composed books in retirement.

Cowley, even more than Pope and Macaulay, is the great example of the infant prodigy. When he was ten he wrote a long epical romance,Piramus and Thisbe(1628), and two years later produced an even longer poem calledConstantia and Philetus(1630). All through his life he was active in the production of many kinds of work—poems, plays, essays, and histories. His best-known poem wasThe Davideis(1637), a rather dreary epic on King David, in heroic couplets. Other poems wereThe Mistress(1647), a collection of love-poems, and thePindarique Odes, which are a curious hybrid between the early freedom of the Elizabethans and the classicism of the later generation. His prose works included hisEssaysandDiscourse concerning Oliver Cromwell(1661).

Both in prose and poetry Cowley was a man of various methods, showing the wavering moods of the transitional poet. His heroic couplets and irregular odes foreshadow the vogue of the approaching “correctness”; his essays, in their pleasant egoism and miscellaneous subject-matter, suggest Addison; and his prose style, plain and not inelegant, draws near to the mode of Dryden. His variety pleased many tastes; hence the popularity that was showered upon him during his day. But he excelled in no particular method; and hence the partial oblivion that has followed.

2. The Metaphysical Poets.The works of this group of poets have several features in common: (i) the poetry is to a great extent lyrical; (ii) in subject it is chiefly religious or amatory; (iii) there is much metrical facility, even in complicated lyrical stanzas; (iv) the poetic style is sometimes almost startling in its sudden beauty of phrase and melody of diction, but there are unexpected turns of language and figures of speech (hence the name of the group).

(a)Robert Herrick (1591–1674)was born in London, and educated at Westminster School and at Cambridge, where he lived for fourteen years. He was appointed to a living in Devonshire, where he died.

His two volumes of poems areNoble Numbers(1647) andHesperides(1648). Both are collections of short poems, sacred and profane. In them he reveals lyrical power of a high order; fresh, passionate, and felicitously exact, but at the same time meditative and observant. Herrick was strongly influenced by Jonson and the classics; he delighted in the good things of this world; but that did not prevent his having a keen enjoyment of nature and a fresh outlook upon life. Among the best known of his shorter pieces areTo Anthea,To Julia, andCherry Ripe.

(b)George Herbert (1593–1633)was born at Montgomery Castle, educated at Westminster School and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was appointed Fellow and reader, took holy orders, and was given in turn livings near Huntingdon and at Bemerton, near Salisbury.

None of his poems was published during his lifetime. On his death-bed he gave to a friend the manuscript ofThe Temple, a collection of religious poems in various meters. The poems, of a high quality, are inspired with a devout piety which is often fantastically expressed and quaintly figured. His poetry is not so “metaphysical” as that of some others of his group; but neither does it rise to the great heights that they sometimes achieve.

(c)Richard Crashaw (1613–50), the son of a clergyman, was born in London, and educated at the Charterhouseand at Cambridge. During the Civil War, in which he was a strong Royalist, he was compelled to escape to France, where he became a Roman Catholic. At a later stage he went to Rome and to Loretto. At the latter place he died and was buried.

Crashaw represents the best and the worst of the Metaphysical poets. At his best he has an energy and triumphant rapture that, outside the poems of Shelley, are rarely equaled in English; at his worst he is shrill, frothy, and conceited. His style at its best is harmonious, precise, and nobly elevated; at its worst it is disfigured by obscurity, perversity, and unseemly images. His chief work isSteps to the Temple(1646).

We quote an extract to show the exalted mood to which his poetry can ascend:

Live in these conquering leaves; live all the same;And walk through all tongues one triumphant flame;Live here, great heart;[124]and love, and die, and kill;And bleed, and wound, and yield, and conquer still.Let this immortal life where’er it comesWalk in a crowd of loves and martyrdoms.Let mystic deaths wait on’t; and wise souls beThe love-slain witnesses of this life of thee.O sweet incendiary! show here thy art,Upon this carcase of a hard cold heart....Oh thou undaunted daughter of desires!By all thy power of lights and fires;...By all thy brim-filled bowls of fierce desire;By thy last morning’s draught of liquid fire;By the full kingdom of that final kissThat seized thy parting soul, and sealed thee his;...Leave nothing of myself in me.The Flaming Heart

Live in these conquering leaves; live all the same;

And walk through all tongues one triumphant flame;

Live here, great heart;[124]and love, and die, and kill;

And bleed, and wound, and yield, and conquer still.

Let this immortal life where’er it comes

Walk in a crowd of loves and martyrdoms.

Let mystic deaths wait on’t; and wise souls be

The love-slain witnesses of this life of thee.

O sweet incendiary! show here thy art,

Upon this carcase of a hard cold heart....

Oh thou undaunted daughter of desires!

By all thy power of lights and fires;...

By all thy brim-filled bowls of fierce desire;

By thy last morning’s draught of liquid fire;

By the full kingdom of that final kiss

That seized thy parting soul, and sealed thee his;...

Leave nothing of myself in me.

The Flaming Heart

(d)Henry Vaughan (1622–95)was born in Wales, and was descended from an ancient family. He went to London to study law, then turned to medicine, and practiced at Brecon. His books includePoems(1646),Olor Iscanus(1647),Silex Scintillans(1650), andThalia Rediviva(1678).

Vaughan’s love-poems, though they are often prettily and sometimes beautifully phrased, are inferior to his religious pieces, especially those inSilex Scintillans. His religious fervor is nobly imaginative, and strikes out lines and ideas of astonishing strength and beauty. His regard for nature, moreover, has a closeness and penetration that sometimes (for example, inThe Retreat) suggests Wordsworth.

(e)Thomas Carew (1595–1645)was born in Kent, educated at Oxford, and studied law in the Middle Temple. He attained to some success as a courtier, but later died in obscurity. The date of his death is uncertain, but it was probably 1645.

HisPoems(1640) show his undoubted lyrical ability. The pieces are influenced by Donne and Jonson, but they have a character of their own. The fancy is warmly colored, though it is marred by license and bad taste. We quote a lyric which can be taken as representative of the best of its kind. Its fancy is too rich and beautiful to be called fantastic, and its golden felicity of diction is rarely equaled.

Ask me no more where Jove bestows,When June is past, the fading rose,For in your beauty’s orient deepThese flowers, as in their causes, sleep.Ask me no more whither do strayThe golden atoms of the day,For, in pure love, heaven did prepareThose powders to enrich your hair.Ask me no more whither doth hasteThe nightingale when May is past,For in your sweet dividing throatShe winters and keeps warm her note.Ask me no more if east or westThe phœnix builds her spicy nest,For unto you at last she flies,And in your fragrant bosom dies.

Ask me no more where Jove bestows,When June is past, the fading rose,For in your beauty’s orient deepThese flowers, as in their causes, sleep.

Ask me no more where Jove bestows,

When June is past, the fading rose,

For in your beauty’s orient deep

These flowers, as in their causes, sleep.

Ask me no more whither do strayThe golden atoms of the day,For, in pure love, heaven did prepareThose powders to enrich your hair.

Ask me no more whither do stray

The golden atoms of the day,

For, in pure love, heaven did prepare

Those powders to enrich your hair.

Ask me no more whither doth hasteThe nightingale when May is past,For in your sweet dividing throatShe winters and keeps warm her note.

Ask me no more whither doth haste

The nightingale when May is past,

For in your sweet dividing throat

She winters and keeps warm her note.

Ask me no more if east or westThe phœnix builds her spicy nest,For unto you at last she flies,And in your fragrant bosom dies.

Ask me no more if east or west

The phœnix builds her spicy nest,

For unto you at last she flies,

And in your fragrant bosom dies.

3.TheCavalier poetsare lyrical poets, and deal chiefly with love and war.

(a)Richard Lovelace (1618–58)was born at Woolwich, was educated at the Charterhouse and at Oxford, and became an officer in the King’s household. When the Civil War broke out he was imprisoned by the Roundheads; and, being liberated on parole, could do little actively to assist Charles. At a later stage he saw some soldiering in France, returned to England, and died in obscure circumstances.

His volumeLucasta(1649) contains the best of his shorter pieces, which had appeared at different times previously. He is essentially the poet of attractive scraps and fancies, elegantly and wittily expressed. Some of his lyrics, such asTo Althea, from PrisonandTo Lucasta, Going to the Wars, have retained their popularity.

(b)Sir John Suckling (1609–42)was born in Middlesex, and at the age of eighteen fell heir to a large fortune. He was educated at Oxford, traveled on the Continent, served as a volunteer under Gustavus Adolphus, and became a favorite of Charles I. He was implicated in Royalist plots, and escaped abroad (1640), where he died under conditions that are somewhat mysterious.

To some extent (for he seems to have lacked physical courage) Suckling was the cavalier of the romances and the Restoration plays—gay, generous, and witty. His poems largely reflect these characteristics. As a poet he has great ability, but he is usually the elegant amateur, disdaining serious and sustained labor. Some of his poems, such as theBallad upon a Wedding(see p.186), and “Why so pale and wan, fond lover?” show the tricksy elegance that is his chief attraction.

1. Philip Massinger (1583–1640)was born at Salisbury, educated at Oxford, and became a literary man in London, writing plays for the King’s Men, a company of actors. If we may judge from his begging letters that survive, he found in dramatic work little financial encouragement. He died and was buried in London.

Massinger did much hack-work, and was fond of working out topical and moral themes; so that a large amount of his work is of little permanent importance. The best of his many plays areA New Way to Pay Old Debts(1625) andThe City Madam(1632), two quite fine comedies; andThe Duke of Milan(1618) andThe Unnatural Combat(1619), quite respectable tragedies. The level of Massinger’s workmanship is laudably high; he is remarkably uniform in quality; and in a few cases (as in that of Sir Giles Overreach inA New Way to Pay Old Debts) he has created characters of real distinction. He followed the fashion of the time in collaborating with other dramatists.The Virgin Martyr, produced jointly with Dekker, is perhaps the most important of this class of play.

2. John Ford (1586–1640)was born in Devonshire, educated at Oxford, and studied, though he seems never to have practiced, law. He became an active producer of plays, chiefly tragedies, both on his own account and in collaboration with other playwrights.

In his nature Ford had a morbid twist which gave him a strange liking for the horrible and the unnatural. His plays are unequal in quality; but the most powerful of them are prevented from being revolting by their real tragic force and their high literary aims. InThe Broken Heart(acted in 1629) he harrows the reader’s feelings almost beyond endurance; hisPerkin Warbeck(1634), a historical tragedy, is reckoned to be the best historical drama outside of Shakespeare; and inThe Witch of Edmonton(about 1633) he collaborated with Dekker and Rowley to produce a powerful domestic drama. Others of the sixteen plays attributed to him areThe Lover’s Melancholy(1629),Love’s Sacrifice(1633), andThe Fancies Chaste and Noble(1638).

Browne may be taken as representative of the best prose-writers of the period.

1. His Life.He was born in London, educated atWinchester and Oxford, and studied medicine. For a time he practiced in Oxfordshire; then he traveled abroad, receiving his degree of M.D. at Leyden. Returning to London (1634), he soon removed to Norwich, where for the remainder of his life he successfully practiced as a doctor.

2. His Works.Almost alone among his contemporaries, Browne seems to have been unaffected by the commotions of the time. His prose works, produced during some of the hottest years of civil contention, are tranquilly oblivious of unrest. His books are only five in number, are individually small in size, and are of great and almost uniform merit.Religio Medici(1642), his confession of faith, is a curious mixture of credulity and skepticism;Pseudodoxia Epidemica, orVulgar Errors(1646), shared the same mental inconsistency, resembles the work of Burton in its out-of-the-way learning;Hydriotaphia or Erne Buriall(1658), commonly considered to be his masterpiece, contains reflections on human mortality induced by the discovery of some ancient funeral urns;The Garden of Cyrus(1658) is a treatise on the quincunx. The last work,Christian Morals, was published after his death.

3. His Style.As a philosopher Browne is either obscure and confusing, as inReligio Medici, or unoriginal and obvious, as inHydriotaphia. His learning, though it is wide and accurate, is too far-fetched and strange to be of much practical use. But as a literary stylist he is very valuable indeed. He shows the ornate style of the time in its richest bloom. His diction is strongly Latinized, sometimes to the limit of obscurity; and he has the scholastic habit of introducing Latin tags and references. In this he resembles Burton; but in other respects he is far beyond the author ofThe Anatomy of Melancholy. His sentences are carefully wrought and artistically combined into paragraphs; and, most important from the purely literary point of view, the diction has a richness of effect unknown among other English prose-writers. The rhythm is harmonious, and finishes with carefully attuned cadences. The prose is sometimes obscure, rarely vivacious, and hardly everdiverting; but the solemnity and beauty of it have given it an enduring fascination. A brief extract will illustrate some of its qualities:

Pious spirits who passed their days in raptures of futurity, made little more of this world, than the world that was before it, while they lay obscure in the chaos of preordination, and night of their fore-beings. And if any have been so happy as truly to understand Christian annihilation, ecstasies, exolution, liquefaction, transformation, the kiss of the spouse, gustation of God, and ingression into the divine shadow, they have already had an handsome anticipation of heaven; the glory of the world is surely over, and the earth in ashes unto them.To subsist in lasting monuments, to live in their productions, to exist in their names and predicament of chimeras, was large satisfaction unto old expectations, and made one part of their Elysiums. But all this is nothing in the metaphysics of true belief. To live, indeed, is to be again ourselves, which being not only an hope, but an evidence in noble believers, ’tis all one to lie in St Innocent’s churchyard, as in the sands of Egypt. Ready to be anything, in the ecstasy of being ever, and as content with six foot as themolesof Adrianus.Hydriotaphia

To subsist in lasting monuments, to live in their productions, to exist in their names and predicament of chimeras, was large satisfaction unto old expectations, and made one part of their Elysiums. But all this is nothing in the metaphysics of true belief. To live, indeed, is to be again ourselves, which being not only an hope, but an evidence in noble believers, ’tis all one to lie in St Innocent’s churchyard, as in the sands of Egypt. Ready to be anything, in the ecstasy of being ever, and as content with six foot as themolesof Adrianus.

Hydriotaphia

1. Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon (1609–74), was born in Wiltshire, educated at Oxford, and studied law. A man of excellent address, he was a successful lawyer, and became a member of the House of Commons. At first he was attached to the Parliamentary side, but he separated from the party on account of their attitude to the Church. He changed over to the Royalists, and thenceforward became one of the foremost advocates of the King’s cause. After the downfall of the Royalists he accompanied the young Charles into exile; and at the Restoration he was appointed Lord Chancellor and raised to the peerage as Earl of Clarendon. He was too severe for the frivolous Restoration times, was exiled (1667), and died in France. His body was buried in Westminster Abbey.

His great work,The History of the Great Rebellion, was begun as early as 1646 and finished during the years of hislast exile. It was not published till 1704. To some extent the work is based on his own knowledge of the struggle; it lacks proportion and complete accuracy; but the narrative is strong and attractive, and it contains masterly character-sketches of some of the chief figures in the struggle. It is composed in long, lumbering sentences, loaded with parentheses and digressions, but the style is readable. It is the most important English work of a historical nature up to the date of its issue.

2. Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)was born at Malmesbury, and was the son of a clergyman. He finished his education at Oxford, and became tutor to the future Earl of Devonshire. He supported the Royalist cause, was exiled by the Roundheads, and at the Restoration was awarded a pension. The remainder of his long life was devoted to literature.

Hobbes took an active part in the intellectual broils of the period, and much of his work is violently contentious. His chief book wasThe Leviathan(1651), which expounded his political theories. The ardor of his opinions embroiled him with both of the chief political parties, but the abuse that it occasioned gave the book an immense interest. The style in which it is written is hard, clear, and accurate—almost the ideal medium for sustained exposition and argument.

3. Jeremy Taylor (1613–67)is the most prominent literary divine of the period. The son of a barber, he was born and educated at Cambridge, though latterly he removed to Oxford. Taking holy orders, he distinguished himself as an ardent expounder of the Royalist cause, and for a time he was imprisoned by the Parliamentary party. At the Restoration he was rewarded by being appointed to the Irish bishoprics of Down and Dromore. He died in Ireland.

A learned, voluble, and impressive preacher, Taylor carried the same qualities into his prose works, which consisted of tracts, sermons, and theological books. His most popular works, in addition to his collections of sermons,wereThe Liberty of Prophesying(1647),Holy Living(1650), andHoly Dying(1651). In his writings he is fond of quotations and allusions and of florid, rhetorical figures, such as simile, exclamation, and apostrophe; and his language, built into long, stately, but comprehensible sentences, is abundant, melodious, and pleasing.

4. Thomas Fuller (1608–61)was born in Northamptonshire, his father being a clergyman. He was educated at Cambridge, and took holy orders. He received various appointments, and by his witty sermons attracted the notice of Charles I. During the Civil War he was a chaplain to the Royalist forces; but when his side was defeated he made his peace with the Parliamentary party and was permitted to carry on his literary labors. He died the year after the Restoration.

Fuller had an original and penetrating mind, a wit apt for caustic comment, and an industry that remained unimpaired till the end of his life. His literary works are therefore of great interest and value. His serious historical books includeThe History of the Holy War(1639), dealing with the Crusades, andThe Church-History of Britain(1655). Among his pamphlets areGood Thoughts in Bad Times(1645), andAn Alarum to the Counties of England and Wales(1660). The work that has given him his reputation is hisWorthies of England, published by his son in 1662. It shows his peculiar jocosity at its best.

1. Poetry.(a)The Lyric.The period is rich in lyrical poetry of a peculiar kind. The theme is chiefly love or religion. Most of the love-poems are dedicated to ladies of the usual literary convention, such as Althea, Celia, and Phyllis, who both in name and nature resemble the stock characters of the artificial pastoral poetry. The language addressed to such creations cannot be that of deep and genuine passion; it is rather that of polite compliment, verbal quibble, or courtly jest. This type of lyric is a charming literary exercise, but hardly the inspiredsearching of the lover’s heart. We have already noticed the poems of Herrick, Lovelace, and Carew as being representative of this class. To these names may be added those ofGeorge Wither (1588–1667), who writes freshly and sweetly,Andrew Marvell (1621–78), who sometimes reveals real passion, and the numerous miscellaneous songwriters, mostly anonymous, who in inspired moments could produce such charming lyrics as “Phillada flouts me.”

The religious lyric, on the other hand, as we can see in the case of Crashaw and Vaughan, is frequently passionately inspired; but the passions are vaguely expressed; and we have commented upon the incongruity that frequently disfigures the style. In the case of Milton his lyrics are superbly phrased, but they too lack spontaneity. His sonnets, among the noblest of their class, have much more depth of feeling.

(b)The Epic.The true epic treats of a sublime subject in the grand manner. In some respectsBeowulfis an epic, but strictly speaking the epic does not appear till this age. Cowley’sDavideis(1637) and Davenant’sGondibert(1651) aspire to be great epics; but though they subscribe to the rules governing the outward form of the species they lack the inner spirit and they are failures. Milton’sParadise Lost(1658) has the heat and inspiration, but the Puritan bias in his nature led him to the rather unsuitable subject of the fall of man. It is unsuitable because it is weak in heroic action. Much more appropriate would have been the story of King Arthur, which for a long time he thought of using. Otherwise Milton’s treatment of the subject is strictly orthodox. Nominally at least he adheres to the epical unity of action; he draws his characters with a wide sweep; and the style is a triumph of English epical style. HisParadise Regained(1671) is worked out on the same lines, but it is shorter and weaker than the earlier epic.

(c)The Ode.In Spenser’sEpithalamionandProthalamionwe have seen the irregular ode attain to a highdegree of perfection. In this age we observe the appearance of the Pindaric ode, which was to be so popular in the succeeding generations. Though it appears to be irregular, the Pindaric ode is really bound by stringent rules; its language is ornately artificial; and its diction mannered and unreal. Therefore it is suited to the needs of a transitional period that desires artificiality with a show of freedom. Cowley’sPindarique Odes(1656) are the first of their class in English.

(d)Descriptive and Narrative Poetry.In this wide class we may include Milton’sL’AllegroandIl Penseroso, Herrick’s pastoral poems, and Crashaw’s religious-descriptive pieces. To these may be added theCooper Hill(1641) ofSir John Denham (1615–69), a descriptive poem much praised in its day, and the romantic poemPharonnida(1659) byWilliam Chamberlayne (1619–89). In all these poems we may observe the growing tendency to avoid contact with actual wild nature, and to seek rather the conventional and bookish landscapes familiar in the more artificial classical authors. Already the new classicism is declaring itself.

2. Drama.Earlier in this chapter we have noticed the decline and temporary collapse of the drama (1642). The plays of Massinger sustain the expiring spirit of the great Elizabethans; those of Ford follow the tragical school of Webster and Tourneur. Other playwrights areJames Shirley (1596–1666), who wrote some pleasing comedies of London life, such asThe Lady of Pleasure(1637), and the feebler writersSucklingandDavenant.

3. Prose.While the period is almost devoid of narrative prose of the lighter sort, it is quite rich in prose of other kinds.

(a)The Sermon.This period has been called “the Golden Age of the English pulpit.” No doubt the violent religious strife of the time has much to do with the great flow of sermon writing, which is marked with eloquence, learning, and strong argument. In addition to Jeremy Taylor and Fuller, already mentioned, we may noticeRobert South (1634–1716), who writes rather more briefly and simply than the rest,Isaac Barrow (1630–77), learned and copious, andRichard Baxter (1615–91), a Nonconformist, whoseSaints’ Everlasting Rest(1649) has survived all his preachings.

(b)Philosophical Works.On the moral side there are the works of Sir Thomas Browne; on the political those of Hobbes; and on the religious side the books ofJohn Hales (1584–1656). Works of this type show a growing knowledge and advancing scholarship, joined sometimes to quaint conceits and artless credulity.

(c)Historical Works.In this class Clarendon’s and Fuller’s works stand pre-eminent. The development of the history will be noticed in a future chapter (see p.340).

(d)Miscellaneous Prose.In this large and varied group may be included the pamphlets of Milton, Hobbes, Fuller, and many more; the attractive books ofIsaac Walton (1593–1683), whoseCompleat Angler(1653) is the classic of its kind; the interestingResolves, short miscellaneous essays, ofOwen Felltham (1602–68); and theLetters(1645), an early type of essay-journalism, ofJames Howell (1594–1666).

1. Poetry.In surveying the poetical style of the age one is aware of conflicting tendencies, a state of affairs quite in keeping with the transitional nature of the time.

(a) Thelyrical styleshows a decline from the natural splendors of the Elizabethan age; but it shows an increase in care, in polish, and in actual metrical dexterity. Moreover, in the best examples of the time we find a melodious resonance and beauty that is quite peculiar to the period. The lyric of Carew quoted on p.172illustrates this felicity both of sound and expression. The startling “metaphysical” quality of the works of many of the poets has been commented upon. It is revealed at its worst in the works ofJohn Cleveland (1613–58), whose more violent effortscame to be known as “Clevelandisms.” The following is a mild example of his manner:

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