(1809–1861)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, easily first among English poets of her sex, was born in Durham. The daughter of a rich retired India merchant, she was remarkably precocious,reading Homer in the original, and writing verse at the age of eight years.
In 1836 the family removed to London, where she commenced her life-work. Despite the fact that she was a chronic invalid, she was familiar with the language and literature of several nations. Her poems of this period reflect her deep interest in social and humanitarian questions.
At this very time, when her fame far exceeded his, Robert Browning called on her to thank her for a compliment paid him in one of her poems. It seems to have been a case of love at first sight. They were married in 1846 and soon removed to Florence, Italy.
The "Sonnets from the Portuguese," among the world's noblest love poems, contain the record of her courtship and marriage.
In Italy she regained her health somewhat, and it was here that most of her best works were written. She took a great interest in the cause of Italian independence, as appears from "Casa Guidi Windows," and many lesser poems.
Although she began to write at an early age, she reached maturity slowly, producing her best works only after her fortieth year. She died in 1861.
Her characteristic note is that of sympathy, but her insight into human character was not particularly deep. The greatest faults in her style are vagueness and lack of self-restraint, probably to be attributed to her extremely sensitive temperament and overflowing imagination.
In the "Sonnets" these faults are not so noticeable, the rigid rules of that species of verse restraining her within bounds.
THE WOMAN
1. How does she rank among the women writers and especially the poets of the nineteenth century?
2. What can you say as to the early development of her faculties; and when did she reach her full poetic power?
3. What was her attitude toward questions of the day?
4. What qualities would make her as much admired at the present time as during the period in which she lived?
5. How were Robert and Elizabeth Browning brought together?
6. Where did they make their home?
7. Which was the better known at the time of their first meeting, Robert or Elizabeth?
8. Where was most of her best poetry written?
9. Why are her writings after marriage colored with Italian hopes and aspirations?
10. With what essentially feminine attribute was she abundantly endowed?
STYLE AND WORKS
1. Name her leading works.
2. What unique position in the English language is filled by the "Sonnets from the Portuguese"?
3. For what purpose did she write "Casa Guidi Windows"?
4. Had she a profound knowledge of man?
5. What particular defects strike one in her style?
6. Why is she at her best when writing in the sonnet form?
7. Compare her verse with that of Mrs. Hemans, Lucy Larcom, Shelley, Keats, and Longfellow.
"THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN"
1. What protest does "The Cry of the Children" voice?
2. Since this poem was written have steps been taken to improve the condition of children who work? Name some of the limitations of child labor in your state.
3. To what country does "our happy Fatherland" refer?
4. What potent evil now partially remedied by law was prevalent in the factories and mines of those days?
5. Were the sanitary conditions of the factories regulated by law, such as light, cleanliness, etc.? (See encyclopedia.)
6. How is the moral and physical life of a child affected by such close and continuous application to work of this character?
7. What would Mrs. Browning make the guiding principle in the solution of economic ills?
FOR REFERENCE
"The Book of Noble Englishwomen."—Bruce.
"Elizabeth Barrett Browning" ("Famous Women.")—Ingram.
"The Brownings; Their Life and Art."—Whiting.
"Florence in the Poetry of the Brownings."—McMahan.
"The Letters of E. B. Browning."—Ed.Kenyon.
(1783–1859)
Washington Irving has the distinction of being the only one of our early writers of eminence born in the metropolis; and, with the exception of Cooper, the only one born outside of New England.
The youngest son of a well-to-do New York merchant, he was born in 1783, just after the close of the Revolutionary War. He was, therefore, very properly christened "Washington." It is said that some years after, he was brought to President Washington, who, on being told that he was a namesake, laid his hand upon him and bestowed his blessing. Little could the Father of His Country have realized that the benediction would bear fruit and that the recipient thereof was to become the Prince of American Letters.
Like many other authors he studied for the bar, but found neither law nor politics congenial. Though well-read, his education was unsystematic. His first literary endeavors appeared in "Salmagundi," a semimonthly periodical in which he collaborated with his brother and James Kirk Paulding. This was followed by his inimitable "Knickerbocker's History of New York," still among the greatest masterpieces of American humor, which established his reputation.
In 1814 he sailed for Europe, where the next seventeen years of his life were spent. Several years were divided between Great Britain and France, where the "Sketch-Book," "Bracebridge Hall," and "Tales of a Traveler" were written. Afterwards he spent some years in Spain writing his striking seriesof works descriptive of Spanish history and antiquities—"The Conquest of Granada," "The Alhambra," etc.
Returning to America, he built a beautiful home at "Sunnyside" (rightly named for one who always looked on the sunny side of life), where he resided continuously during the remaining twenty-seven years of his life, with the exception of four years spent as minister of the United States at the Court of Spain. These latter years were full of labor, the most notable results being his lives of Goldsmith and Washington.
His writings are distinguished by an easy grace, a flowing rhythm, a light play of fancy and humor, a delicate and tender sentiment sometimes suffused with a gentle melancholy, smooth and unaffected narrative, picturesque description, and graphic delineation of character.
Thackeray describes him as being in his family "gentle, generous, good-humored, and self-denying;" and in society "a delightful example of complete gentlemanliness."
THE MAN
1. What peculiarity of birth distinguishes Irving from all other ante bellum writers?
2. What was his education; his social position?
3. Note points of resemblance between his life and that of Bryant.
4. In what countries was a considerable portion of his life spent?
5. Where did he spend his days after his return from Europe?
6. What public service did Irving render his country?
7. Summarize his character.
8. In view of the many years he voluntarily spent abroad, would you consider him a patriotic man?
STYLE AND WORKS
1. What work established his reputation?
2. What writing did he do abroad?
3. What are his principal serious works?
4. State the prevailing characteristics of his style.
5. Contrast Irving's humor with that of Dickens.
6. Is his humor "American"? Why?
7. Compare his style with Hawthorne's. Which do you prefer? Why?
FROM "KNICKERBOCKER'S NEW YORK"
1. In proportion to its population, how would the record of crime to-day in New York compare with that in the administration of Governor Van Twiller?
2. Give reasons for this difference.
3. What was the Dutch ideal of family life?
4. Judging from this account, was the social distinction between the different classes as great as it is to-day?
5. What was the style of dress worn by the ladies of those days?
6. Discuss its merits or inconveniences as compared with the style of dress to-day.
7. To what extent would you consider this history authoritative?
8. Wherein lies the charm of Irving's power as a writer?
9. Compare the tone of this selection with that of "Rip Van Winkle."
FOR REFERENCE
"Washington Irving."—Boyton.
"Four Famous American Writers."—Cody.
"Irving" ("American Men of Letters").—Warner.
"Literary Likings."—Burton.
"Literary and Social Essays."—Curtis.
"Backgrounds of Literature."—Mabie.
(1809–1849)
Although born in Boston, Poe was of Southern descent and received his early education in England and Virginia. He belonged to no school of writers. His works aresui generisand bear no local color or imprint.
Though a loving husband, he was throughout his life practically without friends, his caustic criticism in particular making him many enemies in the world of letters, with disastrous effect on the reception of his writings. His life was consequently one long struggle for bare necessities, in spite of which, working with unflagging energy, he left behind several volumes of poems, tales, and criticism of a high order.
The wonderful technique, faultless form, and painstaking choice of detail, combined with the grotesque and morbid beauty of both his poetry and his prose have secured for Poe an abiding place in our literature. It is the perfection of literary style that has given him his great popularity abroad and especially in France. Indeed, Poe's neglect of the moral point of view and his constant achievement of artistic perfection of form are French rather than English or American characteristics.
THE MAN
1. Poe was born in Boston. Would you class him with the New England school of writers?
2. Where did he receive his early education? Does this account for certain peculiarities in his writings?
3. Was Poe a man of warm sympathies?
4. What were his relations with other writers of his day?
5. Was the circle of his friendship extensive? What effect had this on his ultimate success as a writer?
6. Compare Scott and Poe as money-makers.
7. What is your opinion of Poe as a husband?
8. He was not a hard drinker as compared with men of his time. The malevolence of his literary executor is responsible in part for the belief to the contrary. On the other hand his will was not strong enough to resist the insidious craving for alcohol and opium, and his high-strung temperament was affected by a slight quantity of either poison.
STYLE AND WORKS
1. What rank do you assign to Poe among American poets? Among short-story writers?
2. Wherein lay his strength?
3. What elements of weakness do you observe?
4. In "The Fall of the House of Usher" notice how the atmosphere of horror is fixed in the opening paragraph by a series of adjectives and adverbs expressive of ever increasing gloom and culminating in the word "torture."
5. Compare the nightmare dread that is attained both at the end of "The Fall of the House of Usher" and in "The Cask of Amontillado" with De Quincey's description of the dreams caused by opium and the attendant melancholia. IV, 171-181.
6. However, Poe was not merely recording fragments of opium dreams; the earliest prose work of the romantic period, now forgotten because of its many weaknesses and imperfections, consisted largely of just such tales of horror. Bürger's "Lenore," Walpole's "Castle of Otranto," Mrs. Radcliffe's "Mysteries of Udolpho," and Mrs. Shelley's "Frankenstein" were among the foremost of these.
7. Can you discover any suggestions of religious or moral feeling in either of these tales? If so, do they impress you as Poe's actual conviction or as a part of the picture which he is drawing?
8. Is this type of tale worth preserving apart from its excellence in style? Do you think it easy or difficult to tell such a story? Why?
9. Is Poe immoral or unmoral?
"THE RAVEN"
1. Why is the raven chosen as the bird of ill omen?
2. Compare the raven with the albatross in Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner."
3. It has been often claimed that the poem was written by Poe in a fit of delirium. As a matter of fact it was composed during his wife's illness and then polished into its present shape during subsequent months of grief. "The Bells" was written at the same time.
4. "Annabel Lee" is another expression of his passionate love for his wife.
5. "The Raven" is written in the first person. Is thischaracteristic of Poe? Does he gain anything by it? What does he lose?
6. Whence was the name, Lenore, derived?
7. What do you understand by the reference to "the Night's Plutonian shore"?
8. As "The Raven" may be said to be the masterpiece of American poetry, so the stanza, "Then methought the air grew denser," is considered the supreme moment in the poem. Can you see why?
9. For a critical analysis of the structure of this poem see Poe's essay, "The Philosophy of Composition," in the complete editions of his works.
FOR REFERENCE
"Four Famous American Writers."—Cody.
"Life and Letters of Edgar Allan Poe."—Harrison.
"Edgar Allan Poe; the Man, the Master, the Martyr."—Leigh.
"The Home Life of Poe."—Weiss.
"Poe" ("American Men of Letters").—Woodberry.
"The Mind and Art of Poe's Poetry."—Fruit.
(1804–1864)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, by general repute the greatest of American novelists, was of sound New England lineage, and his forefathers had for generations followed the sea. After graduating from Bowdoin College, where he had formed a close friendship with Longfellow and Pierce, he returned to Salem, resolved to take up literature as a life-work.
Here he wrote for years, but with so little success that he was glad to accept of George Bancroft, the historian, the offer of a subordinate position in the Boston Custom House. He had, however, just previously published his first work, "Twice-Told Tales," to be followed, upon his retirement from thecustom house with the change of administration, by "Grandfather's Chair."
Some years after he was appointed surveyor of customs at Salem, then an important port, and the succession of tales which had come from his pen for so many years suddenly ceased. But during the following four years of apparent cessation of literary endeavor, he was but husbanding his forces for a final effort, and the year 1850 witnessed the publication of his masterpiece, "The Scarlet Letter," the epic of sin and remorse, by common consent the best American romance and by many held without an equal, either here or abroad.
His old schoolmate, Franklin Pierce, having become President of the United States, Hawthorne was appointed Consul to Liverpool, and upon the expiration of his term spent two years traveling in France, Switzerland, and Italy. The "English Note Books" and "Our Old Home" tell of his life in England, and "The Marble Faun," one of his greatest works, is the product of his wanderings in Italy.
His writings are distinguished by a wonderful power of analysis, and a singularly graceful diction. He seems in a way the incarnation of the old Puritan spirit, probes the innermost recesses of the heart, and appears to take a strange delight in the darker side of life. But he is in no sense morbid; his musings are merely the offspring of a solitary but eminently manly spirit. All through his works one realizes the dominating and all-pervading supremacy of conscience.
THE MAN
1. With what historic towns do we associate the name of Hawthorne?
2. What led to his deep interest in New England lore?
3. Would you judge him to be a good business man? Why?
4. How did he happen to visit Europe?
5. Under what circumstances was "The Scarlet Letter" produced?
6. How does Hawthorne rank among American writers?
7. To what trait of character must his slow acceptance by the public be attributed?
8. Was he a Puritan? Why?
STYLE AND WORKS
1. Which was the first of Hawthorne's works to attract public attention?
2. What rank does "The Scarlet Letter" hold in American literature? In world literature?
3. Wherein lies its great hold upon the human heart?
4. Name his works dealing with English life.
5. What elements of strength do you discover in his style?
6. In what respects does he resemble Poe; wherein does he differ from him?
7. Is his work indicative of his education as well as of his character? How?
"THE OLD MANSE"
1. How long did Hawthorne live in the "Old Manse"?
2. Does Hawthorne show a detailed knowledge of nature?
3. What qualities must a book possess to retain its interest and value for centuries beyond its time of writing?
4. According to Hawthorne's views, what is the best remedy for a troubled mind or worn body?
5. What qualities does Hawthorne's style possess which make an otherwise uninteresting subject have such charm?
6. Notice the passages which bring out the personal character of the author. From these give a complete character sketch of the man.
7. What places of interest in Concord attract visitors? VI, 312, 316, alsoFrontispieceand illustrations, 310, 338; V,Frontispiece, 82; XII, 116.
8. Does this selection offer good material for illustration? Find several scenes especially beautiful in color or shading.
9. What was Hawthorne's view of Emerson? Do you agree with it? Why?
FOR REFERENCE
"Nathaniel Hawthorne and his Wife."—Hawthorne (Julian).
"Memories of Hawthorne."—Lathrop.
"Nathaniel Hawthorne."—Fields.
"Hawthorne" ("English Men of Letters").—James.
"Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne."—Stearns.
"American Prose Masters."—Brownell.
(1794–1878)
William Cullen Bryant was born among the Berkshire hills, in Western Massachusetts, the son of a country physician of limited means. He did not complete his college course, and after devoting several years to the practice of law, he removed to New York, where for nearly fifty years he remained as editor of one of the principal metropolitan papers. He took a leading part in all public affairs, and was a most uncompromising abolitionist.
In appearance patriarchal, a "grand old man," he was lofty, self-contained, and cold. He died at the age of 83, his mental powers still in full vigor.
He was the first poet of high rank which America produced; and above all, the first to paint American scenes with a discerning eye. His poems are American in subject, imagery, and spirit. The volume of his poetry is not large, nor is its range wide, but it is characterized by a dignity and simplicity which imparts a peculiar charm.
His "Thanatopsis," written at the remarkably early age of eighteen, was the first poem written on the American continent destined to win enduring fame.
His works are almost entirely devoted to nature. Man is generally treated merely in the abstract. In all his verse the tendency to moralize is strongly apparent; but his writings, though instinct with morality and religion, never rise above the teachings of natural theology.
THE MAN
1. What were his antecedents?
2. To what extent was he an educated man?
3. What was Bryant's calling?
4. Where did Bryant's political sympathies lie?
5. Was his personal appearance in keeping with his profession?
6. What celebrity of antiquity would you say he most resembled in this respect?
7. For what reason does Bryant lack in popularity?
8. Though his first poem was his greatest, can we say that there was any decline in Bryant's mental powers?
9. Does he belong to the New England authors or to the New York group? Why?
STYLE AND WORKS
1. At what age did he write "Thanatopsis"?
2. What unique position does "Thanatopsis" occupy in American literature?
3. Were his literary remains extensive?
4. What pleasing qualities characterize his style?
5. His rank as a poet of nature?
6. For what scenes does Bryant appear to have a special predilection?
7. In which was Bryant more deeply versed, nature or man?
8. What other poets does his work suggest?
"THANATOPSIS"
1. What is the connection between the title of the poem and its subject-matter?
2. How does communion with nature affect the thought of death?
3. Is the description of death effective?
4. What consolation is derived from the manner of our burial?
5. Does Bryant consider preparation for death essential?
6. Are there indications of youthfulness in the poem?
7. Do any passages suggest Bryant's early home?
FOR REFERENCE
"Atlas Essays."—Palmer.
"William Cullen Bryant" ("American Authors").—Hill.
"Throne Makers."—Thayer.
"Bryant and His Friends."—Wilson.
"Studies in Bryant" ("Literature Primers").—Alden.