Poetry, history, the novel, the short story, the essay, and other branches of literature have all passed through successive stages of change and progress. To trace one of these divisions from its beginnings is not only interesting, but affords an excellent method of study, easily carried out and immediately beneficial. The novel of to-day, for example, is the product of centuries of authorship, in which various elements were gradually blended; the contributions of Cervantes, Defoe, Addison, and Scott, extending over a space of two hundred and thirty years, have each played a decisive part in its formation. So it is with history, poetry, and the rest of the forms of intellectual expression. The origin and nature of each of these divisions is considered in the pages that follow, with the usual lists and examples under each heading.
How did poetry originate? In every nation the beginnings of its literature have been poems. This highest form of literary expression is also the oldest; it is not the final triumphant product of a highly civilized age, after centuries of slow development and gradual growth of power and art in the use of words. It is exactly the opposite; the earliest authors are the poets who sang and chanted the brave deeds of the leaders of their nation; the "Iliad," the Norse sagas, the "Song of Roland" are well-known examples of this primitive yet glorious poetry. But why is this, that one of the greatest of the arts should be already highly perfected in barbaric times? Because poetry rests on two principles: it is imaginative in its nature and rhythmic in its form. Man's imagination stirred him to conquest for the sake of glory and dominion, and then his imagination was again roused to tellin words of splendid imagery of his honor and fame and valor, of loveliness and happiness and power. Man's instinct for the regular cadence that he heard in the tramp of marching feet led him to chant aloud in firm, even measure while the words he sang fitted themselves to the beat of his music. It was only a slight matter to vary the length of the lines or group them in stanzas or use rhyme in order to increase the beauty of verse construction. However, the true test of poetry has always been the value of its imaginative power; no matter how accurate or elaborate its form, unless it expresses great ideas it cannot rank as great poetry, but merely as good verse. Like all art, poetry is the expression of genuine feeling in beautiful form. (See Sidney's "Defense of Poesy.")
The Chief Divisions of Poetry
Epic poetrytells the story of a great sequence of events, such as the wanderings and home-coming of Odysseus, in the "Odyssey." It is the earliest form of literature and one of the grandest. No great period or nation has failed to produce its epic.
For examples in Ancient Literature see "The Epic of Pentaur" under Egyptian Literature; Homer; and Vergil. The works of the last two are known as 'heroic epics.'
In the Dark Ages: "Beowulf" under Anglo-Saxon Literature; "The Song of Roland" under French Literature; "The Nibelungenlied" under German Literature; "The Saga of Eric the Red" under Norse Literature; and "The Chronicle of the Cid" under Spanish Literature.
In the Middle Ages: Dante and Tasso, who wrote 'sacred epics.' The "Old English Ballads" are excellent examples of the shorter poetic tales from which such epics as the "Iliad," the "Nibelungenlied," and the "Song of Roland" were built up.
In the Renaissance: Spenser, whose "Faerie Queene" is an epic of chivalry. Milton's great epics of "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained" are sacred epics, reflecting the Puritan influence that came over England at the close of the period.
In the Age of Classicism: the mock-epic of Pope's "Rape of the Lock," and the epic tale in prose, "Telemachus," by Fénelon.
In the Age of Romanticism: Scott's "Lady of the Lake," and Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," although this last is perhaps best regarded as a study of the poet's emotions upon visiting the grandest scenes in Europe.
In Nineteenth Century Literature: Longfellow's "Evangeline" and "Hiawatha" are short epics. Owing to the central, unifying figure of King Arthur, Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" have much of the epic effect.
Lyric poetryincludes all verse that presents the poet's feelings and passions; it is characterized also by plentiful use of varied ideas, rich and fanciful imagery, and rhythmical flow of language.
From the beginning there were shorter songs, as well as the epic, often accompanied on the lyre, a small harp, from which this branch of poetry takes its name. To-day lyric poetry tends toward a lighter tone and spirit than in the Romantic Period; in length it may vary very widely, from the little quatrain, of four lines, to an ode or a ballad of almost epic extent. Burns, Milton, Moore, Byron, Keats, Shelley, Shakespeare, and Wordsworth are among the foremost in this field; among the ancients Catullus, Horace, and Sappho are prominent; while the writings of Goethe, Heine, Uhland, Longfellow, Whittier, Browning, Tennyson, and Swinburne contain many that are familiar. Musical accompaniment is no longer essential. There are several forms of the lyric, chief among which are the following:
The Ode, addressed to a person or a personified idea or else expressing the poet's emotions at a moment of great exaltation. In form it either follows a varying sequence of lines of irregular length or else employs a series of uniform stanzas. Illustrative of the former are Dryden's "Alexander's Feast" and "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day," and Wordsworth's "Ode on Intimations of Immortality"; among the latter are Collins's "Ode to Evening," Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn,"Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" and "To a Skylark," and Wordsworth's "To the Cuckoo" and "Ode to Duty."The Sonnet, of Italian origin, was brought to its perfection by Petrarch; it consists of fourteen lines of equal length (in English usually of ten syllables), the first eight lines constituting theoctaveand the last six, thesestet. In the octave the rhymes are arrangeda b b a a b b a, and in the sestet, eitherc d c d c dorc d e c d e. The sonnet should contain one idea, which may be treated from two points of view, in the octave and sestet respectively. As used by Milton and later poets in England this double treatment was not often observed and there is no break of thought at the end of the octave. Owing to its restrictions the sonnet is considered one of the most difficult forms in which to achieve distinction, as metrical ingenuity without sublimity of thought bars mere versifiers. The most noted examples by English authors are E. B. Browning's "Sonnets from the Portuguese," Keats's "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer," Milton's "On His Blindness," Shelley's "England in 1819," and those selected from Wordsworth.The Ballad, partaking somewhat of the epic, is a tale in verse, usually arranged in short stanzas. "Old English Ballads," Cowper's "The Diverting History of John Gilpin," Drayton's "Ballad of Agincourt," and Rossetti's "The White Ship" are specimens of this form. It originated among the peasantry, who commemorated the prowess of their favorite heroes in rough verse sung by the cottage hearth.The Elegy is devoted to the memory of the dead and therefore is grave and stately in its metrical form as well as in thought. Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," Milton's "Lycidas," Shelley's "Adonais," and Tennyson's "In Memoriam" are the most famous.
The Ode, addressed to a person or a personified idea or else expressing the poet's emotions at a moment of great exaltation. In form it either follows a varying sequence of lines of irregular length or else employs a series of uniform stanzas. Illustrative of the former are Dryden's "Alexander's Feast" and "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day," and Wordsworth's "Ode on Intimations of Immortality"; among the latter are Collins's "Ode to Evening," Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn,"Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" and "To a Skylark," and Wordsworth's "To the Cuckoo" and "Ode to Duty."
The Sonnet, of Italian origin, was brought to its perfection by Petrarch; it consists of fourteen lines of equal length (in English usually of ten syllables), the first eight lines constituting theoctaveand the last six, thesestet. In the octave the rhymes are arrangeda b b a a b b a, and in the sestet, eitherc d c d c dorc d e c d e. The sonnet should contain one idea, which may be treated from two points of view, in the octave and sestet respectively. As used by Milton and later poets in England this double treatment was not often observed and there is no break of thought at the end of the octave. Owing to its restrictions the sonnet is considered one of the most difficult forms in which to achieve distinction, as metrical ingenuity without sublimity of thought bars mere versifiers. The most noted examples by English authors are E. B. Browning's "Sonnets from the Portuguese," Keats's "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer," Milton's "On His Blindness," Shelley's "England in 1819," and those selected from Wordsworth.
The Ballad, partaking somewhat of the epic, is a tale in verse, usually arranged in short stanzas. "Old English Ballads," Cowper's "The Diverting History of John Gilpin," Drayton's "Ballad of Agincourt," and Rossetti's "The White Ship" are specimens of this form. It originated among the peasantry, who commemorated the prowess of their favorite heroes in rough verse sung by the cottage hearth.
The Elegy is devoted to the memory of the dead and therefore is grave and stately in its metrical form as well as in thought. Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," Milton's "Lycidas," Shelley's "Adonais," and Tennyson's "In Memoriam" are the most famous.
Idyllic poetrybriefly presents a picture, complete and lovely, usually pastoral and romantic. Tennyson's "Idylls of the King," Goldsmith's "Deserted Village," the Idylls of Theocritus, and the Eclogues of Vergil are the best examples.
Dramatic poetry, in which the form of a play or drama is used, has always been chosen for the deepest and most majestic presentations of the problems and wonders of human life. The dramatic poets of the ancients as well as those of modern times rank among the most far-seeing thinkers and ablest writers of the world. No philosopher or historian has ever been able to reach the people or express the profoundest reflections so readily and forcibly.
The tragedies of Æschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles, with those of Shakespeare and the "Faust" of Goethe, are the highest achievements in literature; their effect, from the stage, is instantaneous, and even in reading them the mind receives a direct impression of wonder and awe not elsewhere given. The Greek tragedies mentioned above have for their underlying theme the power of relentless fate, the inevitable omnipotence of right, and the final destruction of wrong and falsehood. In these and "Macbeth," "Hamlet," and "King Lear" the mastery of plot and action is superb; the play gathers force and momentum until the catastrophe sweeps down upon the evil-doers and unfortunates like a tidal wave. Yet each step in its progress, even the least trifle, is so natural as to seem unavoidable. Here is the proof of the poet's genius, in that he selects the message to be presented to his audience or readers, chooses his characters, and outlines his plot, then combines the three elements with such skill and with such inspiration as to leave an effect of perfect truth and actuality. Aristotle, the ancient philosopher and critic, declared that the very souls of the audience were cleansed and rid of pettiness and self-seeking by beholding such works as these; that the spectacle of disaster brought down upon men by their own vanity and wrong-doing, and portrayed in language of such vivid grandeur, was the most impressive means of reaching the hearts of men.
In addition to the authors mentioned above, Calderon, Jonson, Lessing, Marlowe, Molière, Racine, Rostand, and Schiller have made notable contributions to the poetic drama. (See alsoDrama, p. 49.)
The practice of telling tales of love and heroism is older than history itself. Ever since men sat about the fire of an evening and recited the deeds of their chieftains or extolled the beauty of their princesses, in other words, ever since the days when poetry first began, stories and tales have been handed down, first by word of mouth, then by carvings and inscriptions and at last by writing and printing. The first fiction was a simple, imaginative invention of adventure, told to pass the time. Æsop's "Fables" and Apuleius's "Story of Cupid and Psyche," ancient as they are, show the progress already made in the art of narration, the one simple and insistent in its purpose of teaching common sense by whimsical anecdotes, the other a delicately artistic legend told with exquisite grace. In "Jewish Literature" the story of Tobit's wonderful adventures at once calls to mind the "Arabian Nights," which were of similar origin, told by professional story-tellers for centuries before they were finally written down and translated for our perpetual delight.
The novel, a new feature in fiction, shows its first faint beginnings in the tumult and enthusiasm of the Renaissance, that strenuous age of new ideas and discoveries. Cervantes in writing "Don Quixote" had a definite purpose in mind beyond mere entertainment; the passing of the age of chivalry and the pathos and humor of life form the true subject of his tale. Bunyan in the "Pilgrim's Progress" shows the same intent of doing something more than providing interesting reading; the growth of a noble character through struggle and temptation on the journey through life is the central thought of his work. His hero, Christian, changes in character, becoming a stronger, better man as the story goes on. Defoe's Robinson Crusoe goes through much of the same evolution. And this is the underlying principle of the novel, that it has a purpose beyond simple story-telling, possessing a plot or unified succession of incidents, with actors whose characters develop. It is a picture of human life, with strength and weakness, happiness and misery, all bound together and forming a united and well-proportioned whole.
However, it was not until Addison and Steele, in the "Spectator" essays, had shown such skill in drawing characters and depicting manners and customs that the time was ripe for the true novel to appear. For one of the chief duties of the novel is to criticize life, to furnish comment on the social conditions and tendencies of the day. Among the earliest and also the greatest of the English novelists, Fielding, whose work appeared about thirty years after the "Spectator," not only draws sturdy and truthful pictures of the life of his day, but also makes the reader see the true value of that life and estimate its good and its bad qualities. In the same way Dickens and Thackeray, not very long after, supplied unending amusement and fun for the world and at the same time did far more by making the nations sit up and think, pointing out with almost brutal clearness the need of unselfish action and the love of truth and simplicity. There is not a novel of high rank but contains more than meets the eye at first glance. It is the readiest means of putting a critical estimate of history, of life and society, directly before the world.
NOVELS AND GENERAL FICTION
AustenBalzacBeaconsfieldBlackmoreBorrowBrontëBunyanCaineCervantesChateaubriand
CooperDaudetDefoeDickensDoyleDumasFénelonFeuilletFieldingGaskell
GoldsmithHugoKingsleyLe SageLeverLyttonMacdonaldManzoniMeredith
ReadeRichardsonScottShorthouseSienkiewiczStoweThackerayTurgenieffZola
The short story, as distinct from a story that is short, is a nineteenth-century development in fiction. During the last hundred years the magazines grew so rapidly in numbers and circulation that they could not depend entirely on continued stories; they had to have tales that would be complete in one number, which could be read at one sitting. The demand brought the needed solution, a story which instead of length, with intricate action and complex studies of personality,supplied rapid action, brilliantly imaginative description, and a terse portrayal of character. Scenes, persons, and events were stamped immediately on the reader's mind; the effect desired by the writer was attained by force and bold decision. Edgar Allan Poe was one of the first to excel in this field, utilizing his critical powers as well as sheer inspiration to meet the situation.
The variations in style and manner are as manifold in the short story as in the novel. Boccaccio, "The Arabian Nights," French Literature, and the "Gesta Romanorum" show the work of the Middle Ages, from mere anecdote with a moral tagged on, in the "Gesta," to the graceful prose poem of "Aucassin and Nicolete." Barrie, Brown, and Hawthorne do little more than draw quiet sketches of simple life, while Björnson, Eliot, Hardy, Harte, Irving, Kipling, Macleod, Maupassant, Stevenson, and Tolstoi deal powerfully with situations that bring home to us the force of fate which lurks hidden in petty incidents. Aldrich, Collins, Crawford, Hale, and Watson have all used this type of fiction effectively. Indeed, Hale's "Man Without a Country" drives home the idea of patriotism so vigorously that Italy recently issued a translation in an edition of a million copies for distribution to her army.
Like poetry and fiction, history emerges from the darkness of the unknown ages, at first no more than a boastful record of slaughter and usurpation, such as shows through the gloss and splendor of epic poetry. The sagas in "Norse Literature," the crisp record of invasion and conquest by Cæsar, and that of Josephus on the Roman conquest of the Jews are all of this type, a chronicle by an eyewitness of the succession of deeds that made up some event in a nation's life.
An improvement came with Herodotus in ancient times and again with Froissart in the Middle Ages. Both of these historians added zest to their tale by including some account of the principal personages as well as picturesque, well-drawn pictures of the scene. In other words, they filled in the background of their pictures, their wars were waged by peoplewith definite personalities and in a country with certain individual features and peculiarities.
From this method to the modern scientific style was a further advance. It is now understood that we must perceive the growth of a nation, its social changes, its increase of intellectual as well as physical power, its innermost secrets of success or failure. Thucydides, the Greek historian, and Tacitus, the Roman, felt something of this and have left us far more than a mere list of battles and rulers. Gibbon, in "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," and later still, Guizot, Mommsen, and Ferrero, have carried on the work of analyzing the complex mysteries of history and civilization and have brought it to its highest development. The more stirring visions of heroism and kingly dominion have been replaced by pages in which not an emperor but a nation is born, passes through childhood to maturity and wisdom, succumbs to disease or an enemy's murderous attacks, and perishes.
The study of history nowadays may involve the scholar in years of drudgery, such as searching out and listing the exports and imports of the city of London between the years 1340 and 1400. However, the conclusions drawn from his discoveries may be of world-wide importance. The questions of tariff reform, wage-scales, taxation, and representative government will all be affected by the data which his scientific investigation will have brought to light. Those of us whose life-work lies in other directions can give no attention to the details of toilsome labor like this. But the results must always be significant for us. The great movements in the troublous advance of the nations from barbarism to civilization are full of lessons which we must learn. History, regarded as a series of wars, an unceasing fury of bloodshed and misgovernment, is of slight interest to peace-loving people. But history as a series of pictures, showing the conditions of life in various ages and countries, picturing the spread of liberty and equality, and the slow yet sure increase of justice—history viewed in this manner is one of the most stirring and educative subjects for reading and study.
How was the Roman Empire built up? What was thecondition of the people in the days of Homer? How did the ancient tribes live from which the German nation is descended? What was England like in Shakespeare's time? These are some of the questions which we should ask. Many of the ablest brains in Europe and America have spent their lives in finding out the answers.
The following lists group the historians according to the nation which they discuss.
GREECEFroudeGladstoneGroteHerodotusMahaffyPlutarchThucydides
ROMECæsarFarrarFerreroFreemanGibbonHodgkinJosephusLivyMommsenPlinySuetoniusTacitus
ENGLANDCæsarCreasyEvelynFroissartGreenHolinshedMcCarthyPepysRaleighSmith, G.SoutheyTaine
AMERICABancroftFiskeIrvingMcMasterParkman
FRANCECæsarCarlyleCreasyFrench Lit.FroissartMicheletParkman
ITALYCelliniHodgkinSymondsVillariSPAINCreasyPrescottSpanish Lit.
ITALYCelliniHodgkinSymondsVillari
SPAINCreasyPrescottSpanish Lit.
Egyptian Literature, Guizot's "History of Civilization in Europe," Japanese Literature, Josephus on the conquest of the Jews by Rome, Motley's "Relief of Leyden," Norse Literature, Tacitus's "Customs of the Germans," and Voltaire's account of Charles XII of Sweden are other selections.
The lives of great men have always been of interest not merely for the sake of satisfying curiosity, but because of the value of further knowledge about their habits, thoughts, and actions. The personality of a great man attracts us; perhaps through reading an intimate account of his life we may seeinto the reasons for his superiority, possibly we may find the key to the secret of power. So much can be learned from biography that it seems absurd how little importance is given to the subject even in our best colleges. Yet Christianity rests upon the life and teachings of one Personality, nation after nation has been saved or ruined by the deeds of one individual, wisdom and contentment have been found by the great minds of the world. By considering their lives, their principles, their virtues, and their failings we can get an extraordinary insight into the problems of happiness and wholesome living. Carlyle rightly called a Great Man "the most precious gift that Heaven can give to the Earth; a man of 'genius' as we call it; the Soul of a Man actually sent down from the skies with a God's-message to us." To see such a man at his work, at his play, thinking, dreaming, attaining greatness little by little or in a flash, to spend hours with him in thought, learning from him or from his friends and critics wherein he proved his power and how he labored to express it: to be in such close touch with one of the giants of the earth is a privilege which we must not dare to neglect. The opportunity is ours, ours be the blame and the failure if we neglect it.
BoswellCelliniChestertonEckermannEvelynFieldsFranklinLewesLockhartPellicoPepysPlatoPlinyPlutarchRenanSoutheyStephenVillari
BoswellCelliniChestertonEckermannEvelyn
FieldsFranklinLewesLockhartPellico
PepysPlatoPlinyPlutarch
RenanSoutheyStephenVillari
Originally intended, as its name implies, to be a tentative effort rather than a finished production, the essay has none the less become one of the most perfect forms of prose. Its subject and the treatment thereof may be of almost any nature, provided it is well wrought and finished in style; for an essay is the artistic consideration of a topic, often critical, as in the case of Matthew Arnold's masterpieces, humorous, as with Lamb, philosophical as with Emerson, Carlyle, and Ruskin, and so on through a dozen diverse manners. In general the essay is brief, critical, and scholarly, and bears the stamp ofthe author's personality and individual opinion in his most polished style.
Bacon and Montaigne were the first to use it, Milton followed, and then Addison and Steele brought it to a high state of light and pungent perfection. Lamb, Macaulay, and Stevenson are perhaps the leaders in its later development. The work of such writers as Walton and Gilbert White, though not perhaps within the stricter limits of the definition, is closely related to the essay in tone and style.
AddisonArnold, M.BensonDe QuinceyHamertonHarrison
HazlittHowellsLambLangLa RaméeLowell
MacaulayMillMitchellMontaigneMorleyPater
RuskinSainte-BeuveSidneySteeleStephen
StevensonThackerayThoreauWaltonWarnerWhite, G.
Humor is the most subtle of intellectual modes of expression. To define it and lay down its laws and principles is all but beyond human power. For it ranges from the inspired nonsense of Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass" or the rough and ready gusto of Browne's "Showman's Courtship" to the airily intangible delicacy of Lamb's "Essays of Elia" and the venomous sarcasm of Swift's "Gulliver's Travels." Mere wit turns on an absurd similarity in words or ideas, as in Hood's lines:
"They went and told the sexton, andThe sexton tolled the bell."
"They went and told the sexton, andThe sexton tolled the bell."
"They went and told the sexton, and
The sexton tolled the bell."
Yet the deepest humor is all but pathos; Don Quixote's demented visions of giants that prove to be windmills and of castles that turn out to be taverns provoke our laughter while they stir our pity.
Humor would seem to depend, according to some, upon the association of ideas or circumstances that have no true relation to each other, as if they actually possessed a natural relationship. For this reason a cat or a cow dressed in coatand trousers provokes laughter, or a village bully described as a proud monarch causes a smile. An unexpected answer made as seriously as if it were appropriate is one of the commoner examples of the ludicrous. It is much for the same reason that actual misfortune may appear laughable, if the element of suffering is suppressed, as in Joel Chandler Harris's "Uncle Remus" stories, or Gilbert's "Yarn of the Nancy Bell." Its verysubtletylimits the appeal of humor. "One man's meat is another man's poison" applies more closely to this division of authorship than to any other. What tickles the fancy of one person, and more especially, one nation, may not afford even passing amusement to another. Englishmen find our comic papers dull, while many Americans see little to laugh at in "Punch."
BarhamBrowneCarrollCervantesCowper
GilbertHarrisHarteHolmesHood
HopeIrvingJerroldJonsonLamb
LowellRichterSheridanSterneSwift
The foundations of good taste are best laid in childhood. Fairy tales, adventures, and all sorts of stories for children may be well designed and well written, or the opposite, just as much as books for older people. Choose your children's books as you choose their food; take care they get no trash, arrange a tempting diet of wholesome nourishment for their minds. The authors listed below wrote as carefully and thoughtfully for little folks as when they wrote for grown-ups. Andersen devoted his life to authorship for children; the Grimm brothers made a scientific study of folk-lore and fairy tales throughout the German empire, collecting the stories told by the firesides in each district. Carroll, Hawthorne, Kingsley, and many others put their best efforts into books which are unquestioned examples of great literature and yet were purposed entirely for youth. There is no occasion for young people to ruin their taste and their appreciation with ill-written rubbish.
ÆsopAndersenArabian NightsBrown
FouquéGrimmHughesIrving
Jewish Lit.KingsleyLaboulayePerrault
RaspeRussian Lit.Swift
The majority of travelers have been men of action rather than words, filled with enthusiasm and inspiration for deeds instead of books. Columbus, Magellan, Drake, and the rest of the leaders of exploration have left nothing that can be called literature. Their records, at best, are scientific reports of their discoveries. Still, ever since the days when Pausanias made his remarkable tour of Greece and described its wonders and Herodotus jotted down the travelers' tales of Egypt, there have been able writers to tell of the marvels, real or imaginary, to be found in foreign lands.
AudubonDanaHearnHeineKinglakeMandevilleMelvillePausaniasPoloStevensonTyndall
AudubonDanaHearnHeine
KinglakeMandevilleMelvillePausanias
PoloStevensonTyndall
In both ancient and modern literature the drama is of religious origin. Among the Greeks it began as a service in memory of some dead hero, the choir or chorus chanting the story of his life and deeds. Their leader presently began to take an actor's part, addressing the audience or congregation, and then other persons were introduced who carried on a dialogue with him and at last played the part of characters in the hero's history. In the Middle Ages, when the great majority of the people could not read, the Bible story was acted at Christmas, Easter, and other festivals in order to impress it on their minds more vividly. From this it was an easy step to the presentation of historical events, and itwas but one more step to the modern drama's elaborate staging and well-rounded plot. (For the poetic drama, seep. 40.)
In general the drama has certain limitations which must be taken into account before passing judgment upon a play. Three hours is the utmost duration for a play; it must 'get across' within that period, since an audience becomes wearied during the third hour. It appeals to two senses, hearing and sight, while other forms of literature appeal but to one. This is an advantage as far as it enables the dramatist to tell his story by scenery and action as well as by speech and incidental music. It is a handicap when the action or the scenery is faulty and distracts the attention of the audience from the dialogue. Descriptions of any length, the study or analysis of personality, all features of ordinary fiction which delay the action are impossible on the stage. Speech and action must be fitted together so as to carry the plot through without pause, revealing the story forcibly, clearly, and yet naturally, within the restricted time.
These limitations have been handled in widely varying manners: three systems of presentation have been employed, the ancient, the medieval, and the modern, all of which are to be seen at the present day, thanks to the revival of Greek plays in the stadiums and amphitheaters of our colleges and likewise to the revival of the Elizabethan drama during the past ten years.
The ancient or Greek drama was presented in a stone amphitheater against a background of marble, constructed in the form of a palace or temple; the semicircular space occupied by the orchestra seats in our theaters contained an altar in the center and was used by the actors as a part of the stage; the chorus in particular used this space for their stately dances and stood at one side during the progress of the action, commenting on the course of events in odes which they chanted. The lack of movable scenery, and other limitations, resulted in the restrictions known asthe three 'unities,'of action, time, and place. No play, according tothe unity of action, should introduce incidents that were not a part of the main action; the plot must be absolutely simple. Thus the story of Jessica and Lorenzo, in "The Merchantof Venice" would be barred by this convention, as it does not contribute to the development of the main story of Antonio and Shylock. Theunity of timerequired that the action should not represent the occurrences of more than a day at the very outside, and theunity of placeheld the action to one spot. These latter conventions were to increase the impression of truth and actuality on the minds of the spectators, heightening the effect of complete naturalness and leaving their imaginations free to grasp the problems of the plot without the additional effort of supposing lapses of time and changes of scene to have occurred. The number of actors was small; usually two, or at most three, were permitted to take part at one time in a portion of the dialogue. These conventions produce a simplicity that was not bare and dull, but just the reverse; the attention is focused directly upon the leading character and his fate from beginning to end. The effect is single and direct, there is no complexity or intricacy to puzzle the audience or distract its interest in the crisis which is so obviously approaching. The grandeur of this type of drama is like that of a great hymn, such as "Old Hundred," sung by a vast congregation.
The medieval plays, which reached their height in Shakespeare's time, were very different from those of the ancients. The stage was almost as bare and scenery was not used, but changes of locality were frequent, indicated by hanging out a sign with the words, "This is a garden" or "A Street in Venice" and so on. In the same way there was no restriction upon time; years might be supposed to have passed between one act and the next. The imagination of the audience was expected to take care of such matters, and indeed it did so with the utmost ease. The plot could be supplemented with all sorts of incidents whether they directly concerned it or not. For example, the wrestling scene at the beginning of "As You Like It" was inserted to satisfy the Elizabethan love of sport, not because it could be of use in advancing the progress of the story, as it did nothing of the kind. The Greek unities were disregarded completely; however, the most impressive of Shakespeare's tragedies do adhere to the principle of the unity of action,—"Macbeth,"for example, deals with the consequences of unscrupulous ambition, each event in the play leads directly on to the catastrophe without a pause, there are no minor events or plots.
The modern play differs from both the earlier forms of the drama in its appeal to the eye. The use of scenery, which came in at the beginning of the Age of Classicism, has led to an elaboration of stage effects which sometimes is injurious to the success of a production. Much of the modern stage-craft is concerned with scenic effects and therefore does not come into this discussion. The chief distinction to-day lies in the treatment of problems of everyday life in an everyday manner. Neither the ancient nor the Shakespearian playwrights handled tragedy in the setting of ordinary life. The Greeks portrayed famous heroes and princes and so did the Elizabethans, but rarely, except in comedy, was there any presentation of the life of the middle classes of that time. Sheridan and Ibsen, in common with most of the modern playwrights, take the life of the mass of the people and draw their illustrations of success and failure direct. The audience of to-day sees itself walking and talking on the stage, playing the fool or the hero.
Each style has its merits and its faults, each is powerful in the hands of a genius and each fails when used by incompetents. The average drama depends largely upon the actors for its success, it can hardly be classed among literary efforts. Only the plays wrought by masters of thought as well as of speech can be given a place in the realm of literature.
ÆschylusCalderonEuripidesGoethe
IbsenJonsonLessingMarlowe
MolièreRacineRostandSchiller
ShakespeareSheridanSophocles
The art of addressing a large gathering and winning their support, as well as their attention, by sound argument and also by eloquence is a study that is in danger of falling into a decline, owing perhaps to the prevalence of newspapers and the rapidity with which an argument or an idea can bespread broadcast over the world by the telegraph and the press. In reading even the finest speeches of the past or the present allowance must almost always be made for the personal magnetism of the speaker, the appeal made by his presence, his gestures, and his voice. For this reason it is difficult to form a just estimate of the worth of a speech, especially at a date when the subject has become less vital or even unfamiliar through the passage of time. The sole bases of criticism under these conditions must be the force of the argument and the eloquence of the style. This is aptly illustrated in the case of Burke, whose arguments were admitted to be irresistible in their strength, but who had so poor a delivery that he was called the dinner-bell of the House of Commons, in reference to the departure of the members when he rose to speak. The most influential speakers have been those who combined skill in argument with grace and eloquence and reinforced these qualities with a commanding personality. These talents are needed to-day if we are to maintain the standard set by Washington, Webster, and Lincoln.
BrightBrooksBurkeChanningChoateDemosthenesHenryLincolnMirabeauPhillipsRobertsonSumnerWashingtonWebster
BrightBrooksBurkeChanningChoate
DemosthenesHenryLincolnMirabeauPhillips
RobertsonSumnerWashingtonWebster
The aim of philosophy, like that of science, is to probe the mystery of life, to discover as far as possible the nature of man and of the universe in which he dwells. These efforts began when men first asked "What am I? What is this world?" Philosophy attempts the answer by reasoning and meditation, while science uses inventions, such as the telescope, mathematical calculation, and all other means of obtaining accurate information regarding the physical environment and nature of man. The former is concerned with the spirit, the unseen, the motives of honor, love, and the like, and the infinite possibilities of the mind and the soul; the latter deals with the actual, material conditions of life. Thebest of scientific literature so closely borders on philosophy that it has been included among the selections that treat of philosophic problems.
AureliusBaconCarlyleCiceroDarwin
EmersonEpictetusGaltonHamiltonKant
LucretiusMachiavelliMillMorePascal
PlatoRousseauRuskinSchopenhauer
SenecaShalerSmith, A.Spencer
Certain hymns will always linger in the memory from the days of childhood; and certain sermons and devotional works have so feelingly expressed the aspirations of Christian life that they have attained enduring fame. These are here collected without reference to denominational distinction.
Also, as it is of interest to note the ideals of thinkers in other than Christian lands, passages are included from the teachings of Confucius, the Chinese scholar; Cleanthes, the Greek poet; the life of Buddha, in Hindoo Literature; the Talmud, in Jewish Literature; and the "Koran" of Mohammed.
HYMNS
Bernard, St.Bernard of ClunyBonarBowringCowper
FaberHeberHerbertJacoponeKeble
LutherLyteMilmanNewmanPalmer
Thomas of CelanoTopladyWattsWesley
SERMONS AND DEVOTIONAL WORKS
BowneBrierleyBrooks
Browne, Sir T.BunyanChanning
Hookerà KempisLuther
MazziniRobertsonWyclif