66 dawn, when a letter from a critic intimated that an edition of his poems would be received with favor in Edinburgh. The voyage was abandoned. "I immediately posted to Edinburgh," he wrote, "without a single acquaintance or letters of introduction. The baneful star which had so long shed its blasting influence upon my zenith, for once made a revolution to the nadir." He needed no introduction, for his songs had gone before him. The literature and the fashion of the capital welcomed the singer. The new edition of his poems was received with enthusiasm that made "the Ayrshire ploughman" the lion of the town. This success put money in his purse; and he was able to gratify his desire to visit the scenery and the places of historical interest in his country. After spending the summer of 1787 in travel, he returned to Edinburgh with the reasonable expectation of securing from those whose praises and friendship he had won, such employment as would enable him to devote some of his time to poetry. While waiting for their help he joined in their convivialities. When his money was gone, and he was compelled to find support, a place was given him, as a gauger of liquors in his old district. He rented a farm and lived upon his meager income, remote from congenial society. Now his spirit was buoyant and gleeful, now despondent. His strong constitution, undermined by early vicissitudes, soon broke down under the stress of disappointment and imprudent exposure, and he died at Dumfries, in the thirty-seventh year of his age. His Poems. The highest poetical qualities exquisite tenderness, broad and refined humor, the most delicate perception of natural beauty, the highest finish and the easiest negligence of style, are found in the songs of Burns. His lyrics possess incomparable charm; but he has also written narrative and satire. The variety of his talent is best displayed in Tam O'Shanter. In no other poem of the same length can be found such blending of brilliant description, touching pathos, and quaint, sly humor; nor is there elsewhere in our literature such a combination of the weird and the ludicrous. Another inimitable poem, half-narrative, but set thick with glorious songs, is the Jolly Beggars, full of careless vagabond jollity, roaring mirth, and gypsy merriment. In his Address to the De'il, Death and Dr. Hornbook, and the dialogue between the Old and New Bridges of Ayr, Burns mingles humorous and picturesque description with thoughtful reflections upon life and society. In the description of rural superstitions centering about Hallowe'en, in the Vision of Liberty, where Burns pictures his own early aspirations, in the grief that breathes. through the Lament for Glencairn, in Scotch Drink, the Haggis, the epistles to Captain Grose and Matthew Henderson, in the exquisite description of the death of the old ewe, and the poet's address to his old mare, we find the same mixture of that truest pathos which inheres in the common, every-day objects of life, and that truest humor which is allied to deep feeling. The famous lines On Turning up a Mouse's Nest with the Plough, and To a Mountain Daisy, are veritable gems. The Twa Dogs is a description of the joys and consolations of the poor man's lot, which is perhaps even more beautiful than the more popular Cotter's Saturday Night. Certainly nobler tribute has never been paid to the virtues of the poor than Burns has given in these two poems. The best of Burns's songs are those written in the rhythm of his native dialect. In Ae Fond Kiss and then We Sever is concentrated the essence of a thousand love poems; the heroic outbreak of patriotism in Scots Wha Ha'e wi' Wallace Bled is a lyric of stirring force; and in those of more pensive character, as Ye Banks and Braes, are revealed the devotion of the poet's mind to the loveliness of Nature.* THE LITERATURE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. In reviewing the English literature of the eighteenth century the student will be reminded that it contains the most powerful satire and the most elegant light essays that have been produced. In it are found the first great works of fiction, the first distinctively pronounced skepticism, the first carefully written histories coming from the pens of Englishmen. The literature of the century may be divided into three distinctly marked eras: I. The Augustan Age; so called by the men of the next generation, who felt that in it English literature had reached such paramount excellence as the literature of Rome attained in the age of Augustus. It closes with the reign of George I. The attitude of the government towards literary men was somewhat changed at the accession of George II.; a few writers of note appeared at that time, and some of the bright stars of the Augustan galaxy disappeared. II. The Reign of George II. (1727-1760). In this era there was less of elegance, but there was a gain in purpose. Ethical inquiry became more earnest. Men were no longer satisfied with attacking the advocates of principles, but attacked the principles themselves. Hume published his philosophical essays, startled his readers by the audacity of his questioning, and prepared the way for study of German philosophy. He alarmed the theologians, so that they took up weapons of defense, to fight for the permanence of English *Chambers's Life and Works of Robert Burns is a chronological and annotated edition of great merit (4 vols., 1851). There is a Life of the poet by Lockhart (1828), an excellent one by John Nicol (1879), and one of critical merit by T. C. Shairo, in the "Men of Letters Series" (1879). religious opinions and for the sacredness of the Scripture record. A reaction from pronounced skepticism called forth earnest reformers. They demanded practical as well as theoretical regard for Christ's teachings. In sermon, treatise, and song, the Wesleys, Whitefield, and Watts charmed the saintly and terrified the sinful. They created and supplied a demand for simple, fervent religious literature. A progressive seriousness shows itself in essays, in philosophy, and, where it would be least expected, even in the poetry imitative of Pope. -III. The Reign of George III. (1760-1820). Here we find poetry simpler than in the preceding eras. Imagination revived, and poetic life was healthful. Philosophy turned seriousness to practical account. The eighteenth century was the formative period of English prose style. It developed distinct modes of literary expression. The first in order of time is the style of Addison. Another style seeks harmonies of sound, avoids elliptical idioms, is scholastic, and is based upon the supposition that there must be more dignity in writing than in the best speaking. Johnson is its exponent. Still another mode is the strong, simple, idiomatic Saxon of Defoe and Swift, which, long discredited by false estimates of the value of the Latin element in our language, has now come to be influential. In this chapter we have considered- 1. James Thomson. 2. William Collins. 3. Thomas Gray.-4. Oliver Goldsmith.-5. William Cowper.6. James Macpherson. 7. Thomas Chatterton. 8. George Crabbe.-9. Hannah More.-10. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. 11. Robert Burns. 12. The Literature of the Eighteenth Century. CHAPTER XXIX. WALTER SCOTT. "Blessings and prayers in nobler retinue Than sceptered king or laureled conqueror knows, Follow this wondrous potentate."— William Wordsworth. THE revolution in literary taste culminating in the poems and novels of Walter Scott is traceable to a revival of interest in early Scotch and English life and literature. This interest was first called forth by The Evergreen, "being a collection of Scots Poems wrote by the Ingenious before 1600," and published in 1724 by Allan Ramsay. To meet this taste Chatterton and Macpherson were led to their daring forgeries. In 1765, Bishop Thomas Percy (1728-1811) published a collection of old ballads under the title of Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. Many of these ballads had been preserved only in manuscript, and others had been printed on loose sheets for circulation among the people. Authors before him- Addison and Sir Philip Sidney - had expressed admiration for the rude charms of the old ballad poetry; but Percy was the first editor of the neglected treasures. Besides a large number of purely heroic ballads, Percy gave specimens of songs and lyrics extending down to a comparatively late period of English history, even to his own century. But the chief interest of his collection is in the earlier poems. There is little danger of overstating the influence exerted by the Reliques. The book has been studied with deep interest by each succeeding generation |