Simple History of English Literature: With Illustrative Extracts |
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Page 12
... took possession of the country . These Celts were divided into two great families the Gaels , whose descendants still dwell in Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland , and speak Erse and Gaelic ; and the Cymri , the ancestors of the ...
... took possession of the country . These Celts were divided into two great families the Gaels , whose descendants still dwell in Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland , and speak Erse and Gaelic ; and the Cymri , the ancestors of the ...
Page 13
... took possession of the rest of Britain , we have no longer a Celtic literature , but what we may call First or Early English , written in a language so different from the English we now use , that it is almost as difficult to read as a ...
... took possession of the rest of Britain , we have no longer a Celtic literature , but what we may call First or Early English , written in a language so different from the English we now use , that it is almost as difficult to read as a ...
Page 18
... took to speaking English , though they kept a great many of their French words , which we still have in our English language . 2. Before the two languages became one , however , books had to be written which both Normans and English ...
... took to speaking English , though they kept a great many of their French words , which we still have in our English language . 2. Before the two languages became one , however , books had to be written which both Normans and English ...
Page 29
... took the money , but never came near their work . The country was overrun with begging friars and pardoners , and except a few clergy like Chaucer's poor parson , they thought more of power and money than of helping their people . The ...
... took the money , but never came near their work . The country was overrun with begging friars and pardoners , and except a few clergy like Chaucer's poor parson , they thought more of power and money than of helping their people . The ...
Page 32
... took up again the old fashion of what is called alliteration— using several words beginning with the same letter in one line or in consecutive lines . 9. The poem tells of two dreams or visions of the poet which came to him while he ...
... took up again the old fashion of what is called alliteration— using several words beginning with the same letter in one line or in consecutive lines . 9. The poem tells of two dreams or visions of the poet which came to him while he ...
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Common terms and phrases
afterwards ballads beautiful became Ben Jonson bird Bob-o'-link Born brave bright called Celts CHAPTER Chaucer chee Church Coleridge Cowper cried daughter David Garrick dear death delight died doth Dryden England English eyes Faerie Queene fair fairy father flowers French Grasmere green happy hath hear heart heaven heigh-ho honour Inchcape Inchcape Rock Jeremy Taylor JOHN JOHN DRYDEN Johnson king King Arthur lady language learned leave literature Little white Lily live London Lord LORD BYRON merry Milton never night o'er perhaps Pibroch play poem poet poetry poor queen Robin Hood says Scott sing sister songs soon soul Southey Spenser Spink stories sweet tell thee things thou thought truth verse wandering wife wild WILLIAM WILLIAM COWPER WILLIAM LANGLAND WILLIAM WORDSWORTH wind Wordsworth write written wrote young
Popular passages
Page 171 - Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup And I'll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth ask a drink divine; But might I of Jove's nectar sup, I would not change for thine. I sent thee late a rosy wreath, Not so much honouring thee As giving it a hope that there It could not withered be; But thou thereon didst only breathe And sent'st it back to me; Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself but thee!
Page 247 - For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck, You've fallen cold and dead.
Page 180 - To hear the lark begin his flight, And singing startle the dull night, From his watch-tower in the skies, Till the dappled dawn doth rise...
Page 176 - TELL me not, Sweet, I am unkind That from the nunnery Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind, To war and arms I fly. True, a new mistress now I chase, The first foe in the field ; And with a stronger faith embrace A sword, a horse, a shield. Yet this inconstancy is such As you too shall adore; I could not love thee, Dear, so much, Loved I not Honour more.
Page 172 - Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.
Page 180 - Haste thee, nymph, and bring with* thee Jest and youthful Jollity. Quips and cranks, and wanton wiles, Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles, Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek; Sport that wrinkled Care derides, And Laughter holding both his sides. Come, and trip it as you go On the light fantastic toe...
Page 215 - The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD : And he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down : For the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
Page 182 - Oft, on a plat of rising ground, I hear the far-off curfew sound Over some wide-watered shore, Swinging slow with sullen roar; Or if the air will not permit. Some still removed place will fit, Where glowing embers through the room Teach light to counterfeit a gloom, Far from all resort of mirth, Save the cricket on the hearth, Or the bellman's drowsy charm To bless the doors from nightly harm.
Page 170 - Blow, blow, thou winter wind, Thou art not so unkind As man's ingratitude ; Thy tooth is not so keen, Because thou art not seen, Although thy breath be rude.
Page 127 - She was a Phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight; A lovely Apparition, sent To be a moment's ornament; Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair; Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her drawn From May-time and the cheerful Dawn; A dancing Shape, an Image gay, To haunt, to startle, and waylay. I saw her upon nearer view, A Spirit, yet a Woman too! Her household motions light and free, And steps of...