the poet's life, but appeared in current publications, or circulated, like the old folk ballads themselves, from tongue to tongue. The Scotch ploughman's "pith o' sense and pride o' worth" were invincible to flattery. When the applause grew faint, Burns turned again to the plough, married Jean Armour, and settled upon a farm at Ellisland in Dumfrieshire. Here again agriculture proved unprofitable and was not continued beyond a year. The influence of friends had secured for the poet an appointment as gauger and exciseman over a district of ten parishes, the duties of this office keeping him much upon the road. It was an unfortunate kindness; for the easy, convivial temper of Burns exposed him to all the harmful influences found in the associations of his office. He was a lusty "flesh and blood" man, possessed by masterful passions. The weakness of selfindulgence was his ruin. Disappointment over his failures, and ill-health - the fruit of his own excesses clouded his spirits more and more. He died at thirty-seven. The line in A Bard's Epitaph he had written of himself : "But thoughtless follies laid him low, There is no necessity to gloss over the errors of Burns. The poet paid a heavy penalty for his mistakes; and in spite of his weaknesses The Gift of Robert the world's attitude toward genial "Bobbie" Burns is that of an indulgent and affectionate compassion. His wonderful gift of song remains unrivaled in our later literature, and that inheritance preserves for us the best of Robert Burns. Into his verse the poet flung himself: his patriotism, his blithe humor, the wit of the philosopher, the laugh of the boy. His love songs are tender with emotion, or blaze with the heat SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 313 of his passion. In every line he is natural, spontaneous, carelessly indiscreet. The frank expression of his feeling is necessary, inevitable. In his love of nature he pictures exactly what he sees and hears; he is realistic to the last degree. He is impressed by the things that are alive; his interest is in birds and beasts and flowers above all in men. He sympathizes with the revolt against oppression, and the literature of the Revolution produced nothing finer than the ringing appeal of his noble lines: "Then let us pray that come it may (As come it will for a' that) That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth For a' that an' a' that, It's comin' yet for a' that, That man to man the world o'er Shall brithers be for a' that.” 1 Study. In the study of Burns the selections provided in Number 77 of the Riverside Literature Series are excelSuggeslent. A glossary of Scotch words accompanies this tions for text. The two poems, The Cotter's Saturday Night and Tam O'Shanter, should be carefully read. It will be easy to recognize in the first resemblances to Gray's Elegy and Goldsmith's The Deserted Village. Point out some of these correspondences, and also try to see the originality of Burns's own expression and feeling. What is the stanza form of this poem? Why does the poet vary in his dialect between Scotch and English with what effect? Indicate some of the expressions which illustrate his realism and his naturalness of tone; again point out passages in which imagery and phrasing are more conventional. What is the moral of the poem? Of all Burns's poems there is none more characteristic in its hearty, rollicking humor than Tam O'Shanter. At the same time, in the midst of its boisterous gayety there are passages of high poetical power, 1 Is There for Honest Poverty. over which a careless reader may slip half-consciously, swept on by the torrent of furious mirth. Read closely lines 53–78, and study the comparisons and phrasings. Point out personifications and metaphors. Consider the effect secured in lines 73-78 by using the words rattling, blast, speedy gleams, swallowed, and the entire verse Loud, deep, and lang the thunder bellowed. Commit the entire passage to memory. What seem to be the characteristic qualities of the poems To a Mouse and To a Mountain Daisy? Point out the elements that impress you most and tell why they impress you. Give considerable attention to Burns's songs, especially to Is There for Honest Poverty, John Anderson, Duncan Gray, Flow Gently, Sweet Afton, Highland Mary, To Mary in Heaven, I Love My Jean, O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast, A Red, Red Rose, Bonnie Doon, and Scots Wha Hae wi' Wallace Bled. It is easy to feel the lyric quality in these poems; but try also to appreciate the lightness of the touch and the perfect naturalness of the expression. Read the Address to the Unco' Guid, and weigh the sentiment as well as its application in the poet's own experience. Carlyle's Essay on Burns, and appropriate sections of Heroes and Hero Worship, should be read. J. C. Shairp's Aspects of Poetry and On Poetic Interpretation of Nature (Houghton, Mifflin and Company) may be consulted. The biography of Burns in the English Men of Letters Series is also by Shairp. That in the Great Writers Series is by Blackie. Burns's Poems are published complete in the Riverside Classics and (edited by W. E. Henley) in the Cambridge Edition. The following table presents a chronological review of important eighteenth century literature: THE RULERS. ESSAYISTS. POETS. NOVELISTS. ENGLISH Addison (1672-1719). The Tatler (1709-11). Gulliver's Travels (1726). Citizen of the World (1760).. History of England (1754-61).. Decline and Fall of the Roman Burke (1729-97) The Elegy (1751). The Task (1785). Thoughts on the Present Discon- The Lyrical Ballads of Words tents (1770). worth and Coleridge (1798).. Defoe (1661-1731). Robinson Crusoe (1719). Clarrissa Harlowe (1748). Joseph Andrews (1742). Roderick Random (1748). Tristram Shandy (1759). 315 CHAPTER VI THE NINETEENTH CENTURY FROM WORDSWORTH TO TENNYSON I. The New Poetry: Wordsworth, Coleridge. IV. Romanticism in English Prose: Lamb, De Quincey. VII. The Victorian Poets: Browning, Tennyson. William worth, Samuel Taylor I. THE NEW POETRY: WORDSWORTH, COLERIDGE. As the new century began its course, the romantic tendencies, which had developed with increasing strength in the verse of Thomson, Gray, Cowper, and Burns, reached their culmination in the new poetry of the modern school. Wordsworth and Coleridge, intimately associated by a friendship 1770-1850. significantly influential upon both, are closely associated also in their relation to the romanColeridge, tic movement. It is interesting and also 1772-1834. important to note that while contributing equally to the impetus and largeness of that movement, their contributions represent two distinct and even contrasted phases of romantic literature. Simplicity and naturalness found extreme expression in the poetry of Wordsworth; the mystical and weird attracted Coleridge. The imagination of the latter wandered among the fantastic creations of a dream world, mysterious, |