History of American Literature Part 15

James Fenimore Cooper's _Leatherstocking Tales_ recreate in a romantic way the life of the pioneer in the forest and the wilderness. The Indian figures more largely in these Tales than in those of any preceding writer.

Leatherstocking deserves a place in the world's temple of fame as a great original character in fiction. Cooper is also our greatest writer of stories of the sea. _The Pilot_ and _The Red Rover_ still fascinate readers with the magic of the ocean. The scenes of all of his best stories are laid out of doors. His style is often careless, and he sometimes does not take the trouble to correct positive errors, but his power of arousing interest is so great that these are seldom noticed. His romances are pure, and they inspire a love for what is n.o.ble and manly. Irving was almost as popular in England as in the United States, but Cooper was the first American author to be read widely throughout Europe.

William Cullen Bryant is the first great American poet. He belongs to Wordsworth's school of nature poets. Bryant's verse, chiefly reflective and descriptive, is characterized by elevation, simplicity, and moral earnestness. His range is narrow. His communion with nature often leads him to the grave, but no other American poet invests it with as much majesty as is found in _Thanatopsis_. His strict Puritan training causes him to present the eternal verities in his poetry. Unlike Irving, Cooper, and the minor writers, his object is not entertainment.

The influence of steam, the more rapid emigration westward, the increase of the democratic spirit, and the beginning of the modern era with its strenuous materialistic trend in the administration of Andrew Jackson marked a great change in the development of the nation. The taking of our vast southwest territory from Mexico was an event second only in importance to the Louisiana Purchase.

REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY

HISTORICAL

In addition to the American and English histories suggested on pp. 60, 61, the following may be consulted: Burgess's _The Middle Period_, 1817-1858; Coman's _The Industrial History of the United States_, Chaps. VI. and VII.; Bogart's _Economic History of the United States_, Chap. XIV; Sparks's _The Expansion of the American People_.

LITERARY

Richardson's _American Literature_.

Trent's _A History of American Literature_.

Wendell's _History of Literature in America_.

Stanton's _A Manual of American Literature_.

Herford's _The Age of Wordsworth_.

Stedman's _Poets of America_. (Drake, Halleck, Bryant.)

_The Croakers_, pp. 255-385, in _The Poetical Writings of Fitz-Greene Halleck_, edited by James Grant Wilson.

Wilson's _Fitz-Greene Halleck's Life and Letters_.

Irving's, Pierre M.: _Life and Letters of Was.h.i.+ngton Irving_, 4 vols.

Warner's _The Work of Was.h.i.+ngton Irving_ (60 pages, excellent).

Warner's _Was.h.i.+ngton Irving_ (304 pages, _American Men of Letters_).

Payne's _Leading American Essayists_, pp. 43-134. (Irving.)

Canby's _The Short Story in English_, pp. 218-226. (Irving.)

Lounsbury's _James Fenimore Cooper_. (_American Men of Letters_; excellent.)

Clymer's _James Fenimore Cooper_. (_Beacon Biographies_.)

Brownell's _American Prose Masters_. (Cooper.)

Erskine's _Leading American Novelists_, pp. 51-129. (Cooper.)

Cooper's _Last of the Mohicans_, edited with _Introduction_ by Halleck.

G.o.dwin's _A Biography of William Cullen Bryant, with Extracts from his Private Correspondence_, 2 vols. (The standard authority.)

G.o.dwin's _The Poetical Works of William Cullen Bryant_, 2 vols.

Bigelow's _William Cullen Bryant_. (_American Men of Letters_.)

Bradley's _William Cullen Bryant_. (_English Men of Letters, American Series_.)

Chadwick's _The Origin of a Great Poem (Thanatopsis)_, _Harper's Magazine_, September, 1894,

SUGGESTED READINGS

MINOR WRITERS.--_The Croakers_, in Wilson's edition of Halleck's _Poetical Writings_.

Selections from the poetry of Drake and Halleck may be found in Stedman's _American Anthology_, pp. 36-47, and in S. & H., Vol. V.

IRVING.--His _Knickerbocker's History of New York_ begins with somewhat tiresome matter, condensed from chapters which he and his brother had jointly written on a different plan. The first part may well be omitted, but _Books III., V., VI., VII._ should at least be read.

Read his best two short stories, _Rip Van Winkle_ and _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_. Lovers of Irving will also wish to read some tales from _The Alhambra_, and some of his essays: _e.g. Westminster Abbey_ and _Stratford-on-Avon_. For selections from his various works, see Carpenter, 124-134; S. & H., V., 41-62.

COOPER.--One of his _Leather stocking Tales_ (p. 131), _e.g. The Last of the Mohicans_, which is deservedly the most popular, should be read. If a tale of the sea is desired, read either _The Pilot_ or _The Red Rover_.

Selections may be found in Carpenter, 124-134; S. & H., V., 138-183.

Bryant.--Read _Thanatopsis, To a Waterfowl, O Fairest of the Rural Maids, A Forest Hymn, The Death of the Flowers, The Evening Wind, To the Fringed Gentian_, and _The Poet_. All of these are accessible in Bryant's poetical works, and almost all may be found in Page's _The Chief American Poets_.

Selections are given in Stedman's _American Anthology_; S. & H., Vol. V.; and Long's _American Poems_, 1776-1900.

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

What are some of the chief qualities in the poetry of "The Croakers"? What do these qualities indicate in the readers of contemporary New York? Do you find a genuine romantic element in Drake's _Culprit Fay_? Compare Halleck's _Marco Bozzaris_ with his lines on the death of Drake, and give reasons for your preference.

Select what you consider the best three specimens of humor in Irving's _Knickerbocker's History of New York_. How is the humorous effect secured?

Why does it not make us dislike the Dutch? Why is this _History_ an original work? Why have _Rip Van Winkle_ and _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_ been such general favorites? Compare these with any of Addison's _Sir Roger de Coverley Papers_ and with any modern short story. Is Irving a romantic writer? Compare his style with Addison's and with Goldsmith's in _The Vicar of Wakefield._

Why does Cooper deserve to rank as an original American author? What is his chosen field? In what does his special power consist? Who before him made use of the Indian in literature? Can you find any point of similarity between his work and _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_? What are the most striking points of dissimilarity? How does his use of the romantic element differ from Irving's? What blemishes have you actually noticed in Cooper?

What lines in Bryant's _Thanatopsis_ are the keynote of the entire poem?

What are its general qualities? What are the finest thoughts in _A Forest Hymn_? What do these suggest in regard to Bryant's early training and the cast of his mind? Of all Bryant's poems indicated for reading, which do you prefer? Which of his references to nature do you like best? Compare his poem: _O fairest of the rural maids!_ with Wordsworth's: _Three years she grew in sun and shower_. In Bryant's _The Poet_, what noteworthy poetical ideals do you find?

CHAPTER IV

THE NEW ENGLAND GROUP