A Study of Poetry Part 23

The various periods of English lyric poetry are covered, as has been already noted, by the general treatises of Rhys, Reed and Sch.e.l.ling. Old English lyrics are well translated by Cook and Tinker, and by Pancoast and Spaeth. W. P. Ker's _English Literature; Mediaeval_ is excellent, as is C.

S. Baldwin's _English Mediaeval Literature_. John Erskine's _Elizabethan Lyric_ is a valuable study. Sch.e.l.ling's introduction to his Selections from the Elizabethan Lyric should also be noted, as well as his similar book on the Seventeenth-Century Lyric. Bernbaum's _English Poets of the Eighteenth Century_ is a careful selection, with a scholarly introduction.

Studies of the English poetry of the Romantic period are very numerous: Oliver Elton's _Survey of English Literature, 1780-1830_, is one of the best. Courthope's _History of English Poetry_ and Saintsbury's _History of Criticism_ are full of material bearing upon the questions discussed in this chapter.

Professor Legouis's account of the change in atmosphere as one pa.s.ses from Old English to Old French poetry is so delightful that I refrain from spoiling it by a translation:

"En quittant _Beowulf_ ou la _Bataille de Maldon_ pour le _Roland_, on a l'impression de sortir d'un lieu sombre pour entrer dans la lumiere. Cette impression vous vient de tous les cotes a la fois, des lieux decrits, des sujets, de la maniere de raconter, de l'esprit qui anime, de l'intelligence qui ordonne, mais, d'une facon encore plus immediate et plus diffuse, de la difference des deux langues. On reconnait sans doute generalement a nos vieux ecrivains ce merite d'etre clairs, mais on est trop habitue a ne voir dans ce don que ce qui decoule des tendances a.n.a.lytiques et des apt.i.tudes logiques de leurs esprit. Aussi plusieurs critiques, quelques-uns francais, ont-ils fait de cet attribut une maniere de pretexte pour leur a.s.signer en partage la prose et pour leur retirer la faculte poetique. Il n'en est pas ainsi. Cette clarte n'est pas purement abstraite. Elle est une veritable lumiere qui rayonne meme des voyelles et dans laquelle les meilleurs vers des trouveres--les seuls qui comptent--sont baignes. Comment dire l'eblouiss.e.m.e.nt des yeux longtemps retenus dans la penombre du _Codex Exoniensis_ et devant qui pa.s.sent soudain avec leurs brillantes syllables 'Halte-Clerc,' l'epee d'Olivier, 'Joyeuse' celle de Charlemagne, 'Monjoie' l'etendard des Francs? Avant toute description on est saisi comme par un brusque lever de soleil. Il est tels vers de nos vieilles romances d'ou la lumiere ruisselle sans meme qu'on ait besoin de prendre garde a leur sens:

"'Bele Erembors a la fenestre au jor Sor ses genolz tient paile de color,'

[Footnote: "Fair Erembor at her window in daylight Holds a coloured silk stuff on her knees."]

ou bien

"'Bele Yolanz en chambre coie Sor ses genolz pailes desploie Coust un fil d'or, l'autre de soie...."

[Footnote: "Fair Yoland in her quiet bower Unfolds silk stuffs on her knees Sewing now a thread of gold, now one of silk."]

C'est plus que de la lumiere qui s'echappe de ces mots, c'est de la couleur et de la plus riche."

[Footnote: Emile Legouis, _Defense de la Poesie Francaise_, p. 44.]

CHAPTER X

While this chapter does not attempt to comment upon the work of living American authors, except as ill.u.s.trating certain general tendencies of the lyric, I think that teachers of poetry should avail themselves of the present interest in contemporary verse. Students of a carefully chosen volume of selections, like the _Oxford Book_, should be competent to pa.s.s some judgment upon strictly contemporary poetry, and I have found them keenly interested in criticizing the work that is appearing, month by month, in the magazines. The temperament and taste of the individual teacher must determine the relative amount of attention that can be given to our generation, as compared with the many generations of the past.

APPENDIX

Believing as I do that a study of the complete work of some modern poet should accompany, if possible, every course in the general theory of poetry, I venture to print here an outline of topical work upon the poetry of Tennyson. Tennyson's variety of poetic achievement is so great, and his technical resources are so remarkable, that he rewards the closest study, even on the part of those young Americans who cannot forget that he was a "Victorian":

TOPICAL WORK UPON TENNYSON

I

THE METHOD OF CRITICISM

[The scheme here suggested for the study of poetry is based upon the methods followed in this book. The student is advised to select some one poem, and to a.n.a.lyse its content and form as carefully as possible, in accordance with the outline printed below. The thought and feeling of the poem should be thoroughly comprehended as a whole before the work of a.n.a.lysis is begun; and after the a.n.a.lysis is completed, the student should endeavor again to regard the poem synthetically, i. e., in its total appeal to the aesthetic judgment, rather than mechanically and part by part.]

FORM / CONTENT

A "IMPRESSION"

_Of Nature._ What sort of observation of natural phenomena is revealed in this poem? Impressions of movement, form, color, sound, hours of the day or night, seasons of the year; knowledge of scientific facts, etc.?

_Of Man._ What evidence of the poet's direct knowledge of men? Of knowledge of man gained through acquaintance with Biblical, cla.s.sical, foreign or English literature? Self-knowledge?

_Of G.o.d._ Perception of spiritual laws? Religious att.i.tude? Is this poem consistent with his other poems?

B "TRANSFORMING IMAGINATION"

Does the "raw material" presented by "sense impressions" undergo a real "change in kind" as it pa.s.ses through the mind of the poet?

Do you feel in this poem the presence of a creative personality?

What evidence of poetic instinct in the selection of characteristic traits? In power of representation through images? In idealization?

C "EXPRESSION"

What is to be said of the range and character of the poet's vocabulary?

Employment of figurative language? Selection of metre? Use of rhymes?

Modification of rhythm and sound to suggest the idea conveyed? Imitative effects?

In general, is there harmony between form and content, or is there evidence of the artist's caring for one rather than the other?

II

TENNYSON'S LYRIC POETRY

[Write a criticism of the distinctively lyrical work of Tennyson, based upon an investigation at first hand of the topics suggested below. Do not deal with any poems in which the narrative or dramatic element seems to you the predominant one, as those forms of expression will be made the subject of subsequent papers.]

A. "IMPRESSION" (i. e., experience, thought, emotion).

_General Characteristics._

Does the freshness of the lyric mood seem in Tennyson's case dependent upon any philosophical position? Upon sensitiveness to successive experiences?

Is his lyric egoism a n.o.ble one? How far does he identify himself with his race? With humanity?

Is his lyric pa.s.sion always genuine? If not, give examples of lyrics that are deficient in sincerity. Is the lyric pa.s.sion sustained as the poet grows old?

_Of Nature._

What part does the observation of natural phenomena--such as form, color, sound, hours of the day or night, seasons, the sky, the sea--play in these poems? To what extent is the lyrical emotion called forth by the details of nature? By her composite effects? Give instances of the poetic use of scientific facts.

_Of Man._

What human relations.h.i.+ps furnish the themes for his lyrics? In the love- lyrics, what different relations.h.i.+ps of men and women? To what extent does he find a lyric motive in friends.h.i.+p? In patriotism? How much of his lyric poetry seems to spring from direct contact with men? From introspection?

From contact with men through the medium of books? How clearly do his lyrics reflect the social problems of his own time? In his later lyrics are there traces of deeper or shallower interest in men and women? Of greater or less faith in the progress of society?

_Of G.o.d._

Mention lyrics whose themes are based in such conceptions as freedom, duty, moral responsibility. Does Tennyson's lyric poetry reveal a sense of spiritual law? Is the poet's own att.i.tude clearly evident?

B. "TRANSFORMING IMAGINATION."

What evidence of poetic instinct in the selection of characteristic traits? In power of representation through images? Distinguish between lyrics that owe their poetic quality to the Imagination, and those created by the Fancy. (Note Alden's discussion of this point; "Introduction to Poetry," pp. 102-112.) How far is Tennyson's personality indicated by these instinctive processes through which his poetical material is transformed?