Amenities of literature, sketches and characters of English literature, Volume 11841 |
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Page 12
... poet imagined that if the knowledge of the gods was known to man , it had been alone revealed to these Priests of Britain . The narra- tive of the historian is comprehensive , but , with all the philosophical cast of his mind and the ...
... poet imagined that if the knowledge of the gods was known to man , it had been alone revealed to these Priests of Britain . The narra- tive of the historian is comprehensive , but , with all the philosophical cast of his mind and the ...
Page 19
... poet , seems probable , for by them it was amplified . And thus we owe to sonorous antiquity the name now famous as their own , for BRITANNIA first appeared in their writings , be- queathed to us by the masters of the world as their ...
... poet , seems probable , for by them it was amplified . And thus we owe to sonorous antiquity the name now famous as their own , for BRITANNIA first appeared in their writings , be- queathed to us by the masters of the world as their ...
Page 38
... poet delights to paint " a Saxon shivering and quaking , his white hair washed in blood ; " and another sings how " close upon the backs of the pale - faced ones were the spear - points * . " Already the name itself of Britain had ...
... poet delights to paint " a Saxon shivering and quaking , his white hair washed in blood ; " and another sings how " close upon the backs of the pale - faced ones were the spear - points * . " Already the name itself of Britain had ...
Page 48
... poet - historian can veil by a brilliant metaphor the want of that knowledge which he contemns before he has acquired this was less pardonable in a philoso- pher ; and when HUME observed , perhaps with the eyes of Milton , that " he ...
... poet - historian can veil by a brilliant metaphor the want of that knowledge which he contemns before he has acquired this was less pardonable in a philoso- pher ; and when HUME observed , perhaps with the eyes of Milton , that " he ...
Page 51
... poets themselves . The torturous inversion of their composition often leaves an ambiguous sense : their perpetual periphrasis ; their abrupt transitions ; their pompous inflations , and their elliptical style ; and not less their ...
... poets themselves . The torturous inversion of their composition often leaves an ambiguous sense : their perpetual periphrasis ; their abrupt transitions ; their pompous inflations , and their elliptical style ; and not less their ...
Other editions - View all
Amenities of Literature, Sketches and Characters of English Literature Isaac Disraeli No preview available - 2020 |
Amenities of Literature, Sketches and Characters of English Literature Isaac Disraeli No preview available - 2019 |
Amenities of Literature, Sketches and Characters of English Literature Tbd No preview available - 2020 |
Common terms and phrases
amid ancient Anglo-Norman Anglo-Saxon antiquary antiquity appears Armorica barbarous bard Beowulf Bishop Bishop Percy Britain British Britons Cadmon Cæsar Canterbury Tales Caxton century character Chaucer chivalry Chronicle circumstance classical composed corrupt court critic curious dialect diction discover Druids edition England English language evidence fancy favourite France French genius Gothic Gower Henry hero historian honour idiom imagination invention Italian Italy king knight land Latin Layamon learned literary Lord Lydgate manuscript Marie de France master Milton minstrel modern monarch monastery monk native never noble Norman obscure observed Occleve origin Paradise Lost passion period phrases Piers Ploughman poem poet poetical poetry preserved prince printer printing prose reader reign rhyme Ritson Robert of Gloucester royal rude Saxon seems singular style tale taste tion tongue translation Tyrwhit vernacular idiom vernacular literature verse volume Warton Welsh words writers written
Popular passages
Page 66 - And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day.
Page 67 - Reserved him to more wrath; for now the thought Both of lost happiness and lasting pain Torments him : round he throws his baleful eyes, That...
Page 1 - But his learned and able (though unfortunate) successor, is he who hath filled up all numbers, and performed that in our tongue, which may be compared or preferred either to insolent Greece, or haughty Rome.
Page 69 - In billows, leave i' the midst a horrid vale. Then with expanded wings he steers his flight Aloft, incumbent on the dusky air That felt unusual weight, till on dry land He lights, if it were land that ever...
Page 307 - Piety displays Her mouldering roll, the piercing eye explores New manners, and the pomp of elder days, Whence culls the pensive bard his pictured stores. Nor rough nor barren are the winding ways Of hoar antiquity, but strown with flowers.
Page 72 - ... the Hebrew (and I think the Syriac), the Greek, the Latin, the Italian, Spanish, and French. All which sorts of books to be confined to read, without understanding one word, must needs be a trial of patience almost beyond endurance.
Page 133 - Phlegra with the heroic race were join'd That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each side Mix'd with auxiliar gods ; and what resounds In fable or romance of Uther's son, Begirt with British and Armoric knights...
Page 267 - Chaucer, notwithstanding the praises bestowed on him, I think obscene and contemptible: — he owes his celebrity merely to his antiquity, which he does not deserve so well as Pierce Plowman, or Thomas of Ercildoune.
Page 78 - Misgave him; he the faltering measure felt; And forth to meet her went, the way she took That morn when first they parted: by the tree Of knowledge he must pass; there he her met, Scarce from the tree returning; in her hand A bough of fairest fruit, that downy smiled, New gather'd and ambrosial smell diffused.
Page 190 - The emancipation of the national language was subsequently confirmed by another monarch. A curious anecdote in our literary history has recently been disclosed of Henry V. To encourage the use of the vernacular tongue, this monarch, in a letter missive to one of the city companies, declared that '' the English tongue hath in modern days begun to be honourably enlarged and adorned, and for the better understanding of thepeople the common idiom should be exercised in writing:" this was at once setting...