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 ENGLISH POETRY AND ENGLISH HISTORY
MY subject is not English poetry or the historyof English
poetry,but the connectionof English poetrywith English history.
What is poetry? Besides reason,of whichthe highestmanifestation
is science,man has sentiment,distinctfromreason though bound
to keep termswith it on pain of becomingnonsense,as it not very
seldom does. Sentimentseems to imply a craving for something
beyondour presentstate. Its supremeexpressionis verse,music of
the mind connectedwith the music of the voice and ear. There is
seintimentwithoutverse,as in writersof fictionand orators; as there
is verse withoutsentiment,in didactic poetry,for example, which
Lucretiusredeemsfromprose and sweetens,as he says himself,to
the taste by the interspersionof sentimentalpassages. Sentiment
findsits fittestexpressionin verse. The expressionin its origin is
naturaland spontaneous. Then poetrybecomesan art lookingout
forsubjectsto express,and sometimeslookingratherfar afield. So
paintingand sculpture,in theiroriginspontaneousimitation, become
arts looking for conceptionsto embody. We are here tracingthe
indicationsof English sentimentand characterat successiveepochs
of the nationalhistoryfindingtheirexpressionin poetry.
Chaucer is the firstEnglish poet. He was precededat least only
by some faintawakeningsof poetic life. It was in Anglo-Saxon
that the Englishmanbeforethe Conquestchantedhis song of battle
with the Dane. It was in French that the troubadouror the
trouvererelievedthe dulness,whentherewas no fighting or hunting,
in the lonely Norman hold. French was the language of the
Plantagenets,even of Edward I, that trulyEnglish king. At last
the English language rose fromits serfdomshattered,adulterated,
deprivedof its inflections, its cognates,and its power of forming
compoundwords,unsuitedfor philosophyor science,the termsfor
which it has to borrow fromthe Greek,but rich,apt for general
literature,for eloquence,for song. Chaucer is the most joyous of
poets. His strainis glad as that of the skylarkwhich soars from
the dewy mead to pour forthits joyance in the fresh morning
air. He is at the same timethoroughlyredolentof his age. In the
Knightof the " Prologue" and in thetale of " Palamon and Arcite"
we have thatfantasticoutburstof a posthumousand artificial chivalry
of whichFroissartis thechronicler, whichgave birthto the Orderof
(28)
 English Poetryand English History 29

the Garterand a numberof similarfraternities with fancifulnames

and rules,and afterplayingstrangeand too oftensanguinarypranks,
as in the wickedwars withFrance,foundits immortalsatiristin the
author of Doi Quixote. In the sportingMonk, the sensual and
knavish Friar, the corruptSompnour,the Pardoner with his pig's
bones shown for relics,we have the Catholic churchof the middle
ages withits once asceticpriesthoodand orders,its spiritualcharacter
lost, sunk in worldliness,sensuality,and covetousness,calling aloud
forWycliffe. At the same timein thebeautifulportraitof the Good
Parson we have a pictureof genuine religionand an earnestof
reform. Here Chaucer holds out a hand to Piers Ploughman,the
poet-preacher of reform,social and religious,if poet he can be called
who is the roughest of metrical pamphleteers. Chaucer's Good
Parson is a figurein itselfand in its connectionwith the historyof
opinionnot unlikeRousseau's " Vicaire Savoyard". Close at hand
is Wycliffe,and behind Wycliffecome John Ball and the terrible
insurrection of theserfs. Chaucer'sdebtto Boccaccio and the Italian
Renaissanceis manifest;yethe is Englishand a perfectmirrorof the
England of his time.
There was at the same timean exuberanceof nationallife which
gave birthto ballad poetry. The English ballads as a class are no
doubt inferiorto the Scotch. Yet there is at least one English
ballad of surpassingbeauty. How can any collectionof English
poetrybe thoughtcompletewithoutthe ballad of " The Nut-Brown
Maid ?"
There followsan age unpropitiousto poetryand all gentlearts.
The glorious filibustering of Edward III and afterwardof Henry
V in France bringsits punishmentin a generalprevalenceat home
of the spiritof violence,cruelty,and rapine. This, combinedwith
aristocraticambitionand faction,plungesthe countryintothe Wars
of the Roses. At last the Tudor despotismbrings calm after its
kind. Helm and hauberkare changed by the courtnobilityforthe
weeds of peace, and towardthe close of the reignof HenryVIII we
have the twin poets Wyatt and Surrey; Surrey, the last of the
tyrant'svictims,producespoetrywhich makes him worthyto rank
as a harbingerof the Elizabethanera.
The timesof the Protectorateand of the Marian Reaction were
dark and troublous,uncongenialto poetry. But clear enough is
the connectionbetweenthe springtideof nationallife in the Eliza-
bethanera, and the outburstof intellectualactivity,of poetrygen-
erallyand especiallyof the drama. The worst of the stormswere
over. The governmentwas firm;the religiousquestionhad been
30 GoldwznSmilkh
settled after a fashion; the energies which had been ill-spentin
civil war or maraudingon France were turnedto maritimeadven-
ture of the most romantickind, or if to war, to a war of national
defensecombinedwith championshipof European freedom. There
was everythingto excite and stimulatewithoutany feelingof in-
security.
The next great poem after Chaucer is Spenser's " Faerie
Queene ", and it is intimatelyconnectedwith English history. It
presentsin allegorythe struggleof Protestantism, headed by Eng-
land, with Catholicism,and embodiesthat new Protestantchivalry
whicharose in place of the chivalryof themiddleages, of whichSir
Philip Sydneywas the model knight,and of which perhapswe see
the lingeringtrace in Fairfax, the generalof the Commonwealth, a
kinsmanof the Fairfax who translatedTasso. The leading char-
actersof the struggle,Elizabeth,the Pope, Mary Queen of Scots,and
Philip of Spain, under thin disguises, are all there. Artegal, the
Knightof Justice,and Spenser'smodelof righteousness in its conflict
with evil, is the Puritan Lord Grey of Wilton, the stern,ruthless
Lord Deputy of Ireland,whose policywas extermination.Spenser
was Lord Grey's secretaryand no doubt accompaniedhim to the
scene of his mercilessgovernment. There Spenserwould come into
contactwith Catholicismin its lowest and coarsestas well as in its
most intenselyhostile form. Afterwarda granteeof an estate in
land conquered from the Irish insurgents,he was brought into
personal conflictwith the Blatant Beast. He was intimatewith
Raleigh and other militantand buccaneeringheroes of the Pro-
testantismof the day. In " The Shepherd's Calendar" he shows
by his avowal of sympathywith old ArchbishopGrindal,under the
faintdisguiseof " Old Allgrind", who was in disgracefor counten-
ancing the Puritans,that he belongedto the Puritan sectionof the
divided Anglican church. Fulsome and mendaciousflatteryof the
woman who has been allowed to give her name to this gloriousage
is an unpleasantfeatureof Spenser'swork,as it is of theotherworks
and was of the courtsocietyof thattime. It is perhapspardonable,
if in any case, in that of a poet who would not be taken or expect
to be takenat his word.
In the dramawe expectto findrathergratification of the general
love of action and excitement, and of curiosityabout the doings of
the great,prevalentamong the people,thananythingmore distinctly
connectedwiththe eventsand politicsof the day.
Shakespeare himselfis too thoroughlydramaticto reflectthe
controversies of his time. Like all those about him he is Royalist,
conformsto court sentiment,and pays his homage to the Virgin
 English Poetry and English History 3I

Queen. Probablyhe paysit also to herlearnedsuccessorunderthe

nameof Prosperoin "The Tempest". Raleightreatsthe Great
Charter as a democratic aggressionontherightsofroyalty.Shakes-
pearein " King John" does not alludeto the GreatCharteror to
anything connected withit. In " Coriolanus " and in " Troilusand
Cressida" thereis strongantidemocratic sentiment, dramaticno
doubt,butalso witha personalring. It is notablethatShakespeare
nowherealludesto thegreatstrugglewithSpain. But hereagain
he is probablyin unisonwith the court,whichthoughforced
into the conflict, was not heartilyanti-Spanish and certainly not
anti-despotic.In religionShakespearewas a Conformist.He
quizzesNonconformists, bothPapistand Puritan;but probably he
did no morethanconform.Whenhe toucheson the mystery of
existence and on theotherworld,as in thesoliloquyin " Hamlet"
and in " MeasureforMVeasureit is hardlyin a toneof orthodox
"

belief. In theflower-market at Rome,notveryfarfromtheshrine

of IgnatiusLoyola,nowstandsthestatueof GiordanoBruno,with
an inscription sayingthaton thespotwhereBrunowas burnedthis
statuewas erectedto himby the age whichhe foresaw. Bruno
visitedEnglandin Shakespeare's time,and was therethecenterof
an intellectual circlewhichsat withcloseddoors. Was Shakespeare
perchance one of thatcircle?
Thoughnotpoliticalin anypartysense,Shakespeare is fullof
thenationaland patriotic spiritevokedby thecircumstances of his
time. He showsthisin thebattlesceneof " HenryV ". He shows
it in thespeechof the Bastardof Falconbridge in " King John",
whichis at thesametimea complete confutationof thetheory that
Shakespearewas a Catholic,for no dramaticmotivecould have
sufficed to call forthor excusesuchan affront to his ownchurch.
No personofsense,it maybe presumed, doubtsthatShakespeare
wrotehis own plays. Greeneand Ben Jonsonand CharlesI and
Miltonthoughthe did. But,say the Baconians,how camea yeo-
man'sson,broughtup amongbumpkins, and educatedat a country
grammar-school, to acquirethatimperial knowledge ofhumannature
in all its varieties
and ranks?This is theone strongpointin their
case. But Shakespeare,in London,got into an intellectual set.
Severalof his brother playwrights wereuniversity men. The sub-
jectofthe" Sonnets"was evidently notvulgar. But muchmaybe
explainedby sheergenius. Amongpoets,twoare preeminent; one
livedin themeridian lightand amidsttheabounding cultureof the
Elizabethan era; theotherin theverydawnof civilization, as some
thinkbeforethe invention of writing,sang,a wandering minstrel,
in rudeAEolianor Ionianhalls,and theinfluence of Homeron the
32 GoldwinSmnith
world's imagination,thoughless deep, has been wider than that of
Shakespeare. Shakespeare,thoughpeerless,was not alone; perhaps
he would notevenhave been peerlesshad Marlowe lived and worked,
forin the last scenes of " Faust " and " Edward II " Marlowe rises
to the Shakespearianheight. The thoroughlynationaland popular
characterof the English drama is emphasizedby contrastwith the
courtdrama of France. Unfortunately, it also shows itselfin occa-
sional adaptationsto coarse tastes fromwhich the divine Shakes-
peare is not free.
The remarkableconnectionof literaryand poetic life with the
lifeof actionand adventurewhichmarksthe Elizabethanera is seen
especiallyin theworksof Sydneyand Raleigh. The close of the era
is patheticallymarkedby the death song of Raleigh. The Laudian
reaction has its religious poets, George Herbert, Vaughan, and
Wither; the best of whom in everysense was George Herbert,his
quaintand mysticalstylenotwithstanding.George Herbertwas the
poetic ancestorof the authorof " The ChristianYear ". One who
spenta day withKeble in his Hampshirevicaragemightfeelthathe
had been in the societyof George Herbert. In its generalcharacter
and productionsthe Catholicreactionin the Anglicanchurchat the
presentday is as nearlyas possiblea repetitionof thatof the seven-
teenthcentury,and its ultimatetendencyis the samne. The onlydif-
ferencesare that the poetryof the presentmovementhas not the
quaintnessor the conceitsof thatof the Laudian bards and that its
architectureis a revivalof the medievalGothic,whereasthat of the
Laudians was Palladian.
The political side of the reactionalso produced its poetry,very
unlikethatof the religiousside,poetrywrittenby Cavaliers-

"Our carelessheads withrosesbound

Our heartswithloyalflames."

Of this school Lovelace was the best, though it was Montrose

that wrotethe famouslines

"I could notlove thee,dear, so much,

Lov'd I nothonourmore."

On the Puritanside comes one greaterthanall the Laudians and

of thefirstsix
Cavaliers. Nothingelse in poetryequals thesublimity
books of " Paradise Lost ". Their weak point is theological,not
poetic. The hero of the piece and the object of our involuntary
admirationand sympathyis the undauntedand all-daringmajestyof
evil. In Milton classic fancy,the cultureof the Renaissance,and
 English Poetry and English History 33

even a touch of medieval romancewere blended with the spiritual

aspirationof the Puritan.
"But let mydue feetneverfail
To walk the studiouscloysterspale,
And love thehighemboweredroof,
Withanticpillarsmassyproof
And storiedwindowsrichlydight
Castinga dim religiouslight."

The most classic thingsin our language are the " Comus" and
the " Samson Agonistes"; but " Paradise Lost " and " Paradise
Regained" are also cast in a classical mold.
A noblemonumentof the Puritanmovement, thoughof its polit-
ical ratherthan of its religiouselement,is Marvell's ode to Crom-
well. Again we see the influenceof the classics, which was not
only literarybut political and enteredhenceforthdeeply into the
politicalcharacterof England.
The counterblastof Royalismto " Paradise Lost " was Butler's
"Hudibras ", the delight of Charles II and his courtiers,whose
mentalelevationmaybe measuredthereby. It is a verypoortravesty
in verse of Don Quixote, with a PresbyterianRoundhead in place
of the Don. Its principalif not its sole meritsare the smartsavings
of which it is a mine and its ingeniousrhymes. There followsthe
riotousreactionof the fleshafterthe reign of the too-highsoaring
spiritunder" our most religiousand graciousKing Charles II ", as
the Act of Parliamentstyles him. The poetryand drama native
to that era are in keepingwith the social life of the timeand con-
genial to the seraglioof Whitehall. The poetrywas in factlargely
the work of the courtset of debauchees. Dryden and Waller were
originallythe offspring of the bygoneera and craftsmenof a higher
and purer art. Both of them had writteneulogies on the Pro-
tector. But if spirituallife was at a low ebb, the tide of political
lifewas runninghigh. It presentlytook the shape of a fierceand in
the end sanguinaryconflictbetweenthetwo partiesknownafterward
as Whigs and Tories. Dryden's " Absalom and Achitophel" is the
offspringof that conflict. It is about the best politicalsatire ever
written,and its excellencedependslargelyon its dignityand modera-
tion; for while Shaftesburyis politicallythe object of attack,his
judicial meritsare recognized,in fact greatly overrated,and the
portraiture is true. The nextepisodein Englishpolitics,the attempt
of James II to make himselfabsoluteand forcehis religionon the
nation,is likewisemirroredin Dryden's verse. The poet became a
sudden convert,let us hope not wholly from mercenarymotives,
to the courtreligion,and we have a singularmonumentof his con-
AM. HIST. REV., VOL. X.-2.
34 GoldwinSmzillz
versionin " The Hind and the Panther", whereinone beast strives
by a long argumentin verse to persuade anotherbeast to rest its
religious faithon a pope and council. Hallam, however,is right
in remarkingthat Dryden's special gift is the power of reasoning
in verse.
We have now come to a period in whichpoetrymost distinctly
wears the characterof an art. It is the periodbetweenthe English
Revolutionand the premonitory rumblingsof the great social and
political earthquakewhich shook Europe at the end of the eigh-
teenthcentury;a periodof comparativecalm and, generallyspeaking,
of spiritualtorpor,the Churchof England dozing comfortably over
her pluralitiesand tithes. Dryden,Pope, and Addison are not the
firstpoets of thisclass; beforethemhad been Waller, Denham,and
othersof whomit mightclearlybe said that,feelingin themselvesa
certainpoetic faculty,they cultivatedit for its own sake and for
thepraiseor emolumentwhichit broughtthem. Their characteristic
is skill in compositionratherthan heightof aspirationor intensity
of emotion. The greatestof them are Dryden and Pope, though
Dryden was a child of the Puritan era. The most consummate
artificerof all is Pope. Nothingin its way excels " The Rape of
the Lock ", or indeed in its way the translationof the Iliad, little
Homericas thetranslation is. In the" Essay on Man " howeverand
"The Universal Prayer which is the hymnof a free-thinker,
" we
meetwiththescepticalphilosophywhichwas undermining the found-
ations of religiousfaithand preparingthe way for the great polit-
ical revolution. The inspirationis that of Pope's friendand philo-
sophic mentor, the Voltairean Bolingbroke. Pope reflectsthe
fashionablesentimentof the time,which in English or in Parisian
salons was a light scepticism,as Horace Walpole's writingsshow.
In a more marked and trulyastoundingform (loes the growing
scepticismpresentitself in that tremendouspoem, Swift's " Day
of Judgement'. How must Voltaire have chuckledwhen he got
intohis hands lines writtenby a dignitaryof the Anglicanestablish-
mentand makingthe Creatorof the Universe proclaimto his ex-
pectantcreaturesthatall was a delusionand a farce! It is needless
to say thatSwift'sworksgenerally,includinghis verses,poems they
can hardlybe called, speak of the irreligiouspriestand the coming
of a scepticalage.
Few now look intothe minorpoets of thosetimesor read John-
son's criticismof them,the robustcriticismof an unsentimental and
unromanticschool. Yet is
there a certainpleasure in the feeling
of restfulness producedby the totalabsenceof strain. Their poetry
marksthe same era whichis markedbv Paley's theologyand philoso-
 English Poetryand English History 35
phy,an era of calm beforea greatconvulsion. In Gray and Collins
we feelthe growinginfluenceof sentiment, whichis one, thoughthe
mildest,of the premonitory signs of change. In Goldsmith's" De-
sertedVillage " the social sentimentis mildlydemocratic.
The streamof European historyis now approachingthe great
cataract. In England, notwithstanding Wilkes and Barre, thereis
no serious tendencytoward political revolution. The movement
there rathertakes the formof religiousrevival,Methodism,evan-
gelicism,social reform,and philanthropiceffort. But if England
had any counterpartto Rousseau, it was in Cowper,throughwhose
" Table-Talk" withits companionessays in versethereruns a mild
vein of social revolution. Nor did Cowper look with dismay or
horroron the earlystages of the Revolutionin France. He speaks
very calmlyof the stormingof the Bastile. He showed a distant
sympathywith Burns,whose democraticsentiment

" A man's a man fora' that"

has been not the least of the sources of his immensepopularity,

though by his own confessionhe was willing to go to the West
Indies as a slave-driver. We may recognizeBurns as one of the
foremostin the second class of poets, unsurpassedin his own line,
withoutallowing ourselves to have his characterthrustupon our
sympathy. The union of high-poeticsensibilitywith what is low
in characterhas been seen not in Burns only,but in Byron,in Edgar
Poe, and in manyothers. If we are to pay homage to such a char-
acter as that of Burns because he was a great Scotch poet, why
should we pay it to that paragon of pure-mindedand noble-hearted
gentlemen,Walter Scott?
The European crisispreparedby theteachingsof Voltaire,Rous-
seau, and the Encyclopedists,combinedwiththe decayof institutions
and the accumulationof politicalabuses and ecclesiasticalinsinceri-
ties,had now come. It came unfortunately in an eminentlyexcitable
and impulsivenation,full of the vanitywhich Talleyrandnotes as
predominantin the Revolution. For some time, in spite of the
weakness of the king, the meddlesome folly of the queen, and
the demagogic eloquence of Mirabeau, fatallyrepellingthe indis-
pensable cooperation of the court with the Assembly, matters
went prettywell. But at last, througha series of disastrousacci-
dents and blunders,the Revolutionfell into the hands of the vile
mob of Paris and its Terroristchiefs. Nobody could be blamed for
being hopefuland sympathetic at firstor despondentand dispirited
afterthe Septembermassacres.
36 GoidwinSmith
Poetic natures,such as those of Coleridge, Wordsworth,and
Southey,at firstwere naturallyfiredwithenthusiasmand hope.
"0 pleasantexerciseof hope and joy!
For mightyweretheauxiliarswhichthenstood
Upon our side, we who werestrongin love!
Bliss was it in thatdawn to be alive,
But to be youngwas veryheaven!- 0 times
In whichthemeagre,stale, forbidding ways
Of custom,law, and statute,tookat once
The attraction in romance.
of a country
When Reason seemedthemostto assertherrights,
When mostintenton makingofherself
A primeEnchantress -to assistthe work,
Whichthenwas goingforwardin hername."

In Coleridge,the great Pantisocrat,rathercuriously,the recoil

seemsto have come first. BeforeWordsworthand Southey,he had
discoveredthat
"The Sensual and the Dark rebelin vain,
Slaves by theirown compulsion!In mad game
They bursttheirmanaclesand wearthename
Of Freedom,gravenon a heavierchain! "

He presentlybecame a most philosophichierophantof orthodox

politicsand of the doctrineof the establishedchurch. In his pecu-
liar way, in fact,he may be said to be about the greatestof Anglican
divines. Wordsworth,it is needless to say, presentlyshared the
recoil. The spiritof his poetry,wheneverhe toucheson institutions,
civil or religious,is thoroughlyconservative. On the otherhand,
neitherof these two men can be said to have turnedTory. They
simplyfell back on attachmentto the nationalpolityand principles.
The French Revolutionhad ended naturallyby giving birthto a
militarydespot and conqueror,the struggle against whom was a
strugleforthelibertyof all nations. Southeybecamemoredecidedly
Tory, and thoughhe was one of the best and mostamiable of men,
drew upon himselfWhig hatredand abuse. He lives chieflyby his
Life of Nelson. Yet he is no meanpoet. " The Curse of Kehama "
is a splendidpiece, full of the gorgeous imageryand the fantastic
mythologyof the East. Kehama, the impious rajah, whose career
of insatiableambition,afterconqueringearthand stormingheaven,
ends in his pluckingon himselfa miserabledoom,is evidentlyNa-
poleon,whomas the arch-enemy of his kind,Southeyregardedwith
the intenseand righteousdetestation,ventedin the spiritedode on
the negotiationswith Bonaparte.
On the otherside, we have in different lines Byron,Shelley,and
Tom Moore. Keats may perhapsbe regardedas one of the circle,
thoughhe wrotenothingdistinctlyin that sense. Byronis perhaps
 English Poetryand English History 37
more European than English. He left England at an early age,
and thoughhe revisitedit did not settle,but spentthe restof his life
mainly in Italy. Still more was he idiosyncratic. The self-pres-
entationand self-worshipwhichfillhis poems are unparalleled,and
consideringthe characterof the man who thuspours out upon us his
laceratedfeelingsand sentimentalwoes, one findsit difficult now to
" "
read the firstcantos at all eventsof Childe Harold with much
respector pleasure. But the noveltyof Byronism,its attractionsfor
weak egotism,and the poeticdress whichthe writer'sunquestionable
genius gave it, helpedperhapsin some measureby his rankand his
personalbeauty,made it the rage of the hour. As an Englishman,
Byron was not a politicalrevolutionist;in fact he always remained
an aristocrat;but he was a social iconoclast. His great work, as
his admirersprobably say with truth,is " Don Juan", with its
affectedcynicism and unaffectedlubricity. Macaulay sneers at
Britishmoralityfor its condemnationof Byron. Britishmorality
may be prudish,fitful,and sometimeshollow. But it has guarded
the familyand all that dependsthereon,as Byron had good reason
to know. Italian morality,howeverpoetic,did not.
The connectionof Shelley is ratherwith European historythan
withthe historyof England, thoughhe could not shake himselffree
fromthe influences, attractiveand repulsive,of his birthplace. His
interestin the French Revolutionis proclaimedin the opening of
" The Revolt of Islam " and makes itselffeltgenerallythroughthe
poem. A revolutionistShelleywas with a vengeancein everyline,
religious, political, social, moral, matrimonial,and even dietetic,
wantingus to be vegetariansand marryour sisters. He was in fact
an anarchist,though as far as possible from being a dynamiter;
resemblingthe gentle Kropotkinof our day, who believes that we
should all be good and happy if we would only do away with the
police. It is curiousto see the storyof Prometheus,the great rebel
against the tyrantof the universe,half writtenby 2Eschylusand
finishedin the same spirit,afterthe lapse of all those centuries,by
Shelley. An Anglicancollege could not in thosedays help expelling
a rampantpropagatorof atheism,though it has now adopted his
memoryand built him a strangeand incongruousshrinewithinits
courts. Nor could Eldon, as the legal guardian of the interestsof
Shelley'schildren,have leftthemin the handsof a fatherwho would
have broughtthemup to social ruin. Shelley,however,like Rous-
seau, was cosmopolitan. He withdrewfromEnglish citizenshipto
spend the rest of his days in Italy. Moreover,he was a being as
intenselypoetic and as littleallied to earthin any way as his own
skylark. He is not the firstof poets in mentalpower,but he is, it
38 GoldwinSmithz
seemsto me,the mostpurelyand intenselypoetic. What could lead
my friendM@vatthew Arnold to disrate Shelley's poetryand put it
below his letters,I nevercould understand. " A beautifulbut inef-
fectualangel,beatingin the void his luminouswings in vain "; such
was Arnold's descriptionof Shelley,and trueit is thatso far as any
practicalresultsof his poeticpreachingwere concerned,the angel did
beat his wings in vain; but if he was luminousand beautiful,he
fulfilledthe idea of a poet.
Tom M-A/looreclearlybelongsto the historyof his age. He is the
bard of the Whigs in their fightwith the Tory government,and
of his native Ireland, then strugglingfor emancipation. He is a
thoroughIrishmanwith all the lightnessand brilliancyof his race,
with all its fun and with all its pathos. The pathos we have in
" Paradise and the Peri ", as well as in " Irish Melodies ". The fun
takes largelythe formof politicalsatire. Very good the satire is,
though like almost all satire and caricature,it loses a part of its
pungencyby lapse of time. To enjoy it thoroughlyyou must have
lived at least near to the days of the Regency,Eldon, Castlereagh,
and Sidmouth.
On the otherside we have Walter Scott. When he is named we
thinkof the incomparablewriterof fictionratherthan of the poet.
Yet surely the writer of " Marmion ", of the introduction to " Mar-
mion and of the lyricalpieces interspersed in the tales, deservesa
place, and a high place, among poets. Is not " Marmion" a noble
piece and the most trulyepic thingin our language, besides being
mostinteresting as a tale? Scott is claimedpoliticallyand ecclesiasti-
cally by the partyof reaction. It is said thathe turnedthe eyes of
his generationback fromthe scepticaland revolutionary presentto
the reverentand chivalrouspast. He has even been cited as the
harbingerof Ritualism. The romance,of whichhe was the wizard,
certainlyinstilslove of thepast. So farhe did belongto thereaction.
But his motivewas neverpoliticalor ecclesiastical. Of ecclesiastic-
ism therewas nothingabout him. He delightedin ruinedabbeys,
but a boon companionwas to him " worthall the Bernardanbrood
who everwore frockor hood ". A Tory,and an ardentTory,he was.
An intensepatriothe was in the strugglewithrevolutionary France
and her emperor. A worshiperof monarchyhe was, devoutenough
to adore George IV, but he was above all thingsa great artist,per-
fectlyimpartialin his choiceof subjects forhis art. Welcomealike
to him were Tory and Whig, Cavalier and Roundhead,Jacobiteand
Covenanter,if theycould furnishhim with character. Happily for
his readers,he never preaches,as some novelistsdo; vet we learn
fromhim historicaltolerationand breadthof view, while we are
 English Poetryand English History 39
always imbibingthe sentimentsof a genial,high-minded, and alto-
gethernoble gentleman.
We mustnot forgetCrabbe,who thoughas far as possiblefrom
being revolutionary, perhapsinstilsa slightlydemocraticsentiment
by cultivatingour social interestin the poor. Ebenezer Elliott,the
authorof the " Corn-Law Rhymes" and no mean poet,is a bard of
the liberal movementand especiallyof free trade. Unless he was
greatlymistaken,therecan be no doubtabout the sourceof industrial
miseryin his day.
Tennysonhas been called a greatteacher. The name is inappro-
priate,as any one who had knownthe man would feel. He was one
of the greatestof poets,almostunrivaledin beautyof language and
in melody. But he had nothingdefiniteto teach. With fixedopin-
ions he could not have been so perfectlyas he was the mirrorof
intellectualsocietyin his age. " There is morefaithin honestdoubt
than in half the creeds." " There's somethingin this world amiss
will be unriddledby and by." That was his mentalattitude,and it
was perfectlycharacteristic of a timein whichold beliefswere pass-
ing away and new beliefshad not yetbeen formed;an age of vague
spiritualhopes and yearnings,such as glimmerin " In Memoriam"
and whereverTennysontouches the subjects of God and religion
and themystery of being. In thissensehis poetryis a chapterin the
general historyof the English mind. We see at the same time in
his poems the advance of science,to whichwithconsummateart he
lends a poetic form. The revoltof woman is playfullytreatedin
" The Princess". Reactionagainsttheprevalentcommercialism and
materialismfindsexpressionin the chivalrous" Idylls of the King ".
Tennysonis intenselypatrioticand even militarist,though a man
could not be imaginedless likelyto be foundon a fieldof battle. In
this also he representsan eddy in the currentof nationalsentiment.
In thewell-knownpassage in " Maud " welcomingthe CrimeanWar
he thoroughlyidentifiedhimselfwith English history,though he
lived,like Lord Salisbury,to findthathe had laid his moneyon the
wrong horse.
The names of Aubreyde Vere and FrederickTaber on one side,
those of Swinburneand Mrs. BarrettBrowningon the other,show
that English poetryhas been lendingits lyreto the expressionof all
the different sentiments, ecclesiastical,political,and social, of an age
fullof lifeand conflict. But the connectionis ratherwithEuropean
thanwithEnglishhistory. MatthewArnoldis the arch-connoisseur
and general censor,appreciatingall varietiesand regulatingthem
by his tasteratherthanconnectinghimselfwithanythingnationalor
special,unless it be the spiritof freethoughtwhichwas consuming
40 GoldwinSmith
England in his day. His poetryis simplyhigh art. Of Browning
I fearto speak. His characteristic poemsdo not give me pleasureof
thatsortwhichit is supposedto be the special functionof poetryto
give. He is a philosopherin verse withBrowningsocietiesto inter-
prethis philosophy. He, again, symbolizesthe generaltendenciesof
an age, ratherthan any special periodor phase of English history.
We seem now to have come to a break in the life of poetryin
England and elsewhere;let us hope not to its close. There are good
writers,Mr. Watson, for example. Swinburne with his revolu-
tionaryfervoris stillwithus. Edwin Arnoldwithhis singularcom-
mand of luscious language has only just left us. But neitherin
England nor anywhereelse does there appear to be a great poet.
Imaginationhas takenrefugein thenovels,ofwhichthereis a deluge,
thoughamongthem,George Eliot in her peculiarline excepted,there
is nottherivalof Miss Austen,Walter Scott,Thackeray,or Dickens.
The phenomenonappears to be commonto Europe in general. Is
science killing poetic feeling? Darwin owns that he had entirely
lost all taste for poetry,and not only for poetrybut for anything
esthetic. Yet Tennyson seems to have shown that science itself
has a sentimentof its own and one capable of poetic presentation.
Ours is manifestly an age of transition. Of what it is the precursor
an old man is not likelyto see.
GOLDWIN SMITH.