=Prefixes and Suffixes.=
_PREFIXES._
1. =ENGLISH (OR TEUTONIC).=
=A= (a broken-down form of the A.S. preposition _on_), at, to, on,
in, etc.; astern, abed, aboard, afield, afoot, ashore, alive,
aweary.
=After=; afternoon, afterthought, aftermath, aftercrop.
=At=; atone (to bring together into one); ado (= at-do); twit (=
at-wit).
=Be=, used both with nouns and with verbs--behalf, behoof, behest,
bequest; betake, begin, become, bespatter, bedim, besprinkle,
behead.
=Down=; downfall, downstroke, downcast.
=For=, not; forbid, forsake (not to seek), forget, forgo (wrongly
spelled forego); or utterly; as, forlorn, fordone.
=Fore=, before; foretell, forefather, foresee, forebode, forecast,
forenoon.
=Gain=, against; gainsay, gainstay (gainstand).
=In=, =im=, =en=, =em=; income, inlet, insight, inlay, inborn, inbred,
into, ingraft, inlay, infold, imbed, endear, enthral, engrave,
embower.
=Mis=, wrong; mislead, mistrust, misdeed, mishap, mistake.
=Mid=, in the middle of; midmost, midnight, midsummer, midday.
=Off=, from; offshoot, offset, offspring, offal (= off-fall),
offhand.
=Out=; outset, outstrip, outvie, outrun, outdo.
=Over=; overwise, overfed, overmuch, overcoat, overhand, overseer,
oversight.
=Through=, =thorough=; thoroughfare, throughout, thoroughbred,
thoroughgoing.
=To=, this; to-day, to-night, to-morrow.
=Un=, (1) not; unclean, unwise, untrue, unbelief, unrest: or (2)
back; undo, untie, unlock, unfold, unbind, unloose.
=Under=; undergrowth, underbred, underhand, undersell, underwood.
=Up=; uproar, upland, upstart, upset, upbear, upbraid, upright.
=Wel=, =well=; welfare, welcome, well-born, well-bred, well-trained.
=With=, against; withstand, withdraw (drawing-room =
withdrawing-room), withhold.
2. =LATIN.=
=Ab= (=a=, =abs=), from or away; averse, avert, aversion, abdicate,
abstract, abstain, abjure, abate, abound, abuse, abduction.
=Ad= (=ac=, =af=, =ag=, =al=, =am=, =an=, =ap=, =ar=, =as=, =at=, =a=), to: adore, advise,
accord, annex, accuse, accede, allude, allusion, announce, appear,
assent, attend, aspire, affirm, affix, aggrieve, annul, ammunition,
apparent, arrive, assume, assault, assumption, attend, attentive,
attention, assimilate, attain, ascribe, avow.
=Am= (=amb=), round; ambient, amputate, ambition, ambiguous.
=Ante= (=anti=), before; antedate, antenuptial, antenatal, antechamber,
antediluvian, anticipate.
=Circum= (=circu=), round; circumlocution, circumnavigate, circuit,
circumvent, circuitous, circulate, circumference.
=Con= (=col=, =com=, =cor=, =co=), together with; consonant, connect,
contend, conduct, compact, compound, commend, collision, collect,
correct, corrupt, co-heir, coerce.
=Contra= (=contro=, =counter=), against; contradict, contravene,
controversy, controvert, contraband, counterfeit.
=De=, down or from; denote, describe, depart, descent, devise,
demure.
=Dis= (=dif=, =di=); disjoin, difficult, diffuse, divide, differ, dilute,
dissent.
=Ex= (=ef=, =e=), out of; extort, exhume, efface, educe, extrude, extol,
effect, education.
=Extra=, beyond; extraordinary, extravagant, extraneous.
=In= (=il=, =im=, =ir=, =em=, =en=), into; invade, incite, induce, illusion,
illude, improve, impulse, impel, irruption, embrace, endure,
encourage, embroil, irradiate, innate.
=In= (=ig=, =il=, =im=, =ir=), not; insecure, ignoble, illiterate,
inconvenient, incurable, incapable, incapacitate, immortal,
irregular, improper, illegitimate, irrational, innocent, infant.
=Inter= (=intel=, =enter=), between; intercourse, intelligent, interfere,
interdict, enterprise, entertain, interrupt.
=Intro=, within; introduce.
=Ob= (=oc=, =of=, =op=, =os=), against; oblige, obtain, object, occur,
offend, oppose, occult, offer, ostentation.
=Pene=, almost; as, peninsula.
=Per= (=pel=), through; perform, permit, pellucid, pertain.
=Post=, after; postpone, posthumous.
=Præ= or =pre=, before; prelection, preface, prevent, precede,
premature, predict.
=Præter= or =preter=, beyond; preternatural, preterite.
=Pro= (=por=, =pur=, =pol=), forth, on or before; proceed, pollution,
portend, purvey, portrait, purloin, purchase, pronoun, purpose.
=Re= (=red=), back; refute, result, redolent, redound, reduce, redeem.
=Retro=, backwards; retrograde, retrospect.
=Se= (=sed=), aside or apart; select, seclude, secede, seduce,
sedition.
=Sub= (=suc=, =suf=, =sug=, =sup=, =sur=, =sus=, =su=), under, up from below;
subject, suspect, succeed, suffer, suggest, suppose, suspend,
suspect, succinct, suppress, surrogate, susceptible, subdue,
suffuse, subtract, succour, supplant.
=Subter=, beneath; subterfuge.
=Super= (=sur=), over; superstructure, surplus, survive, superscribe,
surfeit, surcharge, supernatural, surname, supercilious.
=Trans= (=tra=, =tres=); across; transmarine, translate, tradition,
trespass, traduce.
=Ultra=, beyond; ultramontane, ultramarine.
=Vice=, instead of; viceroy, viceregal, viscount.
3. =GREEK.=
=A= or =an=, not; anarchy, anomaly, anonymous, apteryx (wingless),
atheist.
=Amphi=, on both sides, round; amphibious, amphitheatre.
=Ana=, up; anatomy, analysis, anabasis, analyse.
=Anti= (=ant=), against; antithesis, antipathy, antarctic, antitype,
antidote.
=Apo= (=ap=, =aph=), from; apogee, apology, apostrophe, aphelion,
aphorism.
=Cata=, down; catarrh, catalepsy, catastrophe, catechism, cathartic,
cathedral, catalogue.
=Di= (=dis=), two; diphthong, dissyllable, dilemma, diploma.
=Dia=, through; diameter, diagonal, diaphonous, diabolic, diagnosis,
diastole, diaphragm.
=En= (=el=, =em=), in; ellipse, emblem, energy, enthrone, empyrean,
emphasis, emporium.
=Endo=, within; endogenous.
=Epi= (=ep=), upon; epilogue, epitaph, epiphany, epistle.
=Exo=, without; exogenous, exotic.
=Hyper=, over or above; hyperbola, hyperbole, hyperbolical,
hypercritical, hyperborean.
=Hypo= (=hyph=), under; hypotenuse, hypothesis, hypocrite, hyphen.
=Meta= (=met=, =meth=) signifies after, change; metathesis, metonomy,
method, metaphor.
=Para= (=par=), beside; parabola, paraphrase, parhelion, parody,
parable.
=Peri=, round; perimeter, peristyle, perigee, periphery, period.
=Pro=, before; prologue, problem, prophet, program.
=Pros=, towards; prosody, proselyte.
=Syn= (=sy=, =syl=, =sym=), together with; syndic, syntax, symbol,
syllogism, syllable, system, systole, synchronous, symptom,
sympathy.
_SUFFIXES._
4. =ENGLISH (OR TEUTONIC).=
=Noun Suffixes.=
1. _Denoting a person or the doer of an action_:
=-er= or =-ar=; singer, baker, beggar, liar, lawyer, bowyer (a
bow-maker), sawyer, sailor, speaker, miller, (fletcher = flechier,
an arrow-maker).
=-nd= (old present participial ending); friend (= a loving person),
fiend (= a hating person), errand, wind.
=-ster= (originally a _female_ agent); Spinster, songster, maltster,
huckster, baxter [= bakester], (now a term of contempt); youngster,
gamester, punster.
=-ter=, =-ther=, =-der=; daughter, father, spider (that is, spinder),
mother, brother, foster (= foodster).
2. _Denoting an instrument_:
=-der= or =-er=; ladder, rudder, bladder (from _blow_), feather,
weather, rudder, murder, stair, finger (from _fangen_, to seize).
=-el= or =-le=; shovel, girdle, shuttle, settle (a small seat),
thimble.
3. _Forming abstract nouns_:
=-dom=; kingdom, earldom, freedom, thraldom, wisdom, martyrdom,
Christendom.
=-hood=, or =-head=; manhood, boyhood, childhood, priesthood, Godhead,
hardihood, neighbourhood, wifehood.
=-ing=; hunting, blessing, standing, reading, clothing.
=-ness=; witness (= a person who _wits_ or knows), wilderness,
darkness, goodness, redness, weakness, hardness.
=-red=; hatred, kindred.
=-ship=, =-scape=; friendship, lordship, worship (= worthship),
hardship, fellowship, landscape (in Milton, _landskip_: compare
_skipper_ for _shipper_).
=-t=, =-th=, =-st=, =-d=; weight, height, sleight (from _sly_), gift, rift
(from _rive_), theft, drought (from _dry_), frost, flight, warmth,
health, width, death, birth, sloth (from _slow_), trust (from
_trow_, to believe), flood (from _flow_), seed (from _sow_).
4. _Diminutives_:
=-el= or =-le=; thimble (from _thumb_), riddle (from _read_).
=-en=; maiden, kitten, chicken.
=-ing=; farthing, tithing (from _tithe_ = tenth), riding (from
_thrid_ = third).
=-kin=; lambkin, mannikin, pipkin.
=-ling= (= _l_ + _ing_); darling (from _dear_), duckling, suckling,
hireling, gosling, fatling, firstling, nestling, underling,
starveling, suckling.
=-ock=; bullock, hillock, paddock.
=-y=, =-ie=; lassie, Annie, Charlie, baby, Tommy, doggie.
=Adjective Suffixes.=
=-d= or =-ed= (originally a perfect participle-ending); hard, cold,
loud: also added to nouns, as gifted, wretched, ragged, long-eared,
feathered, landed.
=-el= or =-le=; fickle, brittle, little, idle, mickle (from _much_).
=-er=; lower, higher, brighter, sooner.
=-er=; bitter, clever.
=-ern=, denoting the region of the globe; northern, eastern,
southern, western.
=-est=; lowest, highest, brightest, soonest.
=-fold=; manifold, twofold, threefold, hundredfold, etc.
=-ful=; scornful, sinful, wilful, truthful, tearful, needful, awful,
dreadful, sorrowful.
=-ish=, =-sh=, or =-ch=, denotes partaking of the nature of; childish,
foolish, slavish, swinish, churlish, waspish, whitish, goodish,
brutish, girlish, boyish.
=-less= denotes destitute of; worthless, fearless, heedless,
hopeless, tearless, sinless, godless, lawless, toothless.
=-like=, =-ly=, denotes like; warlike, childlike, womanly, manly,
heavenly, godly, ghastly, likely.
=-n= or =-en= (also a perfect participle-ending); drunken, shaken,
broken, molten, shorn, torn. It also denotes the material of which
a thing is made, as golden, linen, wooden, silvern, flaxen, hempen,
leathern.
=-some= denotes the possession of a quality; wholesome, blithesome,
gladsome, winsome, lissom (from _lithe_), buxom (that is, _buhsum_,
from _bugan_, to bend), quarrelsome, tiresome.
=-t= (like =d=), probably perfect participial ending; short (from
_sceran_, to shear), blunt, tight, slight.
=-ward= denotes direction; homeward, heavenward, seaward, northward,
awkward (from _awk_, contrary), toward, froward (from _from_).
=-y= or =-ey= denotes the possession of a quality; bloody, thirsty,
guilty, woody, mighty, healthy, greedy, moody, sundry (from
_sunder_), sticky, sorry (from _sore_), hairy, bushy, stony,
clayey.
=Verb Suffixes.=
=-el= or =-le= gives a frequentative meaning to the verb; waddle (from
_wade_), startle, sparkle, dazzle (from _daze_), dribble (from
_drip_), swaddle (from _swathe_), dapple (from _dip_), crawl, kneel
(from _knee_), struggle, mingle, hurtle.
=-en= denotes making or doing; fatten, broaden, soften, open (from
_up_), lighten, sadden, gladden, sweeten, frighten, lengthen.
=-er=, also frequentative; glimmer, stagger, patter, flitter,
flutter, wander, batter, sputter, stutter.
=-k=, also frequentative; stalk (from _steal_), hark (from _hear_),
walk.
=Adverb Suffixes.=
=-ere= denotes place in which; here, there, where.
=-es=, =-se=, =-ce=, =-s=, which are old (possessive) genitive
terminations; sometimes, besides, unawares, else, twice (= twiës),
thrice, hence, thence, whence, needs, outwards.
=-ly= denotes manner; sweetly, sadly, cleanly.
=-ther= denotes direction towards; hither, thither, whither.
=-ward=, =-wards=, denote direction; homeward, homewards, heavenward,
heavenwards, hitherward, inwards.
=-wise=, =-ways=, denote manner or fashion; otherwise, anywise, nowise,
straightway, alway, always, sideways, lengthways.
5. =LATIN.=
=Noun Suffixes.=
1. _Those denoting persons or the doer of an action_:
=-an=, =-ain=; artisan, grammarian, villain.
=-ant= or =-ent=; agent, student, assistant, attendant, recreant,
tenant, miscreant.
=-ate=, =-ee=, =-ey=, =-y=; legate, magistrate, advocate, curate, nominee,
trustee, legatee, committee, attorney, covey, ally, deputy, jury.
=-ess= denotes a fem. agent; governess, traitress, empress, duchess.
=-ive=, =-iff=; captive, fugitive, caitiff, plaintiff.
=-tor=, =-sor=, =-or=, =-our=, =-er=, =-eer=, =-ier=, =-ar=, =-ary=; doctor,
successor, chancellor, emperor, actor, Saviour, founder, enchanter,
governor, preacher, juror, author, monitor, victor, auditor,
sponsor, engineer, auctioneer, grenadier, brigadier, registrar,
usher, archer, farrier, vicar, premier, lapidary.
=-trix=, female agent; executrix.
2. _Those forming Abstract Nouns_:
=-age=; age, homage, savage, marriage, voyage, tillage, courage,
personage, breakage, salvage. (Tonnage, bondage, shrinkage are
hybrids.)
=-ance=, =-ancy=, =-ence=, =-ency=; distance, constancy, infancy,
consistence, resistance, decency, consistency, persistence,
conveyance, cadence, chance (a form of cadence).
=-ice=, =-ise=; avarice, service, merchandise, justice, exercise.
=-ion=, =-tion=, =-sion=, =-som=, =-son=, originally denoted the action of a
verb; action, potion, opinion, poison, venison, malison, fusion,
reason, tension, lection, ransom, season, position, nation,
occasion.
=-or=, =-our=; labour, honour, ardour, savour, clamour, amour.
=-tude=; servitude, latitude, fortitude, altitude, longitude,
magnitude, custom (from _consuetudo_).
=-ty=, =-ity=; cruelty, charity, bounty, poverty, fealty, city, vanity.
=-ure=; juncture, censure, culture, measure, cincture, picture,
inclosure.
=-y=, =-cy=, =-ce=; family, copy, memory, story, victory, misery,
aristocracy, fancy, grace.
3. _Diminutives_:
=-el=, =-le=; damsel, mongrel.
=-et=, =-let=; pocket, rivulet.
=-ette=; coquette, rosette.
=-icle=, =-cule=; article, animalcule.
=-ule=; globule, granule.
=Adjective Suffixes.=
=-able=, =-ible=, =-ble=; culpable, probable, flexible, edible, capable,
soluble, feeble, amiable.
=-acious= denotes tendency, generally excessive; loquacious,
veracious, vivacious, tenacious, voracious.
=-al=, =-ar=; comical, regal, legal, general, regular, singular, loyal,
royal, equal, secular.
=-an=, =-ane=, =-ain=, =-en=, =-on=; human, urban, pagan, humane, mundane,
certain, mizzen (from _medius_). Surgeon and sexton have become
nouns.
=-aneous=, =-ain=, =-aign=, =-eign=, =-ange=; cutaneous, mountain, champaign,
foreign, strange.
=-ant=, =-ent=; volant, fluent, patent, innocent.
=-ary=, =-arian=, =-arious=; stationary, contrary, necessary, gregarious,
agrarian.
=-ate=, =-ete=, =-eet=, =-ite=, =-ute=, =-te=; fortunate, deliberate,
concrete, effete, discreet, erudite, minute, chaste.
=-estrial=, =-estrian=; terrestrial, equestrian.
=-ic=; civic, classic, barbaric, unique.
=-id=; fervid, morbid, acid, tepid.
=-ile=, =-il=, =-eel=, =-le=; servile, senile, fragile, civil, frail,
genteel, gentle, able.
=-ine= denotes belonging to; feminine, divine, feline, lacustrine,
canine, equine, saline.
=-ive=, inclined to; pensive, massive, captive, plaintive, restive,
native, fugitive, active.
=-ous=, =-ose=, denote full of; famous, ingenuous, glorious, copious,
assiduous, querulous, anxious, verbose, grandiose, jocose,
dangerous.
=-ory=; illusory, amatory, admonitory.
=-und=; jocund, moribund, floribund, rotund.
=Verb Suffixes.=
=-ate=; advocate, complicate, anticipate, supplicate, eradicate.
=-eer=; domineer, career, volunteer.
=-esce= denotes the beginning of an action; effervesce, coalesce.
=-fy= denotes to make (from _facio_), magnify, terrify, qualify,
signify.
=-ish=; nourish, perish, cherish, finish, flourish, banish, punish.
=-ite=, =-ete=, =-t=; expedite, delete, perfect, conduct, reflect,
connect.
6. =GREEK.=
=Noun Suffixes.=
=-et=, =-t=, =-ete=, =-ate=, denote the agent; poet, prophet, athlete,
comet, planet, apostate, æsthete(?), patriot.
=-isk= has diminutive signification; asterisk, obelisk.
=-ism= denotes the result of an action; deism, fatalism, egotism,
criticism, aneurism.
=-ist= denotes the agent; baptist, sophist, evangelist.
=-ma=, =-em=, =-me=, =-m=, denote the result of an action; diorama, drama,
dogma, system, scheme, theme, diadem, phlegm, enema.
=-sis=, =-sy=, =-se=, denote action; crisis, poesy, phase, genesis,
emphasis, paralysis, hypocrisy, ellipse, phrensy.
=-ter=, =-tre=, denote the instrument; metre, centre.
=Verb Suffixes.=
=-ise= signifies to do; criticise, baptise, eulogise.
_LITERATURE._
I.
=Outline of Our Early Literature=
(WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EARLY LANGUAGE).
1. =THE BEOWULF.=--The _Beowulf_ is a poem which recounts the life and
death of a hero of that name, who slays a monster called _Grendel_. It
was a poetic legend brought from the Continent by our Teutonic
ancestors. It does not seem to have been written down, or committed to
paper, till the seventh century; and it was probably preserved in the
memory of different generations, by its being taught by fathers to their
sons, and by the habit of chanting portions of it at the banquets of
kings and warriors. It is a poem which in substance belongs to the
Continental Teutons as much as to the English; and it marks the point at
which their literatures and languages begin to branch off. The scene is
laid in the north of Denmark; so that the poem is Northern, and not
Southern, Teutonic. Its present form is due to a Christian writer of
Northumbria. In literary form, therefore, it is English; and is one of
the earliest monuments of our literature. The poem consists of 6350
short lines, and is written throughout in head-rhymes,[15] or
alliterative rhymes.
2. =CÆDMON.=--But the first true English poem was the work of a
Northumbrian called CÆDMON, who was a servant to the monks of the abbey
of Hilda, in Whitby. It was written about the year 670. It is a
paraphrase of the history given in the Old and the New Testament. It
sings of the creation of the world, of the history of Israel, of the
life of Christ, of death, judgment, purgatory, heaven, and hell.
3. =BÆDA.=--The oldest literature of a nation--the early writings of its
childhood--are always poetic; and prose-writings do not appear until the
nation has, as it were, grown up. The first English prose-writer was
BÆDA--or, as he is generally called, The Venerable Bede. He was born in
the year 673. Like Cædmon, our first poet, he was a Northumbrian, and
belonged to the monastery of Jarrow-upon-Tyne. His most important
writings were in Latin; and the best known of them is an _Ecclesiastical
History of the English People_. But the work which makes Bæda our first
writer of English prose, is a translation into English of the _Gospel of
St John_. It was his last work; and, in fact, he died just after he had
dictated the last sentence. This was in the year 735.
4. =KING ALFRED.=--Up to the year 866, Northumbria was the home of
learning and literature; and the Northumbrian monks were its loving and
diligent cultivators. But the incursions of the Danes, the destruction
of the monasteries, and the perpetual danger to life and property
arising from the troubled condition of the country, put a stop for some
time to study and to letters. The cultivation of English as a
book-language reappears, towards the end of the ninth century, in the
south of the island. Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, is its great
friend and promoter. Winchester was the capital of his kingdom; and it
was at Winchester that Alfred and his colleagues laboured at the writing
of English books. He invited great scholars from different parts of the
world; he set up schools; he himself taught a school in his own court;
he translated the Latin manuals of the time into English, and added
largely to them from his own materials; he translated also the _History_
of the Venerable Bede; and, most probably, he worked at the _Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle_, and made it much fuller and more detailed than it had ever
been before. He founded schools in the different parts of his kingdom,
with the purpose and in the hope that ‘every free-born youth, who has
the means, may attend to his book till he can read English writing
perfectly.’ Alfred was born in the year 849, and died in 901. His own
personal diligence--his unceasing head-work, are well known. He gave
eight hours a day to the work of public affairs--of managing the
business of his kingdom; eight hours to books and study; and he reserved
only eight hours for sleep, meals, exercise, and amusement. The
following is a passage from one of King Alfred’s writings:
Swa claenë heo waes othfeallen on Angel-cynne, thaet swithe feawa
waeran be-heonan Humbre the hira thenunge cuthon understandan on
Englisc, ohthe farthon an aerend-gewrit of Ledene on Englisc
areccan; and ic wene thaet naht monige be-geondan Humbre naeron.
So clean (completely) it was ruined (had ruin fallen) on the
English folk (kin), that very few were on this side Humber who
their service could understand in English, or out (forth) an
epistle (errand-writing) from Latin into English declare (=
translate); and I wene that not many beyond Humber were (who could
do this).
5. =THE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE.=--This chronicle was written chiefly by
monks, and was, in its earliest forms, a dry register or record of
events--of the births and deaths of kings, bishops, earls, and other
distinguished persons. In Alfred’s time, it became more of a history;
and even war-songs and battle odes are quoted in it. It was continued
down to the death of King Stephen in 1154; and the last portions of it
were composed and transcribed by the monks of Peterborough.
6. =ARCHBISHOP ÆLFRIC.=--Ælfric was Archbishop of Canterbury in the early
part of the eleventh century; and he translated the first seven books of
the Bible, and part of Job, into the oldest form of English, which is
generally called _Anglo-Saxon_. The following is a specimen:
1. On anginnë gesceôp God heofenan and eordan.
In beginning shaped God heaven and earth.
4. God geseah thâ, thaet hit gôd vaes, and he gedaeldë thaet leóht
fram thâm theóstrum.
God saw then, that it good was, and he dealed (divided) the light
from the darkness.
7. =ANGLO-SAXON GOSPELS.=--This translation of the four gospels forms
another land-mark in the history of our English tongue. This translation
was made before the Norman Conquest--before French words had come into
our language, and therefore before the inflections of English had
dropped off from the words.
8. =OLD ENGLISH DIALECTS.=--For more than a century after the Conquest,
English ceased to be used as a literary language--as a book-speech,
except in the _Saxon Chronicle_, which was continued down to 1154. It
still continued, of course, to be the language of the English nation.
The Normans, when they used books at all, imported French books from
France; and they never dreamed that English was a language worthy to be
written down. Different English counties spoke different kinds of
English; and this continued for many centuries--and still continues to a
considerable extent. Thus the English spoken by a Yorkshire-man is very
different from the English spoken by a Dorsetshire-man; and the English
of both differs very much from that spoken in Kent. But, in the eleventh
and twelfth centuries--and even much later--travelling was very
difficult and expensive; working-men could not travel at all; there was
little motive to travel for any one; and generations were born and died
within the same village, or on one farm, or at least in one part of the
‘country-side.’ Thus different parts of this island pronounced their
English in their own way; had their own grammar--that is, their own
inflections; and each division of England looked upon itself as the
right and correct speakers of the English tongue. But, among the large
number of different dialects, there gradually emerged into distinct and
even remarkable prominence three chief dialects. These are now known as
the =Northern=, =Midland=, and =Southern=. The grammar of the three differs in
several respects; but the chief grammatical mark is found in the plural
ending of the present tense of verbs. This is =ës= in the North; =en= in the
Midland dialect; and =eth= in the South. Thus we have:
_N._ _M._ _S._
We hopës, we hopen, we hopeth.
You hopës, you hopen, you hopeth.
They hopës, they hopen, they hopeth.
This variety of the plural forms the test which enables readers of
books written in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, to determine
in what part of England and in what dialect they were written. The
following are the chief books written in these dialects:
=NORTHERN= (spoken between the Forth and the Humber)--the =Cursor
Mundi=, a version of Scripture in rhyme, written about.....=1320=
=MIDLAND= (spoken in the East-Anglian counties, and the whole of the
Midland district)--=Orm’s Ormulum=, a paraphrase in verse of the
parts of the gospels given in the church service, written in.....=1215=
=SOUTHERN= (spoken in all the counties south of the Thames, and also
in several western counties)--=Layamon’s Brut= (a translation of a
French poem by John de Wace), written in.....=1205=
9. =THE FIRST ENGLISH BOOK AFTER THE NORMAN CONQUEST.=--Normandy was lost
to England in the reign of King John, in the year 1204. From that date,
as we have seen, there was a compulsion on the Norman-French to forget
their foreign origin, and to look upon themselves as genuine Englishmen.
A year after, in the year 1205, ten years before the winning of the
Magna Charta, appeared the first work--it was a poem--that was written
in English after the Conquest. It is a translation by a Somersetshire
priest called =Layamon= or =Laweman=, from a French poem. _Brut_ is the
French form of the name _Brutus_, who was said to be a son of Æneas, and
to be the founder of the British nation. In those rude times, when
history was quite unknown, the origin of every nation was traced up to
Troy, and the persons of the _Iliad_ of Homer. The _Brut_ is a poem
written chiefly in head-rhymes, and consists of about thirty thousand
lines. But though it is translated from a French poem, there are not
fifty French words in the whole--that is, there is not one French word
in every six hundred lines.
10. =ORM’S ORMULUM, 1215.=--The _Ormulum_ was a poem written by an
Augustine monk, called =Orm= or =Ormin=, and called after his own name. It
is a poem of nearly twenty thousand short lines, without rhyme of any
kind--but with a regular number of accents. There are not five French
words in the whole poem. Orm was extremely particular about his
spelling; and, when an accent struck a consonant after a _short_ vowel,
he insisted on doubling the consonant.
11. =LANGLAND AND CHAUCER.=--William Langland represents the part of the
nation that spoke pure English; Geoffrey Chaucer, that part which spoke
English with a large admixture of Norman-French. In fact, Chaucer’s
poems show the high-water mark of the French saturation of our English
vocabulary. Langland--a west-countryman, a monk, a man of the people,
and of intensely radical sympathies--was born in 1332; Chaucer, a
Londoner, in the very centre of English society, page to the Duchess of
Clarence at sixteen years of age, and afterwards for great part of his
life in court employment, was born in 1340. Both died in the year 1400.
Langland’s most important poem is the _Vision of (concerning) Piers
Plowman_. It is written in pure English, and in head-rhyme. It is the
last English poem that was written in this kind of alliterative verse.
The following lines are taken from the introduction:
In a somer seasun In a summer season
when softe was the sonnë, when soft was the sun,
I shop me into a schroud I shape me into (dressed) shrouds (clothes)
a scheep as I werë, shepherd as I was,
in habite of an hermite in habit as a hermit,
unholy of werkes, unholy in works,
wende I wydene in this world went (far and) wide in this world,
wondrës to here. wonders to hear.
Chaucer’s great work is his _Canterbury Tales_, a series of tales
supposed to be told by a company of pilgrims to beguile their journey to
the shrine of St Thomas of Canterbury. The company represented men and
women of almost every class in England; and their manners and character
are painted with wonderful truth and beauty. The following is a passage
from the _Prologue_ to the _Canterbury Tales_; and the French words are
in italics. It is from the character of the _Knight_:
And evermore he had a _sovereyn prys_,[16]
And, though that he was worthy, he was wys,
And of his _port_[17] as meke as is a mayde.
He nevere yit no _vileinye_[18] ne sayde
In al his lyf, unto no _maner_[19] wight.
He was a _verray perfight gentil_[20] knight.
But, for to tellen you of his _array_,[21]
His hors was good, but he ne was nought _gay_.[22]
12. =ALLITERATION OR HEAD-RHYME.=--Alliteration is the correspondence of
the first letter of several words in the same line. It is like the
well-known: ‘Peter Piper picked a peck of pepper off a pewter plate.’
Round the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran.
In Old English or Anglo-Saxon poetry it was the only kind of rhyme used.
The rhyme which is called end-rhyme was not known to the Saxons, and was
imported into England by the Normans. In the ordinary Old English verse,
the lines are written in pairs, and in each pair there are usually three
alliterations, two in the first line and one in the second. Even as late
as the fourteenth century we find such verses as the following, written
by Langland:
I shop me into a schroud,
A scheep as I werë.
Shakspeare is fond of making fun of it. But it has unconsciously
survived in the language; and there is not a single great English poet,
from Shakspeare to Tennyson, who does not make a large use of it. Thus
Shakspeare himself has
In maiden meditation, fancy-free.
Full fathom five thy father lies.
and many other similar lines.
Milton gives us such lines as:
Him the Almighty power
Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky.
Shelley has the line:
Our sweetest songs are those which tell of saddest thought.
Tennyson is very fond of alliteration. Thus, in the _Day-Dream_:
And o’er them many a sliding star
And many a merry wind was borne;
And, streamed through many a golden bar,
The twilight melted into morn.
13. =JOHN GOWER.=--A contemporary of Chaucer was John Gower, a gentleman
of Kent. The date of his birth is not known; but he survived Chaucer
eight years, dying in 1408. He wrote the _Lover’s Confession_ in English
verse; the _Mirror of the Meditative Man_ in French verse (lost); the
_Voice of one crying_, in Latin. His style was heavy and prosaic.
Chaucer called him the ‘moral Gower.’
14. =JOHN BARBOUR.=--Another eminent contemporary of Chaucer was John
Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, who wrote in the Scottish, or Northern
English, form of our tongue. He was a learned man, and a man of the
world, who filled important office in the employment of the Scottish
king. His great work was a narrative poem, _The Bruce_, giving an
account of the life and adventures of the great Bruce. It is valuable
both as a monument of our language and a storehouse of historical
incident. Barbour died about 1395. The literature of Scotland was
worthily continued by the royal poet, James I. (1394-1437), brought up
as a prisoner in England, and well educated. His great work was the
_King’s Quhair_ (or book), a poem in the style and in one of the metres
of Chaucer.
15. =SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE.=--Sir John Mandeville is the first writer of the
_new_ English prose--the prose with a large addition of French words. He
is sometimes called the Father of English Prose. He was born at St
Albans, in Hertfordshire, in 1300, and died at Liège, in 1372. He was a
great traveller, soldier, and physician; travelled through the Holy
Land, served under the Sultan of Egypt and the Great Khan of Cathay (the
old name for _China_); and wandered through almost all the then known
parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. He wrote his travels in three
languages--first in Latin for the learned; then in French for the
Norman-French; and lastly in English, ‘that every man of the nation
might understand them.’ The following is a specimen of his prose:
And 2 myle from Ebron (Hebron) is the grave of Lothe (Lot) that was
Abrahames brother. And a lytille fro Ebron is the mount of Mambre,
of the whiche the valeye takethe his name. And there is a tree of
oke, that the Sarazinis clepen (call) _Dirpë_, that is of Abrahames
tyme, the whiche men clepen the drye tree. And thei saye, that it
hathe ben there sithe the beginnynge of the world, and was sumtyme
grene, and bare leves, unto the tyme that oure Lord dyede on the
cros; and thanne it dryede, and so dyden alle the trees, that weren
thanne in the world.
This is almost quite like modern English--with the exception of the
spelling;
16. =JOHN WICLIFFE.=--John Wicliffe,* or John de Wycliffe, was born at the
village of Hipswell, near Richmond, in Yorkshire, in the year 1324. He
died at the vicarage of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, in the year
1384, at the age of sixty. He was the first Englishman who attempted to
make a complete translation of the Scriptures. Of this work, however,
the Gospels alone can be certainly identified as the work of Wicliffe
himself. The Old Testament and apocryphal books were translated
principally by Nicolas de Hereford, and it is supposed that his work was
interrupted in 1382, and that the Bible was completed about that time by
extracting the text of the gospels from Wicliffe’s commentary on the
gospels (written in 1360), and adding to it a new translation of the
rest of the New Testament. A later version was finished by Wicliffe’s
friend, John Purvey, about 1388, and appears to be mainly a revision of
the work of Hereford and Wicliffe. The later is a less close and literal
version than the former, and is expressed in more idiomatic and less
laboured English.
17. =OUR ENGLISH BIBLE AND ITS HISTORY.=--The first fresh translation from
the original sources was that of =William Tyndale=. His New Testament,
printed at Cologne and at Worms, reached the English shores in 1526, and
was followed three years later by the Pentateuch. To this translation
our authorised version owes much of its peculiar force and beauty. The
first complete English Bible was that of =Miles Coverdale=, which appeared
in 1535. In April 1539 appeared the =Great Bible= (so called from its
large size), prepared by Coverdale at Paris, but completed in London
under the patronage of Thomas Cromwell. The translation of the psalms in
the Great Bible has remained, without alteration, the Psalter in the
Book of Common Prayer. During the last year of Mary’s reign and the
beginning of Elizabeth’s, the English refugees at Geneva completed a
fresh revision of the Great Bible, which was published in 1560, in a
handy size, with a marginal commentary, and the chapters divided into
verses. The =Genevan version= (sometimes called the Breeches Bible),
became popular with the Puritans, and more than two hundred editions of
it were published, and it gave way slowly before the present authorised
version. Soon after Elizabeth’s accession, Archbishop Parker organised a
revision of the Great Bible of 1539, which was published in 1568, and
became known as the =Bishops’ Bible=. During Elizabeth’s reign, the Popish
exiles at Rheims produced a new version from the Vulgate, which was
printed at Douay in 1609, and is known as the =Douay Bible=. The English
Bible which is now recognised as the ‘=authorised version=’ wherever the
English language is spoken, is a revision of the Bishops’ Bible, begun
in 1604 and finished in 1611. Of this noble version many millions have
been printed, and its general acceptance by all English-speaking people
is the best testimony to its excellence. No book has had so great an
influence on our language and literature; its words and phrases have
been preserved in our vocabulary, and are the most familiar to our ears,
consecrated as they are with the associations of two hundred and seventy
years. A revision of our version by the most eminent scholars is now in
progress, and the revised New Testament was published, May 17, 1881.
Appended is a passage from Romans (xii. 6-8), as it appears in
Wicliffe’s, Tyndale’s, the Great Bible, the Genevan Bible, the Bishop’s
Bible, and our Authorised Version:
1. WICLIFFE.
6 Therfor we that han yiftis dyuer-synge, aftir the grace that is
youun to vs, ethir prophecie, aftir the resoun of feith;
7 ethir seruise, in mynystryng; ethir he that techith, in techyng;
8 he that stirith softli, in monestyng; he that yyueth, in
symplenesse; he that is souereyn, in bisynesse; he that hath merci,
in gladnesse.
2. TYNDALE.
6 Seyinge that we have divers gyftes accordynge to the grace that
is geven vnto vs, yf eny man have the gyft off prophesy lett hym
have it that itt be agreynge vnto the fayth.
7 Let hym that hath an office, wayte on his office. Let hym that
teacheth take hede to his doctryne.
8 Let hym that exhorteth geve attendaunce to his exhortacion. Yf
eny man geve, lett hym do it with singlenes. Let hym that rueleth
do it with diligence. Yf eny man shewe mercy lett hym do itt with
cherfulnes.
3. GREAT BIBLE.
6 Seynge that we haue dyuers gyftes accordynge to the grace that is
geuen vnto vs: yf any man haue the gyfte of prophecy let him haue
it that it be agreing vnto ye fayth.
7 Let hym that hath an office wayte on hys office. Let hym that
teacheth take hede to hys doctrine.
8 Let hym that exhorteth geue attendaunce to his exhortacion. If
any man geue, let hym do it wyth synglenes. Let hym that ruleth do
it with diligence. If any man shewe mercy, let him do it with
cherfulnes.
4. GENEVAN BIBLE.
6 Seeing then that we haue giftes that are diuers, according to the
grace that is giuen vnto vs whether we haue prophesie, let us
prophesie according to the proportion of faith:
7 Or an office let vs waite on the office: or hee that teacheth on
teaching.
8 Or he that exhorteth on exhortation: hee that distributeth let
him do it with simplicitie: he that ruleth with diligence: hee that
sheweth mercie with chearefulnes.
5. BISHOPS’ BIBLE.
6 Seeing that wee haue diuers giftes according to the grace that is
giuen vnto vs eyther prophecie, after the measure of fayth.
7 Eyther office, in administration: or he that teacheth, in
teaching.
8 Or he that exhorteth, in exhorting: he that giueth in
singlenesse, he that ruleth in diligence: hee that is mercyfull in
chearefulnesse.
6. AUTHORISED VERSION.
6 Hauing then gifts differing according to the grace that is giuen
to vs, whether prophecie, let vs prophecie according to the
proportion of faith.
7 Or ministery, let vs wait, on our ministring: or hee that
teacheth on teaching.
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giueth let him doe
it with simplicite: hee that ruleth, with diligence: hee that
sheweth mercy with cheerefulnesse.
II.
Tabular Outline of modern English Literature.
(Poems are mentioned in _Italics_.)
WILLIAM DUNBAR, 1450-1530.
Poet.
_The Thistle and the Rose_ (1503); _The Golden Terge_ (1508); _The
Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins_. The greatest of the Scottish poets
except Burns. He has been called ‘the Chaucer of Scotland.’
SIR THOMAS MORE, 1480-1535.
Barrister; Lord Chancellor of England; writer on social philosophy;
historian.
History of King Edward V., and of his brother, and of Richard III.
(1513); Utopia (1516)--a description of a model state of society,
written to influence the bettering of the laws of England.
WILLIAM TYNDALE, 1477-1536.
Priest; translator; author.
Translation of New Testament (1525, 1534), also of the Pentateuch
and Jonah (1530-31). He has done more by his version to fix and
shape our language in its present form, than any writer between
Chaucer and Shakspeare.
SIR DAVID LYNDSAY, 1490-1556.
Keeper of Prince James (afterwards James V. of Scotland); Lyon
king-at-arms; poet.
_Satire of the Three Estates_, that is, King, Lords, and Commons;
_Monarchie_.
ROGER ASCHAM, 1515-1568.
Lecturer on Greek at Cambridge; tutor to Edward VI. and Queen
Elizabeth.
Toxophĭlus, a treatise on shooting with the bow; The Schoolmaster,
a book about teaching, especially the teaching of Latin.
JOHN FOX, 1517-1587.
Prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral.
Book of Martyrs (1563), an account of the chief Protestant martyrs,
chiefly those in the reign of Mary.
EDMUND SPENSER, 1552-1599.
Secretary to Viceroy of Ireland; poet.
_Shepherd’s Calendar_ (1579); _Faerie Queene_ (1590-96), in six
books.
RICHARD HOOKER, 1553-1600.
Scholar and theologian; Master of the Temple; and rector of a
country church.
Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. This is a defence of the Church of
England, and contains passages of great majesty and splendour of
diction.
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, 1554-1586.
Courtier; romancist; poet.
Arcadia, a romance (1580); Defence of Poesie. Some _Sonnets_.
FRANCIS BACON, 1561-1626.
Lord High Chancellor of England; essayist; philosopher.
Essays (1597); Advancement of Learning (1605); Novum Organum
(1620); and other works on philosophy, and the art of gaining new
knowledge.
SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 1552-1618.
Courtier; navigator; historian.
History of the World (1614), written in the Tower of London, where
he lay for about thirteen years. His work is ‘one of the finest
models of our quaint and stately old English style.’
WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE, 1564-1616.
Dramatist and poet; born at Stratford-on-Avon; went to London at
the age of twenty-two; left London in 1609, and from that time
lived in his native town.
_Tragedies_ and _Comedies_, and _Historical Plays_; thirty-seven in
all. Among his greatest tragedies are, _Hamlet_, _Lear_, _Macbeth_,
_Othello_, _Romeo and Juliet_. Of his comedies the best are the
_Tempest_, _Midsummer Night’s Dream_, _As you like it_, _Merchant
of Venice_, &c. Of his historical plays, _Richard III._ and _Julius
Cæsar_ are specially worth mention. _Minor Poems._ Wrote no prose.
BEN JONSON, 1574-1637.
Dramatist; poet; prose-writer.
_Tragedies and Comedies_, of the latter, the greatest are _Volpone
or the Fox_; _Every Man in His Humour_; and _The Alchemist_.
WILLIAM DRUMMOND, 1585-1649.
Poet.
_Sonnets_ and _Religious Poems_.
SIR THOMAS BROWNE, 1605-1682.
Medical practitioner at Norwich.
Religio Medici (the religion of a physician), contains the author’s
opinions on a great variety of subjects; Urn Burial, a learned and
eloquent work.
JOHN MILTON, 1608-1674.
Poet; Latin secretary to Cromwell (1649). Became blind in 1654.
_Minor Poems_; _Paradise Lost_; _Paradise Regained_; _Samson
Agonistes_. Many prose works, chiefly on politics, and in defence
of the Commonwealth.
THOMAS HOBBES, 1588-1679.
Philosopher.
Leviathan (1651), a great philosophical and political work.
JEREMY TAYLOR, 1613-1667.
Bishop of Down in Ireland.
Holy Living and Holy Dying (1649); and many other books and
sermons.
SAMUEL BUTLER, 1612-1680.
Secretary to the Earl of Carberry.
_Hudibras_ (1663), a mock-heroic poem, written to caricature the
Puritans.
JOHN DRYDEN, 1631-1700.
Poet-laureate and Historiographer Royal. Also a playwright; poet;
prose-writer; critic.
_Annus Mirabilis_ (1667)--a poem on the _Plague_ and the _Fire of
London_; _Absalom and Achitophel_ (1681)--a poem on political
matters; _Hind and Panther_ (1687). He wrote many _Tragedies_ and
_Comedies_ and _Odes_; a translation of the _Æneid_ of Virgil. He
wrote a great deal of the best prose--chiefly Essays and
Introductions to his poems.
JOHN BUNYAN, 1628-1688.
Tinker and preacher.
The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678); the Holy War, and other works.
JOHN LOCKE, 1632-1704.
Member of the Board of Trade; one of the leading men in English
philosophy.
Letters on Toleration (1689); Essay concerning the Human
Understanding (1690); Thoughts concerning Education, and other
prose works.
DANIEL DEFOE, 1661-1731.
Pamphleteer; journalist; had a very troubled and changeful career.
Robinson Crusoe (1719); _The True-born Englishman_; Journal of the
Plague; The Shortest Way with the Dissenters; and more than a
hundred books and pamphlets in all. He is one of the most taking
writers that ever lived.
JONATHAN SWIFT, 1667-1745.
Dean of St Patrick’s in Dublin; satirist; poet; prose-writer.
Battle of the Books; Tale of a Tub (1704); Gulliver’s Travels
(1726). Many of the ablest political pamphlets of the day. A number
of _Poems_. His prose was the strongest and most nervous prose
written in the eighteenth century.
SIR RICHARD STEELE, 1671-1729.
Gentleman usher to Prince George; a fashionable man about town.
Essays in the Tatler, in the Spectator, in the Guardian--all of
them a kind of magazine. A few plays.
JOSEPH ADDISON, 1672-1719.
Secretary of State.
Essays in the Tatler, in the Spectator, and in the Guardian.
_Cato_: a tragedy (1713). Several short _Poems_. His prose is the
finest, most genial, and most delicate of all the prose-writings of
the eighteenth century.
ALEXANDER POPE, 1688-1744.
Poet; a Roman Catholic.
_Essay on Criticism_ (1711); _Rape of the Lock_--the story of the
stealing of a lock of hair; _Translations of the Iliad and
Odyssey_, half of the latter done by assistants (1715-20); the
_Dunciad_; _Essay on Man_. A few essays in prose; and a volume of
Letters.
JAMES THOMSON, 1700-1748.
Poet; held sinecure cure offices under government.
_The Seasons_--a poem in blank verse; _The Castle of Indolence_, a
poem in the nine-lined stanza of Edmund Spenser.
HENRY FIELDING, 1707-1754.
Novelist and journalist.
Many comedies--now forgotten. Joseph Andrews (1742); Tom Jones
(1749); Amelia (1751). He was the ‘first great English novelist,
and he remains to this day one of the greatest.’
DAVID HUME, 1711-1776.
Librarian; secretary to the British Embassy in France.
Treatise of Human Nature (1737); Essays (1742); Inquiry concerning
the Principles of Morals; History of England (1754-62). Writes very
clear and pleasant prose.
DR SAMUEL JOHNSON, 1709-1784.
Schoolmaster; literary man; dictionary-maker.
_London_ (1738); the _Vanity of Human Wishes_; The Rambler
(1750-52); The Idler; English Dictionary (1755); Rasselas, a kind
of novel; Lives of the Poets; and other prose works.
THOMAS GRAY, 1716-1771.
Poet; letter-writer; professor of Modern History, Cambridge.
Odes; _Elegy written in a Country Churchyard_, one of the most
pleasing, perfect, and oft-quoted poems in the language. He was
also a good letter-writer.
WILLIAM ROBERTSON, 1721-1793.
Clergyman; historian; Principal of the University of Edinburgh.
History of Scotland (1759); History of Charles V. (1769); History
of America (1777). Most readable and fluent prose.
TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT, 1721-1771.
Medical practitioner; poet; pamphleteer; critic and novelist.
Roderick Random; Peregrine Pickle; and Humphrey Clinker. His novels
are notable for their broad humour, and an easy picturesque style
of narration.
ADAM SMITH, 1723-1790.
Professor of Logic in the University of Glasgow; then of Moral
Philosophy.
Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759); Enquiry into the Nature and
Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). The founder of the science
of economics (or wealth of nations).
OLIVER GOLDSMITH, 1728-1774.
Poet; literary man; play-writer.
The Vicar of Wakefield (1766); the _Deserted Village_; She Stoops
to Conquer, a comedy. The _Traveller_; Citizen of the World;
Histories and minor _Poems_. The writer of the most pleasant prose
of the eighteenth century.
EDMUND BURKE 1730-1797.
Statesman; ‘the first man in the Commons;’ writer on political
philosophy.
Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful (1756); Reflections on the
French Revolution (1790). Many speeches, pamphlets, and articles on
political matters. One of the deepest political thinkers, most
eloquent speakers, and ornate writers of prose that ever lived.
WILLIAM COWPER, 1731-1800.
Poet.
_Truth_, the _Progress of Error_ (1781), and other poems; the
_Task_ (1785); _John Gilpin_; _Translations of the Iliad and
Odyssey_ (1791) in blank verse; _Hymns_. His prose--which consists
of letters--is clear, humorous, and pleasant.
EDWARD GIBBON, 1737-1794.
Historian; sat eight years in the House of Commons, but never
spoke.
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-87); Essays on the Study
of Literature (in French). His style is a splendid example ‘of
smiting phrases and weighty antithesis.’
ROBERT BURNS, 1759-1796.
Ploughman; farmer; Excise officer; poet.
_Poems_ and _Songs_ (1786-96) (_Cottar’s Saturday Night_, _Jolly
Beggars_, _Tam o’ Shanter_, _Mountain Daisy_, etc.) His prose
consists chiefly of letters.
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, 1770-1850.
Distributor of stamps for the county of Westmoreland; poet;
poet-laureate.
_Descriptive Sketches_ (1793); _Lyrical Ballads_ (1798); _Sonnets_;
_The Excursion_ (1814); _The Prelude_. He marks the dawn of a new
school of poetry in the nineteenth century.
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, 1772-1834.
Journalist; secretary; literary man; poet.
_The Ancient Mariner_ and _Christabel_ (1797-1806); several plays,
including a translation of Schiller’s _Wallenstein_; many minor
poems; The Friend--a set of essays; Confessions of an Inquiring
Spirit; Biographia Literaria; Aids to Reflection. His prose is very
elaborate and also very musical.
ROBERT SOUTHEY, 1774-1843.
Literary man; historian; reviewer; poet; poet-laureate.
_Joan of Arc_ (1793); _Thalaba the Destroyer_; the _Curse of
Kehama_; Life of Nelson. Firm, clear, and sensible prose. Wrote
more than a hundred volumes.
CHARLES LAMB, 1775-1835.
Clerk in the East India House; essayist and humorist.
Essays of Elia (1820-25), which are quaint and familiar, and full
of kindly wit and grotesque humour.
SIR WALTER SCOTT, 1771-1832.
Advocate; poet: novelist.
_Border Minstrelsy_--a collection of old Border ballads (1802);
_Lay of the Last Minstrel_ (1805); _Marmion_ (1808); the _Lady of
the Lake_ (1810); Waverley (1814)--the first of that remarkable
series, the Waverley Novels. In verse, he is the ‘Homer of
Scotland;’ and he was a master of most fluent, bright, flowing
narrative prose.
THOMAS CAMPBELL, 1777-1844.
Poet; literary man.
_Pleasures of Hope_ (1799); _Minor Poems_--such as _Hohenlinden_,
_Battle of the Baltic_, _Ye Mariners of England_, _Gertrude of
Wyoming_ (1809). His prose consists chiefly of the Introductions to
his _Specimens of the British Poets_.
THOMAS MOORE, 1779-1852.
Poet; biographer; historian.
_Odes and Epistles_ (1806); _Lalla Rookh_ (1817); Life of Byron
(1830); _Irish Melodies_ (1834); History of Ireland (1836).
LORD BYRON, 1788-1824.
(George Gordon). Peer; poet.
_English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1808); _Childe Harold_
(1812); the _Bride of Abydos_ (1814); and many _Plays_. His
prose--which is full of vigour, fire, and eloquence--consists
chiefly of letters.
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY, 1792-1822.
Poet.
_Queen Mab_ (1813); _Revolt of Islam_; _Prometheus Unbound_
(1819)--a tragedy; _Odes_ (_The Cloud_, _To the Skylark_, etc.),
and many minor poems. His prose consists chiefly of letters.
HENRY HALLAM, 1778-1859.
Historian; literary man; Trustee of the British Museum.
View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages (1818);
Constitutional History of England (1827); Literature of Europe
(1837); History of the Middle Ages (1848). A clear and impartial
writer.
THOMAS DE QUINCEY, 1785-1859.
Literary man.
Confessions of an English Opium-eater (1821); Essays on subjects in
almost every department of History, Philosophy, and Literature. His
style is eloquent, musical, and elaborate. In his own way, he was
the finest prose-writer of the nineteenth century.
JOHN KEATS, 1795-1821.
Poet.
_Endymion_ (1818); _Hyperion_; _Eve of St Agnes_; _Odes_. His poems
are full of beauty and rich and picturesque imagery.
THOMAS CARLYLE, 1795-1881.
Mathematician; literary man; reviewer; historian.
Sartor Resartus (1833); The French Revolution, a History (1837);
Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches (1845); Life of John
Sterling (1851); History of Friedrich II. of Prussia (1858-65). His
style is full of force, fire, and grotesqueness; he paints in vivid
colours, and presents a true and exact picture of the living man.
LORD MACAULAY, 1800-1859.
Barrister; reviewer; Secretary of the Board of Control for India;
member of the Supreme Council of India; historian; peer.
Essay on Milton (1825); _Lays of Ancient Rome_ (1842); Essays
(1843); History of England (1848-1859). Wrote a style of the
greatest force and picturesqueness--full of allusion, illustration,
grace, clearness, and point.
LORD LYTTON, 1805-1873.
Novelist; poet; statesman.
Eugene Aram (1831); The Last Days of Pompeii; The Caxtons; some
plays, minor _Poems_, and essays. Writes a most clear, fluent,
bright, ornate, and readable English style.
JOHN STUART MILL, 1806-1873.
Clerk in the East India House; Utilitarian philosopher.
System of Logic (1843); Political Economy (1844); Essay on Liberty.
One of the foremost thinkers of his time.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, 1807-1882.
Professor of Modern Languages and Literature; poet.
_Evangeline_ (1847); _Hiawatha_ (1855); _Minor Poems_ (_Excelsior_;
_A Psalm of Life_, etc.) One of the sweetest and best known of
American poets.
ALFRED TENNYSON, =1809-=
Poet; poet laureate.
_Poems, chiefly Lyrical_ (1830); _In Memoriam_ (1850); _Idylls of
the King_ (1859-73); _Enoch Arden_ (1864); and several dramas. His
poetical style is full of beauty, sweetness, and variety.
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING, 1809-1861.
Poetess; the wife of Robert Browning.
_Poems_ (1838); _Aurora Leigh_ (1856); _The Cry of the Children_;
_Cowper’s Grave_; _Sonnets from the Portuguese_, etc. A poetess of
infinite sweetness and power.
ROBERT BROWNING, =1812-=
Poet.
_Pauline_ (1833); _Paracelsus_ (1836); _The Ring and the Book_, and
about two dozen more volumes. His poems are very difficult to
understand, but are very well worth understanding.
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY, 1811-1863.
Novelist.
Vanity Fair (1846); Pendennis (1849); Esmond; English Humorists,
etc. The finest novelist and one of the best prose-writers of the
century.
CHARLES DICKENS, 1812-1870.
Novelist.
Pickwick Papers (1837); Oliver Twist; Nicholas Nickleby; David
Copperfield; Dombey and Son; Christmas Books, etc. He has been read
over and over again by hundreds of thousands of delighted readers.
JOHN RUSKIN, =1819-=
Art-critic; moralist; literary-man.
Modern Painters (1843); The Seven Lamps of Architecture; The Stones
of Venice (1851-53); Sesame and Lilies; Lectures on Art; Fors
Clavigera. One of the most wonderful and imaginative writers of
English prose that ever lived.
GEORGE ELIOT 1820-1880.
(Marian Evans), Novelist.
Adam Bede (1858); Middlemarch (1871); Daniel Deronda (1876);
_Poems_. The novels of this accomplished lady rank among the
greatest of modern times.
THE END.
Edinburgh:
Printed by W. & R. Chambers.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Pronounced _Mootter_.
[2] Pronounced _Brooder_.
[3] Thus we have _Wedn=es=day_ = the day of Woden or Odin.
[4] _Jutland_ means the _land of the Jutes_; _not_ the _land that juts
out_.
[5] The division called =Wessex= included _Hampshire_, _Wiltshire_,
_Berkshire_, _Somersetshire_, _Dorsetshire_, _Gloucestershire_, and
_Devonshire_.
[6] The Revival of Letters, or the Renascence (or _Renaissance_), is
the name given to the new enthusiasm which seized Italians, Germans,
Frenchmen, and Englishmen, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
to read the great treasures of literature that may be found in Greek
and Latin books.
[7] The same root exists in _monarch_, a person who rules alone.
[8] Two-languaged.
[9] What is called _the feudal system_ was based upon war. A knight
held land of his baron; a baron of his king--on condition of bringing
so many men into the field on the summons of his overlord.
[10] _Low Latin_ is the name for that kind of corruption of Latin
which was written and spoken after the breaking up of the Roman Empire
in the fifth century.
[11] A _synonym_ is a word that has the _same meaning_ as another
word; like _begin_ and _commence_; _will_ and _testament_. There are
very few real synonyms in English; because when the language acquired
a word of similar meaning, it at once set to work to use it in a
different _way_, or to give it a different _function_, or to bestow on
it a different tone, colouring, or shade.
[12] He might have said _hall_ and _bower_. In the old English times,
the _hall_ was the outer room of the cottage, into which the front
door opened, and _bower_ was the inner room.
[13] A _liche_ or _lyke_ originally meant _body_.
[14] _Ayenbite_ = _againbite_. The _again_ corresponds to the _re_ in
_remorse_.
[15] In head-rhymes, two or three words in each line begin with the
same letter.
[16] The highest value.
[17] Carriage.
[18] Unbecoming or unkind thing.
[19] Kind of person.
[20] Very perfect gentle.
[21] Dress.
[22] Gaily dressed.