THE NEW ROMANTIC POETRY: SCOTT.
Walter Scott. Translations and Minstrelsy. The Lay of the Last
Minstrel. Other Poems. The Waverly Novels. Particular Mention.
Pecuniary Troubles. His Manly Purpose. Powers Overtasked. Fruitless
Journey. Return and Death. His Fame.
The transition school, as we have seen, in returning to nature, had
redeemed the pastoral, and had cultivated sentiment at the expense of the
epic. As a slight reaction, and yet a progress, and as influenced by the
tales of modern fiction, and also as subsidizing the antiquarian lore and
taste of the age, there arose a school of poetry which is best represented
by its _Tales in verse_;--some treating subjects of the olden time, some
laying their scenes in distant countries, and some describing home
incidents of the simplest kind. They were all minor epics: such were the
poetic stories of Scott, the _Lalla Rookh_ of Moore, _The Bride_ and _The
Giaour_ of Byron, and _The Village_ and _The Borough_ of Crabbe; all of
which mark the taste and the demand of the period.
WALTER SCOTT.--First in order of the new romantic poets was Scott, alike
renowned for his _Lays_ and for his wonderful prose fictions; at once the
most equable and the most prolific of English authors.
Walter Scott was born in Edinburgh, on the 15th of August, 1771. His
father was a writer to the signet; his mother was Anne Rutherford, the
daughter of a medical professor in the University of Edinburgh. His
father's family belonged to the clan Buccleugh. Lame from his early
childhood, and thus debarred the more active pleasures of children, his
imagination was unusually vigorous; and he took special pleasure in the
many stories, current at the time, of predatory warfare, border forays,
bogles, warlocks, and second sight. He spent some of his early days in the
country, and thus became robust and healthy; although his lameness
remained throughout life. He was educated in Edinburgh, at the High School
and the university; and, although not noted for excellence as a scholar,
he exhibited precocity in verse, and delighted his companions by his
readiness in reproducing old stories or improving new ones. After leaving
the university he studied law, and ranged himself in politics as a
Conservative or Tory.
Although never an accurate classical scholar, he had a superficial
knowledge of several languages, and was an industrious collector of old
ballads and relics of the antiquities of his country. He was, however,
better than a scholar;--he had genius, enthusiasm, and industry: he could
create character, adapt incident, and, in picturesque description, he was
without a rival.
During the rumors of the invasion of Scotland by the French, which he has
treated with such comical humor in _The Antiquary_, his lameness did not
prevent his taking part with the volunteers, as quartermaster--a post
given him to spare him the fatigue and rough service of the ranks. The
French did not come; and Scott returned to his studies with a budget of
incident for future use.
TRANSLATIONS AND MINSTRELSY.--The study of the German language was then
almost a new thing, even among educated people in England; and Scott made
his first public essay in the form of translations from the German. Among
these were versions of the _Erl König_ of Goethe, and the _Lenore_ and
_The Wild Huntsman_ of Bürger, which appeared in 1796. In 1797 he rendered
into English _Otho of Wittelsbach_ by Steinburg, and in 1799 Goethe's
tragedy, _Götz von Berlichingen_. These were the trial efforts of his
"'prentice hand," which predicted a coming master.
On the 24th of December, 1797, he married Miss Carpenter, or Charpentier,
a lady of French parentage, and retired to a cottage at Lasswade, where he
began his studies, and cherished his literary aspirations in earnest and
for life.
In 1799 he was so fortunate as to receive the appointment of Sheriff of
Selkirkshire, with a salary of £300 per annum. His duties were not
onerous: he had ample time to scour the country, ostensibly in search of
game, and really in seeking for the songs and traditions of Scotland,
border ballads, and tales, and in storing his fancy with those picturesque
views which he was afterwards to describe so well in verse and prose. In
1802 he was thus enabled to present to the world his first considerable
work, _The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_, containing many new ballads
which he had collected, with very valuable local and historical notes.
This was followed, in 1804, by the metrical romance _of Sir Tristrem_, the
original of which was by Thomas of Ercildoune, of the thirteenth century,
known as _Thomas the Rhymer_: it was he who dreamed on Huntley bank that
he met the Queen of Elfland,
And, till seven years were gone and past,
True Thomas on earth was never seen.
The reputation acquired by these productions led the world to expect
something distinctly original and brilliant from his pen; a hope which was
at once realized.
THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL.--In 1805 appeared his first great poem, _The
Lay of the Last Minstrel_, which immediately established his fame: it was
a charming presentation of the olden time to the new. It originated in a
request of the Countess of Dalkeith that he would write a ballad on the
legend of Gilpin Horner. The picture of the last minstrel, "infirm and
old," fired by remembrance as he begins to tell an old-time story of
Scottish valor, is vividly drawn. The bard is supposed to be the last of
his fraternity, and to have lived down to 1690. The tale, mixed of truth
and fable, is exceedingly interesting. The octo-syllabic measure, with an
occasional line of three feet, to break the monotony, is purely
minstrelic, and reproduces the effect of the _troubadours and trouvères_.
The wizard agency of Gilpin Horner's brood, and the miracle at the tomb of
Michael Scott, are by no means out of keeping with the minstrel and the
age of which he sings. The dramatic effects are good, and the descriptions
very vivid. The poem was received with great enthusiasm, and rapidly
passed through several editions. One element of its success is modestly
and justly stated by the author in his introduction to a later edition:
"The attempt to return to a more simple and natural style of poetry was
likely to be welcomed at a time when the public had become tired of heroic
hexameters, with all the buckram and binding that belong to them in modern
days."
With an annual income of £1000, and an honorable ambition, Scott worked
his new literary mine with great vigor. He saw not only fame but wealth
within his reach. He entered into a silent partnership with the publisher,
James Ballantyne, which was for a long time lucrative, by reason of the
unprecedented sums he received for his works. In 1806 he was appointed to
the reversion--on the death of the incumbent--of the clerkship of the
Court of Sessions, a place worth £1300 per annum.
OTHER POEMS.--In 1808, before _The Lay_ had lost its freshness, _Marmion_
appeared: it was kindred in subject and form, and was received with equal
favor. _The Lady of the Lake_, the most popular of these poems, was
published in 1810; and with it his poetical talent culminated. The later
poems were not equal to any of those mentioned, although they were not
without many beauties and individual excellences.
_The Vision of Don Roderick_, which appeared in 1811, is founded upon the
legend of a visit made by one of the Gothic kings of Spain to an enchanted
cavern near Toledo. _Rokeby_ was published in 1812; _The Bridal of
Triermain_ in 1813; _The Lord of the Isles_, founded upon incidents in the
life of Bruce, in 1815; and _Harold the Dauntless_ in 1817. With the
decline of his poetic power, manifest to himself, he retired from the
field of poetry, but only to appear upon another and a grander field with
astonishing brilliancy: it was the domain of the historical romance. Such,
however, was the popular estimate of his poetry, that in 1813 the Prince
Regent offered him the position of poet-laureate, which was gratefully and
wisely declined.
Just at this time the new poets came forth, in his own style, and actuated
by his example and success. He recognized in Byron, Moore, Crabbe, and
others, genius and talent; and, with his generous spirit, exaggerated
their merits by depreciating his own, which he compared to cairngorms
beside the real jewels of his competitors. The mystics, following the lead
of the Lake poets, were ready to increase the depreciation. It soon became
fashionable to speak of _The Lay_, and _Marmion_, and _The Lady of the
Lake_ as spirited little stories, not equal to Byron's, and not to be
mentioned beside the occult philosophy of _Thalaba_ and gentle egotism of
_The Prelude_. That day is passed: even the critical world returns to its
first fancies. In the words of Carlyle, a great balance-striker of
literary fame, speaking in 1838: "It were late in the day to write
criticisms on those metrical romances; at the same time, the great
popularity they had seems natural enough. In the first place, there was
the indisputable impress of worth, of genuine human force in them ...
Pictures were actually painted and presented; human emotions conceived and
sympathized with. Considering that wretched Dellacruscan and other
vamping up of wornout tattlers was the staple article then, it may be
granted that Scott's excellence was superior and supreme." Without
preferring any claim to epic grandeur, or to a rank among the few great
poets of the first class, Scott is entitled to the highest eminence in
minstrelic power. He is the great modern troubadour. His descriptions of
nature are simple and exquisite. There is nothing in this respect more
beautiful than the opening of _The Lady of the Lake_. His battle-pieces
live and resound again: what can be finer than Flodden field in _Marmion_,
and The Battle of Beal and Duine in _The Lady of the Lake_?
His love scenes are at once chaste, impassioned, and tender; and his harp
songs and battle lyrics are unrivalled in harmony. And, besides these
merits, he gives us everywhere glimpses of history, which, before his day,
were covered by the clouds of ignorance, and which his breath was to sweep
away.
Such are his claims as the first of the new romantic poets. We might here
leave him, to consider his prose works in another connection; but it seems
juster to his fame to continue and complete a sketch of his life, because
all its parts are of connected interest. The poems were a grand proem to
the novels.
While he was achieving fame by his poetry, and reaping golden rewards as
well as golden opinions, he was also ambitious to establish a family name
and estate. To this end, he bought a hundred acres of land on the banks of
the Tweed, near Melrose Abbey, and added to these from time to time by the
purchase of adjoining properties. Here he built a great mansion, which
became famous as Abbotsford: he called it one of his air-castles reduced
to solid stone and mortar. Here he played the part of a feudal proprietor,
and did the honors for Scotland to distinguished men from all quarters:
his hospitality was generous and unbounded.
THE WAVERLEY NOVELS.--As early as 1805, while producing his beautiful
poems, he had tried his hand upon a story in prose, based upon the
stirring events in 1745, resulting in the fatal battle of Culloden, which
gave a death-blow to the cause of the Stuarts, and to their attempts to
regain the crown. Dissatisfied with the effort, and considering it at that
time less promising than poetry, he had thrown the manuscript aside in a
desk with some old fishing-tackle. There it remained undisturbed for eight
years. With the decline of his poetic powers, he returned to the former
notion of writing historical fiction; and so, exhuming his manuscript, he
modified and finished it, and presented it anonymously to the world in
1814. He had at first proposed the title of _Waverley, or 'Tis Fifty Years
Since_, which was afterwards altered to '_Tis Sixty Years Since_. This,
the first of his splendid series of fictions, which has given a name to
the whole series, is by no means the best; but it was good and novel
enough to strike a chord in the popular heart at once. Its delineations of
personal characters already known to history were masterly; its historical
pictures were in a new and striking style of art. There were men yet
living to whom he could appeal--men who had _been out_ in the '45, who had
seen Charles Edward and many of the originals of the author's heroes and
heroines. In his researches and wanderings, he had imbibed the very spirit
of Scottish life and history; and the Waverley novels are among the most
striking literary types and expounders of history.
PARTICULAR MENTION.--In 1815, before half the reading world had delighted
themselves with _Waverley_, his rapid pen had produced _Guy Mannering_, a
story of English and Scottish life, superior to Waverley in its original
descriptions and more general interest. He is said to have written it in
six weeks at Christmas time. The scope of this volume will not permit a
critical examination of the Waverley novels. The world knows them almost
by heart. In _The Antiquary_, which appeared in 1816, we have a rare
delineation of local manners, the creation of distinct characters, and a
humorous description of the sudden arming of volunteers in fear of
invasion by the French. _The Antiquary_ was a free portrait or sketch of
Mr. George Constable, filled in perhaps unconsciously from the author's
own life; for he, no less than his friend, delighted in collecting relics,
and in studying out the lines, prætoria, and general castrametation of the
Roman armies. Andrew Gemmels was the original of that Edie Ochiltree who
was bold enough to dispute the antiquary's more learned assertions.
In the same year, 1816, was published the first series of _The Tales of my
Landlord_, containing _The Black Dwarf_ and _Old Mortality_, both valuable
as contributions to Scottish history. The former is not of much literary
merit; and the author was so little pleased with it, that he brought it to
a hasty conclusion; the latter is an extremely animated sketch of the
sufferings of the Covenanters at the hands of Grahame of Claverhouse, with
a fairer picture of that redoubted commander than the Covenanters have
drawn. _Rob Roy_, the best existing presentation of Highland life and
manners, appeared in 1817. Thus Scott's prolific pen, like nature,
produced annuals. In 1818 appeared _The Heart of Mid-Lothian_, that
touching story of Jeanie and Effie Deans, which awakens the warmest
sympathy of every reader, and teaches to successive generations a moral
lesson of great significance and power.
In 1819 he wrote _The Bride of Lammermoor_, the story of a domestic
tragedy, which warns the world that outraged nature will sometimes assert
herself in fury; a story so popular that it has been since arranged as an
Italian opera. With that came _The Legend of Montrose_, another historic
sketch of great power, and especially famous for the character of Major
Dugald Dalgetty, soldier of fortune and pedant of Marischal College,
Aberdeen. The year 1819 also beheld the appearance of _Ivanhoe_, which
many consider the best of the series. It describes rural England during
the regency of John, the romantic return of Richard Lion-heart, the
glowing embers of Norman and Saxon strife, and the story of the Templars.
His portraiture of the Jewess Rebecca is one of the finest in the Waverley
Gallery.
The next year, 1820, brought forth _The Monastery_, the least popular of
the novels thus far produced; and, as Scott tells us, on the principle of
sending a second arrow to find one that was lost, he wrote _The Abbot_, a
sequel, to which we are indebted for a masterly portrait of Mary Stuart in
her prison of Lochleven. The _Abbot_, to some extent, redeemed and
sustained its weaker brother. In this same year Scott was created a
baronet, in recognition of his great services to English Literature and
history. The next five years added worthy companion-novels to the
marvellous series. _Kenilworth_ is founded upon the visit of Queen
Elizabeth to her favorite Leicester, in that picturesque palace in
Warwickshire, and contains that beautiful and touching picture of Amy
Robsart. _The Pirate_ is a story the scene of which is laid in Shetland,
and the material for which he gathered in a pleasure tour among those
islands. In _The Fortunes of Nigel_, London life during the reign of James
I. is described; and it contains life-like portraits of that monarch, of
his unfortunate son, Prince Charles, and of Buckingham. _Peveril of the
Peak_ is a story of the time of Charles II., which is not of equal merit
with the other novels. _Quentin Durward_, one of the very best, describes
the strife between Louis XI. of France and Charles the Bold of Burgundy,
and gives full-length historic portraits of these princes. The scene of
_St. Ronan's Well_ is among the English lakes in Cumberland, and the story
describes the manners of the day at a retired watering-place. _Red
Gauntlet_ is a curious narrative connected with one of the latest attempts
of Charles Edward--abortive at the outset--to effect a rising in
Scotland. In 1825 appeared his _Tales of the Crusaders_, comprising _The
Betrothed_ and _The Talisman_, of which the latter is the more popular, as
it describes with romantic power the deeds of Richard and his comrades in
the second crusade.
A glance at this almost tabular statement will show the scope and
versatility of his mind, the historic range of his studies, the fertility
of his fancy, and the rapidity of his pen. He had attained the height of
fame and happiness; his success had partaken of the miraculous; but
misfortune came to mar it all, for a time.
PECUNIARY TROUBLES.--In the financial crash of 1825-6, he was largely
involved. As a silent partner in the publishing house of the Ballantynes,
and as connected with them in the affairs of Constable & Co., he found
himself, by the failure of these houses, legally liable to the amount of
£117,000. To relieve himself, he might have taken the benefit of the
_bankrupt law_; or, such was his popularity, that his friends desired to
raise a subscription to cover the amount of his indebtedness; but he was
now to show by his conduct that, if the author was great, the man was
greater. He refused all assistance, and even rejected general sympathy. He
determined to relieve himself, to pay his debts, or die in the effort. He
left Abbotsford, and took frugal lodgings in Edinburgh; curtailed all his
expenses, and went to work--which was over-work--not for fame, but for
guineas; and he gained both.
His first novel after this, and the one which was to test the
practicability of his plan, was _Woodstock_, a tale of the troublous times
of the Civil War, in the last chapter of which he draws the picture of the
restored Charles coming in peaceful procession to his throne. This he
wrote in three months; and for it he received upwards of £8000. With this
and the proceeds of his succeeding works, he was enabled to pay over to
his creditors the large sum of £70,000; a feat unparalleled in the history
of literature. But the anxiety and the labor were too much even for his
powerful constitution: he died in his heroic attempt.
HIS MANLY PURPOSE.--More for money than for reputation, he compiled
hastily, and from partial and incomplete material, a _Life of Napoleon
Bonaparte_, which appeared in 1827. The style is charming and the work
eminently readable; but it contains many faults, is by no means
unprejudiced, and, as far as pure truth is concerned, is, in parts, almost
as much of a romance as any of the Waverley novels; but, for the first two
editions, he received the enormous sum of £18,000. The work was
accomplished in the space of one year. Among the other _task-work_ books
were the two series of _The Chronicles of the Canongate_ (1827 and 1828),
the latter of which contains the beautiful story of _St. Valentine's Day_,
or _The Fair Maid of Perth_. It is written in his finest vein, especially
in those chapters which describe the famous Battle of the Clans. In 1829
appeared _Anne of Geierstein_, another story presenting the figure of
Charles of Burgundy, and his defeat and death in the battle with the Swiss
at Nancy.
POWERS OVERTASKED.--And now new misfortunes were to come upon him. In 1826
he had lost his wife: his sorrows weighed upon him, and his superhuman
exertions were too much for his strength. In 1829 he was seized with a
nervous attack, accompanied by hemorrhages of a peculiar kind. In
February, 1830, a slight paralysis occurred, from which he speedily
recovered; this was soon succeeded by another; and it was manifest that
his mind was giving way. His last novel, _Count Robert of Paris_, was
begun in 1830, as one of a fourth series of _The Tales of My Landlord_: it
bears manifest marks of his failing powers, but is of value for the
historic stores which it draws from the Byzantine historians, and
especially from the unique work of Anna Comnena: "I almost wish," he said,
"I had named it Anna Comnena." A slight attack of apoplexy in November,
1830, was followed by a severer one in the spring of 1831. Even then he
tried to write, and was able to produce _Castle Dangerous_. With that the
powerful pen ended its marvellous work. The manly spirit still chafed that
his debts were not paid, and could not be, by the labor of his hands.
FRUITLESS JOURNEY.--In order to divert his mind, and, as a last chance for
health, a trip to the Mediterranean was projected. The Barham frigate was
placed by the government at his disposal; and he wandered with a party of
friends to Malta, Naples, Pompeii, Paestum, and Rome. But feeling the end
approaching, he exclaimed, "Let us to Abbotsford:" for the final hour he
craved the _grata quies patriæ_; to which an admiring world has added the
remainder of the verse--_sed et omnis terra sepulchrum_. It was not a
moment too soon: he travelled northward to the Rhine, down that river by
boat, and reached London "totally exhausted;" thence, as soon as he could
be moved, he was taken to Abbotsford.
RETURN AND DEATH.--There he lingered from July to September, and died
peacefully on the 21st of the latter month, surrounded by his family and
lulled to repose by the rippling of the Tweed. Among the noted dead of
1832, including Goethe, Cuvier, Crabbe, and Mackintosh, he was the most
distinguished; and all Scotland and all the civilized world mourned his
loss.
HIS FAME.--At Edinburgh a colossal monument has been erected to his
memory, within which sits his marble figure. Numerous other memorial
columns are found in other cities, but all Scotland is his true monument,
every province and town of which he has touched with his magic pen.
Indeed, Scotland may be said to owe to him a new existence. In the words
of Lord Meadowbank,--who presided at the Theatrical Fund dinner in 1827,
and who there made the first public announcement of the authorship of the
Waverley novels,--Scott was "the mighty magician who rolled back the
current of time, and conjured up before our living senses the men and
manners of days which have long since passed away ... It is he who has
conferred a new reputation on our national character, and bestowed on
Scotland an imperishable name."
Besides his poetry and novels, he wrote very much of a miscellaneous
character for the reviews, and edited the works of the poets with valuable
introductions and congenial biographies. Most of his fictions are
historical in plot and personages; and those which deal with Scottish
subjects are enriched by those types of character, those descriptions of
manners--national and local--and those peculiarities of language, which
give them additional and more useful historical value. It has been justly
said that, by his masterly handling of historical subjects, he has taught
the later historians how to write, how to give vivid and pictorial effects
to what was before a detail of chronology or a dry schedule of philosophy.
His critical powers may be doubted: he was too kind and genial for a
critic; and in reading contemporary authors seems to have endued their
inferior works with something of his own fancy.
The _Life of Scott_, by his son-in-law, J. G. Lockhart, is one of the most
complete and interesting biographies in the language. In it the student
will find a list of all his works, with the dates of their production; and
will wonder that an author who was so rapid and so prolific could write so
much that was of the highest excellence. If not the greatest genius of his
age, he was its greatest literary benefactor; and it is for this reason
that we have given so much space to the record of his life and works.