Seemed, at their gentle touch, to waken
To feelings I dared scarcely name!

I wished to wear a lattice there,
Of crystal clear or purest glass, that well

Thou might'st behold what tongue could never tell.
Oh, could the heart within me glowing
E'er from its cell have been removed,
I had not shrunk,—that heart bestowing
On thee, whom I so warmly loved,

So longed to wed, so cherished!

Ah! who could dread that thou wouldst wanton be,
And so inconstant in thy love to me?

Another youth has stolen my treasure,

And placed himself upon the throne Where late I reigned, supreme in pleasure, And weakly thought it all my own.

What causes now that chilling brow?
Or where didst thou such evil counsel gain,
As thus to pride and glory in my pain?
What thoughts, too painful to be spoken,
Hath falsehood for thy soul prepared,
When thou surveyest each true-love token,
And think'st of joys together shared,-

Of vows we made beneath the shade,
And kisses paid by my fond lips to thine,
And given back with murmured sigh to mine!
Bethink thee of those hours of wooing,-

Of words that seemed the breath of truth,-
The Eden thou hast made a ruin,-

My withered hopes and blighted youth!

It wonders me that thou shouldst be

So calm and free, nor dread the rage that burns
Within the heart where love to malice turns.

Away,-away,-accursed deceiver!

With tears delude the eyes and brain Of him, the fond, the weak believer,

Who follows now thy fickle train.

That senseless hind (to whom thou'rt kind, Not for his mind, but for his treasured ore) Disturbs me not. Farewell! we meet no more!

THE POOYTERIAN HOSPITAL,
MADISON AVE, & 70th STap
NEW YORK, N. Yo

ENGLISH LITERATURE.

PERIOD V. PART I. 1660-1700.

OETRY and the drama continued to flourish in England through the reign of James I., though not with the vigor and spontaneity which had marked the palmy days of Queen Elizabeth. The national life had grown cool, and the feelings of the poets were also cool. Yet from the great

exemplars of the past they had learned much about the art of poetry, the rules and methods practiced unconsciously by men of the highest genius. But they also imitated the faults of their predecessors, and sought by far-fetched conceits and fanciful expressions to excite the same results which had once been produced by ardent feelings. To such extravagance was this pedantic style carried that a school of poets arose which is called the "metaphysical." The name refers to their searching for ingenious analogies between things seen and things unseen, between what is natural and tangible and what is apprehended only by the spirit. The fashion indeed was not confined to England; it prevailed also in France and Spain, and was a reflex of the later classics of antiquity and of their Italian imitators.

Meantime powerful social forces had begun to operate to the detriment of literature, and their effects became manifest during the reign of Charles I. Questions of government and reform in Church and State usurped public attention. Religious and political controversy overwhelmed the land. When the Civil War broke out, there was little leisure for cultivating the Muses, save in occasional songs. Even the transcendent

genius of the self-consecrated Milton was withdrawn for many years from its chosen and predestined work. Yet when the power of the new Commonwealth was lodged in the hands of Oliver Cromwell, his heroic figure called forth tributes of praise from several poets who afterwards excused their panegyrics as faults of youth. Cowley, Marvell and Dryden were conspicuous instances of this class.

The apparently great change in English life and manners, which came with the Restoration of the Stuarts, was not due merely to the personal tastes and prepossessions of Charles II., though undoubtedly fostered by these. The English Royalists who had shared his exile in France had acquired a liking for the pleasures and fashions of that country. When they returned to court, eager to compensate themselves for past sufferings and privations by new enjoyments, they found versemakers and play-wrights ready to minister to their wishes by imitating French models. The theatre underwent a marked change; elaborate costumes and varied scenery were introduced. Rhymed heroic plays were produced on the model of Corneille; and comedies of intrigue were presented in which the coarser English spirit transgressed the limits of decorum observed by the light-hearted French.

Of the poets who adhered more closely to the Elizabethan traditions the most noted was Abraham Cowley, who translated Pindar and wrote Pindaric odes with considerable ability. His learning was also shown in Latin verse in imitation of Virgil, Horace and Catullus. His lighter verses and admirable prose essays are more esteemed in our day. Though Milton produced his greatest works after the Restoration, he belonged in spirit to the earlier period and has been considered in connection with it. But Dryden was in full accord with the change of the times, though his mighty genius was degraded in trying to conform to it. He had been among the eulogists of Cromwell, but hailed the return of Charles in heroic verse, wrote rhymed heroic plays full of rant to please his audience, and even boldly recast Shakespeare and turned Milton's sublime epic into a lyrical drama. But his real greatness was displayed in his severe satires on his inferior rivals, who had badgered him, and on the politicians who

opposed the accession of the Catholic Duke of York to the throne. Dryden's attempts to instruct his countrymen are seen in his argumentative "Religio Laici," and in "The Hind and the Panther," an allegory to vindicate the Church of Rome, whose communion he had joined. In his old age his genius still bore fruit in able versions of Chaucer and Boccaccio.

It might have been expected that Samuel Butler's burlesque satire of the Presbyterians in "Hudibras" would be handsomely rewarded by the "Merry Monarch," but though the king quoted its couplets, and the book was most in fashion, as Pepys declares, neither king nor court did anything for the author, who died in 1680, almost starved.

The Puritans, though banished from conspicuous positions, still exerted a powerful influence throughout the land. The various sects of the Dissenters, in spite of severe persecution, remained steadfast in their faith. Richard Baxter and others of this class did much to support their views by writings. George Fox and William Penn defended the views of Quakers in books still read. But far above these shines the name of John Bunyan, the Baptist preacher of Bedford. While imprisoned, this homely genius, inspired by fervent belief in Scripture truth, wrote what has become the favorite religious book of the English common people, "The Pilgrim's Progress." This picturesque allegory of the Christian life and its battles with sin, temptation and sorrow, and its final triumph and reward, has made the author's name immortal. The Established Church had also its great preachers and religious writers of considerable ability. The most eminent was Bishop Jeremy Taylor, whose "Holy Living and Dying" is still a favorite book of devotions. Among the others were two archbishops, Tillotson and Leighton. Several noblemen of Charles' court displayed some literary ability. The most distinguished was George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham (1627– 1688), who, in "The Rehearsal" (1671), forcibly satirized Dryden and his plays, but was himself attacked by the poet as Zimri in "Absalom and Achitophel." The other noblemen who may be mentioned only were Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset (1637-1706); Wentworth Dillon, Earl of Ros

common (1633-1686), who imitated Boileau in his "Essay on Translated Verse;" and John Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire (1649-1721), who wrote poetic essays on "Satire" and "Poetry."

To this period belong the two entertaining diarists, the gossipy Samuel Pepys and the pious and gentlemanly John Evelyn, who give faithful pictures of the daily life of the times. Lady Rachel Russell's "Letters" show the culture and affection of an English noblewoman, but are of less importance historically. "Clarendon's History of the Civil Wars," begun in 1641, was not published till after his death. Though carefully written, it belongs rather to the class of memoirs than to the great histories of the language. Less meritorious, though useful to students, is Bishop Burnet's "History of His Own Times."

THOMAS FULLER.

ANY praise from Coleridge places its subject upon a pedestal the best writers may envy. It may surprise many, to whom Fuller is no more than a name, to learn that Coleridge writes of him, "Next to Shakespeare, I am not certain whether Thomas Fuller, beyond all writers, does not excite in me the sense and emotions of the marvellous." His versatility

and quaint turns of humorous fancy justify the estimate, independently of the solid worth of his many books.

Fuller, like Dryden, was born at Aldwinkle, in Northamptonshire, in 1608. He became a popular Church of England divine and author. He was a firm but moderate royalist during the stormy years of the Civil War, and once had to fly from popular resentment of a sermon satirizing the Church reformers. His "Good Thoughts in Bad Times" was issued in the besieged city of Exeter, in 1645, to cheer the Cavaliers.