A History of English Literature: In a Series of Biographical SketchesT. Nelson and Sons, 1869 - 549 pages |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 78
Page 11
... juices of the plant itself . As skin after skin peeled away , the more delicate tissues , of which the finest paper was made , were found wrapping the heart of the stem . Pressing 12 ANCIENT BOOK - ROOMS . and drying completed the.
... juices of the plant itself . As skin after skin peeled away , the more delicate tissues , of which the finest paper was made , were found wrapping the heart of the stem . Pressing 12 ANCIENT BOOK - ROOMS . and drying completed the.
Page 36
... hearts than when he sang of war , although the eye gleamed with another light , and the stern war- shout faded into gentler tones . The minstrels in feudal times were probably divided into vari- ous classes , which were distinguished as ...
... hearts than when he sang of war , although the eye gleamed with another light , and the stern war- shout faded into gentler tones . The minstrels in feudal times were probably divided into vari- ous classes , which were distinguished as ...
Page 37
... hearts of the simple people , whose delight it was to sing and hear them by the winter fire or beneath the summer trees . The application of the word Minstrel changed a good deal dur- ing the decay of chivalry . At first used to denote ...
... hearts of the simple people , whose delight it was to sing and hear them by the winter fire or beneath the summer trees . The application of the word Minstrel changed a good deal dur- ing the decay of chivalry . At first used to denote ...
Page 47
... heart of Wycliffe , who directed his sturdy eloquence against them . In his treatise called Objections to Friars , he maintained that the Gospel in its freedom , without error of man , is the sole rule of religion . And thus he struck ...
... heart of Wycliffe , who directed his sturdy eloquence against them . In his treatise called Objections to Friars , he maintained that the Gospel in its freedom , without error of man , is the sole rule of religion . And thus he struck ...
Page 49
... hearts burned to smite him down , dared not do so , for they feared the people . It was then that a wasting sickness seized him at Oxford . His health , worn out with study , gave way under the mental wear of these troubled years . He ...
... hearts burned to smite him down , dared not do so , for they feared the people . It was then that a wasting sickness seized him at Oxford . His health , worn out with study , gave way under the mental wear of these troubled years . He ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Addison Æneid afterwards amid Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury beauty became Bible born brilliant called Cambridge century CHAPTER Charles chief chiefly Church College coloured court death died dramatic Dublin Earl early Edinburgh Edinburgh Review England English literature English poetry Essays Faerie Queene fame father finest France genius gentle Greek heart Henry History honour Illustrative extract James John King Lady land Latin letters literary lived London Lord Milton mind minstrels night noble novel novelist Oxford paper Paradise Lost picture play poem poet poet's poetic poetry political poor prose published Puritan Queen reign ROGER ASCHAM romance round royal scene Scotland Scottish Shakspere song SPECIMEN spent story style Supplementary List sweet Tatler Thomas Thomas Fuller thought took tragedy translation Trinity College University of Edinburgh verse WILLIAM words writer written wrote young
Popular passages
Page 392 - Dark-heaving; boundless, endless, and sublime, — The image of Eternity, the throne Of the Invisible : even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made ; each zone Obeys thee ; thou goest forth, dread, iathomless, alone.
Page 378 - ... little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honour, and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever.
Page 350 - Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help ? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early had been kind ; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it ; till I am solitary. and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it.
Page 446 - Ye Ice-falls! ye that from the mountain's brow Adown enormous ravines slope amain Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice, And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge! Motionless torrents! silent cataracts! Who made you glorious as the Gates of Heaven Beneath the keen full moon? Who bade the sun Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet? GOD! let the torrents, like a shout of nations, Answer! and let the ice-plains echo, GOD!
Page 324 - For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn Or busy housewife ply her evening care : No children run to lisp their sire's return, Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share. Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke ; How jocund did they drive their team afield ! How...
Page 148 - Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
Page 189 - For so have I seen a lark rising from his bed of grass, and soaring upwards, singing as he rises, and hopes to get to heaven, and climb above the clouds : but the poor bird was beaten back with the loud sighings of an eastern wind, and his motion made irregular and inconstant — descending more at every breath of the tempest, than it could recover by the...
Page 210 - What matter where, if I be still the same And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater...
Page 391 - His steps are not upon thy paths, thy fields Are not a spoil for him, — thou dost arise And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields For earth's destruction thou dost all despise, Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, And send'st him, shivering in thy playful spray And howling, to his gods, where haply lies His pretty hope in some near port or bay, And dashest him again to earth: — there let him lay.
Page 363 - It was on the day, or rather night, of the 27th of June 1787, between the hours of eleven and twelve, that I wrote the last lines of the last page in a summer-house in my garden. After laying down my pen, I took several turns in a berccau, or covered walk of acacias, which commands a prospect of the country, the lake, and the mountains.