History of English Literature by EDWARD ALBERT Revised by J. A. STONE Fifth Edition OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS [Page Blank] OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Plot Al-5, Block-GP, Sector-V, Salt Lake Electronics Complex, Calcutta 700 091 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Sao Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) © This edition George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd. 1979 Copyright, All rights reserved First published in Great Britain 1923 by George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd. 182-184 High Holborn, London W.C.IV 7AX Fourth edition, revised and enlarged, 1971 First printed in India by Oxford University Press by arrangement with the original publishers 1975 Fifth edition, revised and enlarged 1979 Twenty-sixth impression, 2000 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press. or as expressly permitted by law. or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer ISBN 0-19-561224-8 Printed in India by Nepro Offset, 156A Lenin Sarani, Calcutta 700 013 and published by Manzar Khan, Oxford University Press, Plot Al-5. Block-GP, Sector-V, Salt Lake Electronics Complex, Calcutta 700 091 PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION Albert's History of English Literature has won for itself a secure place as a study of literary history and criticism. Its continued popularity suggests that the value of its judgments remains for the most part unimpaired. In places, however, the last twenty years have inevitably seen changes of perspective and revaluations; these the present edition seeks to incorporate, while yet preserving of its predecessor all that is in line with modern thought. The chapter on post-Victorian writers, which has felt most strongly the impact of fresh evaluations, has been completely rewritten, and, difficult though it is to view things so close at hand in any true perspective, the attempt has been made to bring the story of our literature up to date. The entirely new bibliography will, it is hoped, enable those who wish to pursue their studies further to acquaint themselves not only with the standard authorities, but with more recent research, and thus gain some impression of the changing trends of critical opinion. The method and layout of the original work have been preserved as far as possible, except that considerations of length have necessitated the omission of the exercises at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book as a whole. For the revision of the first two chapters I am indebted to Dr Kenneth Cameron, Lecturer in English in Nottingham University. J. A. S. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION It is a truism to say that in literary history, as in all else, nothing stands still; and it is therefore not surprising that in our time of vigorous literary activity further material on current trends should again be required. In view of this, considerable amendments have been made to statements in Chapter XIII, while Chapter XIV, on 6 the contemporary literary scene, has been completely rewritten. The Bibliography for Chapter XIII has been updated, and a bibliographical section supplied for Chapter XIV. For this work of revision I am indebted to Dr G. G. Urwin. J. A. S. PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION Once again, the whirligig of time brings in his revenges, and in a relatively short time new notes and evaluations are once again called for. These are in fact more extensive than were undertaken for the fourth edition, and have resulted in some increase in length. Chapter XII, The Birth of Modern Literature, has suffered a few changes; Chapter XIII has again been extensively overhauled; Chapter XIV is once more rewritten. But the main point to emphasize is that the Bibliography has been entirely re-compiled to take into account more recent scholarship. This considerable task has produced a book-list that cannot but add immeasurably to the value of the work. For all these labours I am indebted once more to Dr G. G. Urwin. J.A.S. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For permission to use copyright extracts the publishers offer their grateful thanks to the following: The Clarendon Press, Oxford, for Cheddar Pinks, from New Verse, and an extract from The Testament of Beauty, by Robert Bridges. Messrs Faber and Faber, Ltd, for an extract from The Waste Land, by T. S. Eliot. The Oxford University Press, for Carrion Comfort, from Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Messrs George Allen and Unwin, Ltd, for extracts from Riders to the Sea and The Well of the Saints, by John Millington Synge. Mrs W. B. Yeats and Messrs Macmillan and Co., Ltd, for The Lake Isle of lnnisfree, from Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats. 7 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Old English Period 9 II. The Middle English Period 20 III. The Age of Chaucer 32 IV From Chaucer to Spenser 49 V The Age of Elizabeth 70 VI The Age of Milton 131 VII The Age of Dryden 155 VIII The Age of Pope 185 IX The Age of Transition 222 X The Return to Nature 288 XI The Victorian Age 366 XII The Birth of Modern 432 XIIILiterature . The Inter-War Years 507 XIV The Mid-Twentieth Century 563 Suggestions for Further Reading 601 Index 613 8 Let us now praise famous men,... Such as found out musical tunes, And recited verses in writing, ... Their bodies are buried in peace; But their name liveth for evermore. The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus 9 CHAPTER 1 THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD THE BEGINNINGS Little indeed is known of the origin of English Literature, though it is reasonable to assume that verse of an extemporary kind was composed long before the period of the earliest written records and that we can be certain that poetry made its appearance long before the first prose was written down. It is important from the outset to remember that the extant remains of Old English Literature have come down to us (for the most part) in late copies, some of which were made three hundred years after the composition of the poems themselves. So far as poets are concerned, again little or nothing is known beyond the names of two of them, but this has not prevented some scholars from writing their' lives,' from hints in the texts themselves, fortified by scanty contemporary references (in the case of Caedmon) but mainly from a mass of conjecture, most of which cannot be described as intelligent. Indeed, the lengths to which critics will at times go is clearly indicated by the fact that one Old English poet has been provided with a wife on no valid evidence whatsoever. Notwithstanding the mists which shroud the beginnings and our lack of knowledge of the poets themselves Old English Literature has a richness which amazes the reader who overcomes the initial difficulty of the language, and it is hoped that this richness will be seen even in the meagre summary which appears in the following pages. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The period is a long one, for it opens in the fifth century and does not conclude, as is often supposed, with the Norman Conquest in 1066, but rather continues in prose at least till c. 1150. The events, however, must be dismissed briefly. The departure of the Romans in 410 left the British population open to the inroads of the invaders from the north. According to British traditions the English from the 10 Continent came first as mercenaries to help in the defence against the Picts and Scots; but soon they began to settle in the country, and archaeological evidence shows that certainly permanent settlements had been made in the last quarter of the fifth century if not before. In the course of time they gained possession of all the land from the English Channel to the Firth of Forth to a greater or lesser degree. Then followed the Christianization of the pagan English tribes, beginning in Northumbria with the work of Irish missionaries, though the influence from Rome begins in Kent (597). In succession followed the inroads of the Danes in the ninth century; the rise of Wessex among the early English kingdoms with the important contribution of Alfred the Great; the establishment of the Danelaw in England with the permanent settlement of Danes in the country; the accession of a Danish king (1017); and the Norman influence on the English court which began before the Conquest in 1066. All these events had their effect on the literature of the period. LITERARY FEATURES OF THE PERIOD 1.Pagan Origins. Many of the poems of the period appear to have in them features which are associated with the pagan past, in particular Widsith and Beowulf, though the Christian elements in the latter are no longer looked upon, as was the case among the earlier scholars, as 'clumsy additions.' It appears likely, therefore, that the earliest poems or themes have their origin in the Continental home of the English peoples.