Unit 3 AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865

z Define Romanticism It does not follow because many books are as a literary movement. written by persons born in America that there Which representatives of exists an . Books which Romanticism in English and imitate or represent the thought and like of other literature do you Europe do not constitute an American literature. known? Before such can exist, an original idea must z What were the leading genres animate this nation and fresh currents must call for the Romanticists? into life fresh thoughts along its shores. Margaret Fuller

American Romanticism coincides chronologically with European Romanticism. The longing for harmonious personality (Cooper, Chateaubriand), the search for Truth in Beauty (Poe, Keats), the perception of “the world in a grain of sand and eternity in an hour” (Melville, Blake) paralleled each other. But the Europeans had many century old traditions, while the American Romantic writers had to replace the printer with the writer, and persuade their countrymen that literature was as honorable an occupation as corn harvesting. On the other hand there were all the basic requirements for an independent national literature in America: enthusiastic writers, attractive subjects, an increasing number of printing presses, book stores, schools and libraries. Kindered Spirits, 1849

32 about Native Americans like Indians’ knowledgeofagricultureandmedicinefortheirownbenefit,theywrotebooks as whitesettlersconqueredthewilderness.Eventhoughnewcomersused as variousguidestofarming,medicine,agriculture,horsemanshipandeverydayproblems. cities ofthe Atlantic. Butthesettlers’ literaryinterestscenteredonpracticalbookssuch Irving andJ.F. Cooperattractedstillgreaterattentiontothefrontier, especiallyincoastal exemplified inthe17 of Civilization accounts oflifewestthe Allegheny Mountains. part ofbroadeningthenation’s literaryhorizon. Aspiring literarymindsturnedtopersonal continental boundariesoftheUSwerecompleted.Geographicalexpansioncametobe by theever-expandingsouthernandwesternfrontiers,culminatingin1853,when century. even morecelebratedtraditionofthe frontier figureslikeDanielBooneorDavyCrockett. Their popularitypavedthewayfor Mary Rowlandson A controversialaspectof American lifewasthedisplacementofalargenumberIndians At thebeginningof19 denied she’s ashockinghandesomewoman,andMrs. Crockett’s sez I,“I’venothingtosay aginyourwife,Mike,foritcan’t be than hellcouldscorchafeather.” This putmydanderup,and Kentuck, andifanymandare doubtit,I’llbeinhishairquicker wife, andthefastesthorse,sharpestshooting ironinall his wigwam.InthemorningsezMiketome,“I’vegot thehandsomest in thewoods,wherehimandhiswifeshookdown a blanketformein deer, andsometimes drawingaleadonaninjun.SoonenightIfellinwithhim whiskey, andtherestoftimehespentinnockingoverbarturkeys, bouncing Mike onlyworkedenoughtofindhiswifeinrags, and himselfinpowder, andlead, Cumberland, andahorridhandsomewife,thatloved himthewickedestthateveryousee. Mike wasaboatmanontheMississip,buthehad a littlecabbinontheheadof . Mostreaderswerestillfascinatedwithcaptivitynarratives,aliterarygenre guiding thenewsettlersfromVirginia throughtheCumberlandGapintoKentucky (1682).Eventually, theygavewaytotheheroicdeedsoflegendary Davy Crockett’sLegendaryShooting th centuryby The American Savage:HowHeMayBeTamed bytheWeapons th Match withMikeFink century American culturalandintellectuallifewasframed A NarrativeoftheCaptivityandRestorationMrs. tall tale and

Widely publicizedliteraryworksbyW. local color The American pioneerDanielBoone fictionlaterinthe19 Crockett Davy th 33 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 in Tennessee, and I’ve got no horses. Mike, I don’t exactly like to tell you you lie about what you say about your rifle, but I’m d—d 1 if you speak the truth, and I’ll prove it. Do you see that cat sitting on the top rail of your potato patch, about a hundred and fifty yards off? If she ever hears agin, I’ll be shot if it shan’t be without ears. 1833 (11) Still, the quest for truly national literature remained a topical issue. The North American Review (founded in 1815), the first journal that printed exclusively American material, called for American writers to put an end to imitating British and continental stereotypes, and by the end of the 1820s, Americans could celebrate the publication of ’s Sketch Book (1819), William Cullen Bryant’s Poems (1821), some of James Fenimore Cooper’s Leather-Stocking Tales, Edgar Allan Poe’s Tamerlane and other Poems (1827), and Noah Webster’s American Dictionary (1828). The fame of School (J. K. Paulding, J. H. Payne, W. Irving, and briefly W. C. Bryant and J. F. Cooper), added brilliance to the American literary scene and made New York the national literary capital. It was also the time when many literary clubs were founded. In 1824, Cooper, together with William Bryant, Samuel F. B. Morse, and Thomas Cole, the English born painter, organized the Bread and Cheese Club. Among the members of the Saturday Club were Emerson, J. R. Lowell, H. W. Longfellow, O. W. Homes and the historians John L. Motley and William H. Prescott. The Authors Club united dominant magazine editors of the early 19th century. “The literature of the United States is a subject of the highest interest to the civilized world,” wrote Cooper, “for when it does begin to be felt, it will be felt with a force, a directness, and a common sense in its application, that has never yet been known.... I think the time for the experiment is getting near.” As if according to this prophesy, Irving adapted European literary heritage to American settings, Cooper turned Natty Bumppo into the American archetype of individual freedom and self-reliance, which served the fictional predecessor of countless mountain men and wilderness cowboys. Though they were writing in Europe, these two writers paved the way for the great flowering of American literature. In 1823, knowing that the British Navy would be involved in defending Latin America from the Holy Alliance of Russia, Prussia and Austria, President Monroe pronounced his refusal to tolerate any further extension of European domination in the Americas: “The American continents... are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any Euroupean powers...” The Monroe Doctrine expressed solidarity with the newly independent republics of Latin America. It was the time, when democracy, with its good and bad, did flourish, when customs and people themselves were changing. Hair wigs and waistcoats were being replaced by loose overalls. The sewing machine, telegraph, and the assembly line were invented. It was the time of the Second Great Awakening and liberating of the church, when the Baptists, Methodists, Protestants, Mormons and the Seventh Day Adventists appeared. America was becoming a very diverse nation, and the times, when only one path to God was officially recognized, seemed far back in the past. It was also the time when the first large estates, accompanied by trickery and corruption, came onto the scene. The Americans may have somewhat forgotten the testament of the first settlers, but the providence idea was still glowing and it acquired a new form — pioneer-frontiersman grew into the American Prometheus, — and the wilderness path to the Appalachians turned into the road. The American Renaissance (1836-1865) was marked by two turmoils, the Panic of 1837 and the Civil War, as well as by two presidents Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. The former, from the backwoods of Tennessee, seemed a prosaic leader, falling off from 1 damned, darned adj., interj. both swearing or taboo words, are used as an exclamation, or a sound expressing an emotional reaction rather than any particular meaning

34 simplicity wasoneofthesecretseloquence. modest andalwaystothepoint.For30-year-oldMark Twain, Lincoln’s styleprovedthat Lincoln leftbehindalegacyofhisspokenandwrittenprose,—colloquial,expressive, during alongandbrutalCivilWar. An “idiomaticWestern genius,”asWhitmancalledhim, the daringageoffoundingFathers. The latterruledwithunprecedentedauthority that governmentofthepeople,byforshallnotperishfromearth. have diedinvain—thatthisnation,underGod,shallanewbirthoffreedomand the lastfullmeasureofdevotion—thatweherehighlyresolvethesedeadshallnot that fromthesehonoreddeadwetakeincreaseddevotiontocauseforwhichtheygave advanced. Itisratherforustobeherededicatedthegreattaskremainingbefore— dedicated heretotheunfinishedworkwhichtheywhofoughthavethusfarsonobly we sayhere,butitcanneverforget whattheydidhere.Itisforustheliving,rather, tobe above ourpoorpowertoaddordetract. The worldwilllittlenote,norlongrememberwhat — thisground. The bravemen,livinganddead,whostruggledhere,haveconsecratedit,far we shoulddothis. who heregavetheirlivesthatnationmightlive.Itisaltogetherfittingandproper war. We havecometodedicateaportionofthatfield,asfinalrestingplaceforthose conceived andsodedicated,canlongendure. We aremetonagreatbattle-fieldofthat conceived inLiberty, anddedicatedtothepropositionthatallmenarecreatedequal. Four scoreandseven-yearsagoourfathersbroughtforthonthiscontinent,anewnation, But, inalarger sense,wecannotdedicate—consecratehallow Now weareengagedinagreatcivilwar, testingwhetherthatnation,oranynationso Abraham Lincoln(1809-1865) commemoratesthevictimsofbattleatGettysberg. Address atGettysburg,pennsylvania (19) 35 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 Transcendentalists. George Ripley in his Letter to the Church in Purchase Street (1840) wrote: “There is a class of persons who desire a reform in the prevailing philosophy of the day. These are called Transcendentalists, because they believe in an order of truths which transcends the sphere of the external sense. Their leading idea is the supremacy of mind over matter. Hence they maintain that the truth of religion does not depend on tradition, nor historical facts, but has a faithful witness in the soul.” Having absorbed the philosophical essence of Kant, Goethe, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Carlyle and other European thinkers, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Reverend Theodore Parker, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller declared in the 1830s that God could be known through Nature and man’s own soul, not only in church. As if in support of this idea H. D. Thoreau spent more than two years in a cabin at Walden Pond in isolation in the midst of natural beauty. This movement had a very loose structure. Founded as an informal club in 1836, it generated The Dial, a quarterly journal (1840-1844). Though it was often ridiculed for what was considered excessive fantasies, it inspired two experiments of cooperative living and high thinking: Brook Farm (1841-1847) and Fruitlands (1843), both near Boston. The Transcendentalists opposed materialism, rationalism, conformity, the stereotypes of religion and society, and tried to erect the temple of the Living God in Man’s soul. Abolitionism. It was also the time when antislave tensions were running high. To the Southerners, slavery was as natural a condition as their English speech. The North opposed slavery and its extension into the Western regions. To add to the plight of the slaves, after the 1830s, slave owners began to employ professional overseers, whose status depended on their ability to extract a maximum amount of work from slaves. An earlier antislavery movement had its important victory in 1808 when Congress abolished the slave trade with Africa. The early 1830s saw the uncompromising actions of William Lloyd Garrison who wrote in the first issue of The Liberator: ”I shall strenuously contend for the immediate enfranchisement of our slave population... On this subject I do not wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation... I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch, AND I WILL BE William Lloyd Garrison HEARD.” He was joined by the powerful voice of Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and the eloquent editor of the abolitionist weekly, Northern Star, and author of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), and later by Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1851). The cluster of events around 1849 contributed to the morality of trade and wild luck. The discovery of California gold in the Sacramento Valley in 1848 profoundly changed the population spread, railroad connections, and exposed much mercantilism, greed, desire for quick enrichment. It stamped the nation with something more than Yankee luck, and was seen as an event of Providence, a confirmation of national favor and mission.

36 12. To increaseinsize orarea; 11. Memberofaprimitive tribe 10. thathasbeen Anything 9. The edgeofthesettledarea 8. A standardizedimageoridea 7. To forceonetoleavehome 6. Makeaprisonerof,overcome 5. A personwhorevisesbooks, 4. 16 3. A mentalattitudeorpointofview. 2. Partiallycleared,sparselypopulatedforests. 7. Completethesentences: 6. WhatwasthenationalimpactofGoldRushin1849? 5. Nametheleadersofabolitionistmovement. 4. Howdidthe Transcendentalists influencethepublicmind? 3. Brieflycharacterizethespeechdeliveredby Abraham Lincoln. 2. Whatliteraryschoolsweresetupinthefirstquarterof19 1. Whatkindofliteraturewasinhighdemandatthefrontier? z z 1. The theory, practice,andstyleofromanticart,music,literaturethelate18 revive theoriginalcontextofwords. Find anoriginalworkby American Romanticist,andanalyzeitinan Make anadditionalredearchononeoftheauthorsmentionedinthisunitandwrite With thehelpofdictionaryandoneletterprovided,fillincrossword. Try to add toorenlarge. wild man. living byhuntingorfishing; handed downbytradition. transmitted fromthepastor of acountry;borderline. social group. shared byallmembersofa or country. periodicals, filmsetc. War (1861-1865). about him/her. early 19 g) The moralityoftradeandwildluckwasboosted by… TheCivil War wasfoughtbetween... f) e) The Transcendentalists didnotaccept… d) Lincolnwascalled…byWhitman. c) The contemporaryinventionswere… b) Bytheendof1820s America couldcelebrate… a) BooksaboutNative Americans … th presidentoftheU.S.HisfamerestsonhissuccessinsavingUnionCivil th centuries,usuallyopposedtoclassicism. Expanding YourKnowledge PERSONAL RESPONSE 8 PERSONAL WRITING 3 CROSSWORD 1 10 6 9 12 5 7 11 2 4 th century? essay . th and 37 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 WASHINGTON IRVING

z Have you ever traveled to wondrous I scarcely look with full satisfaction places that strongly impressed your on any [of my works]. I often wish I imagination? How did it enrich your could have twenty years more, to take outlook? them down from the shelf one by one, z What feature of character does the and write them over. quotation reveal? Washington Irving

Both home and abroad Washington Irving is considered the first truly American man of letters, whose stories entered school and university curricula during his lifetime. His best known and first American short stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and are still among the favorite classics. Washington Irving The youngest of 11 children of a cordial mother and a more domineering father, Washington Irving (April 3, 1783, New York City — Nov. 28, 1859, Tarrytown, New York) was brought up in an easy-going and carefree atmosphere. A story has it that George Washington himself met Irving and blessed him. It could have been the reason for writing the monumental biography The Life of George Washington later in his life. Irving avoided a college education, but studied law himself, mostly in the office of Josiah Hoffman, with whose daughter he soon fell in love. In 1802, Irving produced a number of satirical essays under the signature of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent., made several trips up the Hudson river, another into Canada for his health. He also took an extended tour of Europe in 1804-1806. Later, together with other enthusiasts, he published satirical pamphlets on the faults of New York society in a periodical entitled , which still remains a guide to the social environment of the 1810s. Irving’s History of New York by (1809) is a satire of the Dutch regime in New York, and one of the earliest humorous histories. The name was adopted for the first American school of writers, the “Knickerbocker Group,” with Irving as the leader. In 1815, after his mother’s death, Irving went to Liverpool to attend to the interests of his brothers’ hardware firm. On the way there he met Sir Walter Scott in London, who encouraged him in his creative efforts. The result was The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1819- 1820), a collection of stories and essays that mix satire and eccentricity with fact and fiction. Most of its 27 pieces relate Irving’s impressions of England, but six stories deal with American subjects. Though under the heavy influence of German folktales, they are already concerned with American life in a Dutch settlement after the War of Independence. The overwhelming success of The Sketch Book reassured Irving that he could live by his pen, and in 1822 he produced , a sequel to The Sketch Book. In 1826, he accepted an invitation to join the American diplomatic mission in Spain, where he wrote Columbus (1828). Meanwhile, Irving had become absorbed in the legends of the Moorish past and wrote A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada (1829) and The Alhambra (1832), a Spanish counterpart of The Sketch Book. After a 17-year stay in Europe Irving was warmly welcomed to New York in 1832 as the first American author of international acclaim. Irving spent the remainder of his life at his home, “Sunnyside,” in Tarrytown, on the Hudson River, where he devoted himself to literary pursuits.

38 and conciliatingabroad,whoareunderthedisciplineofshrewsathome.… which gainedhimsuchuniversalpopularity;forthosemenaremostapttobeobsequious pecked husband.Indeed,tothelattercircumstancemightbeowingthatmeeknessofspirit a simplegood-naturedman;hewas,moreover, akindneighbor, andanobedienthen- however, butlittleofthemartialcharacterhisancestors.Ihaveobservedthathewas days ofPeterStuyvesant, andaccompaniedhimtothesiegeofFortChristina.Heinherited, Winkle. Hewasadescendantofthe Van Winkles whofiguredsogallantlyinthechivalrous was yetaprovinceofGreatBritain,simplegood-naturedfellow, ofthenameRip Van was sadlytime-wornandweather-beaten), therelivedmanyyearssince,whilethecountry having latticedwindowsandgablefronts,surmountedwithweather-cocks. settlers standingwithinafewyears,builtofsmallyellowbricksbroughtfromHolland, Stuyvesant, (mayherestinpeace!)andthereweresomeofthehousesoriginal early timesoftheprovince,justaboutbeginninggovernmentgoodPeter village, ofgreatantiquity, havingbeenfoundedbysomeoftheDutchcolonists;in tints oftheuplandmeltawayintofreshgreennearerlandscape.Itisalittle curling upfromavillage,whoseshingle-roofsgleamamongthetrees,justwhereblue glow andlightuplikeacrownofglory. a hoodofgrayvaporsabouttheirsummits,which,inthelastrayssettingsun,will evening sky;but,sometimes,whentherestoflandscapeiscloudless,theywillgather settled, theyareclothedinblueandpurple,printtheirboldoutlinesontheclear by allthegoodwives,farandnear, asperfectbarometers. When theweatherisfairand some changeinthemagicalhuesandshapesofthesemountains,theyareregarded Every changeofseason,everyweather, indeed,everyhouroftheday, produces west oftheriver, swellinguptoanobleheight,andlordingitoverthesurroundingcountry. They areadismemberedbranchofthegreat Appalachian family, andareseenawaytothe by arubicundportraitof His MajestyGeorge the Third. … personages ofthevillage,which helditssessionsonabenchbeforesmallinn, designated home, byfrequentingakind ofperpetualclubthesages,philosophers,and otheridle keener withconstantuse. For alongwhileheusedtoconsolehimself,whendriven from a tarttempernevermellowswithage,andsharptongue istheonlyedgedtoolthatgrows broomstick orladle,hewouldruntothedoorwith yelpingprecipitation. casting manyasidelongglanceatDame Van Winkle, andattheleastflourishofa dropped totheground,orcurledbetweenhislegs, he sneakedaboutwithagallowsair, terrors ofawoman’s tongue? The moment Wolf enteredthehouse hiscrestfell,tail scoured thewoods—butwhatcouragecanwithstand theeverduringandall-besetting in allpointsofspiritbefittinganhonorabledog,he was ascourageousananimalever upon Wolf withanevileye,asthecauseofhismaster’s goingsooftenastray. True itis, master; forDame Van Winkle regardedthemascompanionsinidleness,andevenlooked 3 2 1 5 4 In thatsamevillage,andinoneoftheseveryhouses(which,totelltheprecisetruth, thelightsmoke At thefootofthesefairymountains,voyagermayhavedescried mountains. Whoever hasmadeavoyageuptheHudsonmustrememberKaatskill Times grewworseandwithRip Van Winkle asyearsofmatrimonyrolledon; Rip’s soledomesticadherentwashisdog Wolf, whowasasmuchhen-peckedhis Rip VanWinkle 39 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 6Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair; and his only alternative, to escape from the labor of the farm and clamor of his wife, was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods. Here he would sometimes seat himself at the foot of a tree, and share the contents of his wallet with Wolf, with whom he sympathized as a fellow-sufferer in persecution. “Poor Wolf,” he would say, “thy mistress leads thee a dog’s life of it; but never mind, my lad, whilst I live thou shalt never want a friend to stand by thee!” Wolf would wag his tail, look wistfully in his master’s face, and if dogs can feel pity I verily believe he reciprocated the sentiment with all his heart.

7In a long ramble of the kind on a fine autumnal day, Rip had unconsciously scrambled to one of the highest parts of the Kaatskill mountains. He was after his favorite sport of squirrel shooting, and the still solitudes had echoed and reechoed with the reports of his gun. Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in the afternoon, on a green knoll, covered with mountain herbage, that crowned the brow of a precipice. …

8As he was about to descend, he heard a voice from a distance, hallooing, “Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!” He looked round, but could see nothing but a crow winging its solitary flight across the mountain. He thought his fancy must have deceived him, and turned again to descend, when he heard the same cry ring through the still evening air; “Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!” — at the same time Wolf bristled up his back, and giving a low growl, skulked to his master’s side, looking fearfully down into the glen. Rip now felt a vague apprehension stealing over him; he looked anxiously in the same direction, and perceived a strange figure slowly toiling up the rocks, and bending under the weight of something he carried on his back. … (The stranger was dressed after the antique Dutch fashion and was carrying a large barrel of liquor. With Rip’s help and without speaking they got to a hollow where they saw a company of similar looking men. Though they were playing ninepins, they kept grave silence. Rip having approached nearer, they eyed him fixedly and suspiciously. Obeying his companion’s signs, Rip helped serve the drink, took a few draughts, and fell into a deep sleep. Waking on a bright sunny morning, he found no men or liquor, or dog, either; and his gun, he thought, had been replaced by an old rusty one. Hungry, with a heavy heart, anticipating an outburst of fierce rage from his wife, he trudged homeward.)

9As he approached the village he met a number of people, but none whom he knew, which somewhat surprised him, for he had thought himself acquainted with every one in the country round. Their dress, too, was of a different fashion from that to which he was accustomed. They all stared at him with equal marks of surprise, and whenever they cast their eyes upon him, invariably stroked their chins. The constant recurrence of this gesture induced Rip, involuntarily, to do the same, when, to his astonishment, he found his beard had grown a foot long! …

10He entered the house, which, to tell the truth, Dame Van Winkle had always kept in neat order. It. was empty, forlorn, and apparently abandoned. This desolateness overcame all his connubial feats — he called loudly for his wife and children — the lonely chambers rang for a moment with his voice, and then all again was silence.

11He now hurried forth, and hastened to his old resort, the village inn — but it too was gone. A large rickety wooden building stood in its place, with great gaping windows, some of them broken and mended with old hats and petticoats, and over the door was painted, “The Union Hotel, by Jonathan Doolittle.” Instead of the great tree that used to shelter the quiet little Dutch

40 they mighthaveaquieting draughtoutofRip Van Winkle’s flagon… of allhenpeckedhusbands intheneighborhood,whenlifehangsheavyontheir hands,that Hendrick Hudsonandhis crew areattheirgameofninepins;anditisacommon wish they neverhearathunderstormofsummerafternoon abouttheKaatskill,buttheysay old Dutchinhabitants,however, almostuniversallygaveitfullcredit.Eventothisday related, andnotaman,woman,orchildintheneighborhood, butknewitbyheart.… The owing tohishavingsorecentlyawaked.Itatlastsettled downpreciselytothetaleIhave observed, atfirst,tovaryonsomepointseverytime hetoldit,whichwas,doubtless, know poorRip Van Winkle?”... cried he—“Young Rip Van Winkle once—oldRip Van Winkle now!—Doesnobody himself nolonger. Hecaughthisdaughterandherchildinarms.“I’myourfather!” at aNew-Englandpeddler.” I wasthenbutalittlegirl.” him; butwhetherheshothimself,orwascarriedawaybytheIndians,nobodycantell. from homewithhisgun,andneverhasbeenheardofsince—dogcamewithout a trainofrecollectionsinhismind.“Whatisyourname,mygoodwoman?”askedhe. hurt you.” The name ofthechild,airmother, thetoneofhervoice, allawakened his looks,begantocry. “Hush,Rip,”criedshe,“hush,youlittlefool;theoldmanwon’t peep atthegray-beardedman.Shehadachubbychildinherarms,which,frightened n te od,wihwr efc ayoihjro otebwlee a ike … and otherwords,whichwereaperfectBabylonishjargon tothebewildered Van Winkle. elections —membersofcongresslibertyBunker’s Hill—heroesofseventy-six with hispocketsfullofhandbills,washaranguingvehementlyaboutrightscitizens— forth thecontentsofanancientnewspaper. Inplaceofthese,alean,bilious-lookingfellow, clouds oftobacco-smokeinsteadidlespeeches;or Van Bummel,theschoolmasterdoling the sageNicholas Vedder, withhisbroadface,doublechin,andfairlongpipe,uttering about it,insteadoftheaccustomedphlegmanddrowsytranquillity. Helookedinvainfor very characterofthepeopleseemedchanged. There wasabusy, bustling,disputatioustone and underneathwaspaintedinlarge characters,GENERAL WASHINGTON. sword washeldinthehandinsteadofasceptre,headdecoratedwithcockedhat, this wassingularlymetamorphosed. The redcoatwaschangedforoneofblueandbuff, a the rubyfaceofKingGeorge, underwhichhehadsmokedsomanyapeacefulpipe;buteven and stripes—allthiswasstrangeincomprehensible.Herecognizedonthesign,however, a rednight-cap,andfromitwasflutteringflag,onwhichsingularassemblageofstars inn ofyore,therenowwasrearedatallnakedpole,withsomethingonthetopthatlookedlike There wasadropofcomfort,atleast,inthisintelligence. The honestmancouldcontain “Oh, shetoohaddiedbutashorttimesince;brokeblood-vesselinfitofpassion “Where’s yourmother?” Rip hadbutonequestionmoretoask;heputitwithafalteringvoice: “Ah, poorman,Rip Van Winkle was hisname,butit’s twenty yearssincehewentaway “And yourfather’s name?” “Judith Gardenier.” 13 12 14 There was,asusual,acrowdoffolkaboutthedoor, butnonethatRiprecollected. The He usedtotellhisstoryeverystrangerthatarrived atMr. Doolittle’s hotel.Hewas …At thiscriticalmomentafreshcomelywomanpressedthroughthethrongtoget 1819 (21) 41 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 Expanding Your Knowledge PERSONAL RESPONSE IRVING’S LIFE 1. What is Irving’s significance for American literature? 2. Search for the hidden meaning of the name “Tarrytown.” How does it fit into Irving’s literary portrait? 3. Replace these subtitles by subdividing Irving’s biography into the coherent parts: In the Family Circle, Toward a Mature Writer, Welcome Back Home. RIP VAN WINKLE 1. What epithets are chosen to describe the Kaatskill mountains? What details tie the story to a certain historical period? 2. What traces of military language can you find in the story? What could be the reason for their inclusion? 3. What else could we have expected from Rip Van Winkle besides the mysterious twenty- year sleep? Do you sympathize with, criticize or feel otherwise toward him? 4. Why is the expression sole domestic adherent used to refer to a dog in paragraph 4? What other more natural synonyms can you think of? What else does the least flourish of a broomstick or ladle stand for? What is ironic in Rip’s address to Wolf in par. 8? 5. What was his first surprise on approaching the village? How important is the portrait of King George III? What did Rip think had happened? How did Rip Van Winkle’s family change over the years? 6. What is the narrator’s point of view? How does he treat his characters? 7. Compare W. Bradford and W. Irving according to their style of writing. How would you define the author’s purpose for both of them? 8. Single out all the plot phases. Which one is most informative? Amusing? Descriptive? 9. How do you imagine the speaker? To what degree is his presence felt in the narrative? 10. Order the Events from the story: a) Rip Van Winkle’s daughter recognizes him. b) In despair Rip goes squirrel hunting in the mountains. c) Rip sees a strange looking man with a barrel. d) Rip helps to wait on the party of ninepins players. e) He tastes the liquor in the flagon. f) On the way back to the village Rip became aware of his foot-long beard. g) Rip Van Winkle is reunited with his children and community. h) He falls asleep. i) With difficulty Rip finds his house. WRITING WORKSHOP z Make use of available resources to write a short essay on what social life was like in the American Colonies in the 18th century. z Write a personal letter, as if you were Rip, telling about this unusual experience.

42 was afailure,Cooperhadfoundhisvocation,andnextnovel, bet withhiswifethathecouldwriteabetterbook,thanthoseincirculation. Though thework he createdHarveyBirch,ahumblespyforthe American revolutionaries,washighlyrated. the mostpreciouscommodity, beaverfurs. Native Americans andwhite merchantsexchange— due toalargeinheritancefromhisfather, hequitthenavalcareer. Susan Augusta DeLanceyfromapowerfulNew York Tory family, andshortlythereafter, pranks. As acommonseamanhewas then senttoEuropeprepareforanavalcareer. so markedwasthiseffect thatlaterhewasexpelledfrom Yale Universityforfrivolityand founded byJudgeCooper. Jamesdelightedinthefreedomofwealthandwilderness, was aboutayearoldwhentheCoopersmovedtofrontiervillageofCooperstown, Quakers’ CooperandElizabethFenimoreCooper, JudgeWilliam Jersey —Sept.14,1851,Cooperstown,New York), thesonof all ofthesearebestrevealedatthe American frontier. nature andlaw, orderandchange,wildernesscivilization; dramatizations ofthelong-lasting American conflictsbetween The LastoftheMohicans famous forthe Cooper’s nextwork, Cooper’s His firstnovel On hisreturnin1808,CooperenteredintotheNavy. Three yearslaterhemarried James FenimoreCooper An American novelist,historian,andsocialcritic,Cooperismost superstitious, modest,andcommonlychaste. devoted; inpeace,just,generous,hospitable,revengeful, boastful, cunning,ruthless,self-denying,andself- native warriorofNorth America. Inwar, heisdaring, so expressit,greaterantithesisofcharacterthanthe Few menexhibitgreaterdiversity, or, ifwemay JAMES FENIMORECOOPER Leather-Stocking Tales Precaution The Pioneers . Modernreadersarefascinatedwithhis (1820), examiningEnglishhighsociety, appearedbecauseofa (Sept.15,1789,Burlington,New James FenimoreCooper (1823),promotedhisreputation,bothathomeand , ofwhichthebestknownis Pathfinder in theLakeChamplain region. heroic deedsagainstthe HuronIndians Last oftheMohicans Bumppo intheLakeOtsego region. Deerslayer last-published workintheseries— Chingachgook. The storystartswiththe Hawkeye) andhisIndiancompanion (also calledLeather-Stocking& forester-frontiersman NattyBumppo of theadventures American classics of American literature. They tell Stocking abroad, andstartedhisLeather-

series, whichhavebecome (1840)tellsofBumppo’s (1841), whichshowsyoung z The Spy Recall your possess asawriter? strength doeshe before. What reading Cooper impressions of James FenimoreCooper (1821),inwhich followsNatty’s The The The 43 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 adventures in the French and Indian War, and his love; The Pioneers portrays Natty and Chingachgook as old men; and The Prairie (1827) pictures Bumppo’s last days, as a trapper on the Great Plains, where he was driven by the destruction of the forests in the East. Cooper has yet another literary asset — he created the first sea novel, The Pilot (1824), filled, like the forest tales, with rapid action and strongly contrasted characters. Critics have often been too sharp toward Cooper’s literary faults, especially his careless and pompous language, though nowadays they are beginning to discover the complex internal designs that made Cooper’s work admired by such writers as Goethe, Balzac and Conrad for his inventiveness and pioneering use of American materials. The Pioneers from Chapter XXII For a week, the dark covering of the Otsego was left to the undisturbed possession of two eagles, who alighted on the centre of its field, and sat proudly eyeing the extent of their undisputed territory. During the presence of these monarchs of the air, the flocks of migrating birds avoided crossing the plain of ice, by turning into the hills, and apparently seeking the protection of the forests, while the white and bald heads of the tenants of the lake were turned upward, with a look of majestic contempt, as if penetrating to the very heavens with the acuteness of their vision. […] At each step the power of the winds and the waves increased, until, after a struggle of a few hours, the turbulent little billows succeeded in setting the whole field in an undulating motion, when it was driven beyond the reach of the eye, with a rapidity, that was as magical as the change produced in the scene by this expulsion of the lingering remnant of winter. Just as the last sheet of agitated ice was disappearing in the distance, the eagles rose over the border of crystals, and soared with a wide sweep far above the clouds, while the waves tossed their little caps of snow into the air, as if rioting in their release from a thraldom of five months duration. The following morning Elizabeth 1 was awakened by the exhilarating sounds of the martins, who were quarrelling and chattering around the little boxes which were suspended above her windows, and the cries of Richard,2 who was calling, in tones as animating as the signs of the season itself. “Awake! awake! my lady fair! the gulls are hovering over the lake already, and the heavens are alive with the pigeons. You may look an hour before you can find a hole, through which, to get a peep at the sun. Awake! awake! lazy ones! Benjamin 3 is overhauling the ammunition, and we only wait for our breakfasts, and away for the mountains and pigeon-shooting.” There was no resisting this animated appeal, and in a few minutes Miss Temple and her friend descended to the parlour. The doors of the hall were thrown open, and the mild, balmy air of a clear spring morning was ventilating the apartment, where the vigilance of the ex-steward had been so long maintaining an artificial heat, with such unremitted diligence. All of the gentlemen, we do not include Monsieur Le Quoi,4 were impatiently waiting their morning’s repast, each being equipt in the garb of a sportsman. Mr. Jones made many visits to the southern door, and would cry. 1 Elizabeth Temple, daughter of Judge Marmaduke Temple, the founder of Templeton and its chief landowner; at the outset of the story she returns from four years at school. 2 Richard (Dickon) Jones, the sheriff, a cousin of Judge Temple; he superintends “all the minor concerns of Temple’s business.” 3 Benjamin Penguillan (called Ben Pump), former sailor, “major-domo” or steward under Jones. One of his charges at the Templeton house is to keep the stove in the parlor hot in winter. 4 Once a West Indian planter, now a refugee because of the French Revolution.

44 6 5 4 3 2 1 a wood-chopper the Delawaresare“goodIndians.” In anearlierchapterNattyBumppo hadbeatenKirbyinaturkey-shootingcontest. In the Oliver Edwards,amysterious young stranger. Xerxes theGreat(519-465b.c.) waskingofPersia(486-465b.c.). short for“Marmaduke,”thejudge them fromthemountain.”[ they comebackinthefall.— Away! Bess;Ilongtopepper away! just thesameastheserascalswilloverrunourwheat-fields,when — no,hewasa Turk, oraPersian,whowantedtoconquerGreece, than shootingataturkey’s headandneck,oldfellow.” feeling’dto’ardsthedivils. —Hurrah,boys!scatterthefeathers. This isbetter massyfully If youhadtosowyourwheattwice,andthreetimes, asIhavedone,youwouldn’t beso and tookuponhimselftoreply. and shoutingashisvictimsfellevenonownperson. HeheardthespeechofNatty, musket, wasloading,and,withoutevenlookingintothe air, wasfiring, the armyofXerxes that theeyecannotseeendof. There isfoodenoughinittokeep broken up! They aregrowingmorethickeveryinstant.Hereisaflock into theflocksasifhewasshootingdownnothingbutMingo by-and-by. — There’s Mr. Oliver, asbadtherestofthem,firing for nothing,andrightwillbedonetothepigeons,aswellothers, village atthem. Well! theLordwon’t seethewasteofhiscreators the air, forIknowit’s onlyamotiontobringoutallthebratsin gives mesorethoughtswhenIhearthefrightythingswhizzingthrough nothing; being,asitwas,harmlessagarter-snake. Butnowit them comeintothewoods,fortheywerecompanytoabody;hurting clearings, therewasnobodytoscareorhurtthem.Ilovedsee the pigeonstoflyforfortylongyears,and,tillyoumadeyour saw theintroductionofswivelintosports. proceedings, butwasabletokeephissentimentshimselfuntilhe execution. participated inhisfeelings,atthiswastefulandunsportsmanlike flocks, andthencrouchingunderthelegsoftheirmaster, asifthey the deadorwoundedbirds,thatwerebeginningtotumblefrom hanging onhisarm,dogsfollowingcloseatheels,nowscenting Leather-stocking, whowaswalkingoverthefield,withhisrifle for thewholecounty. Xerxes,Mr. Edwards, Leather-stocking “What’s that,oldLeather-stocking!” he cried;“grumblingatthelossofafewpigeons! “This comesofsettlingacountry,” hesaid—“herehaveIknown Leather-stocking wasasilent,butuneasyspectatorofallthese Amongst thesportsmenwastobeseentall,gauntformof warriors.” “See, cousinBess!see,’duke! Among thesportsmenwasBillyKirby, novelssetinNew York, theMingos(Iroquois)aremadeouttobe “bad Indians”while 2

for amonth,andfeathersenoughtomakebeds XX ] 1 thepigeon-roostsofsouthhave 5 3 who,armedwithanold wasaGrecianking,who 6 4 protected their cotton bonnets Woolen or their skirts. petticoats over dresses and smock-like women wore Most pioneer trousers. deerskin They alsowore at thewaist. belted ortied buttons and cloth —without or homemade from deerskin shirts —made lenght hunting fitting, thigh- wore loose- Frontiersmen faces. 45 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 “It’s better for you, maybe, Billy Kirby,” returned the indignant old hunter, “and all them as don’t know how to put a ball down a rifle-barrel, or how to bring it up ag’in with a true aim; but it’s wicked to be shooting into flocks in this wastey manner; and none do it, who know how to knock over a single bird. If a body has a craving for pigeon’s flesh, why! it’s made the same as all other creaters, for man’s eating, but not to kill twenty and eat one. When I want such a thing, I go into the woods till I find one to my liking, and then I shoot him off the branches without touching a feather of another, though there might be a hundred on the same tree. But you couldn’t do such a thing, Billy Kirby — you couldn’t do it if you tried.” “What’s that you say, you old, dried cornstalk! you sapless stub!” cried the wood-chopper. “You’ve grown mighty boasting, since you killed the turkey; but if you’re for a single shot, here goes at that bird which comes on by himself.” The fire from the distant part of the field had driven a single pigeon below the flock to which it had belonged, and, frightened with the constant reports of the muskets, it was approaching the spot where the disputants stood, darting first from one side, and then to the other, cutting the air with the swiftness of lightning, and making a noise with its wings, not unlike the rushing of a bullet. Unfortunately for the wood-chopper, notwithstanding his vaunt, he did not see his bird until it was too late for him to fire as it approached, and he pulled his trigger at the unlucky moment when it was darting immediately over his head. The bird continued its course with incredible velocity. 1823 (22) Expanding Your Knowledge PERSONAL RESPONSE COOPER’S LIFE 1. What are Cooper’s literary distinctions? Why are his heroes so popular? 2. What was the reason for his public estrangement? 3. What are his literary innovations? THE PIONEERS 1. Cooper provides us with a rich description of the setting. What were the time and place of the event? 2. Why is Mr. Jones so urging the company? What does the choice of weapons tell of the villagers? 3. How different is Natty Bumppo from the rest of the shooters? 4. How different is Natty’s speech from that of the wood-chopper’s? By what means does Cooper achieve this contrast? 5. What can be conclued about Natty Bumpoo’s attitude toward Nature? 6. How would you characterize Cooper’s diction? 7. Choose the right word for each of the eight gaps out of the given nine: noised, commenced, flocks, ringing, woods, pointed, mounted, extinct, shot. a) Large ... of wild geese were seen passing over the country. b) In a few moments the attack ... . c) The miniature cannon had been released from the rest, and ... on little wheels. d) On the morning of the Fourth of July, it would be heard, with its echoes ... among the hills, and telling forth its sounds, for thirteen times. e) The gun was ... on high.

46 z z Emerson’s journal Harvard DivinitySchool. He taughtatschool,triedhispeninfictionand verse,readupontheologyandentered and famousquotationsinhisdiary, whichgrewto“thesavingbank”for hislaterwriting. College asanordinarystudent,butatearlyagehedelightedinputtingdownhisthoughts (May 25,1803,Boston— April 27,1882,Concord,Massachusetts)graduated fromHarvard of Nature,whicheveryoneisapart,wecandiscoverourownselves. man’s mindandspiritarelikeGod’s; andbyseeingthroughthe workings of yourcontemporaries,theconnectionevents.”Healsomaintainedthat theplacedivineprovidencehasfoundforyou,society to “accept Self-Reliance, individual. This dominantthoughtpenetrateshiseverymajorwork suchas Invent a scene from Cooper’s childhoodandshapeitinastory,Invent ascenefromCooper’s addingmorecharacters, Think ofanendingtothisepisode.Gothroughthewholeextractagain,payingattention A poet,essayist,lecturer, andpublicspeaker, Emerson isoftenquotedasadefenderoftheinnerdivinepowersan description, dialogue,and,ofcourse,somepranksonJames’behalf. were donebyCooper. Then compareitwiththeoriginalof to figuresofspeech,sentencestructure,punctuation,etc.,andwriteitdownasif h) The passengerpigeonsare...,thelastknownspecimendyingin1914atCincinnati g) Wasn’t the...madeforbeastsandbirdstoharbourin? f) The wonderfulexploitofLeather-Stocking was...throughthefieldwithgreatrapidity. with perfectsweetnesstheindependenceofsolitude. great manishewhointhemidstofcrowdkeeps opinion; itiseasyinsolitudeafterone’s own;butthe It iseasyintheworldtoliveafterworld’s Zoological Garden. where hecalleduponhiscountrymentotrustthemselves, RALPH WALDOEMERSON WRITING WORKSHOP Ralph WaldoEmerson Concord. The couple’s ownhouse second marriagehemoved totherustic career ofapublicspeaker, andaftera pulpit andtraveledextensively inEurope. 1831. The nextyearEmersonleft the happiness wascutshortbyherdeathin the SecondChurchofBoston,buttheir receiving hisappointmentaspastorof a youngwoman,Ellen Tucker, justafter preached intheBostonarea.Hemarried for hishealthand,asjuniorpastor, Ralph Waldo Emerson Back in America, helauncheda Emerson oftentraveledtotheSouth z The Pioneers Recall theauthors their workslike? in Nature.Whatare who foundinspiration . Ralph Waldo Emerson 47 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 became a welcoming place for writers and conversationalists such as William Channings, Louisa Alcott, Margaret Fuller, Thoreau and others. This prominent group made Concord a kind of “the Athens of America.” In 1836, Emerson’s first book Nature saw print, setting forth the major guidelines for Transcendentalism. In 1841, Emerson produced some of his best writings, The Over-Soul, Compensation and Self-Reliance, which contain the finest aphorisms to be found in American literature, e.g. “To be great is to be misunderstood,” “Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force; that thoughts rule the world,” “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience,” “There’s no road that has not a star above it.” These three masterpieces, published collectively as Essays, firmly established his literary reputation. His elaborate style and masterly sentences are referred to as a treasure trove of a perfect union of language and thought. Nature To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile. The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood. […] To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child. The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Nature says, — he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me. Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight. Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece. In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear. In the woods, too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life is always a child. In the woods is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I

48 Revolutionary War. one ofthefirstbattles fought againsttheBritishin the American Minutemenhad Massachusetts. There, in1775, was unveiledinConcord, On July4,1837,amonument 2. Haveyoueverkeptyourown“savingbank”? Whatthoughtscouldbetrustedtoit? 1. HowwaseducationimportantintheEmersons’ tradition? 2. InEmerson’s view, howdogrown-upsandchildrendiffer according tohowtheyview 1. Whydopeopleusually lookatthestarstheywishtobealone?How wouldpeople What thoughtscouldEmersonhaveputinhis diary? nature? Whatexplanation doesEmersonsuggestforthisdifference? human nature? respond ifthestarsappeared onlyonceinawhile?Whatdoesthis suggestabout horizon, manbeholdssomewhatasbeautifulhisownnature. than instreetsorvillages.Inthetranquillandscape,andespeciallydistantlineof uncontained andimmortalbeauty. Inthewilderness,Ifindsomethingmoredearandconnate to beacquaintances,masterorservant,isthenatrifleanddisturbance.Iamtheloverof parcel ofGod. The nameofthenearestfriendsoundsthenforeignandaccidental:tobebrothers, I amnothing;seeall;thecurrentsofUniversalBeingcirculatethroughme;partor and upliftedintoinfinitespace,—allmeanegotismvanishes.Ibecomeatransparenteyeball; which naturecannotrepair. Standing onthebareground,—myheadbathedbyblitheair feel thatnothingcanbefallmeinlife,—nodisgrace,calamity(leavingmyeyes), Expanding YourKnowledge PERSONAL RESPONSE Hymn SungattheCompletion 16 12 8 4 EMERSON’S LIFE of theConcordMonument, The shaftweraisetothemandthee. Bid Time andNaturegentlyspare To die,orleavetheirchildrenfree, Spirit, thatmadethoseheroesdare When, likeoursires,sonsaregone. That memorymaytheirdeedredeem, We setto-dayavotivestone; On thisgreenbank,bysoftstream, Down thedarkstreamwhichseawardcreeps. And Time theruinedbridgehasswept Alike theconquerorsilentsleeps; The foelongsinceinsilenceslept; And firedtheshotheardroundworld. Here oncetheembattledfarmersstood, Their flagto April’s breezeunfurled, By therudebridgethatarchedflood, NATURE April 19,1836 1836 (26) (x) 1836 49 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 3. What, do you think, is the difference between the meanings a writer and a scientist find in nature? 4. Try to define the style of this essay. HYMN 1. What events are referred to in the Hymn? What purpose will the monument serve? 2. What does the poet ask in the last lines? Who is praised in this poem? 3. Emerson uses a figure of speech called metonymy such as shot (line 4). Identify other examples where one word represents a related notion, and state their role in the poem. 4. What tone does the repetition of r sound create in the first line? Identify more examples of consonance. WRITING WORKSHOP z If Emerson were to travel through your own countryside, what could he write of Nature there? Write an informal essay. z If Emerson should have delivered a speech instead of Hymn, what might it have been like? Write a short speech for this or any other memorable occasion.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

z What American mythical heroes created by Longfellow We can make do you know? our lives sublime, z Do you think being a poet was a reputable And, departing, occupation in the mid-19th century? leave behind us z While reading, fit the subtitles back into the biography Footprints on the sand — Years at Home, The First Profession, of time. From Bowdoin to Harvard, Within a Henry Wadsworth Family, Later Years. Longfellow

Few writers have understood people better than Longfellow did or have given them so much pleasure they could take to their hearts. Poem after poem strengthen his popularity both in the United States and in Europe. Longfellow had an exceptional ability — the power of mythmaking, of creating Henry Wadsworth figures that would forever become a part of American fiction. Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807, Portland — March 24, 1882, Cambridge, Massachusetts) grew up in a cultivated atmosphere, where books added scholarliness to the picturesque countryside of Maine. While in the country, he thirstily listened to live accounts of Grandfather Wadsworth about the Indian warfare chieftains and their. As a student, Longfellow led a quiet life, and by his senior year had published numerous essays and poems in the American Monthly Magazine and the United States Literary Gazette. On graduating from Bowdoin in 1825, Longfellow wrote his father, “I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature. ... Surely there never was a better opportunity offered for the exertion of literary talent in our own country than is now offered.” “A literary life,” his father objected, “to one who has the means of support, must be very pleasant. But there is not enough wealth in this country to afford sufficient encouragement and patronage

50 trochaic (1858) and works inthenextfewyears,notably literature, acquainting Americans with foreign verseforms. that includedmanyofhisowntranslations,wasanimportantmilestonein American American contemporary. Hiseditingof remarkable. whomadeCambridgeandBoston so Lowell theU.S.poet,essayist,anddiplomat, Wendell HolmestheU.S.poet,novelist,essayist, andphysician,JamesRussell Oliver Nathaniel Hawthorne,RalphWaldoU.S. statesman, Emerson,Charles Sumnerthe writings andhisperfectknowledgeofforeignliteraturesearnedhimthefriendship and dressingstylishly, withasenseofhumor, waswelllikedbyhisstudents.Hisown German literature,whosemoodappealedbothtohisnatureandloss. and thewinterinHeidelbergbroughthimintocontactwithsentimentalityofromantic His trip,however, washeavilysaddenedbyMary’s suddendeath.HestayedoninEurope, a periodoffurtherstudyabroad,concentratingonGermanandtheScandinavianlanguages. appointment asprofessorofmodernlanguagesatHarvardin1835,andagainheleftfor position, linkedwithhissuccessasateacheratBowdoin,finallyculminatedin the beautifulandfrailMaryPotterofPortland. Thoughtful efforts tosecureabetteracademic classical languages,OldEnglishandProvençal. those countries,butalsoofSwedish,Finnish,DutchandPortuguese,aswellthe which laidthefoundationforhismasterynotonlyoflanguagesandliteratures study foratimeabroad,hisfatheragreed. offer ofaprofessorshipmodernlanguagescamefromBowdoin,providedHenrywould to merelyliterarymen.” The elderLongfellowwantedhissontostudylaw, butwhenan on Concord. Revolution andhisfamous midnightridetowarnthe Americans abouttheBritishattack meant tosuggestthegalloping ofahorse,thisballadportrayshero ofthe American first poem, (1863), acollectionofstories inverse,andhemanagedtofinishitafter thetragedy. The his ownfaceweresobadthathehadtogrow abeard,beingunabletoshave. Fanny dashedtowardhim.Heseizedarugand wrappeditaroundherasshefainted. Henry Longfellowheardherscreamingandrushed toher. In panic,coveredwithflames, candle flamecaughtacornerofhersleeve,and theflamesfannedouttowardherface. sealed itwithadropofwaxfromlightedcandle. their daughters’hairtobesentaunts. Settingeachcurlintoanenvelope,she safe fromanothertragedy. his lovefortheminthecharmingdomesticidyllof Longfellow resignedfromHarvardtodevotehimselfsolelywritingandpublishedseveral The practiceoftranslationpolishedLongfellow’s versetechniquebeyondthatofany In 1836,LongfellowbeganteachingatHarvard.Hewasapopularfigureoncampus, Longfellow heldhisprofessorshipatBowdoinfrom1829till1835;in1831,hemarried Longfellow spenttheyears1826-1829travelinginFrance,Spain,Italy, andGermany, At thetimeofhiswife’s death,Longfellowwasatworkon By thenextmorningshedied.HenryLongfellow mournedherdeeply;andtheburnson It wasahotsummerday, andMrs.Longfellowwaswearingalightdress.Suddenlythe One day, Fanny, his secondwife,wassittingatherwritingdesk,cuttingoff piecesof Longfellow’s sixchildren wereborninCraigieHouse,andhesharedwithhisreaders meter Paul Revere’s Ride The SongofHiawatha , whichLongfellowadaptedfromtheFinnishepic , becameanationalfavorite. Written inanapestic tetrameter (1855). The latterisespeciallydistinguishedforits The CourtshipofMilesStandish, The PoetsandPoetryofEurope Children’s Hour Tales ofaWayside Inn Kalevala (1860).Buthewasn’t (1845),ananthology

and OtherPoems . 51 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 PAUL REVERE’S RIDE from Tales of a Wayside Inn Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere [...] He said to his friend, “If the British march By land or sea from the town tonight, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light — One, if by land, and two, if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm For the country folk to be up and to arm.“ Then he said, “Good night!“ and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war, A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon like a prison bar, And a huge black hulk that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide. Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street Wanders and watches with eager ears, Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers Marching down to their boats on the shore. Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread, To the belfry chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch [...] Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns! A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,

52 4. Longfellowmasterfully imitatesthegallopofhorsebyauditorymeans. Startingfrom 3. Findexamplesof 2. Findexamplesof 1. WhichwayweretheBritishsoldierscoming as PaulRevere’s urgentmessagewarned 3. DrawachronologicalchartandretellLongfellow’s biographyaccordingtoit. 2. Whodidhecomeintouchwithwhileteaching atHarvard? What washeparticularlytalentedin? 1. WhydidLongfellowtraveltoEurope? What roledoesitfulfil here? the line author createaturbulent atmosphere? of thewords.Howinstrumentalisitingeneral designofthepoem?Howdoes Revolution? people? Whatplacenameshelpusseethattheevents wereattheheartof American And themidnightmessageofPaulRevere. The hurryinghoofbeatsofthatsteed The peoplewillwakenandlistentohear In thehourofdarknessandperilneed Through allourhistory, tothelast, For, borneonthenightwindofpast, And awordthatshallechoforevermore! A voicein thedarkness,aknockatdoor, A cryofdefianceandnotfear, To everyMiddlesexvillageandfarm— And sothroughthenightwenthiscryofalarm So throughthenightrodePaulRevere, And onlypausingtofireandload. Under thetreesatturnofroad, Then crossingthefieldstoemerge again Chasing theredcoatsdownlane, From behindeachfenceandfarmyardwall, How thefarmersgavethemballfor How theBritishregularsfiredandfled; You knowtherest.Inbooksyouhaveread Kindled thelandintoflamewithitsheat[…] And thesparkstruckoutbythatsteedinhisflight The fateofanationwasridingthatnight, That wasall! And yet,through thegloomandlight Struck outbyasteedflyingfearlessandfleet: And beneath,fromthepebbles,inpassing,aspark And lo!ashelookson thebelfry’s height alliteration hyperbole. Expanding YourKnowledge . Readthemoutloud,carefullypronouncingthefirst sounds PERSONAL RESPONSE PAUL REVERE’SRIDE LONGFELLOW’S LIFE How importantisit? find examplesof 1863 (27) onomatopoeia . 53 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 5. Paul Revere’s Ride is an example of narrative poetry. What features is this genre characterized by? WRITING WORKSHOP z Longfellow is a master of creating a well-organized rhythm. There are many natural rhythms in the world around, e. g. the sunrise and sunset, the changing of the seasons, etc. Choose some rhythm and try to express it through a short poem. z By removing stylistic ornamentation, reduce Paul Revere’s Ride to a prose story. Which words from the original would you keep? Can poetry roughly be defined by what was left out?

EDGAR ALLAN POE

z What works by Poe are you familiar The pure Imagination chooses, from with? either Beauty or Deformity, only the most z Bring to memory any dark episodes combinable things hitherto uncombined. from either his life or works. Edgar Allan Poe

The forerunner of psychological writing, detective stories and science fiction, Poe’s heritage appears astonishingly modern to the contemporary reader. Misunderstood by popular American writers of his time, Poe was a major influence in Europe, particularly among the French Symbolist poets, including Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Mallarm . He also added to the dark tradition in American literature maintained by Hawthorne, Bierce, and Faulkner. Edgar Allan Poe When his actor-parents died, Edgar Allan Poe (Jan. 19, 1809, Boston — Oct. 7, 1849, Baltimore, Maryland) was taken without formal adoption into the household of John Allan, a prosperous but childless tobacco merchant. As he grew older, Poe must have felt his uncertain position in a wealthy aristocratic family. Allan quarreled with Poe after the latter was dismissed from the University of Virginia, where he had done well academically, but had got into debts which Mr. Allan refused to pay. Shortly afterwards, Allan secured for him an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he was expelled in 1831. Allan now turned his back on Poe. Poe had already published Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827 and a better volume called simply Poems in 1831. He was living in Baltimore with his father’s widowed and poverty-stricken sister, Mrs. Maria Clemm, when he won a prize of $50 for his MS Found in a Bottle in a Baltimore Saturday Visitor short-story contest. In due course, Poe spent most of his remaining years as a staff member of various magazines from which he usually either soon retired or was discharged as the result of unruly behavior. He was becoming increasingly known as the writer of sharp critical essays, now recognized as the most original that had appeared in the United States; of poems, marked by an unforgettable rhythm; and of stories, of which the best were mostly fantastic, mysterious, and morbid. Poe married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm, in 1836. Her pale beauty, weak health, and childlike character seemed to embody the ideal which almost from the beginning had been celebrated in his poems and stories. Her death in 1847 of a wasting disease seems to have caused Poe’s total collapse. He was found ill in a Baltimore tavern in October 1849, and died in a hospital.

54 of the20 he describesaballoonvoyagetothemoon.In Murders inRueMorgue,TheMysteryofMarieRoget thinking machineabletoresolvethemostcomplexmysteriessuchasintrilogy Masterful inhisingeniousinductiveanddeductivepowers,Poe’s protagonistisafaultless Agatha Christie,embodiestheidealizedversionofPoethatlifehadnevergrantedhim. of alonglineliterarysleuthsdevelopedby Arthur ConanDoyle,DorothySayers,and of thepopularliterarygenres—detectivestory. C. Auguste Dupin,thepredecessor nightmares. of thehumanmindwhereunearthlybeautyismergedwithsubconsciousdreadful Mummy transcends yetanotherbarrier—thatoftimeinthehumorous A Tale oftheRaggedMountains Poe’s imaginationknewnolimits.HeforeshadowsJulesVerne andthespaceexplorations Poe’s deepunderstandingofhumanpsychologywasmostvitalinhisestablishingone shuddered inwardlyatthose toounearthlytones.[…] and therefellashadowuponmysoul,Igrew pale, and of hervoice,untilatlengthitsmelodywastaintedwith terror, hour, wouldIlingerbyherside,anddwelluponthemusic burned themselvesinuponmymemory. And then,hourafter philosophy somelow, singularwords,whosestrangemeaning hand uponmyown,andrakeupfromtheashesof adead spirit enkindlingwithinme—wouldMorellaplace her cold — then,whenporingoverforbiddenpages,Ifelta unflinching heartintotheintricaciesofherstudies. And then implicitly totheguidanceofmywife,andentered withan deeds orinmythoughts.Persuadedofthis,Iabandoned myself I readtobediscovered,unlessamgreatlymistaken,eitherinmy were innomanneracteduponbytheideal,norwasanytinctureofmysticismwhich mere drossoftheearlyGermanliterature. placed beforemeanumberofthosemysticalwritingswhichareusuallyconsideredthe pupil. Isoon,however, foundthat,perhapsonaccountofherPresburg education,she order —herpowersofmindweregigantic.Ifeltthis,and,inmanymatters,became me alonerenderedhappy. Itisahappinesstowonder;itdream. spoke ofpassionnorthoughtlove.She,however, shunnedsociety, and,attachingherselfto regulate theirvagueintensity. Yet wemet;andfateboundustogetheratthealtar, andInever spirit wasthegradualconvictionthatIcouldinnomannerdefinetheirunusualmeaningor it hadneverbeforeknown;butthefireswerenotofEros,andbittertormentingtomy by accidentintohersocietymanyyearsago,mysoulfromourfirstmeeting,burnedwithfires In allthis,ifIerrnot,myreasonhadlittletodo.Myconvictions,orforget myself, Morella’s eruditionwasprofound. As Ihopetolive,hertalentswereofnocommon With afeelingofdeepyetmostsingularaffection IregardedmyfriendMorella. Thrown . Poeisparticularlyuniqueastheacknowledgeddiscovererofthosedarkcorners th centuryintalessuchas , hedigsintothestillundefinedfieldofmesmerism.Poe The Unparalleled Adventure ofOneHansPfaall Morella “Itself, byitself,solely, oneeverlasting,andsingle.” The FactsintheCaseofM.Valdemar , and The PurloinedLetter Some Wordswitha — Plato. . , where and The Sympos 55 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 But, indeed, the time had now arrived when the mystery of my wife’s manner oppressed me as a spell. I could no longer bear the touch of her wan fingers, nor the low tone of her musical language, nor the lustre of her melancholy eyes. And she knew all this, but did not upbraid; she seemed conscious of my weakness or my folly, and, smiling, called it fate. Yet was she woman, and pined away daily. In time the crimson spot settled steadily upon the cheek, and the blue veins upon the pale forehead became prominent; and one instant my nature melted into pity, but, in next I met the glance of her meaning eyes, and then my soul sickened and became giddy with the giddiness of one who gazes downward into some dreary and unfathomable abyss. Shall I then say that I longed with an earnest and consuming desire for the moment of Morella’s decease? I did; but the fragile spirit clung to its tenement of clay for many days, for many weeks and irksome months, until my tortured nerves obtained the mastery over my mind, and I grew furious through delay, and, with the heart of a fiend, cursed the days and the hours and the bitter moments, which seemed to lengthen and lengthen as her gentle life declined, like shadows in the dying of the day. But one autumnal evening, when the winds lay still in heaven, Morella called me to her bedside. There was a dim mist over all the earth, and a warm glow upon the waters, and amid the rich October leaves of the forest, a rainbow from the firmament had surely fallen. “It is a day of days,” she said, as I approached; “a day of all days either to live or die. It is a fair day for the sons of earth and life — ah, more fair for the daughters of heaven and death!” I kissed her forehead, and she continued: “I am dying, yet shall I live.” “Morella!” “The days have never been when thou couldst love me — but her whom in life thou didst abhor, in death thou shalt adore.” “Morella!” I cried, “Morella! how knowest thou this?” But she turned away her face upon the pillow and a slight tremor coming over her limbs, she thus died, and I heard her voice no more. Yet, as she had foretold, her child, to which in dying she had given birth, which breathed not until the mother breathed no more, her child, a daughter, lived. And she grew strangely in stature and intellect, and was the perfect resemblance of her who had departed, and I loved her with a love more fervent than I had believed it possible to feel for any denizen of earth. [...] And as years rolled away, and I gazed day after day upon her holy, and mild, and eloquent face, and poured over her maturing form, day after day did I discover new points of resemblance in the child to her mother, the melancholy and the dead. And, hourly, grew darker these shadows of similitude, and more full, and more definite, and more perplexing, and more hideously terrible in their aspect. For that her smile was like her mother’s I could bear; but then I shuddered at its too perfect identity — that her eyes were like Morella’s I could endure; but then they too often looked down into the depths of my soul with Morella’s own intense and bewildering meaning. Thus passed away two lustra of her life, and as yet my daughter remained nameless upon the earth. “My child,” and “my love,” were the designations usually prompted by a

56 THEBELLS traces ofthefirstinchannelwhereIlaidsecond—Morella. hands Iborehertothetomb;andlaughedwithalongbitterlaughasfoundno ripples upontheseamurmuredevermore—Morella.Butshedied;andwithmyown — Morella. The windsofthefirmament breathedbutonesoundwithinmyears,andthe dark, anditsfigurespassedbymelikeflittingshadows,amongthemallIbeheldonly of timeorplace,andthestarsmyfatefadedfromheaven,thereforeearthgrew but thehemlockandcypressovershadowedmenightday. And Ikeptnoreckoning memory ofthatepoch—never. NorwasIindeedignorantoftheflowersandvine— like moltenleadrolledhissinglyintomybrain. Years —years maypassaway, butthe on theblackslabsofourancestralvault,responded—“Iamhere!” audible sound,sheturnedherglassyeyesfromtheearthtoheaven,andfallingprostrate the featuresofmychild,andoverspreadthemwithhuesdeath,asstartingatthatscarcely within theearsofholymansyllables—Morella? What morethanfiendconvulsed recesses ofmysoul,whenamidthosedimaisles,andinthesilencenight,Iwhispered my destiny. And atthebaptismalfontIhesitatedforaname. What fiendspokefromthe my mind,initsunnervedandagitatedcondition,apresentdeliverancefromtheterrorsof by thenarrowlimitsofherprivacy. Butatlengththeceremonyofbaptismpresentedto had receivednoimpressionsfromtheoutwardworld,savesuchasmighthavebeenafforded — itwasimpossibletospeak.Indeed,duringthebriefperiodofherexistence,latter Morella’s namediedwithheratdeath.OfthemotherIhadneverspokentodaughter; father’s affection, andtherigidseclusionofherdaysprecludedallotherintercourse. Through thebalmyairof night What aworldofhappiness theirharmonyforetells! Golden bells! Hear themellowweddingbells, II From thejinglingandtinklingofbells. Bells, bells,bells- From thebells, To thetintinnabulation thatsomusicallywells In asortofRunicrhyme, Keeping time, With acrystallinedelight; All theheavens,seemtotwinkle While thestarsthatoversprinkle In theicyairofnight! How theytinkle, What aworldofmerrimenttheirmelodyforetells! Silver bells! Hear thesledgeswithbells I Distinct, coldly, calmlydistinct,fellthosefewsimplesoundswithinmyear, andthence - 1840 (29) 57 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 How they ring out their delight! From the molten-golden notes, And an in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats On the moon! Oh, from out the sounding cells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it swells! How it dwells On the Future! how it tells Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells, bells, bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells- To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! III Hear the loud alarum bells- Brazen bells! What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor, Now–now to sit or never, By the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! What a tale their terror tells Of Despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air! Yet the ear it fully knows, By the twanging, And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows: Yet the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling,

58 Keeping time, To the sobbingofbells; Of thebells,bells- To thethrobbingofbells- In asortofRunicrhyme, Keeping time, Of thebells: To thepaeanofbells- In asortofRunicrhyme, Keeping time, And hedances,andyells; With thepaeanofbells! And hismerrybosomswells A paeanfromthebells! Rolls And herolls, And theirkingitiswhotolls; They areGhouls: They areneitherbrutenorhuman- They areneithermannorwoman- On thehumanheartastone- Feel agloryinsorolling In thatmuffled monotone, And who,tolling, All Alone They thatdwellupinthesteeple, And thepeople–ah,people- Is agroan. From therustwithintheirthroats For everysoundthatfloats At themelancholymenaceoftheirtone! How weshiverwithaffright In thesilenceofnight, What aworldofsolemnthoughttheirmonodycompels! Iron Bells! Hear thetollingofbells- IV In theclamorandclangorofbells! Bells, bells,bells- Of thebells,bells,bells, Of thebells- By thesinkingorswellinginangerofbells- How thedangersinksandswells, And thewrangling, 59 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 As he knells, knells, knells, In a happy Runic rhyme, To the rolling of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells: To the tolling of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells- Bells, bells, bells- To the moaning and the groaning of the bells. 1849 (XX) Expanding Your Knowledge PERSONAL RESPONSE POE’S LIFE 1. What singles Poe out of the other literati? What could Virginia Clemm symbolize to him? 2. How does Poe’s idea of “pure imagination” agree with your views about art? 3. Find expressions that add to the “dark” image of Poe. Using a thesaurus try to substitute them with more neutral equivalents. What is the overall impact of such changes? MORELLA 1. Poe used to say that in the story texture there should be no single word but only those which add to the overall effect. Find proofs in this story. 2. Characterize Morella. Do you see any vicious intent in her doings? 3. In what state of mind could Poe have written the story? What could lead to the darkness in Poe’s subconsciousness? 4. Why do you think Poe gives no place or time in the story? Define the plot phases in the story. 5. What atmosphere is created here? What constitutes such mood? 6. Find antithesis in the dialogue with Morella and comment on its hidden meaning and importance for the story. THE BELLS 1. Find examples of assonance in the poem. What is their function? 2. Perform scansion of the poem and identify its meter. How does it differ from the previously covered poems? What tone does it set up? 3. Try to pick out examples of inversion in the poem. What does it help to emphasize? 4. If you were to render it in prose, all the attractiveness of the poem would be lost. What factors, then, add up to the beauty of this poem? 5. How does mood differ in each stanza. What could be the reason for metrical irregularity? 6. Find examples of alliteration. What do they help to emphasize? WRITING WORKSHOP z You apply for a job at a film studio. One of the tasks is to write a screen version. Scriptwrite Morella, or any other of Poe’s story into a screenplay, with more fictional dialogues and other inventions. z Make your own poetic translation of The Bells or any other of Poe’s verses. Try to make it sound like the original, i.e. bring in as many auditory images as you can.

60 Beecher Stowe Harriet Uncle T owners tocapturerunawayslavesinfreeNorthernStates,shestartedhermajorwork, event ofthenationalimportance. Queen Victoria, andlivedamongtherichfamous.Herseventieth birthdaywasan tormentors. sent imageofsufferings ofabeatenslave,who,nonetheless,wasforgivinghis Owing toheroverwhelmingsuccess,shetraveledwidely, met Abraham Lincolnand and paidfor, byonethatisabletokeepit. bought it,—yecan’t buyit!It’s beenbought a convulsivegraspasshe wentrapidlyforward. of puttinghimoutherarms madehershudder, and she strainedhimtoherbosomwith in anindifferent caseshewouldonlyhaveledhimbythehand;butnowbarethought approach ofafearfuldanger. Herboywasoldenoughtohavewalkedbyher side,and could shegofromahomelikethat? lay intheclearfrostymoonlight,seemedtospeakreproachfully toher, andaskherwhither many aneveninginhappierdays,bythesideofher younghusband,—everything,asit had grownup,thetreesunderwhichsheplayed, thegroveswhereshehadwalked revered. Then therewasthepartingfromeveryfamiliarobject,—placewhere she she hadeverknown,andcuttingloosefromtheprotection ofafriendwhomshelovedand with aconfusedandstunningsenseoftheriskshewas runninginleavingtheonlyhome Eliza, whensheturnedherfootstepsfromUncle Tom’s cabin. My soulan’t yours, Mas’r! You haven’t The frostygroundcreaked beneathherfeet,andshetrembledatthesound; every But strongerthanallwasmaternallove,wroughtinto aparoxysmoffrenzybythenear Her husband’s sufferings anddangers,thedangerofherchild,allblendedinmind It isimpossibletoconceiveofahumancreaturemorewhollydesolateandforlornthan om’s om’s Cabin HARRIET BEECHERSTOWE effort, shemanagedtoturnherlifelonginterestinwritingintostoriesand her authoritariansister. Though thisoccupationtookupalotoftimeand 1, 1896,Hartford,Connecticut)wasinitiallyinvolvedinteachingunder Maine. OutragedattheFugitiveSlave Act (1850),whichallowed Stowe’s husbandwasoffered aprofessorshipatBowdoinCollege, Harriet BeecherStowe the OhioRiver, theStowesreturnedtoNewEnglandin1850when . Laterinlife,sheclaimedthatwasunderthespellofaGod- After livingeighteenyearsnexttoslaveholdingcommunitiesacross Lane Theological Seminary, whichwasfoundedbyHarriet’s father. publish them. In 1836,shemarriedCalvinEllisStowe,aleadingprofessorat Harriet BeecherStowe OR LIFEAMONGTHELOWLY UNCLE TOM’SCABIN; The Mother’s Struggle Chapter VII. (June14,1811, Litchfield,Connecticut—July z z How waswomaneducated? What waswoman’s role inthe family andsocietyinthe19 century? th 61 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 quaking leaf and fluttering shadow sent the blood backward to her heart, and quickened her footsteps. She wondered within herself at the strength that seemed to be come upon her; for she felt the weight of her boy as if it had been a feather, and every flutter of fear seemed to increase the supernatural strength that bore her on, while from her pale lips burst forth, in frequent ejaculations, the prayer to a Friend above — “Lord, help! Lord, save me!” […] After a while they came to a thick patch of woodland, through which murmured a clear brook. As the child complained of hunger and thirst, she climbed over the fence with him; and sitting down behind a large rock which concealed them from the road, she gave him a breakfast out of her little package. [...] She was many miles past any neighborhood where she was personally known. As she was also so white as not to be known as of colored lineage, without a critical survey, and her child was white also, it was much easier for her to pass on unsuspected. On this presumption, she stopped at noon at a neat farm-house to rest herself, and buy some dinner for her child and self; for as the danger decreased with the distance, the supernatural tension of the nervous system lessened, and she found herself both weary and hungry. [...] An hour before sunset she entered the village of T——, by the Ohio river, weary and footsore, but still strong in heart. Her first glance was at the river, which lay, like Jordan, between her and the Canaan of liberty on the other side. It was now early spring, and the river was swollen and turbulent; great cakes of floating ice were swinging heavily to and fro in the turbid waters. Owing to the peculiar form of the shore on the Kentucky side, the land bending far out into the water, the ice had been lodged and detained in great quantities, and the narrow channel which swept round the bend was full of ice, piled one cake over another, thus forming a temporary barrier to the descending ice, which lodged and formed a great undulating raft, filling up the whole river, and extending almost to the Kentucky shore. Eliza stood for a moment contemplating this unfavorable aspect of things, which she saw at once must prevent the usual ferry-boat from running, and then turned into a small public house on the bank, to make a few inquiries. The hostess, who was busy in various fizzing and stewing operations over the fire, preparatory to the evening meal, stopped, with a fork in her hand, as Eliza’s sweet and plaintive voice arrested her. “What is it?” she said. “Is n’t there any ferry or boat that takes people over to B——, now?” she said. “No, indeed!” said the woman; “the boats has stopped running.”

62 5. BycomparingtheOhioRivertoJordan,Stowe makesuseof 4. Howimportantis 3. Howdoestheauthorrelateurgencyof the situation?Selectpassageswhere 2. WhatwereEliza’s advantages,ifany, asafugitive?Howdidsheexplainthepurpose 1. WhatfeelingsdidElizaholdtowardsUncle Tom? Whydidshefeellike 2. Whatpromptedhertowriteaboutaslaveryissue? 1. WhatcouldStowe’s yearsunderherdomineeringsisterhavebeenlike? z z Write anessay titled Carry outadditionalresearch todescribesociallifeintheSouthernStates inthemiddle the paceisatitshighest. of thejourney? choke her? figure enrichtheimageryofnovel? of the19 the Internetforfects. lay betweenherandliberty. pursuer urged her on,andshegazedwithlongingeyesonthesullen,surging watersthat he wasfastasleep.Forhertherenorest. As afireinherbones,thethoughtof stood acomfortablebed.Elizalaidthewearyboyuponit,andheldhishandsinherstill a sweetlittlefellow,” addedthewoman,offering himacake. he durs’ to;he’llbeinheretosupperto-night,soyou’dbettersetdownandwait. That’s door. a smallbackbuilding. A maninleatherapronandverydirtyhandsappearedatthe aroused; “I’mre’llyconsarnedforye.Solomon!”shecalled,fromthewindow, towards and I’vewalkedquiteapieceto-day, inhopestogettheferry.” inquiringly — Eliza’s lookofdismayanddisappointmentstruckthewoman,shesaid, “Well, takehimintothisroom,”saidthewoman,openingasmallbed-room,where “Poor fellow!heisn’t usedtowalking,andI’vehurriedhimonso,”saidEliza. But thechild,whollyexhausted,criedwithweariness. “There’s amanpiecedownhere,that’s goingoverwithsometruckthisevening,if “He saidheshouldtry, if ’t wasanywayprudent,”saidtheman. “I say, overto-night?” Sol,”saidthewoman,“isthatarmangoingtototethembar’ls “Well, now, that’s onlucky,” saidthewoman,whosemotherlysympathiesweremuch “I’ve gotachildthat’s verydangerous,”saidEliza.“Ineverheardofittilllastnight, “May beyou’rewantingtogetover?—anybodysick? Ye seemmightyanxious?” th century. colloquial Antislavery MovementintheU. S Expanding YourKnowledge PERSONAL RESPONSE speech inthedialogues? WRITING WORKSHOP UNCLE TOM’S CABIN UNCLE TOM’S STOWE’S LIFE . Resorttoyourlocallibraryand allusion. her throatwould Howdoesthis 1851 (20) 63 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 WALT WHITMAN

z What kind of poetry could Whitman Of all nations the United States with write as seen from the quotation? veins full of poetical stuff most need z What did you learn about Whitman poets and will doubtless have the earlier in the course of Foreign greatest and use them the greatest. Literature? Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman, because of his different inclinations, absorbed the voices, sights and the very spirit of the newly formed United States, creating new poetry that celebrated the democratic spirit of his native land. His poems have been translated into Ukrainian, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. Whitman’s popularity justifies his bold claim that “the proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it.” Walt Whitman By the age of eleven, Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819, West Hills, Long Island, New York — March 26, 1892, Camden, New Jersey) had first worked as an office boy for a prominent Brooklyn lawyer, who arranged for him a subscription to a library, where his self-education began. While most leading writers of his time received classical education, Whitman built his own rough, diversified and informal knowledge of literature, history, geography, music, theater, and archeology out of the public resources of America’s fastest growing city of New York. Ultimately, Whitman became an apprentice printer on the Long Island Patriot, where he first felt the excitement of setting words into print. Later in his life, he could still recall this delight, “How it made my heart double-beat to see my piece on the pretty white paper, in nice type.” Whitman resisted his father’s attempts to have him work on the new family farm. Teaching was, therefore, a way out but was also a job he was pressed to take in bad times. He employed progressive techniques — getting students to think aloud rather than recite, refusing to punish by slapping, involving his students in educational games, and joining them in baseball. Whitman’s next career was a short fiction writer. His first published story, Death in the School-Room, arose out of his teaching experience where he hopes that the “many ingenious methods of child-torture will [soon] be gaz’d upon as a scorned memento of an ignorant, cruel, and exploded doctrine.” In February 1848, at the Broadway Theatre, Whitman, already a journalist, met a publisher who wanted to launch a New Orleans paper, the Crescent. In a brief time they settled a deal and Whitman set out to New Orleans. The journey by train, steamboat, and stagecoach broadened Whitman’s sense of his country’s diversity, and produced a few sketches of New Orleans life and a poem, Sailing the Mississippi at Midnight, in which the steamboat voyage becomes a symbol of the journey of life. By 1854, he had moved back to his parents in Brooklyn. “Walt,” his mother later said, “had no business, but going out and coming in to eat, drink, write, and sleep.” Little did she know that her son was composing one of the greatest books in American literature — Leaves of Grass. In long, unmetered lines, called free verse, Whitman praised the diversity, energy, and pulsation of the nineteenth-century American life. And the consequent mystery about Whitman is his abrupt transformation from a traditional poet of the 1840s,

64 his requiem yard.Comfortinghimselfheinhaledthelilacscent. Thus appeared blooming inhismother’s news aboutLincoln’s assassinationonamorningafter April 14,1865,whenthelilacwas main ConfederateassaultonWashington, andthedeathofPresident.Heheard the Old World. aboriginal namesfor American placeswerepriorandsuperiortothoseimportedfromthe how they“chargedthewaterandlandwithnames.”Whitmanoftendebatedthat American delegationsofvariousIndiantribes.HepraisedIndiansinhispoems,andrejoiced would haunthimrepeatedly. face, Whitman’s reliefchanged tohorrorashesawotherdreadfulsightsofwar, which set off toVirginia tolookforhim. Though hisbrotherhadreceived onlyawoundinthe United Stateswasthreatenedtosplitapart. on afaithinunion,theabilityofmanandnationtoembracediversity;now free states,Whitman’s deepest beliefswereshattered. altogether. resembling BryantorShelley, intoonewhoabandonedconventionalrhymeandmeter so much.” asserted thatthereis“nooneinthisgreatwideworldof America whomIloveandhonor Many peoplemadepilgrimagesthere.In1882,themostfamousofthem,OscarWilde, railroad, theSuezCanal,and Atlantic cable. the workofengineers,especiallygloballinkingaccomplishedbytranscontinental It isparadoxicalthatWhitmanwasawayfromthecapitalduringitssaddesttimes: In 1865,backinWashington, intheIndianBureau,Whitman’s jobwastomeetNative Whitmanimmediately In 1862,fearingthatthenameoncasualtylistwashisbrother’s, In the1860s,whennationwasmovingtowardawarbetweenslaveholdingand Whitman stayedinCamdenhislastyears,findingitasupportivesocialenvironment. In 1870,Whitmanpublished Nature withoutcheckwith originalenergy. I harborforgoodorbad, I permittospeakateveryhazard, Retiring backawhilesufficed atwhattheyare,butneverforgotten, Creeds andschoolsinabeyance, Hoping toceasenottilldeath. I, nowthirty-sevenyearsoldinperfecthealthbegin, When LilacsLastintheDooryardBloom’d. Born hereofparentsbornfromthesame, My tongue,everyatomofmyblood,form’dfrom this soil,air, I leanandloafeatmyease...observingaspearof summergrass. I loafeandinvitemysoul, For everyatombelongingtomeasgoodbelongsyou. And whatIassumeyoushallassume, I celebratemyself,andsing Democratic Vistas Leaves ofGrass from and SongofMyself Passage toIndia 1 Leaves ofGrass and theirparentsthesame. thatcelebrates hadbeenbuilt 1891-1892 (6) 65 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer from By the Roadside When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, I look’d up in perfect silence at the stars. 1865 (33)

Expanding Your Knowledge PERSONAL RESPONSE WHITMAN’S LIFE 1. In what respect is Whitman different from his predecessor H. W. Longfellow? 2. What were the reasons for Whitman’s teaching job? Whitman enjoyed. How important was debating in his personal formation? 3. Why do you think he felt sorry for the loss of native cultures? 4. What could be the reason for his abrupt poetic transition in the late 1840s? 5. Subdivide the text into several parts to be titled Early Years, School Teaching, First Fiction, Whitman — Poet, The Civil War, In Washington, Last Years respectively. SONG OF MYSELF, 1 1. What mood does the poet celebrate? What makes him so enthusiastic? 2. How does Whitman view himself in relation to nature and other people? 3. How do you understand the original energy of Nature? 4. Find examples of alliteration. Comment on their function in this and the next poems. 5. What is the narrator’s relation to Nature and the rest of the world? WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN’D ASTRONOMER 1. How do the astronomer and the poet view the sky heavenly bodies in it? What are their respective techniques and approaches? What is implied about the poet’s values? 2. Whitman often uses parallelism. Find it here and in the rest of his poems, and say to what end he used it. How does it agree with his idea of simplicity? WRITING WORKSHOP z Write a letter to Whitman telling of America nowadays, its political and economic stance in the world, its relations with other countries. z Choose an event from Whitman’s life and imagining fictitious characters, events, conversations, try to write a narrative poem in free verse.

66 greatest ofthe19 Brontë. Shetooktothe Ralph Waldo EmersoninConcord.ShealsoenjoyedShakespeare,GeorgeEliot,Charlot for Christmasin1850. After thatshehadtwo“fathers,”EdwardDickinsonin Amherst, and Transcendentalism, becauseastudentinhisoffice presentedEmerson’s Poemstoher was powerlesstoprotecthisdaughterscompletelyfromthe“latestinfidelity,” defended thechurchanditsorthodoxyagainst“New Thought” fromConcord.Buthe assembled congregation. unable to“convert”—thatis,experienceaspiritualrebirthandtestifyitbeforethe seminary. Although beingdeeplymovedbyareligiousrevival,Dickinsonfoundherself Amherst) waseducatedat Amherst Academy andspentayear(1847-1848)atfemale compensated byherrichimagination. communicated chieflybymail.Butherlifeasahermitwaswell her house.Inlastyears,shedressedinwhite,avoidedstrangers, state —once,hervillageseveraltimes,andafter1872evenhardly A DayDream This secluded American poetesshasbeenacknowledgedasoneofthe Her father, oneofthewealthiestandmostrespectedcitizenstown,passionately Emily ElizabethDickinson Present nomore— To herdivineMajority— Then —shutstheDoor The SoulselectsherownSociety— , 1877. th century. Sheneverlefthernativeland,home Emily Dickinson EMILY DICKINSON Bible meaningful. the miraculous,seeminglyempty—into thedeeply on awalk,shadowthegrass—everything wasturnedinto was suretofindmeaninginit. A rayofafternoonsunlight,abird of herday. Nomatterhowcommon theoccurrence,Dickinson capitalization, punctuation,rhymeandmeter— confusing critics her owndistinctivestyle,experimenting with grammar, single subjectwastheselfanditscomplexdestiny. Sheforged occasional verseandthesmallnumberofpure love poems,her but onlysevenwereprintedduringherlifetime. Apart fromthe of whichareamongthefinesteverwrittenbyan American poet, completely, beingcalled“thenunof Amherst.” friends. deathin1874,sheisolatedherself After herfather’s All inall,Dickinsonwrotenearly1,800poems,severalhundred Dickinson livedsolelyinherbooks,garden,andafew Success iscountedsweetest , especiallythe (Dec. 10,1830, Amherst, Massachusetts—May15,1886, Requires sorestneed. To comprehendanectar By thosewhone’ersucceed. Success iscountedsweetest z z Book ofRevelation What hardshipcouldshe What wasthestateofawomanwriter have undergone? in the19 th century? . Dickinson Elizabeth Emily 67 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 Not one of all the purple Host Who took the Flag today Can tell the definition So clear of Victory As he defeated — dying — On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Burst agonized and clear! c. 1859 (24) The Brain — is wider than the Sky The Brain — is wider than the Sky — The Brain is deeper than the sea — For — put them side by side — For — hold them — Blue to Blue — The one the other will contain The one the other will absorb — With ease — and You — beside — As Sponges — Buckets — do — The Brain is just the weight of God — For — Heft them — Pound for Pound — And they will differ — if they do — As Syllable from Sound — c. 1862 (24) Expanding Your Knowledge PERSONAL RESPONSE DICKINSON’S LIFE 1. How unique is Dickinson among other literati? 2. She had two “fathers.” What did each of them mean to the poetess? What is meant by “New Thought” from Concord? 3. How different was her poetic outlook from Emerson’s? SUCCESS IS COUNTED SWEETEST 1. What conclusion can we draw from this thought? Who understands success better — the victor or the defeated? 2. Sometimes Dickinson uses slant rhyme. Identify more such examples. While being “imperfect” they bring a certain charm into the poem. Do they add to or detract the poetic from the poem? THE BRAIN — IS WIDER THAN THE SKY 1. The idea of the unlimitedness of human brain is supported by Dickinson’s two examples. Find proofs that Brain is wider than the Sky. 2. In the third stanza Dickinson retreats her idea before God’s omnipotence. What inner beliefs could have led the poetess? WRITING WORKSHOP z Find any worthy subject and try to see it like Dickinson herself. Render your reflections in either poetry or prose. z Dickinson and Whitman are both considered poetic giants of the 19th century. If we compare their poetic heritage what similarity and differences can be traced? Write an essay.

68 another bodyofwaterthathadtobecrossedonthejourneyfreedom. time toescapehadcome. The RiverJordanbecametheOhioRiver, ortheMississippi, dusty field,orsungsoftlyinthedarkofnight,signaledthatcoastwasclearand Songs like all, theywereanexpressionofspiritualdevotionandayearningforfreedomfrombondage. crafted theimpromptumusicalexpressionoffieldsongsintoso-called“NegroSpirituals.” spiritual possession,communalshoutsandchants. Also itwastherethatslavesfurther “bush meetings,”worshipperswerefreetoengagein African religious ritualssuchas freely inwaysthatwerespirituallymeaningfultothem.Duringthese“campmeetings”and Slaves oftenheldsecretreligiousservicesbecausetheywereunabletoexpressthemselves the worshipofwhites, Africanized Christianitywasoftenlively, loud andspontaneous. harmony, andsyncopationinmusicalexpressiondancestyles.Incomparisonwith and cadenceofliturgicaldelivery, intheuseofbluenotes,five-tonedscale, improvised tradition withthenewthemesfromBible. The imprint of Africa wasevidentinthestyle Americans; EuropeansoftencalledthemSlavesongsor African-American folksongs. American spirituals in theUnitedStatesby African slaves. They areotherwisetermedNegro,Black,or African Spirituals sometimesprovidedcomfortandeasedtheboredomofdailyburden,butabove As slaveswereintegratedintotheChristianfaith,theygraduallyblendedtheirworshiping Spirituals, African-American song,usuallywithaChristianreligiouscontext,originated stimulus tocourageandatieheaven. more thanasourceofrelaxation;theywere These quaintreligioussongsweretothemen Coming fortocarrymehome, I’m sometimesupand down, Coming fortocarrymehome. Tell allmyfriendsI’mcoming,too. Coming fortocarrymehome, If yougettherebeforeIdo, Coming fortocarrymehome. A bandofangelscomingafterme, Coming fortocarrymehome, I lookedoverJordan,andwhatdidsee? Coming fortocarrymehome. Swing low, sweetchariot, Coming fortocarrymehome, Swing low, sweetchariot, Steal Away (toJesus), . Sweet Chariot Inthe19 Swing Low, th centurythetermJubileewasmorecommonamong African- SPIRITUALS Thomas Higginson or Swing Low, SweetChariot z Think ofintellectualand of anation? musical cultureinthelife peoples. How importantis cultural valuesofdifferent Swing Low, SweetChariot raisedunexpectedlyina , 1934 69 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865 But still my soul feels heavenly bound, Coming for to carry me home. The brightest day that I can say, Coming for to carry me home, When Jesus washed my sins away, Coming for to carry me home. (25) Deep River Deep river, My home is over Jordan, Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground, I.ord, I want to cross over into campground, Oh, don’t you want to go to that Gospel feast, That promis’d land where all is peace? Negro Spirituals I’ll go into heaven, and take my seat, Songbook, 1899 Cast my crown at Jesus’ feet. Oh, when I get to heav’n, I’ll walk all about, There’s nobody there for to turn me out. (25)

Song Jubilee Singers Roll Jordan, Roll

Expanding Your Knowledge PERSONAL RESPONSE 1. What ideas prevail in African-American folk songs? What could their literary influence have been on American authors? 2. Comment on refrains and repetitions. What is their function here? 3. Define the theme of the above spirituals. WRITING WORKSHOP z After additional research write about the role of spirituals in 20th century America.

70 AUTHOR WHICH 0 createdthefirst American seanovel? 30. wroteinfreeverse? 29. dressedinwhitelateryears? 28. .foreshadowedmajorgenresofthe20 8. publishedthestory 7. enlistedintheNavy? 6. signedhisworksJonathanOldstyle,Gent.? 5. wasalienatedfromfriendsbyaprominentanthologizer? 4. experimentedwithgrammarandpunctuation? 3. re-editedpoetrythroughouthisorherentirelife? 2. publishedonlysevenpoemsinhisorherlifetime? 1. 7 wasvirtuallyrediscoveredinthe20 27. wroteamonumentalbiographyofGeorgeWashington? 26. preferredIndianplacenamestoEuropeanones? 25. signedupforawhalingship? 24. startedwritingbecause ofacasualbet? 23. wasunabletoshaveafter atragicaccident? 22. usedtoliveatWalden Pond? 21. taughtunderanauthoritariansister? 20. waspromptedbyhisfamilytowrite? 19. leftforEuropetostudy languages? 18. welcomedOscarWildeasaguest? 17. keptadiaryofquotations? 16. wasbornintotheactors’family? 15. foundkinshipinGermanromanticliterature? 14. joinedthe American diplomatic missioninSpain? 13. struckadealinveryshorttime? 12. metQueenVictoria? 11. institutedtheguidelinesfor Transcendentalism? 10. hadtwo“fathers”? 9. nt3.SummaryQuiz Unit Death intheSchool-Room th th century? century? ? 71 UNIT 3 ROMANTICISM AND THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE 1820 – 1865