ROBERT BRIDGES A C RITIC AL STUDY BY F. E. BRETT YOUNG LONDON M A R T I N S E C K E R NUM BER FI VE J OHN STREET A D E L P H I MCMXIV ROBERT BRIDGES A C RITIC AL STUDY BY F E RETT OUNG ' . B Y LONDON M A R T I N S E C K E R NUM BER FI VE J OHN STREET A D E L P H I MCM X I V TO ALFRED HAYES GENTLE POET AND STE RN CRITIC N O T E HAV E better e of I thought it , in this stimate livin e e e l a g po t, to xclud biographical detai s altogether ; and indeed they would have been out of place in a book which is nothing more than an attempt to explain to my own satis faction the peculiar excellences which have made the work of Robert Bridges so great a e o l ef p rsonal j y, and to examine my be i in its significance for the future of English poetry . e D for h e I hav to thank r. Bridges is g nerous permission to quote not only many passages f n e of rom his own works , but also the son t his f e e M r Ge ri nd , the lat . rard Hopkins , on page 1 43 h the . e e of t e Exc pt in the cas Plays , text from which quotations have been made is that f o the Oxford Edition of Collected Po ems . B . F . E . Y L A O L NTH NY, ul 1 J 1 4 . y, 9 C O N T E N T S P RELIMINAR I ES THE RELI GION OF LOVE BEAUTY AND J OY FRESHNESS OF VIS I ON LANDSCAPE MILTON ’ S P ROSODY TH E P ROSODY OF B RI DGES TH E DRAMAS THE DRAMAS CLASSI C ISM CLASSI CAL P ROSODY CONCLUSIONS P R E L I M I N A R I E S THE vitality of any art - form is s een in th e willingness of the artist to b e engross ed in the e the compl x and intense , and it is in this spirit that he must approach th e expression e the of b auty , which is main business of art and also happ ens to b e a great deal of th e e e As e e e busin ss of lif . soon as b auty ngag s e e th e e mor than a c rtain part of att ntion , or offers more than on e asp ect to th e same e e e e . O p rc ption , its xpr ssion becomes art ne might almost s ay that to voice a single asp ect e e e of b auty is common sp ech , to voic two at e th e e w e onc is art . But in high r forms of art e e the look for more than this . It may xpr ss intensity with which beauty is realized ; and t e e e this h poets call Joy . It may r cogniz the e e e ind structibl kinship of all beauty , and giv e the e W e expr ssion to und rlying unity , heth r it b e real or imaginary ; and this is generally e S e e e call d Vision . om tim s it reconcil s things which have seemed distant or oppos ed ; and 9 R O B E R T B R I D G E S when this is achieved in literature it is called the e not of Ecstasy . The three functions ee e e The k p a c rtain sequ nce . ecstasy of one artist is handed down as the vision of those e en d who com after him , and in the may be taken into the general consciousness of beauty . The ecstatic artist comes rarely ; he is an adventur er in art ; he generally starves or e di s young , for the world has naturally no use for him . is It not j oy, nor even ecstasy , but vision e t e e that distinguish s h gold n ages of art . We know them by th e number of. worshippers t e are e tha throng the templ . They p riods e e marked by an xtraordinary flow ring of song , e e e e wh n very littl sing r is inspired , as if in e e e the e spit of hims lf , to utt r authentic acc nts e The are e is of g nius . v tim s when it not necessary for a man to b e an artist by stealth . e eur e There is br adth , and grand , and a c rtain unmistakable sanity about the art of thes e e e e ag s . It springs from the j oy of som obscur - e e e half realiz d discov ry . By som means all things have fall en naturally into the sphere of art ; art has b ecome easy . The age of Wordsworth was the last of - these great fruiting times of English literature . It was less astonishing than the Elizabethan a e e g , for it took a l ss soaring flight from the 1 0 P R E L I M I N A R I E S the level that came before it . But later e e the achievem nt includ s earlier . The poetic method of Shakespeare was taken for granted by Shelley at a time when the technique of the Elizabethans had already been absorbed the and half forgotten . This age had all e e e e e e f atur s of a gr at p riod of lit ratur . It e e e was r stl ss , but confid nt ; it was lacking in several qualities of which the present age has — — enough humour, notably, but it had a con fident tread in places where w e can venture The a e the e only timidly or not at all . g of gr at Romantics gave way to an empty clamour of e e e the tongu s . It m rg d in Victorian com — promise an admirable phras e which covers the whole fi eld of literature to th e work of the msthetic s e Rossetti , of , of Browning , T nny son S The e th e and winburne . suns t of e e e e great r volutionary po ts , Mr . Ch st rton calls it ; and as a typ e of it he pres ents to us L a e e ord Macaulay . It was an g wh n politics and literature were confus ed to the damning the V of both , and to loss of ision , j oy and e b auty . It stops short of Bridges . He is one of th ese isolated poets whom it is difficult to classify unless it be with the e e e e isolat d poets of oth r ag s . Tim has a e e men fr akish way of mixing up her gr at . The first historian to analyse the dyn amics of 1 1 R O B E R T B R I D G E S literary movements will often have to search back for poets who are separated from their e e r al companions by a mass of little nam s . Som etimes he will have to pick up stragglers are e e who born a gen ration too late . The tru account of each great age of literature will e t e e e b gin with h voic s crying in the wildern ss . For instance , the first poet of the greatest age of English letters was b eheaded six years e the befor birth of Shakespeare . Wyatt and Surrey have b een called the first of th e modems ; and Surrey is rememb ere d in text - books of literature because he natural e ized the Italian sonnet in th e English tongu . But there are points in his work which I find e The e mor significant . conc ntration of his genius upon the forms of the great Italians showed not merely a leavening of English e e e poetry with Europ an cultur . It impli d a ruthless discontent with the models of his e e e e e tim . It mbodi d , too , gr at t chnical innova S e was th e e ee the tions . urr y first po t to fr natural rhythms of English sp eech from the “ - t e e He five foot prison of h iambic lin . e e proclaim d distantly, and in a voic that e e e e e the som tim s falt r d , a new j oy which becam commonplace of th e great Elizabethans and at the same time h e kept his eyes steadfastly upon the golden times that had come before 1 2 P R E L I M I N A R I E S S him . For urrey was a classicist , and has e e e left us a long v rsion of V rgil . I am r ady to e e e the b li v that court of Henry VIII , if it e e th e e car d for th se things , took l arning of men e those two young for p dantry .