G E O R G E C H A P MA N . which from his own day to ours has never wholly failed to attend the memory of George Chapman has yet been hitherto of a looser and vaguer kind than floats about the memory of s t r e s In the r a r vi al f mo t o he po t . g e t e v o studious enthusias m for the works of the many famous men who won themselves a name during t he seventy five m ra l ars of his la ri us lif ass emo b e ye bo o e, the m of his original work has been left too long unnoticed ” and unh n ur d Our H r- Lu an as was o o e . ome c , he happily termed by Dani el in that admirable Defence of Rhyme which remains to this d ay one of the PMA GEORGE CHA N . most perfect examples of sound and temperate s ns of ur st l and us u n f un e e, p e y e j t j dgme t, to be o d in lit ra ur of ri i is has r i it ma b e the e t e c t c m, ece ved y not much less than his due meed of prai se for those Homeric labours by which his name is still chiefly known ; but what the great translator could aecom plish when fighting for his own hand few students of Englis h poetry have been careful to inquire or n a r ia compete t to pp ec te. And y et there are not many among his various and unequal writings which we can open without some sense of great qualities in the workman whose r li f r r are few fr m wo k es be o e us. The e poets o whose remains a more copious and noble anthology of tac auti s i ht s l t He has a de hed be e m g be e ec ed. sin ular f r and t of ral th u h a con g o ce dep h mo o g t, s an en r and in nsi of r ssi n an a t t e gy te ty exp e o , occ sional delicacy and perfection of fanciful or reflective au w i s ul a nsur him a lac in be ty, h ch ho d h ve e ed p e he fr n ran at l as of n i s is true t o t k e t g om c poet . It that his wisdom entangles itself in over- niceness that his philosophy is apt to lose its way among brakes of digression and jungles of paradox ; that ORG C A PM GE E H A N . his subtle and sleepless ingenuity can never resist the lure of any quaint or perverse illustration which may start across its path from some obscure corner at the unlucki est and unlikeliest time ; that the r u and arr n wa s of in n ru us allusi n o gh b e by y co g o o , of unseasonable reflection or preposterous and r es u s lis are r in to his f g ot q e ymbo m, mo e tempt g eet t an i wa of art and rushw r h the h gh y , the b ood o the moras s of metaphysics seems often preferable in hi s s the as ur s or ar ns of r But eye to p t e the g de poet y . from first to last the grave and frequent blemishes of his genius bear manifestly more likeness to the deformities of a giant than to the malformations of a warf to rs rain us l s of an a hl d , the ove t ed m c e t ete n he i r li s of a w aklin tha to t w the ed mb e g. He was rn w n S ns r and S a s ar bo bet ee pe e h ke pe e, before the first dawn of English tragedy with the w Fiv morning star of Marlo e . e years later that an a lif m r ri f r l ri great poet beg e o e b e , mo e g o ous and more fruitful in proportion to its brevity than that of any among his followers except Beaumont and Shelley : each of these leaving at the close of some thirty years of life a fresh crown of immor 1—2 4 GEORGE CHA PMA N tality to the national drama founded by the first rn of he t r A few nt s m r and t . bo h ee mo h o e, a s ar was in w rl ten ars fur r Sh ke pe e the o d ; ye the , B n n n had f ll w is lat er and e s . Jo o o o ed Th t poet, the l in and n r us an rist of a an ov g ge e o p egy Ch pm , was r f r fift n ars un r than his fri n the e o e ee ye yo ge e d, who was us w nt ars l r han Fl r th t e y ye o de t etche , an n - n l r h B d twe ty seve years o de t an eaumont . All t s i r als uli on ar h wit the he e mmo t he o t ved e t , h sin l i n of ns n who di but hr g e except o Jo o , ed t ee ars af r a of the l r t man ye te the de th e de poe . No could ever look round upon a more godlike com pany of his fellows ; yet we have no record of his r la i ns wit an of h s but ns n and Fl tchem e t o h y t e e Jo o e l\ ’ dat of ha an s ir h is si nifi ant and The e C pm b t g c , should be borne in mind when we attempt to determine his rank among the poets of that golden a e Fr the s l ndi and rium an a g . om p e d t ph t ex mple of the one great poet whose popularity his earlier ars must a wi n ss he ma ha au a ye h ve t e ed, y ve c ght contagious love of allegory and moral sy mbolism he certainly caught nothing of the melodious ease and delicate grace which gave Spenser his su C A PM GEORGE H A N . premacy in the soft empire of that moonlight l ur rl w r nl his nius was at co o ed wo d he e o y ge home . ’ ha an s all ri s are ars ru and s a \ C pm ego e h h, c de, h pe 7 less ; for the sweet airs and tender outlines and ’ fl atin El sian s of S ns r s isi n has o g y echoe pe e v o , he nothing to offer in exchange but the thick rank mis of a lowland inhabited by monstrous hybrids . t and haunt rri is r a n s . ed by j g d co d , Behind Spenser came Sidney and the Euphuists ; and in their schools neither Chapman nor any other was li l l arn mu na ural f s ke y to e ch good. The t de ect and dangers of his genius were precisely of the kind most likely to increase in the contagion of such an He ha r i fr natur at his comp y. d ece ved om e irth a r fus an tur i i a ina i n a fi r b p o e d b d m g t o , e y n r and r stl ss ar ur of m ral assi and e e gy e e do o p gg m ' ir ual mfifion witm l la of as and Sp it a r megtfig ck t te ud nt and a n a l ss of t s r i us j gme , ot b e exce ho e p ec o qualities of pride and self - reliance which are at once needful to support and liable to misguide an artist n i a f w r two main faul s of the o h s w y o o k. The t school of poets which blossomed and faded from the brief flower of court favour during the youth of 6 GEORGE CHA PMAN . Chapman were tedious excess of talk and grotesque encumbrance of imagery ; and Chapman had nu happily a native tendency to the grotesque and di us whi all his s u of i h s and te o , ch t dy the h g e t purest literature in the world was inadequate to su r ss or n F r all his la urs in the pp e to chaste .