WALTE RSAVAG E LANDOR C RITIC AL ST! D! EDWARD W TERM A EVANS J R. A N , ! IV R I ! F L L W PRI C N E S T E O , N ETON P P! T A M ’ G . S SO S . N N N E W ! ORK LOND ON W e s t T w e n t -th i r d t y St . 24 B e d fo r d S . , Str a n d $132 E nizkzrhuzkzx $3 23 5 1 892 C P! RI G H 1 8 2 O T , 9 B ! A S R E DW A RD W A TE RM A N E V N J . Pr in te d a n d B o u n d by t h e k nickerbochec pr ess, mew mat h ’ P P! A M S G . TN S ONS A M S RM SB M ! RRA ! LL D J E O EE . E! E M PLA R O F T H E PERS! A SIVENESS A N D D I G NIT! OF C! LT! RE TH IS B OOK 1 5 D EDICA TED C N ONT E TS . PA G E PREFA C E L A N DOR A S A M A N OF LE T TERS ’ LA N DOR s POE T R! ’ LA N D OR S PROSE WRI T I N G S ’ L A N D O R S P L A C E IN LI TERA T ! RE 1 8 1 APPEN D I ! PR E FAC E . ONL! those b o o k s endure as living m m presences , and not as ere ortuary w tablets , herein there is a vital coa l e sc e n c e O f of sense and thought , na m m a ture and spirit . Other volu es y possess a relative longev ity , as links d m in a historical evelop ent , or as affordin g suggestive m aterial which shall subsequently be transm uted into artistic form but their m ortality . w is inevitable Scientific kno ledge , w ith its classification O f phenom ena and its discovery O f their necessary c o - existences and sequences in tim e H and space , is ever expanding . ence the latest book in science is usually . m r e the best It has assi ilated , and in w produced fuller gro th , all pre Vi o u s works pertaining to its depart m ent . Ideas , on the other hand , that are form ed in the crucible o f art— ideas that suffuse the appear a n c e s O f nature with the free soul Of — m a n have an absolute value . And the book e m bodying them is a spir itu a l m w organis , hose end is focused o wn m in itself, in its delightful , i agi native m arriage O f idea and expres w O f w sion . The ork art gro s not . It “ is a wavering apparition fixed in its place with thoughts that stand ’ fo r e v e r fi N o w the productions Of Walter Savage Landor are em inently artis wh o m tic Hence , as those ad ire h im keep noting with approval the “ ‘ RE O f w recent reprints his several orks , an d the eulogistic references at pres ent so Often made to this m aster of E nglish ; they cannot withhold their belief in his much - doubted predic e e ix Prf ac . w tion , that he, as an author , ould dine late surrounded by a choice — c o m pany O f kindred spirits they cannot withhold their belief that l he b e o n gs/aw i m m ortals . ’ Th o u gh hi s lettered co ntemporaries fro m Southey to Swinburne were alm ost unanim ous in acknowledging the distinction and charm Of Lan ’ w dor s ritings , his audience , at least n o m until recently, has been by eans proportionate to his com m anding worth as a literary artist . While there have appeared two m biographies Of Landor, a cu ber m so e one by John Forster, his liter o n e ary executor, and a Judicious “ by Mr . Colvin in the En glish Men Of t e Let ers series , no gritiquw t onc i adequately exclusive “ inclusive , V al d b w iii l e e ffo r t to has een ritten m tiijf x m e “l and p l a c e a n d deter in a g w m rjs p func tion in literature . ! nlike a biog ra h i w p y, such a cr tique o uld have x Preface . to be exclusive , passing over all de tails O f outward history not insep ’ a ra bly linked with the author s inner life and writings ; and it would w have to be inclusive , tracing ith m ore coherencethan could w ell be done in a biography the relation O f ’ the author s works to his a ge and to his personality , and then bringing the canons O f criticism to bear con c r e te ly upon his several c o n tr ib u tions in poetry or prose . This has m w been the ethod pursued , ho ever w tentatively , in the follo ing critical study . ’ In treating O f L a n d o r s attitude w to ard the scientific , philosophical , and religious conceptions O f the w m period , as also to ard criticis and wa s politics , it found hard to charac h i te riz e m other than negatively . w His positive qualities , ho ever, hav in g thus been provided with a ne ga tive background , can , it is hoped , be e a e Prf c . thereupon brought o u t in clearer relief . Thou gh th e i m m ediate pu r pose in w ritin g this critique , and also the L a n d o r ia n idyl contained in the A p e n dix wa s m p , to co pete for college — m prizes , one in criticis , the other — O f in poetry , the aspirations the writer continued to go out toward a wider audience . And though the actual co m position w a s undertaken and co m pleted am idst the press and d istraction of undergraduate duties , these essays are the record O f a ’ O f L a nd o r s w previous study orks , at once careful , prolonged , and enthusiastic . PRINCE TON COLLE G E , u 1 1 8 2 Jan ary 3 , 9 . LANDOR A MAN OF LETTERS O S M N E TTE S LAND R A A A O F L R . A ! NIVE RSAL library has three alcoves The first contains the reli n w gio s books, those hich relate man to Deity . The deepest question in th e hu m an soul is the wh y O f its e x iste n c e and the only answer to this riddle Of the sphinx is God . More w -m over, hile the clear inded Greek may conceive Of Divinity as pure m intelligence unperturbed by e otion , a m passionless force in itself un oral , because in it duty and inclination are one ; whilethe vehem ent Hebrew may picture Jehovah as fro wning in righteous anger at the sins Of his o — Oc c i pe ple , both Oriental and e e d 4 Walt r Savag Lan or. dental alike must ever be feeling after the guardian hand Of God and those wh o m o f seers, have caught a gli pse t w his trailing garmen s , are al ays to be regarded as the rarest benefactors N r Of m ankind . o dare w e suppose that the Deity has revealed himself once fo r all far back in the immuta bl e past , that long since the book ’ a Of God s pl n has been sealed . In m these modern ti es , Fichte and C E m Schelling , arlyle and erson , w w t Words orth and Bro ning , hese and m any m ore have sought to u n n O f cover the secret thi gs God . The second alcove is stored with those books which unite the m ind O f man with outward nature . Our ideal Of the good is only satisfied by resting in the perfection o f the Godhead ; in th e sam e wa y a type Of the true u n and fair is , upon occasion , best veiled beneath the shows O f nature and the Infinite Reason that gleams ~ ’ 6 Walte r Savage La n a o r n o m nature , and that at ti e could ih e m a n be called a Of God , having n o final word o f the Lord to utter . And while these three classes Of w m books are not, al ays utually ex c l u siv e m w , but rese ble ater circles , O f w each hich ripples into the other , r e yet , like such circles , each class m O o w n tains a easure f its identity . w wa s Thus , though Words orth men “ tio n e d as an interpreter O f the ” w O f m e n ays God to , he stands pre m O f e inently as the poet nature .