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 FROM THE AESTHETIC POINT OF VIEW 
 PART I 
 
 THE PERIOD FROM LANGLAND TO SPENSER. 
 
 INAUGURAL DISSERTATION 
 
 PRESENTED TO THE 
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF LEIPZIG 
 
 FOR THE DOCTOR'S DEGREE 
 
 BY 
 
 HANS C. PETERSON M. A. 
 
 LEIPZIG 
 
 GUSTAV FOCK 
 
 1896. 
 
To 
 
 Professor Dr. L. A. Sherman 
 
 author of 
 
 Analytics of Literature. 
 
I. Introductory Eemarks. 
 
 I have always felt that writings about literature from 
 the aesthetic point of view were very largely valueless for 
 two chief reasons. 
 
 In the first place such work is not based upon research. 
 It does not rest upon a mass of scientific proof, proceeding 
 from a body of well ascertained facts such as would be 
 demanded in any other department of inquiry. Consequently 
 it fails to appeal to him who believes that increase of 
 knowledge depends first of all upon at least measurably 
 exact methods of investigation. Instead criticism has come 
 to be based upon a certain power of intuitive perception 
 called taste, which, however valuable, can hardly be called a 
 promoter of scientific confidence. In the second place the element 
 of personality enters into writing of this sort more than is 
 permitted in work with any claim to scientific worth. Judge- 
 ments about literature and art are mostly ex cathedra. With 
 people in general the value of a criticism depends more 
 upon the reputation of the critic than upon any logical 
 scientific excellencies of his work itself. If, as however 
 often happens, it appeals directly by its justice and clearness 
 it does so because the reader has through unconscious growth 
 become the equal of the critic beforehand in appreciation. 
 Criticism unlike science cannot of itself engender belief, 
 cannot instruct in any true sense of the word. It seems to 
 me that these few remarks are in their nature self evident. 
 How many of us have not often felt that aesthetics is inde- 
 finite and unsatisfactory? Specialists in chemistry or philo- 
 
— 6 — 
 
 logy work along definite lines in common, toward a com- 
 mon goal, with a mass of established facts as common pro- 
 perty. Are aesthetic histories of literature or aesthetic 
 judgements about literature, on the other hand, much more 
 than a heterogeneous mass of private opinion? 
 
 This is a great lack. All inquiry into the life of authors, 
 all untangling of philological intricacies and explaining of 
 historical obscurities in connection with poetry or prose can 
 have but one aim — to make literature understood and 
 appreciated by the mass of educated readers that are not 
 specialists in philology. To this very end the aesthetic content 
 of poetry must not be ignored. English poetry is the embodi- 
 ment of English ideals; and there can be no true history 
 of this poetry that does not treat the subject from the 
 aesthetic side. But it is precisely this aesthetic element 
 that is the most elusive. Nine cultivated readers would be 
 able to determine the meaning of the difficult passages in 
 an act of Hamlet without help, where only the one would 
 be able to grasp the force and deeper significance of the pas- 
 sage alone. While the appreciating of a poem is of more 
 importance than the simple understanding of it, it is also 
 more difficult. This has been my experience in attempting 
 to get several hundreds of young people to understand some- 
 what of the inner development of English poetry as a 
 vehicle for the expression of a progressive series of ideals; 
 and it is to help somewhat here that I have undertaken this 
 work. There is no reason why such a history as I have in- 
 dicated may not be made on scientific principles, why a 
 system of aesthetic inquiry may not be devised for poetry 
 that shall have a definite theory and method, that shall be 
 able to stand on its own authority, be in touch with other 
 lines of thought, and eliminate the personal equation much 
 more than has yet been done. 
 
 But in my attempt to make a history of this sort, I 
 have been able to get no aid from aesthetics, partly for the 
 reasons given, but particularly because criticism does not 
 recognize the existence of elements. It was not until 1893 
 
by the publication of Analytics of Literature*), that this 
 important advance in methods of aesthetic research was made. 
 It was shown that poetry, like everything else, is built up 
 of certain constant and ultimate elements; and many of 
 these were isolated and defined. But what was of more value, 
 a method was given, and certain simple goals were definitely 
 set to be reached. Previously I had collected a mass of 
 material on figures of speech with the same idea of elements 
 in mind; and now I set about determing the quality and 
 quantity of them all in the fifty greatest poets of English 
 literature, during such leisure as I had. Of this the present 
 work is the first period — from Langland to Spenser. I 
 hoped that by this means I could definitely fix the aesthetic 
 value of each poem, which then by a comparison of all 
 would reveal the real inner development during the period. 
 A mass of statistics would be obtained from which a history 
 of English poetry might be written that would not be 
 dependent for its value upon the authority of the critic, 
 nor be colored by his personality. The new method was 
 simple enough, but the difficulties in the way of applying 
 it to actual investigation were found to be not a few. It 
 was found necessary to define the elements much more 
 scientifically than had yet been done. Several new ones 
 were discovered; others were found to stand in new relations 
 to each other. It became necessary to distinguish sharply 
 between subject-matter and technique. I have felt compelled 
 to fall back more upon psychology as the ultimate founda- 
 tion of all than Prof. Sherman did. Aesthetics should be 
 the science of the imagination, just as logic is the science 
 of reason. 
 
 This work consists of two parts. In the first I have 
 attempted to define the poetic elements as I have understood 
 them during my work. In part two I have cited the total 
 number of each poetic element in twelve representative 
 poems from Langland to Spenser. The results I have tabu- 
 
 *) By Prof. Dr. L. A. Sherman; Ginn and Company Boston. 
 
lated, and from these tables sketched the internal develop- 
 ment during the period. Part one deals with the integrity 
 of my method; part two gives the results from applying it 
 to actual investigation. 
 
 As I have talked with my friends about this matter 
 from time to time, a number of objections have been raised, 
 which seem to centre about three points. First they say 
 that a scientific investigation of the aesthetic element in 
 poetry or in anything else is an impossibility, which merely 
 means that it has not yet been done. In the second place 
 they say it would destroy our capacity for aesthetic enjoy- 
 ment. But we cannot know if it will until it has been 
 quite extensively tried. I have employed this objective 
 method through two years in giving instruction in literature 
 from the aesthetic point of view to some three hundred 
 young men and women; every one has felt his power of 
 aesthetic enjoyment not only not decrease but on the con- 
 trary increase. This second objection has some weight however, 
 because it is true that our enjoyment of anything aesthetic 
 ceases the moment we begin to observe ourselves. But it 
 is not necessary that everybody be continually observing 
 himself. Only when he proceeds to inform the public, is 
 it desirable that he have some reasons of a self - sufficient 
 sort for the faith that is in him. And, lastly, it has been 
 said that investigation such as this is sacrilegious. Yet 
 trying to discover how Shakespeare made Hamlet is surely 
 no worse than the efforts of the geologist to learn how 
 God made the universe. To find out a thing or two has 
 been deemed sacrilegious since the days of Adam. 
 
 11. The Elements of Poetical Subject-Matter. 
 
 The real ego, as distinguished from the purely uni- 
 fying activity of the mind, is a body of generalizations that 
 make up what we call our personality — that which marks 
 
each of us off from all other human beings. These gene- 
 ralized notions are characterized by a quality of desirability. 
 They furnish us with our motives; they set drifts and im- 
 pulses going in us, and are really the forms in which our 
 will comes to consciousness. They are generally called "ideals", 
 a word that is undesirable because it includes only those 
 that are of a high order. I prefer the name "types", which 
 may then be defined as any idea that the ego consciously 
 or unconsciously considers of worth and strives to realize. 
 
 These types come to us in a variety of ways, most of 
 which are unknown. We inherit a proclivity for types of a 
 certain sort. Many are formed from the associations and 
 environment of childhood and youth. Many are closely 
 connected with the passion of love. Many come only from 
 the deeper experiences of later life. 
 
 There are six qualities about these types to be con- 
 sidered. (1) All men have them. (2) They must change from 
 time to time. We see clearly that they do change. The 
 notions any one of us had ten years back of what was 
 -desirable are not those he had twenty years ago, nor are 
 these what he will have ten years hence. If we think how 
 we lived and acted in our childhood, we often do not seem 
 the same person. And these types must change because they 
 are the synthetic product of consciousness, and consciousness 
 itself is this same unifying activity. (3) They are brought 
 to the fore in our minds always ultimately by some sen- 
 sation from without. (4) If from any cause we are made 
 to believe that a type will be or may be partially or entirely 
 realized, we experience pleasure; if the contrary, sorrow. 
 (5) The number of attributes we may give to any type is 
 infinite; that is, will always be greater than we can ever 
 conceive. (6) As we become conscious of these types, they 
 assume the form of something human. Thus we assign the 
 attributes of man to inanimate things daily in our speech, 
 and this is not a projecting of ourselves into our environ- 
 ment but a characteristic of the types which that environ- 
 ment suggests. 
 
— 10 — 
 
 These types are the elements of poetical subject-matten 
 How they are related to the elements of technique in poetry 
 may best be seen by analyzing an instance of everyday 
 occurrence. One of my friends is struck by some fact or 
 happening on the street, and comes to me under strong 
 feeling and tells it. The phenomenon that struck him did 
 so — that is, was raised out of the ordinary — because 
 it set going in his mind a train of associations that ulti- 
 mately brought one or more of his types to consciousness. 
 This type had a quality of desirability about it, and what 
 he saw made him believe either that the type actually could 
 be realized or that it could not. The result is enthusiasm 
 or sorrow, and in either case he tells me. He would not 
 have told me, if his feelings had not been stirred; and his 
 feelings would not have been stirred, if he had not supposed 
 that his unconscious desires either were possible of realiza- 
 tion or were not. What he finally tells me is art. It may 
 be art with good subject-matter and bad manner, or with 
 the reverse. At any rate, it is the setting forth of a type 
 — the spiritual — by means of words — the material. 
 There can be nothing more to art in its widest sense. 
 
 There is evidently as wide a difference between the 
 types in the following works as between black and white: 
 Comedy of Errors, Othello, Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, 
 Ibsen's Brand, Sue's The Wandering Jeio, Browning's Luria, 
 The Winter's Tale, Hamlet, Dare-Decil Dick, David Copper- 
 f.eld, Cymheline, Rider Haggard's She. 
 
 We have seen that there is an evolution in types; and 
 this is the same for the race as for the individual. By 
 studying this progression in the types of the individual, and 
 as historically revealed in literature, the following classi- 
 fication may be set up. 
 
 I. Incident ami Adventure. Here there are but few 
 types and those are mostly of class II and III. The interest 
 centers about happenings. Examples are pre-eminently the 
 " Indianer-Geschichten" and "Nickle Libraries" of our earliest 
 youth, and of a higher grade Haggard's She and King 
 
— 11 — 
 
 Solomons Mines, Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans, The 
 Comedy of Errors. And these last, of a higher sort as I 
 said, are thus higher simply because types of class II and III 
 begin to mingle with the purely adventuresome of the story. 
 
 II. Physical Strength and Bravery. Here the human 
 mterest of the story lies only in the physical prowess of the 
 characters. Types of this sort are found in Achilles and 
 Ajax of Homer, in Theseus of The Knightes Tale, in Biowulf 
 and The Niehehmgen Lied. They enter into the composition 
 of Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet (I, 86.). 
 
 III. Types of Intellectual Power. Hamlet, Odysseus, the 
 Deerslayer, lago, Mephistopheles. This is the period of 
 youth in its admiration of brains. 
 
 IV. Woman in her External Physical Attractiveness. This 
 is also characteristic of earliest youth. Here come most of the 
 types in Horace's Odes, in Surrey's and Wyatt's Songs and 
 Sonnets, Chaucer's Knightes Tale, Lydgate's Tempil of Glas. 
 
 V. Love. Here come Romeo and Juliet, Troilus and 
 Cressida. 
 
 VI. Human Character in and for Itself. It is only well 
 on in life that the human for itself in its various phases, 
 good, bad, indifferent becomes of interest. Such are the 
 types in David Copperfeld, Our Mutual Friend, and in Dickens 
 on the whole; in Chaucer's Prologue to a degree, and in 
 The Merchant of Venice. 
 
 VII. Moral Strength, Greatness, and Purity. Here come 
 most of the types in The Faerie Queene, Hamlet, Vision of 
 Piers the Plowman, Chaucer's Prologue, Ibsen's Brand, the 
 King Arthur legends. 
 
 VIII. Woman Idealized in her higher Attributes. Here 
 she is the chief source and means of inspiration, and a 
 factor in the elevation of humanity. Here it is her woman- 
 liness more than her attractiveness that is the theme. 
 Examples are Imogen, Hermione, Desdemona, and Shakespeare's 
 women on the whole. 
 
 IX. Man Subject to Forces outside himself, Favorable or 
 Adverse. Hamlet, Sordello, Macbeth, Ibsen's Kongs-Emnerne. 
 
— 12 — 
 
 X. The Greatness of mere Passivity. These types are 
 beyond the conception of most men. They find their most 
 perfect expression in the personality of Christ and in the 
 dictum 'Resist not evil". Example, Browning's Luria. 
 
 The characters that appear in literature are a compound 
 of a variety of these types. Thus Hamlet has in his per- 
 sonality elements of class II, III, VII and IX. They may be 
 presented negatively, in that they are deliberately left out, 
 and are brought to our consciousness by contrast with 
 their opposites. 
 
 The natural way to set forth these types is by means 
 of words. If the artist instead employs pigments, tones, 
 marble, or stone, a reason must be sought. And if he em- 
 ploys words, he will make use of the following elements 
 of technique. 
 
 III. The Elements of Poetical Technique. 
 
 A. The direct method. 
 
 I. Poetic "Words. These are words that have an emo- 
 tional value in addition to their usual logical intension. 
 Such are ylory , battlements.^ tingling, hillow , shrill, tempest, 
 inaiden, Jhesens., thrill, prairie, melody/, Druids, ^:ii\'/, infernal, 
 hideous, knight, reverence, Diana, moonlight, cimress, pines^ 
 silver, divine, .<<tarri/, chrt/solite, antelope, majestic, mist, mur- 
 mur, hum. 
 
 These words have not all acquired this suggestiveness 
 in the same way. Many, such as tingling, shrill, melody, 
 moonlight, starry, suggest past emotional experiences to us 
 and to all normal persons. Knight, Druids, Diawt, divine, 
 infernal, Theseus, battlements, on the other hand, can suggest 
 no experiences whatever that we of to-day have had with 
 what they stand for. All that they mean to us we have 
 acquired through books, pictures and education in general. 
 
— 13 — 
 
 It is thus that Prof. Sherman in Analytics of Literature, 
 Chapter VI, distinguishes experimental from associational 
 words. But this two-fold division, I find, is not exhaustive; 
 nor does it offer any means for the historical classification 
 of these single words. It is true that all poetic words must 
 be suggestive in one of these two ways. But many have 
 a geographical limitation; prairie, billow are experimental 
 or associational according as one has lived inland or by the 
 sea. Many others have a similar historical limitation; knight, 
 battlements, draw-bridge, though associational to us, must have 
 been experimental, or perhaps even prose, to Chaucer and 
 Langland. Still others, as pine, silver, cypress, though in 
 themselves experimental words, are poetic, when poetic, by 
 association only; experimentally they are prose. Others again 
 contain the elements of experience and association so mixed 
 that they belong as much to one class as the other; such 
 are pity, beauty, maiden, honor. 
 
 The majority of poetic words are nouns and adjectives. 
 Adverbs come next in point of frequency. The interjections 
 oh and alas are common; and, in some passages, the pro- 
 nouns thou and ye. Emotional verbs are very rare. 
 
 Suggestive words are the most elementary of the poetic 
 elements; they are the most spontaneous expressions of feel- 
 ing. Oh! probably the first word uttered by a child is a 
 poetic word. Poets vary greatly in their fondness for these 
 single words. Certain short extracts from Shelley and Tenny- 
 son*) have been found to contain 70 per cent, while Brown- 
 ing's Andrea del Sarto, or Chaucer's Prologue have no more 
 than ordinary prose. 
 
 II. Phrases. These are combinations of (1) a noun with 
 a modifying adjective, (2) a participle, adjective, or adverb 
 with a modifying adverb, (3) two nouns in apposition. Such 
 are every felawe, eldest lady, no more, hollow cave, ise yfrore, 
 much glorie, swich a wo, saffron beds, Faerie Queene, Elfin 
 Knight, riche contree, great solempnite, cristal sheeld, laurer 
 
 *) Alastor and The Princess song closing part III. 
 
— 14 — 
 
 free, soote sugre. It is evident that these phrases are not 
 all equally intense; indeed Prof. Sherman*) distinguishes five 
 well defined classes as follows: — 
 
 Class I. Phrases that are entirely prosaic, each vrord 
 being a prose word. Every felawe. eldest lady, no more are 
 of this class. Others are newe jere, no wise, cheynes invisible, 
 yonge folk, pilke swerd, far unfitter, old dints, long taiU. 
 
 Class II. The phrases of this class are poetic in con- 
 trast to those of class I. But they are tautological in that 
 one of the words contains in itself the emotional value of 
 the other — though not, of course, necessarily the logical 
 intension. This of itself materially diminishes the force these 
 phrases would otherwise have. Instances are liollowe cave, ise 
 yfrore, soote sugre, nohle -prince, faire Venus, triumphant Mart, 
 dragon horrible, palfrey slow, diverse doubt, durtie ground, 
 blodie wound, mysty cloude, craggy roche, ladie dere, dovues 
 white, paleys imperial. Here also would come such puzzling 
 expressions as wide deep ivandering of Ilie Faerie Queene I, 2, 4; 
 wandering is a metaphor and means ocean, which then, of 
 course, is wide and deep. 
 
 Class III includes phrases that contain a figure of 
 speech, whether the phrase is clearly poetic or not. This 
 figure may consist in a transference of the adjective from 
 a part to the whole as in riche contree, blood roiall, fierce 
 warres; in the employment of an adjective that properly 
 modifies some entirely different idea as dull tong, bitter wound, 
 great perplexite, father Nilus; or in the use of an adjective 
 that is equivalent to a modifying genitive as guiltie secret, 
 wandering ivood, manly force. 
 
 Class IV. These phrases are poetic in so far that at 
 least one of the words is a poetic word. At the same time 
 they are not figurative and not tautological. Such are so 
 pitous, swich a wo, antique rolls, holy Virgin, heben bowe, 
 ancient kinges, hideous storme, any star, forlorne p)<^'>"a7nours, 
 
 *) Analytics of Literature Chapter VKI. 
 
— 16 — 
 
 glistering armor, most loihsome, hideous taile, poyson horrible, 
 Aegypiian vale, rudely falling, dedly stinke. 
 
 Class V. We shall best understand the phrases of this 
 class if we observe the mental processes involved in deter- 
 mining one — Elji7i Knight for instance. Anyone reading 
 this phrase hurriedly or with inalert imagination would 
 assign it to class IV because Eljin is a poetic word; the 
 phrase is clearly not of class I, or II, or III. Still his 
 mind will be unsatisfied; will stick at the seemingly un- 
 natural use of the word Elfin; he will feel that he has 
 not done the expression justice. If he finally get any higher 
 experience at all from the phrase, it will be because Elfin 
 suggests a more or less extended allegorical series of ideas 
 that set forth the knight. This phrase does not mean a 
 knight that is small, mysterious, uncanny, or invisible at 
 times like the elves. The word Eljin does not modify, 
 limit, or define knight in any way, but suggests a series 
 of allegorical notions that stand in the mind in juxtaposition 
 to and parallel with the ideas of the knight and England. 
 Similarly with Faerie Queene; the words do not modify 
 each other; each suggests a train of associations that proceed 
 independently and parallel merely illustrating each other, 
 — Faerie, purity, brilliance, etc. etc.; Queene, Elizabeth, 
 virginity etc. etc. Ultimately an experience evolves itself 
 more powerful than if the phrase had been of another class. 
 These phrases have two peculiarities; the effect is not de- 
 pendent upon the suggestive quality of the words composing 
 them, both of which are generally unpoetic; and the phrase 
 at first sight seems of class I. In reality it is a potential 
 allegory as will be shown below; see page 29. 
 
 Classes II and IV of phrases convey the type from the 
 mind of the poet to the mind of the reader by direct sug- 
 gestion; as with poetic words only the suggested idea is 
 given. The phrases of classes III and IV, however, are like 
 figures of speech in that they contain both the idea to be 
 suggested and the idea that suggests it in the same expres- 
 sion; see page 16. A few phrases like good knight, faire 
 
— 16 — 
 
 lady, though of class IV and II respectively, may, through 
 interminable repetition, become trite and degenerate to class I 
 as the poem in question proceeds. 
 
 The great master of phrases in English literature is 
 Shelley. Witness the following results from the first hundred 
 lines of Alastor: — 
 
 I 10, II 2, III 59, IV 59, V 0; total 130. 
 
 As far as I know, Shakespeare and Tennyson alone 
 make much use of those most potent phrases of class V. 
 
 III. Poetic Clauses. Verbs as was said are very rarely 
 poetic in themselves. Occasionally they may become so 
 however in combination with a subject or object. The idea 
 thus formed is appropriated by the imagination as a unit 
 and the clause is a poetic clause. Such are: — 
 
 The tempil was enluymed environ — Tempil of 
 
 Glas, 283. 
 Went wyde in this world — Piers Plowman, Prol. 4. 
 I slombred in a sleping — Ibid., Prol. 10. 
 Ther tre shal never fruyt ne leves bere — Parle- 
 
 ment of Fmdes, 137. 
 How would she sob and shriek — Induction, 44. 
 And with her teeth gnash on the bones in vain — 
 
 Ibid., 51. 
 
 IV. Poetic Phrases. If the verb in the preceding should 
 be reduced to a participle, verbal noun, or infinitive, it would, 
 with its accompanying noun, constitute a form midway be- 
 tween the poetic clause and the phrase of class IV. Such 
 instances are: — 
 
 To wail and rue this world's uncertainty — In- 
 duction, 25. 
 
 His beard all hoar, his eyes holwe and blind — 
 Ibid., 43. 
 
 Wringing his hands — Ibid., 77. 
 
 V. Figures of Speech. The elements so far con- 
 sidered, except class III and V of phrases, have been suggestive 
 and nothing more. But if the poet not merely suggests his 
 
— 17 — 
 
 type, but at the same time further illustrates it by some 
 analogical fact of his environment, the result is a figure of 
 speech. The analogy suggests itself because unconsciously 
 to the poet it presents some single, perhaps obscure, element 
 identical with an element of the type, so that the formula 
 for all figures of speech would be: — 
 
 f a -\- m -\- n etc. \ 
 
 \ «. + & + c etc. ] 
 
 Where a, m, n are the elements making up the type; 
 a, b, c, the elements making up the illustrative idea; and a, 
 the element common to both that associates them. There 
 are then two parts to every figure of speech, the type and 
 the external analogical fact; or, we may say, the literal and 
 the spiritual, the idea illustrated, and the idea illustrating. 
 There can be no more than these two parts to a true figure 
 of speech and no less. 
 
 These two elements may arrange themselves in the 
 imagination of the poet in three ways. They must both be 
 present, and they may either (1) be kept separate, or (2) they 
 may be united, or (3) one may remain unstated and be left 
 entirely to inference. No other arrangement is possible, and 
 this gives us three great classes of figures. 
 
 Now observation shows that as a man becomes more 
 and more enthusiastic his language changes. His sentences 
 become shorter; he tends to substitute phrases for clauses 
 and words for phrases in expressing an equivalence of thought; 
 he omits many conjunctions. If he be a poet and express 
 himself largely in figures, they will vary in length with the 
 ebb and fiow of his enthusiasm. They may be expanded 
 and declarative, with many verbs and conjunctions, or con- 
 densed and suggestive, with much suppression of predication 
 and few or no conjunctions. Upon this principle the three 
 classes of figures may be subdivided into several well-defined 
 genera, giving us the following scheme: — 
 
 Class I. Figures Involving a Resemblance. Here the 
 
 Petei-Bon, A History of Bagliali Poetry. 2 
 
— u 
 
 analogy takes shape in the imagination of the poet and is 
 presented to the mind of the reader, as two distinct pic- 
 tures, thus; — 
 
 a 
 
 h 
 
 c 
 
 " 
 
 III 
 
 II 
 
 ,1 
 
 e 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 IJ 
 
 '1 
 
 9 
 
 h 
 
 i 
 
 r 
 
 ^ 
 
 f 
 
 spiritual 
 
 literal 
 
 Where a, h, c etc. represent the elements of which the 
 idea illustrating is composed; a, m, n etc., the elements of 
 which the type is composed; a, the common associating 
 element. This is the Simile. 
 
 I. A. 1. — Here the form of expression the poet falls into 
 is usually definite predication for each picture with full ex- 
 position of details. He leaves nothing to inference and 
 trusts nothing to the reader. He says everything to the 
 bitter end. This is the Sustaim'il Simlh:, and should contain 
 at least two predications as; — 
 
 literal ^ ^ stretched myself and straight my hart revives 
 I That dread and dolour erst did so appale, 
 ■ Yy^/jLike him that with the fervent fever strives 
 
 \ When sickness seeks his castle health to scale. 
 
 — Tlte Induction, 19. 
 a = probably the stretching of fever patients. 
 
 As when two rams, stir'd with ambitious pride. 
 Fight for the rule of the rich fleeced flocke, 
 Their horned fronts so fierce on either side 
 Doe meet, that, with the terror of the shocke 
 Astonied both stand senseless as a blocke 
 Forgetful of the hanging victory. 
 
 So stood these twaine \Tihe R. G. Knight and Sansfoy] 
 
 unmoved as a rocke. 
 Both staring fierce. — Spenser, The Faerie 
 
 Queene I, 2, 136. 
 
 sp. < 
 
 lit. 
 
— 19 — 
 
 a = probably the bent and forward thrust heads of 
 
 the knights charging. 
 I. A. 2. — But if the poet perceives the analogy with 
 an imagination already energized, it will complete itself more 
 suddenly, though still as two distinct pictures; and, in ex- 
 pressing it, he will employ a single clause. This is the 
 Clause Simile, 
 lit. [ She is the monsters heed ywryen, 
 sp. [ As filth over - ystrawed with floures. — Chaucek, 
 The Boke of the Duchesse , 628. 
 a = probably the generally supposed dirtiness of a 
 "monster's" hide. 
 
 This Palamoun 
 In his fighting were as a wood leoun, 
 And as a cruel tygre was Arcite. — 
 
 The Knightes Tale., 797. 
 a wood leoun 
 
 sp. 
 
 ' a cruel tygre 
 
 7-. [ this Palamoun in his fighting 
 
 1 Arcite 
 
 a = probably the expression about the mouth of a man 
 
 in a rage. 
 
 I. A. 3. — If the imagination of the poet be still more 
 
 energetic, predication will be a hindrance to the expression 
 
 of his type; and the two pictures, still separate, will be 
 
 presented in a single phrase. This is the Phrase Simile. 
 
 The predicate may be entirely suppressed, or it may be only 
 
 reduced to a participle or an infinitive. 
 
 \_Suppr.] a murmuring winde [that was] much like the sowne 
 
 Of swarming bees. — Spbnsee, The Faerie 
 
 Queene I, 1, 364. 
 
 [^Red^ woven like a wave — Hid., I, 2, 160. 
 
 \Suppr.] silver - brighte — Parlement of Foules, 189. 
 
 I. B. — The fourth figure of the first class is the figure 
 
 called Comparison. The purpose of the simile is to insure 
 
 appreciation of a fact by citing illustrations; the object of 
 
— 20 — 
 
 comparison is to insure appreciation of degree. The two 
 pictures are still distinct in the imagination of the poet, 
 while the fact that he is prompted to the expression of 
 degree shows that his mind is energized. Hence this figure 
 appears usually in the shorter forms, as: — 
 
 Swelth as black as Hell — Induction, 69. 
 
 The storm so rumbled in her brest. 
 
 That Aeolus could never roar the like. — Ibid., 21. 
 
 This pardoner had heer as yelow as wex. — Pro- 
 logue to The Canterburi/ Tales, 675. 
 
 I. C. — In simile and comparison, the spiritual picture 
 suggests itself to the poet, and is again by him suggested 
 to the reader because it illustrates the literal. The idea 
 illustrating is secondary, and is strictly subordinated to the 
 idea illustrated. This secondary relation is always shown 
 by some subordinating word, as like, as, so. But in the 
 form of analogy called the Parallel, the two ideas are 
 presented co-ordinately, neither illustrating the other in any 
 formal way, thus: — 
 
 I For out of olde feldes ns men seith 
 1 \ 
 
 \ Cometh al this newe corn fro yeer to yere, 
 
 j-f I And out of olde bokes in good feith 
 
 1 Cometh al this newe science that men lere. — The 
 
 Parleiiient of Foules, 12. 
 
 a = perhaps the usual flat horizontal position of an 
 open book. 
 
 j^^ I what so strong 
 
 \ But wanting rest will also want of might 
 I The sunne that measures heaven all day long 
 \ At night doth baite his steedes the Ocean waves among. 
 — llie Faerie Qitecne I, 1, 285. 
 In the presentation of the two ideas, the relationship 
 is left unstated. This figure stands midway between the 
 figures of class I and class HI. If the literal half should 
 
— 21 — 
 
 be left to inference the figure would be of class III. See 
 page 24. 
 
 Class II. Figures that Involve an Identification. In this 
 class, the type and illustrative idea are no longer kept 
 separate in the imagination, but are identified as in: — 
 
 prescience 
 That giltiless tormenteth innocence. 
 
 — The Knightes Tale, 455. 
 
 Here the poet was so aroused that he saw the two 
 ideas, a torturer tormenting an innocent person, and unshun- 
 nable destiny, together as one idea. The analogy was so 
 striking that he assigned the two notions temporarily to a 
 common genus of cruel irresponsible beings. They appeared 
 in his imagination thus: — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 — a composite photograph. This is the Metaphor. 
 "Wasting woes that never will aslake" 
 shows these two superimposed pictures: — 
 
 spiritual literal 
 
 A person so thirsty, or a Continuous and wasting 
 
 parched tract of land so dry, woe. 
 
 that no quantity of water can 
 ever satisfy. 
 
 In "all suddenly well lessoned was my fear" the two 
 ideas are: sp. a man overcoming fear, 
 
 lit. a teacher disciplining his pupil. 
 a = the sternness of facial expression probably. 
 The poet identified these two ideas spiritually and hence 
 presented them combined. They are now separate, and if 
 
— 22 — 
 
 they be also presented separately thus: 'Suddenly I overcame 
 my fear as a teacher disciplines his pupils", the figure will 
 be of class I, A. Reverse the order, use the conjunction 
 "and" as a connective, and the figure is of class I, C. The 
 poet did not present these two notions separately because 
 he saw them combined; and he saw them combined because 
 his imagination was more than usually energized for the 
 moment through enthusiasm over some type. 
 
 This class of figures is subdivided upon the same prin- 
 ciple as class I. 
 
 II. A. 1. — This form of the metaphor includes instances 
 where the imagination of the poet remains in the state of 
 identifying type and illustration through at least two state- 
 ments or clauses. This is the Rtmning Metaplior. 
 
 The longe love that in my thought I barber, 
 And in my hart doth keep his residence. 
 Into my face preaseth with bold pretence 
 And tber campeth displaying his baner. — 
 
 Wyatt, Sonnets, I, 1. 
 And when the sonne hath eke the dark opprest, 
 And brought the day, it doth nothing abate 
 The travails of mine endless smart and payn; 
 For then, as one that hath the light in hate, — 
 
 SuERBY, Sonnets, I, 27. 
 II. A. 2. — Here the imagination of the poet finishes 
 the identification within the limits of a single clause. This is 
 the Clause 3Ietap/ior. 
 
 The fresshe beautee sleeth me sodeynly. — 
 
 7Jie Knightes Tale, 260. 
 
 That glorious fire it kindled in his heart. — 
 
 The Faerie Queene, I. prol., 22. 
 
 Add faith unto your force. — Ibid., I, 1, 162 
 
 The boke us telleth. — 7'he Ho-us of Fame, 426. 
 
 That unto logik hadde long y-go. — 
 
 Prologue to Tlie Canterburi/ Tales, 286. 
 
— 23 — 
 
 II. A. 3. — Here the poet expresses the identification with- 
 out the use of predication, which may be suppressed or reduced 
 to an infinitive or participle. This is the Phrase. Metaphor. 
 Suppression of Predication: — 
 
 Theseus, the flour of chevalrie — The Knightes Tale, 124. 
 
 An oratorie riche for to see — Ibid., 1053. 
 
 Oke, sole king of forests all — Tlie Faerie Queene I, 1, 71. 
 
 Japers and Janglers, Judas chyldren. — 
 
 Prologue to Piers Plowman, 35. 
 Reduction of Predication: — 
 
 Gold to mayntene his degree — The Knightes Tale, 583. 
 
 Making her deth their life — The Faerie Queene l,l,22i. 
 
 of fair speech and chydinges 
 And of fals and sooth compouned. — 
 
 The Ho us of Fame, 1028. 
 II. B. — Consider the phrase figure: — 
 
 battaille 
 Betwixen Athenes and the Amazones. — 
 
 The Knightes Tale, 22. 
 The rhetorician would say about this figure that 
 "Athenes" merely stands for "the people of Athens", and 
 that there is nothing more to it. This really only names 
 the mystery. It seems to me far more probable that the 
 poet saw in his mind's eye not the people of Athens as in- 
 dividuals, but Athens the city, as a unit really identified 
 with one single warrior. This figure is really of class II, A, 3. 
 Consider also the expression 'Emelye clothed al in 
 grene" of The Knightes Tale 828. That the poet could 
 have conceived green apart from any object is impossible. If 
 'green" means simply "green clothes", the expression is a 
 rhetorical turn of phrase merely, and no figure of speech 
 at all, because the two elements common to all figures are 
 wanting. But "green" here is a poetic word, and the poet 
 saw in his imagination the entire green environment about 
 Emelye. This is the illustrative idea that he identified with 
 garments, and this figure also is of class II, A, 3. The same 
 
— 24 
 
 is true of the very common expression ''clothed in blak", 
 where the blackness of night, perhaps, is the illustrative 
 idea used. Contrast such an expression as "miscreated faire", 
 Faerie Queene I, 2, 19, which is plainly no figure but 
 merely a rhetorical device of style. These figures are those 
 usually called metonymij and siinecdoche; but we see that 
 they are either (1) no figures of speech at all because they 
 present no union of type and illustrative fact, or (2) they 
 are phrase metaphors. They are rare from Langland to 
 Spenser, and need not be considered separately, though 
 a count of them might perhaps be made with profit in the 
 more modern periods of the literature. Forms like 'miscre- 
 ated faire" above are of course Ill-class phrases. 
 
 II C. — Here belong class III of phrases in which 
 no hint of predication remains. 
 
 Class III. Figures involving a lie semblance hid the Resem- 
 hlance lejt to Inference. 
 
 The typical figures for this class are the numerous 
 modern expressions like "The rolling stone gathers no moss'' 
 ""AH is not gold that glitters", "Die Suppe wird nie so 
 heiss gegessen wie sie gekocht ist" Let us consider the 
 first of these examples. The person who in conversation says 
 "A rolling stone gathers no moss" does in reality not make 
 any statement about a stone and moss at all. His hearers 
 do not offer the stone and moss a thought. What he does 
 mean they should grasp, and what they do grasp, is that 
 "a wandering youth accumulates no substance". This is 
 what he intended to say; the illustration that came to hiui, 
 and that he said instead was the fact about the stone. 
 The two pictures or parallel series of circumstances must 
 have presented themselves to his imagination thus: — 
 
 
 
 
 the 
 youth 
 
 
 lit. 
 
 the 
 atone 
 
 
 spir. 
 
 
25 — 
 
 exactly as though the figure were of class I. "A" in all pro- 
 bability is the zigzag or crooked course of a slowly moving 
 stone. But when he comes to express this idea he does 
 it thus; — 
 
 spir. 
 
 leaving the literal or illustrated half entirely unsaid. This 
 is the Allegory^ — a figure capable of two distinct inter- 
 pretations. One thing is said and something entirely differ- 
 ent meant. 
 
 Now, to continue our supposed instance of the man 
 speaking, why is it that his hearers all perfectly understand 
 him; infer his meaning exactly; and, if the allegory be new, 
 even get pleasure from it and perhaps applaud? The reason 
 must lie in (1) the apropos connection, (2) convention of 
 use, or (3) if the discourse be spoken, in the accompanying 
 gesture or facial expression. These circumstances are then 
 really as essential a part of the allegory as either of the 
 other two elements that make up figures of speech; and 
 form a third element which may be called the "interpre- 
 tative hint". Without this, the figure could in no case be 
 understood or appreciated. Children, or foreigners, unacquainted 
 with the language spoken about them, are proverbially blind 
 to the application of such figures — see only the literal 
 side. How many children see in Tlie Pilgrim's Progress, for 
 instance, anything more than a story? 
 
 In the instances of this figure given above, the inter- 
 
— 26 — 
 
 pretative hint is of the second sort, convention; though in 
 the third it was to me, when I first heard it, of the first 
 order, the pat connection. In The Pilgrim's Progress it is 
 the personifying of virtues. In llie Faerie Queene it is the 
 Latin signification of the proper names partly, and partly 
 the prefatory remarks of the author. In Absalom and Acld- 
 tophel, The Tale of a Tub, Gulliver's Travrh it was the apro- 
 pos connection; a modern student will not understand a word 
 of these pieces unless he is either thoroughly familiar with 
 the history of those days, or is furnished with a key by 
 somebody who is. 
 
 A few illustrations may not be out of place showing 
 how much this form of figure is used when the mind is 
 energized. In one instance, I heard a discussion in progress 
 concerning the value of laws. The debate had become 
 heated; and, as the one speaker praised their impartiality, 
 his opponent interjected 'Yes, spider-webs always hold the 
 little flies while the large ones break through". In another 
 instance the cpiestion was raised why it is that we prefer 
 the shorter condensed forms of tropes to the longer forms, 
 when someone replied, "Why, the man accustomed to riding 
 in an express train does not care much to travel by cart". 
 I was reading the humorously elaborate and detailed regu- 
 lations governing a certain bathing establishment; and, ob- 
 serving that none were inforced, I joked the bathing master 
 about it. "Ach ja", he replied "die Suppe wird nie so heiss 
 gegessen wie sie gekocht ist". Such instances are of daily 
 occurrence; anyone could think of a dozen in an hour. 
 
 The allegory distinguishes itself from the metaphor by 
 the fact that the subject and predicate are consistent — that 
 is, the subject is not said to do anything it cannot literally 
 perform. All parts of the allegory, in fact, are consistent 
 with each other; the idea illustrated must not be allowed 
 to intrude at all. Again, the allegory states only one side 
 of the analogy; the metaphor states both. Thus, in, "The 
 man accustomed to riding in an express train does not care 
 much to travel by cart", only the illustrating element is 
 
^ 27 — 
 
 given. The metaphor would be "Why, the long figure is 
 the cart; the short one, the express train". 
 
 Simile distinguishes itself from Allegory merely in the 
 presentation. In the mind of the poet or the speaker they 
 are alike. Hence add the literal element to the Allegory in 
 the presentation also, and it becomes a simile. "The short 
 figure of speech exhilarates like travelling in an express 
 train; the long one is tiresome like a journey in a cart," is 
 our old instance in the form of a simile. 
 
 Figures of Class I may also be easily changed to figures 
 of Class III. Consider the parallel given on page 20: — 
 
 I For out of olde feldes as men seith 
 sjnr. I 
 
 [ Cometh al this nevre corn fro yeer to yere, 
 ,. (And out of olde bokes in good feith 
 
 I Cometh al this newe science that men lere. 
 Substitute "as" for "For" and "so" for "And" so that 
 the illustrative force of the latter couplet be formally predi- 
 cated and the figure is a simile. Now omit the literal, 
 state the spiritual, supply an interpretative hint, and it will 
 be an allegory, thus: — 
 
 You doubt the value of Why all our new corn from 
 
 old books do you! year to year comes out of 
 
 Interpretative Hint. . old p elds! 
 
 Tlie spiritual. 
 Jhe literal — omitted. 
 
 It will now be seen that the three classes of figures 
 are merely different channels by which the poet may express 
 perhaps even one and the same thought. 
 
 Applying our old principle of subdivision, we get the 
 following genera under this class: — 
 
 III. A. 1. — The allegory continues through at least two 
 full periods. This is the Sustained Allegory. As instances 
 may be mentioned The Faerie Queene, The Boke of the 
 Duchesse, and of shorter examples Wyatt's, The louer hopeth 
 of better chance. 
 
— 28 — 
 
 III. A. 2. — The allegory is completed within the limits 
 of one period — Periodic Allegorji. This form is very rare. 
 Examples: — 
 
 For many a man such fire oft times he kindleth 
 That with the blase his herd him self he singeth. — 
 Wyatt, Of the fained frend, 6. 
 
 For Rachel have I served 
 For Lea cared I neuer 
 And her have I reserved 
 
 Within my hart foreuer. — Wyatt, The louer excusetli 
 himself of ziwrds ^nlterewith he iras nniustli/ charged. 
 
 While Scorpio dreading Sagittarius' dart 
 
 Whose bow prest bent in fight the string had slipped 
 
 Down slid into the Ocean flood apart; 
 
 The Bear that in the Irish seas had dipped 
 
 His grisly feet with speed from thence he whipped 
 
 For Thetis hasting from the Virgin's bed 
 
 Pursued the Bear that ere she came was fled. — 
 
 Sackville, The Induction, Stanza 5. 
 in. A. 3. — Allegories that are an incomplete period, 
 though of more than one clause in length. 
 I have, God wot, a large feeld to ere 
 And wayke been the oxen in my plough. — 
 
 77ie Knightes Tale, 28. 
 
 a jay 
 Can clepen Watte as wel as can the pope. — 
 
 Prologue to The Canterbuiy Tales, 642. 
 Whose praises — — — — — — — 
 
 Me all to meane the sacred Muse areeds 
 
 To blazon broad emongst her learned throng. — 
 
 27ie Faerie Qucene, I. Prol., 6. 
 III. A. 4. — Allegories that complete themselves within 
 the limits of a single clause — Clause Allegori/. 
 angry Jove an hideous storm of raine 
 Did pour into his Lemans lap so fast. — 
 
 The Faerie Queene, I, 1, 51. 
 
— 29 
 
 Whan that Lucina with her pale lijt 
 
 Was ioyned last with Phebus in aquarie. — 
 
 Lydgatb, The Tempil of Glas, 4. 
 
 For streight after the blase as is no wonder 
 
 Of deadly noyse heare I the fearfuU thunder. — 
 
 Wyatt, The louer describes his being stricken 
 ivith the sight of his loue. 
 
 III. A. 5. — Here, as in I. A. 3 and II. A. 3, predication 
 has been suppressed or reduced, forming the P/jrasfi^//«^or7/: — 
 
 A shiten shepherd and a clene sheep. — 
 
 Prologue to The Canterburij Tales, 504. 
 
 In this example, predication has been suppressed, form- 
 ing an instance of apposition with the preceding line. This 
 is the only phrase allegory that occurs from Langland to 
 Spenser inclusive. 
 
 III. A. 6. — Here belongs Class V of phrases where no 
 hint of predication remains. Let us again consider the 
 phrase "Faerie Queene" discussed on page 15, and we shall 
 be better able to see how distinctive a mark of these phrases 
 this parallelism is. If the mind be watched as it comes to 
 a full understanding of this phrase, it will be found that 
 first two distinct pictures appear thus: — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Faerie 
 
 
 Queene 
 
 
 
 sp. 
 
 
 lit. 
 
 
 "Queene", the literal or illustrated half, stands for Eliza- 
 beth, her greatness, England. "Faerie", the spiritual or 
 illustrative half stands for faerie land, elves, beauty, bril- 
 liance, purity. "A" is probably the virginity of the queen. 
 This is a perfect allegory, and like the other forms of the 
 figure would be a simile were the parallelism predicated. 
 Secondly, Elizabeth, her great men, England were all poten- 
 tially contained in the word "Queene", are merely a train 
 of associations set going by "Queene". Similarly faerie land, 
 
— 30 - 
 
 elves, beauty, purity, brilliance are a train of associations 
 started by "Faerie". Hence the mental processes involved 
 in the fifth class phrase are better pictured by two slowly 
 lengthening parallels thus: — 
 
 lit. sp. 
 
 and parallels at that tliat never end. 
 
 The V- class phrase then is an allegory in which the 
 train of association composing each of the two elements is 
 started by one of the words making up the phrase. In the 
 other forms of the allegory the spiritual series is e.qiressed. 
 The other V - class phrases from Langland to Spenser are 
 '•Elfin knight", "saffron bed", "Faerie knight". 
 
 III. A. 7. — But even the literal parallel in the V- class 
 phrase may fall away, leaving only the one word that sets 
 the spiritual train of associations going in the mind. But 
 this absence of the literal and presence only of the spiritual 
 is the distinguishing characteristic of the allegory; and such 
 single words may then be called Word- Allegories. As an 
 example consider the following from Tennyson's ThePrincess: — 
 Let the lean - headed eagles yelp alone, and 
 [do you] leave 
 Their monstrous ledges. 
 Here the word "yelp" may be read over or it may suggest 
 something. In the former case, the fault would be the 
 reader's. In the latter, the train of associations would be 
 ■wolves, ravenousness, snow, great wastes, and so forth, which 
 are not identified with any other ideas in the sentence, but 
 are purely illustrative in the true allegorical way. The 
 literal parallel or the idea illustrated does not come before 
 us in any definite form. We know it to be the eagles, but 
 
— 31 — 
 
 the word "eagles" starts no parallel train of associations in 
 the mind. Both parallels are suggested simultaneously by 
 the Avord "yelp" 
 
 The great master of the word- allegory in English litera- 
 ture is Tennyson. Witness the following from The Princess: — 
 
 my father heard and ran 
 In on the lists and there unlaced my casque 
 And groceU'd*) on my body 
 
 and on their curls 
 From the high tree the blossom wavering fell, 
 And over them the tremulous isles of light 
 Slided^ they moving under shade. 
 
 But he that lay 
 Beside us, Cyril, battered as he was 
 Trailed himself up on one knee. 
 
 a wall of night 
 Blot out the slope of sea from verge to floor 
 And sucJi the blinding splendor from the sands. 
 Nor wilt thou snare him [Love] in the white ravine 
 Nor find him dropt upon the firths of ice 
 That huddling slant in furrow-cloven falls 
 To roll the torrent out of dusky doors. 
 But follow; let the torrent dance thee down 
 To find him in the valley; let the wild 
 Lean-headed eagles yelp alone, and leave 
 Their monstrous ledges there to slope and spill 
 Their thousand wreaths of dangling water - smoke. 
 That like a broken purpose waste in air. 
 The word - allegory is the one string on. which Tenny- 
 son harps. 
 
 The mental process involved in all these forms of allegory 
 is the same. The imagination of the reader is merely made 
 to operate by smaller and smaller hints from the poet. The 
 reduction in printed length does not represent the reduction 
 but the concentration of force. We saw most clearly from 
 
 *) The italics are mine. 
 
— 32 — 
 
 the V - class phrase that the parallelism in the allegory 
 is infinite. The Simile and the Metaphor present only a 
 few definite qualities of the type to be set forth; but in 
 the allegory the imagination carries the two parallel series 
 of associations on and on, continually finding new points of 
 contact, never arriving at a full conception of the type, never 
 being satisfied. Herein lies the great superiority of the 
 allegory as a figure of speech; it is one of the character- 
 istics of types that they always will possess more attri- 
 butes than can ever be conceived of. This is why we all 
 feel the allegory to be the figure of speech j^ar excellence. 
 
 III. B. — Here come figures of speech like "Justice weighed 
 it in her scales", "Love, that my feling astonieth with his 
 wonderful worching." Let us analyze the former example. 
 For "Justice" we all see at once, in our mind's eye, a large 
 female figure probably clad in classic garb. This figure 
 has an actual pair of scales; and the "it" that is weighed 
 is some object, probably a scroll. There is nothing unliteral; 
 all parts of the conception are mutually consistent; the female 
 figure can actually weigh; the expression is not of class H. 
 It means that exact impartial justice (with a small j) was 
 meted out toward some deed; and we see that it is the 
 illustrative half of a figure of class HI. This is Personification. 
 
 Personification differs from allegory in the broadness of 
 the "interpretative hint" and in the fact that the same word 
 (with changed initial letter however) is the subject of both 
 the spiritual and literal parallel. The capital initial is an 
 interpretative hint of the conventional sort formed from book 
 associations; and it is the exceeding broadness of this that 
 makes a figure of this sort so distasteful to the mature 
 modern mind. Nothing is left for the imagination to do; 
 the figure is thrust at you so to speak. Yet there is evident 
 diS'erence between 'Night spread her black mantle" and 
 "night spread her black mantle" The former is personifi- 
 cation; the latter, metaphor. In the former the transactions 
 go parallel through the mind, in the latter they are combined. 
 Personification is merely an allegory that deals with persons. 
 
— 33 — 
 
 This is the simplest and most primitive of all the figures. 
 It is the one first used by the child, the earliest activity of 
 its imagination. But for a full discussion of this point see 
 Analjitics of lAteraturc, V^S^ ^^• 
 
 Personification as above set forth is the sense of the 
 vi^ord in this work. Commonly the term is used with much 
 looseness. Expressions like "The trees wept balm" "The 
 clouds blushed" are so designated, apparently for no other 
 reason than that weeping and blushing are human acts. I 
 have asked many persons if they saw in their mind's eye a 
 human being weep in the first instance and blush in the 
 second; and they have uniformly answered that they did not 
 except as compounded, in a way. with a tree and a cloud. 
 That has always been my experience with such figures, and 
 I believe it is the experience of all. To call a figure of 
 speech personification when even the individual so calling it 
 does not clearly have a person in mind seems absurd. This 
 sort of figure is metaphor. 
 
 We distinguish the same classes of personification that 
 we did of allegory. This gives us: — 
 
 III. B. 1. — Sustained Personification. 
 
 III. B. 2. — Periodic Personification. 
 
 III. B. 3. — Perso)iifi.cation of more than one Clause 
 though not a full Period. 
 
 III. B. 4. — Clause Personification. 
 
 III. B. 5. — Phrase Personification. 
 
 There remain to be mentioned only those poetic appearances 
 called Apostrophe. Here the poet either addresses some Idea 
 or Object that he conceives as standing in some relation of 
 actual personality to him — as in the innumerable apo- 
 strophes to Love and Fortune. Or the object addressed may 
 not be conceived as holding any personal relationship to 
 the poet, as Byron's Apostrophe to the Ocean or Tell's address 
 to his native mountains. In the first case the figure is of 
 class III B.; in the latter, of class II. 
 
 Peterson, A History of English Poetry. 
 
— 34 — 
 
 These are the forms in which the figvires of speech appear 
 pure. There are some appearances of a mixed character 
 in poetry that need mention. 
 
 I. Allegory may be stated in metaphorical terms. Our 
 old illustration "A rolling stone gathers no moss" will do 
 for an example. "Gather" is a term that cannot be strictly 
 applied to a stone; it presupposes voluntary selective activity. 
 Such figures are counted in class II and III both. Another 
 instance: — 
 
 The hammer of the restless forge 
 
 I wote eke how it workes. — SrEHEY, Description 
 
 of the fickle Affections Panges and Sl/(ilits of Love. 
 
 II. Personification may be stated in metaphorical terms, 
 and as such is counted in class 11 and III: — 
 
 [Fame speaks] Blow thy trumpe and that anon, 
 Quod she, thou Eolus I bote. 
 And ring these folkes werkes by note 
 That al the world may of it here. — 
 
 Chaucee, The Hous of Fame, 1718. 
 "Ring" and 'al the world may here" are metaphorical. 
 
 III. Personifiication, though beginning pure, may shade 
 off into literal language: — 
 
 Thanne come ther a king, knyghthood him ladde 
 Might of the Comunes made him to regne 
 And than cam kynde witte and clerkes he madde 
 For to counseille the king and the comune save. — 
 Ihe Vision of Piers the Plowman, Prol., 112. 
 The last line is literal; we have temporarily forgotten 
 the personified figures of the first lines. 
 
 IV. Personification may shade off into running meta- 
 phor, as: — 
 
 Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote 
 The drouglite of Marche hath perced to the roote 
 And bathed every veyne in swich licour 
 Of which vertu engendred is the flour. — 
 
 Prologue to The Canterbun/ Tales, 1. 
 
— 35 - 
 
 To say that the flower is engendered from the virtue 
 of the shower is metaphor just as April piercing the drought 
 of March to the root is Personification. 
 
 V. Allegory may evolve from running Metaphor: — 
 
 And whan that was fal y-spronge 
 
 And woxen more on every tongue 
 
 Than ever hit was, hit wente anoon 
 
 Up to a windows out to goon, 
 
 Or but hit mighte out ther pace 
 
 Hit gan to creep at some crevace 
 
 And fleigh forth faste for the nones. — 
 
 The Rous of Fame, 2081. 
 
 VI. Allegory and Personification with literal subject. 
 The distinctive mark of the allegory, as we have so 
 
 often seen, is the different imagined subject for the spiritual 
 and the literal side of the analogy. But the grammatical 
 subject may occasionally be the same. We have many such 
 allegories in our common speech, as: "He would have come, 
 if he had not had other fish to fry". Having "other fish 
 to fry" means having other and more important matters in 
 hand, and is allegorical. Yet the spiritual and literal subjects 
 are identified — the distinctive mark of the metaphor. That 
 this nevertheless is allegory is seen from the fact that the 
 personality of the subject changes in our imagination the 
 moment the allegorical idea of frying fish intrudes. „He" 
 assumes an apron perhaps or changes fittingly in some other 
 way. That the personality of the subject changes, often 
 remarkably, in this way the moment the allegorical notion 
 appears is seen most clearly in the following from Wyatt's 
 The louer excuseth himself of worths wherwith he loas uniustlg 
 
 charged: — 
 
 And as I have deserved 
 So grant me now my hire 
 You know I never swerved 
 You never found me Iyer 
 For Rachel have I serued 
 For Lea cared I neuer. 
 
 3* 
 
— 36 — 
 
 Here it is the associations connected with the names 
 "Rachel" and "Lea" that bring about the remarkable change 
 in our mental picture of the speaker from the Elizabethan 
 courtier to the Jew of the Old Testament. It will not do 
 to base the distinction between Allegory and Metaphor upon 
 grammatical differences. It is in this way that the personality 
 of the speaker (Chaucer) in 'Ihe Hous of Fame changes, espe- 
 cially in the eagle episode of the first book. 
 
 VII. Allegory and personification may occur within alle- 
 gory and personification, and especially in these early periods 
 where such instances are often employed to illustrate the 
 main allegory of the poem. This is in a larger sense ana- 
 logous to allegory stated in metaphorical terms. In The Boke 
 of tlie Duchesse, the knight weeping for his dead mistress repre- 
 sents John of Gaunt's supposed feelings at the death of the 
 Lady Blaunche. It begins at line 444, ending at line 1310. 
 In the middle of his speech — lines 617 to 684 — the knight 
 launches into an account of a game of chess played by 
 himself and Fortune. The idea conveyed here might as well 
 have been set forth in literal language; the main allegory 
 would not have suffered at all. And if we ignore the main 
 allegory, looking upon the impersonal knight and his lament 
 as per se the motive of the poem, the passage in question 
 is not altered; it remains personification — personification 
 within allegory. Such instances belong as well under III B. 
 as III A. 
 
 Similarly in 77(6 Vision of Piers the Flownuin I, 38 — 89 
 and 76 — 7 8 "Holychirche" uses personification to illustrate 
 her remarks merely and not in reference to any character 
 of the poem, when it would of course be part of the main 
 personification only. Indeed triple combinations may occur. 
 In the same piece, passus I, line 155 (half) is a simile, 
 occurring in an allegory (151 — 156) which is itself but in- 
 cidental to the main personification. 
 
— 37 ~ 
 
 The XIV century was pre-eminently the century for 
 personifications in English literature. Witness the following 
 from The Vision of Piers the Plowman: — 
 
 II. 62. Ac Symonye and cyvile and sisoures of courts 
 
 Were most pryve with Mede. 
 II. 83. And the Erldome of Envye and Wratthe 
 togideres 
 With the chastelet of chest and clateryng - out 
 
 of - resoun 
 The counte of covetise and al the costes aboute. 
 IV. 16. And [resoun] called catouti his knave curtise 
 of speche, 
 And also tomme trevve tonge - telle me - 
 
 no - tales - 
 Ne lesyng - to - lawje of for I loved 
 
 hem - nevere 
 ''And sette my sadel upon suffre - tel I - see - 
 my - tyme." 
 
 V. 681. Than shaltow come by a croft, but come thon 
 noujt there - inne, 
 That croft hat coveyte noughte - mennes - 
 
 catel ne her - weyves - 
 Ne none of - her - servaunts - that - noyen - 
 
 hem - mi jte, 
 Loke ye breke no bowe there but if it be 
 yowre owne. 
 V. 592. Than shall ye see sey soth so it be 
 to - done 
 In - no - manere elles naughte - for - no - 
 mannes biddynge. 
 Very likely William could at a pinch have conceived of 
 the entire decalogue as a croft or something else equally 
 allegorical. Moreover the XIII and XIV centuries were the 
 centuries of the miracle plays and the moralities. Personi- 
 fications and allegorical conceptions were in the air. Those 
 were the children of the race; and the child of to-day is as 
 
alert in figuring facts to himself allegorically. I have asked 
 numbers of children in the schools to tell what they saw in 
 their minds for "evening descended"; and they have uniformly 
 seen "evening" as some being of the angelic order actually 
 winging his way downward from on high. We of mature 
 minds do not naturally see it thus. To them it was allegory, 
 to us it is metaphor. Chaucer would have seen it as they 
 did; and consequently more latitude must be given to allegory 
 and personification in the writers of the XH' century than 
 would be granted to instances in Tennyson or Shelley. Some 
 cases like the following have been classed as personification 
 where to us they would be metaphor: — 
 
 thus melancholye 
 And drede I have for to dye 
 Defaute of slepe and hevinesse 
 Have sleyn my spirit of quiknesse. — 
 
 Ihe Boke of the Ihirhesse, 23. 
 The blood was fled for pure drede 
 Down to his hert to make hit warm, 
 For well hit feled the hert hadde harm, 
 To wyte eek why hit was a-drad 
 By kynde, and for to make hit glad. — 
 
 Ibid., 4'.I0. 
 For so astonied and asweved 
 AVas every vertu in myn heved 
 What with his sours and with my drede 
 That al my feling gan to dede. — 
 
 T/ie Hous of Fame, b-i'J. 
 It is plain that Chaucer in his mind's e\e saw Defaute 
 of Slepe, Hevinesse, Drede - I have - for to deye, the 
 blood, as personifications of some sort. The Boke of the 
 Diichesse and 77ie lions of Fame are tlie only pieces that 
 present such anomalies. 
 
 VI. Associated Types. — But the illustrative fact of 
 environment may be combined with the type to be set forth 
 without making a figure of speech. It need only be placed 
 in juxtaposition to the type, when the illustrative bearing 
 
— 39 — 
 
 will at once be strikingly felt, though the form be perfectly 
 literal, as: — 
 
 He [the Monk] was a lord ful fat and in good point. — 
 
 Prologue to The Canterburij Tales, 200. 
 Here the illustration suggested by the words in italics 
 is, of course, the well-conditioned swine. In 
 
 And gadrede us together al in a fiok. — Ibid., 824. 
 the illustration brought to bear is a flock of good-natured, 
 helpless, and dazed sheep or geese. As in painting, a character- 
 istic phase of environment may be made to do duty in the 
 same illustrative way as: — 
 
 the high doors 
 Were softly sundered, and through these a youth 
 Pelleas and the sweet smell of the fields 
 Passed, and the sunshine came along with him. — 
 Tenkysox, FelleiiK and Ettaj're. 
 
 Browning, Sordello, 387 — 429. 
 
 In all these instances something typical in the world 
 outside the ego is directly brought into association with the 
 type to be delineated for the sake of the illustrative force 
 it may have, and may consequently be called an Associated 
 Tijpe. The excellence of this poetic element lies in the fact 
 that, like the allegory, it does not set forth a few character- 
 istics of the type in hand, but sets trains of associations in 
 motion. 
 
 VII. Tone Colors. — Here the type is suggested, not 
 through the meaning of the words, but by their sounds. 
 Having once had a pleasant or an unpleasant experience in 
 which the chief element was sound, such as the hoot by 
 night of an owl in a wood, the shrieking of the wintry 
 wind, the groans of a dying man, the ripple of an alpine 
 brook, the occurrence of this element alone in poetry is 
 sufficient to start a train of associations that recall the 
 original experience. Such sounds are: — 
 
 (1) of pleasant associations, e, i, 11, er, ir, a, a, m, n. 
 
 (2) of unpleasant ones oo., u, ii, ar. 
 
— 40 — 
 
 The only instance in the period from Langland to Spenser 
 where this element is employed is the following foar lines 
 from The Faerie, (lueene: — 
 
 And more to IwZle him in his sbtmbe?' soft 
 A trickling stream from high rocke imnlAing downe 
 And ever drizlincf raine upon the loft 
 Mixt with a murmuring winde much like the sowne 
 Of swaraw')?g hees. — Book I, 361. 
 
 I add two more examples taken from those given by 
 Professor Sherman.*) 
 
 Hear the sledges with the hells — 
 
 Silver hells. 
 Wh((t a world of merriment their melod// tovetells. 
 How ihei/ tinMe, tinkle, tinMe 
 
 In the icy air of night, 
 While tlie stars that oversprwik/6 
 k-ll the heavens seem to twink/f 
 
 With a cr iistallme delight. — Pue, Tlie Bells. 
 But see his eyeballs 
 Staring fidl ghastly like a strangled man 
 His htw'r upreared his nostras stretched with str^tggling 
 His hands abroad displayed, as one that grasped 
 And tagged for life, and was by strength siibdued. 
 
 Shakespbabb, // King Henrij IV, HI. 2. 
 
 VIII. Rhythm and Rhyme. — It has been found that 
 
 in ten-syllable lines the accents fall well - nigh exclusively 
 
 upon either the fourth, eighth, and tenth syllable or the 
 
 sixth and tenth of each line, as in the following: — 
 
 I am to bold, tis not to m^ she speaks 4, 8, 10. 
 
 Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven 6, 10. 
 
 Having some business do int-reat her eyes 4, 8, 10. 
 
 To twinkle in their spheres till they return 6, 10. 
 
 What if her eyes were there; they, in her head, 4, 6, 7, 10. 
 Thebrightnessof her cheek would shame those stars 6, 8, 10. 
 As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven 6, 10. 
 
 Would through the aery region stream so bright 6, 10. 
 
 *) Anali/tics of Literature, page 26. 
 
— 41 — 
 
 That birds would sing and think it were not night 4, S, 10. 
 
 See, now she leans her cheek upon her haiid 6, 10. 
 
 0, that I were a glove upon that hand 6, 10. 
 
 That I might touch that cheek! 4, 6. 
 
 Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, II, 2, 14. 
 In the above the rhythmic accent corresponds with the 
 accent of sense; and, in so far, perfection of rhythm is of 
 value because it suggests power, mastery, and warrants us 
 in expecting something greater to come. But neither rhyme 
 nor rhythm aids in the setting forth of types, and as such 
 are not poetic elements strictly speaking. That they give 
 pleasure is unquestioned, though both rhyme and stanza 
 form have been found useless in our best poetry. As Professor 
 Sherman truly says, "The soul of man if acquainted with 
 nothing nobler may get pleasure, as with the Indian, from 
 even a feather or a shell" 
 
 It is by means of these elements of technique that the 
 poet strives to place his type before us. His one object is 
 to set this type forth in a full, rounded way exactly as he 
 has it before him in his mind. He employs all the resources 
 of suggestion, association, phrases, and figures to this end. 
 To convey, so to speak, what he has in his mind to the 
 mind of the reader; to describe exactly all that he sees in 
 his imagination, in its various phases and bearings, with 
 out loss of definiteness, together with his personal attitude 
 toward it of hatred or love is his sole aim. This is the 
 direct or sympathetic method and the great masters of it in 
 English literature are Tennyson and Shelley. 
 
 But there is another method, and the poet employs this 
 as soon as his ideals become so high and his feeling so 
 strong that he realizes the futility of all attempts at ex- 
 pression. A man in an agony of mere physical pain may 
 cry out, may groan, may tear his hair. But there often 
 comes a time of absolute quiet — when silence is much 
 more eloquent. The South has always set forth such ideals 
 as it possessed with volubility. The North has felt that 
 the greatest can not be expressed. 
 
— 42 — 
 
 B. The Indirect Method. 
 
 IX. Eff'eets. — I once knew a man ttat had a son 
 some six years old. One day the father came up to me in 
 the greatest enthusiasm, and said, "I tell you, my boy is 
 the greatest fellow! You just ought to hear him 'cuss' his 
 mother once". I have made no labored description of the 
 man, have employed no poetic words, phrases, associations, or 
 figures of speech in an attempt to convey a notion of him. 
 Yet the type of man is definite and sharp. 
 
 In the Inferno Dante does not aim to convey a notion 
 of how hot hell is by an accumulation of poetic comparisons. 
 He merely says that he was so hot — so hot — that he 
 cast (I I'cil shiiJow.*) 
 
 In Beowulf, when Hrejiel the king has lost his eldest 
 son and heir, the pioet does not say that he tore his hair, 
 or that his sorrow stuck in his throat, but that his house 
 and the fields seemed to him <dtogetlier too large noiv.**) 
 
 When Beowulf and his warriors are waiting at night 
 in Heorot for the attack of Grendel, the poet does not de- 
 scribe Beowulf's watchfulness for his men, his great feeling of 
 responsibility as their leader, his nerving himself for the 
 struggle. But he says 'The warriors that were to hold that 
 hall adorned with antlers slept — all hut one."***) 
 
 In Hamlet, before presenting the prince to us, Shake- 
 speare spends no words of description upon him — merety 
 has his name mentioned. Bat in the midst of a court festiv- 
 ity, of the scarlet and white of royalty Hamlet appears 
 ill blaelc. 
 
 Instances could be multiplied ad infinitum. 
 
 We shall best understand the mental processes here 
 involved if we analyze one of the above instances. (1) Hamlet 
 
 *) This instance is given in the Aiudijtics of Li/erutirre p. 130. 
 **) /iflhte him eall to rum 
 
 wongas and wic-stede. 1. '-'462. 
 
 ***) Sceotend swalfon 
 
 Jja, /ipet horn-reced healdon sooldon 
 ealie buton fi-num. 1. 704. 
 
— 43 — 
 
 appeared in black for two reasons; lie mourned for his father 
 and wished to convey a rebuke to his nncle. Consequently 
 love for his father and hatred of his uncle's smallness were 
 the causes; his appearing in black, the eflect. (2) These 
 characteristics of filial love and hatred of littleness are only 
 two of an unlimited number of elements that together con- 
 stitute our ideal of human character. These elements are 
 connected by "beriihrungs" -association in such a way that 
 when one is suggested the others follow. Now (3) when we 
 first see Hamlet in black, and after our mind has for a while 
 unconsciously grappled with the phenomenon in an attempt 
 to understand it, the imagination suddenly, by a process of 
 inductive inference, sees the one cause, and almost simultane - 
 ously the other. Instantly the train of associations is started 
 and in a flash our type of character is before us visibly em- 
 bodied in Hamlet. (4) This train of associations is never ended 
 because, as we have so often seen, the number of elements 
 that compose our type is greater than we can ever know. The 
 imagination goes on and on, higher and higher, never com- 
 pleting the ideal, never coming to rest. For this reason this 
 is the most effective of all the poetic elements. Here is where 
 poetry and music touch. 
 
 This is the indirect or interpretative method — the 
 method by "effects". The inductive process involved here 
 was discovered by Professor Sherman in Shakespeare and 
 first set forth in a general way in Analytics of Literature, 
 chapter XHI. He distinguishes two kinds of effects — those 
 described above, and Negative Effects. A negative effect may 
 be defined as an effect from which the imagination infers first 
 the cause, of course, and then a type, which latter, however, 
 is the direct opposite of what the mind had been expecting 
 from previous knowledge would appear. Thus, if we see a 
 tramp perform a minor heroic act, we are much more struck 
 therewith than if a nicely dressed gentleman had done it. 
 This is the more powerful of the two varieties of effects 
 and is, as the professor has shown, practically the only poetic 
 element made use of in Othello. 
 
— 44 — 
 
 These two kinds of effects may be called Dramatic Effects- 
 
 because the individual to be portrayed appears through them 
 
 in his propria persona ■ — the effects are not related of him. 
 
 The great masters of this poetic element in English literature 
 
 are Shakespeare and Browning, and now we see why neither 
 
 deals much in poetic words. See page lo. 
 
 Examples: — 
 
 Hamlet IV, 1. Effects in brackets. 
 
 Cause, desire to work on 
 
 7— mu • LL ■ n-x. ■ 1 ^^^ king's feelings in 
 
 Ama. There s matter in these sighs: „ i ^. % 
 
 '^ L o Hamlet s tavor, 
 
 these profound heavesj r(/^,e,motheily love, solici- 
 
 tude, etc. 
 You must translate; 'tis fit we under- 
 stand them. 
 
 Cause, instant inference 
 thatHamletis the cause. 
 
 [Where is your son?J '^^P'' Fearfulness of H., 
 
 general uneasiness, cow- 
 ardice. 
 Cause, desire to work upon 
 Queen. [Bestow this place on us a little i^^^^^^S by™ assuming 
 while.-] of mystery. 
 
 -' -'///'f. s-s above. 
 
 [Ah, my good lord, what have I seen Cause and Type as above, 
 to night!] 
 
 Kitig. [What, Gertrude? How does „ , ,„ , 
 
 '^ Cause and I i/pe as above. 
 
 Hamlet?] 
 
 Cause, Falsehood to work 
 
 on the king's feelings. 
 
 Oueen. [Mad as the sea and wind, when y^^,g_ ^ ^^^^^^ morally 
 
 both contend loose though an anxious 
 
 mother. 
 
 Which is the mightier] ; in his [lawless 
 
 /,, -| Cause and type as above. 
 
 Behind the arras hearing something stir, 
 
 Whips out his rapier, cries, "A rat, a rat!" 
 
 And in his [brainish apprehension] kills Cause and type as above. 
 
 [The unseen good old man.] Cause and type as above. 
 
 King. heavy deed! 
 
— 45 — 
 
 Cause, Pear of Hamlet. 
 
 [It had been so with us, had we been ^'.W. a king fearful of 
 
 there '1 everything because of a 
 
 bad conscience. 
 
 His liberty is full of threats to all, 
 
 Cause, as above. Instinct- 
 
 ive effort to strengthen 
 [lo you yourself,] to us, to every one. i,;g g^(jg 
 
 Type, as above. 
 [Alas, how shall this bloody deed be Cause, fear of the public. 
 
 answer'd: Type, as above. 
 
 It will be laid to us,j whose providence 
 Should have kept short, restrain'd, and 
 out of haunt, 
 
 Caiifie, Instinctive effort 
 to make himself be- 
 lieve he is justified 
 in proceeding against 
 Hamlet. 
 Type, as above. 
 
 [This mad young man;] but [so much 
 was our love. 
 
 We would not understand what was 
 
 most fit,] 
 
 But, like the owner of a foul disease. 
 To keep it from divulging, let it feed 
 
 Even on the pith of life. [Where is CaKse, Pear of Hamlet. 
 he gone?] Type, as above. 
 
 Queen. To draw apart the body he 
 hath kill'd; 
 
 O'er whom [his very madness,] like ^'*«-'«' Falsification to 
 
 work on the king, 
 some ore y^p^^ motherliness. 
 
 Among a mineral of metals base, 
 
 Shows itself pure. [He weeps for what Caim and type as before. 
 
 is done.] Compare IV, 2, 1. 
 
 Kinff. 0, Gertrude come away! 
 
 rmi 1 11 j_i Cause, Desire to get 
 
 The sun no sooner shall the moun- „ i i. 
 L _ Hamlet away as soon 
 
 tains touch, as possible — fear. 
 
 But we will ship him hence] ; and this 
 
 ., , , Type, as above, 
 
 vile deed ^^ 
 
 We must, with all our majesty and 
 
 skill, 
 
46 
 
 Both countenance and excuse. — Ho, 
 Guildenstern ! 
 
 Friends both, go [join you with some 
 
 further aid;] 
 Etc. 
 
 Cause, personal fear of 
 
 Hamlet. 
 Type, cowardice because 
 
 of an evil conscience. 
 
 Here then are nineteen effects in thirty three lines, all 
 focussed upon two types — the Queen, morally flabby but 
 to a degree ennobled by her motherly love and solicitude, the 
 king with a bad conscience and, consequently, unreasonable 
 fear and unrest. In Act 1, Scene 1 of the play there are 
 twenty - three effects in the first forty lines. I have no statis- 
 tics, but it is my opinion that there are more effects in 
 Hamlet and Macbeth than in the entire Elizabethan Drama 
 outside of Shakespeare. 
 
 HI. Aiirrative Effects. But there are other kinds of 
 effects. In Shakespeare's effects the character is presented at 
 first hand, in his propria persona, without the intervention of 
 the author. Narrative effects are such as are related of the 
 character like those instanced from Beomdf. Though having 
 no figures, I think I may say that there are more of these 
 two sorts of effects in Beowulf than in all other English 
 poetry before Shakespeare, omitting Chaucer's Pi-ologue; and 
 that consec|uently Beowulf is the greatest poem in English 
 literature before Shakespeare, with the exception mentioned. 
 This is practically the only element employed by Chaucer in 
 his Prologue, as witness: — 
 
 And thereon hung a broch of gold 
 
 ful shene 
 On which there was first writ a crowned A 
 And after Amor vincit omnia. — ], 162. 
 
 A fat swan loved he best of 
 roost. — 206. 
 
 any 
 
 Tv/;e, worldly minded- 
 ness etc. etc. ot the 
 Prioress. 
 
 "Epicureanism and 
 worldliness of the Monk. 
 
 A bokeler hadde he maad him of a cake 
 
 etc. 
 
 Buffoonery etc. 
 of the Somnour. 
 
 IV. The fourth variety of effects are Effects from 
 Environment. If I walk along the street and see a house 
 
— 47 — 
 
 with a door3'ard full of broken bricks, the fence down in 
 pLices, the gate off its hinges, an old sock stuffed into a 
 broken window - pane, I know the character of the inhabitant 
 — the type — as perfectly as though I had been acquainted 
 with him for years. These elements in his environment are 
 effects; his shiftlessness is the cause; and the type of man 
 is instantly known. This element is common in the best 
 modern English fiction. 
 
 V. Effects from Emphasis. In the following passage, 
 the words in italics have emphasis: — 
 
 I am thy father's spirit 
 Doomed for a certain terrn to ivalk the night 
 And for the (fey con tin'' d to fast in fires 
 Till the foul crimes done in my daij of nature 
 Are burnt and purged awaij. But that I am forbid 
 To tell the secret of my prison-house., 
 I could a tale unfold whose lightest woixl 
 Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood. 
 Make thy two eyes like stars, start from their spheres 
 Thy knotted and combined locks to part 
 And each particular hair to stand an end 
 Like quills upon the p-etful porpentine 
 But this eternal blazon must not be 
 To ears of flesh and blood, List, list, 0, listl 
 If thou didst eve)- thy dear father love — 68°/^. 
 
 Shakbspbabe, Hamlet I, 5, 9. 
 
 Eead this declaration at the head of the army; every 
 sword will be draivn from its scabbard and the solemn vow 
 uttered to maintain it or to peri.ih on the bed of honor. Take 
 it to the 2^ublic halls, proclaim it there, and the very walls 
 will cry out in its support. — SO^/q. Webster. 
 
 Twas summer and the sun had mounted high 
 Southivard the landscape indistinctly glared 
 Through a pale steam; but all the northern downs 
 In clearest air ascending, show'd far off 
 
— 48 — 
 
 A surfdi-e dappled o'er with, shadows flung 
 From broodiijo- clouds; shadows that lay in spo^s 
 Determiiii'd and unmoved, with steady beams 
 Of bright and pleasant siuisldne interposed. — 34"/^. 
 WoEDSwoRTH, The E.i'carsion I, 1 — 8. 
 Prof. Sherman has shown that ordinarily adjectives before 
 nouns, adverbs before verbs do not have any accent; the 
 object of a verb, not the verb is emphasized, and in phrases 
 the substantive only.*) 
 
 In the first two extracts given, adjectives, adverbs, nouns, 
 verbs, and even pronouns carry eaiphasis. These selections 
 have respectively sixty-eight and fifty per cent emphatic 
 words. The last of the three is in a tone of ordinary dis- 
 course, while in in the first two the speaker was much im- 
 passioned. 
 
 Now if a man is laboring under strong feeling, is im- 
 passioned and energetic, we learn this from a number of 
 facts, — his facial expression, his attitude of uprightness, his 
 gesture, the great number of emphasized words in his speech, 
 the tone - qualities of his voice. These elements are effects; 
 the strong feeling he is under, the cause. They are united 
 by "beriihrungs"- association in the usual way so that the 
 occurrence of one suggests the others. The numerousness 
 of the emphatic words is the only one of them that may be 
 given us on the printed page. When we notice it the others 
 at once follow, and the type of the forceful impassioned 
 man, laboring under excitement, comes into being in our minds. 
 These then are the elements of technicjue in poetry — 
 the means whereby the poet makes us see and feel the types 
 he has in his mind. We have seen that they are used by 
 us all in our daih' intercour.se, given the conditions. May 
 we not say that there is nothing in poetry, literature, art 
 that there is not in common life? 
 
 It now remains to arrange these elements in some 
 order of relative value. Certain principles of classification 
 
 *) Analytics of Literature, Chapters IV and XXVII. 
 
— 49 — 
 
 have already evolved themselves from the preceding. (1) The 
 effects, word allegory and fifth class phrase will occupy one 
 end of the series. (2) The sustained and periodic forms of 
 the figures of speech will occupy the other. (3) The elements 
 dependent upon association purely will hold the intermediate 
 position. (4) The figures will rank among themselves Allegory, 
 Metaphor, Simile, Personification. (5) The forms of each 
 figure will rank according to length. (6) The elements that 
 start trains of association, those that suggest, aud those that 
 predicate being of different categories, a perfectly exact lineal 
 arrangement will be impossible. 
 
 The following then quite accurately represents the relative 
 valine of the elements: — 
 
 1. Negative Effects. 
 
 2. Dramatic Effects. 
 
 3. Word Allegory. 
 
 4. Narrative Effects. 
 
 5. Phrases Class V. 
 
 6. Effects from Emphasis. 
 
 7. Environment Effects. 
 
 8. Phrase Allegory. 
 
 9. Associated Types. 
 
 10. Tone-Colors. 
 
 11. Phrases Class IV. 
 
 12. Phrases Class III. 
 
 13. Clause Allegory. 
 
 14. Allegory of more than one Clause. 
 
 15. Periodic Allegory. 
 
 16. Phrases Class II. 
 
 17. Poetic Phrases. 
 
 18. Phrase Metaphor. 
 
 19. Clause Metaphor. 
 
 20. Poetic Clauses. 
 
 21. Phrase Simile. 
 
 22. Clause Simile. 
 
 23. Comparison. 
 
 24. Sustained Allegory. 
 
 Petoraon, A History of English Poetry. 4 
 
— 50 — 
 
 25. Parallel. 
 
 26. Phrase Personification. 
 
 27. Clause Personification. 
 
 28. Running Metaphor. 
 
 29. Sustained Simile. 
 
 30. Personification of more than one Clause. 
 
 31. Periodic Personification. 
 
 32. Sustained Personification. 
 
 33. Phrases Class I. 
 
 Poetic Word.s have been omitted because they are not 
 exclusively reckoned. The words composing the phrases of 
 Class II and IV would thus have been counted twice. 
 
 IV. The Development of Eiiglisli Poetry from 
 Laiigland to Spenser. 
 
 In the period from Langland to Spenser, the following 
 poems were selected as representative and the number of 
 each poetic element was determined for them severally. 
 
 I. Langland: The Vision concerning Piers the Plowman. 
 
 Text B., Skeat, Oxford 1888. 
 II. Chaucer: The Boke of the Duchesse. 
 
 III. Chaucer: The Puiiement of Foules. 
 
 IV. Chaucer: The Hoiis of Fume. 
 V. Chaucer: The Kniyhtes Tale. 
 
 VI. Chaucer: Tlie Prologue to T]tc Canterburij Tales. 
 
 VII. Lydgate: Tlie Tempil of Glas. 
 
 VIII. Surrey: Songs and Sonnets. 
 IX. Wyatt: Songs and Sonnets. 
 
 X. Sackville: The Induction to the Min-our 
 
 for Magistrates. 
 XL Spenser: I'hc Faerie Queene. 
 From The Vision concerning Piers the Plowman the 
 prologue and passus I — III were taken; from The Faerie 
 
— 51 — 
 
 Qiieene, the first two cantos; from The Tempil of Glass and 
 the Songs and Sonnets of Surrey and Wyatt, one thousand 
 lines each. The other pieces were worked through entire. 
 
 The basis of comparison was taken as one thousand 
 ten-syllable lines; or an equivalent amount. The lines of 
 "Picj's Flowman" are of irregular length, but the amount 
 taken was found equal to about twelve hundred of our 
 standard lines. 
 
 Where doubt came up as to whether a phrase was of 
 the second or fourth class it was put in the second. In 
 the category of clause figure and phrase figure were put only 
 such instances as were actually a clause or a phrase and 
 nothing more. A figure consisting of a clause plus a phrase 
 was put in the column for figures of more than one clause 
 but not a period. 
 
 The results have been summarized in the following 
 tables: — 
 
 I. The total number of instances of each element. 
 II. The number of instances reduced to a common 
 basis of one thousand lines. 
 
 III. The total number of lines of each element. 
 
 IV. The number of lines on a basis of one thousand. 
 These tables, and IV especially, show m an objective 
 
 way the aesthetic content of the eleven poems chosen. Each 
 of the poetic elements may be followed by itselt throughout 
 the period. By referring to the list of elements on page 49, 
 and comparing the totals of table IV, the advance to Chaucer's 
 Prologue, the retrogression to Sackville, and the beginning 
 of a new era with Spenser may be seen in detail. The 
 table of effects, tone -colors, associated types, and phrases 
 show (1) how far removed these early poems are from what 
 our modern taste demands, and (2) the beginnings from 
 which our present standards of form have been evolved. 
 The types have not been tabulated, but will be discussed 
 for the poems severally. They represent the author's aim 
 in writing. Subject-matter and technique, it should be re- 
 membered, have no objective relation to each other, and are 
 
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 O ^- O O O O tNO 
 
 hj- o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Phrase 
 
 
 " 
 
 CO I— ■ rO >4^ DO O CO CO O t' 
 
 OCDtOOi— ^OtO I— 'O 
 
 C'"' hf*' O ht*- Ol O -J 
 
 1— ' CO CO ■— ' a; CO 
 
 O '-' 
 I— ' CO 
 
 More than one CI. 
 
 O' O' O C> O' •-- O I-* o 
 
 I— ' O' O' CO O- 1- 
 
 (— ' CO 
 
 ;. hfx 1— ' 1^ Ji.. >^ o:) 
 
 Phrase 
 
 Word AUegrory 
 
 Running 
 
 s r^. 
 
 r CO CO CO o:^ rf_ ^ 
 
 cn DO O CO LO I— ' .— > O O 
 
 hfi.. 0:1 Oi O: CO I— ' O 
 h^r^ "" "~o^"" 
 
 c:j ■■^ *^ CO ^D tC CD 
 
 O -1 CO o o ^ 
 
 fctk k-1 C3 O ■: 
 
 O O O O O' O O 
 
 00000 O' C 
 CO O ■—■ O O O O 
 
 Oi O O O O' O O' 
 
 [O I— ' .— . H- ' CO >—')-'■ 
 
 o:)CCO'COcD05o:i cdo" 
 
 >+^ X' --] Ot 00 CO -J I+- CO 
 
 CO >— I CO h^ to CO Oi 
 i4^ 00 O Oi -J cn to 
 >f- Cn I-- o;. i3Ci 4^ 1— >. 
 
 J*»- CO 
 
 I—" Cn 
 CD 00 
 
 Clause 
 
 Parallel 
 
 Comparison 
 
 Poetic Clauses 
 Poetic Phrases 
 
 Dramatic Effects 
 
 Narrative Effects 
 
 Environment Effects 
 Nesiuive EtTects 
 
 Effects from Emph. 
 
 Tone Colors 
 
 Phrases Class V 
 
 Phrases Class IV. 
 Phrases Class III 
 
 Phrases Class II 
 
 Phrases Class I 
 
 10 c:>o;'>— 'COff^ co M^ro 
 
 1—1 CO Cn O"' O' C' CO GO ^1 O 
 
 CO CO -] -1 CO CTJ iX O) ■— CO 
 
 Poetic Words 
 
 O O' O ■: 
 
 ■ O O CO O 
 
 Associated 'I'ype 
 
1 1 
 Fig. Cl. 11 Figures Class I ] 
 Metaphor 1 Simile etc. | 
 
 sadXx pejBioossy 
 
 o 
 
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 OOO'^fOOOOO o 
 
 SpiOjVJ. 0!»90J 
 
 
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 I SBUio B9BWq,| 
 
 00 
 
 ca 
 
 CO 
 
 CJsCMCOCMOO'X'^COas CO 
 
 oocor^r- (tr^cccocoio OS 
 
 00 CO CCl 'tf CM -t^ CO CO CO (M 
 
 II BSTSIO S8B«jqj 
 
 CO 
 
 eg 
 
 CO 
 
 i^-iocoiocDO^jcrscDr- -^ 
 
 CDtMCDOaCMOaCMC^iO »o 
 
 III ssBto sosujqa 
 
 l-H 
 
 CO 
 
 1^- lO »0 Oi 00 »0 L- CXi uO O 
 
 l-H T-^ ^ ^ Qq ^T (^ 
 
 • M ssiiio saswqj 
 
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 O lO CC' O OT C] — 1 CD lO CM 
 
 OiioaiiOoocoiO''jDOJ co 
 
 l-H CO CM 
 
 A ssuio S9s«jqj 
 
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 O O O O O O O ■-' CD ^ 
 
 SJOIOQ anox 
 
 1 o 
 
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 Ow'CriOOOOOO:! o 
 
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 ooooooooo o 
 
 J09JB5I 9A!»tia9N 
 
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 .— ■ O O O O O ~' o o o 
 
 loaj^a ^u9uinoaiAna 
 
 1 o 
 
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 OOOiOOOOOO o 
 
 loaaa: aAjiBiiuii 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 Cl O :c o O O O O r-H '<^ 
 ^ ,-■ oo 
 
 »aafla oiiuaiBJd 
 
 CO 
 
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 oodooc/:ic:>oc:'Cj'+< o 
 
 '* 02 ^ CD '^'^ 
 
 9Bujqa oiftsoa: 
 
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 O C/l' CO ^ O O' CN) ';jD O 'O 
 
 ean^IO 0J19OJ: 
 
 
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 IT- Cl C^ CO <M ~. ^ ^ .O tH 
 
 .T'-^oi '^'^co 
 
 noaiivdoioQ ' 
 
 zo 
 
 C-; t r^ CD CO CO CD O ^ -H CO 
 O r-I CJS '"' ■"• 
 
 I91IT!IB<I 
 
 1 ^ 
 
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 -*000.-tCMOOCM T~^ 
 
 9i!ra!s BBMq<i 
 
 1^ 
 
 '-' 
 
 OCD'-r.— iC-JCO— :CC1 CD 
 
 eiiuiig esnuio 
 
 T— ) 
 
 lO 
 
 (^ CO 00 CD CO CM CO '-^ Ol 00 
 
 eiiraig paniTHsng 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 
 !>• OS '-^ :D -rfl Tfl 1— 1 I^- -O C^ 
 
 c<i^ ^ "^^ 
 
 as^iqa: 
 
 CM 
 
 cm' 
 
 ^COJ-OCD[>-00ai-^':jr: -H 
 
 ^ 00 '-^ 00 "^ "^ '- c^i '^* "* 
 
 asn'Bio 
 
 S 
 
 L^ 
 
 :D CO <0 '"^ CTi O] 0> -r or. Cl 
 c^ :^ GO o- cc 1^ t- L- :£: yj 
 
 SuTuan^ 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 O CO -"Ji oo O C-1 ^ .- '^ X) 
 
 Figures Class III 
 Allegory 
 
 ^CioSanv P^OjU. 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 OOOriOOOO— < CM 
 
 9s«iqa 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 O C- O l-H c> o o- o o o 
 
 asn^IO 
 
 
 ■-^ 
 
 CM C-3 OJ — CO :::; ^ -t CO « 
 't uO -t^ 'rt^' J 
 
 •10 eno uvin ajoi^; 
 
 '-' 
 
 o 
 
 CJ 'jCi CO O CD ■* O t^ Cl C- 
 
 oipoiiaa 
 
 ■-' 
 
 r-l 
 
 ■— C^ CD. O r-l .O CO Oi O -^:f 
 
 p9nrTj^sng 
 
 CO 
 
 ^ 
 
 CO lO. CO O (M '^ CM C^J CM <Z> 
 
 ^ !>: -^ 
 
 . o 
 
 5S 
 
 BBMqa: 
 
 o 
 
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 OCOCDOOOOOIO o 
 
 astii!io 
 
 
 D- 
 
 [^-CMi-HOOJ'-tCOCDCM -^ 
 
 1-0 i>^ cd 
 
 '10 eao UBq; ajoj\[ 
 
 
 00 
 
 r- CO D- CO --^ O CO CD C<1 .-1 
 
 c<i .-* CM '"^ ^ ■"• 
 
 0ip0lJ9J 
 
 c^ 
 
 CO 
 
 T-1 CO — " 
 
 peuiBlBug 
 
 00 
 
 -rfi 
 
 C-^COOr-(^COI>-C5 O 
 ^0 1-i O 
 
 
 Table TI. The Elements 
 oil a Basis of 1000 ten- 
 syllable lines. 
 
 I. Piers Plowman 
 II. Boke of the 
 
 Duoliesse 
 III. Parlement of 
 
 Foules 
 VI. Hous of Fame 
 V. Knightes Tale 
 VI. Prologue 
 VII. Tempil of Glas 
 VIII Surrey's Sonnets 
 IX. Wyatt's Sonnets 
 X. Induction 
 XI. Faerie Queene 
 XII. Venus and 
 Adonis 
 
— 54 — 
 
 K^M^^ps;^:^ '^ B H - 
 
 B 2 >^ d p ;;! ^±i X^3q 
 -'• '- to 3- g:>o "-nq Z 
 -"■""" o S 2 
 
 o o "^ 
 
 a n Q 
 
 CD CD ?o 
 
 m>^ 
 
 CD 
 
 1^ 
 
 CD 
 
 •13 
 
 WW 
 
 fo 
 
 c o 
 
 ■-; 
 
 o W 
 
 a> 
 
 CCD 
 
 B 
 
 0} 
 
 OD o 
 
 ffl 
 
 
 B 
 
 
 
 1— ' H- I— ' H- ' ro I— ' to 
 
 o tcciTCOcDCcto^ai— 'Ci 
 
 lO cri en o ►— O' ■:/' :;< CO en CO 
 
 o -1 CO 03 Cfi 4^ ':>:■ ■— OS oo i^o 
 
 CO o 
 C' lo 
 
 DO -a r*-* I— ^ CO en CO 
 
 ■o o> o to C? O O' 
 
 f^ ^J 1—1 ji. ?o H-i '^^ 
 enCi'— 'OCOOiCS G04^ 
 
 00 CO H-L 
 
 'In da hi— 00 CO 1—^ O^ en :,^ 
 
 Periodic 
 
 o c^.. o O O O l>0 
 
 More than one CI. 
 Clause 
 
 Phrase 
 
 
 CO CD CD to 
 
 c- CO rc CD o:> oa OO 
 
 CCi k- ^ -O CO J^ O rf^ CTi CJf 
 
 K-. K-^ pOco CO .^ 
 
 I—' cDOiOooeooo i>04>' 
 
 *^ -J *>- CO ,__. 
 
 en j^ I.C lc 4- 4^ bi oj ec 
 
 O O O O O 1— ^ O' 
 
 I III II 
 
 i I 
 
 tC CO -a CO 
 
 More than one CI. 
 
 Running 
 
 Clause 
 
 > 3 
 
 to I— ,__i CO 
 
 — a Cr; CO Cn 03 05 H-' Cn CD 
 
 
 h^ 4^ 'O to CO Oi > 
 
 CnOOCnrfi-OO C:>fi- 
 
 4 ^ OS C' o cc C T' ■rt._ 
 
 K-. H-^ r^ LO ^ 
 i -t rfa> eo >f ^ hj^ CO OS --D 
 
 O OS if>- 0> 0> I 
 
 to 
 
 Cn ^3 CO 02 CD -^l -O 
 
 o to 
 
 00 CD 
 CO CO 
 
 Comparison 
 
 Poetic Clause 
 
 Poetic Phrase 
 
 Personification 
 
 Allegory 
 
 to 1— ' en OS CO H- rf^ 
 CO hf^ to O CO J J 
 
 CO OC -O O CD O GO 
 
 I Metaphor 
 
 Simile 
 
55 — 
 
 
 60 S 
 
 eijinig 
 
 JoqdBjoM 
 
 iioSenv 
 
 uojitJogiaoBioj 
 
 sesjuqj 01190J 
 
 sasn-Bio oiijeoj 
 
 uoauudaioo 
 
 iani3.ii3d 
 
 CO Oi (M 00 1— t lO lO t-. CO 
 
 lOC^CMCaoor'r-co 
 
 "oooo-*oa»ooc. co'^.ri 
 
 
 ^ 00 "•' CO i:::^ ; 
 
 ocoi— icaoo^ioo 
 
 CI 
 
 00 '^ C- Oi C0""0 O C^ -^ 
 (>3 00 ^ T-H 
 
 !:> o o o -^ lT' O o ca 
 lO tO 
 
 9Sn^lO 
 
 p9nT'B:jSTig 
 
 98n'E13 
 
 .— < ooiccMc^caoio-^ 
 
 Oi^io^-cou^coir-co 
 
 Saxanna: 
 
 — ' -tH r- 
 
 C3 ^ » 
 
 1 ^ -rt* T 
 
 > OS 00 Cvl 
 
 !>• CO 
 
 
 
 I I 
 
 I I M I I I I I 
 
 000(MOOOOO 
 
 
 *10 9U0 n'Bq:^ 9ioi\[ 
 
 CO C3 C 
 
 CO OS 
 
 1 — I lO 
 
 o en* '^ o '^ o 
 
 ■*r o o 
 
 
 OCDi— lO'OOC:^-!: 
 
 •^9 9no nBrjij 9iopj[ 
 
 ■ O tM CO 00 -^ CO C<1 
 
 • CC O — ' Oa 'O 
 
 C<10O'— '00C3 00O 
 tH lO ""^ CO 
 
 .-H CO 
 CO -T< 
 
 ^?:i O CO CO 
 
 c- oa o 
 
 .— I CO 
 
 o o 
 o o 
 
 o o 
 o o 
 o o 
 
 ■^ lO CD O O 
 
 o o o o o 
 _, o o c- C: 
 
 
 S CD ■ 
 
 a 
 
 
 ; o s 
 
 CO CD - ^-' ?^ 
 
 q-* aj 3 ^ to M y 
 
 o 5 
 
 ji^ "^ EI =^ 
 OS c3 oo a n^^ 3> ar'^^3 
 
 •^ n K i^" h> r:^ ^ ^- fi^ ►^ &<J — 
 
 X 
 
— 56 — 
 
 best kept separate. Compare page 10. The tables will be 
 found suggestive and are self - explanatory. A few inter- 
 pretative remarks, however, may not be out of place. 
 
 The totals of table IV for The Vision of Piers the 
 Plowman^ The Pious of Fame. The Parlement of Fonles reveal 
 (1) the pre-eminence of personification and allegory in the 
 poetry of this early period. The stage plays also, such as 
 they were, were entirely or in part sustained personifications. 
 These were the children of the race; and, as has been shown^ 
 the favorite figure of the child to - day is personification. 
 To them as to the child everything took on a human form. 
 These figures, decreasing gradually in frequency, have dis- 
 appeared entirely from modern poetry, and would be very 
 disagreeable to present taste. (2) The sustained allegory 
 when used was incidental as shown by the occurrence of 
 several in the same poem. It is an embellishment and not 
 like The Faerie Queene the motive of the work per se on 
 which the deeper significance was built up. Such use of 
 the allegory required the imagination of a Spenser. (3) The 
 sustained forms of figure prevail over the other forms, and 
 this is again the mark of the child -mind. The poet had 
 no confidence in the reader's intuition. His imagination was 
 incapable of conceiving analogies in a flash; his illustrative 
 material unfolded itself slowly and naively. And if it had 
 not, the reader would not have been able to follow Lim; 
 the age was not one of mental agility. These forms of 
 figure, to us so disagreeable because they retard the imagi- 
 nation, were to them the figure jyiir e.rcellence because they 
 helped it on. It is out of them that the clause phrase and 
 word forms of the present day have been evolved. (4) Con- 
 versely, and for the same reasons, the clause, phrase, and 
 word allegory, the V - class phrase, effects, tone - colors, asso- 
 ciated types, environment, without which there can be no 
 great modern poem, were then finding their first feeble be- 
 ginnings. (5) The poetical absence of effects shows that our 
 first poetry was mainly of the subjective sympathetic order. 
 This is what we would expect. Poetry of the objective 
 
— 57 — 
 
 interpretative sort presupposes a certain doubleness of per- 
 sonality in the writer and this is found only where there is 
 genius of a high order. Chaucer's Prologw' alone is of 
 this class. (6) The types were of two sorts. The poems 
 chosen are either love poems — class IV — or moral disqui- 
 sitions with implied exhortations to betterment. This latter 
 variety is in itself of a high order — essentially as high 
 as the types in three - fourths of English poetry. Love in 
 the sense of a Romeo and Juliet; the finer — nay even the 
 grosser — differences in human character; women like Imogen 
 and Hermione; Fate; the greatness of a Luria, were as yet 
 inconceivable. Let us now consider in what particulars these 
 poems severally show advance upon these general conditions. 
 
 The Vision concerning Piers the Plowman seems to be 
 the best type of XIV - century poetry that we have. In 
 technique it is primitive, being such a labyrinth of personi- 
 fication and incidental sustained allegory as it is. And the 
 practical absence of the clause, phrase, and word forms of 
 these figures as of the V- class phrase, effects, associated 
 types, tone - colors, poetic clauses and phrases is significant of 
 much more. The thirty - three effects show a dramatic spirit 
 running through it that might have developed into something 
 better had Langland possessed genius for poetic expression. 
 As it is they are lost in the 662 lines of sustained personi- 
 fication per 1000. A glance at the results from Chaucer's 
 Prologue will show how impossible a comparison of the 
 two poems in technique is. The Vision is poor and rudi- 
 mentary in this respect even when measured by what its 
 own century produced. 
 
 But it is in his types that William is great. He had 
 a deep and sincere wish for a purer social life. He agonized 
 over the impiety and corruption of his day; and this is 
 making the Vision of Piers Plowman ever more and more 
 of interest to us moderns. We, in spirit at least, overlook 
 discrepancies of form if the content is of value. Piers is a 
 figure worthy the best modern story - writing. With "Holy- 
 cherche", "Conscience", "Trewthe", "Feith" he rises to class VII 
 
-- 58 ^ 
 
 of types, standing on the same plane with the Persoun ami 
 the Plowman of Chaucer's Prologue. These types are posi- 
 tive; but the types of rectitude, suggested negatively by 
 "Meed", "Cyvile", "Symonye", "Glotoun" and so forth, are 
 not inferior. William, no less than (.'haucer, meant well; 
 but his powers of poetical expression vi^ere conditioned by 
 the age he lived in. Still this is a limitation only from our 
 point of view, and was perhaps in itself fortunate. There 
 is a sort of genius that consists in being at all points in 
 touch vFith one's age no less than in being ahead of it. 
 Langland did not verite above the people he lived among. 
 His imagination was slow and methodical like the mind of 
 his fellows. He wrote in the same round - about allegorical 
 way that his companions thought. This made his poem 
 much more popular than Chaucer's Prologue became, and 
 of much more influence for good. 
 
 When Chaucer came to write he took what he found 
 ready to his hand in the way of methods. The Bohe of the 
 Duchesse is clearly of the XIV century; and yet it shows 
 some advance on the standards set by the Piers Plowman., — 
 only one - sixth as much personification. But, what is 
 more especially a mark of advancement, the 866 lines of 
 sustained allegory, like the 938 lines of the Faerie (jueene, 
 are not illustrative and incidental but in themselves the 
 subject of the poem. Again there are twice as many IV 
 and III -class phrases as Langland used; and this points to 
 a greater freedom of expression or, what is the same, greater 
 mental energy. The types rise to class VIII, a height they 
 were not again to reach before Spenser. 
 
 If these results be compared with the totals for IVie 
 Hous of Fame and The Parlement of Foules a retrogression 
 to previous standards is apparent. When he wrote the 
 Bokc of the Duchesse Chaucer was stirred; his mind was 
 more energized than in his two next following works. A 
 reason for this can of course be only speculative: Is it im- 
 possible that in singing the sorrow of Lancaster for the 
 
— 59 — 
 
 Lady Blanche, he was at the same time pouring out his 
 grief for the loss of his own early love? 
 
 However that be, Chaucer descends to the common level 
 in his next work. The Hous of Fame shows sustained per- 
 sonification fully rampant once more. Sustained allegory is 
 incidental only. The running metaphors increase in length. 
 Effects, fourth and second class phrases become rare. The 
 types are only of class III and IV. Chaucer seemed to be 
 animated by no feeling other than a desire to put into 
 English verse what he had been reading in Dante and Vergil. 
 
 The companion piece, the Parlement of Foules, resembles 
 The Hous of Fame in only one of these particulars — the 
 high proportion of personification. There is less allegory, 
 more metaphor, twice as many IV-, III-, II -class phrases. 
 This increase in metaphor places it nearer The Knightes Tale 
 where metaphor is the chief figure. But the dramatic strain 
 represented in The Boke of the Duchesse by 8 effects, and in 
 The Hous of Fame by 9 is represented in The Parlement of 
 Foules by 40. This strongly suggests the Prologue, and the 
 types thus set forth not the less in that they are of class VI 
 — human character for its own sake in all its humorousness. 
 The Parlement of Foules, no more than its companion piece, 
 seems to have been written from any strong impulse, and 
 yet it is aesthetically the superior. But this means that 
 Chaucer when he wrote the former had acquired higher types 
 and attained to greater skill than when he wrote the latter; 
 and I am led to believe that The Hous of Fame is the 
 earlier of these two poems. 
 
 The tables show three well-marked periods in the 
 development of Chaucer's technique, characterized by the 
 prevalence respectively of allegory and personification, meta- 
 phor, and effects. The cumbrous illustrative material of the 
 three poems we have so far considered show him but slightly 
 different from his contemporaries. He was not yet finding 
 these sustained figures of Class III a hinderance to expression. 
 But with The Knightes Tale his genius is beginning to im- 
 prove on the methods of his day. Here he is instinctively 
 
60 
 
 avoiding personification and allegory, and makes the metaphor 
 his chief element — 478 lines as against 225. 
 
 This personification and allegory is mainly confined to 
 certain particular passages as the following arrangement by 
 hundreds will show: — 
 
 
 P. 
 
 A. 
 
 
 p. 1 
 
 1 
 
 l-'t hund. 
 
 ■ '>.b 
 
 2 
 
 12th hund. 
 
 .08 ! 
 
 2d . 
 
 5.5 
 
 1 
 
 13th , 
 
 
 
 S"! , 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 14th „ 
 
 2 1 
 
 4'h , 
 
 5..5 
 
 1.5 
 
 15th , 
 
 
 
 5th , 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 16th ^ 
 
 
 
 6th ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 l^th , 
 
 
 
 7th „ 
 
 4 
 
 9.5 
 
 18th ^ 
 
 
 
 8th „ 
 
 6.5 
 
 2 
 
 19th , 
 
 
 
 9th ^ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 20th , 
 
 1.5 
 
 10th , 
 
 6 
 
 S 
 
 21th ^ 
 
 
 
 ll'h , 
 
 22 
 
 6.5 
 
 22th 
 
 30 
 
 A. 
 17 
 12 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 5 
 
 It will be seen that five-sevenths of the total personifi- 
 cation and allegory occurs in the lltli, 12th and 22d hundred, 
 0)-. more exactly, in three passages, lines 1060 — 1077, 1117 
 — 1172, and 212'..t — 2158. If Chaucer rewrote his early poem 
 of Pdlmnon and ^Irrite to make the tale for his knight, he 
 must have left these passages very nearlj' as they were. 
 They are entirely in the old manner, while the Tale as a 
 whole is not. 
 
 But the dramatic spirit pervading The Parlement uj Foules 
 is absent here. This gave promise that our poet would be 
 of the interpretative school. But here there are practically 
 no effects; and, as a consequence, the IT-, III-, and Il-class 
 phrases increase in number, the unpoetic phrases of class I 
 fall, and poetic words for the first time appear in fair 
 quantity. This is significant of a change; Chaucer has become 
 one of the direct sympathetic poets of the class to which 
 Spenser belongs. Tlie Knigldes Tale deals but little wdth 
 human character, shows us nothing of human life — is 
 rather a spontaneous and immediate outburst of poetry, with 
 no object beyond the telling of a story. And its weakness 
 
_ 61 — 
 
 lies in this fact, that it is such a poem without the use of 
 V-c]ass phrases, word allegories, and tone - colors. 
 
 Tables II and IV show better than .words the advance 
 on his earlier work made by Chaucer in the Prologue. Here 
 allegory and personification have all but been abandoned. 
 Even the metaphor is reduced to second place. There are 
 still no V-class phrases. He has reached the third and last 
 period in his development as a poet; his chief element is the 
 effect — 180 as against 40 in The Parlement of Foules. This 
 is significant of two things: In the first place, we saw from 
 The Knightes Tale that Chaucer as a subjective poet was 
 weak. This he seems unconsciously to have felt, or at least 
 his genius seems to have sought, and at last found, an outlet 
 in the other direction. In the Prologue he has gone over 
 completely to the ranks of the interpretative poets whither 
 he was already tending in the Parlement of Foules. Hence 
 the principal direct elements are all absent, even to the 
 poetic words. Secondly, this change is in a sense a retro- 
 gression. The dramatic touches of The Parlement of Foules 
 are not to be found here. Life has dulled the poet's enthu- 
 siasm; and if he writes of men now it is as a narrator; his 
 effects are all narrative. 
 
 It is in their choice of subject matter, that Chaucer in 
 the Prologue and Langland stand together. Both hated the 
 corruption and hypocrisy of the age. Both, and indeed all 
 earnest men of that day, were animated by the same desire 
 for social and political reform. The types of both rise to 
 class VII. Both present these types in part negatively in 
 portraying men and women as they ought not to be. But 
 while Langland found in the humble tiller of the soil alone 
 the mainstay of England, Chaucer, with his broader vision, 
 saw in the country parson and the knight some additional 
 grounds for hope. Moreover Chaucer is the first poet in 
 English literature whose development of types did not pass 
 over class VI. It is the subtle analysis of human character 
 that makes the subject - matter of the Prologue great. In 
 technique, on the other hand, the two poets are complemen- 
 
— 62 — 
 
 tary. Each makes use of those elements that the other 
 avoids. Langland's mind was in no particular different from 
 the spirit of his time. Chaucer in his Prologue has nothing 
 in common with the XIV century, but has passed over ahead 
 into the sixteenth. 
 
 The tables show this advance also. In the Prologue 
 the word allegory — Tennyson's favorite element — the 
 phrase allegory, and the associated type for the first and 
 only time before Spenser appear. But it is the effects that 
 are significant here also; and it will be seen that of these 
 Chaucer employs twice as many as all the other writings 
 of the XIV and XV century together that have been ex- 
 amined. In this use of effects he was to find no equal before 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 This use of effects however is significant for an entirely 
 different reason. We have seen that they are used in Beo- 
 wulf and are of great frequency in Shakespeare. On the 
 other hand there are none in books I — III of the Aeneid.''') 
 The English are a Germanic people. The Anglo - Saxons 
 have furnished whatever of sterling worth there is in the 
 national character of England. The spirit of Anglo-Saxon 
 poetry as expressed in the eifects of Beowulf is what has 
 made English poetry great. In the Prolvgne, Chaucer is at 
 last English, and not merely in the fact that he has left his 
 French, Italian and Latin sources and writes of English 
 types; the Prologue is English in its very construction. 
 Effects are the substratum on which our poetry rests. It 
 has made but three outcrops in the course of our literature. 
 Chaucer's Prologue was the first; the other two are Shake- 
 speare and Browning. English poetry has been greatest 
 only when it has been true to the spirit of its fathers. 
 
 But the Priitogiie was a voice crying in the wilderness. 
 Two centuries were to elapse before the word - allegory, the 
 effect, the associated type, with all they signify of mental 
 
 *) I do not believe there are any in the nine remaining books 
 nor in the Iliad. 
 
— 63 — 
 
 growth, were to become once more important elements in 
 English poetry. If Lydgate learned his art from Chaucer, 
 he certainly did not acquire it from the Prologue. Chaucer's 
 last great work has not been imitated, and was, we may 
 suppose, for centuries not fully appreciated. After it the 
 old superficial subject-matter of class IV, and the old tire- 
 some technique again came to the fore. From Chaucer to 
 Spenser there was not a poet of the first or second grade 
 that wrote English. A glance at table II will show this: 
 The Tempil of Glas contains no V- class phrase, no effect, 
 no word- allegory, no associated type, no tone-color, and 
 revels in 242 lines of running metaphor per 1000. On the 
 other hand it is to a degree redeemed by the circumstance 
 that it avoids personification and holds fast to a single 
 allegory for 989 consecutive lines, not employing the sustained 
 form of this figure as an embellishment. Measured by our 
 standard, Lydgate «-as but a poor poet. Yet he was neither 
 behind nor ahead of his age; and after all he was a poet 
 as is shown by the 406 poetic words he uses per thonsand 
 lines. But if The Tempil of Glas is without technique it 
 is also without subject-matter, and this is a graver fault. 
 Langland was as bad as Lytigate in execution if not worse. 
 But Tlie Vision of Piers Plowman is redeemed by its sincere 
 wish for piety and rectitude. The XV century seemed to 
 be without ideals. 
 
 Surrey and Wyatt like Lydgate wrote of women and 
 love, but in the old superficial way. Their ideals rose no 
 higher than to types of class IV. But in technique they 
 show some progress. We saw that Chaucer advanced from 
 the figures of class III through metaphor to language that 
 was largely literal. Surrey and Wyatt seem to mark the 
 second of these periods in the development of the literature; 
 each uses twice as much metaphor as any other of our 
 seven authors, virtually no allegory and not overmuch of 
 personification. This gives a certain correctness and finish, 
 a certain modern air to their work. But their limitations 
 are evident. In the first place the complete absence of the 
 
— 64 — 
 
 indirect elements bars them out from the ranks of the objec- 
 tive poets. Secondly, thej' were not writers of the subjec- 
 tive sort either, with any claim to rank, as the absence 
 of the concentrated direct elements shows. Their imagination 
 lacked vividness and strength. Their work marks the highest 
 point which the sort of poetry that relies on figures alone 
 can reach. 
 
 Between the two poets there is virtually no difterence. 
 Surrey is the superior in thirteen of the poetic elements; 
 Wyatt, in nine. Wyatt inclines more to personification, 
 but this is offset by Surrey's greater partiality for allegory. 
 Surrey shows superior skill in the use of poetic words, III- 
 and IV- class phrases, had a finer imagination; and, we may 
 perhaps say, was the superior of the two. 
 
 The striking circumstance about Tim Induction is that 
 it reveals more personification per thousand lines and, at 
 the same time, more poetic words, phrases and clauses, more 
 II-, IIT, and IV -class phrases than any poem that had 
 preceded it. It shows a retrogression in the former par- 
 ticular to the poetry of Langland, and in the latter reminds 
 us of Spenser. Sackville stands on the dividing line between 
 the old and the new. He was the first to feel the spirit of 
 the coming revival; his poetry, like the verse of the Elizabethan 
 era, was to a degree spontaneous and unlabored in the use 
 of the shorter poetic elements. His imagination was uncon- 
 sciously seeking a more immediate form of expression than 
 established canons permitted. But he lacked genius sufficient 
 to break consciously with his age. Hence the labored per- 
 sonification and semi-mythical subject-matter, both of which 
 are of the XV century. The Induction marks the transition 
 in English Literature from Mediaevalism to the Renascence. 
 
 With Spenser the Renascence began. The causes that 
 fired men's minds lie outside of literature; but this new 
 mental energy found its first expression in the formation of 
 new ideals; Spenser's subject-matter is of class VIII — the 
 first time since the Boke of the Duchesse. He is also ani- 
 mated by the same types of rectitude that animated Chaucer 
 
— 65 — 
 
 and Langland, that always have animated men in periods of 
 revival, and that had been foreign to men's minds for two 
 centuries. Thirdly he shows progress in setting these types 
 forth. The mental agility of the times was incompatible 
 with sustained personification, and incidental allegory, and 
 accordingly we find none in The Faerie Queene. Moreover 
 Spenser was a poet of the sympathetic school. His untram- 
 melled ebullitions of spirit, his natural joyfnlness found their 
 best expression in the shorter spontaneous elements of the 
 direct variety; the tables show but few effects. A glance 
 at table II will show this vivacity of the Renascence better 
 than words. The word -allegory again appears, and V-class 
 phrases and tone -colors for the first time. Three times as 
 many IV- class phrases, are found, and twice as many of 
 class III and II as Chaucer at his best in his subjective 
 period could use. 
 
 But the question that comes to every student of liter- 
 ature is: How does Shakespeare write; what results does he 
 show; how does he compare with his predecessors and con- 
 temporaries? It seemed well to close this first period in 
 our investigations with an examination of the Venus (ind 
 Adonis. This his first work might be expected to show best 
 the relation he stood in to the XV century and to the 
 Renascence, what the notions of poetical expression were he 
 had found through foreign infiuence, and to what extent he 
 already, unknown to himself, was impelled to the dramatic 
 form of composition. 
 
 All three influences appear in the tables. The column 
 for personification shows 68 lines, more than The Tempil 
 of Glas or The Knightes Tale. These lines are however 
 confined to a few passages, and explain the striking and at 
 times even ridiculous artificiality in some parts of the poem. 
 But with Shakespeare this can only have been the immature 
 taste of youth; and the tendency to imitate the older English 
 writers thus quickly passed by. The extent to which he 
 also was influenced by the Italian School of Surrey and 
 Wyatt appears from the column for metaphor and simile. 
 
 Peterson, A History of English Poetry. 5 
 
— 66 — 
 
 It will be remembered that the metaphor was first brought 
 into prominence as a poetic element by these writers; Shake- 
 speare uses more than any other we have examined except 
 these two. And in the same way he is the man to natur- 
 alize the simile in English literature; using thrice as many 
 as any of his predecessors; and of these nearly all are of 
 the formal or sustained sort that was unknown to the 
 Anglo-Saxons, and had hitherto been of but small impor- 
 tance as a poetic element. 
 
 So much for the influences that bound Shakespeare to 
 his age. That his imagination even when he wrote Veiws 
 and Adonis was nevertheless quick and powerful is shown 
 by the two word allegories, four V- class phrases, and the 
 many excellent and striking allegorical illustrations that 
 appear in the poem. The array of personification, metaphor 
 and simile that stands alongside these figures can, as was 
 said, be due only to the influences of his time. Even before 
 he began to write Shakespeare must have passed over, as 
 did Chaucer only at the end of his career, from the group 
 of subjective, sympathetic poets to the objective interpretative 
 school: Venus a?id Adonis shows 34 "eff'ects" And that 30 
 of these should be dramatic is what we would expect from 
 the future author of Hnmlet. 
 
 But it will also be seen that there is no break, no 
 sharp demarcation between the poetry of the XV centurv 
 and of the Renascence. The development is regular. Objec- 
 tively it consists simply in dropping those labored poetic 
 elements that were the natural outcome of the XIV - centurv 
 imagination, and in more extensively employing the shorter 
 elements with all that that signifies of mental growth. But 
 the cause of it all was the new birth. 
 
 These facts and principles of development may be simulta- 
 neously presented to the eye if the elements and results 
 be arranged in the order of value as given on page 49 
 thus: — 
 
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 Table V. 
 The Elements in 
 order of Potency. 
 
 
 I. Piers Plowman 
 II. Boke of the 
 Du(iesse 
 
 III. Parlement of 
 Foules 
 
 IV. Hous of Fame 
 V. Knightes Tale 
 
 VI. Prologue 
 VII. Tempil of Glaa 
 VIII. Surrey's Sonnets 
 IX. Wyatt's Sonnets 
 X. Induction 
 XI. Faerie Qaeene 
 XII. Venus and 
 Adonis 
 
Contents. 
 
 I. Introductory Remarks 5 
 
 II. The Elements of Poetical Subject - Matter . s 
 
 III. The Elements of Poetical Techniquo . 12 
 
 IV. The Development of English Poetry from Langland to 
 Spenser ."lO 
 
 Druck von Hoeae & Becker in Leipzig. 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PR 504.P48 
 
 A history of English poetry from the aes 
 
 3 1924 013 264 761 ... » 
 
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