Macleod." "Pharais" is a Celtic romance, written deeply in the Celtic spirit and from the Celtic standpoint. Meredith hailed it as a "work of genius," and called it "pure Celtic salt." "The Mountain Lovers," published in 1895, was thought by its author to be even more elemental, and simpler than the preceding work. "The Sin Eater and Other Tales" also appeared in 1895. "The Dominion of Dreams" followed in 1899. The romances and tales of Fiona Macleod are full of Celtic superstition and mysticism, and by so much are more fascinating than the poems, criticisms and essays of William Sharp. "The Winged Destiny; studies in the Spiritual History of the Gael," 1904, dealt, says the author, "only with things among which my thought has moved, searching, remembering, examining, sometimes dreaming." William Sharp died in 1905. In connection with the Celtic writers George MacDonald and Fiona Macleod, it is natural to note a little group in which are to be found, among others, the following Celtic poets and novelists, Lionel Johnson, W. B. Yeats, Douglas Hyde, Norah Hopper, George Russell (better known as "A. E."), and Katherine Tynan. Their aim, it has been said, is to "interpret anew the beauty at the heart of things, not along the line of English tradition but along that of racial instinct coloured and informed by individual temperament." Each and all have contributed something notable to literature, and have carried on their work in the spirit. laid down by Matthew Arnold in his "Study of Celtic Literature." To form the complete web of English letters, woof and warp, Celtic and Teutonic must intertwine so that the most perfect fabric may result. Though not strictly belonging to the Celtic School Sir Lewis Morris deserves mention here. The "Epic of Hades," 1876-7, "Songs of Two Worlds," 1872-5, and other volumes by this facile and graceful writer obtained a popularity which idylls of this character may be expected to awaken in the minds of a public ready to accept pleasing metre and interesting narrative in lieu of greater qualities. Sir Lewis Morris was born at Penrhyn in Carmarthen in 1833; he was knighted in 1895 and died in 1907. In 1879 Sir Edwin Arnold, who was born in 1832 and died in 1904, made a brilliant success with "The Light of Asia," having written little poetry for a score of years previously. "The Light of Asia" deals with the theme of Eastern religion, but in spite of its fluency, attractiveness and plausibility it fails to commend itself as a great work. Much the same may be said of the best-known poem by Coventry Patmore, "The Angel in the House," 1854-6, which has here and there passages containing beautiful imagery, such as "The leaves, all stirring, mimick'd well A neighbouring rush of rivers cold." Patmore was born in 1823 and married at the age of 24 to the lady whose "large sweet eyes, clear lakes of love," inspired the poem. In 1862 this wife died and Patmore married again. In 1877 he published "The Unknown Eros, and other Odes," and the following year a delicate love poem "Amelia." He died in 1896. A future admirer of Patmore's work was born in 1859 in the person of Francis Thompson, whose "Poems," 1893, showed a wonderful promise. This promise was to some extent fulfilled in "The Hound of Heaven," which reveals the true religious feelings inherent in the poet's nature. Notwithstanding the sincerity and occasional inspiration in Thompson's work, there are also certain inequalities which threaten its enduring value. The early death at the age of thirty-three of Ernest Dowson, 1867-1900, dashed hopes in various quarters that a new poet of genius had arisen. Two or three books of short poems, a few stories, some translations, and a one-act play are all that Dowson left behind him. Verse came naturally to him and he had a genuine gift for the music of lyrical poetry. As James Thomson ("B. V."), 1834-1882, author of "The City of Dreadful Night," became known as the poet of pessimism, so John Davidson earned for himself the title of the poet of doubt. Born in Scotland, the son of an Evangelical minister, Davidson did not inherit his father's faith. At the age of thirty-seven, having spent his youth in various occupations which did not satisfy his tastes, he left Scotland for London where he started a journalistic career. After he had published several dramas his verse began to attract notice and in 1893 and 1896 he produced the two series of poems by which he is best known "Fleet Street Eclogues." Between them came finer work in "Ballads and Songs," 1894, followed three years later by "New Ballads," and again two years later by "The Last Ballad and other Poems." In them is apparent a gloomy trend of mind which grew into bitterness and led finally to his tragic death in 1909. The 'seventies produced a new novelist in the person of Thomas Hardy (born 1840), who published his first volume in 1871. "Desperate Remedies was but a promise of far more perfect work. The following year the first of a wonderful series of Wessex novels appeared attractively named "Under the Greenwood Tree." Poetical feeling, appreciation and understanding of nature, the workings of human passions and the tragedies consequent on their mis-direction are all apparent in this rustic idyll which centres round the wooing of Dick Dewy and his village belle. In 1873 came "A Pair of Blue Eyes," a story laid on the Cornish coast, also dealing with courtship, but courtship of a more tragic character. "Far from the Madding Crowd," 1874, established its author's reputation and remains one of the best known of Hardy's works. But towards the close of the 'eighties a greater advance was made by this master of human drama. In "The Mayor of Casterbridge," 1886, "The Woodlanders," 1887, and especially "Tess of the d'Urbervilles," 1891, Hardy reached the heights of his art and succeeded in awakening an enthusiastic response to the call he made upon the general reader. Tess is the completed portrait of an ideal daughter of Wessex soil, already sketched in lighter lines in his earlier works. He claims for her a life of purity, beauty and dignity, marred not by her fault, but by the tragic circumstances arising from the ill-doing of others. This book led to a certain amount of criticism and his "Jude the Obscure," 1895, was received with open hostility. "The Well-Beloved," 1897, "The Return of the Native," which has grown in popularity since it was printed in 1878, and the romantic study of an astronomer hero and his fair lady, entitled "Two on a Tower," are among the maný works of this author which deserve mention. Hardy has also produced a huge prose verse drama of the Napoleonic .wars, "The Dynasts," 1904-8, and a book of poems, "Time's Laughing-Stocks," 1909. Traces of George Sand or George Eliot, perhaps of the Brontës, might be discovered in Hardy's works, but as Meredith stands alone, so does Hardy, a wonderful exponent of those inscrutable destinies that rule all human life. A friend of William Morris and Burne-Jones, Algernon Charles Swinburne was in his twentieth year when he went to Balliol College, Oxford, after leaving Eton two years previously. Naturally such association made it inevitable that he should become, temporarily at least, a disciple of Rossetti. Whilst at college he wrote for Undergraduate Papers, of which periodical his friend, John Nichol, was the editor. His first book, "The Queen Mother and Rosamund," appeared in the year he left Oxford, and was not distinguished by a remarkable reception. In 1865, however, upon the publication of "Atalanta in Calydon," Swinburne was hailed as the poet of the age, an honour which there has been no reason to discount since that date. Greek in spirit and form, "Atalanta" contains passages of dramatic verse as fine as any composed in the English tongue. Eleven years later the poet gave to the world a second Greek tragedy, "Erechtheus," which, although received with acclamation, did not repeat the extraordinary success of its predecessor. In the interval, however, Swinburne was producing numerous volumes of poetry. In the same year as Atalanta," he had published "Chastelard," which, with "Bothwell," 1874, and "Mary Stuart," 1881, formed a trilogy on the Queen of Scots. In 1866 "Poems and Ballads," a volume of luxuriant lyrics, occasioned an outcry from the critics which almost rivalled the storm of abuse which gave notoriety to Byron. Swinburne remained steadfast to his muse throughout. In 1871 he produced a second volume. of lyrics under the title of "Songs before Sunrise," in which he paid tribute to his love of liberty as inspired by the struggles in Italy. "Songs of Two Nations," containing the inspiring "Song of Italy" dedicated to Mazzini, came one year later. "O fair Republic hallowing with stretched hands The limitless free lands, When all men's heads for love, not fear, bow down In 1878 he gave us a second series of "Poems and Ballads," which was succeeded in 1880 by Songs of the Springtides," containing "Thalassius" and "Studies in Song," which include some of the poet's remarkable verses * We are indebted to Theodore Watts-Dunton, Esq., for his kind permission to reproduce this and the following extracts from Swinburne's works. |