Kinds of essays of his travels abroad, and pictures different phases of English life, weaving into his narrative not a little of reflection and sentiment. Another variety is seen in the Spectator Papers of Addison and Steele. Many of these papers are satirical; that is, they point out the petty follies of the day and through showing the evils to which these follies may lead, gently reprove those at fault and recommend wholesome reforms. Bacon, the philosopher, wrote very brief essays, closely compacted, each sentence containing a thought strikingly expressed, as if he had jotted down ideas from time to time and at last assembled them. He writes on such topics as truth, riches, death. Most delightful of all essayists is Charles Lamb, who wrote informally on whist, roast pig, old china, old plays, and his sister Mary. Reading one of his Essays of Elia is like listening to delightful after-dinner talk. Longer, more formal, and logically constructed are the essays of Macaulay on literary and historical subjects. His essay on Milton contains over one hundred pages of average size, quite a book in itself; whereas a typical essay by Lamb is about ten pages long, and a number of Bacon's essays do not exceed two or three pages each. Fiction, drama, and essay are the three higher forms of prose, but there are many provinces which border the realms of pure literature. First, perhaps, Minor forms come biography, autobiography, and the reof prose lated fields of letters and diaries. Second comes history, associated with which are travel and exploration. Third may be mentioned works of science and philosophy, a few of which are truly masterpieces. Finally, oratory should be included; for though sermons and speeches are designed but for an occasion, not for all time, and when printed they lose something of their force because com posed to be listened to, not to be read, our literature is so rich in powerful oratory that it would be wrong to neglect it. Yet works belonging to any one of these outlying provinces we should need to examine closely before giving them a place in our library of pure literature. CHAPTER XV VARIETIES OF POETRY Most poems fall readily into one of four classes: Narrative (including dramatic and non-dramatic forms), Lyrical, Descriptive, and Didactic or Reflective. Varieties of drama The mask In poetic drama, as in prose, are found comedy and tragedy, and such allied forms as farce, tragi-comedy, and melodrama. These call for no further explanation; but a word is necessary, perhaps, in regard to masks (sometimes spelled masques) and closet drama. The mask, Italian in origin, made its appearance in England during the reign of Elizabeth and was for a time exceedingly popular with the cultured rich. Songs, intricate dances, and elaborate scenic effects were essential features, in many cases the dramatic element being of comparatively slight importance. The masks were not given at public playhouses, but at court and in castle halls, no expense being spared to make the spectacle gorgeous. The parts were taken by amateurs from among the nobility, who impersonated mythical or allegorical characters, which were as essential to mask as were the musical numbers, the dancing, and the scenic display. The most prolific of mask-producers was Ben Jonson; but Milton's Comus, presented at Ludlow castle before the Earl of Bridgewater, then President of Wales, is the best of all the dramas cast in this highly artificial form. Closet drama Closet drama is a name applied to poems dramatic in form, but unfit for successful stage presentation. To this class belong dramas in verse which were intended to be read, not witnessed, as Shelley's Prometheus Unbound and Byron's Manfred. But the term is also applied to dramas which, though written for stage presentation, have proved less effective when acted than when read as we read other forms of story-telling verse. Hence we may include in this small class the dramas of Tennyson, Browning, and even some of the plays of Shakespeare. The tale Non-dramatic narrative poetry is as varied in kind as prose fiction, but we shall consider merely the tale, the ballad, the romance, and the epic. The tale corresponds in a general way to the short story, though commonly much simpler and briefer. Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are familiar examples. An interesting variety is the monologue, closely related to the drama. The words all come from the lips of one person, yet the narrative is so given that the reader readily imagines the presence and replies of other characters to whom the words are spoken. Something of the effect of monologue may be gained by listening to one who is using the telephone, and trying to imagine what the person at the other end of the wire is saying. Many of what Browning has called his dramatic lyrics are monologue tales. The ballad Some of the most fascinating tales in all English literature are found in the form of ballads, which, as the name suggests, were originally short tales intended to be sung. In the eighteenth century when there was a revival of interest in earlier times, the ballads which had been composed and sung throughout England during the Middle Ages were collected and excited great interest because of their simplicity and wonderful dramatic power. They have received loving study ever since. Not a few of our modern poets have imitated these ancient models; but Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, best of these modern attempts, though a great poem, is inferior as a ballad to such originals as Sir Patrick Spens, or A Geste of Robyn Hode. The romance The term romance, or metrical romance, also carries the scholar back to the Middle Ages, to a very large group of extremely long poems recounting the deeds of such half-mythical heroes as King Charlemagne and King Arthur, poems many of which were brought to England by Norman minstrels and sung by them in castle halls. But to the average reader the term suggests long poems of more modern times, notably those of Scott and Byron. The characteristics of this modern type, as found in such admirable examples as Marmion and Lady of the Lake, are similar to those mentioned in connection with prose romance: abundance of adventure and love and sentiment, the incidents taking place in regions of romantic beauty. The term epic is used in two senses. First, it is employed as a general name to cover all forms of narrative poetry except drama. But it is used more commonly The epic to name that kind of narrative poetry of which Homer's Iliad is the noblest example. Of the many definitions, the following is among the simplest: "A poem celebrating in stately verse the real or mythical achievements of great personages, heroes, or demigods." It is always long and dignified. In English literature we find but one poem truly deserving the name epic, Milton's Paradise Lost. In direct contrast to the story-telling forms of poetry thus far considered is the lyric, the nature of which it is quite necessary that the student understand The lyric clearly. We may read all of Shakespeare's plays without becoming a whit the wiser concerning the dramatist's personal joys and sorrows. Scott's Lady of the Lake acquaints the reader with Ellen Douglas, Rod |