2 law (1856), Christian Thought and Work (1862), St. Paul at Athens (1865), and Sermons (1875). 66 66 Alexander's Feast: or, the Power of Music." An ode by JOHN DRYDEN (1631-1701), in honour of St. Cecilia's Day. "As a piece of poetical mechanism to be set to music, or recited in alternate strophe and anti-strophe, with classical allusions and flowing verse, nothing," says Hazlitt, can be better. It is equally fit to be said or sung; it is not equally good to read." St. Cecilia, a Roman lady of good family, suffered martyrdom for her devotion to Christianity, A.D. 230. She is regarded as the patroness of music-church music especially; and the 22nd of November is dedicated to her. The legend runs that once, while playing on a musical instrument, an angel was so enraptured by her glorious strains that he quitted his celestial sphere and visited their creator. Hence the lines by Dryden— "Let old Timotheus yield the prize, Or both divide the crown; It was performed, with music by Handel, in the year 1736. Alexandra. Queen of the Amazons, and one of the ten wives of Elbanio, in Orlando Furioso. "Alexandrine ends the song, A needless." See POPE's Essay on Criticism, part ii., line 355: "That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along." Alexandrines are rhyming verses consisting each of six measures or twelve syllables. The name is supposed to be derived from an old French poem on Alexander the Great, written about the twelfth or thirteenth century; according to others it was so called from one of the authors of that poem being named Alexander. The last line of the Spenserian stanza is an Alexandrine. The only complete English poem written wholly in Alexandrines is Drayton's Polyolbion (q.v.). Aleyn, Charles, poet (d. about 1640), wrote the Battle of Cressy and Poietiers (1632), the History of Henry VII. (1638), and the History of Euriolus and Lucretius (1639). Alfayns and Archelaus: "two faythfull lovers," whose "famooste and notable history," printed in 1565, is probably identical with that told in "the ballet intituled the story of ij faythful louers" (1568), "The tragicall historye that happened betweene ij Englishe louers" (1564), and pieces with very similar titles, printed in 1567 and 1569. Alfieri. The tragedies of this Italian poet were translated into English by CHARLES LLOYD, in 1815. An English version of the Vita di Vittorio Alfieri appeared in 1810. Alfonso, Don, in BYRON's Don Juan (q.v.), is the husband of Donna Julia. Alford, Henry, D.D., Dean of Canterbury (b. 1810, d. 1871), wrote Poems and Poetical Fragments (1831); the School of the Heart, and other Poems (1835); the Abbot of Muchelnaye, and other Poems, and various theological works. His edition of the Greek Testament appeared in 1844-52. His Life has been written by his widow (1873). Alfred, King of England (b. 849, d. 901), translated into English the following works: Bede's Ecclesiastical History, Orosius's Universal History, Boethius's De Consolatione Philosophiæ, and Gregory I.'s Pastoral on the Care of the Soul. His Biography was written by Spelman (1678), Powell (1634), Bicknell (1777), and by Thomas Hughes, M.P., in the Sunday Library. See, also, Wright's Biographia Britannica. See PROVERBS. Alfred. A poem in twelve books, by Sir RICHARD BLACKMORE (1650-1729), published in 1713. Alfred. A masque, written by JAMES THOMSON (1700-1748), in conjunction with DAVID MALLET (1700-1765), and produced in 1740 at Cliefden, the summer residence of the Prince of Wales. It was afterwards dramatised by the latter writer, and brought out at Drury Lane in 1751. It contains the famous song of Rule Britannia, of which Southey said that "it will be the political hymn of this country as long as she maintains her political power." Alfred. An epic poem in six books, by HENRY JAMES PYE (1745-1813), published in 1801. Algarsife. See CAMBUSCAN. Alhadra. A character in COLERIDGE's tragedy of Remorse (q.v.). Alhambra, The. A volume of legends and descriptive sketches by WASHINGTON IRVING (1783 -1859), published in 1832. "The account of my midnight rambles about the old place is," says the author, "literally true, yet gives but a feeble idea of my feelings and impressions, and of the singular haunts I was exploring. Everything in the work relating to myself and to the actual inhabitants of the Alhambra, is unexaggerated fact; it was only in the legends that I indulged in romancing, and these were founded on material picked up about the place." Alice: " or, the Mysteries." See MALTRAVERS, ERNEST. Alice du Clos. The heroine of a ballad by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772-1834). Alice Fell: "or, Poverty." A ballad by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850), written in 1801, and described by Moir as "palpably mediocre and worthless." Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A fairy story for the young, published in 1869, under the nom de plume of LEWIS CARROLL (q.v.). It has been translated into several European languages. A continuation, entitled, Through the Looking-glass, and what Alice found there, was published in 1871. Alicia. The wife of Arden of Feversham, in LILLO's tragedy (q.v.), in love with, and criminally beloved by, a man called Mosby (q.v.). Alipharnon, The giant. Don Quixote attacked a flock of sheep, which he declared to be the army of the giant Alipharnon. Aliprando. A Christian knight in Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. Aliris. The Sultan of Lower Bucharia, who, under the name of Feramors, wooed and won Lalla Rookh, in MOORE's poem of that name (q.v.). Alisaunder, Kyng. The title of an old romance included by WEBER in his well-known Collection. He describes it as unquestionably a free translation from the French, though the English adapter professes to have supplied the description of a battle, which was not given in the original. A romance on the same subject was printed by one Alexander Arbuthnot, in Scotland, and is described by Weber as also a translation from the French, and the work of an anonymous Scotch poet of the fifteenth century. See ALEXANDER, LIFE OF. Alison, Archibald, Scottish Episcopal clergyman (b. 1757, d. 1839), wrote an Essay on the Nature and Principles of Taste (1790); Sermons (1814-1815), and a Memoir of the Life and Writings of Lord Woodhouselee (1818). See Lord Jeffrey's Essays, and Sinclair's Old Times and Distant Places. See TASTE, ON THE NATURE, &c. Alison, Sir Archibald, Bart., son of the preceding (b. 1792, d. 1867), wrote a History of Europe, from the French Revolution of 1789 to the Accession of Napoleon III. (1839-42); Principles of Population (1840); Free Trade and Fettered Currency (1847); a Life of the Duke of Marlborough (1847); Essays: Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous (1850), and other works. See the Quarterly Review, vols. lxx., lxxii., lxxiii., lxxvi. ; the Edinburgh Review, vol. lxxvi.; the Westminster Review, vol. xli.; and the North American Review, vols. viii., x., xi., xx. Alison Gross. A ballad printed by JAMIESON, "from the recitation of Mrs. Brown.' It tells how a wretched old witch turned a youth into a serpent, and how he was released from his thraldom by the Queen of the Fairies. "All along the valley, stream that flashest bright." First line of a lyric by ALFRED TENNYSON (b. 1809), entitled, In the Valley of Cauteretz. "All are architects of fate." First line of the Builders, a poem by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW (b. 1807). "All are but parts of one stupendous whole." Line 267, epistle i., of POPE's Essay on Man (q.v.): : "Whose body Nature is, and God the soul." "All cry and no wool." Line 852, canto i., part 1, of BUTLER'S Epitaph on Shakespeare. "All Europe rings from side to side (Of which)." A line in MILTON's 22nd Sonnet. All Fools. A comedy by GEORGE CHAPMAN (1557-1634), founded upon Terence's Heautontimorumenos, and printed in 1605. "The style," says Mr. Swinburne, "is limpid and luminous as running water; the verse pure, simple, smooth, and strong; the dialogue always bright, fluent, lively, and at times relieved with delicate touches of high moral and intellectual beauty; the plot and characters excellently fitted to each other, with just enough intricacy and fulness of incident to sustain, without relaxation or confusion, the ready interest of readers or spectators." All for Love: "or, a Sinner Well Saved." A poem, in nine parts, by ROBERT SOUTHEY (1774— 1843). Written in 1829, and founded on a passage in the Life of St. Basil, ascribed to his contemporary, St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium. "All for love: and a little for the bottle." See WATTLE, CAPTAIN. All for Money. "One of the most elaborate and involved of our later morals. The characters engaged in it," says Collier, "are no less than thirty-two in number. It professes to represent 'the manners of men and fashion of the world' at the date when it was produced; but it is anything but a picture of manners, and the author directs his attack in various ways against avarice. On the title-page he terms his work a 'pitiful comedy,' and in the prologue he tells us that it is also a pleasant tragedy;' but it has no pretensions to be considered one or the other." It was printed in 1578. 66 "All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd." First line of GAY's ballad, entitled, Sweet William's Farewell to Black-eyed Susan. See BLACK-EYED SUSAN. All in the Wrong. A novel by THEODORE EDWARD HOOK (1788-1841). All in the Wrong. A comedy by ARTHUR MURPHY (1727-1805), adapted from the French of Destouches. "All is not gold that glisteneth." See MIDDLETON'S play of A Fair Quarrel, act ii., scene 1. See also SHAKESPEARE'S play of the Merchant of Venice, act ii., scene 7: "All that glistens is not gold." CHAUCER, in his Chanones Yemannes Tale, has,"All thing, which shineth as the gold Ne is no gold, as I have herd it told." "Rose by rose, I strip the leaves, : And strew them where Pauline may pass. The chance was they might take her eye." "All men think all men mortal but themselves." In YOUNG's Night Thoughts, night i., line 424. “All my past life is mine no more.” First line of a song by JOHN, Earl of ROCHESTER (1647-1680). "All praise to Thee, my God, this night." First line of the Evening Hymn, by Bishop KEN (1637-1711). "All precious things, discovered late." First line of the Arrival in the Day-Dream, a lyric by ALFRED TENNYSON (b. 1809). “All that's bright must fade." First line of a song by THOMAS MOORE (1779—1852) :"The brightest still the fleetest; All that's sweet was made But to be lost when sweetest!" : "All the souls that were, were forfeit once."-Measure for Measure, act ii., scene 2. "All the world's a stage." A familiar quotation, which is to be found in act ii., scene 7, of SHAKESPEARE'S As You Like It. Compare it with the following passage in Heywood's Apology for Actors (q.v.):— "The world's a theatre, the earth a stage, All the Year Round. A weekly periodical, originated by CHARLES DICKENS (1812-1870) in 1859, and edited by him until his death. It arose out of a dispute between Dickens and his publishers, which resulted in the discontinuance of Household Words (q.v.). The first number contained the opening chapters of A Tale of Two Cities (q.v.), and the magazine was frequently enriched by miscellaneous contributions from the pen of the editor. Among the leading writers, besides Dickens, have been Lord Lytton, Wilkie Collins, G. A. Sala, Edmund H. Yates, John Hollingshead, Andrew Halliday, Mrs. Gaskell, Miss Procter, and Miss Martineau. "All thoughts, all passions, all delights." Opening line of COLERIDGE's poem of Love. "All we know of what the blessed do above." See WALLER'S Song to Chloris— "Is, that they sing and that they love." The most familiar version of the lines is that given by Lady RACHEL RUSSELL in her Letter to Earl Galway on Friendship : "All we know they do above, Is, that they sing and that they love." "All worldly shapes shall melt in gloom." First line of the Last Man, a lyric by THOMAS CAMPBELL (1777-1844). All's Lost by Lust. A tragedy by WILLIAM ROWLEY (temp. James I.), printed in 1633. "All's over then: does truth sound bitter?" First line of the Lost Mistress (q.v.), a poem by ROBERT BROWNING (b. 1812). All's Well that ends Well. A comedy by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616), finally printed in the folio of 1623. Meres, in his Palladis Tamia, mentions among the plays of Shakespeare which were then in favour, a comedy called Love's Labour's Wonne, which most authorities now agree in identifying with All's Well that ends Well. It would seem to have been originally written as a companion to Love's Labour's Lost (q.v.), probably about 1593 or 1594, and afterwards to have been revised and republished by the author with a new title. The plot is partially founded on a tale in Boccaccio's Decameron, giornata iii., novella ix., or rather, on Painter's translation of it, which forms the thirtyeighth novel of the first volume of the Palace of Pleasure (q.v.):-"Giletta, a phisition's daughter of Narbon, healed the French king of a fistula, for reward whereof she demanded Beltramo, Count of Rossiglione, to husband. The counte being married! against his will, for despite fled to Florence and loved another. Giletta, his wife, by pollicie founde meanes to lye with her husband in place of his lover, and was begotten with childe of two sonnes, which knowen to her husband, he received her again, and afterwards he lived in great honour and felicitie." The comic passages are, however, entirely Shakespeare's. "It is the old story,' says Schlegel, "of a young maiden whose love looked much higher than her station. ... Love appears here in humble guise; the wooing is on the woman's side; it is striving, unaided by a reciprocal inclination, to overcome the prejudices of birth." "It is," says Hazlitt, "the most pleasing of our author's comedies." Allegory, as a figure of rhetoric, is the embodiment of a train of thought by means of sensible images, which have some resemblance or analogy to the thought. The Allegory differs from the metaphor chiefly in extent: the latter is confined to a single sentence or expression, while the former is sustained through the whole work or representation. There are numerous Allegories in the Bible. The most famous in English literature are Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (q.v.), and Spenser's Faerie Queene (q.v.); many also are to be found in the writings of Addison, Steele, Johnson, and the "Essayists." Allegory has been in use from the earliest ages. "Oriental people are specially fond of it. As examples from antiquity may be cited, the comparison of Israel to a vine in the 80th Psalm; the beautiful passage in Plato's Phædrus, where the soul is compared to a charioteer drawn by two horses, one white and one black; the description of Fame in the 4th book of the Eneid." (Chambers.) The proper consideration of Allegory in the fine arts generally is of the highest importance. It is not confined to language, but is carried into painting, sculpture, scenic representation, pantomime, and the like. Allegro, L'. See L'ALLEGRO. Alleine (or Allein), Joseph. A Nonconformist divine (b. 1633, d. 1688). He wrote a number of religious works, the best known of which is An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners (q.v.). See the biographies by Stanford, Baxter (1672), and Newton. "Allen, Humble." See ALLWORTHY, MR. Allen, Mr. Benjamin. A young surgeon who figures in DICKENS's novel of the Pickwick Papers (q.v.). Allen-a-Dale. One of the famous archers of Robin Hood, who had interfered to secure his marriage to a fair young maiden, betrothed to a decrepit old knight. He is the minstrel of the merry band of venison-hunters, who held high revel in Sherwood's leafy glades, and as such makes frequent appearances in the old English ballads. Alley, William, D.D., Bishop of Exeter (1512-1570), wrote a Hebrew Grammar, the Poor Man's Library, and translated the Pentateuch for Bishop Parker's Bible. Alliance between Church and State, The. A work by WILLIAM WARBURTON, Bishop of GLOUCESTER (1698-1779), published in 1736, in which he demonstrates "the Necessity and Equity of an Established Religion and a Test Law.' See STATE IN ITS RELATIONS WITH THE CHURCH, THE. Allibone, Samuel Austin, LL.D. An American writer (b. 1816). He has published a Dictionary of British and American Authors (1858, 1870, and 1871), remarkable for the extent and accuracy of its information. Allingham, William, poet (b. 1828), has written Poems (1850), Day and Night Songs (1854), The Music Master and other Poems (1857), Laurence Bloomfield in Ireland (1869), and Songs, Ballads and Stories (1877). In 1874 he succeeded Mr. J. A. Froude in the editorship of Fraser's Magazine. Allot, Robert, is generally accepted as the compiler of England's Parnassus (q.v.), a collection of fugitive poems by the leading writers of Elizabeth's reign. Collier says he was a joint sonneteer with Edward Gilpin before the publication of Markham's Devereux in 1597; but more than that is not known. See the Poetical Decameron and Brydges' Restituta. Allston, Washington, American poet (b. 1779, d. 1843), was the author of the Sylphs of the Seasons, and other Poems (1813), and the Romance of Monaldi (1841). His Poems and Lectures on Art were edited by Richard H. Dana, jun., in 1850. See Griswold's Prose Writers of America, and the North American Review, vols. v. and liv. "We have often pored over Allston's pages," says the latter authority, "to admire the grace and delicacy of his English poetical style." "All the specimens I have seen of his prose," says Griswold, "indicate a remarkable command of language, great descriptive powers, and rare philosophical as well as imaginative talent." 66 Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way." Line 167 of GOLDSMITH's poem of the Deserted Village (q.v.). Allworth. A character in MASSINGER'S play of A New Way to Pay Old Debts (q.v.). Allworthy, Mr., in FIELDING's novel of Tom Jones (q.v.), a man of amiable and benevolent character; intended for Mr. Ralph Allen, of Bristol, who was also celebrated by POPE (Epilogue to the Satires, dialogue i., line 136) in a familiar couplet: "Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame, Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame." Alma: "or, the Progress of the Mind." A poem, in three cantos, by MATTHEW PRIOR (16641721); "written," says Dr. Johnson, "in professed imitation of Hudibras (q.v.), to which it has at least one accidental resemblance: Hudibras wants a plan, because it is left imperfect; Alma is imperfect, because it seems never to have had a plan. It has many admirers, and was the only piece among Prior's works of which Pope said that he should wish to be the author." Almanacs were first published in England in the fourteenth century, and one of the earliest known is John Somer's Calendar, written in Oxford, (1380). The Stationers' Company claimed the exclusive right of publishing almanacs, but this monopoly was abolished in 1779. A duty was imposed on them in 1710, and repealed in 1834. Almanzor. A character in DRYDEN's tragedy of the Conquest of Granada (q.v.). A novel Almanzor and Almanzaida. attributed to Sir PHILIP SIDNEY (1554-1586) by the printer, who issued it in 1678. "This book coming out so late, it is to be enquired," says Anthony à Wood, "whether Sir Philip Sidney's name is not set to it for sale-sake." Almeria. The heroine of CONGREVE's tragedy of the Mourning Bride (q.v.). Almeyda, Queen of Grenada. A tragedy by SOPHIA LEE (1750-1824), produced in 1796 at Drury Lane, with Mrs. Siddons in the character of the heroine. "A lover of late was I." First line of an old song, printed in Bishop PERCY's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. "Alone with his glory." A phrase in WOLFE's verses on the Burial of Sir John Moore (q.v.). Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogene. A ballad by MATTHEW GREGORY LEWIS (1775-1818), beginning "A warrior so bold and a virgin so bright, They gazed at each other with tender delight, Alp, the renegade, in BYRON's poem of the Siege of Corinth (q.v.), is a Christian knight whose wrongs have induced him to turn Mussulman to obtain revenge. Alph, in COLERIDGE'S poetical fragment of Kubla Khan (q.v.), is the sacred river that ran through unfathomable caves "down to a sunless sea." Alpheus. A prophet and magician in Orlando Furioso. Alphonsus, King of Arragon, The Comical Historie of. A play by ROBERT GREENE (1560-1592), printed in 1597. Alsatia, The Squire of. A comedy by THOMAS SHADWELL (1640-1692). Alsatia was the name popularly given in former times to Whitefriars, in London, which was for a long period an asylum or sanctuary for debtors and persons desiring to evade the law. Many of the most stirring scenes in Scott's Fortunes of Nigel are represented as having occurred in Alsatia. Altare Damascenum: "Seu Ecclesiæ Anglicana Politia Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ obtrusa, a Formalista quodam delineata, illustrata et examinata, sub nomine olim Edwardi Didoclavii, Studio et Opera DAVIDIS CALDERWOOD" (1575-1651). Published originally in 1611; afterwards, in English in 1623. It is a vehement attack upon episcopacy, in reply to Archbishop Spottiswoode (q.v.). Altercation or Scolding of the Ancients, A Treatise concerning. By JOHN ARBUTHNOT, M.D. (1675-1735). Published in 1750, in the author's collected works: it exhibited the best qualities of his satiric wit. Althea, To: "From prison." A poem by RICHARD LOVELACE (1618-1658), beginning— "When love with unconfined wings." It was written whilst the author was incarcerated in the Gatehouse, Westminster, for presenting a petition to the House of Commons in favour of the king. Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet. A novel by the Rev. CHARLES KINGSLEY (b. 1819, d. 1875), published in 1850. Alvarez Espriella, Manuel. See Es PRIELLA. Alyface, Annot, in UDALL's Ralph Roister Doister (q.v.), is a servant of Dame Christian Custance (q.v.). Alzirdo, King of Tremizen, in Orlando Furioso. "Am I not in blissed case?" First line of a song, by JOHN SKELTON (1460-1529), sung by Lust in the moral play of the Triall of Pleasure (q.v.). Amadis of Fraunce, The Treasurie of, is a translation from the French of Nicholas de Herberay by THOMAS PAYNEL, printed in 1567. It was followed in 1595, 1619, 1652, 1664, and 1694, by versions of several portions of the same romance by ANTHONY MUNDAY and others. "All these old translations, however, are very indifferent and faithless, and the reader who desires to relish this delightful old romance, must read it," says Carew Hazlitt," in Southey's English,"-which was translated from the Spanish of Vasco Lobeira. Not unworthy of ranking with the latter version is that written by STEWART ROSE, which was published in 1803. Amadis of Greece. A supplemental part of the romance of Amadis of Fraunce (q.v.), added by FELICIANO DE SILVA. Amanda. A lady, celebrated in the poetry of JAMES THOMSON (1700-1748), whose name was Young, and who eventually married an Admiral Campbell. She inspired, among other pieces, the following graceful song "Unless with my Amanda blest, In vain I twine the woodbine bower; "Awakened by the genial year, In vain the birds around me sing, Amantium Iræ Redintegratio Amoris Est. A poem by RICHARD EDWARDS (circa 15231566), printed in the Paradise of Dainty Devices (q.v.). Amarant. A cruel giant slain by Guy of Warwick. See Guy and Amarant in Percy's Reliques. First "Amarantha, sweet and fair.” line of To Amarantha, that she would dishevel her hair, a song by RICHARD LOVELACE (1618-1658), containing the line "Shake your head, and scatter day." Amaryllis. The name of a rustic beauty in VIRGIL'S Eclogues and the Idylls of THEOCRITUS, frequently adopted in modern pastoral poetry. See MILTON DRYDEN "To sport with Amaryllis in the shade." "To Amaryllis Love compels my way." |