The Writings of James Russell Lowell ...: The old English dramatists. 1892Printed at the Riverside Press, 1892 - 342 pages |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 8
Page 16
... , one of the prime qualities of genius , and this novelty the habitual phrase of the Elizabeth- ans has for us without any merit of theirs . But I think , making all due abatements , that they had 16 THE OLD ENGLISH DRAMATISTS.
... , one of the prime qualities of genius , and this novelty the habitual phrase of the Elizabeth- ans has for us without any merit of theirs . But I think , making all due abatements , that they had 16 THE OLD ENGLISH DRAMATISTS.
Page 23
... qualities better than itself ; and it is worth noting that the modern English poet who seems least to have re- garded it , is also the one who has most powerfully moved , swayed , and delighted those who are wise enough to read him ...
... qualities better than itself ; and it is worth noting that the modern English poet who seems least to have re- garded it , is also the one who has most powerfully moved , swayed , and delighted those who are wise enough to read him ...
Page 26
... qualities , for their gleams of imagination , for their quaint and subtle fancies , for their tender sentiment , and for their charm of diction that these old playwrights are worth read- ing . They are the best comment also to convince ...
... qualities , for their gleams of imagination , for their quaint and subtle fancies , for their tender sentiment , and for their charm of diction that these old playwrights are worth read- ing . They are the best comment also to convince ...
Page 28
... qualities which have won for him the name of the poet's poet , but they are rare and fugitive , and certainly never would have warranted the prediction of such poetry as was to follow . There is nothing here to indicate that a great ...
... qualities which have won for him the name of the poet's poet , but they are rare and fugitive , and certainly never would have warranted the prediction of such poetry as was to follow . There is nothing here to indicate that a great ...
Page 54
... qualities that go to the making of a great poet ; and his poetic instinct , when he had time to give himself wholly over to its guidance , was unerring . I say when he had time enough , for he , too , like his fellows , was forced to ...
... qualities that go to the making of a great poet ; and his poetic instinct , when he had time to give himself wholly over to its guidance , was unerring . I say when he had time enough , for he , too , like his fellows , was forced to ...
Common terms and phrases
Arethusa Beaumont and Fletcher beauty Bellario Ben Jonson Brachiano Bussy d'Ambois Cæsar called Chapman character Charles Lamb charm coarse comedies Contarino crime delight doth dramatic Dryden Duchess of Malfi fancy Faustus feel fine madness Flamineo fond genius give hand hath Heaven hell Hero and Leander Homer honor humor Iliad imagination Jew of Malta Jolenta Jonson King Lady language Leonora less literature live Lucifer Marlowe Marlowe's Massinger Massinger's Mephistophilis mind nature never noble Old English Dramatists passage passion pathos perhaps Philaster PHILIP MASSINGER phrase play pleasure plot poem poet poetical poetry Romelio scene seems sense sentiment Shakespeare shows song Song of Roland soul speaking speech Spenser spirit stage style suppose sure sweet Tamburlaine tells theatre thee things thou thought tion tragedy translation true unto verse Vittoria Webster words wrote youth Zanche
Popular passages
Page 37 - Had fed the feeling of their masters' thoughts, And every sweetness that inspired their hearts, Their minds, and muses on admired themes ; If all the heavenly quintessence they still From their immortal flowers of poesy, Wherein, as in a mirror, we perceive The highest reaches of a human wit ; If these had made one poem's period, And all combined in beauty's worthiness, Yet should there hover in their restless heads One thought, one grace, one wonder, at the least, Which into words no virtue can...
Page 31 - Come Sleep! O Sleep, the certain knot of peace, The baiting-place of wit, the balm of woe, The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release, The indifferent judge between the high and low!
Page 51 - I'll leap up to my God! Who pulls me down? See, see where Christ's blood streams in the firmament! One drop would save my soul, half a drop, ah, my Christ!
Page 105 - Spit, fire! spout, rain! Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters: I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness; I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children, You owe me no subscription: then, let fall Your horrible pleasure; here I stand, your slave, A poor, infirm, weak, and despis'd old man. But yet I call you servile ministers, That have with two pernicious daughters join'd Your high-engender'd battles 'gainst a head So old and white as this.
Page 40 - II.," have no organic unity, and such unity as is here is more apparent than real. Passages in them stir us deeply and thrill us to the marrow, but each play as a whole is ineffectual. Even his " Edward II." is regular only to the eye by a more orderly arrangement of scenes and acts, and Marlowe evidently felt the drag of this restraint, for we miss the uncontrollable energy, the eruptive fire, and the feeling that he was happy in his work. Yet Lamb was hardly extravagant in saying that " the death...
Page 50 - I'll have them fly to India for gold, Ransack the ocean for orient pearl, And search all corners of the new-found world For pleasant fruits and princely delicates; I'll have them read me strange philosophy And tell the secrets of all foreign kings...
Page 31 - Despair at me doth throw. 0 make in me those civil wars to cease: 1 will good tribute pay, if thou do so. Take thou of me smooth pillows, sweetest bed, A chamber deaf to noise and blind to light, A rosy garland and a weary head: And if these things, as being thine by right, Move not thy heavy grace, thou shalt in me, Livelier than elsewhere, Stella's image see.
Page 75 - Call for the robin-red-breast and the wren, Since o'er shady groves they hover, And with leaves and flowers do cover The friendless bodies of unburied men. Call unto his funeral dole The ant, the field-mouse, and the mole To rear him hillocks that shall keep him warm And (when gay tombs are robbed) sustain no harm, But keep the wolf far thence that's foe to men, For with his nails he'll dig them up again.
Page 49 - All things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command : emperors and kings Are but obeyed in their several provinces, Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds ; But his dominion that exceeds in this Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man, A sound magician is a mighty god : Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity.
Page 37 - Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend The wondrous architecture of the world, And measure every wandering planet's course, Still climbing after knowledge infinite, And always moving as the restless spheres, Wills us to wear ourselves, and never rest, Until we reach the ripest fruit of all, That perfect bliss and sole felicity, The sweet fruition of an earthly crown.