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The salient features of this curious group of writers are here clearly indicated. Their work is packed with affectations and conceits; in their effort to surprise by the boldness and novelty of their images they indulge in strained metaphors, far-fetched similes, and the most extravagant hyperbole; they cultivate ingenuity at any cost; substitute philosophical subtleties and logical hairsplitting for the natural expression of feeling; and employ their vast out-of-the-way learning without the slightest regard to propriety. As a result they are in general violent, harsh, cold, and obscure. That from time to time they none the less give us passages or even whole poems of real power and beauty only proves that the promptings of genius were not altogether stifled by vicious theories. But when we find a poet of the quality of Crashaw ransacking earth and heaven for emblems of the eyes of the sorrowing Mary Magdalene, and describing them, for example, as

"Two walking baths, two weeping motions,
Portable and compendious oceans,"

we can realise into what frantic absurdities English poetry was for a time misled, as Johnson puts it, “by a voluntary deviation from nature in pursuit of something new and strange." In Cowley's work we have the last important productions of this metaphysical school, but we must remember that its influences were very widely spread among the poets of the age in general. Thus the three chief religious poets who have been named aboveCrashaw, Herbert, and Vaughan-were all more or less metaphysical. It should also be noted that in his later poetry Cowley discards much of his former extravagance, and approximates to the restrained and sober style which came in with the next generation.

47. The Caroline Prose Writers. In the prose literature of Milton's age there are many names of importance, but it is only of the men whose interest is broad enough to justify their inclusion in a record of general literature that we have here to take account. Thus the Holy Living and Holy Dying of the eloquent divine, JEREMY TAYLOR (1613-67) and The Saints' Everlasting Rest of the Puritan RICHARD BAXTER (1615-91), though purely religious in matter and aim deserve reference as acknowledged classics of their kind. Another divine, the quaint, witty, and vivacious THOMAS FULLER (1608-61), though he also wrote much on religious subjects, is best remembered to-day for his delightful miscellaneous Worthies of England. SIR THOMAS BROWNE, a physician, was the author of a number of books full of varied and curious erudition, but his main title to fame is his personal confession of religious faith, Religio Medici. That a highly special subject may by sheer charm of treatment be endowed with the widest possible interest is strikingly shown in the case of The Compleat Angler, or the Contemplative Man's Recreation, by Izaak Walton (1593-1688), which, though ostensibly designed for the instruction of fishermen, has long been popular with countless readers who care nothing for the sport, on account of its pleasant gossipy style and genuine rustic flavour. Walton also wrote some admirable biographies. In history, in which much good work was now done, the first place is occupied by the History of the Great Rebellion, by EDWARD HYDE, EARL OF CLARENDON (1608-74), which, while untrustworthy by reason of its royalist bias, is justly admired for its stately diction and its skilful studies of character. The Leviathan of THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679), advocating strong central government, apart from its theories, which do not now concern us, must be mentioned as the most

important of the political treatises which were inspired by the unrest and speculations of the time.

Speaking of the work of all these men in general, and disregarding for the moment their individual qualities, we may say that we nowhere recognise in their style the characteristic tone and manner of our modern prose. What has been said about the prose of Milton is equally applicable to that of his contemporaries. Even in the greater colloquialism of Baxter there is still much to remind us that this is not the sort of prose we use to-day. We must therefore be careful to note the particular historical interest of the charming Essays of COWLEY, the manner of which has a great deal in common with that simpler and clearer way of writing which the Age of Dryden, as we shall presently see, was to introduce.

NOTE. For a Table of the Literature of the Age of Milton, see pp. 129-132.

CHAPTER XI.

THE AGE OF DRYDEN (1660-1700).

Verse.

48. The Age of Dryden. The Stuart Restoration was followed by an immense change in the general temper of the English people. A sweeping reaction against Puritanism and everything that it had stood for set in; and this reaction went so far that together with the galling restraints which religious fanaticism had unwisely imposed, moderation and decency were too often cast aside. England now touched low-water mark in its social history. The court of Charles II. was the most shameless this country has ever known; infidelity and profligacy became fashionable; the moral ideals of Puritanism were turned into jest, and those who still upheld the cause of domestic virtue laughed at as hypocrites or denounced as sour sectaries. Even outside the narrow circle of court and aristocracy, where things were at their worst, the spirit of corruption spread far and wide, and while piety and goodness were of course cherished among individuals, the general lowering of the moral tone was everywhere apparent. The effect of these conditions on literature will be anticipated by all who recall the great principle of interpretation, which preceding chapters have now made clear, that literature is a social product and inevitably reflects the life of the era out of which it

springs. The literature of the age of Dryden was at times openly and defiantly corrupt; while even at its best, though it had many admirable qualities, it was generally wanting in moral strength and spiritual fervour. Real earnestness of purpose had passed away, and with this, strong passion, and with this again, great creative energy. The thoughts of men no longer scaled the heights; they moved along the plain. Literature ceased to soar and became pedestrian. Thus with the Restoration we enter upon a period in which literature is intellectual rather than imaginative or emotional, and though often brilliant, is on the whole a trifle hard and unsympathetic. This is true even of poetry, which became prosaic, was made to do the work of prose, and was judged by the standards of prose. The poet did not allow his thoughts to wander off with Spenser into fairyland, or to explore with Milton the mysteries of heaven and hell. He made his verse the vehicle of argument, controversy, personal and political satire. The era of the versified pamphlet thus began. This is a striking illustration of the changed mood of the times. Even more significant, perhaps, is the fact that the men of the Restoration were the real creators of our modern English prose.

In further illustration of the qualities of the literature of this period we must remember the direct and powerful influence exerted upon it by France. The European supremacy of Italy had now passed away, and France had become the world's great arbiter of taste. The political relations between the two countries naturally tended to give vogue in England to all things French, including French taste and French ideas of art. Now the contemporary literature of France was characterised particularly by lucidity, vivacity, and-by reason of the

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