Category: British Literature
The death of John Dryden, on the first of May, 1700, closed a period of no small significance in the history of English literature. His faults were many, both as a man and as a poet, but he belongs to the race of the giants, and the impress of greatness is stamped upon his wor...
The death of John Dryden, on the first of May, 1700, closed a period of no small significance in the history of English literature. His faults were many, both as a man and as a...
3. Chapter 3It is not unreasonable to call the period we are considering 'the Age of Pope.' He is the representative poet of his century. Its literary merits and defects are alike conspicuo...
4. Chapter 4The ease with which the Queen Anne wits obtained office and rose to posts of high trust through the pleasant art of verse-making, is conspicuous in the career of Prior. His pare...
5. Chapter 5In Pope's day even the medical profession was influenced by party feeling, and Samuel Garth became known as the most famous Whig physician, but his friendships were not confined...
6. Chapter 6As essayists, the writings of Addison and of Steele are familiar to all readers of eighteenth-century literature. Their work in other departments may be neglected without much l...
7. Chapter 7The booksellers who employed the most famous man of letters then living (1777), to write the _Lives of the Poets_, selected the authors whose biographies were to accompany the p...
8. Chapter 8The most voluminous writer of his century is popularly remembered as the author of one book, published in old age. Everybody has read _Robinson Crusoe_, and knows the name of it...
9. Chapter 9During the first half of the eighteenth century the position held by Bishop Atterbury was one of high eminence. Addison ranked him with the most illustrious geniuses of his age;...