English Literary Criticism Research Articles

MATTHEW ARNOLD'S 1853 PREFACE

prefaced by an essay which ranks as one of the classics of English literary criticism. 'I doubt', says Mr. Saintsbury, 'whether he ever wrote better, either in sense or in style.'1 Arnold relied a good deal at this time on the sympathy and judgment of Froude. Froude admired the Poems of 1853-'Sohrab and Rustum', he writes to Clough, 'is to my taste all but perfect '.2 But he was against a Preface. 'He rather discounsels from a preface', Arnold writes, 'but I shall try my hand at it, at any rate, I think'.3 And on io October 'The Preface is done', he tells Clough-'there is a certain Geist in it, I think, but it is far less precise than I had intended. How difficult it is to write prose !'4 He had, in fact, never written prose before. When, two and a half years later, he became professor of Poetry at Oxford, he owed his election to his poetry-and to the Preface to the Poems of 1853Froude, when he 'discounselled from a preface', had seen, not the Preface, but the Poems. He thought the wine good enough to need no bush. In poems that call for a preface there is usually something which wants explaining away. In the Poems of 1853 the only thing that wanted explaining away was what was not there. Arnold had left out Empedocles on Etna; and he did not want the world to draw false conclusions about his reason for doing so. 'It has not been excluded', he writes, 'in deference to the opinion which many critics of the present day appear to entertain against subjects chosen from distant times and countries; against the choice, in short, of any subjects but modern ones'. Of these 'many critics' he names none; but he quotes one, a writer in The Spectator (2 April 1853), whom he calls 'an apparently intelligent critic'. The writer was, as luck would have it, the editor of The Spectator himself, Robert Stephen Rintoul; who,

The Aesthetic Theory of Thomas Hobbes. With Special Reference to his Contribution to the Psychological Approach in English Literary Criticism.

The Aesthetic Theory of Thomas Hobbes. With Special Reference to his Contribution to the Psychological Approach in English Literary Criticism.

Lxxiv: Hume and the Theory of Tragedy

Behind nearly all English literary criticism, particularly that relating to the Neo-classic drama, lies the Poetics of Aristotle. Some writers have been greatly affected by this epochal work; others have come under its sphere of influence to a lesser degree. However, there are few authors of importance upon whom the Poetics has failed to make some profound and enduring impression. Despite the fact that its influence permeates all English literature, excessive emphasis is laid sometimes upon the effect of Aristotle's teachings, to the detriment of such prominent critics as Horace, Vida, Trissino, Giraldi, Boileau, and Fontenelle. This applies especially to commentators on Hume. Indeed, the Scottish philosopher, historian, and critic subscribed to the majority of Aristotle's tenets, but the doctrines of Tully, Horace, Boileau, and Corneille made an equally impressive and indelible imprint upon his mind.

Emerson's Theory and Practice of Poetry

This paper does not attempt to isolate all the influences that determined Emerson's theory and practice of poetry. My purpose is rather to call attention more clearly than I did in a former paper to his obligations to Coleridge and Wordsworth. Emerson's criticism of these two men will aid us in determining not only their relation to each other, but also their position in the history of English poetry and literary criticism. Just as present-day criticism of both Coleridge and Wordsworth shifts from scathing strictures to high praise, so, too, did Emerson's. But Emerson differs from many later critics in that he took cognizance of the manifold forces that entered into their work.

Specimens of Modern English Literary Criticism. William T. Brewster

<i>Specimens of Modern English Literary Criticism</i>. William T. Brewster

Book Review: Specimens of Modern English Literary Criticism

Book Review: Specimens of Modern English Literary Criticism

Book Review: English Literary Criticism

Book Review: English Literary Criticism

English Literary Criticism.

<i>English Literary Criticism</i>.

English Literary Criticism

English Literary Criticism