LANGUAGE 



201 



that most men are moved to action. The 

 conclusion of the sermon sums up the main 

 point < of the argument, clearly and concisely. 

 It may at times be done in a single sentence; 

 sometimes it is best done by the repetition of 

 the opening text which has been established. 



Poetry differs from prose in form and dic- 

 tion and aim of the poet. The form of poetry 

 is verse. It is arranged in lines of regularly 

 recurring accented and unaccented syllables. 

 The language of poetry differs from prose. Cer- 

 tain privileges are granted to the poet which 

 are called "poetic licenses," and words arc 

 i for their beauty of sound or association. 

 Figures of speech are more frequent in poetry 

 than in prose, and inverted structure is fre- 

 quently employed. The essential difference 

 between prose and poetry is, however, in the 

 poet's aim. The chief aim of prose is to instruct 

 and to convince, the aim of poetry is to appeal 

 to the emotions, to touch the neart of the reader, 

 to play upon his sympathies. 



Epic Poetry recites some great and heroic 

 enterprise. Epic poetry is the longest and, ex- 

 cept the drama, the most complex of all poetic 

 composition. Its theme is noble, plot compli- 

 cated, one leading hero, many actors, super- 

 human agencies often introduced, grave and 

 dignified treatment of the plot or story. There 

 are but few great world epics. Homers " Iliad " 

 and "Odyssey," Virgil's ".Eneid," Dante's 

 "Divine Comedy," Tasso's "Jerusalem De- 

 livered," Milton's " Paradise Lost," are the great- 

 est, and their themes are of universal interest. 



Metrical Romances and Narrative 

 Poetry are inferior to the epic. They present 

 plot and story, but with less complication of 

 action, and simpler theme. Spenser's "Frie 

 Queene," Scott's " Lay of the Last Minstrel," 

 Longfellow's " Evangeline," Lowell's "Sir Laun- 

 fal, Mrs. Brownings "Aurora Leigh," are ex- 

 amples of this kind of composition. 



The Ballad and the Tale are the sim- 

 plest forms of metrical romance. Chaucer's 

 " Canterbury Tales," "Chevy Chase," "Robin 

 Hood." Maeaulay's "Lays of Ancient Rome," 

 Colt-rider's " Rime of the Ancient Mariner," 

 are good illustrations. Narrative poems of a 

 character have been variously classed 

 under minor epics or pastoral poems. 



Tennyson's "Idylls of the King," Scott's 

 "Lady of the Lake," Longfellow's '^Tales of a 

 Wayside Inn," Whittier's "Snowbound," Wil- 

 liam Morris's "Earthly Paradise." These classi- 

 cs are not binding. 



Dramatic poetry presents action, what 



men do and say, and in our greater dramas, 



and the moral train of consequences. 



Passion is strong, incidents exciting, thought 



vigorous. Scenery, costume, dialogue, aid in 



sentation of the story. The drama lives 



upon the stage. 



ions of the drama are tragedy 

 niedy. Comedy it. -elf has the subordi- 

 nate division-:, farce, opera, melodrama, mask. 



The (Ireek drama presents to us the 1. 



form of dramatic art before the age of Shakes- 



In the golden age of Pericles we have 



.Eschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, 



and the comedies of Aristophanes, later we have 



the comic plays of Menander. Greek drama, 

 like our own English drama, was written in 

 poetic form. 



Tragedy deals with grave topics, and stirs 

 the deepest feelings. It presents the unusual 

 struggle between good and evil. Some crime 

 has oeen committed, and the consequences of 

 this act are worked out upon the stage in a chain 

 of events which involves many people. The 

 plot becomes more or less complicated, yet in 

 Shakespere's dramas the skill with which the 

 leading characters and the central theme are 

 presented, preserves for the audience unity of 

 action throughout the play. King Lear, Othello, 

 Macbeth, Hamlet, present the great drama of 

 Good versus Evil, and will make a good begin- 

 ning for the student who wishes to become ac- 

 quainted with the drama. 



Comedy, unlike tragedy, has a happy 

 ending. The passions of men, love, hate, jeal- 

 ousy, ambition, are still the hidden springs of 

 action, but there is a happy turn in the current 

 of events, and Good triumphs without violence 

 or bloodshed. Browning's "Pippa Passes" 

 presents Good and Evil, and the superior power 

 of the good, but it is not for the stage it is 

 too analytic. Shakespere's plays again pre- 

 sent to us the best study, " Merchant of Venice," 

 "Midsummer Night's Dream," "As You Like 

 It," " All's Well that Ends Well." "The Tem- 

 pest," "Taming of the Shrew," "Merry Wives 

 of Windsor," also Sheridan's "Rivals," Gold- 

 smith's "She Stoops to Conquer," will repay 

 many times reading. Shakespere's historic 

 dramas may be classed among comedies or 

 tragedies, according to the relation of good and 

 evil working out of the theme. "King Henry, 

 the Eighth," "King John," the "Two Richards" 

 should be studied. 



The Farce is a minor comedy, which pre- 

 sents ridiculous and extravagant situations. 

 It is familiar to the modern stage. 



The Mask is usually a presentation of 

 some pastoral scene, and introduces supernatural 

 characters. The " Mask of Comus," by John 

 Milton is our best example. 



Opera and Melodrama are forms of 

 comedy where music and action are combined. 

 In an opera the parts are entirely sung, while 

 in melodrama singing and speaking arc com- 

 bined. Wagner's operas are the noMest con- 

 ception we have of the power of music combined 

 with dramatic art. 



Lyric Poetry, as the words suggest, is 

 poetry set to music. ( )rigin:illy the voice of the 

 singer was accompanied by some musical in- 

 strument, as the harp or lyn heott lyne. 



|oems express th," per-on:d foetillf "' the author. 



and are moved by some fervor of emotion that 

 must sing itself out. Not only arc all *>ng- 

 poems, both religious and secular, classed as 

 lit odes and sonnets belong to this group. 

 Odes express so wide a range of feeling that 

 it i- diflicult to form an exact definition. The 

 Greek odes of Pindar and Anacreon differ from 

 our modern conception of the otic, which we 

 regard as more stately and dign .mpl 



of odes found in our liah are M 



"Hvmn on the \ 

 mations of Immortality," Shelley's "Ode to a 



