LITERATURE 



363 



Hu'bert, Saint. The legend of Saint Hubert makes 

 him a patron saint of huntsmen. 



llu di-bras. The title and hero of a celebrated 

 satirical poem by Samuel Butler. Hudibras is a Pres- 

 m justice of the time of the Commonwealth. 



Huuh of Lincoln. A legendary personage who 

 forms thesubjectof Chaucer's " Prioress's Tale." and also 

 of an ancient English ballad. Wordsworth has given 

 a modernized version of this tale. 



llu uo lluconet. Castle Dangerous, Scott. Min- 

 strel of the Earl of Douglas. 



Huin'phrey. The imaginary collector of the tales 

 ~ter Humphrey's Clock." by Charles Dickens. 



Hump ty Dump ty. The hero of a well-known 

 nursery rhyme. The name signifies humped and 

 dumpy, and is the riddle for an egg. 



I In on of Bordeaux, Sir. A hero of one of the 

 romances of chivalry bearing this name. 



Hur'al Oyun'. In the fairy tales found in the 

 .;i, these are the black-eyed daughters of paradise. 

 They are created from muck and are free from all ph\ >- 

 ical weakness and are always y9ung. It is held out to 

 every male believer that he will have seventy-two of 

 these girls as his household companions in paradise. < 

 From the Koran. 



II y las. A beautiful boy. beloved by Hercules, who 

 was drawn into a spring by the enamored nymphs. 

 The story has been treated by Bayard Taylor, and by , 

 William Morris in his "Life and Death of Jason." 



Hypatia. Of this romance its author, Charles Kings- 

 ley, said ; " My idea in the romance is to set forth Chris- 

 tianity as the only really democratic creed and philos- 

 ophy: above all, spiritualism as the most exclusively 

 aristocratic creed." 



H>papanti. The Feast of Purification is called 

 Festum Hypapanti. 



Hyperion or Hyperion. This myth has formed a 

 favorite theme for English poets. In Keats' "Hyperion " 

 nature and classic imagery are combined with exquisite 



Hypocrites* Isle. An island described by Rabelais 

 in one of his satires. He pictures this island of " Hypo- 

 crites " as wholly inhabited, by people of low and defiled 

 natures, as. by sham saints, spiritual comedians, seducers, 

 and "such-like sorry rogues who live on the alms of 

 passengers like the hermit of Lamont." 



la'go. Othello, Shakespere. Othello's ensign and 

 the villain of the play. I ago is said to be a character 

 next to a devil, yet not quite a devil, which Shakespere 

 alone could execute without scandal 



was practiced in the Middle Ages, prior to the intro- 

 duction of printing, by artists, generally monks, called 

 'illuminators." Manuscripts, containing portraits, pic- 

 tures, and emblematic figures, form a valuable part of 

 the riches preserved in the principal libraries in Europe. 



Im'o-gen. The wife of Posthumus, and the daughter 

 of Cymbeline in the play of Shakespere's under title 

 Cymbeline. "Of all Shakespere's women," says Hazlitt. 

 "she is, perhaps, the most tender and the most artless." 



Improvvisato'rl. Poets who utter verses without 

 previous preparation on a given theme. Among the 

 ancients, Greece was the land of improvisation. In 

 modern times, it has been almost entirely confined to 

 Italy, where Petrarch introduced the practice of singing 

 improvised verses to the lute. 



Incanta'tion. Is derived from a Latin root mean- 

 ing simply "to sing." It is the term in use to denote 

 one of the most powerful and awe-inspiring modes of 

 magic, resting on a belief in the mysterious power of 

 words solemnly conceived and passionately uttered. 



Inchcape Rock. It is dangerous for navigators, and 

 therefore the abbot of Aberbrothok fixed a bellon a float, 

 which gave notice to sailors. Southey says that Ralph 

 the Rover, in a mischievous joke, cut the bell from the 

 buoy, and it fell into the sea. but on his return voyage 

 his boat ran on the rock, and Ralph was drowned. Pre- 

 cisely the same tale is told of St. Goven's bell. 



Infer'no, The. Divine Comedy, Dante. Epic 

 poem in thirty-four cantos. Inferno is the place of the 

 souls who are wholly given up to sin. The ascent is 

 through Purgatorio to Paradiso. 



Innocents Abroad. Twain. Travelers seeing 

 Europe without any illusions. The fun consists in an 

 irreverent application of modern commonsense to his- 

 toric associations, ridiculing sentimental humbug. An 

 air of innocence and surprise adds to the drolleries of 

 their adventures. 



Interludes, The. Springing from the Moralities 

 and bearing some resemblance to them, though nearer 

 the regular drama, are The Interludes, a class of com- 

 positions in dialogue, much shorter and more merry 

 and farcical. They were generally played in the inter- 

 vals of a festival. 



Invocation. An address at the commencement of 

 a poem, in which the author calls for the aid of some 

 divinity, particularly of his muse. 



Iphiirenl a. The heroine of Euripides' tragedy 

 " Iphigenia in Aulis." and of Goethe's tragedy "Iphi- 

 genie auf Tauris." She was placed on the altar in a rash 

 vow by her father. Artemis at the last moment snatched 



Idleness, The Lake of. Faery Queen, Spenser, her from the altar and carried her to heaven, substituting 

 Whoever drank thereof grew instantly "faint and a hind in her place. The similarity of this legend to the 

 weary." The Red Cross Knight drank of it, and was Scripture stories of Jephthah's vow and Abraham'* 



weary 



readily made captive by Orgoglio. 



Idylls of the King. Tennyson has told the purpose 

 and the meaning of these Idylls. Taken together they 

 form a parable of the life of man. Each Idyll taken as 

 a separate picture represents the war between Sense and 

 Soul. In Lancelot and Guinevere the lower nature leads 

 i astray and there is intense struggle before the higher 

 nature prevails. In Vivien, Ettarre, Tristam, and Mo- 

 dred the base and sensual triumph. In Arthur. Sir 

 Galahad and Percival. it is the victory of the spiritual. 



Igna'rt). Faery Queen. Spenser. Foster- father of o r - 

 gogho. Spenser says this old man walks one way and looks 

 is always "wrong-headed." 



r, because i 



r, ecause gnorance s aways wrong- 

 II i.i.i. I he tale of the siege of Troy, an epic poem n 

 twenty-four books. It is written in Greek hexameters, 

 and commemorates the deeds of Achilles and other Greek 



at the siege of Troy. The date of its compost t ion 

 may, with much probability, be assigned to the Ninth 

 Century B. C., ana the poem is so deficient in continuity. 

 and contains so much that is inconsistent and irrelevant 



the main topu-, that it ha* been thought by many 

 -> to have been the perform . rol persons, 



ugh its authorship is still nominally accredited to 

 -r. Books one, two, and three are intr...i 



to the war. Parts proposes to deride the contest by 

 jingle combat, and Menelau* accepts the challenge. 

 Pahs, being overthrown, is carried off bv Venn*. and 

 that tho Trojan* lOOOU give up 



fulfillment of 



'I he nodi take pin .- 

 length Achilles slays I 



iithter ensue*. At 



1 1.- l.nttle bat n 



rave* the body 

 of his win II lie* given it up. and the poem 



coacludM with the funeral rites of the Trojan hero 

 ntmues the tale from tin- point, shows how 

 the city was taken and burnt, and then continue* with 

 the adventures of vne'an. who escape* from the burning 



I makes hi* way to Italy. 

 Illuminating. The art of adorning mm 

 and books with ornamented letters and paintings, which 



Scripture stories of Jephthah's vow and Abraham'* 

 offering of his son Isaac is n<>tieenl>le. 



I'ras. A strongly delineated character in "Ben Hur. 

 a Tale of The Christ," by Lew Wallace. 



Iras. A female attendant on Cleopatra in fThakei 

 pere's play, "Antony and Cleopatra." 



I'saac of York. A wealthy Jew, the father of Re- 

 becca, in Sir Walter Scott's novel. "Ivanhoe." 



Isabel'la. The heroine in Shakespere'* comedy, 

 " Measure for Measure." 



Ls lands of the Blest. Imaginary island* in the 

 west. Hither the favorites of the gods were conveyed 

 without dying, and dwelt in never-ending joy. The 

 name first occurs in Hesiod'a "Works and Day*. This 

 phrase is often used in modern literature. 



I -I md of Lanterns. In the celebrated satire of 

 Halielais. an imaginary country inhabited by false pre- 

 teiulers to knowledge. The name was probably sug- 

 gested by the in the Greek ton 

 f I. ii. -1:111 Swift has copied this same idea in his 

 of I*aputa. 



Island of St. Bran'dan. A marvdou* > flying island. 



the subject of an old and widely-spread legend of the 



Middle Ages. Tho M randan ha* 



been a disappointment to voyagers it ha* been a favorite 



A ith poet*. 



l-tiMi ri-el. In Milton's " Paradise Lost." an angel 



commissioned by Gabriel to search through paradise, in 



company with /ej.h..n. to t,.,,| Sntan. who had eluded the 



MMe guard, and ef 



tnfc the r: ,r,Ien h E llUltd th:,. It) 



"squat like a toad, close at the 



I'van-hoe. The h* 



the came name. He figures a* Gedric of Rotherwood s 

 dUinherited K>D, the tavpriu of EOm Ufli*N I . ud 



,he Em of the 1 ,.h B0JMM, W53L ,., the Md, h,- 



mrriM -ii"- mot i W C i *fu* ta the rain d 

 Richard I., and we are introduced to Robin Hood in 

 Sherwood Forest, banquet* in Saxon hall* 

 and all the pomp of ancient chivalry. Rowena. the 



