Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/646

 634 ENGLAND (LANGUAGE AND LITERATUEE) an immense piece of metrical topography, which contains also striking national legends and ingenious allegorical and mythological in- ventions ; the few and brief poems of Sir Hen- ry Wotton; the Nosce Teipsum and the " Or- chestra" of Sir John Davies, the former a happily condensed piece of metaphysical rea- soning; the satires of Bishop Hall, published in 1597, the earliest in the language except the " Steele Glas " of Gascoyne ; the satires, ele- gies, and various lyrics of John Donne, which are rather metrical problems than poems, strongly manifesting the metaphysical tendency then common in poetry, but which reveal a subtle intellect and fruitful fancy, though ob- scure in thought, rugged in versification, and full of as bad affectations and conceits as are to be found in the century ; the poems of the brothers Phineas and Giles Fletcher, the prin- cipal of which are " The Purple Island," an allegorical description of the human soul and body, and "Christ's Victory and Triumph," a beautiful religious composition ; and the sa- cred poems of the country parson, George Her- bert. The ballad literature of England and Scotland is of uncertain date, but much of it, as " Chevy Chase," " The Nutbrowne Mayde," and the numerous ballads about Robin Hood, probably arose in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its golden era was the time of Mary, queen of Scots. Scotland meanwhile had a suc- cession of genuine poets, Barbour (died about 1396), who wrote an epic entitled " The Bruce," having been followed by Wyntoun, Blind Harry, Gawin Douglas, and William Dunbar. The annals of the British drama begin with miracle plays, which are first mentioned as being represented in London in the latter part of the 12th century. They were on sacred subjects, usually from the Bible, were written and to a late period acted by ecclesiastics, and were at first performed in churches and the chapels of monasteries. They were performed on holy days in the largest towns, the most famous and frequented being those of Chester, Widkirk, and Coventry. At Chester they con- tinued every "Whit-Sunday, with some inter- ruptions, from 1268 to 1577, and were in Latin or French till in 1338 Higden " obtained leave of the pope to have them in the English tongue." The most ancient extant miracle play in English is at least as old as the reign of Edward III. It is founded on the 16th chap- ter of the apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus, is entitled " The Harrowing of Hell," and con- sists of a prologue, epilogue, and intermediate dialogue between nine persons, among whom are Dominus, Satan, Adam, and Eve. Besides this and a few other single pieces, there are three distinct sets of them : the Townley col- lection, 30 in number, supposed to have be- longed to Widkirk abbey, before the suppres- sion of the monasteries ; the Coventry collec- tion, performed in that city on the feast of Corpus Christi, 42 in number ; and the Chester Whitsun collection, 30 in number. Miracle plays were transformed into moral plays by exchanging Scriptural and historical characters for abstract, allegorical, or symbolical imper- sonations. This sort of religious drama was in a state of considerable advancement in the reign of Henry VI., and reached its highest perfection in that of Henry VII. Two promi- nent personages in them were the Devil and a witty, mischievous, profligate character, de- nominated the Vice. " By the relinquishment of abstract for individual character," says Mr. Collier, "they paved the way, by a natural and easy gradation, for tragedy and comedy, the representations of real life and manners." John Heywood, the epigrammatist, who be- longed to the court of Henry VIII., contributed to driving Biblical and allegorical personages from the stage, and his plays form a class al- most by themselves, termed interludes. The later plays of Bishop Bale also belong to the period of transition, and he was the first to ap- ply the name tragedy and comedy to English dramatic representations. The earliest comedy is the " Ralph Roister Doister " of Nicholas Udall, and is at least as ancient as the reign of Edward VI. It has 13 characters, 9 male and 4 female, represents the manners of polished society, and could not be performed in less than 2| hours. It is superior to "Gammer Gurton's Needle," by John Still, the second in point of time, which was acted at Cambridge university in 1566, and contains the first drink- ing song of any merit in the language. The earliest extant piece that can be called a tra- gedy is the "Ferrex and Porrex" of Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton, afterward named " The Tragedy of Gordobuc," which is in regu- lar blank verse, consists of five acts, and was played before Queen Elizabeth at Whitehall. Jan. 18, 1562. During a part of the reign of Elizabeth miracle plays, moral plays, and ro- mantic dramas were prevalent together. The custom of acting Latin plays in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge continued till Crom- well's time. From the middle of the reign of Elizabeth to the accession of Anne (1580-1702), and more particularly to the great rebellion (1580-1642), may be reckoned the period of the so-called old English authors. The more limited era is unsurpassed in force, variety, and originality of literary genius in the annals of the world. Among the influences which excited vast intellectual and moral activity were the study of the classics and of the lit- eratures of Italy and France, the discovery of America and of the true theory of the solar system, the reformation, the practical results then following from the invention of gunpow- der and of printing and from the overthrow of feudalism, the assertion of individual rights, and the enthusiastic sense of national indepen- dence and power. New ideas and interests aroused the minds of men, and the old form? and institutions, disappearing from actual life, lingered in the imagination and were idealized in poetry. The language rapidly grew to a