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sounds, rime, metre, all are made to help the expression of these ideas. The more it is studied, the more wonderful will seem the art with which this is done. Mr. E. C. Stedman says:

In the same remarkable fantasia the bells themselves become human, and it is a master stroke that makes us hear them shriek out of tune,

In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,

and forces us to the very madness with which they are

Leaping higher, higher, higher,

With a desperate desire,

And a resolute endeavor,

Now- now to sit, or never,

By the side of the pale-faced moon.

QUESTIONS

When and where was William Cullen Bryant born? Give some account of his early life. When and in what journal was “ Thanatopsis" first published? What other poem appeared at the same time? When did Bryant go to New York to live? Give some account of his life there. What is the character of the most of Bryant's poetry? What is its type of feeling? What is its character as to form? What is the thought of "Thanatopsis?" To what class of poetry does it belong? Note some verses of special excellence, and point out the qualities in which they excel. What especially suggestive phrases are employed? Analyze the metrical arrangement of the first eight lines. How is the cesura employed? Note some examples of assonance and of alliteration. What changes were made in successive editions of the poem, and what do they indicate as to the poet's method? When and where was Edgar Allan Poe born? Tell the story of his life. When was his first volume of poems published? When did "The Raven" appear? What are some of the critical judgments upon Poe's poetical work? What is the peculiar power of his poetry? What was his theory as to the proper length of a poem? Compare and

What effect has the irregu-
Describe the management

contrast his work with that of Bryant. larity of verse length in "The Bells"? of the vowel sounds in this poem. Point out examples of alliteration. What peculiarity is there in the use of rime? What relation have these peculiarities of form to the thought of the poem?

CHAPTER V

PERIOD OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY,

1800-1850

NARRATIVE PROSE. FICTION

POE was famous as a writer of stories as well as of poems. Some critics have thought that his peculiar genius is displayed even more powerfully in his "Tales" than in his verse. He held to the same theory in prose as in poetry. The long narrative seemed to him necessarily imperfect. The interest, he thought, cannot be sustained beyond a certain point, and, therefore, the perfect tale, like the perfect poem, will be short. Consistently with this theory he never undertook an extended novel or romance, but spent all his labor upon bringing his short stories to the greatest possible perfection. His first literary success was a story, written in 1833 for a money prize of one hundred dollars, offered by the Baltimore "Saturday Visitor." The story was Poe's Tales. entitled "A Manuscript found in a Bottle," and one of the judges who awarded the prize was Mr. John P. Kennedy, of whom we shall have more to say. Mr. Kennedy proved a very useful friend to Poe, obtaining literary work for him, and securing him the position of editor of "The Southern Literary Messenger." In 1839 Poe published a collection of

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