many a man would savor of egotism comes from the lips of Wordsworth with the calm dignity of conscious strength. 405. Recognition and Honor.- His hopes were not disappointed. The latter years of his life brought him great popularity and honor. In 1839 the University of Oxford conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Civil Law; three years later the government granted him a pension of three hundred pounds; and upon the death of Southey he became poet laureate. His pure and peaceful life came to an end April 23, 1850. "And surely of him, if of any one, we may think as of a man who was so in accord with nature, so at one with the very soul of things, that there can be no mansion of the universe which shall not be to him a home, no Governor who will not accept him among his servants, and satisfy him with love and peace." 406. His Natural Gifts.- Wordsworth's mind was evenly balanced; thought, imagination, and conscience all worked together in harmony. This fact gave sanity not only to his life, but also to his poetry. His was not, as some persons have supposed, a mild, gentle nature without energy. He had a strong will and deep feelings, but through stern self-discipline he had brought them under rational control. The power of his intellectual and emotional nature is shown in numberless passages, in which he reaches the sublimest heights of poetry regions far beyond the attainment of any but mighty spirits. There is much that is commonplace in his poetry - great tracts of dulness; but in his moments of fully aroused imaginative energy, he is unsurpassed, perhaps, by any other English poet except Shakespeare. 407. Keen Observation.-Like other lovers of nature, Wordsworth had a keen eye and ear for its beauties. His observations are minute and accurate. Forms, colors, sounds, are all vividly caught and reproduced in his poetry. To take but a single illustration, we read in "A Night-Piece," dating from 1798, the following: 66 The traveller looks up- - the clouds are split The clear moon, and the glory of the heavens. But they are silent; -still they roll along Built round by those white clouds, enormous clouds." 408. Spiritual Side of Nature.- But Wordsworth was more than a mere observer. He was not satisfied to report the outward appearance of things, as were Scott, and, in a large measure, Byron. He looked upon nature as interpenetrated by a divine, conscious spirit that could speak to his soul. Beneath the outward beauties of the world he tried to catch its spiritual message. To him nature was a great teacher, surpassing the storehouses of human wisdom: "Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife; Come, hear the woodland linnet, "And hark! how blithe the throstle sings! "One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, FOR FURTHER READING AND STUDY. Knight, "Life of Wordsworth" (3 vols.), Symington, "Wordsworth, His Life and Works," Myers, "Life of Wordsworth" (Eng lish Men of Letters), Coleridge, "Biographia Literaria," De Quincey, "Literary Reminiscences," Lowell, "My Study Windows," Cranch, Atlantic Monthly, 45; 241, Whipple, North American Review, 59; 352. The principles of Wordsworth's poetry as exemplified in "We are Seven,” “Expostulation and Reply,” and “The Tables Turned." Wordsworth's attitude to nature in "Tintern Abbey." The story of "Ruth." The poet's residence at Cambridge as portrayed in Book Third of "The Prelude." The influence of nature upon him, "The Prelude," Book First and Second. A review of the poem "Michael." A study of The Happy Warrior." A critique of the Ode to Duty." Read "At the Grave of Burns," the three poems "To the Daisy," The Solitary Reaper," "She was a Phantom of Delight," "The Primrose of the Rock," "Yarrow Revisited": What Wordsworthian characteristics do they exemplify? The poetry of Wordsworth, De Quincey, "Literary Criticism"? 66 The "Tintern Abbey" and "Intimations of Immortality" are given among the selections of Part II. THOMAS DE QUINCEY. 409. Noteworthy Characteristics.- De Quincey was, like Pope, of insignificant stature, but of a singularly intelligent face. A noble brow rose over his thin, finely chiselled features, and his blue eyes glowed with an unfathomable depth. He was nervously shy, and, like Hawthorne, almost morbidly averse to every sort of publicity. His mental activity was prodigious, and at his best he deserves to rank as one of the most delightful English talkers. Both as a talker and writer he used an awfu' sicht o' words," as a shrewd Scotch servant said of him; but they were so fastidiously chosen and so musically uttered as to be little less than charming. He was a unique personality; and beyond almost all other writers he has infused his character idiosyncrasies and all-into his writings. 66 410. Parentage.- Thomas de Quincey was born in Manchester, the fifth of eight children, Aug. 15, 1785. His father was a plain English merchant" of large means, esteemed for his great integrity and strongly attached to literary pursuits. "My mother," De Quincey says, "I may mention with honor, as still more highly gifted; for though unpretending to the name and honors of a literary woman, I shall presume to call her (what many literary women are not) an intellectual woman.' Her letters are characterized by strong sense and idiomatic grace. 411. At School.-In 1796 De Quincey was placed in the public school of Bath, a town to which his mother had recently removed. He brought to his new surroundings an unusual amount of information gathered from miscellaneous reading. In Latin he was recognized as little short of a prodigy and was weekly "paraded for distinction at the supreme tribunal of the school." The result may easily be foreseen. Some of his jealous comrades inaugurated what he described |