140
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vi. APRIL 17, 1920.
' Coleridge was a hopeless person, and, as one of
the present dons of Jesus College, Cambridge, Sir
Arthur rightly emphasizes the fact that this
society made every effort to forgive and retain
him. But he departed to the enrichment of
English poetry and the doubtful gain of meta-
physics. His visit to Germany plunged him deep in German philosophy, and, once immersed in that
-turbid flood of speculation, he lost his poetic soul. We have always more philosophers than we want, seldom enough poets, and it is sad to think that Coleridge's poetic achievement at its highest is
confined to half a dozen poems. We think Sir Arthur is quite right in suggesting that it was metaphysics rather than opium which delayed the criticism of the ' Biographia ' for many years. When that criticism came, it made Wordsworth
occasionally look rather silly, for Wordsworth was not a trained logician. However, he did not keep to his own rules (no poet does) and the lofty idealism and literary sense of his Prefaces are well worth study to-day.
Admirable and witty as Sir Arthur's account of -the two poets is, we wish that he had added to his general conclusions a clear summary of the points raised by both, and told us how far a twentieth-century Professor, confronted with the "latest tribe of bards, regards them as still valid. When all is said, we believe that the psychological secret of style has hitherto baffled the meta- physicians, professors, and everybody else. The process of transfiguration which makes one or two -simple words into " a star," to use Browning's word, remains beyond us. But, if prose is as near verse as Wordsworth indicates, bad prose will -never make good verse, as Mr. Sampson points out In his notes. Ihey provide an illuminating com- mentary on Coleridge's criticisms, and are the more pleasing to us for being neatly and aptly written. Mr. Sampson has that valuable gift, a sense of humour, and we like particularly his comparison of Coleridge with Mr. Micawber. He is learned in illustration, and there is only one note that we wish to correct, that on " the
essentials of the Greek stage" (p. 277). It is clear that there were changes of scenes and pauses in the Greek drama, and, though no one can be dogmatic about ancient scenery, the device called the eKKVK\ijfta was certainly used. It seems necessary, for instance, at the end of the ' Agamemnon,' where Clytaemnestra is discovered with the bodies of her husband and Cassandra.
Papers on the Rumanian People and Literature.
By M Beza. (Me Bride, Nasli & Co. 2*. 6d. net.) OF these papers three were delivered as lectures at King's College. London University, and three others have appeared in as many periodicals. Together they compose a little work which, in the (comparative) dearth of hooks on Rumania, should prove useful to those who are interested in the history and situation of that country. Its brevity and abruptness make it somewhat inapt to serve as the originator of such interest.
The most important essay is that on the Folk- Poetry of Rumania. That on English influence in Rumanian literature, though it does not carry very clear conviction, contains a good deal of interesting matter. We are left with the wish that the writer would give us a work less super- ficial, more systematic, and planned on an ampler scale. We are inclined to believe he has the capacity for this.
WE are glad to find room though somewhat
belated! v for n brief notice of the March number
of the Durham LTnivertify Journal for the sake of
a very careful and graphically written article by
Mr. C. E. Whiting, on the Great Plot, organised in
1663, to dethrone Charles II. and re-estahlish the
Commonwealth. Mr. Whiting, chiefly from a study
of the State Papers of the times makes it evident,
in considerable detail, that the Government was
faced with a danger much more widespread and
more formidable than has commonly been supposed.
Fresh knowledge on the subject, and a consequent
revision of ordinary opinion upon it, also makes
necessary a revision of ordinary opinion with regard
to the Conventicle and Five Mile Acts. The
Government of Charles II. at no moment contained
a heroic figure, but its standard of ordinary working
ability and sharpness was certainly pretty high.
THE University of Liverpool is taking the
initiative in a course of action new to Universities.
It is making a straightforward appeal to the public
for support for help, not merely to continue its
work, but also to expand it. The appeal is
drawn up much as hospital or Red Cross appeals
have been, the difficulties, achievements, and
aims of the University tersely set forth therein,
with equally terse and plain suggestions as to the
line help should take. The appeal is not merely
circulated by post, but also appears as an adver-
tisement. As the artist has already seized on the
picture advertisement, and the time is close at
hand when every poster will be a " work," so
now we may expect that learning and literature
will seize on the written advertisement. In
writing there will probably be more fastidiousness
as to the subject-matter that the designer
displays ; but, given a worthy object, good writers
may come to write appeals with the verve and
the felicity, the real literary quality, with which
in old days people made ballads. An effective
appeal must needs have a lyrical touch about it.
We congratulate Liverpool University on this, rather gallant, new departure and wish it great success.
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Swiss FAMILY ROBINSON (12 S. v. 320). MB. ARCHIBALD SPARKE writes : " In 1814 an edition of this bock was published in London, in two Tolumcs, translated from the German, with the title ' The Family Robinson Crusoe : or, Journal of a father shipwrecked with his wife and children, on an uninhabited island.' "
