In so brief a history of so rich a literature, the problem is how to get room enough to give, not an adequate impression-that is impossiblebut any impression at all of the subject. To do this I have crowded out everything but belles-lettres. Books in philosophy, history, science, etc., however important in the history of English thought, receive the merest incidental mention, or even no mention at all. Again, I have omitted the literature of the Anglo-Saxon period, which is written in a language nearly as hard for a modern Englishman to read as German is, or Dutch. Caedmon and Cynewulf are no more a part of English literature than Vergil and Horace are of Italian. I have also left out the vernacular literature of the Scotch before the time of Burns. Up to the date of the union Scotland was a separate kingdom, and its literature had a development independent of the English, though parallel with it. In dividing the history into periods, I have followed, with some modifications, the divisions made by Mr. Stopford Brooke in his excellent little Primer of English Literature. A short reading course is appended to each chapter.
【作者简介】
作者:(美国)亨利·A·比尔斯(Henry A. Beers) Henry A. Beers(1847-1926),native of Buffalo, New York and professor of English at Yale, with the help of John Fletcher Hurst (1834-1903), Methodist bishop and first Chancellor of American University, has written a sweeping thousand 900 year history of English literature, up to the end of the 19th century. Although at times biased and sometimes misguided (as when he dismisses Mark Twain as a humorist noteworthy in his time but not for the ages), his research is sound and his criticism is interesting and quite often very balanced. In addition,the last chapter of each part is Hurst' s synopsis of religious and theological literature in the language.This book is interesting for its point of view, but also useful as a jumping-off point for those interested in reading the classics.…
【目录】
PART I Outline Sketch of English Literature CHAPTER 1 FROM THE CONQUEST TO CHAUCER CHAPTER 2 FROM CHAUCER TO SPENSER CHAPTER 3 THE AGE OF SHAKSPERE CHAPTER 4 THE AGE OF MILTON CHAPTER 5 FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE DEATH OF POPE CHAPTER 6 FROM THE DEATH OF POPE TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION CHAPTER 7 FROM THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO THE DEATH OF SCOTT CHAPTER 8 FROM THE DEATH OF SCOTT TO THE PRESENT TIME CHAPTER 9 THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS LITERATURE IN GREAT BRITAIN PART II Outline Sketch of American Literature CHAPTER 10 THE COLONIAL PERIOD CHAPTER 11 THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD CHAPTER 12 THE ERA OF NATIONAL EXPANSION CHAPTER 13 THE CONCORD WRITERS CHAPTER 14 THE CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARS CHAPTER 15 LITERATURE IN THE CITIES CHAPTER 16 LITERATURE SINCE 1861 CHAPTER 17 THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS LITERATURE IN AMERICA
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