"A skeleton is not a thing of beauty; but it is the thing which, more than any other, makes the body erect and strong and swift."

- Austin Phelps.

140. Forms Of Literature

Although we ourselves may never write anything that will be worthy of the name "literature," we shall wish to become familiar with many of the best writings of men and women of genius. Now and then we shall undertake work similar to theirs, not because we expect to produce anything noteworthy, but in order that we may by this means quicken our appreciation of masterpieces. A good deal of the best literature may be classed under the following divisions: epic, lyric, essay, novel, and drama.

141. The Epic

An, epic is a long poem narrating the deeds of heroic persons. The story is largely one of action, and the subject is of world-wide or racial or national importance. Three famous epics are the Iliad, written many hundreds of years ago in Greece; "Beowulf," the oldest epic in the English language; and Milton's "Paradise Lost."

142. The Lyric

A lyric is the expression in poetical language of the thoughts and feelings of one person or of the thoughts and feelings that are the common property of a generation or a people or a class. It is, perhaps, the highest form of poetic expression. Most of us may never attempt to express ourselves in lyrics, but we shall miss much that is great and good in literature if we fail to study the lyric poems of Tennyson, Wordsworth, Burns, Longfellow, and many others. The following extract is an excellent example of this form of literature:

Sweet and low, sweet and low,

Wind of the western sea, Low, low, breathe and blow,

Wind of the western sea! Over the rolling waters go, Come from the dying moon, and blow,

Blow him again to me; While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.

Sleep and rest, sleep and rest,

Father will come to thee soon; Rest, rest, on mother's breast,

Father will come to thee soon; Father will come to his babe in the nest, Silver sails all out of the west

Under the silver moon: Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep.

- Tennyson, "The Princess."

143. The Essay

The essay is a form of prose composition which may discuss almost any subject. When a writer wishes to explain to us his ideas on such subjects as Riches, Self-Reliance, and Heroism, or to entertain us with an account of his Observations from College Windows, or his Reflections upon the Origin of Roast Pig, he uses the essay form of literature more often than any other. The prime purpose of the true essayist is to comment upon life. Emerson, Macaulay, and Addison are good writers for us to study.

144. The Novel

A novel is a fictitious prose story of considerable length, which aims to depict real life at some particular time, but whose interest lies chiefly in the portrayal of the working of strong passions, particularly love and hate. The style of the novel is largely narrative, proceeding often by conversation alone, but description and exposition are also freely employed. It is unsatisfactory to attempt a classification of novels, but we may find it convenient sometimes to speak of novels of incident, in which the interest centers not in the characters but in the action; novels of character, in which the story depends for its interest on the study of character; and thus we might continue bur classification. "A Tale of Two Cities" might be called a romance, "Silas Marner" a character study, "The Abbot" a historical novel, "David Copperfield" an autobiographical novel.

145. The Drama

A drama may be written in either prose or poetry, or it may be a combination of both. The chief object of the drama is to present characters in action - usually upon the stage.

There are many points of similarity between the novel and the drama, and many of the best novels have been rewritten in dramatic form. A strict classification of the drama seems impossible, but a rough division into tragedy, comedy, history, and romance has often been made. "Macbeth" is a tragedy, "As You Like It" is a comedy, "King John" is a history, and "The Tempest" is a romance.

Exercises

449. Write in full the titles and names of the authors of several essays, lyrics, novels, epics, and dramas of which you know something.

450. Make a list of the books required in preparation for the entrance examination in English by some college, and classify them as far as possible under the divisions given above.

451. Make a list of the books you have read during the last two years and classify them under the divisions given above. If the classification does not seem to include some of your books, make suitable divisions yourself (for example, history; biography, science, etc.).

452. Make a list of at least twelve books in your own home and classify them under appropriate headings.

146. Longer Compositions

In our short compositions we have given considerable attention to unity - whether in a sentence, a paragraph, or a group of paragraphs. Hereafter many of our themes will be longer, but whether paragraph, chapter, or book, every composition should be a unit.

Individuals constitute the family, families make the town, towns the state, and states the nation; and each - whether family, town, state, or nation - is a whole, composed of smaller parts. In a similar way sentences, in themselves units, form a larger unit, the paragraph; paragraphs, the chapter; and chapters, the book.

147. Means Of Securing Unity

As you know, in order to secure unity you should choose your subject carefully. You must decide upon your point of view, - the position from which you consider your subject, - you must have in mind a definite goal, and you must advance with your eyes on that goal. Suppose, for example, that you are invited to speak ten minutes to a group of grammar-school pupils on the merits of your high school. Their object in giving you the invitation is to get information which shall help them to decide whether to attend the high school. That object gives you a limited subject. You will try to interest them so much in the doings of your school that they will be eager to enter it, and you will select from the topics which occur to you only those that serve your purpose. In brief, to secure unity you must (1) keep in mind one main thought, and (2) present that thought from a carefully fixed point of view.

Exercises

458. State in a single sentence the main thought that you would naturally bring out in writing on one of the subjects mentioned in Exercise 368.

454. State in another sentence the point of view you would take in presenting that thought.

455. (1) Choose a subject on which you can write some six or eight paragraphs. Word it so that you will be likely to keep the same point of view throughout the paper. If, for example, your subject is "Things seen from a Train," word it so that it will be clear that a passenger is writing. (2) Change the wording so as to accommodate as many different points of view as you think are worth taking. In the case just given as an example, the conductor, the brakeman, the engineer, the fireman, the newspaper boy, the porter, and others would have something to say.