English Literature for Boys and Girls
H.E. Marshall
English Literature
HAS there ever been a time when no stories were told? Has there ever been a people who did not care to listen? I think not.
When we were little, before we could read for ourselves, did we not gather eagerly round father or mother, friend or nurse, at the promise of a story? When we grew older, what happy hours did we not spend with our books. How the printed words made us forget the world in which we live, and carried us away to a wonderland,
Where waters gushed and fruit trees grew And flowers put forth a fairer hue, And everything was strange and new; The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here, And their dogs outran our fallow deer, And honey bees had lost their stings, And horses were born with eagles' wings.
Robert Browning.
And as it is with us, so it is with a nation, with a people.
In the dim, far-off times when our forefathers were wild, naked savages, they had no books. Like ourselves, when we were tiny, they could neither read nor write. But do you think that they had no stories? Oh, yes! We may be sure that when the day's work was done, when the fight or the chase was over, they gathered round the wood fire and listened to the tales of the story-teller.
These stories were all of war. They told of terrible combats with men or with fierce strange beasts, they told of passion, of revenge. In them there was no beauty, no tenderness, no love. For the life of man in those far-off days was wild and rough; it was one long struggle against foes, a struggle which left little room for what was beautiful or tender.
But as time went on, as life became more easy, in one way or another the savage learned to become less savage. Then as he changed, the tales he listened to changed too. They were no longer all of war, of revenge; they told of love also. And later, when the story of Christ had come to soften men's hearts and brighten men's lives, the stories told of faith and purity and gentleness.
H. E. Marshall
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YEAR 7
Chapter I IN THE LISTENING TIME
Chapter II THE STORY OF THE CATTLE RAID OF COOLEY
Chapter III ONE OF THE SORROWS OF STORY-TELLING
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Chapter IV THE STORY OF A LITERARY LIE
Chapter V THE STORY OF FINGAL
Chapter VI ABOUT SOME OLD WELSH STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS
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Chapter VII HOW THE STORY OF ARTHUR WAS WRITTEN IN ENGLISH
Chapter VIII THE BEGINNING OF THE READING TIME
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Chapter IX "THE PASSING OF ARTHUR"
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Chapter X THE ADVENTURES OF AN OLD ENGLISH BOOK
Chapter XI THE STORY OF BEOWULF
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Chapter XII THE FATHER OF ENGLISH SONG
Chapter XIII HOW CAEDMON SANG, AND HOW HE FELL ONCE MORE ON SILENCE
Chapter XIV THE FATHER OF ENGLISH HISTORY
Chapter XV HOW ALFRED THE GREAT FOUGHT WITH HIS PEN
Chapter XVI WHEN ENGLISH SLEPT
Chapter XVII THE STORY OF HAVELOK THE DANE
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Chapter XVIII ABOUT SOME SONG STORIES
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Chapter XIX "PIERS THE PLOUGHMAN"
Chapter XX "PIERS THE PLOUGHMAN" — continued
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Chapter XXI HOW THE BIBLE CAME TO THE PEOPLE
Chapter XXII CHAUCER—BREAD AND MILK FOR CHILDREN
Chapter XXIII CHAUCER—"THE CANTERBURY TALES"
Chapter XXIV CHAUCER—AT THE TABARD INN
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Chapter XXV THE FIRST ENGLISH GUIDE-BOOK
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Chapter XXVI BARBOUR—"THE BRUCE," THE BEGINNINGS OF A STRUGGLE
Chapter XXVII BARBOUR—"THE BRUCE," THE END OF THE STRUGGLE
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Chapter XXVIII A POET KING
Chapter XXIX THE DEATH OF THE POET KING
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Chapter XXX DUNBAR—THE WEDDING OF THE THISTLE AND THE ROSE
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Chapter XXXI AT THE SIGN OF THE RED PALE
YEAR 8
Chapter XXXII ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF THE THEATER
Chapter XXXIII HOW THE SHEPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS
Chapter XXXIV THE STORY OF EVERYMAN
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Chapter XXXV HOW A POET COMFORTED A GIRL
Chapter XXXVI THE RENAISSANCE
Chapter XXXVII THE LAND OF NOWHERE
Chapter XXXVIII THE DEATH OF SIR THOMAS MORE
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Chapter XXXIX HOW THE SONNET CAME TO ENGLAND
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Chapter XL THE BEGINNING OF BLANK VERSE
Chapter XLI SPENSER—THE "SHEPHERD'S CALENDAR"
Chapter XLII SPENSER—THE "FAERY QUEEN"
Chapter XLIII SPENSER—HIS LAST DAYS
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Chapter XLIV ABOUT THE FIRST THEATERS
Chapter XLV SHAKESPEARE—THE BOY
Chapter XLVI SHAKESPEARE—THE MAN
Chapter LXVII SHAKESPEARE—"THE MERCHANT OF VENICE"
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Chapter XLVIII JONSON—"EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR"
Chapter XLIX JONSON—"THE SAD SHEPHERD"
Chapter L RALEIGH—"THE REVENGE"
Chapter LI RALEIGH—"THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD"
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Chapter LII BACON—NEW WAYS OF WISDOM
Chapter LIII BACON—THE HAPPY ISLAND
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Chapter LIV ABOUT SOME LYRIC POETS
Chapter LV HERBERT—THE PARSON POET
Chapter LVI HERRICK AND MARVELL—OF BLOSSOMS AND BOWERS
Chapter LVII MILTON—SIGHT AND GROWTH
Chapter LVIII MILTON—DARKNESS AND DEATH
Chapter LIX BUNYAN—"THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS"
YEAR 9
Chapter LX DRYDEN—THE NEW POETRY
Chapter LXI DEFOE—THE FIRST NEWSPAPERS
Chapter LXII DEFOE—"ROBINSON CRUSOE"
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Chapter LXIII SWIFT—THE "JOURNAL TO STELLA"
Chapter LXIV SWIFT—"GULLIVER'S TRAVELS"
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Chapter LXV ADDISON—THE "SPECTATOR"
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Chapter LXVI STEELE—THE SOLDIER AUTHOR
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Chapter LXVII POPE—THE "RAPE OF THE LOCK"
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Chapter LXVIII JOHNSON—DAYS OF STRUGGLE
Chapter LXIX JOHNSON—THE END OF THE JOURNEY
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Chapter LXX GOLDSMITH—THE VAGABOND
Chapter LXXI GOLDSMITH—"THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD"
Chapter LXXII BURNS—THE PLOWMAN POET
Chapter LXXIII COWPER—"THE TASK"
Chapter LXXIV WORDSWORTH—THE POET OF NATURE
Chapter LXXV WORDSWORTH AND COLERIDGE—THE LAKE POETS
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Chapter LXXVI COLERIDGE AND SOUTHEY—SUNSHINE AND SHADOW
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YEAR 10
Chapter LXXVII SCOTT—THE AWAKENING OF ROMANCE
Chapter LXXVIII SCOTT—"THE WIZARD OF THE NORTH"
Chapter LXXIX BYRON—"CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE"
Chapter LXXX SHELLEY—THE POET OF LOVE
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Chapter LXXXI KEATS—THE POET OF BEAUTY
Chapter LXXXII CARLYLE—THE SAGE OF CHELSEA
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Chapter LXXXIII THACKERAY—THE CYNIC?
Chapter LXXXIV DICKENS—SMILES AND TEARS
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Chapter LXXXV TENNYSON—THE POET OF FRIENDSHIP