1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 | | | | | | | | | | |║[162] | ║ | | | | | | Thomson |........|║==============║ | | | | | | (1700–48) | | | | | | | | | | ║ | | ║ | ║ | | | | | Collins | ║......|........|.....║=========║ | | | | | (1721–59) | | | | | | | | | | | | ║ |║[163] ║| |║ | | | Gray |........|........|...║============║|........|║ | | | (1716–71) | | | |║ | | | | | | |║ | | | | |║ | ║ Cowper | |║.......|........|........|........|........|║=================║ (1731–1800) | | | | | | | | | | | | | ║ | | | ║[164] | ║ | Burns | | | | ║.|........|........|...║=========║ | (1759–96) | | | | | | | | | | | |║[165] | ║ |║ | | | | Richardson |........|........|║==========║.....|║ | | | | (1689–1761) | | | | | | | | | | | | ║ ║ |[166] ║ | | | | | Fielding |........|........|.║====║=======║ | | | | | (1707–54) | | | ║ | | | | | | | | ║ | | | | |║ ║ | | Johnson |........|....║========================================║..║ | | (1709–84) | | | | | | | | | | ║ | | | ║ | | ║ | | | Goldsmith | ║....|........|........|......║============║ | | | (1728–74) | | | | | | | | | | | ║ | | | | ║[167] | |║ ║ | Gibbon | | ║....|........|........|........|...║==============║..║ | (1737–94) | | | | | | | | | | ║| | | ║ | | | | ║ | Burke | ║|........|........|....║===================================║ | (1729–97) | | | | | | | | |
THE TRANSITION IN POETRY
The following table is meant to convey a rough idea of the drift of poetry toward Romanticism. In the table the lateral position of the title of a work gives an approximate estimate of its approach to the Romantic ideal. Such an estimate, especially in the case of the transitional poems, cannot be determined absolutely, and need not be taken as final. The table, nevertheless, reveals not only the steady drift, but also the manner in which the different stages of development overlap.
| Date | Classical | Transitional | Romantic |
| 1730 | The Dunciad | The Seasons | |
| Epistle to Arbuthnot | |||
| 1740 | London | ||
| Night Thoughts | |||
| 1750 | Vanity of Human Wishes | Collins’s Odes | The Castle of Indolence |
| Gray’s Elegy | |||
| 1760 | |||
| Ossian | |||
| The Traveller | |||
| 1770 | Chatterton’s poems | ||
| The Deserted Village | |||
| 1780 | |||
| The Village | |||
| The Task Burns’s poems | |||
| 1790 | Blake’s poems | ||
THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (1740–1800)
The period covered by the present chapter is that of the middle and later stages of the eighteenth century. During this time several relevant historical movements call for notice.
1. Decline of the Party Feud. The contest between the Whigs and the Tories still continues, but it is hardly of the previous bitterness. The chief reason for this change is found in the weakness of the Tory party, which by rash management and precipitate action made itself so unpopular that for nearly thirty years—those in the middle of the century—the Whigs had hardly any opposition. With the accession of George III in 1760 the Tories swiftly climbed into power, and, with the shadow of the French Revolution already looming up, party feeling soon acquired additional ferocity.
2. Commercial and Imperial Expansion. Under the pacific management of the great Whig minister Walpole, and owing to the successful wars of his successors, the eighteenth century saw an immense growth in the wealth and importance of the British Empire. On literature this material welfare had its effect by endowing and stimulating research and original work. The possession of India and America in itself was an inspiration, and when the new territories brought new burdens, like that of the American revolt, the clash of ideals led to fresh literary effort, as can easily be seen in the work of Burke.
3. The French Revolution. Long before it burst, the storm of the Revolution was, in the words of Burke, blackening the horizon. During the century new ideas were germinating; new forces were gathering strength; and the Revolution, when it did come in 1789, was only the climax to a long and deeply diffused unrest. Revolutionary ideas stirred literature to the very depths; the present chapter, and the next as well, are a chronicle of their effects upon the literature of England.