A history of English literature

by Edward Albert

By moonlight; and the pie with the long tongue

That pricks deep into oakworts for a worm,

And says a plain word when she finds her prize.

Caliban upon Setebos

This love for the picturesque leads him into many crooked byways of life, manners, and history, often with results that dismay his warmest admirers. Frequently, however, the stubborn thistle of his style blossoms into glossy purples. For example, in The Ring and the Book, we often light upon a tender passage like the following, which refreshes the whole arid page around it:

So, when the she-dove breeds, strange yearnings come

For the unknown shelter by undreamed-of shores,

And there is born a blood-pulse in her heart

To fight if needs be, though with flap of wing,

For the wool-flock or the fur-tuft, though a hawk