[127] Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859). A celebrated English essayist, noted for the poetic beauty of his prose style.
[128] Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894). A great modern novelist and essayist whose style has both vigor and beauty of rhythm.
[129] William Dean Howells (1837-1920). A modern realistic novelist and literary critic who wrote in a serene and quiet style.
[130] Edward Gibbon (1737-1794). A great English historian, author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. His style is stately and impressive, as befits a great subject.
[131] Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682). A writer of essay-like books that are notable because of unusual beauty of phrasing and rich suggestiveness of expression.
[132] Levana. One of the most poetic of Thomas De Quincey's essays.
[133] Walter Pater (1839-1894). An English essayist noted for the richness of his prose style.
[134] Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe (1661-1731), and Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan (1628-1688), are both written in plain, unaffected style.
[135] George Bernard Shaw (1856—). A present-day dramatist and critic who adapts his style to his thought.
THE REALISTIC STORY