| I. | [The Man ] | 169 |
| The Moral in Whittier Predominates over the Æsthetic. Love of Freedomthe Central Element of his Character. Freedom, Democracy, and Quakerism,links in one Chain. Quakerism Described; Freedom and the Inner Light;Quakerism is Pure Democracy or Christianity, and Pure Individualism, orPhilosophical Idealism; it Resembles Transcendentalism; the Details ofthe Quaker Religion Considered; Quotations from William Penn, MaryBrook, and A. M. Powell; Objections to Quakerism; Beautiful Lives of theQuakers; Whittier's Attitude Toward the Religion of his Fathers. HisReligious Development, Doubt, and Trust. Patriotism. Has Blood Militantin his Veins. A Representative American Poet. Summing Up. |
| II. | [The Artist ] | 196 |
| Little or no Technique. More Fancy than Imagination. The ArtisticQuality of his Mind a Fusion of that of Wordsworth and Byron. HisBookish Lore. The Beauty and Melody of his Finest Ballads. His Strengthand Nervous Energy. Culmination of his Genius. His Three Crazes. Lettersto the Nation, and to the American Anti-Slavery Society. Illustrationsof the Predominance of the Moral in his Nature. Taine Quoted.Pope-Night. His Over-religiousness. Love of Consecutive Rhymes. MinorMannerisms. Originality. |
| III. | [Poems Seriatim ] | 217 |
| Mr. David A. Wasson's Classification of Epochs in the Poet'sDevelopment. The Author's Classification. Four Periods: 1st,Introductory; 2d, Storm and Stress; 3d, Transition; 4th,Religious and Artistic Repose. General Review of Earlier Productions.The Indian Poems. "Songs of Labor." The Ballad Decade. "Prophecy ofSamuel Sewall." John Chadwick on "Skipper Ireson's Ride." The "BarbaraFrietchie" Controversy. The Romance of the "Countess." Winter in Poetry."Snow-Bound." "The Tent on the Beach." Various Poems. |
| IV. | [The King's Missive ] | 254 |
| Joseph Besse Quoted. Story of the Quaker and the King of England. TheDebate of Whittier and Dr. Geo. E. Ellis of Boston. Humorous Specimen ofQuaker Rant from Mather's Magnalia. Terrible Sufferings of theQuakers. |
| V. | [Poems by Groups ] | 272 |
| The Anti-Slavery Poems Reviewed. Poems Inspired by the Civil War. Hymns.Children's Poems: "Red Riding-Hood," "The Robin," etc. Oriental Poemsand Paraphrases. |
| VI. | [Prose Writings ] | 279 |
| Much of his Prose of Historical or Sectarian Interest Only. CharmingNature- and Folk-Studies and Sketches. "Margaret Smith's Journal." "OldPortraits and Modern Sketches." "Literary Recreations and Miscellanies."Specimens of Whittier's Prose. |