Attempt > Volume 1 and Select writings

148
THE ATTEMPT
Perhaps, in one of his poet-yisions, he may have actually beheld the “ Angel face,”
which,
“ As the great eye of Heaven shined bright.
And made a sunshine in the shady place.”
But, in vastness of conception, who can vie with Shakespeare'? His wonderful genius
embraces every object; nothing, from the far blue heaven overhead, to the smallest
flower of the field, is too great or too minute for him. He may well be called by the
ancient name of “ Maker,” for never was there such a creative imagination as his.
Turn from this man, whose heart is as large as the great world itself, and his sympathies
unlimited as the universe, to the narrow-minded, caustic Pope, who, having been ill-
treated by one woman, avenges himself by making war upon the whole sex; gives
deep wounds not easy to he healed, yet shrinks from the prick of a pin. Ho doubt,
his sensitiveness was, in great measure, caused by his deformity, and this must not be
forgotten in judging him. But the most ardent admirer of Pope cannot call him
noble-minded or large-hearted. The “ Eape of the Lock ” is a very graceful and
ingenious poem; and as we must not he so foolish as to expect the barn-door fowl to
soar as high as the eagle, we shall not attempt to compare it with any of the wondrous
productions of the “ Swan of Avon.”
Amongst the distinguished authors who lived in the reign of Elizabeth, we must
not forget the “judicious Hooker,” the first great writer of English prose. Comparing
him with Addison, as we have already compared Shakespeare with Pope, we cannot
fail to observe how far superior is Hooker’s majestic eloquence to Addison’s elegant,
cold, faultless style.
Besides these great men, Elizabeth’s reign boasted also the last of the “ preux-
chevaliers.” The last knight-errant of the world, Sir Philip Sydney, is a stranger to
none. Those who are unacquainted with his poems and his “ Arcadia,” are at least
acquainted with his life. Perhaps no more noble character than his is to he found in
history.
We have said that the writers of the age of Elizabeth had more originality of
conception than those of the time of Anne. The writers of ancient times must, as a
matter of course, be more original than those who come after them. In the first
place, they have a choice of subjects. This vast beautiful world lies open before them; it
is all their own. To them does the “ tongue in every leaf ” first speak a distinct
language; to them does the dancing brook murmur its first sweet song; to them does
the summer breeze murmur of all things beautiful. The vast hook of Nature