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History of English Literature

Notes Nature like liberty, is but restrained
By the same laws which first herself ordained

The tendency to adhere to the rules went against the eccentricities and irrationalities of individual
genius. The eighteenth century was infact an age of formalism in all spheres - literature, architecture,
gardening, and even social etiquette. A critic maintains: ‘Just as a gentleman might not act naturally
(that is, in accordance with his impulses), but must follow exact rules in doffing his hat, or addressing
a lady, or entering a room, or offering his snuff-box to a friend, so the writers of this age lost
individuality and became formal and artificial.”

Against Enthusiasm and Imagination

The adoration of reason naturally implied a keen distrust of enthusiasm and imagination which
could lead a man to ludicrous extremes. Eightee Btitcentufy literature is, consequently, devoid of
the enthusiasm, elemental passion, mysterious suggestiveness, and heady imagination which
characterize romantic literature. These romantic characteristics were discredited as they led one to
violate Nature. If a writer abandoned himself to emotions or impulses, or let his imagination
run away uncontrolled, the result could be disastrous for his writing. Sir Richard Blackmore
observed in his “Essay on Epic Poetry” that the writers of old romances “were seized with an
irregular Poetic phrenzy, and having Decency and Probability in Contempt, filled the world
with endless Absurdities.” Swift in “Letter to a Young Clergyman” expresses his distrust of the
passionate eloquence of a particular preacher. “I do not see,” says he, “how this talent of moving
the passions can be of any great use towards directing Ghristian men in the conduct of their lives.”
In Section IX of Tale of a Tub he scarifies the Puritan enthusiasm by representing it as wind.
Likewise the Earl of Shaftesbury in his Letter Concerning Enthusiasm (1708) lashes, religious
enthusiasm and fanaticism.

9.2.4 Prose
The eighteenth century was doubtlessly an age of great prose, but not of great poetry. When
Matthew Arnold-calls it an age of prose, he suggests that even the poetry of the period was of the
nature of prose, or versified prose. It is he who observed that Dryden and Pope are the-classics not
of our poetry but of prose. Among the greatest prose writers of the age are Addison, Steele, and
Swift. They took English prose from the antiquity of Burton, Browne, and others to the balance,
clarity, and simplicity of the modern times. They made prose functional, using it not for impressing
but enlightening the reader.

Notes In the field of prose the reaction against romantic extravagance and involvedness,
started by Dryden, was brought to a logical conclusion by the prose writers of the age
of Queen Anne.
In poetry, however, the age has not to show much excellence. Imagination and passion came to be
replaced by the ideals of clearness, perspecuity, and beauty of expression. These ideals appear to
some as the ideals of good prose, not good poetry. Regularity, order, and artistic control are
certaintly desirable but no substitutes for poetic talent or inspiration. One may be tempted to ask
with Roy Campbell: “They use snaffle and the curb, all right. But where’s the bloody horse?”
Comparing the poetry and prose of the eighteenth century, Long observes: “Now for the first time
we must chronicle the triumph of English prose. A multitude of practical interests arising from the
new social and political conditions demanded expression not simply in books, but more especially
in pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers. Poetry was inadequate for such a task: hence the
development of prose, of the ‘unfettered word’ as Dante calls it-a development which astonishes
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