The Poetry of Whittier (Masterplots, Definitive Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Greenleaf Whittier
- First Published: 1836
- Genres: Poetry
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Nature, Authors or writers, Nineteenth century, Literature, Poetry or poets, Romanticism, Frontier or pioneer life
Critical Evaluation:
In the “Proem,” a poem chosen to introduce his collected works, Whittier scrutinized his poetic achievement and noted that he had never been able to emulate the great lyric beauty and deep philosophic insight of poets like Milton and Spenser. With characteristic honesty he analyzed his inability to echo their marvelous music:
The rigor of a frozen clime,
The harshness of an untaught ear,
The jarring words of one whose
rhyme
Beat often Labor’s hurried time,
Or Duty’s rugged march through...
[The entire page is 1583 words long]
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