In Bryant's _The Poet_, what noteworthy poetical
ideals do you find?
CHAPTER IV
THE NEW ENGLAND GROUP
CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS THOUGHT.--Since the death of Jonathan Edwards in the
middle of the seventeenth century, New England had done little to sustain
her former literary reputation. As the middle of the nineteenth century
approaches, however, we shall find a remarkable group of writers in Boston
and its vicinity. The causes of this wonderful literary awakening are in
some respects similar to those which produced the Elizabethan age. In the
sixteenth century the Reformation and the Revival of Learning exerted their
joint force on England. In the nineteenth century, New England also had its
religious reformation and intellectual awakening. We must remember that
"re-formation" strictly means "forming again" or "forming in a different
way." It is not the province of a history of literature to state whether a
change in religious belief is for the better or the worse, but it is
necessary to ascertain how such a change affects literature.
The old Puritan religion taught the total depravity of man, the eternal
damnation of the overwhelming majority, of all but the "elect.
Pages:
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200