To this list should be added
CHARLES DARWIN (1809-1882), whose _Origin of Species_ (1859) affected so
much of the thought of the second half of the nineteenth century.
The two greatest poets of this time were ALFRED TENNYSON (1809-1892) and
ROBERT BROWNING (1812-1889). Browning's greatest poetry aims to show the
complex development of human souls, to make us understand that:--
"He fixed thee 'mid this dance
Of plastic circumstance."
[Footnote: _Rabbi Ben Ezra_.]
His influence on the American poets of this group was very slight.
Whittier's comment on Browning's _Men and Women_ is amusing:--
"I have only dipped into it, here and there, but it is not exactly
comfortable reading. It seemed to me like a galvanic battery in full
play--its spasmodic utterances and intense passion make me feel as if I
had been taking a bath among electric eels."
Tennyson through his artistic workmanship and poetry of nature exerted more
influence. His Arthurian legends, especially _Sir Galahad_ (1842), seem to
have suggested Lowell's _Vision of Sir Launfal_ (1848). The New England
poets in general looked back to Burns, Wordsworth, Keats, and other members
of the romantic school of poets.
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