A Selection From The Best English Essays Illustrative Of The History Of English Prose Style Scholars Choice Edition PDF Download

Excerpt from The Development of English Prose Style: The Chancellor's Essay, 1881 Poetry for the most part is the result of spasmodic outbursts, consequent upon fits of national self-consciousness, such as are caused by a sudden opening up of new foreign relations, or by successful wars: fits like these are intermittent; when the pulse of the nation has ceased to beat P5313? pp5d t with feverish activity poetry will probably be comparatively neglected; whereas prose being the vehicle of all natural thought will, among a people which is making steady progress towards self-education, maintain a more even course of development. No doubt in a minor degree the prose literature of a country will always reflect passing phases of national character, and it would be unsafe to lay down any very formal generalization on the point; but the distinction just given seems to be the usual one between metrical and unmetrical composition, viewed as factors in history. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.