I. The Britons and the Anglo-Saxon Period, from the beginning to the Norman Conquest in 1066 A. D.
A. The Britons, before and during the Roman occupation, to the fifth century.
B. Anglo-Saxon Poetry, on the Continent in prehistoric times before the migration to England, and in England especially during the Northumbrian Period, seventh and eighth centuries A. D. Ballads, ‘Beowulf,’ Caedmon, Bede (Latin prose), Cynewulf. C. Anglo-Saxon Prose, of the West Saxon Period, tenth and eleventh centuries, beginning with King Alfred, 871-901. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
II. The Norman-French, Period, 1066 to about 1350.
Literature in Latin, French, and English. Many different forms, both religious and secular, including the religious 2drama. The Metrical Romances, including the Arthurian Cycle. Geoffrey of Monmouth, ‘Historia Regum Britanniae’ (Latin), about 1136. Wace, ‘Brut’ (French), about 1155. Laghamon, ‘Brut’ (English), about 1200.
III. The End of the Middle Ages, about 1350 to about 1500.
The Hundred Years’ War. ‘Sir John Mandeyille’s’ ‘Voyage.’ Chaucer, 1338-1400. John Gower. ‘The Vision Concerning Piers the Plowman.’ Wiclif and the Lollard Bible, about 1380. Popular Ballads. The War of the Roses. Malory’s ‘Morte Darthur,’ finished 1467. Caxton and the printing press, 1476. Morality
Plays and Interludes.
IV. The Renaissance and the Elizabethan Period, about 1500 to 1603.
Great discoveries and activity, both intellectual and physical. Influence of Italy. The Reformation.
Henry VIII, 1509-47. Edward VI, to 1553. Mary, to 1558.
Elizabeth, 1558-1603. Defeat of the Armada, 1588.
Sir Thomas More, ‘Utopia.’ Tyndale’s New Testament and other translations of the Bible.
Wyatt and Surrey, about 1540.
Prose Fiction. Lyly’s ‘Euphues,’ 1578. Sidney’s ‘Arcadia.’
Spenser, 1552-1599. ‘The Shepherd’s Calendar,’ 1579. ‘The Faerie Queene,’ 1590 and later.
Lyric poetry, including sonnet sequences. John Donne. The Drama. Classical and native influences. Lyly, Peele, Greene, Marlowe. Shakspere, 1564-1616. Ben Jonson and other dramatists.
V. The Seventeenth Century, 1603-1660.
The First Stuart Kings, James I (to 1625) and Charles I.
Cavaliers and Puritans. The Civil War and the Commonwealth. Cromwell.
The Drama, to 1642.
Francis Bacon.
The King James Bible, 1611.
Lyric Poets. Herrick. The ‘Metaphysical’ religious
poets–Herbert, Crashaw, and Vaughan. Cavalier and Puritan poets.
Milton, 1608-1674.
John Bunyan, ‘Pilgrim’s Progress.’ 1678.
VI. The Restoration Period, from the Restoration of Charles II
in 1660 to the death of Dryden in 1700.
Charles II, 1660-1685. James II, 1685 to the Revolution
in 1688. William and Mary, 1688-1702.
Butler’s ‘Hudibras.’ Pepys’ ‘Diary.’ The Restoration Drama. Dryden, 1631-1700.
VII. The Eighteenth Century.
Queen Anne, 1702-1715. The four Georges, 1715-1830.
PSEUDO-CLASSIC LITERATURE.
Swift, 1667-1745.
Addison, 1672-1719.
Steele, 1672-1729.
Pope, 1688-1744.
Johnson, 1709-1784.
THE LATER PROSE.
Burke, 1729-1797.
Gibbon, ‘Decline and Fall,’ 1776-1788.
Boswell, ‘Life of Johnson,’ 1791.
THE NOVEL.
‘Sir Roger de Coverly,’ 1711-12.
Defoe, 1661-1731.
‘Robinson Crusoe,’ 1718-20.
Richardson, 1689-1761.
‘Clarissa Harlowe,’ 1747-8.
Fielding, 1707-1754.
Smollett. Sterne. Goldsmith, ‘Vicar of Wakefield,’ 1766.
Historical and ‘Gothic’ Novels.
Miss Burney, ‘Evelina,’ 1778.
Revolutionary Novels of Purpose. Godwin, ‘Caleb Williams.’
Miss Edgeworth.
Miss Austen.
THE ROMANTIC REVOLT
–Poetry.
Thomson, ‘The Seasons,’
1726-30.
Collins, ‘Odes,’ 1747. Gray, 1716-71.
Percy’s ‘Reliques,’ 1765.
Goldsmith, ‘The Deserted Village,’
1770.
Cowper Chatterton.
Macpherson, Ossianic
imitations.
Burns, 1759-96.
Blake.
THE DRAMA.
Pseudo-Classical Tragedy, Addison’s ‘Cato,’ 1713.
Sentimental Comedy.
Domestic Tragedy.
Revival of genuine Comedy of Manners. Goldsmith, ‘She Stoops to Conquer,’ 1773.
Sheridan.
VIII. The Romantic Triumph, 1798 to about 1830.
Coleridge, 1772-1834. Wordsworth, 1770-1850. Southey, 1774-1843. Scott, 1771-1832.
Byron, 1788-1824. Shelley, 1792-1822. Keats, 1759-1821.
IX. The Victorian Period, about 1830-1901.
Victoria Queen, 1837-1901.
ESSAYISTS. POETS. NOVELISTS.
Macaulay, 1800-1859. Mrs. Browning, 1806- Charlotte Bronte,
Carlyle, 1795-1881. 1861. 1816-1855.
Ruskin, 1819-1900. Tennyson, 1809-1892. Dickens, 1812-1870.
Browning, 1812-1889. Thackeray, 1811-1863.
Matthew Arnold, Kingsley, 1819-1875.
poems, 1848-58. George Eliot, 1819-
Rossetti, 1828-82. 1880.
Matthew Arnold, Morris, 1834-96. Reade, 1814-1884.
essays, 1861-82. Swinburne, 1837-1909. Trollope, 1815-1882.
Blackmore, ‘Lorna
Doone,’ 1869.
Shorthouse,’ John
Inglesant,’ 1881.
Meredith, 1828-1910.
Thomas Hardy, 1840-
Stevenson, 1850-1894.
Kipling, 1865- Kipling, 1865-
REFERENCE BOOKS
It is not a part of the plan of this book to present any extended bibliography, but there are certain reference books to which the student’s
attention should be called. ‘Chambers’ Cyclopedia of English Literature,’ edition of 1910, published in the United States by the J. B. Lippincott Co.
in three large volumes at $15.00 (generally sold at about half that price) is in most parts very satisfactory. Garnett and Gosse’s ‘Illustrated History of English Literature, four volumes, published by the Macmillan Co.
at $20.00 and in somewhat simpler form by Grosset and Dunlap at $12.00 (sold for less) is especially valuable for its illustrations. Jusserand’s ‘Literary History of the English People’ (to 1642, G. P. Putnam’s Sons,
three volumes, $3.50 a volume) should be mentioned. Courthope’s ‘History of English Poetry’ (Macmillan, six volumes, $3.25 a volume), is full and after
the first volume good. ‘The Cambridge History of English Literature,’ now nearing completion in fourteen volumes (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, $2.50 a volume) is the largest and in most parts the most scholarly general work in the field, but is generally too technical except for special students. The short biographies of many of the chief English authors in the English Men of Letters Series (Macmillan, 30 and 75 cents a volume) are generally admirable. For appreciative criticism of some of the great poets the essays
of Lowell and of Matthew Arnold are among the best. Frederick Byland’s ‘Chronological Outlines of English Literature’ (Macmillan, $1.00) is very
useful for reference though now much in need of revision. It is much to bedesired that students should have at hand for consultation some good short history of England, such as that of S. E. Gardiner (Longmans, Green, and Co.) or that of J. R. Green.