Poetry · Chapter
English Poets explained
The chapter celebrates English poets, beginning with a tercentenary ode to Shakespeare delivered in Ingersoll in 1864, then surveys Milton, Coleridge, Southey, Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron, Tennyson, Dryden, and Pope, highlighting their works
What happens
The chapter celebrates English poets, beginning with a tercentenary ode to Shakespeare delivered in Ingersoll in 1864, then surveys Milton, Coleridge, Southey, Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron, Tennyson, Dryden, and Pope, highlighting their works and legacies.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Heritage and Immigrant Identity
The chapter celebrates English literary heritage in a Canadian context, linking local celebrations (Ingersoll) to global Shakespeare commemorations.
Community and Social Gatherings
The tercentenary address was delivered before a large audience in the Town Hall, Ingersoll, highlighting communal celebration.
Characters to notice
- Shakespeare
Honored with a tercentenary ode; described as the greatest poet of the Elizabethan age.
- Milton
Compared to a mighty organ; praised for Paradise Lost.
- Byron
Described as brilliant and passionate; noted for Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and his early death.
- Tennyson
Called the greatest of living poets; praised for 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' and knightly themes.
- John Dryden
Mentioned alongside Pope for translating Virgil and writing on English themes.
Key passages
“Three centuries have passed away Since that most famous April day, When the sweet, gentle Will was born, Whose name the age will e’re adorn.”
Three hundred years have passed since Shakespeare's birth, and his name continues to be honored.
Opening lines of the tercentenary ode.
“Poets they do pursue each theme, Under a gentle head of steam, Save one who needed fierce fire on, The brilliant, passionate Byron.”
Most poets work steadily, but Byron required intense passion to fuel his creativity.
Contrasts Byron's fiery temperament with other poets.