a study of bible-第23部分

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Not　so　much　can　be　said　of　Swinburne。　There　was　a　strong　infusion　of　acid　in　his　nature；　which　no　influence　entirely　destroyed。　He　is　apt　to　live　as　a　literary　critic　and　essayist；　though　he　supposed　himself　chiefly　a　poet。　His　own　thought　of　poetry　can　be　seen　in　his　protest　in　behalf　of　Meredith。　When　he　had　been　accused　of　writing　on　a　subject　on　which　he　had　no　conviction　to　express　（〃Modern　Love〃）；　Swinburne　denied　that　poets　ought　to　preach　anyway。　〃There　are　pulpits　enough　for　all　preachers　of　prose；　and　the　business　of　verse　writing　is　hardly　to　express　convictions。〃　Yet　it　is　impossible　to　forget　Milton　and　his　purpose　to　〃assert　Eternal　Providence；　and　justify　the　ways　of　God　to　men。〃　Naturally；　most　poets　do　preach　and　preach　well。　Wordsworth　declared　be　wanted　to　be　considered　a　teacher　or　nothing。　Mrs。　Browning　thought　that　poets　were　the　only　truth…tellers　left　to　God。　But　Swinburne　could　not　help　a　little　preaching　at　any　rate。　His　〃Masque　on　Queen　Bersaba〃　is　an　old　miracle　play　of　David　and　Nathan。　His　〃Christmas　Antiphones〃　are　hardly　Christian；　though　they　are　abundant　in　their　allusions　to　Scripture。　The　first　is　a　prayer　for　peace　and　rest　in　the　coming　of　the　new　day　of　the　birth　of　Christ。　The　second　is　a　protest　that　neither　God　nor　man　has　befriended　man　as　he　should；　and　the　third　is　an　assurance　that　men　will　do　for　man　even　if　God　will　not。　Now；　that　is　not　Christian；　but　the　Bible　phrases　are　all　through　it。　So　when　he　writes　his　poem　bemoaning　Poland；　he　needs　must　head　it　〃Rizpah。〃　At　the　same　time　it　must　be　said　that　Swinburne　shows　less　of　the　influence　of　the　Bible　in　his　style　and　in　his　spirit　than　any　other　of　our　great　English　writers。

We　come　back　again　into　the　atmosphere　of　strong　Bible　influence　when　we　name　Alfred　Tennyson。　When　Byron　died；　and　the　word　came　to　his　father's　rectory　at　Somersby；　young　Alfred　Tennyson　felt　that　the　sun　had　fallen　from　the　heavens。　He　went　out　alone　in　the　fields　and　carved　in　the　sandstone；　as　though　it　were　a　monument：　〃Byron　is　dead。〃　That　was　in　the　early　stage　of　his　poetical　life。　At　first　Carlyle　could　not　abide　Tennyson。　He　counted　him　only　an　echo　of　the　past；　with　no　sense　for　the　future；　but　when　he　read　Tennyson's　〃The　Revenge；〃　he　exclaimed；　〃Eh；　he's　got　the　grip　o'　it〃；　and　when　Richard　Monckton　Milnes　excused　himself　for　not　getting　Tennyson　a　pension　by　saying　his　constituents　had　no　use　for　poetry　anyway；　Carlyle　said；　〃Richard　Milnes；　in　the　day　of　judgment　when　you　are　asked　why　you　did　not　get　that　pension；　you　may　lay　the　blame　on　your　constituents；　but　it　will　be　you　who　will　be　damned！〃　Dr。　Henry　van　Dyke　studied　Tennyson　to　best　effect　at　just　this　point。　In　his　chapter　on　〃The　Bible　in　Tennyson〃　are　many　such　sayings　as　these：　〃It　is　safe　to　say　that　there　is　no　other　book　which　has　had　so　great　an　influence　upon　the　literature　of　the　world　as　the　Bible。　We　hear　the　echoes　of　its　speech　everywhere；　and　the　music　of　its　familiar　phrases　haunts　all　the　field　and　grove　of　our　fine　literature。　At　least　one　cause　of　his　popularity　is　that　there　is　so　much　Bible　in　Tennyson。　We　cannot　help　seeing　that　the　poet　owes　a　large　debt　to　the　Christian　Scriptures；　not　only　for　their　formative　influence　on　his　mind　and　for　the　purely　literary　material　in　the　way　of　illustrations　and　allusions　which　they　have　given　him；　but　also　for　the　creation　of　a　moral　atmosphere；　a　medium　of　thought　and　feeling　in　which　he　can　speak　freely　and　with　an　assurance　of　sympathy　to　a　very　wide　circle　of　readers。〃

I　need　not　stop　to　indicate　the　great　poems　in　which　Tennyson　has　so　often　used　Scripture。　The　mind　runs　quickly　to　the　little　maid　in　〃Guinevere；〃　whose　song；　〃Late；　Late；　so　Late；〃　is　only　a　paraphrase　of　the　parable　of　the　foolish　virgins。　〃In　Memoriam〃　came　into　the　skeptical　era　of　England；　with　its　new　challenge　to　faith；　and　stopped　the　drift　of　young　men　toward　materialism。　Recall　the　fine　use　he　makes；　in　the　heart　of　it；　of　the　resurrection　of　Lazarus；　and　other　Biblical　scenes。　Dr。　van　Dyke's　〃four　hundred　direct　references　to　the　Bible〃　do　not　exhaust　the　poems。　No　one　can　get　Tennyson's　style　without　the　English　Bible；　and　no　one　can　read　Tennyson　intelligently　without　a　fairly　accurate　knowledge　of　the　Bible。

In　this　Victorian　group　the　last　name　is　Thackeray's。　He　is　another　whose　mother　trained　him　in　the　English　Bible。　The　title　of　Vanity　Fair　is　from　Pilgrim's　Progress；　but　the　motto　is　from　the　Scripture；　and　he　wrote　his　mother　regarding　the　book：　〃What　I　want　is　to　make　a　set　of　people　living　without　God　in　the　world　（only　that　is　a　cant　phrase。）〃　It　is　certain　his　mother　did　not　count　it　a　cant　phrase；　for　he　learned　it　from　the　Scripture。　The　subtitle　of　his　Adventures　of　Philip　says　he　is　to　show　who　robbed　him；　who　helped　him；　and　who　passed　him　by。　Thackeray　got　those　expressions　from　the　Bible。　Somewhere　very　early　in　any　of　his　works　he　reveals　the　influence　of　his　childhood　and　manhood　knowledge　of　the　English　Bible。

All　this　about　the　Victorian　group　is　meant　to　be　very　familiar　to　any　who　are　fresh　from　the　reading　of　literature。　They　are　great　names；　and　they　have　differences　as　wide　as　the　poles；　but　they　have　this　in　common；　that　they　have　drunk　lightly　or　deeply　from　the　same　fountain；　they　have　drawn　from　it　ideas；　allusions；　literary　style。　Each　of　them　has　weakened　as　he　has　gotten　farther　from　it；　and　loyalty　to　it　has　strengthened　any　one　of　them。


Turn　now　to　the　American　group　of　writers。　If　we　except　theological　writers　with　Jonathan　Edwards；　Horace　Bushnell；　Henry　Ward　Beecher；　and　their　like；　and　political　writers　with　Jefferson；　Webster；　and　their　like；　the　list　need　not　be　a　long　one。　Only　one　writer　in　our　narrower　sense　of　literature　must　be　named　in　the　earlier　dayBenjamin　Franklin。　In　the　period　before　the　Civil　War　must　be　named　Edgar　Allan　Poe　（died　1849）　and　Washington　Irving　（died　1859）。　The　Civil　War　group　is　the　large　one；　and　its　names　are　those　of　the　later　group　as　well。　Let　them　be　alphabetical；　for　convenience：　William　Cullen　Bryant；　poet　and　critic；　George　William　Curtis；　essayist　and　editor；　Emerson；　our　noblest　name　in　the　sphere　of　pure　essay　literature；　Hawthorne；　the　novelist　of　conscience；　as　Socrates　was　its　philosopher；　Oliver　Wendell　Holmes；　whose　〃two　chief　hatreds　were　orthodoxy　in　religion　and　heterodoxy　in　medicine〃；　James　Russell　Lowell；　essayist　and　poet；　apt　to　live　by　his　essays　rather　than　by　his　poetry；　Longfellow；　whose　〃Psalm　of　Life〃　and　〃Hiawatha〃　have　lived　through　as　much　parody　and　ridicule　as　any　two　bits　of　literature　extant；　and　have　lived　because　they　are　predestined　to　live；　Thoreau；　whose　Walden　may　show；　as　Lowell　said；　how　much　can　be　done　on　little　capital；　but　which　has　the　real　literary　tang　to　it；　and　Whittier；　whose　poetry　is　sung　the　world　around。

That　makes　only　twelve　names　from　Franklin　to　Whittier。　Others　could　be　included；　but　they　are　not　so　great　as　these。　No　one　of　these　could　be　taken　out　of　our　literature　without　affecting　it　and；　in　some　degree　at　least；　changing　the　current　of　it。　This　is　not　to　forget　Bret　Harte　nor　Samuel　L。　Clemens。　But　each　is　dependent　for　his　survival　on　a　taste　for　a　certain　kind　of　humor；　not　delicate　like　Irving's　and　Holmes's；　but　strong　and　sudden　and　a　bit　sharp。　If　we　should　forget　the　〃Luck　of　Roaring　Camp；〃　〃Truthful　James；〃　and　the　〃Heathen　Chinee；〃　we　would　also　forget　Bret　Harte。　We　are　not　apt　to　forget　Tom　Sawyer；　nor　perhaps　The　Innocents　Abroad；　but　we　are　forgetting　much　else　of　Mark　Twain。　Whitman　is　not　named。　His　claims　are　familiar；　but　in　spite　of　his　admirers　he　seems　so　charged　with　a　sensuous　egotism　that　he　is　not　apt　to　be　a　formative　influence　in　literary　history。　It　is　still　interesting；　however；　to　remember　how　frequently　he　reveals　his　reading　of　Scripture。

Fortunately；　all　these　writers　are　so　near；　and　their　work　is　so　familiar；　that　details　regarding　them　are　not　needed。　Two　or　three　general　words　can　be　said。　In　the　first　place；　observe　the　high　moral　tone　of　all　these　first…grade　writers；　and；　indeed；　of　the　others　who　may　be　spoken　of　as　in　second　rank。　There　is　not　a　meretricious　or　humiliating　book　in　the　whole　collection。　There　is　not　one　book　which　has　lived　in　American　literature　which　has　the　tone　of　Fielding's　Tom　Jones。　Whether　it　is　that　the　Puritan　strain　continues　in　us　or　not；　it　is　true　that　the　American　literary　public　has　not　taken　happily　to　stories　that　would　bring　a　blush　in　public　reading。　Professor　Richardson；　of　Dartmouth；　gives　some　clue　to　the　reason　of　that。　He　says　that　〃since　1870　or　1880　in　America　there　has　been　a　marked　increase　of　strength　of　theistic　and　spiritual　belief　and　argument　among　scientific　men；　students　of　philosophy；　religious　'radicals；'　and　others。〃　He　adds　that　while　much　contemporary　American　literature　and　thought　is　outside　the　accepted　orthodox　lines；　yet　〃it　is　not　hostile　to　Christianity；　to　the　principles　of　its　Founder　it　is　for　the　most　part　sincerely　attached。　On　the　other　hand；　materialism　has　scarcely　any　hold　upon　it。〃　Then　follows　a　very　notable　sentence　which　is　sustained　by　the　facts：　〃Not　an　American　book　of　the　first　class　has　ever　been　written　by　an　atheist　or　denier　of　immortality。〃　That　sentence　need　not　offend　an　admirer　of　Walt　Whitman；　for　he　〃accepts　both　theism　and　the　doctrine　of　the　future　life。〃　American　thought　has　remained　loyal　to　the　great　Trinity；　God；　Freedom；　and　Immortality。　So　it　comes　about　that　while　there　are　a　number　of　these　writers　who　could　be　put　under　the　ban　of　the　strongly　orthodox　in　religion；　every　one　of　them　shows　the　effect　of　early　training　in　religion　and　in　the　Scripture。＇1＇


＇1＇　This　is　fully　worked　out　in　Professor　Richardson's　American　Literature；　with　ample　illustration　and　argument。


Another　thing　to　be　said　is　that　America　has　a　unique　history　among　great　nations　in　that　it　has　never　been　affected　by　any　great　religious　influence　except　that　which　has　issued　from　the　Scriptures。　No　religion　has　ever　been　influential　in　America　except　Christianity。　For　many　years　there　have　been　sporadic　and　spasmodic　efforts　to　extend　the　influence　of　Buddhism　or　other　Indian　cults。　They　have　never　been　successful；　because　the　American　spirit　is　practical；　and　not　meditative