I. ORTHODOXY AND CLASSICISM QUIESCENT (1700-1725) The clearest portrayal
of the prominent features of an age may sometimes be seen in poems which
reveal what men desire to be rather than what they are; and which express
sentiments typical, even commonplace, rather than individual. John
Pomfret's _Choice_ (1700) is commonplace indeed; it was never deemed
great, but it was remarkably popular. "No composition in our language,"
opined Dr. Johnson, "has been oftener perused,"--an opinion quite
incredible until one perceives how intimately the poem harmonizes with
the prevalent mood of its contemporary readers. It was written by a
clergyman (a circumstance not insignificant); its form is the heroic
couplet; its content is a wish, for a peaceful and civilized mode of
existence. And what; is believed to satisfy that longing? A life of
leisure; the necessaries of comfort plentifully provided, but used
temperately; a country-house upon a hillside, not too distant from the
city; a little garden bordered by a rivulet; a quiet-study furnished with
the classical Roman poets; the society of a few friends, men who know the
world as well as books, who are loyal to their nation and their church,
and whose; conversation is intellectually vigorous but always polite; the
occasional companionship of a woman of virtue, wit, and poise of manner;
and, above all, the avoidance of public or private contentions. Culture
and peace--and the greater of these is peace! The sentiment characterizes
the first quarter of the eighteenth century.

The poets of that period had received an abundant heritage from the
Elizabethans, the Cavaliers, Dryden, and Milton. It was a poetry of
passionate love, chivalric honor, indignant satire, and sublime faith.
Much of it they admired, but their admiration was tempered with
fear. They heard therein the tones of violent generations,--of men whose
intensity, though yielding extraordinary beauty and grandeur, yielded