A smile lit up his face as she bent to kiss him. He slowly laid his face
upon her bosom, drew his arms closer round her neck, and with one
parting sob began the world. Not this--oh, not this! The world that sets
this right.

* * * * *




David Copperfield


"David Copperfield"--published in 1849-50--will always be
acclaimed by many as the best of all Dickens's books. It was
its author's favourite, and its universal and lasting
popularity is entirely deserved. "David Copperfield" is
especially remarkable for the autobiographical element, not
only in the wretched days of childhood at the wine merchant's,
but in the shorthand-reporting in the House of Commons.
Dickens never forgot his early degradation, as it seemed to
him, in the blacking warehouse at Hungerford Stairs, or quite
forgave those who sent him to an occupation he so loathed.
Much of "David Copperfield" is familiar in our mouths as
household words, and Swinburne has maintained that Micawber
ranks with Dick Swiveller as one of the greatest characters in
all Dickens's novels. "Copperfield" comes midway in the great
list of works by Charles Dickens.