the scene, and the stars gild the gloomy night (Parnell) or the glowing
pole (Pope).

[33] Johnson, "Prologue at the Opening of Drury Lane," 1747.

[34] See Coleridge, "Biographia Literaria," chap. Xviii

[35] Essay on Pope, in "My Study Windows."

[36] "From Shakespere to Pope," pp. 9-11.




CHAPTER III.

The Spenserians

Dissatisfaction with a prevalent mood or fashion in literature is apt to
express itself either in a fresh and independent criticism of life, or in
a reversion to older types. But, as original creative genius is not
always forthcoming, a literary revolution commonly begins with imitation.
It seeks inspiration in the past, and substitutes a new set of models as
different as possible from those which it finds currently followed. In
every country of Europe the classical tradition had hidden whatever was
most national, most individual, in its earlier culture, under a smooth,
uniform veneer. To break away from modern convention, England and
Germany, and afterward France, went back to ancient springs of national
life; not always, at first, wisely, but in obedience to a true instinct.