And thus were drowned the doughtiest of Egypt,
Pharaoh with his folk. That foe to God,
Full soon he saw, yea, e'en as he sank,
That mightier than he was the Master of the waters,
With His death-grip, determined to end the battle,
Angered and awful.

[Footnote B: blow.]

How fine a conception it is. Let us notice how far had been travelled
from the old pagan "Fate goeth even as it will" to "the Lord of Fate."
How great is the thought of the vision of God's might, the power of the
Master of the waves, brought before the eyes of Pharaoh before he sinks
in the death-grip that will not let him go!




CHAPTER III

Allegory. Principle of comparison important in life, language,
literature. Early use of symbolism; suggested reasons for this. Poem
of the Phoenix. Allegorical interpretation of the story. Celtic
influence on English poetry. Gifts of colour, fervour, glow. Various
gifts of various nations enriching one another.


In these papers we are not going through anything like a course of older
English literature. We are looking at some of the work which our early
writers have left, from the point of view of its being our Catholic