OF THE University of Pennsylvania SERIES IN Philology, Literature and Archaeology VOL. VII NO. 2 THE RISE OF FORMAL SATIRE IN ENGLAND UNDER CLASSICAL INFLUENCE BY RAYMOND MACDONALD ALDEN 1773 Instructor in English, University of Pennsylvania Published for the University · PHILADELPHIA 1899 GINN & Co., Selling Agents, Tremont Place, Boston, Mass. PREFATORY NOTE. THIS monograph was presented to the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania in partial fulfillment of the requirements made of candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It was the intention of the author to rewrite the dissertation for publication, bringing it into a somewhat less formal and more readable shape. On consideration, however, it seemed (since the contents are such as to be of interest only to serious students, and that largely by way of reference) that the material presented would be perhaps even more serviceable in its present state than if enlarged and made more pretentious of literary form. The monograph is printed, therefore, substantially as originally written, with certain trifling additions, the material for which came to light during the time of preparation for the press. What was believed to be needed, first of all, was an orderly setting together and—to a certain extent—an analysis of the facts relating to the rise of formal satire in England. This, it is hoped, has been measurably accomplished. Hitherto there has been no accessible discussion of the subject, except in the fragmentary "Conversations of Mr. Collier's Poetical Decameron (now almost obsolete), and in the rapid survey of Elizabethan satire in Warton's History of English Poetry. It may be well to state definitely in what ways it is hoped that the present work may be useful, aside from serving as a general index and introduction to the authors and works treated. It will, in the first place, perhaps throw some light on the development of satirical literature in England, particularly on the satirical drama of the Elizabethan period and on the regular verse satire of the seventeenth and (iii) eighteenth centuries. In the second place, it will perhaps furnish aid in the making up of the full account, yet to be written, of English life in the period covered. For this reason the references of the various satirists to contemporary characteristics and customs have been arranged in regular' lists of "objects satirized," so as to form a sort of running index to allusions more or less descriptive of Elizabethan life. Surely it is in its relations to human life that the fundamental interest of any study · of literature, however technical, must be found. The writer is under many obligations to those whose courtesy and scholarly help have been at his service: to Professors Kittredge and Baker, and Mr. J. B. Fletcher, of Harvard University, for a number of valuable suggestions; to Professors Gudeman, Cheyney and Learned, of the University of Pennsylvania, for guidance in matters pertaining to their several fields; to Mr. T. J. Kiernan, of the Harvard College Library; to Dr. Horace Howard Furness, for the generous accord of the use of his private library ; to Mr. Edmond Gosse, for his kindness in offering the use of still unpublished notes; to Professor Brumbaugh, of the University of Pennsylvania, for the use of his manuscripts and library on matters relating to Donne; and to the late Dr. Small, of Brown University, who is most unfortunately beyond the reach of words of gratitude or friendship. Acknowledgment is due above all to my teacher, Professor Felix E. Schelling, whose stimulating and unceasingly friendly direction has alone made my work possible. PHILADELPHIA, 30 September, 1899. R. M. A |