England : Background For Literature

[Music] we know English literature as the works of choser Shakespeare Dickens Wordsworth Keats and the hundreds of other poets novelists and dramatists of England but Behind These pages and reflected in them lies an island and its people England itself this is England an old country that was producing great literature long before the new world was discovered and this is London England's greatest City Center of life and literature broadly speaking we may say that much of the literature of England is reflected from three main areas or backgrounds London itself the Clearing House of the world on the river temps the English Countryside a Green Landscape dotted with charming Villages and historic towns and finally the sea which surrounds England on all sides all roads lead to London home of English literature modern London the largest city in the world is very different from the medieval city where Jeffrey choser lived and wrote yet the spirit of Cher's London and of London today are much the same Hub of World Trade London has always been the pulsing ageless symbol of England itself when a man is tired of London wrote Samuel Johnson he is tired of life for there is in London all that life can afford 150 years later the same admiration was expressed by John Mayfield oh London towns a fine town and London sites are rare here are some of the London sites you will read about in English literature Tower Bridge famous Big Ben beautiful St Paul's Cathedral Buckingham Palace and of course Westminster ABY this is England's greatest literary Shrine within its beautiful Gothic walls are buried Jeffrey choser Edmund Spencer Lord Tennyson Robert Browning and the man in whose works you will read most about London Charles Dickens it is in Dickens works that we get a vivid social picture of London he knew every corner of the great City intimately and his books are filled with London scenes and London characters winding through London the river temps has supplied inspiration to British writers for centuries swans float on the temps as they did when Edmund Spencer described them with that I saw two swans of goodly hue come softly swimming down along the Lee Spencer saw in the Royal River a thing of lyric Beauty John Mayfield modern poet saw the temps as a highway carrying caros a dirty British coaster with a cargo of tin Coal Road rails Pig bled firewood ironwear and cheap tin trays called the noblest river in Europe the gentle temps is symbolic of the stream of literature that is poured out of England into the world the houses of Parliament on the banks of the temps are another symbol a symbol of the English way of life that way of life has been admirably expressed in the great speeches of Edmund Burke William pit and Winston Churchill the English way of life is also expressed by the Common Man in London's Hyde Park freedom of the press and freedom of expression have been for Generations an essential part of English life and English literature from London center of the national life and culture roads reach out in all directions over the English Countryside in the old days travel by H drawn coaches was slow and numerous inss along the way provided food and lodging names of many of the ins became very fam famous you can read the names of more than 50 insn in Dickens novel pck papers today modern transportation is a convenient Aid in getting acquainted with literary landmarks of England one of these is tentagel Castle birthplace of King Arthur according to Tennyson's Idols of the king here at glastenbury Abbey some Legends claim King Arthur and queen gwy are buried yorkminster is one of the many Cathedrals that do the map of England thou stately York wrote William woodsworth in his poem Cathedrals looking at the towers of 600-year-old York we can agree with the poet John Keats that a thing of beauty is a joy forever love of beauty is a dominant theme that runs through much of English literature Beauty particularly natural beauty was the favorite subject of William woodsworth come forth into the light of things he wrote let nature be your teacher and nature was the teacher of many English writers perhaps no people on earth have shown a greater love for their own land than have the English England is a garden said Kipling oh to be in England now that April's there wrote Robert Browning no Lovelier Hills than thine said Walter delire have laid my tired thoughts to rest the beauty of the countryside has inspired generations of English writers many of them as Shakespeare did found tongues in trees books in the running Brooks sermons in stones and good in everything typical of the Charming villag in the countryside is Stratford here in the Parish Church Shakespeare is buried the river Avon and the streets of Stratford are today much as they were when will Shakespeare lived and wrote there of all the English Countryside the Lake District in West merland County is exceptionally beautiful this is the region near Grassmere where woodsworth lived and wrote here he was inspired to write I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high or veils and Hills when all at once I saw a crowd a host of golden daffodils beside the lake beneath the trees fluttering and dancing in the breeze the themes of many of woodworth's poems were drawn from the rivers woods and lakes of his English Countryside woodsworth is buried at Grassmere in the heart of the region he loved his contribution was a sense Sublime of something far more deeply interfused whose dwelling is the light of setting Suns and the round Ocean and the living air and the blue sky and in the mind of man emotion and a spirit in the minds of English writers the sea has always been a significant symbol of England's position in the world I must go down to the Seas again to the lonely Sea and the sky thus John Mayfield and many other writers used the sea as a theme Samuel CID used it in the Ancient Mariner to Joseph Conrad the sea was a thing of sweeping power and Beauty Conrad himself the master of a ship once wrote that the sea never changes and all its works are wrapped in mystery the mystery and power of the sea also appealed to Kipling who wrote who hath desired the sea the sight of salt water unbounded English life and literature have been molded by the Sea Lord Byron expressed the devotion of many English writers when he wrote and I have loved thee ocean London the English Countryside and the Sea these are three of the elements that have gone into the making of the literature of England that literature can be better understood by understanding England itself in one of his plays Shakespeare has given us a literary picture of England this Royal Throne of Kings this sceptered aisle this Earth of magesty this seat of Mars this other Eden Dema Paradise this Fortress built by nature for herself against infection and the Hand of War this happy breed of men this little world this precious stone set in the silver sea which serves it in the off of a wall or as a moat offensive to a house against the Envy of less happier lands this blessed plot this Earth this realm this England [Music]