All things and
modes of action shape themselves anew in the being of Milton; while
Shakespeare becomes all things, yet for ever remaining himself. O what
great men hast thou not produced, England, my country! Truly, indeed,
Must we be free or die, who speak the tongue,
Which Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold,
Which Milton held. In every thing we are sprung
Of earth's first blood, have titles manifold.
WILLIAM HAZLITT.
(1778-1830.)
V. ON POETRY IN GENERAL.
This was the first of a series of lectures on English poets, delivered
in 1818, and published in the same year. It has been reprinted in the
collected edition of Hazlitt's works (Bohn). It is a striking sample
of Hazlitt's brilliance as a writer; and it is free from the faults
of temper, and consequent errors of judgment, which, especially when
he is dealing with modern authors, must be held in some degree to mar
his greatness as a critic. It has been chosen partly for these reasons;
partly also for those assigned in the Introduction. There is perhaps
no other passage in the long roll of his writings that so clearly marks
his place in the development of English criticism.
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