Early English and French Lyrical Poetry: A Comparative Study
Self-revelation is the chief characteristic of lyric poetry,and for that reason it is, perhaps, more interesting than any other. A flashlight of intuition fuses emotion and idea and from the resulting union,secret and elusive,springs the lyric mood. Add to this latter a gift of expression, spontaneous, impassioned, and rhythmical, and the lyric is born, stamped with the individuality of the author,and bearing also a racial likeness to others of the same nation. For though personality may differ with individuality, though Shakespeare may evoke melodies very unlike those of Swinburne, and Chaucer's music may in no way resemble that of Wordsworth, yet through all there runs one note, one undertone, discernible by a sympathetic ear.
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