unlike "Evangeline," to have a happy ending, like a comedy. The ending of a tragedy is called the catastrophe; that of a comedy, the dénouement.

The tangling of the plot goes on steadily, step by step, each crisis adding another knot, until we reach the great central crisis, the climax at the beach scene. From this point the unravelling of the knot goes on rapidly. After that there can be no doubt of the final result. The interest of the story is reawakened by shifting the story from the lovers to the bold exploit of Miles Standish, his exciting fight with the Indians, and the danger to the colony. This also gives a pleasing variety to the reader, who besides is kept in an anxious state of mind as to how the captain will act toward the lovers. This suspense is broken by the report of his death, only to have the surprise and anxiety renewed when he suddenly appears at the wedding. The scene at the end of Part III. also plays an interesting part in the development of the plot. What at first seems to make matters worse for poor John, really brings in an element which in the end is to straighten out the whole tangle, and so Priscilla's choice is hinted at very delicately and humorously. We feel that if she loves and prefers Alden, then the soldier will never get her. A woman's heart will always find a way to its love. But even after the love-story becomes stationary, we do not lose interest, because there is still the possible danger from Alden's military rival.

When we compare the poem with the actual events given under "Historical Material," we see with what freedom Longfellow treats his material. He rearranges the order of certain events, and regulates the length of time which he wishes to elapse between the various parts of his story. There is this entry in Governor Bradford's "Journal":1“Jan. 29, dies Rose, the wife of Captain Standish." Another entry settles the date of the sailing of the "Mayflower": "April 5.

1 Prince's Chronological History of New England, p. 184.

1

We despatch the ship with Captain Jones, who this day sails from New Plymouth." Again, the suppression of the Indian conspiracy occurred in March, 1623, according to Winslow's "Journal." All these events are brought together in the poem. The dates help us to determine the time of the action. It is strange that the poet should represent the captain as sending Priscilla a proposal of marriage only about" two months after the death of his wife Rose. We conclude, however, that Longfellow chose the spring of 1621 for the time of the action, and has grouped all of the events which took place from 1621 to 1623 in the former year. He has not held closely to the history, but has aimed to present a vivid and true picture representative in its main outlines of the life of the Puritan colony. All this shows that Longfellow was both a good story-teller and a wise and clever artist.

§ 5. The Style of the Poem.

After having studied the framework of our poem, and seen how the author has put the various parts together, we are ready to examine the style and various internal features, such as the method of character drawing, the humor, the pathos, the description, the figures of speech, and the literary influ

ences.

Considered as a piece of narration, "The Courtship" is a model of concise and rapid story-telling. Each part contains an incident of its own, and each is told in such a spirited way as to hold the reader's interest. We never saw any one who did not enjoy a lively tale of love and adventure. When we compare the events in the poem with the original records, we feel that there is a wide difference between the dry, commonplace style of the annalists, and the lively, fresh, and imaginative style of the poet. There is ease, grace, and life in Longfellow's way of telling the old Puritan legend. This is the result of his good training and artistic taste.

1 Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, p. 199.

When he

wrote this poem he was at his best in point of mental maturity and technical skill. He is never obscure, the right word is invariably found, and there is a knack of making phrases that stick in the memory. Longfellow's imagination was not of the highest order, and there is here no attempt to carry us to depths of profound thought, nor to heights of human passion. He rather strikes the happy medium of feeling and reflection, and thus appeals more than any other poet of our country to the young.

A pleasing feature of the style is the use of balance, in which words or phrases are paired off so as to produce the effect of light and shade. Examples are:

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'Angels of light they seem, but are only delusions of Satan," III. 18. "Borne on the send of the sea, and the swelling hearts of the Pilgrims,” V. 127.

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Friendship was in their looks, but in their hearts there was hatred," VII. 29.

The meter, whose movement is like climbing a roof to the apex and then descending, lends itself admirably to this principle of contrast. Another favorite device is that of repetition, which produces an effect of emphasis and clearness and introduces more realistic detail. Instances are found in IV. 10, 11; 21, 22; V. 9, 10; 26, 27; 36, 37; 89, 90; VIII. 3,7; 31-32.

Longfellow is by instinct artistic, and chooses to look at things from the side of beauty. There is a tendency to give a flavor of romance to his work, but his good sense and sanity of feeling do not allow him, even in his most idealistic moods, to rise too high above the kindly earth. Comparing again what he has put into his poem with the facts of the chronicles, we see how much that is merely disagreeable he has left out. He has written to please, not to give scenes of suffering, either mental or physical. Furthermore, he carefully avoids preaching a sermon or imposing a lesson on his readers.

Having made ourselves familiar with the principal external qualities of our author's style, we are ready to study his characters, and see how and why he has drawn them in a certain way. The characters in "The Courtship" are well chosen for purposes of contrast and relief. The interest in a lovestory will always center in the heroine. Priscilla is no exception. It is her heart that is at stake, and she holds the key to every situation. Underlying her vein of arch humor, which reveals but one side of her girlish mischievousness, there is the deeper womanly nature, patient, wise, and sympathetic. Her nature is a simple, wholesome one, characterized by humor, tenderness, and good sense. She is not to be had for the asking, and she will bestow her heart only where it is deserved. The refined and scholarly temperament and youth of Alden are more congenial to her than the experience, courage, and warlike nature of Standish. She is sweet, pureminded, unselfish, and good to look upon. To her, love is the supreme test, and her memorable advice to her lover is in complete accord with what Shakespeare says on the same subject:

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Friendship is constant in all other things

Save in the office and affairs of love :

Therefore all hearts in love use their own tongues;

Let every eye negotiate for itself

And trust no agent."

1

And therein lies the chief motive and moral purpose of the poem. It shows us what to expect whenever love and friendship are placed in opposition or conflict.

John Alden, like Orlando in "As You Like It," cannot seem much of a hero, for Priscilla has already made her choice in his favor before he takes her the captain's proposal. He has in him a strain of tender and pensive sentiment befitting his character of scholar. He reflects a mood that the poet is fond of treating, and indeed there is much in this

1 Much Ado About Nothing, Act II., Scene i., ll. 157-161.

high-toned, sensitive, beautiful-souled young man that suggests the maiden-hearted Longfellow himself. The clerk sharply contrasts with the soldier. Each is a loyal type of a true man, but each has something the other lacks. No doubt this like-unlikeness was the bond of their friendship. One is a man of thought, the other a man of action. Both aspire from different motives to the beautiful heiress of the settlement. Alden is fitted for conjugal affection and domestic duty; Standish for drilling of musketeers and browbeating Indian chiefs. The latter is a trifle uneasy in the presence of a woman, whose nature he does not understand. He imagines Priscilla thundering at him a point-blank "No!" and thinks that wooing should be conducted in the elegant and conventional language of books! He will make a better husband than lover, but Priscilla has her doubts. He has, however, a profound respect for her sex, and speaks affectionately of his dead Rosc. Even in his armor he is not an imposing figure, nor one likely to impress a girl's imagination. He is too quick and abrupt in his movements, too self-assertive and violent, and has something very like the strut of the bantam game-cock. Yet his heart is right, and he is capable of true friendship under the most humiliating circumstances.

Longfellow's descriptions will repay analysis. The strangeness of natural phenomena is made to suggest the wonder and mystery of human life. The external world-the sea, the forest, the sunset, the gray mist, the bright leaves, the ripe fruit, the cold rain-gives an instrumental effect nicely and appropriately harmonizing with the spirit of man. The prevailing hue of the poem is gray, befitting the sombre Puritan mood, but it is sometimes relieved with richly colored pictures, such as the gorgeous sunset in Part IV., and the autumnal forest in Part IX. The figures of his persons are sketched with a few rapid, telling strokes, suggestive rather than detailed. They are individualized and vitalized rather by what they say and do than by the descriptive portraits,