CHAPTER IX

MILTON, TAYLOR, CLARENDON, BROWNE, HOBBES

The quintet--Milton's life--His character--His periods of literary production--First Period, the minor poems--The special excellences of _Comus_--_Lycidas_--Second Period, the pamphlets--Their merits and defects--Milton's prose style--Third Period, the larger poems-- Milton's blank verse--His origins--His comparative position--Jeremy Taylor's life--His principal works--His style--Characteristics of his thought and manner--Sir Thomas Browne--His life, works, and editions --His literary manner--Characteristics of his style and vocabulary-- His Latinising--Remarkable adjustment of his thought and expression-- Clarendon--His life--Great merits of his _History_--Faults of his style--Hobbes--His life and works--Extraordinary strength and clearness of his style 315-353

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