In 1889, he graduated from Riverview with an outstanding academic record, winning a scholarship to Harvard.
At Harvard, Moody began to immerse himself in the university's literary scene. He contributed to student literary magazines and began to associate with others who shared his passion for literature, such as Robert Morss Lovett, Philip Henry Savage, Hugh McCullough, Danied Gregory Mason, Norman Hapgood, and Robert Herrick. Moody was elected to the editorial board of the Monthly, one of the college literary magazines. This was an unusual honor for a student in his first year. Through his work on the Monthly, Moody gained exposure to high-profile Harvard instructors such as George Pierce Baker and George Santayana. Moody was influenced by the prevailing intellectual atmosphere at Harvard, which was characterized by pessimism.
After finishing Harvard, Moody embarked on a year long tour of Europe with a wealthy American family. He was especially taken with the sharp contrasts between northern and southern Europe. After returning from abroad. Moody went back to Harvard for a master's degree, writing his thesis on Sir Philip Sydney.
In 1889, he graduated from Riverview with an outstanding academic record, winning a scholarship to Harvard.
At Harvard, Moody began to immerse himself in the university's literary scene. He contributed to student literary magazines and began to associate with others who shared his passion for literature, such as Robert Morss Lovett, Philip Henry Savage, Hugh McCullough, Danied Gregory Mason, Norman Hapgood, and Robert Herrick. Moody was elected to the editorial board of the Monthly, one of the college literary magazines. This was an unusual honor for a student in his first year. Through his work on the Monthly, Moody gained exposure to high-profile Harvard instructors such as George Pierce Baker and George Santayana. Moody was influenced by the prevailing intellectual atmosphere at Harvard, which was characterized by pessimism.
After finishing Harvard, Moody embarked on a year long tour of Europe with a wealthy American family. He was especially taken with the sharp contrasts between northern and southern Europe. After returning from abroad. Moody went back to Harvard for a master's degree, writing his thesis on Sir Philip Sydney.
The masque of judgment; a masque drama in five acts and a prelude
(Leopold Classic Library is delighted to publish this clas...)
Leopold Classic Library is delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive collection. As part of our on-going commitment to delivering value to the reader, we have also provided you with a link to a website, where you may download a digital version of this work for free. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. Whilst the books in this collection have not been hand curated, an aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature. As a result of this book being first published many decades ago, it may have occasional imperfections. These imperfections may include poor picture quality, blurred or missing text. While some of these imperfections may have appeared in the original work, others may have resulted from the scanning process that has been applied. However, our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. While some publishers have applied optical character recognition (OCR), this approach has its own drawbacks, which include formatting errors, misspelt words, or the presence of inappropriate characters. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with an experience that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic book, and that the occasional imperfection that it might contain will not detract from the experience.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
(First published in 1902, this volume contains a detailed ...)
First published in 1902, this volume contains a detailed history of English literature beginning in the Anglo-Saxon Period and ending with contemporary literature. “A History of English Literature” is highly recommended for all students of literature, and it would make for a worthy addition to any collection. Contents include: “The Anglo-Saxon Period”, “The Norman-French Period”, “The Age of Chaucer”, “The Renaissance: Non-Dramatic Literature to the Death of Spenser”, “The Renaissance: Shakespeare”, ‘The Seventeenth Century: Shakespeare’s Contemporaries and Successors in the Drama”, “The Seventeenth Century: Non-dramatic Literature before the Restoration”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in a modern, high-quality edition complete with the original text and artwork.
William Vaughn Moody was an American poet and playwright whose mystical and dignified work was considered a sign of unfulfilled promise upon his early death.
Background
William Vaughn Moody was born on July 8, 1869 in Spencer, Indiana, United States to Francis Burdette and Henrietta Emily (Stoy) Moody. Moody spent his childhood in New Albany, Indiana, where he exhibited the potential for high achievement even at a young age. Moody's father was a riverboat captain on the Ohio River until his boat was confiscated as he passed through Memphis during the Civil War. Moody's mother nurtured in her son an appreciation for the arts and literature. Her death in 1884, followed by that of his father two years later, affected him deeply, and he composed some of his earliest poetry at that time.
Education
Moody graduated first in his high school class in 1885, and for his speech as valedictorian he read an essay he had written titled "The Evolution of History." Moody had also served as editor of a student newspaper called the Minute Man. The mission of the paper was to critique the flaws in society. Moody's flair for writing attracted the attention of his high school principal, who encouraged him to apply for colleges on the East Coast. Moody eventually followed this advice. Compelled to forge his own way in the world. Moody supported himself by tutoring in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1887, and continued his own studies at Riverview Academy. In 1889, he graduated from Riverview with an outstanding academic record, winning a scholarship to Harvard. He continued to work part-time jobs, such as tutoring, proctoring, typing, and editing, to put himself through school.
At Harvard, Moody began to immerse himself in the university's literary scene. He contributed to student literary magazines and began to associate with others who shared his passion for literature, such as Robert Morss Lovett, Philip Henry Savage, Hugh McCullough, Danied Gregory Mason, Norman Hapgood, and Robert Herrick. Moody was elected to the editorial board of the Monthly, one of the college literary magazines. This was an unusual honor for a student in his first year. Through his work on the Monthly, Moody gained exposure to high-profile Harvard instructors such as George Pierce Baker and George Santayana. Moody was influenced by the prevailing intellectual atmosphere at Harvard, which was characterized by pessimism.
After finishing Harvard, Moody embarked on a year long tour of Europe with a wealthy American family. He was especially taken with the sharp contrasts between northern and southern Europe. After returning from abroad. Moody went back to Harvard for a master's degree, writing his thesis on Sir Philip Sydney.
William taught English for one year at Harvard and Radcliffe, and for three years at the University of Chicago. As a teacher, Moody had a reputation for being rather aloof; he failed to conceal his disdain for the more tedious tasks involved with teaching, such as grading papers. His work earned only the highest respect, however. To relieve what he saw as the tedium of academia. Moody began to edit classical English texts by writers such as Bunyan, Coleridge, Milton, Scott, and Homer. He also focused more on his own writing. His poems appeared in periodicals like Scribner's and Atlantic Monthly.
Moody left Chicago in 1899, moving first to Boston and then New York. He devoted himself full-time to writing Poems, published in 1901. The book received positive reviews. In 1909 it was republished as Gloucester Moors and Other Poems. The world of drama began to interest Moody more and more over the next few years. He and his friends worked on scripts and critiqued each other's work, hoping to see their plays one day performed on the stage. Moody's drama A Sabine Woman was produced in Chicago in 1906. Moody tinkered with the script and retitled the play The Great Divide. Six months after the earlier version had opened in Chicago, The Great Divide made its debut on Broadway. It enjoyed a run of 238 performances. Moody turned down a lucrative offer to adapt the play as a novel, viewing such a project-for-hire as a threat to his artistic integrity.
The Great Divide is a compelling homage to the power of love to bridge seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The play's protagonist, Ruth Gordon, is an upper-crust girl from the East Coast who gradually falls in love with a rough-hewn westerner whom she has met under peculiar circumstances. In Rulh and her love interest, Stephen Ghent, Moody presented audiences with more complex characters than was typical of plays at the time. He also departed from the prevailing theatrical technique by not giving the story a simplistic ending. In portraying the contrast between the Midwest and the East, Moody no doubt drew on his own experiences living in both regions.
In addition to The Great Divide, Moody's play The Faith Healer was also produced for the stage, though it met with less popular acclaim. A New York Times reviewer remarked: "It is closely written, with many individual lines of great beauty. But the drama, as a whole, has not the straight, direct appeal of The Great Divide." The Faith Heater told the story of Ulrich Michaelis, a faith healer who enabled a midwestern farm wife to walk for the first time in five years. When he fell in love with the woman's niece, Rhoda, however, Michaelis found that his relationship with Rhoda apparently interfered with his healing. Gradually Michaelis learned to reconcile his spiritual powers with his love for Rhoda.
Despite his limited body of work, Moody's talents were well respected. Yale University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in 1908, and among critics his work was considered a close rival to that of Eugene O'Neill. Illness, however, cut short Moody's career. He was struck by typhoid fever in 1908. He was already starting to go blind. On October 17, 1910, Moody died of complications from a brain tumor.
Before his death Moody had written one act of The Death of Eve, but was never able to finish it. He intended the play to depict Eve's efforts to reconcile man and God by being relieved of her sins. The play exemplified Moody's desire to use drama to criticize overly restrictive societal codes and promote a vision of emotional freedom and spiritual fulfillment.
Moody's reputation as a poet endures, perhaps more so than his reputation as a playwright. "Gloucester Moors," "The Menagerie," "On a Soldier Fallen in the Philippines," and other poems continue to appear in literary anthologies. He bridges the gap between traditional forms of the nineteenth century and experimental designs of the twentieth century.
Hermann Hagedorn praised Moody's poetry in a review in the Independent: "We may be sure that future Americans will remember Moody gratefully as one not unworthy to walk in paths first trod by the feet of Milton and of Shelley."
