The Angel in the House, the last of these, be it noted, alone
lyrical; and the age begot its "Tory poets," its lyrists of
Chartism and Fenianism, its Catholic poets, as well as its
poets of "spasm," aspiration, Protestantism and protest.
But enough: assuredly Victoria's age has been one rich in
lyrical poetry, one in which the lyric, too, has extended its
sphere, its diversity of theme and treatment. That it has
often been intellectualized into a something that gives
us pause as to our definitions is not to be denied. That
frequently it has been metamorphosed, too, into a richer,
stranger romanticism than our literature had hitherto
known, is likewise to be acknowledged. And yet the
ground notes of this lyrical chorus, with all its new ca-
priccios, roulades, and novel warblings, remain deep seated
in the essential passions of man, love, hope, the political
and the religious instincts, with devotion to home, coun-
try, and that appreciation of man in nature and acted
on by the hidden and mysterious influences of nature
which has been the richest contribution of English poetry
in the nineteenth century to the literature of the world.

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