The Works of Sir Walter Scott [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Sir walter scott entered literature through poetry and, absorbed as he was in folklore and the supernatural, he started his literary career by anonymously publishing in 1796 an adaptation of Ballads by G.A. Burger, which he followed in 1801 by contributions to M.G. Lewis's 'hobgoblin repast' better known as Tales of Wonder. At about this time he translated Goethe's Goetz von Berlichingen and, in 1802-3, put out the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, an edition of old and new ballads. A metrical version of the romance Sir Tristrem appeared in 1804. Scott's poetic writing so far was dominated by a blend of Gothic-Germanic sorcery and antiquarian enthusiasm. It was in 1805, with the publication of The Lay of the Last Minstrel, based on an old border narrative, that his name became more widely known. Supposedly recited by an aged minstrel to the Duchess of Buccleuch and her ladies at Newark Castle, the sequence of old Border scenes and incidents is elaborated with an admirable combination of antique lore, clan enthusiasm and vividly picturesque art. By nature, Scott was a great improviser; he created his impression more by the ardour and vividness of his presentation than by the charm of a subtle and finished art. His next poetical story, Marmion (1808), is so full of heroic matter on a large scale that its form seems almost unimportant. The culmination of the story is Flodden, and the fortunes of his faulty hero. Lord Marmion, are simply the means of approaching the great theme. In The Lay of the Last Minstrel, said Scott, the force is laid on style; in Marmion, on description. The opening picture of Norham Castle in the setting sun gives the keynote, and scene after scene follows, culminating in the dramatic picture of the stress and tumult of the Flodden conflict. Some of its details are among the best-known passages of Scott's poetry; but the story does not flow quite so freely as the happy improvisation in The Lay. In The Lady of the Lake (1810) the force is laid on