Political Verse Author:George Saintsbury General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1891 Original Publisher: Macmillan Subjects: Political poetry, English English poetry Juvenile Nonfiction / Poetry / General Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Literary Criticism / Poetry Poetry / Anthologies Poetry / English, Irish,... more » Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: DANIEL DEFOE (The merit of The True-Born Englishman lies wholly in the matter; but that matter was effective at the time, and the sketch of the English character here given is at least the work of a shrewd observer -- a typical Englishman himself in many ways, and, when it suited him, an uncompromising writer.) CHARACTER OF ENGLISHMEN In their religion, they're so uneven, That each man goes his own byway to heaven. Tenacious of mistakes to that degree, That ev'ry man pursues it sep'rately, And fancies none can find the way but he : So shy of one another they are grown, As if they strove to get to heaven alone. Rigid and zealous, positive and grave, And ev'ry grace, but charity, they have; This makes them so ill-natured and uncivil, That all men think an Englishman the devil. Surly to strangers, froward to their friend, Submit to lovejwith a reluctant mind, Resolved to be ungrateful and unkind. If, by necessity, reduced to ask, The giver has the difficultest task : For what's bestow'd they awkwardly receive, And always take less freely than they give; The obligation is their highest grief, They never love where they accept relief; So sullen in their sorrows, that 'tis known They'll rather die than their afflictions own ; And if relieved, it is too often true, That they'll abuse th...« less