The Glory of English Prose / Letters to My Grandson

ar An

e, to the necessity of your learning from the beginning the

and what is not, than may be made by putting side by side almost any sentence from the old

two quotations

not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even

neither toil nor spin, and yet I tell you that not even Solomon

of the old version and the miserable commonplace

ai

the kingdom of h

mauled

he kingdom of the heave

the immense difference that separates what is nobl

nce of the sentences, and nothing dignified or distinguished can be made o

upon which has been built all the noblest English in the world. No narrative in literature has yet surpassed in majesty, simplicity, and passion the story of Joseph and his brethren, beginning at the thirty-seventh

mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom

upon his brother: and he sought where to weep;

all criticism, transcending all art. To read it is to believe every wo

gnantly as does this astonishing story. It moves swiftly and surely along fro

fore all of them that stood by him; and h

him, while Joseph made hims

the Egyptians and the

? And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin w

his brethren t

derful chapt

Canaan unto Jacob their father, and told him, saying, Jose

t fainted, for he

id unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had s

Joseph my son is yet alive: I wi

ntment, was great of heart in evil days, and, when Fortune placed him in a position of glory and greatness, showed a stainless magnanimity and a brotherly love that nothing cou

rroundings of the ripening corn, the gathered harvest, and the humble gleaners. Nothing can be more delightful than t

mmanded his young men, saying, Let her glean

on purpose for her, and leave them, that

the Bible inspired Hood to write

reast high a

he golden li

weetheart

glowing k

tood amid

d with swee

d, Heaven d

thou should

heaf adow

arvest and

he English-speaking race. The land of its birth, once flowing with milk and honey, has been for long centuries a place of barren rocks and arid deserts: Persians and Greeks and Romans and Turks have successively swept over it; the desce

stilence, famine, or slaughter, can ev

ish version of the Bible will survive. "Heaven and ear

it read badly and without intelligence or emotion,

ejoice in the perfect balance, harmo

lovin

.