English Language and Literature Commons^™

Extensions Of Usage Of A Pronoun, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

[This article treats briefly, in the chronology of their appearance, the substantive uses of the pronoun of the third person neuter: the English and American game usage, two American colloquial or dialectal usages, and the newest usage, emerging from Hollywood, with its adjectival and nominal derivatives.]

The English pronoun of the third person neuter, it, has established itself as a substantive in various meanings, some of which are so widely current as to augur for them considerable vitality. An enumeration of these substantive uses in American English yields the following-- approximately, I think, in the order of their appearance.

Sixty Literary Years: The Foundation Of The George Eliot Fellowship, Kathleen Adams

The George Eliot Review Online, ISSN: 2831-5375

When the George Eliot Fellowship was born sixty years ago, the infant had emerged after a labour of some 25 years. A.F. Cross, its founder, had been editor of Nuneaton newspapers since 1895. For much of that time he had been campaigning for a memorial to George Eliot in her native town, but had met with apathy at every turn. For two weeks during the summer of 1930, Mr. Cross handed over the Editorial chair of the Nuneaton Chronicle to a Cambridge undergraduate, to give the young man an opportunity to gain an inside knowledge of newspaper production. His young …

The Cat Who Went To Heaven, Elizabeth Coatsworth, Lynd Ward

Zea E-Books in American Studies

Winner of the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1931, this novel is the story of a struggling Japanese artist and his housekeeper who adopt a three-colored cat and how that affects their lives and fortunes. Commissioned to make a painting of the death of Buddha to be hung in the village temple, the artist imagines the various animals whose forms had been taken in the Buddha’s past lives and the generous deeds they had done, as the cat—auspiciously named “Good Fortune”—looks on with hopes to be included. Could a cat, from a species usually so proud …

A Recent Theory Of Ballad-Making, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

Professor Gordon Hall Gerould's article entitled "The Making of Ballads"' is an attractive essay, written in the fluent and polished manner that we are accustomed to expect from this scholar. It has charm of style, and its positions, taken as a whole, may be termed accepted positions. Because of its literary quality, because it brings together in one paper what has hithert been stressed in scattered places, and because of its appreciation of the poetical quality of those English and Scottish ballads sough out by the notable collectors of the earlier nineteenth century and made available in the volumes of …

Some Aspects Of The Intellectual Poise Of George Robert Gissing, Glenn Orville Kelley

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Thls study, Some Aspects of the Intellectual Poise of George Robert Gising, had its inception in a course in The Novel, an Intepretation of Life, offered by Doctor Frederick A. Stuff in the summer session of the University of Nebraska in 1926. More narrowly, it began with that part of the course treating of the mode in literature known as realism. In one reference, Wilson Follett's The Modern Novel, was found the following statement relative to the novels of George Gissing, an author of whom the writer of this thesis had not previously heard.

"Hardly any parallel could show …

The Etymology Of An English Expletive, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

Professor G. P. Krapp makes an attractive case for his derivation of darn, darned in the brief essay on this word in his recent The English Language in America. He discards the usual explanation that darn is a variant or minced form of damn, and believes that, although it now stands in intimate relation to damn, it had an independent origin. He takes as his starting point the Old English adjective dierne, 'secret,' Middle English derne, Elizabethan dern, and assumes a transition from a descriptive adjective or adverb to an imprecation. The adjective took …

The Value Of English Linguistics To The Teacher, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

WHAT is included in the usual course in the history of the English language? Presumably some teachers emphasize the translation of older monuments, some emphasize training in etymologies, some phonetic changes, and some changes in language structure and forms. Some offer courses in the hope of fostering a more accurate use of language, some because of the discipline ~o be gained from the study of language ID the abstract, and some in order to afford the necessary preparation for the scholar. All have in mind the development, on the part of the student, of a scientific attitude toward language. Any …

Nebraska Place-Names, Lilian Linder Fitzpatrick A.M.

University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism

This study of Nebraska place-names is as exhaustive as I could make it. Nevertheless it is not wholly complete. There are a few town names in many counties concerning which I could obtain no accurate information. Hence they are not entered. There are other names concerning which my information is deficient despite my best efforts. Moreover Nebraska is a large state and new towns are constantly springing up, especially in the remoter counties. I would like to have the record for the state as complete as possible. Additional information and corrective or supplementary material, where these may be needed, will …

The Kraze For "K", Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

As illustrated by the Klassy Klown and the Kute Kid, the present slump toward alliteration is mostly confined to the letter "k," and the hunting of it appears most prominently in the language of advertising. For "k" in poetry there was Coleridge's (one is tempted to write Koleridge's) "Kubla Khan," and one recalls Walt Whitman's picturesque respellings "Kanada" and "Kanadian." But love of "k" plays little part in comtemporary verse, although it appears abundantly elsewhere. Its rise in favor seems to be bound up with the late agitation for simplified spelling, or the oncoming tide of interest in phonetics. Simplified …

Xx. The Term "Communal", Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

I. The Doctrine of Communal Origins

The period following the French Revolution was deeply interested in "the people" as a mass conception, in all that belonged to them and all that they created. It was in this period that theorists on the origin of law, customs, religion, language, literature--particularly the folk-song and the folk-tale--liked to advocate the doctrine of spontaneous, unconscious growth "from the heart of the people," as the phrase went. Such conceptions of origin had their critics from the first; but they remained more or less orthodox throughout the nineteenth century, and they still have foothold in both …

Nebraska Verse 1923–1924

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The verse herein printed was written by students now in residence at the University of Nebraska. The first poem in the book received the prize of fifty dollars offered by the class of 1898, and the second poem the prize of twenty-five dollars offered by the Vestals, an organization of girls in the College of Arts and Sciences. The committee chose twenty poems, which were submitted for the final award to Christopher Morley, John G. Neihardt and Percy MacKaye. The title page was designed by Gladys Lux.--LOUISE POUND, CONSTANCE SYFORD, HARTLEY B. ALEXANDER, SHERLOCK B. GASS, J. A. RICE, JR. …

Poetic Origins And The Ballad, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

The leading theses of the present volume are that the following assumptions which have long dominated our thought upon the subject of poetic origins and the ballads should be given up, or at least should be seriously qualified; namely, belief in the "communal" authorship and ownership of primitive poetry; disbelief in the primitive artist; reference to the ballad as the earliest and most universal poetic form; belief in the origin of narrative songs in the dance, especially definition of the English and Scottish traditional ballad type as of dance origin; belief in the emergence of traditional ballads from the illiterate, …

Minstrelsy, Music, And The Dance In The English And Scottish Popular Ballads, Lowry Charles Wimberly

University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism

CONTENTS
I INTRODUCTION The pastimes of the ballad in relation to the theme of the ballad. -The ballad narrative rather than descriptive.-Rapid action in the ballad.-Pastimes not ordinarily an essential part of the action.-Minstrelsy, music, and the dance in King Estmere and The Bonny Lass of Anglesey.-Pastimes usually portrayed in casual descriptive touches.-Purpose of the present study.Importance of recreational interests in the ballad.-The place of music in the present study. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 3·6 …

The "Uniformity" Of The Ballad Style, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

" It is a significant fact," says a well-known writer on ballads,' "that wherever found, the ballad style and manner are essentially the same." Many make the same generalization. But this is true only in the most general sense. It presupposes too great fixity ill the ballad style. The ballad is a lyric type exhibiting epic, dramatic, and choral elements; but within the type there is as great variation as within other lyric types. The ballad style is hardly more" essentially the same" than the song style in general, or the sonnet style, or the ode style. There is no …

The English Ballads And The Church, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

Many origins have been suggested for the type of narrative song appearing in the English and Scottish traditional ballads: minstrel genesis, origin in the dance, improvisations of media3val peasant communes, or descent from the dance songs of primitive peoples. The hypothesis of minstrel origin was that first to be advanced and it has always retained supporters. There remains a possibility not yet brought forward which deserves to be presented for what it is worth, since the problem, though it may be insoluble, has its attraction for critic and student. We have but meager knowledge of the ballad melodies of pre-Elizabethan …

Ethnic Ideals Of The British Isles, Constance Rummons

University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism

The history of a people can be read truly only in the light of its ideals. To study only the recorded acts of men is to see only a series of phenomena that are often incomprehensible and apparently erratic. What a mad affair the Crusades must seem to one who knows nothing of mediaeval religious ideals! How inexplicable would appear the courageous resistance of Belgium to a student in a later age who should have no knowledge of contemporary thought, and should be unable to see the principles for which she stood! Any judgment of a human action which leaves …

Bergson's Theory Of The Comic In The Light Of English Comedy, Louise Mathewson

University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism

From Plato onward many of the world's greatest thinkers have attempted to tell the meaning of laughter. It is not surprising that the thing has proved alluring, for whereas a true theory of laughter might add little to our enjoyment of the comic; it would, nevertheless, help us to understand the nature of life and mind. But although laughter is perhaps the lightest of human possessions, it is the most difficult to capture for examination. Neither philosopher nor literary critic has given us a wholly satisfactory account of the comic. One difficulty is that so many things are true of …

On Certain New Elucidations Of Shakespeare, L. A. Shermnan

University Studies (University of Nebraska) (1888–1984)

Notes on Shakespeare's Workmanship. By Sir Arthur QuiIler-Couch, M. A. New York: Henry Holt and Company .

The title of Quiller-Couch's recent volume,l would seem to promise a fresh discussion of the dramaturgic method and excellencies of this author. No promise or prospect could have been more welcome. The technic of organizing a play is a matter of no slight concern. All the dramatic world is waiting for some satisfying if not final word.. There are critics and scholars who affirm that there is no such thing as dramatic construction. They would even add that there are no princiJ>les …

King Cnut's Song And Ballad Origins, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

King Cnut's song, according to Professor Gummere gives us our “first example of actual ballad structure and the ballad's metrical form, which is to be met in English records." He quotes the account from the Historia Eliensis of 1166. Cnut, with his queen Emma and divers of the great nobles, was coming by boat to Ely, and, as they neared land, the King stood up, and told his men to row slowly while he looked at the great church and listened to the song of the monks which came sweetly over the water. "Then he called all who were with …

Xvii. The Ballad And The Dance, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

It is the purpose of the following paper to examine the relationship of the mediceval ballad to the dance, in origin and in traditional usage. Particular reference is had to the English and Scottish ballad tvpe. In various preceding papers I have considered the theory currently accepted in America of the inseparableness of primitive dance, music, and song and have shown that primitive song is not narrative in character. I have also questioned the assumption that the ballad is the archetypal poetic form--this position should be assigned to the song, not the ballad--and the assumption of " communal " as …

Astronomical Lore In Chaucer, Florence M. Grimm

University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism

The conspicuousness of astronomical lore in the poetry of Chaucer is due to its importance in the life of his century. In the mediaeval period, astronomy (or 'astrology,' for the two names were used indifferently to cover the same subject) was one of the vital interests of men. The ordinary man of the Middle Ages knew much more than do most men to-day about the phenomena of the heavens; conveniences such as clocks, almanacs, and charts representing celestial phenomena were rare, and direct observations of the apparent movements and the relative positions of the heavenly bodies were necessary for the …

Songs Of The Cattle Trail And Cow Camp, John A. Lomax

University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism

The Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp does not purport to be an anthology of Western verse. As its title indicates, the contents of the book are limited to attempts, more or less poetic, in translating scenes connected with the life of a cowboy. The volume is in reality a by-product of my earlier collection, Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads.

The Naming Of Characters In The Works Of Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Hope Gordon

University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism

An extensive examination of the names of characters in the works of the majority of nineteenth and twentieth century novelists would obviously be of little value, for the growing tendency toward the commonplace in realism has necessitated the selection of neutral names or names taken outright from actual persons. Though few of the characters in recent fiction are so handicapped by inappropriate names as are many people in real life, where, to quote a modern poet, "surnames ever go by contraries" still, with the contemporary novelists, there is usually nothing in a name to denote an intimate correspondence between it …

The Beginnings Of Poetry, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

The songs of primitive peoples have received much attention in recent years, especially the songs of the American Indians. An immense amount of material has been collected and made available; and this has been done in a scientific way, with the help of countless phonographic and -other records. Instead of having to rely on the stray testimonies of travellers, explorers, historians, and essayists, the student of primitive poetry has now at his disposal an amount of data unavailable to his predecessors. He need not linger among the fascinating mysteries of roman- tic hypotheses, but can supply himself with the carefully …

Intrusive Nasals In English, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

A few years ago the present writer directed attention to some instances of intrusive nasals in contemporary speech, American and English, and suggested that in the greater part of these instances associative interference was responsible for the added consonants. The bearing of the material presented on the much discussed topic of Middle English added n, for which many varying explanations have been offered, was also treated. Some further instances, heterogeneous in character, of infixed n, noted since the article cited was printed but reinforcing, it is believed, the position taken there, are these:

Three American Singers: Louise Homer, Geraldine Farrar, Olive Fremstad, Willa Sibert Cather

Music and Literature Archive

"THREE women are at this moment dominating the most critical audience and the most splendid operatic stage in the world— the Metropolitan Opera House of New York. One of these women came out of a new, crude country, fought her way against every kind of obstacle, and conquered by sheer power of will and character. One of them has lived a sort of fairy-tale of good fortune from the time she began to sing. Each one has achieved a supremely individual success. The careers of these three great singers make one of the most interesting stories in the history of …

The Southwestern Cowboy Songs And The English And Scottish Popular Ballads, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

Several writers recently have found analogy between the conditions attending the growth of cowboy songs in isolated communities in the Southwest, and the conditions under which arose the English and Scottish popular ballads—those problematic pieces which form so special a chapter in the history of English poetry. Mr. Lomax, the chief collector of southwestern folk songs, notes, when speaking of western communities, how "illiterate people and people cut off from newspapers and books, isolated and lonely—thrown back on primal resources for entertainment and for the expression of emotion—utter themselves through somewhat the same character of songs as did their forefathers …

Indefinite Composites And Word-Coinage, Louise Pound

Department of English: Faculty Publications

Recognition of ‘blending' as a mode of word-formation, the telescoping of two or more words into one, as it were, or the superposition of one word upon another, is not new among etymologists, although the subject has never been given separate or very elaborate treatment. Some instances of these factitious amalgam forms, the 'portmanteau words' of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the blend or fusion forms of etymologists or lexicographers, are dumbfound from dumb and confound, dang from damn and hang, gerrymander from Elbridge Gerry and salamander, electrocute from electric and execute; probably boost from boom and hoist, …

Cowboy Songs And Other Frontier Ballads, John A. Lomax

University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism

Out in the wild, far-away places of the big and still unpeopled west, in the cañons along the Rocky Mountains, among the mining camps of Nevada and Montana, and on the remote cattle ranches of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, yet survives the Anglo-Saxon ballad spirit that was active in secluded districts in England and Scotland even after the coming of Tennyson and Browning. This spirit is manifested both in the preservation of the English ballad and in the creation of local songs. Illiterate people, and people cut off from newspapers and books, isolated and lonely, thrown back on primal …

On The Comparison Of Adverbs In English In The Fourteenth Century, Alma Hosic

University Studies (University of Nebraska) (1888–1984)

The following investigation deals with the comparison of adverbs in English in the fourteenth century. This century seems especially important in the history of adverb comparison, since it represents the close of the dialectal period and the beginning of the transition period from Middle to Modern English. A chief purpose has been to connect the adverbial forms of the fourteenth century with those of the preceding and following centuries.

Examples are very full but not exhaustive. The majority of the important literary monuments of the century have been examined. The examples, however, are fuller for the Northern and Midland than …