The Life of John Bunyan [43]
rude scribblings on
the margins of the copy of the "Book of Martyrs," which bears
Bunyan's signature on the title-pages, though regarded by Southey
as "undoubtedly" his, certainly came from a later and must less
instructed pen. And as he advanced in his literary career, his
claim to the title of a poet, though never of the highest, was much
strengthened. The verses which diversify the narrative in the
Second Part of "The Pilgrim's Progress" are decidedly superior to
those in the First Part, and some are of high excellence. Who is
ignorant of the charming little song of the Shepherd Boy in the
Valley of Humiliation, "in very mean clothes, but with a very fresh
and well-favoured countenance, and wearing more of the herb called
Heartsease in his bosom than he that is clad in silk and velvet?" -
"He that is down need fear no fall;
He that is low, no pride;
He that is humble, ever shall
Have God to be his guide.
I am content with what I have,
Little be it or much,
And, Lord, contentment still I crave,
Because Thou savest such.
Fulness to such a burden is
That go on Pilgrimage,
Here little, and hereafter Bliss
Is best from age to age."
Bunyan reaches a still higher flight in Valiant-for-Truth's song,
later on, the Shakesperian ring of which recalls Amiens' in "As You
Like It,"
"Under the greenwood tree,
Who loves to lie with me. . .
Come hither, come hither,"
and has led some to question whether it can be Bunyan's own. The
resemblance, as Mr. Froude remarks, is "too near to be accidental."
"Perhaps he may have heard the lines, and the rhymes may have clung
to him without his knowing whence they came."
"Who would true Valour see,
Let him come hither,
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather.
There's no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a Pilgrim.
Who so beset him round
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound
His strength the more is.
No lion can him fright,
He'll with a giant fight,
But he will have a right
To be a Pilgrim.
Hobgoblin nor foul fiend
Can daunt his spirit,
He knows he at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away
He'll fear not what men say,
He'll labour night and day
To be a Pilgrim."
All readers of "The Pilgrim's Progress" and "The Holy War" are
familiar with the long metrical compositions giving the history of
these works by which they are prefaced and the latter work is
closed. No more characteristic examples of Bunyan's muse can be
found. They show his excellent command of his native tongue in
racy vernacular, homely but never vulgar, and his power of
expressing his meaning "with sharp defined outlines and without the
waste of a word."
Take this account of his perplexity, when the First Part of his
"Pilgrim's Progress" was finished, whether it should be given to
the world or no, and the characteristic decision with which he
settled the question for himself:-
"Well, when I had then put mine ends together,
I show'd them others that I might see whether
They would condemn them, or them justify;
And some said Let them live; some, Let them die.
Some said, John, print it; others said, Not so;
Some said it might do good; others said No.
Now was I in a strait, and did not see
Which was the best thing to be done by me;
At last I thought since you are thus divided
I print it will; and so the case decided;"
or the lines in which he introduces the Second Part of the Pilgrim
to the readers of the former part:-
"Go now, my little Book, to every place
Where my first Pilgrim hath but shown his face:
Call at their door: If any say, 'Who's there?'
Then answer that Christiana is here.
If they bid thee come in, then enter thou
With all thy boys. And then, as thou knowest how,
Tell who they are, also from whence
the margins of the copy of the "Book of Martyrs," which bears
Bunyan's signature on the title-pages, though regarded by Southey
as "undoubtedly" his, certainly came from a later and must less
instructed pen. And as he advanced in his literary career, his
claim to the title of a poet, though never of the highest, was much
strengthened. The verses which diversify the narrative in the
Second Part of "The Pilgrim's Progress" are decidedly superior to
those in the First Part, and some are of high excellence. Who is
ignorant of the charming little song of the Shepherd Boy in the
Valley of Humiliation, "in very mean clothes, but with a very fresh
and well-favoured countenance, and wearing more of the herb called
Heartsease in his bosom than he that is clad in silk and velvet?" -
"He that is down need fear no fall;
He that is low, no pride;
He that is humble, ever shall
Have God to be his guide.
I am content with what I have,
Little be it or much,
And, Lord, contentment still I crave,
Because Thou savest such.
Fulness to such a burden is
That go on Pilgrimage,
Here little, and hereafter Bliss
Is best from age to age."
Bunyan reaches a still higher flight in Valiant-for-Truth's song,
later on, the Shakesperian ring of which recalls Amiens' in "As You
Like It,"
"Under the greenwood tree,
Who loves to lie with me. . .
Come hither, come hither,"
and has led some to question whether it can be Bunyan's own. The
resemblance, as Mr. Froude remarks, is "too near to be accidental."
"Perhaps he may have heard the lines, and the rhymes may have clung
to him without his knowing whence they came."
"Who would true Valour see,
Let him come hither,
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather.
There's no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a Pilgrim.
Who so beset him round
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound
His strength the more is.
No lion can him fright,
He'll with a giant fight,
But he will have a right
To be a Pilgrim.
Hobgoblin nor foul fiend
Can daunt his spirit,
He knows he at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away
He'll fear not what men say,
He'll labour night and day
To be a Pilgrim."
All readers of "The Pilgrim's Progress" and "The Holy War" are
familiar with the long metrical compositions giving the history of
these works by which they are prefaced and the latter work is
closed. No more characteristic examples of Bunyan's muse can be
found. They show his excellent command of his native tongue in
racy vernacular, homely but never vulgar, and his power of
expressing his meaning "with sharp defined outlines and without the
waste of a word."
Take this account of his perplexity, when the First Part of his
"Pilgrim's Progress" was finished, whether it should be given to
the world or no, and the characteristic decision with which he
settled the question for himself:-
"Well, when I had then put mine ends together,
I show'd them others that I might see whether
They would condemn them, or them justify;
And some said Let them live; some, Let them die.
Some said, John, print it; others said, Not so;
Some said it might do good; others said No.
Now was I in a strait, and did not see
Which was the best thing to be done by me;
At last I thought since you are thus divided
I print it will; and so the case decided;"
or the lines in which he introduces the Second Part of the Pilgrim
to the readers of the former part:-
"Go now, my little Book, to every place
Where my first Pilgrim hath but shown his face:
Call at their door: If any say, 'Who's there?'
Then answer that Christiana is here.
If they bid thee come in, then enter thou
With all thy boys. And then, as thou knowest how,
Tell who they are, also from whence