Joys of Victorian English

Im reading "Middlemarch" by George Eliot and it is truly a great work. Even I can see it. Its full of wisdom, philosophy, romance and satire.

Each chapter started off with a short prose or poem. I have collected some here.

"I would not creep along the coast, but steer
Out in mid-sea, by the guidance of the stars"

"Your horses of the Sun," he said
"And first rate whip Apollo
Whate'er they be, I'll eat my head
But I will beat them hollow"

"How happy is he born and taught
That serveth not another will?
Whose armour is his hidden thought
And simple truth his utmost skill?

This man is freed from servile hands
Of hope to rise, or fear to fall:
Lord of himself, though not of lands,
And having nothing, yet hath all"
- SIR HENRY WOTTON

Was never true love loved in vain,
For truest love is highest gain
No art can make it: it must spring
Where elements are falteringng

So in heaven's spot and hour
Springs the little native flower,
Downward root and upward eye
Shapen by the earth and sky.

Here's one lovely satire -

“As Warren Hastings looked at gold and thought of buying Daylesford, so Joshua Rigg liked at Stone Court and thought of buying gold”

Victorian English was the English spoken during the Victorian Era.i.e during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 -1901). During the 19th century, novels were apparantly the most popular form of literature . This was mainly because of writers like Jane Austen, who set the tone for the Victorian novelists. Prominent Victorian novelists were - Charles Dickens, Bronte sisters, Disraeli, Thomas Hardy, R. L Stevenson, Oscar Wilde and Lewis Carroll. More on style, influence and philosophy of such writing.