"There is first, the literature of knowledge, and secondly theliterature of power. The function of the first is to teach, thefunction or the second is to move; the first is a rudder, the second anoar or a sail. The first speaks to the mere discursive understanding,the second speaks ultimately, it may happen, to the higherunderstanding or reason, but always through affections of pleasure andsympathy."
Thomas De Quincey "Essays on the Poets." (Alexander Pope.)
The author has endeavored in these pages to sketch, in outline, asubject that has not, as far as she knows, been treated as an exclusivework by the schoolmen.
Written more in the narrative style than as a textbook, it is intendedto awaken interest in the subject of the interdependence of theliteratures of all ages and peoples; and with the hope that a largerand more exhaustive account of a very fascinating subject may some daybe published.
Chicago, Ill., June, 1916.
From the misty ages of bygone centuries to the present day there hasbeen a gradual interlinking of the literatures of different countries.From the Orient to the Occident, from Europe to America, this slowweaving of the thoughts, tastes and beliefs of people of widelydifferent races has been going on, and forms, ind