Lamb's Prose Style

Lambs prose style As Hugh Walker has pointed out, Lambs prose style is not wholly modern.
His prose style shows the influence of the seventeenth century prose masters like Browne, Burton and Fuller. There are several quotations from these writers scattered all over his essays. Lamb knew these authors works so thoroughly that their thoughts and expressions came naturally to him. Thus, when he is in a reflective mood, as in New Years Eve, his style resembles that of Sir Thomas Browne; when he is witty, as in Poor Relations, he adopts a style recalling Fuller, and when fantastic, as in A Chapter on Ears, he writes like Burton. However, his essays have a fascination which is his own. His essays take on a special light and colour and charm because of his style. The language of Lamb is often highly figurative. Metaphors and similes seem to flow naturally from his pen and each is appropriate and striking for its novelty. In Christs Hospital, Lamb compares their state of happiness during the whole day leaves with that of young dace in the streams. Further, while recounting the episode in which a boy secretly gathered up the remnants of morsels at his table to feed his poor parents, lamb calls the boy a young stork and his parents old birds. As he reveals the methods by which wrongdoers were punished, he calls the rooms they were confined to as a part of their punishment Bedlam cells, thus comparing it with the cells of a lunatic asylum. In New Years Eve, he compares youth to hot june and impending death to freezing days of December. He also compares the poetry by Mr. Cotton with a purging sunlight, thus celebrating the formers capability to eradicate any misgivings in the minds of people harbouring any apprehension about the new year. In Imperfect Sympathies, he compares the Caledonian activity of stopping a metaphor with the alacrity with which a spy is stopped in an enemy state. Many times the comparisons involve allusions. In Christs Hospital, the first major allusion may be encountered as Lamb describes an episode where a boy in his school, Hodgins managed to smuggle in an ass. He fed the ass with the food of his school mates for over a week, until the ass shouted at the top of its voice and inevitably its lavish sanctuary was found out. Lamb calls the ass bray to be such a rams horn blast so as to cause the toppling down the walls of his own Jericho. The allusion is from Joshua, vi. 5, where the blast of Joshuas horns caused the walls of Jericho to fall. The next allusion occurs as Lamb describes the punishment meted out to a thirdtime offender at his school. He refers to the moment of deliverance as being a solemn auto da fe. Auto da fe refers to execution of the Spanish Inquisition, at which heretics were burned alive. The final allusion may be said to occur when Lamb expresses his nostalgia for Allen, a compeer to Coleridge, by calling him the NIREUS FORMOSUS of the school. In Homers Iliad, Nireus, the King of Samos, is the most beautiful of all the warriors Greeks at Ilium, save Achilles only. There are other allusions such as Caligulas minion, accursed thing, insolent Greece or haughty Rome, Helots to his young Spartans, samite, Goshen etc. In New Years Eve, there is an allusion to Helicon, ehich was the favourite haunt of the Greek Muses of poetry, to refer to the poetry by Mr. cotton. There are other allusions too, such as Lavinian shores and Phoebus sickly sister. In Imperfect Sympathies, lamb alludes to Minerva, who was said to be sprung, fully armed , from the head of Jupiter, to describe the ideas of Caledonians. While justifying the cautiousness of Quakers in replying to any question, lamb alludes to the indirect answers by which Christ baffled the malice of his enemies when they sought to catch something from his mouth, that they might accuse him. Other allusions include Jael and Hugh of Lincoln.
Another striking feature of his essays is the poetic style that infuses some of his passages. In New Years Eve, a simple, spontaneous and deep feeling arises when Lamb is talking of his love for this green earthI am in love with this green Earth; the face of town and country; I am content to stand still at the age to which I am arrived.
In Chriss Hospital, while assuming the persona of Coleridge, Lamb yearns for his home and sayso the cruelty of separating a poor lad from his early homestead upon sweet Calne in Wiltershire. Also, while recalling their master Matthew Field, Lamb writesthe remembrfance of Field comes back with all the soothing images of indolenceplaying holiday.

Lamb's Prose Style

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Lambs prose style As Hugh Walker has pointed out, Lambs prose style is not wholly modern.

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