Critical and Miscellaneous Essays, Volume 1Weeks, Jordan & Company, 1840 - English essays |
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Page 19
... imagination which have appeared in dark ages , we do not admire them the more because they have appeared in dark ages . On the contrary , we hold that the most wonderful and splendid proof of genius is a great poem produced in a ...
... imagination which have appeared in dark ages , we do not admire them the more because they have appeared in dark ages . On the contrary , we hold that the most wonderful and splendid proof of genius is a great poem produced in a ...
Page 20
... imagination . In proportion as men know more , and think more , they look less at individuals , and more at classes . They therefore make better theories , and worse poems . They give us vague phrases instead of images , and personified ...
... imagination . In proportion as men know more , and think more , they look less at individuals , and more at classes . They therefore make better theories , and worse poems . They give us vague phrases instead of images , and personified ...
Page 21
... imagination , the art of doing by means of words what the painter does by means of colors . Thus the great- est of poets has described it , in lines universally admired for the vigor and felicity of their diction , and still more ...
... imagination , the art of doing by means of words what the painter does by means of colors . Thus the great- est of poets has described it , in lines universally admired for the vigor and felicity of their diction , and still more ...
Page 22
... imagination over uncultivated minds . - In a rude state of society men are children with a greater variety of ideas . It is therefore in such a state of society that we may expect to find the poetical temperament in its highest ...
... imagination over uncultivated minds . - In a rude state of society men are children with a greater variety of ideas . It is therefore in such a state of society that we may expect to find the poetical temperament in its highest ...
Page 24
... imagination : nor indeed do we think his classical diction comparable to that of Milton . The authority of Johnson is against us on this point . But Johnson had studied the bad writers of the middle ages till he had become utterly ...
... imagination : nor indeed do we think his classical diction comparable to that of Milton . The authority of Johnson is against us on this point . But Johnson had studied the bad writers of the middle ages till he had become utterly ...
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absurd admiration appear army beauty Bunyan Catholic century character Charles Church civil conceive considered constitution critics Cromwell Dante Divine Comedy doctrines doubt Dryden Edinburgh Review effect eminent enemies England English evil excited executive government favor feelings genius Greeks Hallam Herodotus historians honor House human imagination imitation interest Italy King language less liberty literary literature lived Livy Long Parliament Lord Byron Machiavelli manner means ment merit Milton mind moral nature never noble opinion Othello Paradise Lost Parliament party passions peculiar persecution person Pilgrim's Progress poems poet poetry political Pope Prince principles produced Puritans reason reign religion rendered resembled respect Revolution Roundheads royal prerogative scarcely seems Shakspeare society sophisms Southey Southey's spirit statesmen Strafford strong style Tacitus talents taste thought Thucydides tion truth tyrant virtues wealth Whigs whole writers
Popular passages
Page 56 - Many politicians of our time are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom.
Page 137 - Partridge, with a contemptuous sneer; "why, I could act as well as he myself. I am sure if I had seen a ghost I should have looked in the very same manner, and done just as he did.
Page 73 - It is, to borrow his own majestic language, " a sevenfold chorus of hallelujahs and harping symphonies.
Page 31 - But now my task is smoothly done: I can fly, or I can run Quickly to the green earth's end, Where the bowed welkin slow doth bend, And from thence can soar as soon To the corners of the moon. Mortals, that would follow me, Love Virtue; she alone is free. She can teach...
Page 227 - The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Page 21 - ... human actions, it is by no means certain that it would have been a good one. It is extremely improbable that it would have contained half so much able reasoning on the subject as is to be found in the Fable of the Bees.
Page 21 - fine frenzy " which he ascribes to the poet, — a fine frenzy doubtless, but still a frenzy. Truth, indeed, is essential to poetry ; but it is the truth of madness. The reasonings are just; but the premises are false. After the first suppositions have been made...
Page 255 - In favour and pre-eminence, yet fraught With envy against the Son of God, that day...
Page 23 - And, as the magic lantern acts best in a dark room, poetry effects its purpose most completely in a dark age. As the light of knowledge breaks in upon its exhibitions, as the outlines of certainty become more and more definite, and the shades of probability...
Page 26 - Milton cannot be comprehended or enjoyed unless the mind of the reader co-operate with that of the writer. He does not paint a finished picture or play for a mere passive listener. He sketches, and leaves others to fill up the outline. He strikes the key-note, and expects his hearer to make out the melody.