Elements of Criticism, Volume III.

Many are the good effects of such compositions. A pathetic composition, whether epic or dramatic, tends to a habit of virtue, by exciting emotions that produce good actions, and...

Sense) of order i. 28. &_c._ contributes to generate emotions i. 81. and passions i. 89. Sense of right and wrong i. 49. of the veracity of our senses i. 105. Sense of congruity...

To illustrate the present point, I shall add a few examples of the agreeableness of different proportions. In a sumptuous edifice, the capital rooms ought to be large, for other...

This conviction of a common nature or standard, and of its perfection, is the foundation of morality; and accounts clearly for that remarkable conception we have, of a right and...

The marvellous is indeed so much promoted by machinery, that it is not wonderful to find it embraced by the bulk of writers, and perhaps of readers. If indulged at all, it is ge...

14. Objects once perceived may be recalled to the mind by the power of memory. When I recall an object in this manner, it appears to me the same as in the original survey, only...

The intelligent reader will by this time understand, that I plead for no change of place in our plays but after an interval, nor for any latitude in point of time but what falls...

Hexameter) Virgils hexameters extremely melodious; those of Horace not always so ii. 357. Structure of an hexameter line ii. 364. Rules for its structure ii. 367. Musical pauses...

He was well stay’d, and in his gait Preserv’d a grave, majestic state. At spur or switch no more he skipt, Or mended pace, than Spaniard whipt: And yet so fiery he would bound,...

41. Abstract ideas, may, I think, be distinguished into three different kinds, all equally subservient to the reasoning faculty. Individuals appear to have no end; and did we no...

In viewing a group of things, we have obviously a natural tendency to bestow all possible perfection upon that particular object which makes the greatest figure. The emotion rai...

Shakespear says[33], “You may as well go about to turn the sun to ice by fanning in his face with _a peacock’s_ feather.” The peacock’s feather, not to mention the beauty of the...

Fountains are seldom in a good taste. Statues of animals vomiting water, which prevail every where, stand condemned. A statue of a whale spouting water upward from its head, wou...

Ch’i’ t’ami piu de la mia vita, Se tu nol fai, crudele, Chiedilo a queste selve, Che te’l diranno, et te’l diran con esso Le fere loro e i duri sterpi, e i sassi Di questi alpes...

All authors agree, that the first notion of tragedy in Greece, was derived from the hymns in praise of Bacchus, which were sung in parts by a chorus. Thespis, to relieve the sin...

By this time I imagine the different purposes of comparison, and the various impressions it makes on the mind, are sufficiently illustrated by proper examples. This was an easy...

In the sixth place, It is unpleasant to join different metaphors in the same period, even where they are preserved distinct. It is difficult to imagine the subject to be first o...

Comparisons, as observed above[1]; serve two different purposes: When addressed to the understanding, their purpose is to instruct; when to the heart, their purpose is to give p...

The ample field of figurative expression display’d in these tables, affords great scope for reasoning and reflection. Several of the observations relating to metaphor, are appli...

The description of the groom is less lively than of the others; plainly because the expression, being vague and general, tends not to form any image. “Dives opum variarum[41],”...

[97] From this definition of an idea, the following proposition must be evident, That there can be no such thing as an innate idea. If the original perception of an object be no...