,,interpretations    ,,of    ,,poetry   
,,and ,,religion    ,,by    ,,george    
,,santayana    ,,new ,,york    ,,charles
 ,,scribner',s ,,sons      #aijj        
,,preface      ,the following volume is 
composed of a number of papers written  
at  various times and already partially 
printed2 they are now revised and       
gathered together in the hope that they 
may lead the reader1 from  somewhat     
different points of approach1 to a      
single idea4 ,this idea is  that        
religion and poetry are identical in    
essence1 and differ merely  in the way  
in which they are attached to practical 
affairs4 ,poetry  is called religion    
when it intervenes in life1 and         
religion1 when it  merely supervenes    
upon life1 is seen to be nothing but    
poetry4    ,it would naturally follow   
from this conception that religious     
doctrines  would do well to withdraw    
their pretension to be dealing with     
matters  of fact4 ,that pretension is   
not only the source of the conflicts of 

religion with science and of the vain   
and bitter controversies of  sects2 it  
is also the cause of the impurity and   
incoherence of religion  in the soul1   
when it seeks its sanctions in the      
sphere of reality1  and forgets that its
 proper concern is to express the ideal4
 ,for the  dignity of religion1 like    
that of poetry and of every moral ideal1
 lies  precisely in its ideal adequacy1 
in its fit rendering of the meanings    
and values of life1 in its anticipation 
of perfection2 so that the  excellence  
of religion is due to an idealization of
 experience which1  while making        
religion noble if treated as poetry1    
makes it necessarily  false if treated  
as science4 ,its function is rather to  
draw from  reality materials for an     
image of that ideal to which reality    
ought  to conform1 and to make us       
citizens1 by anticipation1 in the world 
we  crave4    ,it also follows from our 
general conception that poetry has a    
universal  and a moral function4 ,its   

rudimentary essays in the region of     
fancy  and pleasant sound1 as well as   
its idealization of episodes in human   
existence1 are only partial exercises in
 an art that has all time and  all      
experience for its natural              
subject-matter and all the possibilities
  of being for its ultimate theme4 ,as  
religion is deflected from its  course  
when it is confused with a record of    
facts or of natural laws1  so poetry is 
arrested in its development if it       
remains an unmeaning  play of fancy     
without relevance to the ideals and     
purposes of life4 ,in  that relevance   
lies its highest power4 ,as its         
elementary pleasantness  comes from its 
response to the demands of the ear1 so  
its deepest  beauty comes from its      
response to the ultimate demands of the 
soul4    ,this theory can hardly hope   
for much commendation either from the   
apologists of theology or from its      
critics4 ,the mass of mankind is        
divided into two classes1 the ,sancho   

,panzas who have a sense for  reality1  
but no ideals1 and the ,don ,quixotes   
with a sense for ideals1  but mad4 ,the 
expedient of recognizing facts as facts 
and accepting  ideals as ideals1--and   
this is all we propose1--although       
apparently  simple enough1 seems to     
elude the normal human power of         
discrimination4  ,if1 therefore1 the    
champion of any orthodoxy should be     
offended at our  conception1 which would
 reduce his artful cosmos to an         
allegory1 all  that could be said to    
mitigate his displeasure would be that  
our view  is even less favourable to his
 opponents than to himself4    ,the     
liberal school that attempts to fortify 
religion by minimizing  its expression1 
both theoretic and devotional1 seems    
from this point  of view to be merely   
impoverishing religious symbols and     
vulgarizing  religious aims2 it         
subtracts from faith that imagination by
 which faith  becomes an interpretation 
and idealization of human life1 and     

retains  only a stark and superfluous   
principle of superstition4 ,for meagre  
and  abstract as may be the content of  
such a religion1 it contains all  the   
venom of absolute pretensions2 it is no 
less cursed than the more  developed    
systems with a controversial unrest and 
with a consequent  undertone of         
constraint and suspicion4 ,it tortures  
itself with the  same circular proofs in
 its mistaken ambition to enter the     
plane of  vulgar reality and escape its 
native element of ideas4 ,it casts a    
greater blight than would a civilized   
orthodoxy on any joyous freedom  of     
thought4 ,for the respect exacted by an 
establishment is limited and  external1 
and not greater than its traditional    
forms probably deserve1  as normal      
expressions of human feeling and apt    
symbols of moral truth4  ,a reasonable  
deference once shown to authority1 the  
mind remains1 under  such an            
establishment1 inwardly and happily     
free2 the conscience is not             

intimidated1 the imagination is not tied
 up4 ,but the preoccupations of  a      
hungry and abstract fanaticism poison   
the liberty nominally allowed1  bias all
 vision1 and turn philosophy itself1    
which should be the purest  of delights 
and consolations1 into an obsession and 
a burden to the  soul4 ,in such a       
spectral form religious illusion does   
not cease to be  illusion4 ,mythology   
cannot become science by being reduced  
in bulk1 but  it may cease1 as a        
mythology1 to be worth having4    ,on   
the other hand1 the positivistic school 
of criticism would seem1 if  our theory 
is right1 to have overlooked in its     
programme the highest  functions of     
human nature4 ,the environing world can 
justify itself to  the mind only by the 
free life which it fosters there4 ,all  
observation  is observation of brute    
fact1 all discipline is mere repression1
 until  these facts digested and this   
discipline embodied in humane impulses  
become the starting-point for a creative

 movement of the imagination1  the firm 
basis for ideal constructions in        
society1 religion1 and art4  ,only as   
conditions of these human activities can
 the facts of nature  and history become
 morally intelligible or practically    
important4 ,in  themselves they are     
trivial incidents1 gossip of the ,fates1
 cacklings  of their inexhaustible      
garrulity4 ,to regard the function of   
man as  accomplished when these chance  
happenings have been recorded by him or 
contributed to by his impulsive action1 
is to ignore his reason1 his            
privilege1--shared for the rest with    
every living creature1--of using        
,nature as food and substance for his   
own life4 ,this human life is not       
merely animal and passionate4 ,the best 
and keenest part of it consists  in that
 very gift of creation and government   
which1 together with all  the           
transcendental functions of his own     
mind1 man has significantly  attributed 
to ,god as to his highest ideal4 ,not to

 see in this rational  activity the     
purpose and standard of all life is to  
have left human  nature half unread4 ,it
 is to look to the removal of certain   
incidental  obstacles in the work of    
reason as to the solution of its        
positive  tasks4 ,in comparison with    
such apathetic naturalism1 all the      
errors  and follies of religion are     
worthy of indulgent sympathy1 since they
  represent an effort1 however          
misguided1 to interpret and to use the  
materials of experience for moral ends1 
and to measure the value of  reality by 
its relation to the ideal4    ,the moral
 function of the imagination and the    
poetic nature of religion  form1 then1  
the theme of the following pages4 ,it   
may not be amiss to  announce it here1  
as the rather miscellaneous subjects of 
these essays  might at first sight      
obscure the common import of them all4  
,,contents          ,i4                 
,,understanding1 ,,imagination1 ,,and   
,,mysticism       ,,ii4   ,,the         

,,homeric ,,hymns      ,,iii4   ,,the   
,,dissolution ,,of ,,paganism           
,,iv4   ,,the ,,poetry ,,of ,,christian 
,,dogma        ,v4   ,,platonic ,,love  
,,in ,,some ,,italian ,,poets           
,,vi4   ,,the ,,absence ,,of ,,religion 
,,in ,,shakespeare      ,,vii4   ,,the  
,,poetry ,,of ,,barbarism     ,,viii4   
,,emerson       ,,ix4   ,a ,,religion   
,,of ,,disillusion        ,x4   ,,the   
,,elements ,,and ,,function ,,of        
,,poetry          ,i                    
,,understanding1 ,,imagination1 ,,and   
,,mysticism      ,when we consider the  
situation of the human mind in ,nature1 
its limited  plasticity and few channels
 of communication with the outer world1 
we  need not wonder that we grope for   
light1 or that we find incoherence  and 
instability in human systems of ideas4  
,the wonder rather is that we  have done
 so well1 that in the chaos of          
sensations and passions that  fills the 
mind1 we have found any leisure for     
self-concentration and  reflection1 and 

have succeeded in gathering even a light
 harvest of  experience from our        
distracted labours4 ,our occasional     
madness is less  wonderful than our     
occasional sanity4 ,relapses into dreams
 are to be  expected in a being whose   
brief existence is so like a dream2 but 
who  could have been sure of this sturdy
 and indomitable perseverance in the    
work of reason in spite of all checks   
and discouragements8    ,the resources  
of the mind are not commensurate with   
its ambition4 ,of  the five senses1     
three are of little use in the formation
 of permanent  notions3 a fourth1 sight1
 is indeed vivid and luminous1 but      
furnishes  transcripts of things so     
highly coloured and deeply modified by  
the  medium of sense1 that a long labour
 of analysis and correction is  needed  
before satisfactory conceptions can be  
extracted from it4 ,for  this labour1   
however1 we are endowed with the        
requisite instrument4  ,we have memory  
and we have certain powers of synthesis1

 abstraction1  reproduction1            
invention1--in a word1 we have          
understanding4 ,but this  faculty of    
understanding has hardly begun its work 
of deciphering the  hieroglyphics of    
sense and framing an idea of reality1   
when it is  crossed by another          
faculty--the imagination4 ,perceptions  
do not remain  in the mind1 as would be 
suggested by the trite simile of the    
seal  and the wax1 passive and          
changeless1 until time wear off their   
sharp  edges and make them fade4 ,no1   
perceptions fall into the brain rather  
as seeds into a furrowed field or even  
as sparks into a keg of powder4  ,each  
image breeds a hundred more1 sometimes  
slowly and subterraneously1  sometimes  
7when a passionate train is started7    
with a sudden burst of  fancy4 ,the     
mind1 exercised by its own fertility and
 flooded by its  inner lights1 has      
infinite trouble to keep a true         
reckoning of its  outward perceptions4  
,it turns from the frigid problems of   

observation  to its own visions2 it     
forgets to watch the courses of what    
should be  its pilot stars4 ,indeed1    
were it not for the power of convention 
in  which1 by a sort of mutual          
cancellation of errors1 the more        
practical  and normal conceptions are   
enshrined1 the imagination would carry  
men  wholly away1--the best men first   
and the vulgar after them4 ,even as it  
is1 individuals and ages of fervid      
imagination usually waste themselves  in
 dreams1 and must disappear before the  
race1 saddened and dazed1  perhaps1 by  
the memory of those visions1 can return 
to its plodding  thoughts4    ,five     
senses1 then1 to gather a small part of 
the infinite influences  that vibrate in
 ,nature1 a moderate power of           
understanding to interpret  those       
senses1 and an irregular1 passionate    
fancy to overlay that                   
interpretation--such is the endowment of
 the human mind4 ,and what is  its      
ambition8 ,nothing less than to         

construct a picture of all reality1  to 
comprehend its own origin and that of   
the universe1 to discover  the laws of  
both and prophesy their destiny4 ,is not
 the disproportion  enormous8 ,are not  
confusions and profound contradictions  
to be looked  for in an attempt to build
 so much out of so little8    ,yet the  
metaphysical ambition we speak of cannot
 be abandoned1 because  whatever picture
 of things we may carry about in our    
heads we are bound  to regard as a map  
of reality2 although we may mark certain
 tracts  of it unexplored country1 the  
very existence of such regions is       
vouched for only by our representation1 
and is necessarily believed  to         
correspond to our idea4 ,all we can do  
is1 without abandoning  the aspiration  
to knowledge which is the inalienable   
birthright of  reason1 to control as    
best we may the formation of our        
conceptions2 to  arrange them according 
to their derivation and measure them by 
their  applicability in life1 so        

prudently watching over their growth    
that we  may be spared the deepest of   
sorrows--to survive the offspring of our
  own thought4    ,the inadequacy of    
each of our faculties is what occasions 
the intrusion  of some other faculty    
into its field4 ,the defect of sense    
calls in  imagination1 the defect of    
imagination calls in reasoning1 the     
defect  of reasoning divination4 ,if our
 senses were clairvoyant and able to    
observe all that is going on in the     
world1 if our instincts were  steady1   
prompting us to adequate reactions upon 
these observations1 the  fancy might    
remain free4 ,we should not need to call
 upon it to piece  out the imperfections
 of sense and reflection1 but we should 
employ it  only in avowed poetry1 only  
in building dream-worlds alongside of   
the  real1 not interfering with the     
latter or confusing it1 but repeating   
its pattern with as many variations as  
the fertility of our minds  could       
supply4 ,as it is1 the imagination is   

brought into the service  of sense and  
instinct1 and made to do the work of    
intelligence4 ,this  substitution is the
 more readily effected1 in that         
imagination and  intelligence do not    
differ in their origin1 but only in     
their validity4  ,understanding is an   
applicable fiction1 a kind of wit with a
 practical  use4 ,common sense and      
science live in a world of expurgated   
mythology1  such as ,plato wished his   
poets to compose1 a world where the     
objects  are imaginative in their origin
 and essence1 but useful1 abstract1 and 
beneficent in their suggestions4 ,the   
sphere of common sense and science  is  
concentric with the sphere of fancy2    
both move in virtue of the same         
imaginative impulses4 ,the eventual     
distinction between intelligence and    
imagination is ideal2 it arises when we 
discriminate various functions  in a    
life that is dynamically one4 ,those    
conceptions which1 after  they have     
spontaneously arisen1 prove serviceable 

in practice1 and  capable of            
verification in sense1 we call ideas of 
the understanding4  ,the others remain  
ideas of the imagination4 ,the shortness
 of life1  the distractions of passion1 
and the misrepresentation to which all  
transmitted knowledge is subject1 have  
made the testing of ideas by  practice  
extremely slow in the history of        
mankind4 ,hence the impurity  of our    
knowledge1 its confusion with fancy1 and
 its painful inadequacy  to interpret   
the whole world of human interests4     
,these shortcomings are  so many        
invitations to foreign powers to        
intervene1 so many occasions  for new   
waves of imagination to sweep away the  
landmarks of our old  labour1 and flood 
the whole mind with impetuous dreams4   
,it is accordingly the profounder minds 
that commonly yield to the  imagination1
 because it is these minds that are     
capable of feeling  the greatness of the
 problems of life and the inadequacy of 
the  understanding1 with its present    

resources1 to solve them4 ,the same     
minds are1 moreover1 often swayed by    
emotion1 by the ever-present  desire to 
find a noble solution to all questions1 
perhaps a solution  already hallowed by 
authority and intertwined inextricably1 
for those  who have always accepted it1 
with the sanctions of spiritual life4   
,such a coveted conclusion may easily be
 one which the understanding1  with its 
basis in sense and its demand for       
verification1 may not be  able to reach4
 ,therefore the impassioned soul must   
pass beyond the  understanding1 or else 
go unsatisfied2 and unless it be as     
disciplined  as it is impassioned it    
will not tolerate dissatisfaction4 ,from
 what  quarter1 then1 will it draw the  
wider views1 the deeper harmonies1      
which it craves8 ,only from the         
imagination4 ,there is no other faculty 
left to invoke4 ,the imagination1       
therefore1 must furnish to religion  and
 to metaphysics those large ideas       
tinctured with passion1 those           

supersensible forms shrouded in awe1 in 
which alone a mind of great  sweep and  
vitality can find its congenial objects4
 ,thus the stone  which the builder1    
understanding1 rejected1 becomes the    
chief stone  of the corner2 the         
intuitions which science could not use  
remain the  inspiration of poetry and   
religion4    ,the imagination1 when thus
 employed to anticipate or correct the  
conclusions of the understanding1 is of 
course not called imagination  by those1
 who appeal to it4 ,the religious       
teachers call it prophecy or            
revelation1 the philosophers call it a  
higher reason4 ,but these names  are    
merely eulogistic synonyms for          
imagination1 implying 7what is          
perfectly possible7 that the imagination
 has not misled us4 ,they imply  on the 
contrary that in the given instances the
 imagination has hit  upon an ultimate  
truth4 ,a prophet1 unless he be the     
merely mechanical  vehicle of truths he 
does not understand1 cannot be conceived

 as  anything but a man of imagination1 
whose visions miraculously mirror  the  
truth4 ,a metaphysician who transcends  
the intellect by his reason  can be     
conceived only as using his imagination 
to such good purpose  as to divine by it
 the ideal laws of reality or the       
ultimate goals of  moral effort4 ,his   
reason is an imagination that succeeds1 
an intuition  that guesses the principle
 of experience4 ,but if this intuition  
were of  such a nature that experience  
could verify it1 then that higher reason
  or imagination would be brought down  
to the level of the understanding2  for 
understanding1 as we have defined it1 is
 itself a kind of  imagination1 an      
imagination prophetic of experience1 a  
spontaneity of  thought by which the    
science of perception is turned into the
 art of  life4 ,the same absence of     
verification distinguishes revelation   
from  science2 for when the prophecies  
of faith are verified1 the function  of 
faith is gone4 ,faith and the higher    

reason of the metaphysicians  are       
therefore forms of imagination believed 
to be avenues to truth1  as dreams or   
oracles may sometimes be truthful1 not  
because their  necessary correspondence 
to truth can be demonstrated1 for then  
they  would be portions of science1 but 
because a man dwelling on those         
intuitions is conscious of a certain    
moral transformation1 of a certain      
warmth and energy of life4 ,this        
emotion1 heightening his ideas and      
giving them power over his will1 he     
calls faith or high philosophy1 and     
under its dominion he is able to face   
his destiny with enthusiasm1 or  at     
least with composure4    ,the           
imagination1 even when its premonitions 
are not wholly justified  by subsequent 
experience1 has thus a noble role to    
play in the life  of man4 ,without it   
his thoughts would be not only far too  
narrow  to represent1 although it were  
symbolically1 the greatness of the      
universe1 but far too narrow even to    

render the scope of his own  life and   
the conditions of his practical welfare4
 ,without poetry and  religion the      
history of mankind would have been      
darker than it is4 ,not  only would     
emotional life have been poorer1 but the
 public conscience1  the national and   
family spirit1 so useful for moral      
organization and  discipline1 would     
hardly have become articulate4 ,by what 
a complex  and uninspired argumentation 
would the pure moralist have to insist  
upon those duties which the imagination 
enforces so powerfully in  oaths sworn  
before the gods1 in commandments written
 by the finger of  ,god upon stone      
tablets1 in visions of hell and heaven1 
in chivalrous  love and loyalty1 and in 
the sense of family dignity and honour8 
,what  intricate1 what unavailing       
appeals to positive interests would have
 to  be made before those quick         
reactions could be secured in large     
bodies  of people which can be produced 
by the sight of a flag or the sound  of 

a name8 ,the imagination is the great   
unifier of humanity4 ,men's  perceptions
 may be various1 their powers of        
understanding very unequal2  but the    
imagination is1 as it were1 the         
self-consciousness of instinct1  the    
contribution which the inner capacity   
and demand of the mind makes  to        
experience4 ,to indulge the imagination 
is to express the universal  self1 the  
common and contagious element in all    
individuals1 that  rudimentary potency  
which they all share4 ,to stimulate the 
imagination  is to produce the deepest1 
the most pertinacious emotions4 ,to     
repress  it is to chill the soul1 so    
that even the clearest perception of the
  truth remains without the joy and     
impetuosity of conviction4 ,the  part   
played by imagination is thus           
indispensable2 but obviously the        
necessity and beneficence of this       
contribution makes the dangers  of it   
correspondingly great4 ,wielding a great
 power1 exercising an  omnipresent      

function1 the imagination may abuse a   
great force4 ,while  its inspirations   
coincide with what would be the dictates
 of reason1  were reason audible in the 
world1 all is well1 and the progress of 
man  is accelerated by his visions2 but 
being a principle a priori the          
imagination is an irresponsible         
principle2 its rightness is an inward   
rightness1 and everything in the real   
world may turn out to be disposed       
otherwise than as it would wish4 ,our   
imaginative preconceptions  are then    
obstacles to the perception of fact and 
of rational duty2  the faith that       
stimulated our efforts and increased our
 momentum1  multiplies our wanderings4  
,the too hasty organization of our      
thoughts  becomes the cause of their    
more prolonged disorganization1 for to  
the  natural obscurity of things and the
 difficulty of making them fit  together
 among themselves1 we add the cross     
lights of our prejudices  and the       
impossibility of fitting reality into   

the frame we have made  for it in our   
ignorance of its constitution and       
extent4 ,and as we love  our hopes1 and 
detest the experience that seems to     
contradict them1  we add fanaticism to  
our confusion4 ,the habits of the       
imagination1 in  conflict with the facts
 of sense1 thus come to cloud science   
with  passion1 with fiction1 with       
sentimental prejudice4 ,nor is this the 
end of our troubles4 ,for ,imagination  
herself suffers violence in this        
struggle2 she seeks to reduce herself to
 conformity with existence1  in the hope
 of vindicating her nominal authority at
 the price of some  concessions4 ,she   
begins to feign that she demanded       
nothing but what  she finds4 ,thus she  
loses her honesty and freedom1 becomes a
 flatterer  of things instead of the    
principle of their ideal correction1 and
 in  the attempt to prove herself       
prophetic and literally valid 7as in a  
moment of infatuation she had fancied   
herself to be7 she forfeits that        

symbolic truth1 that inner propriety1   
which gave her a moral value4  ,thus the
 false steps of the imagination lead to 
a contorted science and  to a servile   
ideal4    ,these complications not      
unnaturally inspire discouragement and a
 sense  of the hopeless relativity of   
human thought4 ,indeed1 if there be any 
special endowment of mind and body      
called human nature1 as there seems  to 
be1 it is obvious that all human        
experience must be relative to  that4   
,but the truth1 the absolute reality1   
surrounds and precedes  these operations
 of finite faculty4 ,what value1 then1  
we may say1 have  these various ideals  
or perceptions1 or the conflicts between
 them8  ,are not our senses as human1 as
 subjective as our wills8 ,is not the   
understanding as visionary as the fancy8
 ,does it not transform the  ,unknowable
 into as remote a symbol as does the    
vainest dream8    ,the answer which a   
rational philosophy would make to these 
questions  would be a double one4 ,it is

 true that every idea is equally        
relative  to human nature and that      
nothing can be represented in the human 
mind  except by the operation of human  
faculties4 ,but it is not true that all 
these products of human ideation are of 
equal value1 since they are not  equally
 conducive to human purposes or         
satisfactory to human demands4    ,the  
impulse that would throw over as equally
 worthless every product  of human art1 
because it is not indistinguishable from
 some alleged  external reality1 does   
not perceive the serious                
self-contradictions  under which it     
labours4 ,in the first place the notion 
of an external  reality is a human      
notion2 our reason makes that           
hypothesis1 and its  verification in our
 experience is one of the ideals of     
science1 as its  validity is one of the 
assumptions of daily life4 ,in throwing 
over all  human ideas1 because they are 
infected with humanity1 all human ideas 
are being sacrificed to one of them--the

 idea of an absolute reality4  ,if this 
idea1 being human1 deserved that such   
sacrifices should be made  for it1 have 
the other notions of the mind no rights8
 ,furthermore1 even  if we granted for  
the sake of argument a reality which our
 thoughts  were essentially helpless to 
represent1 whence comes the duty of our 
thoughts to represent it8 ,whence comes 
the value of this unattainable  truth8  
,from an ideal of human reason4 ,we     
covet truth4 ,so that the  attempt to   
surrender all human science as relative 
and all human ideals  as trivial is     
founded on a blind belief in one human  
idea and an  absolute surrender to one  
human passion4    ,in spite of these    
contradictions1 which only a            
dispassionate logic  could thoroughly   
unravel1 the enthusiast is apt to rush  
on4 ,the vision  of absolute truth and  
absolute reality intoxicates him1 and as
 he  is too subtle a thinker1 too inward
 a man1 to accept the content of  his   
senses or the conventions of his        

intelligence for unqualified  verities1 
he fortifies himself against them with  
the consciousness of  their relativity1 
and seeks to rise above them in his     
meditations4  ,but to rise to what8 ,to 
some more elaborate idea8 ,to some      
object1  like a scientific cosmos or a  
religious creed1 put together by longer 
and more indirect processes than those  
of common perception8 ,surely  not4 ,if 
,i renounce my senses and vulgar        
intellect because they are  infected    
with finitude and smell of humanity1 how
 shall ,i accept  a work of art1 a      
product of reasoning1 or an idol made   
originally  with hands and now encrusted
 all over1 like the statue of ,glaucus1 
with traditional accretions8 ,poetry1   
science1 and religion1 in their         
positive constructions1 are more human1 
more conditioned1 than are the  senses  
and the common understanding themselves4
 ,the lover of inviolate  reality must  
not look to them4 ,if the data of human 
knowledge must be  rejected as          

subjective1 how much more should we     
reject the inferences  made from those  
data by human thought4 ,the way of true 
wisdom1  therefore1 if true wisdom is to
 deal with the ,absolute1 can only lie  
in abstention3 neither the senses nor   
the common understanding1 and  much less
 the superstructure raised upon these by
 imagination1 logic1  or tradition1 must
 delude us3 we must keep our thoughts   
fixed upon the  inanity of all this in  
comparison with the unthinkable truth1  
with the  undivided and unimaginable    
reality4 ,everything1 says the mystic1  
is  nothing1 in comparison with the     
,one4    ,this confusion1 the logical   
contradiction of which we have just     
seen1  may1 for lack of a more specific 
word1 be called mysticism4 ,it consists 
in the surrender of a category of       
thought on account of the discovery  of 
its relativity4 ,if ,i saw or reasoned  
or judged by such a category1  ,i should
 be seeing1 reasoning1 or judging in a  
specific manner1 in  a manner           

conditioned by my finite nature4 ,but   
the specific and the  finite1 ,i feel1  
are odious2 let me therefore aspire to  
see1 reason and  judge in no specific or
 finite manner--that is1 not to see1    
reason or  judge at all4 ,so ,i shall be
 like the ,infinite1 nay ,i shall become
 one  with the ,infinite and 7marvellous
 thought67 one with the ,one4    ,the   
ideal of mysticism is accordingly       
exactly contrary to the ideal  of       
reason2 instead of perfecting human     
nature it seeks to abolish it2  instead 
of building a better world1 it would    
undermine the foundations  even of the  
world we have built already2 instead of 
developing our mind  to greater scope   
and precision1 it would return to the   
condition of  protoplasm--to the blessed
 consciousness of an ,unutterable       
,reality4 ,in  the primary stages1 of   
course1 mysticism does not venture to   
abolish  all our ideas1 or to renounce  
all our categories of thought4 ,thus    
many  ,christian mystics have still     

clung1 out of respect for authority1  to
 traditional theology1 and many         
philosophical mystics have made  some   
room for life and science in the        
post-scripts which they1 like           
,parmenides1 have appended to the blank 
monism of their systems4 ,but  such     
concessions or hesitations are          
inconsistent with the mystical  spirit  
which will never be satisfied1 if fully 
developed and fearless1  with anything  
short of ,absolute ,nothing4    ,for the
 very reason1 however1 that mysticism is
 a tendency to  obliterate distinctions1
 a partial mysticism often serves to    
bring  out with wonderful intensity     
those underlying strata of experience   
which it has not yet decomposed4 ,the   
razing of the edifice of reason  may    
sometimes discover its foundations4 ,or 
the disappearance of one  department of 
activity may throw the mind with greater
 energy into  another4 ,so ,spinoza1 who
 combined mysticism in morals with      
rationalism  in science1 can bring out  

the unqualified naturalism of his system
  with a purity and impressiveness      
impossible to men who still retain an   
ideal world1 and seek to direct         
endeavour as well as to describe it4    
,having renounced all ideal categories1 
,spinoza has only the material          
categories left with which to cover the 
ground4 ,he thus acquires all  the      
concentrated intensity1 all the splendid
 narrowness1 which had  belonged to     
,lucretius1 while his mystical treatment
 of the spheres  which ,lucretius simply
 ignored1 gives him the appearance of a 
greater  profundity4 ,so an ordinary    
,christian who is mystical1 let us say1 
about time and space1 may use his       
transcendentalism in that sphere to     
intensify his positivism in theology1   
and to emphasize his whole-souled       
surrender to a devout life4    ,what is 
impossible is to be a transcendentalist 
all 'round4 ,in that  case there would  
be nothing left to transcend2 the civil 
war of the  mind would have ended in the

 extermination of all parties4 ,the art 
of  mysticism is to be mystical in spots
 and to aim the heavy guns of your      
transcendental philosophy against those 
realities or those ideas which  you find
 particularly galling4 ,planted on your 
dearest dogma1 on your  most precious   
postulate1 you may then transcend       
everything else to your  heart's        
content4 ,you may say with an air of    
enlightened profundity  that nothing is 
really right or wrong1 because in       
,nature all things  are regular and     
necessary1 and ,god cannot act for      
purposes as if  his will were not       
already accomplished2 your mysticism in 
religion  and morals is kept standing1  
as it were1 by the stiff backing which  
is furnished by your materialistic      
cosmology4 ,or you may say with a  tone 
of devout rapture that all sights and   
sounds are direct messages  from ,divine
 ,providence to the soul1 without any   
objects really  existing in space2 your 
mysticism about the world of perception 

and  scientific inference is sustained  
by the naive theological dogmas  which  
you substitute for the conceptions of   
common sense4 ,yet among  these         
partialities and blind denials a man's  
positive insight seems to  thrive1 and  
he fortifies and concentrates himself on
 his chosen ground  by his arbitrary    
exclusions4 ,the patient art of         
rationalizing the  various sides of     
life1 the observational as well as the  
moral1 without  confusing them1 is an   
art apparently seldom given to the haste
 and  pugnacity of philosophers4        
,thus mysticism1 although a principle of
 dissolution1 carries with it  the      
safeguard that it can never be          
consistently applied4 ,we reach it  only
 in exceptional moments of intuition1   
from which we descend to our  pots and  
pans with habits and instincts virtually
 unimpaired4 ,life goes  on2 virtues and
 affections endure1 none the worse1 the 
mystic feels1  for that slight film of  
unreality which envelops them in a mind 

not  unacquainted with ecstasy4 ,and    
although mysticism1 left free to express
  itself1 can have no other goal than   
,nirvana1 yet moderately indulged  in   
and duly inhibited by a residuum of     
conventional sanity1 it serves  to give 
a touch of strangeness and elevation to 
the character and to  suggest superhuman
 gifts4 ,it is not1 however1 in the     
least superhuman4  ,it is hardly even   
abnormal1 being only an exaggeration of 
a rational  interest in the highest     
abstractions4 ,the divine1 the          
universal1 the  absolute1 even the ,one1
 are legitimate conceptions4 ,they are  
terms  of human thought having as such a
 meaning in language and a place  in    
speculation4 ,those who live in the     
mind1 whose passions are only  audible  
in the keen overtones of dialectic1 are 
no doubt exalted and  privileged        
natures1 choosing a better part which   
should not be taken  from them4 ,so the 
poet and the mathematician have their   
spheres of  abstract and delicate       

labour1 in which a liberal legislator   
would not  disturb them4 ,trouble only  
arises when the dialectician represents 
his rational dreams as knowledge of     
existences1 and the mystic his          
excusable raptures as the only way of   
life4 ,poets and mathematicians do  not 
imagine that their pursuits raise them  
above human limitations and  are no part
 of human life1 but rather its only goal
 and justification4  ,such a pretension 
would be regarded as madness in the     
mathematician  or the poet2 and is not  
the mystic as miserably a man8 ,is he   
not  embodying1 at his best1 the        
analytic power of a logician1 or the    
imagination of an enthusiast1 and1 at   
his worst1 the lowest and most  obscure 
passions of human nature8    ,yes1 in   
spite of himself1 the mystic remains    
human4 ,nothing is  more normal than    
abstraction4 ,a contemplative mind drops
 easily  its practical preoccupations1  
rises easily into an ideal sympathy     
with impersonal things4 ,the wheels of  

the universe have a wonderful  magnetism
 for the human will4 ,our consciousness 
likes to lose itself  in the music of   
the spheres1 a music that finer ears are
 sometimes  privileged to catch4 ,the   
better side of mysticism is an sthetic  
interest in large unities and cosmic    
laws4 ,the sthetic attitude is  not the 
moral1 but it is not for that reason    
illegitimate4 ,it gives us  refreshment 
and a foretaste of that perfect         
adaptation of things to  our faculties  
and of our faculties to things which1   
could it extend  to every part of       
experience1 would constitute the ideal  
life4 ,such  happiness is denied us in  
the concrete2 but a hint and example of 
it  may be gathered by an abstracted    
element of our nature as it travels     
through an abstracted world4 ,such an   
indulgence adds to the value of  reality
 only such value as it may itself have  
in momentary experience2  it may have a 
doubtful moral effect on the happy      
dreamer himself4 ,but  it serves to keep

 alive the conviction1 which a confused 
experience  might obscure1 that         
perfection is essentially possible2 it  
reminds  us1 like music1 that there are 
worlds far removed from the actual      
which are yet living and very near to   
the heart4 ,such is the fruit  of       
abstraction when abstraction bears any  
fruit4 ,if the imagination  merely      
alienates us from reality1 without      
giving us either a model for  its       
correction or a glimpse into its        
structure1 it becomes the refuge  of    
poetical selfishness4 ,such selfishness 
is barren1 and the fancy1  feeding only 
on itself1 grows leaner every day4      
,mysticism is usually an  incurable     
disease4 ,facts cannot arouse it1 since 
it never denied them4  ,reason cannot   
convince it1 for reason is a human      
faculty1 assuming a  validity which it  
cannot prove4 ,the only thing that can  
kill mysticism  is its own uninterrupted
 progress1 by which it gradually devours
 every  function of the soul and at     

last1 by destroying its own natural     
basis1  immolates itself to its         
inexorable ideal4    ,need we ask1 after
 all these reflections1 where we should 
look for  that expansion and elevation  
of the mind which the mystic seeks so   
passionately and so unintelligently8 ,we
 can find that expansion1 in  the first 
place1 in the imagination itself4 ,that 
is the true realm of  man's infinity1   
where novelty may exist without falsity 
and perpetual  diversity without        
contradiction4 ,but such exercise of    
imagination  leaves the world of        
knowledge untouched4 ,is there no escape
 from the  prison1 as the mystic thinks 
it1 of science and history which shall  
yet not carry us beyond reality8 ,is    
there no truth beyond conventional      
truth1 no life behind human existence8  
,certainly4 ,behind the discovered there
 is the discoverable1 beyond  the       
actual1 the possible4 ,science and      
history are not exhausted4 ,in  their   
determinate directions they are as      

infinite as fancy in its                
indetermination4 ,the spectacle which   
science and history now spread  before  
us is as far beyond the experience of an
 ephemeral insect as any  ,absolute can 
be beyond our own2 yet we have put that 
spectacle together  out of just such    
sensations as the insect may have--out  
of this  sunlight and this buzz and     
these momentary throbs of existence4    
,the  understanding has indeed          
supervened1 but it has supervened not to
 deny  the validity of those sensations1
 but to combine their messages4 ,we may 
still continue in the same path1 by the 
indefinite extension of science  over a 
world of experience and of intelligible 
truth4 ,is that prospect  insufficient  
for our ambition8 ,with a world so full 
of stuff before  him1 ,i can hardly     
conceive what morbid instinct can tempt 
a man to look  elsewhere for wider      
vistas1 unless it be unwillingness to   
endure the  sadness and the discipline  
of the truth4    ,but can our situation 

be made better by refusing to understand
 it8 ,if  we renounced mysticism        
altogether and kept imagination in its  
place1  should we not live in a clearer 
and safer world1 as well as in a  truer8
 ,nay1 are we sure that this gradually  
unfolding1 intelligible1  and real world
 would not turn out to be more congenial
 and beautiful  than any wilful fiction1
 since it would be the product of a     
universal  human labour and the scene of
 the accumulated sufferings and triumphs
  of mankind8 ,when we compare the      
temple which we call ,nature1 built of  
sights and sounds by memory and         
understanding1 with all the wonderful   
worlds evocable by the magician's wand1 
may we not prefer the humbler  and more 
lasting edifice1 not only as a dwelling1
 but even as a house  of prayer8 ,it is 
not always the loftiest architecture    
that expresses  the deepest soul2 the   
inmost religion of the ,pagan haunted   
his  hearth as that of the ,christian   
his catacombs or his hermitage4 ,so     

philosophy is more spiritual in her     
humility and abstinence than in  her    
short-lived audacities1 and she would do
 well to inscribe over her  gates what1 
in an ancient ,spanish church1 may be   
seen written near the  steep entrance to
 a little subterraneous crypt3--        
,wouldst thou pass this lowly door8     
,go1 and angels greet thee there2       
,for by this their sacred stair      ,to
 descend is still to soar4      ,bid a  
measured silence keep      ,what thy    
thoughts be telling o'er2      ,sink1 to
 rise with wider sweep      ,to the     
heaven of thy rest1      ,for he climbs 
the heavens best      ,who would touch  
the deepest deep4          ,,ii         
,,the ,,homeric ,,hymns      ,we of this
 generation look back upon a variety of 
religious conceptions  and forms of     
worship1 and a certain unsatisfied      
hunger in our own souls  attaches our   
attention to the spectacle4 ,we observe 
how literally  fables and mysteries were
 once accepted which can have for us now

 only  a thin and symbolical meaning4   
,judging other minds and other ages  by 
our own1 we are tempted to ask if there 
ever was any fundamental  difference    
between religion and poetry4 ,both seem 
to consist in what  the imagination adds
 to science1 to history1 and to morals4 
,men looked  attentively on the face of 
,nature3 their close struggle with her  
compelled them to do so3 but before     
making statistics of her movements  they
 made dramatizations of her life4 ,the  
imagination enveloped the  material     
world1 as yet imperfectly studied1 and  
produced the cosmos of  mythology4      
,thus the religion of the ,greeks was1  
we might say1 nothing but poetry3       
nothing but what imagination added to   
the rudiments of science1 to  the first 
impressions of a mind that pored upon   
natural phenomena and  responded to them
 with a quick sense of kinship and      
comprehension4  ,the religion of the    
,hebrews might be called poetry with as 
good  reason4 ,their sense for conduct  

and their vivid interest in their       
national destiny carried them past any  
prosaic record of events or  cautious   
theory of moral and social laws4 ,they  
rose at once into a  bold dramatic      
conception of their race's covenant with
 ,heaven3 just  such a conception as the
 playwright would seek out in order to  
portray  with awful acceleration the    
ways of passion and fate4 ,finally1 we  
have  apparently a third kind of poetry 
in what has been the natural religion   
of the detached philosophers of all     
ages4 ,in them the imagination  touches 
the precepts of morals and the ideals of
 reason1 attributing  to them a larger  
scope and more perfect fulfilment than  
experience can  show them to have4      
,philosophers ever tend to clothe the   
harmonies of  their personal thought    
with universal validity and to assign to
 their  ideals a latent omnipotence and 
an ultimate victory over the forces of  
unreason4 ,this which is obviously a    
kind of poetry is at the same time  the 

spontaneous religion of conscience and  
thought4    ,yet religion in all these  
cases differs from a mere play of the   
imagination in one important respect2 it
 reacts directly upon life2  it is a    
factor in conduct4 ,our religion is the 
poetry in which we  believe4 ,mere      
poetry is an ineffectual shadow of life2
 religion is1  if you will1 a phantom   
also1 but a phantom guide4 ,while it    
tends to  its own expansion1 like any   
growth in the imagination1 it tends also
  to its application in practice4 ,such 
an aim is foreign to poetry4 ,the       
inspirations of religion demand fidelity
 and courageous response on  our part4  
,faith brings us not only peace1 not    
only the contemplation  of ideal        
harmonies1 but labour and the sword4    
,these two tendencies--to  imaginative  
growth and to practical                 
embodiment--coexist in every  living    
religion1 but they are not always       
equally conspicuous4 ,in the  formative 
ages of ,christianity1 for instance1    

while its legends were  being gathered  
and its dogma fixed1 the imaginative    
expansion absorbed  men's interest2     
later1 when the luxuriant branches of   
the ,church began  to shake off their   
foliage1 and there came a time of year  
,when yellow leaves1 or none1 or few1 do
 hang      ,upon those boughs which     
shake against the cold1    the energy of
 religious thought1 released from the   
enlargement of  doctrine1 spent itself  
upon a more rigid and watchful          
application of  the residuum of faith4  
,in the ,pagan religion the element of  
applicability might seem at first  sight
 to be lacking1 so that nothing would   
subsist but a poetic fable4  ,an        
unbiassed study of antiquity1 however1  
will soon dispel that idea4  ,besides   
the gods whom we may plausibly regard as
 impersonations of  natural forces1     
there existed others2 the spirits of    
ancestors1 the  gods of the hearth1 and 
the ideal patrons of war and the arts4  
,even the  gods of ,nature inspired     

reverence and secured a cultus only as  
they  influenced the well-being of man4 
,the worship of them had a practical    
import4 ,the conception of their nature 
and presence became a sanction  and an  
inspiration in the conduct of life4     
,when the figments of the  fancy are    
wholly divorced from reality they can   
have no clearness or  consistency2 they 
can have no permanence when they are    
wholly devoid of  utility4 ,the         
vividness and persistence of the figures
 of many of the  gods came from the fact
 that they were associated with         
institutions and  practices which       
controlled the conception of them and   
kept it young4  ,the fictions of a poet1
 whatever his genius1 do not produce    
illusion  because they do not attach    
themselves to realities in the world of 
action4 ,they have character without    
power and names without local           
habitations4 ,the gods in the beginning 
had both4 ,their image1 their  haunts1  
the reports of their apparitions and    

miracles1 gave a nucleus  of empirical  
reality to the accretions of legend4    
,the poet who came  to sing their       
praise1 to enlarge upon their exploits1 
and to explain  their cultus1 gave less 
to the gods in honour than he received  
from  them in inspiration4 ,all his     
invention was guided by the genius of   
the  deity1 as represented by the       
traditions of his shrine4 ,this poetry1 
then1 even in its most playful mood1 is 
not mere poetry1 but religion4  ,it is a
 poetry in which men believe2 it is a   
poetry that beautifies and  justifies to
 their minds the positive facts of their
 ancestral worship1  their social unity1
 and their personal conscience4         
,these general reflections may help us  
to approach the hymns of ,homer  in a   
becoming spirit4 ,for in them we find   
the extreme of fancy1 the  approach to a
 divorce between the imagination and the
 faith of the  worshipper4 ,consequently
 there is danger that we may allow      
ourselves  to read these lives of the   

gods as the composition of a profane    
poet4  ,if we did so we should fail to  
understand not only their spirit as  a  
whole but many of their parts1 in which 
notes are struck now of  devotion and   
affectionate pride1 now of gratitude and
 entreaty4 ,these  may be addressed1 it 
is true1 to a being that has just been  
described  as guilty of some signal vice
 or treachery1 and the contradiction may
  well stagger a ,puritan critic4 ,but  
the lusts of life were once for  all in 
the blood of the ,pagan gods1 who were  
the articulate voices of  ,nature and of
 passion4 ,the half-meant exaggeration  
of a well-known  trait in the divinity  
would not render the poets that indulged
 in it  unwelcome to the god2 he could  
feel the sure faith and affection of    
his worshippers even in their           
good-humoured laughter at his imaginary 
plights and naughtiness4 ,the clown was 
not excluded from these rites4  ,his wit
 also counted as a service4    ,the     
,homeric ,hymns1 if we may trust the    

impression they produce on  a modern1   
are not hymns and are not ,homer's4     
,they are fragments of  narrative in    
,ionic hexameter recited during the     
feasts and fairs at  various ,greek     
shrines4 ,they are not melodies to be   
chanted with a  common voice by the     
assemblage during a sacrifice2 they are 
tales  delivered by the minstrel to the 
listening audience of citizens and      
strangers4 ,they usually have a local   
reference4 ,thus we find under the      
title of a hymn to ,apollo a song of    
,delos and one of ,delphi4 ,delos is  a 
barren rock2 its wealth was due to the  
temple that attracted to the  place     
pilgrimages and embassies1 not without  
rich offerings1 from many  ,greek       
cities4 ,accordingly we hear how ,leto  
or ,latona1 when about to  become the   
mother of ,apollo1 wandered about the   
cities and mountains  of ,greece and    
,asia1 seeking a birthplace for her son4
 ,none would  receive her1 but all the  
islands trembled at the awful honour of 

such a  nativity1 profitable as the     
honour might eventually prove1--        
,until at length      ,the lovely       
goddess came to ,delos' side      ,and1 
making question1 spake these wingd      
words3      ',delos1 were it thy will to
 be the seat      ,of my young son      
,apollo1 brightest god1      ,and build 
him a rich fane1 no other power         
,should ever touch thee or work ill upon
 thee4      ,i tell thee not thou shalt 
be rich in kine      ,or in fair flocks1
 much fruit1 or myriad flowers2         
,but when ,apollo of the far-felt dart  
,hath here his shrine1 all men will     
gather here      ,bringing thee         
hecatombs4444 ,and though thy soil be   
poor1      ,the gods shall make thee    
strong against thy foes4'    ,the spirit
 of the island is naturally not averse  
to so favourable a  proposition but1    
like some too humble maiden wooed by a  
great prince1  has some misgivings lest 
this promise of unexpected good fortune 
should  veil the approach of some worse 

calamity4 ,when the god is born into    
the light of day1 she says1 will he not 
despise me1 seeing how barren  ,i am1   
and sink me in the sea                  
,that ever will      ,oppress my heart  
with many a watery hill8      ,and      
therefore let him choose some other     
land1      ,where he shall please1 to   
build at his command      ,temple and   
grove set thick with many a tree4       
,for wretched polypuses breed in me1    
,retiring chambers1 and black sea-calves
 den      ,in my poor soil1 for penury  
of men4#a    ,leto reassures the island1
 however1 and swears to build a great   
temple there which her son will haunt   
perpetually1 preferring it to  all his  
other shrines4 ,delos consents1 and     
,apollo is born amid the  ministrations 
of all the goddesses except ,hera1 who  
sits indignant  and revengeful in the   
solitudes of ,olympus4 ,the child is    
bathed in  the stream and delicately    
swaddled2 but after tasting the nectar  
and  ambrosia which one of the nymphs is

 quick to offer him1 he bursts his      
bands1 calls for his bow and his lyre1  
and flies upward into the sky           
announcing that he will henceforth      
declare the will of ,zeus to mortals4   
,thereupon--        ,all the immortals  
stood      ,in deep amaze4444      ,all 
,delos1 looking on him1 all with gold   
,was loaded straight1 and joy'd to be   
extoll'd4      ,for so she flourished1  
as a hill that stood      ,crown'd with 
the flower of an abundant wood4#b       
,this legend1 with all that accompanies 
it concerning the glories of  ,delos and
 its gods1 and the pilgrimages and games
 that enlivened the  island1 was        
well-conceived to give form and         
justification to the  cultus of the     
temple1 and to delight the votaries whom
 custom or vague  instincts of piety had
 gathered there4 ,the sacred poet1 in   
another part  of this hymn1 does the    
same service to the even greater        
sanctuary of  ,delphi4 ,he tells us how 
,apollo wandered over many lands and    

waters1  and he stops lovingly to recall
 the names of the various spots that    
claimed the honour of having at some    
time been visited by the god4  ,the     
minstrels1 wanderers themselves1 loved  
to celebrate in this way  the shores    
they had seen or heard of1 and to fill  
at the same time  their listener's minds
 with the spell of sonorous names1 the  
sense of  space and the thrill of       
mystery4 ,in his journeys ,apollo1 the  
hymn tells  us1 finally came to the dell
 and fountain of ,delphusa on the skirts
  of ,parnassus4 ,the nymph of the spot1
 fearing the encroachments of so  much  
more powerful a deity1 deceived him and 
persuaded him to plant  his temple on   
another site1 where ,parnassus fronts   
the west1 and the  overhanging rocks    
form a cavern4 ,there ,apollo           
established his temple  for the succour 
and enlightenment of mankind1 while     
,trophonius and  ,agamedes1 sons of     
,erginus1 men dear to the immortal gods1
 built the  approaches of stone4        

,thus the divine origin of the temple is
 vindicated1 the structure  described1  
and the human architects honoured1 whose
 descendants1  very likely1 were present
 to hear their ancestors' praise4 ,but  
here  a puzzling fact challenges the    
attention and stimulates the fancy of   
the poet3 ,apollo was a ,dorian deity1  
yet his chief shrine was here  upon     
,phocian ground4 ,perhaps some          
traditions remained to suggest an       
explanation of the anomaly2 at any rate 
the poet is not at a loss  for an       
account of the matter4 ,the temple being
 established1 ,apollo  bethought himself
 what race of priests he should make its
 ministers3  at least1 such is the nave 
account in the poem1 which expects us   
to forget that temples do not arise in  
the absence of predetermined  servants  
and worshippers4 ,while pondering this  
question1 however1  ,apollo cast his    
eyes on the sea where it chanced that a 
swift ship1  manned by many and         
excellent ,cretans1 was merrily sailing3

 whereupon  the god1 taking the form of 
a huge dolphin1 leapt into the ship1 to 
the  infinite surprise and bewilderment 
of those worthy merchants1 who1 as      
innocent as the fishers of the ,galilan 
,lake of the religious destiny  that    
awaited them1 were thinking only of the 
pecuniary profits of their  voyage4 ,the
 presence of the god benumbed their     
movements1 and they  stood silent while 
the ship sailed before the wind4 ,and   
the blast1  veering at this place with  
the changed configuration of the coast1 
blew  them irresistibly to the very foot
 of ,parnassus1 to the little haven of  
,crissa4 ,there ,apollo appeared to them
 once more1 this time running down  to  
the beach to meet them in the form of   
,a stout and lusty fellow1      ,his    
mighty shoulders covered with his mane2 
,who sped these words upon the wings of 
sound3      ',strangers1 who are ye8 and
 whence sail ye hither      ,the watery 
ways8 ,come ye to traffic justly        
,or recklessly like pirates of the deep 

,rove ye1 adventuring your souls1 to    
bring      ,evil on strangers8 ,why thus
 sit ye grieving1      ,nor leap on     
land1 nor strike the mast and lay it    
,in your black ship8 ,for so should     
traders do      ,when1 sated with the   
labour of the sea1      ,they quit their
 painted galley for the shore1      ,and
 presently the thought of needful food  
,comes gladsomely upon them4' ,so he    
spake1      ,putting new courage in     
their breasts4 ,to whom      ,the       
,cretan captain in his turn replied3    
',since thou art nothing like to things 
of earth      ,in form or stature1 but  
most like the gods      ,that ever live1
 ,hail1 and thrice hail1 ,o ,stranger1  
,and may the gods pour blessings on thy 
head4      ,now tell me truly1 for ,i   
need to know1      ,what land is this1  
what people1 from what race             
,descended8 ,as for us1 over the deep   
,broad sea1 we sought another haven1    
,pylos1      ,sailing from ,crete1 for  
thence we boast to spring2      ,but now

 our ship is cast upon this shore1      
,for some god steered our course against
 our will4'      ,then the far-darter   
spoke and answered them4      ',friends1
 in well-wooded ,cnossus hitherto       
,ye have had homes1 but ye shall not    
again      ,return to your good native  
town1 to find      ,each his fair house 
and well-belovd wife1      ,but here    
shall ye possess my temple1 rich        
,and greatly honoured by the tribes of  
men4      ,for ,i am son to ,zeus4      
,apollo is      ,my sacred name4 ',twas 
,i that led you hither      ,over the   
mighty bosom of the deep1               
,intending you no ill2 for ye shall here
      ,possess a temple sacred to me1   
rich1      ,and greatly honoured of all 
mortal men4      ,the counsels of the   
deathless gods shall be      ,revealed  
to you1 and by their will your days     
,shall pass in honour and in peace for  
ever4      ,come then and1 as ,i bid1   
make haste to do4      444 ,build by the
 sea an altar2 kindle flame2            

,sprinkle white barley grains thereon1  
and pray1      ,standing about the      
altar4 ,and as first      ,ye saw me    
leap into your swift black bark      ,in
 likeness of a dolphin1 so henceforth   
,worship me by the name ,delphinius1    
,and ,delphian ever be my far-seen      
shrine4'    ,thus the establishment of  
the ,dorian god in ,phocis is explained1
 and  the wealth and dignity of his     
temple are justified by prophecy and  by
 divine intention4 ,for ,apollo is not  
satisfied with repeatedly  describing   
the future temple1 by an incidental     
epithet1 as opulent2  that hint would   
not have been enough for the simplicity 
of those  merchant sailors1 new as they 
were to the mysteries of priestcraft4   
,it was necessary for ,apollo to allay  
their fears of poverty by a more        
explicit assurance that it will be easy 
for them to live by the altar4  ,and    
what is more1 ,hermes and all the       
thieves he inspires will respect  the   
shrine2 its treasures1 although         

unprotected by walls1 shall be safe     
for-ever4    ,these were truly1 as we   
see1 the hymns of a levitical           
patriotism4 ,with  ,homeric breadth and 
candour they dilated on the miracles1   
privileges1  and immunities of the      
sacred places and their servitors1 and  
they thus  kept alive in successive     
generations an awe mingled with familiar
  interest toward divine persons and    
things which is characteristic of  that 
more primitive age4 ,gods and men were  
then nearer together1 and  both yielded 
more frankly to the tendency1 inherent  
in their nature1 to  resemble one       
another4    ,the same quality is found  
in another fragment1 the most beautiful 
and  the most familiar of all4 ,this is 
the hymn to ,demeter in which two       
stories are woven together1 one telling 
of the rape of ,persephone1 and  the    
other of the reception of ,demeter1     
disguised in her sorrow1 into  the      
household of ,celeus1 where she becomes 
the nurse of his infant son  ,demophoon4

 ,both stories belong to the religion of
 ,eleusis1 where this  version of them  
seems intended to be sung4 ,the place   
was sacred to  ,demeter and ,persephone 
and its mysteries dealt particularly    
with the  passage of souls to the nether
 world and with their habitation there4 
,the pathetic beauty of the first       
fable--in which we can hardly abstain   
from seeing some symbolical             
meaning--expresses for us something of  
the  mystic exaltation of the local     
rites2 while the other tale of ,celeus1 
his wife1 his daughters1 and his son1   
whom his nurse1 the disguised  goddess1 
almost succeeds in endowing with        
immortality1 celebrates the  ancient    
divine affinities of the chiefs of the  
,eleusinian state4    ,the first story  
is too familiar to need recounting2 who 
has not heard  of the gentle ,persephone
 gathering flowers in the meadow and    
suddenly  swallowed by the yawning earth
 and carried away to ,hades1 the god of 
the nether world1 to share his sombre   

but sublime dominion over the           
shades8--a dignity of which she is not  
insensible1 much as she grieves  at the 
separation from her beloved mother2 and 
how ,demeter in turn  is disconsolate   
and 7in her wrath and despair at the    
indifference of  the gods7 conceals her 
divinity1 refuses the fruits of the     
earth1 and  wanders about in the guise  
of an old woman1 nursing her grief1     
until  at last ,zeus sends his messenger
 to ,hades to effect a compromise2 and  
,persephone1 after eating the grain of  
pomegranate that obliges her to  return 
yearly to her husband1 is allowed to    
come back to the upper  world to dwell  
for two-thirds of the year in her       
mother's company4    ,the underlying    
allegory is here very interesting4 ,we  
observe how the  genius of the ,greek   
religion1 while too anthropomorphic to  
retain any  clear consciousness of the  
cosmic processes that were symbolized by
 its  deities and their adventures1 was 
anthropomorphic also in a moral way1    

and tended to turn the personages which 
it ceased to regard as symbols  of      
natural forces into types of human      
experience4 ,so the parable of  the seed
 that must die if it is to rise again   
and live an immortal1 if  interrupted1  
life in successive generations1 gives   
way in the tale of  ,demeter and        
,persephone1 to a prototype of human    
affection4 ,the devotee1  no longer     
reminded by his religion of any cosmic  
laws1 was not reduced  to a mere        
superstition1--to a fable and a belief  
in the efficacy of  external rites1--he 
was encouraged to regard the mystery as 
the  divine counterpart of his own      
experience4 ,his religion in forgetting 
to be natural had succeeded in becoming 
moral2 the gods were now  models of     
human endurance and success2 their      
histories offered sublime  consolations 
to mortal destiny4 ,fancy had turned the
 aspects of ,nature  into persons2 but  
devotion1 directed upon these imaginary 
persons1  turned them into human ideals 

and into patron saints1 thereby relating
  them again to life and saving them    
from insignificance4    ,a further      
illustration of the latter              
transformation may be found in the      
second story contained in our hymn4     
,demeter1 weary of her wanderings  and  
sick at heart1 has come to sit down     
beside a well1 near the house  of       
,celeus4 ,his four young daughters1     
dancing and laughing1 come to  fetch    
water in their golden jars1--        ,as
 hinds or heifers gambol in the fields  
,when ,spring is young4    ,they speak  
kindly to the goddess1 who asks them for
 employment4 ,and  for me1 she says1--  
,and for me1 damsels1 harbour pitiful   
,and favouring thoughts1 dear children1 
that ,i come      ,to some good man's or
 woman's house1 to ply      ,my task in 
willing service of such sort      ,as   
agd women use4 ,a tender child      ,i  
could nurse well and safely in my arms1 
,and tend the house1 and spread the     
master's couch      ,recessed in the    

fair chamber1 or could teach      ,the  
maids their handicraft4    ,the offer is
 gladly accepted1 for ,celeus himself   
has an infant son1  ,demophoon1 the hope
 of his race3 ,the aged woman enters the
 dwelling1  making in her long-robed    
grief a wonderful contrast to the four  
sportive girls3--        ,who lifting up
 their ample kirtle-folds      ,sped    
down the waggon-furrowed way1 and shook 
,their curls about their                
shoulders--yellow gold      ,like       
crocuses in bloom4    ,once within the  
house1 which she awes with her          
uncomprehended presence1  the goddess   
sits absorbed in grief1 until she is    
compelled to smile  for a moment at the 
jests of the quick-witted maid ,iambe1  
and consents  to take in lieu of the    
wine that is offered her1 a beverage of 
beaten  barley1 water1 and herbs4 ,these
 details are of course introduced to    
justify the ritual of ,eleusis1 in which
 the clown and the barley-water  played 
a traditional part4    ,thus ,demeter   

becomes nurse to ,demophoon1 but she has
 ideas of  her duties differing from the
 common1 and worthy of her unusual      
qualifications4 ,she neither suckles nor
 feeds the infant but anoints  him with 
ambrosia and lays him at night to sleep 
on the embers of the  hearth4 ,this his 
watchful mother discovers with not      
unnatural alarm2  when the goddess      
reveals herself and departs1 foiled in  
her desire to  make her nursling        
immortal4    ,the spirit that animates  
this fable is not that poetic frivolity 
which  we are accustomed to associate   
with ,paganism4 ,here we find an        
immortal  in profoundest grief and      
mortals entertaining an angel unawares2 
we are  told of supernatural food1 and  
of a burning fire that might make this  
mortal put on immortality did not the   
generous but ignorant impulses of  the  
natural man break in upon that          
providential purpose and prevent its    
consummation4 ,eleusis was the natural  
home for such a myth1 and we may  well  

believe that those initiated into the   
mysteries there were taught  to dwell on
 its higher interpretation4    ,but     
there are other hymns in a lighter vein 
in which the play of  fancy is not      
guided by any moral intuition4 ,the hymn
 to ,hermes is one  perpetual ebullition
 of irresponsible humour4    ,hermes is 
the child of ,maia1 a nymph of ,cyllene 
whose cave ,zeus has  surreptitiously   
visited while the white-armed           
,juno--for1 unsympathetic  prude as this
 goddess may be1 she must still be      
beautiful--slept  soundly in ,olympus4  
,the child is hardly born when he       
catches a  tortoise1 kills it1 scoops   
out the shell1 and makes a lute of it1  
upon  which he begins to play delicious 
music4 ,not satisfied with that feat1   
however1 he escapes from his cradle1 and
 drives from their pasture  the kine    
that ,apollo has left feeding there4    
,accused afterward of this  mischief1 he
 defends himself after the following    
fashion1 while he lies  in his crib1    

holding his new-made lyre lightly in his
 hand under the  bedclothes4 ,i quote   
,shelley's version3--        ',an       
ox-stealer should be both tall and      
strong          ,and ,i am but a little 
new-born thing        ,who yet1 at      
least1 can think of nothing wrong4      
,my business is to suck1 and sleep1 and 
fling        ,the cradle-clothes about  
me all day long1          ,or1          
half-asleep1 hear my sweet mother sing  
,and to be washed in water clean and    
warm          ,and hushed and kissed and
 kept secure from harm4'        99      
99       99       99       99       99  
,sudden he changed his plan1 and with   
strange skill         ,subdued the      
strong ,latonian1 by the might       ,of
 winning music1 to his mightier will4   
,his left hand held the lyre1 and in his
 right       ,the plectrum struck the   
chords3 unconquerable         ,up from  
beneath his hand in circling flight     
,the gathering music rose--and sweet as 
,love       ,the penetrating notes did  

live and move        ,within the heart  
of great ,apollo4 ,he         ,listened 
with all his soul1 and laughed for      
pleasure4       ,close to his side stood
 harping fearlessly         ,the        
unabashd boy1 and to the measure        
,of the sweet lyre there followed loud  
and free         ,his joyous voice3 for 
he unlocked the treasure       ,of his  
deep song1 illustrating the birth       
,of the bright ,gods1 and the dark      
desert ,earth2        ,and how to the   
,immortals every one         ,a portion 
was assigned of all that is4       ,but 
chief ,mnemosyne did ,maia's son        
,clothe in the light of his loud        
melodies4       ,and1 as each god was   
born or had begun1         ,he in their 
order due and fit degrees       ,sung of
 his birth and being--and did move      
,apollo to unutterable love4    ,in     
fact1 after the most enthusiastic       
encomiums on the young god's art1  and  
on the power of music in general1       
,apollo offers the child his  protection

 and friendship3--        ,now1 since   
thou hast1 although so very small1      
,science of arts so glorious1 thus ,i   
swear1--       ,and let this cornel     
javelin1 keen and tall1         ,witness
 between us what ,i promise here1--     
,that ,i will lead thee to the ,olympian
 hall1         ,honoured and mighty1    
with thy mother dear1       ,and many   
glorious gifts in joy will give thee    
,and even at the end will ne'er deceive 
thee4    ,hermes is not insensible to   
this offer and its advantages2 he       
accepts  it with good grace and many    
compliments1 nor does he wish to remain 
behind in the exchange of courtesies and
 benefits3 he addresses ,apollo  thus3--
        ,thou canst seek out and compass
 all that wit         ,can find or      
teach4 ,yet1 since thou wilt1 come1 take
       ,the lyre--be mine the glory     
giving it--         ,strike the sweet   
chords1 and sing aloud1 and wake        
,the joyous pleasure out of many a fit  
,of tranced sound--and with fleet       

fingers make8       ,thy liquid-voiced  
comrade speak with thee1--       ,it can
 talk measured music eloquently4        
,then bear it boldly to the revel loud1 
,love-wakening dance1 or feast of solemn
 state1       ,a joy by night or day3   
for those endowed         ,with art and 
wisdom who interrogate       ,it        
teaches1 babbling in delightful mood    
,all things which make the spirit most  
elate4       ,soothing the mind with    
sweet familiar play1       ,chasing the 
heavy shadows of dismay4        ,to     
those that are unskilled in its sweet   
tongue1         ,though they should     
question most impetuously       ,its    
hidden soul1 it gossips something       
wrong--         ,some senseless and     
impertinent reply4       ,but thou1 who 
art as wise as thou art strong1         
,canst compass all that thou desirest4  
,i       ,present thee with this        
music-flowing shell1       ,knowing thou
 canst interrogate it well4444          
,apollo is not slow to learn the new art

 with which he is ever after  to delight
 both gods and men2 but he is not at    
first quite at ease in  his mind1       
fearing that ,hermes will not only      
recapture the lyre but  steal his       
friend's bow and arrows into the        
bargain4 ,hermes1 however1  swears by   
all that is holy never to do so1 and the
 friendship of the  two artful gods is  
sealed for ever4 ,the minstrel does not 
forget1 at  this point1 to remind his   
hearers1 among whom we may imagine not a
 few  professional followers of ,hermes 
to have been mixed1 that the robber's   
honour is pledged by his divine patron  
to respect the treasures of  ,apollo's  
shrines4 ,let not the votary think1 he  
adds1 that ,apollo's  oracles are       
equally useful to good and to bad men3  
these mysteries  are truly efficacious  
only for the pious and orthodox who     
follow the  established traditions of   
the temple and honour its servants4     
,apollo  says3--                        
,he who comes consigned       ,by voice 

and wings of perfect augury       ,to my
 great shrine shall find avail in me3   
,him ,i will not deceive1 but will      
assist4         ,but he who comes       
relying on such birds       ,as chatter 
vainly1 who would strain and twist      
,the purpose of the gods with idle      
words1       ,and deems their knowledge 
light1 he shall have missed         ,his
 road--whilst ,i among my other hoards  
,his gifts deposit4444    ,the wildest  
fairy-story thus leads easily to a      
little drama not  without its human     
charm and moral inspiration2 while the  
legend is  attached to the cultus1 and  
the cultus is intertwined with the      
practice  and sanctions of daily life4  
,even here1 in its most playful mood1   
therefore1 this mythological poetry     
retains the spirit and function  of     
religion4 ,even here sacerdotal         
interests are not forgotten4 ,delphi    
shall be safe2 the lyre is ,apollo's by 
right although it be ,hermes' by        
invention4 ,a certain amiable harmony is

 after all drawn from the riot  of      
foolishness4 ,all is sweet and          
unmalicious and lovable enough1 and  the
 patronage of both the friendly gods1   
the enthusiast and the wag1  may be     
invoked with confidence and benefit4    
,not less remarkable1 although for other
 reasons1 is the hymn to  ,aphrodite4   
,here we find a more human fable and a  
more serious tone3  while the poem1 if  
we choose to consider it in its         
allegorical meaning1  touches one of the
 deepest convictions of the ,greek      
conscience4 ,all the  gods save         
three--,athena1 ,artemis1 and           
,hestia1--are subject to the power  of  
,aphrodite1 ,zeus at least as much as   
the rest4 ,in revenge for this          
subjection1 ,zeus determines to make    
,aphrodite feel the passion which  she  
boasts to be able to inspire in others4 
,the fair shepherd ,anchises feeds his  
flocks upon ,mount ,ida1 and with  him  
,aphrodite is made to fall in love4 ,she
 presents herself to him in a  human    

disguise1 and meets his advances with a 
long account of her birth  and          
parentage1 and begs him to take her back
 to her parents1 and having  asked for  
her hand and fulfilled all customary    
formalities1 to lead her  away as his   
lawful wife4 ,the passion which at the  
same time1 however1  she is careful to  
breathe into him cannot brook so long a 
delay3 and  she yields to his           
impatience4 ,when about to leave him she
 awakes him  from his sleep1 turns upon 
him the full glance of her divinity1 and
  reveals her name and his destiny4 ,she
 will bear him a son1 neas1 who  will be
 one of the greatest princes and heroes 
of ,troy2 but he himself  will be       
stricken with feebleness and a premature
 old age1 in punishment  for the        
involuntary sacrilege which he has      
committed4    ,the description of the   
disguised goddess1 with its ,homeric    
pomp and  elaborate propriety1 is a     
noble and masterly one1 underlined1 as  
it were1 with a certain satirical or    

dramatic intention2 we have  the        
directness of a ,nausicaa1 with a more  
luxurious and passionate  beauty4 ,the  
revelation of the goddess is wonderfully
 made1 with that  parallel movement of  
natural causes and divine workings which
 is so  often to be admired in ,homer4  
,the divinity of the visitant appears   
only at the moment of her flight1 when  
she becomes a consecration and  an      
unattainable memory4 ,the sight of deity
 leaves the eyes dull1 like  those of   
the ,platonic prisoners returning from  
the sunlight of truth  into the den of  
appearance4 ,nay more1 a communion with 
the divinity1  closer than is consonant 
with human frailty1 leaves the seer     
impotent  and a burden upon the world2  
but this personal tragedy is not without
  its noble fruits to posterity4        
,anchises suffers1 but his son neas1 the
  issue of that divine though punishable
 union1 lives to bear1 not only  the    
aged ,anchises himself1 but the gods of 
,ilium1 out of the ruins of  ,troy4     

,such analogies carry us1 no doubt1 far 
beyond the intention of the hymn  or of 
the exoteric religion to which it       
ministers4 ,the story-teller's  delight 
in his story is the obvious motive of   
such compositions1 even  when they      
reflect indirectly the awe in which the 
divine impersonations  of natural forces
 were held by the popular religion4 ,all
 that we may  fairly imagine to have    
been in the mind of the pious singer is 
the  sense that something divine comes  
down among us in the crises of our      
existence1 and that this visitation is  
fraught with immense although  vague    
possibilities of both good and evil4    
,the gods sometimes appear1  and when   
they do they bring us a foretaste of    
that sublime victory of  mind over      
matter which we may never gain in       
experience but which may  constantly be 
gained in thought4 ,when natural        
phenomena are conceived  as the         
manifestation of divine life1 human life
 itself1 by sympathy  with that ideal   

projection of itself1 enlarges its      
customary bounds1  until it seems       
capable of becoming the life of the     
universe4 ,a god  is a conceived victory
 of mind over ,nature4 ,a visible god is
 the  consciousness of such a victory   
momentarily attained4 ,the vision soon  
vanishes1 the sense of omnipotence is   
soon dispelled by recurring  conflicts  
with hostile forces2 but the momentary  
illusion of that  realized good has left
 us with the perennial knowledge of good
 as an  ideal4 ,therein lies the essence
 and the function of religion4    ,that 
such a function was fulfilled by this   
,homeric legend1 with all its  love of  
myth and lust of visible beauty1 is     
witnessed by another short  hymn1 which 
we may quote almost entire by way of    
conclusion4 ,it is  addressed to ,castor
 and ,polydeuces1 patrons of sailors no 
less than of  horsemen and boxers4 ,it  
is impossible to read it without feeling
 that  the poet1 however entangled he   
may have been in superstition and fable1

  grasped that high essence of religion 
which makes religion rational4 ,he  felt
 the power of contemplation to master   
the contradictions of life  and to      
overspread experience1 sublime but      
impalpable1 like a rainbow  over        
retreating storms3--        ,ye         
wild-eyed ,muses1 sing the ,twins of    
,jove      444 ,mild ,pollux1 void of   
blame1      ,and steed-subduing ,castor1
 heirs of fame4      ,these are the     
powers who earth-born mortals save      
,and ships1 whose flight is swift along 
the wave4      ,when wintry tempests    
o'er the savage sea      ,are raging1   
and the sailors tremblingly      ,call  
on the ,twins of ,jove with prayer and  
vow1      ,gathered in fear upon the    
lofty prow1      ,and sacrifice with    
snow-white lambs--the wind      ,and the
 huge billow bursting close behind      
,even then beneath the weltering waters 
bear      ,the staggering ship1--they   
suddenly appear1      ,on yellow wings  
rushing athwart the sky1      ,and lull 

the blasts in mute tranquillity         
,and strew the waves on the white       
ocean's bed1      ,fair omen of the     
voyage2 from toil and dread      ,the   
sailors rest1 rejoicing in the sight1   
,and plough the quiet sea in safe       
delight4#c      #a ,chapman's version4  
#b ,chapman's version4    #c ,shelley's 
translation4          ,,iii      ,,the  
,,dissolution ,,of ,,paganism           
,greek religion seems to have contained 
three factors of unequal  prominence1   
but ultimately of about equal importance
 and longevity4  ,most obvious1         
especially if we begin our study with   
,homer1 is the  mythology which presents
 us with a multitude of gods1 male and  
female1  often related by blood1 and    
having social and even hostile relations
  with one another4 ,if we examine their
 characters1 attributes1 and  fables1 we
 readily perceive that most of them are 
impersonations of  natural forces4      
,some1 however1 figure prominently as   
patrons of special  arts or special     

places1 as ,apollo of prophecy and      
music1 of ,delos and  ,delphi2 and yet  
others seem to be wholly                
personifications of human  powers1 as   
,athena of prudence and of martial and  
industrial arts4    ,underlying this    
mythology is another element1 probably  
more ancient1  the worship of ancestors1
 local divinities1 and domestic gods4   
,with  these were naturally connected   
various ritual observances1 and         
especially the noblest and most         
important of rites1 the sacrifice4      
,such practices may be supposed to have 
belonged originally to the  tribal      
religion1 and to have passed by analogy 
to the great natural  gods1 when these  
had been once created by the poet and   
perhaps  identified with the older      
genius of that spot where their efficacy
 was  first signally manifested4        
,finally1 as a third element1 we find   
the religion of the priests1            
soothsayers1 and magicians1 as well as  
the rites of ,orpheus1 ,bacchus1  and   

the ,great ,goddesses at ,eleusis4      
,these forms of worship showed          
,oriental affinities and partook of a   
kind of nocturnal horror and  mystical  
enthusiasm4 ,they were the ,greek       
representatives of the  religion of     
revelation and of sacraments1 and bore  
much the same  relation to the          
supernaturalistic elements in           
,christianity as does  the idea of a    
shade in ,hades to the idea of a soul in
 heaven4 ,the  fundamental intuitions   
were the same1 but in ,pagan times they 
remained  vague1 doubtful1 and          
incoherent4    ,these three forms of    
religion lay together in men's minds and
 habits  throughout the formative period
 of ,greek literature4 ,there was an    
occasional rivalry among them1 but the  
tolerance characteristic  of ,paganism  
could reconcile their claims without    
much difficulty1  and admit them all to 
a share of honour4 ,the history of the  
three  elements1 however1 differs       
essentially1 as might be expected after 

a  consideration of their respective    
natures4 ,the antique family religion   
lived by inertia2 it was obeyed without 
being justified theoretically1  and     
remained strong by its very obscurity4  
,many customs which a man  may have     
occasion to conform to only once or     
twice in his life endure  for ages and  
survive the ebb and flow of intellectual
 and political  systems4 ,nursery tales1
 trivial superstitions1 customs         
connected  with weddings or funerals1 or
 with certain days of the year1 have a  
strange and irrational persistence2 they
 surprise us by emerging into           
prominence after centuries of a sort of 
subterraneous existence4 ,thus  the     
deification of ,roman emperors was not  
the sacrilegious innovation  which it   
might appear to be1 but on the contrary 
a restoration of the  spirit of the most
 ancient faith1 a revival called to the 
aid of a new  polity by the mingled     
statecraft and superstition of the      
times4 ,thus1  too1 the ,christian care 

in the burial of the dead 7contrary as  
it is to  the theoretical spiritualism  
of ,christianity71 the feast of ,all    
,souls1  and the prayers for the        
departed are evidences of the same      
latent human  religion underlying the   
cosmic flights and public controversies 
of  theology4    ,the mysteries1 on the 
other hand1 had essentially a spirit of 
self-consciousness and propaganda4 ,they
 came as revelations or as  reforms2    
they pretended to disclose secrets      
handed down from remote  antiquity1 from
 the primeval revelation of ,god to man1
 or truths  recovered by the inspiration
 of later prophets supernaturally       
illumined4 ,the history of these        
movements is1 accordingly1 the          
history-of sects4 ,they never           
constituted the normal and common       
religion  of the people1 and never      
impressed their spirit on the national  
literature4 schylus or ,plato may have  
borrowed something from them2  but they 
did so most when they assumed an        

attitude of open opposition  to the     
exoteric religion of their country4     
,thus when ,plato makes his  ,socrates  
propound a ,pythagorean or ,orphic      
doctrine of transmigration1  he         
represents the very members of the      
,socratic circle as surprised1  or as   
incredulous3 and when they are finally  
silenced by the proofs  advanced1 it is 
only because they are overawed by the   
dogmatic unction  of a dying sage1 who  
stimulates their imagination with poetic
 myths1  and confuses their intellect   
with verbal equivocations4 ,when the    
mist  of the argument has cleared away1 
like incense after the sacrifice1  there
 remains indeed a profound emotion1 a   
catharsis produced by the  sublimity and
 pathos1 so artfully mingled1 of both   
scene and argument2  but the bare       
doctrine enunciated1 true and profound  
as it is in its  deeper meaning1 is     
quite incapable of appealing to an      
undisciplined  mind1 and could not pass 
for a religious dogma except for the    

priestly  robes in which it is dressed4 
,thus the function of the mysteries  of 
which ,plato's ,phdo may be regarded as 
a philosophic echo1 was  to be the      
vehicle of revolutionary tendencies1    
tendencies which a  philosopher might   
privately shape in one way and a        
superstitious man in  another4 ,both    
could find in the spell of an occult    
ceremonial and in  the prophecies of an 
oracular creed an escape from the       
limitations of  the official religion4  
,mysticism and the claim to illumination
 found  in these mysteries their natural
 expression4 ,the many fundamental      
questions left unanswered and unasked by
 ,paganism1 the many  potentialities of 
religious emotion left unexercised by   
it1 were thus  allowed to appear4       
,independently of these two             
comparatively silent streams of         
religious  life1 we may trace the       
current of polytheistic theology1--a    
current  which naturally left a plainer 
trace in literature1 since it contained 

all there might be in ,greece of        
speculation and controversy in          
religious matters4 ,the moral sanctions 
of religion were embodied in the        
domestic and civic worship2 the pious   
imagination remained thereby all  the   
freer to follow the analogies of        
physical objects in its mythology4      
,apollo was the father of ,asclepius and
 the leader of the ,muses2 his  ideal   
dignity and beneficence were vouched for
 by those attributes4  ,he could well   
afford1 therefore1 as the ,sun-god1 to  
decimate the  ,greek army with the same 
fatal shafts with which he slew the     
,python4  ,the moral function of the god
 was certain on other grounds1 being    
enshrined in the local religions of the 
people4 ,the poet might follow  without 
scruple the suggestions of experience2  
he might attribute to  the god the      
various activities1 beneficent and      
maleficent1 observable  in the element  
over which he presided4 ,this is a      
liberty taken even  in the most         

moralistic religions4 ,in the ,gospels1 
for instance1 we  sometimes find the    
kingdom of heaven illustrated by        
principles drawn  from observation of   
this world rather than from an ideal    
conception of  justice2 as when we hear 
that to him that hath shall be given and
 from  him that hath not shall be taken 
away even that which he hath4 ,such     
characterizations appeal to our sense of
 fact4 ,they remind us that the  ,god we
 are seeking is present and active1 that
 he is the living ,god2  they are       
doubtless necessary if we are to keep   
religion from passing  into a mere      
idealism and ,god into the vanishing    
point of our thought  and endeavour4    
,for we naturally seek to express his   
awful actuality1  his unchallengeable   
power1 no less than his holiness and    
beauty4 ,this  sense of the real        
existence of religious objects can only 
be maintained  by identifying them with 
objects of actual experience1 with the  
forces  of ,nature1 or the passions or  

conscience of man1 or 7if it must come  
to  that7 with written laws or visible  
images4    ,an instinctive recognition  
of this necessity kept ,greek mythology 
ever ready to return to ,nature to      
gather its materials afresh from a      
docile1 if poetical1 observation of     
reality4 ,the character of the god  must
 be studied in the manifestations of his
 chosen element2 otherwise  men might   
forget that1 although the form of the   
god was poetical1 his  essence was a    
positive reality of the most practical  
kind4 ,zeus must  still toss his        
ambrosial locks with a certain          
irritation1 in order  that we may       
recognize him in the rumblings of the   
sky2 he must still  be capable of wrath 
and deliberate malice1 that his awful   
hand may be  thought to have hurled the 
thunderbolt4 ,cronos must not be        
forbidden  to devour his children1 else 
we should no longer reverence in him the
  inexorable might of time4 ,mythology  
was quite right in not shrinking  from  

such poetic audacities4 ,they were its  
chief title to legitimacy1  the proof1  
amid the embroideries of fancy which    
over-lay the divine  idea1 that the god 
was not an invention1 but a fact4 ,he   
had been found1  he was known4 ,his     
character1 like all character1 was      
merely a principle  which reflection    
discovered in his observed conduct4 ,the
 reality1 then1  of the mythological    
gods was initially unquestionable2 and  
the more  faithful the study of ,nature 
by which the poet was inspired1 the more
  authority did his prophetic vision    
retain4    ,but the intense imaginative 
vitality that must have preceded ,homer 
and  ,hesiod1 the prodigious gift of    
sympathetic observation to which we owe 
,zeus and ,pan and all their endless    
retinue1 was too glorious to last4  ,no 
later interpreter could find so much    
meaning in his text4 ,mythology  was    
accordingly placed in a sad dilemma1    
with either horn fatal to  its life2 it 
must either be impoverished to remain   

sincere1 or become  artificial to remain
 adequate4 ,the history of ,greek       
religion1 on its  speculative side1 is  
nothing but the story of this double    
decadence4  ,reflection upon the process
 of ,nature and desire for philosophic  
truth  led inevitably to a blank        
pantheism and to the reduction of       
positive  traditions to moral           
allegories4 ,this was the direction     
taken by the  ,stoic theology4 ,on the  
other hand1 adherence to the traditional
 gods1  with no further vivifying       
reference to their natural functions in 
the world1 could lead only to arbitrary 
fictions1 which1 having no  foothold or 
justification in reality1 were incapable
 of withstanding  the first sceptical   
attack4 ,what an age of imagination had 
intuited as  truth1 an age of reflection
 could preserve only as fable2 and as   
fable1  accordingly1 the religion of the
 ancients survived throughout the       
,christian ages4 ,it remains still the  
mother-tongue of the imagination  and1  

in spite of all revolutions and         
admixtures1 is the classic  language of 
art and poetry1 which no other means of 
expression has  superseded4             
,beginning1 however1 with that zealous  
,protestant1 the old ,xenophanes1  the  
austerer minds1 moralists1 naturalists1 
and wits1 united in  decrying the       
fanciful polytheism of the poets4 ,this 
criticism was  in one sense unjust2 it  
did not consider the original           
justification  of mythology in human    
nature and in the external facts4 ,it   
was1  like all heresy or partial        
scepticism1 in a sense superficial and  
unphilosophical4 ,it was far from       
conceiving that its own tenets and      
assumptions were as groundless1 without 
being as natural or adequate1  as the   
system it attacked4 ,to a person        
sufficiently removed by time or  by     
philosophy from the controversies of    
sects1 orthodoxy must always  appear    
right and heresy wrong2 for he sees in  
orthodoxy the product of  the creative  

mind1 of faith and constructive logic1  
but in heresy only  the rebellion of    
some partial interest or partial insight
 against the  corollaries of a formative
 principle imperfectly grasped and      
obeyed  with hesitation4 ,at a distance1
 the criticism that disintegrates any   
great product of art or mind must always
 appear short-sighted and  unamiable4   
,socrates1 invoking2 the local deities  
of brooks and meadows1  or paying the   
debt of a cock to ,asclepius 7in        
thanksgiving1 it is said1  for a happy  
death71 is more reasonable and noble to 
our mind than are  the hard denials of  
,xenophanes or ,theodoras4 ,but in their
 day the  revolt of the sceptics had its
 relative justification4 ,the           
imagination  had dried up1 and what had 
once been a natural interpretation of   
facts now seemed an artificial addition 
to them4 ,an elaborate and  irrelevant  
world of fiction seemed to have been    
imposed on human  credulity4 ,mythology 
was1 in fact1 already largely           

irrelevant2 the  experience poetized by 
it had been forgotten and the symbol1 in
 its  insignificance1 could not be      
honestly or usefully retained4    ,the  
,greek philosophers1 as a rule1         
proceeded cautiously in these  matters4 
,they passed mythology by with a        
conventional reverence and  looked      
elsewhere for the true object of their  
personal religion4 ,but  the old        
mythological impulse was not yet spent2 
it showed itself  still active in all   
the early philosophers who gave the     
godhead new  incarnations congruous with
 the character of their respective      
physical  systems4 ,to the ,socratic    
,school the natural world was no longer 
the  sphere in which divinity was to be 
found4 ,they looked for the divine      
rather in moral and intelligible ideas4 
,but not only did they carry the        
mythological instinct with them into    
that new field1 they also retained  it  
in the field of ,nature1 whenever they  
still regarded ,nature as real4  ,thus  

,aristotle1 while he rejected the       
anthropomorphism of the popular  faith1 
attributing it to political exigencies1 
turned the forty-nine  spheres1 of which
 he conjectured that the heaven might be
 composed1  into a pantheon of          
forty-nine divinities4 ,every primary   
movement1  he argued1 must be the       
expression of an eternal essence by     
which  the movement is justified1 as the
 movement of the mind in thinking  or   
loving is justified by the truth or     
excellence of the object of  thought or 
of love4 ,without such a worthy object1 
these spiritual  activities would be    
irrational2 and no less irrational would
 be the  motion of the spheres1 were    
each not obedient to the influence of   
some  sacred and immutable principle4   
,forty-nine gods accordingly exist2  but
 no more4 ,for1 since the essence of    
each is to be the governing  ideal of a 
motion1 the number of motions in the sky
 determines the  number of divine first 
principles4 ,the gods1 we see1 are still

 the  souls of ,nature2 a soul without a
 body would be a principle without an   
application2 there can be no gods1 then1
 without a phenomenal function1  no gods
 that do not appear in the operations of
 ,nature4 ,this astronomic  mythology   
was surely not less poetical than that  
of ,homer1 even if1 by  virtue of a     
certain cold and abstract purity1 not   
unworthy of the stars  of which it      
spoke1 it was more difficult and        
sublime4 ,we may observe in  it a last  
application of the ancient mythological 
method by which the  phenomena of       
,nature became evidence of the existence
 and character of  the gods4    ,but the
 celestial deities of ,aristotle1 and   
the minor creative gods of  ,plato that 
correspond to them1 retained too much   
poetic individuality  for the still     
poorer imagination of later times4 ,the 
most religious  of sects during the     
classical decadence was that of the     
,stoics2 in  them the spirit of         
conformity1 which is a chief part even  

of the  religions of hope1 constituted  
by its exclusive cultivation a religion 
of despair4 ,the name of ,zeus1 and an  
equally equivocal use of the word       
reason to designate the regularity of   
,nature1 served to disguise the  alien  
brutality of the power or law to which  
all the gods had been  reduced4 ,against
 the background of a materialistic      
pantheism1 in which  ,stoic speculation 
culminated1 two positive interests stood
 out3 one1  the resolute and truly human
 courage with which the ,stoic faced the
  reality as he conceived it1 and kept  
his dignity and his conscience  pure    
although heaven might fall2 the other1  
the efforts he made1 in his  need for   
religion1 to rejuvenate and reinterpret 
the pagan forms4 ,the  fables he turned 
into ethical allegories1 the oracles1   
auspices1 and  other superstitious      
rites1 he transformed into              
quasi-scientific ways of  reading the   
book of ,nature and forecasting events4 
,this possibility of prophecy           

constituted the ,stoic providence which 
the sentimentality of modern apologists 
has been glad to confuse  with the      
benevolent ,providence of ,christian    
dogma1 a ,providence  making for the    
salvation of men4 ,the ,stoic providence
 excluded that  essential element of    
benevolence2 it was merely the fact that
 ,nature  was prophetic of her own      
future1 that her parts1 both in space   
and in  time1 were magically composed   
into one living system4 ,mythology thus 
ended with the conception of a single   
god whose body was the whole  physical  
universe1 whose fable was all history1  
and whose character  was the principle  
of the universal natural order4 ,no     
attempt was made  by the ancient ,stoics
 to make this divinity better or more   
amiable  than the evidence of experience
 showed it to be2 the self-centred1     
self-sufficient ,stoic morality1 the    
recourse to suicide1 and the  equality  
in happiness and dignity between the    
wise man and ,zeus1 all  prove quite    

conclusively that nothing more was asked
 or expected of  ,nature than what she  
chose to give2 to be virtuous was in    
man's power1  and nothing else was a    
good to man4 ,the universe could neither
 benefit  nor injure him2 and thus we   
see that1 despite a reverential tone and
  an occasional reminiscence of the     
thunderbolts of ,zeus1 the ,stoic's     
conscience knew how to scorn the moral  
nothingness of that blank deity  to     
which his metaphysics had reduced the   
genial company of the gods4    ,thus the
 reality which the naturalistic gods had
 borrowed from the  elements proved to  
be a dangerous prerogative2 being real  
and manifest1  these gods had to be     
conceived according to our experience of
 their  operation1 so that with every   
advance in scientific observation       
theology had to be revised1 and         
something had to be subtracted from  the
 personality and benevolence of the     
gods4 ,the moral character  originally  
attributed to them necessarily receded  

before the clearer  definition of       
natural forces and the accumulated      
experience of  national disasters4      
,finally1 little remained of the gods   
except their  names1 reduced to         
rhetorical synonyms for the various     
departments of  ,nature2 ,phoebus was   
nothing but a bombastic way of saying   
the sun2  ,hephstus became nothing but  
fire1 ,eros or ,aphrodite nothing but   
love1  ,zeus nothing but the general    
force and law of ,nature4 ,thus the gods
  remained real1 but were no longer     
gods4 ,if belief in their reality  was  
to be kept up1 they could not retain too
 many attributes that  had no empirical 
manifestation4 ,they must be reduced1 as
 it were1 to  their fighting weight4    
,all that the imagination had added to  
them by  way of personal character1     
sanctity1 and life must be rejected as  
anthropomorphism and fable4    ,such is 
the necessary logic of natural religion4
 ,if ,nature manifests  the existence of
 a god1 she must to that extent manifest

 his character2  if she does not        
manifest his character1 she cannot      
involve his  existence4 ,we observe     
to-day a process exactly analogous to   
that by  which the natural divinities of
 ,greece were reduced again to the      
physical or social forces from which    
poetry had originally evoked  their     
forms4 ,many minds are grown too timid  
to build their religious  faith         
unblushingly on revelation1 or on that  
moral imagination or  inward demand     
which revelation comes to express and to
 satisfy4 ,they  seek1 therefore1 to    
naturalize the ,deity and to identify it
 with some  principle of history1 of    
,nature1 or of logic4 ,but this         
identification  cannot be made without  
great concessions on both sides4 ,the   
accommodations which ensue inevitably   
involve many equivocations1 and  some   
misrepresentations of the heterogeneous 
principles1 now natural1  now moral1    
which it is sought to unify4 ,confused  
and agonized by  these contradictions1  

the natural theologian1 if he keep his  
honesty1  can only rest in the end in a 
chastened recognition of the facts of   
experience1 toward which he will1 no    
doubt1 exercise his acquired  habits of 
acquiescence and euphemism4 ,but these  
habits1 the survival  of which gives his
 philosophy some air of being still a   
religion1 will  not be inherited by his 
disciples and successors2 a pious manner
 may  survive religious faith1 but will 
not survive it long4 ,the society  to   
whom the reformer teaches a reticent and
 embarrassed naturalism  will discard   
the reticence and avow the naturalism   
with pride4 ,the  masses of men will see
 no reason why they should not live out 
their  native impulses or acquired      
passions without fear of that environing
  power of which they are1 after all1   
the highest embodiment2 while a  few    
thinkers1 devout and rational by        
temperament1 will know how to  maintain 
their dignity of spirit in the face of a
 universe of which  they ask no favour  

save the revelation of its laws4 ,thus  
irreligion for  the many and ,stoicism  
for the few is the end of natural       
religion in the  modern world as it was 
in the ancient4    ,but natural religion
 7that is1 the turning of the facts and 
laws of  ,nature or of experience into  
an object of worship7 is by no means a  
primitive nor an ultimate form of       
religion2 it is rather of all the  forms
 of religion the most unnatural and the 
least capable of existing  without a    
historical and emotional setting1       
independent of its own  essence and     
inconsistent with its principle4 ,no    
nation has ever had  a merely natural   
religion4 ,what is called by that name  
has been the  appanage of a few         
philosophers in ages of religious       
disintegration1  when the habit of      
worship1 surviving the belief in any    
proper object  of worship1 has been     
transferred with effort and uncertainty 
to the  natural order which alone       
remained before the mind1--to the       

cosmos1  the self1 the state1 or        
humanity4 ,mythology1 of which natural  
religion  is the last and most abstract 
phase1 was originally religious only in 
so far as it was supernatural in so far1
 ,i mean1 as the analogies of  outer    
,nature led the poet to conceive some   
moral ideal1 some glorious  being full  
of youth and serenity1 of passion and   
wisdom4 ,only when  thus transfigured   
into the human could the natural seem   
divine4 ,the  ,greeks were never        
idolaters1 and no more worshipped the   
sun or moon  or the whole of ,nature    
than they did statues of bronze or      
marble2 they  worshipped only the god   
who had a temporal image in the temple  
as he  had an eternal image in the sun  
or in the universe4    ,it happened1    
therefore1 that in the decay of         
mythology the gods could  still survive 
as moral ideals4 ,the more they were cut
 off from their  accidental foothold in 
the world of fact1 the more clearly     
could they  manifest their essence as   

expressions of the world of values4 ,we 
have  mentioned the fact that the       
greater gods of ,greece were almost     
wholly  detached from the cosmographical
 hints which had originally suggested   
their character and fable4 ,thus        
emancipated1 these nobler gods could    
survive in the consciousness of the     
devout1 fixed there by their  purely    
moral significance and poetic truth4    
,apollo or ,athena showed  little or    
nothing of a naturalistic origin2 they  
were patrons of life1  embodiments of   
the ideal1 objects of contemplation for 
souls that by  prayer would rise to the 
semblance of the god to whom they       
prayed4 ,this  transformation into the  
moral had been going on from the        
beginning in  the religious mind of     
,greece4 ,it was really the legitimate  
fulfilment  of that translation into the
 human to which mythology itself was    
due4  ,but mythology had merely turned  
the physical into the personal and      
impassioned2 religion was now to turn   

the psychical into the good4  ,this     
tendency came to a vivid and rational   
expression in ,plato4 ,the  gods1 he    
declared1 should be represented only as 
they were1 i4e4 as  moral ideals4 ,the  
scandal of their fables should be       
removed and they  should be regarded as 
authors only of the good1 in their own  
lives as  in ours4 ,to refer all things 
to the efficacy of the gods should be   
accounted impiety4 ,they1 like the      
supreme and abstract principle of all   
excellence which they embodied1 could be
 the authors only of what is  good4     
,had this remarkable doctrine been      
carried out fully it would have led  to 
important results4 ,we should have had  
goodness as the criterion of  divinity1 
to the exclusion of power4 ,god would   
have become avowedly an  ideal1 a       
pattern to which the world might or     
might not conform4 ,such  potential     
conformity would have remained dependent
 on causes1 natural  or free1 with which
 ,god1 not being a power1 could have    

nothing to do4  ,plato and ,aristotle   
did1 in fact1 construct a theology on   
these lines1  but they obscured its     
purity in their well-meant attempts to  
connect  7more or less mythically or    
magically7 their own ,socratic principle
  of excellence with the cosmic         
principles of the earlier philosophers4 
,the elements of confusion and pantheism
 which were thus introduced  into the   
,socratic philosophy made it more       
acceptable1 perhaps1 to the  theologians
 of later times1 in whose religion a    
pantheistic tendency  was also latent4  
,in the hands of ,jewish1 ,christian1 or
 ,mohammedan  commentators the mythical 
and magical part of the ,greek          
conceptions  was naturally emphasized   
and the rational part reinterpreted and 
obscured4 ,plato had spoken1 in one of  
his myths1 of a ,demiurgos1 a           
personification of the ,idea of the     
,good1 who directly or indirectly  made 
the world in his own image1 rendering it
 as perfect as the  indeterminate ,chaos

 he worked on would allow4 ,aristotle   
had spoken of  an intelligence1 happy   
and self-contemplative1 who was the     
principle of  movement in the heavens1  
and through the heavens in the rest of  
,nature4  ,such expressions had a sound 
far too congruous with ,mosaic doctrine 
not  to be seized upon with joy by the  
apologists of the new faiths1 who  were 
glad to invoke the authority of classic 
poets and philosophers in  favour of    
doctrines that in their ,hebrew         
expression might so easily  seem crude  
and irrational to the ,gentiles4 ,this  
assimilation gave to  the casual myths  
of ,plato and to the meagre though bold 
argumentation  of ,aristotle a turn and 
a significance which they hardly had to 
their  authors4 ,if we approach these   
philosophers as we should from the point
  of view of ,greek literature and life1
 and prepare ourselves to see  in them  
the disciples of ,socrates rather than  
7what ,plato was once  actually declared
 to be7 the disciples of ,moses1 we     

shall see that  they were simply1       
mythologists of the ,ideal2 they refined
 the gods of  tradition into patrons of 
civic discipline and art1 the gods of   
natural  philosophy into principles of  
intelligibility and beauty4    ,the     
creation described in the ,timus is a   
transparent parable4 ,elements  which   
ethical reflection distinguishes in the 
field of experience  are turned in that 
dialogue1 with undisguised freedom of   
fancy1 into  so many half-personified   
primitive powers2 the ,ideas1 the       
,demiurgos1  ,chaos1 the ,indeterminate1
 and the gods of gods4 ,plato has not   
forgotten the lessons of ,socrates and  
,parmenides4 ,he distrusts as much  as  
they any natural or genetic philosophy  
of existence4 ,he virtually  tells us   
that1 if we must have a history of      
creation1 we can hardly  do better than 
to take ideal or moral principles1      
combine them as we  might so many       
material elements1 and see how the      
intelligible part  of existence may thus

 receive a quasi-explanation4 ,god      
remains the  creator of the good only1  
because what he is mythically said to   
create  is merely that in ,nature which 
spontaneously resembles him or conforms 
to his idea2 only this element in       
,nature is intelligible or good1 and    
therefore the principle of goodness may 
be said to be its cause4 ,thus1  for    
example1 if we chose to write an        
,anatomy of ,melancholy1 we might       
attribute to the ,demon of ,spleen or to
 the ,blue ,devils only the sombre      
elements of that soulful compound1      
which1 however1 the evil imps would     
eternally tend to make as absolutely    
dyspeptic and like unto themselves  as  
its primordial texture would allow4 ,in 
exactly such a way ,plato1  in his      
allegorical manner1 constructed a       
universe with a poetical  machinery of  
moral forces1 personified and treated as
 agents4 ,when  the thin veil of        
allegory is drawn aside1 there remains  
nothing but a  splendid illustration of 

the ,socratic philosophy2 we are taught 
that  the only science is moral science1
 and that1 if we wish to understand  the
 world1 we must bend our minds to the   
definition of its qualities  and values1
 which are all that is intelligible in  
it4 ,essences and  values alone are     
knowable and fixed and amenable to      
science4 ,if we  insist on history and  
cosmogony1 we must be satisfied with    
having them  presented to us in         
allegorical form1 and made to follow    
ethics as the  ,timus follows the       
,republic4 ,natural philosophy can be   
nothing but a  sort of analytic         
retrospect by which we trace the first  
glimmerings  and the progressive        
manifestation in ,nature of those ideas 
which have  authority over our own      
minds4    ,phenomena had for ,plato     
existence without reality1 that is1     
without  intelligibility or value4 ,they
 were a mere appearance4 ,we need not be
  surprised1 then1 that he refused      
altogether to construct a theology  by  

the poetic interpretation of phenomena  
and preferred to construct  one         
allegorically out of his moral          
conceptions1 the good and the  ideal4   
,aristotle1 too1 while adhering         
incidentally1 as we have seen1  to a    
purified astronomical theology1 capped  
this with a purified moral  theology of 
his own4 ,the ,platonic picture-gallery 
of ideas1 with  the abstract principle  
of excellence that unified them1 gave   
place  in his philosophy to an ,ideal   
realized in the concrete and existing   
as an individual4 ,we may venture to say
 that among the thinkers of  all nations
 ,aristotle was the first to reach the  
conception of what  may fitly be called 
,god4 ,neither the national deity of the
 ,hebrews1  as then conceived1 nor the  
natural deities of the ,gentiles1 nor   
the half-physical1 half-logical         
abstractions of the earlier ,greek      
philosophers really corresponded to the 
notion of a being spiritual1  personal1 
and perfect1 immutable without being    

abstract1 and omnipotent  without effort
 and without degradation4 ,aristotle    
first constructed  this ideal1 not out  
of his fancy1 but by building on the    
solid ground  of human nature and       
following to their point of union the   
lines  which moral aspiration and effort
 actually follow4 ,nay1 the ideal he    
pointed to was to be the goal not of    
human life only but of natural  life in 
all its forms4 ,the analytic study of   
,nature 7a study which at  the same time
 must be imaginative and sympathetic7   
could guide us to  the conception of her
 inner needs and tendencies and of what 
their  proper fulfilment would be4 ,we  
could then see that this fulfilment     
would lie in intelligence and thought4  
,growth is for the sake of the  fruition
 of life1 and the fruition of life      
consists in the pursuit and  attainment 
of objects4 ,the moral virtues belong to
 the pursuit1 the  intellectual to the  
attainment4 ,knowledge is the end of all
 endeavour1  the justification and      

fulfilment of all growth4 ,intelligence 
is the  clarification of love4    ,a    
being1 then1 whose life should be a life
 of pure and complete  knowledge1 would 
embody the goal toward which all ,nature
 strives4  ,when we ponder duly the     
short phrases in which ,aristotle       
propounds  his conception of ,god we    
find that he has called up before us the
  noblest possible object of human      
thought1 the presentiment of that       
thought's perfect fulfilment4 ,there is 
no alloy of naturalism in this          
conception1 and at the same time no     
suspicion of irrelevancy4 ,this  ,god is
 not a mere title of honour for the     
psycho-physical universe1  confusedly   
conceived and lumped together2 he is an 
ultra-mundane ideal1  to be an inviolate
 standard and goal for all moving       
reality4 ,yet he  is not irrelevant to  
the facts and forces of the world1 not  
the dream  of an abstracted poet4 ,he is
 an idea which reality everywhere evokes
  in evoking its own deepest craving and

 need4 ,nothing is so pertinent  and    
momentous in life as the object we are  
trying to attain by thought  or action1 
since that object is the source of our  
inspiration and  the standard of our    
success4 ,thus ,aristotle's ,god is not 
superfluous1  not invented4 ,this       
theology is a true idealism1 ,i mean an 
idealism  itself purely ideal1 which    
establishes the authority of human      
demands1  ethical1 and logical1 without 
impugning the existence or efficacy of  
that material universe which it endows  
with a meaning and a standard4    ,yet  
this rational conception1 the natural   
out-growth of the ,socratic  philosophy1
 establishes a dualism between the      
actual and the ideal  against which the 
human mind easily rebels4 ,aristotle    
himself was  hardly faithful to it4 ,he 
tried to prove the existence of his     
,god1 and  existence is something quite 
irrelevant to an ideal4 ,this confusion 
is  very excusable1 especially in an age
 when the strictly mechanical view  of  

,nature still seemed hopelessly         
inadequate4 ,aristotle consequently     
tried to understand the natural world by
 viewing it systematically  from the    
point of view of moral science1 as      
,plato had done less  coherently in his 
myths2 and hence came what we must      
regard as the  great error of           
,aristotle's philosophy1 the belief in  
the efficacy  of final causes and in the
 prexistence of entelechies4 ,but1 apart
  from this unhappy question of         
existence1 which is1 as we have said1   
irrelevant to an ideal1 ,aristotle's    
conception of ,god remains1 perhaps1    
the most philosophical that has yet been
 constructed4 ,without any  concessions 
to sentiment or superstition1 it        
presents us with a sublime  vision of   
the essentially human1 of a nature as   
free from an unworthy  anthropomorphism 
as from an inhuman abstractness4 ,it is 
made both human  and superhuman by the  
same principle of idealization4 ,it is  
the final  cause of ,nature and man1 the

 realization of their imminent upward   
effort1 the essence that would contain  
all their values and escape all  their  
imperfections4    ,we may well doubt1   
however1 whether men in general will    
ever be ready  to accept so austere a   
theology in guise of a religion2 they   
were  certainly not ready to do so at   
the end of the classical period4 ,the   
inheritance of ,paganism fell instead to
 ,christianity1 in which ethical  and   
naturalistic elements were again united1
 although united in a new  way4 ,for1   
while the scheme of ,paganism1 and of   
all the philosophies  that sought to    
rationalize ,paganism1 was cosmic and   
static1 the scheme  of ,christianity was
 historical4 ,they spoke of the dynamic 
relations of  heaven and earth1 or of   
the immutable hierarchy of ideas and    
essences2  even ,aristotle's ,god was   
somehow in spatial relations to the     
,universe  which he set in motion4 ,the 
religion of the ,hebrews1 on the other  
hand1 had been essentially historical   

and civic3 it had been concerned  with  
the moral destinies of ,israel and the  
dealings of ,jehovah with  his people4  
,christianity inherited this historical 
character2 its  mysteries occurred in   
time4 ,not only the redemption of the   
world but  the vocation and             
sanctification of the individual were   
progressive1  and when the habits and   
problems of ,christian theology were    
carried  over by the ,german idealists  
into the region of pure metaphysics1 the
  systems they conceived were still     
systems of evolution4 ,god was to be    
manifest in the development of things4  
,for ,christianity in its own way  had  
spoken from the beginning of a gradual  
and yet to be completed  descent of the 
divine into the natural by the agency of
 prophecy1 law1  and sacramental        
institutions2 it had represented the    
relations of ,god  to man in a vast     
historic drama1 of which creation       
constituted the  opening1 the fall and  
redemption the nexus1 and the last      

judgment the  unravelling4    ,thus     
appeared a new scheme for the           
unification of the natural and the      
moral4 ,the harmony which the old       
religion had failed to establish  in    
space and in ,nature1 the new sought to 
establish in history and  in time4 ,it  
was hoped that life and experience1 sin 
and redemption1  might manifest that    
divinity which had fled out of the sea  
and sky1  and which it seemed sacrilege 
to identify any longer with the animal  
vitality of the universe4 ,whether the  
same criticism that disintegrated       
mythology and isolated its elements of  
science and of poetry would  not be     
fatal to the new combination of the     
moral and the factual in  the history of
 man1 is hardly a question for us here4 
,suffice it to  point out the problem   
and to register the solution which was  
found  in the ancient world to the      
analogous problem that presented itself 
there4 ,the first impulse of the        
imagination is always to combine  in the

 object all the elements which lie      
together in the mind1 to  project them  
indiscriminately into a single          
conception of reality1  enriched with as
 many qualities as there are phases and 
values in our  experience4 ,but these   
phases and values have diverse origins  
and do not  permanently hang together4  
,it becomes after a while impossible to 
keep  them attached to a single image2  
they have to be distributed according   
to their true order and connections1    
some objectified into a physical        
universe of mechanism and law1 others   
built into a system of rational         
objects1 into a hierarchy of logical and
 moral ideas4 ,so the lovely  pantheon  
of the ,greeks yielded in time to       
analysis and was dissolved  into        
abstract science and conscious fable4   
,so1 too1 the body and soul  of later   
religions may come to be divided1 when  
they render back to  earth what they    
contain of positive history and to the  
heaven of man's  indomitable idealism   

what they contain of aspiration and     
hope4          ,,iv      ,,the ,,poetry 
,,of ,,christian ,,dogma      ,the      
deathbed of ,paganism was surrounded by 
doctors4 ,some1 the ,stoics1  advised a 
conversion into pantheism 7with an      
allegorical interpretation  of mythology
 to serve the purposes of edification72 
others1 the  ,neo-,platonists1          
prescribed instead a supernatural       
philosophy1 where the  efficacy of all  
traditional rites would be justified by 
incorporation  into a system of         
universal magic1 and the gods would find
 their  place among the legions of      
spirits and demons that were to people  
the concentric spheres4 ,but these      
doctors had no knowledge of the         
patient's natural constitution2 their   
medicines1 prescribed with the  best    
intentions1 were in truth poisons and   
only hastened the inevitable  end4 ,nor 
had the unfortunate doctors the         
consolation of being heirs4  ,parasites 
that they were1 they perished with the  

patron on whose  substance they had fed1
 and ,christianity1 their despised      
rival1 came  into sole possession4      
,yet ,neo-,platonism1 for all we can    
see1 responded as well as  ,christianity
 to the needs of the time1 and had      
besides great external  advantages in   
its alliance with tradition1 with civil 
power1 and with  philosophy4 ,if the    
demands of the age were for a revealed  
religion and  an ascetic morality1      
,neo-,platonism could satisfy them to   
the full4  ,why1 then1 should the       
,hellenic world have broken with the    
creations  of its own genius1 so        
plastic1 eloquent1 and full of resource1
 to  run after foreign gods and new     
doctrines that must naturally have  been
 stumbling-blocks to its prejudices1 and
 foolishness to its  intelligence8      
,shall we say that the triumph of       
,christianity was a  miracle8 ,is it not
 a doubtful encomium on a religion to   
say that only  by miracle could it come 
to be believed8 ,perhaps the forces of  

human  reason and emotion suffice to    
explain this faith4 ,we prefer to think 
so2 otherwise1 however complete and     
final the triumph of ,christianity      
might be1 it would not be justified or  
beneficent4    ,neo-,platonism arose in 
the midst of the same conditions as     
,christianity4 ,there was weariness and 
disgust with the life of nature1  decay 
of political virtue1 desire for some    
personal and supernatural  good4 ,it was
 hardly necessary to preach the doctrine
 of original  sin to that society2 the  
visible blight that had fallen on       
classic  civilization was proof enough  
of that4 ,what it was necessary to      
preach  was redemption4 ,it was         
necessary to point to some sphere of    
refuge and  of healthful resort1 where  
the ignominies and the frivolities of   
this  world might be forgotten1 and     
where the hunger of a heart left empty  
by its corroding passions might be      
finally satisfied4 ,but where find  such
 a supernatural world8 ,by what         

revelation learn its nature and be      
assured of its existence8               
,neo-,platonism opened vistas into the  
supernatural1 but the avenues of        
approach which it had chosen and the    
principle which had given form  to its  
system foredoomed it to failure as a    
religion4 ,this avenue was  dialectic1  
and this principle the hypostasis of    
abstractions4 ,plato  had pointed out   
this path in his genial allegories4 ,he 
had1 by a  poetical figure1 turned the  
ideas of reason into the component      
forces  of creation4 ,this was1 with    
him1 a method of expression1 but being  
the only method he was inclined to      
employ1 it naturally entangled  and     
occasionally1 perhaps1 deceived his     
intelligence2 for a poet  easily        
mistakes his inspired tropes for the    
physiology of ,nature4 ,yet  ,platonic  
dogma1 even when meant as such1 retained
 the transparency  and significance of a
 myth2 philosophy was still a language  
for the  expression of experience1 and  

dialectic a method and not a creed4 ,but
  the master's counters1 current during 
six centuries of intellectual           
decadence1 had become his disciples'    
money4 ,each of his abstractions  seemed
 to them a discovery1 each of his       
metaphors a revelation4 ,the  myths of  
the great dialogues1 and1 above all1 the
 fanciful machinery  of the ,timus1     
interpreted with an incredible          
literalness and naive  earnestness1 such
 as only ,biblical exegesis can rival1  
formed the  starting point of the new   
revelation4 ,the method and insight thus
  obtained were then employed in filling
 the lacun of the system and  spreading 
its wings wider and wider1 until a      
prodigious hierarchy of  supernatural   
existences had been invented1 from which
 the natural world  was made to depend  
as a last link and lowest emanation4    
,the baselessness and elaboration of    
this theology were1 of course1 far  from
 being obstacles to its success in such 
an age4 ,on the contrary1  the less     

evidence could be found in common       
experience for what a man  appeared to  
know1 the more deeply1 people inferred1 
must he be versed  in supernatural lore1
 and the greater1 accordingly1 was his  
authority4  ,nor was the spell of       
personal genius and even holiness       
wanting in the  leaders of the new      
philosophy to lend it colour and        
persuasiveness with  the many1 to whom  
metaphysical conceptions are less       
impressive than  is an eloquent         
personality1 or a reputation for        
miraculous powers4  ,plotinus1 to speak 
only of the greatest of the sect1 had1  
in fact1 a  notable success in his day4 
,his lectures at ,rome1 we are told1    
were  attended by all the fashion and   
intellect of the capital2 and his large 
and systematic thought1 his subtlety and
 precision1 his comparatively  sober    
eloquence1 and his assurance1 if we may 
say so1 in treading the  clouds1 have   
made him at all times a great authority 
with those persons  who look in         

philosophy rather for impressive results
 than for solid  foundations4 ,his      
contemporaries were eminently persons of
 that type4 ,a  hungry man1 when you    
bring him bread1 does not stop to make  
scrupulous  inquiries about the mill or 
the oven from which you bring it4       
,but the trouble was that the bread of  
,plotinus was a stone4 ,the heart       
cannot feed on thin and elaborate       
abstractions1 irrelevant to its  needs  
and divorced from the natural objects of
 its interest4 ,men will  often accept  
the baldest fictions as truths2 but it  
is impossible  for them to give a human 
meaning to vacuous conceptions1 or to   
grow  to love the categories of logic1  
interweaving their image with the       
actions and emotions of daily life4     
,religion must spring from the  people2 
it must draw its form from tradition and
 its substance from  the national       
imagination and conscience4             
,neo-,platonism drew both  form and     
substance from a system of abstract     

thought4 ,its gods were  still-born1    
being generated by logical dichotomy4   
,only in the lower  purlieus of the     
system1 filled in by accepting current  
superstitions1  was there any contact   
with something like vital religious     
forces4 ,but  those minor               
elements--hopes and fears about another 
world1 fasts and  penances1 ecstasies   
and marvels--had no necessary relation  
to that  metaphysical system4 ,such     
practices could be found in every       
religion1  in every philosophical sect  
of the time4 ,the ,alexandrian dialectic
 of  the supernatural accordingly       
remained a mere schema or skeleton1 to  
be  filled in with the materials of some
 real religion1 if such a religion      
should arise4 ,as such a schema the     
,neo-,platonic system actually passed   
over to ,christian theology1 furnishing 
the latter with its categories1  its    
language1 and its speculative method4   
,but that dialectic served in           
,christianity to give form to a         

religious substance furnished by ,hebrew
  and apostolic tradition1 a religious  
substance such as1 after the ,pagan     
religion was discredited1               
,neo-,platonism necessarily lacked and  
was  powerless to generate4    ,we have 
mentioned apostolic tradition4 ,it is   
fortunately not requisite  for our      
purpose to discuss the origin of this   
tradition1 much less to  decide how much
 of what the ,christian ,church         
eventually taught might  be traced to   
its ,founder4 ,that is a point which    
even the most thorough  scholars seem   
still to decide mainly by their         
prejudices1 perhaps  because other      
material is lacking on which to base a  
decision4 ,for our  present object we   
may admit the most extreme hypotheses as
 equally  possible4 ,the whole body of  
,catholic doctrine may have been        
contained  in the oral teaching of      
,christ2 or1 on the other hand1 a       
historical  ,jesus may not have existed 
at all1 or may have been one among many 

obscure ,jewish revolutionists1 the one 
who1 by accident1 came afterward  to be 
regarded as the initiator of a movement 
to which all sorts of  forces           
contributed1 and with which he had      
really had nothing to do4 ,in  either   
case the fact remains which alone       
interests us here2 that after  three or 
four centuries of confused struggles1 an
 institution emerged  which called      
itself the ,catholic ,church4 ,this     
church1 possessed of  a recognized      
hierarchy and a recognized dogma1       
triumphed1 both over  the ancient       
religion1 which it called ,paganism1 and
 over its many  collateral rivals1 which
 it called heresies4 ,why did it        
triumph8 ,what  was there in its novel  
dogma and practice that enchained the   
minds that  ,paganism could retain no   
longer1 and that would not be content   
with  ,neo-,platonism1 native1          
philosophical1 and pliable as that      
system was8    ,the answer1 to be       
adequate1 would have to be long2 but    

perhaps we  may indicate the spirit in  
which it ought to be conceived4         
,paganism  was a religion1 but was      
discarded because it was not            
supernatural3  ,neo-,platonism could not
 be maintained because it was not a     
religion4  ,christianity was both4 ,it  
had its roots in a national faith1      
moulded  by the trials and passions of a
 singularly religious people2 that      
connection with ,judaism gave           
,christianity a foothold in history1 a  
definite dogmatic nucleus1 which it was 
a true instinct in the ,church  never to
 abandon1 much as certain speculative   
heresies might cry out  against the     
unnatural union of a theory of          
redemption with one of  creation1 and of
 a world-denying ascetic idealism1 which
 ,christianity  was essentially1 with   
the national laws1 the crude deism1 and 
the  strenuous worldliness of the       
ancient ,jews4 ,however1 had the        
,gnostic  or ,manichan heresies been    
victorious1 ,christianity would have    

been  reduced to a floating speculation3
 its hard kernel of positive dogma1  of 
,scripture1 and of hieratic tradition   
would have been dissolved4 ,it  would   
have ceased to represent antiquity or to
 hand down an ancestral  piety3 in fine1
 by its eagerness to express itself as a
 perfect  philosophy1 it would have     
ceased to be a religion4 ,how essential 
an  element its ,hebraism was1 we can   
see now by the study of ,protestantism1 
a group of heresies in which the        
practical instincts and sentimental     
needs of the ,teutonic race found       
expression1 by throwing over more or    
less completely the ,catholic dogma and 
ritual4 ,yet in this revolution  the    
,protestants maintained1 or rather      
increased1 the intensity of their       
religious consciousness1 chiefly by     
absorbing the elements of ,hebrew  law  
and prophecy which they could find in   
the ,bible and casting into  that       
traditional form their personal         
conscience or their national  ideals4   

,how inadequate1 on the other hand1 this
 ,hebraic element would have  been to   
constitute the supernatural religion    
that was now needed1  appears very      
clearly from the case of ,philo ,judus4 
,here was a man1  heir to all the piety 
and fervour of his race1 who at the same
 time  was a ,neo-,platonist three      
hundred years before ,plotinus and1 as  
it  were1 the first ,father of the      
,church4 ,but his religion1 being       
national1  was not communicable and1    
being positivistic1 was at fundamental  
odds  with the spirit of his philosophy4
 ,it remained1 therefore1 as a merely   
personal treasure and heirloom1 the     
possession of his private life3  his    
disciples1 had he had any1 must either  
have been ,jews themselves  or else must
 have been the followers merely of his  
philosophy4 ,his  religion could not    
have passed to them2 they would have    
regarded it1 as  we might regard the    
,christianity of ,kant or the           
wife-worship of ,comte1  as a private   

circumstance1 a detached trait1 less    
damaging1 perhaps1 to  his philosophy   
than favourable to his loyal heart4     
,philo1 in his commentaries on the      
,bible1 sought to envelop and  transform
 every detail in the light of ,platonic 
metaphysics4 ,his  interpretations are  
often violent1 but the ingenuous        
artifice of them  would have delighted  
his contemporaries as much as himself1  
and was  adopted afterward by all the   
,fathers and theologians of the ,church4
  ,philo's theology was thus a success1 
even a model2 yet he failed1  because of
 the inadequacy of his religion4 ,what  
interest1 what  relevance1 could it have
 for any ,gentile to hear about the     
deliverance  of ,israel out of ,egypt or
 out of ,babylon1 or about circumcision 
and  prescribed meats1 or about the     
sacrifices in the ,temple8 ,what charm  
or  credibility could he find in further
 promises of glorious kingdoms1  flowing
 with milk and honey8 ,such images might
 later appeal to the  imagination of    

,new ,england ,puritans and make a      
religion for them3 but  what meaning    
could they have to the weary ,pagan8 ,no
 doubt the ,jews  carried with them an  
ideal of righteousness1 and prosperity2 
but the  ,gentile was sick of heroes and
 high priests and founders of cities4   
,stoic virtues were as vain in his eyes 
as ,sybaritic joys4 ,he did not  wish   
his passions to be flattered1 not even  
his pride or the passion  for a social  
,utopia4 ,he wished his passions to be  
mortified and his  soul to be redeemed4 
,he would not look for a ,messiah1      
unless he could  find him on a cross4   
,that is the essence of the matter4     
,what overcame the world1 because  it   
was what the world desired1 was not a   
moral reform--for that was  preached by 
every sect2 not an ascetic regimen--for 
that was practised  by heathen          
gymnosophists and ,pagan philosophers2  
not brotherly love  within the          
,church--for the ,jews had and have that
 at least in equal  measure2 but what   

overcame the world was what ,saint ,paul
 said he  would always preach3 ,christ  
and him crucified4 ,therein was a new   
poetry1 a new ideal1 a new ,god4        
,therein was the transcript of the  real
 experience of humanity1 as men found it
 in their inmost souls  and as they were
 dimly aware of it in universal history4
 ,the moving  power was a fable--for who
 stopped to question whether its        
elements  were historical1 if only its  
meaning were profound and its           
inspiration  contagious8 ,this fable had
 points of attachment to real life in a 
visible brotherhood and in an extant    
worship1 as well as in the  religious   
past of a whole people4 ,at the same    
time it carried the  imagination into a 
new sphere2 it sanctified the poverty   
and sorrow at  which ,paganism had      
shuddered2 it awakened tenderer         
emotions1 revealed  more human objects  
of adoration1 and furnished subtler     
instruments of  grace4 ,it was a whole  
world of poetry descended among men1    

like the  angels at the ,nativity1      
doubling1 as it were1 their habitation1 
so that  they might move through        
supernatural realms in the spirit while 
they  walked the earth in the flesh4    
,the consciousness of new loves1 new    
duties1 fresh consolations1 and luminous
 unutterable hopes accompanied  them    
wherever they went4 ,they stopped       
willingly in the midst of their         
business for recollection1 like men in  
love2 they sought to stimulate  their   
imaginations1 to focus1 as it were1 the 
long vistas of an  invisible landscape4 
,if the importunity of affairs or of    
ill-subdued passions disturbed  that    
dream1 they could still return to it at 
leisure in the solitude of  some shrine 
or under the spell of some canticle or  
of some sacramental  image2 and meantime
 they could keep their faith in reserve 
as their  secret and their resource4    
,the longer the vision lasted and the   
steadier it became1 the more closely1 of
 course1 was it intertwined  with daily 

acts and common affections2 and as real 
life gradually  enriched that vision    
with its suggestions1 so religion in    
turn  gradually coloured common life    
with its unearthly light4 ,in the saint1
  in the soul that had become already   
the perpetual citizen of that  higher   
sphere1 nothing in this world remained  
without reference to the  other1 nor was
 anything done save for a supernatural  
end4 ,thus the  redemption was actually 
accomplished and the soul was lifted    
above the  conditions of this life1 so  
that death itself could bring but a     
slight  and unessential change of       
environment4    ,morbid as this species 
of faith may seem1 visionary as it      
certainly  was1 it is not to be confused
 with an arbitrary madness or with      
personal illusions4 ,two circumstances  
raised this imaginative piety  to a high
 dignity and made it compatible with    
great accomplishments1  both in thought 
and in action4 ,in the first place the  
religious world  constituted a system   

complete and consistent within itself4  
,there was  occasion within it for the  
exercise of reason1 for the awakening   
and  discipline of emotion1 for the     
exertion of effort4 ,as music1 for all  
that it contains nothing of a material  
or practical nature1 offers  a field for
 the development of human faculty and   
presents laws and  conditions which1    
within its sphere1 must be obeyed and   
which reward  obedience with the keenest
 and purest pleasures2 so a supernatural
  religion1 when it is traditional and  
systematic like ,christianity1  offers  
another world1 almost as vast and solid 
as the real one1 in  which the soul may 
develop4 ,in entering it we do not enter
 a sphere  of arbitrary dreams1 but a   
sphere of law where learning1           
experience1  and happiness may be       
gained4 ,there is more method1 more     
reason1 in  such madness than in the    
sanity of most people4 ,the world of the
  ,christian imagination was eminently a
 field for moral experience2 moral      

ideas were there objectified into       
supernatural forces1 and instead of     
being obscured as in the real world by  
irrational accidents formed an          
intelligible cosmos1 vast1 massive1 and 
steadfast4 ,for this reason the         
believer in any adequate and mature     
supernatural religion clings to  it with
 such strange tenacity and regards it as
 his highest heritage1  while the       
outsider1 whose imagination speaks      
another language or is  dumb altogether1
 wonders how so wild a fiction can take 
root in a  reasonable mind4    ,the     
other circumstance that ennobled the    
,christian system was that  all its     
parts had some significance and poetic  
truth1 although they  contained1 or     
needed to contain1 nothing empirically  
real4 ,the system  was a great poem     
which1 besides being well constructed in
 itself1 was  allegorical of actual     
experience1 and contained1 as in a      
hieroglyph1  a very deep knowledge of   
the world and of the human mind4 ,for   

what  was the object that unfolded      
itself before the ,christian            
imagination1  the vision that converted 
and regenerated the world8 ,it was a    
picture  of human destiny4 ,it was an   
epic1 containing1 as it were1 the moral 
autobiography of man4 ,the object of    
,pagan religion and philosophy had  been
 a picture of the material cosmos1      
conceived as a vast animal and          
inhabited by a multitude of individual  
spirits4 ,even the ,neo-,platonists     
thought of nothing else1 much as they   
might multiply abstract names for  its  
principles and fancifully confuse them  
with the spheres4 ,it was  always a     
vast1 living1 physical engine1 a cosmos 
of life in which man  had a determinate 
province4 ,his spirit1 losing its       
personality1 might  be absorbed into the
 ethereal element from which it came2   
but this  emanation and absorption was  
itself an unchanging process1 the       
systole  and diastole of the universal  
heart4 ,practical religion consisted in 

honouring the nearest gods and accepting
 from them man's apportioned  goods1 not
 without looking1 perhaps1 with a       
reverence that needed  no ritual1 to the
 enveloping whole that prescribed to    
gods and men  their respective          
functions4 ,thus even ,neo-,platonism   
represented man as  a minor incident in 
the universe1 supernatural though that  
universe  might be4 ,the spiritual      
spheres were only the invisible         
repetitions of  the visible1 as the     
,platonic ideas from the beginning had  
been only a  dialectic reduplication of 
the objects in this world4 ,it was      
against  this allotment that the soul   
was rebelling4 ,it was looking for a    
deliverance that should be not so much  
the consciousness of something  higher  
as the hope of something better4        
,now1 the great characteristic of       
,christianity1 inherited from ,judaism1 
was that its scheme was historical4 ,not
 existences but events were the  subject
 of its primary interest4 ,it presented 

a story1 not a cosmology4  ,it was an   
epic in which there was1 of course1     
superhuman machinery1  but of which the 
subject was man1 and1 notable           
circumstance1 the ,hero  was a man as   
well4 ,like ,buddhism1 it gave the      
highest honour to a  man who could lead 
his fellow-men to perfection4 ,what had 
previously  been the divine reality--the
 engine of ,nature--now became a        
temporary  stage1 built for the         
exigencies of a human drama4 ,what had  
been before  a detail of the            
edifice--the life of man--now became the
 argument and  purpose of the whole     
creation4 ,notable transformation1 on   
which the  philosopher cannot meditate  
too much4    ,was ,christianity right in
 saying that the world was made for man8
 ,was  the account it adopted of the    
method and causes of ,creation          
conceivably  correct8 ,was the garden of
 ,eden a historical reality1 and were   
the  ,hebrew prophecies announcements of
 the advent of ,jesus ,christ8 ,did the 

deluge come because of man's wickedness1
 and will the last day coincide  with   
the dramatic denouement of the ,church's
 history8 ,in other words1  is the      
spiritual experience of man the         
explanation of the universe8  ,certainly
 not1 if we are thinking of a           
scientific1 not of a poetical           
explanation4 ,as a matter of fact1 man  
is a product of laws which  must also   
destroy him1 and which1 as ,spinoza     
would say1 infinitely  exceed him in    
their scope and power4 ,his welfare is  
indifferent to  the stars1 but dependent
 on them4 ,and yet that                 
counter-,copernican  revolution         
accomplished by ,christianity--a        
revolution which ,kant should  hardly   
have attributed to himself--which put   
man in the centre of the  universe and  
made the stars circle about him1 must   
have some kind of  justification4 ,and  
indeed its justification 7if we may be  
so brief on  so great a subject7 is that
 what is false in the science of facts  

may  be true in the science of values4  
,while the existence of things must  be 
understood by referring them to their   
causes1 which are mechanical1  their    
functions can only be explained by what 
is interesting in their  results1 in    
other words1 by their relation to human 
nature and to  human happiness4    ,the 
,christian drama was a magnificent      
poetic rendering of this side  of the   
matter1 a side which ,socrates had      
envisaged by his admirable  method1 but 
which now flooded the consciousness of  
mankind with  torrential emotions4      
,christianity was born under an eclipse1
 when the  light of ,nature was         
obscured2 but the star that intercepted 
that light  was itself luminous1 and    
shed on succeeding ages a moonlike      
radiance1  paler and sadder than the    
other1 but no less divine1 and meriting 
no  less to be eternal4 ,man now studied
 his own destiny1 as he had before      
studied the sky1 and the woods1 and the 
sunny depths of water2 and as  the      

earlier study produced in his           
soul--anima naturaliter poeta--the      
images of ,zeus1 ,pan1 and ,nereus1 so  
the later study produced the  images of 
,jesus and of ,mary1 of ,heaven and     
,hell1 of miracles and  sacraments4 ,the
 observation was no less exact1 the     
translation into  poetic images no less 
wonderful here than there4 ,to trace the
 endless  transfiguration1 with all its 
unconscious ingenuity and harmony1 might
  be the theme of a fascinating science4
 ,let not the reader fancy that in      
,christianity everything was settled by 
records and traditions4 ,the idea  of   
,christ himself had to be constructed by
 the imagination in response  to moral  
demands1 tradition giving only the      
barest external points  of attachment4  
,the facts were nothing until they      
became symbols2 and  nothing could turn 
them into symbols except an eager       
imagination on the  watch for all that  
might embody its dreams4    ,the        
crucifixion1 for example1 would remain a

 tragic incident without  further       
significance1 if we regard it merely as 
a historical fact2 to  make it a        
religious mystery1 an idea capable of   
converting the world1  the moral        
imagination must transform it into      
something that happens for  the sake of 
the soul1 so that each believer may say 
to himself that  ,christ so suffered for
 the love of him4 ,and such a thought is
 surely  the objectification of an inner
 impulse2 the idea of ,christ becomes   
something spiritual1 something poetical4
 ,what literal meaning could  there be  
in saying that one man or one ,god died 
for the sake of each  and every other   
individual8 ,by what effective causal   
principle could  their salvation be     
thought to necessitate his death1 or his
 death to  make possible their          
salvation8 ,by an ,greek3 usteron       
proteron natural  to the imagination2   
for in truth the matter is reversed4    
,christ's death  is a symbol of human   
life4 ,men could believe in his death1  

because  it was a figure and premonition
 of the burden of their experience4     
,that is why1 when some ,apostle told   
them the story1 they could say to  him3 
,sir1 ,i perceive that thou art a       
prophet3 thou hast told me all  things  
whatsoever ,i have felt4 ,thus the      
central fact of all ,christ's  history1 
narrated by every ,evangelist1 could    
still be nothing but a  painful         
incident1 as unessential to the         
,christian religion as the death  of    
,socrates to the ,socratic philosophy1  
were it not transformed by  the         
imagination of the believer into the    
counterpart of his own moral  need4     
,then1 by ceasing to be viewed as a     
historical fact1 the death of  ,christ  
becomes a religious inspiration4 ,the   
whole of ,christian doctrine  is thus   
religious and efficacious only when it  
becomes poetry1 because  only then is it
 the felt counterpart of personal       
experience and a  genuine expansion of  
human life4    ,take1 as another        

example1 the doctrine of eternal rewards
 and  punishments4 ,many perplexed      
,christians of our day try to reconcile 
this spirited fable with their modern   
horror of physical suffering and  their 
detestation of cruelty2 and it must be  
admitted that the image  of men         
suffering unending tortures in          
retribution for a few ignorant  and     
sufficiently wretched sins is1 even as  
poetry1 somewhat repellent4  ,the idea  
of torments and vengeance is happily    
becoming alien to our  society and is   
therefore not a natural vehicle for our 
religion4 ,some  accordingly reject     
altogether the ,christian doctrine on   
this point1  which is too strong for    
their nerves4 ,their objection1 of      
course1 is  not simply that there is no 
evidence of its truth4 ,if they asked   
for  evidence1 would they believe       
anything8 ,proofs are the last thing    
looked for by a truly religious mind    
which feels the imaginative  fitness of 
its faith and knows instinctively that1 

in such a matter1  imaginative fitness  
is all that can be required4 ,the reason
 men reject  the doctrine of eternal    
punishment is that they find it         
distasteful  or unmeaning4 ,they show1  
by the nature of their objections1 that 
they  acknowledge poetic propriety or   
moral truth to be the sole criterion of 
religious credibility4    ,but1 passing 
over the change of sentiment which gives
 rise to  this change of doctrine1 let  
us inquire of what reality ,christian   
eschatology was the imaginative         
rendering4 ,what was it in the actual   
life of men that made them think of     
themselves as hanging between  eternal  
bliss and eternal perdition8 ,was it not
 the diversity1 the  momentousness1 and 
the finality of their experience here8  
,no doubt  the desire to make the       
reversal of the injustices of this world
 as  melodramatic and picturesque as    
possible contributed to the adoption  of
 this idea2 the ideal values of life    
were thus contrasted with its  apparent 

values in the most absolute and graphic 
manner4 ,but we may  say that beneath   
this motive1 based on the exigences of  
exposition  and edification1 there was a
 deeper intuition4 ,there was the       
genuine  moralist's sympathy with a     
philosophic and logical view of         
immortality  rather than with a         
superstitious and sentimental one4      
,another life  exists and is infinitely 
more important than this life2 but it is
  reached by the intuition of ideals1   
not by the multiplication of  phenomena2
 it is an eternal state not an          
indefinite succession of  changes4      
,transitory life ends for the ,christian
 when the balance-sheet  of his         
individual merits and demerits is made  
up1 and the eternity that  ensues is the
 eternal reality of those values4       
,for the ,oriental1 who believed in     
transmigration1 the individual          
dissolved into an infinity of phases2 he
 went on actually and  perpetually1 as  
,nature does2 his immortality was a long

 ,purgatory  behind which a shadowy     
,hell and ,heaven scarcely appeared in  
the form  of annihilation or absorption4
 ,this happened because the ,oriental   
mind  has no middle2 it oscillates      
between extremes and passes directly    
from  sense to mysticism1 and back      
again2 it lacks virile understanding and
  intelligence creative of form4 ,but   
,christianity1 following in this  the   
,socratic philosophy1 rose to the       
conception of eternal essences1  forms  
suspended above the flux of natural     
things and expressing the  ideal        
suggestions and rational goals of       
experience4 ,each man1 for              
,christianity1 has an immortal soul2    
each life has the potentiality of  an   
eternal meaning1 and as this            
potentiality is or is not actualized1   
as this meaning is or is not expressed  
in the phenomena of this  life1 the soul
 is eternally saved or lost4 ,as the    
tree falleth1 so  it lieth4 ,the        
finality of this brief and personal     

experiment1 the  consequent awful       
solemnity of the hour of death when all 
trial is over  and when the eternal     
sentence is passed1 has always been duly
 felt  by the ,christian4 ,the ,church1 
indeed1 in answer to the demand for a   
more refined and discriminating         
presentation of its dogma1 introduced   
the temporary discipline of ,purgatory1 
in which the virtues already  stamped on
 the soul might be brought to greater   
clearness and rid of  the alloy of      
imperfection2 but this purification     
allowed no essential  development1 no   
change of character or fate2 the soul in
 ,purgatory was  already saved1 already 
holy4    ,the harshness of the doctrine 
of eternal judgment is therefore a      
consequence of its symbolic truth4 ,the 
,church might have been less  absolute  
in the matter had she yielded more1 as  
she did in the doctrine  of ,purgatory1 
to the desire for merely imaginary      
extensions of human  experience4 ,but   
her better instincts kept her1 after    

all1 to the  moral interpretation of    
reality2 and the facts to be rendered   
were  uncompromising enough4 ,art is    
long1 life brief4 ,to have told men they
  would have infinite opportunities to  
reform and to advance would have  been  
to feed them on gratuitous fictions     
without raising them1 as it  was the    
function of ,christianity to do1 to a   
consciousness of the  spiritual meaning 
and upshot of existence4 ,to have       
speculated about the  infinite extent of
 experience and its endless             
transformations1 after  the manner of   
the barbarous religions1 and never to   
have conceived  its moral essence1 would
 have been to encourage a dream which   
may by  chance be prophetic1 but which  
is as devoid of ideal meaning as of     
empirical probability4 ,christian       
fictions were at least significant2     
they beguiled the intellect1 no doubt1  
and were mistaken for accounts  of      
external fact2 but they enlightened the 
imagination2 they made  man understand1 

as never before or since1 the pathos and
 nobility of  his life1 the necessity of
 discipline1 the possibility of         
sanctity1  the transcendence and the    
humanity of the divine4 ,for the divine 
was reached by the idealization of the  
human4 ,the supernatural was  an        
allegory of the natural1 and rendered   
the values of transitory  things under  
the image of eternal existences4 ,thus  
the finality of  our activity in this   
world1 together with the eternity of its
 ideal  meanings1 was admirably rendered
 by the ,christian dogma of a final     
judgment4    ,but there was another     
moral truth which was impressed upon the
 believer  by that doctrine and which   
could not be enforced in any other way  
without presupposing in him an unusual  
philosophic acumen and elevation  of    
mind4 ,that is the truth that moral     
distinctions are absolute4 ,a  cool     
philosophy suffices to show us that     
moral distinctions exist1  since men    
prefer some experiences to others and   

can by their action  bring these good   
and evil experiences upon themselves and
 upon their  fellows4 ,but a survey of  
,nature may at the same time impress us 
with  the fact that these goods and     
evils are singularly mixed1 that there  
is hardly an advantage gained which is  
not bought by some loss1 or any  loss   
which is not an opportunity for the     
attainment of some advantage4  ,while it
 would be chimerical to pretend that    
such compensation was  always adequate1 
and that1 in consequence1 no one        
condition was ever  really preferable to
 any other1 yet the perplexities into   
which moral  aspiration is thrown by    
these contradictory vistas is often     
productive  of the desire to reach some 
other point of view1 to escape into what
  is irrationally thought to be a higher
 category than the moral4 ,the  serious 
consideration of those things which are 
right according to  human reason and    
interest may then yield to a fanatical  
reliance on  some facile general notion4

    ,it may be thought1 for instance1   
that what is regular or necessary  or   
universal is therefore right and good2  
thus a dazed contemplation  of the      
actual may take the place of the        
determination of the ideal4  ,mysticism 
in regard to the better and the worse1  
by which good and bad  are woven into a 
seamless garment of sorry magnificence  
in which the  whole universe is wrapped 
up1 is like mysticism on other subjects2
 it  consists in the theoretic          
renunciation of a natural attitude1 in  
this  case of the natural attitude of   
welcome and repulsion in the presence   
of various things4 ,but this category is
 the most fundamental of all  those that
 the human mind employs1 and it cannot  
be surrendered so  long as life endures4
 ,it is indeed the conscious echo of    
those vital  instincts by whose         
operation we exist4 ,levity and         
mysticism may do all  they can--and they
 can do much--to make men think moral   
distinctions  unauthoritative1 because  

moral distinctions may be either ignored
 or  transcended4 ,yet the essential    
assertion that one thing is really      
better than another remains involved in 
every act of every living  being4 ,it is
 involved even in the operation of      
abstract thinking1 where  a cogent      
conclusion1 being still coveted1 is     
assumed to be a good1 or  in that       
sthetic and theoretic enthusiasm before 
cosmic laws1 which is  the human        
foundation of this mysticism itself4    
,it is accordingly a moral truth which  
no subterfuge can elude1 that  some     
things are really better than others4   
,in the daily course of  affairs we are 
constantly in the presence of events    
which by turning  out one way or the    
other produce a real1 an irrevocable1   
increase of  good or evil in the world4 
,the complexities of life1 struggling as
 it  does amidst irrational forces1 may 
make the attainment of one good  the    
cause of the unattainableness of        
another2 they cannot destroy  the       

essential desirability of both4 ,the    
niggardliness of ,nature  cannot        
sterilize the ideal2 the odious         
circumstances which make the  attainment
 of many goods conditional on the       
perpetration of some evil1  and which   
punish every virtue by some incapacity  
or some abuse1--these  odious           
circumstances cannot rob any good of its
 natural sweetness1 nor  all goods      
together of their conceptual harmony4   
,to the heart that has  felt it and that
 is the true judge1 every loss is       
irretrievable and  every joy            
indestructible4 ,eventual compensations 
may obliterate the  memory of these     
values but cannot destroy their reality4
 ,the future can  only furnish further  
applications of the principle by which  
they arose  and were justified4    ,now1
 how utter this moral truth             
imaginatively1 how clothe it in an      
image that might render its absoluteness
 and its force8 ,could any  method be   
better than to say3 ,your eternal       

destiny is hanging in  the balance3 the 
grace of ,god1 the influences of others1
 and your  own will reacting upon both  
are shaping at every moment issues of   
absolute importance4 ,what happens here 
and now decides not merely  incidental  
pains and pleasures--which perhaps a    
brave and careless  spirit might alike  
despise--but helps to determine your    
eternal  destiny of joy or anguish1 and 
the eternal destiny of your neighbour4  
,in place of the confused vistas of the 
empirical world1 in which the  threads  
of benefit and injury might seem to be  
mingled and lost1 the  imagination      
substituted the clear vision of ,hell   
and ,heaven2 while  the determination of
 our destiny was made to depend upon    
obedience to  recognized duties4    ,now
 these duties may often have been far   
from corresponding to those  which      
reason would impose2 but the intention  
and the principle at least  were sound4 
,it was felt that the actions and       
passions of this world  breed momentous 

values1 values which being ideal are as 
infinite as  values can be in the       
estimation of reason--the values of     
truth1 of  love1 of rationality1 of     
perfection--although both the length of 
the  experience in which they arise and 
the number of persons who share  that   
experience may be extremely limited4    
,but the mechanical measure  of         
experience in length1 intensity1 or     
multiplication has nothing to  do with  
its moral significance in realizing     
truth or virtue4 ,therefore  the        
difference in dignity between the       
satisfactions of reason and  the        
satisfactions of sense is fittingly     
rendered by the infinite  disproportion 
between heavenly and earthly joys4 ,in  
our imaginative  translation we are     
justified in saying that the alternative
 between  infinite happiness and        
infinite misery is yawning before us1   
because  the alternative between        
rational failure or success is actually 
present4 ,the decisions we make from    

moment to moment1 on which the  ideal   
value of our life and character depends1
 actually constitute in a  few years a  
decision which is irrevocable4    ,the  
,christian doctrine of rewards and      
punishments is thus in harmony  with    
moral truths which a different doctrine 
might have obscured4  ,the good souls   
that wish to fancy that everybody will  
be ultimately  saved1 subject a fable to
 standards appropriate to matters of    
fact1  and thereby deprive the fable of 
that moral significance which is its    
excuse for being4 ,if every one is      
ultimately saved1 there is nothing      
truly momentous about alternative       
events3 all paths lead more or less     
circuitously to the same end4 ,the only 
ground which then remains  for          
discriminating the better from the worse
 is the pleasantness or  unpleasantness 
of the path to salvation4 ,all moral    
meanings inhere1  then1 in this life1   
and the other life is without           
significance4 ,heaven  comes to replace 

life empirically without fulfilling it  
ideally4 ,we are  reduced for our moral 
standards to phenomenal values1 to the  
worth of  life in transitory feeling4   
,these values are quite real1 but they  
are  not those which poetry and religion
 have for their object4 ,they are       
values present to sense1 not to reason  
and imagination4    ,the ideal of a     
supervening general bliss presents      
indeed an abstract  desideratum1 but not
 the ideal involved in the actual forces
 of life2  that end would have no       
rational relation to its primary        
factors2 it  would not be built on our  
instinctive preferences but would       
abolish  them by a miraculous dream1    
following alike upon every species of   
activity4 ,moral differences would have 
existed merely to be forgotten2  for if 
we say they were remembered1 but        
transcended and put to rest1  we plunge 
into an even worse contradiction to the 
conscience and the  will4 ,for if we say
 that the universal bliss consists in   

the assurance1  mystically received1    
that while individual experiences may   
differ in  value they all equally       
conduce to the perfection of the        
universe1 we  deny not merely the       
momentousness but even the elementary   
validity of  moral distinctions4 ,we    
assert that the best idea of ,god is    
that least  like the ideal of man1 and  
that the nearer we come to the vision of
  truth the farther we are from the     
feeling of preference4 ,in our attempt  
to extend the good we thus abolish its  
essence4 ,our religion consists  in     
denying the authority of the ideal1     
which is its only rational  foundation2 
and thus that religion1 while gaining   
nothing in empirical  reality1 comes to 
express a moral falsehood instead of a  
moral truth4    ,if we looked in        
religion for an account of facts1 as    
most people do1  we should have to pass 
a very different judgment on these      
several  views4 ,the mechanical world is
 a connected system and ,nature seems   

to be dynamically one2 the intuitions on
 which mysticism feeds are  therefore   
true intuitions4 ,the expectation of a  
millennium is on the  other hand quite  
visionary1 because the evidence of      
history1 while it  shows undeniable     
progress in many directions1 shows that 
this progress  is essentially relative1 
partial1 and transitory4 ,as for the    
,christian  doctrine of the judgment1 it
 is something wholly out of relation to 
empirical facts1 it assumes the         
existence of a supernatural sphere1 and 
is beyond the reach of scientific       
evidence of any kind4 ,but if we look   
on religion as on a kind of poetry1 as  
we have decided here to do1--as  on a   
kind of poetry that expresses moral     
values and reacts beneficently  upon    
life1--we shall see that the ,christian 
doctrine is alone  justified4 ,for      
mysticism is not an imaginative         
construction at all but  a renunciation 
or confusion of our faculties2 here a   
surrender of the  human ideal in the    

presence of a mechanical force that is  
felt1 and  correctly felt1 to tend to   
vaguer results or rather to tend to     
nothing  in particular4 ,mysticism is   
not a religion but a religious disease4 
,the idea of universal salvation1 on the
 other hand1 is the expression  of a    
feeble sentimentality1 a pleasant       
reverie without structure or            
significance4 ,but the doctrine of      
eternal rewards and punishments  is1 as 
we have tried to show1 an expression of 
moral truth1 a poetic  rendering of the 
fact that rational values are ideal1    
momentous1 and  irreversible4    ,it    
would be easy to multiply examples and  
to exhibit the various parts  of        
,christianity as so many interpretations
 of human life in its ideal  aspects4   
,but we are not attempting to narrate   
facts so much as to  advance an idea1   
and the illustrations given will perhaps
 suffice  to make our conception        
intelligible4 ,there is1 however1 a     
possible  misunderstanding which we     

should be careful to avoid in this      
dangerous  field of philosophic         
interpretation4 ,in saying that a given 
religion  was the poetic transformation 
of an experience1 we must not imagine   
that it was thought to be such--for it  
is evident that every sincere           
,christian believed in the literal and  
empirical reality of all that the       
,christian epic contained4 ,nor should  
we imagine that philosophic ideas1  or  
general reflections on life1 were the   
origin of religion1 and that  afterward 
certain useful myths1 known to be such  
by their authors1 were  mistaken for    
history and for literal prophecy4 ,that 
sometimes happens1  when historians1    
poets1 or philosophers are turned by the
 unintelligent  veneration of posterity 
into religious prophets4 ,such was the  
fate of  ,plato1 for instance1 or of the
 writer of the ,song of ,solomon2 but   
#aaj  great and living religion was ever
 founded in that way4    ,had           
,christianity or any other religion had 

its basis in literary or  philosophical 
allegories1 it would never have become a
 religion1  because the poetry of it    
would never have been interwoven with   
the  figures and events of real life4   
,no tomb1 no relic1 no material         
miracle1 no personal derivation of      
authority1 would have existed to  serve 
as the nucleus of devotion and the point
 of junction between  this world and the
 other4 ,the origin of ,christian dogma 
lay in historic  facts and in doctrines 
literally meant by their authors4 ,it is
 one of  the greatest possible illusions
 in these matters to fancy that the     
meaning which we see in parables and    
mysteries was the meaning they had  in  
the beginning1 but which later          
misinterpretation had obscured4 ,on  the
 contrary--as a glance at any incipient 
religious movement now going  on will   
show us--the authors of doctrines1      
however obvious it may be to  every one 
else that these doctrines have only a   
figurative validity1  are the first     

dupes to their own intuitions4 ,this is 
no less true of  metaphysical theories  
than of spontaneous superstitions3 did  
their  promulgator understand the       
character of their justification he     
would  give himself out for a simple    
poet1 appeal only to cultivated minds1  
and never turn his energies to          
stimulating private delusions1 not to   
speak of public fanaticisms4 ,the best  
philosophers seldom perceive the  poetic
 merit of their systems4    ,so among   
the ancients it was not an abstract     
observation of ,nature1  with conscious 
allegory supervening1 that was the      
origin of mythology1  but the           
interpretation was spontaneous1 the     
illusion was radical1 a  consciousness  
of the god's presence was the first     
impression produced  by the phenomenon4 
,else1 in this case too1 poetry would   
never have  become superstition2 what   
made it superstition was the initial    
incapacity in people to discriminate the
 objects of imagination from  those of  

the understanding4 ,the fancy thus      
attached its images1 without            
distinguishing their ideal locus1 to the
 visible world1 and men became          
superstitious not because they had too  
much imagination1 but because  they were
 not aware that they had any4    ,in    
what sense1 then1 are we justified in   
saying that religion expresses  moral   
ideals8 ,in the sense that moral        
significance1 while not the  source of  
religions1 is the criterion of their    
value and the reason  why they may      
deserve to endure4 ,far as the          
conception of an allegory  may be from  
the minds of prophets1 yet the prophecy 
can only take  root in the popular      
imagination if it recommends itself to  
some human  interest4 ,there must be    
some correspondence between the doctrine
  announced or the hopes set forth1 and 
the natural demands of the  human       
spirit4 ,otherwise1 although the new    
faith might be preached1 it  would not  
be accepted4 ,the significance of       

religious doctrines has  therefore been 
the condition of their spread1 their    
maintenance1 and  their development1    
although not the condition of their     
origin4 ,in  ,darwinian language1 moral 
significance has been a spontaneous     
variation  of superstition1 and this    
variation has insured its survival as a 
religion4 ,for religion differs from    
superstition not psychologically  but   
morally1 not in its origin but in its   
worth4 ,this worth1 when  actually felt 
and appreciated1 becomes of course a    
dynamic factor and  contributes like    
other psychological elements to the     
evolution of  events2 but being a       
logical harmony1 a rational beauty1 this
 worth is  only appreciable by a few    
minds1 and those the least primitive and
 the  least capable of guiding popular  
movements4 ,reason is powerless to      
found religions1 although it is alone   
competent to judge them4 ,good          
religions are therefore the product of  
unconscious rationality1 of  imaginative

 impulses fortunately moral4            
,particularly does this appear in the   
early history of ,christianity4  ,every 
shade of heresy1 every kind of mixture  
of ,christian and other  elements was   
tried and found advocates2 but after a  
greater or less  success they all       
disappeared1 leaving only the ,church   
standing4 ,for the  ,church had known   
how to combine those dogmas and         
practices in which  the imagination of  
the time1 and to a great extent of all  
times1 might  find fitting expression4  
,imaginative significance was the       
touchstone  of orthodoxy2 tradition     
itself was tested by this standard4 ,by 
this  standard the canon of ,scripture  
was fixed1 so as neither to exclude the 
,old ,testament1 which the pure         
metaphysicians would have rejected1 nor 
to accept every gospel that circulated  
under the name of an apostle1  and which
 might please a wonder-loving and       
detail-loving piety4 ,by  the same      
criterion the ritual was composed1 the  

dogma developed1 the  nature of ,christ 
defined1 the sacraments and discipline  
of the ,church  regulated4 ,the result  
was a comprehensive system where1 under 
the  shadow of a great epic1 which      
expanded and interpreted the history  of
 mankind from the ,creation to the ,day 
of ,doom1 a place was found  for as many
 religious instincts and as many        
religious traditions as  possible2 while
 at the same time the dialectic         
proficiency of an age  that inherited   
the discipline of ,greek philosophy1    
introduced into the  system a great     
consistency and a great metaphysical    
subtlety4 ,time  mellowed and expanded  
these dogmas1 bringing them into        
relation with  the needs of a multiform 
piety2 a justification was found both   
for  asceticism and for a virtuous      
naturalism1 both for contemplation and  
for action2 and thus it became possible 
for the ,church to insinuate her        
sanctions and her spirit into the       
motives of men1 and to embody the       

religion of many nations during many    
ages4    ,the ,church's successes1      
however1 were not all legitimate2 they  
were  not everywhere due to a real      
correspondence between her forms and the
  ideal life of men4 ,it was only the   
inhabitants of the ,grco-,roman  world  
that were quite prepared to understand  
her4 ,when the sword1 or  the authority 
of a higher worldly civilization1       
carried her influence  beyond the       
borders of the ,roman ,empire we may    
observe that her  authority seldom      
proved stable4 ,she was felt1 by those  
peoples whose  imaginative traditions   
and whose moral experience she did not  
express1  to be something alien and     
artificial4 ,the ,teutonic races finally
 threw  off what they felt to be her    
yoke4 ,if they reconstructed their      
religion  out of elements which she had 
furnished1 that was only because        
religion  is bound to be traditional1   
and they had been ,christians for many  
hundred years4 ,a wholly new philosophy 

or poetry could not have taken          
immediate root in their minds2 even the 
philosophy which ,germany has  since    
produced1 when the national spirit was  
reaching1 so to speak1 its  majority1   
hardly seems able to constitute an      
independent religion1 but  takes shelter
 under some form of ,christianity1      
however much the spirit  of that        
religion may be transformed4    ,at     
first1 indeed1 the new movement took the
 ,bible for its  starting-point4 ,so    
heterogeneous a book1 which was already 
habitually  interpreted in so many      
fanciful ways1 was indeed an admirable  
basis  for the imagination to build     
upon4 ,the self-reliant and dreamy      
,teuton  could spin out of the ,biblical
 chronicles and rhapsodies convictions  
after his own heart2 while his fixed    
persuasion that the ,bible was the  word
 of ,god1 was strengthened 7not         
illegitimately7 by his ability to  make 
it express his own moral ideals4 ,the   
intensity of his religion was           

proportionate to the degree in which he 
had made it the imaginative  rendering  
of his own character4    ,protestantism 
in its vital elements was thus a        
perfectly new1 a  perfectly spontaneous 
religion4 ,the illusion that it was a   
return to  primitive ,christianity was  
useful for controversial purposes and   
helped  to justify the iconoclastic     
passions of the time2 but this illusion 
did not touch the true essence of       
,protestantism1 nor the secret of its   
legitimacy and power as a religion4     
,this was its new embodiment of  human  
ideals in imaginative forms1 whereby    
those ideals became explicit  and found 
a remarkable expression in action4      
,these ideals were quite  ,teutonic and 
looked to inner spontaneity and outward 
prosperity2 they  were more allied to   
those of the ,hebrews than to those of  
the early  ,christians1 whose religion  
was all miracles1 asceticism1 and       
withdrawal  from the world4 ,indeed we  
may say that the typical ,protestant was

  himself his own church and made the   
selection and interpretation of         
tradition according to the demands of   
his personal spirit4 ,what the  ,fathers
 did for the ,church in the fourth      
century1 the ,reformers did for         
themselves in the sixteenth1 and have   
continued to do on the occasion  of     
their various appearances4    ,if we    
judge this interpretation by poetic     
standards1 we cannot  resist the        
conclusion that the old version was     
infinitely superior4  ,the ,protestant1 
with his personal resources1 was reduced
 to making  grotesquely and partially   
that translation of moral life which the
  ,fathers had made comprehensively and 
beautifully1 inspired as they  were by  
all the experience of antiquity and all 
the hopes of youthful  ,christendom4    
,nevertheless1 ,protestantism has the   
unmistakable character  of a genuine    
religion1 a character which tradition   
passively accepted  and dogma1 regarded 
as so much external truth1 may easily   

lose2 it  is in correspondence with the 
actual ideals and instincts of the      
believer2 it is the self-assertion of a 
living soul4 ,its meagreness  and       
eccentricity are simply evidences of its
 personal basis4 ,it is in  full harmony
 with the practical impulses it comes to
 sanction1 and  accordingly it gains in 
efficiency all that it loses in dignity 
and  truth4    ,the principle by which  
the ,christian system had developed1    
although  reapplied by the ,protestants 
to their own inner life1 was not        
understood by them in its historical    
applications4 ,they had little  sympathy
 with the spiritual needs and habits of 
that ,pagan society in  which           
,christianity had grown up4 ,that       
society had found in ,christianity  a   
sort of last love1 a rejuvenating       
supersensible hope1 and had  bequeathed 
to the ,gospel of ,redemption1 for its  
better embodiment and  ornament1 all its
 own wealth of art1 philosophy1 and     
devotion4 ,this  embodiment of          

,christianity represented a civilization
 through which  the ,teutonic races had 
not passed and which they never could   
have  produced2 it appealed to a kind of
 imagination and sentiment which  was   
foreign to them4 ,this embodiment1      
accordingly1 was the object of  their   
first and fiercest attack1 really       
because it was unsympathetic  to their  
own temperament but ostensibly because  
they could not find  its basis in those 
,hebraic elements of ,christianity which
 make up the  greater bulk of the       
,bible4 ,they did not value the sublime 
aspiration  of ,christianity to be not  
something ,hebraic or ,teutonic but     
something  ,catholic and human2 and they
 blamed everything which went beyond the
  accidental limits of their own        
sympathies and the narrow scope of their
  own experience4    ,yet it was only by
 virtue of this complement inherited    
from ,paganism1  or at least supplied by
 the instincts and traditions on which  
,paganism  had reposed1 that            

,christianity could claim to approach a 
humane  universality or to achieve an   
imaginative adequacy4 ,the problem was  
to  compose1 in the form of a cosmic    
epic1 with metaphysical justifications  
and effectual starting-points for moral 
action1 the spiritual  autobiography of 
man4 ,the central idea of this          
composition was to be  the idea of a    
,redemption4 ,around this were to be    
gathered and moulded  together elements 
drawn from ,hebrew tradition and        
scripture1 others  furnished by         
,paganism1 together with all that the   
living imagination  of the time could   
create4 ,nor was it right or fitting to 
make a merely  theoretical or ethical   
synthesis4 ,doctrine must find its      
sensible echo  in worship1 in art1 in   
the feasts and fasts of the year4 ,only 
when  thus permeating life and          
expressing itself to every sense and    
faculty  can a religion be said to have 
reached completion2 only then has the   
imagination exhausted its means of      

utterance4    ,the great success which  
,christianity achieved in this immense  
undertaking makes it1 after classic     
antiquity1 the most important phase  in 
the history of mankind4 ,it is clear1   
however1 that this success was  not     
complete4 ,that fallacy from which the  
,pagan religion alone has  been free1   
that ,greek3 proton pseudos of all      
fanaticism1 the natural  but hopeless   
misunderstanding of imagining that      
poetry in order to  be religion1 in     
order to be the inspiration of life1    
must first deny  that it is poetry and  
deceive us about the facts with which we
 have  to deal--this misunderstanding   
has marred the work of the ,christian   
imagination and condemned it1 if we may 
trust appearances1 to be  transitory4   
,for by this misunderstanding ,christian
 doctrine was brought  into conflict    
with reality1 of which it pretends to   
prejudge the  character1 and also into  
conflict with what might have been its  
own  elements1 with all excluded        

religious instincts and imaginative     
ideals4  ,human life is always          
essentially the same1 and therefore a   
religion  which1 like ,christianity1    
seizes the essence of that life1 ought  
to be  an eternal religion4 ,but it may 
forfeit that privilege by entangling    
itself with a particular account of     
matters of fact1 matters irrelevant  to 
its ideal significance1 and further by  
intrenching itself1 by  virtue of that  
entanglement1 in an inadequate regimen  
or a too narrow  imaginative            
development1 thus putting its ideal     
authority in jeopardy  by opposing it to
 other intuitions and practices no less 
religious than  its own4    ,can        
,christianity escape these perils8 ,can 
it reform its claims1 or  can it        
overwhelm all opposition and take the   
human heart once more by  storm8 ,the   
future alone can decide4 ,the greatest  
calamity1 however1  would be that which 
seems1 alas6 not unlikely to befall our 
immediate  posterity1 namely1 that while

 ,christianity should be discredited no 
other religion1 more disillusioned and  
not less inspired1 should come  to take 
its place4 ,until the imagination should
 have time to recover  and to reassert  
its legitimate and kindly power1 the    
,european races  would then be reduced  
to confessing that while they had       
mastered the  mechanical forces of      
,nature1 both by science and by the     
arts1 they had  become incapable of     
mastering or understanding themselves1  
and that1  bewildered like the beasts by
 the revolutions of the heavens and by  
their own irrational passions1 they     
could find no way of uttering the  ideal
 meaning of their life4          ,v     
,,platonic ,,love ,,in ,,some ,,italian 
,,poets      ,when the fruits of        
philosophic reflection1 condensed into  
some phrase1  pass into the common      
language of men1 there does not and     
there cannot  accompany them any just   
appreciation of their meaning or of the 
long  experience and travail of soul    

from which they have arisen4 ,few       
doctrines have suffered more by         
popularization than the intuitions  of  
,plato4 ,the public sees in ,platonic   
sayings little more than  phrases       
employed by unpractical minds to cloak  
the emptiness of their  yearnings4      
,finding these fragments of an obsolete 
speech put to bad  uses1 we are apt to  
ignore and despise them1 much as a      
modern peasant  might despise the       
fragment of a frieze or a metope which  
he found  built into his cottage wall4  
,it is not only the works of plastic art
  that moulder and disintegrate to      
furnish materials for the barbarous     
masons of a later age3 the great        
edifices of reason also crumble1 their  
plan is lost1 and their fragments1      
picked where they happen to lie1  become
 the materials of a feebler thought4 ,in
 common speech we find  such bits of    
ancient wisdom embedded2 they prove the 
intelligence of  some ancestor of ours1 
but are no evidence of our own4 ,when   

used in  ignorance of their meaning1    
they become misplaced flourishes1 lapses
  into mystery in the businesslike      
plainness of our thought4    ,yet there 
is one man1 the archologist1 to whom    
nothing is so  interesting as just these
 stones which a practical builder would 
have  rejected4 ,he forgives the        
ignorance and barbarism that placed them
  where they are2 he is absorbed in     
studying their sculptured surface  and  
delighted if his fancy can pass from    
them to the idea of the  majestic whole 
to which they once belonged4 ,so in the 
presence of a  much-abused philosophic  
phrase1 we may be interested in         
reconstructing  the experience which    
once gave it meaning and form4 ,words   
are at least  the tombs of ideas1 and   
the most conventional formulas of poets 
or  theologians are still good subjects 
for the archologist of passion4 ,he  may
 find a treasure there2 or at any rate  
he may hope to be rewarded  for his     
labour by the ideal restoration of some 

once beautiful temple  of ,athena4      
,something of this kind is what we may  
now attempt to do with regard to  one or
 two ,platonic ideas1 ideas which under 
the often ironical title  of ,platonic  
love1 are constantly referred to and    
seldom understood4  ,these ideas may be 
defined as the transformation of the    
appreciation  of beautiful things into  
the worship of an ideal beauty and the  
transformation of the love of particular
 persons into the love of ,god4  ,these 
mystical phrases may acquire a new and  
more human meaning if we  understand1 at
 least in part1 how they first came to  
be spoken4 ,we  shall then not think of 
them merely as the reported sayings of  
,plato  or ,plotinus1 ,porphyry or      
,proclus2 we shall not learn them by    
rote1 as  the unhappy student learns the
 enigmas1 which1 in the histories of    
philosophy1 represent all that survives 
of the doctrine of a ,thales or  a      
,pythagoras4 ,we shall have some notion 
of the ideas that once prompted  such   

speech4    ,and we shall be the better  
able to reconstruct those conceptions   
inasmuch as the reflection by which they
 are bred has recurred often  in the    
world--has recurred1 very likely1 in our
 own experience4  ,we are often         
,platonists without knowing it4 ,in some
 form or other  ,platonic ideas occur in
 all poetry of passion when it is       
seasoned with  reflection4 ,they are    
particularly characteristic of some     
,italian poets1  scattered from the     
thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries4  
,these poets  had souls naturally       
,platonic2 even when they had heard     
something of  ,plato they borrowed      
nothing from him4 ,they repeated his    
phrases1 when  they did so1 merely to   
throw the authority of an ancient       
philosopher  over the spontaneous       
suggestions of their own minds4 ,their  
,platonism  was all their own3 it was   
,christian1 medival1 and chivalrous1    
both  in origin and expression4 ,but it 
was all the more genuine for being a    

reincarnation rather than an imitation  
of the old wisdom4    ,nothing1 for     
example1 could be a better object-lesson
 in ,platonism than  the well-known     
sentimental history of ,dante4 ,there is
 no essential  importance in the        
question whether ,dante could have read 
anything of  ,plato or come indirectly  
under his influence4 ,the ,platonism of 
,dante1  is1 in any case1 quite his own4
 ,it is the expression of his inner     
experience moulded by the chivalry and  
theology of his time4 ,he tells  us the 
story himself very quaintly in the ,vita
 ,nuova4    ,at the age of nine he saw1 
at a wedding-feast in ,florence1        
,beatrice1  then a child of seven1 who  
became1 forthwith1 the mistress of his  
thoughts4 ,this precocious passion ruled
 his imagination for life1 so  that1    
when he brings to an end the account of 
the emotions she aroused  in him by her 
life and death1 he tells us that he     
determined to speak  no more about her  
until he should be able to do so more   

worthily1 and  to say of her what had   
never been said of any woman4 ,in the   
,divine  ,comedy1 accordingly1 where he 
fulfils this promise1 she appears       
transfigured into a heavenly protectress
 and guide1 whose gentle  womanhood     
fades into an impersonation of          
theological wisdom4 ,but this  life-long
 devotion of ,dante to ,beatrice was    
something purely mental  and poetical2  
he never ventured to woo2 he never once 
descended or  sought to descend from the
 sphere of silent and distant adoration2
  his tenderness remained always tearful
 and dreamy1 like that of a             
supersensitive child4    ,yet1 while his
 love of ,beatrice was thus constant and
 religious1 it  was by no means         
exclusive4 ,dante took a wife as        
,beatrice herself had  taken a husband2 
the temptations of youth1 as well as the
 affection  of married life1 seem to    
have existed beneath this ideal love1   
not  unrebuked by it1 indeed1 but       
certainly not disturbing it4 ,should we 

be  surprised at this species of        
infidelity8 ,should we regard it as     
proof  of the artificiality and         
hollowness of that so transcendental    
passion1  and smile1 as people have done
 in the case of ,plato himself1 at the  
thin disguise of philosophy that covers 
the most vulgar frailties of  human     
nature8 ,or1 should we say1 with others1
 that ,beatrice is a merely  allegorical
 figure1 and the love she is said to    
inspire nothing but a  symbol for       
attachment to wisdom and virtue8 ,these 
are old questions1  and insoluble by any
 positive method1 since they cannot be  
answered by  the facts but only by our  
interpretation of them4 ,our solution   
can have  little historical value1 but  
it will serve to test our understanding 
of  the metaphysics of feeling4    ,to  
guide us in this delicate business we   
may appeal to a friend of  ,dante1 his  
fellow-poet ,guido ,cavalcanti1 who will
 furnish us with  another example of    
this same sort of idealization1 and this

 same sort  of inconstancy1 expressed in
 a manner that will repay analysis4     
,guido  ,cavalcanti had a ,beatrice of  
his own--something of the kind was then 
expected of every gentle knight and     
poet--and ,guido's ,beatrice was  called
 ,giovanna4 ,dante seems to acknowledge 
the parity of his friend's  passion with
 his own by coupling the names of the   
two ladies1 ,monna  ,vanna and ,monna   
,bice1 in one or two of the sonnets he  
addresses to  ,guido4 ,now it came to   
pass that ,guido1 in the fervour of his 
devotion1  at once chivalrous and       
religious1 bethought him of making a    
pilgrimage  to the tomb of ,saint ,james
 the ,apostle1 at ,compostela in ,spain4
  ,upon this journey--a journey         
beguiled1 no doubt1 by thoughts of the  
beautiful ,giovanna he had left in      
,florence--he halted in the city of     
,toulouse4 ,but at ,toulouse1 as chance 
would have it1 there lived a  lovely    
lady by the name of ,mandetta1 with whom
 it was impossible for  the chivalrous  

pilgrim not to fall in love2 for        
chivalry is nothing  but a fine         
emblazoning of the original manly       
impulse to fight every  man and love    
every woman4 ,now in an interesting     
sonnet ,guido describes  the conflict of
 these two affections1 or perhaps we    
should rather say1  their union4        
,there is a lady in ,toulouse so fair1  
,so young1 so gentle1 and so chastely   
gay1       ,she doth a true and living  
likeness bear         ,in her sweet eyes
 to ,love1 whom ,i obey4    ,the word ,i
 have1 to avoid confusion1 here rendered
 by ,love is in the  original la ,donna 
mia1 my ,lady2 so that we have our poet 
falling in  love with ,mandetta on      
account of her striking resemblance to  
,giovanna4  ,is this inconstancy or only
 a more delicate and indirect homage8   
,we  shall see2 for ,guido goes on to   
represent his soul1 according to his    
custom1 as a being that dwells and moves
 about in the chambers of  his heart2   
and speaking still of ,mandetta1 the    

lady of ,toulouse1 he  continues3--     
,within my heart my soul1 when she      
appeared1         ,was filled with      
longing and was fain to flee       ,out 
of my heart to her1 yet was afeared     
,to tell the lady who my ,love might be4
       ,she looked upon me with her     
quiet eyes1         ,and under their    
sweet ray my bosom burned1              
,cheered by ,love's image1 that within  
them lies4    ,so far we have still the 
familiar visible in the new and making  
its  power2 ,mandetta is still nothing  
but a stimulus to reawaken the memory   
of ,giovanna4 ,but before the end there 
is trouble4 ,the sting of the  present  
attraction is felt in contrast to the   
eternal ideal4 ,there is  a necessity of
 sacrifice1 and he cries1 as the lady   
turns away her  eyes3--        ,alas6   
they shot an arrow as she turned1       
,and with a death-wound from the        
piercing dart       ,my soul came       
sighing back into my heart4    ,perhaps 
this merely means that the lady was     

disdainful2 had she been  otherwise the 
poet might never have written sonnets   
about her1 and  surely not sonnets in   
which her charms were reduced to a      
,platonic  reminiscence of a fairer     
ideal4 ,but it is this turning away of  
the  face of love1 this ephemeral       
quality of its embodiments1 that usually
  stimulates the imagination to the     
construction of a supersensible ideal   
in which all those evaporated impulses  
may meet again and rest in an  adequate 
and permanent object4 ,so that while    
,guido's death-wound was  perhaps in    
reality nothing but the rebuff offered  
him by a prospective  mistress1 yet the 
sting of it1 in a mind of ,platonic     
habit1 served  at once to enforce the   
distinction between the ideal beauty1 so
 full  of sweetness and heavenly charm1 
which had tempted the soul out of  his  
heart on its brief adventure1 and the   
particular and real object  against     
which the soul was dashed1 and from     
which it returned bruised  and troubled 

to its inward solitude4    ,so the      
meditative ,guido represents his        
experience3 a new planet swam  into his 
ken radiant with every grace and virtue2
 yet all the magic  of that lady lay in 
her resemblance to the mysterious       
,giovanna1 the  double of ,beatrice1 the
 ideal of the poet's imagination4 ,the  
soul1 at  first1 went out eagerly to the
 new love as to an image and embodiment 
of the old1 but was afraid1 and justly1 
to mention the ideal in the  presence of
 the reality4 ,there is always danger in
 doing that2 it  breaks the spell and   
reduces us again to the old and patient 
loyalty to  the unseen4 ,the present    
thing being so like the ideal we        
unhesitatingly  pursue it3 but we are   
quickly disappointed1 and the soul      
returns  sighing and mortally wounded1  
as the new object of passion fades away4
    ,we may now understand somewhat     
better that strange combination of      
loyalty and disloyalty which we find in 
,dante4 ,while the object of  love is   

any particular thing1 it excludes all   
others2 but it includes  all others as  
soon as it becomes a general ideal4 ,all
 beauties attract  by suggesting the    
ideal and then fail to satisfy by not   
fulfilling  it4 ,while ,giovanna        
remained a woman1 ,guido1 as his after  
life plainly  showed1 had no difficulty 
in forgetting her and in loving many    
others  with a frank heart2 but when    
,giovanna had become a name for the     
absolute ideal1 that sovereign mistress 
could never be forgotten1 and  the      
thought of her subordinated every       
particular attachment and called  the   
soul away from it4 ,compared with the   
ideal1 every human perfection  becomes a
 shadow and a deceit2 every mortal      
passion leaves1 as ,keats  has told us1 
,a heart high-sorrowful and cloyed1     
,a burning forehead and a parching      
tongue4    ,such is the nature of       
idealization4 ,like the ,venus of       
,apelles1 in  which all known beauties  
were combined1 the ideal is the union of

  all we prize in all creatures2 and the
 mind that has once felt the            
irresistible compulsion to create this  
ideal and to believe in it has  become  
incapable of unreserved love of anything
 else4 ,the absolute  is a jealous god2 
it is a consuming fire that blasts the  
affections  upon which it feeds4 ,for   
this reason the soul of ,guido1 in his  
sonnet1  is mortally wounded by the     
shaft of that beauty which has awakened 
a  vehement longing for perfection      
without being able to satisfy it4 ,all  
things become to the worshipper of the  
ideal so many signs and symbols  of what
 he seeks2 like the votary who1 kneeling
 now before one image  and now before   
another1 lets his incense float by all  
with a certain  abstracted impartiality1
 because his aspiration mounts through  
them  equally to the invisible ,god they
 alike represent4    ,another aspect of 
the same process is well described by   
,shakespeare1 in  whom ,italian         
influences count for much1 when he says 

to the person he  has chosen as the     
object of his idealization3--           
,thy bosom is endeared with all hearts  
,which ,i1 by lacking1 have supposed    
dead1       ,and there reigns love and  
all love's loving parts         ,and all
 those friends which ,i thought buried4 
,how many a holy and obsequious tear    
,hath dear religious love stolen from   
mine eye       ,as interest for the     
dead1 which now appear         ,but     
things removed1 which hidden in thee    
lie4       ,thou art the grave where    
buried love doth live         ,hung with
 the trophies of my lovers gone1        
,who all their parts of me to thee did  
give3         ,that due of many now is  
thine alone4       ,their images ,i     
loved ,i view in thee1       ,and thou1 
all they1 hast all the all of me4    ,we
 need not1 then1 waste erudition in     
trying to prove whether ,dante's        
,beatrice or ,guido's ,giovanna or any  
one else who has been the subject  of   
the greater poetry of love1 was a symbol

 or a reality4 ,to poets and            
philosophers real things are themselves 
symbols4 ,the child of seven  whom      
,dante saw at the ,florentine feast was1
 if you will1 a reality4 ,as  such she  
is profoundly unimportant4 ,to say that 
,dante loved her then  and ever after is
 another way of saying that she was a   
symbol to him4  ,that is the way with   
childish loves4 ,neither the conscious  
spell of the  senses nor the affinities 
of taste and character can then be      
powerful1  but the sense of loneliness  
and the vague need of loving may easily 
conspire with the innocence of the eyes 
to fix upon a single image and  to make 
it the imaginary goal of all those      
instincts which as yet do  not know     
themselves4    ,when with time these    
instincts become explicit and select    
their  respective objects1 if the inmost
 heart still remains unsatisfied1 as  it
 must in all profound or imaginative    
natures1 the name and memory  of that   
vague early love may well subsist as a  

symbol for the perfect  good yet        
unattained4 ,it is intelligible that as 
time goes on that  image1 grown thus    
consciously symbolic1 should become     
interchangeable  with the abstract      
method of pursuing perfection--that     
,beatrice1 that  is1 should become the  
same as sacred theology4 ,having        
recognized that  she was to his childish
 fancy what the ideals of religion were 
to his  mature imagination1 ,dante      
intentionally fused the two1 as every   
poet  intentionally fuses the general   
and the particular1 the universal and   
the personal4 ,beatrice thenceforth     
appeared1 as ,plato wished that our     
loves should1 as a manifestation of     
absolute beauty and as an avenue of     
divine grace4 ,dante merely added his   
,christian humility and tenderness  to  
the insight of the ,pagan philosopher4  
,the tendency to impersonality1 we see1 
is essential to the ideal4 ,it  could   
not fulfil its functions if it retained 
too many of the traits  of any          

individual4 ,a blind love1 an           
unreasoning passion1 is therefore       
inconsistent with the ,platonic spirit1 
which is favourable rather to           
abstraction from persons and to         
admiration of qualities4 ,these may1 of 
course1 be found in many individuals4   
,too much subjection to another         
personality makes the expression of our 
own impossible1 and the ideal  is       
nothing but a projection of the demands 
of our imagination4 ,if  the imagination
 is over-powered by too strong a        
fascination1 by the  absolute dominion  
of an alien influence1 we form no ideal 
at all4 ,we  must master a passion      
before we can see its meaning4    ,for  
this reason1 among others1 we find so   
little ,platonism in that  poet in whom 
we might have expected to find most--,i 
mean in ,petrarch4  ,petrarch is        
musical1 ingenious1 learned1 and        
passionate1 but he is  weak4 ,his art is
 greater than his thought4 ,in the      
quality of his mind  there is nothing   

truly distinguished4 ,the discipline of 
his long and  hopeless love brings him  
little wisdom1 little consolation4 ,he  
is  lachrymose and sentimental at the   
end as at the beginning1 and his best   
dream of heaven1 expressed1 it is true1 
in entrancing verse1 is only to  hold   
his lady's hand and hear her voice4     
,sometimes1 indeed1 he repeats  what he 
must have read and heard so often1 and  
gives us his version of  ,plato in half 
a sonnet4 ,thus1 for instance1 speaking 
of his love for  ,laura1 he says in one 
place3--        ,hence comes the        
understanding of love's scope           
,that seeking her to perfect good       
aspires1       ,accounting little what  
all flesh desires2       ,and hence the 
spirit's happy pinions ope       ,in    
flight impetuous to the heaven's choirs1
       ,wherefore ,i walk already proud 
in hope4    ,if we are looking1 however1
 for more direct expressions of the     
idealism  of feeling1 of love1 and the  
sense of beauty passing into religion1  

we shall do well to turn to another     
,italian1 not so great a poet as        
,petrarch by any means1 but a far       
greater man--to ,michael ,angelo4       
,michael ,angelo justly regarded himself
 as essentially a sculptor1 and  said   
even of painting that it was not his    
art2 his verses are therefore  both     
laboured and rough4 ,yet they have been 
too much neglected1 for  they breathe   
the same pathos of strength1 the same   
agony in hope1 as  his ,titanic designs4
    ,like every ,italian of culture in  
those days1 ,michael ,angelo was in the 
habit of addressing little pieces to his
 friends1 and of casting his  thoughts  
or his prayers into the mould of a      
sonnet or a madrigal4 ,verse  has a     
greater naturalness and a wider range   
among the ,latin peoples  than among the
 ,english2 poetry and prose are less    
differentiated4 ,in  ,french1 ,italian1 
and ,spanish1 as in ,latin itself1      
elegance and neatness  of expression    
suffice for verse4 ,the reader passes   

without any sense of  incongruity or    
anti-climax from passion to reflection1 
from sentiment  to satire1 from flights 
of fancy to homely details3 the whole   
has a  certain human sincerity and      
intelligibility which weld it together4 
,as the ,latin languages are not        
composed of two diverse elements1 as    
,english is of ,latin and ,german1 so   
the ,latin mind does not have two       
spheres of sentiment1 one vulgar and the
 other sublime4 ,all changes  are       
variations on a single key1 which is the
 key of intelligence4 ,we  must not be  
surprised1 therefore1 to find now a     
message to a friend1  now an artistic   
maxim1 now a bit of dialectic1 and now a
 confession of  sin1 taking the form of 
verse and filling out the fourteen lines
 of a  sonnet4 ,on the contrary1 we must
 look to these familiar compositions    
for the most genuine evidence of a man's
 daily thoughts4    ,we find in ,michael
 ,angelo's poems a few recurring ideas1 
or rather the  varied expression of a   

single half sthetic1 half religious     
creed4  ,the soul1 he tells us in       
effect1 is by nature made for ,god and  
for  the enjoyment of divine beauty4    
,all true beauty leads to the idea of   
perfection2 the effort toward perfection
 is the burden of all art1  which       
labours1 therefore1 with a superhuman   
and insoluble problem4  ,all love1 also1
 that does not lead to the love of ,god 
and merge into  that love1 is a long and
 hopeless torment2 while the light of   
love is  already the light of heaven1   
the fire of love is already the fire of 
hell4 ,these are the thoughts that      
perpetually recur1 varied now with  a   
pathetic reference to the poet's        
weariness and old age1 now with an      
almost despairing appeal for divine     
mercy1 often with a powerful and  rugged
 description of the pangs of love1 and  
with a pious acceptance  of its         
discipline4 ,the whole is intense1      
exalted1 and tragic1 haunted  by        
something of that profound terror1 of   

that magnificent strength1  which we    
admire in the figures of the ,sixtine   
,chapel1 those noble  agonies of beings 
greater than any we find in this world4 
,what1 we may ask1 is all this tragedy  
about8 ,what great sorrow1  what great  
love1 had ,michael ,angelo or his giants
 that they writhe  so supernaturally ,as
 those decorative youths are sprinkled  
over the  ,sixtine vault1 filled1 we    
know not why1 with we know not what     
emotion1  so these scraps of verse1     
these sibylline leaves of ,michael      
,angelo's1  give us no reason for their 
passion4 ,they tell no story2 there     
seems to  have been no story to tell4   
,there is something impersonal and      
elusive  about the subject and occasion 
of these poems4 ,attempts have been made
  to attribute them to discreditable    
passions1 as also to a sentimental  love
 for ,vittoria ,colonna4 ,but the       
friendship with ,vittoria ,colonna  was 
an incident of ,michael ,angelo's mature
 years2 some of the sonnets  and        

madrigals are addressed to her1 but we  
cannot attribute to her  influence the  
passion and sorrow that seem to permeate
 them all4    ,perhaps there is less    
mystery in this than the curious would  
have us  see in it4 ,perhaps the love   
and beauty1 however base their primal   
incarnation1 are really1 as they think  
themselves1 aspirations toward  the     
,most ,high4 ,in the long studies and   
weary journeys of the artist1  in his   
mighty inspiration1 in his intense love 
of the structural  beauty of the human  
body1 in his vicissitudes of fortune and
 his  artistic disappointments1 in his  
exalted piety1 we may see quite enough  
explanation for the burden of his soul4 
,it is not necessary to find  vulgar    
causes for the extraordinary feelings of
 an extraordinary man4  ,it suffices    
that life wore this aspect to him2 that 
the great demands  of his spirit so     
expressed themselves in the presence of 
his world4  ,here is a madrigal in which
 the ,platonic theory of beauty is      

clearly  stated3--        ,for faithful 
guide unto my labouring heart           
,beauty was given me at birth1       ,to
 be my glass and lamp in either art4    
,who thinketh otherwise misknows her    
worth1       ,for highest beauty only   
gives me light       ,to carve and paint
 aright4       ,rash is the thought and 
vain       ,that maketh beauty from the 
senses grow4       ,she lifts to heaven 
hearts that truly know1       ,but eyes 
grown dim with pain       ,from mortal  
to immortal cannot go       ,nor without
 grace of ,god look up again4    ,and   
here is a sonnet1 called by ,mr4        
,symonds the heavenly birth of love  and
 beauty4 ,i borrow in part from his     
translation3--        ,my love's life   
comes not from this heart of mine4      
,the love wherewith ,i love thee hath no
 heart1       ,turned thither whither no
 fell thoughts incline       ,and erring
 human passion leaves no smart4         
,love1 from ,god's bosom when our souls 
did part1       ,made me pure eye to    

see1 thee light to shine1       ,and ,i 
must needs1 half mortal though thou art1
       ,in spite of sorrow know thee all
 divine4       ,as heat in fire1 so must
 eternity       ,in beauty dwell2       
through thee my soul's endeavour4       
,mounts to the pattern and the source of
 thee2       ,and having found all      
heaven in thine eyes1       ,beneath thy
 brows my burning spirit flies          
,there where ,i loved thee first to     
dwell for ever4    ,something of this   
kind may also be found in the verses of 
,lorenzo de'  ,medici1 who1 like        
,michael ,angelo1 was a poet only       
incidentally1 and  even thought it      
necessary to apologize in a preface for 
having written  about love4 ,many of his
 compositions are1 indeed1 trivial      
enough1 but  his pipings will not seem  
vain to the severest philosopher when he
  finds them leading to strains like the
 following1 where the thought  rises to 
the purest sphere of tragedy and of     
religion3--        ,as a lamp1 burning  

through the waning night1       ,when   
the oil begins to fail that fed its fire
       ,flares up1 and in its dying     
waxes bright       ,and mounts and      
spreads1 the better to expire2       ,so
 in this pilgrimage and earthly flight  
,the ancient hope is spent that fed     
desire1       ,and if there burn within 
a greater light       ',tis that the    
vigil's end approacheth nigher4         
,hence thy last insult1 ,fortune1 cannot
 move1       ,nor death's inverted      
torches give alarm2       ,i see the end
 of wrath and bitter moan4       ,my    
fair ,medusa into sculptured stone      
,turns me no more1 my ,siren cannot     
charm4       ,heaven draws me up to its 
supernal love4    ,from such spontaneous
 meditation ,lorenzo could even pass to 
verses  officially religious2 but in    
them too1 beneath the threadbare        
metaphors  of the pious muse and her    
mystical paradoxes1 we may still feel   
the  austerity and firmness of reason4  
,the following stanzas1 for instance1   

taken from his ,laudi ,spirituali1      
assume a sublime meaning if we  remember
 that the essence to which they are     
addressed1 before being a  celestial    
,monarch into whose visible presence any
 accident might usher  us1 was a general
 idea of what is good and an            
intransitive rational  energy1          
indistinguishable from the truth of     
things4        ,o let this wretched life
 within me die         ,that ,i may live
 in thee1 my life indeed2       ,in thee
 alone1 where dwells eternity1          
,while hungry multitudes death's hunger 
feed4       ,i list within1 and hark6   
,death's stealthy tread6       ,i look  
to thee1 and nothing then is dead4      
,then eyes may see a light invisible    
,and ears may hear a voice without a    
sound1--       ,a voice and light not   
harsh1 but tempered well1         ,which
 the mind wakens when the sense is      
drowned1       ,till1 wrapped within    
herself1 the soul have flown       ,to  
that last good which is her inmost own4 

,when1 sweet and beauteous ,master1 on  
that day1         ,reviewing all my     
loves with aching heart1         ,i take
 from each its bitter self away1        
,the remnant shall be thou1 their better
 part4       ,this perfect sweetness be 
his single store       ,who seeks the   
good2 this faileth nevermore4        ,a 
thirst unquenchable is not beguiled     
,by draught on draught of any running   
river       ,whose fiery waters feed our
 pangs for ever1         ,but by a      
living fountain undefiled4       ,o     
sacred well1 ,i seek thee and were fain 
,to drink2 so should ,i never thirst    
again4    ,having before us these       
characteristic expressions of ,platonic 
feeling1  as it arose again in a        
,christian age1 divorced from the       
accidental  setting which ,greek manners
 had given it1 we may be better able to 
understand its essence4 ,it is nothing  
else than the application to  passion of
 that pursuit of something permanent in 
a world of change1  of something        

absolute in a world of relativity1 which
 was the essence  of the ,platonic      
philosophy4 ,if we may give rein to the 
imagination  in a matter which without  
imagination could not be understood at  
all1 we may fancy ,plato trying to      
comprehend the power which beauty       
exerted over his senses by applying to  
the objects of love that  profound      
metaphysical distinction which he had   
learned to make in his  dialectical     
studies--the distinction between the    
appearance to sense  and the reality    
envisaged by the intellect1 between the 
phenomenon  and the ideal4 ,the whole   
natural world had come to seem to him   
like  a world of dreams4 ,in dreams     
images succeed one another without      
other meaning than that which they      
derive from our strange power  of       
recognition--a power which enables us   
somehow1 among the most  incongruous    
transformations and surroundings1 to    
find again the objects  of our waking   
life1 and to name those absurd and      

unmannerly visions by  the name of      
father or mother or by any other        
familiar name4 ,as these  resemblances  
to real things make up all the truth of 
our dream1 and  these recognitions all  
its meaning1 so ,plato thought that all 
the truth  and meaning of earthly things
 was the reference they contained to a  
heavenly original4 ,this heavenly       
original we remember and recognize  even
 among the distortions1 disappearances1 
and multiplications of its  earthly     
copies4    ,this thought is easily      
applicable to the affections2 indeed1 it
 is not  impossible that it was the     
natural transcendence of any deep glance
  into beauty1 and the lessons in       
disillusion and idealism given by that  
natural metaphysician we call love1 that
 first gave ,plato the key to  his      
general system4 ,there is1 at any rate1 
no sphere in which the  supersensible is
 approached with so warm a feeling of   
its reality1 in  which the phenomenon is
 so transparent and so indifferent a    

symbol of  something perfect and divine 
beyond4 ,in love and beauty1 if         
anywhere1  even the common man thinks he
 has visitations from a better world1   
approaches to a lost happiness2 a       
happiness never tasted by us in  this   
world1 and yet so natural1 so expected1 
that we look for it at  every turn of a 
corner1 in every new face2 we look for  
it with so much  confidence1 with so    
much depth of expectation1 that we never
 quite  overcome our disappointment that
 it is not found4    ,and it is not     
found1--no1 never1--in spite of what we 
may think when  we are first in love4   
,plato knew this well from his          
experience4 ,he  had had successful     
loves1 or what the world calls such1 but
 he could  not fancy that these         
successes were more than provocations1  
more  than hints of what the true good  
is4 ,to have mistaken them for real     
happiness would have been to continue to
 dream4 ,it would have shown  as little 
comprehension of the heart's experience 

as the idiot shows  of the experience of
 the senses when he is unable to put    
together  impressions of his eyes and   
hands and to say1 ,here is a table2 here
  is a stool4 ,it is by a parallel use  
of the understanding that we put        
together the impressions of the heart   
and the imagination and are  able to    
say1 ,here is absolute beauty3 here is  
,god4 ,the impressions  themselves have 
no permanence1 no intelligible essence4 
,as ,plato said1  they are never        
anything fixed but are always either    
becoming or ceasing  to be what we think
 them4 ,there must be1 he tells us1 an  
eternal and  clearly definable object of
 which the visible appearances to us are
 the  manifold semblance2 now by one    
trait now by another the phantom before 
us lights up that vague and haunting    
idea1 and makes us utter its name  with 
a momentary sense of certitude and      
attainment4    ,just so the individual  
beauties that charm our attention and   
enchain  the soul have only a transitive

 existence2 they are momentary visions1 
irrecoverable moods4 ,their object is   
unstable2 we never can say what  it is1 
it changes so quickly before our eyes4  
,what is it that a mother  loves in her 
child8 ,perhaps the babe not yet born1  
or the babe that  grew long ago by her  
suffering and unrecognized care2 perhaps
 the man  to be or the youth that has   
been4 ,what does a man love in a woman8 
,the girl that is yet1 perhaps1 to be   
his1 or the wife that once chose  to    
give him her whole existence4 ,where1   
among all these glimpses1 is  the true  
object of love8 ,it flies before us1 it 
tempts us on1 only  to escape and turn  
to mock us from a new quarter4 ,and yet 
nothing  can concern us more or be more 
real to us than this mysterious good1   
since the pursuit of it gives our lives 
whatever they have of true  earnestness 
and meaning1 and the approach to it     
whatever they have of  joy4    ,so far  
is this ideal1 ,plato would say1 from   
being an illusion1 that it  is the      

source of the world1 the power that     
keeps us in existence4 ,but  for it1 we 
should be dead4 ,a profound             
indifference1 an initial torpor1  would 
have kept us from ever opening our eyes1
 and we should have no  world of        
business or pleasure1 politics or       
science1 to think about at  all4 ,we1   
and the whole universe1 exist only by   
the passionate attempt  to return to our
 perfection1 by the radical need of     
losing ourselves  again in ,god4 ,that  
ineffable good is our natural           
possession2 all we  honour in this life 
is but the partial recovery of our      
birthright2  every delightful thing is  
like a rift in the clouds through which 
we  catch a glimpse of our native       
heaven4 ,if that heaven seems so far    
away  and the idea of it so dim and     
unreal1 it is because we are so far from
  perfect1 so much immersed in what is  
alien and destructive to the soul4      
,thus the history of our loves is the   
record of our divine  conversations1 of 

our intercourse with heaven4 ,it matters
 very  little whether this history seems
 to us tragic or not4 ,in one sense1    
all mortal loves are tragic because     
never is the creature we think  we      
possess the true and final object of our
 love2 this love must  ultimately pass  
beyond that particular apparition1 which
 is itself  continually passing away and
 shifting all its lines and colours4 ,as
  ,heraclitus could never bathe twice in
 the same river1 because its water  had 
flowed away1 so ,plato could never look 
twice at the same face1 for  it had     
become another4 ,but on the other hand  
the most unsuccessful  passion cannot be
 a vain thing4 ,more1 perhaps1 than if  
it had found  an apparent satisfaction1 
it will reveal to us an object of       
infinite  worth1 and the flight of the  
soul1 detached by it from the illusions 
of  common life1 will be more straight  
and steady toward the ultimate good4    
,such1 if we are not mistaken1 is the   
lesson of ,plato's experience  and also 

of that of the ,italian poets whom we   
have quoted4 ,is this  experience       
something normal8 ,is it the rational   
outcome of our own  lives8 ,that is a   
question which each man must answer for 
himself4  ,our immediate object will    
have been attained if we have made more 
intelligible a tendency which is        
certainly very common among men1 and    
not among the men least worthy of       
honour4 ,it is the tendency to make  our
 experience of love rational1 as        
scientific thinking is a tendency  to   
make rational our experience of the     
outer world4 ,the theories of  natural  
science are creations of human reason2  
they change with the  growth of reason1 
and express the intellectual impulses of
 each nation  and age4 ,theories about  
the highest good do the same2 only being
 less  applicable in practice1 less     
controllable by experiment1 they seldom 
attain the same distinctness and        
articulation4 ,but there is nothing     
authoritative in those constructions of 

the intellect1 nothing coercive  except 
in so far as our own experience and     
reflection force us to  accept them4    
,natural science is persuasive because  
it embodies the  momentum of common     
sense and of the practical arts2 it     
carries on  their spontaneous processes 
by more refined but essentially similar 
methods4 ,moral science is persuasive   
under the same conditions1 but  these   
conditions are not so generally found in
 the minds of men4 ,their  conscience is
 often superstitious and perfunctory2   
their imagination is  usually either    
disordered or dull4 ,there is little    
momentum in their  lives which the      
moralist can rely upon to carry them    
onward toward  rational ideals4         
,deprived of this support his theories  
fall to the  ground2 they must seem1 to 
every man whose nature cannot elicit    
them  from his own experience1 empty    
verbiage and irrelevant dreams4         
,nothing in the world of fact obliges us
 to agree with ,michael ,angelo  when he

 says that eternity can no more be      
separated from beauty than  heat from   
fire4 ,beauty is a thing we experience1 
a value we feel2  but eternity is       
something problematical4 ,it might well 
happen that  beauty should exist for a  
while in our contemplation and that     
eternity  should have nothing to do with
 it or with us4 ,it might well happen   
that our affections1 being the natural  
expression of our instincts in  the     
family and in the state1 should bind us 
for a while to the beings  with whom    
life has associated us--a father1 a     
lover1 a child--and that  these         
affections should gradually fade with   
the decay of our vitality1  declining in
 the evening of life1 and passing away  
when we surrender  our breath1 without  
leading us to any single and supreme    
good1 to any  eternal love4 ,if1        
therefore1 the thoughts and consolations
 we have  been rehearsing have sounded  
to us extravagant or unnatural1 we      
cannot  justify them by attempting to   

prove the actual existence of their     
objects1 by producing the absolute      
beauty or by showing where and how  we  
may come face to face with ,god4 ,we may
 well feel that beauty and  love are    
clear and good enough without any such  
additional embodiments4  ,we may take   
the world as it is1 without feigning    
another1 and study  actual experience   
without postulating any that is         
hypothetical4 ,we can  welcome beauty   
for the pleasure it affords and love for
 the happiness  it brings1 without      
asking that these things should receive 
supernatural  extensions4    ,but we    
should have studied ,plato and his      
kindred poets to little  purpose if we  
thought that by admitting all this we   
were rejecting more  than the mythical  
element that was sometimes mixed with   
their ideal  philosophy4 ,its essence is
 not touched by any acknowledgment of   
what  seems true or probable in the     
realm of actual existence4 ,nothing is  
more characteristic of the ,platonic    

mind than a complete indifference  to   
the continuance of experience and an    
exclusive interest in its               
comprehension4 ,if we wish to understand
 this classic attitude of  reason1 all  
we need do is to let reason herself     
instruct us4 ,we do  not need more data1
 but more mind4 ,if we take the sights  
and the loves  that our mortal          
limitations have allowed of1 and        
surrender ourselves  unreservedly to    
their natural eloquence2 if we say to   
the spirit that  stirs within them1 ,be 
thou me1 impetuous one2 if we become1 as
  ,michael ,angelo says he was1 all eyes
 to see or all heart to feel1 then  the 
force of our spiritual vitality1 the    
momentum of our imagination1  will carry
 us beyond ourselves1 beyond an interest
 in our personal  existence or eventual 
emotions1 into the presence of a divine 
beauty  and an eternal truth--things    
impossible to realize in experience1    
although necessarily envisaged by       
thought4    ,as the senses that         

perceive1 in the act of perceiving      
assert an  absolute reality in their    
object1 as the mind that looks before   
and  after believes in the existence of 
a past and a future which cannot  now be
 experienced1 so the imagination and the
 heart behold1 when they  are left free 
to expand and express themselves1 an    
absolute beauty  and a perfect love4    
,intense contemplation disentangles the 
ideal from  the idol of sense1 and a    
purified will rests in it as in the true
  object of worship4 ,these are the     
oracles of reason1 the prophecies of    
those profounder spirits who in the     
world of ,nature are obedient unto      
death because they belong intrinsically 
to a world where death is  impossible1  
and who can rise continually1 by        
abstraction from personal  sensibility1 
into identity with the eternal objects  
of rational life4    ,such a religion   
must elude popular apprehension until it
 is translated  into myths and          
cosmological dogmas4 ,it is easier for  

men to fill out  the life of the spirit 
by supplementing the facts of experience
 by  other facts for which there is no  
evidence than it is for them to  master 
the given facts and turn them to        
spiritual uses4 ,many can fight  for a  
doubtful fact when they cannot perform a
 difficult idealization4  ,they trust1  
as all men must1 to what they can see2  
they believe in  things as their        
faculties represent things to them4 ,by 
the same right1  however1 the           
rationalizer of experience believes in  
his visions2 he  rests1 like the meanest
 of us1 in the present object of his    
thought4  ,so long as we live at all we 
must trust in something1 at least in the
  coherence and permanence of the       
visible world and in the value of the   
objects of our own desires4 ,and if we  
live nobly1 we are under the same       
necessity of believing in noble things4 
,however unreal1 therefore1  these      
,platonic intuitions may seem to those  
of us whose interests lie  in other     

quarters1 we may rest assured that these
 very thoughts would  dominate our minds
 and these eternal companionships would 
cheer our  desolation1 if we had        
wrestled as manfully with the same      
passions and  passed through the        
transmuting fire of as great a love4    
,,vi      ,,the ,,absence ,,of          
,,religion ,,in ,,shakespeare      ,we  
are accustomed to think of the          
universality of ,shakespeare as not  the
 least of his glories4 ,no other poet   
has given so many-sided an  expression  
to human nature1 or rendered so many    
passions and moods  with such an        
appropriate variety of style1 sentiment1
 and accent4 ,if1  therefore1 we were   
asked to select one monument of human   
civilization  that should survive to    
some future age1 or be transported to   
another  planet to bear witness to the  
inhabitants there of what we have been  
upon earth1 we should probably choose   
the works of ,shakespeare4 ,in them  we 
recognize the truest portrait and best  

memorial of man4 ,yet the  archologists 
of that future age1 or the cosmographers
 of that other  part of the heavens1    
after conscientious study of our        
,shakespearian  autobiography1 would    
misconceive our life in one important   
respect4  ,they would hardly understand 
that man had had a religion4    ,there  
are1 indeed1 numerous exclamations and  
invocations in  ,shakespeare which we1  
who have other means of information1    
know to  be evidences of current        
religious ideas4 ,shakespeare adopts    
these1  as he adopts the rest of his    
vocabulary1 from the society about  him4
 ,but he seldom or never gives them     
their original value4 ,when  ,iago says 
'sblood a commentator might add         
explanations which  should involve the  
whole philosophy of ,christian devotion2
 but this  ,christian sentiment is not  
in ,iago's mind1 nor in ,shakespeare's1 
any  more than the virtues of ,heracles 
and his twelve labours are in the  mind 
of every slave and pander that cries    

hercule in the pages of  ,plautus and   
,terence4 ,oaths are the fossils of     
piety4 ,the geologist  recognizes in    
them the relics of a once active        
devotion1 but they are  now only        
counters and pebbles tossed about in the
 unconscious play of  expression4 ,the  
lighter and more constant their use1 the
 less their  meaning4    ,only one      
degree more inward than this survival of
 a religious  vocabulary in profane     
speech is the reference we often find in
  ,shakespeare to religious institutions
 and traditions4 ,there are monks1      
bishops1 and cardinals2 there is even   
mention of saints1 although  none is    
ever presented to us in person4 ,the    
clergy1 if they have any  wisdom1 have  
an earthly one4 ,friar ,lawrence culls  
his herbs like a  more benevolent       
,medea2 and ,cardinal ,wolsey flings    
away ambition with  a profoundly ,pagan 
despair2 his robe and his integrity to  
heaven are  cold comfort to him4 ,juliet
 goes to shrift to arrange her love     

affairs1  and ,ophelia should go to a   
nunnery to forget hers4 ,even the       
chastity  of ,isabella has little in it 
that would have been out of place in    
,iphigenia4 ,the metaphysical ,hamlet   
himself sees a true ghost1 but so  far  
reverts to the positivism that underlies
 ,shakespeare's thinking as  to speak   
soon after of that undiscovered country 
from whose bourn no  traveller returns4 
,there are only two or three short      
passages in the  plays1 and one sonnet1 
in which true religious feeling seems to
 break  forth4 ,the most beautiful of   
these passages is that in ,richard ,,ii1
  which commemorates the death of       
,mowbray1 ,duke of ,norfolk--           
,many a time hath banished ,norfolk     
fought       ,for ,jesu ,christ in      
glorious ,christian field1              
,streaming the ensign of the ,christian 
cross       ,against black ,pagans1     
,turks1 and ,saracens2       ,and1      
toiled with works of war1 retired       
himself       ,to ,italy2 and there1 at 

,venice1 gave       ,his body to that   
pleasant country's earth1       ,and his
 pure soul unto his captain ,christ1    
,under whose colours he had fought so   
long4    ,this is tender and noble1 and 
full of an indescribable chivalry and   
pathos1 yet even here we find the spirit
 of war rather than that of  religion1  
and a deeper sense of ,italy than of    
heaven4 ,more unmixed is  the piety of  
,henry ,v after the battle of           
,agincourt3--                       ,o  
,god1 thy arm was here2       ,and not  
to us1 but to thy arm alone1            
,ascribe we all6--,when1 without        
stratagem1       ,but in plain shock and
 even play of battle1       ,was ever   
known so great and little loss1         
,on one part and on the other8--,take   
it1 ,god1       ,for it is none but     
thine4444       ,come1 go we in         
procession to the village1       ,and be
 it death proclaimed through our host1  
,to boast of this1 or take that praise  
from ,god1       ,which is his only4444 

,do we all holy rites2       ,let there 
be sung ,non nobis and ,te ,deum4       
,this passage is certainly a true       
expression of religious feeling1 and    
just the kind that we might expect from 
a dramatist4 ,religion appears  here as 
a manifestation of human nature and as  
an expression of human  passion4 ,the   
passion1 however1 is not due to         
,shakespeare's imagination1  but is     
essentially historical3 the poet has    
simply not rejected1 as he  usually     
does1 the religious element in the      
situation he reproduces4#a    ,with this
 dramatic representation of piety we may
 couple another1 of a  more intimate    
kind1 from the ,sonnets3--        ,poor 
soul1 the centre of my sinful earth1    
,fooled by these rebel powers that thee 
array1       ,why dost thou pine within 
and suffer dearth1       ,painting thy  
outward walls so costly gay8       ,why 
so large cost1 having so short a lease1 
,dost thou upon thy fading mansion      
spend8       ,shall worms1 inheritors of

 this excess1       ,eat up thy charge8 
,is this thy body's end8       ,then1   
soul1 live thou upon thy servant's loss1
       ,and let that pine to aggravate  
thy store2       ,buy terms divine by   
selling hours of dross1       ,within be
 fed1 without be rich no more3          
,then shalt thou feed on death1 that    
feeds on men1       ,and death once     
dead1 there's no more dying then4       
,this sonnet contains more than a       
natural religious emotion inspired by  a
 single event4 ,it contains reflection1 
and expresses a feeling not  merely     
dramatically proper but rationally just4
 ,a mind that habitually  ran into such 
thoughts would be philosophically pious2
 it would be  spiritual4 ,the ,sonnets1 
as a whole1 are spiritual2 their passion
 is  transmuted into discipline4 ,their 
love1 which1 whatever its nominal       
object1 is hardly anything but love of  
beauty and youth in general1  is made to
 triumph over time by a metaphysical    
transformation of the  object into      

something eternal4 ,at first this is the
 beauty of the race  renewing itself by 
generation1 then it is the description  
of beauty in  the poet's verse1 and     
finally it is the immortal soul enriched
 by the  contemplation of that beauty4  
,this noble theme is the more           
impressively  rendered by being         
contrasted with another1 with a vulgar  
love that by  its nature refuses to be  
so transformed and transmuted4 ,two     
loves1  cries the poet1 in a line that  
gives us the essence of the whole1 ,two 
loves ,i have1--of comfort1 and despair4
    ,in all this depth of experience1   
however1 there is still wanting any     
religious image4 ,the ,sonnets are      
spiritual1 but1 with the doubtful       
exception of the one quoted above1 they 
are not ,christian4 ,and1 of  course1 a 
poet of ,shakespeare's time could not   
have found any other  mould than        
,christianity for his religion4 ,in our 
day1 with our wide and  conscientious   
historical sympathies1 it may be        

possible for us to find  in other rites 
and doctrines than those of our         
ancestors an expression  of some        
ultimate truth4 ,but for ,shakespeare1  
in the matter of religion1  the choice  
lay between ,christianity and nothing4  
,he chose nothing2 he  chose to leave   
his heroes and himself in the presence  
of life and of  death with no other     
philosophy than that which the profane  
world can  suggest and understand4      
,this positivism1 we need hardly say1   
was not due to any grossness or         
sluggishness in his imagination4        
,shakespeare could be idealistic when   
he dreamed1 as he could be spiritual    
when he reflected4 ,the spectacle  of   
life did not pass before his eyes as a  
mere phantasmagoria4 ,he  seized upon   
its principles2 he became wise4 ,nothing
 can exceed  the ripeness of his        
seasoned judgment1 or the occasional    
breadth1  sadness1 and terseness of his 
reflection4 ,the author of ,hamlet      
could not be without metaphysical       

aptitude2 ,macbeth could not  have been 
written without a sort of sibylline     
inspiration1 or the  ,sonnets without   
something of the ,platonic mind4 ,it is 
all the more  remarkable1 therefore1    
that we should have to search through   
all the  works of ,shakespeare to find  
half a dozen passages that have so much 
as a religious sound1 and that even     
these passages1 upon examination1       
should prove not to be the expression of
 any deep religious conception4  ,if    
,shakespeare had been without           
metaphysical capacity1 or without  moral
 maturity1 we could have explained his  
strange insensibility to  religion2 but 
as it is1 we must marvel at his         
indifference and ask  ourselves what can
 be the causes of it4 ,for1 even if we  
should not  regard the absence of       
religion as an imperfection in his own  
thought1  we must admit it to be an     
incompleteness in his portrayal of the  
thought of others4 ,positivism may be a 
virtue in a philosopher1 but it  is a   

vice in a dramatist1 who has to render  
those human passions to  which the      
religious imagination has always given a
 larger meaning and  a richer depth4    
,those greatest poets by whose side we  
are accustomed to put ,shakespeare  did 
not forego this advantage4 ,they gave us
 man with his piety and  the world with 
its gods4 ,homer is the chief repository
 of the ,greek  religion1 and ,dante the
 faithful interpreter of the ,catholic4 
,nature  would have been inconceivable  
to them without the supernatural1 or man
  without the influence and             
companionship of the gods4 ,these poets 
live  in a cosmos4 ,in their minds1 as  
in the mind of their age1 the fragments 
of experience have fallen together into 
a perfect picture1 like the  bits of    
glass in a kaleidoscope4 ,their universe
 is a total4 ,reason  and imagination   
have mastered it completely and peopled 
it4 ,no chaos  remains beyond1 or1 if it
 does1 it is thought of with an         
involuntary  shudder that soon passes   

into a healthy indifference4 ,they have 
a  theory of human life2 they see man in
 his relations1 surrounded by a  kindred
 universe in which he fills his allotted
 place4 ,he knows the  meaning and issue
 of his life1 and does not voyage       
without a chart4    ,shakespeare's      
world1 on the contrary1 is only the     
world of human  society4 ,the cosmos    
eludes him2 he does not seem to feel the
 need  of framing that idea4 ,he depicts
 human life in all its richness and     
variety1 but leaves that life without a 
setting1 and consequently  without a    
meaning4 ,if we asked him to tell us    
what is the significance  of the passion
 and beauty he had so vividly displayed1
 and what is the  outcome of it all1 he 
could hardly answer in any other words  
than those  he puts into the mouth of   
,macbeth3--        ,to-morrow1 and      
to-morrow1 and to-morrow1       ,creeps 
in this petty pace from day to day1     
,to the last syllable of recorded time2 
,and all our yesterdays have lighted    

fools       ,the way to dusty death4    
,out1 out1 brief candle6       ,life's  
but a walking shadow1 a poor player     
,that struts and frets his hour upon the
 stage       ,and then is heard no more3
 it is a tale       ,told by an idiot1  
full of sound and fury1                 
,signifying nothing4    ,how differently
 would ,homer or ,dante have answered   
that question6  ,their tragedy would    
have been illumined by a sense of the   
divinity  of life and beauty1 or by a   
sense of the sanctity of suffering and  
death4 ,their faith had enveloped the   
world of experience in a world  of      
imagination1 in which the ideals of the 
reason1 of the fancy1 and  of the heart 
had a natural expression4 ,they had     
caught in the reality  the hint of a    
lovelier fable1--a fable in which that  
reality was  completed and idealized1   
and made at once vaster in its extent   
and more  intelligible in its principle4
 ,they had1 as it were1 dramatized the  
universe1 and endowed it with the tragic

 unities4 ,in contrast with such  a     
luminous philosophy and so well-digested
 an experience1 the silence  of         
,shakespeare and his philosophical      
incoherence have something in  them that
 is still heathen2 something that makes 
us wonder whether the  northern mind1   
even in him1 did not remain morose and  
barbarous at its  inmost core4    ,but  
before we allow ourselves such hasty and
 general inferences1 we  may well stop  
to consider whether there is not some   
simpler answer to  our question4 ,an    
epic poet1 we might say1 naturally deals
 with cosmic  themes4 ,he needs         
supernatural machinery because he       
depicts the movement  of human affairs  
in their generality1 as typified in the 
figures of  heroes whose function it is 
to embody or to overcome elemental      
forces4  ,such a poet's world is        
fabulous1 because his inspiration is    
impersonal4  ,but the dramatist renders 
the concrete reality of life4 ,he has no
  need of a superhuman setting for his  

pictures4 ,such a setting would  destroy
 the vitality of his creations4 ,his    
plots should involve only  human actors 
and human motives3 the deus ex machina  
has always been  regarded as an         
inter-loper on his stage4 ,the passions 
of man are his  all-sufficient material2
 he should weave his whole fabric out of
 them4    ,to admit the truth of all    
this would not1 however1 solve our      
problem4  ,the dramatist cannot be      
expected to put cosmogonies on the      
boards4  ,miracle-plays become dramatic 
only when they become human4 ,but the   
supernatural world1 which the playwright
 does not bring before the  foot-lights1
 may exist nevertheless in the minds of 
his characters  and of his audience4 ,he
 may refer to it1 appeal to it1 and     
imply it1  in the actions and in the    
sentiments he attributes to his heroes4 
,and  if the comparison of ,shakespeare 
with ,homer or ,dante on the score of   
religious inspiration is invalidated by 
the fact that he is a dramatist  while  

they are epic poets1 a comparison may   
yet be instituted between  ,shakespeare 
and other dramatists1 from which his    
singular insensibility  to religion will
 as readily appear4    ,greek tragedy1  
as we know1 is dominated by the idea of 
fate4 ,even when  the gods do not appear
 in person1 or where the service or     
neglect  of them is not the moving cause
 of the whole play1--as it is in the    
,bacch and the ,hippolytus of           
,euripides1--still the deep conviction  
of the limits and conditions of human   
happiness underlies the fable4  ,the    
will of man fulfils the decrees of      
,heaven4 ,the hero manifests a  higher  
force than his own1 both in success and 
in failure4 ,the fates  guide the       
willing and drag the unwilling4 ,there  
is no such fragmentary  view of life as 
we have in our romantic drama1 where    
accidents make the  meaningless         
happiness or unhappiness of a           
supersensitive adventurer4  ,life is    
seen whole1 although in miniature4 ,its 

boundaries and its  principles are      
studied more than its incidents4 ,the   
human1 therefore1  everywhere merges    
with the divine4 ,our mortality1 being  
sharply defined  and much insisted upon1
 draws the attention all the more to    
that  eternity of ,nature and of law in 
which it is embosomed4 ,nor is the  fact
 of superhuman control left for our     
reflection to discover2 it is           
emphatically asserted in those oracles  
on which so much of the action  commonly
 turns4    ,when the ,greek religion was
 eclipsed by the ,christian1 the ancient
 way  of conceiving the ultra-human     
relations of human life became obsolete4
  ,it was no longer possible to speak   
with sincerity of the oracles and  gods1
 of ,nemesis and ,greek3 hubris4 ,yet   
for a long time it was not  possible to 
speak in any other terms4 ,the new ideas
 were without  artistic definition1 and 
literature was paralyzed4 ,but in the   
course  of ages1 when the imagination   
had had time and opportunity to develop 

a ,christian art and a ,christian       
philosophy1 the dramatic poets were     
ready to deal with the new themes4 ,only
 their readiness in this respect        
surpassed their ability1 at least their 
ability to please those who had  any    
memory of the ancient perfection of the 
arts4    ,the miracle-plays were the    
beginning4 ,their crudity was extreme   
and  their levity of the frankest2 but  
they had still1 like the ,greek plays1  
a religious excuse and a religious      
background4 ,they were not without      
dramatic power1 but their offences      
against taste and their demands upon    
faith were too great for them to survive
 the ,renaissance4 ,such plays as  the  
,polyeucte of ,corneille and the        
,devocion de la ,cruz of ,calderon1     
with other ,spanish plays that might be 
mentioned1 are examples of  ,christian  
dramas by poets of culture2 but as a    
whole we must say that  ,christianity1  
while it succeeded in expressing itself 
in painting  and in architecture1 failed

 to express itself in any adequate      
drama4  ,where ,christianity was strong1
 the drama either disappeared or became 
secular2 and it has never again dealt   
with cosmic themes successfully1  except
 in such hands as those of ,goethe and  
,wagner1 men who either  neglected      
,christianity altogether or used it only
 as an incidental  ornament1 having1 as 
they say1 transcended it in their       
philosophy4    ,the fact is1 that art   
and reflection have never been able to  
unite  perfectly the two elements of a  
civilization like ours1 that draws its  
culture from one source and its religion
 from another4 ,modern taste has  ever  
been1 and still is1 largely exotic1     
largely a revolution in favour  of      
something ancient or foreign4 ,the more 
cultivated a period has been1  the more 
wholly it has reverted to antiquity for 
its inspiration4 ,the  existence of that
 completer world has haunted all minds  
struggling for  self-expression1 and    
interfered1 perhaps1 with the natural   

development  of their genius4 ,the old  
art which they could not disregard      
distracted  them from the new ideal1 and
 prevented them from embodying this     
ideal  outwardly2 while the same ideal1 
retaining their inward allegiance1  made
 their revivals of ancient forms        
artificial and incomplete4 ,the  strange
 idea could thus gain admittance that   
art was not called to deal  with        
everything2 that its sphere was the     
world of polite conventions4  ,the      
serious and the sacred things of life   
were to be left unexpressed  and        
inarticulate2 while the arts masqueraded
 in the forms of a ,pagan  antiquity1 to
 which a triviality was at the same time
 attributed which  in fact it had not   
possessed4 ,this unfortunate separation 
of experience  and its artistic         
expression betrayed itself in the       
inadequacy of what  was beautiful and   
the barbarism of what was sincere4      
,when such are the usual conditions of  
artistic creation1 we need  not wonder  

that ,shakespeare1 a poet of the        
,renaissance1 should have  confined his 
representation of life to its secular   
aspects1 and that  his readers after him
 should rather have marvelled at the    
variety of  the things of which he      
showed an understanding than have taken 
note of  the one thing he overlooked4   
,to omit religion was after all to omit 
what was not felt to be congenial to a  
poet's mind4 ,the poet was to  trace for
 us the passionate and romantic         
embroideries of life2 he was  to be     
artful and humane1 and above all he was 
to be delightful4 ,the  beauty and charm
 of things had nothing any longer to do 
with those  painful mysteries and       
contentions which made the temper of the
 pious  so acrid and sad4 ,in           
,shakespeare's time and country1 to be  
religious  already began to mean to be  
,puritanical2 and in the divorce between
 the  fulness of life on the one hand   
and the depth and unity of faith on  the
 other1 there could be no doubt to which

 side a man of imaginative  instincts   
would attach himself4 ,a world of       
passion and beauty without  a meaning   
must seem to him more interesting and   
worthy than a world of  empty principle 
and dogma1 meagre1 fanatical1 and false4
 ,it was beyond  the power of synthesis 
possessed by that age and nation to find
 a  principle of all passion and a      
religion of all life4    ,this power of 
synthesis is indeed so difficult and    
rare that the  attempt to gain it is    
sometimes condemned as too              
philosophical1 and  as tending to       
embarrass the critical eye and creative 
imagination  with futile theories4 ,we  
might say1 for instance1 that the       
absence of  religion in ,shakespeare was
 a sign of his good sense2 that a       
healthy  instinct kept his attention    
within the sublunary world2 and that he 
was in that respect superior to ,homer  
and to ,dante4 ,for1 while they  allowed
 their wisdom to clothe itself in       
fanciful forms1 he gave us his  in its  

immediate truth1 so that he embodied    
what they signified4 ,the  supernatural 
machinery of their poems was1 we might  
say1 an accidental  incumbrance1 a      
traditional means of expression1 which  
they only half  understood1 and which   
made their representation of life       
indirect and  partly unreal4            
,shakespeare1 on the other hand1 had    
reached his poetical  majority and      
independence4 ,he rendered human        
experience no longer  through symbols1  
but by direct imaginative               
representation4 ,what ,i have  treated  
as a limitation in him would1 then1     
appear as the maturity of  his strength4
    ,there is always a class of minds in
 whom the spectacle of history  produces
 a certain apathy of reason4 ,they      
flatter themselves that they  can escape
 defeat by not attempting the highest   
tasks4 ,we need not  here stop to       
discuss what value as truth a           
philosophical synthesis may  hope to    
attain1 nor have we to protest against  

the sthetic preference  for the sketch  
and the episode over a reasoned and     
unified rendering  of life4 ,suffice it 
to say that the human race hitherto1    
whenever it  has reached a phase of     
comparatively high development and      
freedom1  has formed a conception of its
 place in ,nature1 no less than of the  
contents of its life2 and that this     
conception has been the occasion  of    
religious sentiments and practices2 and 
further1 that every art1  whether       
literary or plastic1 has drawn its      
favourite themes from this  religious   
sphere4 ,the poetic imagination has not 
commonly stopped  short of the          
philosophical in representing a         
superhuman environment of  man4         
,shakespeare1 however1 is remarkable    
among the greater poets for being       
without a philosophy and without a      
religion4 ,in his drama there is  no    
fixed conception of any forces1 natural 
or moral1 dominating and  transcending  
our mortal energies4 ,whether this      

characteristic be  regarded as a merit  
or as a defect1 its presence cannot be  
denied4  ,those who think it wise or    
possible to refrain from searching for  
general principles1 and are satisfied   
with the successive empirical           
appearance of things1 without any faith 
in their rational continuity or         
completeness1 may well see in           
,shakespeare their natural prophet4 ,for
  he1 too1 has been satisfied with the  
successive description of various       
passions and events4 ,his world1 like   
the earth before ,columbus1 extends  in 
an indefinite plane which he is not     
tempted to explore4    ,those of us1    
however1 who believe in                 
circumnavigation1 and who think  that   
both human reason and human imagination 
require a certain totality  in our      
views1 and who feel that the most       
important thing in life is the  lesson  
of it1 and its relation to its own      
ideal1--we can hardly find  in          
,shakespeare all that the highest poet  

could give4 ,fulness is not  necessarily
 wholeness1 and the most profuse wealth 
of characterization  seems still        
inadequate as a picture of experience1  
if this picture is  not somehow seen    
from above and reduced to a dramatic    
unity1--to that  unity of meaning that  
can suffuse its endless details with    
something of  dignity1 simplicity1 and  
peace4 ,this is the imaginative power   
found in  several poets we have         
mentioned1--the power that gives certain
 passages  in ,lucretius also their     
sublimity1 as it gives sublimity to many
  passages in the ,bible4    ,for what  
is required for theoretic wholeness is  
not this or that  system but some       
system4 ,its value is not the value of  
truth1 but that  of victorious          
imagination4 ,unity of conception is an 
sthetic merit  no less than a logical   
demand4 ,a fine sense of the dignity and
 pathos  of life cannot be attained     
unless we conceive somehow its outcome  
and its relations4 ,without such a      

conception our emotions cannot be       
steadfast and enlightened4 ,without it  
the imagination cannot fulfil  its      
essential function or achieve its       
supreme success4 ,shakespeare  himself1 
had it not been for the time and place  
in which he lived1 when  religion and   
imagination blocked rather than helped  
each other1 would  perhaps have allowed 
more of a cosmic background to appear   
behind his  crowded scenes4 ,if the     
,christian in him was not the real man1 
at least  the ,pagan would have spoken  
frankly4 ,the material forces of        
,nature1  or their vague embodiment in  
some northern pantheon1 would then have 
stood behind his heroes4 ,the various   
movements of events would have  appeared
 as incidents in a larger drama to which
 they had at least  some symbolic       
relation4 ,we should have been awed as  
well as saddened1  and purified as well 
as pleased1 by being made to feel the   
dependence  of human accidents upon     
cosmic forces and their fated evolution4

 ,then  we should not have been able to 
say that ,shakespeare was without a     
religion4 ,for the effort of religion1  
says ,goethe1 is to adjust us to  the   
inevitable2 each religion in its way    
strives to bring about this             
consummation4      #a ,and so aboute    
foure of the clocke in the afternoone1  
the ,kynge  when he saw no apparaunce of
 enemies1 caused the retreite to be     
blowen1  and gathering his army         
togither1 gave thankes to almightie god 
for  so happy a victory1 causing his    
prelates and chapleines to sing this    
psalm1 ,in exitu ,israeli de ,egipto1   
and commandyng every man to kneele      
downe on the grounde at this verse2 ,non
 nobis1 domine1 non nobis1 sed  nomini  
tuo da gloriam4 ,which done1 he caused  
,te ,deum1 with certain  anthems1 to be 
song1 giving laud  praise to god1 and   
not boasting of  his owne force or any  
humaine power4 ,,holinshed4             
,,vii      ,,the ,,poetry ,,of          
,,barbarism      ,i    ,it is an        

observation at first sight melancholy   
but in the end1 perhaps1  enlightening1 
that the earliest poets are the most    
ideal1 and that  primitive ages furnish 
the most heroic characters and have the 
clearest  vision of a perfect life4 ,the
 ,homeric times must have been full of  
ignorance and suffering4 ,in those      
little barbaric towns1 in those camps   
and farms1 in those shipyards1 there    
must have been much insecurity  and     
superstition4 ,that age was singularly  
poor in all that concerns  the          
convenience of life and the             
entertainment of the mind with arts  and
 sciences4 ,yet it had a sense for      
civilization4 ,that machinery of  life  
which men were beginning to devise      
appealed to them as poetical2  they knew
 its ultimate justification and studied 
its incipient  processes with delight4  
,the poetry of that simple and ignorant 
age was1  accordingly1 the sweetest and 
sanest that the world has known2 the    
most faultless in taste1 and the most   

even and lofty in inspiration4  ,without
 lacking variety and homeliness1 it     
bathed all things human in  the golden  
light of morning2 it clothed sorrow in a
 kind of majesty1  instinct with both   
self-control and heroic frankness4      
,nowhere else can  we find so noble a   
rendering of human nature1 so           
spontaneous a delight  in life1 so      
uncompromising a dedication to beauty1  
and such a gift of  seeing beauty in    
everything4 ,homer1 the first of poets1 
was also the  best and the most         
poetical4    ,from this beginning1 if we
 look down the history of ,occidental   
literature1 we see the power of         
idealization steadily decline4 ,for     
while it finds here and there1 as in    
,dante1 a more spiritual theme  and a   
subtler and riper intellect1 it pays for
 that advantage by a  more than         
equivalent loss in breadth1 sanity1 and 
happy vigour4 ,and if  ever imagination 
bursts out with a greater potency1 as in
 ,shakespeare  7who excels the patriarch

 of poetry in depth of passion and      
vividness  of characterization1 and in  
those exquisite bubblings of poetry and 
humour in which ,english genius is at   
its best71 yet ,shakespeare also  pays  
the price by a notable loss in taste1 in
 sustained inspiration1  in             
consecration1 and in rationality4 ,there
 is more or less rubbish in  his        
greatest works4 ,when we come down to   
our own day we find poets of  hardly    
less natural endowment 7for in endowment
 all ages are perhaps  alike7 and with  
vastly richer sources of inspiration2   
for they have  many arts and literatures
 behind them1 with the spectacle of a   
varied  and agitated society1 a world   
which is the living microcosm of its own
  history and presents in one picture   
many races1 arts1 and religions4  ,our  
poets have more wonderful tragedies of  
the imagination to depict  than had     
,homer1 whose world was innocent of any 
essential defeat1  or ,dante1 who       
believed in the world's definitive      

redemption4 ,or1 if  perhaps their      
inspiration is comic1 they have the     
pageant of medival  manners1 with its   
picturesque artifices and passionate    
fancies1 and the  long comedy of modern 
social revolutions1 so illusory in their
 aims and  so productive in their       
aimlessness4 ,they have1 moreover1 the  
new and  marvellous conception which    
natural science has given us of the     
world  and of the conditions of human   
progress4    ,with all these lessons of 
experience behind them1 however1 we find
  our contemporary poets incapable of   
any high wisdom1 incapable of any       
imaginative rendering of human life and 
its meaning4 ,our poets are  things of  
shreds and patches2 they give us        
episodes and studies1 a  sketch of this 
curiosity1 a glimpse of that romance2   
they have no total  vision1 no grasp of 
the whole reality1 and consequently no  
capacity for  a sane and steady         
idealization4 ,the comparatively        
barbarous ages had a  poetry of the     

ideal2 they had visions of beauty1      
order1 and perfection4  ,this age of    
material elaboration has no sense for   
those things4 ,its  fancy is            
retrospective1 whimsical1 and           
flickering2 its ideals1 when  it has    
any1 are negative and partial2 its moral
 strength is a blind  and miscellaneous 
vehemence4 ,its poetry1 in a word1 is   
the poetry of  barbarism4    ,this      
poetry should be viewed in relation to  
the general moral crisis  and           
imaginative disintegration of which it  
gives a verbal echo2 then  we shall     
avoid the injustice of passing it over  
as insignificant1 no  less than the     
imbecility of hailing it as essentially 
glorious and  successful4 ,we must      
remember that the imagination of our    
race has been  subject to a double      
discipline4 ,it has been formed partly  
in the school  of classic literature and
 polity1 and partly in the school of    
,christian  piety4 ,this duality of     
inspiration1 this contradiction between 

the two  accepted methods of            
rationalizing the world1 has been a     
chief source  of that incoherence1 that 
romantic indistinctness and             
imperfection1  which largely            
characterize the products of the modern 
arts4 ,a main  cannot serve two masters2
 yet the conditions have not been such  
as to  allow him wholly to despise the  
one or wholly to obey the other4 ,to be 
wholly ,pagan is impossible after the   
dissolution of that civilization  which 
had seemed universal1 and that empire   
which had believed itself  eternal4 ,to 
be wholly ,christian is impossible for a
 similar reason1 now  that the illusion 
and cohesion of ,christian ages is lost1
 and for the  further reason that       
,christianity was itself fundamentally  
eclectic4  ,before it could succeed and 
dominate men even for a time1 it was    
obliged to adjust itself to reality1 to 
incorporate many elements of  ,pagan    
wisdom1 and to accommodate itself to    
many habits and passions at  variance   

with its own ideal4    ,in these latter 
times1 with the prodigious growth of    
material life in  elaboration and of    
mental life in diffusion1 there has     
supervened upon  this old dualism a new 
faith in man's absolute power1 a kind of
 return  to the inexperience and        
self-assurance of youth4 ,this new      
inspiration  has made many minds        
indifferent to the two traditional      
disciplines #e  neither is seriously    
accepted by them1 for the reason1       
excellent from  their own point of view1
 that no discipline whatever is needed4 
,the  memory of ancient disillusions has
 faded with time4 ,ignorance of the     
past has bred contempt for the lessons  
which the past might teach4 ,men  prefer
 to repeat the old experiment without   
knowing that they repeat it4    ,i say  
advisedly ignorance of the past1 in     
spite of the unprecedented  historical  
erudition of our time for life is an art
 not to be learned  by observation1 and 
the most minute and comprehensive       

studies do not  teach us what the spirit
 of man should have learned by its long 
living4  ,we study the past as a dead   
object1 as a ruin1 not as an authority  
and as an experiment4 ,one reason why   
history was less interesting  to former 
ages was that they were less conscious  
of separation  from the past4 ,the      
perspective of time was less clear      
because the  synthesis of experience was
 more complete4 ,the mind does not      
easily  discriminate the successive     
phases of an action in which it is still
  engaged2 it does not arrange in a     
temporal series the elements of a       
single perception1 but posits them all  
together as constituting a  permanent   
and real object4 ,human nature and the  
life of the world  were real and stable 
objects to the apprehension of our      
fore-fathers  2 the actors changed1 but 
not the characters or the play4 ,men    
were  then less studious of derivations 
because they were more conscious of     
identities4 ,they thought of all reality

 as in a sense contemporary1  and in    
considering the maxims of a philosopher 
or the style of a poet1  they were not  
primarily concerned with settling his   
date and describing  his environment4   
,the standard by which they judged was  
eternal2 the  environment in which man  
found himself did not seem to them      
subject of  any essential change4    ,to
 us the picturesque element in history  
is more striking because we  feel       
ourselves the children of our own age   
only1 an age which being  itself        
singular and revolutionary1 tends to    
read its own character into  the past1  
and to regard all other periods as no   
less fragmentary and  effervescent than 
itself4 ,the changing and the permanent 
elements are1  indeed1 everywhere       
present1 and the bias of the observer   
may emphasize  the one or the other as  
it will3 the only question is whether we
 find  the significance of things in    
their variations or in their            
similarities4    ,now the habit of      

regarding the past as effete and as     
merely a  stepping-stone to something   
present or future1 is unfavourable to   
any  true apprehension of that element  
in the past which was vital and which   
remains eternal4 ,it is a habit of      
thought that destroys the sense of  the 
moral identity of all ages1 by virtue of
 its very insistence on the  mechanical 
derivation of one age from another4     
,existences that cause  one another     
exclude one another2 each is alien to   
the rest inasmuch as  it is the product 
of new and different conditions4 ,ideas 
that cause  nothing unite all things by 
giving them a common point of reference 
and  a single standard of value4    ,the
 classic and the ,christian systems were
 both systems of ideas1  attempts to    
seize the eternal morphology of reality 
and describe  its unchanging            
constitution4 ,the imagination was      
summoned thereby  to contemplate the    
highest objects1 and the essence of     
things  being thus described1 their     

insignificant variations could retain   
little importance and the study of these
 variations might well seem             
superficial4 ,mechanical science1 the   
science of causes1 was accordingly      
neglected1 while the science of values1 
with the arts that express  these       
values1 was exclusively pursued4 ,the   
reverse has now occurred  and the spirit
 of life1 innocent of any rationalizing 
discipline  and deprived of an          
authoritative and adequate method of    
expression1  has relapsed into          
miscellaneous and shallow exuberance4   
,religion  and art have become          
short-winded4 ,they have forgotten the  
old maxim  that we should copy in order 
to be copied and remember in order to   
be remembered4 ,it is true that the     
multiplicity of these incompetent       
efforts seems to many a compensation for
 their ill success1 or even a  ground   
for asserting their absolute            
superiority4 ,incompetence1 when  it    
flatters the passions1 can always find a

 greater incompetence to  approve of it4
 ,indeed1 some people would have        
regarded the ,tower of  ,babel as the   
best academy of eloquence on account of 
the variety of  oratorical methods      
prevailing there4    ,it is thus that   
the imagination of our time has relapsed
 into  barbarism4 ,but discipline of the
 heart and fancy is always so rare  a   
thing that the neglect of it need not be
 supposed to involve any  very terrible 
or obvious loss4 ,the triumphs of reason
 have been few  and partial at any time1
 and perfect works of art are almost    
unknown4  ,the failure of art and       
reason1 because their principle is      
ignored1 is  therefore hardly more      
conspicuous than it was when their      
principle1  although perhaps            
acknowledged1 was misunderstood or      
disobeyed4 ,indeed1  to one who fixes   
his eye on the ideal goal1 the greatest 
art often  seems the greatest failure1  
because it alone reminds him of what it 
should have been4 ,trivial stimulations 

coming from vulgar objects1 on  the     
contrary1 by making us forget altogether
 the possibility of a deep              
satisfaction1 often succeed in          
interesting and in winning applause4    
,the pleasure they give us is so brief  
and superficial that the wave of        
essential disappointment which would    
ultimately drown it has not time  to    
rise from the heart4    ,the poetry of  
barbarism is not without its charm4 ,it 
can play with  sense and passion the    
more readily and freely in that it does 
not  aspire to subordinate them to a    
clear thought or a tenable attitude of  
the will4 ,it can impart the transitive 
emotions which it expresses2 it  can    
find many partial harmonies of mood and 
fancy2 it can1 by virtue  of its red-hot
 irrationality1 utter wilder cries1     
surrender itself  and us to more        
absolute passion1 and heap up a more    
indiscriminate  wealth of images than   
belong to poets of seasoned experience  
or of  heavenly inspiration4 ,irrational

 stimulation may tire us in the end1    
but it excites us in the beginning2 and 
how many conventional poets1  tender and
 prolix1 have there not been1 who tire  
us now without ever  having excited     
anybody8 ,the power to stimulate is the 
beginning of  greatness1 and when the   
barbarous poet has genius1 as he well   
may  have1 he stimulates all the more   
powerfully on account of the crudity  of
 his methods and the recklessness of his
 emotions4 ,the defects  of such        
art--lack of distinction1 absence of    
beauty1 confusion of  ideas1 incapacity 
permanently to please--will hardly be   
felt by the  contemporary public1 if    
once its attention is arrested2 for no  
poet  is so undisciplined that he will  
not find many readers1 if he finds      
readers at all1 less disciplined than   
himself4    ,these considerations may   
perhaps be best enforced by applying    
them to  two writers of great influence 
over the present generation who seem to 
illustrate them on different            

planes--,robert ,browning and ,walt     
,whitman4  ,they are both analytic      
poets--poets who seek to reveal and     
express  the elemental as opposed to the
 conventional2 but the dissolution  has 
progressed much farther in ,whitman than
 in ,browning1 doubtless  because       
,whitman began at a much lower stage of 
moral and intellectual  organization2   
for the good will to be radical was     
present in both4  ,the elements to which
 ,browning reduces experience are still 
passions1  characters1 persons2 ,whitman
 carries the disintegration further and 
knows nothing but moods and particular  
images4 ,the world of ,browning  is a   
world of history with civilization for  
its setting and with the  conventional  
passions for its motive forces4 ,the    
world of ,whitman  is innocent of these 
things and contains only far simpler and
 more  chaotic elements4 ,in him the    
barbarism is much more pronounced2 it   
is1  indeed1 avowed1 and the barbaric   
yawp is sent over the roofs of the      

world in full consciousness of its      
inarticulate character2 but in          
,browning the barbarism is no less real 
though disguised by a literary  and     
scientific language1 since the passions 
of civilized life with  which he deals  
are treated as so many barbaric yawps1  
complex indeed  in their conditions1    
puffings of an intricate engine1 but    
aimless in  their vehemence and mere    
ebullitions of lustiness in adventurous 
and  profoundly ungoverned souls4       
,irrationality on this level is viewed  
by ,browning with the same  satisfaction
 with which1 on a lower level1 it is    
viewed by ,whitman2  and the admirers of
 each hail it as the secret of a new    
poetry  which pierces to the quick and  
awakens the imagination to a new and    
genuine vitality4 ,it is in the         
rebellion against discipline1 in the    
abandonment of the ideals of classic and
 ,christian tradition1 that this        
rejuvenation is found4 ,both poets      
represent1 therefore1 and are admired   

for representing1 what may be called the
 poetry of barbarism in the  most       
accurate and descriptive sense of this  
word4 ,for the barbarian  is the man who
 regards his passions as their own      
excuse for being2  who does not         
domesticate them either by understanding
 their cause or  by conceiving their    
ideal goal4 ,he is the man who does not 
know his  derivations nor perceive his  
tendencies1 but who merely feels and    
acts1  valuing in his life its force and
 its filling1 but being careless of  its
 purpose and its form4 ,his delight is  
in abundance and vehemence2  his art1   
like his life1 shows an exclusive       
respect for quantity and  splendour of  
materials4 ,his scorn for what is poorer
 and weaker than  himself is only       
surpassed by his ignorance of what is   
higher4          ,,ii    ,,walt         
,,whitman    ,the works of ,walt        
,whitman offer an extreme illustration  
of this  phase of genius1 both by their 
form1 and by their substance4 ,it was   

the singularity of his literary         
form--the challenge it threw to  the    
conventions of verse and of             
language--that first gave ,whitman      
notoriety3 but this notoriety has become
 fame1 because those  incapacities and  
solecisms which glare at us from his    
pages are only  the obverse of a        
profound inspiration and of a genuine   
courage4  ,even the idiosyncrasies of   
his style have a side which is not mere 
perversity or affectation2 the order of 
his words1 the procession of  his       
images1 reproduce the method of a rich1 
spontaneous1 absolutely  lazy fancy4 ,in
 most poets such a natural order is     
modified by various  governing          
motives--the thought1 the metrical form1
 the echo of other  poems in the memory4
 ,by ,walt ,whitman these conventional  
influences are  resolutely banished4 ,we
 find the swarms of men and objects     
rendered  as they might strike the      
retina in a sort of waking dream4 ,it is
  the most sincere possible confession  

of the lowest--,i mean the most         
primitive--type of perception4 ,all     
ancient poets are sophisticated in      
comparison and give proof of longer     
intellectual and moral training4  ,walt 
,whitman has gone back to the innocent  
style of ,adam1 when the  animals filed 
before him one by one and he called each
 of them by its  name4    ,in fact1 the 
influences to which ,walt ,whitman was  
subject were as  favourable as possible 
to the imaginary experiment of beginning
 the  world over again4 ,liberalism and 
transcendentalism both harboured  some  
illusions on that score2 and they were  
in the air which our  poet breathed4    
,moreover he breathed this air in       
,america1 where the  newness of the     
material environment made it easier to  
ignore the  fatal antiquity of human    
nature4 ,when he afterward became aware 
that  there was or had been a world with
 a history1 he studied that world  with 
curiosity and spoke of it not without a 
certain shrewdness4 ,but  he still      

regarded it as a foreign world and      
imagined1 as not a few  ,americans have 
done1 that his own world was a fresh    
creation1 not  amenable to the same laws
 as the old4 ,the difference in the     
conditions  blinded him1 in his merely  
sensuous apprehension1 to the identity  
of  the principles4    ,his parents were
 farmers in central ,long ,island and   
his early years  were spent in that     
district4 ,the family seems to have been
 not too  prosperous and somewhat       
nomadic2 ,whitman himself drifted       
through  boyhood without much guidance4 
,we find him now at school1 now helping 
the labourers at the farms1 now         
wandering along the beaches of ,long    
,island1 finally at ,brooklyn working in
 an apparently desultory way as  a      
printer and sometimes as a writer for a 
local newspaper4 ,he must  have read or 
heard something1 at this early period1  
of the ,english  classics2 his style    
often betrays the deep effect made upon 
him by the  grandiloquence of the       

,bible1 of ,shakespeare1 and of ,milton4
 ,but his  chief interest1 if we may    
trust his account1 was already in his   
own  sensations4 ,the aspects of        
,nature1 the forms and habits of        
animals1  the sights of cities1 the     
movement and talk of common people1 were
 his  constant delight4 ,his mind was   
flooded with these images1 keenly felt  
and afterward to be vividly rendered    
with bold strokes of realism and        
imagination4    ,many poets have had    
this faculty to seize the elementary    
aspects of  things1 but none has had it 
so exclusively2 with ,whitman the       
surface  is absolutely all and the      
underlying structure is without interest
 and  almost without existence4 ,he had 
had no education and his natural        
delight in imbibing sensations had not  
been trained to the uses of  practical  
or theoretical intelligence4 ,he basked 
in the sunshine of  perception and      
wallowed in the stream of his own       
sensibility1 as later  at ,camden in the

 shallows of his favourite brook4 ,even 
during the civil  war1 when he heard the
 drum-taps so clearly1 he could only    
gaze at the  picturesque and terrible   
aspects of the struggle1 and linger     
among the  wounded day after day with a 
canine devotion2 he could not be aroused
  either to clear thought or to positive
 action4 ,so also in his poems2 a       
multiplicity of images pass before him  
and he yields himself to each  in turn  
with absolute passivity4 ,the world has 
no inside2 it is a  phantasmagoria of   
continuous visions1 vivid1 impressive1  
but monotonous  and hard to distinguish 
in memory1 like the waves of the sea or 
the  decorations of some barbarous      
temple1 sublime only by the infinite    
aggregation of parts4    ,this abundance
 of detail without organization1 this   
wealth of  perception without           
intelligence and of imagination without 
taste1 makes  the singularity of        
,whitman's genius4 ,full of sympathy and
 receptivity1  with a wonderful gift of 

graphic characterization and an         
occasional  rare grandeur of diction1 he
 fills us with a sense of the           
individuality  and the universality of  
what he describes--it is a drop in      
itself yet a  drop in the ocean4 ,the   
absence of any principle of selection or
 of a  sustained style enables him to   
render aspects of things and of emotion 
which would have eluded a trained       
writer4 ,he is1 therefore1 interesting  
even where he is grotesque or perverse4 
,he has accomplished1 by the  sacrifice 
of almost every other good quality1     
something never so well  done before4   
,he has approached common life without  
bringing in his  mind any higher        
standard by which to criticise it2 he   
has seen it1  not in contrast with an   
ideal1 but as the expression of forces  
more  indeterminate and elementary than 
itself2 and the vulgar1 in this  cosmic 
setting1 has appeared to him sublime4   
,there is clearly some analogy between a
 mass of images without  structure and  

the notion of an absolute democracy4    
,whitman1 inclined  by his genius and   
habits to see life without relief or    
organization1  believed that his        
inclination in this respect corresponded
 with the  spirit of his age and        
country1 and that ,nature and society1  
at least  in the ,united ,states1 were  
constituted after the fashion of his own
  mind4 ,being the poet of the average  
man1 he wished1 all men to be  specimens
 of that average1 and being the poet of 
a fluid ,nature1 he  believed that      
,nature was or should be a formless     
flux4 ,this personal  bias of ,whitman's
 was further encouraged by the actual   
absence of  distinction in his immediate
 environment4 ,surrounded by ugly things
  and common people1 he felt himself    
happy1 ecstatic1 overflowing with a     
kind of patriarchal love4 ,he           
accordingly came to think that there was
  a spirit of the ,new ,world which he  
embodied1 and which was in complete     
opposition to that of the ,old1 and that

 a literature upon novel  principles was
 needed to express and strengthen this  
,american spirit4    ,democracy was not 
to be merely a constitutional device for
 the better  government of given        
nations1 not merely a movement for the  
material  improvement of the lot of the 
poorer classes4 ,it was to be a social  
and a moral democracy and to involve an 
actual equality among all  men4         
,whatever kept them apart and made it   
impossible for them to be  messmates    
together was to be discarded4 ,the      
literature of democracy  was to ignore  
all extraordinary gifts of genius or    
virtue1 all  distinction drawn even from
 great passions or romantic adventures4 
,in  ,whitman's works1 in which this new
 literature is foreshadowed1 there  is  
accordingly not a single character nor a
 single story4 ,his only  hero is       
,myself1 the single separate person1    
endowed with the primary  impulses1 with
 health1 and with sensitiveness to the  
elementary aspects  of ,nature4 ,the    

perfect man of the future1 the prolific 
begetter of  other perfect men1 is to   
work with his hands1 chanting the poems 
of  some future ,walt1 some ideally     
democratic bard4 ,women are to have  as 
nearly as possible the same character as
 men3 the emphasis is to  pass from     
family life and local ties to the       
friendship of comrades and  the general 
brotherhood of man4 ,men are to be      
vigorous1 comfortable1  sentimental1 and
 irresponsible4    ,this dream is1 of   
course1 unrealized and unrealizable1 in 
,america as  elsewhere4 ,undeniably     
there are in ,america many suggestions  
of such  a society and such a national  
character4 ,but the growing complexity  
and fixity of institutions necessarily  
tends to obscure these traits  of a     
primitive and crude democracy4 ,what    
,whitman seized upon as the  promise of 
the future was in reality the survival  
of the past4 ,he  sings the song of     
pioneers1 but it is in the nature of the
 pioneer  that the greater his success  

the quicker must be his transformation  
into something different4 ,when ,whitman
 made the initial and amorphous  phase  
of society his ideal1 he became the     
prophet of a lost cause4  ,that cause   
was lost1 not merely when wealth and    
intelligence began  to take shape in the
 ,american ,commonwealth1 but it was    
lost at the  very foundation of the     
world1 when those laws of evolution were
  established which ,whitman1 like      
,rousseau1 failed to understand4 ,if we 
may trust ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer1 these 
laws involve a passage from the         
homogeneous to the heterogeneous1 and a 
constant progress at once in            
differentiation and in                  
organization--all1 in a word1 that      
,whitman  systematically deprecated or  
ignored4 ,he is surely not the spokesman
  of the tendencies of his country1     
although he describes some aspects  of  
its past and present condition3 nor does
 he appeal to those whom he  describes1 
but rather to the dilettanti he         

despises4 ,he is regarded  as           
representative chiefly by foreigners1   
who look for some grotesque  expression 
of the genius of so young and prodigious
 a people4    ,whitman1 it is true1     
loved and comprehended men2 but this    
love and  comprehension had the same    
limits as his love and comprehension of 
,nature4 ,he observed truly and         
responded to his observation with       
genuine  and pervasive emotion4 ,a great
 gregariousness1 an innocent tolerance  
of  moral weakness1 a genuine admiration
 for bodily health and strength1  made  
him bubble over with affection for the  
generic human creature4  ,incapable of  
an ideal passion1 he was full of the    
milk of human  kindness4 ,yet1 for all  
his acquaintance with the ways and      
thoughts of  the common man of his      
choice1 he did not truly understand him4
 ,for to  understand people is to go    
much deeper than they go themselves2 to 
penetrate to their characters and       
disentangle their inmost ideals4        

,whitman's insight into man did not go  
beyond a sensuous sympathy2  it         
consisted in a vicarious satisfaction in
 their pleasures1 and an  instinctive   
love of their persons4 ,it never        
approached a scientific or  imaginative 
knowledge of their hearts4    ,therefore
 ,whitman failed radically in his       
dearest ambition3 he can  never be a    
poet of the people4 ,for the people1    
like the early races  whose poetry was  
ideal1 are natural believers in         
perfection4 ,they  have no doubts about 
the absolute desirability of wealth and 
learning  and power1 none about the     
worth of pure goodness and pure love4   
,their  chosen poets1 if they have any1 
will be always those who have known how 
to paint these ideals in lively even if 
in gaudy colours4 ,nothing is  farther  
from the common people than the corrupt 
desire to be primitive4  ,they          
instinctively look toward a more exalted
 life1 which they imagine  to be full of
 distinction and pleasure1 and the idea 

of that brighter  existence fills them  
with hope or with envy or with humble   
admiration4    ,if the people are ever  
won over to hostility to such ideals1 it
 is  only because they are cheated by   
demagogues who tell them that if  all   
the flowers of civilization were        
destroyed its fruits would  become more 
abundant4 ,a greater share of happiness1
 people think1  would fall to their lot 
could they destroy everything beyond    
their  own possible possessions4 ,but   
they are made thus envious and ignoble  
only by a deception3 what they really   
desire is an ideal good for  themselves 
which they are told they may secure by  
depriving others of  their preeminence4 
,their hope is always to enjoy perfect  
satisfaction  themselves2 and therefore 
a poet who loves the picturesque aspects
 of  labour and vagrancy will hardly be 
the poet of the poor4 ,he may have      
described their figure and occupation1  
in neither of which they are  much      
interested2 he will not have read their 

souls4 ,they will prefer  to him any    
sentimental story-teller1 any           
sensational dramatist1 any  moralizing  
poet2 for they are hero-worshippers by  
temperament1 and are  too wise or too   
unfortunate to be much enamoured of     
themselves or of  the conditions of     
their existence4    ,fortunately1 the   
political theory that makes ,whitman's  
principle of  literary prophecy and     
criticism does not always inspire his   
chants1 nor  is it presented1 even in   
his prose works1 quite bare and         
unadorned4  ,in ,democratic ,vistas we  
find it clothed with something of the   
same  poetic passion and lighted up with
 the same flashes of intuition which  we
 admire in the poems4 ,even there the   
temperament is finer than  the ideas and
 the poet wiser than the thinker4 ,his  
ultimate appeal  is really to something 
more primitive and general than any     
social  aspirations1 to something more  
elementary than an ideal of any kind4   
,he  speaks to those minds and to those 

moods in which sensuality is touched    
with mysticism4 ,when the intellect is  
in abeyance1 when we would turn  and    
live with the animals1 they are so      
placid and self-contained1  when we are 
weary of conscience and of ambition1 and
 would yield  ourselves for a while to  
the dream of sense1 ,walt ,whitman is a 
welcome  companion4 ,the images he      
arouses in us1 fresh1 full of light and 
health  and of a kind of frankness and  
beauty1 are prized all the more at such 
a time because they are not choice1 but 
drawn perhaps from a hideous  and sordid
 environment4 ,for this circumstance    
makes them a better means  of escape    
from convention and from that fatigue   
and despair which  lurk not far beneath 
the surface of conventional life4 ,in   
casting off  with self-assurance and a  
sense of fresh vitality the distinctions
 of  tradition and reason a man may     
feel1 as he sinks back comfortably to  a
 lower level of sense and instinct1 that
 he is returning to ,nature  or escaping

 into the infinite4 ,mysticism makes us 
proud and happy to  renounce the work of
 intelligence1 both in thought and in   
life1 and  persuades us that we become  
divine by remaining imperfectly human4  
,walt  ,whitman gives a new expression  
to this ancient and multiform tendency4 
,he feels his own cosmic justification  
and he would lend the sanction  of his  
inspiration to all loafers and          
holiday-makers4 ,he would be the        
congenial patron of farmers and factory 
hands in their crude pleasures  and     
pieties1 as ,pan was the patron of the  
shepherds of ,arcadia3 for  he is sure  
that in spite of his hairiness and      
animality1 the gods  will acknowledge   
him as one of themselves and smile upon 
him from the  serenity of ,olympus4     
,,iii    ,,robert ,,browning    ,if we  
would do justice to ,browning's work as 
a human document1 and  at the same time 
perceive its relation to the rational   
ideals of  the imagination and to that  
poetry which passes into religion1 we   

must keep1 as in the case of ,whitman1  
two things in mind4 ,one is the         
genuineness of the achievement1 the     
sterling quality of the vision and      
inspiration2 these are their own        
justification when we approach them     
from below and regard them as           
manifesting a more direct or impassioned
  grasp of experience than is given to  
mildly blatant1 convention-ridden       
minds4 ,the other thing to remember is  
the short distance to which this        
comprehension is carried1 its failure to
 approach any finality1 or to  achieve a
 recognition even of the traditional    
ideals of poetry and  religion4    ,in  
the case of ,walt ,whitman such a       
failure will be generally felt2  it is  
obvious that both his music and his     
philosophy are those of  a barbarian1   
nay1 almost of a savage4 ,accordingly   
there is need of  dwelling rather on the
 veracity and simple dignity of his     
thought and  art1 on their expression of
 an order of ideas latent in all better 

experience4 ,but in the case of         
,browning it is the success that is     
obvious to most people4 ,apart from a   
certain superficial grotesqueness  to   
which we are soon accustomed1 he easily 
arouses and engages the  reader by the  
pithiness of his phrase1 the volume of  
his passion1 the  vigour of his moral   
judgment1 the liveliness of his         
historical fancy4  ,it is obvious that  
we are in the presence of a great       
writer1 of a great  imaginative force1  
of a master in the expression of        
emotion4 ,what  is perhaps not so       
obvious1 but no less true1 is that we   
are in the  presence of a barbaric      
genius1 of a truncated imagination1 of a
 thought  and an art inchoate and       
ill-digested1 of a volcanic eruption    
that  tosses itself quite blindly and   
ineffectually into the sky4    ,the     
points of comparison by which this      
becomes clear are perhaps  not in every 
one's mind1 although they are merely the
 elements of  traditional culture1      

sthetic and moral4 ,yet even without    
reference  to ultimate ideals1 one may  
notice in ,browning many superficial    
signs  of that deepest of all failures1 
the failure in rationality and the      
indifference to perfection4 ,such a sign
 is the turgid style1 weighty  without  
nobility1 pointed without naturalness or
 precision4 ,another  sign is the       
realism of the personages1 who1 quite   
like men and women  in actual life1 are 
always displaying traits of character   
and never  attaining character as a     
whole4 ,other hints might be found in   
the  structure of the poems1 where the  
dramatic substance does not achieve  a  
dramatic form2 in the metaphysical      
discussion1 with its confused  prolixity
 and absence of result2 in the moral    
ideal1 where all energies  figure       
without their ultimate purposes2 in the 
religion1 which breaks  off the         
expression of this life in the middle1  
and finds in that  suspense an argument 
for immortality4 ,in all this1 and much 

more that  might be recalled1 a person  
coming to ,browning with the habits of a
  cultivated mind might see evidence of 
some profound incapacity in  the poet2  
but more careful reflection is necessary
 to understand the  nature of this      
incapacity1 its cause1 and the peculiar 
accent which its  presence gives to     
those ideas and impulses which ,browning
 stimulates in  us4    ,there is the    
more reason for developing this         
criticism 7which might  seem needlessly 
hostile and which time and posterity    
will doubtless  make in their own quiet 
and decisive fashion7 in that ,browning 
did not  keep within the sphere of drama
 and analysis1 where he was strong1 but 
allowed his own temperament and opinions
 to vitiate his representation  of life1
 so that he sometimes turned the        
expression of a violent  passion into   
the last word of what he thought a      
religion4 ,he had a  didactic vein1 a   
habit of judging the spectacle he evoked
 and of  loading the passions he        

depicted with his visible sympathy or   
scorn4    ,now a chief support of       
,browning's popularity is that he is1   
for  many1 an initiator into the deeper 
mysteries of passion1 a means of        
escaping from the moral poverty of their
 own lives and of feeling the  rhythm   
and compulsion of the general striving4 
,he figures1 therefore1  distinctly as a
 prophet1 as a bearer of glad tidings1  
and it is easy  for those who hail him  
as such to imagine that1 knowing the    
labour of  life so well1 he must know   
something also of its fruits1 and that  
in  giving us the feeling of existence1 
he is also giving us its meaning4       
,there is serious danger that a mind    
gathering from his pages the raw        
materials of truth1 the unthreshed      
harvest of reality1 may take him for  a 
philosopher1 for a rationalizer of what 
he describes4 ,awakening may  be        
mistaken for enlightenment1 and the     
galvanizing of torpid sensations  and   
impulses for wisdom4    ,against such   

fatuity reason should raise her voice4  
,the vital and  historic forces that    
produce illusions of this sort in large 
groups of  men are indeed beyond the    
control of criticism4 ,the ideas of     
passion  are more vivid than those of   
memory1 until they become memories in   
turn4 ,they must be allowed to fight out
 their desperate battle against  the    
laws of ,nature and reason4 ,but it is  
worth while in the meantime1  for the   
sake of the truth and of a just         
philosophy1 to meet the varying  though 
perpetual charlatanism of the world with
 a steady protest4 ,as  soon as         
,browning is proposed to us as a leader1
 as soon as we are asked  to be not the 
occasional patrons of his art1 but the  
pupils of his  philosophy1 we have a    
right to express the radical            
dissatisfaction  which we must feel1 if 
we are rational1 with his whole attitude
 and  temper of mind4    ,the great     
dramatists have seldom dealt with       
perfectly virtuous  characters4 ,the    

great poets have seldom represented     
mythologies that  would bear scientific 
criticism4 ,but by an instinct which    
constituted  their greatness they have  
cast these mixed materials furnished by 
life  into forms congenial to the       
specific principles of their art1 and by
  this transformation they have made    
acceptable in the sthetic sphere  things
 that in the sphere of reality were evil
 or imperfect3 in a word1  their works  
have been beautiful as works of art4    
,or1 if their genius  exceeded that of  
the technical poet and rose to prophetic
 intuition1  they have known how to     
create ideal characters1 not possessed1 
perhaps1  of every virtue accidentally  
needed in this world1 but possessed of  
what is ideally better1 of internal     
greatness and perfection4 ,they  have   
also known how to select and reconstruct
 their mythology so as to  make it a    
true interpretation of moral life4 ,when
 we read the maxims  of ,iago1          
,falstaff1 or ,hamlet1 we are delighted 

if the thought strikes  us as true1 but 
we are not less delighted if it strikes 
us as false4  ,these characters are not 
presented to us in order to enlarge our 
capacities of passion nor in order to   
justify themselves as processes  of     
redemption2 they are there1 clothed in  
poetry and imbedded in plot1  to        
entertain us with their imaginable      
feelings and their interesting  errors4 
,the poet1 without being especially a   
philosopher1 stands by  virtue of his   
superlative genius on the plane of      
universal reason1 far  above the        
passionate experience which he overlooks
 and on which he  reflects2 and he      
raises us for the moment to his own     
level1 to send  us back again1 if not   
better endowed for practical life1 at   
least not  unacquainted with            
speculation4    ,with ,browning the case
 is essentially different4 ,when his    
heroes are  blinded by passion and      
warped by circumstance1 as they almost  
always  are1 he does not describe the   

fact from the vantage-ground of the     
intellect and invite us to look at it   
from that point of view4 ,on the        
contrary1 his art is all self-expression
 or satire4 ,for the most part  his     
hero1 like ,whitman's1 is himself2 not  
appearing1 as in the case  of the       
,american bard1 in puris naturalibus1   
but masked in all sorts  of historical  
and romantic finery4 ,sometimes1        
however1 the personage1  like ,guido in 
,the ,ring and the ,book or the         
frustrate ghosts of  other poems1 is    
merely a ,marsyas1 shown flayed and     
quivering to the  greater glory of the  
poet's ideal ,apollo4 ,the impulsive    
utterances and  the crudities of most of
 the speakers are passionately adopted  
by the  poet as his own4 ,he thus       
perverts what might have been a triumph 
of  imagination into a failure of       
reason4    ,this circumstance has much  
to do with the fact that ,browning1 in  
spite  of his extraordinary gift for    
expressing emotion1 has hardly produced 

works purely and unconditionally        
delightful4 ,they not only portray      
passion1 which is interesting1 but they 
betray it1 which is odious4  ,his art   
was still in the service of the will4   
,he had not attained1 in  studying the  
beauty of things1 that detachment of the
 phenomenon1 that  love of the form for 
its own sake1 which is the secret of    
contemplative  satisfaction4 ,therefore1
 the lamentable accidents of his        
personality  and opinions1 in themselves
 no worse than those of other mortals1  
passed into his art4 ,he did not seek to
 elude them3 he had no free  speculative
 faculty to dominate them by4 ,or1 to   
put the same thing  differently1 he was 
too much in earnest in his fictions1 he 
threw  himself too unreservedly into his
 creations4 ,his imagination1 like  the 
imagination we have in dreams1 was      
merely a vent for personal              
preoccupations4 ,his art was inspired by
 purposes less simple and  universal    
than the ends of imagination itself4    

,his play of mind  consequently could   
not be free or pure4 ,the creative      
impulse could not  reach its goal or    
manifest in any notable degree its own  
organic ideal4    ,we may illustrate    
these assertions by considering         
,browning's treatment  of the passion of
 love1 a passion to which he gives great
 prominence  and in which he finds the  
highest significance4    ,love is       
depicted by ,browning with truth1 with  
vehemence1 and with  the constant       
conviction that it is the supreme thing 
in life4 ,the  great variety of         
occasions in which it appears in his    
pages and the  different degrees of     
elaboration it receives1 leave it always
 of the  same quality--the quality of   
passion4 ,it never sinks into           
sensuality2  in spite of its frequent   
extreme crudeness1 it is always1 in     
,browning's  hands1 a passion of the    
imagination1 it is always love4 ,on the 
other  hand it never rises into         
contemplation3 mingled as it may be with

  friendship1 with religion1 or with    
various forms of natural tenderness1  it
 always remains a passion2 it always    
remains a personal impulse1  a          
hypnotization1 with another person for  
its object or its cause4  ,kept within  
these limits it is represented1 in a    
series of powerful  sketches1 which are 
for most readers the gems of the        
,browning gallery1  as the last word of 
experience1 the highest phase of human  
life4            ,the woman yonder1     
there's no use in life      ,but just to
 obtain her6 ,heap earth's woes in one  
,and bear them--make a pile of all      
earth's joys      ,and spurn them1 as   
they help or help not this2      ,only1 
obtain her6      ,when ,i do come1 she  
will speak not1 she will stand1         
,either hand      ,on my shoulder1 give 
her eyes the first embrace              
,of my face1      ,ere we rush1 ere we  
extinguish sight and speech             
,each on each4444      ,o  heart1 ,o    
blood that freezes1 blood that burns6   

,earth's returns      ,for whole        
centuries of folly1 noise1 and sin--    
,shut them in--      ,with their        
triumphs and their follies and the rest4
              ,love is best4    ,in the 
piece called ,in a ,gondola the lady    
says to her lover3--                    
,heart to heart      ,and lips to lips6 
,yet once more1 ere we part1      ,clasp
 me and make me thine1 as mine thou art4
    ,and he1 after being surprised and  
stabbed in her arms1 replies3--         
,it was ordained to be so1 sweet6--and  
best       ,comes now1 beneath thine    
eyes1 upon thy breast3       ,still kiss
 me6 ,care not for the cowards2 care    
,only to put aside thy beauteous hair   
,my blood will hurt6 ,the ,three ,i do  
not scorn       ,to death1 because they 
never lived1 but ,i       ,have lived   
indeed1 and so--7yet one more kiss7--can
 die4    ,we are not allowed to regard  
these expressions as the cries of souls 
blinded by the agony of passion and     
lust4 ,browning unmistakably adopts     

them as expressing his own highest      
intuitions4 ,he so much admires the     
strength of this weakness that he does  
not admit that it is a weakness  at all4
 ,it is with the strut of               
self-satisfaction1 with the sensation1  
almost1 of muscular ,christianity1 that 
he boasts of it through the  mouth of   
one of his heroes1 who is explaining to 
his mistress the  motive of his faithful
 services as a minister of the queen3-- 
,she thinks there was more cause        
,in love of power1 high fame1 pure      
loyalty8      ,perhaps she fancies men  
wear out their lives      ,chasing such 
shades4444      ,i worked because ,i    
want you with my soul4    ,readers of   
the fifth chapter of this volume need   
not be reminded here  of the contrast   
which this method of understanding love 
offers to that  adopted by the real     
masters of passion and imagination4     
,they began with  that crude emotion    
with which ,browning ends2 they lived it
 down1 they  exalted it by thought1 they

 extracted the pure gold of it in a long
  purgation of discipline and suffering4
 ,the fierce paroxysm which for  him is 
heaven1 was for them the proof that     
heaven cannot be found on  earth1 that  
the value of experience is not in       
experience itself but  in the ideals    
which it reveals4 ,the intense1         
voluminous emotion1 the  sudden1        
overwhelming self-surrender in which he 
rests was for them  the starting-point  
of a life of rational worship1 of an    
austere and  impersonal religion1 by    
which the fire of love1 kindled for a   
moment by  the sight of some creature1  
was put1 as it were1 into a censer1 to  
burn  incense before every image of the 
,highest ,good4 ,thus love ceased to be 
a passion and became the energy of      
contemplation3 it diffused over the     
universe1 natural and ideal1 that light 
of tenderness and that faculty  of      
worship which the passion of love often 
is first to quicken in a  man's breast4 
,of this art1 recommended by ,plato and 

practised in the ,christian ,church  by 
all adepts of the spiritual life1       
,browning knew absolutely nothing4      
,about the object of love he had no     
misgivings4 ,what could the object  be  
except somebody or other8 ,the important
 thing was to love intensely  and to    
love often4 ,he remained in the         
phenomenal sphere3 he was a lover  of   
experience2 the ideal did not exist for 
him4 ,no conception could be  farther   
from his thought than the essential     
conception of any rational  philosophy1 
namely1 that feeling is to be treated as
 raw material  for thought1 and that the
 destiny of emotion is to pass into     
objects  which shall contain all its    
value while losing all its formlessness4
  ,this transformation of sense and     
emotion into objects agreeable to  the  
intellect1 into clear ideas and         
beautiful things1 is the natural  work  
of reason2 when it has been accomplished
 very imperfectly1 or not  at all1 we   
have a barbarous mind1 a mind full of   

chaotic sensations1  objectless         
passions1 and undigested ideas4 ,such a 
mind ,browning's was1  to a degree      
remarkable in one with so rich a        
heritage of civilization4    ,the       
nineteenth century1 as we have already  
said1 has nourished the hope  of        
abolishing the past as a force while it 
studies it as an object2 and  ,browning1
 with his fondness for a historical     
stage setting and for the  gossip of    
history1 rebelled equally against the   
,pagan and the ,christian  discipline4  
,the ,soul which he trusted in was the  
barbarous soul1  the ,spontaneous ,me of
 his half-brother ,whitman4 ,it was a   
restless  personal impulse1 conscious of
 obscure depths within itself which it  
fancied to be infinite1 and of a certain
 vague sympathy with wind and  cloud and
 with the universal mutation4 ,it was   
the soul that might have  animated      
,attila and ,alaric when they came down 
into ,italy1 a soul not  incurious of   
the tawdriness and corruption of the    

strange civilization  it beheld1 but    
incapable of understanding its original 
spirit2 a soul  maintaining in the      
presence of that noble1 unappreciated   
ruin all its  own lordliness and energy1
 and all its native vulgarity4          
,browning1 who had not had the education
 traditional in his own country1  used  
to say that ,italy had been his         
university4 ,but it was a school for    
which he was ill prepared1 and he did   
not sit under its best teachers4  ,for  
the superficial ferment1 the worldly    
passions1 and the crimes of  the        
,italian ,renaissance he had a keen     
interest and intelligence4 ,but  ,italy 
has been always a civilized country1 and
 beneath the trappings  and suits of    
civilization which at that particular   
time it flaunted  so gayly1 it preserved
 a civilized heart to which ,browning's 
insight  could never penetrate4 ,there  
subsisted in the best minds a trained   
imagination and a cogent ideal of       
virtue4 ,italy had a religion1 and  that

 religion permeated all its life1 and   
was the background without  which even  
its secular art and secular passions    
would not be truly  intelligible4 ,the  
most commanding and representative1 the 
deepest and  most appealing of ,italian 
natures are permeated with this         
religious  inspiration4 ,a ,saint       
,francis1 a ,dante1 a ,michael ,angelo1 
breathe hardly  anything else4 ,yet for 
,browning these men and what they       
represented  may be said not to have    
existed4 ,he saw1 he studied1 and he    
painted a  decapitated ,italy4 ,his     
vision could not mount so high as her   
head4    ,one of the elements of that   
higher tradition which ,browning was not
  prepared to imbibe was the            
idealization of love4 ,the passion he   
represents is lava hot from the crater1 
in no way moulded1 smelted1  or refined4
 ,he had no thought of subjugating      
impulses into the  harmony of reason4   
,he did not master life1 but was        
mastered by it4  ,accordingly the love  

he describes has no wings2 it issues in 
nothing4  ,his lovers extinguish sight  
and speech1 each on each2 sense1 as  he 
says elsewhere1 drowning soul4 ,the man 
in the gondola may well  boast that he  
can die2 it is the only thing he can    
properly do4  ,death is the only        
solution of a love that is tied to its  
individual  object and inseparable from 
the alloy of passion and illusion within
  itself4 ,browning's hero1 because he  
has loved intensely1 says that  he has  
lived2 he would be right1 if the        
significance of life were  to be        
measured by the intensity of the feeling
 it contained1 and if  intelligence were
 not the highest form of vitality4 ,but 
had that hero  known how to love better 
and had he had enough spirit to dominate
 his  love1 he might perhaps have been  
able to carry away the better part of   
it and to say that he could not die2 for
 one half of himself and of his  love   
would have been dead already and the    
other half would have been  eternal1    

having fed--              ,on death1    
that feeds on men2      ,and death once 
dead1 there's no more dying then4       
,the irrationality of the passions which
 ,browning glorifies1 making them  the  
crown of life1 is so gross that at times
 he cannot help perceiving  it4         
,how perplexed      ,grows belief6      
,well1 this cold clay clod              
,was man's heart3      ,crumble it1 and 
what comes next8 ,is it ,god8    ,yes1  
he will tell us4 ,these passions and    
follies1 however desperate in           
themselves and however vain for the     
individual1 are excellent as parts  of  
the dispensation of ,providence3--      
,be hate that fruit or love that fruit1 
,it forwards the general deed of man1   
,and each of the many helps to recruit  
,the life of the race by a general plan1
           ,each living his own to boot4
    ,if we doubt1 then1 the value of our
 own experience1 even perhaps  of our   
experience of love1 we may appeal to the
 interdependence of  goods and evils in 

the world to assure ourselves that1 in  
view of  its consequences elsewhere1    
this experience was great and important 
after all4 ,we need not stop to consider
 this supposed solution1 which  bristles
 with contradictions2 it would not      
satisfy ,browning himself1  if he did   
not back it up with something more to   
his purpose1 something  nearer to warm  
and transitive feeling4 ,the            
compensation for our  defeats1 the      
answer to our doubts1 is not to be found
 merely in a proof  of the essential    
necessity and perfection of the         
universe2 that would  be cold comfort1  
especially to so uncontemplative a mind4
 ,no3 that  answer1 and compensation are
 to come very soon and very vividly to  
every private bosom4 ,there is another  
life1 a series of other lives1  for this
 to happen in4 ,death will come1 and--  
,i shall thereupon           ,take rest1
 ere ,i be gone      ,once more on my   
adventure brave and new1                
,fearless and unperplexed1              

,when ,i wage battle next1      ,what   
weapons to select1 what armour to endue4
        ,for sudden the worst turns the 
best to the brave1             ,the     
black minute's at end1      ,and the    
element's rage1 the fiend-voices that   
rave             ,shall dwindle1 shall  
blend1      ,shall change1 shall become 
first a peace out of pain1              
,then a light1 then thy breast1      ,o 
thou soul of my soul6 ,i shall clasp    
thee again             ,and with ,god be
 the rest6    ,into this conception of  
continued life ,browning has put1 as a  
collection of further passages might    
easily show1 all the items  furnished by
 fancy or tradition which at the moment 
satisfied his  imagination--new         
adventures1 reunion with friends1 and   
even1 after  a severe strain and for a  
short while1 a little peace and quiet4  
,the  gist of the matter is that we are 
to live indefinitely1 that all our      
faults can be turned to good1 all our   
unfinished business settled1 and  that  

therefore there is time for anything we 
like in this world and  for all we need 
in the other4 ,it is in spirit the      
direct opposite of  the philosophic     
maxim of regarding the end1 of taking   
care to leave a  finished life and a    
perfect character behind us4 ,it is the 
opposite1  also1 of the religious       
memento mori1 of the warning that the   
time  is short before we go to our      
account4 ,according to ,browning1 there 
is no account3 we have an infinite      
credit4 ,with an unconscious and        
characteristic mixture of heathen       
instinct with ,christian doctrine1 he   
thinks of the other world as heaven1 but
 of the life to be led there as  of the 
life of ,nature4    ,aristotle observes 
that we do not think the business of    
life worthy  of the gods1 to whom we can
 only attribute contemplation2 if       
,browning  had had the idea of          
perfecting and rationalizing this life  
rather than  of continuing it           
indefinitely1 he would have followed    

,aristotle and  the ,church in this     
matter4 ,but he had no idea of anything 
eternal2 and  so he gave1 as he would   
probably have said1' a filling to the   
empty  ,christian immortality by making 
every man busy in it about many things4 
,and to the irrational man1 to the boy1 
it is no unpleasant idea to  have an    
infinite number of days to live through1
 an infinite number of  dinners to eat1 
with an infinity of fresh fights and new
 love-affairs1  and no end of last rides
 together4    ,but it is a mere         
euphemism to call this perpetual        
vagrancy a  development of the soul4 ,a 
development means the unfolding of a    
definite nature1 the gradual            
manifestation of a known idea4 ,a       
series of phases1 like the successive   
leaps of a water-fall1 is no            
development4 ,and ,browning has no idea 
of an intelligible good which the       
phases of life might approach and with  
reference to which they might           
constitute a progress4 ,his notion is   

simply that the game of life1 the       
exhilaration of action1 is              
inexhaustible4 ,you may set up your     
tenpins  again after you have bowled    
them over1 and you may keep up the sport
  for ever4 ,the point is to bring them 
down as often as possible with  a       
master-stroke and a big bang4 ,that will
 tend to invigorate in you  that        
self-confidence which in this system    
passes for faith4 ,but it is  unmeaning 
to call such an exercise heaven1 or to  
talk of being with  ,god in such a life1
 in any sense in which we are not with  
,god already  and under all             
circumstances4 ,our destiny would rather
 be1 as ,browning  himself expresses it 
in a phrase which ,attila or ,alaric    
might have  composed1 bound dizzily to  
the wheel of change to slake the thirst 
of  ,god4    ,such an optimism and such 
a doctrine of immortality can give no   
justification to experience which it    
does not already have in its  detached  
parts4 ,indeed1 those dogmas are not the

 basis of ,browning's  attitude1 not    
conditions of his satisfaction in       
living1 but rather  overflowings of that
 satisfaction4 ,the present life is     
presumably a  fair average of the whole 
series of adventures brave and new which
  fall to each man's share2 were it not 
found delightful in itself1 there  would
 be no motive for imagining and         
asserting that it is reproduced  in     
infinitum4 ,so too if we did not think  
that the evil in experience  is actually
 utilized and visibly swallowed up in   
its good effects1 we  should hardly     
venture to think that ,god could have   
regarded as a good  something which has 
evil for its condition and which is for 
that reason  profoundly sad and         
equivocal4 ,but ,browning's philosophy  
of life and  habit of imagination do not
 require the support of any metaphysical
  theory4 ,his temperament is perfectly 
self-sufficient and primary2 what       
doctrines he has are suggested by it and
 are too loose to give it more  than a  

hesitant expression2 they are quite     
powerless to give it any  justification 
which it might lack on its face4    ,it 
is the temperament1 then1 that speaks2  
we may brush aside as  unsubstantial1   
and even as distorting1 the web of      
arguments and  theories which it has    
spun out of itself4 ,and what does the  
temperament  say8 ,that life is an      
adventure1 not a discipline2 that the   
exercise  of energy is the absolute     
good1 irrespective of motives or of     
consequences4 ,these are the maxims of a
 frank barbarism2 nothing could  express
 better the lust of life1 the dogged    
unwillingness to learn  from experience1
 the contempt for rationality1 the      
carelessness about  perfection1 the     
admiration for mere force1 in which     
barbarism always  betrays itself4 ,the  
vague religion which seeks to justify   
this attitude  is really only another   
outburst of the same irrational impulse4
    ,in ,browning this religion takes   
the name of ,christianity1 and          

identifies itself with one or two       
,christian ideas arbitrarily selected2  
but at heart it has far more affinity to
 the worship of ,thor or of  ,odin than 
to the religion of the ,cross4 ,the zest
 of life becomes  a cosmic emotion2 we  
lump the whole together and cry1 ,hurrah
 for  the ,universe6 ,a faith which is  
thus a pure matter of lustiness and     
inebriation rises and falls1 attracts or
 repels1 with the ebb and flow  of the  
mood from which it springs4 ,it is      
invincible because unseizable2  it is as
 safe from refutation as it is          
rebellious to embodiment4 ,but  it      
cannot enlighten or correct the passions
 on which it feeds4 ,like  a servile    
priest1 it flatters them in the name of 
,heaven4 ,it cloaks  irrationality in   
sanctimony2 and its admiration for every
 bluff folly1  being thus justified by a
 theory1 becomes a positive fanaticism1 
eager  to defend any wayward impulse4   
,such barbarism of temper and thought   
could hardly1 in a man of  ,browning's  

independence and spontaneity1 be without
 its counterpart in  his art4 ,when a   
man's personal religion is passive1 as  
,shakespeare's  seems to have been1 and 
is adopted without question or          
particular  interest from the society   
around him1 we may not observe any      
analogy  between it and the free        
creations of that man's mind4 ,not so   
when the  religion is created afresh by 
the private imagination2 it is then     
merely one among many personal works of 
art1 and will naturally bear a  family  
likeness to the others4 ,the same       
individual temperament1 with  its       
limitations and its bias1 will appear in
 the art which has appeared  in the     
religion4 ,and such is the case with    
,browning4 ,his limitations  as a poet  
are the counterpart of his limitations  
as a moralist and  theologian2 only in  
the poet they are not so regrettable4   
,philosophy  and religion are nothing if
 not ultimate2 it is their business to  
deal  with general principles and final 

aims4 ,now it is in the conception of   
things fundamental and ultimate that    
,browning is weak2 he is strong  in the 
conception of things immediate4 ,the    
pulse of the emotion1 the  bobbing up of
 the thought1 the streaming of the      
reverie--these he can  note down with   
picturesque force or imagine with       
admirable fecundity4    ,yet the limits 
of such excellence are narrow1 for no   
man can safely go  far without the      
guidance of reason4 ,his long poems have
 no structure  --for that name cannot be
 given to the singular mechanical       
division of  ,the ,ring and the ,book4  
,even his short poems have no           
completeness1  no limpidity4 ,they are  
little torsos made broken so as to      
stimulate  the reader to the restoration
 of their missing legs and arms4 ,what  
is  admirable in them is pregnancy of   
phrase1 vividness of passion and        
sentiment1 heaped-up scraps of          
observation1 occasional flashes of      
light1 occasional beauties of           

versification1--all like            the 
quick sharp scratch      ,and blue spurt
 of a lighted match4    ,there is never 
anything largely composed in the spirit 
of pure beauty1  nothing devotedly      
finished1 nothing simple and truly just4
 ,the poet's  mind cannot reach         
equilibrium2 at best he oscillates      
between opposed  extravagances2 his     
final word is still a boutade1 still an 
explosion4  ,he has no sustained        
nobility of style4 ,he affects with the 
reader a  confidential and vulgar       
manner1 so as to be more sincere and to 
feel  more at home4 ,even in the poems  
where the effort at impersonality is    
most successful1 the dramatic disguise  
is usually thrown off in a  preface1    
epilogue or parenthesis4 ,the author    
likes to remind us of  himself by some  
confidential wink or genial poke in the 
ribs1 by some  little interlarded sneer4
 ,we get in these tricks of manner a    
taste of  that essential vulgarity1 that
 indifference to purity and distinction1

  which is latent but pervasive in all  
the products of this mind4 ,the  same   
disdain of perfection which appears in  
his ethics appears here in  his verse1  
and impairs its beauty by allowing it to
 remain too often  obscure1 affected1   
and grotesque4    ,such a correspondence
 is natural3 for the same powers of     
conception  and expression are needed in
 fiction1 which1 if turned to           
reflection1  would produce a good       
philosophy4 ,reason is necessary to the 
perception  of high beauty4 ,discipline 
is indispensable to art4 ,work from     
which  these qualities are absent must  
be barbaric2 it can have no ideal form  
and must appeal to us only through the  
sensuousness and profusion of  its      
materials4 ,we are invited by it to     
lapse into a miscellaneous              
appreciativeness1 into a subservience to
 every detached impression4 ,and  yet1  
if we would only reflect even on these  
disordered beauties1 we  should see that
 the principle by which they delight us 

is a principle  by which an ideal1 an   
image of perfection1 is inevitably      
evoked4 ,we  can have no pleasure or    
pain1 nor any preference whatsoever1    
without  implicitly setting up a        
standard of excellence1 an ideal of what
  would satisfy us there4 ,to make these
 implicit ideals explicit1 to  catch    
their hint1 to work out their theme1 and
 express clearly to  ourselves and to   
the world what they are demanding in the
 place of the  actual--that is the      
labour of reason and the task of genius4
 ,the two  cannot be divided4           
,clarification of ideas and             
disentanglement of values  are as       
essential to sthetic activity as to     
intelligence4 ,a failure of  reason is a
 failure of art and taste4    ,the      
limits of ,browning's art1 like the     
limits of ,whitman's1 can  therefore be 
understood by considering his mental    
habit4 ,both poets  had powerful        
imaginations1 but the type of their     
imaginations was low4  ,in ,whitman     

imagination was limited to marshalling  
sensations in single  file2 the         
embroideries he made around that central
 line were simple and  insignificant4   
,his energy was concentrated on that    
somewhat animal form  of contemplation1 
of which1 for the rest1 he was a great1 
perhaps an  unequalled master4 ,browning
 rose above that level2 with him        
sensation  is usually in the background2
 he is not particularly a poet of the   
senses or of ocular vision4 ,his        
favourite subject-matter is rather the  
stream of thought and feeling in the    
mind2 he is the poet of soliloquy4      
,nature and life as they really are1    
rather than as they may appear to  the  
ignorant and passionate participant in  
them1 lie beyond his range4  ,even in   
his best dramas1 like ,a ,blot in the   
',scutcheon or ,colombe's  ,birthday1   
the interest remains in the experience  
of the several  persons as they explain 
it to us4 ,the same is the case in ,the 
,king and  the ,book1 the conception of 

which1 in twelve monstrous soliloquies1 
is  a striking evidence of the poet's   
predilection for this form4    ,the     
method is1 to penetrate by sympathy     
rather than to portray by  intelligence4
 ,the most authoritative insight is not 
the poet's or the  spectator's1 aroused 
and enlightened by the spectacle1 but   
the various  heroes' own1 in their      
moment of intensest passion4 ,we        
therefore miss  the tragic relief and   
exaltation1 and come away instead with  
the  uncomfortable feeling that an      
obstinate folly is apparently the most  
glorious and choiceworthy thing in the  
world4 ,this is evidently the  poet's   
own illusion1 and those who do not      
happen to share it must feel  that if   
life were really as irrational as he    
thinks it1 it would be  not only        
profoundly discouraging1 which it often 
is1 but profoundly  disgusting1 which it
 surely is not2 for at least it reveals 
the ideal  which it fails to attain4    
,this ideal ,browning never             

disentangles4 ,for him the crude        
experience is  the only end1 the endless
 struggle the only ideal1 and the       
perturbed  ,soul the only organon of    
truth4 ,the arrest of his intelligence  
at  this point1 before it has envisaged 
any rational object1 explains the       
arrest of his dramatic art at soliloquy4
 ,his immersion in the forms of         
self-consciousness prevents him from    
dramatizing the real relations  of men  
and their thinkings to one another1 to  
,nature1 and to destiny4  ,for in order 
to do so he would have had to view his  
characters from  above 7as ,cervantes   
did1 for instance71 and to see them not 
merely  as they appeared to themselves1 
but as they appear to reason4 ,this     
higher attitude1 however1 was not only  
beyond ,browning's scope1 it  was       
positively contrary to his inspiration4 
,had he reached it1 he  would no longer 
have seen the universe through the      
,soul1 but through  the intellect1 and  
he would not have been able to cry1 ,how

 the  world is made for each one of us6 
,on the contrary1 the ,soul would  have 
figured only in its true conditions1 in 
all its ignorance and  dependence1 and  
also in its essential teachableness1 a  
point against  which ,browning's        
barbaric wilfulness particularly        
rebelled4 ,booted  in his persuasion    
that the soul is essentially omnipotent 
and that  to live hard can never be to  
live wrong1 he remained fascinated by   
the march and method of                 
self-consciousness1 and never allowed   
himself  to be weaned from that romantic
 fatuity by the energy of rational      
imagination1 which prompts us not to    
regard our ideas as mere filling  of a  
dream1 but rather to build on them the  
conception of permanent  objects and    
overruling principles1 such as ,nature1 
society1 and the  other ideals of       
reason4 ,a full-grown imagination deals 
with these  things1 which do not obey   
the laws of psychological progression1  
and  cannot be described by the methods 

of soliloquy4    ,we thus see that      
,browning's sphere1 though more subtle  
and complex  than ,whitman's1 was still 
elementary4 ,it lay far below the       
spheres of  social and historical       
reality in which ,shakespeare moved2 far
 below  the comprehensive and cosmic    
sphere of every great epic poet4        
,browning  did not even reach the       
intellectual plane of such contemporary 
poets  as ,tennyson and ,matthew        
,arnold1 who1 whatever may be thought of
 their  powers1 did not study           
consciousness for itself1 but for the   
sake of  its meaning and of the objects 
which it revealed4 ,the best things that
  come into a man's consciousness are   
the things that take him out of  it--the
 rational things that are independent of
 his personal perception  and of his    
personal existence4 ,these he approaches
 with his reason1  and they1 in the same
 measure1 endow him with their          
immortality4 ,but  precisely these      
things--the objects of science and of   

the constructive  imagination--,browning
 always saw askance1 in the out-skirts  
of his  field of vision1 for his eye was
 fixed and riveted on the soliloquizing 
,soul4 ,and this ,soul being1 to his    
apprehension1 irrational1 did not  give 
itself over to those permanent objects  
which might otherwise have  occupied it1
 but ruminated on its own accidental    
emotions1 on its  love-affairs1 and on  
its hopes of going on so ruminating for 
ever4    ,the pathology of the human    
mind--for the normal1 too1 is           
pathological  when it is not referred to
 the ideal--the pathology of the human  
mind is a very interesting subject1     
demanding great gifts and great         
ingenuity in its treatment4 ,browning   
ministers to this interest1 and         
possesses this ingenuity and these      
gifts4 ,more than any other poet he     
keeps a kind of speculation alive in the
 now large body of sentimental1         
eager-minded people1 who no longer can  
find in a definite religion a  form and 

language for their imaginative life4    
,that this service is  greatly          
appreciated speaks well for the         
ineradicable tendency in man to  study  
himself and his destiny4 ,we do not deny
 the achievement when we  point out its 
nature and limitations4 ,it does not    
cease to be something  because it is    
taken to be more than it is4    ,in     
every imaginative sphere the nineteenth 
century has been an era  of chaos1 as it
 has been an era of order and growing   
organization in  the spheres of science 
and of industry4 ,an ancient doctrine of
 the  philosophers asserts that to chaos
 the world must ultimately return4  ,and
 what is perhaps true of the cycles of  
cosmic change is certainly  true of the 
revolutions of culture4 ,nothing lasts  
for ever3 languages1  arts1 and         
religions disintegrate with time4 ,yet  
the perfecting of such  forms is the    
only criterion of progress2 the         
destruction of them the  chief evidence 
of decay4 ,perhaps fate intends that we 

should have1 in  our imaginative        
decadence1 the consolation of fancying  
that we are  still progressing1 and that
 the disintegration of religion and the 
arts is bringing us nearer to the       
protoplasm of sensation and passion4    
,if energy and actuality are all that we
 care for1 chaos is as good as  order1  
and barbarism as good as                
discipline--better1 perhaps1 since      
impulse is not then restrained within   
any bounds of reason or beauty4  ,but if
 the powers of the human mind are at any
 time adequate to the  task of digesting
 experience1 clearness and order        
inevitably supervene4  ,the moulds of   
thought are imposed upon ,nature1 and   
the conviction of a  definite truth     
arises together with the vision of a    
supreme perfection4  ,it is only at such
 periods that the human animal          
vindicates his title  of rational4 ,if  
such an epoch should return1 people will
 no doubt  retrace our present gropings 
with interest and see in them gradual   

approaches to their own achievement4    
,whitman and ,browning might well       
figure then as representatives of our   
time4 ,for the merit of being           
representative cannot be denied them4   
,the mind of our age1 like theirs1  is  
choked with materials1 emotional1 and   
inconclusive4 ,they merely  aggravate   
our characteristics1 and their success  
with us is due partly  to their own     
absolute strength and partly to our     
common weakness4 ,if  once1 however1    
this imaginative weakness could be      
overcome1 and a form  found for the     
crude matter of experience1 men might   
look back from the  height of a new     
religion and a new poetry upon the      
present troubles of  the spirit2 and    
perhaps even these things might then be 
pleasant to  remember4          ,,viii  
,,emerson      ,those who knew ,emerson1
 or who stood so near to his time and to
 his  circle that they caught some echo 
of his personal influence1 did  not     
judge him merely as a poet or           

philosopher1 nor identify his  efficacy 
with that of his writings4 ,his friends 
and neighbours1 the  congregations he   
preached to in his younger days1 the    
audiences that  afterward listened to   
his lectures1 all agreed in a veneration
 for his  person which had nothing to do
 with their understanding or acceptance 
of his opinions4 ,they flocked to him   
and listened to his word1 not  so much  
for the sake of its absolute meaning as 
for the atmosphere  of candour1 purity1 
and serenity that hung about it1 as     
about a sort  of sacred music4 ,they    
felt themselves in the presence of a    
rare and  beautiful spirit1 who was in  
communion with a higher world4 ,more    
than  the truth his teaching might      
express1 they valued the sense it gave  
them of a truth that was inexpressible4 
,they became aware1 if we may  say so1  
of the ultra-violet rays of his         
spectrum1 of the inaudible  highest     
notes of his gamut1 too pure and thin   
for common ears4    ,this effect was by 

no means due to the possession on the   
part of  ,emerson of the secret of the  
universe1 or even of a definite         
conception  of ultimate truth4 ,he was  
not a prophet who had once for all      
climbed  his ,sinai or his ,tabor1 and  
having there beheld the transfigured    
reality1 descended again to make        
authoritative report of it to the       
world4 ,far from it4 ,at bottom he had  
no doctrine at all4 ,the deeper he  went
 and the more he tried to grapple with  
fundamental conceptions1  the vaguer and
 more elusive they became in his hands4 
,did he know what  he meant by ,spirit  
or the ,over-,soul8 ,could he say what  
he understood  by the terms1 so         
constantly on his lips1 ,nature1 ,law1  
,god1 ,benefit1 or  ,beauty8 ,he could  
not1 and the consciousness of that      
incapacity was so  lively within him    
that he never attempted to give         
articulation to his  philosophy4 ,his   
finer instinct kept him from doing that 
violence to his  inspiration4    ,the   

source of his power lay not in his      
doctrine1 but in his  temperament1 and  
the rare quality of his wisdom was due  
less to his  reason than to his         
imagination4 ,reality eluded him2 he had
 neither  diligence nor constancy enough
 to master and possess it2 but his mind 
was open to all philosophic influences1 
from whatever quarter they  might blow2 
the lessons of science and the hints of 
poetry worked  themselves out in him to 
a free and personal religion4 ,he       
differed from  the plodding many1 not in
 knowing things better1 but in having   
more  ways of knowing them4 ,his grasp  
was not particularly firm1 he was far   
from being1 like a ,plato or an         
,aristotle1 past master in the art and  
the science of life4 ,but his mind was  
endowed with unusual plasticity1  with  
unusual spontaneity and liberty of      
movement--it was a fairyland  of        
thoughts and fancies4 ,he was like a    
young god making experiments in         
creation3 he blotched the work1 and     

always began again on a new and  better 
plan4 ,every day he said1 ,let there be 
light1 and every day the  light was new4
 ,his sun1 like that of ,heraclitus1 was
 different every  morning4    ,what     
seemed1 then1 to the more earnest and   
less critical of his  hearers a         
revelation from above was in truth      
rather an insurrection  from beneath1 a 
shaking loose from convention1 a        
disintegration of  the normal categories
 of reason in favour of various         
imaginative  principles1 on which the   
world might have been built1 if it had  
been  built differently4 ,this gift of  
revolutionary thinking allowed new      
aspects1 hints of wider laws1           
premonitions of unthought of fundamental
  unities to spring constantly into     
view4 ,but such visions were            
necessarily fleeting1 because the human 
mind had long before settled  its       
grammar1 and discovered1 after much     
groping and many defeats1 the  general  
forms in which experience will allow    

itself to be stated4 ,these  general    
forms are the principles of common sense
 and positive science1  no less         
imaginative in their origin than those  
notions which we now  call              
transcendental1 but grown prosaic1 like 
the metaphors of common  speech1 by dint
 of repetition4    ,yet authority1 even 
of this rational kind1 sat lightly upon 
,emerson4 ,to  reject tradition and     
think as one might have thought if no   
man had ever  existed before was indeed 
the aspiration of the                   
,transcendentalists1 and  although      
,emerson hardly regarded himself as a   
member of that school1  he largely      
shared its tendency and passed for its  
spokesman4 ,without  protesting against 
tradition1 he smilingly eluded it in his
 thoughts1  untamable in their quiet    
irresponsibility4 ,he fled to his woods 
or  to his pleached garden1 to be the   
creator of his own worlds in  solitude  
and freedom4 ,no wonder that he brought 
thence to the tightly  conventional     

minds of his contemporaries a breath as 
if from paradise4  ,his simplicity in   
novelty1 his profundity1 his ingenuous  
ardour must  have seemed to them        
something heavenly1 and they may be     
excused if they  thought they detected  
inspiration even in his occasional thin 
paradoxes  and guileless whims4 ,they   
were stifled with conscience and he     
brought  them a breath of ,nature2 they 
were surfeited with shallow             
controversies  and he gave them poetic  
truth4    ,imagination1 indeed1 is his  
single theme4 ,as a preacher might under
  every text enforce the same lessons of
 the gospel1 so ,emerson traces  in     
every sphere the same spiritual laws of 
experience--compensation1  continuity1  
the self-expression of the ,soul in the 
forms of ,nature  and of society1 until 
she finally recognizes herself in her   
own work  and sees its beneficence and  
beauty4 ,his constant refrain is the    
omnipotence of imaginative thought2 its 
power first to make the world1  then to 

understand it1 and finally to rise above
 it4 ,all ,nature is  an embodiment of  
our native fancy1 all history a drama in
 which the  innate possibilities of the 
spirit are enacted and realized4 ,while 
the conflict of life and the shocks of  
experience seem to bring us  face to    
face with an alien and overwhelming     
power1 reflection can  humanize and     
rationalize that power by conceiving its
 laws2 and with  this recognition of the
 rationality of all things comes the    
sense of  their beauty and order4 ,the  
destruction which ,nature seems to      
prepare  for our special hopes is thus  
seen to be the victory of our impersonal
  interests4 ,to awaken in us this      
spiritual insight1 an elevation of mind 
which is at once an act of comprehension
 and of worship1 to substitute  it for  
lower passions and more servile forms of
 intelligence--that  is ,emerson's      
constant effort4 ,all his resources of  
illustration1  observation1 and rhetoric
 are used to deepen and clarify this    

sort of  wisdom4    ,such thought is    
essentially the same that is found in   
the ,german  romantic or idealistic     
philosophers1 with whom ,emerson's      
affinity  is remarkable1 all the more as
 he seems to have borrowed little  or   
nothing from their works4 ,the critics  
of human nature1 in the  eighteenth     
century1 had shown how much men's ideas 
depend on their  predispositions1 on the
 character of their senses and the      
habits of  their intelligence4 ,seizing 
upon this thought and exaggerating it1  
the  romantic philosophers attributed to
 the spirit of man the omnipotence      
which had belonged to ,god1 and felt    
that in this way they were  reasserting 
the supremacy of mind over matter and   
establishing it upon  a safe and        
rational basis4    ,the ,germans were   
great system-makers1 and ,emerson cannot
 rival them in  the sustained effort of 
thought by which they sought to         
reinterpret  every sphere of being      
according to their chosen principles4   

,but he  surpassed them in an           
instinctive sense of what he was doing4 
,he never  represented his poetry as    
science1 nor countenanced the formation 
of  a new sect that should nurse the    
sense of a private and mysterious       
illumination1 and relight the fagots of 
passion and prejudice4 ,he  never tried 
to seek out and defend the universal    
implications of his  ideas1 and never   
wrote the book he had once planned on   
the law of  compensation1 foreseeing1 we
 may well believe1 the sophistries in   
which  he would have been directly      
involved4 ,he fortunately preferred a   
fresh  statement on a fresh subject4 ,a 
suggestion once given1 the spirit once  
aroused to speculation1 a glimpse once  
gained of some ideal harmony1  he chose 
to descend again to common sense and to 
touch the earth for a  moment before    
another flight4 ,the faculty of         
idealization was itself  what he valued4
 ,philosophy for him was rather a moral 
energy flowering  into sprightliness of 

thought than a body of serious and      
defensible  doctrines4 ,in practising   
transcendental speculation only in this 
poetic  and sporadic fashion1 ,emerson  
retained its true value and avoided its 
greatest danger4 ,he secured the freedom
 and fertility of his thought  and did  
not allow one conception of law or one  
hint of harmony to  sterilize the mind  
and prevent the subsequent birth within 
it of other  ideas1 no less just and    
imposing than their predecessors4 ,for  
we are  not dealing at all in such a    
philosophy with matters of fact or with 
such verifiable truths as exclude their 
opposites4 ,we are dealing only  with   
imagination1 with the art of conception1
 and with the various  forms in which   
reflection1 like a poet1 may compose and
 recompose human  experience4    ,a     
certain disquiet mingled1 however1 in   
the minds of ,emerson's  contemporaries 
with the admiration they felt for his   
purity and  genius4 ,they saw that he   
had forsaken the doctrines of the       

,church2 and  they were not sure whether
 he held quite unequivocally any        
doctrine  whatever4 ,we may not all of  
us share the concern for orthodoxy which
  usually caused this puzzled alarm3 we 
may understand that it was not          
,emerson's vocation to be definite and  
dogmatic in religion any more  than in  
philosophy4 ,yet that disquiet will not1
 even for us1 wholly  disappear4 ,it is 
produced by a defect which naturally    
accompanies  imagination in all but the 
greatest minds4 ,i mean disorganization4
  ,emerson not only conceived things in 
new ways1 but he seemed to think  the   
new ways might cancel and supersede the 
old4 ,his imagination was  to invalidate
 the understanding4 ,that inspiration   
which should come  to fulfil seemed too 
often to come to destroy4 ,if he was    
able so  constantly to stimulate us to  
fresh thoughts1 was it not because he   
demolished the labour of long ages of   
reflection8 ,was not the startling      
effect of much of his writing due to its

 contradiction to tradition and  to     
common sense8    ,so long as he is a    
poet and in the enjoyment of his poetic 
license1 we  can blame this play of mind
 only by a misunderstanding4 ,it is     
possible  to think otherwise than as    
common sense thinks2 there are other    
categories beside those of science4     
,when we employ them we enlarge  our    
lives4 ,we add to the world of fact any 
number of worlds of the  imagination in 
which human nature and the eternal      
relations of ideas  may be nobly        
expressed4 ,so far our imaginative      
fertility is only a  benefit3 it        
surrounds us with the congenial and     
necessary radiation  of art and         
religion4 ,it manifests our moral       
vitality in the bosom of  ,nature4      
,but sometimes imagination invades the  
sphere of understanding and seems  to   
discredit its indispensable work4       
,common sense1 we are allowed to  infer1
 is a shallow affair3 true insight      
changes all that4 ,when so  applied1    

poetic activity is not an unmixed good4 
,it loosens our hold on  fact and       
confuses our intelligence1 so that we   
forget that intelligence  has itself    
every prerogative of imagination1 and   
has besides the  sanction of practical  
validity4 ,we are made to believe that  
since the  understanding is something   
human and conditioned1 something which  
might  have been different1 as the      
senses might have been different1 and   
which we may yet1 so to speak1 get      
behind--therefore the understanding     
ought to be abandoned4 ,we long for     
higher faculties1 neglecting those  we  
have1 we yearn for intuition1 closing   
our eyes upon experience4 ,we  become   
mystical4    ,mysticism1 as we have     
said1 is the surrender of a category of 
thought  because we divine its          
relativity4 ,as every new category1     
however1 must  share this reproach1 the 
mystic is obliged in the end to give    
them all  up1 the poetic and moral      
categories no less than the physical1 so

 that  the end of his purification is   
the atrophy of his whole nature1 the    
emptying of his whole heart and mind to 
make room1 as he thinks1 for  ,god4 ,by 
attacking the authority of the          
understanding as the organon  of        
knowledge1 by substituting itself for it
 as the herald of a deeper  truth1 the  
imagination thus prepares its own       
destruction4 ,for if the  understanding 
is rejected because it cannot grasp the 
absolute1 the  imagination and all its  
works--art1 dogma1 worship--must        
presently be  rejected for the same     
reason4 ,common sense and poetry must   
both go by  the board1 and conscience   
must follow after3 for all these are    
human  and relative4 ,mysticism will be 
satisfied only with the absolute1 and   
as the absolute1 by its very definition1
 is not representable by any  specific  
faculty1 it must be approached through  
the abandonment of all4  ,the lights of 
life must be extinguished that the light
 of the absolute  may shine1 and the    

possession of everything in general must
 be secured  by the surrender of        
everything in particular4    ,the same  
diffidence1 however1 the same constant  
renewal of sincerity  which kept        
,emerson's flights of imagination near  
to experience1 kept  his mysticism also 
within bounds4 ,a certain mystical      
tendency is  pervasive with him1 but    
there are only one or two subjects on   
which  he dwells with enough constancy  
and energy of attention to make his     
mystical treatment of them pronounced4  
,one of these is the question  of the   
unity of all minds in the single soul of
 the universe1 which  is the same in all
 creatures2 another is the question of  
evil and  of its evaporation in the     
universal harmony of things4 ,both these
  ideas suggest themselves at certain   
turns in every man's experience1  and   
might receive a rational formulation4   
,but they are intricate  subjects1      
obscured by many emotional prejudices1  
so that the labour1  impartiality1 and  

precision which would be needed to      
elucidate them are  to be looked for in 
scholastic rather than in inspired      
thinkers1 and in  ,emerson least of all4
 ,before these problems he is           
alternately ingenuous  and rhapsodical1 
and in both moods equally helpless4     
,individuals  no doubt exist1 he says to
 himself4 ,but1 ah6 ,napoleon is in     
every  schoolboy4 ,in every squatter in 
the western prairies we shall find an   
owner--        ,of ,caesar's hand and   
,plato's brain1      ,of ,lord ,christ's
 heart1 and ,shakespeare's strain4      
,but how8 we may ask4 ,potentially8 ,is 
it because any mind1 were it  given the 
right body and the right experience1    
were it made over1 in a  word1 into     
another mind1 would resemble that other 
mind to the point  of identity8 ,or is  
it that our souls are already so largely
 similar  that we are subject to many   
kindred promptings and share many ideals
  unrealizable in our particular        
circumstances8 ,but then we should      

simply  be saying that if what makes men
 different were removed1 men would be   
indistinguishable1 or that1 in so far as
 they are now alike1 they can           
understand one another by summoning up  
their respective experiences  in the    
fancy4 ,there would be no mysticism in  
that1 but at the same  time1 alas1 no   
eloquence1 no paradox1 and1 if we must  
say the word1 no  nonsense4    ,on the  
question of evil1 ,emerson's position is
 of the same kind4 ,there  is evil1 of  
course1 he tells us4 ,experience is sad4
 ,there is a crack  in everything that  
,god has made4 ,but1 ah6 the laws of the
 universe  are sacred and beneficent4   
,without them nothing good could arise4 
,all  things1 then1 are in their right  
places and the universe is perfect      
above our querulous tears4 ,perfect8 we 
may ask4 ,but perfect from what  point  
of view1 in reference to what ideal8 ,to
 its own8 ,to that of a  man who        
renouncing himself and all naturally    
dear to him1 ignoring  the injustice1   

suffering1 and impotence in the world1  
allows his will  and his conscience to  
be hypnotized by the spectacle of a     
necessary  evolution1 and lulled into   
cruelty by the pomp and music of a      
tragic  show8 ,in that case the evil is 
not explained1 it is forgotten2 it is   
not cured1 but condoned4 ,we have       
surrendered the category of the better  
and the worse1 the deepest foundation of
 life and reason2 we have  become       
mystics on the one subject on which1    
above all others1 we ought  to be men4  
,two forces may be said to have carried 
,emerson in this mystical  direction2   
one1 that freedom of his imagination    
which we have already  noted1 and which 
kept him from the fear of               
self-contradiction2 the  other the habit
 of worship inherited from his clerical 
ancestors and  enforced by his religious
 education4 ,the spirit of conformity1  
the  unction1 the loyalty even unto     
death inspired by the religion of       
,jehovah1 were dispositions acquired by 

too long a discipline and rooted  in too
 many forms of speech1 of thought1 and  
of worship for a man like  ,emerson1 who
 had felt their full force1 ever to be  
able to lose them4  ,the evolutions of  
his abstract opinions left that habit   
unchanged4  ,unless we keep this        
circumstance in mind1 we shall not be   
able to  understand the kind of elation 
and sacred joy1 so characteristic of    
his eloquence1 with which he propounds  
laws of ,nature and aspects of          
experience which1 viewed in themselves1 
afford but an equivocal support  to     
moral enthusiasm4 ,an optimism so       
persistent and unclouded as his  will   
seem at variance with the description he
 himself gives of human  life1 a        
description coloured by a poetic        
idealism1 but hardly by an  optimistic  
bias4    ,we must remember1 therefore1  
that this optimism is a pious tradition1
  originally justified by the belief in 
a personal ,god and in a  providential  
government of affairs for the ultimate  

and positive good  of the elect1 and    
that the habit of worship survived in   
,emerson as an  instinct after those    
positive beliefs had faded into a       
recognition  of spiritual laws4 ,we must
 remember that ,calvinism had known how 
to combine an awestruck devotion to the 
,supreme ,being with no very  roseate   
picture of the destinies of mankind1 and
 for more than two  hundred years had   
been breeding in the stock from which   
,emerson came  a willingness to be1 as  
the phrase is1 damned for the glory of  
,god4  ,what wonder1 then1 that when1   
for the former inexorable dispensation  
of ,providence1 ,emerson substituted his
 general spiritual and natural  laws1 he
 should not have felt the spirit of     
worship fail within him8  ,on the       
contrary1 his thought moved in the      
presence of moral harmonies  which      
seemed to him truer1 more beautiful1 and
 more beneficent than  those of the old 
theology4 ,an independent philosopher   
would not have  seen in those harmonies 

an object of worship or a sufficient    
basis  for optimism4 ,but he was not an 
independent philosopher1 in spite  of   
his belief in independence4 ,he         
inherited the problems and the          
preoccupations of the theology from     
which he started1 being in this  respect
 like the ,german idealists1 who1 with  
all their pretence of  absolute         
metaphysics1 were in reality only giving
 elusive and abstract  forms to         
traditional theology4 ,emerson1 too1 was
 not primarily a  philosopher1 but a    
,puritan mystic with a poetic fancy and 
a gift for  observation and epigram1 and
 he saw in the laws of ,nature1         
idealized by  his imagination1 only a   
more intelligible form of the divinity  
he had  always recognized and adored4   
,his was not a philosophy passing into a
  religion1 but a religion expressing   
itself as a philosophy and veiled1  as  
at its setting it descended the heavens1
 in various tints of poetry  and        
science4    ,if we ask ourselves what   

was ,emerson's relation to the          
scientific and  religious movements of  
his time1 and what place he may claim in
 the  history of opinion1 we must answer
 that he belonged very little to the    
past1 very little to the present1 and   
almost wholly to that abstract  sphere  
into which mystical or philosophic      
aspiration has carried a few  men in all
 ages4 ,the religious tradition in which
 he was reared was  that of ,puritanism1
 but of a ,puritanism which1 retaining  
its moral  intensity and metaphysical   
abstraction1 had minimized its doctrinal
  expression and become ,unitarian4     
,emerson was indeed the ,psyche of      
,puritanism1 the latest-born and fairest
 vision far of all that faded           
hierarchy4 ,a ,puritan whose religion   
was all poetry1 a poet whose  only      
pleasure was thought1 he showed in his  
life and personality the  meagreness1   
the constraint1 the frigid and conscious
 consecration which  belonged to his    
clerical ancestors1 while his inmost    

impersonal spirit  ranged abroad over   
the fields of history and ,nature1      
gathering what  ideas it might1 and     
singing its little snatches of inspired 
song4    ,the traditional element was   
thus rather an external and unessential 
contribution to ,emerson's mind2 he had 
the professional tinge1 the  decorum1   
the distinction of an old-fashioned     
divine2 he had also the  habit of       
writing sermons1 and he had the national
 pride and hope of a  religious people  
that felt itself providentially chosen  
to establish a  free and godly          
commonwealth in a new world4 ,for the   
rest1 he separated  himself from the    
ancient creed of the community with a   
sense rather of  relief than of regret4 
,a literal belief in ,christian         
doctrines repelled  him as unspiritual1 
as manifesting no understanding of the  
meaning  which1 as allegories1 those    
doctrines might have to a philosophic   
and  poetical spirit4 ,although as a    
clergy-man he was at first in the habit 

of referring to the ,bible and its      
lessons as to a supreme authority1 he   
had no instinctive sympathy with the    
inspiration of either the ,old or  the  
,new ,testament2 in ,hafiz or ,plutarch1
 in ,plato or ,shakespeare1 he  found   
more congenial stuff4    ,while he thus 
preferred to withdraw1 without rancour  
and without  contempt1 from the ancient 
fellowship of the church1 he assumed an 
attitude hardly less cool and           
deprecatory toward the enthusiasms of   
the  new era4 ,the national ideal of    
democracy and freedom had his entire    
sympathy2 he allowed himself to be drawn
 into the movement against  slavery2 he 
took a curious and smiling interest in  
the discoveries of  natural science and 
in the material progress of the age4    
,but he could  go no farther4 ,his      
contemplative nature1 his religious     
training1 his  dispersed reading1 made  
him stand aside from the life of the    
world1  even while he studied it with   
benevolent attention4 ,his heart was    

fixed  on eternal things1 and he was in 
no sense a prophet for his age or       
country4 ,he belonged by nature to that 
mystical company of devout souls  that  
recognize no particular home and are    
dispersed throughout history1  although 
not without intercommunication4 ,he felt
 his affinity to the  ,hindoos and the  
,persians1 to the ,platonists and the   
,stoics4 ,like them  he remains a friend
 and aider of those who would live in   
the spirit4  ,if not a star of the first
 magnitude1 he is certainly a fixed star
  in the firmament of philosophy4 ,alone
 as yet among ,americans1 he may  be    
said to have won a place there1 if not  
by the originality of his  thought1 at  
least by the originality and beauty of  
the expression he  gave to thoughts that
 are old and imperishable4          ,,ix
      ,a ,,religion ,,of ,,disillusion  
,man has henceforth this cause of pride3
 that he has bethought  himself of      
justice in a universe without justice1  
and has put justice  there4--,,jean     

,,lahor4      ,the break-up of          
traditional systems and the             
disappearance of a  recognized authority
 from the religious world have naturally
 led to  many attempts at philosophic   
reconstruction4 ,most of these are timid
  compromises1 which leave first        
principles untouched and contain in a   
veiled form all the old contradictions4 
,others are advertisements of  some     
personal notion1 some fresh discovery1  
proposed as a panacea and  as an        
equivalent for all the heritage of human
 wisdom4 ,a few thinkers1  however1     
inspired by more comprehensive          
sympathies1 and at the same  time free  
from preconceptions1 have come nearer to
 the fundamental  elements of the       
problem and have given out suggestions  
which1 even if  not satisfactory in     
their actual form1 are helpful and      
interesting in  their tendency4 ,such a 
thinker is the contemporary ,french     
poet1 ,jean  ,lahor1 who1 in a volume of
 thoughts entitled ,la gloire du nant1  

has  gathered together three            
philosophical points of view1 we might  
almost  say three religions1 and        
combined their issues in a way which may
 now  seem again new1 but which in      
reality is as old as wisdom4    ,the    
form is literary and the outcome in a   
sense negative2 there is  no attempt to 
put new wine into old bottles1 no       
apologetic tone1 no  unction4           
,experience is consulted afresh1 without
 preoccupation as to  the results of    
reflection2 and if these results are    
religious1 it is  because any reasoned  
appreciation of life is bound to be a   
religion1  even if no conventionally    
religious elements are imported into the
  problem4 ,in fact1 those prophets who 
have said that the ,sabbath was  made   
for man and who have given moral        
functions to historical religion1  as   
well as those philosophers who have best
 understood its nature1 have  seemed    
irreligious to their contemporaries1    
because they have looked  upon religion 

as an interpretation of reality1 not as 
a quasi-reality  existing by itself and 
vouched for merely by tradition and     
miracle4  ,religion is an imaginative   
echo of things natural and moral3 and if
  this echo is to be well attuned1 our  
ear must first be attentive to the      
natural sounds of which1 in religion1 we
 are to develop the harmony4    ,it is1 
therefore1 not an objection to ,jean    
,lahor's competence to  gather for us   
the elements of a religion that he is a 
poet rather  than a theologian and an   
observer rather than a philosopher1 or  
that  he presents his intuitions without
 technical apparatus in a series of     
highly coloured epigrams and little     
pictures4 ,on the contrary such         
simplicity and directness are an        
advantage when1 as in this case1 the    
guiding inspiration is religious4 ,it is
 religious because1 on the one  hand1 it
 is imaginative2 we are asking ourselves
 everywhere what ,nature  says to us and
 what we are to say in reply2 and on the

 other hand1  because it is rational1   
and these messages and reactions are to 
be  unified into a single science and a 
single morality4 ,the logical scheme  of
 the system is not made explicit3 there 
is no argumentation and no  answers are 
offered to the objections that might    
naturally suggest  themselves4 ,but the 
sayings are so arranged and made so to  
progress  in tone and subject that a    
system of philosophy is clearly implied 
in  them2 and the essence of this system
 is at times briefly expressed4    ,all1
 as it behooves a poet1 is the          
transcript of personal experience4  ,we 
must not look for the inclusion of      
elements1 however important  in         
themselves1 which the author has not    
found in his own life4 ,the  omissions  
are in this case as characteristic as   
the inclusions4 ,we  look in vain1 for  
instance1 for any appreciation of       
,christianity or  of all that side of   
human nature and experience on which    
faith in  ,christianity rests2 we hear  

nothing of love and its ideal           
suggestions1  nothing of the aspiration 
to immortality1 nothing of the whole    
transcendental attitude toward          
experience4 ,these are grave omissions4 
,they may seem to condemn ,jean ,lahor1 
if not as a general philosopher1  at    
least as a representative of an age in  
which religious thought has  so largely 
centred about these very questions4 ,but
 our century has  been an age of        
confusion2 and a man who at its end     
wishes to attain  some coherence of life
 and mind1 must begin by letting drop   
much that  the age has held in solution4
 ,it is by not being an average that a  
man  may become a guide4 ,only by       
manifesting the direction of change and 
embodying that change in his own person 
can he be a sign of progress4  ,it      
remains for time to show whether what   
survives in a given man has  fortune on 
its side and contains the inward        
elements of vitality4  ,the presumption 
in this case1 when we abstract from our 

personal  prejudices1 will seem to be   
wholly in favour of our author4    ,the 
three influences to which he has yielded
 and which have moulded  his mind are   
the pantheism of the ,hindoos1 our      
contemporary natural  science1 and the  
ideal of ,greek civilization4 ,these    
three elements  might at first sight    
seem incongruous1 and the principle of  
selection  by which they are preferred  
above all others might seem as hard  to 
find as the principle of union by which 
they are to be welded  into one         
philosophy4 ,but a little study of these
 maxims and of the  autobiographical    
sketch which precedes them will1 ,i     
think1 enable  us to discover both the  
principles we miss4 ,the selection of   
the  three influences in question is due
 to the poetical temperament and        
scientific tastes of the author1 to an  
individual disposition and to  studies  
which drew him successively to these    
different sources of  instruction4 ,the 
principle of synthesis1 or rather1 we   

should perhaps  say1 of subordination1  
by which these various habits of thought
 are  combined in one philosophy1 is a  
moral principle4 ,it is a native power  
to conceive the ideal and a native      
loyalty to the ideal when once          
conceived4 ,this moral enthusiasm is in 
no sense vapid or sentimental2  it      
hardly comes to the surface in any      
direct or enthusiastic  expression2 but 
it is betrayed and proved to be sincere1
 now by a  passionate pessimism about   
the natural world1 now in detailed and  
practical demands for a better state of 
society4 ,a genial individuality  and a 
well-reasoned form of pessimism are1    
then1 the two factors in the            
development of this interesting thinker1
 the two keys to the apparently         
contradictory affinities of his mind4   
,our author1 as we have said1 is a poet1
 and even if his verses seem  at times a
 little thin and rhetorical1 they prove 
abundantly what is  evident also in his 
prose1 namely1 that he has keen         

sensations1 that  images impress        
themselves upon him with force1 and that
 any scene  whose elements are gorgeous 
and picturesque or which is weighted    
with  tragic emotion1 holds his         
attention and awakens in him the impulse
 to  literary expression4 ,but this     
plastic impulse is not powerful1 or     
finds  in the environment insufficient  
support4 ,great art and great creative  
achievements are rare in the world1 and 
come for the most part only  in those   
moments and in those places where an    
unusual concentration  of mental energy 
and the friction of many kindred minds  
allow the  scattered sparks of          
inspiration to merge and to leap into   
flame4 ,we  need not wonder1 therefore1 
that the sthetic sensibility of our     
author  is greater than his artistic    
success4 ,of which of our contemporaries
  might we not say the same thing8 ,jean
 ,lahor's attention is analytic2 he  is 
absorbed by his model1 he does not      
absorb it and master it by his  art4 ,he

 has not enough vigour and determination
 of thought to create  eternal forms out
 of the swift hints of perception4 ,he  
watches rather  passively the flight of 
his ideas1 conscious of their vivacity1 
of  their beauty1 but most of all1 alas6
 of their flight4 ,his last word as  an 
observer1 his message as a poet1 is that
 all things are illusion4  ,they fade1  
they pass into one another1 the place   
thereof knows them no  more4 ,nothing of
 them remains1 absolutely nothing1 save 
the universal  indeterminate force that 
breeds and devours them perpetually4    
,a mind thus gifted and thus limited    
would naturally feel its affinity  to   
,oriental pantheism as soon as that     
phase of thought and feeling came       
within the radius of its vision4 ,jean  
,lahor seems early to have felt an      
attraction toward the speculation of the
 ,east1 and his prolonged study  of that
 literature could of course only        
intensify the natural bent of  his mind1
 and give his thought a more pronounced 

pantheistic colouring4  ,had he been    
wholly absorbed1 however1 in such       
mystical contemplation1  we should have 
had little to study in him that was new2
 only one more  case of sensibility and 
fancy overpowering a timid intellect1   
one more  gifted nature arrested at the 
stage of bewilderment4    ,but as ,jean 
,lahor is only a pseudonym for the man1 
so the sympathy with  ,india which that 
name indicates is only one phase of the 
thinker4 ,our  poet pursued the study of
 medicine2 he realized in the concrete  
the  orderly complexities of natural law
 and the sordid realities of human      
life4 ,the vague1 sensuous enthusiasm   
with which he had followed the  flux of 
images in his fancy was now sobered by  
an accurate knowledge  of the miseries1 
the defeats1 the shames that lie        
beneath4 ,his poetic  sense of illusion 
was deepened into a moral sense of      
wrong4 ,the same  keenness of           
perception1 the same power of graphic   
expression1 which  had made him dwell on

 the luxuriance of ,nature now made him 
paint  the irony and brutality of life4 
,there is here and there a touch of     
bitterness and exaggeration in the      
satire1 as if the man of science  felt a
 personal resentment against a world    
that had so cheated the poet4    ,yet   
the two descriptions are far from       
inconsistent2 we have merely  learned to
 understand as a process and to conceive
 as an inner  experience what before we 
had admired as a spectacle4 ,a          
scientific  view has come to give       
definition and coherence to phenomena   
which a  poetical pantheism merely      
saluted as they passed and disappeared  
into  the primordial darkness1 or1 if   
you like1 into the primordial light4    
,the two systems differ in tone and in  
method1 but not in result4  ,natural    
science1 like pantheism1 presents us    
with a universal flux1 in  which        
something1 we known not what1 moves1 we 
know not why1 we know  not whither4 ,the
 method of this transformation may be   

more or less  accurately described1 the 
general sense of continuity and         
necessity  may find a more or less      
specific expression in the various      
fields  of experience2 yet the outcome  
is still the same whirligig4 ,we find   
ourselves in either case confronted by  
the same gloire du nant1 by a  nothing  
that lives and that is beautiful in its 
nothingness4    ,these two elements in  
,jean ,lahor's philosophy1 the ,oriental
 and  the scientific1 would thus tend   
alike to represent man with his         
intelligence as the product and the     
captive of an irrational engine  called 
the universe4 ,many a man accepts this  
solution and reconciles  himself as best
 he can to the truth as it appears to   
him4 ,what is  there1 he may say1 so    
dreadful in mutability8 ,what so        
intolerable in  ultimate ignorance8 ,we 
know what we need to know1 and things   
last1  perhaps1 as long as they deserve 
to last4 ,so1 once convinced that his   
naturalistic philosophy is final1 a man 

will silence the demands of  his own    
reason and call them chimerical4 ,there 
is nothing to which  men1 while they    
have food and drink1 cannot reconcile   
themselves4 ,they  will put up with     
present suffering1 with the certainty of
 death1 with  solitude1 with shame1 with
 wrong1 with the expectation of eternal 
damnation4 ,in the face of such things1 
they can not only be happy  for the     
moment1 but solemnly thank ,god for     
having brought them into  existence4    
,habit is stronger than reason1 and the 
respect for fact  stronger than the     
respect for the ideal2 nor would the    
ideal and reason  ever prevail did they 
not make up in persistence what they    
lack in  momentary energy4    ,it would 
have been easy1 therefore1 for ,jean    
,lahor1 as for the rest  of us1 to      
remain in the naturalistic world1 had he
 had only poetical  intuition1 or only  
scientific training1 or only both4 ,but 
there was  also in him a third and a    
moral element1 an impulse toward ideal  

creation1 a spark of ,promethean fire4  
,he felt a genuine admiration  for that 
humane courage which made the ,greeks1  
for all their clear  consciousness of   
fate1 hopeful without illusions and     
independent  without rebellion4 ,in the 
bosom of the intractable infinite he    
still  distinguished the work of human  
reason--the cosmos of society1          
character1 and art--like a ,noah's ark  
floating in the ,deluge4 ,his           
imagination had succumbed to the dream  
of sense2 his art had not  attempted the
 task of imposing a meaning or an       
immortal form upon  ,nature3 but his    
conscience and his political instinct   
had held out  against the fascinations  
of ,maya4 ,the ,greek asserted himself  
here  against the barbarian1 the        
moralist against the naturalist4 ,nor   
was  this a merely accidental addition  
or an inconsistency4 ,it was the        
explicit expression of that creative    
reason which had all along chafed  under
 the dominion of brute fact and of      

perpetual illusion4 ,the same  moral    
energy which had made him a pessimist in
 the presence of ,nature  made him an   
idealist at the threshold of life4      
,for why should the natural world ever  
come to be called a world of  illusion8 
,to call the vivid objects of sense     
illusory is to compare  them to their   
disadvantage with something else which  
we conceive as  more worthy of the title
 of reality4 ,this deeper reality must  
be  something ideal1 something          
permanent1 something conceived by the   
intellect1 and which only a man having  
faith in the intellect could  prefer to 
the objects of sense or fancy4 ,the     
,hindoos that our author  thinks so much
 akin to himself would hardly understand
 this rational  bias of his thought1    
this foregone dissatisfaction with a    
world of  infinite change and indefinite
 structure4 ,they would accept as a     
natural fact that perpetual flux which  
he emphasizes as a paradox and  laments 
as a calamity4 ,in spite of his studied 

immersion in sensuous  illusion1 he is  
still a native of the sphere of         
intelligible things1  and it is only the
 difficulty of finding the permanent    
beings which he  is inclined to look for
 and in the presence of which he could  
alone  rest1 that makes him linger with 
tragic self-consciousness in the  region
 of fleeting shadows4 ,accordingly we   
need not be surprised by the  somewhat  
forced and pessimistic note of a        
pantheism which is really  exotic1 and  
we may be prepared to find the plastic  
mind asserting  itself ultimately       
against that system4 ,so ,jean ,lahor1  
after the groups  of thoughts which he  
puts under the title of ,l'orient and   
,le ciel du  ,nord1 adds another group  
under the title of ,cosmos4    ,it would
 require a philosophical treatise of    
greater pretentions than  the little    
book before us to explain fully how this
 cosmos can arise  out of the chaos of  
mechanical forces1 and how the life and 
the work  of reason can be superposed   

upon the life of sense and imagination4 
,our author's vision1 fixed as it is on 
concrete images and expressed  in       
detached epigrams1 does not always      
extend to the philosophical  relations  
of his thoughts4 ,yet he offers1 perhaps
 unconsciously1 an  admirable variation 
of that revolution of thought which is  
associated  with the name of ,kant4 ,he 
proposes to us as the work of human     
intelligence what is commonly believed  
to be the work of ,god4 ,the  universe1 
apart from us1 is a chaos1 but it may be
 made a cosmos by our  efforts and in   
our own minds4 ,the laws of events1     
apart from us1 are  inhuman and         
irrational1 but in the sphere of human  
activity they may be  dominated by      
reason4 ,we are a part of the blind     
energy behind ,nature1  but by virtue of
 that energy we impose our purposes on  
the part of  ,nature which we constitute
 or control4 ,we can turn from the      
stupefying  contemplation of an alien   
universe to the building of our own     

house1  knowing that1 alien as it is1   
that universe has chanced to blow its   
energy also into our will and to allow  
itself to be partially dominated  by our
 intelligence4 ,our mere existence and  
the modicum of success we  have attained
 in society1 science1 and art are the   
living proofs of  this human power4 ,the
 exercise of this power is the task     
appointed for  us by the indomitable    
promptings of our own spirit1 a task in 
which we  need not labour without hope4 
,for as the various plants and animals  
have found foothold and room  to grow1  
maintaining for long periods the life   
congenial to them1 so  the human race   
may be able to achieve something like   
its perfection  and its ideal1          
maintaining for an indefinite time all  
that it values1  not by virtue of an    
alleged intentional protection of       
,providence1 but  by its own watchful   
art and exceptional good fortune4 ,the  
ideal is  itself a function of the      
reality and cannot therefore be         

altogether  out of harmony with the     
conditions of its own birth and         
persistence4  ,civilization is          
precarious1 but it need not be          
short-lived4 ,its  inception is already 
a proof that there exists an equilibrium
 of forces  which is favourable to its  
existence2 and there is no reason to    
suppose  this equilibrium to be less    
stable than that which keeps the planets
  revolving in their orbits4 ,there is  
no impossibility1 therefore1 in  the    
hope that the human will may have time  
to understand itself1 and1  having      
understood itself1 to realize the       
objects of its rational desire4    ,we  
see that the ,cosmos here invoked is not
 inconsistent with the  ,nothingness    
before described4 ,it is a triumph amid 
illusions1 an  order within chaos1 la   
gloire du nant4 ,this hint of a         
reconciliation  between the practical   
optimism natural to an active being1 and
 the  speculative pessimism inevitable  
to an intelligent one1 is happier  than 

the muddled solutions of the same       
problem with which current  philosophies
 have made us familiar4 ,the philosophy 
suggested by ,jean  ,lahor is that of   
,spinoza1 if we subtract from the latter
 its mystical  optimism1 and add a broad
 appreciation of human culture4 ,man    
cannot  attain his happiness by         
conforming to that which is hostile to  
himself2  he can thus attain only his   
dissolution4 ,but by using what is      
hostile  to himself for his own ends1 as
 far as his energy extends1 he can make 
an oasis for himself in ,nature1 and    
being at peace with himself1 be at      
peace also with her4    ,such a view has
 some relation to the real conditions of
 human life and  progress4 ,what is     
called the higher optimism1 on the      
contrary1 commonly  consists in         
recounting all the evils of existence   
with a radiant  countenance1 and telling
 us that they are all divine ministers  
of some  glorious consummation2 but what
 this consummation is never appears1 and

  we are reduced in practice to a mere  
glorification of impulse4 ,we are       
simply invited to accept the conditions 
of life as they are1 and to  find in    
incidental successes a compensation for 
incidental or--as we  should say if we  
were sincere--for essential failures4   
,such an optimism  impairs by a kind of 
philosophic ,nature-worship that moral  
loyalty  which consists in giving the   
highest honour to the highest1 not to   
the  strongest1 things4 ,it substitutes1
 as pantheism must1 the study of        
tendencies for the study of ends1 and   
the dignity of success for the  dignity 
of justice4    ,this moral confusion our
 author avoids by his greater sincerity4
 ,he has  understood how fundamentally  
that man is a dupe who does not begin by
  settling his accounts with ,despair4  
,there is no safety in lies2 there  is  
no safety even in postulates4 ,let the  
worst of the truth appear1  and when it 
has once seen the light1 let it not be  
immediately wrapped  up again in the    

swaddling clothes of an equivocal       
rhetoric4 ,in such a  disingenuous      
course there is both temerity and       
cowardice3 temerity in  throwing away   
the opportunity1 always afforded by the 
recognition of  fact1 of cultivating the
 real faculties of human nature2        
cowardice in  not being willing to face 
with patience and dignity the situation 
in  which fate appears to have put us4  
,that ,nature is immense1 that her  laws
 are mechanical1 that the existence and 
well-being of man upon  earth are1 from 
the point of view of the universe1 an   
indifferent  incident1--all this is in  
the first place to be clearly           
recognized4 ,it  is the lesson which    
both poetic contemplation and practical 
science had  taught ,jean ,lahor4       
,had he stopped to subject his opinion  
to metaphysical criticism1 he  would    
not1 ,i think1 have found reason to     
change it4 ,to subjectify  the universe 
is not to improve it1 much less to      
dissolve it4 ,the  space ,i call my idea

 has all the properties of the space ,i 
called  my environment2 it has the same 
inevitable presence and the same        
fundamental validity4 ,because it is a  
law of our intelligence that  two and   
two make four1 and the implications of  
that law may be traced  by abstract     
thought1 the world which is subject to  
that arithmetical  principle is not made
 more amenable to our higher demands    
than if it  had been arithmetical of its
 own sweet will4 ,it is not made docile 
by being called our creature4 ,indeed1  
what is less docile to us than          
ourselves8 what less subject to our     
correction than the foundations of  our 
own being8 ,so when the ,kantian        
philosophy teaches us to look upon  the 
enveloping universe as a figment of the 
understanding and on its  laws as       
results of mental synthesis and         
inference1 we are still pursued  by the 
inevitable presence of that figment and 
confronted involuntarily  by that       
result4 ,nay1 the conditions of our     

thought1 like the  predispositions of   
our characters1 are the most fatal and  
inexorable of  our limitations4    ,why 
the world is as it is1 whether of itself
 or by refraction in the  medium of our 
intellect1 is not a question that       
affects the practical  moralist4 ,what  
concerns him is that the laws of the    
world1 whatever  their origin1 are fixed
 and unchangeable conditions of our     
happiness4  ,we cannot change the world1
 even if we boast to have made it2 we   
must  in any case learn to live with it1
 whether it be our parent or our  child4
 ,to veil its character with euphemisms 
or to supply its defects  with          
superstitious assumptions is a course   
unworthy of a brave man  and abhorrent  
to a prudent one4 ,what we should do is 
to make a modest  inventory of our      
possessions and a just estimate of our  
powers in  order to apply both1 with    
what strength we have1 to the           
realization of  our ideals in society1  
in art1 and in science4 ,these will     

constitute  our ,cosmos4 ,in building   
it--for there is none other that builds 
it  for us--we shall be carrying on the 
work of the only race that has  yet     
seriously attempted to live rationally1 
the race to which we owe  the name and  
the idea of a ,cosmos1 as well as the   
beginnings of its  realization4 ,we     
shall then be making that rare advance  
in wisdom which  consists in abandoning 
our illusions the better to attain our  
ideals4          ,x      ,,the          
,,elements ,,and ,,function ,,of        
,,poetry      ,if a critic1 in despair  
of giving a serious definition of       
poetry1  should be satisfied with saying
 that poetry is metrical discourse1  he 
would no doubt be giving an inadequate  
account of the matter1 yet  not one of  
which he need be ashamed or which he    
should regard as  superficial4 ,although
 a poem be not made by counting of      
syllables  upon the fingers1 yet numbers
 is the most poetical synonym we have   
for verse1 and measure the most         

significant equivalent for beauty1  for 
goodness1 and perhaps even for truth4   
,those early and profound  philosophers1
 the followers of ,pythagoras1 saw the  
essence of all  things in number1 and it
 was by weight1 measure1 and number1 as 
we read  in the ,bible1 that the        
,creator first brought ,nature out of   
the void4  ,every human architect must  
do likewise with his edifice2 he must   
mould  his bricks or hew his stones into
 symmetrical solids and lay them over   
one another in regular strata1 like a   
poet's lines4    ,measure is a condition
 of perfection1 for perfection requires 
that  order should be pervasive1 that   
not only the whole before us should     
have a form1 but that every part in turn
 should have a form of its  own1 and    
that those parts should be coordinated  
among themselves as  the whole is       
coordinated with the other parts of some
 greater cosmos4  ,leibnitz lighted in  
his speculations upon a conception of   
organic  nature which may be false as a 

fact1 but which is excellent as an      
ideal2 he tells us that the difference  
between living and dead matter1  between
 animals and machines1 is that the      
former are composed of parts  that are  
themselves organic1 every portion of the
 body being itself  a machine1 and every
 portion of that machine still a        
machine1 and so  ad infinitum2 whereas1 
in artificial bodies the organization is
 not  in this manner infinitely deep4   
,fine ,art1 in this as in all things1   
imitates the method of ,nature and makes
 its most beautiful works out of        
materials that are themselves beautiful4
 ,so that even if the difference        
between verse and prose consisted only  
in measure1 that difference  would      
already be analogous to that between    
jewels and clay4    ,the stuff of       
language is words1 and the sensuous     
material of words  is sound2 if language
 therefore is to be made perfect1 its   
materials  must be made beautiful by    
being themselves subjected to a measure1

  and endowed with a form4 ,it is true  
that language is a symbol for           
intelligence rather than a stimulus to  
sense1 and accordingly the  beauties of 
discourse which commonly attract        
attention are merely the  beauties of   
the objects and ideas signified2 yet the
 symbols have a  sensible reality of    
their own1 a euphony which appeals to   
our senses  if we keep them open4 ,the  
tongue will choose those forms of       
utterance  which have a natural grace as
 mere sound and sensation2 the memory   
will  retain these catches1 and they    
will pass and repass through the mind   
until they become types of instinctive  
speech and standards of pleasing        
expression4    ,the highest form of such
 euphony is song2 the singing voice     
gives  to the sounds it utters the      
thrill of tonality1--a thrill itself    
dependent1 as we know1 on the numerical 
proportions of the vibrations  that it  
includes4 ,but this kind of euphony and 
sensuous beauty1 the  deepest that      

sounds can have1 we have almost wholly  
surrendered in our  speech4 ,our        
intelligence has become complex1 and    
language1 to express  our thoughts1 must
 commonly be more rapid1 copious1 and   
abstract than  is compatible with       
singing4 ,music at the same time has    
become complex  also1 and when united   
with words1 at one time disfigures them 
in the  elaboration of its melody1 and  
at another overpowers them in the volume
  of its sound4 ,so that the art of     
singing is now in the same plight as    
that of sculpture1--an abstract and     
conventional thing surviving by  force  
of tradition and of an innate but now   
impotent impulse1 which  under simpler  
conditions would work itself out into   
the proper forms of  those arts4 ,the   
truest kind of euphony is thus denied to
 our poetry4 ,if  any verses are still  
set to music1 they are commonly the     
worst only1  chosen for the purpose by  
musicians of specialized sensibility and
  inferior intelligence1 who seem to be 

attracted only by tawdry effects  of    
rhetoric and sentiment4    ,when song is
 given up1 there still remains in speech
 a certain sensuous  quality1 due to the
 nature and order of the vowels and     
consonants  that compose the sounds4    
,this kind of euphony is not neglected  
by the  more dulcet poets1 and is now so
 studied in some quarters that ,i have  
heard it maintained by a critic of      
relative authority that the beauty  of  
poetry consists entirely in the frequent
 utterance of the sound  of j and sh1   
and the consequent copious flow of      
saliva in the  mouth4 ,but even if      
saliva is not the whole essence of      
poetry1 there  is an unmistakable and   
fundamental diversity of effect in the  
various  vocalization of different      
poets1 which becomes all the more       
evident  when we compare those who use  
different languages4 ,one man's speech1 
or  one nation's1 is compact1 crowded   
with consonants1 rugged1 broken with    
emphatic beats2 another man's1 or       

nation's1 is open1 tripping1 rapid1  and
 even4 ,so ,byron1 mingling in his      
boyish fashion burlesque with  exquisite
 sentiment1 contrasts ,english with     
,italian speech3--        ,i love the   
language1 that soft bastard ,latin      
,which melts like kisses from a female  
mouth       ,and sounds as if it should 
be writ on satin       ,with syllables  
which breathe of the sweet ,south1      
,and gentle liquids gliding all so pat  
in       ,that not a single accent seems
 uncouth1       ,like our harsh         
,northern whistling1 granting guttural  
,which we're obliged to hiss and spit   
and sputter all4    ,and yet these      
contrasts1 strong when we compare       
extreme cases1 fade  from our           
consciousness in the actual use of a    
mother-tongue4 ,the  function makes us  
unconscious of the instrument1 all the  
more as it  is an indispensable and     
almost invariable one4 ,the sense of    
euphony  accordingly attaches itself    
rather to another and more variable     

quality2 the tune1 or measure1 or rhythm
 of speech4 ,the elementary  sounds are 
prescribed by the language we use1 and  
the selection we  may make among those  
sounds is limited2 but the arrangement  
of words  is still undetermined1 and by 
casting our speech into the moulds of   
metre and rhyme we can give it a        
heightened power1 apart from its        
significance4 ,a tolerable definition of
 poetry1 on its formal side1  might be  
found in this3 that poetry is speech in 
which the instrument  counts as well as 
the meaning--poetry is speech for its   
own sake and  for its own sweetness4 ,as
 common windows are intended only to    
admit  the light1 but painted windows   
also to dye it1 and to be an object  of 
attention in themselves as well as a    
cause of visibility in other  things1   
so1 while the purest prose is a mere    
vehicle of thought1 verse1  like stained
 glass1 arrests attention in its own    
intricacies1 confuses  it in its own    
glories1 and is even at times allowed to

 darken and  puzzle in the hope of      
casting over us a supernatural spell4   
,long passages in ,shelley's ,revolt of 
,islam and ,keats' ,endymion  are       
poetical in this sense2 the reader      
gathers1 probably1 no definite  meaning1
 but is conscious of a poetic medium1 of
 speech euphonious  and measured1 and   
redolent of a kind of objectless passion
 which is  little more than the         
sensation of the movement and sensuous  
richness  of the lines4 ,such poetry is 
not great2 it has1 in fact1 a tedious   
vacuity1 and is unworthy of a mature    
mind2 but it is poetical1 and  could be 
produced only by a legitimate child of  
the ,muse4 ,it belongs to  an           
apprenticeship1 but in this case the    
apprenticeship of genius4 ,it  bears    
that relation to great poems which      
scales and aimless warblings  bear to   
great singing--they test the essential  
endowment and fineness  of the organ    
which is to be employed in the art4     
,without this sensuous  background and  

ingrained predisposition to beauty1 no  
art can reach the  deepest and most     
exquisite effects2 and even without an  
intelligible  superstructure these      
sensuous qualities suffice to give that 
thrill of  exaltation1 that suggestion  
of an ideal world1 which we feel in the 
presence of any true beauty4    ,the    
sensuous beauty of words and their      
utterance in measure suffice1           
therefore1 for poetry of one sort--where
 these are there is something           
unmistakably poetical1 although the     
whole of poetry1 or the best of  poetry1
 be not yet there4 ,indeed1 in such     
works as ,the ,revolt of  ,islam or     
,endymion there is already more than    
mere metre and sound2  there is the     
colour and choice of words1 the         
fanciful1 rich1 or  exquisite           
juxtaposition of phrases4 ,the          
vocabulary and the texture of  the style
 are precious2 affected1 perhaps1 but at
 any rate refined4    ,this quality1    
which is that almost exclusively        

exploited by the  ,symbolist1 we may    
call euphuism--the choice of coloured   
words and  rare and elliptical phrases4 
,if great poets are like architects and 
sculptors1 the euphuists are like       
gold-smiths and jewellers2 their work   
is filigree in precious metals1         
encrusted with glowing stones4 ,now     
euphuism contributes not a little to the
 poetic effect of the tirades  of ,keats
 and ,shelley2 if we wish to see the    
power of versification  without euphuism
 we may turn to the tirades of ,pope1   
where metre and  euphony are displayed  
alone1 and we have the outline or       
skeleton of  poetry without the filling4
        ,in spite of pride1 in erring   
reason's spite1       ,one truth is     
clear1 ,whatever is1 is right4    ,we   
should hesitate to say that such writing
 was truly poetical2 so  that some      
euphuism would seem to be necessary as  
well as metre1 to the  formal essence of
 poetry4    ,an example of this sort1   
however1 takes us out of the merely     

verbal  into the imaginative region2 the
 reason that ,pope is hardly poetical to
  us is not that he is                  
inharmonious1--not a defect of          
euphony1--but that  he is too           
intellectual and has an excess of       
mentality4 ,it is easier for  words to  
be poetical without any thought1 when   
they are felt merely  as sensuous and   
musical1 than for them to remain so when
 they convey  an abstract               
notion1--especially if that notion be a 
tart and frigid  sophism1 like that of  
the couplet just quoted4 ,the           
pyrotechnics of the  intellect then take
 the place of the glow of sense1 and the
 artifice  of thought chills the        
pleasure we might have taken in the     
grace of  expression4    ,if poetry in  
its higher reaches is more philosophical
 than history1  because it presents the 
memorable types of men and things apart 
from  unmeaning circumstances1 so in its
 primary substance and texture  poetry  
is more philosophical than prose because

 it is nearer to our  immediate         
experience4 ,poetry breaks up the trite 
conceptions designated  by current words
 into the sensuous qualities out of     
which those  conceptions were originally
 put together4 ,we name what we conceive
 and  believe in1 not what we see2      
things1 not images2 souls1 not voices   
and  silhouettes4 ,this naming1 with the
 whole education of the senses which  it
 accompanies1 subserves the uses of     
life2 in order to thread our way        
through the labyrinth of objects which  
assault us1 we must make a great        
selection in our sensuous experience2   
half of what we see and hear we  must   
pass over as insignificant1 while we    
piece out the other half with  such an  
ideal complement as is necessary to turn
 it into a fixed and  well-ordered      
world4 ,this labour of perception and   
understanding1 this  spelling of the    
material meaning of experience is       
enshrined in our  work-a-day language   
and ideas2 ideas which are literally    

poetic in the  sense that they are made 
7for every conception in an adult mind  
is a  fiction71 but which are at the    
same time prosaic because they are made 
economically1 by abstraction1 and for   
use4    ,when the child of poetic       
genius1 who has learned this            
intellectual and  utilitarian language  
in the cradle1 goes afield and gathers  
for himself  the aspects of ,nature1 he 
begins to encumber his mind with the    
many  living impressions which the      
intellect rejected1 and which the       
language  of the intellect can hardly   
convey2 he labours with his nameless    
burden  of perception1 and wastes       
himself in aimless impulses of emotion  
and  revery1 until finally the method of
 some art offers a vent to his          
inspiration1 or to such part of it as   
can survive the test of time and  the   
discipline of expression4    ,the poet  
retains by nature the innocence of the  
eye1 or recovers it  easily2 he         
disintegrates the fictions of common    

perception into their  sensuous         
elements1 gathers these together again  
into chance groups as  the accidents of 
his environment or the affinities of his
 temperament  may conjoin them2 and this
 wealth of sensation and this freedom of
  fancy1 which make an extraordinary    
ferment in his ignorant heart1          
presently bubble over into some kind of 
utterance4    ,the fulness and          
sensuousness of such effusions bring    
them nearer to  our actual perceptions  
than common discourse could come2 yet   
they may  easily seem remote1           
overloaded1 and obscure to those        
accustomed to  think entirely in        
symbols1 and never to be interrupted in 
the algebraic  rapidity of their        
thinking by a moment's pause and        
examination of  heart1 nor ever to      
plunge for a moment into that torrent of
 sensation  and imagery over which the  
bridge of prosaic associations          
habitually  carries us safe and dry to  
some conventional act4 ,how slight that 

bridge commonly is1 how much an affair  
of trestles and wire1 we can  hardly    
conceive until we have trained ourselves
 to an extreme sharpness  of            
introspection4 ,but psychologists have  
discovered1 what laymen  generally will 
confess1 that we hurry by the procession
 of our mental  images as we do by the  
traffic of the street1 intent on        
business1  gladly forgetting the noise  
and movement of the scene1 and looking  
only for the corner we would turn or the
 door we would enter4 ,yet in  our      
alertest moment the depths of the soul  
are still dreaming2 the real  world     
stands drawn in bare outline against a  
background of chaos and  unrest4 ,our   
logical thoughts dominate experience    
only as the parallels  and meridians    
make a checker-board of the sea4 ,they  
guide our voyage  without controlling   
the waves1 which toss for ever in spite 
of our  ability to ride over them to our
 chosen ends4 ,sanity is a madness put  
to good uses2 waking life is a dream    

controlled4    ,out of the neglected    
riches of this dream the poet fetches   
his wares4  ,he dips into the chaos that
 underlies the rational shell of the    
world  and brings up some superfluous   
image1 some emotion dropped by the  way1
 and reattaches it to the present       
object2 he reinstates things            
unnecessary1 he emphasizes things       
ignored1 he paints in again into  the   
landscape the tints which the intellect 
has allowed to fade from  it4 ,if he    
seems sometimes to obscure a fact1 it is
 only because he is  restoring an       
experience4 ,we may observe this process
 in the simplest  cases4 ,when ,ossian1 
mentioning the sun1 says it is round as 
the shield  of his fathers1 the         
expression is poetical4 ,why8 ,because  
he has added  to the word sun1 in itself
 sufficient and unequivocal1 other      
words1  unnecessary for practical       
clearness1 but serving to restore the   
individuality of his perception and its 
associations in his mind4  ,there is no 

square sun with which the sun he is     
speaking of could be  confused2 to stop 
and call it round is a luxury1 a halting
 in the  sensation for the love of its  
form4 ,and to go on to tell us1 what is 
wholly impertinent1 that the shield of  
his fathers was round also1 is  to      
invite us to follow the chance          
wanderings of his fancy1 to give us  a  
little glimpse of the stuffing of his   
own brain1 or1 we might almost  say1 to 
turn over the pattern of his embroidery 
and show us the loose  threads hanging  
out on the wrong side4 ,such an escapade
 disturbs and  interrupts the true      
vision of the object1 and a great poet1 
rising to  a perfect conception of the  
sun and forgetting himself1 would have  
disdained to make it2 but it has a      
romantic and pathological interest1  it 
restores an experience1 and is in that  
measure poetical4 ,we have  been made to
 halt at the sensation1 and to penetrate
 for a moment into  its background of   
dream4    ,but it is not only thoughts  

or images that the poet draws in this   
way from the store of his experience1 to
 clothe the bare form of  conventional  
objects3 he often adds to these objects 
a more subtle  ornament1 drawn from the 
same source4 ,for the first element     
which the  intellect rejects in forming 
its ideas of things is the emotion which
  accompanies the perception2 and this  
emotion is the first thing the  poet    
restores4 ,he stops at the image1       
because he stops to enjoy4 ,he  wanders 
into the by-paths of association because
 the by-paths are  delightful4 ,the love
 of beauty which made him give measure  
and cadence  to his words1 the love of  
harmony which made him rhyme them1      
reappear  in his imagination and make   
him select there also the material that 
is itself beautiful1 or capable of      
assuming beautiful forms4 ,the link     
that binds together the ideas1 sometimes
 so wide apart1 which his wit           
assimilates1 is most often the link of  
emotion2 they have in common  some      

element of beauty or of horror4    ,the 
poet's art is to a great extent the art 
of intensifying emotions  by assembling 
the scattered objects that naturally    
arouse them4 ,he  sees the affinities of
 things by seeing their common          
affinities with  passion4 ,as the       
guiding principle of practical thinking 
is some  interest1 so that only what is 
pertinent to that interest is selected  
by the attention2 as the guiding        
principle of scientific thinking  is    
some connection of things in time or    
space1 or some identity of  law2 so in  
poetic thinking the guiding principle is
 often a mood or a  quality of          
sentiment4 ,by this union of disparate  
things having a common  overtone of     
feeling1 the feeling is itself evoked in
 all its strength2  nay1 it is often    
created for the first time1 much as by a
 new mixture  of old pigments ,perugino 
could produce the unprecedented         
limpidity of  his colour1 or ,titian the
 unprecedented glow of his4 ,poets can  

thus  arouse sentiments finer than any  
which they have known1 and in the act   
of composition become discoverers of new
 realms of delightfulness and  grief4   
,expression is a misleading term which  
suggests that something  previously     
known is rendered or imitated2 whereas  
the expression is  itself an original   
fact1 the values of which are then      
referred to  the thing expressed1 much  
as the honours of a ,chinese mandarin   
are  attributed retroactively to his    
parents4 ,so the charm which a poet1 by 
his art of combining images and shades  
of emotion1 casts over a scene  or an   
action1 is attached to the principal    
actor in it1 who gets the  benefit of   
the setting furnished him by a          
well-stocked mind4    ,the poet is      
himself subject to this illusion1 and a 
great part of what  is called poetry1   
although by no means the best part of   
it1 consists  in this sort of           
idealization by proxy4 ,we dye the world
 of our own  colour2 by a pathetic      

fallacy1 by a false projection of       
sentiment1  we soak ,nature with our own
 feeling1 and then celebrate her tender 
sympathy with our moral being4 ,this    
aberration1 as we see in the case  of   
,wordsworth1 is not inconsistent with a 
high development of both  the faculties 
which it confuses1--,i mean vision and  
feeling4 ,on the  contrary1 vision and  
feeling1 when most abundant and         
original1 most  easily present          
themselves in this undivided form4      
,there would be need  of a force of     
intellect which poets rarely possess to 
rationalize their  inspiration without  
diminishing its volume3 and if1 as is   
commonly the  case1 the energy of the   
dream and the passion in them is greater
 than  that of the reason1 and they     
cannot attain true propriety and supreme
  beauty in their works1 they can1      
nevertheless1 fill them with lovely     
images and a fine moral spirit4    ,the 
pouring forth of both perceptive and    
emotional elements in their  mixed and  

indiscriminate form gives to this kind  
of imagination the  directness and truth
 which sensuous poetry possesses on a   
lower level4  ,the outer world bathed in
 the hues of human feeling1 the inner   
world  expressed in the forms of        
things1--that is the primitive condition
 of  both before intelligence and the   
prosaic classification of objects have  
abstracted them and assigned them to    
their respective spheres4 ,such         
identifications1 on which a certain kind
 of metaphysics prides itself  also1 are
 not discoveries of profound genius2    
they are exactly like  the observation  
of ,ossian that the sun is round and    
that the shield of  his fathers was     
round too2 they are disintegrations of  
conventional  objects1 so that the      
original associates of our perceptions  
reappear2  then the thing and the       
emotion which chanced to be simultaneous
  are said to be one1 and we return1    
unless a better principle of            
organization is substituted for the     

principle abandoned1 to the  chaos of a 
passive animal consciousness1 where all 
is mixed together1  projected together1 
and felt as an unutterable whole4       
,the pathetic fallacy is a return to    
that early habit of thought by  which   
our ancestors peopled the world with    
benevolent and malevolent  spirits2 what
 they felt in the presence of objects   
they took to be a  part of the objects  
themselves4 ,in returning to this       
natural confusion1  poetry does us a    
service in that she recalls and         
consecrates those  phases of our        
experience which1 as useless to the     
understanding of  material reality1 we  
are in danger of forgetting altogether4 
,therein  is her vitality1 for she      
pierces to the quick and shakes us out  
of our  servile speech and imaginative  
poverty2 she reminds us of all we have  
felt1 she invites us even to dream a    
little1 to nurse the wonderful          
spontaneous creations which at every    
waking moment we are snuffing out  in   

our brain4 ,and the indulgence is no    
mere momentary pleasure2 much  of its   
exuberance clings afterward to our      
ideas2 we see the more and  feel the    
more for that exercise2 we are capable  
of finding greater  entertainment in the
 common aspects of ,nature and life4    
,when the veil  of convention is once   
removed from our eyes by the poet1 we   
are better  able to dominate any        
particular experience and1 as it were1  
to change  its scale1 now losing        
ourselves in its infinitesimal texture1 
now in  its infinite ramifications4     
,if the function of poetry1 however1 did
 not go beyond this recovery  of        
sensuous and imaginative freedom1 at the
 expense of disrupting our  useful      
habits of thought1 we might be grateful 
to it for occasionally  relieving our   
numbness1 but we should have to admit   
that it was nothing  but a relaxation2  
that spiritual discipline was not to be 
gained from  it in any degree1 but must 
be sought wholly in that intellectual   

system that builds the science of       
,nature with the categories of prose4   
,so conceived1 poetry would deserve the 
judgment passed by ,plato on  all the   
arts of flattery and entertainment2 it  
might be crowned as  delightful1 but    
must be either banished altogether as   
meretricious  or at least confined to a 
few forms and occasions where it might  
do  little harm4 ,the judgment of ,plato
 has been generally condemned by        
philosophers1 although it is eminently  
rational1 and justified by the  simplest
 principles of morals4 ,it has been     
adopted instead1 although  unwittingly1 
by the practical and secular part of    
mankind1 who look  upon artists and     
poets as inefficient and brain-sick     
people under whose  spell it would be a 
serious calamity to fall1 although they 
may be  called in on feast days as an   
ornament and luxury together with the   
cooks1 hairdressers1 and florists4      
,several circumstances1 however1 might  
suggest to us the possibility  that the 

greatest function of poetry may be still
 to find4 ,plato1  while condemning     
,homer1 was a kind of poet himself2 his 
quarrel with  the followers of the ,muse
 was not a quarrel with the goddess2 and
  the good people of ,philistia1        
distrustful as they may be of profane   
art1 pay undoubting honour to religion1 
which is a kind of poetry  as much      
removed from their sphere as the        
midnight revels upon ,mount  ,citheron1 
which1 to be sure1 were also religious  
in their inspiration4  ,why1 we may ask1
 these apparent inconsistencies8 ,why do
 our practical  men make room for       
religion in the background of their     
world8 ,why did  ,plato1 after banishing
 the poets1 poetize the universe in his 
prose8  ,because the abstraction by     
which the world of science and of       
practice  is drawn out of our           
experience1 is too violent to satisfy   
even the  thoughtless and vulgar2 the   
ideality of the machine we call ,nature1
  the conventionality of the drama we   

call the world1 are too glaring  not to 
be somehow perceived by all4 ,each must 
sometimes fall back upon  the soul2 he  
must challenge this apparition with the 
thought of death2  he must ask himself  
for the mainspring and value of his     
life4 ,he will  then remember his       
stifled loves2 he will feel that only   
his illusions  have ever given him a    
sense of reality1 only his passions the 
hope and  the vision of peace4 ,he will 
read himself through and almost gather a
  meaning from his experience2 at least 
he will half believe that all  he has   
been dealing with was a dream and a     
symbol1 and raise his eyes  toward the  
truth beyond4    ,this plastic moment of
 the mind1 when we become aware of the  
artificiality and inadequacy of what    
common sense perceives1 is the  true    
moment of poetic opportunity1--an       
opportunity1 we may hasten  to confess1 
which is generally missed4 ,the strain  
of attention1 the  concentration and    
focussing of thought on the unfamiliar  

immediacy  of things1 usually brings    
about nothing but confusion4 ,we are    
dazed1  we are filled with a sense of   
unutterable things1 luminous yet        
indistinguishable1 many yet one4        
,instead of rising to imagination1 we   
sink into mysticism4    ,to accomplish a
 mystical disintegration is not the     
function of any art2  if any art seems  
to accomplish it1 the effect is only    
incidental1 being  involved1 perhaps1 in
 the process of constructing the proper 
object of  that art1 as we might cut    
down trees and dig them up by the roots 
to  lay the foundations of a temple4    
,for every art looks to the building  up
 of something4 ,and just because the    
world built up by common sense  and     
natural science is an inadequate world  
7a skeleton which needs the  filling of 
sensation before it can live71 therefore
 the moment when we  realize its        
inadequacy is the moment when the higher
 arts find their  opportunity4 ,when the
 world is shattered to bits they can    

come and  build it nearer to the heart's
 desire4    ,the great function of      
poetry1 which we have not yet directly  
mentioned1  is precisely this3 to repair
 to the material of experience1 seizing 
hold of the reality of sensation and    
fancy beneath the surface of            
conventional ideas1 and then out of that
 living but indefinite  material to     
build new structures1 richer1 finer1    
fitter to the primary  tendencies of our
 nature1 truer to the ultimate          
possibilities of the  soul4 ,our descent
 into the elements of our being is then 
justified by  our subsequent freer      
ascent toward its goal2 we revert to    
sense only to  find food for reason2 we 
destroy conventions only to construct   
ideals4    ,such analysis for the sake  
of creation is the essence of all great 
poetry4 ,science and common sense are   
themselves in their way poets of  no    
mean order1 since they take the material
 of experience and make out  of it a    
clear1 symmetrical1 and beautiful world2

 the very propriety of  this art1       
however1 has made it common4 ,its       
figures have become mere  rhetoric and  
its metaphors prose4 ,yet1 even as it   
is1 a scientific and  mathematical      
vision has a higher beauty than the     
irrational poetry of  sensation and     
impulse1 which merely tickles the brain1
 like liquor1  and plays upon our       
random1 imaginative lusts4 ,the         
imagination of a  great poet1 on the    
contrary1 is as orderly as that of an   
astronomer1  and as large2 he has the   
naturalist's patience1 the naturalist's 
love  of detail and eye trained to see  
fine gradations and essential lines2  he
 knows no hurry2 he has no pose1 no     
sense of originality2 he finds  his     
effects in his subject1 and his subject 
in his inevitable world4  ,resembling   
the naturalist in all this1 he differs  
from him in the  balance of his         
interests2 the poet has the concreter   
mind2 his visible  world wears all its  
colours and retains its indwelling      

passion and  life4 ,instead of studying 
in experience its calculable elements1  
he  studies its moral values1 its       
beauty1 the openings it offers to the   
soul3 and the cosmos he constructs is   
accordingly an ideal theatre for  the   
spirit in which its noblest potential   
drama is enacted and its  destiny       
resolved4    ,this supreme function of  
poetry is only the consummation of the  
method  by which words and imagery are  
transformed into verse4 ,as verse breaks
  up the prosaic order of syllables and 
subjects them to a recognizable  and    
pleasing measure1 so poetry breaks up   
the whole prosaic picture  of experience
 to introduce into it a rhythm more     
congenial and  intelligible to the mind4
 ,and in both these cases the operation 
is  essentially the same as that by     
which1 in an intermediate sphere1 the   
images rejected by practical thought1   
and the emotions ignored by  it1 are so 
marshalled as to fill the mind with a   
truer and intenser  consciousness of its

 memorable experience4 ,the poetry of   
fancy1 of  observation1 and of passion  
moves on this intermediate level2 the   
poetry of mere sound and virtuosity is  
confined to the lower sphere2  and the  
highest is reserved for the poetry of   
the creative reason4 ,but  one principle
 is present throughout1--the principle  
of ,beauty1--the art  of assimilating   
phenomena1 whether words1 images1       
emotions1 or systems  of ideas1 to the  
deeper innate cravings of the mind4     
,let us now dwell a little on this      
higher function of poetry and try to    
distinguish some of its phases4    ,the 
creation of characters is what many of  
us might at first be  tempted to regard 
as the supreme triumph of the           
imagination4 ,if we  abstract1 however1 
from our personal tastes and look at the
 matter  in its human and logical       
relations1 we shall see1 ,i think1 that 
the  construction of characters is not  
the ultimate task of poetic fiction4  ,a
 character can never be exhaustive of   

our materials3 for it exists  by its    
idiosyncrasy1 by its contrast with other
 natures1 by its  development of one    
side1 and one side only1 of our native  
capacities4  ,it is1 therefore1 not by  
characterization as such that the       
ultimate  message can be rendered4 ,the 
poet can put only a part of himself into
  any of his heroes1 but he must put the
 whole into his noblest work4  ,a       
character is accordingly only a         
fragmentary unity2 fragmentary in       
respect to its origin1--since it is     
conceived by enlargement1 so to  speak1 
of a part of our own being to the       
exclusion of the rest1--and  fragmentary
 in respect to the object it presents1  
since a character  must live in an      
environment and be appreciated by       
contrast and by the  sense of           
derivation4 ,not the character1 but its 
effects and causes1  is the truly       
interesting thing4 ,thus in master      
poets1 like ,homer and  ,dante1 the     
characters1 although well drawn1 are    

subordinate to the  total movement and  
meaning of the scene ,there is indeed   
something  pitiful1 something comic1 in 
any comprehended soul2 souls1 like other
  things1 are only definable by their   
limitations4 ,we feel instinctively     
that it would be insulting to speak of  
any man to his face as we should  speak 
of him in his absence1 even if what we  
say is in the way of  praise3 for absent
 he is a character understood1 but      
present he is a  force respected4    ,in
 the construction of ideal characters1  
then1 the imagination is busy  with     
material1--particular actions and       
thoughts1--which suggest their          
unification in persons2 but the         
characters thus conceived can hardly  be
 adequate to the profusion of our       
observations1 nor exhaustive1 when  all 
personalities are taken together1 of the
 interest of our lives4  ,characters are
 initially imbedded in life1 as the gods
 themselves are  originally imbedded in 
,nature4 ,poetry must1 therefore1 to    

render all  reality1 render also the    
background of its figures1 and the      
events  that condition their acts4 ,we  
must place them in that indispensable   
environment which the landscape         
furnishes to the eye and the social     
medium to the emotions4    ,the visible 
landscape is not a proper object for    
poetry4 ,its  elements1 and especially  
the emotional stimulation which it      
gives1  may be suggested or expressed in
 verse2 but landscape is not thereby    
represented in its proper form2 it      
appears only as an element and          
associate of moral unities4 ,painting1  
architecture1 and gardening1 with  the  
art of stage setting1 have the visible  
landscape for their object1  and to     
those arts we may leave it4 ,but there  
is a sort of landscape  larger than the 
visible1 which escapes the synthesis of 
the eye2 it  is present to that         
topographical sense by which we always  
live in the  consciousness that there is
 a sea1 that there are mountains1 that  

the  sky is above us1 even when we do   
not see it1 and that the tribes of  men1
 with their different degrees of        
blamelessness1 are scattered over  the  
broad-backed earth4 ,this cosmic        
landscape poetry alone can render1  and 
it is no small part of the art to awaken
 the sense of it at the  right moment1  
so that the object that occupies the    
centre of vision  may be seen in its    
true lights1 coloured by its wider      
associations1  and dignified by its felt
 affinities to things permanent and     
great4  ,as the ,italian masters were   
wont not to paint their groups of saints
  about the ,virgin without enlarging   
the canvas1 so as to render a broad     
piece of sky1 some mountains and rivers1
 and nearer1 perhaps1 some  decorative  
pile2 so the poet of larger mind        
envelops his characters in  the         
atmosphere of ,nature and history1 and  
keeps us constantly aware of  the world 
in which they move4    ,the distinction 
of a poet--the dignity and humanity of  

his thought--can  be measured by        
nothing1 perhaps1 so well as by the     
diameter of the  world in which he      
lives2 if he is supreme1 his vision1    
like ,dante's1  always stretches to the 
stars4 ,and ,virgil1 a supreme poet     
sometimes  unjustly belittled1 shows us 
the same thing in another form2 his     
landscape is the ,roman universe1 his   
theme the sacred springs of  ,roman     
greatness in piety1 consistancy1 and    
law4 ,he has not written a  line in     
forgetfulness that he was a ,roman2 he  
loves country life and  its labours     
because he sees in it the origin and    
bulwark of civic  greatness2 he honours 
tradition because it gives perspective  
and  momentum to the history that       
ensues2 he invokes the gods1 because    
they  are symbols of the physical and   
moral forces1 by which ,rome struggled  
to dominion4    ,almost every classic   
poet has the topographical sense2 he    
swarms  with proper names and allusions 
to history and fable2 if an epithet  is 

to be thrown in anywhere to fill up the 
measure of a line1 he  chooses          
instinctively an appellation of place or
 family2 his wine  is not red1 but      
,samian2 his gorges are not deep1 but   
are the gorges  of ,hmus2 his songs are 
not sweet1 but ,pierian4 ,we may deride 
their  practice as conventional1 but    
they could far more justly deride ours  
as insignificant4 ,conventions do not   
arise without some reason1 and  genius  
will know how to rise above them by a   
fresh appreciation of  their rightness1 
and will feel no temptation to overturn 
them in favour  of personal whimsies4   
,the ancients found poetry not so much  
in sensible  accidents as in essential  
forms and noble associations2 and this  
fact  marks very clearly their superior 
education4 ,they dominated the world  as
 we no longer dominate it1 and lived1 as
 we are too distracted to  live1 in the 
presence of the rational and the        
important4    ,a physical and historical
 background1 however1 is of little      

moment  to the poet in comparison with  
that other environment of his           
characters1--the dramatic situations in 
which they are involved4 ,the  substance
 of poetry is1 after all1 emotion2 and  
if the intellectual  emotion of         
comprehension and the mimetic one of    
impersonation are  massive1 they are not
 so intense as the appetites and other  
transitive  emotions of life2 the       
passions are the chief basis of all     
interests1  even the most ideal1 and the
 passions are seldom brought into play  
except by the contact of man with man4  
,the various forms of love and  hate are
 only possible in society1 and to       
imagine occasions in which  these       
feelings may manifest all their inward  
vitality is the poet's  function1--one  
in which he follows the fancy of every  
child1 who puffs  himself out in his    
day-dreams into an endless variety of   
heroes and  lovers4 ,the thrilling      
adventures which he craves demand an    
appropriate  theatre2 the glorious      

emotions with which he bubbles over must
 at all  hazards find or feign their    
correlative objects4    ,but the        
passions are naturally blind1 and the   
poverty of the  imagination1 when left  
alone1 is absolute4 ,the passions may   
ferment as  they will1 they never can   
breed an idea out of their own energy4  
,this  idea must be furnished by the    
senses1 by outward experience1 else the 
hunger of the soul will gnaw its own    
emptiness for ever4 ,where the  seed of 
sensation has once fallen1 however1 the 
growth1 variations1  and exuberance of  
fancy may be unlimited4 ,only we still  
observe 7as in  the child1 in dreams1   
and in the poetry of ignorant or        
mystical poets7  that the intensity of  
inwardly generated visions does not     
involve  any real increase in their     
scope or dignity4 ,the inexperienced    
mind  remains a thin mind1 no matter how
 much its vapours may be heated and     
blown about by natural passion4 ,it was 
a capital error in ,fichte and          

,schopenhauer to assign essential       
fertility to the will in the creation   
of ideas4 ,they mistook1 as human nature
 will do1 even when at times  it        
professes pessimism1 an ideal for a     
reality3 and because they saw  how much 
the will clings to its objects1 how it  
selects and magnifies  them1 they       
imagined that it could breed them out of
 itself4 ,a man who  thinks clearly will
 see that such self-determination of a  
will is  inconceivable1 since what has  
no external relation and no diversity   
of structure cannot of itself acquire   
diversity of functions4 ,such           
inconceivability1 of course1 need not   
seem a great objection to a man  of     
impassioned inspiration2 he may even    
claim a certain consistency in          
positing1 on the strength of his        
preference1 the inconceivable to be a   
truth4    ,the alleged fertility of the 
will is1 however1 disproved by          
experience1 from which metaphysics must 
in the end draw its analogies  and      

plausibility4 ,the passions discover1   
they do not create1 their  occasions2 a 
fact which is patent when we observe how
 they seize  upon what objects they     
find1 and how reversible1 contingent1   
and  transferable the emotions are in   
respect to their objects4 ,a doll  will 
be loved instead of a child1 a child    
instead of a lover1 ,god  instead of    
everything4 ,the differentiation of the 
passions1 as far as  consciousness is   
concerned1 depends on the variety of the
 objects of  experience1--that is1 on   
the differentiation of the senses and of
 the  environment which stimulates them4
    ,when the infinite spirit enters the
 human body1 it is determined  to       
certain limited forms of life by the    
organs which it wears2 and  its blank   
potentiality becomes actual in thought  
and deed1 according  to the fortunes and
 relations of its organism4 ,the        
ripeness of the  passions may thus      
precede the information of the mind and 
lead to  groping in by-paths without    

issue2 a phenomenon which appears not   
only  in the obscure individual whose   
abnormalities the world ignores1 but    
also in the starved1 half-educated      
genius that pours the whole fire of  his
 soul into trivial arts or grotesque    
superstitions4 ,the hysterical  forms of
 music and religion are the refuge of an
 idealism that has  lost its way2 the   
waste and failures of life flow largely 
in those  channels4 ,the carnal         
temptations of youth are incidents of   
the same  maladaptation1 when passions  
assert themselves before the            
conventional  order of society can allow
 them physical satisfaction1 and long   
before  philosophy or religion can hope 
to transform them into fuel for its own 
sacrificial flames4    ,hence flows the 
greatest opportunity of fiction4 ,we    
have1 in a sense1  an infinite will2 but
 we have a limited experience1 an       
experience sadly  inadequate to exercise
 that will either in its purity or its  
strength4  ,to give form to our         

capacities nothing is required but the  
appropriate  occasion2 this the poet1   
studying the world1 will construct for  
us out  of the materials of his         
observations4 ,he will involve us in    
scenes  which lie beyond the narrow lane
 of our daily ploddings2 he will place  
us in the presence of important events1 
that we may feel our spirit  rise       
momentarily to the height of his great  
argument4 ,the possibilities  of love or
 glory1 of intrigue and perplexity1 will
 be opened up before  us2 if he gives us
 a good plot1 we can readily furnish the
 characters1  because each of them will 
be the realization of some stunted      
potential  self of our own4 ,it is by   
the plot1 then1 that the characters will
 be  vivified1 because it is by the plot
 that our own character will be         
expanded into its latent possibilities4 
,the description of an alien character  
can serve this purpose only very        
imperfectly2 but the presentation of the
 circumstances in which that  character 

manifests itself will make description  
unnecessary1 since  our instinct will   
supply all that is requisite for the    
impersonation4  ,thus it seems that     
,aristotle was justified in making the  
plot the chief  element in fiction3 for 
it is by virtue of the plot that the    
characters  live1 or1 rather1 that we   
live in them1 and by virtue of the plot 
accordingly that our soul rises to that 
imaginative activity by which  we tend  
at once to escape from the personal life
 and to realize its  ideal4 ,this       
idealization is1 of course1 partial and 
merely relative to  the particular      
adventure in which we imagine ourselves 
engaged4 ,but in  some single direction 
our will finds self-expression1 and     
understands  itself2 runs through the   
career which it ignorantly coveted1 and 
gathers the fruits and the lesson of    
that enterprise4    ,this is the essence
 of tragedy3 the sense of the finished  
life1 of  the will fulfilled and        
enlightened3 that purging of the mind so

 much  debated upon1 which relieves us  
of pent-up energies1 transfers our      
feelings to a greater object1 and thus  
justifies and entertains our  dumb      
passions1 detaching them at the same    
time for a moment from their  accidental
 occasions in our earthly life4 ,an     
episode1 however lurid1  is not a       
tragedy in this nobler sense1 because it
 does not work itself  out to the end2  
it pleases without satisfying1 or shocks
 without  enlightening4 ,this           
enlightenment1 ,i need hardly say1 is   
not a matter  of theory or of moral     
maxims2 the enlightenment by which      
tragedy is  made sublime is a glimpse   
into the ultimate destinies of our will4
  ,this discovery need not be an ethical
 gain--,macbeth and ,othello attain  it 
as much as ,brutus and ,hamlet--it may  
serve to accentuate despair1  or        
cruelty1 or indifference1 or merely to  
fill the imagination for  a moment      
without much affecting the permanent    
tone of the mind4 ,but  without such a  

glimpse of the goal of a passion the    
passion has not  been adequately read1  
and the fiction has served to amuse us  
without  really enlarging the frontiers 
of our ideal experience4 ,memory and    
emotion have been played upon1 but      
imagination has not brought anything    
new to the light4    ,the dramatic      
situation1 however1 gives us the        
environment of a single  passion1 of    
life in one of its particular phases2   
and although a  passion1 like ,romeo's  
love1 may seem to devour the whole soul1
 and  its fortunes may seem to be       
identical with those of the man1 yet    
much  of the man1 and the best part of  
him1 goes by the board in such a        
simplification4 ,if ,leonardo da ,vinci1
 for example1 had met in his youth  with
 ,romeo's fate1 his end would have been 
no more ideally tragic than  if he had  
died at eighteen of a fever2 we should  
be touched rather by  the pathos of what
 he had missed1 than by the sublimity of
 what he had  experienced4 ,a passion   

like ,romeo's1 compared with the ideal  
scope of  human thought and emotion1 is 
a thin dream1 a pathological crisis4    
,accordingly ,aristophanes1 remembering 
the original religious and  political   
functions of tragedy1 blushes to see    
upon the boards a  woman in love4 ,and  
we should readily agree with him1 but   
for two  reasons1--one1 that we abstract
 too much1 in our demands upon art1 from
  nobility of mind1 and from the thought
 of totality and proportion2  the other1
 that we have learned to look for a     
symbolic meaning in  detached episodes1 
and to accept the incidental emotions   
they cause1  because of their violence  
and our absorption in them1 as in some  
sense  sacramental and representative of
 the whole4 ,thus the picture of an     
unmeaning passion1 of a crime without an
 issue1 does not appear to  our romantic
 apprehension as the sorry farce it is1 
but rather as a  true tragedy4 ,some    
have lost even the capacity to conceive 
of a true  tragedy1 because they have no

 idea of a cosmic order1 of general laws
  of life1 or of an impersonal religion4
 ,they measure the profundity of        
feeling by its intensity1 not by its    
justifying relations2 and in the        
radical disintegration of their spirit1 
the more they are devoured the  more    
they fancy themselves fed4 ,but the     
majority of us retain some  sense of a  
meaning in our joys and sorrows1 and    
even if we cannot  pierce to their      
ultimate object1 we feel that what      
absorbs us here  and now has a merely   
borrowed or deputed power2 that it is a 
symbol  and foretaste of all reality    
speaking to the whole soul4 ,at the same
  time our intelligence is too confused 
to give us any picture of that  reality1
 and our will too feeble to marshal our 
disorganized loves into  a religion     
consistent with itself and harmonious   
with the comprehended  universe4 ,a     
rational ideal eludes us1 and we are the
 more inclined to  plunge into          
mysticism4    ,nevertheless1 the        

function of poetry1 like that of        
science1 can only be  fulfilled by the  
conception of harmonies that become     
clearer as they  grow richer4 ,as the   
chance note that comes to be supported  
by a melody  becomes in that melody     
determinate and necessary1 and as the   
melody1  when woven into a harmony1 is  
explicated in that harmony and fixed    
beyond recall2 so the single emotion1   
the fortuitous dream1 launched  by the  
poet into the world of recognizable and 
immortal forms1 looks  in that world for
 its ideal supports and affinities4 ,it 
must find them  or else be blown back   
among the ghosts4 ,the highest ideality 
is the  comprehension of the real4      
,poetry is not at its best when it      
depicts  a further possible experience1 
but when it initiates us1 by feigning   
something which as an experience is     
impossible1 into the meaning of the     
experience which we have actually had4  
,the highest example of this kind of    
poetry is religion2 and although        

disfigured and misunderstood by the     
simplicity of men who believe in  it    
without being capable of that           
imaginative interpretation of life  in  
which its truth consists1 yet this      
religion is even then often  beneficent1
 because it colours life harmoniously   
with the ideal4  ,religion may falsely  
represent the ideal as a reality1 but we
 must  remember that the ideal1 if not  
so represented1 would be despised by    
the majority of men1 who cannot         
understand that the value of things  is 
moral1 and who therefore attribute to   
what is moral a natural  existence1     
thinking thus to vindicate its          
importance and value4 ,but  value lies  
in meaning1 not in substance2 in the    
ideal which things  approach1 not in the
 energy which they embody4    ,the      
highest poetry1 then1 is not that of the
 versifiers1 but that of  the prophets1 
or of such poets as interpret verbally  
the visions  which the prophets have    
rendered in action and sentiment rather 

than  in adequate words4 ,that the      
intuitions of religion are poetical1 and
  that in such intuitions poetry has its
 ultimate function1 are truths  of which
 both religion and poetry become more   
conscious the more they  advance in     
refinement and profundity4 ,a crude and 
superficial theology  may confuse ,god  
with the thunder1 the mountains1 the    
heavenly bodies1  or the whole universe2
 but when we pass from these easy       
identifications  to a religion that has 
taken root in history and in the hearts 
of  men1 and has come to flower1 we find
 its objects and its dogmas  purely     
ideal1 transparent expressions of moral 
experience and perfect  counterparts of 
human needs4 ,the evidence of history or
 of the senses  is left far behind and  
never thought of2 the evidence of the   
heart1 the  value of the idea1 are alone
 regarded4    ,take1 for instance1 the  
doctrine of transubstantiation4 ,a      
metaphor here  is the basis of a dogma1 
because the dogma rises to the same     

subtle  region as the metaphor1 and     
gathers its sap from the same soil of   
emotion4 ,religion has here rediscovered
 its affinity with poetry1 and  in      
insisting on the truth of its mystery it
 unconsciously vindicates  the ideality 
of its truth4 ,under the accidents of   
bread and wine lies1  says the dogma1   
the substance of ,christ's body1 blood1 
and divinity4  ,what is that but to     
treat facts as an appearance1 and their 
ideal  import as a reality8 ,and to do  
this is the very essence of poetry1 for 
which everything visible is a           
sacrament--an outward sign of that      
inward  grace for which the soul is     
thirsting4    ,in this same manner1     
where poetry rises from its elementary  
and  detached expressions in rhythm1    
euphuism1 characterization1 and         
story-telling1 and comes to the         
consciousness of its highest function1  
that of portraying the ideals of        
experience and destiny1 then the  poet  
becomes aware that he is essentially a  

prophet1 and either  devotes himself1   
like ,homer or ,dante1 to the loving    
expression of  the religion that exists1
 or like ,lucretius or ,wordsworth1 to  
the  heralding of one which he believes 
to be possible4 ,such poets are  aware  
of their highest mission2 others1       
whatever the energy of their  genius1   
have not conceived their ultimate       
function as poets4 ,they have  been     
willing to leave their world ugly as a  
whole1 after stuffing it  with a        
sufficient profusion of beauties4 ,their
 contemporaries1 their                  
fellow-countrymen for many generations1 
may not perceive this defect1  because  
they are naturally even less able than  
the poet himself to  understand the     
necessity of so large a harmony4 ,if he 
is short-sighted1  they are blind1 and  
his poetic world may seem to them       
sublime in its  significance1 because it
 may suggest some partial lifting of    
their  daily burdens and some partial   
idealization of their incoherent        

thoughts4    ,such insensibility to the 
highest poetry is no more extraordinary 
than  the corresponding indifference to 
the highest religion2 nobility and      
excellence1 however1 are not dependent  
on the suffrage of half-baked  men1 but 
on the original disposition of the clay 
and the potter2 ,i mean  on the         
conditions of the art and the ideal     
capacities of human nature4  ,just as a 
note is better than a noise because1 its
 beats being regular1  the ear and brain
 can react with pleasure on that        
regularity1 so all  the stages of       
harmony are better than the confusion   
out of which they  come1 because the    
soul that perceives that harmony        
welcomes it as the  fulfilment of her   
natural ends4 ,the ,pythagoreans were   
therefore right  when they made number  
the essence of the knowable world1 and  
,plato was  right when he said harmony  
was the first condition of the highest  
good4  ,the good man is a poet whose    
syllables are deeds and make a harmony  

in  ,nature4 ,the poet is a rebuilder of
 the imagination1 to make a harmony  in 
that4 ,and he is not a complete poet if 
his whole imagination is not  attuned   
and his whole experience composed into a
 single symphony4    ,for his complete  
equipment1 then1 it is necessary1 in the
 first place1  that he sing2 that his   
voice be pure and well pitched1 and that
 his  numbers flow2 then1 at a higher   
stage1 his images must fit with one     
another2 he must be euphuistic1         
colouring his thoughts with many        
reflected lights of memory and          
suggestion1 so that their harmony may   
be rich and profound2 again1 at a higher
 stage1 he must be sensuous and  free1  
that is1 he must build up his world with
 the primary elements of  experience1   
not with the conventions of common sense
 or intelligence2  he must draw the     
whole soul into his harmonies1 even if  
in doing so  he disintegrates the       
partial systematizations of experience  
made  by abstract science in the        

categories of prose4 ,but finally1 this 
disintegration must not leave the poet  
weltering in a chaos of sense  and      
passion2 it must be merely the ploughing
 of the ground before a  new harvest1   
the kneading of the clay before the     
modelling of a more  perfect form4 ,the 
expression of emotion should be         
rationalized by  derivation from        
character and by reference to the real  
objects that  arouse it--to ,nature1 to 
history1 and to the universe of truth2  
the  experience imagined should be      
conceived as a destiny1 governed by     
principles1 and issuing in the          
discipline and enlightenment of the     
will4 ,in this way alone can poetry     
become an interpretation of life and    
not merely an irrelevant excursion into 
the realm of fancy1 multiplying  oar    
images without purpose1 and distracting 
us from our business  without spiritual 
gain4    ,if we may then define poetry1 
not in the formal sense of giving the   
minimum of what may be called by that   

name1 but in the ideal sense  of        
determining the goal which it approaches
 and the achievement in  which all its  
principles would be fulfilled1 we may   
say that poetry is  metrical and        
euphuistic discourse1 expressing thought
 which is both  sensuous and ideal4     
,such is poetry as a literary form2 but 
if we drop the limitation to  verbal    
expression1 and think of poetry as that 
subtle fire and inward  light which     
seems at times to shine through the     
world and to touch the  images in our   
minds with ineffable beauty1 then poetry
 is a momentary  harmony in the soul    
amid stagnation or conflict1--a glimpse 
of the  divine and an incitation to a   
religious life4    ,religion is poetry  
become the guide of life1 poetry        
substituted  for science or supervening 
upon it as an approach to the highest   
reality4 ,poetry is religion allowed to 
drift1 left without points of           
application in conduct and without an   
expression in worship and dogma2  it is 

religion without practical efficacy and 
without metaphysical  illusion4 ,the    
ground of this abstractness of poetry1  
however1 is  usually only its narrow    
scope2 a poet who plays with an idea for
 half  an hour1 or constructs a         
character to which he gives no profound 
moral significance1 forgets his own     
thought1 or remembers it only as  a     
fiction of his leisure1 because he has  
not dug his well deep enough  to tap the
 subterraneous springs of his own life4 
,but when the poet  enlarges his theatre
 and puts into his rhapsodies the true  
visions  of his people and of his soul1 
his poetry is the consecration of his   
deepest convictions1 and contains the   
whole truth of his religion4 ,what  the 
religion of the vulgar adds to the      
poet's is simply the inertia  of their  
limited apprehension1 which takes       
literally what he meant  ideally1 and   
degrades into a false extension of this 
world on its own  level what in his mind
 was a true interpretation of it upon a 

moral  plane4    ,this higher plane is  
the sphere of significant imagination1  
of relevant  fiction1 of idealism become
 the interpretation of the reality it   
leaves behind4 ,poetry raised to its    
highest power is then identical  with   
religion grasped in its inmost truth2 at
 their point of union  both reach their 
utmost purity and beneficence1 for then 
poetry loses  its frivolity and ceases  
to demoralize1 while religion surrenders
 its  illusions and ceases to deceive4