,a ,,defence ,,of ,,poetry ,,and ,,other
 ,,essays  ,by ,percy ,bysshe ,shelley  
,,on ,,love    ,,on ,,life ,,in ,a      
,,future ,,state    ,,on ,,the          
,,punishment ,,of ,,death ,,speculations
    ,,on ,,metaphysics ,,speculations   
,,on ,,morals    ,,on ,,the             
,,literature1 ,,the ,,arts ,,and ,,the  
,,manners ,,of ,,the ,,athenians    ,,on
 ,,the ,,symposium1 ,,or ,,preface ,,to 
,,the ,,banquet ,,of ,,plato    ,a      
,,defence ,,of ,,poetry      ,,on ,,love
  ,what is love8 ,ask him who lives1    
what is life8 ask him who adores1 what  
is ,god8  ,i know not the internal      
constitution of other men1 nor even     
thine1 whom ,i now address4 ,i see that 
in some external attributes they        
resemble me1 but when1 misled by that   
appearance1 ,i have thought to appeal to
 something in common1 and unburthen my  
inmost soul to them1 ,i have found my   
language misunderstood1 like one in a   
distant and savage land4 ,the more      
opportunities they have afforded me for 

experience1 the wider has appeared the  
interval between us1 and to a greater   
distance have the points of sympathy    
been withdrawn4 ,with a spirit ill      
fitted to sustain such proof1 trembling 
and feeble through its tenderness1 ,i   
have everywhere sought sympathy and have
 found only repulse and disappointment4 
,thou demandest what is love8 ,it is    
that powerful attraction towards all    
that we conceive1 or fear1 or hope      
beyond ourselves1 when we find within   
our own thoughts the chasm of an        
insufficient void1 and seek to awaken in
 all things that are1 a community with  
what we experience within ourselves4 ,if
 we reason1 we would be understood2 if  
we imagine1 we would that the airy      
children of our brain were born anew    
within another's2 if we feel1 we would  
that another's nerves should vibrate to 
our own1 that the beams of their eyes   
should kindle at once and mix and melt  
into our own1 that lips of motionless   
ice should not reply to lips quivering  

and burning with the heart's best blood4
 ,this is ,love4 ,this is the bond and  
the sanction which connects not only man
 with man1 but with everything which    
exists4 ,we are born into the world1 and
 there is something within us which1    
from the instant that we live1 more and 
more thirsts after its likeness4 ,it is 
probably in correspondence with this law
 that the infant drains milk from the   
bosom of its mother2 this propensity    
develops itself with the development of 
our nature4 ,we dimly see within our    
intellectual nature a miniature as it   
were of our entire self1 yet deprived of
 all that we condemn or despise1 the    
ideal prototype of everything excellent 
or lovely that we are capable of        
conceiving as belonging to the nature of
 man4 ,not only the portrait of our     
external being1 but an assemblage of the
 minutest particles of which our nature 
is composed2,footnote3 ,these words are 
ineffectual and metaphorical4 ,most     
words are so--,no help6 a mirror whose  

surface reflects only the forms of      
purity and brightness2 a soul within our
 soul that describes a circle around its
 proper paradise1 which pain1 and       
sorrow1 and evil dare not overleap4 ,to 
this we eagerly refer all sensations1   
thirsting that they should resemble or  
correspond with it4 ,the discovery of   
its antitype2 the meeting with an       
understanding capable of clearly        
estimating our own2 an imagination which
 should enter into and seize upon the   
subtle and delicate peculiarities which 
we have delighted to cherish and unfold 
in secret2 with a frame whose nerves1   
like the chords of two exquisite lyres1 
strung to the accompaniment of one      
delightful voice1 vibrate with the      
vibrations of our own2 and of a         
combination of all these in such        
proportion as the type within demands2  
this is the invisible and unattainable  
point to which ,love tends2 and to      
attain which1 it urges forth the powers 
of man to arrest the faintest shadow of 

that1 without the possession of which   
there is no rest nor respite to the     
heart over which it rules4 ,hence in    
solitude1 or in that deserted state when
 we are surrounded by human beings1 and 
yet they sympathize not with us1 we love
 the flowers1 the grass1 and the waters1
 and the sky4 ,in the motion of the very
 leaves of spring1 in the blue air1     
there is then found a secret            
correspondence with our heart4 ,there is
 eloquence in the tongueless wind1 and a
 melody in the flowing brooks and the   
rustling of the reeds beside them1 which
 by their inconceivable relation to     
something within the soul1 awaken the   
spirits to a dance of breathless        
rapture1 and bring tears of mysterious  
tenderness to the eyes1 like the        
enthusiasm of patriotic success1 or the 
voice of one beloved singing to you     
alone4 ,sterne says that1 if he were in 
a desert1 he would love some cypress4   
,so soon as this want or power is dead1 
man becomes the living sepulchre of     

himself1 and what yet survives is the   
mere husk of what once he was4  #ahae2  
publ4 #ahdj    ,,on ,,life  ,life and   
the world1 or whatever we call that     
which we are and feel1 is an astonishing
 thing4 ,the mist of familiarity        
obscures from us the wonder of our      
being4 ,we are struck with admiration at
 some of its transient modifications1   
but it is itself the great miracle4     
,what are changes of empires1 the wreck 
of dynasties1 with the opinions which   
supported them2 what is the birth and   
the extinction of religious and of      
political systems to life8 ,what are the
 revolutions of the globe which we      
inhabit1 and the operations of the      
elements of which it is composed1       
compared with life8 ,what is the        
universe of stars1 and suns1 of which   
this inhabited earth is one1 and their  
motions1 and their destiny1 compared    
with life8 ,life1 the great miracle1 we 
admire not1 because it is so miraculous4
 ,it is well that we are thus shielded  

by the familiarity of what is at once so
 certain and so unfathomable1 from an   
astonishment which would otherwise      
absorb and overawe the functions of that
 which is its object4  ,if any artist1  
,i do not say had executed1 but had     
merely conceived in his mind the system 
of the sun1 and the stars1 and planets1 
they not existing1 and had painted to us
 in words1 or upon canvas1 the spectacle
 now afforded by the nightly cope of    
heaven1 and illustrated it by the wisdom
 of astronomy1 great would be our       
admiration4 ,or had he imagined the     
scenery of this earth1 the mountains1   
the seas1 and the rivers2 the grass1 and
 the flowers1 and the variety of the    
forms and masses of the leaves of the   
woods1 and the colours which attend the 
setting and the rising sun1 and the hues
 of the atmosphere1 turbid or serene1   
these things not before existing1 truly 
we should have been astonished1 and it  
would not have been a vain boast to have
 said of such a man1 ',non merita nome  

di creatore1 se non ,iddio ed il        
,poeta4' ,but now these things are      
looked on with little wonder1 and to be 
conscious of them with intense delight  
is esteemed to be the distinguishing    
mark of a refined and extraordinary     
person4 ,the multitude of men care not  
for them4 ,it is thus with ,life--that  
which includes all4  ,what is life8     
,thoughts and feelings arise1 with or   
without our will1 and we employ words to
 express them4 ,we are born1 and our    
birth is unremembered1 and our infancy  
remembered but in fragments2 we live on1
 and in living we lose the apprehension 
of life4 ,how vain is it to think that  
words can penetrate the mystery of our  
being6 ,rightly used they may make      
evident our ignorance to ourselves1 and 
this is much4 ,for what are we8 ,whence 
do we come8 and whither do we go8 ,is   
birth the commencement1 is death the    
conclusion of our being8 ,what is birth 
and death8  ,the most refined           
abstractions of logic conduct to a view 

of life1 which1 though startling to the 
apprehension1 is1 in fact1 that which   
the habitual sense of its repeated      
combinations has extinguished in us4 ,it
 strips1 as it were1 the painted curtain
 from this scene of things4 ,i confess  
that ,i am one of those who are unable  
to refuse my assent to the conclusions  
of those philosophers who assert that   
nothing exists but as it is perceived4  
,it is a decision against which all our 
persuasions struggle1 and we must be    
long convicted before we can be         
convinced that the solid universe of    
external things is 'such stuff as dreams
 are made of4' ,the shocking absurdities
 of the popular philosophy of mind and  
matter1 its fatal consequences in       
morals1 and their violent dogmatism     
concerning the source of all things1 had
 early conducted me to materialism4     
,this materialism is a seducing system  
to young and superficial minds4 ,it     
allows its disciples to talk1 and       
dispenses them from thinking4 ,but ,i   

was discontented with such a view of    
things as it afforded2 man is a being of
 high aspirations1 'looking both before 
and after1' whose 'thoughts wander      
through eternity1' disclaiming alliance 
with transience and decay2 incapable of 
imagining to himself annihilation2      
existing but in the future and the past2
 being1 not what he is1 but what he has 
been and shall be4 ,whatever may be his 
true and final destination1 there is a  
spirit within him at enmity with        
nothingness and dissolution4 ,this is   
the character of all life and being4    
,each is at once the centre and the     
circumference2 the point to which all   
things are referred1 and the line in    
which all things are contained4 ,such   
contemplations as these1 materialism and
 the popular philosophy of mind and     
matter alike forbid2 they are only      
consistent with the intellectual system4
  ,it is absurd to enter into a long    
recapitulation of arguments sufficiently
 familiar to those inquiring minds1 whom

 alone a writer on abstruse subjects can
 be conceived to address4 ,perhaps the  
most clear and vigorous statement of the
 intellectual system is to be found in  
,sir ,william ,drummond's ,academical   
,questions4  ,after such an exposition1 
it would be idle to translate into other
 words what could only lose its energy  
and fitness by the change4 ,examined    
point by point1 and word by word1 the   
most discriminating intellects have been
 able to discern no train of thoughts in
 the process of reasoning1 which does   
not conduct inevitably to the conclusion
 which has been stated4  ,what follows  
from the admission8 ,it establishes no  
new truth1 it gives us no additional    
insight into our hidden nature1 neither 
its action nor itself4 ,philosophy1     
impatient as it may be to build1 has    
much work yet remaining1 as pioneer for 
the overgrowth of ages4 ,it makes one   
step towards this object2 it destroys   
error1 and the roots of error4 ,it      
leaves1 what it is too often the duty of

 the reformer in political and ethical  
questions to leave1 a vacancy4 ,it      
reduces the mind to that freedom in     
which it would have acted1 but for the  
misuse of words and signs1 the          
instruments of its own creation4 ,by    
signs1 ,i would be understood in a wide 
sense1 including what is properly meant 
by that term1 and what ,i peculiarly    
mean4 ,in this latter sense1 almost all 
familiar objects are signs1 standing1   
not for themselves1 but for others1 in  
their capacity of suggesting one thought
 which shall lead to a train of         
thoughts4 ,our whole life is thus an    
education of error4  ,let us recollect  
our sensations as children4 ,what a     
distinct and intense apprehension had we
 of the world and of ourselves6 ,many of
 the circumstances of social life were  
then important to us which are now no   
longer so4 ,but that is not the point of
 comparison on which ,i mean to insist4 
,we less habitually distinguished all   
that we saw and felt1 from ourselves4   

,they seemed as it were to constitute   
one mass4 ,there are some persons who1  
in this respect1 are always children4   
,those who are subject to the state     
called reverie1 feel as if their nature 
were dissolved into the surrounding     
universe1 or as if the surrounding      
universe were absorbed into their being4
 ,they are conscious of no distinction4 
,and these are states which precede1 or 
accompany1 or follow an unusually       
intense and vivid apprehension of life4 
,as men grow up this power commonly     
decays1 and they become mechanical and  
habitual agents4 ,thus feelings and then
 reasonings are the combined result of a
 multitude of entangled thoughts1 and of
 a series of what are called            
impressions1 planted by reiteration4    
,the view of life presented by the most 
refined deductions of the intellectual  
philosophy1 is that of unity4 ,nothing  
exists but as it is perceived4 ,the     
difference is merely nominal between    
those two classes of thought1 which are 

vulgarly distinguished by the names of  
ideas and of external objects4 ,pursuing
 the same thread of reasoning1 the      
existence of distinct individual minds1 
similar to that which is employed in now
 questioning its own nature1 is likewise
 found to be a delusion4 ,the words ,i1 
,,you1 ,,they1 are not signs of any     
actual difference subsisting between the
 assemblage of thoughts thus indicated1 
but are merely marks employed to denote 
the different modifications of the one  
mind4  ,let it not be supposed that this
 doctrine conducts to the monstrous     
presumption that ,i1 the person who now 
write and think1 am that one mind4 ,i am
 but a portion of it4 ,the words ,i1 and
 ,,you1 and ,,they1 are grammatical     
devices invented simply for arrangement1
 and totally devoid of the intense and  
exclusive sense usually attached to     
them4 ,it is difficult to find terms    
adequate to express so subtle a         
conception as that to which the         
,intellectual ,philosophy has conducted 

us4 ,we are on that verge where words   
abandon us1 and what wonder if we grow  
dizzy to look down the dark abyss of how
 little we know4 ,the relations of      
,,things remain unchanged1 by whatever  
system4 ,by the word ,,things is to be  
understood any object of thought1 that  
is any thought upon which any other     
thought is employed1 with an            
apprehension of distinction4  ,the      
relations of these remain unchanged2 and
 such is the material of our knowledge4 
,what is the cause of life8 that is1 how
 was it produced1 or what agencies      
distinct from life have acted or act    
upon life8 ,all recorded generations of 
mankind have weariedly busied themselves
 in inventing answers to this question2 
and the result has been1--,religion4    
,yet1 that the basis of all things      
cannot be1 as the popular philosophy    
alleges1 mind1 is sufficiently evident4 
,mind1 as far as we have any experience 
of its properties1 and beyond that      
experience how vain is argument6 cannot 

create1 it can only perceive4 ,it is    
said also to be the cause4 ,but cause is
 only a word expressing a certain state 
of the human mind with regard to the    
manner in which two thoughts are        
apprehended to be related to each other4
 ,if any one desires to know how        
unsatisfactorily the popular philosophy 
employs itself upon this great question1
 they need only impartially reflect upon
 the manner in which thoughts develop   
themselves in their minds4 ,it is       
infinitely improbable that the cause of 
mind1 that is1 of existence1 is similar 
to mind4  #ahae2 publ4 #ahdj     ,,on ,a
 ,,future ,,state  ,it has been the     
persuasion of an immense majority of    
human beings in all ages and nations    
that we continue to live after          
death1--that apparent termination of all
 the functions of sensitive and         
intellectual existence4 ,nor has mankind
 been contented with supposing that     
species of existence which some         
philosophers have asserted2 namely1 the 

resolution of the component parts of the
 mechanism of a living being into its   
elements1 and the impossibility of the  
minutest particle of these sustaining   
the smallest diminution4 ,they have     
clung to the idea that sensibility and  
thought1 which they have distinguished  
from the objects of it1 under the       
several names of spirit and matter1 is1 
in its own nature1 less susceptible of  
division and decay1 and that1 when the  
body is resolved into its elements1 the 
principle which animated it will remain 
perpetual and unchanged4  ,some         
philosophers-and those to whom we are   
indebted for the most stupendous        
discoveries in physical science1        
suppose1 on the other hand1 that        
intelligence is the mere result of      
certain combinations among the particles
 of its objects2 and those among them   
who believe that we live after death1   
recur to the interposition of a         
supernatural power1 which shall overcome
 the tendency inherent in all material  

combinations1 to dissipate and be       
absorbed into other forms4  ,let us     
trace the reasonings which in one and   
the other have conducted to these two   
opinions1 and endeavour to discover what
 we ought to think on a question of such
 momentous interest4 ,let us analyse the
 ideas and feelings which constitute the
 contending beliefs1 and watchfully     
establish a discrimination between words
 and thoughts4 ,let us bring the        
question to the test of experience and  
fact2 and ask ourselves1 considering our
 nature in its entire extent1 what light
 we derive from a sustained and         
comprehensive view of its component     
parts1 which may enable1 us to assert1  
with certainty1 that we do or do not    
live after death4  ,the examination of  
this subject requires that it should be 
stript of all those accessory topics    
which adhere to it in the common opinion
 of men4 ,the existence of a ,god1 and a
 future state of rewards and            
punishments1 are totally foreign to the 

subject4 ,if it be proved that the world
 is ruled by a ,divine ,power1 no       
inference necessarily can be drawn from 
that circumstance in favour of a future 
state4 ,it has been asserted1 indeed1   
that as goodness and justice are to be  
numbered among the attributes of the    
,deity1 ,he will undoubtedly compensate 
the virtuous who suffer during life1 and
 that ,he will make every sensitive     
being who does not deserve punishment1  
happy for ever4 ,but this view of the   
subject1 which it would be tedious as   
well as superfluous to develop and      
expose1 satisfies no person1 and cuts   
the knot which we now seek to untie4    
,moreover1 should it be proved1 on the  
other hand1 that the mysterious         
principle which regulates the           
proceedings of the universe1 is neither 
intelligent nor sensitive1 yet it is not
 an inconsistency to suppose at the same
 time1 that the animating power survives
 the body which it has animated1 by laws
 as independent of any supernatural     

agent as those through which it first   
became united with it4 ,nor1 if a future
 state be clearly proved1 does it follow
 that it will be a state of punishment  
or reward4  ,by the word death1 we      
express that condition in which natures 
resembling ourselves apparently cease to
 be that which they were4 ,we no longer 
hear them speak1 nor see them move4 ,if 
they have sensations and apprehensions1 
we no longer participate in them4 ,we   
know no more than that those external   
organs1 and all that fine texture of    
material frame1 without which we have no
 experience that life or thought can    
subsist1 are dissolved and scattered    
abroad4 ,the body is placed under the   
earth1 and after a certain period there 
remains no vestige even of its form4    
,this is that contemplation of          
inexhaustible melancholy1 whose shadow  
eclipses the brightness of the world4   
,the common observer is struck with     
dejection at the spectacle4 ,he contends
 in vain against the persuasion of the  

grave1 that the dead indeed cease to be4
 ,the corpse at his feet is prophetic of
 his own destiny4 ,those who have       
preceded him1 and whose voice was       
delightful to his ear2 whose touch met  
his like sweet and subtle fire2 whose   
aspect spread a visionary light upon his
 path--these he cannot meet again4 ,the 
organs of sense are destroyed1 and the  
intellectual operations dependent on    
them have perished with their sources4  
,how can a corpse see or feel8 its eyes 
are eaten out1 and its heart is black   
and without motion4 ,what intercourse   
can two heaps of putrid clay and        
crumbling bones hold together8 ,when you
 can discover where the fresh colours of
 the faded flower abide1 or the music of
 the broken lyre1 seek life among the   
dead4 ,such are the anxious and fearful 
contemplations of the common observer1  
though the popular religion often       
prevents him from confessing them even  
to himself4  ,the natural philosopher1  
in addition to the sensations common to 

all men inspired by the event of death1 
believes that he sees with more         
certainty that it is attended with the  
annihilation of sentiment and thought4  
,he observes the mental powers increase 
and fade with those of the body1 and    
even accommodate themselves to the most 
transitory changes of our physical      
nature4 ,sleep suspends many of the     
faculties of the vital and intellectual 
principle2 drunkenness and disease will 
either temporarily or permanently       
derange them4 ,madness or idiotcy may   
utterly extinguish the most excellent   
and delicate of those powers4 ,in old   
age the mind gradually withers2 and as  
it grew and was strengthened with the   
body1 so does it together with the body 
sink into decrepitude4 ,assuredly these 
are convincing evidences that so soon as
 the organs of the body are subjected to
 the laws of inanimate matter1          
sensation1 and perception1 and          
apprehension1 are at an end4  ,it is    
probable that what we call thought is   

not an actual being1 but no more than   
the relation between certain parts of   
that infinitely varied mass1 of which   
the rest of the universe is composed1   
and which ceases to exist so soon as    
those parts change their position with  
regard to each other4 ,thus colour1 and 
sound1 and taste1 and odour exist only  
relatively4 ,but let thought be         
considered as some peculiar substance1  
which permeates1 and is the cause of1   
the animation of living beings4 ,why    
should that substance be assumed to be  
something essentially distinct from all 
others1 and exempt from subjection to   
those laws from which no other substance
 is exempt8 ,it differs1 indeed1 from   
all other substances1 as electricity1   
and light1 and magnetism1 and the       
constituent parts of air and earth1     
severally differ from all others4 ,each 
of these is subject to change and to    
decay1 and to conversion into other     
forms4 ,yet the difference between light
 and earth is scarcely greater than that

 which exists between life1 or thought1 
and fire4 ,the difference between the   
two former was never alleged as an      
argument for the eternal permanence of  
either1 in that form under which they   
first might offer themselves to our     
notice4 ,why should the difference      
between the two latter substances be an 
argument for the prolongation of the    
existence of one and not the other1 when
 the existence of both has arrived at   
their apparent termination8 ,to say that
 fire exists without manifesting any of 
the properties of fire1 such as light1  
heat1 etc41 or that the principle of    
life exists without consciousness1 or   
memory1 or desire1 or motive1 is to     
resign1 by an awkward distortion of     
language1 the affirmative of the        
dispute4 ,to say that the principle of  
life ,,may exist in distribution among  
various forms1 is to assert what cannot 
be proved to be either true or false1   
but which1 were it true1 annihilates all
 hope of existence after death1 in any  

sense in which that event can belong to 
the hopes and fears of men4 ,suppose1   
however1 that the intellectual and vital
 principle differs in the most marked   
and essential manner from all other     
known substances2 that they have all    
some resemblance between themselves     
which it in no degree participates4  ,in
 what manner can this concession be made
 an argument for its imperishability8   
,all that we see or know perishes and is
 changed4  ,life and thought differ     
indeed from everything else4 ,but that  
it survives that period1 beyond which we
 have no experience of its existence1   
such distinction and dissimilarity      
affords no shadow of proof1 and nothing 
but our own desires could have led us to
 conjecture or imagine4 ,have we existed
 before birth8 ,it is difficult to      
conceive the possibility of this4 ,there
 is1 in the generative principle of each
 animal and plant1 a power which        
converts the substances by which it is  
surrounded into a substance homogeneous 

with itself4 ,that is1 the relations    
between certain elementary particles of 
matter undergo a change1 and submit to  
new combinations4 ,for when we use the  
words ,,principle1 ,,power1 ,,cause1 we 
mean to express no real being1 but only 
to class under those terms a certain    
series of co-existing phenomena2 but let
 it be supposed that this principle is a
 certain substance which escapes the    
observation of the chemist and          
anatomist4 ,it certainly ,,may ,,be2    
though it is sufficiently               
unphilosophical to allege the           
possibility of an opinion as a proof of 
its truth4 ,does it see1 hear1 feel1    
before its combination with those organs
 on which sensation depends8 ,does it   
reason1 imagine1 apprehend1 without     
those ideas which sensation alone can   
communicate8 ,if we have not existed    
before birth2 if1 at the period when the
 parts of our nature on which thought   
and life depend1 seem to be woven       
together2 if there are no reasons to    

suppose that we have existed before that
 period at which our existence          
apparently commences1 then there are no 
grounds for supposition that we shall   
continue to exist after our existence   
has apparently ceased4  ,so far as      
thought is concerned1 the same will take
 place with regard to use1 individually 
considered1 after death1 as had place   
before our birth4  ,it is said that it1 
is possible that we should continue to  
exist in some mode totally inconceivable
 to us at present4 ,this is a most      
unreasonable presumption4 ,it casts on  
the adherents of annihilation the       
burthen of proving the negative of a    
question1 the affirmative of which is   
not supported by a single argument1 and 
which1 by its very nature1 lies beyond  
the experience of the human             
understanding4 ,it is sufficiently easy1
 indeed1 to form any proposition1       
concerning which we are ignorant1 just  
not so absurd as not to be contradictory
 in itself1 and defy refutation4 ,the   

possibility of whatever enters into the 
wildest imagination to conceive is thus 
triumphantly vindicated4 ,but it is     
enough that such assertions should be   
either contradictory to the known laws  
of nature1 or exceed the limits of our  
experience1 that their fallacy or       
irrelevancy to our consideration should 
be demonstrated4 ,they persuade1 indeed1
 only those who desire to be persuaded4 
,this desire to be for ever as we are2  
the reluctance to a violent and         
unexperienced change1 which is common to
 all the animated and inanimate         
combinations of the universe1 is1       
indeed1 the secret persuasion which has 
given birth to the opinions of a future 
state4  #ahae2 publ4 #ahdj     ,,on     
,,the ,,punishment ,,of ,,death  ,a     
,,fragment  ,the first law which it     
becomes a ,reformer to propose and      
support1 at the approach of a period of 
great political change1 is the abolition
 of the punishment of death4  ,it is    
sufficiently clear that revenge1        

retaliation1 atonement1 expiation1 are  
rules and motives1 so far from deserving
 a place in any enlightened system of   
political life1 that they are the chief 
sources of a prodigious class of        
miseries in the domestic circles of     
society4 ,it is clear that however the  
spirit of legislation may appear to     
frame institutions upon more            
philosophical maxims1 it has hitherto1  
in those cases which are termed         
criminal1 done little more than palliate
 the spirit1 by gratifying a portion of 
it2 and afforded a compromise between   
that which is bests--the inflicting of  
no evil upon a sensitive being1 without 
a decisively beneficial result in which 
he should at least participates--and    
that which is worst2 that he should be  
put to torture for the amusement of     
those whom he may have injured1 or may  
seem to have injured4  ,omitting these  
remoter considerations1 let us inquire  
what1 ,,death is2 that punishment which 
is applied as a measure of              

transgressions of indefinite shades of  
distinction1 so soon as they shall have 
passed that degree and colour of        
enormity1 with which it is supposed no1 
inferior infliction is commensurate4    
,and first1 whether death is good or    
evil1 a punishment or a reward1 or      
whether it be wholly indifferent1 no man
 can take upon himself to assert4 ,that 
that within us which thinks and feels1  
continues to think and feel after the   
dissolution of the body1 has been the   
almost universal opinion of mankind1 and
 the accurate philosophy of what ,i may 
be permitted to term the modern         
,academy1 by showing the prodigious     
depth and extent of our ignorance       
respecting the causes and nature of     
sensation1 renders probable the         
affirmative of a proposition1 the       
negative of which it is so difficult to 
conceive1 and the popular arguments     
against which1 derived from what is     
called the atomic system1 are proved to 
be applicable only to the relation which

 one object bears to another1 as        
apprehended by the mind1 and not to     
existence itself1 or the nature of that 
essence which is the medium and         
receptacle of objects4  ,the popular    
system of religion suggests the idea    
that the mind1 after death1 will be     
painfully or pleasurably affected       
according to its determinations during  
life4 ,however ridiculous and pernicious
 we must admit the vulgar accessories of
 this creed to be1 there is a certain   
analogy1 not wholly absurd1 between the 
consequences resulting to an individual 
during life from the virtuous or        
vicious1 prudent or imprudent1 conduct  
of his external actions1 to those       
consequences which are conjectured to   
ensue from the discipline and order of  
his internal thoughts1 as affecting his 
condition in a future state4 ,they omit1
 indeed1 to calculate upon the accidents
 of disease1 and temperament1 and       
organization1 and circumstance1 together
 with the multitude of independent      

agencies which affect the opinions1 the 
conduct1 and the happiness of           
individuals1 and produce determinations 
of the will1 and modify the judgement1  
so as to produce effects the most       
opposite in natures considerably        
similar4 ,these are those operations in 
the order of the whole of nature1       
tending1 we are prone to believe1 to    
some definite mighty end1 to which the  
agencies of our peculiar nature are     
subordinate2 nor is there any reason to 
suppose1 that in a future state they    
should become suddenly exempt from that 
subordination4  ,the philosopher is     
unable to determine whether our         
existence in a previous state has       
affected our present condition1 and     
abstains from deciding whether our      
present condition will affect us in that
 which may be future4 ,that1 if we      
continue to exist1 the manner of our    
existence will be such as no inferences 
nor conjectures1 afforded by a          
consideration of our earthly experience1

 can elucidate1 is sufficiently obvious4
 ,the opinion that the vital principle  
within us1 in whatever mode it may      
continue to exist1 must lose that       
consciousness of definite and individual
 being which now characterizes it1 and  
become a unit in the vast sum of action 
and of thought which disposes and       
animates the universe1 and is called    
,god1 seems to belong to that class of  
opinion which has been designated as    
indifferent4  ,to compel a person to    
know all that can be known by the dead  
concerning that which the living fear1  
hope1 or forget2 to plunge him into the 
pleasure or pain which there awaits him2
 to punish or reward him in a manner and
 in a degree incalculable and           
incomprehensible by us2 to disrobe him  
at once from all that intertexture of   
good and evil with which ,nature seems  
to have clothed every form of individual
 existence1 is to inflict on him the    
doom of death4  ,a certain degree of    
pain and terror usually accompany the   

infliction of death4 ,this degree is    
infinitely varied by the infinite       
variety in the temperament and opinions 
of the sufferers4  ,as a measure of     
punishment1 strictly so considered1 and 
as an exhibition1 which1 by its known   
effects on the sensibility of the       
sufferer1 is intended to intimidate the 
spectators from incurring a similar     
liability1 it is singularly inadequate4 
,firstly1 ,persons of energetic         
character1 in whom1 as in men who suffer
 for political crimes1 there is a large 
mixture of enterprise1 and fortitude1   
and disinterestedness1 and the elements1
 though misguided and disarranged1 by   
which the strength and happiness of a   
nation might have been cemented1 die in 
such a manner1 as to make death appear  
not evil1 but good4 ,the death of what  
is called a traitor1 that is1 a person  
who1 from whatever motive1 would abolish
 the government of the day1 is as often 
a triumphant exhibition of suffering    
virtue1 as the warning of a culprit4    

,the multitude1 instead of departing    
with a panic-stricken approbation of the
 laws which exhibited such a spectacle1 
are inspired with pity1 admiration and  
sympathy2 and the most generous among   
them feel an emulation to be the authors
 of such flattering emotions1 as they   
experience stirring in their bosoms4    
,impressed by what they see and feel1   
they make no distinctive between the    
motives which incited the criminals to  
the action for which they suffer1 or the
 heroic courage with which they turned  
into good that which their judges       
awarded to them as evil or the purpose  
itself of those actions1 though that    
purpose may happen to be eminently      
pernicious4 ,the laws in this case lose 
their sympathy1 which it ought to be    
their chief object to secure1 and in a  
participation of which consists their   
chief strength in maintaining those     
sanctions by which the parts of the     
social union are bound together1 so as  
to produce1 as nearly as possible1 the  

ends for which it is instituted4        
,secondly1--,persons of energetic       
character1 in communities not modelled  
with philosophical skill to turn all the
 energies which they contain to the     
purposes of common good1 are prone also 
to fall into the temptation of          
undertaking1 and are peculiarly fitted  
for despising the perils attendant upon 
consummating1 the most enormous crimes4 
,murder1 rapes1 extensive schemes of    
plunder are the actions of persons      
belonging to this class2 and death is   
the penalty of conviction4 ,but the     
coarseness of organization1 peculiar to 
men capable of committing acts wholly   
selfish1 is usually found to be         
associated with a proportionate         
insensibility to fear or pain4 ,their   
sufferings communicate to those of the  
spectators1 who may be liable to the    
commission of similar crimes a sense of 
the lightness of that event1 when       
closely examined which1 at a distance1  
as uneducated persons are accustomed to 

do1 probably they regarded with horror4 
,but a great majority of the spectators 
are so bound up in the interests and the
 habits of social union that no         
temptation would be sufficiently strong 
to induce them to a commission of the   
enormities to which this penalty is     
assigned4 ,the more powerful1 and the   
richer among them1--and a numerous class
 of little tradesmen are richer and more
 powerful than those who are employed by
 them1 and the employer1 in general1    
bears this relation to the              
employed1--regard their own wrongs as1  
in some degree1 avenged1 and their own  
rights secured by this punishment1      
inflicted as the penalty of whatever    
crime4 ,in cases of murder or           
mutilation1 this feeling is almost      
universal4 ,in those1 therefore1 whom   
this exhibition does not awaken to the  
sympathy which extenuates crime and     
discredits the law which restrains it1  
it produces feelings more directly at   
war with the genuine purposes of        

political society4  ,it excites those   
emotions which it is the chief object of
 civilization to extinguish for ever1   
and in the extinction of which alone    
there can be any hope of better         
institutions than those under which men 
now misgovern one another4 ,men feel    
that their revenge is gratified1 and    
that their security is established by   
the extinction and the sufferings of    
beings1 in most respects resembling     
themselves2 and their daily occupations 
constraining them to a precise form in  
all their thoughts1 they come to connect
 inseparably the idea of their own      
advantage with that of the death and    
torture of others4 ,it is manifest that 
the object of sane polity is directly   
the reverse2 and that laws founded upon 
reason1 should accustom the gross vulgar
 to associate their ideas of security   
and of interest with the reformation1   
and the strict restraint1 for that      
purpose alone1 of those who might invade
 it4  ,the passion of revenge is        

originally nothing more than an habitual
 perception of the ideas of the         
sufferings of the person who inflicts an
 injury1 as connected1 as they are in a 
savage state1 or in such portions of    
society as are yet undisciplined to     
civilization1 with security that that   
injury will not be repeated in future4  
,this feeling1 engrafted upon           
superstition and confirmed by habit1 at 
last loses sight of the only object for 
which it may be supposed to have been   
implanted1 and becomes a passion and a  
duty to be pursued and fulfilled1 even  
to the destruction of those ends to     
which it originally tended4 ,the other  
passions1 both good and evil4 ,avarice1 
,remorse1 ,love1 ,patriotism1 present a 
similar appearance2 and to this         
principle of the mind over-shooting the 
mark at which it aims1 we owe all that  
is eminently base or excellent in human 
nature2 in providing for the nutriment  
or the extinction of which1 consists the
 true art of the legislator4 ,footnote3 

,the savage and the illiterate are but  
faintly aware of the distinction between
 the future and the past2 they make     
actions belonging to periods so         
distinct1 the subjects of similar       
feelings2 they live only in the present1
 or in the past1 as it is present4 ,it  
is in this that the philosopher excels  
one of the many2 it is this which       
distinguishes the doctrine of           
philosophic necessity from fatalism2 and
 that determination of the will1 by     
which it is the active source of future 
events1 from that liberty or            
indifference1 to which the abstract     
liability of irremediable actions is    
attached1 according to the notions of   
the vulgar4  ,this is the source of the 
erroneous excesses of ,remorse and      
,revenge2 the one extending itself over 
the future1 and the other over the past2
 provinces in which their suggestions   
can only be the sources of evil4 ,the   
purpose of a resolution to act more     
wisely and virtuously in future1 and the

 sense of a necessity of caution in     
repressing an enemy1 are the sources    
from which the enormous superstitions   
implied in the words cited have arisen4 
,nothing is more clear than that the    
infliction of punishment in general1 in 
a degree which the reformation and the  
restraint of those who transgress the   
laws does not render indispensable1 and 
none more than death1 confirms all the  
inhuman and unsocial impulses of men4   
,it is almost a proverbial remark1 that 
those nations in which the penal code   
has been particularly mild1 have been   
distinguished from all others by the    
rarity of crime4  ,but the example is to
 be admitted to be equivocal4 ,a more   
decisive argument is afforded by a      
consideration of the universal connexion
 of ferocity of manners1 and a contempt 
of social ties1 with the contempt of    
human life4 ,governments which derive   
their institutions from the existence of
 circumstances of barbarism and         
violence1 with some rare exceptions     

perhaps1 are bloody in proportion as    
they are despotic1 and form the manners 
of their subjects to a sympathy with    
their own spirit4  ,the spectators who  
feel no abhorrence at a public          
execution1 but rather a self-applauding 
superiority1 and a sense of gratified   
indignation1 are surely excited to the  
most inauspicious emotions4 ,the first  
reflection of such a one is the sense of
 his own internal and actual worth1 as  
preferable to that of the victim1 whom  
circumstances have led to destruction4  
,the meanest wretch is impressed with a 
sense of his own comparative merit4 ,he 
is one of those on whom the tower of    
,siloam fell not--he is such a one as   
,jesus ,christ found not in all         
,samaria1 who1 in his own soul1 throws  
the first stone at the woman taken in   
adultery4  ,the popular religion of the 
country takes its designation from that 
illustrious person whose beautiful      
sentiment ,i have quoted4  ,any one who 
has stript from the doctrines of this   

person the veil of familiarity1 will    
perceive how adverse their spirit is to 
feelings of this nature4                
,,speculations ,,on ,,metaphysics       
,i--,,the ,,mind  ,it is an axiom in    
mental philosophy1 that we can think of 
nothing which we have not perceived4    
,when ,i say that we can think of       
nothing1 ,i mean1 we can imagine        
nothing1 we can reason of nothing1 we   
can remember nothing1 we can foresee    
nothing4  ,the most astonishing         
combinations of poetry1 the subtlest    
deductions of logic and mathematics1 are
 no other than combinations which the   
intellect makes of sensations according 
to its own laws4  ,a catalogue of all   
the thoughts of the mind1 and of all    
their possible modifications1 is a      
cyclopedic history of the universe4     
,but1 it will be objected1 the          
inhabitants of the various planets of   
this and other solar systems2 and the   
existence of a ,power bearing the same  
relation to all that we perceive and    

are1 as what we call a cause does to    
what we call effect1 were never subjects
 of sensation1 and yet the laws of mind 
almost universally suggest1 according to
 the various disposition of each1 a     
conjecture1 a persuasion1 or a          
conviction of their existence4 ,the     
reply is simple2 these thoughts are also
 to be included in the catalogue of     
existence2 they are modes in which      
thoughts are combined2 the objection    
only adds force to the conclusion1 that 
beyond the limits of perception and     
thought nothing can exist4  ,thoughts1  
or ideas1 or notions1 call them what you
 will1 differ from each other1 not in   
kind1 but in force4 ,it has commonly    
been supposed that those distinct       
thoughts which affect a number of       
persons1 at regular intervals1 during   
the passage of a multitude of other     
thoughts1 which are called ,,real or    
,,external ,,objects1 are totally       
different in kind from those which      
affect only a few persons1 and which    

recur at irregular intervals1 and are   
usually more obscure and indistinct1    
such as hallucinations1 dreams1 and the 
ideas of madness4 ,no essential         
distinction between any one of these    
ideas1 or any class of them1 is founded 
on a correct observation of the nature  
of things1 but merely on a consideration
 of what thoughts are most invariably   
subservient to the security and         
happiness of life2 and if nothing more  
were expressed by the distinction1 the  
philosopher might safely accommodate his
 language to that of the vulgar4 ,but   
they pretend to assert an essential     
difference1 which has no foundation in  
truth1 and which suggests a narrow and  
false conception of universal nature1   
the parent of the most fatal errors in  
speculation4 ,a specific difference     
between every thought of the mind1 is1  
indeed1 a necessary consequence of that 
law by which it perceives diversity and 
number2 but a generic and essential     
difference is wholly arbitrary4 ,the    

principle of the agreement and          
similarity of all thoughts1 is1 that    
they are all thoughts2 the principle of 
their disagreement consists in the      
variety and irregularity of the         
occasions on which they arise in the    
mind4 ,that in which they agree1 to that
 in which they differ1 is as everything 
to nothing4 ,important distinctions1 of 
various degrees of force1 indeed1 are to
 be established between them1 if they   
were1 as they may be1 subjects of       
ethical and economical discussion2 but  
that is a question altogether distinct4 
,by considering all knowledge as bounded
 by perception1 whose operations may be 
indefinitely combined1 we arrive at a   
conception of ,nature inexpressibly more
 magnificent1 simple and true1 than     
accords with the ordinary systems of    
complicated and partial consideration4  
,nor does a contemplation of the        
universe1 in this comprehensive and     
synthetical view1 exclude the subtlest  
analysis of its modifications and parts4

  ,a scale might be formed1 graduated   
according to the degrees of a combined  
ratio of intensity1 duration1 connexion1
 periods of recurrence1 and utility1    
which would be the standard1 according  
to which all ideas might be measured1   
and an uninterrupted chain of nicely    
shadowed distinctions would be observed1
 from the faintest impression on the    
senses1 to the most distinct combination
 of those impressions2 from the simplest
 of those combinations1 to that mass of 
knowledge which1 including our own      
nature1 constitutes what we call the    
universe4  ,we are intuitively conscious
 of our own existence1 and of that      
connexion in the train of our successive
 ideas1 which we term our identity4 ,we 
are conscious also of the existence of  
other minds2 but not intuitively4 ,our  
evidence1 with respect to the existence 
of other minds1 is founded upon a very  
complicated relation of ideas1 which it 
is foreign to the purpose of this       
treatise to anatomize4 ,the basis of    

this relation is1 undoubtedly1 a        
periodical recurrence of masses of      
ideas1 which our voluntary              
determinations have1 in one peculiar    
direction1 no power to circumscribe or  
to arrest1 and against the recurrence of
 which they can only imperfectly        
provide4 ,the irresistible laws of      
thought constrain us to believe that the
 precise limits of our actual ideas are 
not the actual limits of possible ideas2
 the law1 according to which these      
deductions are drawn1 is called analogy2
 and this is the foundation of all our  
inferences1 from one idea to another1   
inasmuch as they resemble each other4   
,we see trees1 houses1 fields1 living   
beings in our own shape1 and in shapes  
more or less analogous to our own4      
,these are perpetually changing the mode
 of their existence relatively to us4   
,to express the varieties of these      
modes1 we say1 ,,we ,,move1 ,,they      
,,move2 and as this motion is continual1
 though not uniform1 we express our     

conception of the diversities of its    
course by--,,it ,,has ,,been1 ,,it ,,is1
 ,,it ,,shall ,,be4 ,these diversities  
are events or objects1 and are          
essential1 considered relatively to     
human identity1 for the existence of the
 human mind4 ,for if the inequalities1  
produced by what has been termed the    
operations of the external universe1    
were levelled by the perception of our  
being1 uniting and filling up their     
interstices1 motion and mensuration1 and
 time1 and space2 the elements of the   
human mind being thus abstracted1       
sensation and imagination cease4 ,mind  
cannot be considered pure4  ,,ii--,,what
 ,,metaphysics ,,are4 ,,errors ,,in     
,,the ,,usual ,,methods ,,of            
,,considering ,,them  ,we do not attend 
sufficiently to what passes within      
ourselves4 ,we combine words1 combined a
 thousand times before4 ,in our minds we
 assume entire opinions2 and in the     
expression of those opinions1 entire    
phrases1 when we would philosophize4    

,our whole style of expression and      
sentiment is infected with the tritest  
plagiarisms4 ,our words are dead1 our   
thoughts are cold and borrowed4  ,let us
 contemplate facts2 let us1 in the great
 study of ourselves1 resolutely compel  
the mind to a rigid consideration of    
itself4 ,we are not content with        
conjecture1 and inductions1 and         
syllogisms1 in sciences regarding       
external objects4 ,as in these1 let us  
also1 in considering the phenomena of   
mind1 severely collect those facts which
 cannot be disputed4 ,metaphysics will  
thus possess this conspicuous advantage 
over every other science1 that each     
student1 by attentively referring to his
 own mind1 may ascertain the authorities
 upon which any assertions regarding it 
are supported4 ,there can thus be no    
deception1 we ourselves being the       
depositaries of the evidence of the     
subject which we consider4  ,metaphysics
 may be defined as an inquiry concerning
 those things belonging to1 or connected

 with1 the internal nature of man4  ,it 
is said that mind produces motion2 and  
it might as well have been said1 that   
motion produces mind4                   
,,iii--,,difficulty ,,of ,,analysing    
,,the ,,human ,,mind  ,if it were       
possible that a person should give a    
faithful history of his being1 from the 
earliest epochs of his recollection1 a  
picture would be presented such as the  
world has never contemplated before4 ,a 
mirror would be held up to all men in   
which they might behold their own       
recollections1 and1 in dim perspective1 
their shadowy hopes and fears1--all that
 they dare not1 or that1 daring and     
desiring1 they could not expose to the  
open eyes of day4 ,but thought can with 
difficulty visit the intricate and      
winding chambers which it inhabits4 ,it 
is like a river whose rapid and         
perpetual stream flows outwards2--like  
one in dread who speeds through the     
recesses of some haunted pile1 and dares
 not look behind4 ,the caverns of the   

mind are obscure1 and shadowy2 or       
pervaded with a lustre1 beautifully     
bright indeed1 but shining not beyond   
their portals4 ,if it were possible to  
be where we have been1 vitally and      
indeed--if1 at the moment of our        
presence there1 we could define the     
results of our experience1--if the      
passage from sensation to               
reflection--from a state of passive     
perception to voluntary contemplation1  
were not so dizzying and so tumultuous1 
this attempt would be less difficult4   
,,iv--,,how ,,the ,,analysis ,,should   
,,be ,,carried ,,on  ,most of the errors
 of philosophers have arisen from       
considering the human being in a point  
of view too detailed and circumscribed  
,he is not a moral1 and an              
intellectual1--but also1 and            
pre-eminently1 an imaginative being4    
,his own mind is his law2 his own mind  
is all things to him4 ,if we would      
arrive at any knowledge which should be 
serviceable from the practical          

conclusions to which it leads1 we ought 
to consider the mind of man and the     
universe as the great whole on which to 
exercise our speculations4 ,here1 above 
all1 verbal disputes ought to be laid   
aside1 though this has long been their  
chosen field of battle4 ,it imports     
little to inquire whether thought be    
distinct from the objects of thought4   
,the use of the words ,,external and    
,,internal1 as applied to the           
establishment of this distinction1 has  
been the symbol and the source of much  
dispute4 ,this is merely an affair of   
words1 and as the dispute deserves1 to  
say1 that when speaking of the objects  
of thought1 we indeed only describe one 
of the forms of thought--or that1       
speaking of thought1 we only apprehend  
one of the operations of the universal  
system of beings4  ,v--,,catalogue ,,of 
,,the ,,phenomena ,,of ,,dreams1 ,,as   
,,connecting ,,sleeping ,,and ,,waking  
#a4 ,let us reflect on our infancy1 and 
give as faithfully as possible a        

relation of the events of sleep4  ,and  
first ,i am bound to present a faithful 
picture of my own peculiar nature       
relatively to sleep4 ,i do not doubt    
that were every individual to imitate   
me1 it would be found that among many   
circumstances peculiar to their         
individual nature1 a sufficiently       
general resemblance would be found to   
prove the connexion existing between    
those peculiarities and the most        
universal phenomena4 ,i shall employ    
caution1 indeed1 as to the facts which  
,i state1 that they contain nothing     
false or exaggerated4 ,but they contain 
no more than certain elucidations of my 
own nature2 concerning the degree in    
which it resembles1 or differs from1    
that of others1 ,i am by no means       
accurately aware4 ,it is sufficient1    
however1 to caution the reader against  
drawing general inferences from         
particular instances4  ,i omit the      
general instances of delusion in fever  
or delirium1 as well as mere dreams     

considered in themselves4 ,a delineation
 of this subject1 however inexhaustible 
and interesting1 is to be passed over4  
,what is the connexion of sleeping and  
of waking8  #b4 ,i distinctly remember  
dreaming three several times1 between   
intervals of two or more years1 the same
 precise dream4  ,it was not so much    
what is ordinarily called a dream2 the  
single image1 unconnected with all other
 images1 of a youth who was educated at 
the same school with myself1 presented  
itself in sleep4 ,even now1 after the   
lapse of many years1 ,i can never hear  
the name of this youth1 without the     
three places where ,i dreamed of him    
presenting themselves distinctly to my  
mind4  #c4 ,in dreams1 images acquire   
associations peculiar to dreaming2 so   
that the idea of a particular house1    
when it recurs a second time in dreams1 
will have relation with the idea of the 
same house1 in the first time1 of a     
nature entirely different from that     
which the house excites1 when seen or   

thought of in relation to waking ideas4 
#d4 ,i have beheld scenes1 with the     
intimate and unaccountable connexion of 
which with the obscure parts of my own  
nature1 ,i have been irresistibly       
impressed4 ,i have beheld a scene which 
has produced no unusual effect on my    
thoughts4 ,after the lapse of many years
 ,i have dreamed of this scene4 ,it has 
hung on my memory1 it has haunted my    
thoughts1 at intervals1 with the        
pertinacity of an object connected with 
human affections4 ,i have visited this  
scene again4 ,neither the dream could be
 dissociated from the landscape1 nor the
 landscape from the dream1 nor feelings1
 such as neither singly could have      
awakened1 from both4  ,but the most     
remarkable event of this nature1 which  
ever occurred to me1 happened five years
 ago at ,oxford4 ,i was walking with a  
friend1 in the neighbourhood of that    
city1 engaged in earnest and interesting
 conversation4 ,we suddenly turned the  
corner of a lane1 and the view1 which   

its high banks and hedges had concealed1
 presented itself4 ,the view consisted  
of a wind-mill1 standing in one among   
many plashy meadows1 inclosed with stone
 walls2 the irregular and broken ground1
 between the wall and the road on which 
we stood2 a long low hill behind the    
windmill1 and a grey covering of uniform
 cloud spread over the evening sky4 ,it 
was that season when the last leaf had  
just fallen from the scant and stunted  
ash4 ,the scene surely was a common     
scene2 the season and the hour little   
calculated to kindle lawless thought2 it
 was a tame uninteresting assemblage of 
objects1 such as would drive the        
imagination for refuge in serious and   
sober talk1 to the evening fireside1 and
 the dessert of winter fruits and wine4 
,the effect which it produced on me was 
not such as could have been expected4 ,i
 suddenly remembered to have seen that  
exact scene in some dream of long--4    
,footnote3 ,here ,i was obliged to leave
 off1 overcome by thrilling horror4     

#ahae2 publ4 #ahdj     ,,speculations   
,,on ,,morals  ,i--,,plan ,,of ,a       
,,treatise ,,on ,,morals  ,that great   
science which regards nature and the    
operations of the human mind1 is        
popularly divided into ,morals and      
,metaphysics4 ,the latter relates to a  
just classification1 and the assignment 
of distinct names to its ideas2 the     
former regards simply the determination 
of that arrangement of them which       
produces the greatest and most solid    
happiness4 ,it is admitted that a       
virtuous or moral action1 is that action
 which1 when considered in all its      
accessories and consequences1 is fitted 
to produce the highest pleasure to the  
greatest number of sensitive beings4    
,the laws according to which all        
pleasure1 since it cannot be equally    
felt by all sensitive beings1 ought to  
be distributed by a voluntary agent1 are
 reserved for a separate chapter4  ,the 
design of this little treatise is       
restricted to the development of the    

elementary principles of morals4 ,as far
 as regards that purpose1 metaphysical  
science will be treated merely so far as
 a source of negative truth2 whilst     
morality will be considered as a        
science1 respecting which we can arrive 
at positive conclusions4  ,the misguided
 imaginations of men have rendered the  
ascertaining of what ,,is ,,not ,,true1 
the principal direct service which      
metaphysical science can bestow upon    
moral science4 ,moral science itself is 
the doctrine of the voluntary actions of
 man1 as a sentient and social being4   
,these actions depend on the thoughts in
 his mind4 ,but there is a mass of      
popular opinion1 from which the most    
enlightened persons are seldom wholly   
free1 into the truth or falsehood of    
which it is incumbent on us to inquire1 
before we can arrive at any firm        
conclusions as to the conduct which we  
ought to pursue in the regulation of our
 own minds1 or towards our fellow       
beings2 or before we can ascertain the  

elementary laws1 according to which     
these thoughts1 from which these actions
 flow1 are originally combined4  ,the   
object of the forms according to which  
human society is administered1 is the   
happiness of the individuals composing  
the communities which they regard1 and  
these forms are perfect or imperfect in 
proportion to the degree in which they  
promote this end4  ,this object is not  
merely the quantity of happiness enjoyed
 by individuals as sensitive beings1 but
 the mode in which it should be         
distributed among them as social beings4
 ,it is not enough1 if such a           
coincidence can be conceived as         
possible1 that one person or class of   
persons should enjoy the highest        
happiness1 whilst another is suffering a
 disproportionate degree of misery4 ,it 
is necessary that the happiness produced
 by the common efforts1 and preserved by
 the common care1 should be distributed 
according to the just claims of each    
individual2 if not1 although the        

quantity produced should be the same1   
the end of society would remain         
unfulfilled4 ,the object is in a        
compound proportion to the quantity of  
happiness produced1 and the             
correspondence of the mode in which it  
is distributed1 to the elementary       
feelings of man as a social being4  ,the
 disposition in an individual to promote
 this object is called virtue2 and the  
two constituent parts of virtue1        
benevolence and justice1 are correlative
 with these two great portions of the   
only true object of all voluntary       
actions of a human being4 ,benevolence  
is the desire to be the author of good1 
and justice the apprehension of the     
manner in which good ought to be done4  
,justice and benevolence result from the
 elementary laws of the human mind4     
,,chapter ,i ,,on ,,the ,,nature ,,of   
,,virtue  ,,sect4 #a4 ,general ,view of 
the ,nature and ,objects of             
,virtue4--#b4  ,the ,origin and ,basis  
of ,virtue1 as founded on the           

,elementary ,principles of ,mind4--#c4  
,the ,laws which flow from the nature of
 ,mind regulating the application of    
those principles to human actions2--#d4 
,virtue1 a possible attribute of man4   
,we exist in the midst of a multitude of
 beings like ourselves1 upon whose      
happiness most of our actions exert some
 obvious and decisive influence4  ,the  
regulation of this influence is the     
object of moral science4 ,we know that  
we are susceptible of receiving painful 
or pleasurable impressions of greater or
 less intensity and duration4 ,that is  
called good which produces pleasure2    
that is called evil which produces pain4
 ,these are general names1 applicable to
 every class of causes1 from which an   
overbalance of pain or pleasure may     
result4 ,but when a human being is the  
active instrument of generating or      
diffusing happiness1 the principle      
through which it is most effectually    
instrumental to that purpose1 is called 
virtue4 ,and benevolence1 or the desire 

to be the author of good1 united with   
justice1 or an apprehension of the      
manner in which that good is to be done1
 constitutes virtue4  ,but wherefore    
should a man be benevolent and just8    
,the immediate emotions of his nature1  
especially in its most inartificial     
state1 prompt him to inflict pain1 and  
to arrogate dominion4 ,he desires to    
heap superfluities to his own store1    
although others perish with famine4 ,he 
is propelled to guard against the       
smallest invasion of his own liberty1   
though he reduces others to a condition 
of the most pitiless servitude4 ,he is  
revengeful1 proud and selfish4          
,wherefore should he curb these         
propensities8  ,it is inquired1 for what
 reason a human being should engage in  
procuring the happiness1 or refrain from
 producing the pain of another8 ,when a 
reason is required to prove the         
necessity of adopting any system of     
conduct1 what is it that the objector   
demands8 ,he requires proof of that     

system of conduct being such as will    
most effectually promote the happiness  
of mankind4  ,to demonstrate this1 is to
 render a moral reason4 ,such is the    
object of virtue4  ,a common sophism1   
which1 like many others1 depends on the 
abuse of a metaphorical expression to a 
literal purpose1 has produced much of   
the confusion which has involved the    
theory of morals4 ,it is said that no   
person is bound to be just or kind1 if1 
on his neglect1 he should fail to incur 
some penalty4 ,duty is obligation4      
,there can be no obligation without an  
obliger4 ,virtue is a law1 to which it  
is the will of the lawgiver that we     
should conform2 which will we should in 
no manner be bound to obey1 unless some 
dreadful punishment were attached to    
disobedience4 ,this is the philosophy of
 slavery and superstition4  ,in fact1 no
 person can be ,,bound or ,,obliged1    
without some power preceding to bind and
 oblige4 ,if ,i observe a man bound hand
 and foot1 ,i know that some one bound  

him4 ,but if ,i observe him returning   
self-satisfied from the performance of  
some action1 by which he has been the   
willing author of extensive benefit1 ,i 
do not infer that the anticipation of   
hellish agonies1 or the hope of heavenly
 reward1 has constrained him to such an 
act4         4      4      4      4     
4       4       4  ,it remains to be    
stated in what manner the sensations    
which constitute the basis of virtue    
originate in the human mind2 what are   
the laws which it receives there2 how   
far the principles of mind allow it to  
be an attribute of a human being2 and1  
lastly1 what is the probability of      
persuading mankind to adopt it as a     
universal and systematic motive of      
conduct4  ,,benevolence  ,there is a    
class of emotions which we instinctively
 avoid4 ,a human being1 such as is man  
considered in his origin1 a child a     
month old1 has a very imperfect         
consciousness of the existence of other 
natures resembling itself4 ,all the     

energies of its being are directed to   
the extinction of the pains with which  
it is perpetually assailed4 ,at length  
it discovers that it is surrounded by   
natures susceptible of sensations       
similar to its own4 ,it is very late    
before children attain to this          
knowledge4 ,if a child observes1 without
 emotion1 its nurse or its mother       
suffering acute pain1 it is attributable
 rather to ignorance than insensibility4
 ,so soon as the accents and gestures1  
significant of pain1 are referred to the
 feelings which they express1 they      
awaken in the mind of the beholder a    
desire that they should cease4 ,pain is 
thus apprehended to be evil for its own 
sake1 without any other necessary       
reference to the mind by which its      
existence is perceived1 than such as is 
indispensable to its perception4 ,the   
tendencies of our original sensations1  
indeed1 all have for their object the   
preservation of our individual being4   
,but these are passive and unconscious4 

,in proportion as the mind acquires an  
active power1 the empire of these       
tendencies becomes limited4 ,thus an    
infant1 a savage1 and a solitary beast1 
is selfish1 because its mind is         
incapable of receiving an accurate      
intimation of the nature of pain as     
existing in beings resembling itself4   
,the inhabitant of a highly civilized   
community will more acutely sympathize  
with the sufferings and enjoyments of   
others1 than the inhabitant of a society
 of a less degree of civilization4 ,he  
who shall have cultivated his           
intellectual powers by familiarity with 
the highest specimens of poetry and     
philosophy1 will usually sympathize more
 than one engaged in the less refined   
functions of manual labour4 ,every one  
has experience of the fact1 that to     
sympathize with the sufferings of       
another1 is to enjoy a transitory       
oblivion of his own4  ,the mind thus    
acquires1 by exercise1 a habit1 as it   
were1 of perceiving and abhorring evil1 

however remote from the immediate sphere
 of sensations with which that          
individual mind is conversant4          
,imagination or mind employed in        
prophetically imaging forth its objects1
 is that faculty of human nature on     
which every gradation of its progress1  
nay1 every1 the minutest1 change1       
depends4 ,pain or pleasure1 if subtly   
analysed1 will be found to consist      
entirely in prospect4 ,the only         
distinction between the selfish man and 
the virtuous man is1 that the           
imagination of the former is confined   
within a narrow limit1 whilst that of   
the latter embraces a comprehensive     
circumference4 ,in this sense1 wisdom   
and virtue may be said to be            
inseparable1 and criteria of each other4
 ,selfishness is the offspring of       
ignorance and mistake2 it is the portion
 of unreflecting infancy1 and savage    
solitude1 or of those whom toil or evil 
occupations have blunted or rendered    
torpid2 disinterested benevolence is the

 product of a cultivated imagination1   
and has an intimate connexion with all  
the arts which add ornament1 or dignity1
 or power1 or stability to the social   
state of man4 ,virtue is thus entirely a
 refinement of civilized life2 a        
creation of the human mind2 or1 rather1 
a combination which it has made1        
according to elementary rules contained 
within itself1 of the feelings suggested
 by the relations established between   
man and man4  ,all the theories which   
have refined and exalted humanity1 or   
those which have been devised as        
alleviations of its mistakes and evils1 
have been based upon the elementary     
emotions of disinterestedness1 which we 
feel to constitute the majesty of our   
nature4 ,patriotism1 as it existed in   
the ancient republics1 was never1 as has
 been supposed1 a calculation of        
personal advantages4 ,when ,mutius      
,scaevola thrust his hand into the      
burning coals1 and ,regulus returned to 
,carthage1 and ,epicharis sustained the 

rack silently1 in the torments of which 
she knew that she would speedily perish1
 rather than betray the conspirators to 
the tyrant ,footnote3 ,tacitus42 these  
illustrious persons certainly made a    
small estimate of their private         
interest4 ,if it be said that they      
sought posthumous fame2 instances are   
not wanting in history which prove that 
men have even defied infamy for the sake
 of good4 ,but there is a great error in
 the world with respect to the          
selfishness of fame4 ,it is certainly   
possible that a person should seek      
distinction as a medium of personal     
gratification4 ,but the love of fame is 
frequently no more than a desire that   
the feelings of others should confirm1  
illustrate1 and sympathize with1 our    
own4 ,in this respect it is allied with 
all that draws us out of ourselves4 ,it 
is the 'last infirmity of noble minds'4 
,chivalry was likewise founded on the   
theory of self-sacrifice4 ,love         
possesses so extraordinary a power over 

the human heart1 only because           
disinterestedness is united with the    
natural propensities4 ,these            
propensities themselves are             
comparatively impotent in cases where   
the imagination of pleasure to be given1
 as well as to be received1 does not    
enter into the account4 ,let it not be  
objected that patriotism1 and chivalry1 
and sentimental love1 have been the     
fountains of enormous mischief4 ,they   
are cited only to establish the         
proposition that1 according to the      
elementary principles of mind1 man is   
capable of desiring and pursuing good   
for its own sake4   ,,justice  ,the     
benevolent propensities are thus        
inherent in the human mind4 ,we are     
impelled to seek the happiness of       
others4 ,we experience a satisfaction in
 being the authors of that happiness4   
,everything that lives is open to       
impressions or pleasure and pain4 ,we   
are led by our benevolent propensities  
to regard every human being             

indifferently with whom we come in      
contact4 ,they have preference only with
 respect to those who offer themselves  
most obviously to our notice4 ,human    
beings are indiscriminating and blind2  
they will avoid inflicting pain1 though 
that pain should be attended with       
eventual benefit2 they will seek to     
confer pleasure without calculating the 
mischief that may result4 ,they benefit 
one at the expense of many4  ,there is a
 sentiment in the human mind that       
regulates benevolence in its application
 as a principle of action4 ,this is the 
sense of justice4 ,justice1 as well as  
benevolence1 is an elementary law of    
human nature4 ,it is through this       
principle that men are impelled to      
distribute any means of pleasure which  
benevolence may suggest the             
communication of to others1 in equal    
portions among an equal number of       
applicants4 ,if ten men are shipwrecked 
on a desert island1 they distribute     
whatever subsistence may remain to them1

 into equal portions among themselves4  
,if six of them conspire to deprive the 
remaining four of their share1 their    
conduct is termed unjust4  ,the         
existence of pain has been shown to be a
 circumstance which the human mind      
regards with dissatisfaction1 and of    
which it desires the cessation4 ,it is  
equally according to its nature to      
desire that the advantages to be enjoyed
 by a limited number of persons should  
be enjoyed equally by all4 ,this        
proposition is supported by the evidence
 of indisputable facts4 ,tell some      
ungarbled tale of a number of persons   
being made the victims of the enjoyments
 of one1 and he who would appeal in     
favour of any system which might produce
 such an evil to the primary emotions of
 our nature1 would have nothing to      
reply4 ,let two persons1 equally        
strangers1 make application for some    
benefit in the possession of a third to 
bestow1 and to which he feels that they 
have an equal claim4 ,they are both     

sensitive beings2 pleasure and pain     
affect them alike4    ,,chapter ,,ii    
,it is foreign to the general scope of  
this little treatise to encumber a      
simple argument by controverting any of 
the trite objections of habit or        
fanaticism4 ,but there are two2 the     
first1 the basis of all political       
mistake1 and the second1 the prolific   
cause and effect of religious error1    
which it seems useful to refute4        
,first1 it is inquired1 ',wherefore     
should a man be benevolent and just8'   
,the answer has been given in the       
preceding chapter4  ,if a man persists  
to inquire why he ought to promote the  
happiness of mankind1 he demands a      
mathematical or metaphysical reason for 
a moral action4 ,the absurdity of this  
scepticism is more apparent1 but not    
less real than the exacting a moral     
reason for a mathematical or            
metaphysical fact4 ,if any person should
 refuse to admit that all the radii of a
 circle are of equal length1 or that    

human actions are necessarily determined
 by motives1 until it could be proved   
that these radii and these actions      
uniformly tended to the production of   
the greatest general good1 who would not
 wonder at the unreasonable and         
capricious association of his ideas8    
,the writer of a philosophical treatise 
may1 ,i imagine1 at this advanced era of
 human intellect1 be held excused from  
entering into a controversy with those  
reasoners1 if such there are1 who would 
claim an exemption from its decrees in  
favour of any one among those           
diversified systems of obscure opinion  
respecting morals1 which1 under the name
 of religions1 have in various ages and 
countries prevailed among mankind4      
,besides that if1 as these reasoners    
have pretended1 eternal torture or      
happiness will ensue as the consequence 
of certain actions1 we should be no     
nearer the possession of a standard to  
determine what actions were right and   
wrong1 even if this pretended           

revelation1 which is by no means the    
case1 had furnished us with a complete  
catalogue of them4 ,the character of    
actions as virtuous or vicious would by 
no means be determined alone by the     
personal advantage or disadvantage of   
each moral agent individually           
considered4 ,indeed1 an action is often 
virtuous in proportion to the greatness 
of the personal calamity which the      
author willingly draws upon himself by  
daring to perform it4 ,it is because an 
action produces an overbalance of       
pleasure or pain to the greatest number 
of sentient beings1 and not merely      
because its consequences are beneficial 
or injurious to the author of that      
action1 that it is good or evil4 ,nay1  
this latter consideration has a tendency
 to pollute the purity of virtue1       
inasmuch as it consists in the motive   
rather than in the consequences of an   
action4 ,a person who should labour for 
the happiness of mankind lest he should 
be tormented eternally in ,hell1 would1 

with reference to that motive1 possess  
as little claim to the epithet of       
virtuous1 as he who should torture1     
imprison1 and burn them alive1 a more   
usual and natural consequence of such   
principles1 for the sake of the         
enjoyments of ,heaven4  ,my neighbour1  
presuming on his strength1 may direct me
 to perform or to refrain from a        
particular action2 indicating a certain 
arbitrary penalty in the event of       
disobedience within power to inflict4   
,my action1 if modified by his menaces1 
can no degree participate in virtue4 ,he
 has afforded me no criterion as to what
 is right or wrong4 ,a king1 or an      
assembly of men1 may publish a          
proclamation affixing any penalty to any
 particular action1 but that is not     
immoral because such penalty is affixed4
 ,nothing is more evident than that the 
epithet of virtue is inapplicable to the
 refraining from that action on account 
of the evil arbitrarily attached to it4 
,if the action is in itself beneficial1 

virtue would rather consist in not      
refraining from it1 but in firmly       
defying the personal consequences       
attached to its performance4  ,some     
usurper of supernatural energy might    
subdue the whole globe to his power2 he 
might possess new and unheard-of        
resources for enduing his punishments   
with the most terrible attributes or    
pain4 ,the torments of his victims might
 be intense in their degree1 and        
protracted to an infinite duration4     
,still the 'will of the lawgiver' would 
afford no surer criterion as to what    
actions were right or wrong4 ,it would  
only increase the possible virtue of    
those who refuse to become the          
instruments of his tyranny4             
,,ii--,,moral ,,science ,,consists ,,in 
,,considering ,,the ,,difference1 ,,not 
,,the ,,resemblance1 ,,of ,,persons     
,the internal influence1 derived from   
the constitution of the mind from which 
they flow1 produces that peculiar       
modification of actions1 which makes    

them intrinsically good or evil4  ,to   
attain an apprehension of the importance
 of this distinction1 let us visit1 in  
imagination1 the proceedings of some    
metropolis4 ,consider the multitude of  
human beings who inhabit it1 and survey1
 in thought1 the actions of the several 
classes into which they are divided4    
,their obvious actions are apparently   
uniform3 the stability of human society 
seems to be maintained sufficiently by  
the uniformity of the conduct of its    
members1 both with regard to themselves1
 and with regard to others4  ,the       
labourer arises at a certain hour1 and  
applies himself to the task enjoined    
him4 ,the functionaries of government   
and law are regularly employed in their 
offices and courts4 ,the trader holds a 
train of conduct from which he never    
deviates4 ,the ministers of religion    
employ an accustomed language1 and      
maintain a decent and equable regard4   
,the army is drawn forth1 the motions of
 every soldier are such as they were    

expected to be2 the general commands1   
and his words are echoed from troop to  
troop4 ,the domestic actions of men are1
 for the most part1 undistinguishable   
one from the other1 at a superficial    
glance4 ,the actions which are classed  
under the general appellation of        
marriage1 education1 friendship1 c41 are
 perpetually going on1 and to a         
superficial glance1 are similar one to  
the other4  ,but1 if we would see the   
truth of things1 they must be stripped  
of this fallacious appearance of        
uniformity4 ,in truth1 no one action    
has1 when considered in its whole       
extent1 any essential resemblance with  
any other4 ,each individual1 who        
composes the vast multitude which we    
have been contemplating1 has a peculiar 
frame of mind1 which1 whilst the        
features of the great mass of his       
actions remain uniform1 impresses the   
minuter lineaments with its peculiar    
hues4 ,thus1 whilst his life1 as a      
whole1 is like the lives of other men1  

in detail1 it is most unlike2 and the   
more subdivided the actions become2 that
 is1 the more they enter into that class
 which have a vital influence on the    
happiness of others and his own1 so much
 the more are they distinct from those  
of other men4        ,those little1     
nameless1 unremembered acts             
,of kindness and of love1  as well as   
those deadly outrages which are         
inflicted by a look1 a word--or         
less--the very refraining from some     
faint and most evanescent expression of 
countenance2 these flow from a          
profounder source than the series of our
 habitual conduct1 which1 it has been   
already said1 derives its origin from   
without4 ,these are the actions1 and    
such as these1 which make human life    
what it is1 and are the fountains of all
 the good and evil with which its entire
 surface is so widely and impartially   
overspread2 and though they are called  
minute1 they are called so in compliance
 with the blindness of those who cannot 

estimate their importance4 ,it is in the
 due appreciating the general effects of
 their peculiarities1 and in cultivating
 the habit of acquiring decisive        
knowledge respecting the tendencies     
arising out of them in particular cases1
 that the most important part of moral  
science consists4 ,the deepest abyss of 
these vast and multitudinous caverns1 it
 is necessary that we should visit4     
,this is the difference between social  
and individual man4 ,not that this      
distinction is to be considered         
definite1 or characteristic of one human
 being as compared with another2 it     
denotes rather two classes of agency1   
common in a degree to every human being4
 ,none is exempt1 indeed1 from that     
species of influence which affects1 as  
it were1 the surface of his being1 and  
gives the specific outline to his       
conduct4 ,almost all that is ostensible 
submits to that legislature created by  
the general representation of the past  
feelings of mankind--imperfect as it is 

from a variety of causes1 as it exists  
in the government1 the religion1 and    
domestic habits4 ,those who do not      
nominally1 yet actually1 submit to the  
same power4 ,the external features of   
their conduct1 indeed1 can no more      
escape it1 than the clouds can escape   
from the stream of the wind2 and his    
opinion1 which he often hopes he has    
dispassionately secured from all        
contagion of prejudice and vulgarity1   
would be found1 on examination1 to be   
the inevitable excrescence of the very  
usages from which he vehemently         
dissents4 ,internally all is conducted  
otherwise2 the efficiency1 the essence1 
the vitality of actions1 derives its    
colour from what is no ways contributed 
to from any external source4 ,like the  
plant which while it derives the        
accident of its size and shape from the 
soil in which it springs1 and is        
cankered1 or distorted1 or inflated1 yet
 retains those qualities which          
essentially divide it from all others2  

so that hemlock continues to be poison1 
and the violet does not cease to emit   
its odour in whatever soil it may grow4 
,we consider our own nature too         
superficially4 ,we look on all that in  
ourselves with which we can discover a  
resemblance in others2 and consider     
those resemblances as the materials of  
moral knowledge4 ,it is in the          
differences that it actually consists4  
#ahae2 publ4 #ahdj     ,,essay ,,on     
,,the ,,literature1 ,,the ,,arts1 ,,and 
,,the ,,manners ,,of ,,the ,,athenians  
,a ,,fragment  ,the period which        
intervened between the birth of         
,pericles and the death of ,aristotle1  
is undoubtedly1 whether considered in   
itself1 or with reference to the effects
 which it has produced upon the         
subsequent destinies of civilized man1  
the most memorable in the history of the
 world4 ,what was the combination of    
moral and political circumstances which 
produced so unparalleled a progress     
during that period in literature and the

 arts2--why that progress1 so rapid and 
so sustained1 so soon received a check1 
and became retrograde1--are problems    
left to the wonder and conjecture of    
posterity4 ,the wrecks and fragments of 
those subtle and profound minds1 like   
the ruins of a fine statue1 obscurely   
suggest to us the grandeur and          
perfection of the whole4 ,their very    
language--a type of the understandings  
of which it was the creation and the    
image--in variety1 in simplicity1 in    
flexibility1 and in copiousness1 excels 
every other language of the western     
world4 ,their sculptures are such as we1
 in our presumption1 assume to be the   
models of ideal truth and beauty1 and to
 which no artist of modern times can    
produce forms in any degree comparable4 
,their paintings1 according to ,pliny   
and ,pausanias1 were full of delicacy   
and harmony2 and some even were         
powerfully pathetic1 so as to awaken1   
like tender music or tragic poetry1 the 
most overwhelming emotions4 ,we are     

accustomed to conceive the painters of  
the sixteenth century1 as those who have
 brought their art to the highest       
perfection1 probably because none of the
 ancient paintings have been preserved4 
,for all the inventive arts maintain1 as
 it were1 a sympathetic connexion       
between each other1 being no more than  
various expressions of one internal     
power1 modified by different            
circumstances1 either of an individual1 
or of society2 and the paintings of that
 period would probably bear the same    
relation as is confessedly borne by the 
sculptures to all succeeding ones4 ,of  
their music we know little2 but the     
effects which it is said to have        
produced1 whether they be attributed to 
the skill of the composer1 or the       
sensibility of his audience1 are far    
more powerful than any which we         
experience from the music of our own    
times2 and if1 indeed1 the melody of    
their compositions were more tender and 
delicate1 and inspiring1 than the       

melodies of some modern ,european       
nations1 their superiority in this art  
must have been something wonderful1 and 
wholly beyond conception4  ,their poetry
 seems to maintain a very high1 though  
not so disproportionate a rank1 in the  
comparison4 ,perhaps ,shakespeare1 from 
the variety and comprehension of his    
genius1 is to be considered1 on the     
whole1 as the greatest individual mind1 
of which we have specimens remaining4   
,perhaps ,dante created imaginations of 
greater loveliness and energy than any  
that are to be found in the ancient     
literature of ,greece4 ,perhaps nothing 
has been discovered in the fragments of 
the ,greek lyric poets equivalent to the
 sublime and chivalric sensibility of   
,petrarch4--,but1 as a poet4 ,homer must
 be acknowledged to excel ,shakespeare  
in the truth1 the harmony1 the sustained
 grandeur1 the satisfying completeness  
of his images1 their exact fitness to   
the illustration1 and to that to which  
they belong4 ,nor could ,dante1         

deficient in conduct1 plan1 nature1     
variety1 and temperance1 have been      
brought into comparison with these men1 
but for those fortunate isles laden with
 golden fruit1 which alone could tempt  
any one to embark in the misty ocean of 
his dark and extravagant fiction4  ,but1
 omitting the comparison of individual  
minds1 which can afford no general      
inference1 how superior was the spirit  
and system of their poetry to that of   
any other period6 ,so that had any other
 genius equal in other respects to the  
greatest that ever enlightened the      
world1 arisen in that age1 he would have
 been superior to all1 from this        
circumstance alone--that had conceptions
 would have assumed a more harmonious   
and perfect form4 ,for it is worthy of  
observation1 that whatever the poet of  
that age produced is as harmonious and  
perfect as possible4 ,in a drama1 for   
instance1 were the composition of a     
person of inferior talent1 it was still 
homogeneous and free from inequalities  

it was a whole1 consistent with itself4 
,the compositions of great minds bore   
throughout the sustained stamp of their 
greatness4 ,in the poetry of succeeding 
ages the expectations are often exalted 
on ,icarian wings1 and fall1 too much   
disappointed to give a memory and a name
 to the oblivious pool in which they    
fell4  ,in physical knowledge ,aristotle
 and ,theophrastus had already--no doubt
 assisted by the labours of those of    
their predecessor whom they             
criticize--made advances worthy of the  
maturity of science4 ,the astonishing   
invention of geometry1 that series of   
discoveries which have enabled man to   
command the element and foresee future  
events1 before the subjects of his      
ignorant wonder1 and which have opened  
as it were the doors of the mysteries of
 nature1 had already been brought to    
great perfection4 ,metaphysics1 the     
science of man's intimate nature1 and   
logic1 or the grammar and elementary    
principles of that science received from

 the latter philosophers of the         
,periclean age a firm basis4 ,all our   
more exact philosophy is built upon the 
labours of these great men1 and many of 
the words which we employ in            
metaphysical distinctions were invented 
by them to give accuracy and system to  
their reasonings4 ,the science of       
morals1 or the voluntary conduct of men 
in relation to themselves or others1    
dates from this epoch4 ,how             
inexpressibly bolder and more pure were 
the doctrines of those great men1 in    
comparison with the timid maxims which  
prevail in the writings of the most     
esteemed modern moralists6 ,they were   
such as ,phocion1 and ,epaminondas1 and 
,timoleon1 who formed themselves on     
their influence1 were to the wretched   
heroes of our own age4  ,their political
 and religious institutions are more    
difficult to bring into comparison with 
those of other times4 ,a summary idea   
may be formed of the worth of any       
political and religious system1 by      

observing the comparative degree of     
happiness and of intellect produced     
under its influence4 ,and whilst many   
institution and opinions1 which in      
ancient ,greece were obstacles to the   
improvement of the human race1 have been
 abolished among modern nations1 how    
many pernicious superstitions and new   
contrivances of misrule1 and unheard-of 
complications of public mischief1 have  
not been invented among them by the     
ever-watchful spirit of avarice and     
tyranny6  ,the modern nations of the    
civilized world owe the progress which  
they have made--as well in those        
physical sciences in which they have    
already excelled their masters1 as in   
the moral and intellectual inquiries1 in
 which1 with all the advantage of the   
experience of the latter1 it can        
scarcely be said that they have yet     
equalled them1--to what is called the   
revival of learning2 that is1 the study 
of the writers of the age which preceded
 and immediately followed the government

 of ,pericles1 or of subsequent writers1
 who were1 so to speak1 the rivers      
flowing from those immortal fountains4  
,and though there seems to be a         
principle in the modern world1 which1   
should circumstances analogous to those 
which modelled the intellectual         
resources of the age to which we refer1 
into so harmonious a proportion1 again  
arise1 would arrest and perpetuate them1
 and consign their results to a more    
equal1 extensive1 and lasting           
improvement of the condition of         
man--though justice and the true meaning
 of human society are1 if not more      
accurately1 more generally understood2  
though perhaps men know more1 and       
therefore are more1 as a mass1 yet this 
principle has never been called into    
action1 and requires indeed a universal 
and an almost appalling change in the   
system of existing things4 ,the study of
 modern history is the study of kings1  
financiers1 statesmen1 and priests4 ,the
 history of ancient ,greece is the study

 of legislators1 philosophers1 and      
poets2 it is the history of men1        
compared with the history of titles4    
,what the ,greeks were1 was a reality1  
not a promise4 ,and what we are and hope
 to be1 is derived1 as it were1 from the
 influence and inspiration of these     
glorious generations4  ,whatever tends  
to afford a further illustration of the 
manners and opinions of those to whom we
 owe so much1 and who were perhaps1 on  
the whole1 the most perfect specimens of
 humanity of whom we have authentic     
record1 were infinitely valuable4 ,let  
us see their errors1 their weaknesses1  
their daily actions1 their familiar     
conversation1 and catch the tone of     
their society4 ,when we discover how far
 the most admirable community ever      
framed was removed from that perfection 
to which human society is impelled by   
some active power within each bosom to  
aspire1 how great ought to be our hopes1
 how resolute our struggles6 ,for the   
,greeks of the ,periclean age were      

widely different from us4 ,it is to be  
lamented that no modern writer has      
hitherto dared to show them precisely as
 they were4 ,barthelemi cannot be denied
 the praise of industry and system2 but 
he never forgets that he is a ,christian
 and a ,frenchman4 ,wieland1 in his     
delightful novels1 makes indeed a very  
tolerable ,pagan1 but cherishes too many
 political prejudices1 and refrains from
 diminishing the interest of his        
romances by painting sentiments in which
 no ,european of modern times can       
possibly sympathize4 ,there is no book  
which shows the ,greeks precisely as    
they were2 they seem all written for    
children with the caution that no       
practice or sentiment1 highly           
inconsistent with our present manners1  
should be mentioned1 lest those manners 
should receive outrage and violation4   
,but there are many to whom the ,greek  
language is inaccessible1 who ought not 
to be excluded by this prudery from     
possessing an exact and comprehensive   

conception of the history of man2 for   
there is no knowledge concerning what   
man has been and may be1 from partaking 
of which a person can depart1 without   
becoming in some degree more            
philosophical1 tolerant1 and just4  ,one
 of the chief distinctions between the  
manners of ancient ,greece and modern   
,europe1 consisted in the regulations   
and the sentiments respecting sexual    
intercourse4 ,whether this difference   
arises from some imperfect influence of 
the doctrines of ,jesus1 who alleges the
 absolute and unconditional equality of 
all human beings1 or from the           
institutions of chivalry1 or from a     
certain fundamental difference of       
physical nature existing in the ,celts1 
or from a combination of all or any of  
these causes acting on each other1 is a 
question worthy of voluminous           
investigation4 ,the fact is1 that the   
modern ,europeans have in this          
circumstance1 and in the abolition of   
slavery1 made an improvement the most   

decisive in the regulation of human     
society2 and all the virtue and the     
wisdom of the ,periclean age arose under
 other institutions1 in spite of the    
diminution which personal slavery and   
the inferiority of women1 recognized by 
law and opinion1 must have produced in  
the delicacy1 the strength1 the         
comprehensiveness1 and the accuracy of  
their conceptions1 in moral1 political1 
and metaphysical science1 and perhaps in
 every other art and science4  ,the     
women1 thus degraded1 became such as it 
was expected they would become4 ,they   
possessed1 except with extraordinary    
exceptions1 the habits and the qualities
 of slaves4 ,they were probably not     
extremely beautiful2 at least there was 
no such disproportion in the attractions
 of the external form between the female
 and male sex among the ,greeks1 as     
exists among the modern ,europeans4     
,they were certainly devoid of that     
moral and intellectual loveliness with  
which the acquisition of knowledge and  

the cultivation of sentiment animates1  
as with another life of overpowering    
grace1 the lineaments and the gestures  
of every form which they inhabit4 ,their
 eyes could not have been deep and      
intricate from the workings of the mind1
 and could have entangled no heart in   
soul-enwoven labyrinths4  ,let it not be
 imagined that because the ,greeks were 
deprived of its legitimate object1 they 
were incapable of sentimental love2 and 
that this passion is the mere child of  
chivalry and the literature of modern   
times4 ,this object or its archetype for
 ever exists in the mind1 which selects 
among those who resemble it that which  
most resembles it2 and instinctively    
fills up the interstices of the         
imperfect image1 in the same manner as  
the imagination moulds and completes the
 shapes in clouds1 or in the fire1 into 
the resemblances of whatever form1      
animal1 building1 c41 happens to be     
present to it4 ,man is in his wildest   
state a social being3 a certain degree  

of civilization and refinement ever     
produces the want of sympathies still   
more intimate and complete2 and the     
gratification of the senses is no longer
 all that is sought in sexual connexion4
 ,it soon becomes a very small part of  
that profound and complicated sentiment1
 which we call love1 which is rather the
 universal thirst for a communion not   
only of the senses1 but of our whole    
nature1 intellectual1 imaginative and   
sensitive1 and which1 when              
individualized1 becomes an imperious    
necessity1 only to be satisfied by the  
complete or partial1 actual or supposed 
fulfilment of its claims4 ,this want    
grows more powerful in proportion to the
 development which our nature receives  
from civilization1 for man never ceases 
to be a social being4 ,the sexual       
impulse1 which is only one1 and often a 
small part of those claims1 serves1 from
 its obvious and external nature1 as a  
kind of type or expression of the rest1 
a common basis1 an acknowledged and     

visible link4 ,still it is a claim which
 even derives a strength not its own    
from the accessory circumstances which  
surround it1 and one which our nature   
thirsts to satisfy4 ,to estimate this1  
observe the degree of intensity and     
durability of the love of the male      
towards the female in animals and       
savages and acknowledge all the duration
 and intensity observable in the love of
 civilized beings beyond that of savages
 to be produced from other causes4 ,in  
the susceptibility of the external      
senses there is probably no important   
difference4  ,among the ancient ,greeks 
the male sex1 one half of the human     
race1 received the highest cultivation  
and refinement3 whilst the other1 so far
 as intellect is concerned1 were        
educated as slaves and were raised but  
few degrees in all that related to moral
 of intellectual excellence above the   
condition of savages4 ,the gradations in
 the society of man present us with slow
 improvement in this respect4 ,the      

,roman women held a higher consideration
 in society1 and were esteemed almost as
 the equal partners with their husbands 
in the regulation of domestic economy   
and the education of their children4    
,the practices and customs of modern    
,europe are essentially different from  
and incomparably less pernicious than   
either1 however remote from what an     
enlightened mind cannot fail to desire  
as the future destiny of human beings4  
#ahah2 publ4 #ahdj     ,,on ,,the       
,,symposium1 ,,or ,,preface ,,to ,,the  
,,banquet ,,of ,,plato  ,a ,,fragment   
,the dialogue entitled ,the ,banquet was
 selected by the translator as the most 
beautiful and perfect among all the     
works of ,plato4 ,footnote3 ,the        
,republic1 though replete with          
considerable errors of speculation1 is1 
indeed1 the greatest repository of      
important truths of all the works of    
,plato4 ,this1 perhaps1 is because it is
 the longest4 ,he first1 and perhaps    
last1 maintained that a state ought to  

be governed1 not by the wealthiest1 or  
the most ambitious1 or the most cunning1
 but by the wisest2 the method of       
selecting such rulers1 and the laws by  
which such a selection is made1 must    
correspond with and arise out of the    
moral freedom and refinement of the     
people4 ,he despairs of having          
communicated to the ,english language   
any portion of the surpassing graces of 
the composition1 or having done more    
than present an imperfect shadow of the 
language and the sentiment of this      
astonishing production4  ,plato is      
eminently the greatest among the ,greek 
philosophers1 and from1 or1 rather1     
perhaps through him1 his master         
,socrates1 have proceeded those         
emanations of moral and metaphysical    
knowledge1 on which a long series and an
 incalculable variety of popular        
superstitions have sheltered their      
absurdities from the slow contempt of   
mankind4 ,plato exhibits the rare union 
of close and subtle logic with the      

,pythian enthusiasm of poetry1 melted by
 the splendour and harmony of his       
periods into one irresistible stream of 
musical impressions1 which hurry the    
persuasions onward1 as in a breathless  
career4 ,his language is that of an     
immortal spirit1 rather than a man4     
,lord ,bacon is1 perhaps1 the only      
writer1 who1 in these particulars1 can  
be compared with him3 his imitator1     
,cicero1 sinks in the comparison into an
 ape mocking the gestures of a man4     
,his views into the nature of mind and  
existence are often obscure1 only       
because they are profound2 and though   
his theories respecting the government  
of the world1 and the elementary laws of
 moral action1 are not always correct1  
yet there is scarcely any of his        
treatises which do not1 however stained 
by puerile sophisms1 contain the most   
remarkable intuitions into all that can 
be the subject of the human mind4 ,his  
excellence consists especially in       
intuition1 and it is this faculty which 

raises him far above ,aristotle1 whose  
genius1 though vivid and various1 is    
obscure in comparison with that of      
,plato4  ,the dialogue entitled the     
,banquet1 is called word in ,greek1 or a
 ,discussion upon ,love1 and is supposed
 to have taken place at the house of    
,agathon1 at one of a series of         
festivals given by that poet1 on the    
occasion of his gaining the prize of    
tragedy at the ,dionysiaca4 ,the account
 of the debate on this occasion is      
supposed to have been given by          
,apollodorus1 a pupil of ,socrates1 many
 years after it had taken place1 to a   
companion who was curious to hear it4   
,this ,apollodorus appears1 both from   
the style in which he is represented in 
this piece1 as well as from a passage in
 the ,phaedon1 to have been a person of 
an impassioned and enthusiastic         
disposition2 to borrow an image from the
 ,italian painters1 he seems to have    
been the ,st4 ,john of the ,socratic    
group4 ,the drama 7for so the lively    

distinction of character and the various
 and well-wrought circumstances of the  
story almost entitle it to be called7   
begins by ,socrates persuading          
,aristodemus to sup at ,agathon's1      
uninvited4 ,the whole of this           
introduction affords the most lively    
conception of refined ,athenian manners4
  #ahah2 publ4 #ahdj ,,unfinished     ,a
 ,,defence ,,of ,,poetry   ,i           
,according to one mode of regarding     
those two classes of mental action1     
which are called reason and imagination1
 the former may be considered as mind   
contemplating the relations borne by one
 thought to another1 however produced2  
and the latter1 as mind acting upon     
those thoughts so as to colour them with
 its own light1 and composing from them1
 as from elements1 other thoughts1 each 
containing within itself the principle  
of its own integrity4 ,the one is the   
word in ,greek1 or the principle of     
synthesis1 and has for its objects those
 forms which are common to universal    

nature and existence itself2 the other  
is the word in ,greek1 or principle of  
analysis1 and its action regards the    
relations of things1 simply as          
relations2 considering thoughts1 not in 
their integral unity1 but as the        
algebraical representations which       
conduct to certain general results4     
,reason is the enumeration of quantities
 already known2 imagination is the      
perception of the value of those        
quantities1 both separately and as a    
whole4 ,reason respects the differences1
 and imagination the similitudes of     
things4  ,reason is to the imagination  
as the instrument to the agent1 as the  
body to the spirit1 as the shadow to the
 substance4  ,poetry1 in a general      
sense1 may be defined to be 'the        
expression of the imagination'3 and     
poetry is connate with the origin of    
man4 ,man is an instrument over which a 
series of external and internal         
impressions are driven1 like the        
alternations of an ever-changing wind   

over an ,aeolian lyre1 which move it by 
their motion to ever-changing melody4   
,but there is a principle within the    
human being1 and perhaps within all     
sentient beings1 which acts otherwise   
than in the lyre1 and produces not      
melody alone1 but harmony1 by an        
internal adjustment of the sounds or    
motions thus excited to the impressions 
which excite them4 ,it is as if the lyre
 could accommodate its chords to the    
motions of that which strikes them1 in a
 determined proportion of sound2 even as
 the musician can accommodate his voice 
to the sound of the lyre4 ,a child at   
play by itself will express its delight 
by its voice and motions2 and every     
inflexion of tone and every gesture will
 bear exact relation to a corresponding 
antitype in the pleasurable impressions 
which awakened it2 it will be the       
reflected image of that impression2 and 
as the lyre trembles and sounds after   
the wind has died away1 so the child    
seeks1 by prolonging in its voice and   

motions the duration of the effect1 to  
prolong also a consciousness of the     
cause4 ,in relation to the objects which
 delight a child1 these expressions are1
 what poetry is to higher objects4 ,the 
savage 7for the savage is to ages what  
the child is to years7 expresses the    
emotions produced in him by surrounding 
objects in a similar manner2 and        
language and gesture1 together with     
plastic or pictorial imitation1 become  
the image of the combined effect of     
those objects1 and of his apprehension  
of them4 ,man in society1 with all his  
passions and his pleasures1 next becomes
 the object of the passions and         
pleasures of man2 an additional class of
 emotions produces an augmented treasure
 of expressions2 and language1 gesture1 
and the imitative arts1 become at once  
the representation and the medium1 the  
pencil and the picture1 the chisel and  
the statue1 the chord and the harmony4  
,the social sympathies1 or those laws   
from which1 as from its elements1       

society results1 begin to develop       
themselves from the moment that two     
human beings coexist2 the future is     
contained within the present1 as the    
plant within the seed2 and equality1    
diversity1 unity1 contrast1 mutual      
dependence1 become the principles alone 
capable of affording the motives        
according to which the will of a social 
being is determined to action1 inasmuch 
as he is social2 and constitute pleasure
 in sensation1 virtue in sentiment1     
beauty in art1 truth in reasoning1 and  
love in the intercourse of kind4 ,hence 
men1 even in the infancy of society1    
observe a certain order in their words  
and actions1 distinct from that of the  
objects and the impressions represented 
by them1 all expression being subject to
 the laws of that from which it         
proceeds4 ,but let us dismiss those more
 general considerations which might     
involve an inquiry into the principles  
of society itself1 and restrict our view
 to the manner in which the imagination 

is expressed upon its forms4  ,in the   
youth of the world1 men dance and sing  
and imitate natural objects1 observing  
in these actions1 as in all others1 a   
certain rhythm or order4 ,and1 although 
all men observe a similar1 they observe 
not the same order1 in the motions of   
the dance1 in the melody of the song1 in
 the combinations of language1 in the   
series of their imitations of natural   
objects4 ,for there is a certain order  
or rhythm belonging to each of these    
classes of mimetic representation1 from 
which the hearer and the spectator      
receive an intenser and purer pleasure  
than from any other3 the sense of an    
approximation to this order has been    
called taste by modern writers4  ,every 
man in the infancy of art observes an   
order which approximates more or less   
closely to that from which this highest 
delight results3 but the diversity is   
not sufficiently marked1 as that its    
gradations should be sensible1 except in
 those instances where the predominance 

of this faculty of approximation to the 
beautiful 7for so we may be permitted to
 name the relation between this highest 
pleasure and its cause7 is very great4  
,those in whom it exists in excess are  
poets1 in the most universal sense of   
the word2 and the pleasure resulting    
from the manner in which they express   
the influence of society or nature upon 
their own minds1 communicates itself to 
others1 and gathers a sort or           
reduplication from that community4      
,their language is vitally metaphorical2
 that is1 it marks the before           
unapprehended relations of things and   
perpetuates their apprehension1 until   
the words which represent them become1  
through time1 signs for portions or     
classes of thoughts instead of pictures 
of integral thoughts2 and then if no new
 poets should arise to create afresh the
 associations which have been thus      
disorganized1 language will be dead to  
all the nobler purposes of human        
intercourse4 ,these similitudes or      

relations are finely said by ,lord      
,bacon to be 'the same footsteps of     
nature impressed upon the various       
subjects of the world'2 ,footnote3 ,de  
,augment4 ,scient41 cap4 i1 lib4  iii4  
and he considers the faculty which      
perceives them as the storehouse of     
axioms common to all knowledge4 ,in the 
infancy of society every author is      
necessarily a poet1 because language    
itself is poetry2 and to be a poet is to
 apprehend the true and the beautiful1  
in a word1 the good which exists in the 
relation1 subsisting1 first between     
existence and perception1 and secondly  
between perception and expression4      
,every original language near to its    
source is in itself the chaos of a      
cyclic poem3 the copiousness of         
lexicography and the distinctions of    
grammar are the works of a later age1   
and are merely the catalogue and the    
form of the creations of poetry4  ,but  
poets1 or those who imagine and express 
this indestructible order1 are not only 

the authors of language and of music1 of
 the dance1 and architecture1 and       
statuary1 and painting2 they are the    
institutors of laws1 and the founders of
 civil society1 and the inventors of the
 arts of life1 and the teachers1 who    
draw into a certain propinquity with the
 beautiful and the true1 that partial   
apprehension of the agencies of the     
invisible world which is called         
religion4 ,hence all original religions 
are allegorical1 or susceptible of      
allegory1 and1 like ,janus1 have a      
double face of false and true4 ,poets1  
according to the circumstances of the   
age and nation in which they appeared1  
were called1 in the earlier epochs of   
the world1 legislators1 or prophets3 a  
poet essentially comprises and unites   
both these characters4 ,for he not only 
beholds intensely the present as it is1 
and discovers those laws according to   
which present things ought to be        
ordered1 but he beholds the future in   
the present1 and his thoughts are the   

germs of the flower and the fruit of    
latest time4 ,not that ,i assert poets  
to be prophets in the gross sense of the
 word1 or that they can foretell the    
form as surely as they foreknow the     
spirit of events3 such is the pretence  
of superstition1 which would make poetry
 an attribute of prophecy1 rather than  
prophecy an attribute of poetry4 ,a poet
 participates in the eternal1 the       
infinite1 and the one2 as far as relates
 to his conceptions1 time and place and 
number are not4 ,the grammatical forms  
which express the moods of time1 and the
 difference of persons1 and the         
distinction of place1 are convertible   
with respect to the highest poetry      
without injuring it as poetry2 and the  
choruses of ,aeschylus1 and the book of 
,job1 and ,dante's ,paradise1 would     
afford1 more than any other writings1   
examples of this fact1 if the limits of 
this essay did not forbid citation4 ,the
 creations of sculpture1 painting1 and  
music1 are illustrations still more     

decisive4  ,language1 colour1 form1 and 
religious and civil habits of action1   
are all the instruments and materials of
 poetry2 they may be called poetry by   
that figure of speech which considers   
the effect as a synonym of the cause4   
,but poetry in a more restricted sense  
expresses those arrangements of         
language1 and especially metrical       
language1 which are created by that     
imperial faculty2 whose throne is       
curtained within the invisible nature of
 man4 ,and this springs from the nature 
itself of language1 which is a more     
direct representation of the actions and
 passions of our internal being1 and is 
susceptible of more various and delicate
 combinations1 than colour1 form1 or    
motion1 and is more plastic and obedient
 to the control of that faculty of which
 it is the creation4 ,for language is   
arbitrarily produced by the imagination 
and has relation to thoughts alone2 but 
all other materials1 instruments and    
conditions of art1 have relations among 

each other1 which limit and interpose   
between conception and expression ,the  
former is as a mirror which reflects1   
the latter as a cloud which enfeebles1  
the light of which both are mediums of  
communication4 ,hence the fame of       
sculptors1 painters1 and musicians1     
although the intrinsic powers of the    
great masters of these arts may yield in
 no degree to that of those who have    
employed language as the hieroglyphic of
 their thoughts1 has never equalled that
 of poets in the restricted sense of the
 term1 as two performers of equal skill 
will produce unequal effects from a     
guitar and a harp4 ,the fame of         
legislators and founders of religions1  
so long as their institutions last1     
alone seems to exceed that of poets in  
the restricted sense2 but it can        
scarcely be a question1 whether1 if we  
deduct the celebrity which their        
flattery of the gross opinions of the   
vulgar usually conciliates1 together    
with that which belonged to them in     

their higher character of poets1 any    
excess will remain4  ,we have thus      
circumscribed the word poetry within the
 limits of that art which is the most   
familiar and the most perfect expression
 of the faculty itself4 ,it is          
necessary1 however1 to make the circle  
still narrower1 and to determine the    
distinction between measured and        
unmeasured language2 for the popular    
division into prose and verse is        
inadmissible in accurate philosophy4    
,sounds as well as thoughts have        
relation both between each other and    
towards that which they represent1 and a
 perception of the order of those       
relations has always been found         
connected with a perception of the order
 of the relations of thoughts4 ,hence   
the language of poets has ever affected 
a certain uniform and harmonious        
recurrence of sound1 without which it   
were not poetry1 and which is scarcely  
less indispensable to the communication 
of its influence1 than the words        

themselves1 without reference to that   
peculiar order4 ,hence the vanity of    
translation2 it were as wise to cast a  
violet into a crucible that you might   
discover the formal principle of its    
colour and odour1 as seek to transfuse  
from one language into another the      
creations of a poet4 ,the plant must    
spring again from its seed1 or it will  
bear no flower--and this is the burthen 
of the curse of ,babel4  ,an observation
 of the regular mode of the recurrence  
of harmony in the language of poetical  
minds1 together with its relation to    
music1 produced metre1 or a certain     
system of traditional forms of harmony  
and language4 ,yet it is by no means    
essential that a poet should accommodate
 his language to this traditional form1 
so that the harmony1 which is its       
spirit1 be observed4 ,the practice is   
indeed convenient and popular1 and to be
 preferred1 especially in such          
composition as includes much action3 but
 every great poet must inevitably       

innovate upon the example of his        
predecessors in the exact structure of  
his peculiar versification4 ,the        
distinction between poets and prose     
writers is a vulgar error4 ,the         
distinction between philosophers and    
poets has been anticipated4 ,plato was  
essentially a poet--the truth and       
splendour of his imagery1 and the melody
 of his language1 are the most intense  
that it is possible to conceive4 ,he    
rejected the measure of the epic1       
dramatic1 and lyrical forms1 because he 
sought to kindle a harmony in thoughts  
divested of shape and action1 and he    
forbore to invent any regular plan of   
rhythm which would include1 under       
determinate forms1 the varied pauses of 
his style4 ,cicero sought to imitate the
 cadence of his periods1 but with little
 success4 ,lord ,bacon was a poet4      
,footnote3 ,see the ,filum ,labyrinthi1 
and the ,essay on ,death particularly4  
,his language has a sweet and majestic  
rhythm1 which satisfies the sense1 no   

less than the almost superhuman wisdom  
of his philosophy satisfies the         
intellect2 it is a strain which         
distends1 and then bursts the           
circumference of the reader's mind1 and 
pours itself forth together with it into
 the universal element with which it has
 perpetual sympathy4 ,all the authors of
 revolutions in opinion are not only    
necessarily poets as they are inventors1
 nor even as their words unveil the     
permanent analogy of things by images   
which participate in the life of truth2 
but as their periods are harmonious and 
rhythmical1 and contain in themselves   
the elements of verse2 being the echo of
 the eternal music4 ,nor are those      
supreme poets1 who have employed        
traditional forms of rhythm on account  
of the form and action of their         
subjects1 less capable of perceiving and
 teaching the truth of things1 than     
those who have omitted that form4       
,shakespeare1 ,dante1 and ,milton 7to   
confine ourselves to modern writers7 are

 philosophers of the very loftiest      
power4  ,a poem is the very image of    
life expressed in its eternal truth4    
,there is this difference between a     
story and a poem1 that a story is a     
catalogue of detached facts1 which have 
no other connexion than time1 place1    
circumstance1 cause and effect2 the     
other is the creation of actions        
according to the unchangeable forms of  
human nature1 as existing in the mind of
 the ,creator1 which is itself the image
 of all other minds4 ,the one is        
partial1 and applies only to a definite 
period of time1 and a certain           
combination of events which can never   
again recur2 the other is universal1 and
 contains within itself the germ of a   
relation to whatever motives or actions 
have place in the possible varieties of 
human nature4 ,time1 which destroys the 
beauty and the use of the story of      
particular facts1 stripped of the poetry
 which should invest them1 augments that
 of poetry1 and for ever develops new   

and wonderful applications of the       
eternal truth which it contains4 ,hence 
epitomes have been called the moths of  
just history2 they eat out the poetry of
 it4 ,a story of particular facts is as 
a mirror which obscures and distorts    
that which should be beautiful3 poetry  
is a mirror which makes beautiful that  
which is distorted4  ,the parts of a    
composition may be poetical1 without the
 composition as a whole being a poem4 ,a
 single sentence may be a considered as 
a whole1 though it may be found in the  
midst of a series of unassimilated      
portions3 a single word even may be a   
spark of inextinguishable thought4 ,and 
thus all the great historians1          
,herodotus1 ,plutarch1 ,livy1 were      
poets2 and although1 the plan of these  
writers1 especially that of ,livy1      
restrained them2 from developing this   
faculty in its highest degree1 they made
 copious and ample amends for their     
subjection1 by filling all the          
interstices of their subjects with      

living images4  ,having determined what 
is poetry1 and who are poets1 let us    
proceed to estimate its effects upon    
society4  ,poetry is ever accompanied   
with pleasure3 all spirits on which it  
falls open themselves to receive the    
wisdom which is mingled with its        
delight4 ,in the infancy of the world1  
neither poets themselves nor their      
auditors are fully aware of the         
excellence of poetry3 for it acts in a  
divine and unapprehended manner1 beyond 
and above consciousness2 and it is      
reserved for future generations to      
contemplate and measure the mighty cause
 and effect in all the strength and     
splendour of their union4 ,even in      
modern times1 no living poet ever       
arrived at the fullness of his fame2 the
 jury which sits in judgement upon a    
poet1 belonging as he does to all time1 
must be composed of his peers3 it must  
be impanelled by ,time from the         
selectest of the wise of many           
generations4 ,a poet is a nightingale1  

who sits in darkness and sings to cheer 
its own solitude with sweet sounds2 his 
auditors are as men entranced by the    
melody of an unseen musician1 who feel  
that they are moved and softened1 yet   
know not whence or why4 ,the poems of   
,homer and his contemporaries were the  
delight of infant ,greece2 they were the
 elements of that social system which is
 the column upon which all succeeding   
civilization has reposed4 ,homer        
embodied the ideal perfection of his age
 in human character2 nor can we doubt   
that those who read his verses were     
awakened to an ambition of becoming like
 to ,achilles1 ,hector1 and ,ulysses the
 truth and beauty of friendship1        
patriotism1 and persevering devotion to 
an object1 were unveiled to the depths  
in these immortal creations3 the        
sentiments of the auditors must have    
been refined and enlarged by a sympathy 
with such great and lovely              
impersonations1 until from admiring they
 imitated1 and from imitation they      

identified themselves with the objects  
of their admiration4 ,nor let it be     
objected1 that these characters are     
remote from moral perfection1 and that  
they can by no means be considered as   
edifying patterns for general imitation4
 ,every epoch1 under names more or less 
specious1 has deified its peculiar      
errors2 ,revenge is the naked idol of   
the worship of a semi-barbarous age2 and
 ,self-deceit is the veiled image of    
unknown evil1 before which luxury and   
satiety lie prostrate4 ,but a poet      
considers the vices of his              
contemporaries as a temporary dress in  
which his creations must be arrayed1 and
 which cover without concealing the     
eternal proportions of their beauty4 ,an
 epic or dramatic personage is          
understood to wear them around his soul1
 as he may the ancient armour or the    
modern uniform around his body2 whilst  
it is easy to conceive a dress more     
graceful than either4 ,the beauty of the
 internal nature cannot be so far       

concealed by its accidental vesture1 but
 that the spirit of its form shall      
communicate itself to the very disguise1
 and indicate the shape it hides from   
the manner in which it is worn4 ,a      
majestic form and graceful motions will 
express themselves through the most     
barbarous and tasteless costume4 ,few   
poets of the highest class have chosen  
to exhibit the beauty of their          
conceptions in its naked truth and      
splendour2 and it is doubtful whether   
the alloy of costume1 habit1 c41 be not 
necessary to temper this planetary music
 for mortal ears4  ,the whole objection1
 however1 of the immorality of poetry   
rests upon a misconception of the manner
 in which poetry acts to produce the    
moral improvement of man4 ,ethical      
science arranges the elements which     
poetry has created1 and propounds       
schemes and proposes examples of civil  
and domestic life3 nor is it for want of
 admirable doctrines that men hate1 and 
despise1 and censure1 and deceive1 and  

subjugate one another4 ,but poetry acts 
in another and diviner manner4 ,it      
awakens and enlarges the mind itself by 
rendering it the receptacle of a        
thousand unapprehended combinations of  
thought4 ,poetry lifts the veil from the
 hidden beauty of the world1 and makes  
familiar objects be as if they were not 
familiar2 it reproduces all that it     
represents1 and the impersonations      
clothed in its ,elysian light stand     
thenceforward in the minds of those who 
have once contemplated them as memorials
 of that gentle and exalted content     
which extends itself over all thoughts  
and actions with which it coexists4 ,the
 great secret of morals is love2 or a   
going out of our own nature1 and an     
identification of ourselves with the    
beautiful which exists in thought1      
action1 or person1 not our own4 ,a man1 
to be greatly good1 must imagine        
intensely and comprehensively2 he must  
put himself in the place of another and 
of many others2 the pains and pleasures 

of his species must become his own4 ,the
 great instrument of moral good is the  
imagination2 and poetry administers to  
the effect by acting upon the cause4    
,poetry enlarges the circumference of   
the imagination by replenishing it with 
thought of ever new delight1 which have 
the power of attracting and assimilating
 to their own nature all other thoughts1
 and which form new intervals and       
interstices whose void for ever craves  
fresh food4 ,poetry strengthens the     
faculty which is the organ of the moral 
nature of man1 in the same manner as    
exercise strengthens a limb4 ,a poet    
therefore would do ill to embody his own
 conceptions of right and wrong1 which  
are usually those of his place and time1
 in his poetical creations1 which       
participate in neither ,by this         
assumption of the inferior office of    
interpreting the effect in which perhaps
 after all he might acquit himself but  
imperfectly1 he would resign a glory in 
a participation in the cause4 ,there was

 little danger that ,homer1 or any of   
the eternal poets should have so far    
misunderstood themselves as to have     
abdicated this throne of their widest   
dominion4 ,those in whom the poetical   
faculty1 though great1 is less intense1 
as ,euripides1 ,lucan1 ,tasso1 ,spenser1
 have frequently affected a moral aim1  
and the effect of their poetry is       
diminished in exact proportion to the   
degree in which they compel us to advert
 to this purpose4   ,homer and the      
cyclic poets were followed at a certain 
interval by the dramatic and lyrical    
poets of ,athens1 who flourished        
contemporaneously with all that is most 
perfect in the kindred expressions of   
the poetical faculty2 architecture1     
painting1 music the dance1 sculpture1   
philosophy1 and1 we may add1 the forms  
of civil life4 ,for although the scheme 
of ,athenian society was deformed by    
many imperfections which the poetry     
existing in chivalry and ,christianity  
has erased from the habits and          

institutions of modern ,europe2 yet     
never at any other period has so much   
energy1 beauty1 and virtue1 been        
developed2 never was blind strength and 
stubborn form so disciplined and        
rendered subject to the will of man1 or 
that will less repugnant to the dictates
 of the beautiful and the true1 as      
during the century which preceded the   
death of ,socrates4 ,of no other epoch  
in the history of our species have we   
records and fragments stamped so visibly
 with the image of the divinity in man4 
,but it is poetry alone1 in form1 in    
action1 or in language1 which has       
rendered this epoch memorable above all 
others1 and the storehouse of examples  
to everlasting time4 ,for written poetry
 existed at that epoch simultaneously   
with the other arts1 and it is an idle  
inquiry to demand which gave and which  
received the light1 which all1 as from a
 common focus1 have scattered over the  
darkest periods of succeeding time4 ,we 
know no more of cause and effect than a 

constant conjunction of events3 poetry  
is ever found to coexist with whatever  
other arts contribute to the happiness  
and perfection of man4 ,i appeal to what
 has already been established to        
distinguish between the cause and the   
effect4  ,it was at the period here     
adverted to1 that the drama had its     
birth2 and however a succeeding writer  
may have equalled or surpassed those few
 great specimens of the ,athenian drama 
which have been preserved to us1 it is  
indisputable that the art itself never  
was understood or practised according to
 the true philosophy of it1 as at       
,athens4 ,for the ,athenians employed   
language1 action1 music1 painting1 the  
dance1 and religious institutions1 to   
produce a common effect in the          
representation of the highest idealisms 
of passion and of power2 each division  
in the art was made perfect in its kind 
by artists of the most consummate skill1
 and was disciplined into a beautiful   
proportion and unity one towards the    

other4 ,on the modern stage a few only  
of the elements capable of expressing   
the image of the poet's conception are  
employed at once4 ,we have tragedy      
without music and dancing2 and music and
 dancing without the highest            
impersonations of which they are the fit
 accompaniment1 and both without        
religion and solemnity4 ,religious      
institution has indeed been usually     
banished from the stage4 ,our system of 
divesting the actor's face of a mask1 on
 which the many expressions appropriated
 to his dramatic character might be     
moulded into one permanent and          
unchanging expression1 is favourable    
only to a partial and inharmonious      
effect2 it is fit for nothing but a     
monologue1 where all the attention may  
be directed to some great master of     
ideal mimicry4 ,the modern practice of  
blending comedy with tragedy1 though    
liable to great abuse in point of       
practice1 is undoubtedly an extension of
 the dramatic circle2 but the comedy    

should be as in ,,king ,,lear1          
universal1 ideal1 and sublime4 ,it is   
perhaps the intervention of this        
principle which determines the balance  
in favour of ,,king ,,lear against the  
,,oedipus ,,tyrannus or the ,,agamemnon1
 or1 if you will1 the trilogies with    
which they are connected2 unless the    
intense power of the choral poetry1     
especially that of the latter1 should be
 considered as restoring the            
equilibrium4 ,,king ,,lear1 if it can   
sustain this comparison1 may be judged  
to be the most perfect specimen of the  
dramatic art existing in the world2 in  
spite of the narrow conditions to which 
the poet was subjected by the ignorance 
of the philosophy of the drama which has
 prevailed in modern ,europe4 ,calderon1
 in his religious ,,autos1 has attempted
 to fulfil some of the high conditions  
of dramatic representation neglected by 
,shakespeare2 such as the establishing a
 relation between the drama and religion
 and the accommodating them to music and

 dancing2 but he omits the observation  
of conditions still more important1 and 
more is lost than gained by the         
substitution of the rigidly-defined and 
ever-repeated idealisms of a distorted  
superstition for the living             
impersonations of the truth of human    
passion4  ,but ,i digress4--,the        
connexion of scenic exhibitions with the
 improvement or corruption of the       
manners of men1 has been universally    
recognized3 in other words1 the presence
 or absence of poetry in its most       
perfect and universal form1 has been    
found to be connected with good and evil
 in conduct or habit4 ,the corruption   
which has been imputed to the drama as  
an effect1 begins when the poetry       
employed in its constitution ends3 ,i   
appeal to the history of manners whether
 the periods of the growth of the one   
and the decline of the other have not   
corresponded with an exactness equal to 
any example of moral cause and effect4  
,the drama at ,athens1 or wheresoever   

else it may have approached to its      
perfection1 ever co-existed with the    
moral and intellectual greatness of the 
age4 ,the tragedies of the ,athenian    
poets are as mirrors in which the       
spectator beholds himself1 under a thin 
disguise of circumstance1 stript of all 
but that ideal perfection and energy    
which every one feels to be the internal
 type of all that he loves1 admires1 and
 would become4 ,the imagination is      
enlarged by a sympathy with pains and   
passions so mighty1 that they distend in
 their conception the capacity of that  
by which they are conceived2 the good   
affections are strengthened by pity1    
indignation1 terror1 and sorrow2 and an 
exalted calm is prolonged from the      
satiety of this high exercise of them   
into the tumult of familiar life3 even  
crime is disarmed of half its horror and
 all its contagion by being represented 
as the fatal consequence of the         
unfathomable agencies of nature2 error  
is thus divested of its wilfulness2 men 

can no longer cherish it as the creation
 of their choice4 ,in a drama of the    
highest order there is little food for  
censure or hatred2 it teaches rather    
self-knowledge and self-respect4        
,neither the eye nor the mind can see   
itself1 unless reflected upon that which
 it resembles4 ,the drama1 so long as it
 continues to express poetry1 is as a   
prismatic and many-sided mirror1 which  
collects the brightest rays of human    
nature and divides and reproduces them  
from the simplicity of these elementary 
forms1 and touches them with majesty and
 beauty1 and multiplies all that it     
reflects1 and endows it with the power  
of propagating its like wherever it may 
fall4  ,but in periods of the decay of  
social life1 the drama sympathizes with 
that decay4 ,tragedy becomes a cold     
imitation of the form of the great      
masterpieces of antiquity1 divested of  
all harmonious accompaniment of the     
kindred arts2 and often the very form   
misunderstood1 or a weak attempt to     

teach certain doctrines1 which the      
writer considers as moral truths2 and   
which are usually no more than specious 
flatteries of some gross vice or        
weakness1 with which the author1 in     
common with his auditors1 are infected4 
,hence what has been called the         
classical and domestic drama4 ,addison's
 ,,cato is a specimen of the one2 and   
would it were not superfluous to cite   
examples of the other6 ,to such purposes
 poetry cannot be made subservient4     
,poetry is a sword of lightning1 ever   
unsheathed1 which consumes the scabbard 
that would contain it4 ,and thus we     
observe that all dramatic writings of   
this nature are unimaginative in a      
singular degree2 they affect sentiment  
and passion1 which1 divested of         
imagination1 are other names for caprice
 and appetite4 ,the period in our own   
history of the grossest degradation of  
the drama is the reign of ,charles ,,ii1
 when all forms in which poetry had been
 accustomed to be expressed became hymns

 to the triumph of kingly power over    
liberty and virtue4 ,milton stood alone 
illuminating an age unworthy of him4 ,at
 such periods the calculating principle 
pervades all the forms of dramatic      
exhibition1 and poetry ceases to be     
expressed upon them4 ,comedy loses its  
ideal universality3 wit succeeds to     
humour2 we laugh from self-complacency  
and triumph1 instead of pleasure2       
malignity1 sarcasm1 and contempt1       
succeed to sympathetic merriment2 we    
hardly laugh1 but we ,obscenity1 which  
is ever blasphemy against the divine    
beauty in life1 becomes1 from the very  
veil which it assumes1 more active if   
less disgusting3 it is a monster for    
which the corruption of society for ever
 brings forth new food1 which it devours
 in secret4  ,the drama being that form 
under which a greater number of modes of
 expression of poetry are susceptible of
 being combined than any other1 the     
connexion of poetry and social good is  
more observable in the drama than in    

whatever other form4 ,and it is         
indisputable that the highest perfection
 of human society has ever corresponded 
with the highest dramatic excellence2   
and that the corruption or the          
extinction of the drama in a nation     
where it has once flourished1 is a mark 
of a corruption of manners and an       
extinction of the energies which sustain
 the soul of social life4 ,but1 as      
,machiavelli says of political          
institutions1 that life may be preserved
 and renewed1 if men should arise       
capable of bringing back the drama to   
its principles4 ,and this is true with  
respect to poetry in its most extended  
sense3 all language1 institution and    
form1 require not only to be produced   
but to be sustained3 the office and     
character of a poet participates in the 
divine nature as regards providence1 no 
less than as regards creation4  ,civil  
war1 the spoils of ,asia1 and the fatal 
predominance first of the ,macedonian1  
and then of the ,roman arms1 were so    

many symbols of the extinction or       
suspension of the creative faculty in   
,greece4 ,the bucolic writers1 who found
 patronage under the lettered tyrants of
 ,sicily and ,egypt1 were the latest    
representatives of its most glorious    
reign4 ,their poetry is intensely       
melodious1 like the odour of the        
tuberose1 it overcomes and sickens the  
spirit with excess of sweetness2 whilst 
the poetry of the preceding age was as a
 meadow-gale of ,june1 which mingles the
 fragrance all the flowers of the field1
 and adds a quickening and harmonizing  
spirit of its own1 which endows the     
sense with a power of sustaining its    
extreme delight4 ,the bucolic and erotic
 delicacy in written poetry is          
correlative with that softness in       
statuary1 music and the kindred arts1   
and even in manners and institutions1   
which distinguished the epoch to which  
,i now refer4 ,nor is it the poetical   
faculty itself1 or any misapplication of
 it1 to which this want of harmony is to

 be imputed4 ,an equal sensibility to   
the influence of the senses and the     
affections is to be found in the        
writings of ,homer and ,sophocles3 the  
former1 especially1 has clothed sensual 
and pathetic images with irresistible   
attractions4 ,their superiority over    
these succeeding writers consists in the
 presence of those thoughts which belong
 to the inner faculties of our nature1  
not in the absence of those which are   
connected with the external3 their      
incomparable perfection consists in a   
harmony of the union of all4  ,it is not
 what the erotic poets have1 but what   
they have not1 in which their           
imperfection consists4 ,it is not       
inasmuch as they were poets1 but        
inasmuch as they were not poets1 that   
they can be considered with any         
plausibility as connected with the      
corruption of their age4 ,had that      
corruption availed so as to extinguish  
in them the sensibility to pleasure1    
passion1 and natural scenery1 which is  

imputed to them as an imperfection1 the 
last triumph of evil would have been    
achieved4 ,for the end of social        
corruption is to destroy all sensibility
 to pleasure2 and1 therefore1 it is     
corruption4 ,it begins at the           
imagination and the intellect as at the 
core1 and distributes itself thence as a
 paralysing venom1 through the          
affections into the very appetites1     
until all become a torpid mass in which 
hardly sense survives4 ,at the approach 
of such a period1 poetry ever addresses 
itself to those faculties which are the 
last to be destroyed1 and its voice is  
heard1 like the footsteps of ,astraea1  
departing from the world4 ,poetry ever  
communicates all the pleasure which men 
are capable of receiving3 it is ever    
still the light of life2 the source of  
whatever of beautiful or generous or    
true can have place in an evil time4 ,it
 will readily be confessed that those   
among the luxurious citizens of         
,syracuse and ,alexandria1 who were     

delighted with the poems of ,theocritus1
 were less cold1 cruel1 and sensual than
 the remnant of their tribe4 ,but       
corruption must utterly have destroyed  
the fabric of human society before      
poetry can ever cease4 ,the sacred links
 of that chain have never been entirely 
disjoined1 which descending through the 
minds of many men is attached to those  
great minds1 whence as from a magnet the
 invisible effluence is sent forth1     
which at once connects1 animates1 and   
sustains the life of all4 ,it is the    
faculty which contains within itself the
 seeds at once of its own and of social 
renovation4  ,and let us not            
circumscribe the effects of the bucolic 
and erotic poetry within the limits of  
the sensibility of those to whom it was 
addressed4 ,they may have perceived the 
beauty of those immortal compositions1  
simply as fragments and isolated        
portions3 those who are more finely     
organized1 or born in a happier age1 may
 recognize them as episodes to that     

great poem1 which all poets1 like the   
cooperating thoughts of one great mind1 
have built up since the beginning of the
 world4  ,the same revolutions within a 
narrower sphere had place in ancient    
,rome2 but the actions and forms of its 
social life never seem to have been     
perfectly saturated with the poetical   
element4 ,the ,romans appear to have    
considered the ,greeks as the selectest 
treasuries of the selectest forms of    
manners and of nature1 and to have      
abstained from creating in measured     
language1 sculpture1 music1 or          
architecture1 anything which might bear 
a particular relation to their own      
condition1 whilst it should bear a      
general one to the universal            
constitution of the world4 ,but we judge
 from partial evidence1 and we judge    
perhaps partially ,ennius1 ,varro1      
,pacuvius1 and ,accius1 all great poets1
 have been lost4 ,lucretius is in the   
highest1 and ,virgil in a very high     
sense1 a creator4 ,the chosen delicacy  

of expressions of the latter1 are as a  
mist of light which conceal from us the 
intense and exceeding truth of his      
conceptions of nature4 ,livy is instinct
 with poetry4 ,yet ,horace1 ,catullus1  
,ovid1 and generally the other great    
writers of the ,virgilian age1 saw man  
and nature in the mirror of ,greece4    
,the institutions also1 and the religion
 of ,rome were less poetical than those 
of ,greece1 as the shadow is less vivid 
than the substance4 ,hence poetry in    
,rome1 seemed to follow1 rather than    
accompany1 the perfection of political  
and domestic society4 ,the true poetry  
of ,rome lived in its institutions2 for 
whatever of beautiful1 true1 and        
majestic1 they contained1 could have    
sprung only from the faculty which      
creates the order in which they consist4
 ,the life of ,camillus1 the death of   
,regulus2 the expectation of the        
senators1 in their godlike state1 of the
 victorious ,gauls3 the refusal of the  
republic to make peace with ,hannibal1  

after the battle of ,cannae1 were not   
the consequences of a refined           
calculation of the probable personal    
advantage to result from such a rhythm  
and order in the shows of life1 to those
 who were at once the poets and the     
actors of these immortal dramas4 ,the   
imagination beholding the beauty of this
 order1 created it out of itself        
according to its own idea2 the          
consequence was empire1 and the reward  
everliving fame4 ,these things are not  
the less poetry quid carent vate sacro4 
,they are the episodes of that cyclic   
poem written by ,time upon the memories 
of men4 ,the ,past1 like an inspired    
rhapsodist1 fills the theatre of        
everlasting generations with their      
harmony4  ,at length the ancient system 
of religion and manners had fulfilled   
the circle of its revolutions4 ,and the 
world would have fallen into utter      
anarchy and darkness1 but that there    
were found poets among the authors of   
the ,christian and chivalric systems of 

manners and religion1 who created forms 
of opinion and action never before      
conceived2 which1 copied into the       
imaginations of men1 become as generals 
to the bewildered armies of their       
thoughts4 ,it is foreign to the present 
purpose to touch upon the evil produced 
by these systems3 except that we        
protest1 on the ground of the principles
 already established1 that no portion of
 it can be attributed to the poetry they
 contain4  ,it is probable that the     
poetry of ,moses1 ,job1 ,david1         
,solomon1 and ,isaiah1 had produced a   
great effect upon the mind of ,jesus and
 his disciples4 ,the scattered fragments
 preserved to us by the biographers of  
this extraordinary person1 are all      
instinct with the most vivid poetry4    
,but his doctrines seem to have been    
quickly distorted4 ,at a certain period 
after the prevalence of a system of     
opinions founded upon those promulgated 
by him1 the three forms into which      
,plato had distributed the faculties of 

mind underwent a sort of apotheosis1 and
 became the object of the worship of the
 civilized world4 ,here it is to be     
confessed that ',light seems to         
thicken1' and         ,the crow makes   
wing to the rooky wood1        ,good    
things of day begin to droop and drowse1
        ,and night's black agents to    
their preys do rouze4  ,but mark how    
beautiful an order has sprung from the  
dust and blood of this fierce chaos6 how
 the world1 as from a resurrection1     
balancing itself on the golden wings of 
knowledge and of hope1 has reassumed its
 yet unwearied flight into the heaven of
 time4 ,listen to the music1 unheard by 
outward ears1 which is as a ceaseless   
and invisible wind1 nourishing its      
everlasting course with strength and    
swiftness4  ,the poetry in the doctrines
 of ,jesus ,christ1 and the mythology   
and institutions of the ,celtic         
conquerors of the ,roman empire1        
outlived the darkness and the           
convulsions connected with their growth 

and victory1 and blended themselves in a
 new fabric of manners and opinion4 ,it 
is an error to impute the ignorance of  
the dark ages to the ,christian         
doctrines or the predominance of the    
,celtic nations4 ,whatever of evil their
 agencies may have contained sprang from
 the extinction of the poetical         
principle1 connected with the progress  
of despotism and superstition4 ,men1    
from causes too intricate to be here    
discussed1 had become insensible and    
selfish3 their own will had become      
feeble1 and yet they were its slaves1   
and thence the slaves of the will of    
others3 lust1 fear1 avarice1 cruelty1   
and fraud1 characterized a race amongst 
whom no one was to be found capable of  
,,creating in form1 language1 or        
institution4 ,the moral anomalies of    
such a state of society are not justly  
to be charged upon any class of events  
immediately connected with them1 and    
those events are most entitled to our   
approbation which could dissolve it most

 expeditiously4 ,it is unfortunate for  
those who cannot distinguish words from 
thoughts1 that many of these anomalies  
have been incorporated into our popular 
religion4  ,it was not until the        
eleventh century that the effects of the
 poetry of the ,christian and chivalric 
systems began to manifest themselves4   
,the principle of equality had been     
discovered and applied by ,plato in his 
,republic1 as the theoretical rule of   
the mode in which the materials of      
pleasure and of power1 produced by the  
common skill and labour of human beings1
 ought to be distributed among them4    
,the limitations of this rule were      
asserted by him to be determined only by
 the sensibility of each1 or the utility
 to result to all4 ,plato1 following the
 doctrines of ,timaeus and ,pythagoras1 
taught also a moral and intellectual    
system of doctrine1 comprehending at    
once the past1 the present1 and the     
future condition of man4 ,jesus ,christ 
divulged the sacred and eternal truths  

contained in these views to mankind1 and
 ,christianity1 in its abstract purity1 
became the exoteric expression of the   
esoteric doctrines of the poetry and    
wisdom of antiquity4 ,the incorporation 
of the ,celtic nations with the         
exhausted population of the south1      
impressed upon it the figure of the     
poetry existing in their mythology and  
institutions4 ,the result was a sum of  
the action and reaction of all the      
causes included in it2 for it may be    
assumed as a maxim that no nation or    
religion can supersede any other without
 incorporating into itself a portion of 
that which it supersedes4 ,the abolition
 of personal and domestic slavery1 and  
the emancipation of women from a great  
part of the degrading restraints of     
antiquity1 were among the consequences  
of these events4  ,the abolition of     
personal slavery is the basis of the    
highest political hope that it can enter
 into the mind of man to conceive4 ,the 
freedom of women produced the poetry of 

sexual love4  ,love became a religion1  
the idols of whose worship were ever    
present4 ,it was as if the statues of   
,apollo and the ,muses had been endowed 
with life and motion1 and had walked    
forth among their worshippers2 so that  
earth became peopled by the inhabitants 
of a diviner world4 ,the familiar       
appearance and proceedings of life      
became wonderful and heavenly1 and a    
paradise was created as out of the      
wrecks of ,eden4 ,and as this creation  
itself is poetry1 so its creators were  
poets2 and language was the instrument  
of their art3 ',galeotto fu il libro1 e 
chi lo scrisse4' ,the ,provencal        
,trouveurs1 or inventors1 preceded      
,petrarch1 whose verses are as spells1  
which unseal the inmost enchanted       
fountains of the delight which is in the
 grief of love4 ,it is impossible to    
feel them without becoming a portion of 
that beauty which we contemplate3 it    
were superfluous to explain how the     
gentleness and the elevation of mind    

connected with these sacred emotions can
 render men more amiable1 more generous 
and wise1 and lift them out of the dull 
vapours of the little world of self4    
,dante understood the secret things of  
love even more than ,petrarch4 ,his     
,vita ,nuova is an inexhaustible        
fountain of purity of sentiment and     
language3 it is the idealized history of
 that period1 and those intervals of his
 life which were dedicated to love4 ,his
 apotheosis of ,beatrice in ,paradise1  
and the gradations of his own love and  
her loveliness1 by which as by steps he 
feigns himself to have ascended to the  
throne of the ,supreme ,cause1 is the   
most glorious imagination of modern     
poetry4 ,the acutest critics have justly
 reversed the judgement of the vulgar1  
and the order of the great acts of the  
',divine ,drama'1 in the measure of the 
admiration which they accord to the     
,hell1 ,purgatory1 and ,paradise4 ,the  
latter is a perpetual hymn of           
everlasting love4 ,love1 which found a  

worthy poet in ,plato alone of all the  
ancients1 has been celebrated by a      
chorus of the greatest writers of the   
renovated world2 and the music has      
penetrated the caverns of society1 and  
its echoes still drown the dissonance of
 arms and superstition4 ,at successive  
intervals1 ,ariosto1 ,tasso1            
,shakespeare1 ,spenser1 ,calderon1      
,rousseau1 and the great writers of our 
own age1 have celebrated the dominion of
 love1 planting as it were trophies in  
the human mind of that sublimest victory
 over sensuality and force4 ,the true   
relation borne to each other by the     
sexes into which human kind is          
distributed1 has become less            
misunderstood2 and if the error which   
confounded diversity with inequality of 
the powers of the two sexes has been    
partially recognized in the opinions and
 institutions of modern ,europe1 we owe 
this great benefit to the worship of    
which chivalry was the law1 and poets   
the prophets4  ,the poetry of ,dante may

 be considered as the bridge thrown over
 the stream of time1 which unites the   
modern and ancient world4 ,the distorted
 notions of invisible things which      
,dante and his rival ,milton have       
idealized1 are merely the mask and the  
mantle in which these great poets walk  
through eternity enveloped and          
disguised4 ,it is a difficult question  
to determine how far they were conscious
 of the distinction which must have     
subsisted in their minds between their  
own creeds and that of the people4      
,dante at least appears to wish to mark 
the full extent of it by placing        
,riphaeus1 whom ,virgil calls           
justissimns unus1 in ,paradise1 and     
observing a most heretical caprice in   
his distribution of rewards and         
punishments4 ,and ,milton's poem        
contains within itself a philosophical  
refutation of that system1 of which by a
 strange and natural antithesis1 it has 
been a chief popular support4 ,nothing  
can exceed the energy and magnificence  

of the character of ,satan as expressed 
in ,paradise ,lost4 ,it is a mistake to 
suppose that he could ever have been    
intended for the popular personification
 of evil4 ,implacable hate1 patient     
cunning1 and a sleepless refinement of  
device to inflict the extremest anguish 
on an enemy1 these things are evil2 and1
 although venial in a slave are not to  
be forgiven in a tyrant2 although       
redeemed by much that ennobles his      
defeat in one subdued1 are marked by all
 that dishonours his conquest in the    
victor4 ,milton's ,devil as a moral     
being is as far superior to his ,god1 as
 one who perseveres in some purpose     
which he has conceived to be excellent  
in spite of adversity and torture1 is to
 one who in the cold security of        
undoubted triumph inflicts the most     
horrible revenge upon his enemy1 not    
from any mistaken notion of inducing him
 to repent of a perseverance in enmity1 
but with the alleged design of          
exasperating him to deserve new         

torments4 ,milton has so far violated   
the popular creed 7if this shall be     
judged to be a violation7 as to have    
alleged no superiority of moral virtue  
to his ,god over his ,devil4 ,and this  
bold neglect of a direct moral purpose  
is the most decisive proof of the       
supremacy of ,milton's genius4  ,he     
mingled as it were the elements of human
 nature as colours upon a single pallet1
 and arranged them in the composition of
 his great picture according to the laws
 of epic truth2 that is1 according to   
the laws of that principle by which a   
series of actions of the external       
universe and of intelligent and ethical 
beings is calculated to excite the      
sympathy of succeeding generations of   
mankind4 ,the ,divina ,commedia and     
,paradise ,lost have conferred upon     
modern mythology a systematic form2 and 
when change and time shall have added   
one more superstition to the mass of    
those which have arisen and decayed upon
 the earth1 commentators will be        

learnedly employed in elucidating the   
religion of ancestral ,europe1 only not 
utterly forgotten because it will have  
been stamped with the eternity of       
genius4  ,homer was the first and ,dante
 the second epic poet3 that is1 the     
second poet1 the series of whose        
creations bore a defined and            
intelligible relation to the knowledge  
and sentiment and religion of the age in
 which he lived1 and of the ages which  
followed it3 developing itself in       
correspondence with their development4  
,for ,lucretius had limed the wings of  
his swift spirit in the dregs of the    
sensible world2 and ,virgil1 with a     
modesty that ill became his genius1 had 
affected the fame of an imitator1 even  
whilst he created anew all that he      
copied2 and none among the flock of     
mock-birds1 though their notes were     
sweet1 ,apollonius ,rhodius1 ,quintus   
,calaber1 ,nonnus1 ,lucan1 ,statius1 or 
,claudian1 have sought even to fulfil a 
single condition of epic truth4 ,milton 

was the third epic poet4 ,for if the    
title of epic in its highest sense be   
refused to the ,aeneid1 still less can  
it be conceded to the ,orlando ,furioso1
 the ,gerusalemme ,liberata1 the        
,lusiad1 or the ,fairy ,queen4  ,dante  
and ,milton were both deeply penetrated 
with the ancient religion of the        
civilized world2 and its spirit exists  
in their poetry probably in the same    
proportion as its forms survived in the 
unreformed worship of modern ,europe4   
,the one preceded and the other followed
 the ,reformation at almost equal       
intervals4 ,dante was the first         
religious reformer1 and ,luther         
surpassed him rather in the rudeness and
 acrimony1 than in the boldness of his  
censures of papal usurpation4 ,dante was
 the first awakener of entranced        
,europe2 he created a language1 in      
itself music and persuasion1 out of a   
chaos of inharmonious barbarisms4 ,he   
was the congregator of those great      
spirits who presided over the           

resurrection of learning2 the ,lucifer  
of that starry flock which in the       
thirteenth century shone forth from     
republican ,italy1 as from a heaven1    
into the darkness of the benighted      
world4 ,his very words are instinct with
 spirit2 each is as a spark1 a burning  
atom of inextinguishable thought2 and   
many yet lie covered in the ashes of    
their birth1 and pregnant with a        
lightning which has yet found no        
conductor4 ,all high poetry is infinite2
 it is as the first acorn1 which        
contained all oaks potentially4 ,veil   
after veil may be undrawn1 and the      
inmost naked beauty of the meaning never
 exposed4 ,a great poem is a fountain   
for ever overflowing with the waters of 
wisdom and delight2 and after one person
 and one age has exhausted all its      
divine effluence which their peculiar   
relations enable them to share1 another 
and yet another succeeds1 and new       
relations are ever developed1 the source
 of an unforeseen and an unconceived    

delight4  ,the age immediately          
succeeding to that of ,dante1 ,petrarch1
 and ,boccaccio1 was characterized by a 
revival of painting1 sculpture1 and     
architecture4 ,chaucer caught the sacred
 inspiration1 and the superstructure of 
,english literature is based upon the   
materials of ,italian invention4  ,but  
let us not be betrayed from a defence   
into a critical history of poetry and   
its influence on society4 ,be it enough 
to have pointed out the effects of      
poets1 in the large and true sense of   
the word1 upon their own and all        
succeeding times4  ,but poets have been 
challenged to resign the civic crown to 
reasoners and mechanists1 on another    
plea4 ,it is admitted that the exercise 
of the imagination is most delightful1  
but it is alleged that that of reason is
 more useful4 ,let us examine as the    
grounds of this distinction1 what is    
here meant by utility4 ,pleasure or     
good1 in a general sense1 is that which 
the consciousness of a sensitive and    

intelligent being seeks1 and in which1  
when found1 it acquiesces4 ,there are   
two kinds of pleasure1 one durable1     
universal and permanent2 the other      
transitory and particular4 ,utility may 
either express the means of producing   
the former or the latter4 ,in the former
 sense1 whatever strengthens and        
purifies the affections1 enlarges the   
imagination1 and adds spirit to sense1  
is useful4 ,but a narrower meaning may  
be assigned to the word utility1        
confining it to express that which      
banishes the importunity of the wants of
 our animal nature1 the surrounding men 
with security of life1 the dispersing   
the grosser delusions of superstition1  
and the conciliating such a degree of   
mutual forbearance among men as may     
consist with the motives of personal    
advantage4  ,undoubtedly the promoters  
of utility1 in this limited sense1 have 
their appointed office in society4 ,they
 follow the footsteps of poets1 and copy
 the sketches of their creations into   

the book of common life4 ,they make     
space1 and give time4 ,their exertions  
are of the highest value1 so long as    
they confine their administration of the
 concerns of the inferior powers of our 
nature within the limits due to the     
superior ones4 ,but whilst the sceptic  
destroys gross superstitions1 let him   
spare to deface1 as some of the ,french 
writers have defaced1 the eternal truths
 charactered upon the imaginations of   
men4 ,whilst the mechanist abridges1 and
 the political economist combines       
labour1 let them beware that their      
speculations1 for want of correspondence
 with those first principles which      
belong to the imagination1 do not tend1 
as they have in modern ,england1 to     
exasperate at once the extremes of      
luxury and want4 ,they have exemplified 
the saying1 ',to him that hath1 more    
shall be given2 and from him that hath  
not1 the little that he hath shall be   
taken away4' ,the rich have become      
richer1 and the poor have become poorer2

 and the vessel of the state is driven  
between the ,scylla and ,charybdis of   
anarchy and despotism4 ,such are the    
effects which must ever flow from an    
unmitigated exercise of the calculating 
faculty4  ,it is difficult to define    
pleasure in its highest sense2 the      
definition involving a number of        
apparent paradoxes4 ,for1 from an       
inexplicable defect of harmony in the   
constitution of human nature1 the pain  
of the inferior is frequently connected 
with the pleasures of the superior      
portions of our being4 ,sorrow1 terror1 
anguish1 despair itself1 are often the  
chosen expressions of an approximation  
to the highest good4 ,our sympathy in   
tragic fiction depends on this          
principle2 tragedy delights by affording
 a shadow of the pleasure which exists  
in pain4 ,this is the source also of the
 melancholy which is inseparable from   
the sweetest melody4 ,the pleasure that 
is in sorrow is sweeter than the        
pleasure of pleasure itself4 ,and hence 

the saying1 ',it is better to go to the 
house of mourning1 than to the house of 
mirth4' ,not that this highest species  
of pleasure is necessarily linked with  
pain4 ,the delight of love and          
friendship1 the ecstasy of the          
admiration of nature1 the joy of the    
perception and still more of the        
creation of poetry1 is often wholly     
unalloyed4  ,the production and         
assurance of pleasure in this highest   
sense is true utility4 ,those who       
produce and preserve this pleasure are  
poets or poetical philosophers4  ,the   
exertions of ,locke1 ,hume1 ,gibbon1    
,voltaire1 ,rousseau1 ,footnote3        
,although ,rousseau has been thus       
classed1 he was essentially a poet4 ,the
 others1 even ,voltaire1 were mere      
reasoners4 and their disciples1 in      
favour of oppressed and deluded         
humanity1 are entitled to the gratitude 
of mankind4 ,yet it is easy to calculate
 the degree of moral and intellectual   
improvement which the world would have  

exhibited1 had they never lived4 ,a     
little more nonsense would have been    
talked for a century or two2 and perhaps
 a few more men1 women1 and children1   
burnt as heretics4 ,we might not at this
 moment have been congratulating each   
other on the abolition of the           
,inquisition in ,spain4 ,but it exceeds 
all imagination to conceive what would  
have been the moral condition of the    
world if neither ,dante1 ,petrarch1     
,boccaccio1 ,chaucer1 ,shakespeare1     
,calderon1 ,lord ,bacon1 nor ,milton1   
had ever existed2 if ,raphael and       
,michael ,angelo had never been born2 if
 the ,hebrew poetry had never been      
translated2 if a revival of the study of
 ,greek literature had never taken      
place2 if no monuments of ancient       
sculpture had been handed down to us2   
and if the poetry of the religion of the
 ancient world had been extinguished    
together with its belief4 ,the human    
mind could never1 except by the         
intervention of these excitements1 have 

been awakened to the invention of the   
grosser sciences1 and that application  
of analytical reasoning to the          
aberrations of society1 which it is now 
attempted to exalt over the direct      
expression of the inventive and creative
 faculty itself4  ,we have more moral1  
political and historical wisdom1 than we
 know how to reduce into practice2 we   
have more scientific and economical     
knowledge than can be accommodated to   
the just distribution of the produce    
which it multiplies4 ,the poetry in     
these systems of thought1 is concealed  
by the accumulation of facts and        
calculating processes4 ,there is no want
 of knowledge respecting what is wisest 
and best in morals1 government1 and     
political economy1 or at least1 what is 
wiser and better than what men now      
practise and endure4 ,but we let ',i    
,,dare ,,not wait upon ,i ,,would1 like 
the poor cat in the adage4' ,we want the
 creative faculty to imagine that which 
we know2 we want the generous impulse to

 act that which we imagine2 we want the 
poetry of life3 our calculations have   
outrun conception2 we have eaten more   
than we can digest4 ,the cultivation of 
those sciences which have enlarged the  
limits of the empire of man over the    
external world1 has1 for want of the    
poetical faculty1 proportionally        
circumscribed those of the internal     
world2 and man1 having enslaved the     
elements1 remains himself a slave4 ,to  
what but a cultivation of the mechanical
 arts in a degree disproportioned to the
 presence of the creative faculty1 which
 is the basis of all knowledge1 is to be
 attributed the abuse of all invention  
for abridging and combining labour1 to  
the exasperation of the inequality of   
mankind8 ,from what other cause has it  
arisen that the discoveries which should
 have lightened1 have added a weight to 
the curse imposed on ,adam8 ,poetry1 and
 the principle of ,self1 of which money 
is the visible1 incarnation1 are the    
,god and ,mammon of the world4  ,the    

functions of the poetical faculty are   
two-fold2 by one it creates new         
materials of knowledge and power and    
pleasure2 by the other it engenders in  
the mind a desire to reproduce and      
arrange them according to a certain     
rhythm and order which may be called the
 beautiful and the good4 ,the           
cultivation of poetry is never more to  
be desired than at periods when1 from an
 excess of the selfish and calculating  
principle1 the accumulation of the      
materials of external life exceed the   
quantity of the power of assimilating   
them to the internal laws of human      
nature4 ,the body has then become too   
unwieldy for that which animates it4    
,poetry is indeed something divine4 ,it 
is at once the centre and circumference 
of knowledge2 it is that which          
comprehends all science1 and that to    
which all science must be referred4 ,it 
is at the same time the root and blossom
 of all other systems of thought2 it is 
that from which all spring1 and that    

which adorns all2 and that which1 if    
blighted1 denies the fruit and the seed1
 and withholds from the barren world the
 nourishment and the succession of the  
scions of the tree of life4 ,it is the  
perfect and consummate surface and bloom
 of all things2 it is as the odour and  
the colour of the rose to the texture of
 the elements which compose it1 as the  
form and splendour of unfaded beauty to 
the secrets of anatomy and corruption4  
,what were virtue1 love1 patriotism1    
friendship--what were the scenery of    
this beautiful universe which we        
inhabit2 what were our consolations on  
this side of the grave--and what were   
our aspirations beyond it1 if poetry did
 not ascend to bring light and fire from
 those eternal regions where the        
owl-winged faculty of calculation dare  
not ever soar8  ,poetry is not like     
reasoning1 a power to be exerted        
according to the determination of the   
will4 ,a man cannot say1 ',i will       
compose poetry4' ,the greatest poet even

 cannot say it2 for the mind in creation
 is as a fading coal1 which some        
invisible influence1 like an inconstant 
wind1 awakens to transitory brightness2 
this power arises from within1 like the 
colour of a flower which fades and      
changes as it is developed1 and the     
conscious portions of our natures are   
unprophetic either of its approach or   
its departure4  ,could this influence be
 durable in its original purity and     
force1 it is impossible to predict the  
greatness of the results2 but when      
composition begins1 inspiration is      
already on the decline1 and the most    
glorious poetry that has ever been      
communicated to the world is probably a 
feeble shadow of the original           
conceptions of the poet4 ,i appeal to   
the greatest poets of the present day1  
whether it is not an error to assert    
that the finest passages of poetry are  
produced by labour and study4 ,the toil 
and the delay recommended by critics1   
can be justly interpreted to mean no    

more than a careful observation of the  
inspired moments1 and an artificial     
connexion of the spaces between their   
suggestions by the intertexture of      
conventional expressions2 a necessity   
only imposed by the limitedness of the  
poetical faculty itself2 for ,milton    
conceived the ,paradise ,lost as a whole
 before he executed it in portions2 ,we 
have his own authority also for the muse
 having 'dictated' to him the           
'unpremeditated song'4 ,and let this be 
an answer to those who would allege the 
fifty-six various readings of the first 
line of the ,orlando ,furioso4          
,compositions so produced are to poetry 
what mosaic is to painting4 ,this       
instinct and intuition of the poetical  
faculty1 is still more observable in the
 plastic and pictorial arts2 a great    
statue or picture grows under the power 
of the artist as a child in the mother's
 womb2 and the very mind which directs  
the hands in formation is incapable of  
accounting to itself for the origin1 the

 gradations1 or the media of the        
process4  ,poetry is the record of the  
best and happiest moments of the        
happiest and best minds4 ,we are aware  
of evanescent visitations of thought and
 feeling sometimes associated with place
 or person1 sometimes regarding our own 
mind alone1 and always arising          
unforeseen and departing unbidden1 but  
elevating and delightful beyond all     
expression2 so that even in the desire  
and regret they leave1 there cannot but 
be pleasure1 participating as it does in
 the nature of its object4 ,it is as it 
were the interpenetration of a diviner  
nature through our own2 but its         
footsteps are like those of a wind over 
the sea1 which the coming calm erases1  
and whose traces remain only1 as on the 
wrinkled sand which paves it4 ,these and
 corresponding conditions of being are  
experienced principally by those of the 
most delicate sensibility and the most  
enlarged imagination2 and the state of  
mind produced by them is at war with    

every base desire4 ,the enthusiasm of   
virtue1 love1 patriotism1 and           
friendship1 is essentially linked with  
such emotions2 and whilst they last1    
self appears as what it is1 an atom to a
 universe4 ,poets are not only subject  
to these experiences as spirits of the  
most refined organization1 but they can 
colour all that they combine with the   
evanescent hues of this ethereal world2 
a word1 a trait in the representation of
 a scene or a passion1 will touch the   
enchanted chord1 and reanimate1 in those
 who have ever experienced these        
emotions1 the sleeping1 the cold1 the   
buried image of the past4 ,poetry thus  
makes immortal all that is best and most
 beautiful in the world2 it arrests the 
vanishing apparitions which haunt the   
interlunations of life1 and veiling     
them1 or in language or in form1 sends  
them forth among mankind1 bearing sweet 
news of kindred joy to those with whom  
their sisters abide--abide1 because     
there is no portal of expression from   

the caverns of the spirit which they    
inhabit into the universe of things4    
,poetry redeems from decay the          
visitations of the divinity in man4     
,poetry turns all things to loveliness2 
it exalts the beauty of that which is   
most beautiful1 and it adds beauty to   
that which is most deformed2 it marries 
exultation and horror1 grief and        
pleasure1 eternity and change2 it       
subdues to union under its light yoke1  
all irreconcilable things4 ,it          
transmutes all that it touches1 and     
every form moving within the radiance of
 its presence is changed by wondrous    
sympathy to an incarnation of the spirit
 which it breathes3 its secret alchemy  
turns to potable gold the poisonous     
waters which flow from death through    
life2 it strips the veil of familiarity 
from the world1 and lays bare the naked 
and sleeping beauty1 which is the spirit
 of its forms4  ,all things exist as    
they are perceived2 at least in relation
 to the percipient4 ',the mind is its   

own place1 and of itself can make a     
heaven of hell1 a hell of heaven4' ,but 
poetry defeats the curse which binds us 
to be subjected to the accident of      
surrounding impressions4 ,and whether it
 spreads its own figured curtain1 or    
withdraws life's dark veil from before  
the scene of things1 it equally creates 
for us a being within our being4 ,it    
makes us the inhabitants of a world to  
which the familiar world is a chaos4 ,it
 reproduces the common universe of which
 we are portions and percipients1 and it
 purges from our inward sight the film  
of familiarity which obscures from us   
the wonder of our being4 ,it compels us 
to feel that which we perceive1 and to  
imagine that which we know4 ,it creates 
anew the universe1 after it has been    
annihilated in our minds by the         
recurrence of impressions blunted by    
reiteration4 ,it justifies the bold and 
true words of ,tasso3 ,non merita nome  
di creatore1 se non ,iddio ed il ,poeta4
  ,a poet1 as he is the author to others

 of the highest wisdom1 pleasure1 virtue
 and glory1 so he ought personally to be
 the happiest1 the best1 the wisest1 and
 the most illustrious of men4 ,as to his
 glory1 let time be challenged to       
declare whether the fame of any other   
institutor of human life be comparable  
to that of a poet4  ,that he is the     
wisest1 the happiest1 and the best1     
inasmuch as he is a poet1 is equally    
incontrovertible3 the greatest poets    
have been men of the most spotless      
virtue1 of the most consummate prudence1
 and1 if we would look into the interior
 of their lives1 the most fortunate of  
men3 and the exceptions1 as they regard 
those who possessed the poetic faculty  
in a high yet inferior degree1 will be  
found on consideration to confine rather
 than destroy the rule4 ,let us for a   
moment stoop to the arbitration of      
popular breath1 and usurping and uniting
 in our own persons the incompatible    
characters of accuser1 witness1 judge1  
and executioner1 let us decide without  

trial1 testimony1 or form1 that certain 
motives of those who are 'there sitting 
where we dare not soar'1 are            
reprehensible4 ,let us assume that      
,homer was a drunkard1 that ,virgil was 
a flatterer1 that ,horace was a coward1 
that ,tasso a madman1 that ,lord ,bacon 
was a peculator1 that ,raphael was a    
libertine1 that ,spenser was a poet     
laureate4 ,it is inconsistent with this 
division of our subject to cite living  
poets1 but posterity has done ample     
justice to the great names now referred 
to4 ,their errors have been weighed and 
found to have been dust in the balance2 
if their sins 'were as scarlet1 they are
 now white as snow'2 they have been     
washed in the blood of the mediator and 
redeemer1 ,time4 ,observe in what a     
ludicrous chaos the imputation of real  
or fictitious crime have been confused  
in the contemporary calumnies against   
poetry and poets2 consider how little   
is1 as it appears--or appears1 as it is2
 look to your own motives1 and judge    

not1 lest ye be judged4  ,poetry1 as has
 been said1 differs in this respect from
 logic1 that it is not subject to the   
control of the active powers of the     
mind1 and that its birth and recurrence 
have no necessary connexion with the    
consciousness or will4 ,it is           
presumptuous  to determine that these   
are the necessary conditions of all     
mental causation1 when mental effects   
are experienced unsusceptible of being  
referred to them4 ,the frequent         
recurrence of the poetical power1 it is 
obvious to suppose1 may produce in the  
mind a habit of order and harmony       
correlative with its own nature and its 
effects upon other minds4 ,but in the   
intervals of inspiration1 and they may  
be frequent without being durable1 a    
poet becomes a man1 and is abandoned to 
the sudden reflux of the influences     
under which others habitually live4     
,but as he is more delicately organized 
than other men1 and sensible to pain and
 pleasure1 both his own and that of     

others1 in a degree unknown to them1 he 
will avoid the one and pursue the other 
with an ardour proportioned to this     
difference4 ,and he renders himself     
obnoxious to calumny1 when he neglects  
to observe the circumstances under which
 these objects of universal pursuit and 
flight have disguised themselves in one 
another's garments4  ,but there is      
nothing necessarily evil in this error1 
and thus cruelty1 envy1 revenge1        
avarice1 and the passions purely evil1  
have never formed any portion of the    
popular imputations on the lives of     
poets4  ,i have thought it most         
favourable to the cause of truth to set 
down these remarks according to the     
order in which they were suggested to my
 mind1 by a consideration of the subject
 itself1 instead of observing the       
formality of a polemical reply2 but if  
the view which they contain be just1    
they will be found to involve a         
refutation of the arguers against       
poetry1 so far at least as regards the  

first division of the subject4 ,i can   
readily conjecture what should have     
moved the gall of some learned and      
intelligent writers who quarrel with    
certain versifiers2 ,i confess myself1  
like them1 unwilling to be stunned1 by  
the ,theseids of the hoarse ,codri of   
the day4 ,bavius and ,maevius           
undoubtedly are1 as they ever were1     
insufferable persons4 ,but it belongs to
 a philosophical critic to distinguish  
rather than confound4  ,the first part  
of these remarks has related to poetry  
in its elements and principles2 and it  
has been shown1 as well as the narrow   
limits assigned them would permit1 that 
what is called poetry1 in a restricted  
sense1 has a common source with all     
other forms of order and of beauty1     
according to which the materials of     
human life are susceptible of being     
arranged1 and which is poetry in a      
universal sense4  ,the second part will 
have for its object an application of   
these principles to the present state of

 the cultivation of poetry1 and a       
defence of the attempt to idealize the  
modern forms of manners and opinions1   
and compel them into a subordination to 
the imaginative and creative faculty4   
,for the literature of ,england1 an     
energetic development of which has ever 
preceded or accompanied a great and free
 development of the national will1 has  
arisen as it were from a new birth4 ,in 
spite of the low-thoughted envy which   
would undervalue contemporary merit1 our
 own will be a memorable age in         
intellectual achievements1 and we live  
among such philosophers and poets as    
surpass beyond comparison any who have  
appeared since the last national        
struggle for civil and religious        
liberty4 ,the most unfailing herald1    
companion1 and follower of the awakening
 of a great people to work a beneficial 
change in opinion or institution1 is    
poetry4 ,at such periods there is an    
accumulation of the power of            
communicating and receiving intense and 

impassioned conceptions respecting man  
and nature4 ,the persons in whom this   
power resides may often1 as far as      
regards many portions of their nature1  
have little apparent correspondence with
 that spirit of good of which they are  
the ministers4 ,but even whilst they    
deny and abjure1 they are yet compelled 
to serve1 the power which is seated on  
the throne of their own soul4 ,it is    
impossible to read the compositions of  
the most celebrated writers of the      
present day without being startled with 
the electric life which burns within    
their words4 ,they measure the          
circumference and sound the depths of   
human nature with a comprehensive and   
all-penetrating spirit1 and they are    
themselves perhaps the most sincerely   
astonished at its manifestations2 for it
 is less their spirit than the spirit of
 the age4 ,poets are the hierophants of 
an unapprehended inspiration2 the       
mirrors of the gigantic shadows which   
futurity casts upon the present2 the    

words which express what they understand
 not2 the trumpets which sing to battle1
 and feel not what they inspire2 the    
influence which is moved not1 but moves4
  ,poets are the unacknowledged         
legislators of the world4  ,,the ,,end