The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1877-12-20

us, in it's highest sense, means the pow
en- which creates or invents q work of
art.
1usteis the faculty by Which a man
of genius selects and arranges his ma
terials, and also by which men judge Il
work of art. Taste is the faculty which
judges Of the Beautiful.
Here let us correct Il common error.
Those who have not studied psychology
are apt to think that Judgment, Taste
and Conscience are separate faculties,
but these are only different names for
one faculty. Wien we apply the power
of judging to questions OF Truth, it is
called Judgment; when we apply it to
questions of the Beautiful, it is called
Taste; and when we employ it in judg-
ing Of morals or of the Good, we call it
Conscience.
Imagination is the supreme faculty of
the mind. Genius and Imagination are
difficult to separate, but men have the
latter faculty without having the for
mer. Genius, however, always has i'm
agination in the highest degree. The
simplest definition would be, The Fac
ulty which produces Images, Visions,
Mental Pictures. Shakespeare called it
g the minds eye" a most felicituus de-
finition. Akenside, III his Pleasures Of
the Imagination, calls it the ''sight of
the mind" This is as true a delini-
ton as Can be given. Imagination is
the power by which the mind sees. 1t
is the supreme, the highest faculty, God
has given t" man. It is the chief faculty
by which Newton makes his discove-
ries, a Bancroft writes his histories, Il
Mozart composes his operas, u Phidias
produces his statues, u Raphael paints
his pictures and a Shakespeare creates
his dramas. Reason bears the same re-
lation to it that a foot does to IL wing
Reason plods, Imagination scars. Put
out the eyes of the mind, and the uni
verse is 4 blank. The mind that has
not the power to see pictures and WIS.,
ions, to look over the PAST as history
portrays 1t, or to picture happy future,
is dead mind.
Fancy is another faculty employed in
creating art, or rather it is IN exercise
of the great faculty of Imagination
Leigh Hunt calls it ''Imagjnation s
younger sister," Those who wish to
see this distinction made by selectio
from the poets, and at the same time to
read Il most charming little work, sho'ld
read Leigh Hunts "Imagination and
Fancy Fancy has to do with all the
more airy, graceful, fantastic creations
Of the mind. It is the mother of the
Ariels and Pucks of Shakespeare and of
all the Fairy creations of Hans Chris
tian Andersen. If should attempt Il
definition I should SHY that Fancy is
Imagination at Play. 1t is Napoleon,
Grant, Lincoln, or Shakespeare indu]g-
ing i'll Il fr0lic.
QUALITIES.
Let us now define /. few terms which
are constantly occurring in estlletic lit
erature:
Beauty. The lest definition is that
beauty is the quality which excites in
us the sentiment of the beautiful. 1t
is that quality which attracts us and
inspires love.
Grand. Anything which is both
great and beautiful is called grand.
Anything must be greatly beautiful or
it is not grand. Il rose is not grand,
however beautiful it may be. A babe
is not grand though it may be very
beautiful. A mountain or Milton is
grand.
Sublime. That which is 50 vast as to
awe us. It does not necessarily in
clude the beautiful. A great desert is
sublime but not beautiful.
POETRY.
We come nowto the most difficult
definition Of all, and one which we Shall
need most of I'LL in Il course on litera-
ture, viz: the definition of Poetry.
One says it is the Expression of
Lofty Thoughts in Metrical Language
This is correct as to the lofty thoughts,
Inf Thorn IL ,,rnfrv xvbi01, ic NOT ,rr;t
ten in metrical language. Ossian and
l.ongfellow's 11yperian are examples.
Anoth says it is that literature
which Appeals to OF Touches the Heart.
This is true of poetry, but there is also
mach prose which appeals to and
touches the heart. If [ should at
tempt definition l should say that
Poetry IS the Natural oppression Of Etc.
olted States Of Mind. Yet even this
does not define the whole of it. Let lis
try this definition and see whether it
will stand: When any great joy, or
any great calamity, comes to Il soul, the
ntterance becomes so unusual and
lofty, or so passionate, that we recos-
nize it as poetical. When God came to
the Prophets of old they burst into
song. Moses, Miriam, Deborah, DAY.
id, Zacharias, all broke out into poetry
when God made them visit. So when
joy, or blessing, or Love, or even dis
tress comes, tile world sings. All do
this from the lowest to the
highest. Thus in all exalted states
men think, feel and act poetry. Poet
ry is The Exalted whether in feeling,
thought or action. tits no doubt the
language of the gods or the angels, for
they n ust feel and act in exalted meth
DDS and their language must correspond.
Poetry it the flower of all literature.
Beyond this literature cannot go. It
is the language of Heaven given to
men.
Poetry is divided into three great di-
visions or classes: l. Epic. 2. Dra-
matte. 3. Lyric.
Epic Poetry recounts some great &C.
ton in narrative form, as Homer, Vir-
gil, Telemachus. Milton.
Dramatic poetry portrays the thoughts
and acts Of men by dialogue.
Lyric poetry includes all that is not
epic OF dramatic. Some writer's recog-
nize a fourth class which they call Di-
dactic, but all this, so far us it is poe
try, comes under the general head of
Lyric poetry. Didactic verse is not po-
etry. 1t is instructing in verse and
might as well, OF better. have been writ
ten in prose form. The object of poe
try is not to instruct but to express the
Beautiful by means Of language. The
effect is eminently practical and utilita-
rian, but it is the higher practical and
the higher utility. Cousin recognizes
very great use, Il most practical object,
in poetry, viz: to attract us to the Good
by means OF the Beautiful.
But essays or compositions in verse