The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-30

1
| nay sometimes even Of AriOsto, and the
endless unlabored beauty Of Spensers
| rhyme-sound II is no valid re'ort that tins
| is simply a difference ~ taste. III man,
az some men have done. says that Spensr
! is pleasing. and Dryden and Pope are not.
| then the re,ort is valid. When the position
| is taken that both rhythns are pleasing,
both really poet ioal. hut poe'ical In dii-
ferent way. the defender Of ii may largh
| at all assailants.
| In the paper on trag-comeiv. Jophsoh
] shows himself iconoclastic about the rive
Acts and about the Unity of Time. bnt
blows rather hot and cold about the pro-
priety of mixing tragic and comic scenes.
f, The close Of the paper Is pronounced re.
| markabe "a sounding the death-kneu OF
| the neo-classic system on the part OF its
| last great prophet: 1T ought TO be tho
| first endeavor Of writer TO distinguish
nature from custom. or that which is a..
| tablished because il is right. from that
which IL right only because II is establishedt
that he may neither violate essential prins
| ciples by a desire of novelty, nor debaP
himself from the attainment Of beauties
within his view by needless fear OF break.
/ ing rules which no literary dictator had
authority to enact" Mr.. Sainstbury SUBJ
mits that, by this single utterance. all the
ruling doctrines Of sixteenth. seventeenth
and eighteenth century criticism received
| notice 10 quit
| In the dissertation upon poetry by 1mlao
in "Rasselas, johnson is to some extent
reactionary as compared with the position
| taken in the paper from which Mr.. Saints.
bury has just quoted. 1mlac finds with
wonder that In almost all countries the most
ancient poets are reputed the best; that
early writer's are In. possession Of nature
| and their SUCCESSORS of art" that no man
was ever great by imitation; that he muse
observe everything, and observe for him
self. but that he must do It on the principle
Of examining. mot the individual, but the
species He is to remark general prop
critics and large appearances. He does noe
number the strealis of the tulip or describe
| the different shades in the verdure Of the
forest" but must exhibit prominent and
striking features" neglecting "minuter
determinations In the same way his
criticisms of life must be distracted and
| generalized he must be "a being superior
to time and place; must know many LAM
guages and sciences; must. by incessant
practise OF style, -familiarize to himself
every delicacy OF speech and grace Of har.
|
not dispute what johnson says about the
inexpediency Of imitation. but he invites
us to note that If the poet must not count
the streaks Of the tulip, If he must merely
! generaze and sweep; IL he must consult tho
laA meas and dulness Of his readers by merely
/ portraying prominent and striking features.
| CHARACTERISTICS alike obvious to vigilance
and carelessness even Dryden will
| ri ha ia "a nj ~ Tod
, Pope alone must bear the bell. Lady Wins
chelsea's horse in twilight, the best part Of
a century earlier; Tennysons sshbuds in the
front Of March. the best part Of a century
later, are equally streaks Of the tulip
| superfluous if not even bad Habngton's
picture Of the pitiless northern sunshine
on the icebound pilot and keats's Of tho
| perilous seas through the magic case.
ments, must be rejected as too unfamiliar
and individual. The poetic s,rangeness
and height are barred en- bloc Convention.
familiarity. generaliza,ion-,he,e are he
! keys to the poetical kingdom of heaven"
We breathe more invigorating air when
| We turn from "Ras ells to the Shakespeare
| Pr, face. which is acclaimed in the book be.
| fore US. because it illustrates. not merely
| Johnson's native critical yigor. not merely
! his imbibed eighteenth century rr' jIidces.
! but also that peculiar position Of compro-
| mise and reservation which was az once the
condemnation and he salvation of the Eng
| fish critical position IN Johnson's time In
| this Preface. "ther. is not little which fol-
lows in the wake OF Dryden's great euogy,
and some scattered observations Of the high
est acu'eIe-s. more particularly two famous
sentences which, though JohnSon's quota
ion is directed 10 a minor najter-Shake-
speares learning settled beforehand, with
the prophetic tendency Of genius, he whole
monstrous absurdity Of tie Bacon Shake
speare theory. The pst, however, is, il
not exactly a zigzag of contradictions. at
least the contrastei utterance of two dis.
tinct voices. Shakespeare has this and that
merit of nature, of passion; but his set
speeches are commonly cold and weak
| What he does best he soon ceases 10 do
| johnson here, also has no superstitous rev.
erenco for the Entities. and even speaks
| slightingv Of dramatic rules nav, he sug>
gests he recsll of the principles of The drama
to new examination, the very examination
| which leasing was 10 give il. But he apollo
gizes for the period when the Death q
Arthur was the favorite volume aud hints
| n doubt whether much Of our and his own
| praise Of Shakespeare is not given by cus-
| tom and ven.ration.' He had corrupted
language by every mode Of deplayation,'
vet johnson echoes Dryden. hen he de-
scribes anything, YOU more than SEQ II; you
feel it too A singular triumph Of depraved
| language In short. throughout the piece
il is now johnson himself who is speaking.
| now some onrw with certain bundle If prin-
| ciples or prcdjuiCes which johnson chooses
| to adopt for the time"
With regard TO "Tae Lives of he Poets, Il
il ackno~ lodged that they are by no means
/ equal throughout, and that. for the most
| part, their standards are those Of their
| time. Nevertheless, i'll our authors opin.
ion. for diflused brilhancy of critical eX-
preston, the Lives" ere hardly TO be rX-