The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1909-12-12

through such passages as VI 1-63, 1855
1925, etc, to VII 1690-IS2S; then with
a sickening plunge into VIII and TX,
it mounts swiftly into Book Y, only
to end beneath the line in GUidO's de
fiance and terror.
c. the line of moral understanding,
keeps it's head above the surface in
the first book, thanks TO such hints of
moral design as I, 517, 691 and 1881;
1t is then lost sight of in the superior
claims made for a while by other emo
tons, but ascends unsweTvingIy
through the rest of the poem, limiting
of its presence in VII 1690-1S2S, and
ever soaring into a fuller and higher
conception.
d, the literary enjoyment OF the
poems structure, first appears in II
1903; to fall for moment in III, and
then to rise through ". V and VI into
VII, with the aid of " 312. 1908, and
" 157, no, $50, ETC., and VII SOP. 474,
and other passages; it then maintains
almost an even level until Book X
1894, where it drops over a sheer pTec-
ipice, and tolls upward again into MI.
Z, the literary enjoyment OF style,
rises TO the submits of | 1882, III /,
" 1927 and 2015; VII 1690-1S2S; and
the close: and it sinks most markedly
in TX. where the reader has weaTied
of the brilliant satirizatiOns in Book
VIII
Turning now to Chart ?, We observe
that X, the average moral excitement,
falls from l to ", its lowest point,
thence rises. with slight shudder IN
TX, quite swiftly through Books y TO
XII.
v tho ox-araoro ooctI7atio a,zoita7,,e.ut
rises very smoothly from below the
neutral line in II all the way TO VII;
it then experiences two violent sink
ing sensations in X and X; but at
last reaches a slightly greater attitude
than it had ever attained before.
This leaves US NJ, the general aver
age excitement, the pulse of the poem.
The heaTt-beats are normal at the out
set, but slow down so much at "
that the poem is almost thought to be
dead; but the pulse suddenly becomes
feverish until VII and VIII are
reached: when the emotions are again
soothed by a sedative in TX and XI;
and then stirred into tremendous
vigor at the last, as the full magni-
ltude and meaning burst upon our
vision; for, contrary TO our medical
metaphor, the poem must end with
CLlOtlOn DIT lull DltCuB dNCOAuluS 70 IiAt
literary taste of the modern world.
We must now admit that. in spite Of
the structural defect previously COM
planned Of, the grand upward trend of
emotion is not seriously INSTRUCTED.
A straight line, drawn so as to con
rect the extremities of NJ would show
that, notwithstanding occasional slips
and leaps, the trend is nevertheless
distinctly upward. And these very
alterations from the straight line con-
form with startling eXactnesS to the
playwright's principal, namely, that a
drama should have five emotional
parts-the introduction where feeling
is normal, the desis where it is low
est, the turning point where it is high,
the lusis where it is low, and the con-
clusion where it is highest. Nor must
ii be thought failure on the author
part that the excitement for a time
falls below the line. The athlete
walks back from the take-off to get a
good start. The running is longer
than the standing jump. 1t seems,
then, that if We once admit Chart 1
to be anything like a fair apprOXima-
ton of the various emotions felt in
reading the poem, we are forced to
conclude that The Ring and the Book
is a very successful work, where the
readers excitement is carefully stored
but constantly repressed, until the
author is ready for his well timed eX-
plosiOns. This, therefore, is the YER
dict on the poem: that it is some