Characteristics of Literature: Illustrated by the Genius of Distinguished Writers |
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Page 17
... taste ; but another , and the most vital ele- ment - the sentiment , or if the work be too prosaic to admit of such a definition , the sensation of the whole that vague yet magnetic quality which in nature , in painting , and even in ...
... taste ; but another , and the most vital ele- ment - the sentiment , or if the work be too prosaic to admit of such a definition , the sensation of the whole that vague yet magnetic quality which in nature , in painting , and even in ...
Page 27
... tastes . It furnished pabulum to imaginary woes , and yielded unhealthy excitement to undisciplined minds . Hence the very justifiable prejudice so long cherished against this kind of reading by vigorous intellects . A half cen- tury ...
... tastes . It furnished pabulum to imaginary woes , and yielded unhealthy excitement to undisciplined minds . Hence the very justifiable prejudice so long cherished against this kind of reading by vigorous intellects . A half cen- tury ...
Page 29
... taste , government , reli- gion , and science , now , almost daily , find accredited and fascinating interpreters in the guise of popular novelists . The conditions we have indicated are happily ful- filled in the Romance of Manzoni ...
... taste , government , reli- gion , and science , now , almost daily , find accredited and fascinating interpreters in the guise of popular novelists . The conditions we have indicated are happily ful- filled in the Romance of Manzoni ...
Page 42
... taste , and the weary clamour of his duns hushed in eternal silence , he rises to the imagination in the friendly guise of a " fine old English gentleman , " whose finances were indeed often visionary , and whose practice was not always ...
... taste , and the weary clamour of his duns hushed in eternal silence , he rises to the imagination in the friendly guise of a " fine old English gentleman , " whose finances were indeed often visionary , and whose practice was not always ...
Page 46
... taste which distinguishes this from past centuries . Previously , except to the few , mental improvement was a vague and often a hopeless privilege . By the advent of periodical literature it became an element of ordi- nary life , a ...
... taste which distinguishes this from past centuries . Previously , except to the few , mental improvement was a vague and often a hopeless privilege . By the advent of periodical literature it became an element of ordi- nary life , a ...
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Common terms and phrases
afforded American appear appreciation artistic beauty become called cause character characteristic charm combination common criticism drama earnest effect elements eloquence English equally essential evidence excite existence experience expression fact familiar feeling genius genuine gifted give grace heart Hence human idea illustrate imagination impressive individual influence inspired intellectual intelligent interest Italy kind knowledge language less letters light literary literature living looked manners material means mental MICHIGAN mind moral nature noble object observation once opinion oratory original passion perhaps philosophical philosophy play poet political popular practical present principles qualities rare realize reason recognise refined reform regard relation remarkable render says scenes seems sense sentiment social society soul spirit style success suggested sympathy taste things thought tion tone true truth universal volume writing
Popular passages
Page 190 - Vext the dim sea : I am become a name ; For always roaming with a hungry heart Much have I seen and known ; cities of men And manners, climates, councils, governments...
Page 190 - I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethro' Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades For ever and for ever when I move. How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use ! As tho
Page 190 - Much have I seen and known ; cities of men And manners, climates, councils, governments, Myself not least, but honour'd of them all ; And drunk delight of battle with my peers, Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy. I am a part of all that I have met ; Yet all experience is an arch wherethro' Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades For ever and for ever when I move.
Page 174 - Tis a little thing To give a cup of water ; yet its draught Of cool refreshment, drain'd by fever'd lips, May give a shock of pleasure to the frame More exquisite than when nectarean juice Renews the life of joy in happiest hours.
Page 150 - tis but a sound; a name of air; A minute's storm, or not so much : to tumble From bed to bed, be massacred alive By some physicians, for a month or two, In hope of freedom from a fever's torments Might stagger manhood ; here the pain is past, Ere sensibly 'tis felt.
Page 276 - The time is out of joint : — 0 cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!
Page 150 - What danger's half so great as thy revolt? Thou art a faithless sister, else thou know'st Malice, or any treachery beside, Would stoop to my bent brows: why, I hold fate Clasped in my fist, and could command the course Of time's eternal motion, hadst thou been One thought more steady than an ebbing sea.
Page 238 - I have often thought, that a comment upon the capacities of the players would very much improve the delight that way, and impart it to those who otherwise have no sense of it.
Page 149 - Tis true, you guess aright ; sit up and listen, With shame and passion now I must confess, Since first mine eyes beheld you, in my heart You have been only king. If there can be A violence in love, then I have felt That tyranny : be record to my soul The justice which I for this folly fear.
Page 72 - Tis in the advance of individual minds That the slow crowd should ground their expectation Eventually to follow ; as the sea Waits ages in its bed till some one wave Out of the multitudinous mass, extends The empire of the whole, some feet perhaps, Over the strip of sand which could confine Its fellows so long time : thenceforth the rest, Even to the meanest, hurry in at once...