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"praise. Pleasure is the end of his art; and the 66 more numerous the sources of it which he can σε open, the greater will be the effect produced by "the efforts of his genius." *

To my own mind, the above passage appears to throw a strong light on the subject which is under our consideration at present. In the same manner in which the Eye (while we actually look abroad upon nature) attaches to its appropriate objects so great a variety of pleasures, both physical and moral; so to the poet, Language serves as a common channel or organ for uniting all the agreeable impressions of which the senses, the understanding, and the heart, are susceptible :-And as the word Beauty is naturally transferred from colours and forms to the other pleasing qualities which may be associated with these, and to the various moral qualities of which they may be expressive; so the same word is insensibly extended from those images which form at once the characteristical feature, and the most fascinating charm of poetry, to the numberless other sources of delight which it opens. †

The meaning of the word Beautiful becomes thus

* Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, Vol. I. + Of the relation which the charm of Beautiful Imagery bears to the other pleasures of which language is the vehicle, Cowley seems to have formed an idea, equally poetical and just, in the following siraile, which he applies to the copious and figurative. eloquence of his friend Dr Sprat.

"It does, like Thames, the best of hivers, glide;
"And his bright fancy, all the way,

"Does, like the sunshine, in it play."

Ode to the Royal Society.

infinitely more general than before; and, of course, the objects of Taste are infinitely multiplied. In treating, accordingly, of that intellectual power (which I propose to do in another Essay), I shall confine my attention chiefly to Poetical Taste; not only because it embraces a far wider range of Beauties than any other, but as it presupposes a certain degree of Taste in the more confined and less liberal arts; while it implies, in a far greater degree than any of them, that combination of the best gifts of the head and heart which is expressed in our language by the word Soul. The process, at the same time, by which Taste is formed, in all its various applications, will be found to be explicable on the same common principles.

Another reason for selecting the creations of Imagination in preference to the objects of Sense, as examples to illustrate my reasonings concerning Taste in general, is suggested by a remarkable circumstance in their nature, which has been too little attended to by philosophers :-That these creations possess, in many instances, charms which are incomparably more attractive than the realities from which they ultimately derive their origin. Of this very curious fact (so contrary to every conclusion that could have been formed a priori), the following imperfect hints may perhaps afford some explanation.

1. The materials out of which the combinations of Imagination are formed, although limited in point of kind, by the variety of real objects, are by no means thus limited in point of degree. We can imagine Rocks and Mountains more sublime, Forests

more extensive and awful, Rivers more vast and impetuous, than the eye has ever beheld. In like manner, we can add, in degree, to the qualities, both physical and mental, of our species ;-to their strength, to their genius, to their virtue. But perhaps it will be found, that these exaggerations of the Imagination are confined chiefly to things susceptible of augmentation, in respect of magnitude or of number; or at least, that it is chiefly in instances of this sort (where the effect aimed at is rather Sublimity than Beauty) that such exaggerations, are pleasing.

2. Imagination, by her powers of selection and of combination, can render her productions more perfect than those which are exhibited in the natural world. Defects may be supplied; redundancies and blemishes removed; and the excellencies of different individuals may be united into one whole. In such cases, it cannot, with strict propriety, be said, that Imagination creates the Beauties she exhibits. She derives them not from her own internal resources; but, by a careful study of Nature, she employs one part of her works to correct another, and collects into a single ideal object, the charms that are scattered among a multitude of realities. Nor does this remark apply merely to the beauty of material forms; it may be extended (under proper limitations) to the representations given, in works of imagination, of human life, and of the characters and manners of mankind. By skilful selections and combinations, characters more exalted and more pleasing may be drawn, than have ever fallen under

our observation; and a series of events may be exhibited in complete consonance with our moral feelings. Rewards and punishments may be distributed by the poet, with an exact regard to the merits of individuals; and those irregularities in the distribution of happiness and misery, which furnish the subject of so many complaints in real life, may be corrected in the world created by his genius. Here, too, the poet borrows from Nature the model after which he copies; not only as he accommodates his imaginary arrangements to his own unperverted sense of justice, but as he accommodates them to the general laws by which the world is governed; for whatever exceptions may occur in particular instances, there can be no more doubt of the fact, that virtue is the direct road to happiness, and vice to misery, than that, in the material universe, blemishes and defects are lost among prevailing beauty and order.

3. The poet can arrange the succession of the various emotions which he wishes to excite, in such a manner as to make the transition agreeable from one to another; and sometimes to delight his reader by skilful contrasts. In this respect also, by a careful study of nature, he may learn to communicate to his productions agreeable effects, which natural objects and real events do not always possess.

A beauty of this kind in Shakespeare has been finely remarked by Sir Joshua Reynolds. After the awful scene in which Macbeth relates to his wife the particulars of his interview with the weird sisters; and where the design is conceived of accom

plishing their predictions that very night, by the murder of the king; how grateful is the sweet and tranquil picture presented to the fancy, in the dialogue between the King and Banquo, before the castle-gate:

"This castle hath a pleasant site; the air
"Nimbly and swiftly recommends itself
"Unto our general sense."

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"This guest of summer,

"The temple-haunting martlet, does approve
'By his lov'd mansionry, that heaven's breath
"Smells wooingly here. No jutting frieze,
"Buttrice, nor coigne of vantage, but this bird

"Hath made his pendant bed, and procreant cradle.
"Where they most breed and haunt, I have observ'd
"The air is delicate."

Reynolds compares the effect of this to what is called repose in painting.—This skilful management of our pleasant and painful emotions, so as to produce a result that is delightful on the whole, is practicable in all the arts which are addressed to the Imagination. In real life, we know too well how much the succession of our pleasures and pains depends on causes beyond our control.

Many exemplifications of the same thing are to be found in the ancient Poets. The finest of them all, perhaps, is Homer's description of the shield of Achilles, where the battles and sieges are, with such transcendent art, contrasted with the harvest, the vintage, and the pastoral scenes of peace.

4. Although, when we analyse the combinations of Imagination into their component elements, the pleasure produced by each of these may be weaker

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