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Romantic Criticism : Shelley : "Defence of Poetry" "The Defence of Poetry" : Its Occasion—Peacock's Attack on Poetry

The immediate occasion for Shelley's pamphlet was provided by Thomas Love Peacock's attack on poetry in his Four Ages of Poetry, published in 1820. Peacock divided all poetic productions into four ages, the iron age, the gold age, the silver age and the brass age. Poetry originates in the iron age, the golden age is the age of noblest poetic productions, then sets in the artificial silver age which in its turn is followed by an age of decay and decline, the age of brass. Their own age, was the brass age of poetry. To quote his own words, "A poet in our times is a semi-barbarian in a civilized community. He livesjn the days that are past...The march of his intellect is like that of a crab, backward. The brighter the the light diffused around him by the progress of reason, the thicker is the darkness of antiquated barbarism in which he buries himself like a mole, to throw up the barren hillocks of his Cimmerian labours."

Peacock concluded his treatise by maintaining that the poet is useless and that the honour of society will more and more be given to those who promote uitility: Poetry is essentially the most ijeortMeas of all intellectual exercises : "It can never make a philosopher nor a statesman, nor in any class of life a useful or a rational man. It cannot claim the slightest share in any of the comforts and utilities of life, of which we have witnessed so many and so rapid advances... But though not useful, it may be said, it is highly ornamental and deserves to be cultivated for the pleasure it yields. Even if this be granted, it does not follow that a writer of poetry in the present state of society is not a waster of his own time and a robber of that of others. In whatever degree poetry is cultivated it must necessarily be to the neglect of some branch of useful study."

Poetry is thus condemned as a mere frivolous amusement, a mere waste of time and energy, and the superemacy of reasan over imagination is asserted. It is such a view Of poetry which Shelley controverts, anbHKeiThe proceeds to establish the nobility and dignity of poetry, as well as its social utility. Thus what began as a mere pamphlet in a controversy soon grew into a noble defence of poetry.

Parallel with Sidney's 'Apology*—Plan of Shelley's Defence

In its title and occasion, in its purpose, and in its general plan and outline, Shelley's Defence of Poetry puts in mind Sidney's Apology of poetry which was a reply to Stephen Gosson’s attack on poetry. Shelley’s is a repIy to Peacock's attack. Their aim is the same, i.e. to assert the nobility.dignity and usefulness of poetry. Their general plan and outline is identical. Both the treatises are easily divisible into three parts. In the first part, poetry is defined and its true nature is studied and elaborated in the most abstract and comprehensive manner. In the second part, the noble nature of poetry, and its moral and ethical significance to society is examined and elaborated. This provides them with an occasion for a critical review of poetry. Since knowledge of literature in Sidney's day was confined and limited, he could evaluate only Chaucer's works, and the ballad of

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Chevy Chase. Shelley, on the other hand, examines poetry from Homer down to his own day, and his examination though necessarily brief, as covering such a wide field, is very illuminating and suggestive. "Shelley's criticism suffers as much from a range too extensive as Sidney's does from one too narrow." Even then Shelley's review of poetry is one of the glories of English literary criticism. In the third part, both Shelley and Sidney defend poetry against the charges that have been brought against it by its detractors. Shelley adds a fourth part by way of a brief resume of the whole discussion, and ends his treatise with a rhapsodic eulogy on poets and poetry. "The general resemblance between the two treatises is very striking; and Shelley has obviously followed his predecessor in the main outline ; but he is altogether deeper and more philosophic, and he embodies some of the best results of the romantic criticism of his own time ; the 'Defence' may be described as an 'Apologie' transferred from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth." Throughout the study of Shelley's Defence, it is, therefore, desirable to keep in mind Sidney's Apology.

Definition of Poetry : Imagination and Its Role Sidney begins by declaring that poetry is the highest of all human powers because

more directly creative than any other art ; all the other arts and sciences depend upon nature ; the poet alone is not limited to study or imitation, but can improve upon nature and create better than she. Shelley interprets the function of the poet altogether more finely than Sidney. He defines poetry as the expression of imagination, and considers that all are poets who express imagination in life ; sculptors, artists, musicians, even law givers and the founders of religions. AH the arts are poetry because they render imagination ; but rhythmical language provide the highest kind of poetry, since language is itself created by the imagination and is a medium in its substance intellectual, which is not true of any other. 1 Like Sidney, Shelley considers poetry as something better than nature, though for a different reason.

Plato's Objection to Poetry : Shelley's Reply; Platonism against Plato Sidney has to face the difficulty that Plato, whom he considers the most admirable

of philosophers, banished poetry and poets from his Republic : "and he can only meet it indirectly and lamely ; he replies by bringing an accusation against Plato, i.e. that, since The Republic admits community of goods and women, it is itself immoral." Shelley agrees with Sidney that poetry is better than nature, "and at the same time overcomes the Platonic objection by a weapon ingeniously selected from Plato's own armoury."

Plato objects to the poet on the ground that he is thrice removed from reality ; the actual world is made up of things which are only copies of divine ideas ; the painter and the poet copy these copies and are thus thrice removed from reality ; similarly, they copy images of virtue and the like but do not understand their true nature. Poets are thus the abettors of falseness and encourage men in deceits.

Shelley accepts Plato's theory that all things in the world are only copies of divine ideas, but he claims that poetry gets behind the copy and, images directly the divine idea ; it is the revelation or expression of the idea itself. To quote his own words : "A poem is the very image of

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life expressed in its eternal truth It is the creation of actions according to the unchangeable forms of human nature, as existing in the mind of the Creator, which is itself the image of all other minds." This, Shelley maintains, is the secret of the sense of exaltation produced by poetry, since it expresses a deeper reality than that of the world ; it transports man to the kingdom of the Absolute and permits him to gaze upon the very features of love, wisdom, and virtue, in their divine reality. It is better than nature herself, for it rectifies that distortion of the divine idea which is occasioned when the idea is embodied in earthly objects and forms. Hence also its universality of appeal, since, by rendering the idea, it contains within itself, "the-germs of a relation to whatever motives or actions have taken place-in the possible varieties of human nature."

Time destroys the beauty and the use of any story of particular facts, but increases that of poetry by forever developing new and wonderful applications of the eternal truths that it contains.

Shelley thus agrees with Sidney that poetry is better than, nature, but gives reasons more philosophical. According to Sidney, man can actually create that which is better. "Nature's world is-brazen, the poet delivers a golden one." According to Shelley, he does not do this, but he gets, as it were, to the heart of nature by setting the eternal type free from its accidents.

The Utility of Poetry : Its Superiority over Philosophy and History

Having denned the greatness of poetry, Sidney proceeds to speak of its function as essentially moral. He praises it because it teaches better than either philosophy or history. It teaches better than philosophy because it does not deal only in precepts, but also enforces them by examples, which are more attractive and alluring. The bright pictures of poetry, appeal to the imagination and impress the memory. Poetry also instructs better than history because it is not tied to the particular fact, and can, more surely, move men to virtue. "History", Sidney naively says, "sometimes deters men from virtue, since it shows that even the cruel and unjust may be prosperous and the good unfortunate." Poetry has a great advant&gj, since it can reward all according to their deserts. History, again, exhibits good and evil mixed in the same character ; so that it is hard to distinguish what is to be admired from what is to be shunned. Poetry, on the other hand, can represent characters which are pure types of virtue and, therefore, wholly admirable, and other characters which are types of unmixed vice, and so wholly to be avoided.

Moral Function of Poetry—Ways in which It is Performed

Shelley believes in the moral efficacy of poetry no less than Sidney, but he explains its effect much less crudely, in a way that is indeed, a real contribution to

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philosophic thought. He is influenced partly by Aristotle's definition of tragedy, possibly also by reminis cence, conscious or unconscious, of Wordsworth's prefaces.

Poetry does not, says Shelley, instruct by direct precept, and it is only partially that it instructs by example. The highest moral effect of poetry lies in its appeal to the imaginative and emotional faculties ; in the development it gives to these it enlarges the powers of the mind itself. Imagination always plays an important role in the growth of moral sense. Men, Shelley points out, have never lacked excellent moral precepts ; they have always known, in theory at least, what they ought to do, but they have lacked the understanding to apply that knowledge in day to day life. Want of imagination means want of sympathy and want of sympathy produces callousness and cruelty. "A man to be greatly good," says Shelley, "must imagine intensely and comprehensively...Poetry strengthens the faculty which is the organ of the moral nature."

Thus the morality of poetry is higher than any that a teacher directly inculcates. To teach morality directly is wrong, because such conceptions are limited in time and place. It is for this reason that didactic poetry has always been an inferior an inferior kind. Nor does Shelley end here. He adds that poetry not only extends the imaginative power, but it also exercises an ennobling effect on the quality of the imagination itself. This idea is really to be traced to Aristotle's famous theory of katharsis concerning the purifying power of tragedy, which Shelley has interpreted in his own way. Aristotle says that tragedy, through pity and fear, causes the proper purgation of these emotions. What he means by this sentence has been greatly disputed, but Shelley conceives that the effect is mainly on the imagination. The imagination is enlarged by a sympathy with pains and pleasures so mighty that they distend in their conception the capacity of that by which they are conceived ; the good affections are strengthened by pity, indignation, terror, and sorrow ; and an exalted calm is prolonged from the satiety of this high exercise of them into tumults of familiar life.

A further moral effect of poetry lies, Shelley believes, in the increased value it gives to ordinary human life. Here Shelley is influenced by Wordsworth. Wordsworth, we are told by Coleridge, in writing the Lyrical Ballads had desired to give the charm of novelty to things of everyday life, and to exercise a feeling analogous to the supernatural by awakening the mind's attention from the lethargy of custom and directing it to the loveliness and wonders of the world before us, "an exhaustible treasure, but for which, in consequence of the film of familiarity, we have eyes that see not, ears that hear not, and hearts that neither feel nor understand." In other words, poetry reveals unsuspected sources of pure enjoyment in the world arouvd. So Shelley says that poetry, "strips the veil of familiarity from the world and lays bare the naked and. sleeping beauty tvhich is the. spirit of its forms." And again : "Poetry purges from our inward sight the film of familiarity which obscures from us the wonder of our being. It creates anew the universe after it has been annihilated in our minds by the recurrence of impressions blunted by reiteration."

Further, in his Preface Wordsworth defines poetry as, "The brtath and finer spirit of all knowledge," and says that, "The Poet bii\d» together by passion and knowledge the vast

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empire of human socidy as it is spread over the whole earth and over all time." So with Shelley : "Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds. Poetry thus makes immortal all that is best and most beautiful in the world......A great poem is a fountain for ever overflowing with the waters of wisdom and delight."' Shelley explains that, after one age has exhausted all its capacities, another will still find new ones.

Immorality of Poetry—The Love Theme : Its Vindication

After having vindicated the greatness of poetry in his Apologie, Sidney next meets the arguments of those who urge that particular kinds of poetry, especially love poetry, are immoral and that poets sometimes lend their art to ignoble uses. It is true, he admits, that poets do speak too much of love and they even speak of lust and vanity and scurrility, yet, "it it not poetry which abuses man's wit but man's wit that abuses poetry." Shelley follows this general outline, but again with much more insight. He would scarcely grant that poetry could speak too much of love, providing the love were spiritual, and he boldly asserts that poetry, in so fa/ as-it is poetry, is invariably moral and pure and cannot be otherwise. Really great poetry can be produced only in a noble age, and, when the social decay of any period begins, then poetry decays with it, becoming colder and less lifelike.

"Obscenity is at the opposite pole from poetry, for obscenity is blasphemy against the divine beauty of life of which poetry is the embodiment." Even those luscious and sensuous poets, such as the Alexandrian' Greeks, who are considered immoral, are not so in relation to their own age ; when we regard their work more closely we find that they embody the good which still survived in that age. "It is not what the erotic poets have, but what they have not, in which their imperfection consists." Poetry remains in every age, however corrupt it may be, the light of life, and communicates all the pleasure men are capable of receiving.

Rhyme and Metre

Yet another point of resemblance between Sidney and Shelley lies in the insistence of both that there is no essential difference between prose and verse. Sidney says : "It is not rhyming and versing that maketh Poesie. One may be a poet without versifying and a versifier without poetry." Sidney, however, strongly advocates verse on the ground that it is an aid to memory.

Shelley also denies the necessity of rhyme and metre ; the essential things are dignity and nobility of thought and language suitably harmonious and rhythmical; but rhythm is not limited to verse, and good prose possesses excellent rhythm of its own : "The distinction between poets and prose writers is a vulgar error….. Plato was essentially a poet….. The truth and splendour of his imagery and the melody of his language are the most intense that it is possible to conceive." So also, he asserts, Lord Bacon was a poet.

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In this particular respect, Shelley differs from Coleridge, who maintains that the language of poetry is, and ought to be, different from the language of prose, since the mere addition of metre presupposes a state of high excitement, and, therefore, should produce a change of language. "Theoretically we may agree with Coleridge that the language of poetry ought to be different from the language of prose ; but practically it is difficult to deny that Shelley is right; the language of Jeremy Taylor or of Bacon is certainly more poetic than that of poets like Pope or Crabbe ; it is possessed of more energy and has a nobler rhythm."

Historical Survey of Poetry : Shelley's Practical Criticism

Then follows a comprehensive review of the world's poetry and its general function in history. His judgments are brief, but they have, all of them, the winged and enchanting quality of enthusiasm. We notice, especially, his preoccupation with the Greek and Italian literatures, perhaps the only ones he fully appreciated. He extols the Athenian drama above all other varieties of poetry ; considering that it contains, as a class, the noblest poetry the world has seen. It is only the interpenetration of comedy in King Lear— comedy which Shelley splendidly defines as, "universal, ideal, and sublime"—which turns the balance in its favour as against the Oedipus Tyrannus or the Agamemnon,

Shelley declares that the highest dramatic art is impossible except within a social milieu of high degree of nobility, and remarks that the period of grossest degradation in the English drama occurred in the reign of Charles II. However, this view may be true morally, but it is hardly correct artistically.

He passes over Latin poetry very briefly with the remark that the true poetry of Rome, "lived in her institution". He means that the institutions of Rome are the highest expression of her imagination. His enthusiasm for Italian poetry is very great for it is akin to his own genius in its spiritual quality, and in the pre-eminence it gives to love. He writes that Petrarch's verses, "are as spells which unseal the inmost enchanted fountains of the delight which is in the grief of love." Dante, "understood the secret things of love even more than Petrarch." His apotheosis of Beatrice and the gradations of his own love and her loveliness by which he ascends to Paradise are, Shelley thinks, expressions of the most glorious imagination in modern poetry.

Of English literature Shelley says very little, but singles out Milton for comparison with Dante. He dislikes the theology of Milton, and considers, as others have done, that Satan is the true I hero of Paradise Lost, and so concludes that Milton's poem contains \ 4-tcithin itself a complete refutation of the system of which it has been a J chief popular support."

The End: Rhapsod on the Poet Shelley concludes his essay with a brief summary of his arguments and in the

last paragraph we get the famous picture of the poet, “ass an inspired capturing in language the moments of his contact with the ideal world.”

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Longinus, "On the Sublime"

1. Uncertainty Regarding Its Date and Authorship

The exact date and authorship of the Greek treatise 'On the Bublime', attributed to one Longinus, has been a matter of much critical wrangling. It wag in 1554 that the Italian critic Robortello first presented the work to the modern readers, and ascribed it to a rhetorician named Dionysius Longinus, and this authorship was generally accepted upto the beginning of the 19th century. Then some critics pointed out that the work belonged to that Longinus who was the famous minister of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. In recent times, R.A. Scott-James has subscribed to this view.. The controversy still goes on, and who its author actually was still remains uncertain. Therefore, the traditional authorship is retained, and the work is simply assigned to one 'Longinus'. In the absence of any definite information, this name is as good as any other to stand for the 'unknown'.

Similarly, there is a controversy regarding its date of composition. 19th century critics tended to assign it to the 3rd century A.D. However, there is ample evidence to establish that the work must have been written in the later half of the first century A.D., neither much earlier, nor much later. In the very beginning, we are told that the treatise was written to correct the faults of an essay on the same subject by one Caecilius, who is definitely known to have belonged to the first century A.D. Moreover, there are constant references in the work to contemporary oratory and orators and an analysis of the causes of its decline. The decline of eloquence was a burning topic of the age, and the treatise has been professedly written to corrrect contemporary faults of style. It has all the appearance of a work written to meet some pressing need of the time. Therefore, we must accept the later half of the first century A.D. as the most likely date of its composition.

2. 'On the Sublime': Its Fragmentary Nature; Its Significance

On the Sublime is a critical document of great worth and significance. It is the most precious legacy of the Graeco-Roman period to literary criticism in the modern age. No doubt, it is unfortunate that it has come down to us in an imperfect form. Large portions are missing, and there are frequent and extensive gaps. It has been calculated that as much as one-third of the original ocument is missing. Thus we have only a part of the actual work, but what we have, is sufficient to make plain the intention of its author. The document, imperfect as it is, contains such abundance of good things, that it must be considered as one of the choicest pieces of criticism that have come down to us from antiquity.

3. Its Plan

Despite its apparent formlessness, the treatise has a well-marked structure. It is addressed to one Terentianus, a friend or a pupil, and after a brief introduction the writer

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passes on to the central theme, a discussion of those vices of style which constitute in contemporary oratory, 'a false sublime'.

This is followed by a section representing the main substance of the treatise, in which are specified the five sources of the sublime, as well as the details of the treatment necessary for its attainment. The five sources are said to be (1) grandeur of conception, (2) intensity of emotion, the consideration of which is reserved for a separate work ; and both of these, as the author points out, are largely the fruit of natural genius. Then follows some account of the remaining three sources which are due primarily to art, (3) the appropriate use of figures, (4) nobility of diction, and (5) dignity and elevation of word-order. The work ends with a discussion of the causes of the decay of eloquence, a return to the opening theme, which rounds off the treatment and suggests the motive that has been prompted the author throughout.

The general plan of the work is thus obvious and clear cut. "The central theme is treated on comprehensive line, embodying an approach to the subject from both the psychological and the technical points of view ; while something of the usual rhetorical procedure is also adopted in treating first of subject-matter and its arrangement under the head of grandeur of conception, and then of the choice and arrangement of words in subsequent sections"—(Atkins). But the treatment is never rigidly systematic. Throughout the work, an easy conversational tone is maintained, rising at times to an appropriate eloquence. "And by means of an abundance of illustrative quotations, by his shrewd and convincing analysis of literary qualities, the author succeeds in calling attention to some of the fundamental principles underlying all good writing, while commending them to his readers by the freshness and charm of his style—(Atkins).

4. Critical Synopsis

A brief synopsis of the work is necessary to bring out fully its scope, and the purpose of its author.

(a) Introductory. The writer addresses his friend. Terentian, tells him of his purpose, that of correcting the faults of Gaecilius' essay on the sublimej and makes some other preliminary observations.

(b) Sublimity defined and explained. Sublimity is a certain loftiness and excellence in language. It is only through sublimity that the greatest poets and prose writers have derived their eminence and gained immortality. Sublimity does not merely persuade ; it carries us away almost irresistibly. It expresses itself in the general structure of a work. Sometimes it might express itself even in a single phrase, like a flash of lightning.

(c) Can art teach sublimity or loftiness in writing ?Some people think that sublimity is a gift of nature and it has nothing to do with art. They say : "a lofty tone is inborn, and it does not come by teaching ; nature is the only master that can teach it." However, it must be remembered that nature needs the help of

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art to control its wild impulses. Nature impulses without artistic control are like a ship let loose on the oceans without a helmsman. Secondly, it is only by art that a writer can learn when to abandon himself, "to the direction of genius". Art is to nature, what good counsel is to good fortune. "The expression of the sublime often needs the spur, but it also needs the curb which is put by art alone."

{d) Some faults of style. There are some defects of style which tend to spoil the loftiness of language. These faults are tumidity or bombast, puerility, grandiloquence and frigidity. All these faults arise from the craze for novelty of thought.

(e) The true and false sublime. The writer then distinguishes between the 'true sublime' and the 'false sublime'. The true sublime uplifts our soul. It arises from lofty ideas clothed in lofty language. It gives us joy and exalts our spirits. The more we read it, the more we enjoy it. Every time it suggests new ideas and feelings. It never grows stale. In short, the true sublime, "pleases all, and pleases always". The "false sublime", on the other hand, consists merely of a gorgeous exterior, which conceals nothing but emptiness. There is bombast of language. Affected, pompous language is used to clothe thoughts which are essentially trivial and peurile. There is also cheap display of passion unwarranted by the subject.

(/) The sources of the sublime. There are five principal sources of the sublime :

(i) Grandeur of thought, i.e. the power of conceiving great thought.

(ii) Strong and inspired passion, and vigorous treatment of it.

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(iii) The use of figures—(a) figures of thought, and (b) figures of language or expression.

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iv) Noble diction, including a proper choice and arrangement of words and handling of metaphor and other ornaments of diction.

(v) Dignified, elevated, and elaborate composition. (By this Longinus means rhythm).

The first two of these sources are inborn gifts of a genius, the others can be acquired by art.

(g) Grandeur of thought. Great thoughts spring from great souls. The truly eloquent must be free from low and ignoble thoughts. Men with mean and servile ideas cannot attain sublimity. It is only great minds that produce great literature. "Their words are full of sublimity whose thoughts are full of majesty."

(h) Skilful selection and organisation of material. Another thing that contributes to the sublimity of style is the wise and systematic selection of the most important elements (events, emotions or passions) and their combination into a single whole.

(i) Amplification. Amplification, i.e. the accumulation of relevant and telling details of a subject, is closely associated with sublimity. This imparts force and magnitude to the style, "One impressive point after another is brought in a continuous and. ascending scale."

(j) Amplification and sublimity distinguished. The distinction between sublimity and amplification is that sublimity consists in elevation, while amplification embraces a multitude of details. It gives extension to a subject. Sublimity is often comprised of a single thought, while amplification can only subsist with a certain prolixity and diffusiveness.

(k) Imitation as a means to sublimity. The imitation of previous great poets and writers is one of the paths which lead to sublimity. The great masters of antiquity are the standards of excellence. Hence they should be imitated. The writer may receive a divine impulse from them. He should ask three questions: (t) How would Homer or Plato have expressed a particular idea ? (it) If Homer or Plato were to listen to what he composed, what would be their reaction ? (in) How would future ages judge his composition ? Such questioning will stimulate the writer to the sublime.

(I) The use of Figures. The use of vivid figures or images also helps in the creation of the sublime. The writer should first see imaginatively what he describes, and then try to produce a similar illusion in his readers. The aim of poetical images is to astound and startle the readers ; the aim of rhetorical images is to impart vividness and clearness. Both, however, seek to stir the passions and the emotions. Both kind of images may be used.

(to) The Importance of Figures. Figures of speech, if properly handled, contribute to sublimity. But the figures should

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be employed in the right place, on the right occasion, in the right manner, and with a right motive.

Figures should be used in a natural manner. The artificiality of figures rouses suspicion and anger. Art lies in concealing art. 'Wherefore a figure is at its best when the very fact that it is a figure escapes attention.'

(n) The various figures and their uses. One of the1 common figures is Adjuration or Apostrophe. It is an effective use of an appeal or address to stir the emotions. The rhetorical use of questions and answers often makes the language more effective and impressive. The language becomes not only more elevated but also more convincing. The device stirs the readers or the listeners and gives energy to the words. But these questions should spring from a natural outburst of passion and should be inspired by the occasion. They should strike as being quite natural under the circumstances. If a question is inspired by a strong passion, the words will flow out spontaneously and will add to the impetuosity of effect.

Another figure is Asyndeton which consists in the removal of connecting particles. The effect produced is one of rush and torrent of passion.

The union of certain figures, to attain some particular effect, imparts strength, beauty and persuasiveness to the language. In order to produce a powerful emotional effect, figures such as Anaphora (repetition of words), and Diatyposis (vivid description) may be combined together. Such a union imparts, "vigour, cogency and beauty to a speech".

Hyperbaton is a figure which consists in the inversion of the natural order of words or thoughts. It carries the very effect of violent, mental agitation. When a person speaks under the stress of a strong passion the logical order is often reversed and he jumps from one thought to another. This figure, therefore, gives a touch of reality to speech and produces the natural effect of emotion : 'Art is perfect when it seems to be nature, and nature hits the mark when she contains art hidden within her.'

Polyptota is a figrue which consists in the interchange of one case for another, of

one number for another, of one tense for another, and of one person for another. It is an excellent weapon of public oratory and contributes to sublimity. It diversifies and enlivens exposition. But it should be used only when the nature of our subject allows it. "To overlay every sentence with ornament is very pedantic."

Periphrasis also contributes much to the sublime and adds greatly to the beauty of language. But it is to be handled with great discrimination, otherwise it will lose its effect and arouse disgust.

(o) Noble Diction and sublimity. The choice of proper and striking words is essential for prod-icing sublimity, because it is

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through words that a writer expresses himself. "Beautiful words are the very light of lofty thought." But inappropriate magnificence of diction should be avoided. For example, trifling subjects should not be treated in a grand manner.

(p) The use of Metaphors. The use of metaphors contributes a great deal to the sublime. Metaphors should, however, be used in impassioned and descriptive passages only. 'The proper time for using metaphors is when the passions roll like a torrent and sweep a multitude of them down their resistless flood.' On such occasions, a number of metaphors can be used together. The use and number of metaphors is determined by the occasion. No fixed rules can be laid down in this connection.

(q) A brief digression. A genius with some faults is better than a flawless mediocre. It is not the number but the loftiness of a writer's excellencies which counts.

(r) Closely allied to metaphors are comparisons and similes. They also contribute to sublimity.

(a) Hyperboles may be used in describing the great as well as the small, since exaggeration is the common element in both cases. Those hyperboles are best in which the very fact that they are hyperboles escapes attention. So naturally should it grow out of the circumstances. In the use of Hyperbole, one must not overstep, otherwise the effect would be spoiled.

(t) Arrangement of words. The harmonious arrangement of words is the fifth source of the sublime. It is a great source of persuasion as well as pleasure. It, "reaches our souls", and contributes to lofty utterance and passion. It is the sense of harmony that gives charm and organic unity to a work of art. A sentence has its own organic structure, and it arises from a harmonious arrangement of words. Broken and agitated movement of language spoils dignity and elevation and gives the composition an appearance of meanness. Excessive conciseness of expression also tends to mar the sublime. "Deformity instead of grandeur ensues from over compression." 'Grandeur is married when the thought is brought into too narrow a compass.' Similarly, over-extension also makes the style lifeless.

(u) The use of mean words should be avoided. Low and undignified vocabulary also disfigures and degrades sublimity. Ill-sounding words and vulgar idioms should, therefore, be avoided.

(v) The decline of eloquence in the age; its causes. Some critics are of the view that the decline of truly great literature in their times was due to the lack of incentive which democracy provided to men of genius in earlier times. They say that the growth of highly exalted genius has ceased. Longinus differs from such critics. He thinks that it is characteristic of human nature, always to find fault with the present. The real cause of the decline of

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eloquence and literature, is the moral decline of the people. People attach more importance to the materialistic values of life ; they do not exert themselves except for the sake of praise, money, or pleasure. "Great literature springs from great and lofty souls, and not from those with whom the world is too much." 5. The Sublime : Its Nature and definition

Even a cursory reading of the text is sufficient to show that Longinus has not used the word 'sublime' in its modern, narrow and limited sense. What Longinus means by the word 'sublime' is 'elevation' or 'loftiness', all that raises style above the ordinary, and gives to it distinction in its widest and truest sense. This distinction was present in the earliest Greek masterpieces, and it gives them their permanent value, but this distinction is entirely lacking in the works of his contemporaries.

Thus by sublimity Longinus means, "a certain distinction and excellence in composition". The effect of this quality is not mere persuasion or pleasure, but, 'transport' ; that is to say it works like a charm carrying irresistibly away with it, all readers and hearers. The effect is as immediate as it is subtle ; it does not result from a painstaking observance of the rules of rhetoric. To quote his own words, "sublimity, flashing forth at the right moment, scatters everything before it like a thunderbolt, and at once displays the power of an orater in all its plenitude." Passages like these have led, R.A. Scott-James to call Longinus, "the first romantic critic".

In order to explain further the nature of the sublime, Loginus compares the true sublime with the false sublime. The false sublime is characterised, first, by tumidity or bombast of language, which is as great an evil as swellings in the body. "It is drier than dropsy". Secondly, the false sublime is characterised by puerility, which is a parade and pomp of language, tawdry and affected, and so frigid. Thirdly, the false sublime results when there is a cheap display of passion, when it is not justified by the occasion, and so is wearisome. Contemporary literature was falsely sublime, and, "All these ugly and parasitical growths in literature arise from a single cause, that pursuit of novelty in the expression of ideas which may be regarded as the fashionable craze of the day." True sublime, on the other hand, "pleases all, and pleases always", for it expresses thoughts of universal validity—thoughts common to men of all ages and countries —in a language which instinctively uplifts our souls.

Ways of Acquiring It : Nature and Art

Next, Longinus examines how this true sublimity can be acquired, and points out that both Nature and Art are equally necessary. However, the course of discussion shows that in truth he considers that such skill is inborn, it does not come by teaching, "and that indeed genius itself shrivells up at the touch of the rules."

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However, art has its own place. Its function is twofold. In the first place, it provides a safeguard against undue licence, and it explains to men Nature's method of expression : "Fine writing needa the cutb, as well as the spur."

Its Sources

There are five sources of this distinction, loftiness, or sublimity, (o) First, and most important source is grandeur of conception or lofty and awe-inspiring thoughts, (b) vehement and inspired passion, (c) use of figures which are of two kinds, figures of thought and figures of language, (d) noble diction which is the result of choice and arrangement of words, use of images, and metaphors and similes and comparisons, and («) dignified, elevated and elaborate composition. The first two sources are innate or natural, while the remaining three are the products of art. Thus art and nature both contribute to the sublime or loftiness of style.

(a) Grandeur of Thought: Grandeur of thought is the first essential, for noble and lofty thoughts find their natural expression in lofty language. Lofty thought itself is an, "echo of greatness of soul". Such greatness and nobility of soul can be cuitivated by nourishing the mind on thoughts that are elevating. Mean and ignoble thoughts can never inspire a lofty utterance. Therefore, he ¦who would attain distinction of style must feed his soul on the works of the great masters, as Homer, and capture from them some of their own greatness. This reflects the classicism of Longinus. However, what Longinus has in mind is not mere imitation or borrowing, but that, "men catch fire from the spirit of others". The "imitation" he here advocates is worlds apart from the formal copying usually associated with that term ; it is different, too, from Horace's rather loftier conception which stood for an assimilation of ancient methods ¦with a view to producing something new. "To Longinus the operation is not that aims at capturing something of the ancient spirit, something of that vital creative force which had gone to the making of the earlier master-pieces ; and its effect he describes as that of illumination, guiding the mind in some mysterious way to the lofty standards of the ideal. Here then is something new in the critical outlook ; a recognition of that imaginative stimulus derived from great creative genius, as well as an interpretation of "imitation" that raised it to a higher place. And it is such theorising as this that constitutes the greatness of Longinus"—(J.W.H. Atkins). This grandeur of conception is to be emphasised and made effective by a suitable treatment of material. Details should be so chosen as to form an organic whole. 'Amplification', i.e. accumulation of all the details of a given subject, is also helpful. Such amplification by its profusion suggests overwhelming strength and magnitude. The use of vivid and compelling images is also useful, for it brings home to the readers the conception of the writer, effectively and forcefully.

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(6) Passion : The second source of the sublime is vehement and inspired passion. Longinus asserts that nothing contributes more to loftiness of tone in writing than genuine emotion. However, the topic has not been dealt with in detail. The author declares his intention of dealing with it in a second treatise, which unfortunately has not come down to us.

(c) The Use of Figures : The third source of attaining excel lence of style is the use of Figures, which he considers very important, and so devotes nearly one-third of his work to it. He shows great discrimination and originality of thinking in his treatment of the subject. Figures should not be used mechanically, rather they must be rooted in genuine emotion. Used naturally, they impart elevation, to style, and are themselves made more effective by an elevated style. They are the result of art, but they should be so used that art is concealed. This becomes possible only when the style is-elevated ; for an elevated style, "casts a veil over artifice". "A figure is most effective when the fact that it is a figure is happily concealed, and it is concealed by splendour of style."

Longinus does not deal with all figures, but only with those that give distinction to style. The figures treated are the rhetorical question, Asyndeton or the omission of conjunctions, Hyperbaton or inversion, and Periphrasis ; and his main contention throughout is that Figures properly treated are a valuable means of giving emotional quality to style, thus supplementing by devices of art the animation or ardour which normally results from the genuine emotion of the speaker (or writer), and his views are illustrated from a number of eminent masters of the past. Hyperbaton, Anaphora (or repetition of words), Apostrophe or address to abstract or inanimate object, Asyndeton or the figure in which conjunctions are left out, and the various Figures embodying changes of syntex are all useful in heightening the expression. They create, "something of the breathless vehemence, the studied disorder, and the air of un-premeditation characteristic of impassioned utterance"—(Atkins). It is in short an example of artistic expression reproducing the effects of natural expression ; a principle emphasised by Longinus in his statement that, "art is perfect when it seems to be nature, and nature hits the mark when she contains art hidden within her". Various variations of syntax (plural for the singular, present for the past, etc.) have a far reaching enlivening effect. Periphrasis (a round about way of saying thing s by which the use of commonplace words is avoided) adds to the expression a richer note and more tuneful rhythms, and thus helps in the expression of lofty thoughts. However, the Figure should be used with care otherwise it degenerates into a trivial and cumbrous form of expression, as it did actually happen in the 18th century English poetry. In short, the use of Figures mwt be psychological—intimately connected with thought and emotion—and not merely mechanical.

(d)Diction : The fou rth source of the 'sublime' is diction which includes choice and arrangement of words, as well as the use of metaphor and simile. Both ordinary and striking words must be suitably chosen, for both are necessary for the formation of an impressive style. He declares that what gives to literature its enduring charm, whether it be the quality of grandeur, or beauty, or mellowness, or force, in the last resort it is this vebral magic, which, "invests dead things with a sort of living

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voice". "Beautiful words", he adds, "are in truth the very light (or illumination) of thought" ; and it may safely be said that nowhere in the work does Longinus approach more nearly to the mysteries of art than in this suggestive and striking pronouncement of his. Further, he issues a warning against the indiscriminate use of stately words ; to employ magnificent diction, he states, in connexion with trivial matters, would be about as effective as to put on a child a man's tragic mask. On the other hand, he has a word of approval for homely and racy expressions in the proper place"—(J.W.H. Atkins).

Next, he takes up the use of metaphor and displays a similar breadth of outlook and penetration of insight. One would have supposed that he would include metaphor, the Queen of Figures, and simile and comparison, under the heading of 'Figures', but to our surprise they are discussed under diction. Metaphors are necessary to give elevation to style ; no rules can be laid down as to the number of metaphors which may be used in a passage. With the insight of genius, he brushes aside all rules, and boldly asserts that the passion, which gives rise to metaphors, will not only determine their number but will provide the necessary control over their numbers. "Thus impassioned utterance, he explains, demands the use of these striking turns, often in a sustained series ; so that there can be no fixed limit to the number used. Then, too, a reader stirred does not stop to count or weigh up metaphors ; carried away by emotion he needs no other means of controlling or checking any excess in their use. And in this way, it is implied, does passion help metaphor and metaphor passion ; the relation between the two being of a natural and fundamental kind"—(J.W.H. Atkins). Alongwith the use of metaphors, he also considers the use of hyperboles, which, he says, must also arise from emotion. Hypzrbole must not be overdone, for an exaggerated Hyperbole results not in elevation, but in bathos. According to Wimsatt and Brooks, the view of Longinus is that it is only strong and timely passion which can make us swallow a far-fetched metaphor or a violent hyperbole.

(e) Dignified Composition : Then he proceeds to consider the fifth source of the sublime, dignified and noble composition and arrangement. By arrangement and composition he simply means a verbal order which is usually called rhythm. Words must be harmoniously set, for the resulting harmony is a natural instrument, not only of persuasion and pleasure but of lofty emotion as well. Such harmonious combination of words appeals to the soul, and enables the reader to share in the emotions of the author. Foremost among the rhythms that make for grandeur of utterance is said to be the dactylic, upon which, as Longinus reminds his readers, that most beautiful of metres, the hexametre, is built. On the other hand, weak and broken rhythms made up of phyrrhics, trochees, and the like, are instrumental solely in lowering the dignity of a passage. "But so, adds Longinus, does also writing in which the rhythm is too pronounced ; for there it is the quality of the rhythm, rather than the meaning of the words, that engages the attention, and the effect is said to be not unlike that of dance-music to which hearers were wont to keep time with their feet—(Atkins). He issues a further warning against undue conciseness of expression. "Extreme conciseness, as he points out, cramps and cripples the thought ; whereas brevity, in the true sense, is effective because of its

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economy and directness. Also, Longinus briefly points out that the use of simile and comparison, too, is helpful in achieving splendour of style.

6, Some Incidental Matters : Suggestive Richness

Such are the views of Longinus on the sublime, but the treatise also deals with a host of other incidental matters. Great is the variety of this small work. Say Wimsatt and Brooks, "One of the most extraordinary features of the essay on The Sublime is the variety of criteria, the number of approaches to poetry, which it manages to include ; not only the main three, the transport of the audience, the genius of the author, the devices of rhetoric—but in passing the democratic idea that great poetry is that which, pleases all and always, and again a further variation on the subject-object relation, the most spectacular or operatic part of the essay, the idea of physical grandeur as the counterpart of psychic." For example, the decay of eloquence in the age is examined and its causes pointed out. Decline and degradation of literature result not from the rise of democracy and the collapse of monarchy, but from a degradation and corruption of the human soul. People have grown greedy, corrupt, materialistic, shameless and insolent, and so art and literature suffered. He constantly illustrates his views with reference to the works of the Greek and Roman masters, and such digressions, explanations, illustrations, and the like, incidently supply further relevant passages in which fresh light is thrown on such matters as critical standards,, and critical methods.

7. Excellence in Literature : Its Test

The treatise, ostensibly on style, widens considerably in scope and becomes one on literary criticism in the larger sense of the term. Nothing, for instance, is of more lasting value than the remarks of our author on the standards for forming judgment in literature. It is a subject on which he has not a little to say ; and such judgment he describes as an arduous business, indeed, "the crowing fruit of ripe experience". To some extent it would be true to say that his standard of taste is implied in what has already been said concerning "distinction" in style ; so that for him the qualities of great utterance are likewise the qualities of great literature. Hence, as his first criterion of excellence in literature, he demands the presence of an imaginative and emotional appeal ; the power, that is, of uplifting the soul of the reader and of filling him with joy and pride, by arousing in him noble thoughts and suggesting more than the words actually convey. "And here, it will be noticed, the test is no longer that of mere pleasure or persuasion ; nor is the appeal made to the emotions or the intellect alone. The effects are such as concern the whole nature of man ; and they are essentially of a bracing and tonic quality." Alongwith this test, however, he combines another of equal importance, that requiring in great liieraiure a permanence of appeal. "In general", he states, "you should regard that greatness in art to be noble and genuine which appeals to all men in all ages." "He insists on this test of time in positive fashion ; and also gives reasons for the faith that is in him. When men, he argues, differing in all possible respects, in their interests, their ways of life, their tastes, ages and languages, all agree, notwithstanding, in the views they hold on any particular subject, then the unanimity of a tribunal otherwise so discordant is surely undeniable proof of the justice of their verdict and of the value to be

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attached to woiks thus commended"—(Atkins). The fact is that Longinus has here called attention to one of the basic truths of literature and literary criticism, namely, the inexhaustible vitality of all great art, and its power of communicating life right down through the ages. He commends as 'touchstone' the works of the great masters, and thus reminds us of Matthew Arnold and T.S. Eliot. He attaches great value to 'correctness', but prefers genuine greatness, allied to some defects, to a flawless mediocrity. It is greatness alone which compels admiration ; grandeur in literature appeals irresistibly to men and this mere correctness cannot do,

8. Longinus : Practical Criticism

His practical criticism, his comments on literature in the concrete —constantly brought in by way of illustration—are also illuminating and interesting. By his insight and penetration, he succeeds in bringing to light not a few of the finest literary qualities of the ancient masterpieces. As David Daiches puts it, "he asks quite different questions about literature from those asked by Plato and Aristotle". His vision is comprehensive, and everywhere he stresses the emotional and imaginative appeal of great literature. It is the creative imagination which modifies and transforms, and produces works of beauty. Longinus is the first of the critics to emphasise this aspect of great literature, such as the works of antiquity.

Methods of Criticism: Historical, Comparative, and Analytical

In his practical criticism, Longinus makes use of both the historical and comparative methods. He constantly views poetry,

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say the works of Homer, in Fetation to their author, and the age in which they were written, and so makes many interesting, original, and thought-provoking comments. Abercrombie calls him, "the first comparative critic of literature". He takes cognizance of a literature, say Hebrew literature, which he knew and which is outside the pale of Graeco Roman literature, and by means of constrast brings out the salient characteristics of the work under discussion, qualities which would not have been brought out without such comparison. In this way, he suggests the universal nature of certain literary phenomena. His achievement in this field is, indeed, memorable. Longinus is also a pioneer in the field of analytical criticism. He analyses passages from particular works to estimate the aptness of the words, images, epithets etc., used by the author. The best example of this analytical method is his analysis of one of the important love-lyrics of Sappo.

9. Achievement as a Critic : His Greatness and Originality

As a critic, Longinus displays a rare breadth and catholicity of outlook, and a mind disinterested and free from prejudice. His estimates are essentially just, and have been upheld by posterity. More important still, say3 Atkins, "are those judgments of his that aim not at assessing, but at interpreting literary values ; those appreciations of his that enlighten and stimulate, and enable us to read with quickened intelligence." Such passages are referred to by Gibbon as among the, "finest monuments of antiquity". Such passages are criticism of the highest kind, for they are based on sound psychological grounds, and result from conscious analysis and delicate imaginative sympathy. Says Atkins, "There are, in short, many respects in which Longinus stands high as a judicial critic ; and not least is the fact that he takes account of three separate literatures. Yet more significant still is his anticipation of modern criticism, in those interpretations of his which lead to a more intimate understanding of ancient art, and reveal in the clearest light his appreciation of the essence of literature."

No doubt, many of his remarks were literary commonplaces for his contemporaries, there is much in his treatise that is borrowed from earlier writers. But there is also much that is original and illuminating and is of permanent and universal significance. He is original in the importance which he attaches to emotion, imagination and beauty of words. For him literature is not a mechanical craft, but a thing of the spirit, of imagination, of feeling, and of the gift of communication. He thus becomes a pioneer in the field of aesthetic appreciation of literature. His great doctrine is that in great literature there are certain basic qualities which are permanent and universal, and that these qualities are embodied in the ancient masterpieces of Greece. In this way, he advocates a return to the standards, and above all the spirit of the classical Greeks. Again and again he directs attention from the technical to the more elusive and spiritual side of literature. He hints in more than one place that formal rules may be disregarded at the bidding of a higher law ; an important aesthetic truth which was to be rediscovered by modern critics. "Elsewhere he points out the inevitable and organic relation existing between thought and expression ; or again, the atmosphere of infinite suggestion bound

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up with all great literature ; while he also establishes once for all the survival value attached to great art" —(Atkins).

Nor is he less suggestive in his remarks on the function of literature. "Of the earlier didatic conception he gives not a hint; and what is perhaps more surprising, he disregards entirely the stock theories of 'pleasure' and 'persuasion'. What he sees in literature is a great aesthetic force, appealing irresistibly to the whole nature of man, uplifting, bracing, and stimulating, while nourishing something that lies deep in his nature"—(Atkins). With Aristotle he perceives that literature works mainly through the emotions, and that its effect is one of a cathartic kind—though he nowhere alludes to Catharsis theory. But in addition, he also brings to light something not covered by Aristotelian theory ; the wider view attained by means of the imagination, the more comprehensive and more stimulating Catharsis which embraces the whole of the higher nature of man. "And in this larger conception of the aesthetic function he approaches more nearly to modern ideas than did any of his predecessors."

In the work as a whole there is surprisingly little dead matter ; on the other hand, there is much that is vital, expressed in memorable fashion. "Nor is his style an unworthy medium of his thought, lacking though it may be in Attic purity of speech." Reminiscent in some ways of Plato's manner, and rich with metaphors, compounds, and poetical expressions, his style, at the same time, has a peculiar intensity of its own ; and this is due partly to his use of striking epigrams and picturesque similes, and partly to his use of long sentences brought to a triumphant, effective close.

R. A. Scott-James calls Longinus, "the first romantic critic", and he is romantic in his enthusiasm and exuberance, and in his emphasis on imagination, emotion, and the "transport" of great literature. But in the view of Atkins it would be more correct to call him an exponent of the genuine classical spirit. Throughout, he is concerned mainly with ancient Greek models, "while his theory is solely based on the conception of art as tha product of principles deduced from the practice of the past." Nor is this reverence for tradition the only classical element in his constitution. "He is classical also in the balance he maintains between genius and unimpassioned hard work, in his sense of the need for fitness, selection, and a fine adjustment of means to ends." So that it is as one of the last of the classical critics that he figures primarily in ancient critical history.

"But while this is true, it is true also that he anticipates much that it modern in critical work." And this is shown by his concern with the essence rather than with the form of literature, his under, standing of the part played by the imagination and the feelings in creative work, his efforts at literary interpretation and appreciation, his widening outlook and the variety of his judicial methods ; features which were to reappear only after the lapse of centuries. "The fact is that in him were combined faculties that were characteristic of the greatest of his predecessors. Like Aristotle, for instance, he based his theories on existing Greek literature ; he likewise aimed at a rational explanation of literary phenomena ; and his methods of theorising are analytic, inductive, psychological, and historical. On the other hand, he is spiritually the antithesis of Aristotle ; for nothing could be farther removed from the cold intellectualism of Aristotle than the impassioned and suggestive teaching of Longinus" —(Atkins).

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His Influence

Longinus, in short, is one of the greatest critics of antiquity; but the influence of his work has been comparatively slight. It was lost sight of, during the middle ages and rediscovered at the Renaissance, its knowledge remained confined, more or less, to a few scholars. It was Boileau'a translation of the treatise, in 1674, that won recognition for it as a work worthy to rank with the works of Aristotle and Horace. After this, the treatise was frequently translated and edited throughout the 18th century. But still its true significance was not generally recognised. It had only a limited appeal. It was only in the later 19th century that its many merits were duly recognised. Now, the supreme qualities of the work are no longer in question. Ranking in antiquity with the greatest critical achievements, it "remains towering among all other works of its class", and for sheer originality and power it has not been surpassed. "There are things in its pages that can never grow old ; while its freshness and light will continue to charm all ages. All beautiful things, it has been said, belong to the same age ; and the work of Longinus is in a sense contemporaneous with that of Plato and Aristotle and Coleridge—(J.W.H. Atkins).

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