登陆注册
4705400000080

第80章

Once more, compare the lazar-house in the eleventh book of the Paradise Lost with the last ward of Malebolge in Dante. Milton avoids the loathsome details, and takes refuge in indistinct but solemn and tremendous imagery. Despair hurrying from couch to couch to mock the wretches with his attendance, Death shaking his dart over them, but, in spite of supplications, delaying to strike. What says Dante? "There was such a moan there as there would be if all the sick who, between July and September, are in the hospitals of Valdichiana, and of the Tuscan swamps, and of Sardinia, were in one pit together; and such a stench was issuing forth as is wont to issue from decayed limbs."

We will not take upon ourselves the invidious office of settling precedency between two such writers, Each in his own department is incomparable; and each, we may remark, has wisely, or fortunately, taken a subject adapted to exhibit his peculiar talent to the greatest advantage. The Divine Comedy is a personal narrative. Dante is the eye-witness and ear-witness of that which he relates. He is the very man who has heard the tormented spirits crying out for the second death, who has read the dusky characters on the portal within which there is no hope, who has hidden his face from the terrors of the Gorgon, who has fled from the hooks and the seething pitch of Barbariccia and Draghignazzo.

His own hands have grasped the shaggy sides of Lucifer. His own feet have climbed the mountain of expiation. His own brow has been marked by the purifying angel. The reader would throw aside such a tale in incredulous disgust, unless it were told with the strongest air of veracity, with a sobriety even in its horrors, with the greatest precision and multiplicity in its details. The narrative of Milton in this respect differs from that of Dante, as the adventures of Amadis differ from those of Gulliver. The author of Amadis would have made his book ridiculous if he had introduced those minute particulars which give such a charm to the work of Swift, the nautical observations, the affected delicacy about names, the official documents transcribed at full length, and all the unmeaning gossip and scandal of the court, springing out of nothing, and tending to nothing. We are not shocked at being told that a man who lived, nobody knows when, saw many very strange sights, and we can easily abandon ourselves to the illusion of the romance. But when Lemuel Gulliver, surgeon, resident at Rotherhithe, tells us of pygmies and giants, flying islands, and philosophising horses, nothing but such circumstantial touches could produce for a single moment a deception on the imagination.

Of all the poets who have introduced into their works the agency of supernatural beings, Milton has succeeded best. Here Dante decidedly yields to him: and as this is a point on which many rash and ill-considered judgments have been pronounced, we feel inclined to dwell on it a little longer. The most fatal error which a poet can possibly commit in the management of his machinery, is that of attempting to philosophise too much. Milton has been often censured for ascribing to spirits many functions of which spirits must be incapable. But these objections, though sanctioned by eminent names, originate, we venture to say, in profound ignorance of the art of poetry.

What is spirit? What are our own minds, the portion of spirit with which we are best acquainted? We observe certain phaenomena.

We cannot explain them into material causes. We therefore infer that there exists something which is not material. But of this something we have no idea. We can define it only by negatives. We can reason about it only by symbols. We use the word; but we have no image of the thing; and the business of poetry is with images, and not with words. The poet uses words indeed; but they are merely the instruments of his art, not its objects. They are the materials which he is to dispose in such a manner as to present a picture to the mental eye. And if they are not so disposed, they are no more entitled to be called poetry than a bale of canvas and a box of colours to be called a painting.

同类推荐
  • 六趣轮回经

    六趣轮回经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 谷风之什

    谷风之什

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 刊误

    刊误

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 百花弹词

    百花弹词

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Congo & Other Poems

    The Congo & Other Poems

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 南极大冒险(科学大探险)

    南极大冒险(科学大探险)

    乐乐淘是一个爱冒险的小男孩,在布瓜博士的帮助下,他与好朋友小猴一起进入南极,开始了冒险之旅。他们乘坐着阿拉丁的神奇飞毯着陆南极,乐乐淘随身携带的背包可以从中取出任何想要的东西,解决在旅途中遇到的问题;而飞毯的神奇之处在于它可以根据需要变化,可以变成雪橇、潜艇、轮船等等。在这个故事中,所有的动物都是拟人化的,它们像人类一样生动、可爱。在一位企鹅导游的带领下,通过他们在旅行中的所见所闻,介绍了南极的美丽奇观,通过远程链接布瓜博士,解答他们所有的疑问。
  • 刁蛮女捕:公子你别急

    刁蛮女捕:公子你别急

    卷入凶杀案意外身亡又穿越异世已经让叶萌一肚子火,偏偏又遇上一个办案能力差脾气大还爱吃醋的帅捕头做队友,可是破案又缺不了他;随后又遇到让她心动的西域公子何唐,可令她心动的原因竟是……法医系高材生叶萌在这个陌生的时代运用现代手段破获了一桩桩大案,期间遭遇了一次次追杀,偶遇王子,邂逅小公爷,破案过程中竟发生这么多叶萌解决不了的问题……如果事情背后的真相,那么叶萌该如何选择?【情节虚构,请勿模仿】
  • 安全健康教育综合读本5

    安全健康教育综合读本5

    不同的意外伤害有不同的急救方法。(1)鼻出血急救要点:用口呼吸;不要咳嗽或打喷嚏;坐直,头略向前倾,冷敷额部;用手指捏紧鼻梁柔软处约10分钟。(2)触电急救要点:将触电者移到通风较好的地方,解开其衣扣、裤带,保持其呼吸道通畅;如触电者心跳、呼吸停止,要对其坚持长时间的人工呼吸和心脏按压;有条件时用凡士林纱布或盐水纱布包扎触电部位,然后送医院进一步治疗。
  • 留守在北大荒的知青

    留守在北大荒的知青

    “北大荒”,这是一个令无数知青心动的名字。从1968年到1976年,54万来自大城市的知青奔赴黑龙江,踏进衰草寒烟的北大荒。1976年大批知青返城时,一部分知青却留了下来。40年过去,昔日的姑娘小伙如今已是白发老人,人生最美好的年华都奉献给了这片原本陌生的土地。从黑龙江畔到红兴隆垦区,到处都留下他们的足迹。在哑丈夫与哈尔滨之间如何选择?曾经许下的婚姻誓言在回城的诱惑下能否信守?让孩子呆在身边还是回城读书?被人指为“封锁毛泽东思想”的孙绩威为什么没有返城?还有“不要前程要爱情”的周军岳,勇挑重担抚养精神病人的康金环,不能床前尽孝只能面对母亲坟墓的张玉林……
  • 女宰相

    女宰相

    子弹的现代女强新文:凶猛女学~~~~~~~~~注意~~~~~~~~~她9527:无父无母,样貌平凡,天资聪明,十六岁破格加入警队,十七岁顺利加入黑社会,杀人无数,三十二岁死于非命,面目全非,身首异处。她欧阳飘飘:父母双全,国色天香,为人骄纵,从出生的一刻集万千宠爱,从小却任性妄为,伤人无数,十二岁被人伤,毙。她9527杀人无数,不得好死,却化作一缕轻魂穿越时空重新为人,从此欧阳飘飘改名龚小诺。初识天下第一剑在识天下第一商又识天下第一将终识天下第一帝龚小诺她只做幕后参谋,天下人只识凤枭,谁识龚小诺。龚小诺她只有一方家园,五亩田地,凤枭足智多谋为明君夺天下。龚小诺她只爱一人,凤枭名满天下众人景仰。龚小诺她逍遥过活嬉笑怒骂,凤枭笑傲群雄无人能撼。~~~~~~~~~~附缀:本文女主在凤雏时期轻松平和一些,凤啸期会恢复强大面目,女主性格多变,隐居时的轻松逍遥,商界里的尔虞我诈,战场上的心狠手辣,皇宫中的心机算尽,善于伪装见人说人话,见鬼说鬼话。故事是波折,感情是慢热,女主是冷血,甚入!!!!!!!领养开始:(女主龚小诺的干妈,亲亲aipinguo!!!!)(男主之一,小星同学的干妈,亲亲李子聪!!!!)(最可爱的狼族,金子同学的干妈,亲亲筱水同学!!!!)每天下午两点更新,若是二更会在晚上七点左右!!子弹写文希望能多多的得到大家的鼓励。挠头!有点不好意思,左腿靠右腿,实在不好意思!!夹住手臂装鹌鹑,真是不好意思!!!仰天一声长啸,票票呀,鲜花呀,钻石呀,砸死我……,太不好意思了!!!!子弹去害羞五分钟。子弹的新文独统后宫宫斗文!前世她是雇佣杀手,一朝穿越却成武国皇后,用愚昧遮挡一身傲骨,用懒散掩盖一身潇洒,本是想用一生看一场宫廷大戏,却终未逃脱政治的枷锁,她用平定江山当作筹码,只为换取一生自由翱翔,不想他不守诺言,灭了她满门。原谅我寒儿,他未曾求人,为留她,他万般恳求。南又寒持剑落地,划下一道长长的剑痕,当心空无一物,它便无边无涯,从此恩断义绝,你我天各一方。野史记载武国皇后不守宫规不尊妇德行为粗俗为人跋扈心性恶毒祸殃朝政残杀臣妃……独统后宫作者是个笨蛋,简介从来简短。宫斗,姐妹斗,兄弟斗,父女斗,夫妻斗,字里行间诙谐搞笑,故事情节跌宕起伏。感情会有些曲折,过程有点虐心,结局一对一!!
  • 商业创意2:从全球视角看中国商业创意

    商业创意2:从全球视角看中国商业创意

    在上一本《商业创意》中,主要讲述商业创意背后的理论基石。而本册主要是从全球的视角讲述中国商业创意背后的品牌精神。商业创意简单地说是可以实现商业价值的创意。商业创意的诞生通常是由企业或者相关机构推动,通过内部孵化或者外部获取,最终用于实现商业价值。商业创意理论开创了一种全新的研究视角,它重新定义了可以产生商业价值的创意范畴,同时细化和编排了商业创意对于企业影响的各环节。它通过研究各环节之间的关联,以及它跟最终商业价值产生的效率之间的关系,指导企业在创意投入上,用有限的资源获得最大化的商业价值回报。
  • 审美与创作艺术研究

    审美与创作艺术研究

    不论生产物质产品还是精神产品,所有的劳动者和工作者都是按照美的尺度来生产。当然,我们的文章家、文学家,以及一切爱好写作的同志们和青年朋友们也不例外。不管你意识到还是没意识到,不管你有意还是无意,也都是按照美的尺度来进行写作的。
  • 郡阁雅言

    郡阁雅言

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 最强崩坏系统

    最强崩坏系统

    一个平凡少年,携最强系统,崩坏诸天万界。
  • 高而基考研心理学:实验心理学分册(统考版)

    高而基考研心理学:实验心理学分册(统考版)

    比邻学堂高而基考研心理学系列是针对心理学考研进行编写的标准的教辅书。本书对知识进行了深度和全面的梳理与整合,覆盖全部核心考点,同时在312考试大纲的基础上进行了调整、完善、充实,对自主命题的考生也同样适用。全书逻辑性强,条理清晰,能帮助考生在较短时间内进行有效学习。