An Essay on Genius: Or, The Philosophy of LiteratureLongman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820 - 118 pages |
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Page 12
... attainment is checked by the limits of nature or of our own capacity . The more we reflect and compare , the more we increase discernment and improve understanding ; as the mind , from the desire of changing its ideas , cannot dwell ...
... attainment is checked by the limits of nature or of our own capacity . The more we reflect and compare , the more we increase discernment and improve understanding ; as the mind , from the desire of changing its ideas , cannot dwell ...
Page 15
... attainment is various , even where we may reasonably suppose exertion to have been the same . Whiston never reached the science of Newton , nor Blackmore the vigour and elegance of Pope . The acquirements of the mind are , however , as ...
... attainment is various , even where we may reasonably suppose exertion to have been the same . Whiston never reached the science of Newton , nor Blackmore the vigour and elegance of Pope . The acquirements of the mind are , however , as ...
Page 20
... attainment . It is to be viewed as na- turally flowing from experience , and accompanying the ex- pansion of the mind . As to the cause or origin of memory , it is to be found in interest . Whatever we remember is fixed in our minds by ...
... attainment . It is to be viewed as na- turally flowing from experience , and accompanying the ex- pansion of the mind . As to the cause or origin of memory , it is to be found in interest . Whatever we remember is fixed in our minds by ...
Page 27
... attainment is on the whole progressive , the intellect is capable of containing only a cer- tain number of images . On that very intricate subject , arith- metic , it can pass through but a very few parts without noting its steps by ...
... attainment is on the whole progressive , the intellect is capable of containing only a cer- tain number of images . On that very intricate subject , arith- metic , it can pass through but a very few parts without noting its steps by ...
Page 30
... attainment of the mind , and the ultimate object of both remote research and minute investigation . From it , is derived all readiness of combination , all strength of rea- soning , and force of argument . As words always correspond ...
... attainment of the mind , and the ultimate object of both remote research and minute investigation . From it , is derived all readiness of combination , all strength of rea- soning , and force of argument . As words always correspond ...
Common terms and phrases
ability abstract acquired acquisition acuteness appear application arise Aristotle arrangement attainment attention beauty capable capacity cation causes circumstances combination comprehension connection considered consists degree Demosthenes depends Descartes difficulty discover displays distinct distinguished duction Dunciad effect effort elegance endeavour equal excellence execution exertion extensive facts faculties fancy former genius greater greatest habit Hence Homer Hudibras human ideas Iliad imagination individual inferior intel intellectual irregular ject judgment knowledge labour latter Letters of Junius Longinus lyric poetry mankind manner memory ment mental merely merit mode moral nature neral never objects or qualities original Paradise Lost particular passions peculiar perceive perfection performance perhaps person philosopher poet poetry Pope possess powers principles produce pursuit racter rank reason recollection reflection relation remark rendered seems Shakespeare shew simile sion species strength of mind style sublimity superior talents taste things thinking thought tion tural tween understanding variety vigour Voltaire
Popular passages
Page 79 - Which the five watchful Senses represent, She forms Imaginations, Aery shapes, Which Reason joining or disjoining, frames All what we affirm or what deny, and call Our knowledge or opinion; then retires Into her private Cell when Nature rests.
Page 13 - ... to dive into the depths of dungeons, to plunge into the infection of hospitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain, to take the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt ; to remember the forgotten, to attend to the neglected, to visit the forsaken, and to compare and collate the distresses of all men in all countries.
Page 13 - His plan is original ; and it is as full of genius as it is of humanity. It was a voyage of discovery, a circumnavigation of charity. Already the benefit of his labour is felt more or less in every country ; I hope he will anticipate his final reward by seeing all its effects fully realized in his own. He will receive, not by retail, but in gross, the reward of those who visit the prisoner ; and he has so forestalled and monopolized this branch of charity, that there will be, I trust, little room...
Page 16 - Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear : Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Some village- Hampden, that, with dauntless breast, The little tyrant of his fields withstood, Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood. Th...
Page 85 - Thus in the soul while memory prevails, The solid power of understanding fails ; Where beams of warm imagination play, The memory's soft figures melt away.
Page 13 - I cannot name this gentleman without remarking that his labours and writings have done much to open the eyes and hearts of mankind. He has visited all Europe ; — not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces, or the stateliness of temples ; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosity of modern art ; not to collect medals, or collate manuscripts, but to dive into the depths of dungeons; to plunge into the...
Page 13 - ... and to compare . and collate the distresses of all men, in all countries. His plan is original, and it is as full of genius, as it is of humanity. It is a voyage of discovery, a circumnavigation of charity ; and already the benefit of his labour is felt more or less in every country.
Page 9 - O'er the wide main extends his boundless eye ; Through such a space of air, with thundering sound, At every leap the immortal coursers bound : Troy now they reach'd and touch'd those banks divine, Where silver Simois and Scamander join.
Page 63 - One science only will one genius fit ; So vast is art, so narrow human wit : Not only bounded to peculiar arts, But oft in those confin'd to single parts.
Page 46 - ... one of the fathers took it into his head to make an essay of his parts in geometry, which, it seems, hit his genius so luckily, that he afterwards became one of the greatest mathematicians of the age.