Search -
Miscellanies, Chiefly Addresses, Academical and Historical (1)
Miscellanies Chiefly Addresses Academical and Historical - 1 Author:Francis William Newman Volume: 1 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1869 Original Publisher: Trübner Subjects: History / General History / Ancient / Greece History / Ancient / Rome History / Ancient / Egypt History / Middle East / Egypt History / Middle East / General History / Europe / Greece Literary Collections ... more »/ Essays Reference / Quotations Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: FOUR LE Or POETRY; DELIVERED FIRST IN WALES TO A SELECT COMPANY. EIKST LECTUEE. Topics And Essence Of Poetry. Men who have scientific knowledge may teach what is new. I can but explain what is old. Moreover, I must illustrate my subject from that which I know best; hence, next to English poetry, I go to Greek, or sometimes to Latin, for my illustrations. Others may adduce what is equally to the purpose from German or Italian or other modern poetry; but each must speak from that which he has attained. It would be affected to begin toy any panegyric on Poetry. I assume that all my hearers, even if they have no extensive acquaintance with Poets, yet have in themselves a response to the internal worth of Poetry. Why else should they now come and hear me ? If I were to say something severe of " the man who hath not music in his soul," I might seem to be gratuitously speaking ill of the absent. But in truth this music, this poetry has many forms. It is not solely in sound, nor solely in colour, nor solely in words and arrangements of thought: it is the animating spirit of Art. If you ask, What is the essence of poetry, perhaps we must reply, -- It is the same essence as distinguishes Mind from Animal Perception. A very stupid animal sees the outside of things, and learns phenomena only. If man could strictly limit ...« less