work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
7488,"",Searching in C-H ,2013-06-28 03:04:00 UTC,"But give me leave to acquaint you with what has pass'd between that little envious mischievous Creature and myself. At his first coming to Town, he was very importunate with the late Mr. Henry Cromwell to introduce him to me: The Recommendation of Mr. Cromwell engaged me to be about thrice in Company with him; after which I went into the Country, and neither saw him nor thought of him, 'till I found myself most insolently attack'd by him; in his very superficial Essay upon Criticism, which was the Effect of his impotent Envy and Malice, by which he endeavour'd to destroy the Reputation of a Man who had publish'd Pieces of Criticism, and to set up his own. I was mov'd with Indignation to that Degree, at so much Baseness, that I immediately writ Remarks upon that Essay, in order to expose the Weakness and the Absurdity of it; which Remarks were publish'd, as soon as they could be printed. I afterwards writ and publish'd Remarks upon Part of his Translation of Homer, upon his Windsor Forest, and his infamous Temple of Fame. When I had done this, I thought I had Reason to be satisfied with the Revenge I had taken. As these several Remarks had made great Impressions upon the Minds of Persons of undoubted Sense, and so esteem'd by the Publick, P. began to repent of the Affront he had offer'd me, and the Injury he had attempted to do me: And to give some Proofs of his Repentance, he subscrib'd to the Two Volumes of Select Works, almost in spite of my Friend Mr. Henry Cromwell, in whose Hands he found the Proposals. He likewise subscrib'd afterwards to the Two Volumes of Letters, which engag'd me to strike out several very just and severe Reflections against him, which were scatter'd up and down in those Letters. In Acknowledgment of which, he sent me the following Letter, together with the second Payment:
(pp. 39-40)",,21231,"","""As these several Remarks had made great Impressions upon the Minds of Persons of undoubted Sense, and so esteem'd by the Publick, P. began to repent of the Affront he had offer'd me, and the Injury he had attempted to do me.""",Impressions,2013-06-28 03:04:00 UTC,""
7540,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-11 18:48:22 UTC,"The following Treatise is but a small part of a Volume of Criticism intended to be publish'd in Folio, in which in Treating of the works of the most Celebrated English Poets Deceas'd, I design'd to shew both by Reason and Examples, that the use of Religion in Poetry was absolutely necessary to raise it to the greatest exaltation, of which so Noble an Art is capable, and on the other side, that Poetry was requisite to Religion in order to its making more forcible Impressions upon the Minds of Men.
(Preface)",,21658,"","""The following Treatise is but a small part of a Volume of Criticism intended to be publish'd in Folio, in which in Treating of the works of the most Celebrated English Poets Deceas'd, I design'd to shew both by Reason and Examples, that the use of Religion in Poetry was absolutely necessary to raise it to the greatest exaltation, of which so Noble an Art is capable, and on the other side, that Poetry was requisite to Religion in order to its making more forcible Impressions upon the Minds of Men.""",Impressions,2013-07-11 18:48:22 UTC,""
7540,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-11 18:49:20 UTC,"And this I thought would be an effectual way of Reconciling People to a Regulated Stage, in spight of the Grimaces of some Spiritual Comedians; who have themselves a mind to be the only Actors in Vogue; and who in order to a total suppression of the Stage, have endeavour'd to set up private Authorities against the common Sense of Mankind, and the Errors of two or three Churchmen against Divine Inspiration. For I appeal to any impartial Reader, whether the constant practice in all Ages of the best and the bravest Nations in their most flourishing States, may not pass for the common Sense of Men: And we know very well that St. Paul, whom we believe to be divinely inspir'd, has made use of Heathen Poets nay ev'n Heathen Dramatick Poets, for the Reformation of Mankind. Witness that famous passage, Evil Communications corrupt good manners; which St. Paul makes use of in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and which Grotius informs us that he borrow'd from the Thais of the famous Menander. Now how that which was the Language of the Holy Ghost, in the Mouth of St. Paul, comes to be the Language of the Devil in ours, I believe our Bigots will find it a Difficult matter to shew. It is plain then that these Persons by designing totally to suppress the Stage, which is the only encouragement that we have in these Islands of Poetry, manifestly intended to drive out so noble and useful an Art from among us, and by that means endeavour'd with all their might to weaken the power of Religion, which has need of Poetry to make its utmost Impression upon the Minds of Men.
(Preface)",,21659,"","""It is plain then that these Persons by designing totally to suppress the Stage, which is the only encouragement that we have in these Islands of Poetry, manifestly intended to drive out so noble and useful an Art from among us, and by that means endeavour'd with all their might to weaken the power of Religion, which has need of Poetry to make its utmost Impression upon the Minds of Men.""",Impressions,2013-07-11 18:49:20 UTC,""
7540,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-11 18:51:03 UTC,"Dramatick or Representative Poesy, says he, which brings the World upon the Stage, is of excellent use if it were not abus'd. For the Instructions and Corruptions of the Stage may be great; but the Corruptions in this kind abound; the Discipline is altogether neglected in our times. For altho' in Modern Commonwealths, Stage-Plays be but esteemed a Sport or Pastime, unless they draw from the Satyr and be mordant; yet the Care of the Antients was, that the Stage should instruct the Minds of Men unto Virtue. Nay, wise Men and great Philosophers, have accounted it as the Archet or Musical Bow of the Mind. And certainly it is most true, and as it were a Secret of Nature, that the Minds of Men are more patent to Affections, and Impressions Congregate than Solitary.
(Preface)",,21660,"An ""archet"" is the bow of a violin","""Nay, wise Men and great Philosophers, have accounted it as the Archet or Musical Bow of the Mind. And certainly it is most true, and as it were a Secret of Nature, that the Minds of Men are more patent to Affections, and Impressions Congregate than Solitary.""","",2013-07-11 18:51:03 UTC,""
7540,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-11 18:53:34 UTC,"'Tis very plain that it is the Apprehension of Danger which causes that emotion in us which we call Terrour, and it signifies nothing at all to the purpose whether the Danger is real or imaginary; and 'tis as plain too, that the Soul never takes the Alarm from any thing so soon as it does from the Senses, especially those two noble ones of the Eye and the Ear, by reason of the strict affinity which they have with the Imagination; and the Evil always seems to be very near, when those two Senses give notice of it; and the nearer the Evil is the greater still is the Terror. But now let us see how those two Poets, did by Virtue of their Ideas, bring even absent, Terrible Objects, within the reach of those two noble Senses. First then to bring an absent Terrible Object before our Sight, they drew an Image or Picture of it; but to draw an Image or Picture of a Terrible Object, so as to surprise and astonish the Soul by the Eye, they never fail'd to draw it in violent Action or Motion; and in Order to that they made choice of Words and Numbers, which might best express the violence of that Action or Motion. For an absent Object can never be set before the Eye in a true Light, unless it is shewn in violent Action or Motion. Because unless it is shewn so, the Soul has leisure to reflect upon the Deceit. But violent Motion can never be conceived without a violent agitation of Spirit, and that sudden agitation surprises the Soul and gives it less time to Reflect; and at the same time causes the Impressions that the Objects make to be so Deep, and their traces to be so profound, that it makes them in a manner as present to us as if they were really before us. For the Spirits being set in a violent emotion, and the Imagination being fir'd by that agitation; and the Brain being deeply penetrated by those Impressions, the very Objects themselves are set as it were before us, and consequently we are sensible of the same Passion that we should feel from the things themselves. For the warmer the Imagination is, the less able we are to Reflect, and consequently the things are the more present to us of which we draw the Images; and therefore when the Imagination is so inflam'd as to render the Soul utterly incapable of reflecting there is no difference between the Images and the things themselves; as we may see for example by Men in Raging Feavours. But those two great Poets were not satisfied with setting absent Objects before our Eyes, by shewing them in violent motion; but if their motion occasion'd any Extraordinary Sounds that were terrifying; they so contriv'd their Numbers and Expressions, as that they might be sure to ring those sounds in the very Ears of their Readers.
(pp. 90-3)",,21662,"","""For the Spirits being set in a violent emotion, and the Imagination being fir'd by that agitation; and the Brain being deeply penetrated by those Impressions, the very Objects themselves are set as it were before us, and consequently we are sensible of the same Passion that we should feel from the things themselves.""",Impressions,2013-07-11 18:53:34 UTC,""
7540,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-11 18:55:52 UTC,"And we pretend to prove undeniably that not only the Gentlemen, whose works we design to examine, have succeeded and excell'd no further than their Poems have been so constituted; but that never any Poets of any Nation or any Age, ever did or can excel without it. I have already prov'd in the Advancement of modern Poetry, beyond all manner of doubt, to those who have Capacity enough to comprehend the Arguments, that the Ancient Poets excell'd the moderns in the greatness of Poetry, for no other reason, but because their Subjects were Religious in their constitution. And therefore all that I shall say of it here is, that Poetry is the Natural Language of Religion, and that Religion at first produc'd it, as a Cause produces its Effect. In the first Ages of writing among the Græcians, there was nothing writ but Verse, because they wrote of nothing but Religion which was necessary for the Cementing the Societies which in those times were but just united, and Nature had taught them, that Poetry was the only Language in which they could worthily treat of the most Important parts of Religion, or worthily perform its most Important Duties. But as soon as Religion was sufficiently imprinted in the Minds of Men, and they had leisure to Treat of Human things in their writings they invented Prose, and invented it in Imitation of Verse, as Strabo tells us in the first Book of his Geography; but after that Prose was invented by them; never any of them treated of their Gods or their Religious matters in Prose, before the Age of Socrates, because they found that that way of writing, was by no means proper for it. For the wonders of Religion naturally threw them upon great Passions, and great passions naturally threw them upon Harmony, and Figurative Language, as they most of Necessity do, any Poet as long as he continues Master of them. Which is known by Experience to all who are Poets, for never any one while he was rapt with Enthusiasm or with Ordinary Passion, wanted either Words or Harmony, and therefore Poetry is more Harmonious than Prose because it is more Pathetick. Even in Prose your Orators and all who pretend to move the Passions, have more Harmonious Periods than they who barely speak to the Reason. And in Poetry they who write with a great deal of Passion are Generally very Harmonious, whereas those who write with but little are not so Musical. Horace is an Illustrious Example of this. No Man who has read his Odes can doubt of the fineness and the Delicacy of his Ear; and therefore his Satyrs are often Harsh and Rugged because the Spirit in them is mean and little. No Man can believe that Juvenal had a finer Ear, than Horace, but yet his Satyrs are more Musical because they have a greater Spirit in them. At the same time tis a little odd to consider, that Passion which disturbs the Soul, should occasion it to produce Harmony, which seems to emply the Order and Composure of it. Whether this proceeds from the Secret Effort that the Soul makes, to Compose it self or whatever the cause is, the Effect is certain. But as Passion, which is the Disorder of the Soul; produces Harmony which is Agreement; so Harmony which is Concord Augments and propagates Passion which is Discord. All who are acquainted with Poetry or Musick must be as sensible of this, as Mr. Waller was fully convinc'd of it [...]
(pp. 96-100)",,21664,"","""But as soon as Religion was sufficiently imprinted in the Minds of Men, and they had leisure to Treat of Human things in their writings they invented Prose, and invented it in Imitation of Verse, as Strabo tells us in the first Book of his Geography; but after that Prose was invented by them; never any of them treated of their Gods or their Religious matters in Prose, before the Age of Socrates, because they found that that way of writing, was by no means proper for it.""",Impressions,2013-07-11 18:55:52 UTC,""