work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
5107,"",Reading,2009-09-14 19:39:14 UTC,"It is accordingly observed by Longinus, in his treatise of the Sublime, that the proper time for metaphor, is when the passions are so swelled as to hurry on like a torrent.
(Vol III, p. 26n)",,13794,•Cross-reference Longinus. REVISIT and LOOKUP.,"""It is accordingly observed by Longinus, in his treatise of the Sublime, that the proper time for metaphor, is when the passions are so swelled as to hurry on like a torrent.""","",2013-11-18 19:55:02 UTC,""
5112,Reverie,"Searching ""predominant passion"" in HDIS",2004-06-07 00:00:00 UTC,"In the mean time Sir Launcelot, having ordered supper, retired into his own chamber, and gave a loose to the most tender emotions of his heart. He recollected all the fond ideas which had been excited in the course of his correspondence with the charming Aurelia. He remembered, with horror, the cruel letter he had received from that young lady, containing a formal renunciation of his attachment, so unsuitable to the whole tenour of her character and conduct. He revolved the late adventure of the coach, and the declaration of Mr. Clarke, with equal eagerness and astonishment; and was seized with the most ardent desire of unravelling a mystery so interesting to the predominant passion of his heart. --All these mingled considerations produced a kind of ferment in the oeconomy of his mind, which subsided into a profound reverie, compounded of hope and perplexity.
(II. xiii)",,13810,•I've included twice: once in Uncategorized: Economy and once in Liquid: Ferment.
,"""Mingled considerations"" may produce a ""ferment in the oeconomy"" of the mind","",2009-09-14 19:39:16 UTC,""
5300,"",Searching in ECCO,2006-10-13 00:00:00 UTC,"[...] they exhibited a most violent and dratic purgative to him, which brought on him this morning to the manifest periclitation of his life, a most terrible hypercatharsis, which Apollo himself, the God of physicians, with all his medical powers, has hardly been able to stop. His existence is now at last in no danger of comminution, but then his powers are absolutely gone and quite evaporated. In a word, he is as dry and empty as a beer barrel after it has been [end page 58] some time set a-broach to a drunken mob at a general election.
(pp. 58-9)",,14229,•See previous. Doctor vomits up his powers. Is this a reference to Curll?
•I've included twice: Liquid and Beer Barrel,"His existence is now at last in no danger of comminution, but then his powers are absolutely gone and quite evaporated. In a word, he is as dry and empty as a beer barrel after it has been some time set a-broach to a drunken mob at a general election.""","",2009-09-14 19:40:20 UTC,""
6982,"",Reading,2011-06-25 03:55:41 UTC,"""Sincere th'unalter'd bliss her charms impart,
""Sedate th'enlivening ardors they inspire;
""She bids no transient rapture thrill the heart,
""She wakes no feverish gust of fierce desire.
""Unwise, who, tossing on the watery way,
""All to the storm th'unfetter'd sail devolve;
""Man more unwise resigns the mental sway,
""Born headlong on by passion's keen resolve.
""While storms remote but murmur on thine ear,
""Nor waves in ruinous uproar round thee roll,
""Yet yet a moment check thy prone career,
""And curb the keen resolve that prompts thy soul.
(pp. 15-6)",,18816,"","""""Unwise, who, tossing on the watery way, / All to the storm th'unfetter'd sail devolve; / Man more unwise resigns the mental sway, / Born headlong on by passion's keen resolve.""","",2011-06-25 03:55:41 UTC,""
7498,"","Searching in C-H Lion. Found again reading Sean Silver, The Mind is a Collection: Case Studies in Eighteenth-Century Thought (Philadelphia: Penn Press, 2015), 3.",2013-07-01 16:45:42 UTC,"Imagination is that faculty whereby the mind not only reflects on its own operations, but which assembles the various ideas conveyed to the understanding by the canal of sensation, and treasured up in the repository of the memory, compounding or disjoining them at pleasure; and which, by its plastic power of inventing new associations of ideas, and of combining them with infinite variety, is enabled to present a creation of its own, and to exhibit scenes and objects which never existed in nature. So indispensibly necessary is this faculty in the composition of Genius, that all the discoveries in science, and all the inventions and improvements in art, if we except such as have arisen from mere accident, derive their origin from its vigorous exertion. At the same time it must be confessed, that all the false and fallacious systems of the former, and all the irregular and illegitimate performances in the latter, which have ever been obtruded upon mankind, may be justly imputed to the unbounded extravagance of the same faculty: such effects are the natural consequences of an exuberant imagination, without any proportionable share of the reasoning talent. It is evidently necessary therefore, in order to render the productions of Genius regular and just, as well as elegant and ingenious, that the discerning and coercive power of judgment should mark and restrain the excursions of a wanton imagination; in other words, that the austerity of reason should blend itself with the gaiety of the graces. Here then we have another ingredient of Genius; an ingredient essential to its constitution, and without which it cannot possibly be exhibited to full advantage, even an accurate and penetrating JUDGMENT.
(pp. 6-8)",,21354,"","""Imagination is that faculty whereby the mind not only reflects on its own operations, but which assembles the various ideas conveyed to the understanding by the canal of sensation, and treasured up in the repository of the memory, compounding or disjoining them at pleasure; and which, by its plastic power of inventing new associations of ideas, and of combining them with infinite variety, is enabled to present a creation of its own, and to exhibit scenes and objects which never existed in nature.""","",2016-03-11 18:17:29 UTC,""
7498,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-01 16:59:48 UTC,"Philosophers have distinguished two general sources of our ideas, from which we draw all our knowledge, SENSATION and REFLECTION. Very different ideas however are excited in the minds of some, from those excited in the minds of others, even by the first of these, which may be said to be the original fountain of our knowledge, though the ideas produced by it are conveyed by organs common to human nature; and still more different ideas are excited in the minds of different persons by the other faculty, that of REFLECTION. Some persons indeed have few ideas except such as are derived from sensation; they seldom ruminate upon, revolve, and compare the impressions made upon their minds, unless at the time they are made, or while they are recent in their remembrance: hence they become incapable of tracing those relations and analogies which exist in nature, but which can only be traced by men of a comprehensive Imagination and penetrating Judgment. Others, endued with these qualities, are rendered thereby capable of associating and disjoining, of comparing and transforming their ideas in such a manner, as to perceive almost all their possible relations; by which means they are qualified to discover the latent truths of science, and to produce the noblest monuments of human ingenuity in the several arts. In other words, they by these means become original Geniuses in that particular art or science, to which they have received the most remarkable bias from the hand of Nature.
(pp. 87-9)",,21369,"","""Very different ideas however are excited in the minds of some, from those excited in the minds of others, even by the first of these, which may be said to be the original fountain of our knowledge, though the ideas produced by it are conveyed by organs common to human nature; and still more different ideas are excited in the minds of different persons by the other faculty, that of REFLECTION.""","",2013-07-01 16:59:48 UTC,""
7498,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-01 18:16:44 UTC,"The third species of Invention, by which we observed original Genius will be distinguished, is that of IMAGERY. The stile of an original Author in Poetry is for the most Part FIGURATIVE and METAPHORICAL. The ordinary modes of speech being unable to express the grandeur or the strength of his conceptions, appear FLAT and LANGUID to his ardent Imagination. In order therefore to supply the poverty of common language, he has recourse to METAPHORS and IMAGES; which, though they may sometimes occasion the want of precision, will always elevate his stile, as well as give a peculiar dignity and energy to his sentiments. An original Author indeed will frequently be apt to exceed in the use of this ornament, by pouring forth such a blaze of imagery, as to dazzle and overpower the mental sight; the effect of which is, that his Writings become obscure, if not unintelligible to common Readers; just as the eye is for some time rendered incapable of distinguishing the objects that are presented to it, after having stedfastly contemplated the Sun. Well chosen images, happily adapted to the purpose for which they are adduced, if not too frequently employed, produce a fine effect in Poetry. They impart a pleasing gratification to the mind, arising from the discovery of the resemblance betwixt the similitude and the object to which it is compared; they remarkably enliven description, at the same time that they embellish it with additional graces; they give force as well as grandeur to the stile of Poetry, and are a principal source of those exquisite sensations, which it is calculated to inspire. On the other hand, the too liberal use of IMAGERY even in Poetry (besides that obscurity which it occasions to the ordinary class of Readers, as well as that fatigue which the Imagination experiences from its excessive glare) so disgusts the mind with the perpetual labour of tracing relations and resemblances, which cannot always be immediately perceived, that the tide of passion is by this means diverted, if it doth not subside, and the pleasure arising from poetic imitation is greatly diminished, if not utterly destroyed. A Writer however, who is only possessed of a moderate degree of Genius, is in very little hazard of falling into this extreme. His imagination is not extensive enough to comprehend those remote analogies which subsist betwixt different objects in nature, nor does it possess force sufficient to throw off a bold and glowing image founded upon such analogies: the performances of such an Author therefore will either be intirely destitute of the images of Poetry, excepting such as arise from the most obvious relations of ideas; of else those which he adopts will be borrowed from Authors of superior Genius. Hence it is, that the images of Homer have been so often copied by modern Poets, who either possessed not fertility of Invention enough to strike out new similitudes for themselves, or dared not to exert it. A Poet endued with a truly original Genius, will however be under no necessity of drawing any of the materials of his composition from the Works of preceding Bards; since he has an unfailing resource in the exuberance of his own Imagination, which will furnish him with a redundance of all those materials, and particularly with an inexhaustible variety of new and splendid imagery, which must be regarded as one distinguishing mark of original poetic Genius.
(pp. 143-8)",,21379,"","""On the other hand, the too liberal use of IMAGERY even in Poetry (besides that obscurity which it occasions to the ordinary class of Readers, as well as that fatigue which the Imagination experiences from its excessive glare) so disgusts the mind with the perpetual labour of tracing relations and resemblances, which cannot always be immediately perceived, that the tide of passion is by this means diverted, if it doth not subside, and the pleasure arising from poetic imitation is greatly diminished, if not utterly destroyed.""","",2013-07-01 18:16:44 UTC,""
5107,"",ECCO-TCP,2013-11-18 20:58:54 UTC,"If we then inquire for the character of this emotion, it must be where the unexpected object or event produceth less violent effects. And while the mind remains sensible of pleasure and pain, is it not natural to suppose, that surprise, like wonder, should have an invariable character? I am inclined however to think, that surprise has no invariable character, but assumes that of the object which raises it. Wonder is the gratification of a natural principle, and upon that account must be pleasant. There, novelty is the capital circumstance, which, for a time, is intitled to possess the mind entirely in one unvaried tone. The unexpected appearance of an object, seems not equally intitled to produce an emotion distinguishable from the emotion, pleasant or painful, that is produced by the object in its ordinary appearance. It ought not naturally to have any effect, other than to swell that emotion, by making it more pleasant or more painful than it commonly is. And this conjecture is confirmed by experience, as well as by language, which is built upon experience. When a man meets a friend unexpectedly, he is said to be agreeably surprised; and when he meets an enemy unexpectedly, he is said to be disagreeably surprised. It appears then, that the sole effect of surprise is to swell the emotion raised by the object. And this effect can be clearly explained. A tide of connected perceptions, glides gently into the mind, and produceth no perturbation. An object on the other hand breaking in unexpectedly, sounds an alarm, rouses the mind out of its calm state, and directs its whole attention upon the object, which, if agreeable, becomes doubly so. Several circumstances concur to produce this effect. On the one hand, the agitation of the mind and its keen attention, prepare it in the most effectual manner for receiving a deep impression. On the other hand, the object by its sudden and unforeseen appearance, makes an impression, not gradually as expected objects do, but as at one stroke with its whole force. The circumstances are precisely similar, where the object is in itself disagreeable.
(I.vi, pp. 327-9)",,23294,"","""A tide of connected perceptions, glides gently into the mind, and produceth no perturbation. An object on the other hand breaking in unexpectedly, sounds an alarm, rouses the mind out of its calm state, and directs its whole attention upon the object, which, if agreeable, becomes doubly so.""","",2013-11-18 20:58:54 UTC,""
5107,"",ECCO-TCP,2013-11-18 21:48:24 UTC,"The necessary succession of perceptions, is a subject formerly handled, so far as it depends on the relations of objects and their mutual connections*. But that subject is not exhausted; and I take the liberty to introduce it a second time, in order to explain in what manner we are affected by uniformity and variety. The world we inhabit is replete with things not less remarkable for their variety than their number. These, unfolded by the wonderful mechanism of external sense, furnish the mind with many perceptions, which, joined with ideas of memory, of imagination, and of reflection, form a complete train that has not a gap or interval. This tide of objects, in a continual flux, is in a good measure independent of will. The mind, as has been observed†, is so constituted,
""That it can by no effort break off the succession of its ideas, nor keep its attention long fixt upon the same object.""
(I.ix, pp. 380-1)",,23298,"","""The world we inhabit is replete with things not less remarkable for their variety than their number. These, unfolded by the wonderful mechanism of external sense, furnish the mind with many perceptions, which, joined with ideas of memory, of imagination, and of reflection, form a complete train that has not a gap or interval. This tide of objects, in a continual flux, is in a good measure independent of will.""","",2013-11-18 21:48:24 UTC,""
7785,"","Reading David Edmond's and John Eidinow's Rousseau's Dog (New York: Harper Perennial, 2007), 208.",2014-01-11 19:22:39 UTC,"There are others of my friends, who regard this whole affair in a more compassionate light, and consider Mr. Rousseau as an object rather of pity than of anger. They suppose the same domineering pride and ingratitude to be the basis of his character; but they are also willing to believe, that his brain has received a sensible shock, and that his judgment, set afloat, is carried to every side, as it is pushed by the current of his humours and of his passions. The absurdity of his belief is no proof of its insincerity. He imagines himself the sole important being in the universe: he fancies all mankind to be in a combination against him: his greatest benefactor, as hurting him most, is the chief object of his animosity: and though he supports all his whimsies by lies and fictions, this is so frequent a case with wicked men, who are in that middle state between sober reason and total frenzy, that it needs give no surprize to any body.
(p. 91)",,23332,"","""They suppose the same domineering pride and ingratitude to be the basis of his character; but they are also willing to believe, that his brain has received a sensible shock, and that his judgment, set afloat, is carried to every side, as it is pushed by the current of his humours and of his passions.""","",2014-01-11 19:22:39 UTC,""