And, again, this too tranquillized them, by
bringing them under the rule of traditional, narrowly localized
observances. "Grave livers," they seemed to him under this aspect,
of stately speech, and something of that natural dignity of manners
which underlies the highest courtesy.
And, seeing man thus as a part of nature, elevated and solemnized in
proportion as his daily life and occupations brought him into
companionship with permanent natural objects, he was able to
appreciate passion in the lowly. He chooses to depict people from
humble life, because, being nearer to nature than others, they are on
the whole more impassioned, certainly [102] more direct in their
expression of passion, than other men; it is for this direct
expression of passion that he values their humble words. In much
that he said in exaltation of rural life he was but pleading
indirectly for that sincerity, that perfect fidelity to one's own
inward presentations, to the precise features of the picture within,
without which any profound poetry is impossible. It was not for
their tameness, but for their impassioned sincerity, that he chose
incidents and situations from common life, "related in a selection of
language really used by men.
Pages:
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96