James Frederick Ferrier

“ I object to this similitude on the same grounds on which I objected to the former one. This Iris does not resemble Love watching Madness with unalterable mien: no two things were ever more unlike. Our feelings, mine at least, revolt against the association. The poet has here attempted to stimulate himself and us to entertain feelings which the situation does not of itself suggest. These similitudes are not rooted in genuine inspiration. Their beauty is a spurious beauty: they are specimens of the false sublime. Here the poet has trusted to the earthly and not to the celestial impulse. ”

“ The distinction exists, it exists as an immutable institution of God prior to the existence of our minds. And it is the knowledge of this distinction which forms the prime constituent, not of our mental acquisitions, but of our mental existence. Extinguish in a man's mind the distinction between good and evil, and you not merely extinguish his mind's knowledge, you extinguish a large portion, if not the whole, of his mind's existence. ”

“ Taking our stand, then, on the general doctrine that knowledge under the Divine appointment is the maker and upholder of the human mind, and repudiating the converse doctrine, which views knowledge as altogether subordinate to the mind; maintaining that man acquires his mind by means of knowledge, and not his knowledge by means of mind; we now return to the consideration of poetry, and we ask what view are we to take of that access of intellectual power which is termed poetical inspiration? of those ideas of beauty and sublimity which are the pillars of poetical art? ”

“ They held that ideas moulded and modified the mind, not that it moulded or modified them. For myself, I am disposed to adopt the second of these theories, for if we once accept the psychological theory, we shall never be able completely to eradicate either from our own minds or from those of others the sophistry and the scepticism which for ages have bewildered the world. But the metaphysical theory carries us triumphant over every difficulty. ”

“ It is not man's mind which puts him in possession of knowledge, but it is knowledge which puts him in possession of a mind. Instead of making mind the radical, and knowledge and ideas the derivative, as is usually done, I would make knowledge and ideas the radical, and mind the derivative. In making knowledge and ideas the basis and the constituent of the mind, we are dealing with facts of the existence of which we are assured, we are keeping within the limits of a prudent and circumspect induction. ”

“ The poetical mind is a subsequent and derivative formation. The inspiration proceeds not from the man himself, it comes from a higher and more authoritative source. The man himself owes his existence as a poet unto it; it does not owe its existence unto him. We therefore reply, in answer to our original question, that it is poetry which makes the man, and not the man who makes poetry. ”

“ But in making mind the basis and upholder of knowledge, we are dealing with we know not what, a phantom, an abstraction, which not only eludes our research, but which leads us astray into a wilderness thickly set with sceptical snares and sophistical pitfalls. ”

“ This distinction lies at the very root of philosophy, and by keeping it in view we obtain a clue which enables us to understand and appreciate the aim and the works of true speculative thinkers, from Plato downwards. We mistake the views of these philosophers if we suppose that they regarded knowledge as the offspring of the human mind, or ideas as its modifications; on the contrary, they regarded the mind as the offspring of an objective knowledge, a knowledge which existed prior to its existence. ”

“ Whichever of the theories you may yourselves adopt it is essential to the prosecution of your philosophical studies that you should be made aware of the existence of the distinction between them. The one of these theories regards knowledge or ideas as the essence of the mind; the other of them regards the mind as something which may exist destitute of all knowledge or ideas. ”

“ So delicate a thing is poetical composition, that a poet is almost sure to mar the effect of his best creations whenever he attempts to mix up mere subjective feeling with the objective ideas of beauty and sublimity which are imparting their own tenderness and their own grandeur to his compositions. ”

“ We can all admire dark eyes in woman, but we do not want to be called upon to admire them now. Here we are, in the heart of a thunderstorm among the mountains; the Alps are wild with obstreperous enjoyment, sympathy with the exultation of the hills, glee triumphant over terror, and terror bounding buoyant on the waves of glee. ”

“ If he be the high priest of nature, if God has anointed him with power, what right has he to carry forth into that service the pictures of a sensual soul, or the passions of a fleshly heart? The poet sins against the genius he is endowed with whenever he allows the subjective current of licentious feeling to overflow the boundaries of his objective inspiration. ”

“ The true poet's motto must ever be, "Odi profanum vulgus et arceo." But in assuming this badge he merely dissevers himself from the tastes of the licentious multitude. He links himself all the closer to our essential and universal humanity, and his success, however limited his popularity may be for a time, is ultimately secure. ”

“ That no doubt aggravates the perversion; but it is at all times a most dangerous thing for a poet to draw upon mere subjective feeling for the purpose of giving zest to his descriptions. The feelings to which the poet gives utterance may be altogether unobjectionable in themselves, and yet their introduction may have the effect of ruining his poetry in the estimation of all competent judges. ”

“ I am convinced that such among you as may intend to hereafter prosecute your speculative researches in a profound and zealous spirit, and to study philosophy both in itself and in its history,—I am convinced that you must build your labours upon the distinction now brought before you. ”

“ When developed in a high degree, it renders him who is gifted with it a poet, while it enables those who possess it in a lower degree to appreciate and relish the strains which they could not have themselves composed. ”

“ Now, in order to reach some decisive principle by which we may determine when the imagination is exercised properly and when it is exercised perversely, I must raise a somewhat singular question, a question which you may at first sight regard as extravagant. ”

“ But, perhaps, with a little patience we may be led by our question to find what we want, viz., a standard which shall decide between the right and the wrong employment of the imagination as it displays itself in poetical creation. ”