83 LESSING, their role according to" tho mumbor of pictures which oy offer the artist! Far bo it from wo, ovon by our siloneo, to sufer this theory to oldain the appearance of an established law. Stilton would bo the fit to fall-an innooout vitim to it Yor it appears that tho conterptuons judgment which ‘Caylus expresses of him should really bo eousidered loss ash natal lass than 462 consegeng of Mi aunel role, ‘The los of sight, he says, is probably the atrongost Flee of similarity Uskween: Milton and Tomer. io Quo Blilton ‘cannot fill picture-gulleries, Da if tho sphere of my bolily eyes, 60 long as T enjoy thom, nnust thode alo be that OF my Tnner eye, L wth eosin tho foes of them a gain indeed, inasmiich T should thereby bo froed from this limitation. *Paradiao Lost” is not lesa tho first opie. after Tomer Docause it offers but fow subjects for painting, Han tho History of the Passion of Christ bocomes a poom becauso wo ean searvaly set the poiub of a pin upon it without Tighting, on some. passage which Lins called furth the exertions of a number of the greatest masters. ‘Tho Bvangelists reocmnt tho fuck with tho Isest prssible simplicity, and the artist mikes use of ibs numerons parts ‘without their having shown, on their sito, the slightest spark of artistio genive in relating it There are fasts FHaturable aud tmpicturable, and tho historian can narrate Uno must potable ws wupitarenyely a te pt has the power of gelling furth pieturesyuely the mest unpio- Toruble. “To balieve i to be otherwiso is Wp auffor ourselves to bo iisled by the twofukd moming of a wort. HHotuve iy not necemurily convertible into a mato pieture; In every feature, every cou Features, by whivh tho post males his object 60 p * bleu ig ds Fil, Avil 25 On eo rns Faget det Gall eesion ama gon & pence istrublenor quaint fos Daun, pti cae es rele rspeeif de Putona et des Potiea Ta nominee Nl ue présnfont eee gr onvrgen, ware he ‘do pero He tutor oo pint uty hao’ certain dy jo ccs pus et ca genio de bra LAOKOON. oo ‘hat wo booome more conscious of thie objoct than bf his words, is pletureeque, is a picture, bocaueo it brings tie neuror to" Cat degre of iusion of which th material Hotuce je expecially eapable, and which is mest quiclely Kral casilyy called forth Dy tho contemplation of the tuateral picture CHAPTER XV. ovr the poct a8 experience shows, can rico thia dogreo BP tusoh ts ue. by. the representation of other thm Siu abjocts. Consoquently avtels roust necrsarity seen els cles of petires which tho poot hag et [eedgenad® Drguen's “Song for St. Cocia's Day "ts Ai Sfumateal pictures whieh ord ne. employmoitt fur the why but Lill not farther cigress vith. such {iStawcen, from whish wo can only enn at best that Colours aro not sounds and care uot eyes wil stl oop t the pictures of more SSaamples ay serve to guide mo. 1 repeat the pil of Tanddoun tthe partie book of the Tag, fe one of tho Shout inate and ilasivo in the whole of Homer. From dhe grasping of te bow to the fight of tho arow ovary ‘oun dp peated; and all Chess momentary priods follow + Whit we eall poetical pictures wore, os the reuder of Tonghuus wit Wrest collod phaatiets Ly the auoiena. Art what wo call Hiss hat pant a hes ptr whi pred, dee in, wan Tyg See eerie, For Cif reason tlm auld Uy eoibe one, at Fuaiach muntions (Grok. i p. 1354, oat Howe. Spi), tht poetic er eSntaace wero on eesonn of thelr exargén reams of a wakin MeeaeAd ‘serch fevreas 82 iy Capyany typo tard Toauche hid Ulae morevn treties om potty hed anode ure of Gee woueensletan and fed ante sine fron employing he AS A tv Uns aza et ol aa seh, ywineipolly test spot idontity ok an adit fe Fe alate wold nok have, boo so red eof Aen te tnd of msteria pafng Ub ns soon 08 i-nlocin Tor eae joetea!pitarey, the founation ofthe eror waseo ‘LngsiNa, ‘ou another 60 closuly, and yet aro ao distinctly entered Spon, that if one dil ot knw how a bow was vaungol, ‘oo ahight learn i inorely from this picture!” Pandarus fakes out his bows slrings its opens the quivor; chooses cov arvow woll Toathored, and atl unnsod ata tho anrow to the string; draws Inok the string under the notdl, together with de arrow; the string co1es close to the Dreast the iron point of the arrow to the how; the ‘great, vound-shapel boy, clanging, springs wile apart; {he atzow leaps away, nnd engerly flies towards its mi ‘Caylus eamot have overlooked this excellent pleturs, What, then, did he find there to make him esteom it in- caybloofaforting owploymont to his artitut | And why ‘was it that tho assembly of tho gous, drinking in count, sccmed to him snore shitable for that purpose? In the ‘ue, as well as in tbo other, there are visiblo objects anil ‘whit more has the artist uéed of to oocupy his canvas ? ‘The diffonlty mast be this: although both objects, as visible, ax0 alii eapablo of being subjects of painting in its striot sonso; still, there is this ossontial differonce otweon them, that tho aetion of ono is visiblo and pro- gressive, its different parts happenings ouo after another jin sequence of time; while, on the other hand, the action ‘of tho other ia visible anu! stationary, its different Aoveloping themselves in juxtaposition i Ite iain stor tu ite ing bor tte ee al prc lg save, el yl KE abs veep Bb poy Toner Mare doerbs Iba et yak Peers peal t a hich ™ Boatry, ob CHAPTER XVI. Howeven, I will endeavour to traco te matter from ite first principles. Lreason thas —if these symbols juire a suitable relation to the thing symlolized, then it is clear that symbols arangod in juxtaposition can only express subjects of which the ‘wholes or parte oxist in juxtaposition; whilo eoascoutive aymlols can only express subjects of which the wholes or parts are themselves tl, ica do not exist in epuco only, but also in ime. "hey endure, and in each moment of thefr dura- tion ‘may assuine a’ different appearance, or stand in a different combination. Bach of these moinentary appear- tances and combinations is the effect of proveiling ono, ‘may bo the cause of a subsequent one, and is therefore, as it were, the contre of an ‘On the other hand, actions cannot exist by themselves, ‘hey mut dopend on certain beings. So fr, therefore, a iinting can only make2 EnSSIN what procedes and what follows ean be most easily thors. ‘in Tike manner, pootry, in its proguasive imitations confined to tho uae of single property of bodies, an Thnst, therefore choose “that. which calls wp tho most Guusible Imago of the body iu tho aspect in which sho takes woo of it From this flows the rule as to the unity of descriptive ceqithets and moderation in the depiction of bodily objocts, Tsiould. put bit little coatidenco in this dry chain of reasoning dd I not find it cowpletely eontimaed by tho Practice of Homer, or alice had it not loon tho practicn BF Homer himself which led me to it, Tbs only on thes Drinefples tat the subline style of tho Crook oot can bo {etamtined and exlatl, aid a the aa value a to the diteslly oppasito style of « Nolo pets who have endeavoured to rival, tho paint Jha dopartnaout ia whieh ho must necessarily vauguish u hem. T fina that Homer desoribos nothing but. progressive ‘actions, and that when ho paints builies aud singlo objocts Ho dv tonya eontsbutory toe, and tho onealy ‘omy by a single touch, Tk is no ‘wonder, then, that Schare Homer paints, the artist finds Teast £0 employ his Youell, and that his harvest is only to bo fowl where tho Meory Accombles a uumuber of beanfiful bodies in heautifil Attitudes, and in @ space alvuntageous to art, however post rngell any dopick the forms, these atti yee, ITwvo go throtgh tho holo soos SENS ctuge, os Caylua prope tha, plocs by poe, wo Sia Rat Sah e pook ot te rome “quit the Cont, who would nuk tho palette of tho touchstone of tho poet, im onder to explain tito style of Tomer more a ‘Ship, now the hollow sh the Wwell-rowed black sh snot now the ewift ship, Parther than Ud ho dos at LAOKOON. 98 wished to transfer the whole of it to hia canvas, he would Yo compelled to make five or six different paintings TE das, special iroumstanoe compel ‘our attention fonger Upon a single object, he takes no picture which could be an ol anartige;, but by ianamerable devi ‘bemore our eyes a single object Aistinet and succossive notante, in each of which it is ferent stago, and in the last of which the artist fivait tho poet, in order to show us comploto that which we have seen’ the post forming, For instance, when Tomer wants to show us the chariot of Juno, Hobo puts it together, piece by piece, before our eyes. We seo tho Shows, the ale, the beat, the pole, the traces and etraps, Tot as they aro when all fitted together, but rather ax they fre being pat together under the hands of Hebe. OF tho “wheel alone does the post give us more than’a single atures there he pointa out, one by one, the eight bronze spokes, the golden fellocs, tho tires of bronze, and the liver naves” One might almost say that, because there Sa more than one wheel, he felt bound to spend as much, nero timo in their description as pulling them on separately would have taken in reality. “HBy 8 dy? éxlesor Dots Bide xaperida wicha, Abaca dxrananiny oeipdy aor, dpi XG Froe ypurdy tras diplizos, airdp Dror jee Eelovurpa, mpoompapira, Dee BB, Trips B dyin sek pAipouae dudordpaler Eg Bp wa rine nk Birbvarae Soul BE seep drupe tr $08 F UE dpyipuos poyde mole abrip ix” dxpy Boe precion nahdr fuyin, br BR RéraBra nid’ Bade, xptoas. Again, when Tomer would show us how Agamennon jks clad, the king done each articlo of his dross, eopar- Aloly, inl our prosenco; his soft wnior-coat, hig, great Manlio, his beautiful hatf-boots, and his eword, Now ho ja realy, and grasps his soeptre. We see tho garments © Wad, v.72, ‘Homer to fixot LESSING, whilst the post is doseribing the oper of puttin, thea: on; Tut another would have described the role hemselvés, down to the smallest hinge, and we oul have seen nothing whatover of the astien nauxdy B bine yerave, sahby umpdreen, el 88 dye Nero Bapos Beat Peart haargg Br aa cake ip! Susie Bdero Fifer deypinhor ‘hero 8 oxrapen serpy, cipderor ee ‘This geoptze is hero styled * the paternal,” « the imporise able,” a8 elsewhere ona. liko it ia deotribed morely uo xmaios Hows eroppior, “goldonrsindded.” But when i closer and more” completo picture of this important Scaptre ia requited, what does Hower do thon? Ih atdlie tion to tho golden stud, does ho describe the wood and the carved ficad?” “Io might ave dono. o if ho. hd Jntonded to drayy an heraldic description, from which, it After times, another speptza exactly like it could bo nude, And I ai’ sure that many a modem post would have ven us such m deseription in the kingeofunns style, ‘lieving in tho simplicity of hie heart that ho himself hhad painted tho scoptze, beeanso he had supplied. the artist with tho materials for 20 doing, But awhat docs Homer caro how far ho leaves the yaiuter in hls roar? Tastead of tho appearance ho gives ws tho history of tho scepivo; fist, aL is being sored Dy tho labow of Veloan5 next, i glittes ia tho hands of dupitury nov it botakons the dignity of Mereury;; now ib is tho meartial wand of the warlike Pelops; nuW the shephonts tal of ‘io peacoful-Atrens2 nd) por, « + « 33 pr “Ufuuores wipe reser " fe rros py eBiine ae Kporiume drawer. i a ip dt Zebn Save Based “Appear ‘ppuias 8 drat Bacey MWehore xicermge auth 8 alre Oop 85x? Axed, mote hadie "Arpads, Bt Gnjovun' Der wedtupe Ovdony ainto 6 bre Ovtrr "Ayopduront Newel Radijow nfo nat “Appa ware andes * iad, 42, rat, nuit 101, LAOKOON. . 8% Now Tam bottor acquainted with this sooptre than if 9 fainter wore to place it before aay eyes or e second Vatlean give it into my hands, I shoald not be surprised af iat one of Hod comnentaton of Homer bad aulinired this passago as the most perfeot allegory of 1 crigin,. progress, establishient, aad Smal hepsi snogestion of kingly power among men, I should indeed sulle i€ I read “that Vulom, who mado. the scoptre, represented fire, which ia indispensable to man's support, ‘und that alleviation of his wants generally which por” ssvaded the men of early times to submit thomeelves to tHe authority of an individual; that tho first Iing, won of ‘Simo (debs Keonior), wad a venerable patriatel, who was willing to share his power with a man rena iile for bs slognenca, ana ably, with = Hemes (Staxrdpy “Apyasrry), or to deliver it over entirely to Wanye i arse of na the loves sratee oo unig lata wan, hoatend by fruign nets, reigned Xie"yower into the hands of tho brvest watt (He Ayfirze); that tho brave warrior, alter lio had exter: inatad his foes and assured tho aafety of the kingdow, artfully contrived to establish lis on in his places float peaceloving ror, and tenovolentshephont of Hispeople Creu Aaae) fat render thom Samsas vige Ie oul rary A) af ener hem Sie ih the way wag pave for tho achat ot is, Gmexiong (rohionit Ovéorg) to acquire by gilte and bsibery, aud ‘Geavdints ntl shy only te tectcnal nado ‘that power which hitherto confidence ouly had bestowel dl merit Il esteomed a bundled rather than a di Should ale, but nevertheless I should be sixeagthenst in my esteem for the poet to whom so much meaning could be Tent, All this, however, is a digression from say subject; ‘and I meroly view the history of the sceptre a8 a device of art by which tho post eanses us to linger over a single objedt without ‘ohtering into « col description of its parts. Even whon Achilles oweare by is scoplro to revenge the noglect with whieh Agaunenmon has treated him, Homer gives ua the history cf Ae’ wm, Wo too Tt ying nth Tenvon upon the Mill; tle stool divides it from the stom, strips it of6 - Lnssina, its eaves and berk, and ronders it fit to sorve the Judges of tho people, as on emblem of their godlike aignity. val id réBe ordiexpor, 1d ply obrore ithe eal Seve see, tea) xpara tophy ey Spiow Adore, Aydiiver ep yép fd € yadrds Taper oda re Ral Ghoudiervir adré jer vles "AXauay a wahduns dopiover bixaaxdhot, of re Biyuavas pis Aude dptarat Te was nob eo much Tom's desiro to describe two teoptres of iferant tnateriel ond shapo ae to convoy to gu minds 9 slour and compruhetwive image. of that iference of powor of syhich thay wero theremtlome— the one the work of Valea the other out by wom unknown hand upon the hill; the one an ancient posses- Son of a sable hous, the other destined fur tio Mand of fy to whom it might chance to fll; the one extend {a monarch over many lalop and the whole of Argos: To wiler Yorne by ono from tho met of tho Greeks to ‘vhom, wth others, the maintenance of tho laws iad been tnrnsted. hia waa th Teal difnance wiih exited tetmecn Agamemnon td nid which “Ache, in spite of all his blind xage, could not but confess. ‘But it is not only where he combines such further ai with hie decriptionn that, Homer disperses tho ptr OF tho abject overa kindof Mistry of ty ho fll. the ime coum where the picture jtalt iow, om order that ite panty whih, Toei exch ether may, hy fallen, mpon one anotor, tetmom a ata We 18 tes He Eocp pec wath Gn progress of ho tarrativo; eg. Be ‘vied to paint ue th bow of Pandarva;a bow of hom, UF sub anf uch a length, well pelihed, and fpped wit dat either ends "What does Re? Dnmerateall es Srp dotseone after the other? Not at all: that auightb cali s apeeieation or dvarption of mil Low int count ‘over bo allel puintingtte: Ho bogie withthe chnwo the {ld gost out of shiushorne the low was ond. Penarua Made 5 238, | * Hind, t 108, ‘LAOKOON. ov elf had Iaid in wait for and tailed it among the rocks ite horns woro of an extraordinary size, ad for that reason wero destined by his to bo tamed into bow. ‘Then comes Ucin manufuottre;” the eraftsman joins them, polishes them, and tips And thus, as Teaid before, in tho pool wo seo Use asking of that which, in the artist, we only see as made. be, WM re eee aploy, dv ik mor ainis fd axdpoto “ychoas, 5 FePiivevra, BeBeypdvos dy xpobonjow (ANjeat pis oor 8B brs lanes wb feb ae Emly aie nf ral yr donfoat eipatlor Spape tron, ri 8 dagras, vege bade saparyy. Tshould novor come to an end {fT woro to traasoribe all the examples of this kind, They occur, without number, 0 every ono who i familiar with Hosier, CHAPTER XVI. from Homer hinself iiold of Aclillos one neat only call to mind in ender to hava tho seek dociive instance hovr comprehensively, and. yot pootienlly, a single ohjoct say i dsc by ita parts placed fy jeatapees tions YT will reply to this twotull abjeetion, 1 eal fold Because & justly dravrn conekision aust gland even without an exainplo and, on tho other hand, an example of Homer would bo’ of groat weight with me even 4 not now any argument by which to justity fe is true that yuibole of speish arearlitrary, it ie quite possible that by it tho parta of a ody may be ade to follow upen one another just as easily us the ®9 Epssine, figzoon a stand sido by side in nature. But this ina pooulorty rapidity, in onlor to attain any possible idea of the of language and ite signe erly, ahd ot im whole Dee forth as they are most adapted io the aim of pootry. T wil illustrate this position by sn example, which may ‘ho. poot, docs not morely wish to, be intelligible; the prose) writer ie contented With simply rendoring his Aeseriplions lear and distinet, Lat, nob tho, post.” Ho mst awaken in us eoncoplions so lively, that, from the Tapidity with which they sis, tho ime impression should be made upon onr senses which the sight of the raterial objeste that these conceptions represent. would woduce. In this moment of illusion we should conse to Te ‘conscious of the instruments—his words—by which thi ek natant his was the eouro of tho ola nation of poetical palating which wo havo given. | But a poet should always produce # plature; and we will now proceed to inquire how far bodies, according to their pasts Jn juxtaposition, aro adapted for this paint tov do wo aitain fo # distinct coneaption of an object ‘Firat, wo look at its parts singly ; thon at their tion j and, lastly, atthe Whol diferent erations are performed by our sonses with such astone Shing rapidity that they appear fo ue to bo but one; and this vapidity is indiepensablo, if wo aro to fori an idea of the whole, which is nothing moro than the resultant of ‘the Heat of tho paris and of their combination, Sup- jpsing, therefore, hat the post could lead. us, in the most Teautiful onde from ono part of the object to anothers ‘supposing that ho new how to mako the eombination of fliego pasts over so olear to uss still, how much time would bo spont in the prooote? Wut the eye takes in at 2 glance eo enumerates slowly and by doprocs; and it ‘fien Inppone that v0 have already forgotton the first tralls belore we come to tho last; yot from theo traits wo are to fur our idea of tho whole. ‘To tho eyo the parts ‘Guce ween aro continually present; it can mum over them fe after tie, while te ear, on the contany, entirely oses tose pasts He has heard, they ao not relained in ‘tho memory. And even if they are thus retained, what ‘roulileand effort i costs us to renew Geir whole inpres- i fu the same order, aud with tho sane liveliness; (0 oss then at one time under review with bat moderate bo callud a mastorpioco of its kind, “‘there towers the noble gentian's lofty hea Yar o'er the common herd of vulgar plants, A whol lover poop eth his gi Io Wen his blue brother bends and fealty grants, In circled rays his fowers of golden sheen ‘Tower on the stem, and crown its vestinent gray 5 His glossy loaves of white bestreal’d with green Gleam with the watery diamond's vavied 4a} © Jaw most just | that Might consort with Grice, Tn Dolly fair a fairer soul has placo, Hor, like grey mist, x humble oarth-plantststs 7s leaf by Naturo Ike a oroan disposed; ‘The lovely flower two gilded bills reveals om by a hin of amethyst compen ‘ie fing ginelng ta ones 'Acxyaal stream with ts relesion green ‘Th flower ste enow, staid with faut CCaspe a snjped st ita blanchdd raye ttn, (On trolden hetth the rone and emeraia hom, ‘nd craguy hills» porplo robe aapume.” ple hues, ‘These aro lerla ant fowors, which tho Tearned poot Aseribe with groat sty an fahfulnese to nathros atin pais withont lnsion, Twill not ay tag ‘tio whe lad nover toon thee lier and flowers ou ony that fuck acquaintance, the oe might awaken in hit a rnore lively idea of some Of the parts, T any. aske lim what is’ tho caso with feapeet 4o the eonception of the whole? If this algo is to bo vivid no individual prominence mmmut be givon to * S00 Vou Ta : tp Be100 “LESSING. ae “Tn gvled ays his fowers of golden sheon Tite oie len and vn i vaio sey ia gacoy eaven of ‘white bsstenked with groey ‘Gbam-with the watery diamond's varied ray” —that these in rogard to the impross ‘eeate, can vie with tho imitation of a Tuysinu either have never questioned his feslinge, or bo deli ately prepared to belie them, ‘They are verses that Te ory bomutifel, rosited with the flower boforo us, but which by themselves expross Tittle o nothing. Tn ‘ouch word I hear tho elaborating post, but I am very far from secing tho object iteolt noe more, therefore, I do not deny to langnogo gensrally the powor of dopicting corporeal. whela Sccondiig to tla parla, Tt ean do 0, bonnes fla aynnlols, although consecutive, aro still arbitrary; but I do deny * Breiuger's Kllische Dichtkune, vol, p. 807, LAOKOON. 101 i to language, ao th means of pootry, because sch verbal descriptions aro entirely deficient in that illusion which is tho prineipal end of poetry. And thie illusion, T repeat, cannot fail to be wanting to them, because tho coexistence of the body comes into collision’with the. conscoutiveness of Ianguags, and though, during the solution of tho former into tho Iatter, tho division of the whole into its ia certainly tmado easy 0.19, {ig ultimato recompesi on oF these parta Sato thor whole is rendered extremely diffoult, and often impossible. Everywhere, therefore, whoro illusion ia not the ques- tion, where tho writer appeals only to the understan of lis readers, and merely aime at convoying dist fad, as far as itis possiblo, eomploto ideas, hese desarip- tions of boties, so justly excluded from poetry, aro quite in place; and.'not only the prose writer, but even the didactic pout (for where ha is didactic he ceases to be a poe ‘make uso of them with great advantage. Mus, for instance, in his Georgics, Virgil describes a cov fit for breoding— sere “Optima torr Forma bovis, ui turpe caput, oui plurima cervix, Bi ravun (enus a mento palearia pendent. ‘am longo nullus lateri modus: omnia magna, Tes etiam; ot camuris hirts sub cornibus aurea, ‘Nev mili displiceat maculis insignis et alto, Ant juga detrectans, intordumque aspera era Et faciem tauro propior, quaquo ardia tota, Bt gradions ima verrit vestigia eauda.” * Or a beautifull oolt:— © TN ordue eorvis, Argntamgue caput, brevis alvue obesrque Lerga 5 ‘xuriatquo toris animosum poctus,” &a. Tero it is plain that the poot thought moro about tho Aiscrinination of tho different parts than about the whole. Ilis object is to enumerate the polats of » bean- tiful, ‘colt, or useful cow, in such a manner that on swith one or more of them wo should be euabled * Georg Mb, Hh 34, it102 u ING, co form a julgiient of their sospective values. But Sheth or ct these, good points es bo recomposcd into sv nimated p fnattar of posit iuilfrenco to iim With the exception of this uso of it, the detailed doserition of corporeal objoets, without the, abovo-ae Tonal dovico of Homer for oliaging what ia cooxsting tr 'dhent into what ig really shaaisive, bes alwaye, bea ‘tckuowledged by the Best judges to bo sno cold, inaig- fosat re 3 which little of no geniun cam bo attr uted, Whon the poslaster, says Foraco, can do nothing tore, ho at once bog to paint a grovo, an allay, w brook sieamering through pleasant wea, a Fushing atream, oF at rainbow “Tena ot ara Dian, Et properantis aque per amasnos ambitis agros,| ‘Aut fhtinen Khenun, aut pluvins describitur ar Pope, whon a man, looked ack with great contempt upon tie tigseiptive efforts of his poetic childhood. ite expres dines thal who wiht warily Deg the skis of pect should renosmeo description a8 early. as Mrsible, and declares that purely. descriptive poo fs Tia Dannquot consisting of nothing but sauces* Ou Vou 4 De Ark Post, 18, + Plotogas to fio Satie, v, 310: that ot in Baneys wa ho wander Bul soo to Hvac, ad mold a as” id, v. HT. Who com tke ones, nite pare Dosen hal the plas of Sense? lena romarks upon thie last yasngo nay bo eonsired os an iJettlanaton ty the pet kino Tfo tes Pons equtveelly, 4 signify either clnate or inl ine gives this oa Meee is roo shurastr of descriptive footy, Ht is ealed—a Sein, ya oan, tant ot a a oa rif a pilurcnjo fngivston is fo brghtan nul por gol wt ais caploy i oy in oseipan's ka hires de Fighting inc pram for tho stko of fis gualy oofours; which, when REA managed and. stflly ciopsse gl bo mato To refieseut GnP'lRette tbe noblest objects ta natura” To post end eos oval thor thet Sroutiton, flat ‘nate polat of ftuan pot ee fr tho ollie LAOKOON. 108. Bleist's own authority T ean assert that he took litile wide in his ‘Spring’ Had ho lived longer, he would rave thrown it into a totally diferent form, He intended, ‘to metlodize it, end zollected upon the means of causing, tho multitude of images, which he appears to have taken tit random, now here, now there, from revivified reation, to ariso and follow ono anothor in a natural order before his eyes. Te would at the samo tine have followed the advice which Marmontel, doubtlessly referring to his fcloggues, had bestowed on several German poets. He ‘Would have convorted a series of images, thinly inter- speraed with feelings, into a succession of feelings but sparingly interwoven with images. CHAPTER XVIII. ‘Awp yot could even Homer be said to have fallon into ‘this cold description of material objeota’? T venture to hope that there are but fow passages which cat be eited ta support of this; and T feel awured that these will prove to be of such’ kind as to confirm the riile from which they appear to be exceptions, ‘T maintain that puccsasion of tine is the department of the poot, aa space is that of tho painter. "Tp inéroduco two necessarily distant points of time into ono and the samo painting, a9 Fr. Mazeuoli hes the rape of ihe Sabino women and their subsequent reconciliation of tleir husbands and relations, or aa ition hes the whole history of tho prodigal son, his disorderly lio, his misery, and. sopentanco, isan eooroachment Ly the painter pap he apr of ihe post which god taste could never juslify. J ipo enumerate one by ono to tho reader, in order to afford him an idea of the whole, several parts or things, " Paitique Prange, tp. 601: rial ces resins evant quo ln enats det Alletands dane co geara (Higlogus) farout conus Frat noun aout oxcuté oe que fs PYfonter plas au ord ot moi tw ‘cio dang geo pl ‘SER Nos ueturel ef plas sor que‘eelt do a galunteni champetawt LESSING. Lucian aleo know not how fo convey any flea of tha Ueauty of Panthea otherwiso than by a reference to the most lovely female statues of the old artists.? Yet what is this but an acknowledgment that language by itself is hore without powor; that pootry falfers and eloqnonce grows spoochtoss, unless art, in some measure, serve tein ‘ns an intorpretor. CWAPLER XXI. Bur docs not pastry lose too much if we deprive her of all pictures of physical beauty? Whe woul deprive her ff thom? Because wo endeavour to inspire her with a dislike of a single path, in which she expects to attain to Such poles whilolveardhing after and pointully wader: Jing among tho foostep of hos ister art, without ever reaching tho same goal aa she: booms, 1 say, wo would dlokar her from sucka path as this, do we exolwale her froin every other, where art in hor tuin waust gazo after her stops? ‘Even Homor, who sodiligently abotains from all detailed Acsoriptions of’ material beauties, from whom we but just learn hy a passing notico that Helen had white arms! and beautfil hair, even he, for all this, knew how to convey tous an idea of hor beanty, which far exceeds anything that art with this aim is able to accomplish. Let ws eall to mind the passage where Helen steps nto an assembly of the elders of the Trojan people. » ‘The venerableold men ‘0. hor, and oe suid to tho othor— riucows, Tpae wal dSenguBas *Ayowobs i Sut pone wohir ypiv DXpee meyer aivas dbaviryot Gejs es One tower? ‘What can impart more lively iden of beauty than that culd old ago should confess fk to bo worthy of that sear ivhad cost s0 tnneh blood and so many What Homer eould not describe by its constitont paste hao forees us to acknovlelgo in its effect, Paint for vo, poets, the delight, the allestion, the love, the rapture wh 9 eden, vole p 481, Ei, Rell * tia 18 Fino * rein. 0, LAOKOON. 15 boanty produecs,and you have paintod beauty itself. Who ‘can Shae to himself as ugly the beloved objoct at whose ight Sappho confesses sho is deprived of all gonso and ‘Hiought? Who does not buliove that he sees the most yorfectly beautiful form as soon as ho sympathizes with the feelings which only such a form can awakon? Wo Delieve we enjoy tho sight that Ovid enjoyed,* not beeauso Ino exhibits to ve the beautiful form of his Lesbia part by pat “OR oe ant Tabaple remit ori papillarua quam Suit apla prem! Quam enstigato planus sub pootore venter! ‘Quantum et quale latus I quam juvenile fomur !" Tut boca he dogs it with thet Tsentio intoxio by which our longings aro 90 ceeily aroused. ‘Again, another mina by which, postsy comes up with art in the description of typical beauty is the change of eanty into charm, Charm is beauty in motion, and 45, for this Very reason, less suitable to the painter than to'the post. ‘The painter can only leave motion to conjectmre, ‘while, in feet, his figures ave motionless. Cousoquently, swith him, charm Decomes grimacs. But, in pootry emins what it is, a transitory beauty that wo would igladly coo repeated, It comes and goo} and sineo we ex xonorally rocall to our minds a movement more ensily and Vividly than mero forms or colour, charm necessarily, in the saine efroumstances, produces a'stronger ellect upon us than beauty. All that is pleasing and stirring mm. the ‘lescription of Alcina is charin. Hereyes mekean impres- sion upon ne, not because they are black and flery, but Toca — ™ Potosi a rignarday, « mover parchi” —they lock givcofully around her, and move slowly because iovo hovere over thom, and omptice his whole quiver from thom. Mer mouth enraptures; not Decause two tow of chico pearls aro inclosod by’ the native vermilion of her Ne, bat beeanse here is formed that lovsly isi already opousa paralise upon eavth | Ovid, Amor i ole. v.18,435 LESSING, it proooods tho sound of thoad friendly words by: which set, ide atte sonal. Her ‘boson charm, 1s find ivory and apples are called up by its and delinte sap than booause we no i fly ell and fll a tho wave epon tho oxtremo algo of the ‘hor, when tho zophyr playfully coutonds with Bio veean. “Duo pome acorbo, @ pur davorio fatto, ‘Vengonoe van, come onda al primo margo, Quando piacevole aura il mar combatto.” Tau convinced that a few such traits as theso, compressed into one oF two stanzas, would produce a far higher effect ‘than all the five to which Aviosto spreads them out while seetvg amonget thom old featnres of « beuntifl fom, far too earned to affect our feelings. ‘Aniacreon hiangelf clioso to fall into the seeming impro- priety of requiring an impossibility of the painter, rather Bato aero the form ot his mkt melivened hy Mio Mido tho artist make all the gracss hover around her oft chin, hex marble neck! How 0? According to tho ‘losest interpretation of tho words, his command was Sneapaddo of beinge executed im painting, "Tho painter night impart to the clin tho mostlcaulifal sounding and Ugewootat dimple, Amoriedigitato fnpressun "(for he Jeo appears to ine to allude toa dimple). He might inthe loveliest carnation to the neck, but fureher he GUAT not go. ‘Tho turninge of this Hennteows neck, the fay of the muscles, by which that dimple becama'now Tove, now loss visible, all that is properly charm lay Doyoad bis power. The poot aid all his art could say to quake beanty. palpable to", in order that, in imitation of Mim, tho painter also should sito at the highest oxprossion Hein ie Tees ety of th obese 2 ale above, that the poot, even when speaking. of works fart, mnt bound tolrearain hiuseit fn bis description svidin tho lint of art, LAOKOON, a CHAPTER XXII. Zuvxis painted o Telen, and had the oourage to write bulow the picture thoso renowned lines.of Homor ia which tho enraptared ela cutesy thet eoaaions Never have pointing and pootry been engaged in another such coutest. Mie vietory Femained undecided, and both deserved a crown. ‘Por just as the wise post showed us the beauty, which ho felt ke eould not paint according to its constituent paris, merely in ite elfeot, go tho 0, less ,wiso painter Thowed us that beauty by nothing but thoeo parts, and held tumbecoming for his att to have, recourse to any other suean of help. "Tia plotoro consisted of sing, doy Standing figure of Halen. Dor itis probablo that it was. the samo that he painted for the people of Cortona,” ‘Lot us compare with this, for curiosity’ picture which Caylua skotches for the modern ar Thooo lines of Ffomner. “Helen, covered with a whito veil, ‘aypoara in the midst of soveral old men, Priam among the hulnber, who is recognizable by the emblems of his yoya) Agni, Whe aotot must cnpcilly exert his ail to make tie fool the triumph of beauty in the eager glances and in JL the oxpressions of astonished admiration depicted on {tho countenances of tho old mon, ‘The scene is over one of the gates of the town, The background of the painting, Shay bo lost either in the open sky, or against the higher Jinilaings of the town. ‘The first would be the boldest, bat the ono would bo ag guitable as the other.” ‘But let ve suppose thia picturo executed by the Srst snaater of our time, and compareit with tho wark of Zeuxis, Which will show tho real triumph of beauty? ‘The latter, ‘sich I feel it itoolf, or tho former, in which I am Uhiized to gather it from the grimaces’ of excited gre Years? “urpo eonilie amor!" an expression of eagerness wakes tho most venerable face ridiouloua, and an old man rho botrays youthful desires is even a disguating object. ‘This objectioa cannot be applied to Homer's elders; for the * Vat, axing bi cop. 7-Dicngiva Hallaronas, Art, Ret cap. az.mipl nope deedrate