Reviews and essays from 'The Edinburgh'.

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Page 204 - It is ridiculous to imagine that a man whose mind was really imbued with scorn of his fellow-creatures would have published three or four books every year in order to tell them so : or that a man who could say with truth that he neither sought sympathy nor needed it would have admitted all Europe to hear his farewell to his wife, and his blessings on his child. In the second canto of Childe Harold, he tells us that he is insensible to fame and obloquy : " 111 may such contest now the spirit move...
Page 8 - His poetry acts like an incantation. Its merit lies less in its obvious meaning than in its occult power. There would seem, at first sight, to be no more in his words than in other words. But they are words of enchantment.
Page 8 - ... incantation. Its merit lies less in its obvious meaning than in its occult power. There would seem, at first sight, to be no more in his words than in other words. But they are words of enchantment. No sooner are they pronounced, than the past is present and the distant near. New forms of beauty start at once into existence, and all the burial-places of the memory give up their dead. Change the structure of the sentence: substitute one synonyme for another, and the whole effect is destroyed.
Page 230 - Let us not be found, when our Master calls us, stripping the lace off our waistcoats, but the spirit of contention from our souls and tongues. Alas ! sir, a man who cannot get to heaven in a green coat will not find his way thither the sooner in a grey one.
Page 237 - Rehearsal" he said very unjustly," has not wit enough to keep it sweet;" then, after a pause, " it has not vitality enough to preserve it from putrefaction.
Page 33 - ... of their hatred of popery, they too often fell into the worst vices of that bad system, intolerance and extravagant austerity, that they had their anchorites and their crusades, their Dunstans and their De Montforts, their Dominies and their Escobars. Yet, when all circumstances are taken into consideration, we do not hesitate to pronounce them a brave, a wise, an honest, and a useful body. The Puritans espoused the cause of civil liberty mainly because it was the cause of religion.
Page 238 - ... wig with the scorched foretop, the dirty hands, the nails bitten and pared to the quick. We see the eyes and mouth moving with convulsive twitches ; we see the heavy form rolling ; we hear it puffing ; and then comes the " Why, sir ?" and the " What then, sir ?" and the " No, sir !" and the " You don't see your way through the question, sir !
Page 11 - And drenches with Elysian dew (List mortals, if your ears be true) Beds of hyacinth and roses Where young Adonis oft reposes, Waxing well of his deep wound In slumber soft, and on the ground Sadly sits th...
Page 295 - It is illustrated by numerous diagrams, exhibiting the various articles of food in their original state, " and there are also coloured plates to show how they ought to look when dished and ready for the t

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