首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Many different meanings have been given to the word poetry. It would weary my readers if I were to discuss which of these defini
Many different meanings have been given to the word poetry. It would weary my readers if I were to discuss which of these defini
admin
2013-01-28
72
问题
Many different meanings have been given to the word poetry. It would weary my readers if I were to discuss which of these definitions ought to be selected; I prefer telling them at once that which I have chosen. In my opinion, Poetry is the search after, and the delineation of, the Ideal.
The Poet is he who, by suppressing a part of what exists, by adding stone imaginary touches to the picture, and by combining certain real circumstances that do not in fact happen together, completes and extends the work of nature. Thus the object of poetry is not to represent what is true, but to adorn it and to present to the mind some loftier image. Verse, regarded as the idem beauty of language, may be eminently poetical; but verse does not of itself constitute poetry.
I now proceed to inquire whether among the actions, the sentiments, and the opinions of democratic nations there are any which lead to a conception of the ideal, and which may for this reason be considered as natural sources of poetry.
It must, in the first place, be acknowledged that the taste for ideal beauty, and the pleasure derived from the expression of it, are never so intense or so diffused among a democratic as among an aristocratic people. In aristocratic nations it sometimes happens that the body acts as it were spontaneously, while the higher faculties are bound and burdened by repose. Among these nations the people will often display poetic tastes, and their fancy sometimes ranges beyond and above what surrounds them.
But in democracies the love of physical gratification, the notion of bettering one’ s condition, the excitement of competition, the charm of anticipated success, are so many spurs to urge men onward in the active professions they have embraced, without allowing them to deviate for an instant from the track. The main stress of the faculties is to this point. The imagination is not extinct, but its chief function is to devise what may be useful and to represent what is real. The principle of equality not only diverts men from the description of ideal beauty; it also diminishes the number of objects to be described.
Aristocracy, by maintaining society in a fixed position, is favorable to the solidity and duration of positive religions as well as to the stability of political institutions. Not only does it keep the human mind within a certain sphere of belief, but it predisposes the mind to adopt one faith rather than another. An aristocratic people will always be prone to place intermediate powers between God and man. In this respect it may be said that the aristocratic element is favorable to poetry. When the universe is peopled with supernatural beings, not palpable to sense, but discovered by the mind, the imagination ranges freely; and poets, finding a thousand subjects to delineate, also find a countless audience to take an interest in their productions.
In democratic ages it sometimes happens, on the contrary, that men are as much afloat in matters of faith as they are in their laws. Skepticism then draws the imagination of poets back to earth and confines them to the real and visible world. Even when the principle of equality does not disturb religious conviction, it tends to simplify it and to divert attention from secondary agents, to fix it principally on the Supreme Power.
Aristocracy naturally leads the human mind to the contemplation of the past and fixes it there. Democracy, on the contrary, gives men a sort of instinctive distaste for what is ancient. In this respect aristocracy is far more favorable to poetry; for things commonly grow larger and more obscure as they are more remote, and for this twofold reason they are better suited to the delineation of the ideal.
The purpose of the passage is to ______ .
选项
A、explain the meaning of poetry and the art of a poet
B、contrast poetry with a democratic and a aristocratic societies
C、explain how poetry, democracy, and aristocracy intermingle
D、contrast the inclination towards poetry in democratic and aristocratic societies
答案
D
解析
全文一直都在比较aristocratic nations和democracies人们对诗的喜好程度的不同。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Su1O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Fastfood,amainstayofAmericaneatingfordecades,mayhavereachedaplateauintheUnitedStatesasthematuringbaby-boom
Fastfood,amainstayofAmericaneatingfordecades,mayhavereachedaplateauintheUnitedStatesasthematuringbaby-boom
Fastfood,amainstayofAmericaneatingfordecades,mayhavereachedaplateauintheUnitedStatesasthematuringbaby-boom
Eighttimeswithinthepastmillionyears,somethingintheEarth’sclimaticequationhaschanged,allowingsnowinthemountain
Concernwithmoney,andthenmoremoney,inordertobuytheconveniencesandluxuriesofmodernlife,hasbroughtgreatchanges
Montaigne’sholdonhisreadersarisesfrommanycauses.Thereishisfrankandcuriousself-delineation.Thatinterests,becaus
Intelligentreadersknowatoncehow______weare,andhowskeptical,howfirmforothersandhowdiffidentaboutourselves.
"Popularan"hasanumberofmeanings,impossibletodefinewithanyprecision,whichrangefromfolkloretojunk.Thepolesare
"Popularan"hasanumberofmeanings,impossibletodefinewithanyprecision,whichrangefromfolkloretojunk.Thepolesare
Malnutritionandtheresultingimpairedgrowthanddevelopmentinchildrenofweaningageindevelopingcountriesresultsnoton
随机试题
按照唐律规定,在财产继承中,未嫁出的女儿可分得的财产份额为()
在设有消防控制室的场所,可通过消防电话总机拨打火警“119”报告火警信息。()
决定叙述视角的通常是【】
设无穷级数收敛,则()
A.肝脏体积增大,可见大小不一的大结节,肝细胞排列呈单层或数层索样结构,细胞有不同程度的异型性,结节内无中央静脉、小胆管和汇管区成分B.肝脏体积缩小,可见大小形状不一的大结节,肝细胞呈双层索样排列,结节内可见中央静脉或小胆管或汇管区样成分;甚至出现完整的
患者男性,23岁,口服阿司匹林3片后觉胃部不适,5h前排黑色成形粪约100g。既往无胃病史。查体:血压90/60mmHg,脉搏86/min,血红蛋白100g/L,粪便隐血3+。应首选的治疗是
早期发现宫颈癌的最佳方法是()
把下面的六个图形分为两类,使每一类图形都有各自的共同特征或规律,分类正确的一项是:
下列有关软件的描述中,说法不正确的是
Computerpeopletalkalotabouttheneedforotherpeopletobecome"computer-literate",inotherwords,tolearntounderstan
最新回复
(
0
)