﻿THE 
  FACT 
  OF 
  BEAUTY 
  269 
  

  

  The 
  second 
  factor 
  in 
  our 
  aesthetic 
  delight 
  is 
  perceptual. 
  

   The 
  l 
  form 
  ' 
  (in 
  the 
  widest 
  sense) 
  of 
  what 
  we 
  contemplate 
  

   is 
  significant 
  for 
  us 
  and 
  satisfies 
  our 
  feeling. 
  Beauty 
  in- 
  

   creases 
  with 
  significance 
  of 
  form, 
  with 
  the 
  degree 
  in 
  which 
  

   meaning 
  is 
  suffused 
  into 
  material, 
  or 
  with 
  the 
  degree 
  in 
  

   which 
  the 
  way 
  is 
  opened 
  to 
  us 
  to 
  give 
  imaginative 
  interpre- 
  

   tation. 
  The 
  aesthetic 
  attitude, 
  Professor 
  Bosanquet 
  says, 
  " 
  is 
  

   an 
  attitude 
  in 
  which 
  we 
  imaginatively 
  contemplate 
  an 
  object, 
  

   being 
  able 
  in 
  that 
  way 
  to 
  live 
  in 
  it 
  as 
  an 
  embodiment 
  of 
  

   our 
  feeling 
  ". 
  We 
  actively 
  respond 
  to 
  what 
  we 
  enjoy 
  looking 
  

   at, 
  projecting 
  ourselves 
  into 
  it, 
  reading 
  ourselves 
  or 
  some- 
  

   thing 
  else 
  into 
  it, 
  in 
  an 
  aesthetic 
  illusion, 
  which 
  has 
  some- 
  

   thing 
  in 
  common 
  with 
  make-believe 
  forms 
  of 
  play, 
  just 
  as 
  

   these 
  in 
  turn 
  are 
  linked 
  on 
  to 
  art. 
  It 
  is 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  im- 
  

   portance 
  of 
  this 
  factor 
  that 
  many 
  have 
  been 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  idea, 
  

   which 
  seems 
  to 
  us 
  mistaken, 
  that 
  the 
  quality 
  of 
  beauty 
  is 
  

   altogether 
  subjective. 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  beautiful 
  form 
  which 
  moves 
  us 
  is 
  truly 
  excellent, 
  

   it 
  becomes 
  more 
  significant 
  in 
  all 
  its 
  details, 
  in 
  proportion 
  

   to 
  the 
  intensity 
  of 
  our 
  aesthetic 
  contemplation. 
  The 
  form 
  

   lends 
  itself 
  to 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  meaning. 
  The 
  imagination 
  

   receives 
  a 
  succession 
  of 
  liberating 
  stimuli, 
  one 
  after 
  the 
  

   other, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  the 
  beauty 
  of 
  the 
  object; 
  

   and 
  the 
  fact 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  us 
  to 
  be 
  outstanding 
  is 
  that 
  

   the 
  lines 
  and 
  patterns 
  and 
  colours 
  of 
  living 
  creatures 
  go 
  

   to 
  make 
  up 
  a 
  ( 
  form 
  ' 
  which 
  almost 
  never 
  disappoints. 
  

  

  In 
  its 
  highest 
  reaches 
  the 
  imaginative 
  perception 
  rises 
  

   into 
  the 
  poet's 
  vision, 
  of 
  which 
  Blake 
  speaks 
  : 
  

  

  " 
  And 
  before 
  my 
  way 
  

   A 
  frowning 
  thistle 
  implores 
  my 
  stay. 
  

   "What 
  to 
  others 
  a 
  trifle 
  appears 
  

   Fills 
  me 
  full 
  of 
  smiles 
  or 
  tears; 
  

  

  