STYLE. 345 



metaphor; but there are the glimpses at the very self of the author 

 which lurks in unconscious tricks of diction and turns of thought, and 

 emerges in epithets, in repetitions, and in phrases. In poetry the 

 author reigns supreme, and there too the imperfection of language is 

 most manifest. In a very fine passage every word is charged with 

 meaning and riveted to its place ; in fact, the vehicle is strained to its 

 utmost to bear the load imposed upon it. Hence Coleridge's well- 

 known definition of poetry as " the best words in the best order." 

 Meanwhile the personality of the poet pervades every line of every 

 poem, a hardly recognized but unfailing presence. He colors each 

 picture, and is a spectator at every scene ; he is beside Ulysses in the 

 island of Calypso ; with him he witnesses the death of Argus and the 

 insolence of the suitors; he shares the recognition of Penelope and 

 the welcome to home ; and when dire retribution seizes the usurpers 

 he looks upon their fall. 



Not that this personality is directly obtruded upon the hearer's 

 notice ; in the instance of Homer, it is markedly withdrawn, the char- 

 acters speak of themselves, the descriptions are meant to serve no 

 moral end. But what is never brought before us as an avowed ele- 

 ment in the composition is everywhere present in the form of the nar- 

 rativewe never hear the accents of the voice, though we are always 

 listening to its tones. Take as an illustration of this a passage of 

 pure description from the " Odyssey : " 



Kip fiev err' eg xaptyw fiiya Kaiero, tt/IoOi 6' b6pf) 

 Kedpov t' evke&toio diiov r' ava vf/aov bdudsi 

 Saio/iEvuV r) d' itvdov aocdcdovc' ottI /ca/l?), 

 igtov ercoixofiivr] xP vaei V nepKid' ixpaivev. 

 vh\ 6e aveog apxpi tte^vkei T?/?.Ed6uea, 

 KkrjQprj t' alysipbg te nal Evudtjg KvixapiGGog. 

 Ivda 6e t' bpvidsg TavvGiTTTspoi evv&^ovto, 

 GKoirsg t' Iprj'iEg te ravvyXuGGoi te nopuvai 

 slvaXtai, TyaivTS daXaooia ipya fiEpi]%Ev. 

 ?j 6' avTuv tet(lvvgto TTEpl GKEiovg yTiatyvpolo 

 f][iplg T/fiuuaa, te6t)\el 6e GTa<pv"kr\Giv' 

 Kprjvai 6' E^eirjg ir'iGvpEg (>eov vdaTi "kevnQ, 

 irXtjaiai bXkifkov TETpa/ifiivai &X?,v6ig aTJK?]. 

 afupi 6s 7i.Eip.uvEg fiaAanol lov t)6e geXlvov 

 dfj^Eov' 'ivda k' EiTEiTa nal a.6ava.T6g nsp etteWuv 

 dijijGaiTO Idov nal TEp<pOEiT/ (ppEGiv yoiv. 



Odyssey, v., 59-74. 



(A large fire was burning on the hearth, and at a distance the smell of well- 

 cleft cedar, and of frankincense, that was burning, shed odor through the island ; 

 but she within was singing with a beautiful voice, and going over the web, wove 

 with a golden shuttle. But a flourishing wood sprung up around the grot, alder 

 and poplar, and sweet-smelling cypress. There also birds with spreading wings 

 slept, owls and hawks, and wide-tongued crows of the ocean, to which maritime 

 employments are a care. There a vine in its prime was spread about the hollow 



