1920] on Science and Poetry 211 



" Iliad " is a picture of Force, set forth so as to show every facet of 

 the subject, the triumph of Force and the evil of it. The work 

 begins by showing; the great failing of Force, unreasonable wrath — 

 the whole world being made to suffer ; and then Force returns to its 

 duties in consequence of a more noble but equally unreasonable grief. 

 This is a primordial lesson for humanity, which exists in fact under 

 the influence and government of Force. On the other hand, the 

 " Odyssey " is the great allegory of Wisdom ; and in order to form 

 the picture fully, Homer plunged Ulysses in difficulty after difficulty 

 that by his wisdom he might finally emerge. This again was a prime 

 lesson for humanity. 



The Greek tragedies and comedies give us lesson after lesson of 

 the same kind ; and so do the Latin poets. In quite another wave 

 of civilisation Dante wrote another parable, the function of which 

 was to impress something which the Greeks had not fully impressed, 

 the sense of a more matured moral obligation. The masterpiece of 

 Cervantes states in immortal and unforgettable figures two extremes 

 of the mind, idealism and realism — qualities constantly in conflict, 

 but which must nevertheless always work together. Similar design 

 exists in every one of the plays of Shakespeare. In "Macbeth" 

 ambition; in "Othello" jealousy; in " Romeo and Juliet" noble 

 love ; in " Lear " ingratitude ; in " Julius Caesar " political jealousy ; 

 in " Antony and Cleopatra " political profligacy ; and in " Coriolanus " 

 pride — to use only brief appellations. His " Hamlet " and " Timon " 

 may almost be looked upon as medical text-books — Hamlet of exces- 

 sive introspection, and Timon of some form of enterosepsis. In his 

 last play, " The Tempest," he figures, I think, himself as Prospero, 

 the wise and gentle magician, giver of the wonderful and beautiful 

 Miranda to the world, but exiled by baser people ; and in Caliban 

 (who hated him but followed a drunkard and a jester), the monstrous 

 stupidity and indifference of the world. Lastly, in the Greatest 

 Book of all, the most sublime drama of the Gospel, we have the final 

 instance of what human conduct should be, as well as the final tragedy 

 of virtue and self-sacrifice— to warn us lest we think that virtue 

 may have any other reward but itself. In the great cathedral which 

 is the spirit of man, each of these books is a chapel by itself, beautifully 

 adorned, lit by light from Heaven, and existing for ever in the sacred 

 silence of real holiness. 



I have no space to deal with other masterpieces concerned with 

 scientific or philosophical life. The poem of Lucretius is, of course, 

 the scientific poem of the world. Marlow's "Dr. Faustus " is the 

 picture of the scientific mind tempted away from its proper labour by 

 pleasure ; and Goethe's " Faust " of the scientific mind experimenting 

 in evil. I think that Matthew Arnold's " Empedocles " is perhaps the 

 profoundest poem of last century (not excepting " In Memoriam "), 

 with its able picture of the staleness and despair which too often over- 



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