A CRITICISM OF LIFE? 319 



the most complete his presentation of life in organised com- 

 plexity, the greater he will be. Now the whole struggle of 

 the human race from barbarism to civilisation is one con- 

 tinuous effort to maintain and to extend its moral dignity. 

 It is by the conservation and alimentation of moral qualities 

 that we advance. The organisation of our faculties into a 

 perfect whole is moral harmony. Therefore artists who aspire 

 to greatness can neither be adverse nor indifferent to ethics. 

 In each case they proclaim their own inadequacy to the 

 subject-matter of their art, humanity. In each case they 

 present a maimed and partial portrait of their hero, man. 

 In each case they must submit, however exquisite their style, 

 however acute their insight, to be excluded from the supreme 

 company of the immortals. We need do no more than name 

 the chiefs of European poetry Homer, Pindar, ./Eschylus, 

 Sophocles, Virgil, Horace, Dante, Shakespeare, Moliere in 

 order to recognise the fact that these owe their superiority to 

 the completeness of their representation, to their firm grasp 

 upon the harmony of human faculties in large morality. It 

 is this which makes classical and humane literature convertible 

 terms. It is this which has led all classes and ages of men 

 back and back to these great poets as to their familiar friends 

 and teachers, ' the everlasting solace of mankind.' 



While substantially agreeing with Mr. Arnold, it may be 

 possible to take exception to the form of his definition. He 

 lays too great stress, perhaps, on the phrases, application of 

 ideas, and criticism. The first might be qualified as mis- 

 leading, because it seems to attribute an ulterior purpose to 

 the poet ; the second as tending to confound two separate 

 faculties, the creative and the judicial. Plato's conception of 

 poetry as an inspiration, a divine instinct, may be nearer to 

 the truth. The application of ideas should not be too con- 

 scious, else the poet sinks into the preacher. The criticism of 

 life should not be too much his object, else the poet might as 

 well have written essays. What is wanted is that, however 

 spontaneous his utterance may be, however he may aim at 

 only beauty in his work, or ' sing but as the linnet sings,' his 

 message should be adequate to healthy and mature humanity. 



