THE ARTS AND RELIGION 283 



or method, some improvement over earlier achieve- 

 ments. Certain standards of judgment reflect clearly 

 enough the modernity born of science, especially in 

 its biological aspects. Emergent from the most 

 varied judgments is the growing tendency to place 

 a higher and higher value on truth. The criteria 

 as to what constitutes the truth have been largely 

 modified by the teachings of science, and literature is 

 unmistakably feeling the influence of this alteration 

 in standards. The effect is visible both in fiction 

 and in poetry. The modern concepts of the universe, 

 and especially the evolutionary conception of man, 

 have greatly added to the difficulty of writing a 

 superior order of poetry, since these compel the aban- 

 donment of too crude notions of an anthropomorphic 

 or mythical sort. On the other hand, it requires a 

 lofty and noble handling of the large themes of 

 nature to secure a reasonable conformity with the 

 spirit of science without yielding to an embarrassing 

 precision of detail fatal to poetic fancy. That there 

 will one day arise a type of genius successfully expres- 

 sive of the poetry of the play of celestial and human 

 forces seems probable. Goethe, Browning, and Emer- 

 son have entered this nonfacile territory, and Shelley 

 has worked his rich imagery into its margin in his 

 inspired groping toward the light of truth. That 

 the orderly plays of energy, as seen in ions, in living 

 organisms, and in the mechanics of the universe, are 

 inspiriting themes for poetic expression is obvious, 

 but it is equally clear that some of the mythological 



