THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 47 



" We gaze and turn away, and know not where, 



Dazzled and drunk with beauty, till the heart 



Reels with its fullness ; there — forever there — 



Chained to the chariot of triumphal art. 



We stand as captives and would not depart. 



Away ! — there need no words, nor terms precise. 



The paltry jargon of the marble mart, 



Where Pedantry gulls Folly — we have eyes : 



Blood, pulse and breast confirm the Dardan shepherd's prize."' 



And again : 



" Let these describe the undescribable : 



I would not their vile breath should crisp the stream 



Wherein that image shall forever dwell ; 



The unrutfied mirror of the loveliest dream 



That ever left the sky on the deep soul to beam." 



When we wish to know exactly something in any branch of 

 study, we go very sensibly to those who are proficient in it. To 

 poets themselves let us appeal as those who can teach us best. No 

 one, I think, states better the two necessary principles than Shelley 

 in ' The Skylark : ' 



" Better than all measures 



Of delightful sound, 



Better than all treasures 



That in books are found. 

 Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground !" 



The poet here emphasizes the fact that in the highest kind of 

 poetry there must be beauty of expression as well as nobility and 

 loftiness of thought. I shall discuss these principles in their order. 



For a long time after Aristotle, the dominant idea of poetry was 

 that it consisted of invention, the form or expression being held of 

 small value. By the artificial school of modern times the form was 

 exalted above the matter. But in the finest of the world's poems 

 there is seen the combination of nobility of thought with the most 

 artistic expression. It is a familiar fact that when the mind of a 

 people is stirred by strong emotion, the form of expression chosen is 

 rhythmical. We see this in the chants of the savage, in the musical 

 myth of Orpheus and in the ballads of all nations. This natural 

 music or rhythm must be in harmony with the thought, and accord- 

 ingly as the poetic thought of the world becomes more sublime, the 

 artistic expression of that thought must rise in beauty with it. One 



