Elements of Criticism, Volume I.Kames, Henry Home, Lord
Philosophy
Elements of Criticism, Volume I.
Kames, Henry Home, Lord
Criticism; Literary style
Force is of two kinds; one quiescent, and one exerted by motion. The
former, dead weight for example, must be laid aside; for a body at rest
is not by that circumstance either agreeable or disagreeable. Moving
force only belongs to the present subject; and though it is not
separable from motion, yet by the power of abstraction, either of them
may be considered independent of the other. Both of them are agreeable,
because both of them include activity. It is agreeable to see a thing
move: to see it moved, as when it is dragged or pushed along, is neither
agreeable nor disagreeable, more than when at rest. It is agreeable to
see a thing exert force; but it makes not the thing either agreeable or
disagreeable, to see force exerted upon it.
Though motion and force are each of them agreeable, the impressions
they make are different. This difference, clearly felt, is not easily
described. All we can say is, that the emotion raised by a moving body,
resembles its cause: it feels as if the mind were carried along. The
emotion raised by force exerted, resembles also its cause: it feels as
if force were exerted within the mind.
To illustrate this difference, I give the following examples. It has
been explained why smoke ascending in a calm day, suppose from a cottage
in a wood, is an agreeable object[71]. Landscape-painters are fond of
this object, and introduce it upon all occasions. As the ascent is
natural and without effort, it is delightful in a calm state of mind. It
makes an impression of the same sort with that of a gently-flowing
river, but more agreeable, because ascent is more to our taste than
descent. A fire-work or a _jet d’eau_ rouses the mind more; because the
beauty of force visibly exerted, is superadded to that of upward
motion. To a man reclining indolently upon a bank of flowers, ascending
smoke in a still morning is delightful. But a fire-work or a _jet d’eau_
rouses him from this supine posture, and puts him in motion.
A _jet d’eau_ makes an impression distinguishable from that of a
water-fall. Downward motion being natural and without effort, tends
rather to quiet the mind than to rouse it. Upward motion, on the
contrary, overcoming the resistance of gravity, makes an impression of a
great effort, and thereby rouses and enlivens the mind.
The public games of the Greeks and Romans, which gave so much
entertainment to the spectators, consisted chiefly in exerting force,
wrestling, leaping, throwing great stones, and such like trials of
strength. When great force is exerted, the effort felt within the mind
produces great life and vivacity. The effort may be such, as in some
measure to overpower the mind. Thus the explosion of gun-powder, the
violence of a torrent, the weight of a mountain, and the crush of an
earthquake, create astonishment rather than pleasure.
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