Elements of the philosophy of the human mind. By Dugald Stewart. Rev. and abridged, with critical and explanatory notes, for the use of colleges and schools. By Francis Bowen ...

IMAGINATION. 3.43
he studies to bestow, upon the medium of communication which
he employs, all the various beauties of which it is susceptible.
Among these beauties, the harmony of numbers is not the least
powerful; for its effect is constant, and does not interfere with
any of the other pleasures which language produces. A succession of agreeable perceptions is kept up by the organical
effect of words upon the ear; while they inform the understanding by their perspicuity and precision, or please the imagination
by the pictures they suggest, or touch the heart by the associations they awaken. Of all these charms of language the poet
may avail himself; and they are all so many instruments of his
art. To the philosopher and the orator, they may occasionally
be of use; and to both, they must be constantly so far an object
of attention, that nothing may occur in their compositions, which
may distract the thoughts, by offending either the ear or the
taste; but the poet must not rest satisfied with this negative
praise. Pleasure is the end of his art; and the more numerous
the sources of it which he can open, the greater will be the effect
produced by the efforts of his genius.
Poetry has a wider range than the other ine arts. - The province of the poet is limited only by the variety of human enjoyments. Whatever is, in the reality, subservient to our happiness,
is a source of pleasure when presented to our conceptions, and
may sometimes derive from the heightenings of imagination a
momentary charm, which we exchange with reluctance for the
substantial gratification of the senses. The province of the
painter and of the statuary is confined to the imitation of visible
objects, and to the exhibition of such intellectual and moral
qualities, as the human body is fitted to express. In ornamental architecture, and in ornamental gardening, the sole aim of
the artist is to give pleasure to the eye, by the beauty or sublimity of material fbrms. But to the poet, all the glories of external nature; all that is amiable, or interesting, or respectable
in human character; all that excites and engages our benevolent affections; All those truths which make the heart feel itself
better and more happy; — all these supply materials, out of which
he forms and peoples a world of his own, where no inconven