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10
THE HESPERIAN
experiences are but the ronction of the cn
vironment upon the protoplasm of the nerv
ous system. The receptive first years of
our life are made up of such a set of experi
ences, more or less agreeable or unpleasant.
These experiences become so associated with
the words that name them that the occur
ence of the latter in poetry recalls tho former
in much of their first vividness. The skill
of the poet lies in choosing those words that
stand for tho most intense experiences and
associations. The chapters on Associations
of Words, Tone, Colorings, Force, and Poetic
Words are the development of this idea.
These chapters, of course, deal with poetry
in its strictly literal and unfignrative aspects.
The treatment of the much larger figurative
side of poetry differs to an equal degree
from the methods usually pursued. Pleas
ure physical, mental, and moral, comes, in
the biological point of view, from the full
and free exercise of the powers of body and
mind. Given a trained imagination, and tho
highest form of delight possible comes from
the exercise of that imagination. The power
of Shakespeare for instance is duo to the
presentation of ''effects1' for which the im
agination is made to find adequate causes.
The power of Tennyson is due to the con
centration of the mediaeval form of allegory
in all its devious length into a single word,
thus enabling in a second's time all the
pleasure formerly obtainable only by hours
of reading. But it is in the classification of
figures that tho deviation from the usual
methods of treatment is most marked. Ref
erence to the mental process behind the
figure is in each case insisted on. The par
ticular form of presentation upon the printed
page is simply a manifestation of an author's
individuality. If the thought be allegorical
in its nature, evidently the presentation of
it in the mediaeval form, the sustained form,
the clause, phrase, or word form is due sim
ply to peeuliaritiess of mind, condition, or
time. But just as the feats of skill in a
gymnasium presuppose adequate muscular
strength, so tho appreciation of poetry pre
supposes adequate powers of imagination.
Tho pleasure in both instances comes from
tho conscious exercise of power.
But while these discoveries are interesting
and valuable in thomselves, the giving of
them to the world is not tho main purpose of
tho book. Tho Analytics primarily makes
use of tho principles above hinted at for the
more rational teaching of literature. It is
first a text book. A writer in tho Nation
some fifteen months ago doubted that liter
ature could, strictly speaking, be taught at
all. In tho sense that real literary power is
a gift, literature cannot, of course, be taught.
Neither can tho musical gift of a Mozart be
acquired by any course of instruction how
ever scientific. But the small class of stu
dents that are specially gifted in any direc
may be left out of consideration. What they
get they probably acquiro by methods peculiar
ly their own. Throughout tho country, how
ever, the great mass of pupils pass through the
course in literature uninfluenced and for the
most part without any real profit. It is only
here and there, where the enthusiasm and
genuine ability of tho teacher compensates
for the lack of rational methods, that results
of any value are obtained for the great body
of students. The problem that confronts
the teacher of literature is the same that
confronted the teachers of music and paint
ing a century ago. How shall the student
without any special literary bent be made to
feel somewhat of the power in letters ? The
appreciation of Tennyson or Browning de
pends upon well trained powers of imagina
tion, just as the appreciation of Herbert
Spencer depends upon well trained intellect
ual powers. While the matter of a progressive
training of the intellect has been reduced to
a score of system no method of objective
study has yet been devised for the training
of the imagination and the higher powers in
general. Such a system the Analytics of
Literature attempts to formulate by the ap
plication of tho laboratory method, by the
presentation of tho subject inductively, and
especially by the resolution of poetic power
into its elements.
Tho laboratory method of instruction in
