...
Knowing the heart of man is set to be
The centre of this world, about the which
These revolutions of disturbances
Still roll; where all th' aspects of misery
Predominate; whose strong effects are such
As he must bear, being powerless to redress;
And that, unless above himself he can
Erect himself, how poor a thing is man![2]
IX
If the exhortation of these verses be somewhat too high and
stoical for you, let me return to Longinus and read you, from his
concluding chapter, a passage you may find not inapposite to
these times, nor without a moral:
'It remains' [he says] 'to clear up, my dear Terentianus, a
question which a certain philosopher has recently mooted. I
wonder,' he says, 'as no doubt do many others, how it happens
that in our time there are men who have the gift of persuasion
to the utmost extent, and are well fitted for public life, and
are keen and ready, and particularly rich in all the charms of
language, yet there no longer arise really lofty and
transcendent natures unless it be quite peradventure.
Pages:
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330