edmund burke - a philosophical inquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and the beautiful

8/13/2019 Edmund Burke - A Philosophical Inquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful

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A Philosophical Inquiry Into The Origin Of

Our Ideas Of The Sublime And The

Beautiful

By Edmund Burke (!"! # !$!%


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PA&T I

' o)elty

THE FIRST and the simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is Curiosity. By curiosity, I mean

whatever desire we have or, or whatever pleasure we ta!e in, novelty. "e see children perpetually runnin# rom

place to place, to hunt out somethin# new$ they catch with #reat ea#erness, and with very little choice, at whatevercomes %eore them& their attention is en#a#ed %y everythin#, %ecause everythin# has, in that sta#e o lie, the charmo novelty to recommend it. But as those thin#s, which en#a#e us merely %y their novelty, cannot attach us or any

len#th o time, curiosity is the most supericial o all the aections& it chan#es its o%'ect perpetually, it has an

appetite which is very sharp, %ut very easily satisied& and it has always an appearance o #iddiness, restlessness, and

an(iety. Curiosity, rom its nature, is a very active principle& it )uic!ly runs over the #reatest part o its o%'ects, and

soon e(hausts the variety which is commonly to %e met with in nature& the same thin#s ma!e re)uent returns, and

they return with less and less o any a#reea%le eect. In short, the occurrences o lie, %y the time we come to !now

it a little, would %e incapa%le o aectin# the mind with any other sensations than those o loathin# and weariness, i

many thin#s were not adapted to aect the mind %y means o other powers %esides novelty in them, and o other

passions %esides curiosity in ourselves. These powers and passions shall %e considered in their place. But whatever

these powers are, or upon what principle soever they aect the mind, it is a%solutely necessary that they should not%e e(erted in those thin#s which a daily and vul#ar use have %rou#ht into a stale unaectin# amiliarity. Some

de#ree o novelty must %e one o the materials in every instrument which wor!s upon the mind& and curiosity %lends

itsel more or less with all our passions

"' Pain And Pleasure

IT seems then necessary towards movin# the passions o people advanced in lie to any considera%le de#ree,

that the o%'ects desi#ned or that purpose, %esides their %ein# in some measure new, should %e capa%le o e(citin#pain or pleasure rom other causes. *ain and pleasure are simple ideas, incapa%le o deinition. *eople are not lia%le

to %e mista!en in their eelin#s, %ut they are very re)uently wron# in the names they #ive them, and in their

reasonin#s a%out them. +any are o the opinion, that pain arises necessarily rom the removal o some pleasure& as

they thin! pleasure does rom the ceasin# or diminution o some pain. For my part, I am rather inclined to ima#ine,

that pain and pleasure, in their most simple and natural manner o aectin#, are each o a positive nature, and %y no

means necessarily dependent on each other or their e(istence. The human mind is oten, and I thin! it is or the

most part, in a state neither o pain nor pleasure, which I call a state o indierence. "hen I am carried rom this

state into a state o actual pleasure, it does not appear necessary that I should pass throu#h the medium o any sort opain. I in such a state o indierence, or ease, or tran)uillity, or call it what you please, you were to %e suddenly

entertained with a concert o music& or suppose some o%'ect o a ine shape, and %ri#ht, lively colours, to %e

presented %eore you& or ima#ine your smell is #ratiied with the ra#rance o a rose& or i without any previous thirst

you were to drin! o some pleasant !ind o wine, or to taste o some sweetmeat without %ein# hun#ry& in all the

several senses, o hearin#, smellin# and tastin#, you undou%tedly ind a pleasure& yet i I in)uire into the state o

your mind previous to these #ratiications, you will hardly tell me that they ound you in any !ind o pain& or, havin#

satisied these several senses with their several pleasures, will you say that any pain has succeeded, thou#h the

pleasure is a%solutely over Suppose on the other hand, a man in the same state o indierence, to receive a violent

%low, or to drin! o some %itter potion, or to have his ears wounded with some harsh and #ratin# sound& here is no

removal o pleasure& and yet here is elt in every sense which is aected, a pain very distin#uisha%le. It may %e said,perhaps, that the pain in these cases had its rise rom the removal o the pleasure which the man en'oyed %eore,

thou#h that pleasure was o so low a de#ree as to %e perceived only %y the removal. But this seems to me a su%tilty

that is not discovera%le in nature. For i, previous to the pain, I do not eel any actual pleasure, I have no reason to'ud#e that any such thin# e(ists& since pleasure is only pleasure as it is elt. The same may %e said o pain, and with

e)ual reason. I can never persuade mysel that pleasure and pain are mere relations, which can only e(ist as they are

contrasted& %ut I thin! I can discern clearly that there are positive pains and pleasures, which do not at all depend

upon each other. -othin# is more certain to my own eelin#s than this. There is nothin# which I can distin#uish in

my mind with more clearness than the three states, o indierence, o pleasure, and o pain. Every one o these I canperceive without any sort o idea o its relation to anythin# else. Caius is alicted with a it o the colic& this man is


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actually in pain& stretch Caius upon the rac!, he will eel a much #reater pain$ %ut does this pain o the rac! arise

rom the removal o any pleasure or is the it o the colic a pleasure or a pain, 'ust as we are pleased to consider it

*' The +ifference Bet,een the &emo)al of Pain- and Positi)e Pleasure

"E shall carry this proposition yet a step arther. "e shall venture to propose, that pain and pleasure are notonly not necessarily dependent or their e(istence on their mutual diminution or removal, %ut that, in reality, the

diminution or ceasin# o pleasure does not operate li!e positive pain& and that the removal or diminution o pain, in

its eect, has very little resem%lance to positive pleasure. The ormer o these propositions will, I %elieve, %e much

more readily allowed than the latter& %ecause it is very evident that pleasure, when it has run its career, sets us down

very nearly where it ound us. *leasure o every !ind )uic!ly satisies& and when it is over, we relapse into

indierence, or rather we all into a sot tran)uillity, which is tin#ed with the a#reea%le colour o the ormersensation. I own it is not at irst view so apparent, that the removal o a #reat pain does not resem%le positive

pleasure& %ut let us recollect in what state we have ound our minds upon escapin# some imminent dan#er, or on

%ein# released rom the severity o some cruel pain. "e have on such occasions ound, i I am not much mista!en,

the temper o our minds in a tenor very remote rom that which attends the presence o positive pleasure& we have

ound them in a state o much so%riety, impressed with a sense o awe, in a sort o tran)uillity shadowed with

horror. The ashion o the countenance and the #esture o the %ody on such occasions is so correspondent to this

state o mind, that any person, a stran#er to the cause o the appearance, would rather 'ud#e us under some

consternation, than in the en'oyment o anythin# li!e positive pleasure/.Iliad. 01ree!. 345.

6s when a wretch, who, conscious o his crime,

*ursued or murder rom his native clime,

7ust #ains some rontier, %reathless, pale, ama8ed&

6ll #a8e, all wonder9

This stri!in# appearance o the man whom Homer supposes to have 'ust escaped an imminent dan#er, the sort

o mi(ed passion o terror and surprise, with which he aects the spectators, paints very stron#ly the manner in

which we ind ourselves aected upon occasions any way similar. For when we have suered rom any violentemotion, the mind naturally continues in somethin# li!e the same condition, ater the cause which irst produced it

has ceased to operate. The tossin# o the sea remains ater the storm& and when this remain o horror has entirely

su%sided, all the passion, which the accident raised, su%sides alon# with it& and the mind returns to its usual state oindierence. In short, pleasure :I mean anythin# either in the inward sensation, or in the outward appearance, li!e

pleasure rom a positive cause; has never, I ima#ine, its ori#in rom the removal o pain or dan#er. 2

-ote /. +r. thin!s that the removal or

lessenin# o a pain is considered and operates as a pleasure, and the loss or diminishin# o pleasure as a pain. It isthis opinion which we consider here.

.' Of +elight And Pleasure A sOpposed To Each Other

B=T shall we thereore say, that the removal o pain or its diminution is always simply painul or airm that

the cessation or the lessenin# o pleasure is always attended itsel with a pleasure By no means. "hat I advance is

no more than this& irst, that there are pleasures and pains o a positive and independent nature& and, secondly, that

the eelin# which results rom the ceasin# or diminution o pain does not %ear a suicient resem%lance to positivepleasure, to have it considered as o the same nature, or to entitle it to %e !nown %y the same name& and, thirdly, that

upon the same principle the removal or )ualiication o pleasure has no resem%lance to positive pain. It is certainthat the ormer eelin# :the removal or moderation o pain; has somethin# in it ar rom distressin# or disa#reea%le

in its nature. This eelin#, in many cases so a#reea%le, %ut in all so dierent rom positive pleasure, has no name

/+r. thin!s that the removal or lessenin# o a pain

is considered and operates as a pleasure, and the loss or diminishin# o pleasure as a pain. It is this opinion which we

consider here

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which I !now& %ut that hinders not its %ein# a very real one, and very dierent rom all others. It is most certain that

every species o satisaction or pleasure, how dierent soever in its manner o aectin#, is o a positive nature in the

mind o him who eels it. The aection is undou%tedly positive& %ut the cause may %e, as in this case it certainly is, a

sort oPrivation.6nd it is very reasona%le that we should distin#uish %y some term two thin#s so distinct in nature,

as a pleasure that is such simply, and without any relation, rom that pleasure which cannot e(ist without a relation,and that too a relation to pain. ?ery e(traordinary it would %e, i these aections, so distin#uisha%le in their causes,

so dierent in their eects, should %e conounded with each other, %ecause vul#ar use has ran#ed them under thesame #eneral title. "henever I have occasion to spea! o this species o relative pleasure, I call it Delight;and I

shall ta!e the %est care I can to use that word in no other sense. I am satisied the word is not commonly used in this

appropriated si#niication& %ut I thou#ht it %etter to ta!e up a word already !nown, and to limit its si#niication, than

to introduce a new one, which would not perhaps incorporate so well with the lan#ua#e. I should never have

presumed the least alteration in our words, i the nature o the lan#ua#e, ramed or the purposes o %usiness rather

than those o philosophy, and the nature o my su%'ect, that leads me out o the common trac! o discourse, did notin a manner necessitate me to it. I shall ma!e use o this li%erty with all possi%le caution. 6s I ma!e use o the world

Delight to e(press the sensation which accompanies the removal o pain or dan#er& so when I spea! o positive

pleasure, I shall or the most part call it simplyPleasure.

/' 0oy And 1rief

IT must %e o%served that the cessation o pleasure aects the mind three ways. I it simply ceases, ater havin#

continued a proper time, the eect is indifference;i it %e a%ruptly %ro!en o, there ensues an uneasy sense calleddisappointment;i the o%'ect %e so totally lost that there is no chance o en'oyin# it a#ain, a passion arises in the

mind, which is calledgrief.-ow there is none o these, not even #rie, which is the most violent, that I thin! has anyresem%lance to positive pain. The person who #rieves, suers his passion to #row upon him& he indul#es it, he loves

it$ %ut this never happens in the case o actual pain, which no man ever willin#ly endured or any considera%le time.

That #rie should %e willin#ly endured, thou#h ar rom a simply pleasin# sensation, is not so diicult to %e

understood. It is the nature o #rie to !eep its o%'ect perpetually in its eye, to present it in its most pleasura%le

views, to repeat all the circumstances that attend it, even to the last minuteness& to #o %ac! to every particular

en'oyment, to dwell upon each, and to ind a thousand new perections in all, that were not suiciently understood

%eore& in #rie, the pleasureis still uppermost& and the aliction we suer has no resem%lance to a%solute pain,

which is always odious, and which we endeavor to sha!e o as soon as possi%le. The @dyssey o Homer, whicha%ounds with so many natural and aectin# ima#es, has none more stri!in# than those which +enelaus raises o the

calamitous ate o his riends, and his own manner o eelin# it. He owns, indeed, that he oten #ives himsel some

intermission rom such melancholy relections& %ut he o%serves, too, that, melancholy as they are, they #ive himpleasure.

Hom. @d. 01ree!. /55

Still in short intervals opleasing woe,

Re#ardul o the riendly dues I owe,I to the #lorious dead, or ever dear,

Indulgethe tri%ute o agratefultear

@n the other hand, when we recover our health, when we escape an imminent dan#er, is it with 'oy that we are

aected The sense on these occasions is ar rom that smooth and voluptuous satisaction which the assured

prospect o pleasure %estows. The deli#ht which arises rom the modiications o pain conesses the stoc! rom

whence it sprun#, in its solid, stron#, and severe nature.

!' Of The Passions 2hich Belong To Self3Preser)ation

+@ST o the ideas which are capa%le o ma!in# a powerul impression on the mind, whether simply o *ain or

*leasure, or o the modiications o those, may %e reduced very nearly to these two heads, self-preservation and

society;to the ends o one or the other o which all our passions are calculated to answer. The passions which

concern selApreservation, turn mostly onpainor danger.The ideas opain, sickness,and death,ill the mind with

stron# emotions o horror& %ut lifeand health,thou#h they put us in a capacity o %ein# aected with pleasure, ma!e


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no such impression %y the simple en'oyment. The passions thereore which are conversant a%out the preservation o

the individual turn chiely onpainand danger,and they are the most powerul o all the passions.

4' Of The Sublime

"H6TE?ER is itted in any sort to e(cite the ideas o pain and dan#er, that is to say, whatever is in any sort

terri%le, or is conversant a%out terri%le o%'ects, or operates in a manner analo#ous to terror, is a source o thesublime;that is, it is productive o the stron#est emotion which the mind is capa%le o eelin#. I say the stron#est

emotion, %ecause I am satisied the ideas o pain are much more powerul than those which enter on the part o

pleasure. "ithout all dou%t, the torments which we may %e made to suer are much #reater in their eect on the

%ody and mind, than any pleasure which the most learned voluptuary could su##est, or than the liveliest

ima#ination, and the most sound and e()uisitely sensi%le %ody, could en'oy. -ay, I am in #reat dou%t whether any

man could %e ound, who would earn a lie o the most perect satisaction, at the price o endin# it in the torments,which 'ustice inlicted in a ew hours on the late unortunate re#icide in France. But as pain is stron#er in its

operation than pleasure, so death is in #eneral a much more aectin# idea than pain& %ecause there are very ew

pains, however e()uisite, which are not preerred to death$ nay, what #enerally ma!es pain itsel, i I may say so,

more painul, is, that it is considered as an emissary o this !in# o terrors. "hen dan#er or pain press too nearly,

they are incapa%le o #ivin# any deli#ht, and are simply terri%le& %ut at certain distances, and with certain

modiications, they may %e, and they are, deli#htul, as we every day e(perience. The cause o this I shall endeavour

to investi#ate hereater.

$' Of The Passions 2hich Belong To Society

THE @THER head under which I class our passions, is that o society,which may %e divided into two sorts. I.

The society o thesexes,which answers the purposes o propa#ation& and ne(t, that more general society,which we

have with men and with other animals, and which we may in some sort %e said to have even with the inanimate

world. The passions %elon#in# to the preservation o the individual turn wholly on pain and dan#er$ those which

%elon# to generationhave their ori#in in #ratiications and pleasures;the pleasure most directly %elon#in# to this

purpose is o a lively character, rapturous and violent, and conessedly the hi#hest pleasure o sense& yet the a%sence

o this so #reat an en'oyment scarce amounts to an uneasiness& and, e(cept at particular times, I do not thin! it

aects at all. "hen men descri%e in what manner they are aected %y pain and dan#er, they do not dwell on thepleasure o health and the comort o security, and then lament the loss o these satisactions$ the whole turns upon

the actual pains and horrors which they endure. But i you listen to the complaints o a orsa!en lover, you o%serve

that he insists lar#ely on the pleasures which he en'oyed, or hoped to en'oy, and on the perection o the o%'ect o hisdesires& it is the losswhich is always uppermost in his mind. The violent eects produced %y love, which has

sometimes %een even wrou#ht up to madness, is no o%'ection to the rule which we see! to esta%lish. "hen men have

suered their ima#inations to %e lon# aected with any idea, it so wholly en#rosses them as to shut out %y de#rees

almost every other, and to %rea! down every partition o the mind which would conine it. 6ny idea is suicient or

the purpose, as is evident rom the ininite variety o causes, which #ive rise to madness$ %ut this at most can onlyprove, that the passion o love is capa%le o producin# very e(traordinary eects, not that its e(traordinary emotions

have any conne(ion with positive pain.

5' The 6inal 7ause Of the +ifference Bet,een The Passions Belonging To Self3Preser)ation And Those

2hich &egard The Society Of The Se8es

THE FI-6< cause o the dierence in character %etween the passions which re#ard selApreservation, and

those which are directed to the multiplication o the species, will illustrate the ore#oin# remar!s yet urther& and itis, I ima#ine, worthy o o%servation even upon its own account. 6s the perormance o our duties o every !ind

depends upon lie, and the perormin# them with vi#our and eicacy depends upon health, we are very stron#lyaected with whatever threatens the destruction o either$ %ut as we are not made to ac)uiesce in lie and health, the

simple en'oyment o them is not attended with any real pleasure, lest, satisied with that, we should #ive ourselves

over to indolence and inaction. @n the other hand, the #eneration o man!ind is a #reat purpose, and it is re)uisite

that men should %e animated to the pursuit o it %y some #reat incentive. It is thereore attended with a very hi#h

pleasure& %ut as it is %y no means desi#ned to %e our constant %usiness, it is not it that the a%sence o this pleasure

should %e attended with any considera%le pain. The dierence %etween men and %rutes, in this point, seems to %e

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sympathy must %e considered as a sort o su%stitution, %y which we are put into the place o another man, and

aected in many respects as he is aected& so that this passion may either parta!e o the nature o those which

re#ard selApreservation, and turnin# upon pain may %e a source o the su%lime or it may turn upon ideas o pleasure&

and then whatever has %een said o the social aections, whether they re#ard society in #eneral, or only some

particular modes o it, may %e applica%le here. It is %y this principle chiely that poetry, paintin#, and other aectin#arts, transuse their passions rom one %reast to another, and are oten capa%le o #ratin# a deli#ht on wretchedness,

misery, and death itsel. It is a common o%servation, that o%'ects which in the reality would shoc!, are in tra#ical,and such li!e representations, the source o a very hi#h species o pleasure. This, ta!en as a act, has %een the cause

o much reasonin#. The satisaction has %een commonly attri%uted, irst, to the comort we receive in considerin#

that so melancholy a story is no more than a iction& and, ne(t, to the contemplation o our own reedom rom the

evils which we see represented. I am araid it is a practice much too common in in)uiries o this nature, to attri%ute

the cause o eelin#s which merely arise rom the mechanical structure o our %odies, or rom the natural rame and

constitution o our minds, to certain conclusions o the reasonin# aculty on the o%'ects presented to us& or I shouldima#ine, that the inluence o reason in producin# our passions is nothin# near so e(tensive as it is commonly

%elieved.

9' The Effect Of Sympathy In The +istress Of Others

T@ e(amine this point concernin# the eect o tra#edy in a proper manner, we must previously consider how

we are aected %y the eelin#s o our ellowAcreatures in circumstances o real distress. I am convinced we have a

de#ree o deli#ht, and that no small one, in the real misortunes and pains o others& or let the aection %e what itwill in appearance, i it does not ma!e us shun such o%'ects, i on the contrary it induces us to approach them, i it

ma!es us dwell upon them, in this case I conceive we must have a deli#ht or pleasure o some species or other incontemplatin# o%'ects o this !ind. o we not read the authentic histories o scenes o this nature with as much

pleasure as romances or poems, where the incidents are ictitious The prosperity o no empire, nor the #randeur o

no !in#, can so a#reea%ly aect in the readin#, as the ruin o the state o +acedon, and the distress o its unhappy

prince. Such a catastrophe touches us in history as much as the destruction o Troy does in a%le. @ur deli#ht, in

cases o this !ind, is very #reatly hei#htened, i the suerer %e some e(cellent person who sin!s under an unworthy

ortune. Scipio and Cato are %oth virtuous characters& %ut we are more deeply aected %y the violent death o the

one, and the ruin o the #reat cause he adhered to, than with the deserved triumphs and uninterrupted prosperity o

the other& or terror is a passion which always produce deli#ht when it does not press too closely& and pity is apassion accompanied with pleasure, %ecause it arises rom love and social aection. "henever we are ormed %y

nature to any active purpose, the passion which animates us to it is attended with deli#ht, or a pleasure o some !ind,

let the su%'ectAmatter %e what it will& and as our Creator has desi#ned that we should %e united %y the %ond osympathy, he has stren#thened that %ond %y a proportiona%le deli#ht& and there most where our sympathy is most

wanted,in the distresses o others. I this passion was simply painul, we would shun with the #reatest care all

persons and places that could e(cite such a passion& as some, who are so ar #one in indolence as not to endure any

stron# impression, actually do. But the case is widely dierent with the #reater part o man!ind& there is no spectacle

we so ea#erly pursue, as that o some uncommon and #rievous calamity& so that whether the misortune is %eore oureyes, or whether they are turned %ac! to it in history, it always touches with deli#ht. This is not an unmi(ed deli#ht,

%ut %lended with no small uneasiness. The deli#ht we have in such thin#s, hinders us rom shunnin# scenes o

misery& and the pain we eel prompts us to relieve ourselves in relievin# those who suer& and all this antecedent to

any reasonin#, %y an instinct that wor!s us to its own purposes without our concurrence.

/' Of The Effects Of Tragedy

IT is thus in real calamities. In imitated distresses the only dierence is the pleasure resultin# rom the eectso imitation& or it is never so perect, %ut we can perceive it is imitation, and on that principle are somewhat pleased

with it. 6nd indeed in some cases we derive as much or more pleasure rom that source than rom the thin# itsel.But then I ima#ine we shall %e much mista!en, i we attri%ute any considera%le part o our satisaction in tra#edy to

the consideration that tra#edy is a deceit, and its representations no realities. The nearer it approaches the reality, and

the arther it removes us rom all idea o iction, the more perect is its power. But %e its power o what !ind it will,

it never approaches to what it represents. Choose a day on which to represent the most su%lime and aectin# tra#edy

we have& appoint the most avourite actors& spare no cost upon the scenes and decorations, unite the #reatest eorts

o poetry, paintin#, and music& and when you have collected your audience, 'ust at the moment when their minds are

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erect with e(pectation, let it %e reported that a state criminal o hi#h ran! is on the point o %ein# e(ecuted in the

ad'oinin# s)uare& in a moment the emptiness o the theatre would demonstrate the comparative wea!ness o the

imitative arts, and proclaim the triumph o the real sympathy. I %elieve that this notion o our havin# a simple pain in

the reality, yet a deli#ht in the representation, arises rom hence, that we do not suiciently distin#uish what we

would %y no means choose to do, rom what we should %e ea#er enou#h to see i it was once done. The deli#ht inseein# thin#s, which, so ar rom doin#, our heartiest wishes would %e to see redressed. This no%le capital, the pride

o En#land and o Europe, I %elieve no man is so stran#ely wic!ed as to desire to see destroyed %y a conla#ration oran earth)ua!e, thou#h he should %e removed himsel to the #reatest distance rom the dan#er. But suppose such a

atal accident to have happened, what num%ers rom all parts would crowd to %ehold the ruins, and amon#st many

who would have %een content never to have seen


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somethin# deemed valua%le amon#st them. It is this passion that drives men to all the ways we see in use o

si#nali8in# themselves, and that tends to ma!e whatever e(cites in a man the idea o this distinction so very pleasant.

It has %een so stron# as to ma!e very misera%le men ta!e comort, that they were supreme in misery& and certain it

is, that, where we cannot distin#uish ourselves %y somethin# e(cellent, we %e#in to ta!e a complacency in some

sin#ular inirmities, ollies, or deects o one !ind or other. It is on this principle that lattery is so prevalent& orlattery is no more than what raises in a manGs mind an idea o a preerence which he has not. -ow, whatever, either

on #ood or upon %ad #rounds, tends to raise a man in his own opinion, produces a sort o swellin# and triumph, thatis e(tremely #rateul to the human mind& and this swellin# is never more perceived, nor operates with more orce,

than when without dan#er we are conversant with terri%le o%'ects& the mind always claimin# to itsel some part o

the di#nity and importance o the thin#s which it contemplates. Hence proceeds what


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operations, and pierce into the inmost, and what mi#ht appear inaccessi%le, parts o our nature, uod latet arcand

non enarrabile fibr!.

"ithout all this it is possi%le or a man, ater a conused manner, sometimes to satisy his own mind o the

truth o his wor!& %ut he can never have a certain determinate rule to #o %y, nor can he ever ma!e his propositions

suiciently clear to others. *oets, and orators, and painters, and those who cultivate other %ranches o the li%eralarts, have, without this critical !nowled#e, succeeded well in their several provinces, and will succeed$ as amon#

artiicers there are many machines made and even invented without any e(act !nowled#e o the principles they are#overned %y. It is, I own, not uncommon to %e wron# in theory, and ri#ht in practice& and we are happy that it is so.

+en oten act ri#ht rom their eelin#s, who aterwards reason %ut ill on them rom principle$ %ut as it is impossi%le

to avoid an attempt at such reasonin#, and e)ually impossi%le to prevent its havin# some inluence on our practice,

surely it is worth ta!in# some pains to have it 'ust, and ounded on the %asis o sure e(perience. "e mi#ht e(pect

that the artists themselves would have %een our surest #uides& %ut the artists have %een too much occupied in the

practice$ the philosophers have done little& and what they have done, was mostly with a view to their own schemesand systems$ and as or those called critics, they have #enerally sou#ht the rule o the arts in the wron# place& they

sou#ht it amon# poems, pictures, en#ravin#s, statues, and %uildin#s. But art can never #ive the rules that ma!e an

art. This is, I %elieve, the reason why artists in #eneral, and poets principally, have %een conined in so narrow a

circle$ they have %een rather imitators o one another than o nature& and this with so aithul an uniormity, and to

so remote an anti)uity, that it is hard to say who #ave the irst model. Critics ollow them, and thereore can do little

as #uides. I can 'ud#e %ut poorly o anythin#, whilst I measure it %y no other standard than itsel. The true standard

o the arts is in every manGs power& and an easy o%servation o the most common, sometimes o the meanest, thin#s

in nature, will #ive the truest li#hts, where the #reatest sa#acity and industry, that sli#hts such o%servation, mustleave us in the dar!, or, what is worse, amuse and mislead us %y alse li#hts. In an in)uiry it is almost everythin# to

%e once in a ri#ht road. I am satisied I have done %ut little %y these o%servations considered in themselves& and Inever should have ta!en the pains to di#est them, much less should I have ever ventured to pu%lish them, i I was not

convinced that nothin# tends more to the corruption o science than to suer it to sta#nate. These waters must %e

trou%led, %eore they can e(ert their virtues. 6 man who wor!s %eyond the surace o thin#s, thou#h he may %e

wron# himsel, yet he clears the way or others, and may chance to ma!e even his errors su%servient to the cause o

truth. In the ollowin# parts I shall in)uire what thin#s they are that cause in us the aections o the su%lime and

%eautiul, as in this I have considered the aections themselves. I only desire one avour,that no part o this

discourse may %e 'ud#ed o %y itsel, and independently o the rest& or I am sensi%le I have not disposed my

materials to a%ide the test o a captious controversy, %ut o a so%er and even or#ivin# e(amination, that they are notarmed at all points or %attle, %ut dressed to visit those who are willin# to #ive a peaceul entrance to truth.

PA&T II

' Of The Passion 7aused By The Sublime

THE *6SSI@- caused %y the #reat and su%lime in nature, when those causes operate most powerully, is

astonishment& and astonishment is that state o the soul, in which all its motions are suspended, with some de#ree o

horror2. In this case the mind is so entirely illed with its o%'ect, that it cannot entertain any other, nor %y

conse)uence reason on that o%'ect which employs it. Hence arises the #reat power o the su%lime, that, ar rom

%ein# produced %y them, it anticipates our reasonin#s, and hurries us on %y an irresisti%le orce. 6stonishment, as I

have said, is the eect o the su%lime in its hi#hest de#ree& the inerior eects are admiration, reverence, and respect.

"' Terror

-@ passion so eectually ro%s the mind o all its powers o actin# and reasonin# as fear".For ear %ein# anapprehension o pain or death, it operates in a manner that resem%les actual pain. "hatever thereore is terri%le, with

re#ard to si#ht, is su%lime too, whether this cause o terror %e endued with #reatness o dimensions or not& or it is

impossi%le to loo! on anythin# as trilin#, or contempti%le, that may %e dan#erous. There are many animals, who

thou#h ar rom %ein# lar#e, are yet capa%le o raisin# ideas o the su%lime, %ecause they are considered as o%'ects

o terror. 6s serpents and poisonous animals o almost all !inds. 6nd to thin#s o #reat dimensions, i we anne( an

2*art I. sect. , 3, D.*art I?. sect. >.

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adventitious idea o terror, they %ecome without comparison #reater. 6 level plain o a vast e(tent on land, is

certainly no mean idea& the prospect o such a plain may %e as e(tensive as a prospect o the ocean$ %ut can it ever

ill the mind with anythin# so #reat as the ocean itsel This is owin# to several causes& %ut it is owin# to none more

than this, that the ocean is an o%'ect o no small terror. Indeed, terror is in all cases whatsoever, either more openly

or latently, the rulin# principle o the su%lime. Several lan#ua#es %ear a stron# testimony to the ainity o theseideas. They re)uently use the same word, to si#niy indierently the modes o astonishment or admiration, and

those o terror. 01ree! is in 1ree!, either ear or wonder& 01ree! is terri%le or respecta%le& 01ree!, to reverence orto ear. #ereorin


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communication& and so ar is a clearness o ima#ery rom %ein# a%solutely necessary to an inluence upon the

passions, that they may %e considera%ly operated upon, without presentin# any ima#e at all, %y certain sounds

adapted to that purpose& o which we have a suicient proo in the ac!nowled#ed and powerul eects o

instrumental music. In reality, a #reat clearness helps %ut little towards aectin# the passions, as it is in some sort an

enemy to all enthusiasms whatsoever.

9' The Same Sub:ect 7ontinued

THERE are two verses in HoraceGs 6rt o *oetry, that seem to contradict this opinion& or which reason I shall

ta!e a little more pains in clearin# it up. The verses are,

egnius irritant animos demissa per aures,

uam u/ sunt oculis sub(ecta fidelibus.

@n this the 6%% du Bos ounds a criticism, wherein he #ives paintin# the preerence to poetry in the article o

movin# the passions& principally on account o the #reater clearnesso the ideas it represents. I %elieve this e(cellent

'ud#e was led into this mista!e :i it %e a mista!e; %y his system& to which he ound it more conorma%le than I

ima#ine it will %e ound %y e(perience. I !now several who admire and love paintin#, and yet who re#ard the o%'ects

o their admiration in that art with coolness enou#h in comparison o that warmth with which they are animated %y

aectin# pieces o poetry or rhetoric. 6mon# the common sort o people, I never could perceive that paintin# had

much inluence on their passions. It is true, that the %est sorts o paintin#, as well as the %est sorts o poetry, are notmuch understood in that sphere. But it is most certain, that their passions are very stron#ly roused %y a anatic

preacher, or %y the %allads o ChevyAchase, or the Children in the "ood, and %y other little popular poems and talesthat are current in that ran! o lie. I do not !now o any paintin#s, %ad or #ood, that produce the same eect. So that

poetry, with all its o%scurity, has a more #eneral, as well as a more powerul, dominion over the passions, than the

other art. 6nd I thin! there are reasons in nature, why the o%scure idea, when properly conveyed, should %e more

aectin# than the clear. It is our i#norance o thin#s that causes all our admiration, and chiely e(cites our passions.

Jnowled#e and ac)uaintance ma!e the most stri!in# causes aect %ut little. It is thus with the vul#ar& and all men

are as the vul#ar in what they do not understand. The ideas o eternity and ininity are amon# the most aectin# we

have& and yet perhaps there is nothin# o which we really understand so little, as o ininity and eternity. "e do not

anywhere meet a more su%lime description than this 'ustly cele%rated one o +ilton, wherein he #ives the portrait oSatan with a di#nity so suita%le to the su%'ect$

&0e above the rest In shape and gesture proudly eminenttood like a tower; his form had yet not lost

+ll her original brightness, nor appeared

1ess than archangel ruined, and th2 excess

)f glory obscured3 as when the sun new risen

1ooks through the hori%ontal misty airhorn of his beams; or from behind the moon

In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds

)n half the nations; and with fear of change

Perplexes monarchs.&

Here is a very no%le picture& and in what does this poetical picture consist In ima#es o a tower, an archan#el,

the sun risin# throu#h mists, or in an eclipse, the ruin o monarchs, and the revolutions o !in#doms. The mind is

hurried out o itsel, %y a crowd o #reat and conused ima#es& which aect %ecause they are crowded and conused.For, separate them, and you lose much o the #reatness& and 'oin them, and you inalli%ly lose the clearness. The

ima#es raised %y poetry are always o this o%scure !ind& thou#h in #eneral the eects o poetry are %y no means to%e attri%uted to the ima#es it raises& which point we shall e(amine more at lar#e hereater. But paintin#, when we

have allowed or the pleasure o imitation, can only aect simply %y the ima#es it presents& and even in paintin#, a

'udicious o%scurity in some thin#s contri%utes to the eect o the picture& %ecause the ima#es in paintin# are e(actly

similar to those in nature& and in nature, dar!, conused, uncertain ima#es have a #reater power on the ancy to orm

*art ?.

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the #rander passions, than those have which are more clear and determinate. But where and when this o%servation

may %e applied to practice, and how ar it shall %e e(tended, will %e %etter deduced rom the nature o the su%'ect,

and rom the occasion, than rom any rules that can %e #iven. 4I am sensi%le that this idea has met with opposition,

and is li!ely still to %e re'ected %y several. But let it %e considered, that hardly anythin# can stri!e the mind with its

#reatness, which does not ma!e some sort o approach towards ininity& which nothin# can do whilst we are a%le toperceive its %ounds& %ut to see an o%'ect distinctly, and to perceive its %ounds, is one and the same thin#. 6 clear

idea is thereore another name or a little idea. There is a passa#e in the %oo! o 7o% ama8in#ly su%lime, and thissu%limity is principally due to the terri%le uncertainty o the thin# descri%ed$ In thoughts from the visions of the

night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

'hen a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up. It stood still, %ut I could not discern the orm

thereo$ an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice,&hall mortal man be more (ust

than 5od6"e are irst prepared with the utmost solemnity or the vision& we are irst terriied, %eore we are let

even into the o%scure cause o our emotion& %ut when this #rand cause o terror ma!es it appearance, what is it Is itnot wrapt up in the shades o its own incomprehensi%le dar!ness, more awul, more stri!in#, more terri%le, than the

liveliest description, than the clearest paintin#, could possi%ly represent it "hen painters have attempted to #ive us

clear representations o these very anciul and terri%le ideas, they have, I thin!, almost always ailed& insomuch that

I have %een at a loss, in all the pictures I have seen o hell, to determine whether the painter did not intend somethin#

ludicrous. Several painters have handled a su%'ect o this !ind, with a view o assem%lin# as many horrid phantoms

as their ima#ination could su##est& %ut all the desi#ns I have chanced to meet o the temptation o St. 6nthony were

rather a sort o odd, wild #rotes)ues, than anythin# capa%le o producin# a serious passion. In all these su%'ects

poetry is very happy. Its apparitions, its chimeras, its harpies, its alle#orical i#ures, are #rand and aectin#& andthou#h ?ir#ilGs Fame and HomerGs iscord are o%scure, they are ma#niicent i#ures. These i#ures in paintin#

would %e clear enou#h, %ut I ear they mi#ht %ecome ridiculous.

9' Po,er

BESIES those thin#s which directlysu##est the idea o dan#er, and those which produce a similar eect

rom a mechanical cause, I !now o nothin# su%lime, which is not some modiication o power. 6nd this %ranch

rises, as naturally as the other two %ranches, rom terror, the common stoc! o everythin# that is su%lime. The idea

o power, at irst view, seems o the class o those indierent ones, which may e)ually %elon# to pain or to pleasure.

But in reality, the aection, arisin# rom the idea o vast power, is e(tremely remote rom that neutral character. Forirst, we must remem%er>, that the idea o pain, in its hi#hest de#ree, is much stron#er than the hi#hest de#ree o

pleasure& and that it preserves the same superiority throu#h all the su%ordinate #radations. From hence it is, that

where the chances or e)ual de#rees o suerin# or en'oyment are in any sort e)ual, the idea o the suerin# mustalways %e prevalent. 6nd indeed the ideas o pain, and, a%ove all, o death, are so very aectin#, that whilst we

remain in the presence o whatever is supposed to have the power o inlictin# either, it is impossi%le to %e perectly

ree rom terror. 6#ain, we !now %y e(perience, that, or the en'oyment o pleasure, no #reat eorts o power are at

all necessary& nay, we !now, that such eorts would #o a #reat way towards destroyin# our satisaction$ or pleasure

must %e stolen, and not orced upon us& pleasure ollows the will& and thereore we are #enerally aected with it %ymany thin#s o a orce #reatly inerior to our own. But pain is always inlicted %y a power in some way superior,

%ecause we never su%mit to pain willin#ly. So that stren#th, violence, pain, and terror, are ideas that rush in upon the

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road, the drat& in every social, useul li#ht, the horse has nothin# su%lime$ %ut is it thus that we are aected with

him, whose neck is clothed with thunder, the glory of whose nostrils is terrible, who swalloweth the ground with

fierceness and rage, neither believeth that it is the sound of the trumpet6In this description, the useul character o

the horse entirely disappears, and the terri%le and su%lime %la8e out to#ether. "e have continually a%out us animals

o a stren#th that is considera%le, %ut not pernicious. 6mon#st these we never loo! or the su%lime& it comes upon usin the #loomy orest, and in the howlin# wilderness, in the orm o the lion, the ti#er, the panther, or rhinoceros.

"henever stren#th is only useul, and employed or our %eneit or our pleasure, then it is never su%lime$ or nothin#can act a#reea%ly to us, that does not act in conormity to our will& %ut to act a#reea%ly to our will, it must %e su%'ect

to us, and thereore can never %e the cause o a #rand and commandin# conception. The description o the wild ass,

in 7o%, is wor!ed up into no small su%limity, merely %y insistin# on his reedom, and his settin# man!ind at

deiance& otherwise the description o such an animal could have had nothin# no%le in it. ho hath loosed:says he;

the bands of the wild ass6 whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. 0e scorneth

the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the voice of the driver. 'he range of the mountains is his pasture. Thema#niicent description o the unicorn and o leviathan, in the same %oo!, is ull o the same hei#htenin#

circumstances$ ill the unicorn be willing to serve thee6 canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow6

wilt thou trust him because his strength is great6&7anst thou draw out leviathan with an hook6&will he make a

covenant with thee6 wilt thou take him for a servant for ever6 shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him6 In

short, wheresoever we ind stren#th, and in what li#ht soever we loo! upon power we shall all alon# o%serve the

su%lime the concomitant o terror, and contempt the attendant on a stren#th that is su%servient and inno(ious. The

race o do#s, in many o their !inds, have #enerally a competent de#ree o stren#th and switness& and they e(ert

these and other valua%le )ualities which they possess, #reatly to our convenience and pleasure. o#s are indeed themost social, aectionate, and amia%le animals o the whole %rute creation& %ut love approaches much nearer to

contempt than is commonly ima#ined& and accordin#ly, thou#h we caress do#s, we %orrow rom them an appellationo the most despica%le !ind, when we employ terms o reproach& and this appellation is the common mar! o the last

vileness and contempt in every lan#ua#e. "olves have not more stren#th than several species o do#s& %ut, on

account o their unmana#ea%le ierceness, the idea o a wol is not despica%le& it is not e(cluded rom #rand

descriptions and similitudes. Thus we are aected %y stren#th, which is naturalpower. The power which arises rom

institution in !in#s and commanders, has the same conne(ion with terror. Soverei#ns are re)uently addressed with

the title o dread ma(esty.6nd it may %e o%served, that youn# persons, little ac)uainted with the world, and who

have not %een used to approach men in power, are commonly struc! with an awe which ta!es away the ree use o

their aculties. hen I prepared my seat in the street,:says 7o%,; the young men saw me, and hid themselves.Indeed,so natural is this timidity with re#ard to power, and so stron#ly does it inhere in our constitution, that very ew are

a%le to con)uer it, %ut %y mi(in# much in the %usiness o the #reat world, or %y usin# no small violence to their

natural dispositions. I !now some people are o opinion, that no awe, no de#ree o terror, accompanies the idea opower& and have ha8arded to airm, that we can contemplate the idea o 1od himsel without any such emotion. I

purposely avoided, when I irst considered this su%'ect, to introduce the idea o that #reat and tremendous Bein#, as

an e(ample in an ar#ument so li#ht as this& thou#h it re)uently occurred to me, not as an o%'ection to, %ut as a

stron# conirmation o, my notions in this matter. I hope, in what I am #oin# to say, I shall avoid presumption,

where it is almost impossi%le or any mortal to spea! with strict propriety. I say then that whilst we consider the1odhead merely as he is an o%'ect o the understandin#, which orms a comple( idea o power, wisdom, 'ustice,

#oodness, all stretched to a de#ree ar e(ceedin# the %ounds o our comprehension, whilst we consider the ivinity

in this reined and a%stracted li#ht, the ima#ination and passions are little or nothin# aected. But %ecause we are

%ound, %y the condition o our nature, to ascend to these pure and intellectual ideas, throu#h the medium o sensi%le

ima#es, and to 'ud#e o these divine )ualities %y their evident acts and e(ertions, it %ecomes e(tremely hard to

disentan#le our idea o the cause rom the eect %y which we are led to !now it. Thus when we contemplate the

eity, his attri%utes and their operation, comin# united on the mind, orm a sort o sensi%le ima#e, and as such are

capa%le o aectin# the ima#ination. -ow, thou#h in a 'ust idea o the eity perhaps none o his attri%utes arepredominant, yet, to our ima#ination, his power is %y ar the most stri!in#. Some relection, some comparin#, is

necessary to satisy us o his wisdom, his 'ustice, and his #oodness. To %e struc! with his power, it is only necessarythat we should open our eyes. But whilst we contemplate so vast an o%'ect, under the arm, as it were, o almi#hty

power, and invested upon every side with omnipresence, we shrin! into the minuteness o our own nature, and are,

in a manner, annihilated %eore him. 6nd thou#h a consideration o his other attri%utes may relieve, in some

measure, our apprehensions& yet no conviction o the 'ustice with which it is e(ercised, nor the mercy with which it

is tempered, can wholly remove the terror that naturally arises rom a orce which nothin# can withstand. I we

re'oice, we re'oice with trem%lin#$ and even whilst we are receivin# %eneits, we cannot %ut shudder at a power

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which can coner %eneits o such mi#hty importance. "hen the prophet avid contemplated the wonders o

wisdom and power which are displayed in the economy o man, he seems to %e struc! with a sort o divine horror,

and cries out,*earfully and wonderfully am I made8 6n heathen poet has a sentiment o a similar nature& Horace

loo!s upon it as the last eort o philosophical ortitude, to %ehold without terror and ama8ement, this immense and

#lorious a%ric o the universe$

0unc solem, et stellas, et decedentia certis'empora momentis, sunt ui formidine nulla

Imbuti spectent.


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Pandere res alta terra etcali#ine mersas.

Ibanto%scuri, solasubnocte,perum%ram,

Perue domos Ditisvacuas, etinania regna.

Ke su%terraneous #ods, whose awul swayThe #lidin# #hosts andsilentshades o%ey&

@ Chaos hoar9 and *hle#ethon proound9"hose solemn empire stretches wide around&

1ive me, ye #reat, tremendous powers, to tell

@ scenes and wonders in the depth o hell$

1ive me your mi#hty secrets to display

From those blackrealms o dar!ness to the day.*ITT.

)bscurethey went throu#h drearyshadesthat led

6lon# the wastedominions o the dead.RKE-.

!' ;astness

1RE6T-ESS4o dimension is a powerul cause o the su%lime. This is too evident, and the o%servation too

common, to need any illustration$ it is not so common to consider in what ways #reatness o dimension, vastness o

e(tent or )uantity, has the most stri!in# eect. For certainly, there are ways and modes, wherein the same )uantityo e(tension shall produce #reater eects than it is ound to do in others. E(tension is either in len#th, hei#ht, or

depth. @ these the len#th stri!es least& an hundred yards o even #round will never wor! such an eect as a toweran hundred yards hi#h, or a roc! or mountain o that altitude. I am apt to ima#ine li!ewise, that hei#ht is less #rand

than depth& and that we are more struc! at loo!in# down rom a precipice, than loo!in# up at an o%'ect o e)ual

hei#ht& %ut o that I am not very positive. 6 perpendicular has more orce in ormin# the su%lime, than an inclined

plane& and the eects o a ru##ed and %ro!en surace seem stron#er than where it is smooth and polished. It would

carry us out o our way to enter in this place into the cause o these appearances& %ut certain it is they aord a lar#e

and ruitul ield o speculation. However, it may not %e amiss to add to these remar!s upon ma#nitude, that, as the

#reat e(treme o dimension is su%lime, so the last e(treme o littleness is in some measure su%lime li!ewise$ when

we attend to the ininite divisi%ility o matter, when we pursue animal lie into these e(cessively small, and yetor#ani8ed %ein#s, that escape the nicest in)uisition o the sense& when we push our discoveries yet downward, and

consider those creatures so many de#rees yet smaller, and the still diminishin# scale o e(istence, in tracin# which

the ima#ination is lost as well as the sense& we %ecome ama8ed and conounded at the wonders o minuteness& norcan we distin#uish in its eects this e(treme o littleness rom the vast itsel. For division must %e ininite as well as

addition& %ecause the idea o a perect unity can no more %e arrived at, than that o a complete whole, to which

nothin# may %e added.

4' Infinity

6-@THER source o the su%lime is infinity;i it does not rather %elon# to the last. Ininity has a tendency to

ill the mind with that sort o deli#htul horror, which is the most #enuine eect and truest test o the su%lime. There

are scarce any thin#s which can %ecome the o%'ects o our senses, that are really and in their own nature ininite. But

the eye not %ein# a%le to perceive the %ounds o many thin#s, they seem to %e ininite, and they produce the same

eects as i they were really so. "e are deceived in the li!e manner, i the parts o some lar#e o%'ect are so

continued to any indeinite num%er, that the ima#ination meets no chec! which may hinder its e(tendin# them at

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len#th almost incredi%le/5.*lace a num%er o uniorm and e)uiAdistant mar!s on this pole, they will cause the same

deception, and seem multiplied without end. The senses, stron#ly aected in some one manner, cannot )uic!ly

chan#e their tenor, or adapt themselves to other thin#s& %ut they continue in their old channel until the stren#th o the

irst mover decays. This is the reason o an appearance very re)uent in madmen& that they remain whole days and

ni#hts, sometimes whole years, in the constant repetition o some remar!, some complaint, or son#& which havin#struc! powerully on their disordered ima#ination in the %e#innin# o their phrensy, every repetition reinorces it

with new stren#th& and the hurry o their spirits, unrestrained %y the cur% o reason, continues it to the end o theirlives.

$' Succession And


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the spectators, and eect the no%lest desi#ns %y easy methods. esi#ns that are vast only %y their dimensions, are

always the si#n o a common and low ima#ination. -o wor! o art can %e #reat, %ut as it deceives& to %e otherwise is

the prero#ative o nature only. 6 #ood eye will i( the medium %etwi(t an e(cessive len#th or hei#ht, :or the same

o%'ection lies a#ainst %oth,; and a short or %ro!en )uantity& and perhaps it mi#ht %e ascertained to a tolera%le de#ree

o e(actness, i it was my purpose to descend ar into the particulars o any art.

' Infinity In Pleasing Ob:ects

I-FI-ITK, thou#h o another !ind, causes much o our pleasure in a#reea%le, as well as o our deli#ht in

su%lime, ima#es. The sprin# is the pleasantest o the seasons& and the youn# o most animals, thou#h ar rom %ein#

completely ashioned, aord a more a#reea%le sensation than the ullA#rown& %ecause the ima#ination is entertained

with the promise o somethin# more, and does not ac)uiesce in the present o%'ect o the sense. In uninished

s!etches o drawin#, I have oten seen somethin# which pleased me %eyond the %est inishin#& and this I %elieveproceeds rom the cause I have 'ust now assi#ned.

"' +ifficulty

6-@THER/2 source o #reatness is Difficulty."hen any wor! seems to have re)uired immense orce and

la%or to eect it, the idea is #rand. Stonehen#e, neither or disposition nor ornament, has anythin# admira%le& %ut

those hu#e rude masses o stone, set on end, and piled each on other, turn the mind on the immense orce necessary

or such a wor!. -ay, the rudeness o the wor! increases this cause o #randeur, as it e(cludes the idea o art andcontrivance& or de(terity produces another sort o eect, which is dierent enou#h rom this.

*' =agnificence

>agnificenceis li!ewise a source o the su%lime. 6 #reat prousion o thin#s, which are splendid or valua%le in

themselves, is magnificent.The starry heaven, thou#h it occurs so very re)uently to our view, never ails to e(cite

an idea o #randeur. This cannot %e owin# to the stars themselves, separately considered. The num%er is certainly the

cause. The apparent disorder au#ments the #randeur, or the appearance o care is hi#hly contrary to our idea o

ma#niicence. Besides, the stars lie in such apparent conusion, as ma!es it impossi%le on ordinary occasions torec!on them. This #ives them the advanta#e o a sort o ininity. In wor!s o art, this !ind o #randeur, which

consists in multitude, is to %e very courteously admitted& %ecause a prousion o e(cellent thin#s is not to %e attained,

or with too much diiculty& and %ecause in many cases this splendid conusion would destroy all use, which should%e attended to in most o the wor!s o art with the #reatest care& %esides, it is to %e considered, that unless you can

produce an appearance o ininity %y your disorder, you will have disorder only without ma#niicence. There are,

however, a sort o irewor!s, and some other thin#s, that in this way succeed well, and are truly #rand. There are

also many descriptions in the poets and orators, which owe their su%limity to a richness and prousion o ima#es, in

which the mind is so da88led as to ma!e it impossi%le to attend to that e(act coherence and a#reement o theallusions, which we should re)uire on every other occasion. I do not now remem%er a more stri!in# e(ample o this,

than the description which is #iven o the !in#Gs army in the play o Henry the Fourth$

&+ll furnished, all in arms,

+ll plumed like ostriches that with the wind

?aited like eagles having lately bathed3

+s full of spirit as the month of >ay,

+nd gorgeous as the sun in >idsummer,anton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.

I saw young 0arry with his beaver on@ise from the ground like feathered

>ercury; +nd vaulted with such ease into his seat,

+s if an angel dropp2d down from the clouds

'o turn and wind a fiery Pegasus.

/2*art I?. sect. 3>.

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In that e(cellent %oo!, so remar!a%le or the vivacity o its descriptions as well as the solidity and penetration

o its sentences, the "isdom o the Son o Sirach, there is a no%le pane#yric on the hi#h priest Simon the son o

@nias& and it is a very ine e(ample o the point %eore us$

0ow was he honoured in the midst of the people, in his coming out of the sanctuary8 0e was as the morning

star in the midst of a cloud, and as the moon at the full; as the sun shining upon the temple of the >ost 0igh, and asthe rainbow giving light in the bright clouds3 and as the flower of roses in the spring of the year, as lilies by the

rivers of waters, and as the frankincense tree in summer; as fire and incense in the censer, and as a vessel of gold

set with precious stones; as a fair olive tree budding forth fruit, and as a cypress which groweth up to the clouds.

hen he put on the robe of honour, and was clothed with the perfection of glory, when he went up to the holy altar,

he made the garment of holiness honourable. 0e himself stood by the hearth of the altar, compassed with his

brethren round about; as a young cedar in 1ibanus, and as palm trees compassed they him about. o were all thesons of +aron in their glory, and the oblations of the 1ord in their hands, Ac.

.' >ight

H6?I-1 considered e(tension, so ar as it is capa%le o raisin# ideas o #reatness& colourcomes ne(t under

consideration. 6ll colours depend on light.ight In Building

6S the mana#ement o li#ht is a matter o importance in architecture, it is worth in)uirin#, how ar this remar!

is applica%le to %uildin#. I thin! then, that all ediices calculated to produce an idea o the su%lime, ou#ht rather to

%e dar! and #loomy, and this or two reasons& the irst is, that dar!ness itsel on other occasions is !nown %y

e(perience to have a #reater eect on the passions than li#ht. The second is, that to ma!e an o%'ect very stri!in#, we

should ma!e it as dierent as possi%le rom the o%'ects with which we have %een immediately conversant& when

thereore you enter a %uildin#, you cannot pass into a #reater li#ht than you had in the open air& to #o into one some

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ew de#rees less luminous, can ma!e only a trilin# chan#e& %ut to ma!e the transition thorou#hly stri!in#, you

ou#ht to pass rom the #reatest li#ht, to as much dar!ness as is consistent with the uses o architecture. 6 ni#ht the

contrary rule will hold, %ut or the very same reason& and the more hi#hly a room is then illuminated, the #rander

will the passion %e.

/' 7olour 7onsidered As Producti)e Of The Sublime

6+@-1 colours, such as are sot or cheerul :e(cept perhaps a stron# red which is cheerul; are unit to

produce #rand ima#es. 6n immense mountain covered with a shinin# #reen tur, is nothin#, in this respect, to one

dar! and #loomy& the cloudy s!y is more #rand than the %lue& and ni#ht more su%lime and solemn than day.

Thereore in historical paintin#, a #ay or #audy drapery can never have a happy eect$ and in %uildin#s, when the

hi#hest de#ree o the su%lime is intended, the materials and ornaments ou#ht neither to %e white, nor #reen, nor

yellow, nor %lue, nor a pale red, nor violet, nor spotted, %ut o sad and uscous colours, as %lac!, or %rown, or deeppurple, and the li!e. +uch o #ildin#, mosaics, paintin#, or statues, contri%ute %ut little to the su%lime. This rule

need not %e put in practice, e(cept where an uniorm de#ree o the most stri!in# su%limity is to %e produced, and

that in every particular& or it ou#ht to %e o%served, that this melancholy !ind o #reatness, thou#h it %e certainly the

hi#hest, ou#ht not to %e studied in all sorts o ediices, where yet #randeur must %e studied$ in such cases the

su%limity must %e drawn rom the other sources& with a strict caution however a#ainst anythin# li#ht and riant& as

nothin# so eectually deadens the whole taste o the su%lime.

!' Sound And >oudness

THE EKE is not the only or#an o sensation %y which a su%lime passion may %e produced. Sounds have a #reatpower in these as in most other passions. I do not mean words, %ecause words do not aect simply %y their sounds,

%ut %y means alto#ether dierent. E(cessive loudness alone is suicient to overpower the soul, to suspend its action,

and to ill it with terror. The noise o vast cataracts, ra#in# storms, thunder, or artillery, awa!es a #reat and awul

sensation in the mind, thou#h we can o%serve no nicety or artiice in those sorts o music. The shoutin# o

multitudes has a similar eect& and, %y the sole stren#th o the sound, so ama8es and conounds the ima#ination,

that, in this sta##erin# and hurry o the mind, the %estAesta%lished tempers can scarcely or%ear %ein# %orne down,

and 'oinin# in the common cry, and common resolution o the crowd.

4' Suddenness

6 S=E- %e#innin# or sudden cessation o sound o any considera%le orce, has the name power. Theattention is roused %y this& and the aculties driven orward, as it were, on their #uard. "hatever, either in si#hts or

sounds, ma!es the transition rom one e(treme to the other easy, causes no terror, and conse)uently can %e no cause

o #reatness. In everythin# sudden and une(pected, we are apt to start& that is, we have a perception o dan#er, and

our nature rouses us to #uard a#ainst it. It may %e o%served that a sin#le sound o some stren#th, thou#h %ut o short

duration, i repeated ater intervals, has a #rand eect. Few thin#s are more awul than the stri!in# o a #reat cloc!,when the silence o the ni#ht prevents the attention rom %ein# too much dissipated. The same may %e said o a

sin#le stro!e on a drum, repeated with pauses& and o the successive irin# o cannon at a distance. 6ll the eects

mentioned in this section have causes very nearly ali!e.

$' Intermitting

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uale per incertam lunam sub luce maligna

st iter in sylvis.&

6 aint shadow o uncertain li#ht,


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I have added these e(amples, %ecause some riends, or whose 'ud#ment I have #reat deerence, were o

opinion that i the sentiment stood na!edly %y itsel, it would %e su%'ect, at irst view, to %urles)ue and ridicule& %ut

this I ima#ine would principally arise rom considerin# the %itterness and stench in company with mean and

contempti%le ideas, with which it must %e owned they are oten united& such an union de#rades the su%lime in all

other instances as well as in those. But it is one o the tests %y which the su%limity o an ima#e is to %e tried, notwhether it %ecomes mean when associated with mean ideas& %ut whether, when united with ima#es o an allowed

#randeur, the whole composition is supported with di#nity. Thin#s which are terri%le are always #reat& %ut whenthin#s possess disa#reea%le )ualities, or such as have indeed some de#ree o dan#er, %ut o a dan#er easily

overcome, they are merely odious;as toads and spiders.

""' 6eeling' Pain'

@Ffeeling,little more can %e said than that the idea o %odily pain, in all the modes and de#rees o la%our,pain, an#uish, torment, is productive o the su%lime,& and nothin# else in this sense can produce it. I need not #ive

here any resh instances, as those #iven in the ormer sections a%undantly illustrate a remar! that, in reality, wants

only an attention to nature, to %e made %y every%ody.


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the will is unconcerned& the appearance o %eauty as eectually causes some de#ree o love in us, as the application

o ice or ire produces the ideas o heat or cold. To #ain somethin# li!e a satisactory conclusion in this point, it

were well to e(amine, what proportion is& since several who ma!e use o that word do not always seem to

understand very clearly the orce o the term, nor to have very distinct ideas concernin# the thin# itsel. *roportion is

the measure o relative )uantity. Since all )uantity is divisi%le, it is evident that every distinct part, into which any)uantity is divided, must %ear some relation to the other parts, or to the whole. These relations #ive an ori#in to the

idea o proportion. They are discovered %y mensuration, and they are the o%'ects o mathematical in)uiry. Butwhether any part o any determinate )uantity %e a ourth, or a ith, or a si(th, or a moiety o the whole& or whether it

%e o e)ual len#th with any other part, or dou%le its len#th, or %ut one hal, is a matter merely indierent to the

mind& it stands neuter in the )uestion& and it is rom this a%solute indierence and tran)uillity o the mind, that

mathematical speculations derive some o their most considera%le advanta#es& %ecause there is nothin# to interest

the ima#ination& %ecause the 'ud#ment sits ree and un%iassed to e(amine the point. 6ll proportions, every

arran#ement o )uantity, is ali!e to the understandin#, %ecause the same truths result to it rom all& rom #reater,rom lesser, rom e)uality and ine)uality. But surely %eauty is no idea %elon#in# to mensuration& nor has it anythin#

to do with calculation and #eometry. I it had, we mi#ht then point out some certain measures which we could

demonstrate to %e %eautiul, either as simply considered, or as relatin# to others& and we could call in those natural

o%'ects, or whose %eauty we have no voucher %ut the sense, to this happy standard, and conirm the voice o our

passions %y the determination o our reason. But since we have not this help, let us see whether proportion can in

any sense %e considered as the cause o %eauty, as hath %een so #enerally, and %y some so conidently, airmed. I

proportion %e one o the constituents o %eauty, it must derive that power either rom some natural properties

inherent in certain measures, which operate mechanically& rom the operation o custom& or rom the itness whichsome measures have to answer some particular ends o conveniency. @ur %usiness thereore is to in)uire, whether

the parts o those o%'ects, which are ound %eautiul in the ve#eta%le or animal !in#doms, are constantly so ormedaccordin# to such certain measures, as may serve to satisy us that their %eauty results rom those measures, on the

principle o a natural mechanical cause& or rom custom& or, in ine, rom their itness or any determinate purposes.

I intend to e(amine this point under each o these heads in their order. But %eore I proceed urther, I hope it will not

%e thou#ht amiss, i I lay down the rules which #overned me in this in)uiry, and which have misled me in it, i I

have #one astray. /. I two %odies produce the same or a similar eect on the mind, and on e(amination they are

ound to a#ree in some o their properties, and to dier in others& the common eect is to %e attri%uted to the

properties in which they a#ree, and not to those in which they dier. 2. -ot to account or the eect o a natural

o%'ect rom the eect o an artiicial o%'ect. . -ot to account or the eect o any natural o%'ect rom a conclusiono our reason concernin# its uses, i a natural cause may %e assi#ned. 3. -ot to admit any determinate )uantity, or

any relation o )uantity, as the cause o a certain eect, i the eect is produced %y dierent or opposite measures

and relations& or i these measures and relations may e(ist, and yet the eect may not %e produced. These are therules which I have chiely ollowed, whilst I e(amined into the power o proportion considered as a natural cause&

and these, i he thin!s them 'ust, I re)uest the reader to carry with him throu#hout the ollowin# discussion& whilst

we in)uire in the irst place, in what thin#s we ind this )uality o %eauty& ne(t, to see whether in these we can ind

any assi#na%le proportions, in such a manner as ou#ht to convince us that our idea o %eauty results rom them. "e

shall consider this pleasin# power, as it appears in ve#eta%les, in the inerior animals, and in man. Turnin# our eyesto the ve#eta%le creation, we ind nothin# there so %eautiul as lowers& %ut lowers are almost o every sort o shape,

and o every sort o disposition& they are turned and ashioned into an ininite variety o orms& and rom these orms

%otanists have #iven them their names, which are almost as various. "hat proportion do we discover %etween the

stal!s and the leaves o lowers, or %etween the leaves and the pistils How does the slender stal! o the rose a#ree

with the %ul!y head under which it %ends But the rose is a %eautiul lower& and can we underta!e to say that it does

not owe a #reat deal o its %eauty even to that disproportion$ the rose is a lar#e lower, yet it #rows upon a small

shru%& the lower o the apple is very small, and #rows upon a lar#e tree& yet the rose and the apple %lossom are %oth

%eautiul, and the plants that %ear them are most en#a#in#ly attired, notwithstandin# this disproportion. "hat %y#eneral consent is allowed to %e a more %eautiul o%'ect than an oran#eAtree, lourishin# at once with its leaves, its

%lossoms, and its ruit %ut it is in vain that we search here or any proportion %etween the hei#ht, the %readth, oranythin# else concernin# the dimensions o the whole, or concernin# the relation o the particular parts to each

other. I #rant that we may o%serve, in many lowers, somethin# o a re#ular i#ure, and o a methodical disposition

o the leaves. The rose has such a i#ure and such a disposition o its petals& %ut in an o%li)ue view, when this i#ure

is in a #ood measure lost, and the order o the leaves conounded, it yet retains its %eauty& the rose is even more

%eautiul %eore it is ull %lown& in the %ud, %eore this e(act i#ure is ormed& and this is not the only instance

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wherein method and e(actness, the soul o proportion, are ound rather pre'udicial than servicea%le to the cause o

%eauty.

*' Proportion ot The 7ause Of Beauty In Animals

TH6T proportion has %ut a small share in the ormation o %eauty, is ull as evident amon# animals. Here the

#reatest variety o shapes and dispositions o parts are well itted to e(cite this idea. The swan, conessedly a%eautiul %ird, has a nec! lon#er than the rest o his %ody, and %ut a very short tail$ is this a %eautiul proportion "e

must allow that it is. But then what shall we say to the peacoc!, who has comparatively %ut a short nec!, with a tail

lon#er than the nec! and the rest o the %ody ta!en to#ether How many %irds are there that vary ininitely rom each

o these standards, and rom every other which you can i(& with proportions dierent, and oten directly opposite to

each other9 and yet many o these %irds are e(tremely %eautiul& when upon considerin# them we ind nothin# in any

one part that mi#ht determine us, a priori,to say what the others ou#ht to %e, nor indeed to #uess anythin# a%outthem, %ut what e(perience mi#ht show to %e ull o disappointment and mista!e. 6nd with re#ard to the colours

either o %irds or lowers, or there is somethin# similar in the colourin# o %oth, whether they are considered in their

e(tension or #radation, there is nothin# o proportion to %e o%served. Some are o %ut one sin#le colour, others have

all the colours o the rain%ow& some are o the primary colours, others are o the mi(t& in short, an attentive o%server

may soon conclude, that there is as little o proportion in the colourin# as in the shapes o these o%'ects. Turn ne(t to

%easts& e(amine the head o a %eautiul horse& ind what proportion that %ears to his %ody, and to his lim%s, and what

relations these have to each other& and when you have settled these proportions as a standard o %eauty, then ta!e a

do# or cat, or any other animal, and e(amine how ar the same proportions %etween their heads and their nec!s,%etween those and the %ody, and so on, are ound to hold. I thin! we may saely say, that they dier in every

species, yet that there are individuals, ound in a #reat many species so dierin#, that have a very stri!in# %eauty.-ow, i it %e allowed that very dierent and even contrary orms and dispositions are consistent with %eauty, it

amounts I %elieve to a concession, that no certain measures, operatin# rom a natural principle, are necessary to

produce it& at least so ar as the %rute species is concerned.

.' Proportion ot The 7ause Of Beauty In ?uman Species

THERE are some parts o the human %ody that are o%served to hold certain proportions to each other& %ut

%eore it can %e proved that the eicient cause o %eauty lies in these, it must %e shown, that wherever these areound e(act& the person to whom they %elon# is %eautiul$ I mean in the eect produced on the view, either o any

mem%er distinctly considered, or o the whole %ody to#ether. It must %e li!ewise shown, that these parts stand in

such a relation to each other, that the comparison %etween them may %e easily made, and that the aection o themind may naturally result rom it. For my part, I have at several times very careully e(amined many o those

proportions, and ound them hold very nearly or alto#ether ali!e in many su%'ects, which were not only very

dierent rom one another, %ut where one has %een very %eautiul, and the other very remote rom %eauty. "ith

re#ard to the parts which are ound so proportioned, they are oten so remote rom each other, in situation, nature,

and oice, that I cannot see how they admit o any comparison, nor conse)uently how any eect owin# toproportion can result rom them. The nec!, say they, in %eautiul %odies, should measure with the cal o the le#& it

should li!ewise %e twice the circumerence o the wrist. 6nd an ininity o o%servations o this !ind are to %e ound

in the writin#s and conversations o many. But what relation has the cal o the le# to the nec!& or either o these

parts to the wrist These proportions are certainly to %e ound in handsome %odies. They are as certainly in u#ly

ones& as any who will ta!e the pains to try may ind. -ay, I do not !now %ut they may %e least perect in some o the

most %eautiul. Kou may assi#n any proportion you please to every part o the human %ody& and I underta!e that a

painter shall reli#iously o%serve them all, and notwithstandin# produce, i he pleases, a very u#ly i#ure. The same

painter shall considera%ly deviate rom these proportions, and produce a very %eautiul one. 6nd indeed it may %eo%served in the masterApieces o the ancient and modern statuary, that several o them dier very widely rom the

proportions o others, in parts very conspicuous and o #reat consideration& and that they dier no less rom theproportions we ind in livin# men, o orms e(tremely stri!in# and a#reea%le. 6nd ater all, how are the partisans o

proportional %eauty a#reed amon#st themselves a%out the proportions o the human %ody Some hold it to %e seven

heads& some ma!e it ei#ht& whilst others e(tend it even to ten& a vast dierence in such a small num%er o divisions9

@thers ta!e other methods o estimatin# the proportions, and all with e)ual success. But are these proportions

e(actly the same in all handsome men or are they at all the proportions ound in %eautiul women -o%ody will say

that they are& yet %oth se(es are undou%tedly capa%le o %eauty, and the emale o the #reatest& which advanta#e I

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%elieve will hardly %e attri%uted to the superior e(actness o proportion in the air se(.


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o%elis!s& they ormed their hed#es into so many #reen walls, and ashioned their wal!s into s)uares, trian#les, and

other mathematical i#ures, with e(actness and symmetry& and they thou#ht, i they were not imitatin#, they were at

least improvin# nature, and teachin# her to !now her %usiness. But nature has at last escaped rom their discipline

and their etters& and our #ardens, i nothin# else, declare we %e#in to eel that mathematical ideas are not the true

measures o %eauty. 6nd surely they are ull as little so in the animal as the ve#eta%le world. For is it note(traordinary, that in these ine descriptive pieces, these innumera%le odes and ele#ies, which are in the mouths o

all the world, and many o which have %een the entertainment o a#es, that in these pieces which descri%e love withsuch a passionate ener#y, and represent its o%'ect in such an ininite variety o li#hts, not one word is said o

proportion, i it %e, what some insist it is, the principal component o %eauty& whilst, at the same time, several other

)ualities are very re)uently and warmly mentioned But i proportion has not this power, it may appear odd how

men came ori#inally to %e so preApossessed in its avour. It arose, I ima#ine, rom the ondness I have 'ust

mentioned, which men %ear so remar!a%ly to their own wor!s and notions& it arose rom alse reasonin#s on the

eects o the customary i#ure o animals& it arose rom the *latonic theory o itness and aptitude. For whichreason, in the ne(t section, I shall consider the eects o custom in the i#ure o animals& and aterwards the idea o

itness$ since, i proportion does not operate %y a natural power attendin# some measures, it must %e either %y

custom, or the idea o utility& there is no other way.

9' Proportion 6urther 7onsidered

IF I am not mista!en, a #reat deal o the pre'udice in avour o proportion has arisen, not so much rom the

o%servation o any certain measures ound in %eautiul %odies, as rom a wron# idea o the relation which deormity%ears to %eauty, to which it has %een considered as the opposite& on this principle it was concluded, that where the

causes o deormity were removed, %eauty must naturally and necessarily %e introduced. This I %elieve is a mista!e.For deformityis opposed not to %eauty, %ut to the complete common form.I one o the le#s o a man %e ound

shorter than the other, the man is deormed& %ecause there is somethin# wantin# to complete the whole idea we orm

o a man& and this has the same eect in natural aults, as maimin# and mutilation produce rom accidents. So i the

%ac! %e humped, the man is deormed& %ecause his %ac! has an unusual i#ure, and what carries with it the idea o

some disease or misortune. So i a manGs nec! %e considera%ly lon#er or shorter than usual, we say he is deormed

in that part, %ecause men are not commonly made in that manner. But surely every hourGs e(perience may convince

us, that a man may have his le#s o an e)ual len#th, and resem%lin# each other in all respects, and his nec! o a 'ust

si8e, and his %ac! )uite strai#ht, without havin# at the same time the least perceiva%le %eauty. Indeed %eauty is so arrom %elon#in# to the idea o custom, that in reality what aects us in that manner is e(tremely rare and uncommon.

The %eautiul stri!es us as much %y its novelty as the deormed itsel. It is thus in those species o animals with

which we are ac)uainted& and i one o a new species were represented, we should %y no means wait until customhad settled an idea o proportion, %eore we decided concernin# its %eauty or u#liness$ which shows that the #eneral

idea o %eauty can %e no more owin# to customary than to natural proportion. eormity arises rom the want o the

common proportions& %ut the necessary result o their e(istence in any o%'ect is not %eauty. I we suppose proportion

in natural thin#s to %e relative to custom and use, the nature o use and custom will show, that %eauty, which is a

positive and powerul )uality, cannot result rom it. "e are so wonderully ormed, that, whilst we are creaturesvehemently desirous o novelty, we are as stron#ly attached to ha%it and custom. But it is the nature o thin#s which

hold us %y custom, to aect us very little whilst we are in possession o them, %ut stron#ly when they are a%sent. I

remem%er to have re)uented a certain place every day or a lon# time to#ether& and I may truly say, that so ar rom

indin# pleasure in it, I was aected with a sort o weariness and dis#ust& I came, I went, I returned, without

pleasure& yet i %y any means I passed %y the usual time o my #oin# thither, I was remar!a%ly uneasy, and was not

)uiet till I had #ot into my old trac!. They who use snu, ta!e it almost without %ein# sensi%le that they ta!e it, and

the acute sense o smell is deadened, so as to eel hardly anythin# rom so sharp a stimulus& yet deprive the snuA

ta!er o his %o(, and he is the most uneasy mortal in the world. Indeed so ar are use and ha%it rom %ein# causes opleasure, merely as such, that the eect o constant use is to ma!e all thin#s o whatever !ind entirely unaectin#.

For as use at last ta!es o the painul eect o many thin#s, it reduces the pleasura%le eect in others in the samemanner, and %rin#s %oth to a sort o mediocrity and indierence. ?ery 'ustly is use called a second nature& and our

natural and common state is one o a%solute indierence, e)ually prepared or pain or pleasure. But when we are

thrown out o this state, or deprived o anythin# re)uisite to maintain us in it& when this chance does not happen %y

pleasure rom some mechanical cause, we are always hurt. It is so with the second nature, custom, in all thin#s

which relate to it. Thus the want o the usual proportions in men and other animals is sure to dis#ust, thou#h their

presence is %y no means any cause o real pleasure. It is true, that the proportions laid down as causes o %eauty in

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the human %ody, are re)uently ound in %eautiul ones, %ecause they are #enerally ound in all man!ind& %ut i it

can %e shown too, that they are ound without %eauty, and that %eauty re)uently e(ists without them, and that this

%eauty, where it e(ists, always can %e assi#ned to other less e)uivocal causes, it will naturally lead us to conclude,

that proportion and %eauty are not ideas o the same nature. The true oppos

edmund burke - a philosophical inquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and the beautiful

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