arelineswhichhavedonemuchmischief。Asregardsthegreatertruths，menoftenererrbyseekingthematthebottomthanatthetop；Truthliesinthehugeabysseswherewisdomissought-notinthepalpablepalaceswheresheisfound。Theancientswerenotalwaysrightinhiding-thegoddessinawell；witnessthelightwhichBaconhasthrownuponphilosophy；witnesstheprinciplesofourdivinefaith-thatmoralmechanismbywhichthesimplicityofachildmayoverbalancethewisdomofaman。

　　“WeseeaninstanceofColeridge’sliabilitytoerr，inhis’BiographiaLiteraria’professedlyhisliterarylifeandopinions，but，infact，atreatise_deomniscibilietquibusdamaliis。_Hegoeswrongbyreasonofhisveryprofundity，andofhiserrorwehaveanaturaltypeinthecontemplationofastar。Hewhoregardsitdirectlyandintenselysees，itistrue，thestar，butitisthestarwithoutaray-whilehewhosurveysitlessinquisitivelyisconsciousofallforwhichthestarisusefultousbelow-itsbrilliancyanditsbeauty。

　　“AstoWordsworth，Ihavenofaithinhim。ThathehadinyouththefeelingsofapoetIbelieve-forthereareglimpsesofextremedelicacyinhiswritings-anddelicacyisthepoet’sownkingdom-his_ElDorado-butthey_havetheappearanceofabetterdayrecollected；andglimpses，atbest，arelittleevidenceofpresentpoeticfire；weknowthatafewstragglingflowersspringupdailyinthecrevicesoftheglacier。

　　“Hewastoblameinwearingawayhisyouthincontemplationwiththeendofpoetizinginhismanhood。Withtheincreaseofhisjudgmentthelightwhichshouldmakeitapparenthasfadedaway。Hisjudgmentconsequentlyistoocorrect。Thismaynotbeunderstood-buttheoldGothsofGermanywouldhaveunderstoodit，whousedtodebatemattersofimportancetotheirStatetwice，oncewhendrunk，andoncewhensober-soberthattheymightnotbedeficientinformalitydrunklesttheyshouldbedestituteofvigor。

　　“Thelongwordydiscussionsbywhichhetriestoreasonusintoadmirationofhispoetry，speakverylittleinhisfavor：theyarefullofsuchassertionsasthisIhaveopenedoneofhisvolumesatrandom-“Ofgeniustheonlyproofistheactofdoingwellwhatisworthytobedone，andwhatwasneverdonebefore；’-indeed？thenitfollowsthatindoingwhatisunworthytobedone，orwhat_has_beendonebefore，nogeniuscanbeevinced；yetthepickingofpocketsisanunworthyact，pocketshavebeenpickedtimeimmemorial，andBarrington，thepickpocket，inpointofgenius，wouldhavethoughthardofacomparisonwithWilliamWordsworth，thepoet。

......

购买会员看全站小说，或者下载APP免费观看所有作品 点击立即下载，搜索"The Works of Edgar Allan Poe",免费读到尾