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II.—A Plea for the Study of Literature from the æsthetic Standpoint

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

John P. Fruit*
Affiliation:
Bethel College

Extract

That teacher of literature who has not comprehended the significance of a work of Art, has never been endued with the spirit and power of his high calling. He stands unwittingly in the place of an apostle of “that external quality of bodies which may be shown to be in some sort typical of the Divine attributes.”

“Those qualities, or types,” according to Ruskin, “on whose combination is dependent the power of mere material loveliness” are:

“Infinity, or the type of Divine Incomprehensibility; Unity, or the type of the Divine Comprehensibility; Repose, or the type of the Divine Permanence; Symmetry, or the type of the Divine Justice; Purity, or the type of the Divine Energy; Moderation, or the type of Government by Law.”

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1891

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