200 to 203. Nature and office of poetry. A profound and beautiful definition of poetry and of the poetical mind.
203: 1. (a) Iliad. (c) Choëphoræ. (a) Epic of the Fall of Troy by Homer. (b) A tragedy by Æschylus, so named from the chorus that bear offerings to the tomb of Agamemnon.
203: 26. (a) Empedocles. (b) Oppian. (a) A Sicilian; haughty, passionate; proclaimed himself a god; plunged into the crater of Mt. Etna. (b) A Greek poet of Cilicia; lived in the second century.
208: 15. The Divine vengeance. Does not the same criticism apply to Milton's Satan, a majestic spirit, punished beyond his due, and therefore worthy our admiration and pity? Compare Dante and Milton in their conception of Lucifer.
210: 17. Eloquence mistaken for poetry. A finely distinguished truth, which explains why much rhetoric, even declamation, passes in our day for poetry.
215: 16. Conditions of the poetical mind. Mark the line drawn between the sources of true poetry and the actual practices of the poet. Compare with the theory of Wordsworth, to find likenesses on this point.
THE INFINITUDE OF THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES
Introductory Note. This and other typical addresses
are comprised in Discourses to Mixed Congregations.
The unerring taste of Newman employs the grave, dignified style suited to the subject-matter, which, however, never loses the simplicity and charm we expect in him.
218: 28. The elements. Earth, air, fire, and water were believed primal elements by the ancients.
220: 27. This season. Lent, which commemorates the Sacred Passion of Christ.