SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS.
MACAULAY’S ESSAY ON MILTON.
(Riverside Literature Series, No. 103.)
Put into a syllogism, Macaulay’s opponents said, “An educated man living in an enlightened age has better facilities for writing poetry than an uneducated man at the dawn of civilization. Milton was an educated man, living in an enlightened age; therefore Macaulay had better facilities,” etc.
Which premise does Macaulay attack? Does he demolish it?
What value is there in an analogy between experimental sciences and imitative arts? Between poetry and a magic-lantern? Is either an argument that is convincing? Are both effective in the essay?
What do you think of Macaulay’s estimate of Wordsworth? Granting that this estimate is true, what kind of a proof is it of the proposition that “his very talents will be a hindrance to him”?
Is it a uniform phenomenon that as civilization advances, poetry declines? Name some instances that prove it.
Name some instances that disprove it. What method of proof have you used in both?
Is an uncivilized state of society the cause of good poetry, or only an attendant circumstance?