
What sculpture is to a block of marble education is to the soul.
It must be so—Plato, thou reason’st well! – Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, This longing after immortality? Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror, Of falling into naught ? Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at destruction ‘Tis the divinity that stirs within us; ‘Tis heaven itself, that points out an hereafter, And intimates eternity to man. Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought !
There is sometimes a greater judgement shewn in deviating from the rules of art, than in adhering to them; and…there is more beauty in the works of a great genius who is ignorant of all the rules of art, than in the works of a little genius, who not only knows but scrupulously observes them.
Birth: | 1st May, 1672 |
Death: | 17th June, 1719 |
Nationality: | British |
Profession: | Essayist, Poet, Politician, Playwriter |
Share with your friends