Philosophical Review
Poetry and Philosophy
Author(s): Ralph Barton Perry
Source: The Philosophical Review, Vol. 11, No. 6 (Nov., 1902), pp. 576-591
Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical Review
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POETRY
AND
PHILOSOPHY.
PHILOSOPHY,
as the ultimatecriticismof all human interests, may be approached by avenues as various as these
interests. Moreover,only when philosophyis discoveredas the
implicationof a commonand well-recognizedhuman interest,is
the significanceof its functionproperlyappreciated. For the
sake of such an understandingof philosophy,those who find
eitherinspirationor entertainment
in poetryare invitedto consider certainof the relationsbetweenpoetryand philosophy.
We must at the very outsetdecline to accept unqualifiedly
the
poet's opinionin the matter,forhe would not thinkit presumptuous to incorporatephilosophy in poetry. " No man," said
Coleridge, " was ever yet a greatpoet withoutbeing at the same
timea greatphilosopher." This would seem to mean thata great
poet is a greatphilosopher,and moretoo. We shall do betterto
begin with the prosaic and matterof fact minimumof truth:
some poetryis philosophical. This will enable us to search for
the portionof philosophythat is in some poetry,withoutfinally
definingtheir respectiveboundaries. It may be that all true
poetryis philosophical,as it may be that all truephilosophyis
poetical; but it is much more certainthat much actual poetryis
farfromphilosophical,and that most actual philosophywas not
conceived or writtenby a poet. The mere poet and the mere
philosopher must be tolerated,if it is only for the purpose of
shedding light upon the philosopher-poetand the poet-philosopher. And it is to the philosopher-poetthatwe turn,in the
hope that under the genial spell of poetrywe may be brought
with understanding
to the more forbiddingland of philosophy.
Poetryis well characterized,though not defined,as an interpretation of life. The term 'life' here signifiesthe human
purposiveconsciousness,and active pursuitof ends. An interpretationof lifeis, then,a selectionand account of such values in
humanexperienceas are actuallysoughtor are worththe seeking.
For the poet all thingsare good or bad, and neveronly matters
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POETTRY AND PHILOSOP
OY
577
of fact. He is neitheran annalist nor a statistician,and is even
an observeronlyforthe sake of a higherdesign. He is one who
appreciates,and expresses his appreciationso fittinglythat it
becomes a kind of truth,and a permanentlycommunicableobject. That "unbodied joy," the skylark's song and flight,is
throughthe genius of Shelley so faithfully
embodied,that it may
enteras a definite
joy into the lives of countless human beings.
The sensuous or suggestive values of nature are caught by the
poet's quick feelingforbeauty,and fixedby his creativeactivity.
Or with his ready sympathyhe may perceive the value of some
human ideal or masteringpassion, and make it a realityforour
commonfeeling. Where the poet has to do with the base and
hateful,his attitudeis still appreciative. The evil is apprehended
as part of a dramaticwhole, having positive moral or esthetic
value. Moral ideas may appear in both poetryand life,as the
inspirationand justificationof struggle. Where thereis no conceptionof its moral significance,the repulsive possesses forthe
poet's consciousness the aestheticvalue of diversityand contrast.
Even wherethe evil and ugly is isolated,as in certainof Browning's dramaticmonologues,it forms,both forthe poet and the
reader,but a part of some larger perceptionof lifeor character,
which is sublimeor beautifulor good. Poetry involves,then,
the discovery and presentationof human experiences that are
satisfyingand appealing. It is a language forhuman pleasures
and ideals. Poetryis withoutdoubt a great deal more than this,
and only aftera careful analysis of its peculiar language could
one distinguishit from kindredarts; but it will sufficeforour
purposes to characterizeand not differentiate.Starting from
this most general truthrespectingpoetry,we may now look for
that aspect of it wherebyit may be a witnessof philosophical
truth.
For the answerto our question,we must turnto an examination of the intellectualelementsof poetry. In the firstplace, the
common demand that the poet shall be accurate in his representationsis suggestiveof an indispensableintellectualfactorin his
genius. As we have seen, he is not to reproducenature,but the
human appreciativeexperienceof nature. Nevertheless,he must
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578
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[VOL. XI.
even here be true to his object. His art involves his abilityto
express genuinelyand sincerelywhat he himselfexperiencesin
the presenceof nature,or what he can catch of the innerlives of
others, by virtue of his intelligentsympathy. No amount of
emotionor even of imaginationwill profita poet, unless he can
rendera true account of them. To be sure, he need not define,
or even explain; forit is his functionto transferthe immediate
qualities of experience: he must be able to speak the truth,and,
in orderto speak it, he must have known it. But in all this we
have made no demand that the poet should see more than one
thing at a time. Sincerityof expression does not requirewhat
is distinctlyanother mode of intelligence,comprehensiveness
of
insight. It is easier,and accordingly more usual, to renderan
account of the momentsand casual unitsof experience,than of
its totality. There are poets, littleand great,who possess the
intellectualvirtueof sincerity,withoutthe intellectualpower of
synthesisand reconciliation. This distinctionwill enable us to
separatethe intelligenceexhibitedin all poetry,fromthat distinctive formof intelligenceexhibited in such poetryas is properly
to be called philosophical.
In his Poetryanzd Religion,ProfessorSantayana defineswhat
he calls the " Poetry of Barbarism." "The barbarian," he
says, " is the man who regardshis passions as theirown excuse
forbeing; who does not domesticatethem eitherby understandtheircause or by conceivingtheirideal goal." 1 One will readto Walt Whitman.
ily appreciatethe applicationof this definition
What littleunitythereis in thispoet's world,is the composition
of a purelysensuous experience,
"The earthexpendingrighthand and lefthand,
The picturealive, everypartin itsbest light,
The musicfallingin whereitis wanted,and stoppingwhereit is not wanted."
In manypassages Whitmanmanifestsa marvelousabilityto discover and communicatea freshgladness about the commonest
experiences. We cannot but rejoice withhim in all sightsand
sounds. But though we cannot deny him truth,his truthis
honestyand not understanding. The experiencesin which he
1 Poetryand Religion,p. I76.
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No. 6.]
POE TR Y AND PHIL OSOPH Y.
579
discoversso much worth,are randomand capricious,and do not
constitutea universe. To the solution of ultimatequestions he
contributesa sense of mystery,and the conviction
"That youare here- thatlifeexistsand identity,
a verse."
play goes on, and you maycontribute
That thepowerful
His world,as Santayanajustly describesit, " is a phantasmagoria
of continuous visions,vivid, impressive,but monotonous and
hard to distinguishin memory,likes the waves of the sea or the
decorationsof some barbarous temple,sublimeonly by the infiniteaggregationof parts."'
As is Walt Whitman, so are many poets greater and less.
Some who have seen the world-viewexhibitthe same particularism in their lyric moods; although,generally speaking,a poet
who once has comprehendedthe world,will see the parts of it
in the lightof that wisdom. But Walt Whitmanis peculiarly
of the poetrythat can be true,withoutbeing wise
representative
in the mannerthat we shall come shortlyto understandas the
mannerof philosophy. He is as desultoryin his poet raptures
as is the common man when he lives in his immediateexperiences. The truthwon by each is the clear vision of one thing,
or of a limitedcollection of things,and not the broad inclusive
vision of all things.
The transitionfromWhitman to Shakespearemay seem somewhat abrupt,but the very differencesbetween these poets serve
to mark out a certain interestingaffinity. Neither has put any
unitary construction upon human life and its environment.
Neither,as poet, is the witness of any world-view,or Weltanschauung,whichwill mean for us that neitheris a philosopherpoet. As respectsShakespeare, this is a hard saying. We are
accustomedto the criticaljudgmentthatfindsin theShakespearian
dramas an apprehension of the universal in human life. But
though thisjudgmentis true,it is by no means conclusiveas respectsShakespeare's relationto thephilosophicaltypeof thought.
There can be universalitywithout philosophy. Thus to know
the groups and the marks of the vertebratesis to know a truth
to the particuwhich possesses generality,in contradistinction
I op. cit., p. i80.
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580
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[VOL. XI.
larism of Whitman's poetic consciousness. Even so to know
well the groups and marks of human character,vertebrateand
invertebrate,
is to know that of which the average man, in his
hand to hand struggle with life,is ignorant. Such a wisdom
Shakespeare possessed to a unique degree,and it enabled him to
reconstructhuman life. He did not merely perceive human
states and motives,but he understood human nature so well
that he could create consistentmen and women. Moreover,
Shakespeare's knowledge was not only thus universal in being
a knowledge of general groups and laws, but also in respect
was as rich as it was acute.
of its extensity. His understanding
It is true,then,thatShakespeare read humanlifeas an open book,
knowing certainlythe manner of human thinkingand feeling,
and the power and interplayof human motives. But it is
equally true,on the other hand, that he possessed no unitary
conception of the meaning and larger relations of human life.
Such a conceptionmighthave been expressed eitherby means of
the outlook of some dominatingand persistenttype of personality, or by a pervading suggestion of some constant worldsettingfor the variableenterpriseof mankind. It could appear
only provided the poet's appreciationof lifein detail were deterofthemeaningof lifeas whole. Shakeminedbyan interpretation
speare apparentlypossessed no such interpretation. Even when
Hamlet is groping aftersome larger truththat may bear upon
the definiteproblems of life,he representsbut one, and thata
strangeand unusual type,of human nature. And Hamlet's reflections,it should be noted,have no outcome. There is no
Shakespeariananswerto the riddlesthatHamletpropounds. The
poet's genius is not less amazing for this fact; indeed, his pecucan onlybe comprehendedupon thisbasis. Shakeliar distinction
uponlife,and by virtueof thisveryrespeare put no construction
of unsurpassedfidelityand vividness.
an
art
serve, accomplished
The absence of philosophyin Shakespeare,and thepresenceofthe
most characteristic
qualityof his genius,may both be imputedby
that thereis no Shakespearianpointof view.
the one affirmation,
This truth signifiesboth gain and loss. The philosophical
criticismof life may vary fromthe ideal objectivityof absolute
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No. 6.]
POETRYANVD
PHZLOSOPRE
58I
truth,to the subjectivity
of a personal religion. Philosophyaims
to correctthe partialityof particularpoints of view by means of
a point of view that shall comprehendtheir relations,and effect
such reconciliationsor transformations
as shall enable themto
constitutea universe. Philosophyalways assumes the hypothetical view of omniscience. The necessityof such a finalcriticism
is implicitin every scientificitem of knowledge,and in every
judgment that is passed upon life. Philosophymakes a distinct
and peculiar contributionto human knowledge by its heroic
effortto measure all knowledges and all ideals by the standard
of totality. Nevertheless it is significantthat no human individual can possiblypossess the range of omniscience. The most
adequate knowledgeof which any generationof men is capable,
will always be thatwhich is conceivedby the most syntheticand
vigorouslymetaphysicalminds; but everyindividualphilosophy
will neverthelessbe a prematuresynthesis. The effort
to completeknowledgeis theindispensabletestofthe adequacy ofprevailing conceptions,but the completed knowledgeof any individual
mind will shortlybecome an historicalmonument. It will belong primarilyto the personal lifeof its creator,as the articulation of his personal covenant with the universe. There is a
sound justificationforsuch a conclusionof things in the case of
the individual,forthe conditionsof human lifemake it inevitable;
but it will always possess a feltunity,and many distinctfeatures,
that are privateand subjective.
Such a projectionof personality,withits coloringand its selection, Shakespeare has avoided; and, very largely as a consequence, his dramas are a storehouseof genuine human nature.
Ambition, mercy,hate, madness,guilelessness,conventionality,
mirth,bravery,deceit,purity-these, and all human states and
attributessave piety,are, upon his pages, as real, and as mysteriouswithal,as theyare in the great historicalsociety. For
an ordinaryreader,these states and attributesare more real in
Hamlet or Lear than in his own directexperience,because in
Hamlet and Lear he can see themwiththe eye and intelligence
of genius. But Shakespeare is the world all over again, and
thereis loss as well as gain in such realism. Here is human
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582
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[VOL.
Xl.
life,no doubt,and a brilliantpageantryit is; but human lifeas
variedand as problematicas it is in the living. Shakespeare's
fundamentalintellectualresourceis thehistoricaland psychological knowledgeof such principlesas governthe constructionof
human natures. The goods forwhich men undertake,and live
or die, are any goods, justifiedonly by the actual human striving for them. The virtues are the old winningvirtues of the
secular life,and the heroisms of the common conscience. Beyond its empiricalgenerality,his knowledgeis universalonly in
the sense that space and timeare universal. His consciousness
contains itsrepresentative
creations,and expresses themunspoiled
by any transforming
thought. His poetic consciousness is like
the verystage to which he likens all the world: men and women
meet there,and thingshappen there. The stage itselfcreatesno
unitysave the occasion and the place. Shakespeare's consciousness is universal because it is a fairfieldwithno favors. But
even so it is particular,because" though each may enter and depart in peace, when all enter together,there is anarchyand a
babel of voices. All Shakespeare is like all the world seen
throughthe eyes of each of its inhabitants. Human experience
in Shakespeare is human experienceas everyonefeelsit,as comprehensiveas the aggregateof innumerablelives. But human
experience in philosophyis the experienceof all as thoughtby
a syntheticmind. Hence the wealth of life depicted by Shakespeare serves only to point out the philosopher's problem,and
to challenge his powers. He will findhere material,but not results; much to philosophizeabout, but no philosophy.
Our discussion up to thispoint has attributedto poetryvery
definiteintellectualfactorsthat neverthelessdo not constitute
philosophy. Walt Whitman speaks his feelingwith truth,but
in general manifestsno comprehensiveinsight. Shakespeare has
not only sincerityof expression but an understandingmind.
He has a knowledge not only of particularexperiences,but of
human nature; and a consciousness full and varied like society
itself. But thereis a kind of knowledgepossessed by neither,
the knowledgesought by coordinatingall aspects of human experience,both particularand general. Not even Shakespeare is
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POETRY
AND PHILOSOPHY
583
interwise as one who, havingseen the whole, can fundamentally
pret a part. But though the philosopher-poetmay not yet be
found,we cannot longerbe ignorantof his nature. He will be,
like all poets, one who appreciates experiencesor finds things
good, and he will faithfullyreproduce the values which he discovers. But he mustjustifyhimselfin view of the fundamental
natureof the universe. The values which he apprehendsmust
be harmonious,and so far above the pluralityof goods as to
transcendand unifythem. The philosopher-poetwill find reabity as a whole to be somewhatthat accredits the order of values
in his innerlife. He will not onlyfindcertainthingsto be most
but he will see why
worthyobjects of action or contemplation,
they are worthy,because he will have construed the judgment
of the universein theirfavor.
In this general sense, Omar Khayyam is a philosopher-poet.
To be sure his universeis quite the opposite of that which most
poets conceive, and is perhaps profoundlyantagonisticto the
veryspiritof poetry; but it is none the less truethat the joys to
which Omar invites us are such as his universe prescribesfor
human life.
"Some fortheGloriesofthisWorld; and some
Sigh forthe Prophet'sParadiseto come;
Ah! take the Cash, and let the Creditgo,
Nor heed the rumbleof a distantDrum."
Herein is both poetryand philosophy,albeit but.a poor brand of
each. We are invited to occupy ourselves only with spiritual
cash, because the universeis spirituallyinsolvent. The immedifeelingsare the only feelingsthat the world can
ately gratifying
because his
guarantee. Omar Khayyam is a philosopher-poet,
immediatedelightin " youth's sweet-scentedmanuscript"is part
of a consciousness that vaguely sees, though it cannot grasp,
"this sorryscheme of thingsentire."
"Drink foryouknownotwhenceyoucome,norwhy;
Drinkforyouknownot whyyou go, nor where."
But the poet in his world view ordinarilysees other than
darkness. The same innate spiritual enterprisethat sustains
religiousfaithleads the poet more oftento findthe universepos-
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584
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[VOL. XI.
itively congenial to his ideals, and to ideals in general. He
of all
interpretshuman experiencein the lightof the spirituality
the world. It is to Wordsworththatwe of the presentage are
chieflyindebtedforsuch imagery,and it will profitus to consider
somewhatcarefullythe philosophicalquality of his poetry.
Walter Pater,in introducinghis appreciationof Wordsworth,
writesthat "an intimateconsciousnessof the expressionof natural things,which weighs,listens,penetrates,where the earlier
mindpassed roughlyby, is a large elementin the complexionof
modernpoetry." We recognizeat once the truthof this characterizationas applied to Wordsworth. 'But there is something
more distinctive
about thispoet's sensibilityeven thanits extreme
finenessand delicacy; a quality that is suggested, though not
made explicit,by Shelley's allusion to Wordsworth'sexperience
as " a sort of thoughtin sense." Nature possessed for him not
merelyenjoyable and describablecharactersof greatvarietyand
minuteness,but an immediatelyapprehendedunityand meaning.
It would be a great mistaketo construethis meaningin sense,as
analogous to the crude symbolismof the educatorFroebel, to
whom,as he said, "the world of crystalsproclaimed,in distinct
and univocal terms,the laws of human life." Wordsworthdid
not attach ideas to sense, but regardedsense itselfas a communication of truth. We readilycall to mind his unique capacityfor
apprehendingthe characteristicflavorof a certainplace in a certain moment of time,the individualityof a situation. Now in
such momentshe felt that he was receivingintelligences,none
the less directand significantfor their inarticulateform. Like
the boy on Windermere,whom he himselfdescribes,
" while he hung
Loitering,a gentleshockofmildsurprise
Has carriedfarintohis heartthevoice
Of mountaintorrents;or thevisiblescene
Would enterunawaresintohis mind,
Withall its solemnimagery,itsrocks,
Its woods,and thatuncertainheavenreceived
Into thebosomof the steadylake."
For our purpose it is essentialthatwe should recognizein this
appreciationof nature, expressed in almost every poem that
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POETRYJAND
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Wordsworthwrote,a consciousness respectingthe fundamental
natureof the world. Conversation,as we know, denotesan interchangeof commensurablemeanings. Whateverthe code may
be, whetherwords or the most subtle formof suggestion,communicationis impossiblewithoutcommunityof nature. Hence,
in believing himselfto be holding converse with the so-called
physical world,Wordsworthconceives that world as fundamentally like himself. He findsthe most profoundthingin all the
world to be the universalspirituallife. In naturethis lifemanifests itselfmost directly,clothed in its own proper dignityand
peace. But it may be discovered in the humanitythat is most
close to nature,in the avocations of plain and simple people, and
the unsophisticateddelightsof children; and, withtheperspective
even " among the multitudesof thathuge city."
of contemplation,
So Wordsworthis renderinga trueaccount of his own experience of reality,when,as in the Prelude,he says unequivocally:
"A graciousspirito'er thisearthpresides,
And in theheartofman; invisibly
delight,
It comesto worksofunreproved
those
And tendencybenign; directing
Who carenot,knownot,thinknot,whattheydo."
Wordsworthis not a philosopher-poetbecause by searchinghis
pages we can findan explicitphilosophicalcreed such as this,but
because all the joys of which his poet-soul compels him to sing
have theirpeculiarnote,and compose theirpeculiar harmony,by
virtueof such an indwellingconsciousness. Here is one who is
a philosopherin and through his poetry. He is a philosopher
in so faras the detail of his appreciationfindsfundamentaljustificationin a world view. From the immanence of "the universal heart,"there follows,not throughany mediatereasoning,
but by the immediateexperienceof its propriety,a conceptionof
that whichis of supremeworthin life. The highestand best of
or the consciousnessof the
which lifeis capable is contemplation,
universalindwellingof God. Of those who fail to live thus fittinglyin the midst of the divine life,Walter Pater speaks for
Wordsworthas follows: "To higheror lower ends, they move
too oftenwithsomethingof a sad countenance,withhurriedand
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586
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[VOL. XI.
ignoble gait, becoming,unconsciously,somethinglike thorns,in
theiranxietyto bear grapes; it being possible forpeople, in the
pursuitof even great ends, to become themselvesthinand impoverishedin spiritand temper,thus diminishingthe sum of perfectionin theworld,at itsverysources." 1 The quietand worshipful spirit,won by the cultivationof the emotionsappropriateto
the presenceof natureand society,is the mark of the completest
lifeand the most acceptable service. Thus forWordsworththe
meaningof lifeis inseparablefromthe meaningof the universe.
In apprehendingthat which is good and beautifulin human experience,he was attended by a vision of the totalityof things.
Herein he has had to do, if not withthe form,any rate withthe
very substanceof philosophy.
Unquestionablythe supremephilosopher-poetis Dante. He
is not only philosophical in the temper of his mind, but his
greatest poem is the incarnationof a definitesystemof philosophy, the most definitethat the world has seen. That conception of the world which in the thirteenthcenturyfound arguof
mentativeand orderly expression in the Summa Theologiw,
Thomas of Aquino, and constitutedthe faithof the church,is
of
visualized by Dante, and made the basis of an interpretation
life.
The Divina Commedia deals with all the heavens to the
Empyrean itself,and withall spirituallife to the verypresence
of God. It derives its imageryfromthe cosmology of the day,
its dramaticmotivefromthe Christianand Greek conceptionsof
God and his dealingswith the world. Sin is punished because
of the justice of God; knowledge,virtue,and faithlead, through
God's grace and mercymanifestedin Christ,to a perpetualunion
with Him. Hell, Purgatory,and Paradise give place and setting
to the events of the drama. But the deeper meaning of the
poem is allegorical. In a letterquoted by Lowell, Dante writes:
" The literal subject of the whole work is the state of the soul
afterdeathsimplyconsidered. But ifthework be takenallegorically,the subject is man,as by meritor demerit,throughfreedom
of the will,he rendershimselfliable to the rewardor punishment
p. 59.
1Appreciations,
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POETRY
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587
ofjustice."
In otherwords,the innerand essentialmeaningof
the poem has to do not withexternalretribution,
but withcharacter,and the laws whichdetermineitsown properruinor perfection. The punishments
describedintheInfernoare accountsofthe
stateof guiltitself,implicationsofthe will thathas chosenthe part
of brutishness. Sin itselfis damnable and deadening,but the
knowledgethat the soul that sinnethshall die, is the firstway
of emancipationfromsin. The guidance of Virgil throughhell
and purgatorysignifiesthe knowledgeof good and evil,or moral
insight,as the guide of man through this life of struggle and
progress. The earthlyparadise,at the close of the Purgatorio,
representsthe higheststate to which human charactercan attain
when choice is determinedby ordinaryexperience,intelligence,
and understanding. Here man stands alone, endowed withan
enlightenedconscience. Here are utteredthelast wordsofVirgil
to Dante, theexplorerofthe spiritualcountry: " Expect no more
or word or sign fromme. Free, upright,and sane is thineown
freewill,and it would be wrongnot to act accordingto its pleasure; wherefore
thee over thyselfI crownand mitre."2 But moral
self-relianceis not the last word. As Beatrice, the image of
tendernessand holiness,comes to Dante in the earthlyparadise,
and leads him fromthe summitof purgatoryinto the heaven of
heavens,and even to the eternal light; so thereis added to the
mere human,intellectualand moral resources of the soul, the
sustainingpower of the divine grace, the illuminatingpower of
divinetruth,and the transforming
powerofdivinelove. Through
the aid ofthishigherwisdom,the journeyof lifebecomes the way
to God. Thus the allegorical truthof the Divina Commediais
not merelyan analysis of the moral natureof man,but the revelationofan universalspiritualorder,manifesting
itselfin the moral
evolution of the individual,and above all in his ultimatecommunitywith the eternal goodness. "Thou shouldst not, if I
deem aright,wondermore at thyascent,than at a streamiffrom
a high mountainit descends to the base. A marvel it would be
in thee, if,deprivedof hindrance,thou hadst sat below, even as
1 Letterto Can Grande. See Lowell's Essay on Dante, p. 34.
2
Purgettorio,
Cantoxxvii., Norton'stranslation.
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[VOL. XI.
quiet by living fire in earth would be." 1 Such, in brief,is
Dante's weltanschauung,
so suggestiveof the freeridealisticconceptionsof laterthought as to justifyProfessorEdward Caird's
of him,as one who, "accepting withouta shadow
characterization
of a doubt or hesitationall the constitutiveideas of medieval
thought and life,grasped them so firmlyand gave them such
luminous expressionthat the spiritin thembroke away fromthe
2
form."
But it mustbe added, as in the case of Wordsworth,thatDante
is a philosopher-poet,not because St. Thomas Aquinas appears
and speaks with authorityin the ThirteenthCanto of the Paradiso, nor even because a philosophical doctrinecan consistently
be formulatedfromhis writings,but because his consciousnessof
lifeis informedwitha sense of its universalbearings. There is a
famouspassage in the Twenty-secondCanto of the Paradiso, in
which Dante describeshimselfas looking down upon the earth
fromthe starryheaven. " ' Thou art so near the ultimatesalvation,'began Beatrice,' thatthou oughtestto have thineeyes clear
enterestit,look back
and sharp. And thereforeerethou further
downward,and see how great a world I have alreadyset beneath
thyfeet,in orderthatthy heart,so faras it is able, may present
itselfjoyous to the triumphantcrowd which comes glad through
this round ether.' With my sight I returnedthrougheach and
all the seven spheres,and saw this globe such that I smiled at
its mean semblance; and that counsel I approve as the best
whichholds it of least account; and he who thinksof otherthings
may be called trulyworthy." Dante's scale of values is that
which appears fromthe starryheaven. His austere piety,his
hatredof wrong,are
invinciblecourage, and his uncompromising
neitheraccidents of temperamentnor blind reactions,but compose the propercharacterof one who has both seen the world
fromGod, and returnedto see God fromthe world. He was, as
Lowell has said, "a man of genius who could hold heartbreakat
bay for twentyyears,and would not let himselfdie till he had
done his task "; and his power was not obstinacy,but a visionof
1 Paradiso, Cantoi.
2 Caird: Literatureand Philosophy,
Vol. I., p. 24.
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No. 6.]
POETRY
AND PHILOSOPHY.
589
the ways of God. He knew a truth thatjustified him in his
sacrifices,and made a great glory of his defeatand exile. Even
so his poetryor appreciationof lifeis the expressionofan inward
contemplationof the world in its unityor essence. It is but an
elaborationof the pietywhich he attributesto the lesser saints of
Paradise, when he has themsay: " Nay, it is essential to this
blessed existenceto hold ourselveswithinthe divinewill,whereby
our very wills are made one. So that as we are fromstage
to stage throughoutthis realm,to all the realm is pleasing, as
to the King who inwills us with His will. And His will is
our peace; it is that sea whereuntois movingall that which It
creates and which naturemakes." 1
There now remains the brief task of differentiating
the phifrom
The
the philosopherhimself.
losopher-poet
philosopherpoet is one who, having made the philosophicalpoint of view his
own, expresses himselfin theformof poetry. The philosophical
point of view is that fromwhich the universeis comprehended
in its totality. The wisdomof the philosopheris the knowledge
of each throughthe knowledgeof all. Wherein,then,does the
fromthe philosopher
poet, when possessed of such wisdom,differ
proper? To this question one can give readily enough the
lies in the mode of utterance.
generalanswer,thatthe difference
Furthermore,we have alreadygiven some accountof the peculiar
mannerof the poet. He invitesus to experience with him the
beautifuland moving in natureand life. That which the poet
has to express, and that which he aimsto arouse in others,is an
appreciativeexperience. He requires what Wordsworthcalls
"an atmosphereof sensation in which to move his wings."
Therefore if he is to be philosophical in intelligence,and yet
essentiallya poet, he must find his universaltruthin immediate
experience. He must be one who, in seeing the many,sees the
one. The philosopher-poetis he who visualizesa fundamental
of the world. "A poem," says one poet, " is the
interpretation
very image of lifeexpressed in its eternaltruth."
The philosopherproper,on the otherhand,has the sternerand
less invitingtask of renderingsuch an interpretation
articulateto
1Paradise, Cantoiii.
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590
THE PHILOSOPHICAL
REVIEW.
[VOL. XI.
thought. That whichthepoet sees, thephilosophermust define.
That which the poet divines,the philosopher must calculate.
The philosophermust dig for that which the poet sees shining
through. As thepoet transcendsthoughtforthe sake of experience, the philosophermust transcendexperience forthe sake of
thought. As the poet sees all, and all in each, so the philosopher, knowing each, must think all consistentlytogether,and
then know each again. It is the part of philosophyto collect
and criticiseevidence,to formulateand coordinateconceptions,
and finallyto define in exact terms. The reanimationof the
structureof thoughtis accomplishedprimarilyin religion,which
is a general conceptionof the world made thebasis of dailyliving.
For religionthereis no subjectivecorrelativeless than lifeitself.
Poetry is another and more circumscribedmeans of restoring
thoughtto life. By the poet's imagination,and throughthe art
of his expression,thought may be sensuouslyperceived. " If
the time should ever come," says Wordsworth,"when what is
now called Science, thus familiarizedto men, shall be ready to
put on, as it were,a formof fleshand blood, the Poet will lend
and will welcome the
his divine spiritto aid the transfiguration,
Being thus produced,as a dear and genuineinmateof the household of man." 1 As respectstruth,philosophyhas an indubitable
priority. The verysternnessof the philosopher'stask is due to
his supremededication to truth. But if validitybe the meritof
philosophy,it can well be supplementedby immediacy,which is
the meritof poetry. Presupposein thepoet convictionof a sound
philosophy,and we may say withShelley of his handiwork,that
" it is theperfectand consummatesurfaceand bloom of all things;
it is as the odour and the colour of the rose to the textureof the
elementswhichcompose it,as theformand splendourof unfaded
beauty to the secrets of anatomyand corruption." " Indeed,"
as he adds, "what were our consolationson this side of the grave
-and our aspirationsbeyond it,ifpoetrydid not ascend to bring
light and firefromthose eternalregionswhere the owl-winged
facultyof calculationdare not ever soar ?" 2
' Observations
prefixedto the Second Editionof Lyrical Ballads.
2A DefenseofPoetry.
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No. 6.]
POETRY
ANDJ PZILOSOPHY.
591
The unityin outlook, attended by differences
of method and
form,which may exist betweenpoet and philosopher,is signally
illustratedby the relation betweenGoethe and Spinoza. What
Goethe saw and felt,Spinoza proved and defined. The universal
and eternalsubstancewas to Spinoza, as philosopher,a theorem,
and to Goethe, as poet, a perceptionand an emotion. Goethe
writes to Jacobi that when philosophy " lays itself out for
division,"he cannot get on with it,but when it " confirmsour
original feelingas though we were one with nature,"it is welcome to him. In the same letter,quoted by ProfessorCaird,
Goethe expresses his appreciationof Spinoza as the complement
of his own nature: " His all-reconcilingpeace contrastedwith
my all-agitatingendeavor; his intellectualmethodwas the opposite counterpartof my poetic way of feelingand expressingmyself; and even the inflexibleregularityof his logical procedure,
which might be considered ill-adapted to moral subjects,made
me his most passionatescholar and his devoted adherent. Mind
and heart,understanding
and sense, were drawntogetherwithan
inevitableelectiveaffinity,
and this at the same timeproduced an
intimateunionbetweenindividualsof the most different
types."'
It appears,then,that some poets share with all philosophers
thatpointof view fromwhichthe horizon-lineis the boundaryof
all the world. Poetryis not always or essentiallyphilosophical,
but may be so; and when the poetic imaginationrestoresphilosophy to immediacy,human experiencereaches its most exalted
state,exceptingonly religionitself,whereinGod is both seen and
also served. Nor is the part of philosophyin poetryand religion eitherignoble or presumptuous,for,humanlyspeaking," the
owl-winged faculty of calculation" is the only safe and sure
means of access to thatplace on high,
"Where thenightingale
dothsing
Not a senseless,trancedthing,
But a divinemelodioustruth;
Philosophicnumberssmooth;
Tales and goldenhistories
Of heavenand its mysteries."
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY.
RALPH BARTON PERRY.
1 Caird: Literatureand Philosophy,
Vol. I, p. 6o.
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