MatthewArnold, inanaddressonEmersondeliveredinBoston, , perhaps, willthinkthatArnoldwasunappreciativeandcold, butdispassionatereaderswillbeinclinedtoagreewithhisjudgmentofourgreatAmerican.
AfterareviewofthepoeticalworksofEmersontheEnglishcriticdrawshisconclusionsasfollows:
“, andsaythatIdonotplacehimamongthegreatwriters, ? TheyaremenlikeCicero, Plato, Bacon, Pascal, Swift, Voltaire—writerswith, inthefirstplace, ageniusandinstinctforstyle....Brilliantandpowerfulpassagesinaman’; hehaspassagesofshrewdandfelicitouswit; hehascrispepigram; ....Carlyleformulatesperfectlythedefectsofhisfriend’spoeticandliteraryproductionswhenhesays: ‘Formeitistooethereal, speculative, theoretic; Iwillhaveallthingscondensethemselves, takeshapeandbody, iftheyaretohavemysympathy.’...
“....NotwiththeMiltonsandGrays, notwiththePlatosandSpinozas, notwiththeSwiftsandVoltaires, notwiththeMontaignesandAddisons, .‘Alas, myfriend,’ hewritesinreplytoCarlyle, whohadexhortedhimtocreativework,—’Alas, myfriend, , butonlytoalowdepartmentofliterature,—thereporters; suburbanmen.’ Hedeprecatedhisfriend’spraise; praise ‘generoustoafault’ hecallsit; praise ‘generoustotheshamingofme,—cold, fastidious, ebbingpersonthatIam.’”
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