When I wish to exhibit
those pictures which constitute poetry, I consult the appropriate cabinet,
and I take my choice of those various substances which can best call up the
image I wish to present to my reader. For example: suppose I wish to speak
of any object that is white, or analogous to white, I open the drawer that
is thus labelled, and I see silver, lime, chalk, and white enamel, ivory,
paper, snow-drops, and alabaster, and select whichever of these substances
will best suit the measure and the rhyme, and has the most soft-sounding
name. If the colour be yellow, then there are substances of all shades of
this hue, from saffron and pickled salmon to brimstone and straw. I have
sixty-two red substances, twenty-seven green ones, and others in the same
proportion. It is astonishing what labour this box has saved me, and how
much it has added to the beauty and melody of my verse.
"You perceive," he added, "the drawer missing. That contained substances
offensive to the sight or smell, which my maid, conducted to it by her
nose, conceived to be some animal curiosities I had been collecting, in a
state of putrefaction and decay, and did not hesitate to throw them into
the fire. I afterwards found myself very much at a loss, whenever my
subject led me to the mention of objects of this character, and I therefore
spoke of them as seldom as possible.
Pages:
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114