David Thomas Pottinger
Published: 2018-10-18
Total Pages: 356
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Excerpt from English Essays: An Anthology of Essays From Bacon to Lucas Definitions of the essay have nearly always been nu satisfactory, mainly because the term is eu all-inclusive one. It has been applied to compositions as varied as Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding, a rather long and abstruse philosophical treatise; Macaulay's historical sketches of Milton, Clive, Warren Hastings, and others; Pope's versified discussions of philosophy and literary criticism; and Pater's carefully reasoned analyses of problems in aesthetics. But the essay par excellence is a much more specific thing: it is variously called the fa miliar, the intimate, the personal, the medita tive, essay, and the adjective indicates its scope. Like the lyric in the realm of verse, it is a personal expression of the author's moods, emotions, or whims. Though it may be narrative or descriptive in part, these elements are subordinated to the author's reflections upon the background or the story he presents. It touches upon all topics of interest to human beings, from female ornament to the mystery of death. Yet, whatever the topic, the author is never in the didactic mood; he is more like a richly informed, meditative, kindly man of the world settling down for a half hour or so of suggestive talk with a friend. The familiar essay, in fine, is a written mon. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.