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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: the cause of this fact is by no means so apparent as the fact
itself. That the poetry of Germany is actually and intrinsically
superior to that of France, may readily be admitted; but this is
not enough to account for all the circumstances of the case. It
does not explain why some of the very passages in Corneille and
Racine, which to us appear dull and prosaic, are to the
Frenchman's apprehension instinct with poetic fervour. It does
not explain the undoubted fact that we, who speak English, are
prone to underrate French poetry, while we are equally disposed
to render to German poetry even more than its due share of merit.
The reason is to be sought in the verbal associations established
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
