Table Talk. William Hazlitt. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: William Hazlitt
Издательство: Bookwire
Серия:
Жанр произведения: Языкознание
Год издания: 0
isbn: 4057664179418
Скачать книгу
tion>

       William Hazlitt

      Table Talk

      Essays on Men and Manners

      Published by Good Press, 2019

       [email protected]

      EAN 4057664179418

       VOLUME I

       ESSAY I. ON THE PLEASURE OF PAINTING

       ESSAY II. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED

       ESSAY III. ON THE PAST AND FUTURE

       ESSAY IV. ON GENIUS AND COMMON SENSE

       ESSAY V. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED

       ESSAY VI. CHARACTER OF COBBETT

       ESSAY VII. ON PEOPLE WITH ONE IDEA

       ESSAY VIII. ON THE IGNORANCE OF THE LEARNED

       ESSAY IX. THE INDIAN JUGGLERS

       ESSAY X. ON LIVING TO ONE'S-SELF(1)

       ESSAY XI. ON THOUGHT AND ACTION

       ESSAY XII. ON WILL-MAKING

       ESSAY XIII. ON CERTAIN INCONSISTENCIES IN SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS'S DISCOURSES

       ESSAY XIV. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED

       ESSAY XV. ON PARADOX AND COMMON-PLACE

       ESSAY XVI. ON VULGARITY AND AFFECTATION

       VOLUME II

       ESSAY I. ON A LANDSCAPE OF NICOLAS POUSSIN

       ESSAY II. ON MILTON'S SONNETS

       ESSAY III. ON GOING A JOURNEY

       ESSAY IV. ON COFFEE-HOUSE POLITICIANS

       ESSAY V. ON THE ARISTOCRACY OF LETTERS

       ESSAY VI. ON CRITICISM

       ESSAY VII. ON GREAT AND LITTLE THINGS

       ESSAY VIII. ON FAMILIAR STYLE

       ESSAY IX. ON EFFEMINACY OF CHARACTER

       ESSAY X. WHY DISTANT OBJECTS PLEASE

       ESSAY XI. ON CORPORATE BODIES

       ESSAY XII. WHETHER ACTORS OUGHT TO SIT IN THE BOXES?

       ESSAY XIII. ON THE DISADVANTAGES OF INTELLECTUAL SUPERIORITY

       ESSAY XIV. ON PATRONAGE AND PUFFING

       ESSAY XV. ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHARACTER

       ESSAY XVI. ON THE PICTURESQUE AND IDEAL

       (A Fragment)

       ESSAY XVII. ON THE FEAR OF DEATH

       Table of Contents

       Table of Contents

      'There is a pleasure in painting which none but painters know.' In writing, you have to contend with the world; in painting, you have only to carry on a friendly strife with Nature. You sit down to your task, and are happy. From the moment that you take up the pencil, and look Nature in the face, you are at peace with your own heart. No angry passions rise to disturb the silent progress of the work, to shake the hand, or dim the brow: no irritable humours are set afloat: you have no absurd opinions to combat, no point to strain, no adversary to crush, no fool to annoy—you are actuated by fear or favour to no man. There is 'no juggling here,' no sophistry, no intrigue, no tampering with the evidence, no attempt to make black white, or white black: but you resign yourself into the hands of a greater power, that of Nature, with the simplicity of a child, and the devotion of an enthusiast—'study with joy her manner, and with rapture taste her style.' The mind is calm, and full at the same time. The hand and eye are equally employed. In tracing the commonest object, a plant or the stump of a tree, you learn something every moment. You perceive unexpected differences, and discover likenesses where you looked for no such thing. You try to set down what you see—find out your error, and correct it. You need not play tricks, or purposely mistake: with all your pains, you are still far short of the mark. Patience grows out of the endless pursuit, and turns it into a luxury. A streak in a flower, a wrinkle in a leaf, a tinge in a cloud, a stain in an old wall or ruin grey, are seized with avidity as the spolia opima of this sort of mental warfare, and furnish out labour for another half-day.