The Pilgrims Of The Rhine
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST EDITION.
PREFACE.
THE IDEAL WORLD.
I. THE IDEAL WORLD,—ITS REALM IS EVERYWHERE AROUND
US; ITS INHABITANTS ARE THE IMMORTAL PERSONIFICATIONS OF ALL BEAUTIFUL
THOUGHTS; TO THAT WORLD WE ATTAIN BY THE REPOSE OF THE SENSES.
II. OUR DREAMS BELONG TO THE IDEAL.—THE DIVINER
LOVE FOR WHICH YOUTH SIGHS NOT ATTAINABLE IN LIFE, BUT THE PURSUIT OF
THAT LOVE BEYOND THE WORLD OF THE SENSES PURIFIES THE SOUL AND AWAKES
THE GENIUS.—PETRARCH.—DANTE.
III. GENIUS, LIFTING ITS LIFE TO THE IDEAL, BECOMES
ITSELF A PURE IDEA: IT MUST COMPREHEND ALL EXISTENCE, ALL HUMAN SINS
AND SUFFERINGS; BUT IN COMPREHENDING, IT TRANSMUTES THEM.—THE POET IN
HIS TWO-FOLD BEING,—THE ACTUAL AND THE IDEAL.—THE INFLUENCE OF GENIUS
OVER THE STERNEST REALITIES OF EARTH; OVER OUR PASSIONS; WARS AND
SUPERSTITIONS.—ITS IDENTITY IS WITH HUMAN PROGRESS.—ITS AGENCY, EVEN
WHERE UNACKNOWLEDGED, IS UNIVERSAL.
IV. FORGIVENESS TO THE ERRORS OF OUR BENEFACTORS.
V. THE IDEAL IS NOT CONFINED TO POETS.—ALGERNON
SIDNEY RECOGNIZES HIS IDEAL IN LIBERTY, AND BELIEVES IN ITS TRIUMPH
WHERE THE MERE PRACTICAL MAN COULD BEHOLD BUT ITS RUINS; YET LIBERTY IN
THIS WORLD MUST EVER BE AN IDEAL, AND THE LAND THAT IT PROMISES CAN BE
FOUND BUT IN DEATH.
VI. YET ALL HAVE TWO ESCAPES INTO THE IDEAL WORLD;
NAMELY, MEMORY AND HOPE.—EXAMPLE OF HOPE IN YOUTH, HOWEVER EXCLUDED
FROM ACTION AND DESIRE.—NAPOLEON'S SON.
VII. EXAMPLE OF MEMORY AS LEADING TO THE
IDEAL,—AMIDST LIFE HOWEVER HUMBLE, AND IN A MIND HOWEVER
IGNORANT.—THE VILLAGE WIDOW.
VIII. HENCE IN HOPE, MEMORY, AND PRAYER, ALL OF US
ARE POETS.
IX. APPLICATION OF THE POEM TO THE TALE TO WHICH
IT IS PREFIXED.—THE RHINE,—ITS IDEAL CHARACTER IN ITS HISTORICAL AND
LEGENDARY ASSOCIATIONS.
X. APPLICATION OF THE POEM CONTINUED.—THE IDEAL
LENDS ITS AID TO THE MOST FAMILIAR AND THE MOST ACTUAL SORROW OF
LIFE.—FICTION COMPARED TO SLEEP,—IT STRENGTHENS WHILE IT SOOTHES.
THE PILGRIMS OF THE RHINE
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