It cannot, however, be denied that, employed in combination
with poetry, the other arts lose much of their special power and effect,
for thus associated they hold a subordinate station, are forced to
appear in a colder medium, and are subjected to the laws of a harmony
but partially adapted to their individual interests. Undeniable as this
may be, poetry still maintains its high claims to our consideration.
Though its tones be colder than those of music, since they must pass
through the analytic intellect instead of appealing immediately to the
sympathetic heart; if its hues are less vivid than, those of painting,
as they must be transmitted through the slower medium of words in lieu
of impressing themselves immediately upon the delighted eye; if less
palpable to the corporeal sense of touch than sculpture, with its
solidity of form,--yet is its range wider, fuller, and far more
comprehensive than any one of the sister arts. If any one should be
inclined to doubt that it is indeed a _resume_ of them all, let him
consider that in its prosodial flow, measured pauses, metrical lines,
varied cadences, stirring or soothing rhythms, sweet or rugged
rhymes,--it is music: in its metaphorical diction, descriptive imagery,
succession of shifting pictures, diversified illustration, and vivid
coloring,--it is painting; while in its organic development and
arrangement of parts, its complicated structure, in the individualism of
characters, and the sharply defined personalities of its dramatic
realm,--it struggles to attain the fixed and beautiful unity of
sculpture.
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