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Untitled Article
'Jon * ' Uktxreation of beauty and en ^ a , Thtve i * w& 4 $ : tfo 0 wd » oleitEag ^ Ay . a eipgle blemish on the . petfroding sweeti e ** of the . poetry * nor the uniform smoothness of the acfcfop ^ yfcifih pre # eut « to the imagination a succession of pictures iiimhed ia a * ty l ^ of classical elegance . The hero embodies in himself what has been aaid of th *
whole play . He is a creature of gentleness and love , devotiw himself , in obedience to the will of the Gods , to a deed which hi * nature abhora , —the murder of the king , whose character he admixes , and whose misfortunes he pities . He afterwards completes the sacrifice by killing himself to expiate the still unsatiated wrath of the aforesaid Gods , which was manifested in bringing destruction on the people . The followipg is a beautiful description of his
youth"His life hath flow'd From his mysterious urn a sacred stream , In whose calm depth the beautiful and pure Alone are nairror'd ; which , though shapes of ill May hover round its surface , glides in light And takes no shadow from them . " p . 6-
The character of King Adrastus is interesting and nohle . He is not a tyrant but the victim of fate , and struggling in its toils ; and though hardened by misfortune , he constantly manifests the tenderness of his nature . His interview with Ion , in which he opens the fountains of his long closed heart , and his deathscene , both possess great beauty . Clemanthe is a being * of the softest and gentlest womanhood .
Even the more stormy passions of revenge and hatred , the emotion * of distrust and envy , are all subdued to the haiinonious tone of the action ; death itself does not seem terrible ; and at the end all is absorbed in the one word ' beautiful ?* It has been variously objected to this tragedy , that it wailts
grandeur and force , and that it is deficient in dramatic action . We think { ts defects lie much deeper than these . We tbfcfck it is based on an essentially wrong princip le ; that it is a graceful structure without a 9 olid foundation ; a sport of the fancy , not a great work of art , or the result of the nobler powers e > f the imagination .
If we may trust to the authority of our great dramatist , we JiaYe a test by which to try this matter . The purpose of playing , he says , both nt the first and now , was ana Is , to nold , as ' twere , the mirror up to nature . How far Mi \ Talftwtrd lias aimed at such n purpose , an analysis of hi& w < xrk will show , 4 : Th $ plot of * Ion' is founded on the old Greek idea of afcl unrelenting Fate ruling the destinies of mortals . The will of the
Untitled Article
' i *« , end ihs Aihtnaiufii . 4 * tf
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1836, page 447, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2659/page/55/
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