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havoionyt with the plot . We thiirk this is not the ^ tMUe ; &tu * of the > great masters . of Grecian art , who had chosen « id £ # " suknecf , would haye accompanied the awful nature of thi ** l * sign with corresponding' grandeur , in the filling- up and fimMtaor +
the terrible , the sublime , rather than the beautiful , would hav ^ beeA aimed at . The sterner and colder character of the actotfi in the dreadful drama , and the powerful effect of the chont * , would hare led on the mind to bear the contemplation of humanity in the iron grasp of Fate . Above all , the sympathies of fcfae audience would not have been allowed to rest wid * per ^ ' feet satisfaction in the triumph of the Gods , for the old Greek tragedians were most of them sceptical at heart . The choroi * M * would have had " their objections . " It is unworthy of genius to descend to imitation , even wben
the imitation is successful , but here it has failed . Ion is not Kke a Greek play . It matters not that the unities are preserved , that the plot , the scene , the characters , are Grecian . The effect of the whole ia such as would be created , were it possible to restore the ground-plan of an Athenian temple in its majestic and simple proportions , and decorate it with the elegant statue * of Canova .
In an age so obscured by artificiality , that the grandest powers , of human nature are almost forgotten ; when thfc passions are so debased and distorted , that the prevalent morality is to recommend their annihilation , the drama h& 8 * a noble office to perform . The people are still able to recognise beauty and power when presented to them in an abstract fbrttiS High thoughts and strong emotions , which would excite TidK cule or reprobation in real life , can yet exert their du ^ influence over sympathy when presented on the stage . " Trtith still lives in fiction , and from the copy the original trill bfe restored . " We should hail the appearance of a grikt tragedy founded on true principles , as one among the signa of the times which combine to promise the purification and eH- altatkm of society and nature itself . The critic in the 'Athenaeum' commences his articles intfeetie ' worda :-
—" The dead drama , it has been lately trumpeted , is about tb ' rent ! her toinb and arise . We , too , have calculated in our tables of fctoitiugest phenomena , when this revival may be looked for , and ek ** pect it along with the recommencement of oracles . How muohoa this side the day of judgment that will occur , perhaps the maft flourishes can tell ; for our own purtb , we feel more inclined to place it after . Tragedy may , indeed , sweep forth again from her aepulchtt * but it will be * in scent red pall / — that is , as a ghost qr tkeje ^ vfa Neterthetets , tfteri tfeus , Erigtand should welcome her with a = Garagaiitttmi tittftrfh frf * ma ; tenient atid applause . But no !—to wr ^ somripJ ' thedrmaa / tt > m * •*§*« > fbi ^ tWeri nfcre there some hope of its i ^ l « rT « Wfoi 5 l
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4 I&Hf' and ike Atkenaum . 44 H
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1836, page 449, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2659/page/57/
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