“Which awakes the sleepy vigour of the soul;”
and first
“Softened the fierce, and made the coward bold.”—DRYDEN.
“For indeed I knew
Of no more subtle master under heaven
Than is the maiden passion for a maid
Not only to keep down the base in man,
But teach high thought and amiable words,
And courtliness, and the desire of fame,
And love of truth, and all that makes a man.”—TENNYSON.
The Love of men of Genius, as distinguished from that of ordinary
mortals, is characterised by five traits—Precocity, Extravagant Ardour,
Fickleness, Multiplicity, and Fictitiousness—which must be briefly
considered in succession.