Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from History of Foreign Music
It is doubtful whether much that appeals to us as poetical in the expressions of people in lower culture, ought to be considered poetry. We should only call that poetry, which is intentionally put into aesthetic form with the idea of giving pleasure. Savages and barbarians frequently use striking metaphors, which, if employed by us, would be poetical. Thus, it is natural for the barbarian of northern Asia to speak of a ?ame of fire as a living tongue licking its prey before devouring it. If one among us should speak in such fashion he might properly be said to be employing poetic language. We do not believe the fire to be a living being, nor the fuel to be prey. To the barbarous man, however, the, fire is really living, the fuel is truly prey to be devoured. With him the metaphor is simply prose. When the American Indian says, I am a lone pine tree, he is unquestionably indulging in a figure of speech; he does not think he is a pine tree, but has selected the words intentionally to present a picture to the mind. This expression would be poetical.
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