Of the Passion Caused by the SublimeTHE PASSION caused by the great and sublime in nature, when those causes
operate most powerfully, is astonishment; and astonishment is that state
of the soul, in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree
of horror. [1] In this case the mind is so entirely filled with its object,
that it cannot entertain any other, nor by consequence reason on that
object which employs it. Hence arises the great power of the sublime,
that, far from being produced by them, it anticipates our reasonings,
and hurries us on by an irresistible force. Astonishment, as I have said,
is the effect of the sublime in its highest degree; the inferior effects
are admiration, reverence, and respect. |
| <BACK |