Beattie, James (1735-1803)

Of Imagination [from Dissertations Moral and Critical]

London

Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell ... and W. Creech

1783

"That 'quickness in turning,' which the poet justly imagines to be essential to fine eyes, betokens in the mind a capacity of passing readily from one thought to another; an agreeable talent, when accompanied with good sense; and just the reverse of sullenness, inattention, and stupidity"

That "quickness in turning," which the poet justly imagines to be essential to fine eyes, betokens in the mind a capacity of passing readily from one thought to another; an agreeable talent, when accompanied with good sense; and just the reverse of sullenness, inattention, and stupidity. The fixed and unvaried glare of an inexpressive eye is frightful. It puts one in mind of death, and is such a look as we should expect in a ghost. So our great poet understands it:

Thou hast no speculation in those eyes
Which thou dost glare with --

says Macbeth to the murdered Banquo. So Spenser, in a passage equal to any thing that ever was written in descriptive poetry:

On every side them stood
The trembling ghosts, with sad amazed mood,
Chattering their iron teeth, and staring wide
With stony eyes.
(II.iv, p. 135)

Body::Eye

Reading

At least 2 entries in ESTC (1783).

Beattie, James. Dissertations Moral and Critical. Printed for Strahan, Cadell, and Creech: London, 1783. Facsimile-Reprint: Friedrich Frommann Verlag, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, 1970.

07/26/2005