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This ideal region is indeed the proper sphere of Fancy, in which she may range with a loose rein, without suffering restraint from the severe checks of Judgment; for Judgment has very little jurisdiction in this province of Fable."

— Duff, William (1732-1815)

Author

An Essay on Original Genius

Place of Publication

London

Publisher

Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly

Date

1767

Metaphor

This ideal region is indeed the proper sphere of Fancy, in which she may range with a loose rein, without suffering restraint from the severe checks of Judgment; for Judgment has very little jurisdiction in this province of Fable."

Metaphor in Context

Should such a Genius arise, he could not desire a nobler field for the display of an exuberant Imagination, than what the spiritual world, with its strange inhabitants, will present to him. In describing the nature and employment of those visionary beings, whose existence is fixed in a future state, or of those who exist in the present, or may be supposed to inhabit the "midway air," but are possessed of certain powers and faculties, very different from what are possessed by mankind, he is not, as in describing human characters, restricted to exact probability, much less to truth: for we are in most instances utterly ignorant of the powers of different or superior beings; and, consequently, are very incompetent judges of the probability or improbability of the particular influence, or actions attributed to them. All that we require of a Poet therefore, who pretends to exhibit characters of this kind, is, that the incidents, in effectuating which they are supposed to be concerned, be possible, and consonant to the general analogy of their nature; an analogy, founded not upon truth or strict probability, but upon common tradition or popular opinion. It is evident therefore that the Poet, who would give us a glimpse of the other world, and an idea of the nature, employment, and manner of existence of those who inhabit it, or of those other imaginary beings, who are in some respects similar to, but in others totally different from mankind, and are supposed to dwell on or about this earth, has abundant scope for the exercise of the most fertile Invention. This ideal region is indeed the proper sphere of Fancy, in which she may range with a loose rein, without suffering restraint from the severe checks of Judgment; for Judgment has very little jurisdiction in this province of Fable. The invention of the supernatural characters above-mentioned, and the exhibition of them, with their proper attributes and offices, are the highest efforts and the most pregnant proofs of truly ORIGINAL Genius.
(pp. 141-2)