Duff, William (1732-1815)

An Essay on Original Genius

London

Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly

1767

"The quality of which we are treating, wherever it is discovered, will afford such a delicious entertainment to the mind, that it can scarce be ever satisfied with a banquet so exquisitely prepared; satiety being prevented by a succession of dainties, ever various and every new."

We observed that original Genius is likewise distinguished by a WILDNESS of Imagination. This quality, so closely allied to the former, seems also to proceed from the same causes; and is at the same time an infallible proof of a fertile and luxuriant fancy. Wildness of imagery, scenery and sentiment, is the PASTIME of a playful and sportive Imagination; it is the effect of its exuberance. This character is formed by an arbitrary assemblage of the most extravagant, uncommon, and romantic ideas, united in the most fanciful combinations; and is displayed in grotesque figures, in surprising sentiments, in picturesque and inchanting description. The quality of which we are treating, wherever it is discovered, will afford such a delicious entertainment to the mind, that it can scarce be ever satisfied with a banquet so exquisitely prepared; satiety being prevented by a succession of dainties, ever various and every new.
(pp. 168-9)

Eating and Drinking::Banquet

C-H Lion

2 entries in ESTC (1767).

Text from William Duff, An Essay on Original Genius; and its Various Modes of Exertion in Philosophy and the Fine Arts, Particularly in Poetry (London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, 1767). <Link to ESTC>

07/01/2013