Regarding, then, Beauty as my province, my next question referred to
the tone of its highest manifestation- and all experience has shown
that this tone is one of sadness. Beauty of whatever kind in its
supreme development invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.
Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones.
The length, the province, and the tone, being thus determined, I
betook myself to ordinary induction, with the view of obtaining some
artistic piquancy which might serve me as a key-note in the
construction of the poem- some pivot upon which the whole structure
might turn. In carefully thinking over all the usual artistic effects-
or more properly points, in the theatrical sense- I did not fail to
perceive immediately that no one had been so universally employed as
that of the refrain. The universality of its employment sufficed to
assure me of its intrinsic value, and spared me the necessity of
submitting it to analysis. I considered it, however, with regard to
its susceptibility of improvement, and soon saw it to be in a
primitive condition. As commonly used, the refrain, or burden, not
only is limited to lyric verse, but depends for its impression upon
the force of monotone- both in sound and thought. The pleasure is
deduced solely from the sense of identity- of repetition.
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