CONCERNING ENTHUSIASM

Section 1.

...is there that a modern writer—who is known never to have worshiped Apollo or acknowledged any such deity as the Muses—should persuade us to believe in his pretended devotion? Why should he move us with his feigned zeal for a religion that is long out of date? But as for the ancients, it is well known that they derived both their religion and their governance original: "Polity." from the Muses' art. Therefore, how natural it must have appeared for anyone, but especially a poet of those times, to address himself with raptures of devotion to those acknowledged patronesses of wit and knowledge original: "Science." In this period, "science" referred generally to systematic knowledge or learning rather than specifically the natural sciences.? In that context, a poet could convincingly fake an ecstasy, even if he felt none. And even if it were mere affectation, it would still appear natural and would certainly be pleasing to the reader.

But perhaps, my Lord, there was a deeper mystery in this matter. As your Lordship knows, people are wonderfully skilled at the faculty of deceiving themselves whenever they set their minds to it. A very small foundation of any passion is enough to allow us not only to act it out well but even to work ourselves into a state of emotion that is beyond our own control. Thus, through a little affectation in matters of love—and with the help of a romance or a novel—a fifteen-year-old boy or a serious man of fifty can certainly grow into a very natural fool original: "Coxcomb." A term for a vain, shallow, or conceited person. and feel that fine passion original: "Belle Passion," a French term for intense romantic love or infatuation. in good earnest. A man of reasonable good nature, who happens to be a