ABSTRACT
Paul Elmer More (1864–1937), the American philosopher and critic, and exponent of the New Humanism, wrote on ‘The Wholesome Revival of Byron’ in the Atlantic Monthly for December 1898 (LXXXII, 801–9). The classicism which he praises in Byron involves ‘a certain predominance of the intellect over the emotions’, a consequent ‘simplicity and tangibility of general design’, an interest in humanity rather than nature, and a concentration on ‘the simple elemental passions’ leading to ‘an art which depends on broad effects instead of subtle and vague impressions’. The following extracts are from pp. 803–5, 807.
