ABSTRACT
The characteristic modes of 'eighteenth-century' art evolved chiefly in the second quarter of the century. By far the most interesting departures were made by James Thomson (1700-48). He was a genuine creator. His masterpiece, The Seasons, went into literally hundreds of editions in the next century and a half. Thomson haled from the wild Border country, and specifically the almost inaccessible regions of Teviotdale. It has been well said that 'Thomson found in the natural world a kind of vocabulary through which he could express his deepest intuitions more truthfully and exactly than in the language of philosophic or moralistic statement'. The poetic texture of The Seasons is far subtler than is generally acknowledged. Throughout the work, diction is beautifully adapted to the subject-matter. The writer most frequently coupled with Thomson, and with good reason, is John Dyer.
