ABSTRACT
Just as among the literary arts poetry shows the highest degree of concentration, so does the reading of poetry calls for an attention not demanded by the literature legitimately designed for the amusement of tired minds. Since the time of Wordsworth, and particularly in quite recent years, the term 'poetic diction' has been used freely to denote a kind of false inflation of language, the trivial employment of readymade figures and phrases by versifiers who borrow from the common stock without enriching it. English poetry, however, is peculiarly rich in beauties of diction that are achieved by another means. Longinus, at the opening of his essay on the Sublime, says: the effect of genius is not to persuade the audience but rather to transport them out of themselves. Invariably what inspires wonder casts a spell upon readers and is always superior to what is merely convincing and pleasing.
