He preferred, we can plainly see, to think of
himself, not as the great humourist, but as the great sentimentalist;
and though the word "sentiment" had something even in _his_ day of the
depreciatory meaning which distinguishes it nowadays from "pathos,"
there can be little doubt that the thing appeared to Sterne to be, on
the whole, and both in life and literature, rather admirable than the
reverse.
What, then, were his notions of true "sentiment" in literature?
We have seen elsewhere that he repeats--it would appear
unconsciously--and commends the canon which Horace propounds to the
tragic poet in the words:
"Si vis me flere, dolendum
Primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me infortunia laedent."
And that canon is sound enough, no doubt, in the sense in which it was
meant, and in its relation to the person to whom it was addressed. A
tragic drama, peopled with heroes who set forth their woes in frigid
and unimpassioned verse, will unquestionably leave its audience as
cold as itself. Nor is this true of drama alone. All _poetry_, indeed,
whether dramatic or other, presupposes a sympathetic unity of emotion
between the poet and those whom he addresses; and to this extent it
is obviously true that _he_ must feel before they can.
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