MATHEW ARNOLD

The Function of Criticism at the Present Time


Still, in full measure, the sense of creative activity belongs only to genuine creation; in literature we must never forget that. But what true man of letters ever can forget it? It is no such common matter for a gifted nature to come into possession of a current of true and living ideas, and to produce amidst the inspiration of them, that we are likely to underrate it. The epochs of Æschylus and Shakespeare make us feel their preëminence. In an epoch like those is, no doubt, the true life of literature; there is the promised land, towards which criticism can only beckon. That promised land it will not be ours to enter, and we shall die in the wilderness: but to have desired to enter it, to have saluted it from afar, is already, perhaps, the best distinction among contemporaries; it will certainly be the best title to esteem with posterity.

Raluca Pufulete

Mathew Arnold
 

Rolul criticii in prezent

Totusi, esenta activitatii creatoare tine doar de creatia autentica; nu trebuie sa uitam niciodata asta cand vine vorba de literatura. Dar ce ii este permis unui om al literelor sa uite? Nu se intampla intotdeauna ca cei talentati fie patrunsi de un curent al ideilor marete si adevarate, pe care sa le foloseasca in operele lor, lucru pe care adesea il subestimam. Epocile in care au scris Eschil sau Shakespeare ne fac sa ne simtitm inferiori. Intr-o epoca asemenea acestora se afla, fara indoiala, adevarata esenta a literaturii; este o tara a fagaduintei, in fata careia critica nu poate decat sa se incline cu respect. Dar accesul in aceasta tara a fagaduintei nu ne va fi permis, si vom muri in pustietate: dar dorinta de a intra, de a o zari de departe, este poate, cea mai mare distinctie pe care o putem face intre contemporani; va fi cu siguranta cel mai bun mod de a ramane in posteritate.