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.

Oana Romanescu

Mathew Arnold
 

Functia criticii in prezent

Totusi, in deplina masura, simtul activitatii creatoare apartine numai creatiei autentice; in literatura, acesta este un lucru pe care nu trebuie sa il uitam niciodata. Dar care om de litere adevarat ar putea uita? Nu este un lucru obisnuit pentru o natura harazita cu talent sa isi asume un curent de idei adevarate si vii si sa creeze cu ajutorul inspiratiei pe care ele i-o aduc, de aceea probabil ca vom tinde sa subestimam aceasta natura. Epoca lui Eschil, ce si cea a lui Shakespeare, ne fac sa le simtim superioritatea de necontestat. Intr-o perioada precum acelea salasuieste, fara indoiala, adevarata viata a literaturii, acolo este taramul promis, inspre care critica se poate doar intoarce. In acel taram al fagaduintei nu vom putea patrunde...si vom muri in salbaticie; dar simplul fapt de a ne fi dorit accesul acolo, de a-l fi salutat de departe, este deja, poate, cea mai de seama distinctie intre contemporani; cu siguranta va si titlul cel mai stimat de posteritate.