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.

Alexandra Sarbu

Mathew Arnold

Totusi, in mare parte, simtul activitatii creative apartine numai creatiei pure; in literatura, acest lucru nu trebuie uitat. Dar care om cu adevarat erudit (omul de litere) poate uita? Nu este un lucru obisnuit ca un om inzestrat sa intre in posesia unui flux de idei adevarate, ce palpita, si sa creeze avandu-le ca inspiratie, de aceea se poate ca noi sa subestimam. Epocile lui Eschil si Shakespeare ne fac sa le simtim superioritatea. Nu e nici o indoiala ca intr-o era ca acelea se afla adevarata viata a literaturii; acolo este taramul fagaduintei, catre care critica nu poate decat sa aspire. Acel taram al fagaduintei nu va fi deschis pentru noi si vom muri in salbaticie: dar, faptul de a fi dorit sa intram, de a fi aspirat catre el de departe este probabil, deja, cea mai mare cinste printre contemporani; si cu sigurantava fi cea mai mare valoare recunoscuta de posteritate.