On this page

• Text (2)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    October 23, 1852.] - ^ THE LEADER. 1025

  • 

    PASSAGES FROM A BOY'S EPIC. XII. Ariadne...

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    The Hayth08we Paipefls, No. 111.* Ohio I...

    juchitecture ; and in towns it produces in us no feeling of incongruity because all surrounding things—men , horses , vehicles—are symmetrical also And here I was reminded of a notion that has frequently recurred to me _ -viz . ., that there is some relationship between the several kinds of architecture and the several classes of natural objects . Buildings in the Greek and Roman styles seem to me , in virtue of their symmetry , to take their tvpe ' from animal life . In the partially irregular Gothic , ideas derived from the ve getable world appear to predominate . And wholly irregular buildings , such as castles , may be considered as having inorganic forms for their basis . Whimsical as this speculation looks at first sight it is countenanced by numerous facts . The relationship between symmetrical architecture and

    animal forms may be inferred from the kind of symmetry we expect and are satisfied with in regular buildings . Thus in a Greek temple we require that the front shall be symmetrical in itself , and that the two sides shall be alike ; but we do not look for uniformity between the sides and the front , nor between the front and the back . The identity of this symmetry with that found in animals is obvious . Again , why is it that a building making any pretension to symmetry displeases us if not quite symmetrical ? Probably the reply will be—because we see that the designer ' s idea is not fully carried out , and that hence our love of completeness is offended . But then there comes the further questions—How do we know that the architect ' s conception was symmetrical ? Whence comes this notion of symmetry which we have , and which we attribute to him ? Unless we fall bank

    upon the old doctrine of innate ideas , we must admit that the idea of bilateral symmetry is derived from without ; and to admit this is to admit that it is derived from the higher animals . That there is some relationship between Gothic architecture and vegetable forms , is a position that will be generally admitted . The often-remarked analogy between a groined nave and an avenue of trees with interlacing branches , shows that the fact has forced itself on men ' s observation . It is not only in this analogy , however , that the kinship is seen . It is

    seen still better in the essential characteristic of Gothic ; namely , what is termed its aspiring tendency . That predominance of vertical lines which so strongly distinguishes Gothic from other styles , is the most marked peculiarity of trees , when compared with animals or rocks ; a fact which cannot fail to strike every one on walking through a wood . Moreover , to persons of active imagination , a tall Gothic tower , with its elongated apertures , and clusters of thin projections running from bottom to top , suggests a vague notion of growth .

    Of the alleged connexion between inorganic forms and the wholly irregular and the castellated styles of building , we have , I think , some proof in the fact that when an edifice is irregular , the more irregular it is , the more it pleases us . I see no way of accounting for this fact , save by supposing that the greater the irregularity the move strongly are we reminded of the inorganic forms typified , and the more vividly are aroused the agreeable ideas of rugged and romantic scenery associated with those forms . Further evidence of these several relationships of styles of architecture

    to classes of natural objects , is supplied by the kinds of decoration they respectively present . The public buildings of Greece , whilst characterized in their outlines by the bi-lateral symmetry seen in the higher animals , liave their pediments and entablatures covered with sculptured men and ( leasts . Egyptian temples and Assyrian palaces , whilst similarly symmetrical in their general plan , are similarly ornamented on their walls and it ilieir doors . In Gothic , again , with its grove-like ranges of clustered ( ' < ihmms , we find rich foliated ornaments abundantly employed . Whilst '" '' ¦ onipaiiyiiig tlie totally irregular inorganic outlines of old castles , we see neither vegetable nor animal decorations . The bare rock-like walls are

    ii"iounted by battlements , consisting of almost plain blocks , which remind lls <> ' the projections on the edge of a rugged cliff . llt perhaps the most significant fact is the harmony that may be ob-( 'v . ( l between each type of architecture and the scenes in which it is inueiioiis . ii \) r vvhut is the explanation of this harmony , unless it be that 1 Predominant character of surrounding things has , in some way , deter-1 "" ' ; ''l the mode of building adopted ? ll ! lt the harmony exists is clear . Equally in the eases of Kgypt , As-• "' ' ' < -e , and Rome , town life preceded the construction of the symi

    ""¦ I neal In . n . i :.. * i . * ^ 1 > » iw J 'l buildings that have come down to us . And town life is one in ( 1 ' | alread y observed , the majority of familiar objects are symmetrical . r , | " U ( t ' 'l . V feel the naturalness of this association . Out amidst the ' \ a lorinal house , with a central door , flanked by an equal number of i , i . tUs to light , and left , . strikes us as unriiral—looks as though transu H ' ln u street ; and we cannot look at one of those stuccoed villas , I ) ,. ; ' , nU )(; k w '" ' ° "'s carefully arranged to balance the real ones , without n ( 'iiuiulcd of the . suburban residence of a retired tradesman . ¦

    ^ Vies indi genous in the country , we not only find the general irrcgu-( mr : u'teri . Ntie of surrounding things , but we . may trace some , kinship l ) io | " M ' '" d of irregularity and the local circumstances . We see the ,. n . 10 < " '\ V masses amidst which oustles sire commonly placed , mirrored ii ( . SI ( 'i'n , inorganic forms . In abbeys , and such-like buildings , which io | '" ' . y found in comparatively sheltered districts , we find no such () ji lH |() < 'utions of masses and outlines ; and the nakedness appropriate 5 ,, | , l » i'hs is replaced by decorations reflecting the neighbouring woods . I ' he U lss (>( > 'tage un < l a Swiss view there is an evident relationship . n iu- rool , so bold und « o disproportionately large , when compared

    to other roofs , reminds one of the adjacent mountain peaks ; and the broad overhan ging eaves have a sweep and inclination like those of the lower branches of a pine tree . Consider , too , the apparent kinship between the flat roofs that prevail in Eastern cities and the plains that commonly surround them . You cannot contemplate a picture of one of these places , without . being struck by the predominance of horizontal lines , and their harmony with the wide stretch of the landscape That the coiigruity here pointed out should not hold in every case must be expected . The Pyramids , for example , do not seem to come under this generalization . Their repeated horizontal lines do indeed conform to the

    flatness of the neighbouring desert , but their general contour seems to have no adjacent analogue . Considering , however , that migrating races , carrying their architectural systems with them , would naturally produce buildings having no relationshi p to their new localities , and that it is not always possible to distinguish styles which are indigenous , from those which are not , numerous anomalies must be looked for . '

    It is not improbable that the general idea above developed , may be somewhat misinterpreted . Possibly some will take the proposition to be that men intentionally gave to their buildings the leading characteristics of neighbouring objects . But this is not what is meant . I do not suppose that they did so in times past any more than the y do so now . The hypothesis is , that in their choice of forms men are unconsciously influenced by the forms encircling them , with the images of which they are most familiar .

    That flat-roofed , symmetrical architecture , should have originated in the East , amongst pastoral tribes surrounded by their herds and by wide plains , seems to imply that the builders were swayed by the horizontally and symmetry to which they were habituated . And the harmony which we have found to exist in other cases between indigenous styles and their localities implies the general presence of like influences . Indeed , on considering the matter subjectively , I do not see how it could well be

    otherwise . For as all conceptions must be made up of images , and parts of images , received through the senses—as it is impossible for a man to conceive any design save one of which the elements have come into his mind from without ; and as his imagination will most readily run in the direction of his habitual perceptions ; it follows almost necessarily that the characteristic which predominates in these habitual perceptions must impress itself on his design .

    October 23, 1852.] - ^ The Leader. 1025

    October 23 , 1852 . ] - ^ THE LEADER . 1025

    Passages From A Boy's Epic. Xii. Ariadne...

    PASSAGES FROM A BOY'S EPIC . XII . Ariadne and Phaedra . Unwelcome fell the golden gleams of Day On Ariadne ' s eyes , unvisited By any gentle dream ; for when she prest Tier face against the couch , a sudden gloom Rusht spangling up , and from its inmost depth Weird faces met her ' s , prophesying woe . Soon risen and soon attired the Princess left Her cedar chamber , and thro' porphyry halls Advanced to where broad palace portals shone , Fronting the dawn , and won her lonely way , Like some pale woman wandering while she sleeps , Thro' streets whose marble framework touclit the clouds , And veiled in silver breathings of the Moon , Colossal rose , and watcht her as she past , Till all that marble splendour left behind , A valley dee }) received her ' mid the shade And silence of green woods . Tlie dripping leaves Hung diamonds in the round and orient sun , And all the air and chiming coverts rang With voices of glad birds that love the light . Far in this vale withdrawn a temple once Saqred to Bacchus stood , but built , it seemed , In careless mood and for some passing end , Now mourned its own decay . One here , one there , Huge fragments of white marble lay around ; And one sole pillar rose with ivy wreathed , And with thick garlands of the budding vine . Here Ariadne paused , and leaning half Against the pillar , with low weeping words Gave to the elements her thoughts of grief : " Hear me , O Heaven , and all-beholding Sun ! And bear me , Mother Earth , and bless thy child ! My vision travels back , thro' vanisht years , To those delightful days when I beheld No cloud in all the firmament of life Hut had its rainbow- —when I saw no thorn That lackt its rose , hid among glittering leaves , And sweeter so concealed . But now no more The rainbow and the rose their brightness keep ; The old splendour fails me , and in vain I kneel To the Majestic Powers that order life And inuk <; men happy . Vet my earlier days Took warmth and colour from the gleams that fell From the descending Gods , and when 1 moved

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 23, 1852, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23101852/page/21/