|
|
|
|
|
|
THE CASTLE OF ANNECY. Sunset. [f.p.344,r]
344 PRÆTERITA-II
Salève slope, and trotted down to Annecy, in great peace of mind.
109. At Annecy I made the first careful trial of my new way of work. I herewith reproduce the study;1 it is very pleasant to me still; and certainly any artist who once accustoms himself to the method cannot afterwards fall into any mean trickery or dull conventionalism. The outline must be made clearly and quietly, conveying as much accurate information as possible respecting the form and structure of the object; then, in washing, the chiaroscuro is lowered from the high lights with extreme care down to the middle tones, and the main masses left in full shade.
A rhyme written to Mont Blanc at Geneva, and another in vituperation of the idle people at Conflans,2 were, I think, the last serious exertions of my poetical powers. I perceived finally that I could express nothing I had to say, rightly, in that manner; and the “poetical powers. I perceived finally that I could express nothing I had to say, rightly, in that manner; and the “peace of mind” above referred to, which returns to me as the principal character of this opening journey, was perhaps, in part, the result of this extremely wholesome conclusion.
110. But also, the two full years, since the flash of volcanic lightning at Naples,3 had brought me into a deeper and more rational state of religious temper. I can scarcely yet call it religious thought; but the steadily read chapters, morning and evening, with the continual comparison between the Protestant and Papal services every Sunday abroad, made me feel that all dogmatic teaching was a matter of chance and habit; and that the life of religion depended on the force of faith, not the terms of it. In the sincerity and brightness of his imagination, I saw that George Herbert represented the theology of the Protestant Church in a perfectly central and deeply spiritual manner: his “Church Porch” I recognized to be blamelessly wise as a lesson to youth; and the exquisitely faithful fancy of
1 [Plate XXII.]
2 [For these pieces, see Vol. II. pp. 223, 238. The first is given also in Præterita, iii. ch. i. (below, p. 473).]
3 [See above, § 51 (p. 290).]
|
|
|
[Version 0.04: March 2008]
