113
POETIC/RHETORICAL ETHOS AND THE PERFORMATIVE
POWER OF WORDS IN THE “FRENCH” BOOKS
OF THE PRELUDE
Ca he ine Bois
DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.14712/2571452X.2024.68.8
Abs ac : Wo dswo h a ended e olu iona y deba es in Pa is in 1791. As a young
epublican he el unskilled in public speaking. When he la e sympa hized wi h To y
p inciples he ex olled Bu ke’s o a o ical genius. Howe e , he ne e disowned his ea ly
use o ideologically loaded wo ds like “libe y.” Wo dswo h’s poe ic e hos is ela ed o
collabo a ion wi h he eade . Classical a gumen a ion is a ea u e o his wo k, bu his
e se he o ic a ou s he pe o ma i e powe o wo ds. The no ion o e bal
e ec i eness pe cola es h ough he sensualis e lec ion on language om Bu ke o
Condillac and he Idéologues. I was also sus ained by he eassessmen o s yle in
eigh een h cen u y belle ism and he o ic o communica ion. Roman ic app aisal o
e hos unde cu s A is o le’s ideal o he o a o ’s con ol o e speech, which depends on
a measu e o balance be ween e hos, logos and pa hos. Unlike Bu ke’s Cice onian he o ic
and neoclassical poe ics in Re lec ions on he Re olu ion in F ance, Wo dswo h’s pe iodic
syn ax in Books 9-11 o The P elude is ene gized by wo ds gea ed o delibe a i e-cum-
poe ic pe suasion. Ve bal echoes dissemina e memo ializing e ec s h ough such
he e odox spo s o ime as he “hunge -bi en gi l” episode. E hos pe mea es he poe ic
pe sona and his p ac ice o language indisc imina ely, in using wo ds wi h an
unp eceden ed combina ion o e hical and ideological ambigui y.
Keywo ds: William Wo dswo h, Edmund Bu ke, F ench Re olu ion, libe y, he o ical
e hos, pe o ma i e language
The he o ical no ion o ene geia pe ades eno a ed eloquence om Bu ke’s
philippics o Ossian’s e id o ali y. P e- e olu iona y B i ish o a o y is no
me ely an ancien p ac ice enewed unde he h us o an eme ging epis emology
o language. The ie y hea which can be hea d in Rousseau’s oice du ing his
doc inai e phase mee s Dide o ’s no ion o he o a o -w i e in F ench p e-
Ca he ine Bois
114
e olu iona y o a o y.1 The delibe a i e gen e was bo n again du ing he F ench
Re olu ion, when poli ical en husiasm o e ms like “libe y” could be poe ically
exploi ed. As a young epublican Wo dswo h denounced Bu ke’s an i-Jacobin
he o ic. This does no con adic his acclama ion o Bu ke’s ie y eloquence in he
1850 P elude, jus as Cole idge in The Wa chman censu ed Bu ke’s conse a i e
ideology while p aising his “ ue eloquence,” which unlike declama ion does no
“a gue by me apho s” bu “ eason[s] in me apho s.”2 Wo dswo h a ended
deba es a he Na ional Assembly when he was in Pa is in 1791. He ne e
disowned his o me use o such ideologically loaded wo ds as “libe y.” Did he
la e ex ol Bu ke’s o a o ical genius because in his ea ly yea s he had el “li le
g aced wi h he powe / O eloquence, e en in [his] na i e speech” (P elude 10:149-
50),3 ne e o be lauded o his speech accomplishmen s? His p essing need o
speak up o eedom was so s ong ha he begged o be inspi ed by some
uni e sal ongue econciling p e-Babelian my h wi h he Enligh enmen u opia o
pu e eason:
I could almos
Ha e p ayed ha h ough all ea h upon all men,
By pa ien exe cise o eason made
Wo hy o libe y […]
The gi o ongues migh all, and powe a i e
F om he ou qua e s o he winds o do
Fo F ance, wha wi hou help she could no do
(10:134-41).4
1 Pe e F ance, “Lumiè es, poli esse e éne gie (1750-1776),” in His oi e de la hé o ique dans
l’Eu ope mode ne, 1450-1950, ed. Ma c Fuma oli (Pa is: P esses Uni e si ai es de F ance,
1999), 994.
2 S.T. Cole idge, “Re iew o Bu ke’s Le e o a Noble Lo d,” in Samuel Taylo Cole idge,
The Wa chman, ed. Lewis Pa on (London: Rou ledge and Kegan Paul, 1970), 30-31 (no.
1, 1 Ma ch 1796). See Alan Va dy, “To A gue by Me apho s: Cole idge, Bu ke, and he
Poli ical Uses o Aes he ic Figu es,” Cole idge Bulle in 14 (Au umn 1999): 9-15.
3 William Wo dswo h, The P elude 1799, 1805, 1850, ed. Jona han Wo dswo h, M.H.
Ab ams and S ephen Gill (New Yo k: No on, 1979). All quo a ions a e om he 1850
ex , ci ed by book and line numbe .
4 Fo discussion o his and ela ed passages, see Da id Du e al., “The ‘F ench’ Books o
The P elude: A Vi ual Round Table,” in Wo dswo h and F ance, ed. Da id Du , Ma c
Po ée and Ma in P ocházka, Li e a ia P agensia 27, no. 54 (2017): 114-54.
Poe ic/Rhe o ical E hos
115
Wo dswo h’s e se he o ic a ou s ac ing ou he pe o ma i e powe o
wo ds. The his o ical p emises o his no ion a e de ec able in he sensualis
g ounds ha suppo e lec ions on language om Bu ke o Condillac and he
Idéologues. The eigh een h-cen u y concep ual p i ileging o speech-e ec i e
wo ds also p oceeded om elocu io, o s yle, being g an ed g ea e alence han
in en io and disposi io in he he o ical sys em.5 By endo sing he linguis ic u n,
he e alua ion o he o ical e hos unde cu s A is o le’s ideal o he o a o ’s con ol
o e speech. Unlike Bu ke’s Cice onian he o ic and neo-classical poe ics in
Re lec ions on he Re olu ion in F ance (1790), Wo dswo h’s pe iodic syn ax in
Books 9-11 o The P elude is ene gized by he delibe a i e impac o poe ically
pe suasi e wo ds. Ve bal echoes dissemina e memo ializing e ec s h ough
he e odox spo s o ime like he “hunge -bi en gi l” episode. The oicing, o ac io,
o memo ia becomes in e nalized in s yle. Wo ds appea o be doomed o combine
e hical and ideological ambi alence in some unp eceden ed mode.
The Powe o Wo ds in Eigh een h-Cen u y Rhe o ic om Bu ke o Wo dswo h
Eigh een h-cen u y B i ish “new he o ic” eme ged in he wake o Desca es and
Locke’s an i- he o ical a ional philosophy, which adicalized he issue o
language while disca ding A is o le’s no ion o p obabili y.6 De Quincey’s essays
on he o ic (1828) and s yle (1840-1841), which a e he mos ex ensi e se o
Roman ic ex s on he o ic, meanwhile emain A is o elian. De Quincey’s ex eme
bellele ism, exempli ied by his idiosync a ic use o “syncopa ed” he o ical
pe iods,7 p o esses o in e wea e s yle wi h he sub les signs o men al ac i i y.
In his in en ional elocu io, he claims ha he g amma ical in e ac ion o wo ds
o ganically cohe es wi h “ideas o eelings” in o de o “b igh en he in elligibili y
o a subjec which is obscu e o he unde s anding” and o “ egene a e he no mal
powe and imp essi eness o a subjec which has become do man o he
sensibili ies.”8 This ideal subjec i e he o ic aspi es o o e come he esis ance
5 In De In en ione Cice o syn he ized he i e canons o classical he o ic: in en io ( he a
o inding app op ia e a gumen s), disposi io (a angemen ), elocu io (s yle), memo ia
(memo y), ac io (deli e y).
6 Fo an o e iew, see Pe e F ance, “Rhe o ic,” in The Camb idge His o y o Eigh een h-
Cen u y Philosophy, ed. Knud Haakonssen, 2 ols. (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y
P ess, 2006), 1:496-515.
7 E ic Day e, “P é ace: idéale hé o ique,” in Thomas De Quincey: Essais su la hé o ique, le
langage, le s yle, ans. E ic Day e (Pa is: José Co i, 2004), 17.
8 The Wo ks o Thomas De Quincey, ed. G e el Lindop (London: Picke ing and Cha o, 2000-
2003), 17:66.
Ca he ine Bois
116
inhe en in he “s ubbo n s uc u e o he Language” – such as is buil by Los in
Blake’s Je usalem.9 Re e ing o Wo dswo h, De Quincey hails Bu ke o no
“d ess[ing]” bu “inca na [ing] his hough s in image y.”10 His a emp o e ie e
in en io h ough s yle sugges s ha he o ic wo ks as a e u n o wha is ep essed
in he sel -pe o ming p ocess in insic o Roman ic language.
This o igina es in he ailu e o eigh een h-cen u y empi icis philosophy o
a ionalize he unc ion o language is à is he o ic. Locke’s censu e o e bal
o namen in An Essay Conce ning Human Unde s anding (1689) makes an excep ion
o epideic ic o a o y. Ye Locke’s philosophical he o ic excludes “ igu a i e
speeches […] in language as an impe ec ion and abuse o i ” (III.10.34).11 His
epis emology canno spa e he e e - o-be-imp o ed pe spicui y o language
s i ing o pe ec communica ion be ween iden ical subjec s “in a u u e s a e”
(IV.17.14). Hume, who mou ns he ehemence o ancien eloquence as compa ed
wi h epid mode n a gumen a ion,12 does no heo ize language pe se bu en ols
i as an ally o imagina ion in he dynamics o he psychic o ce ield, hus
s eng hening he g ounds o wha he e ms he “ ic ion” o pe sonal iden i y.
The indi idual’s p i a e/collec i e eali y becomes e asi e e en as he asse s
himsel . So does he speake ’s eloquence when he copes wi h ques ionable
language. Due o Hume’s epis emological in luence on Sco ish he o icians, he
new science o communica ion bea s allegiance o he acul ies o imagina ion and
memo y and o he ope a ions o sympa hy and associa ion o ideas and eelings.
Geo ge Campbell’s Philosophy o Rhe o ic (1776) add esses he poli e gen leman
wishing o communica e his hough s a he sena e o he pulpi , in con e sa ion
o poe y – no he ci ic o a o ha anguing c owds in he o um. Ra ional
a gumen a ion and emo ional communica ion a e p edica ed on he expe imen al
logic o sense imp essions. Use o s yle equi es pe spicui y and i aci y. Vi aci y
encapsula es he pe suasi e powe o aes he ics by ocusing on he igh choice
and a angemen o wo ds including connec i es.13
9 William Blake, Je usalem, pla e 36, in The Comple e Poe y and P ose o William Blake, ed.
Da id V. E dman and Ha old Bloom (New Yo k: Ancho P ess, 1982).
10 Thomas De Quincey, “Elemen s o Rhe o ic,” in The Wo ks o Thomas De Quincey, 6:177.
11 John Locke, An Essay Conce ning Human Unde s anding, ed. Pe e H. Niddi ch (Ox o d:
Cla endon P ess, 1975). Re e ences o book, chap e and pa ag aph a e in pa en heses in
he ex . I alics added.
12 Da id Hume, “O Eloquence,” in Da id Hume, Essays, Mo al, Poli ical, and Li e a y, ed.
Tom L. Beauchamp and Ma k A. Box, 2 ols. (Ox o d: Cla endon P ess, 2021), 1:92-100.
13 Geo ge Campbell, The Philosophy o Rhe o ic, ed. Lloyd L. Bi ze (Ca bondale, IL:
Sou he n Illinois Uni e si y P ess, 1963), 215, 384-415.
Poe ic/Rhe o ical E hos
117
In his g amma ical educ ion o discou se o pa s o speech in Lec u es on
Rhe o ic and Belles Le es (1748), Adam Smi h’s ema ks on p ope cadence and his
ejec ion o igu es o speech a e a plea o an “in en ional” s yle ha should p o e
ap o con ey he speake ’s hough s by means o pu e anspa ency (“ he
pe ec ion o s ile consis s in Exp essing in he mos concise, p ope and p ecise
manne he hough o he au ho ”14). Communica ion “by sympa hy” in uses in
exp ession “all he o ce and beau y language can gi e i ,”15 like some unmedia ed
i aci y o ene geia. Joseph P ies ley’s o a o y makes he unc ion o s yle as
essen ial o aes he ic pe suasion as i is inessen ial o a ional con ic ion. He plans
o es ablish “a philosophical and uni e sal language, which shall be he mos na u al
and pe ec exp ession o human ideas and sen imen s.”16 By con as , Hugh Blai
in his Lec u es on Rhe o ic and Belles Le es (1783) elies on Locke’s de ini ion o
language unde Quin ilian’s au ho i y and de elops a sync e ic iew o s yle
balancing pe spicui y wi h o namen .17
In 1792 Bu ke admi ed ha “a e y g ea pa o he mischie s ha ex he
wo ld a ise om wo ds.”18 In A Philosophical Enqui y in o he O igin o Ou Ideas o
he Sublime and he Beau i ul (1757) he had appea ed mo e op imis ic abou he
powe o wo ds. Wo ds in poe y, eloquence and con e sa ion wield powe
“some imes mo e s ongly [ han he hings hey ep esen ]” because hey “a ec
he mind by aising in i ideas o hose hings o which cus om has appoin ed
hem o s and.”19 Bu ke e amps Locke’s axonomy o agg ega e, simple abs ac ,
compound abs ac wo ds. The sound o wo ds a ec s hea e s mo e han “pic u e”
and “a ec ion o his soul.” An an i-mime ic bias p e ails as Bu ke maximizes he
sensuousness o abs ac wo ds like “honou , jus ice, libe y.”20 This is no Cice o’s
sel -in laming o in lame o he s,21 bu a sublime e sion o Smi h’s cool s yle
14 Adam Smi h, Lec u es on Rhe o ic and Belles Le es, ed. J.C. B yce (Ox o d: Ox o d
Uni e si y P ess, 1983), 55.
15 Smi h, Lec u es on Rhe o ic, 25.
16 Joseph P ies ley, A Cou se o Lec u es on he Theo y o Language and Uni e sal G amma
(1762), ed. Roy Ha is (London: Rou ledge, 1996), 8.
17 Hugh Blai , Lec u es on Rhe o ic and Belles Le es, ed. Ha old P. Ha ding, 2 ols.
(Ca bondale, IL: Sou he n Illinois Uni e si y P ess, 1965), 1:387-407.
18 Edmund Bu ke, “Le e o Richa d Bu ke pos 19 Feb ua y 1792,” in The W i ings and
Speeches o Edmund Bu ke, gen. ed. Paul Lang o d, 9 ols. (Ox o d: Cla endon P ess, 1981-
2015), 9:647.
19 Edmund Bu ke, A Philosophical Enqui y in o he O igin o ou Ideas o he Sublime and he
Beau i ul, ed. Adam Phillips (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 1990), 149.
20 Bu ke, Philosophical Enqui y, 152.
21 See Cice o, On he O a o . Books 1-2, ans. E.W. Su on, H. Rackham, Loeb Classical
Lib a y 348 (Camb idge, MA: Ha a d Uni e si y P ess, 1942), 355 (II.XLV).

Ca he ine Bois
118
e lec ing he mi o -like p ocess o sympa hy be ween linguis ic agen s. Po -
Royal g amma ians had con ended ha he meaning enclosed in wo ds is in ui ed
only by unde s anding how ou hough s wo k.22 The no ion uns h ough
uni e sal g amma om Locke and Condillac o he Idéologues. Condillac’s
a i icial signs gain s eng h om he p imi i e “language o ac ion”23 made o
na u al c ies and ges u es. In Tu go ’s his o icized sys em o iginal me apho s a e
in en ed in esponse o sensa ions, gi ing bi h o ideas, ene gizing he hings
wo ds y o exp ess.24 In his wake he mode a e idealism o Des u de T acy, who
de ines “Idéologie” as he “science o ideas,” asc ibes ac i e o ce o signs.
A i icial signs in ensi y he powe o ideas o imp ess. Memo y de elops h ough
use o wo ds.25
Whe he Wo dswo h, who cas iga ed “ he pes ilen ial philosophism o
F ance” in The Con en ion o Cin a (1809),26 had hea d o he Idéologues in 1797
emains a conjec u e.27 Bu he Idéologues cas in iguing ligh upon Wilhelm on
Humbold , whom Cole idge me in Rome in 1806. Humbold ’s discussion wi h de
T acy and La omiguiè e in 1798 may ha e in luenced his la e wo k in using
unmedia ed subjec i i y in o Condillac’s symbolic app oach o he linguis ic
sys em.28 To Humbold he wo d syn he izes he ela i e a bi a iness o sound,
he mo i a ion o he sign and he ma e ial uni ying o image and concep . I is
a semio ic p oduc o ac i e imagina ion ha ames hough along a his o ical
p ocess.29 Cole idge’s de ini ion o he Wo d/logos as he “p o oundes and mos
22 See And é Robine , Le Langage à l’âge classique (Pa is: Édi ions Klincksieck, 1978), 21-28.
23 E ienne Bonno de Condillac, Essai su l’o igine des connaissances humaines, ed. Aliéno
Be and (Pa is: V in, 2002), 100-104.
24 See Daniel D oixhe, La Linguis ique e l’appel de l’his oi e (1600-1800) (Genè e: Lib ai ie
D oz, 1978), 304-306.
25 An oine Des u de T acy, Elémens d’Idéologie, Pa 1: Idéologie p op emen di e (Pa is: V in,
1970), 324-26.
26 The P ose Wo ks o William Wo dswo h, ed. W.J.B. Owen and Jane Wo hing on Smyse ,
3 ols. (Ox o d: Cla endon P ess, 1974), 1:332.
27 James K. Chandle , Wo dswo h’s Second Na u e: A S udy o he Poe y and Poli ics
(Chicago, IL: Uni e si y o Chicago P ess, 1985), 226.
28 See Hans Aa sle , “Humbold and he Idéologues,” in La G ammai e géné ale: Des
Modis es aux Idéologues, ed. And é Joly e Jean S é anini (Lille: P esses Uni e si ai es de
Lille, 1977), 225-33.
29 See Jü gen T aban , “La c i ique de l’a bi ai e du signe chez Condillac e Humbold ,”
in Les Idéologues: Sémio ique, héo ies e poli iques linguis iques pendan la Ré olu ion
ançaise, ed. Win ied Busse and Jü gen T aban (Ams e dam: John Benjamins, 1986),
73-96.
Poe ic/Rhe o ical E hos
119
comp ehensi e Ene gy o he human mind”30 anscenden alizes Humbold ’s
ene geia, pos ula ing a subjec i e language whose wo ds will be ansmu ed in o
“li ing Things”31 by some absolu e pe o ma i e powe . Wo dswo h ne e
endo sed such a linguis ic ideal. He mou ns he “sad incompe ence o human
speech” (P elude 6:593). Wo ds, which a e “ oo aw ul an ins umen o good and e il
o be i led wi h” because hey a leas po end e hos, mus achie e “an inca na ion
o hough .” Language, being he ope o na u e’s i al ha mony, mus “uphold,
and eed, and lea e in quie , like he powe o g a i y o he ai we b ea he.”32
Placing E hos in (P o o-)Roman ic Rhe o ic
A is o le’s he o ical e hos is he mos powe ul pe suasi e ool. I is mo e han
he e hos o animals a ec ed by passions ha can acqui e habi s o he soul,33 less
han e hical i ues implying he abili y o make e hical choices. Ye i is connec ed
o hem, especially h ough he ci ic passions which he p uden , bene olen
o a o who is no mys i ie bu does manipula e in o de o a ouse pain and
pleasu e in he audience.34 E hos pa akes o eason. I makes hea e s amenable o
he a gumen a i e o ce o logos. Cice o’s e hos o sympa hy35 and Quin ilian’s
quie emo ions o e hos se agains he iolence o pa hos36 weakened he
on ological aspec o e hos ha mani es s i sel in he o a o ’s epu e and assu es
his c edibili y. Augus ine ini ia ed he Ch is ian adi ion o e hos based on di ine
calling and medi a ion on he Holy Sc ip u es.37 A e he Renaissance e i al o
Cice o’s ideal o ac i e o a o y, an e hos o e idence gained g ound in he
se en een h-cen u y discou ses o P o es an ai h, o Ca esian a ionali y and o
30 The No ebooks o Samuel Taylo Cole idge, ed. Ka hleen Cobu n, 5 ols. (London: Rou ledge,
2002), 2:2445.
31 Collec ed Le e s o Samuel Taylo Cole idge, ed. E.L. G iggs, 6 ols. (Ox o d: Ox o d
Uni e si y P ess, 1956), 1:626.
32 William Wo dswo h, “Essay Upon Epi aphs III,” P ose Wo ks, 2:85.
33 See F édé ique Woe he , L’è hos a is o élicien: Genèse d’une no ion hé o ique (Pa is: V in,
2007), 138.
34 See A is o le, On Rhe o ic: A Theo y o Ci ic Discou se, ans. Geo ge A. Kennedy (Ox o d:
Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2006), 110-12 (1377b-1378a).
35 See Jakob Wisse, ‘È hos’ and ‘Pa hos’ om A is o le o Cice o (Ams e dam: A.M. Hakke ,
1989), 72-74.
36 Quin ilian, The O a o ’s Educa ion, ans. H.E. Bu le , 4 ols, Loeb Classical Lib a y
(Camb idge, MA: Ha a d Uni e si y P ess, 1985-1993), 2:209-10 (VI.2.9).
37 Geo ge Kennedy, Classical Rhe o ic and I s Ch is ian and Secula T adi ions om Ancien o
Mode n Times (London: C oom Helm, 1980), 157.
Ca he ine Bois
120
empi icis sensibili y.38 In eigh een h-cen u y B i ain only John Wa d, in A Sys em
o O a o y (1759), main ains he i bonus dicendi pe i us (good man skilled in he
a o speaking) ene . P ies ley igno es e hos. To Campbell cha ac e should be
ing ained in he p eache mo e han in “ he sena o , o he speake a he ba .”39
Blai alues “solid a gumen ” and “clea me hod” abo e “a cha ac e o
p obi y.”40 In line wi h Locke, Condillac, de T acy and Humbold ’s belie ha
“each indi idual has his own language,”41 e hos o Smi h is wha a man’s s yle
makes him appea – om Swi ’s “ha dness” o Sha esbu y’s “labou ed
egula i y.”42 The Idéologues’ an i- he o ic condemned he abuse o wo ds in
e olu iona y eloquence a he Assembly, whe e uni e sal language was expec ed
o abolish he o a o ical p i ileges o cou ie s o e peasan s who spoke pa ois.43
Bu Bu ke’s cha ac e o sound judgemen and good will in he Re lec ions on he
Re olu ion in F ance (1790) appeals o he spi i o he gen leman in he adi ion o
Ca o he Censo .44
In he 1800 p e ace o Ly ical Ballads Wo dswo h places poe y unde
A is o le’s aegis. The poe ic speake ’s e hos (“a man speaking o men”45) is de ined
in philosophically democ a ic e ms. His supe io genius makes him a na u al
guide. His e hical p oo lies, as Wo dswo h explains elsewhe e, in his abili y o
exe “a co-ope a ing powe in he mind o he Reade ,” who is ei he a sla e o
animal s upo o a despo (“Can he make p og ess […] like an Indian p ince […]
s e ched on his palanquin?”46).
Eloquence o Wo dswo h, as o Bu ke, depends on he speake ’s e hos. Bo h
eso o classical elocu io. In he Re lec ions he “cho og aphic” desc ip ion o he
coun y o F ance unde he ancien égime is de eloped along he sweeping hy hm
o an i egula pe iodic sen ence:47
38 Roland Ba hes, “L’ancienne hé o ique,” Communica ions 16 (1970): 192.
39 Campbell, The Philosophy o Rhe o ic, 99.
40 Hugh Blai , Lec u es on Rhe o ic and Belles Le es (1784), ed. Ha old F. Ha ding, 2 ols.
(Ca bondale, IL: Sou he n Illinois Uni e si y P ess, 1965), 2:5.
41 Hans Aa sle , “Wo dswo h, Language, and Roman icism,” Essays in C i icism 30, no. 3
(1980): 219.
42 Smi h, Lec u es on Rhe o ic, 38.
43 Au elio P incipa o, “L’éloquence é olu ionnai e: idéologie e légende,” in His oi e de la
hé o ique dans l’Eu ope mode ne, 1450-1950, ed. Ma c Fuma oli (Pa is: P esses
Uni e si ai es de F ance, 1999), 1022.
44 F.P. Lock, Bu ke’s Re lec ions on he Re olu ion in F ance (London: Allen and Unwin,
1985), 130-31.
45 William Wo dswo h, “P e ace o Ly ical Ballads,” P ose Wo ks, 1:138.
46 William Wo dswo h, “Essay, Supplemen a y o he P e ace,” P ose Wo ks, 3:81-82.
47 See F.P. Lock, Edmund Bu ke, 2 ols. (Ox o d: Cla endon P ess, 1998, 2006), 2:327-28.
Poe ic/Rhe o ical E hos
121
When I conside he ace o he kingdom o F ance, he mul i ude and
opulence o he ci ies, he use ul magni icence o he spacious high- oads
and b idges […] when I ecollec how e y small a pa o ha ex ensi e
egion is wi hou cul i a ion […] when I e lec on he excellence o he
manu ac u es and ab ics […] when I eckon he men she has b ed o
ex ending he ame in wa , he able s a esmen, he mul i ude o he
p o ound lawye s and heologians, he philosophe s, he c i ics, he
his o ians and an iqua ies, he poe s, and he o a o s sac ed and p o ane,
I behold in all his some hing which awes and commands he imagina ion,
which checks he mind on he b ink o p ecipi a e and indisc imina e
censu e, and which demands ha we should e y se iously examine, wha
and how g ea a e he la en ices ha should au ho ize us a once o le el
so spacious a ab ic o he g ound.48
P o ac ed p o asis and an apodosis depend on he o e whelming use o isocola
ene gized by he speake ’s g adual app ehension o he ieze, om pe cep ion o
memo y and medi a ion, up o an acme o sublime ision in he apodosis.49 The e hical
i ony o he clausula mimics he dange o ea ing down such beau i ul o de .
Simila ly, in his e hopoeic p aise o he “Genius o Bu ke!” (P elude 7:512),50 he
Wo dswo hian speake ’s e hical sel - e lexi eness becomes in ense. The poe
ained in ancien eloquence who as a you h ili ied he Old Whig o a o 51 is now
he oized. The p ose-like s yle o he p o asis, whose pa hos a ises om he pa allel
wi h he second apos ophe including he p esen speake (“Rap audi o s!”
7:517), is pe ec ly balanced by he apodosis, which pays ibu e o Bu ke’s
philosophy o social con ac based on cus om and libe y cons ained by
obedience and du y. The su p ise e ec o he clausula s ems om se ing he
you h agains my hic imes. In he ekph asis o Bu ke as an oak, e iden ia legi ima es
he o ganic na u alness o English poli ical p inciples hallowed by ime. An e hos
o au ho i y o u u e gene a ions a ises om his oice’s legenda y powe o
silence mu mu s o p o es s om alse a ionalis s, jus as Æolos chained con a y
winds; o om he i ue o his wo ds, as e ulgen as b igh -shielded A hena, o
48 W i ings and Speeches o Bu ke, 8:179-80.
49 P o asis, an apodosis and apodosis a e he names o he i s h ee membe s o a he o ical
pe iod. Isocolon e e s o use o membe s (‘cola’) o equal leng h.
50 This passage was added o The P elude in 1832. In his unpublished “Le e o he Bishop
o Llanda ” (1793), Wo dswo h suppo ed epublican eedom and cas iga ed Bu ke’s
coun e e olu iona y s ance. The poe ’s ma u e admi a ion o Bu ke’s o a o ical genius
cohe es wi h his own conse a i e u n.
51 William Wo dswo h, “A Le e o he Bishop o Llanda ,” P ose Wo ks 1:35-36, 49.
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