But
thoughts and images stole in from other quarters; and Lamb's mind was
essentially quick and productive. Nothing lay barren in it; and much of
what was planted there, grew, and spread, and became beautiful. He himself
has sown the seeds of humor in many English hearts. His own humor is
essentially English. It is addressed to his own countrymen; to the men
"whose limbs were made in England;" not to foreign intellects, nor perhaps
to the universal mind. Humor, which is the humor of a man (of the writer
himself or of his creations), must frequently remain, in its fragrant
blossoming state, in the land of its birth. Like some of the most delicate
wines and flowers, it will not bear travel.
Apart from his humor and other excellences, Charles Lamb combined
qualities such as are seldom united in one person; which indeed seem not
easily reconcilable with each other: namely, much prudence, with much
generosity; great tenderness of heart, with a firm will. To these was
superadded that racy humor which has served to distinguish him from other
men. There is no other writer, that I know of, in whom tenderness, and
good sense, and humor are so intimately and happily blended; no one whose
view of men and things is so invariably generous, and true, and
independent.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25