ess plainly because
of its complete physical deafness. And in this way Shakespeare wrote
his "Othello"; spinning out no abstract thoughts about jealousy and its
fearful effects upon a proud and ardent nature, but revealing to us
the living concrete man, as his imperial imagination had spontaneously
fashioned him.

Modern psychology has demonstrated that this is the way in which the
creative artistic imagination proceeds. It has proved that a vast
portion of all our thinking goes on unconsciously; and that the results
may arise into consciousness piecemeal and gradually, checking each
other as they come; or that they may come all at once, with all the
completeness and definiteness of perceptions presented from without. The
former is the case with the critical, and the latter with the artistic
intellect. And this we recognize imperfectly when we talk of a genius
being "inspired." All of us probably have these two kinds of imagination
to a certain extent. It is only given to a few supremely endowed persons
like Goethe to possess them both to an eminent degree. Perhaps of no
other man can it be said that he was a poet of the first order, and as
great a critic as poet.

It is therefore apt to be a barren criticism which studies the works of
creative geniuses in order to ascertain what theory lies beneath them.
How many systems of philosophy, how many subtle speculations, have we
not seen fathered upon Dante, Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Goethe! Yet
their works are, in a certain sense, greater than any systems. They
partake of the infinite complexity and variety of nature, and no more
than nature itself can they be narrowed down to the limits of a precise
formula.

Lessing was wont to disclaim the title of poet; but, as Goethe said,
his immortal works refute him. He had not only poetical, but dramatic
genius; and his "Emilia Galotti" has kept the stage until to-day.
Nevertheless, he knew well what he meant when he said that he was more
of a critic than a poet. His genius was mainly of the critical order;
and his great work, "Nathan the Wise," was certainly constructed rather
than created. It was intended to convey a doctrine, and was carefully
shaped for the purpose. And when we have pronounced it the greatest of
all poems that have been written for a set purpose, and admit of being
expressed in a definite formula, we have classified it with sufficient
accuracy.

For an analysis of the characters in the poem, nothing can