n being of six
limbs--arms, legs and wings, as to an insect. This "strange
conception" continues to be so materialized, not certainly as an
artistic idea, but as the result of poverty of language. Indeed, we
talk of angels "flying" because our language is human and earthly, and
we cannot imagine the attributes of angels. Few indeed are the artists
who in pictures of the Annunciation represent the Angel as a luminous,
delicate, and evanescent figure.

The more perfect the approximation to truth, the more perfect is art.

When, for instance, in a drawing-room, some one pays us a compliment,
if this is founded upon one of our real qualities, and touches it
closely, we feel legitimate satisfaction, because what has been said
is relevant, and we may conclude that the person _has observed us_ and
feels a sincere admiration for us. We accordingly think of such a
person: He is subtle and intellectual; and we feel disposed to
reciprocate his friendliness. But if the compliment praises us for
qualities we do not possess, or distorts or exaggerates our true
attributes, we think with disgust: What a coarse creature! and feel
even more coldly to him than before.

Dante's sublime sonnet must certainly have touched the heart of
Beatrice profoundly:

My lady looks so gentle and so pure
When yielding salutation by the way,
That the tongue trembles and has nought to say,
And the eyes, which fain would see, may not endure.
And still, amid the praise she hears secure,
She walks with humbleness for her array;
Seeming a creature sent from Heaven, to stay
On earth, and show a miracle made sure.
She is so pleasant in the eyes of men
That through the sight the inmost heart doth gain
A sweetness which needs proof to know it by;
And from between her lips there seems to move
A soothing essence that is full of love,
Saying for ever to the spirit: "Sigh!"
(Rossetti's translation, Dante's _Vita nuova_, section XXVI.)

A very different impression must have been made on the self-respect
and delicate sensibility of a feminine soul by this other sonnet,
which is clumsy and bombastic because it is full of inappropriate and
exaggerated metaphors:

Your salutation and your glances bright
Deal death to him who greets you on your way;
Love my assailant, heedless of my plight,
Cares nought if what he does shall heal or slay.

Straight to the mark