houghts, forms, and colours in pleasant order.

In all these cases, observe, an intended unity must be the result of
composition. A paviour cannot be said to compose the heap of stones
which he empties from his cart, nor the sower the handful of seed which
he scatters from his hand. It is the essence of composition that
everything should be in a determined place, perform an intended part,
and act, in that part, advantageously for everything that is connected
with it.

Composition, understood in this pure sense, is the type, in the arts of
mankind, of the Providential government of the world.[245] It is an
exhibition, in the order given to notes, or colours, or forms, of the
advantage of perfect fellowship, discipline, and contentment. In a
well-composed air, no note, however short or low, can be spared, but the
least is as necessary as the greatest: no note, however prolonged, is
tedious; but the others prepare for, and are benefited by, its duration;
no note, however high, is tyrannous; the others prepare for and are
benefited by, its exaltation: no note, however low, is overpowered, the
others prepare for, and sympathise with, its humility: and the result
is, that each and every note has a value in the position assigned to it,
which by itself, it never possessed, and of which by separation from the
others, it would instantly be deprived.

Similarly, in a good poem, each word and thought enhances the value of
those which precede and follow it; and every syllable has a loveliness
which depends not so much on its abstract sound as on its position. Look
at the same word in a dictionary, and you will hardly recognise it.

Much more in a great picture; every line and colour is so arranged as to
advantage the rest. None are inessential, however slight; and none are
independent, however forcible. It is not enough that they truly
represent natural objects; but they must fit into certain places, and
gather into certain harmonious groups: so that, for instance, the red
chimney of a cottage is not merely set in its place as a chimney, but
that it may affect, in a certain way pleasurable to the eye, the pieces
of green or blue in other parts of the picture; and we ought to see that
the work is masterly, merely by the positions and quantities of these
patches of green, red, and blue, even at a distance which renders it
perfectly impossible to determine what the colours represent: or to see
whether the red is a chimney, or an old