ggesting
the _via media_ is more to be commended than his boldness in
supplementing Milton's stately verse with commonplaces, however wise they
may have been. Chrysander, the German biographer of Handel presents a
philosophical view of the case. He says:

"In the two pictures a deeply thoughtful mind has fixed for itself two
far-reaching goals. With these the poem has reached its perfect end,
and in the sense of its inventor there is nothing further to be added.
The only possible, the only natural outlet was that into a _life of
action_, according to the direction which the spirit now should take;
already it was the first step into this new domain which called forth
the divided feeling. The two moods do not run together into any third
mood as their point of union, but into active real life, as different
characters, forever separate. Therefore 'Moderation' could not bring
about the reconciliation; only life could do it; not contemplation, but
deeds. Gladness and Melancholy are symptoms of a vigorous soul;
moderation would be mediocrity. And herein lies the unpoetic nature of
the addition by Jennens; read according to Milton, the concluding moral
of a rich English land-owner whose inherited abundance points to
nothing but a golden mean, and whose only real problem is to keep the
balance in the lazy course of an inactive life, makes a disheartening
impression."

The work as a whole is one of Handel's finest inspirations. The Allegro
is bright and spirited throughout; the Penseroso grave and tender; and
the Moderato quiet and respectable, as might be expected of a person who
never experiences the enthusiasms of joy or the comforts of melancholy.
The most of the composition is assigned to solo voices which carry on the
discussion, though in the Moderato it is mainly the chorus which urges
the sedate compromise between the two.

The work opens without overture, its place having originally been
supplied by an orchestral concerto. In vigorous and very dramatic
recitative Allegro bids "loathed Melancholy" hence, followed by
Penseroso, who in a few bars of recitative far less vigorously consigns
"vain, deluding joys" to "some idle brain;" Allegro replies with the
first aria ("Come, come, thou Goddess fair"), a beautifully free and
flowing melody, responded to by Penseroso, who in an aria of stately
rhythm appeals to his goddess, "Divinest Melancholy." Now Allegro summons
his retinue of mirth:-