CHAPTER III
THEROMANTIC
FALLACY {continued)
Naturalismand the
Picturesque
I
^Romanticism has another aspect. We have seen
thatit
allows
the
poeticinterest ofdistant civilisa-
tiontosupplant theaesthetic interestofform. But
theromanticimpulseisnotattractedtohistoryalone.
Itis
inspiredbythedistantandthe past;butit is
inspired, also, by Nature. For, obviously, those
qualities which romanticism seeks, these Nature
possesses in
the
highestdegree.
Nattireis strange,
fantastic,unexpected,terrible. Likethepast,Nature
isremote. Indifferenttohumanpreoccupationsand
disowning
human agency, Nature
possessesall the
more
forciblyan imaginative
appeal. Thus, inthe
last century,andearlier, together withthe ballad-
revival and the historical fiction,
came, far
more
powerful
thaneither,
anewpoetryofNature. Under
the influence of thispoetry.
Nature's unconsidered
varietybecametheverytype
andcriterionofbeauty,
and
men wereled
byan inevitableconsequence to
valuewhat
is
various,irregular,orwild,
andtovalue
