They place him in a clear relation to his time; they distinguish him from other poets, and, taken all together, they throw light upon his work.

But they are not half enough, nor are they the most important.

They leave out the essence of the whole matter; they leave out the poetry.

They illuminate the surface of his poetry, but they do not penetrate into his interpretation, by means of his special art, and under the influence of high emotion, of the beautiful and sublime Matter of thought and feeling which arises out of Nature and Human Nature, the two great subjects of song; which Matter the poets represent in a form so noble and so lovely in itself that, when it is received into a heart prepared for it, it kindles in the receiver a love of beauty and sublimity similar to that which the poet felt before he formed, and while he formed, his poem.

Such a receiver, reading the poem, makes the poem, with an individual difference, in himself.