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LONGINUS: ON THE SUBLIME

FIVE PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF SUBLIMITY IN LITERATURE
By the word ‘sublime’ Longinus ,means elevation or loftiness – all that raises style above the
ordinary, and gives it distinction in its widest and truest sense. So sublimity is a certain
distinction and excellence in composition. Longinus says that, both nature and art contribute to
sublimity in literature. Art is perfect when it seems to be nature, and nature hits the mark when
she contains art hidden within her. The five principal source s of the sublime are as under :

Grandeur of Thought
Nobody can produce a sublime work unless his thoughts are sublime. Sublimity is the echo of
greatness of soul. It is impossible for those whose whole lives are full of mean ideas and habits,
to produce anything that is admirable and worthy of an immortal life. It is natural that great
accents should fall from the lips of those whose thoughts have always been deep and full of
majesty. Therefore, he who would attain distinction of style must feel his soul on the works of
the great masters, as Homer, Plato and Demosthenes, and capture from them some of their own
greatness. This reflects the classicism of Longinus.

Capacity for Strong Emotion

The second source of the sublime is forceful and inspired passion. Longinus asserts that nothing
contributes to loftiness of tone in writing than genuine emotion. At one place, for instance, he
says, “I would confidently affirm that nothing makes so much for grandeur, as true emotion in
the right place, for it inspires the words as it were, with a wild gust of mad enthusiasm and fills
them with divine frenzy”. But the emotions have to be true emotions and in the right place.

Appropriate Use of Figures

The third source of attaining excellence of style is the use of figures of speech which he
considers very important, and so devotes nearly one third of his work to it. He shows
discrimination and originality of thinking in his treatment of the subject. Figures of speech
should not be used mechanically; rather they must be rooted in genuine emotion. Used
naturally, they impart elevation to style, and are themselves made more effective by an elevated
style.
The grandeur of any figure will depend on its being employed in the right place and the right
manner, on the right occasion, and with the right motive. It strengthens the sublime, and the
sublime supports it.

Nobility of Diction
The fourth source of the sublime is diction which includes choice and arrangement of words and
the use of metaphors and ornamental language. The discussion of diction is incomplete because
four leaves of this part of the book are unfortunately lost. Nevertheless, words, when suitable
and striking, he says, have a moving and tempting effect upon the reader and are the first things
in a style to lend it grandeur, beauty and mellowness, dignity, force, power and a sort of
glittering charm.
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Dignity of Composition
The fifth source of the sublime is the dignity of composition, that is, a dignified composition or
the arrangement of words. It should blend thought, emotion, and figures and words themselves
—the preceding four elements of sublimity – into a harmonious whole.
A harmonious composition alone sometimes makes up for the deficiency of the other elements.
Such an arrangement has not only a natural power of persuasion and of giving pleasure but also
the marvelous power of exalting the soul and moving the heart of men.
Making a distinction between the false and the true sublime, Longinus says that the false
sublime is characterized first, by timidity or bombast of language, which is as great an evil as
swellings in the body. Secondly, the false sublime is characterized by triviality, which is a
parade and pomp of language. Thirdly, the false sublime results when there is a cheap display of
passion, when it is not justified by the occasion, and so is wearisome. True sublime, on the other
hand, pleases all and pleases always, for it expresses thoughts of universal validity – thoughts
common to man of all ages and centuries – in a language which instinctively uplifts our souls.

Written and Composed By:

Prof. A.R. Somroo
M.A. English, M.A. Education
Cell Phone: 03339971417
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LONGINUS: ON THE SUBLIME

LONGINUS AS A CRITIC
CONTRINBUTION OF LONGINUS
Longinus is the first romantic critic. He is a pioneer in the field of literary appreciation. “On
the Sublime” is the first and a unique treatise on style. His prescriptions for sublimity are
universal.
He asks quite different questions about literature from those asked by Plato and Aristotle. His
vision is broad. He constantly views poetry in relation to the author and the time of the author.
He makes use of both the historical and thought provoking comments. His mind is free from
prejudice. A great deal of his work is original and illuminating and is of permanent or
universal significance. He attaches importance to emotion, imagination and beauty of words.
He is a romantic critic because he believes in the romantic function of literature and discards
the moral function of literature. But he joins romanticism with classicism. On the one side,
there is importance for grandeur. He is subjective rather than objective. He is an enthusiast
rather than analyst. He is better fitted to fire the young than to convince the skeptical.
Longinus is the most modern of the ancient critics. Horace was very much influenced by
Longinus. He classified certain important matters like the moderns. He talks sense. After
Aristotle, he is the greatest critic among the Greeks. He represented the last romanticism and
classicism. He gave an effective theory of literature. He drew upon a number of literatures. Style
for him was the life and blood, the very spirit of the work and the personality of its author. He
was the first to assert that “Style” is the man.
“On the Sublime” is a classic gift of Longinus. It is a fragmentary treatise. It is not yet known
who Longinus really was. It is a bright essay on style.
According to Longinus, the purpose of the greatest writers has been to introduce, to delight and
to persuade. But their greatness lies in sublimity. Sublimity is the echo of a great soul, of a lofty
mind; it is not merely an excellence in language. It is the note that rings from a great mind. A
work of a genius must aim at ecstasy. In Indian terms, it is the combination of Satyam, Shivam
and Sundaram (the true, the good and the beautiful) that makes a work sublime.
Longinus discovers five main sources of the sublime – grandeur of thought, capacity for strong
emotion, appropriate use of figures of speech, nobility of diction and dignified and elaborate
composition. Without grandeur of thought the writer cannot rise to great heights. Only noble
thoughts can lead to noble deeds.
Sublime thoughts can be attained by strong emotions. A writer who indulges in avoiding
inferior types of emotions falls close to the standard of the sublime.
Figures of speech are the artistic aids to sublimity. The chief figures are the rhetoric questions,
hyperbaton, apostrophe and periphrasis. The figures of speech should be carefully used.
Verbal magic has its own effect. Diction relates to style. Style is the wise and systematic
selection of the most important elements, events or passions into a single whole. The use of
questions and answers makes the speeches more effective and impressive.
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A work of art should be harmonious and complete. For this, it should have a dignified and
elaborate composition. It should have sufficient length. Words must be harmoniously set, for the
resulting harmony is a natural instrument, not only of persuasion and pleasure but also of lofty
emotion.
Such a harmonious combination of words appeals to the soul and enables the reader to share in
the emotions of the author. At least, Longinus warns against extreme conciseness of expression
because it cramps and cripples the thought.

 Science only tells us what is possible, not what is right.

 Every one minute you spend worrying about failing is

Just one minute that you have failed to prepare for success.

 Resolve to live until you die.

Prof. A.R. Somroo

M.A. English, M.A. Education
Cell Phone: 03339971417
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LONGINUS: ON THE SUBLIME

LONGINUS AS A ROMANTIC CRITIC
Scott-James calls Longinus “The first romantic critic” because of his insistence on passion,
ecstasy, transport, imagination, intensity and exaltation. These are the romantic traits found in
criticism of Longinus. In the words of Prof. Saintsbury, “Longinus has marked out grounds of
criticism very far from those of the ancient period. Before Longinus the Greek and Roman
critics judged a work of art in accordance with the set rules, or considered it either from the
pragmatic or the ethical stand-point. Longinus used all these standards. He judged a work more
by its essence than by its form. He gave his theory of sublimity and insisted that the reader or
hearer should be carried away, transported and moved to ecstasy by the grandeur and the passion
of the work
We should be cautious of observing that he was not thorough romantic critic. He tempers
romanticism with what is sanest in classicism. Scott-James says that classicism was touched
with romance, but not darkened. He knew that emotion and passion should be guided by some
rules. He says that mere grandeur is exposed to danger when left without the control of reason
and the ballast of scientific method. In this way it can be said that he is the first romantic critic
who maintained his affiliations with classicism. Prof. Scott-James also says, “Though he was
the first to raise the base upon which romanticism rests, he turned and tempered them with
what is the sanest in classicism. Though he was the first great critic to proclaim the efficacy of
inspiration, he did not think that beauty comes like wind from heaven to fill the sails of the
poet’s ship and drive it without effort across the sea.
Longinus is a romantic critic in some other ways too. He opposed the classical view that not
more than two metaphors at a time should be used in a work, especially because he was gifted
with a genuine romantic temper. He was a romantic critic as Rhys Roberts says, “He is
subjective rather than objective. He is an enthusiast rather than an analyst. He is better fitted to
fire the young than to convince the maturely skeptical. He speaks rather of transport or
inspiration, than of purgation or universal.
Prof. Atkins disagrees with Scott-James, and says that it is as an exponent of the genuine
classical spirit that Longinus is perhaps best described, and not, as he has been called, the first
romantic critic. The classical qualities of Longinus as a critic are quite obvious. He shows a
great reverence for the ancient Greek models, for tradition, and advocates this imitation. He
does not believe that a genius is a low unto himself.. He stands for fitness, correctness, selection
and balance. He is blind to the “romance” in Homer’s Odyssey. He believes in rules and
regulations. He stands for the use of a refined and cultivated poetic style.
But, it is true that he anticipates much that is modern in critical works. And this is shown by
his concern with the sense rather than with the form of literature. He is indeed the most
modern of the ancient critics. His chief claim to modernity rests on his conception of
inspiration and ecstasy.
In fact the fusion of the romantic, the classical and the modern strains in Longinus is the real
key to his greatness, originality and relevance. He has an appeal to the romanticists as well as
classicists and also some extent to the moderns. He was first to assert that “Style is the man”.
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LONGINUS: ON THE SUBLIME

SUBLIMITY IS THE ECHO OF A NOBLE MIND
Longinus says, “Great utterance is the echo of greatness of the soul”. It is impossible that those
whose thoughts are trivial and servile should flash out anything wonderful and worthy of
immortality. Great literature is thus the creation of instinctive genius. Thoughts that are lofty
and awe-inspiring find their natural expression in exalted phrase. Such loftiness of thought is
normally a gift of nature rather than an acquired quality. But art can help in putting a curb on
the wild tendencies of nature. Longinus says, “Fine writing needs the spur as well as curb”. Both
nature and art are, therefore, necessary for the creation of the Sublime in literature.
Great thoughts spring from great souls. The truly eloquent must be free from low and mean
thoughts. Men with mean and servile ideas cannot produce immortal literature. It is only great
minds that produce great literature. So the first source of the sublime is that of grasping great
thoughts. Sublimity is the image of the soul. A thought, even when it is not uttered, is at times
sublime. Such is the silence of Ajax in Odyssey.
But, what does actually the sublime consists of? Longinus tries to answer the question at the
very outset of his treatise:
“The Sublime consists in certain loftiness and of language, and it is by this and this only that
the greatest poets and prose writers have won pre-eminence and lasting fame”.
And he goes on:
“Work of a genius does not aim at persuasion, but ecstasy of lifting the reader above himself. Its
wonder, wherever and whenever appears, startles us; it prevails where the persuasive or
agreeable may fail; for persuasion depends mainly on ourselves, but there is no fighting against
the sovereignty of genius. It imposes its irresistible will upon us all.
Where there is only skill in invention and laborious arrangement of matter a whole treatise, let
alone a sentence or two, will scarcely avail to throw light on a subject. But the Sublime at the
critical moment shoots forth and tears the whole thing to pieces and like a thunder bolt, and in
a flash reveals the entire author’s power”.
R.A. Scott-James says, “We have the first perfectly definite statement of doctrine , here, which
Joubert could not make more precise when he said: “ Nothing is poetry unless it transports”;
which Sir Thomas Browne was to translate into the language of sentiment when he exclaimed,
“I love to lose myself in a mystery to pursue my reason to an O Altitude! And which De Quincy
was to nail down in his distinction between the literature of knowledge and the literature of
power – ‘The function of the first is to teach; the function of the second is to move” the sublime
effect of literature, for Longinus, attained, not by argument, but by revelation. Its appeal is not
through the reason, but what we should call imagination. Its effect on the mind is immediate,
like a flash of light upon the eyes”.
The function of literature, before Longinus, if it was poetry, was to instruct or to delight or to do both and, if it
was prose, to persuade the reader. Longinus found this three word formula wanting. He discovered that the
masterpieces of Greek classical literature – epics of Homer, the lyrics of Sappho and Pinder were great for a
different reason altogether – their sublimity. So instruction or delight or persuasion, therefore is not the test of
ecstasy caused by an irresistible magic of speech. If he is spellbound by what the writer says, the work has the
quality of the Sublime.