its various stages may have themes to a greater or less extent the same throughout, but that they differ in the method of treatment. Beast fables may yet be told, but merely as fables to teach a lesson. The nature myths may yet be used as illustrations and embellishments, and romances may yet be written with all the thaumaturgy of the middle ages to give literary amusement to people who are not supposed to believe in necromancy.
With this warning we may go on to describe the romance of the last stage. To the world’s store of romance new tales are added—fictitious histories in a series of events where causes conspire to produce effects that have an intellectual and emotional interest. In an especial manner modern tales are designed to teach a lesson of good and evil, and there are many romances that are doctrinaire in motive.
This is the transmutation brought by science upon the characteristics of romance. Tales are no longer told to be believed, but are told to teach lessons. Romance is fundamentally designed to give pleasure, but at the same time is made to teach wisdom in conduct. If the potion is but a coated pill, the medicine is refused; but if a dram of moral truth is deftly mixed with a pound of delightful representation of men and things, the moral becomes a luxury.
Poetry
The fifth in order of the fine arts is poetry. All of the esthetic arts are activities designed to produce pleasure. This is their fundamental purpose. Poetry is an art of pleasure. Its fundamental purpose must be pleasure, although it sometimes may be a good method of presenting the truth; in fact it often serves this purpose in an admirable manner, but its philosophy must be veiled whether it be intellectual or moral wisdom.
That which makes poetry is the method of expression that is adopted by poetry. In music the method of expression is rhythmic sound and the combinations of rhythmic sound which
