MATHEW ARNOLD

The Function of Criticism at the Present Time


Still, in full measure, the sense of creative activity belongs only to genuine creation; in literature we must never forget that. But what true man of letters ever can forget it? It is no such common matter for a gifted nature to come into possession of a current of true and living ideas, and to produce amidst the inspiration of them, that we are likely to underrate it. The epochs of Æschylus and Shakespeare make us feel their preëminence. In an epoch like those is, no doubt, the true life of literature; there is the promised land, towards which criticism can only beckon. That promised land it will not be ours to enter, and we shall die in the wilderness: but to have desired to enter it, to have saluted it from afar, is already, perhaps, the best distinction among contemporaries; it will certainly be the best title to esteem with posterity.

Oana Ludmila Popescu

Mathew Arnold
 

Rolul criticii in prezent

Totusi, in mare masura, sentimentul activitatii crative apartine doar creatiei autentice; acest lucru nu trebuie uitat niciodata cand vine vorba de literatura. Dar ce carturar adevarat ar putea uita asta vreodata? Nu e putin lucru ca un spirit inzestrat sa fie coplesit de un val de idei adevarate si vii, si sa creeze la indemnul acestora.. E posibil ca noi sa nu apreciem cum se cuvine acest fapt. Epocile lui Aeschylus si Shakespeare ne fac sa le simtim maretia. Intr-o astfel de epoca se gaseste fara indoiala adevarata viata a literaturii; acolo este tara fagaduintei spre care critica ne poate doar indemna. Noua nu ne e dat sa intram in tara fagadiuntei si vom muri in salbaticie: dar dorinta de a patrunde acolo, faptul ca am salutat-o de departe, poate ca este deja cea mai distinctie de care se pot bucura contemporanuii nostri; va fi cu siguranta titltl cel mai apreciat de posteritate.