"The art of writing," said George Henry Lewes, "is not, as many seem to imagine, the art of bringing fine phrases into rhythmical order, but the art of placing before the reader intelligible symbols of the thoughts and feelings in the writer's mind." Description is not that artificial thing-a "form of discourse"; it is one of several moods or attitudes of mind through which a writer or speaker, who has found his world interesting, beautiful, ugly, or effective, endeavors to transfer to others his pleasure or his interest in that world. There are not, and there can not be, set and unvarying "rules" for descriptive writing-or, indeed, for any kind of writing. He who sees clearly, who feels the significance of what he sees, and who expresses himself distinctly, will, of necessity, write good description. There is no more valuable practice than such writing. Nothing else will so surely lead to accuracy of observation and to exactness of expression. Materials for description surround us constantly, and the roots of description lie deep in the universal desire of man to communicate his reactions to others. There has been no attempt in this book to lay down rules or to give orders. What is said here is suggestive merely. I do not expect that other students of description will agree with all I suggest; on the contrary, I hope these ideas may serve merely as points of departure for both teachers and students. The selections which have been included, numerous though I have tried to make them, will be supplemented in the classroom by dozens of others, drawn from the literature of the past and the present. The selections here given illustrate merely some of the many ways in which writers have gone about the problems of description. Many other illustrations have been omitted, with regret; those have been retained which seem to the author most worthy of detailed study in the classroom. The order in which the various sorts of description have been treated is an order which has been found by the author to be logically and phychologically satisfactory in the development of a college course in descriptive writing. One reservation must be made: the chapter on descriptive diction has been placed at the beginning of the course; but the teacher will find that descriptive diction is not to be disposed of once for all; and, indeed, will be taken up in connection with every assignment in writing. I owe many debts of gratitude, in connection with the compilation of this book, which I may mention, though not thereby discharge. The many American and English publishers to whom I have applied for the use of copyright material have courteously granted my requests; acknowledgment is made to them in the text. I wish also to thank these authors for their kindness in giving personal permission for the use of material: Mr. Thomas Beer, Mr. A. T. A. Dobson, Mr. Walter de la Mare, Mr. Hamlin Garland, Mr. William McFee, Mr. H. L. Mencken, Mr. Christopher Morley, Mr. Fred Rothwell, Mr. Upton Sinclair, and Mr. Logan Pearsall Smith. To my former colleagues in the department of English at the University of Minnesota, I am grateful for many suggestions. Particularly, I wish to acknowledge here the many kindnesses of Professor Joseph M. Thomas, who has always found time in his very busy life to advise and aid his colleagues and students. Professor Thomas has been good enough to read the manuscript of this book, and to make many suggestions of which I have been glad to take advantage. Finally, it is impossible for me even to suggest my indebtedness to my friend and former colleague, Miss Mary Ellen Chase, of the University of Minnesota. Miss Chase's enthusiasm in making her ideas and suggestions for teaching the property of all who know her, has caused me, both consciously and unconsciously, to adopt many of her methods as my own. Her own generosity-bounteous as the sea-must bear the responsibility for my plagiarism! M. H. N. |