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Show ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO 111. 106 With finer blush tbe vernal blossom glows~ With sweeter breath enamour'd Zephyr blows, The limpid streams ,vith gentler murmurs pass, And gayer colours tinge the watery glass, Charm'd round his steps along the enchanted groyes Flit the fine forms of Beauties, Graces, Loves. V. " Alive, each moment of the transient hour, When Rest accumulates sensorial power, 270 JVhen rest accumulates, 1. 2.70. The accumulation of the spirit ?f am·m a t.1 011) w hen those pat·ts of the system rest, which are u. sually 111 motion, produces a disagreeable sensation. ~hence t.he pam of cold and of hunger, a11d the irksomeness of a contmued attitude, and of an indolent life: and hence the propensity to action in those confined animals ' which have be. en accustomed to activity, as is seen in the motions of a squirrel in a cage; which uses perpetual exertion to ex-haust a part of its accumulated sensorial power. This is one source of our general propensity to action; another perhaps arises from our curiosity or expectation of novelty mentioned in the note on l. 145. of this canto. But the immediate cause of our propensity to imitation above that of other animals arises from the greater facility, with which by the sense of touch we acquire the· ideas of the outlines of objects, and afterwards in consequence by the sense of sight; this seems to have been observed by Aristotle, ·who calls man, " the imitative animal;" see Zoonornia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII. CANTO III. PROGRESS OF THE ~fiND. The impatient Senses, goaded to contract, Forge ne\v ideas, changing as they act; And, in long streams dissever'd, or concrete In countless tribes, the fleeting forms repeat. Which rise excited in Volition's trains, Or link the sparkling rings of Fancy's chains; Or, as they flow from each translucent source, Pursue Association's endless course. 107 " Hence when · the inquiring hands with contact fine Trace on hard forms the circumscribing line; 280 Which then the language of the rolling eyes From distant scenes of earth and heaven supplies; Those clear ideas of the touch and sight Rouse the quick sense to anguish or delight; Whence the fine power of IMITATION springs, And apes t~e outlines of external things; With ceaseless ·action to tbe world imparts All moral virtues, languages, and arts . . All moral virtues, I. ~88. See the sequel of this canto I. 453. on |