Inspiration in the Age of Enlightenment Inspiration in the Age of Enlightenment Sarah Eron UNIVERSITYOFDELAWAREPRESS Newark PublishedbyUniversityofDelawarePress CopublishedwithRowman&Littlefield 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com 10ThornburyRoad,PlymouthPL67PP,UnitedKingdom Copyright©2014bySarahEron Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote passagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Eron,Sarah. InspirationintheAgeofEnlightenment/SarahEron. pagescm. Includesbibliographicalreferences. ISBN978-1-61149-499-0(cloth:alk.paper)—ISBN978-1-61149-500-3(ebook) 1.Englishliterature—18thcentury—Historyandcriticism.2.Enthusiasminliterature.3.Inspiration inliterature.4.Aesthetics,British—18thcentury.5.Augustus,EmperorofRome,63B.C.-14A.D.— Influence.I.Title. PR448.E57E762014 820.9'005—dc23 2013049704 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica ForLauraBrown Contents Acknowledgments ix Preface xi Introduction 1 1 AmusedandBemused:Shaftesbury’sEnthusiasmonthe SocialStage 33 2 “EyesthatMustEclipse”:VainEnthusiasminPope’sThe RapeoftheLock 83 3 Curtain,Muse!:InventionandPoeticExampleinPope’s Invocations 105 4 Genius,Muse:InspirationandInvocationinFielding’sTom Jones 143 5 The“Unknown”andThe“Unveiled”:AnnaBarbauld’s PoeticEnthusiasms 193 Coda 227 Bibliography 231 Index 241 AbouttheAuthor 251 vii