The Genius

1
The Genius

• In Blake, Leopardi, Kant

2
Blake and the Poetic Genius

• Poetic Genius is the true Man, and the body or
  outward form of man is derived from Poetic
  Genius. As men are alike in outward form, so, and
  with the same infinite variety, are all alike in
  the Poetic Genius. No man can think, write or
  speak from his heart, but he must intend Truth.
  Thus all sects of Philosophy are from Poetic
  Genius adapted to the weaknesses of every
  individual. (From All religions are one)

Engraving for The Tiger?
3
Blake (I)

• The universality of Poetic Genius genius is not
  something held by specially endowed individuals,
  but its a shared faculty of men. What makes the
  difference is the capability of the individual to
  put his own share of genius into action,
  overcoming the appearence of the five senses and
  the traps of reason. So genius is strongly
  connected to imagination B. also believed in the
  importance of dream (Blake visionary poet,
  because he used to take inspiration from his own
  dreams).

4
Blake (II)

• As a person, the genius is not the one who
  favours his own feelings and talents otherwise
  he couldnt present himself as a prophet, as the
  bearer of a universally valid truth, that which
  is his mission. He must intend truth he must
  look inside himself through his inner eye, but in
  such a different way from the Romantics its not
  an act of self-celebration, but an enquiry made
  for the rest of the world.

5
Blake (III)

• The distinction between Poetry and Philosophy
  Poetry itself is Genius, so it prescinds from the
  individual (see Shelley in his Defence of
  poetry) Philosophy instead is the level where
  Poetry and the individual meet, so in a way its
  contaminated by particular weaknesses and cant
  aspire to universality.

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A Defence of Poetry

• In 1821 Shelley wrote, arguing for the universal
  value of art, that all the poems of the past, of
  the present and of the future times are episodes
  or fragments of one infinite poem, composed by
  all the poets of the world (its a common theme,
  renewed by Emerson and Valéry). Valéry, in
  particular, spoke about a Spirit, responsible
  for all worlds literature.

The Artist Ovelwhelmed by the Greatness of
Ancient Ruins - Fussli
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Romanticism

• Schlegel All the history of modern poetry is an
  everlasting commentary to the short text of
  philosophy poetry and philosophy must get
  together. The philosopher-poet and the
  poet-philosopher are prophets.
• Holderlin Man is a God when dreaming, a beggar
  when thinking.
• Novalis Only an artist can guess the meaning of
  life. Poetry is something divine.

8
Kant (I)

• Genius is the natural talent which gives art a
  rule. Kant puts into light four basic features
  of Genius his originality his capability to be
  exemplary (which distinguish ingeniousness from
  absurdity) his inability to explain his way of
  working (The author himself of a ingenious
  product doesnt know how he got to it) his
  being an artist sciences never the result of
  genius because it can be imitated and explained.

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Kant (II)

• What makes a genius different from all the other
  people is his possessing a particular sort of
  imagination not the reproductive one, typical of
  common people but the creative one. That means
  that hes able to operate a free play of
  imagination and intellect, overstepping the
  limits of the theoretical reason. Whether he gets
  to any kind of truth cant be demonstrated for
  sure he reaches the highest peaks of Beauty.

10
Leopardi (I)

• For Leopardi the genius is the one who unites
  within himself the true philosophy and the poetic
  illusion. The poetic illusion doesnt hide the
  truth its only a sort of healer for the poet
  who seeks comfort away from the awareness of
  mans necessary unhappiness. Indeed the
  poet-genius is the one who, because of his noble
  nature and superior sensibility, feels more
  deeply the pain and the insignificance of human
  life hes the one who holds the truth - and the
  truth is that life is nothing.

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Leopardi (II)

• The genius illusion is nothing like the common
  mans dreaming dream is a sort of wrong
  illusion, because its not followed by the
  awareness that illusion itself is vain and
  fictitious like the whole of life. Truth cant in
  any way be found in dreams nor in imagination
  its a result of the use of reason. As Severino
  said The disenchantment of genius is complete
  reason, fully disclosed, shows the nothingness of
  Being.

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Leopardi (III)

• Genio - Così tra sognare e fantasticare andrai
  consumando la vita non con altra utilità che di
  consumarla che questo è lunico frutto che al
  mondo se ne può avere
• Tasso - La tua conversazione mi riconforta pure
  assai. Non che ella interrompa la mia tristezza
  ma questa per la più parte del tempo è come una
  notte oscurissima, senza luna né stelle mentre
  son teco, somiglia al bruno dei crepuscoli,
  piuttosto grato che molesto. (From Dialogo di
  Torquato Tasso e del suo genio familiare)

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To sum up

• The Genius for Blake
• Imagination - dream
• Universality (not an individual feature)
• Genius Art (Poetry) Neither philosophy nor
  science
• Leads to Truth

• The Genius for Kant and the Romantics
• Creative imagination
• Natural talent, rare privilege (cant be
  imitated but stands as an example)
• Genius Art philosophy
• Leads to the Beautiful

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• The Genius for Leopardi
• Refuses dream and imagination to privilege his
  rational side
• Is a noble nature superior to common people
• Genius Poetry Philosophy
• Holds the Truth ( vanity of human life) and also
  suffers much deeper than anyone else from this
  awareness