countries, by so many men, at the
close of that momentous epoch.
When literature runs mainly to the
tragic form, it may be assumed that
the spiritual force of the race has ex-
pressed itself afresh, and that a race, or
a group of races, has passed through
one of those searching experiences
which bring men again face to face
with the facts of life; for the produc-
tion of tragedy involves thought of
such depth, insight of such clearness,
and imaginative power of such quality
and range that it is possible, on a
great scale, only when the springs of
passion and action have been pro-
foundly stirred. The appearance of
tragedy marks, therefore, those mo-
ments when men manifest, without
calculation or restraint, all the power
that is in them; and into no other
literary form is the vital force poured

[[226]]

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v?