Margaret Fuller: “A Short Essay on Critics”

( 1840 ) Commentary by Barry Alfonso, Independent Scholar, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

“Critics are poets cut down, says some one—by way of jeer; but, in truth, they are men with the poetical temperament to apprehend, with the philosophical tendency to investigate. The maker is divine; the critic sees this divine, but brings it down to humanity by the analytic process.” - “A Short Essay on Critics”
“The richer the work, the more severe should be its critic; the larger its scope, the more comprehensive must be his power of scrutiny.” - “A Short Essay on Critics”
“It is this true manliness, this firmness in his own position, and this power of appreciating the position of others, that alone can make the critic our companion and friend.” - “A Short Essay on Critics”

Margaret Fuller (Library of Congress)

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