ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Finally, Longinus sets out five sources of sublimity: “great thoughts, strong emotions, certain figures of thought and speech, noble diction, and dignified word arrangement".

Detailed explanation-2: -Longinus introduces his five sources thus: There are, one may say, five most productive sources of sublimity. (Competence in speaking is assumed as a common foundation for all five; nothing is possible without it.)

Detailed explanation-3: -Longinus defines sublimity (Greek hypsos) in literature as “the echo of greatness of spirit, ” that is, the moral and imaginative power of the writer that pervades a work. Thus, for the first time greatness in literature is ascribed to qualities innate in the writer rather than in the art.

Detailed explanation-4: -The paper mainly deals with what Sublime is—“the image of greatness of mind”, the five main sources of sublimity—grandeur of thoughts, a vigorous and spirited treatment of the passions, a certain artifice in the employment of figures, dignified expression, majesty and elevation of structure.

Detailed explanation-5: -Written as an epistolary piece to “dear Terentianus, ” “On the Sublime” examines the work of more than 50 ancient writers under the lens of the sublime, which Longinus defines as man’s ability, through feeling and words, to reach beyond the realm of the human condition into greater mystery.