Some Sources of Romanticism: 5 – Unbridled Romanticism
Isaiah Berlin
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What Is Symbolism?
'What these people meant by symbolism was symbolism for something which could only be expressed symbolically and could not be expressed literally,' he says. 'If you say, would you spell out for me what it is that the word england stands for in the sentence, england expects every man to do his duty, let us say when nelson said it? Would you unpack it?' He continues: 'The answer will be that what it symbolizes is literally not expressible in any other way.' The whole of the romantic doctrine maintained that there is an infinite striving forward on the part of reality, the universe round us, and so symbols are used. That is why allegories
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