SUBLIMITY • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Sublimity

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noun

Sublimity n. (pl. sublimities)

The quality or state of being sublime (in any sense of the adjective).

That which is sublime; as, the sublimities of nature.

Synonyms: Grandeur; magnificence. Sublimity, Grandeur. The mental state indicated by these two words is the same, namely, a mingled emotion of astonishment and awe. In speaking of the quality which produces this emotion, we call it grandeur when it springs from what is vast in space, power, etc.; we call it sublimity when it springs from what is elevated far above the ordinary incidents of humanity. An immense plain is grand. The heavens are not only grand, but sublime (as the predominating emotion), from their immense height. Exalted intellect, and especially exalted virtue under severe trials, give us the sense of moral sublimity, as in the case of our Savior in his prayer for his murderers. We do not speak of Satan, when standing by the fiery gulf, with his "unconquerable will and study of revenge," as a sublime object; but there is a melancholy grandeur thrown around him, as of an "archangel ruined."

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Etymology of 'Sublimity'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sublimity" Quotes from Famous Books

... imposing meteors of the tropic sky that make so much of my pleasure here; though a ship's deck is the place to enjoy them. O what AWFUL scenery, from a ship's deck, in the tropics! People talk about the Alps, but the clouds of the trade wind are alone for sublimity. ...

— Vailima Letters • Robert Louis Stevenson

... quickly with a series of operatic performances which were by no means ordinary, and our repertory included everything of this nature that had ever been written for the theatre. I was particularly pleased with the presentation of Spohr's Jessonda, which was truly not without sublimity, and raised us high in the esteem of all cultured lovers of music. I was untiring in my endeavours to discover some means of elevating our performances above the usual level of excellence compatible with the meagre resources of provincial theatres. I persistently ...

— My Life, Volume I • Richard Wagner

... revealed in the myriad forms of art, plastic or poetic, in the Rome of Sulla or Caesar in tragic action, displays itself in naked purity and in majesty unadorned. If artistic loveliness marks the age of Sophocles, tragic grandeur the Rome of Augustus, mystic sublimity is the feature of the Islam of Omar. The thought and the deed, logos ...

— The Origins and Destiny of Imperial Britain - Nineteenth Century Europe • J. A. Cramb

... all but shouting to myself: "Dora has kissed me! Dora dear is mine!" My heart was dancing with joy over my conquest of her, and at the same time I felt that I was almost ready to lay down my life for her. It was a blend of animal selfishness and spiritual sublimity. I ...

— The Rise of David Levinsky • Abraham Cahan

... that this reply afforded me; of spiritual knowledge not the least glimmer had ever reached me in any form, yet I knew the Bible most intimately, and loved it with all my heart as the most sacred, the most beautiful of earthly things. Already had its sublimity caught my adoration; and when listening to the lofty language of Isaiah, as read from his stall in the cathedral by my father in Advent, and the early Sundays of the year, while his magnificent voice sent the prophetic denunciations pealing through those vaulted aisles, I had received into ...

— Personal Recollections • Charlotte Elizabeth

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