SOURCE: “The Spirit of Man,” in The Spectator, Vol. 5288, November 2, 1929, pp. 635-36.

In the following review of The Testament of Beauty, Porter asserts that the poem reflects Bridges's belief that humanity and nature are “interdependent” and that they are “linked” together by beauty.

The Testament of Beauty is, I think, the greatest English poem of our time. It is a poem not of romance but of “high argument,” Dr. Bridges' essay de rerum natura. If it seems to lack heat and variety of fancy, to be too austere for popularity, the reason lies mainly in its seriousness and philosophic import. To Schopenhauer interest as an aim in writing was fatal to beauty; and Dr. Bridges himself professes the aristocratic attitude—he writes for the few, he does not invite the applause of democracy. The poem is fittingly dedicated “To The King.”

From the beginning of the first canto...