...altogether incompatible with intermissions of extraordinary brightness. Dryden has sung with nervous truth : Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide. And, in the masterly satire whence these lines are quoted, how truly are insane workings portrayed...

...most striking features. Ahithophel is one of the " great wits to matess near allied." And again — 8 R1 Q1 wen He sought the storms ; but for a calm unfit, Would steer too nigh the sands to boast his wit."*...

...finest he ever heard. He was an admirable letter-writer, and by many was thought to be Junius. He was "A daring pilot in extremity, Pleased with the danger when the waves ran high." In the Eegency dispute he was unsuccessful, more on account of his client than his doctrine....

...which, working out its way, Fretted the pigmy body to decay, And e'er-informed the tenement of clay. A daring pilot in extremity ; Pleased with the danger...wit. Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And tliin partitions do their bounds divide ; Else why should he, with wealth and honour blest, Refuse...

...decay, And o'er-inform'd the tenement of clay, A daring pilot in extremity ; Pleased with the dangers when the waves went high, He sought the storms ; but, for a calm unfit, f Would steer too nigh the sands to boast his wit. Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And...

...again,' said the Factor. ' Why, to be sure,' replied the minstrel, ' I am, as glorious John says, — " A daring pilot in extremity, Pleased with the danger when the waves go high, I seek the storm — but, for a calm unfit, Will steer too near the sands, to show my wit."...

...recognizes genius. SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (1859-1930). English author. The Valley of Fear, ch. 1 (1915). 17 Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide. JOHN DRYDEN (1631-1700). English poet, dramatist, critic. Absj/om and Achitophel, pi. I . 18 Genius...

...favor of theory alone. The English poet John Dryden reflected this popular viewpoint when he wrote: Great wits are sure to madness near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide. We may wonder if Shakespeare was speaking from experience when he wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream:...

...popular myths or poetic conceits about such a connection have a validity which is hard to challenge. "Great wits are sure to madness near allied; / and thin partitions do their bounds divide," wrote John Dryden, versifying the notion in the seventeenth century. "Study after study," reported...

...respect to certain personality traits, but certainly does not claim identity; it agrees with Dryden that "great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide." This puts the case very neatly; not identity, but "near alliance," with their bounds being divided...