Physical Metallurgy of Cast Irons José

Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz

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José Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz
Daniel Fernández González
Luis Felipe Verdeja

Physical
Metallurgy
of Cast Irons
Physical Metallurgy of Cast Irons
José Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz
Daniel Fernández González
Luis Felipe Verdeja

Physical Metallurgy of Cast

Irons

123
José Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz Luis Felipe Verdeja
Departmento de Ciencia de los Materiales e Departmento de Ciencia de los Materiales e
Ingeniería Metalúrgica, Escuela de Minas, Ingeniería Metalúrgica, Escuela de Minas,
Energía y Materiales Energía y Materiales
University of Oviedo University of Oviedo
Oviedo, Asturias, Spain Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

Daniel Fernández González

Departmento de Ciencia de los Materiales e
Ingeniería Metalúrgica, Escuela de Minas,
Energía y Materiales
University of Oviedo
Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

ISBN 978-3-319-97312-8 ISBN 978-3-319-97313-5 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97313-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018949634

Translation from the Spanish language edition: Materiales para Ingeniería. Fundiciones Férreas by José
Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz, Daniel Fernández González and Luis Felipe Verdeja, © Pedeca Press
Publicaciones 2018. All Rights Reserved.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
This book is dedicated to the memory of José
Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz.
Endorsement

“The second half of the twentieth century was seeing casting processes gradually lifted
from the art of crafts status to that of a science-engineers are complementing and
supplementing the craftsman, and for the first time books are being published treating
casting processes on the level of an advanced engineering or scientific subject; for
contrary to the opinions of many, no other branch of industrial engineering will lend
itself more responsively or rewardingly to scientific treatment and control, although
the road will not be easy because the start has been slow and the numbers of scientist
and engineers engaged in the process were relatively few … .”
“Cast iron is second only to steel in total tonnage produced. Cast iron has certain
metallurgical and economic characteristic to the engineer; perhaps the most
important is its cheapness”.

H. F. Taylor, M. C. Flemings and J. Wulff

(Department of Metallurgy,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1959).

vii
Preface

The possibility of obtaining metallic parts by simply solidification, without the

subsequent processes of forging, justifies the interest of cast irons as structural
materials. The economic advantages derived from this kind of manufacture, as well
as some of their intrinsic properties, explain the strong demand of this product. Cast
irons, with an annual production of 73.2 million tonnes in 2015, are, after steels, the
metallic material most used worldwide. Cast irons are followed (regarding the
production) in weight importance by aluminum and alloys (58.3 million tonnes in
2015).
The relation among the world production of cast irons and the total production of
steel has decreased in the last years, being this relation 4.58% in 2015 (Fig. 1).
The industry of cast irons generates more employments than the steel industry,
even when the investment for each position is only the seventh part of the equiv-
alent in the steel industry. Nowadays, it is estimated that around 4.5 million people
work (worldwide) in the steel industry, while around 3.5 million people work in the
cast irons industry. However, one position in the cast irons industry generates, at

Fig. 1 World production of cast irons and their percentage in relation to steel production

ix
x Preface

least, other two or three in the metal mechanic industry. In short, the industry of cast
irons has a strong impact in the horizontal integration of goods production.
The study of cast irons offers several facets: melting elaboration, physical
chemistry of the equilibriums in liquid state, appropriate geometrical design of the
parts, moulding technology, etc. Throughout the pages that compose this book, the
physical metallurgy of cast irons is preferably studied with the objective of pro-
viding a criterion for the rational election of cast irons. That is, the relation between
composition, metallographic structure derived from the composition and properties
is studied, as well as the possibility of modifying the structure and properties by
heat treatment.
It is assumed that the reader is familiarized with the constituents of the alloys,
simples (solid solutions, intermetallic compounds, etc.) or compounds (eutectics,
eutectoids); and that the reader knows and interprets the equilibrium diagrams. To
study the previous fundamentals, as well as to know the fundamentals of solidifi-
cation and transformations in solid state, the book of José Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz,
María José Quintana Hernández and Luis Felipe Verdeja González entitled Solid-
ification and Solid-state Transformation of Metals and Alloys (Elsevier, 2017, first
edition) is available for the readers.
From Chaps. 1 to 5, the metallographic structures of cast irons are studied. These
chapters concern low and medium-alloyed cast irons, although the notions devel-
oped in these chapters will reach other types of cast irons. Chapter 5 is dedicated to
the general properties resulted from the structure of grey cast irons.
Chapters 6 and 7 are devoted to malleable and ductile irons, while Chaps. 8 and
9 deal with the high-alloy cast irons. Chapter 8 is dedicated to the diagram Fe–C–Cr
with the purpose of justifying several types of cast irons with corrosion resistance.
White cast irons are first studied in Chap. 9 as an introduction to the alloyed cast
irons used in applications where abrasion resistance is required. Chapter 9 continues
with the explanation of high-alloy cast irons characterized by abrasion, corrosion or
heat resistances.
Chapter 10 comprises exercises, problems and case-studies. This chapter could
be of special interest for the readers after studying the book. Different situations,
some of them real case-studies, will help the reader in the full understanding of the
cast irons applications, with problems of moulding practice as well as exercises for
studying the mechanical properties of cast iron parts. Finally, Chap. 11 is dedicated
to the manufacture of cast irons in cupola furnace.

Oviedo, Asturias, Spain José Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz

Daniel Fernández González
Luis Felipe Verdeja
Acknowledgements

Nearly 30 years after the first edition in Spanish (new revised edition in 2018) of the
book of Prof. José Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz, that was entitled Materiales para la
Ingeniería. Fundiciones Férreas, the new edition of the book, this time in English,
is published as a small tribute to him. With the idea of reaching a larger public, the
original book was translated into English, and more than 50 solved exercises were
included with the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the document. The
book, now entitled Physical Metallurgy of Cast Irons, will be a support for pro-
fessors in the fields of metallurgy and materials science, but also will be interesting
for industrial professionals and researchers.
In this new edition of the book, several people have collaborated, and we want to
express our sincere gratitude for their support. We thank José Ignacio Verdeja
González of the University of Oviedo (Oviedo, Asturias, Spain), and María José
Quintana Hernández and Roberto González Ojeda of the Panamerican University
(México City, Mexico) for their advices and support. We cannot forget the
invaluable help of José Ovidio García García, we thank him for the micrographs
and good attitude towards work. Moreover, we express our gratitude for the
valuable collaboration, help and support to the companies Arcelor Mittal Spain and
Fundyser (www.fundyser.com/, Gijón, Asturias, Spain).
Personally, Daniel Fernández González wants to thank the Spanish Ministry of
Education, Culture and Sports for its contribution in this work via FPU (Formación
del Profesorado Universitario) grant (FPU014/02436), which was conceded to him
for the preparation of the Ph.D. thesis.
We also express our gratitude to the engineers M. Ruiz Delgado and G. García
Chamón for their advices and support. The authors also want to express their
gratitude to Kathe Hooper from the ASTM, Sue Sellers from the ASM and Alan
Armour from Climax-Molybdenum for their authorization to reproduce some fig-
ures in our book.

Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

xi
Contents

1 Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable Equilibrium Diagrams . . . . . 1

1.1 Fe–C Equilibrium Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Graphitizing Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3 Inoculant Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4 Carburigenous Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5 The Influence of Silicon in Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Stable Eutectic—Graphite Morphologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1 Stable Eutectic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 Lamellar Graphite Morphologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3 Compromise Between Stable and Metastable Solidifications ...... 33
3.1 Composition and Massivity Factor (Section Sensitivity
or Volume/Area Ratio) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 33
3.2 Superheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 41
3.3 A Eutectic of Iron Phosphide (Fe3P), Steadite . . . . . . . ...... 44
4 Stable and Metastable Cooling Compromise in Solid State . . ..... 47
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 47
4.2 Cooling of Grey Cast Irons in Solid State:
Matrix Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 51
4.3 Non-equilibrium Transformations. Low and Medium
Alloy Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.4 High Alloying and Transformations During the Cooling . . . . . 54
4.5 Transformations by Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.5.1 Indirect Ferritizing Due to Heat Treatment . . . . . . . . 55
4.5.2 Cementite Graphitization at 450 °C . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5 General Properties of Non-alloyed Grey Cast Irons
(or Low Alloy) and Flake Graphite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.1 Properties of Grey Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6 Malleable Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.1 Malleable Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.2 White Heart Malleable Cast Iron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

xiii
xiv Contents

6.3 Blackheart Malleable Cast Iron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

6.3.1 Ferritic Blackheart Malleable Cast Iron . . . . . . . . . . 98
6.3.2 Blackheart Malleable Cast Iron
of Pearlitic Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
7 Spheroidal Graphite Cast Irons (or Ductile Cast Iron) . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.1 Chemical Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.2 General Properties of Ductile Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
7.3 Heat Treatments with Continuous Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
7.3.1 Ferritizing Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
7.3.2 Heat Treatments for Pearlitic Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
7.3.3 Treatments for Achieving a Matrix of Tempered
Martensite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
7.3.4 Other Treatments for Austenitic Cast Irons: Stress
Relieving and Hyperquenching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
7.4 Isothermal Treatments. Austempered Cast Irons, ADI
(Austempered Ductile Iron) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
8 Fe–C–Cr System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
8.1 Binary Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
8.2 Solidification Reactions in the Fe–C–Cr System . . . . . . . . . . . 142
8.3 Austenite with Chromium: Composition Limits and
Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
8.3.1 Gamma Iron Constituents in the Fe–Cr System . . . . 146
8.3.2 Limits of the Gamma Iron Constituent
in the Fe–C–Cr Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
9 Composition, Structure and Properties of High-Alloy
Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
9.1 Introduction to High-Alloy Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
9.1.1 Non-alloyed White Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
9.2 High-Alloy Cast Irons for Wear Resistance Applications . . . . . 159
9.2.1 Ni-Hard Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
9.2.2 Martensitic Cast Irons and KC Carbides Eutectic
(15–28% Cr) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
9.3 Corrosion-Resistant Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.3.1 High-Silicon Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.3.2 Ferritic Cast Irons with More
Than 28% Chromium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
9.3.3 High-Nickel Cast Irons (15–35% Ni) . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
9.4 Heat-Resistant Cast Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
10 Exercises, Problems and Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
10.2 Thermal Analysis. Carbon Solubility in the Metastable
and Stable System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Contents xv

10.3 Thermodynamics of the Fe–C–Si Ternary System. Interaction

Coefficients. Carburigen and Graphitizing Elements . . . . . . . . 195
10.4 Magnesium Effect. Pig Iron Desulphurization . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
10.5 Solidification Times. Chvorinov Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
10.6 Risering. Equations of Caine and Adams–Taylor.
Exothermic Isolation. Solidification Defects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
10.6.1 Introduction to Caine’s Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
10.6.2 Risering in Grey Irons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
10.6.3 Rail Aluminothermic Welding
(Applicable to Exothermic Risers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
10.6.4 Gases in Cast Metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
10.6.5 Pressure Tightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
10.7 Mould Filling Times. Gating Design. Downhill
Casting and Bottom Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
10.7.1 Aspiration of Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
10.8 Superheating. Fluidity. Castability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
10.9 Mechanical Properties. Reliability (Weibull Statistics) . . . . . . . 249
10.10 Creep: Stress Relieving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
10.10.1 Measurement of Residual Stresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
10.10.2 Stress Relieving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
10.11 Thermal Shock Resistance. Damping Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
10.11.1 Thermal Shock Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
10.11.2 Damping Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
10.12 Fatigue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
10.13 Heat Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
10.14 Fe–C–Cr System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
11 Fundamentals of the Cupola Furnace: Applications—Mass
and Energy Balances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
11.1 Cast Iron Production in Cupola Furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
11.2 Sulphur and Phosphorus in the Cupola Furnace . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable
Equilibrium Diagrams 1

Abstract
In this chapter, first, classification of the cast irons based on the Fe–C binary
diagram is carried out. White cast irons are those that follow the metastable Fe–
C diagram and give eutectics with ledeburite and cementite. Grey cast irons are
those that follow the stable Fe–C diagram and give eutectics with graphite and
austenite. In this first chapter, additions (graphitizing elements, inoculants,
carbonigenous agents and silicon) used to facilitate either the metastable or the
stable solidifications are also described.

1.1 Fe–C Equilibrium Diagram

In the first assumption, cast irons can be classified as white cast irons and grey cast
irons according to the solidification. In this way, if the solidification followed the
metastable equilibrium diagram (Fe–Fe3C), a white cast iron would be obtained. If
the solidification followed the stable equilibrium diagram (Fe–graphite), a grey cast
iron would be obtained.
The equilibrium diagram showed in Fig. 1.1 is usually designed as Fe–C
metastable diagram. This diagram describes the Fe–Fe3C equilibrium.
In effect—for the industrial cooling rates—liquid formed by iron and 4.3% of
carbon habitually solidifies at 1148 °C as a kind of eutectic aggregated called
ledeburite. This aggregate comprises austenite (of 2.11% C) and cementite (of
6.67% C), whose weight percent in austenite and cementite are, respectively, 51.9
and 48.1% (as it is possible to be deduced from the metastable diagram in Fig. 1.1).
However, in the sufficiently slow cooling rate, a liquid of that composition
(specifically of 4.25% of carbon) can solidify following the stable diagram shown

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 1

J. A. Pero-Sanz Elorz et al., Physical Metallurgy of Cast Irons,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97313-5_1
2 1 Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable Equilibrium Diagrams

Fig. 1.1 Fe–C metastable diagram

in Fig. 1.2, at 1154 °C, and gives a eutectic of carbon (in the form of graphite) and
austenite (of 2.08% of carbon), in weight percent of 2.33 and 97.67%, respectively.
Frequently, in high massivity parts (rolling cylinders, wheels, thick plates) both
types of eutectics could be obtained: ledeburite in the external zones of the part, and
eutectic of graphite and austenite in the inner ones, which was cooled more slowly.
In Fig. 1.3, it is possible to see two homogeneous solidification curves for small
amounts of eutectic liquids that were cooled at different rates. If the temperature
falls fast, curve I, molten metal solidifies at 1148 °C, and a eutectic of cementite and
austenite is formed. Whereas, if the temperature falls very slowly (curve II in
Fig. 1.3), solidification will happen at a higher temperature, 1154 °C, and an
aggregated formed by eutectic of graphite and austenite is obtained.
For a liquid with a composition near to 4.3 wt% C, there are two possibilities of
eutectic solidification: following the stable diagram or following the metastable
diagram. To obtain one or the other eutectic during the cooling period, it is required:
first, descending down to the temperature of 1154 °C (to obtain the stable eutectic)—
or descending down to the temperature of 1148 °C (to obtain the metastable eutectic)
1.1 Fe–C Equilibrium Diagram 3

Fig. 1.2 Fe–C stable diagram

Fig. 1.3 Fe–C stable eutectic

and Fe–Fe3C metastable
eutectic formation according
to the cooling rate. Curve I:
metastable eutectic. Curve II:
stable eutectic
4 1 Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable Equilibrium Diagrams

—and, besides, a certain undercooling; as it happens in all homogeneous solidifica-

tion. Afterwards, latent heat that was released in the solidification period will rise the
temperature once again due to the evolution of heat. The temperature will rise, at the
most, up to 1154 °C.
The molten metal does not solidify immediately when it reaches the corre-
sponding temperature; a certain time is required to achieve the graphite or the
austenite nucleation, which are drivers of the solidification. Cementite nucleation
kinetics is faster than that of a group of carbon atoms to obtain graphite. In the
appearance of cementite takes part the affinity between carbon and iron for
obtaining the intermetallic compound Fe3C. That is the reason for the less time
required to obtain cementite than to achieve graphite.
It is understood that a binary liquid (composed only of iron and carbon) normally
solidifies in the form of ledeburite (cementite and austenite), instead of giving the
eutectic of graphite and austenite. To achieve the eutectic of graphite and austenite,
a so slowly cooling rate that would made possible (in an interval of 6 °C, at
temperatures between 1154 and 1148 °C) an enough holding time to achieve the
formation of a cluster of carbon atoms as graphite would be necessary. In this way,
if the cooling rate is fast and the temperature is lower than 1148 °C, the molten
metal will give ledeburitic cementite an appreance previous to that of the graphite
and austenite. The presence of ledeburitic cementite is related to the possibility of
its appearance at temperatures lower than 1148 °C, and also due to the chemical
affinity between iron and carbon to make up cementite.

Exercise 1.1: The time elapsed, at a constant temperature, for the complete
solidification of a weight ðP1 Þ of a binary eutectic white cast iron, in
equilibrium conditions, is t1 . An equivalent quantity (in weight) of another
binary hypoeutectic white cast iron takes 0:41  t1 to complete the solidifi-
cation, also in equilibrium conditions. It is requested:

1. Carbon content in the hypoeutectic white cast iron.

Fig. 1.4 Section of the Fe–

Fe3C diagram
1.1 Fe–C Equilibrium Diagram 5

Question
The carbon content in the hypoeutectic white cast iron is calculated. First, the
hypoeutectic region of the Fe–Fe3C metastable diagram is drawn (Fig. 1.4).
The eutectic fraction in the hypoeutectic white cast iron, X, is calculated
through the lever rule, as follows:


X  2:1
 P1 ð1:1Þ
4:3  2:1

Then, as the eutectic fraction and the time required for the complete solidification
are known in both white cast irons, the carbon content will be calculated as follows:

½ðX  2:1Þ=ð4:3  2:1Þ  P1 0:41  t1

¼ ð1:2Þ
P1 t1


X  2:1
¼ 0:41 ð1:3Þ
4:3  2:1

X ¼ 3% C wt: ð1:4Þ

2. Differences in minor segregation (dendritic) in both white cast irons.

Question
The differences in the minor segregation are

• in the eutectic cast iron: there is not segregation.

• in the hypoeutectic cast iron: there is segregation in the disperse, and eutectic
constituent will appear (fluidity will be favoured). If the Scheil equation is
used, which is as follows:

1K
1
c0
fL ¼ ð1:5Þ
cL

K: partition coefficient; Scheil equation is defined as the relation between the

solute concentration (carbon) in the liquid and in the solid with which is in
equilibrium.
In this case,
2:11
KðcarbonÞ ¼ ¼ 0:49 ð1:6Þ
4:3
6 1 Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable Equilibrium Diagrams

10:49
1
3
fL ¼ ’ 0:49 [ 0:41 ð1:7Þ
4:3

Note: The carbon diffusion in the austenite is very fast. So, there is no coring
in cast irons as carbon element is concerned. But, there is coring with the rest of
alloying elements and/or impurities.

3. Calculate the hardness of this white cast iron. Data: Pearlite’s hardness: 24
HRC; Cementite’s hardness: 68 HRC.

Question
The hardness of the white cast iron will be calculated, approximately, with the
rule of mixtures:

HardnessCast Iron ¼ HardnessPearlite  fPearlite þ HardnessCementite  fCementite ð1:8Þ

where

HardnessPearlite ¼ 24 HRC ð1:9Þ

HardnessCementite ¼ 68 HRC ð1:10Þ

6:67  3
fPearlite ¼ ¼ 0:622ð62:2%Þ ð1:11Þ
6:67  0:77

fCementite ¼ 1  fFerrite ¼ 0:378ð37:8%Þ ð1:12Þ

And finally, the hardness of the hypoeutectic white cast iron is

HardnessCast Iron ¼ 24  0:622 þ 68  0:378 ’ 41 HRC (high) ð1:13Þ

4. Explain the main properties of the white cast irons regarding the micro-
graphic structure.

Question
The model to explain the white cast irons behaviour could be a cementite
sponge, whose empty spaces were filled with pearlite (transformed either from
dispersed austenite or eutectic austenite). Consequently, (Fe3C intermetallic
compound is hard and brittle) their mechanical properties include low toughness,
almost null elongation in the tensile test and high wear resistance. Their wear
1.1 Fe–C Equilibrium Diagram 7

behaviour determines their use in industrial applications such as mineral

crushing, sieving and grinding operations; and also, explains the
non-machinability of white castings. White cast irons are composites of the
ceramic matrix (cementite) and metallic disperse (austenite, pearlite, bainite,
martensite). They are ceramic matrix composites (CMC) according to their
nature.

Exercise 1.2. The time elapsed, at constant temperature, for the complete
solidification of a weight ðP1 Þ of a binary eutectic grey cast iron, in equi-
librium conditions, is t1 . An equivalent quantity (in weight) of another
binary hypoeutectic grey cast iron takes 0:42  t1 to complete the solidifi-
cation, also in equilibrium conditions. It is requested:

1. Carbon content in the hypoeutectic grey cast iron.

Question
The simplified Fe–C stable diagram is enclosed (Fig. 1.5).
The lever rule is used to calculate the eutectic fraction in the hypoeutectic
grey cast iron X:

X  2:08
fL ¼  P1 ð1:14Þ
4:25  2:08
As the solidification time is proportional to the amount of eutectic constituent,
it is obtained that

½ðX  2:08Þ=ð4:25  2:08Þ  P1 0:42  t1

¼ ð1:15Þ
P1 t1


X  2:08
¼ 0:42 ð1:16Þ
4:25  2:08

X ¼ 3% C wt ð1:17Þ

Fig. 1.5 Section of the Fe–C diagram

8 1 Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable Equilibrium Diagrams

If the lever rule is used again, the graphite content can be calculated as
follows:


3  2:08
Graphite ¼ ¼ 0:009ð0:9%Þ ð1:18Þ
100  2:08

2. Types of graphite that can appear regarding the cooling rate in one or
another cast iron.

Question
Regarding the cooling rate, the types of graphite that can appear are:
in the eutectic, graphite types A and B can appear; in the hypoeutectic,
graphite type D (see Figs. 2.6 and 2.8) can be observed. The structure of the grey
cast iron is like the structure of a pearlitic steel (matrix of austenite transformed
into pearlite) with hollows (cracks) filled with graphite. A high-volume fraction
of hollows implies a low mechanical strength. Moreover, if the hollows have a
high size and angularity (notch effect), the mechanical strength will be low. In
other words, the higher the carbon content, the lower the mechanical strength,
but also the higher the castability (a more detailed explanation will be given in
Chap. 5). It is, naturally, a MMC (metal matrix composite).

3. For the same massivity (relation Volume/Area) in parts manufactured with

both cast irons, what cast iron should have higher silicon content?

Question
Equivalent massivities mean similar cooling rates. Slow cooling rates favour the
stable solidification. If the carbon content diminishes, then the tendency to chill
of the parts grows. This tendency to chill can be corrected with higher silicon
contents.

4. Compare the mechanical properties: strength, elongation, toughness; and

others: wear and corrosion resistances, and machinability.

Question
The properties of grey cast irons will be deeply detailed in Chap. 5. However, it
can be said that lower carbon content (hypoeutectic grey cast iron) implies a
higher strength, a higher elongation, and a better toughness. On the other hand,
lower resistance to wear, lower resistance to corrosion and a worse machinability
will be achieved with the lower carbon content.
1.1 Fe–C Equilibrium Diagram 9

1.2 Graphitizing Elements

In fact, for achieving the formation of graphite in the case of eutectic liquids and
industrial cooling rates, even if they are slow, the presence of graphitizing elements,
such as Si, P, Al, Ni or Cu (listed in descending order of efficiency) is required.
The presence of these elements in the liquid is effective due to both the dilution
and the affinity (activity) effects. Graphitizing elements dissolve the pre-clusters of
Fe and C necessaries for the formation of cementite clusters. Consequently, the
cementite kinetics is retarded, and the appearance of graphite is made possible. On
the other hand, some elements—such as Si, P, Al—with an affinity for the iron (to
form silicides, phosphides, aluminides) add, to the dilution simple effect above
mentioned, a tendency to form graphite instead of cementite.

1.3 Inoculant Elements

Ferrosilicon and some compounds that are called inoculants—such as calcium

silicides, zirconium alloys, strontium alloys, etc.—accelerate the graphite forma-
tion. That is because they facilitate the heterogeneous nucleation of the graphite, by
epitaxy or crystallographic similarity. This effect is achieved even without being
graphitizing elements strictly speaking as it happens with the most of these
heterogeneous clustering agents, which are not graphitizing agents.
The inoculation increases the nucleation rate and the refining of the graphite
particles; and it gives origin, also, to the formation of a higher number of eutectic
cells. Some elements, as magnesium or boron, are in the origin of a spheroidal
graphite morphology, instead of the typical laminar morphology.
The inoculants efficiency disappears with the time, so, after the inoculation, it is
advisable to cast irons as soon as possible.

1.4 Carburigenous Elements

The elements with the aptitude to form more stable carbides than the cementite, or
to stabilize the cementite as a complex carbide—such as titanium, zirconium,
niobium, vanadium, tungsten, molybdenum, chromium, manganese—are called
anti-graphitizing elements. Obviously, the presence of these elements in the liquid
is unfavourable for the graphite nucleation (carbides are preferentially formed); and,
therefore, they are harmful for the formation of the eutectic of graphite + austenite.
For example, high-chromium alloyed cast irons, which are characterized by their
abrasion, corrosion and high-temperature resistances, always solidify following the
Fe/C metastable diagram as will be studied in Chaps. 8 and 9.
10 1 Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable Equilibrium Diagrams

1.5 The Influence of Silicon in Cast Irons

From all the elements that are used for achieving the graphite + austenite eutectic
transformation, avoiding the appearance of ledeburite, silicon is the main low-cost
graphitizing agent. Aluminium, for instance, is an energetic graphitizing element;
but its addition reduces the castability and it usually produces surface defects in the
parts. Phosphorus, despite its graphitizing nature, can produce cementite because of
the formation of a ternary eutectic of phosphorus, iron, and cementite. Nickel and
copper are slightly graphitizing elements—silicon, for instance, is five times more
graphitizing agent (in weight) than copper—and their use can be explained, as we
will see afterwards, when the graphitizing effect in the solid state is pursued.
The partition coefficient ðK ¼ CS =CL Þ in the Fe–Si solidification diagram has a
value near to 1. That is why it is possible to achieve a uniform distribution of silicon
in the liquid without segregations of this element.
Silicon percentages, which are required to avoid the ledeburite formation in the
plain and low-alloyed cast irons, range between 2 and 6%.
High-silicon amounts should be used when the cooling rates rise (or the part size
is thinner). On the other hand, the higher the amount of carbon in the melting, the
faster the graphite formation kinetics, so more probable the appearance of the
graphite results, and, consequently, less critical results the silicon.
Logically, the silicon presence modifies the lines and critical points in the stable
and metastable binary diagrams of the Fe–C system. Binary eutectics, for instance,
will not solidify at a constant temperature but in an interval of temperatures: because
in the ternary system the presence of three phases (liquid + graphite + austenite, or
liquid + cementite + austenite in the case of the ledeburite) means one degree of
freedom.
Figure 1.6 shows the temperature’s gap between stable and metastable solidi-
fication as a function of the silicon percentages.
With 0% silicon, achieving the stable eutectic results is difficult: it should be
noticed that the temperature’s gap between both eutectics is only of 6 °C. However,
when the quantity of silicon in the cast iron is increased, the temperature’s gap is
also increased. This higher temperature’s gap (between the stable and metastable

Fig. 1.6 Beginning

temperatures of both stable
and metastable eutectics as a
function of the silicon amount
(wt%)
1.5 The Influence of Silicon in Cast Irons 11

Fig. 1.7 Carbon contents

both in the stable and
metastable eutectics (wt%) as
a function of the silicon

eutectics) results favorable when a eutectic of graphite and austenite is pursued.

Therefore, when the silicon content is increased, to the graphitizing effect is added,
favourably, the enlargement of the temperature’s gap between both eutectics. Like
this, the formation of the stable eutectic is possible even for faster solidification
rates. Although, while increasing solidification rates, the ledeburite formation
would be unavoidable.
The presence of silicon decreases the carbon contents in the eutectic, both in the
stable and metastable diagrams, as it is shown in Fig. 1.7; also, phosphorus has a
similar effect in the composition of the eutectics. It is usually called equivalent
carbon of a grey cast iron (EC or Ceq) to the following sum of percentages:
 
EC Ceq ¼ % C þ % Si=3 þ % P=3 ð1:19Þ

The carbon content in the stable and metastable eutectics can be calculated as a
function of the silicon and phosphorus percentage by means of the following
expressions:

% C stable eutectic ¼ 4:25  % Si=3  % P=3 ð1:20Þ

% C metastable eutectic ¼ 4:3  % Si=9  % P=3:5 ð1:21Þ

Exercise 1.3. In the grey iron Fe–4.25% C, calculate the minimum value of
the interaction coefficient C–C, eCC , for the grey solidification of the cast
iron.

Question
In thermodynamics, it is called activity of an element i in solution (liquid, solid)
to the tendency that has this element to leave the solution. In real solutions, the
activity is equal to the product of the activity coefficient ðci Þ and its mole fraction
ðxi Þ, that is
12 1 Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable Equilibrium Diagrams

ai ¼ c i  x i ð1:22Þ

When ci [ 1, the tendency to leave the solution is strengthened. On the other

hand, if ci \1, the tendency diminishes. In the limit situation, when ci  xi ¼ 1,
the component tends to segregate, precipitate, as pure element. In the ternary
equilibrium:

liquidð4:25Þ austeniteð2:08Þ þ CðgraphiteÞ ð1:23Þ

The formation of graphite imposes that

aLiquid
C ¼ acC ¼ aGraphite
C ¼1 ð1:24Þ

That is,

aLiquid
C ¼ cLiquid
C  xLiquid
C ¼ 1 ! cLiquid
C ¼ 1=xLiquid
C ð1:25Þ

It can be demonstrated that for an element i in solution:

X
ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eij  xj ð1:26Þ

where

• c0i is the activity coefficient of the element i in solid solution at infinite

dilution, that is xi ! 0 (Raoult’s law, for C in the Fe, at 1154 °C, c0i ¼ 2:3).
• eij are the interaction coefficients of first order between the different elements
in solution.
• xj are the mole fractions.

If the interaction coefficients are positives, eij [ 0, the tendency of the

considered element for leaving the solution is positive; and negative, eij \0, in
the opposite situation.
The carbon mole fraction and the activity coefficient of this element are
calculated:

4:25  55:85
xC ’ ’ 0:2 ð1:27Þ
12  100
If the following equation is used:

ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eCC  xC ð1:28Þ

1.5 The Influence of Silicon in Cast Irons 13

ln 5 ¼ ln 2:3 þ eCC  0:2 ! eCC ’ 3:9 ð1:29Þ

Knowing that the cast iron 3.5% C–2.5% Si is eutectic, calculate the
interaction coefficient C–Si, eSi
C.

Question
The carbon and silicon mole fractions and the carbon activity coefficient are
calculated:

3:5  55:85
xC ’ ¼ 0:16 ð1:30Þ
100  12

2:5  55:85
xSi ’ ¼ 0:05 ð1:31Þ
100  28:1

aLC 1
cLC ¼ ¼ ¼ 6:25 ð1:32Þ
xC xC

If the fundamental equation is used

ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eCC  xC þ eSi

C  xSi ð1:33Þ

ln 6:25 ¼ ln 2:3 þ 3:9  0:2 þ eSi

C  0:05 ! eC ’ 7:6
Si
ð1:34Þ

From the provided data, it is deduced that the carbon interaction with itself
and the carbon interaction with silicon are positives, strengthening their presence
the graphite formation.

Calculate for the 3% C cast iron the silicon content that is necessary for the
stable eutectic solidification.

Question
The carbon mole fraction and activity coefficient are calculated:

3  55:85
xC ’ ¼ 0:14 ð1:35Þ
100  12

aLC 1
cLC ¼ ¼ ¼ 7:14 ð1:36Þ
xC xC
14 1 Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable Equilibrium Diagrams

If the fundamental equation is used

ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eCC  xC þ eSi

C  xSi ð1:37Þ

ln 7:14 ¼ ln 2:3 þ 3:9  0:14 þ 7:6  xSi ! xSi ’ 0:078; wSi ’ 3:9% ð1:38Þ

And, in the case of 4% C cast iron?

Question
The carbon mole fraction and activity coefficient are calculated:

4  55:85
xC ’ ¼ 0:19 ð1:39Þ
100  12

aLC 1
cLC ¼ ¼ ¼ 5:26 ð1:40Þ
xC xC

If the fundamental equation is used

ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eCC  xC þ eSi

C  xSi ð1:41Þ

ln 5:26 ¼ ln 2:3 þ 3:9  0:19 þ 7:6  xSi ! xSi ’ 0:012; wSi ’ 0:6% ð1:42Þ

And, in the case of 2.5% C cast iron?

Question
The carbon mole fraction and activity coefficient are calculated:

2:5  55:85
xC ’ ¼ 0:12 ð1:45Þ
100  12

aLC
cLC ¼ ¼ 8:33 ð1:46Þ
xC

Applying the equation listed above:

ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eCC  xC þ eSi

C  xSi ð1:47Þ

ln 8:33 ¼ ln 2:3 þ 3:9  0:12 þ 7:6  xSi ! xSi ’ 0:11; wSi ’ 5:5% ð1:48Þ

If we represent graphically the % C and % Si (Fig. 1.8).

In the same manner, we represent % C + % Si/3 and % C (Fig. 1.9).
1.5 The Influence of Silicon in Cast Irons 15

Fig. 1.8 Representation of

the % C and % Si

Fig. 1.9 Representation of

the % C + % Si/3 and % C

That demonstrates

Ceutectic ’ C þ Si=3 ð1:49Þ

The cast iron 3.4% C–2.4% Si–0.24% P solidifies as stable eutectic.

Demonstrate that the interaction coefficient C–P, ePC , is positive and inter-
mediate between the interaction coefficient C–C and C–Si.

Question
The carbon, silicon and phosphorous mole fractions are calculated:

3:4  55:85
xC ’ ¼ 0:16 ð1:50Þ
100  12

2:4  55:85
xSi ’ ¼ 0:048 ð1:51Þ
100  28:1
16 1 Fe–C System. Stable and Metastable Equilibrium Diagrams

0:24  55:85
xP ’ ¼ 0:004 ð1:52Þ
100  31

If the principal equation is used

ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eCC  xC þ eSi

C  xSi þ eC  xP
P
ð1:53Þ

ln 6:25 ¼ ln 2:3 þ 3:9  0:16 þ 7:6  0:048 þ ePC  0:004 ! ePC ’ 5 ð1:54Þ

In the cast iron 3.5% C–2.1% Si, calculate the phosphorus percentage that
is required for the stable eutectic solidification.

Question
The carbon and silicon mole fractions are calculated:

3:5  55:85
xC ’ ¼ 0:16 ð1:55Þ
100  12

2:1  55:85
xSi ’ ¼ 0:04 ð1:56Þ
100  28:1

If the following equation is used:

ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eCC  xC þ eSi

C  xSi þ eC  xP
P
ð1:57Þ

ln 6:25 ¼ ln 2:3 þ 3:9  0:16 þ 7:6  0:04 þ 5  xP ! xP ’ 0:016; wP ’ 0:9%

ð1:58Þ

And, in the 3% C–3% Si cast iron?

Question
The carbon and silicon mole fractions are calculated:

3  55:85
xC ’ ¼ 0:14 ð1:59Þ
100  12

3  55:85
xSi ’ ¼ 0:06 ð1:60Þ
100  28:1
1.5 The Influence of Silicon in Cast Irons 17

Applying the basic equation:

ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eCC  xC þ eSi

C  xSi þ eC  xP
P
ð1:61Þ

ln 7:14 ¼ ln 2:3 þ 3:9  0:14 þ 7:6  0:06 þ 5  xP ! xP ’ 0:026; wP ’ 1:4%

ð1:62Þ

And, in the 2.5% C–4% Si cast iron?

Question
The carbon and silicon mole fractions are calculated:

2:5  55:85
xC ’ ¼ 0:12 ð1:63Þ
100  12

4  55:85
xSi ’ ¼ 0:08 ð1:64Þ
100  28:1

If the following equation is used:

ln ci ¼ ln c0i þ eCC  xC þ eSi

C  xSi þ eC  xP
P
ð1:65Þ

ln 8:33 ¼ ln 2:3 þ 3:9  0:12 þ 7:6  0:08 þ 5  xP ! xP ’ 0:042; wP ’ 2:3%

ð1:66Þ

Despite the approximations that were done, it is possible to demonstrate that

Ceutectic ¼ 4:3 ’ Carbontotal þ Si=3 þ P=3 ð1:67Þ

Exercise 1.4. Two cast irons have the following chemical composition:

(A) 3.4% C–0.25% Si–0.6% Mn–0.03% S–0.05% P

(B) 3.0% C–3.6% Si–0.6% Mn–0.03% S–0.30% P

Calculate the potentially white or grey behaviour of these cast irons and the
possible micrographic structure. Which of the two cast irons would have a
higher castability? And wear resistance?
Another random document with
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The “Essay on Man” has been praised and admired by men of the
most opposite beliefs, and men of no belief at all. Bishops and free-
thinkers have met here on a common ground of sympathetic
approval. And, indeed, there is no particular faith in it. It is a droll
medley of inconsistent opinions. It proves only two things beyond a
question: that Pope was not a great thinker; and that wherever he
found a thought, no matter what, he would express it so tersely, so
clearly, and with such smoothness of versification, as to give it an
everlasting currency. Hobbes’s unwieldy “Leviathan,” left stranded on
the shore of the last age and nauseous with the stench of its
selfishness—from this Pope distilled a fragrant oil with which to fill
the brilliant lamps of his philosophy, lamps like those in the tombs of
alchemists, that go out the moment the healthy air is let in upon
them. The only positive doctrine in the poem is the selfishness of
Hobbes set to music, and the pantheism of Spinoza brought down
from mysticism to commonplace. Nothing can be more absurd than
many of the dogmas taught in the “Essay on Man.”

The accuracy on which Pope prided himself, and for which he is

commended, was not accuracy of thought so much as of expression.
But the supposition is that in the “Essay on Man” Pope did not know
what he was writing himself. He was only the condenser and
epigrammatizer of Bolingbroke—a fitting St. John for such a gospel.
Or if he did know, we can account for the contradictions by
supposing that he threw in some of the commonplace moralities to
conceal his real drift. Johnson asserts that Bolingbroke in private
laughed at Pope’s having been made the mouthpiece of opinions
which he did not hold. But this is hardly probable when we consider
the relations between them. It is giving Pope altogether too little
credit for intelligence to suppose that he did not understand the
principles of his intimate friend.

Dr. Warburton makes a rather lame attempt to ward off the charge of
Spinozism from the “Essay on Man.” He would have found it harder
to show that the acknowledgment of any divine revelation would not
overthrow the greater part of its teachings. If Pope intended by his
poem all that the Bishop takes for granted in his commentary, we
must deny him what is usually claimed as his first merit—clearness.
If we did not, we grant him clearness as a writer at the expense of
sincerity as a man. Perhaps a more charitable solution of the
difficulty is that Pope’s precision of thought was not equal to his
polish of style.

But it is in his “Moral Essays” and part of his “Satires” that Pope
deserves the praise which he himself desired—

Happily to steer
From grave to gay, from lively to severe.
Correct with spirit, eloquent with ease,
Intent to reason, or polite to please.

Here Pope must be allowed to have established a style of his own, in

which he is without a rival. One can open upon wit and epigram at
every page.

In his epistle on the characters of woman, no one who has ever

known a noble woman will find much to please him. The climax of his
praise rather degrades than elevates:

O blest in temper, whose unclouded ray

Can make to-morrow cheerful as to-day,
She who can love a sister’s charms, or hear
Sighs for a daughter with unwounded ear,
She who ne’er answers till a husband cools,
Or if she rules him, never shows she rules,
Charms by accepting, by submitting sways,
Yet has her humor most when she obeys;
Let fops or fortune fly which way they will,
Disdains all loss of tickets, or codille,
Spleen, vapors, or smallpox, above them all;
And mistress of herself though china fall.
The last line is very witty and pointed; but consider what an ideal of
womanly nobleness he must have had who praises his heroine for
not being jealous of her daughter.

It is very possible that the women of Pope’s time were as bad as

they could be, but if God made poets for anything it was to keep
alive the traditions of the pure, the holy, and the beautiful. I grant the
influence of the age, but there is a sense in which the poet is of no
age, and Beauty, driven from every other home, will never be an
outcast and a wanderer while there is a poet-nature left; will never
fail of the tribute at least of a song. It seems to me that Pope had a
sense of the nice rather than of the beautiful. His nature delighted in
the blemish more than in the charm.

Personally, we know more about Pope than about any of our poets.
He kept no secret about himself. If he did not let the cat out of the
bag, he always contrived to give her tail a pinch so that we might
know she was there. In spite of the savageness of his satires, his
disposition seems to have been a truly amiable one, and his
character as an author was as purely fictitious as his style. I think
that there was very little real malice in him.

A great deal must be allowed to Pope for the age in which he lived,
and not a little, I think, for the influence of Swift. In his own province
he still stands unapproachably alone. If to be the greatest satirist of
individual men rather than of human nature; if to be the highest
expression which the life of court and the ball-room has ever found in
verse; if to have added more phrases to our language than any other
but Shakspeare; if to have charmed four generations makes a man a
great poet, then he is one. He was the chief founder of an artificial
style of writing which in his hand was living and powerful because he
used it to express artificial modes of thinking and an artificial state of
society. Measured by any high standard of imagination, he will be
found wanting; tried by any test of wit, he is unrivaled.

To what fatuities his theory of correctness led in the next generation,

when practised upon by men who had not his genius, I shall
endeavor to show in my next lecture.
 LECTURE X
POETIC DICTION

(Friday Evening, February 9, 1855)

X
No one who has read any early poems, of whatever nation, can have
failed to notice a freshness in the language—a sort of game flavor,
as it were—that gradually wastes out of it when poetry becomes
domesticated, so to speak, and has grown to be a mere means of
amusement both to writers and readers, instead of answering a
deeper necessity in their natures. Our Northern ancestors
symbolized the eternal newness of song by calling it the Present,
and its delight by calling it the drink of Odin.

There was then a fierce democracy of words; no grades had then

been established, and no favored ones advanced to the Upper
House of Poetry. Men had a meaning, and so their words had to
have one, too. They were not representatives of value, but value
itself. They say that Valhalla was roofed with golden shields; that
was what they believed, and in their songs they called them golden
shingles. We should think shields the more poetical word of the two;
but to them the poetry was in the thing, and the thought of it and the
phrase took its life and meaning from them.

It is one result of the admixture of foreign words in our language that

we use a great many phrases without knowing the force of them.
There is a metaphoric vitality hidden in almost all of them, and we
talk poetry as Molière’s citizen did prose, without ever suspecting it.
Formerly men named things; now we merely label them to know
them apart. The Vikings called their ships sea-horses, just as the
Arabs called their camels ships of the desert. Capes they called sea-
noses, without thinking it an undignified term which the land would
resent. And still, where mountains and headlands have the luck to be
baptized by uncultivated persons, Fancy stands godmother. Old
Greylock, up in Berkshire, got his surname before we had State
geologists or distinguished statesmen. So did Great Haystack and
Saddle-Mountain. Sailors give good names, if they have no
dictionary aboard, and along our coasts, here and there, the word
and the thing agree, and therefore are poetical. Meaning and poetry
still cling to some of our common phrases, and the crow-foot,
mouse-ear, goat’s-beard, day’s-eye, heart’s-ease, snow-drop, and
many more of their vulgar little fellow-citizens of the wood and
roadsides are as happy as if Linnæus had never been born. Such
names have a significance even to one who has never seen the
things they stand for, but whose fancy would not be touched about a
pelargonium unless he had an acquired sympathy with it. Our
“cumulus” language, heaped together from all quarters, is like the
clouds at sunset, and every man finds something different in a
sentence, according to his associations. Indeed, every language that
has become a literary one may be compared to a waning moon, out
of which the light of beauty fades more and more. Only to poets and
lovers does it repair itself from its luminous fountains.

The poetical quality of diction depends on the force and intensity of

meaning with which it is employed. We are all of us full of latent
significance, and let a poet have but the power to touch us, we
forthwith enrich his word with ourselves, pouring into his verse our
own lives, all our own experience, and take back again, without
knowing it, the vitality which we had given away out of ourselves. Put
passion enough into a word, and no matter what it is it becomes
poetical; it is no longer what it was, but is a messenger from original
man to original man, an ambassador from royal Thee to royal Me,
and speaks to us from a level of equality. Pope, who did not scruple
to employ the thoughts of Billingsgate, is very fastidious about the
dress they come in, and claps a tawdry livery-coat on them, that they
may be fit for the service of so fine a gentleman. He did not mind
being coarse in idea, but it would have been torture to him to be
thought commonplace. The sin of composition which he dreaded
was,

Lest ten low words should creep in one dull line.

But there is no more startling proof of the genius of Shakspeare than

that he always lifts the language up to himself, and never thinks to
raise himself atop of it. If he has need of the service of what is called
a low word, he takes it, and it is remarkable how many of his images
are borrowed out of the street and the workshop. His pen ennobled
them all, and we feel as if they had been knighted for good service in
the field. Shakspeare, as we all know (for does not Mr. Voltaire say
so?), was a vulgar kind of fellow, but somehow or other his genius
will carry the humblest things up into the air of heaven as easily as
Jove’s eagle bore Ganymede.

Whatever is used with a great meaning, and conveys that meaning

to others in its full intensity, is no longer common and ordinary. It is
this which gives their poetic force to symbols, no matter how low
their origin. The blacksmith’s apron, once made the royal standard of
Persia, can fill armies with enthusiasm and is as good as the
oriflamme of France. A broom is no very noble thing in itself, but at
the mast-head of a brave old De Ruyter, or in the hands of that awful
shape which Dion the Syracusan saw, it becomes poetical. And so
the emblems of the tradesmen of Antwerp, which they bore upon
their standards, pass entirely out of the prosaic and mechanical by
being associated with feelings and deeds that were great and
momentous.

Mr. Lowell here read a poem by Dr. Donne entitled “The Separation.”
As respects Diction, that becomes formal and technical when poetry
has come to be considered an artifice rather than an art, and when
its sole object is to revive certain pleasurable feelings already
conventional, instead of originating new sources of delight. Then it is
truly earth to earth; dead language used to bury dead emotion in.
This kind of thing was carried so far by the later Scandinavian poets
that they compiled a dictionary of the metaphors used by the elder
Skalds (whose songs were the utterance of that within them which
would be spoken), and satisfied themselves with a new arrangement
of them. Inspiration was taught, as we see French advertised to be,
in six lessons.

In narrative and descriptive poetry we feel that proper keeping

demands a certain choice and luxury of words. The question of
propriety becomes one of prime importance here. Certain terms
have an acquired imaginative value from the associations they
awake in us. Certain words are more musical than others. Some
rhymes are displeasing; some measures wearisome. Moreover,
there are words which have become indissolubly entangled with
ludicrous or mean ideas. Hence it follows that there is such a thing
as Poetic Diction, and it was this that Milton was thinking of when he
spoke of making our English “search her coffers round.”

I will illustrate this. Longfellow’s “Evangeline” opens with a noble

solemnity:

This is the forest primeval; the murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like the Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.
Loud from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced neighboring ocean
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.

There is true feeling here, and the sigh of the pines is heard in the
verses. I can find only one epithet to hang a criticism on, and that is
the “wail of the forest” in the last line, which is not in keeping with the
general murmur. Now I do not suppose that the poet turned over any
vocabulary to find the words he wanted, but followed his own poetic
instinct altogether in the affair. But suppose for a moment, that
instead of being a true poet, he had been only a gentleman
versifying; suppose he had written, “This is the primitive forest.” The
prose meaning is the same, but the poetical meaning, the music, and
the cadence would be gone out of it, and gone forever. Or suppose
that, instead of “garments green,” he had said “dresses green”; the
idea is identical, but the phrase would have come down from its
appropriate remoteness to the milliner’s counter. But not to take such
extreme instances, only substitute instead of “harpers hoar,” the
words “harpers gray,” and you lose not only the alliteration, but the
fine hoarse sigh of the original epithet, which blends with it the
general feeling of the passage. So if you put “sandy beaches” in the
place of “rocky caverns,” you will not mar the absolute truth to
nature, but you will have forfeited the relative truth to keeping.

When Bryant says so exquisitely,

Painted moths
Have wandered the blue sky and died again,

we ruin the poetry, the sunny spaciousness of the image, without

altering the prose sense, by substituting

Have flown through the clear air.

But the words “poetic diction” have acquired a double meaning, or

perhaps I should say there are two kinds of poetic diction, the one
true and the other false, the one real and vital, the other mechanical
and artificial. Wordsworth for a time confounded the two together in
one wrathful condemnation, and preached a crusade against them
both. He wrote, at one time, on the theory that the language of
ordinary life was the true dialect of poetry, and that one word was as
good as another. He seemed even to go farther and to adopt the
Irishman’s notion of popular equality, that “one man is as good as
another, and a dale better, too.” He preferred, now and then, prosaic
words and images to poetical ones. But he was not long in finding
his mistake and correcting it. One of his most tender and pathetic
poems, “We are Seven,” began thus in the first edition:

A simple child, dear brother Jim.

All England laughed, and in the third edition Wordsworth gave in and
left the last half of the line blank, as it has been ever since. If the
poem had been a translation from the Turkish and had begun,

A simple child, dear Ibrahim,

there would have been nothing unpoetical in it; but the “dear brother
Jim,” which would seem natural enough at the beginning of a familiar
letter, is felt to be ludicrously incongruous at the opening of a poem.

To express a profound emotion, the simpler the language and the

less removed from the ordinary course of life the better. There is a
very striking example of this in Webster’s tragedy of “The Duchess of
Malfy.” The brother of the Duchess has procured her murder, and
when he comes in and sees the body he merely says:

“Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle; she died young.”

Horror could not be better expressed than in these few words, and
Webster has even taken care to break up the verse in such a way
that a too entire consciousness of the metre may not thrust itself
between us and the bare emotion he intends to convey.
In illustration, Mr. Lowell quoted from Shakspeare (“Henry V”),
Marlowe, Chapman, Dunbar, Beaumont and Fletcher, Waller, Young,
and Cawthorn.

These men [the poets of the eighteenth century] were perfectly

conscious of the fact that poetry is not produced under an ordinary
condition of the mind, and accordingly, when they begin to grind their
barrel-organs, they go through the ceremony of invoking the Muse,
talk in the blandest way of divine rages and sacred flames, and one
thing or another, and ask for holy fire to heat their little tea-urns with
as coolly as one would borrow a lucifer. They appeal ceremoniously
to the “sacred Nine,” when the only thing really necessary to them
was the ability to count as high as the sacred ten syllables that
constituted their verse. If the Muse had once granted their prayer, if
she had once unveiled her awful front to the poor fellows, they would
have hidden under their beds, every man John of them.

The eighteenth century produced some true poets, but almost all,
even of them, were infected by the prevailing style. I cannot find any
name that expresses it better than the “Dick Swiveller style.” As Dick
always called wine the “rosy,” sleep the “balmy,” and so forth, so did
these perfectly correct gentlemen always employ either a fluent
epithet or a diffuse paraphrasis to express the commonest emotions
or ideas. If they wished to say tea they would have done it thus:

Of China’s herb the infusion hot and mild.

Coffee would be

The fragrant juice of Mocha’s kernel gray,

or brown or black, as the rhyme demanded. A boot is dignified into

The shining leather that the leg encased.

Wine is

The purple honor of th’ ambrosial vine.

All women are “nymphs,” carriages are “harnessed pomps,” houses

are sumptuous or humble “piles,” as the case may be, and
everything is purely technical. Of nature there seems to have been
hardly a tradition.

But instead of attempting to describe in prose the diluent diction

which passed for poetic under the artificial system—which the
influence of Wordsworth did more than anything else to abolish and
destroy—I will do it by a few verses in the same style. Any subject
will do—a Lapland sketch, we will say:

Where far-off suns their fainter splendors throw

O’er Lapland’s wastes of uncongenial snow,
Where giant icebergs lift their horrent spires
And the blank scene a gelid fear expires,
Where oft the aurora of the northern night
Cheats with pale beams of ineffectual light,
Where icy Winter broods o’er hill and plain,
And Summer never comes, or comes in vain;
Yet here, e’en here, kind Nature grants to man
A boon congenial with her general plan.
Though no fair blooms to vernal gales expand,
And smiling Ceres shuns th’ unyielding land,
Behold, even here, cast up a monstrous spoil,
The sea’s vast monarch yields nutritious oil,
Escaped, perchance, from where the unfeeling crews
Dart the swift steel, and hempen coils unloose,
He whirls impetuous through the crimson tide,
Nor heeds the death that quivers in his side;
Northward he rushes with impulsive fin,
Where shores of crystal groan with ocean’s din,
Shores that will melt with pity’s glow more soon
Than the hard heart that launched the fierce harpoon.
In vain! he dies! yet not without avail
The blubbery bulk between his nose and tail.
Soon shall that bulk, in liquid amber stored,
Shed smiling plenty round some Lapland board.
Dream not, ye nymphs that flutter round the tray
When suns declining shut the door of day,
While China’s herb, infused with art, ye sip,
And toast and scandal share the eager lip.
Dream not to you alone that Life is kind,
Nor Hyson’s charms alone can soothe the mind;
If you are blest, ah, how more blest is he
By kinder fate shut far from tears and tea,
Who marks, replenished by his duteous hand,
Dark faces oleaginously expand;
And while you faint to see the scalding doom
Invade with stains the pride of Persia’s loom,
Happier in skins than you in silks perhaps,
Deals the bright train-oil to his little Lap’s.
 LECTURE XI
WORDSWORTH

(Tuesday Evening, February 13, 1855)

XI
A few remarks upon two of the more distinguished poets of the
eighteenth century will be a fitting introduction to Wordsworth, and,
indeed, a kind of commentary on his poetry. Of two of these poets
we find very evident traces in him—Thomson and Cowper—of the
one in an indiscriminating love of nature, of the other in a kind of
domestic purity, and of both in the habit of treating subjects
essentially prosaic, in verse; whence a somewhat swelling wordiness
is inevitable.

Thomson had the good luck to be born in Scotland, and to be

brought up by parents remarkable for simplicity and piety of life.
Living in the country till he was nearly twenty, he learned to love
natural beauty, and must have been an attentive student of scenery.
That he had true instincts in poetry is proved by his making Milton
and Spenser his models. He was a man of force and originality, and
English poetry owes him a large debt as the first who stood out both
in precept and practice against the vicious artificial style which then
reigned, and led the way back to purer tastes and deeper principles.
He was a man perfectly pure in life; the associate of eminent and
titled personages, without being ashamed of the little milliner’s shop
of his sisters in Edinburgh; a lover of freedom, and a poet who never
lost a friend, nor ever wrote a line of which he could repent. The
licentiousness of the age could not stain him. His poem of “Winter”
was published a year before the appearance of the “Dunciad.”

Thomson’s style is not equal to his conceptions. It is generally

lumbering and diffuse, and rather stilted than lofty. It is very likely that
his Scotch birth had something to do with this, and that he could not
write English with that unconsciousness without which elegance is
out of the question—for there can be no true elegance without
freedom. Burns’s English letters and poems are examples of this.

But there are passages in Thomson’s poems full of the truest

feelings for nature, and gleams of pure imagination.

Mr. Lowell here read a passage from “Summer,” which, he said,

illustrated better than almost any other his excellences and defects.
It is a description of a storm, beginning:

At first heard solemn o’er the verge of Heaven

The tempest growls.

This is fustian patched with cloth of gold. The picture, fine as it is in

parts, is too much frittered with particulars. The poet’s imagination
does not seem powerful enough to control the language. There is no
autocratic energy, but the sentences are like unruly barons, each
doing what he likes in his own province. Many of them are prosaic
and thoroughly unpicturesque, and come under the fatal
condemnation of being flat. Yet throughout the passage,

The unconquerable genius struggles through

half-suffocated in a cloud of words.

But the metre is hitchy and broken, and seems to have no law but
that of five feet to the verse. There is no Pegasean soar, but the
unwieldy gallop of an ox. The imagination, which Thomson
undoubtedly had, contrasted oddly with the lumbering vehicle of his
diction. He takes a bushel-basket to bring home an egg in. In him
poetry and prose entered into partnership, and poetry was the
sleeping partner who comes down now and then to see how the
business is getting on. But he had the soul of a poet, and that is the
main thing.

Of Gray and Collins there is no occasion to speak at length in this

place. Both of them showed true poetic imagination. In Gray it was
thwarted by an intellectual timidity that looked round continually for
precedent; and Collins did not live long enough to discharge his mind
thoroughly of classic pedantry; but both of them broke away from the
reigning style of decorous frigidity. Collins’s “Ode to Evening” is
enough to show that he had a sincere love of nature—but generally
the scenery of both is borrowed from books.

In Cowper we find the same over-minuteness in describing which

makes Thomson wearisome, but relieved by a constant vivacity of
fancy which in Thomson was entirely wanting. But Cowper more
distinctly preluded Wordsworth in his delight in simple things, in
finding themes for his song in the little incidents of his own fireside
life, or his daily walks, and especially in his desire to make poetry a
means of conveying moral truth. The influence of Cowper may be
traced clearly in some of Wordsworth’s minor poems of pure fancy,
and there is one poem of his—that on “Yardly Oak”—which is almost
perfectly Wordsworthian. But Cowper rarely rises above the region of
fancy, and he often applied verse to themes that would not sing. His
poetry is never more than agreeable, and never reaches down to the
deeper sources of delight. Cowper was one of those men who,
wanting a vigorous understanding to steady the emotional part of his
nature, may be called peculiar rather than original. Great poetry can
never be made out of a morbid temperament, and great wits are
commonly the farthest removed from madness. But Cowper had at
least the power of believing that his own thoughts and pleasures
were as good, and as fit for poetry, as those of any man, no matter
how long he had enjoyed the merit of being dead.
The closing years of the eighteenth century have something in
common with those of the sixteenth. The air was sparkling with moral
and intellectual stimulus. The tremble of the French Revolution ran
through all Europe, and probably England, since the time of the great
Puritan revolt, had never felt such a thrill of national and indigenous
sentiment as during the Napoleonic wars. It was a time fitted to give
birth to something original in literature. If from the collision of minds
sparks of wit and fancy fly out, the shock and jostle of great events,
of world-shaping ideas, and of nations who do their work without
knowing it, strike forth a fire that kindles heart and brain and tongue
to more inspired conceptions and utterances.

It was fortunate for Wordsworth that he had his breeding in the

country, and not only so, but among the grandest scenery of
England. His earliest associates were the mountains, lakes, and
streams of his native district, and the scenery with which his mind
was stored during its most impressionable period was noble and
pure. The people, also, among whom he grew up were a simple and
hardy race, who kept alive the traditions and many of the habits of a
more picturesque time. There was also a general equality of
condition which kept life from becoming conventional and trite, and
which cherished friendly human sympathies. When death knocked at
any door of the hamlet, there was an echo from every fireside; and a
wedding dropped an orange blossom at every door. There was not a
grave in the little churchyard but had its story; not a crag or glen or
aged tree without its legend. The occupations of the people, who
were mostly small farmers and shepherds, were such as fostered
independence and originality of character. And where everybody
knew everybody, and everybody’s father had known everybody’s
father, and so on immemorially, the interest of man in man was not
likely to become a matter of cold hearsay and distant report. It was
here that Wordsworth learned not only to love the simplicity of
nature, but likewise that homely and earnest manliness which gives
such depth and sincerity to his poems. Travel, intercourse with
society, scholarly culture, nothing could cover up or obliterate those
early impressions. They widened with the range of his knowledge
and added to his power of expression, but they never blunted that
fine instinct in him which enables him always to speak directly to
men and to gentleman, or scholar, or citizen. It was this that enabled
his poetry afterwards to conquer all the reviews of England. The
great art of being a man, the sublime mystery of being yourself, is
something to which one must be apprenticed early.

Mr. Lowell here gave an outline of Wordsworth’s personal history and

character.

As a man we fancy him just in the least degree uninteresting—if the

horrid word must come out—why, a little bit of a bore. One must
regard him as a prophet in order to have the right kind of feeling
toward him; and prophets are excellent for certain moods of mind,
but perhaps are creatures

Too bright and good

For human nature’s daily food.

I fancy from what I have heard from those who knew him that he had
a tremendous prose-power, and that, with his singing-robes off, he
was dry and stiff as a figure-head. He had a purity of mind
approaching almost to prudery, and a pupil of Dr. Arnold told me he
had heard him say once at dinner that he thought the first line of
Keats’s ode to a “Grecian Urn” indecorous. The boys considered him
rather slow. There was something rocky and unyielding in his mind;
something that, if we found it in a man we did not feel grateful to and
respect, we should call hard. Even his fancy sometimes is glittering
and stiff, like crystallizations in granite. But at other times how tender
and delicate and dewy from very contrast, like harebells growing in a
crag-cleft!

There seem to have been two distinct natures in him—Wordsworth

the poet, and Wordsworth the man who used to talk about
Wordsworth the poet. One played a kind of Baruch to the other’s
Jeremiah, and thought a great deal of his master the prophet.
Baruch was terrifically uninspired, and was in the habit of repeating
Jeremiah’s poems at rather more length than was desired, selecting
commonly the parts which pleased him, Baruch, the best. Baruch
Wordsworth used to praise Jeremiah Wordsworth, and used to tell
entertaining anecdotes of him,—how he one day saw an old woman
and the next did not, and so came home and dictated some verses
on this remarkable phenomenon; and how another day he saw a
cow.

But in reading Wordsworth we must skip all the Baruch

interpolations, and cleave wholly to Jeremiah, who is truly inspired
and noble—more so than any modern. We are too near him,
perhaps, to be able wholly to separate the personal from the
poetical. I acknowledge that I reverence the noble old man both for
his grand life and his poems, that are worthy expressions of it. But a
lecturer is under bonds to speak what he believes to be the truth.
While I think that Wordsworth’s poetry is a thing by itself, both in its
heights and depths, something sacred and apart, I cannot but
acknowledge that his prosing is sometimes a gift as peculiar to
himself. Like old Ben Jonson, he apparently wished that a great deal
of what he wrote should be called “works.” Especially is this true of
his larger poems, like the “Excursion” and the “Prelude.” However
small, however commonplace the thought, the ponderous machine
of his verse runs on like a railway train that must start at a certain
hour though the only passenger be the boy that cries lozenges. He
seems to have thought that inspiration was something that could be
turned on like steam. Walter Savage Landor told me that he once
said to Wordsworth: “Mr. Wordsworth, a man may mix as much
poetry with prose as he likes, and it will make it the better; but the
moment he mixes a bit of prose with his poetry, it precipitates the
whole.” Wordsworth, he added, never forgave him.

There was a great deal in Wordsworth’s character that reminds us of

Milton; the same self-reliance, the same purity and loftiness of
purpose, and, I suspect, the same personal dryness of temperament
and seclusion of self. He seems to have had a profounder
imagination than Milton, but infinitely less music, less poetical faculty.
I am not entirely satisfied of the truth of the modern philosophy
which, if a man knocks another on the head, transfers all the guilt to
some peccant bump on his own occiput or sinciput; but if we
measure Wordsworth in this way, I feel as if he had plenty of
forehead, but that he wanted hind-head, and would have been more
entirely satisfactory if he had had one of the philo-something-or-
other.

It cannot be denied that in Wordsworth the very highest powers of

the poetical mind were associated with a certain tendency to the
diffuse and commonplace. It is in the Understanding (always prosaic)
that the great golden veins of his imagination are embedded. He
wrote too much to write always well; for it is not a great Xerxes army
of words, but a compact Greek ten thousand that march safely down
to posterity. He sets tasks to the divine faculty, which is much the
same as trying to make Jove’s eagle do the service of a clucking
hen. Throughout the “Prelude” and the “Excursion,” he seems
striving to bind the wizard imagination with the sand-ropes of dry
disquisition, and to have forgotten the potent spell-word which would
make the particulars adhere. There is an arenaceous quality in the
style which makes progress wearisome; yet with what splendors of
mountain-sunsets are we not rewarded! What golden rounds of
verse do we not see stretching heavenward, with angels ascending
and descending! What haunting melodies hover around us, deep
and eternal, like the undying barytone of the sea! And if we are
compelled to fare through sands and desert wilderness, how often
do we not hear airy shapes that syllable our names with a startling
personal appeal to our highest consciousness and our noblest
aspiration, such as we might wait for in vain in any other poet.

Take from Wordsworth all which an honest criticism cannot but allow,
and what is left will show how truly great he was. He had no humor,
no dramatic power, and his temperament was of that dry and
juiceless quality that in all his published correspondence you shall
not find a letter, but only essays. If we consider carefully where he
was most successful, we shall find that it was not so much in
description of natural scenery, or delineation of character, as in vivid
expression of the effect produced by external objects and events
upon his own mind. His finest passages are always monologues. He
had a fondness for particulars, and there are parts of his poems
which remind us of local histories in the undue importance given to
trivial matter. He was the historian of Wordsworthshire. This power of
particularization (for it is as truly a power as generalization) is what
gives such vigor and greatness to single lines and sentiments of
Wordsworth, and to poems developing a single thought or word. It
was this that made him so fond of the sonnet. His mind had not that
reach and elemental movement of Milton’s which, like the trade-
winds, gathered to itself thoughts and images like stately fleets from
every quarter; some, deep with silks and spicery, come brooding
over the silent thunders of their battailous armaments, but all swept
forward in their destined track, over the long billows of his verse,
every inch of canvas strained by the unifying breath of their common
epic impulse. It was an organ that Milton mastered, mighty in
compass, capable equally of the trumpet’s ardors, or the slim
delicacy of the flute; and sometimes it bursts forth in great crashes
through his prose, as if he touched it for solace in the intervals of his
toil. If Wordsworth sometimes puts the trumpet to his lips, yet he lays
it aside soon and willingly for his appropriate instrument, the pastoral
reed. And it is not one that grew by any vulgar stream, but that which
Apollo breathed through tending the flocks of Admetus, that which
Pan endowed with every melody of the visible universe, the same in
which the soul of the despairing nymph took refuge and gifted with
her dual nature, so that ever and anon, amid notes of human joy and
sorrow, there comes suddenly a deeper and almost awful tone,
thrilling us into dim consciousness of a forgotten divinity.

Of no other poet, except Shakspeare, have so many phrases

become household words as of Wordsworth. If Pope has made
current more epigrams of worldly wisdom, to Wordsworth belongs
the nobler praise of having defined for us, and given us for a daily
possession, those faint and vague suggestions of other-worldliness
of whose gentler ministry with our baser nature the hurry and bustle
of life scarcely ever allowed us to be conscious. He has won for
himself a secure immortality by a depth of intuition which makes only
the best minds at their best hours worthy, or indeed capable, of his
companionship, and by a homely sincerity of human sympathy which
reaches the humblest heart. Our language owes him gratitude for the