Definitions HQ

A Lyric (n.) has ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠as its content not the object but the subject — a mind that, instead of proceeding to action, remains alone with itself as inwardness.

A Lyric (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠fondest of rhyme because its speech becomes a music of feeling — a symmetry not of time but of sound echoed in the inner life.

A Lyric (n.) satisfaction ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠of the heart can be senseless gibberish, singing for singing's sake — tra-la-la — for which words are a nearly arbitrary vehicle.

A Lyric (n.) ripens ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠when feeling and will split apart in the individual; drama, when the individual spirit disentangles itself from the nation.

A Lyric (n.) lets ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠feeling and longing be heard; drama turns the inner right of the action inside out; epic leaves the individual nothing but to submit to what is, and suffer as he may.